On the dark path, two soldiers approached each other, one standing tall and calm, the other tall and majestic. Even when they stood facing each other a few feet apart, they still couldn't see each other's faces clearly.
After a few seconds of silence, a figure spoke first: "You went to the Hekou Camp?"
"What do you think?"
"Didn't succeed?"
"Unfortunately, the Japs just arrived."
"Come from the county town?"
"At least one squadron showed no signs of staying overnight at the river mouth camp. Maybe now... they are not far behind me. Haha, I suggest you... hurry up and run for your life."
"Thanks for your advice, I'm running for my life."
"Did you get the bike?"
"Thanks to you."
"I'm ashamed. I'm not as good as you in coaxing children."
"I'm honored to receive your praise."
"Are they chasing us?"
"I ran too fast, so I don't know clearly. But... they have two companies now."
"Where did the other company come from?"
"Aren't you planning to go find them now? Wouldn't it be better to ask them directly?" After saying this, the tall figure turned around and began to walk back, calling out to the dozen or so figures on the path: "Team Nine, set off. Head north."
After the sound of footsteps, they disappeared into the darkness on the north side of the road.
The tall figure was still standing on the path, and a figure ran behind him.
"Captain, is Hu lying to us? How could an extra company suddenly appear out of thin air? Maybe he is trying to scare us because we didn't go over to help them directly."
"He said there is one more company now, so it must be one more company. The bastards wouldn't make such a fuss about something like that."
"Then... what should we do now? It's not easy to fight with two companies, and we don't know how far the enemy is behind us."
After a moment of silence, the tall figure turned around and gave an order to the path behind: "Second Company, set off. Head north."
After a sound of footsteps, nearly a hundred figures left the path and disappeared into the darkness on the north side.
Hao Ping was holding a Mauser pistol in his hand, lying in the darkness among the trees. The dark red bullets flashed across the night sky from time to time. The gunshots were chaotic and came one after another. At this moment, he felt very upset...
Before dusk, several outside villagers fled to Lushuipu and ran into the hands of the third company. According to them, the Eighth Route Army and the security army had started a battle in their village. The battle was so fierce that it was dark and chaotic. After receiving this news, Hao Ping and Yang Dezhi studied it. The first company went east and was far away. According to the location and scale of the battle, it could only be the second company not far away. If there was a battle to fight, it would be better than writing big words all over the village to catch traitors. Hao Ping and Yang Dezhi immediately took the third company away from Lushuipu and headed straight to the place where the battle broke out.
When the Third Company arrived near the north side of the battlefield, it was completely dark and they could not see anything. There was only the roar of gunfire and bullet trajectories, and fierce exchanges of fire across an open field. Which side was the Second Company? Hao Ping was a little confused on the spot.
Seeing Hao Ping at a loss, Yang Dezhi, who was both civil and military, had to offer his suggestions: First, the Second Company had nearly a hundred people with guns, and the village also had nearly a hundred people with guns; second, the Second Company did not have Czech machine guns, and those with Czech machine guns must be the security forces, and that machine gun was now firing near the woods; third, judging from the battlefield situation, the village was sending most of its people to attack from the south, taking the initiative, while the forest side seemed to have few people left, and it seemed that they could escape at any time. The battle lasted for so long, and it must be the security forces that were crippled by Gao Yidao. It was impossible that the security forces had beaten Gao Yidao's tough Second Company so badly, right? That would be a big joke? Fourth, this was just my personal guess, and I suggested that we try to find a way to ask.
Seeing that the people in the woods were ready to flee at any time, there was no time to go over and identify them. In such a dark environment, it would be useless if they didn't say hello. Hao Ping no longer hesitated and ordered the third company, which was already crawling on the north side of the battlefield, to open fire on the spot. They fired a row of shots at the group in the woods, and then ordered a charge to help the second company to encircle the remaining enemies. The third company could also benefit from this victory.
Leading the team charging forward in the darkness, suddenly a ferocious barrage of machine gun fire swept in from the direction of the woods. The fire was so even and the height was controlled so well that Hao Ping suspected that the enemy machine gunner had a pair of night owl eyes and was not a human.
Seven of the three companies that were charging in the dark were knocked down by the bullets, four of whom could make a sound, and three of them were silent. The three companies had no choice but to disperse hastily, crouching down one by one and approaching cautiously after suffering a loss at the first gate.
When we arrived at the enemy's position, we found that they had already escaped, and the people who had circled here from the south were also not far away.
"Hey, why did you come just now? It's been such a long time. If you had come a little earlier, would you have been able to let them run away?" The person on the other side asked in the dark as he approached.
"How can we hurry? You didn't even say hello. Who can we blame? We are lucky enough to come here on our own initiative."
The two sides approached each other while greeting each other. Finally, the two people who bumped into each other first were finally surprised: "Hey? Why is your hat... a circle bigger?"
Then there was a gunshot, and then the two sides fired at each other. The third company stopped and started fighting, and the puppet army ran back while fighting, retreating to the village along the same route. From then on, the third company started a new battle with the puppet army in the village at the place where the escaped people stayed. This is why Hao Ping is still depressed.
Who were those people just now? I don't know, maybe they were guerrillas. At this point, Hao Ping didn't care to think about it anymore. He just lay on the edge of the woods and watched the villagers who kept shooting at this side, thinking about regaining the face of the third company.
They are just puppet troops, not devils. We can't vent our anger if we don't fight them, but we can't fight street battles in the village, as that would cause too much loss. I have ordered the first platoon to go around to the south, Yang Dezhi led the second platoon to the north, and I led the third platoon to stay where they are to attract the firepower of the village. Then we can scare them from three sides, and the puppet troops will definitely flee to the west of the village. Then we can join the three sides and chase them all the way to the west. Let's see who runs faster, you or I, Hao Ping thought to himself.
After a while, gunshots were heard from the south of the village, and then from the north. The first and second rows were in place, and Hao Ping raised his pistol and fired two shots in the direction of the village, while ordering those around him to open fire.
After a burst of rapid gunfire, the sound of return fire from the village disappeared. As expected, it must be the puppet army fleeing westward.
Hao Ping exhaled deeply and stood up from behind the bushes: "Go." Just as he finished speaking, he heard the sound of machine gun fire in the woods behind him.
Ta-da-da…
Bullets whizzed everywhere, and the sound of broken branches and wood could be heard everywhere. Several soldiers who had just stood up fell down instantly after hearing the company commander's order.
Hao Ping looked at the darkness behind him in horror... It was not a Czech-style machine gun, but a Type 99 light machine gun. Not just one, but several were firing at the same time. No flash could be seen, only the sound of bullets continuously piercing through the leaves, a rustling sound...