The fire on the east side of the village was blazing, and soon it burned into a large area, separating the second company on the edge of the village from the enemy in the village. The gunshots became sparse, and the explosions were no longer frequent. The sky-high flames illuminated a large area. Anyone who attacked in the light was a fool.
This result was not only unexpected by the enemy, but also by Wu Yan, Hao Ping and Hu Yi. They were scattered in three directions and not in the same place. They had no time to communicate with each other and study countermeasures, and had to rely on their own decisions.
In the darkness of the woods north of the village, Hao Ping, who had been watching the fire, asked Yang Dezhi beside him: "What do you think?"
Yang Dezhi looked at Hao Ping gratefully. He didn't expect that after yesterday's accidental injury, Hao Ping still didn't mind listening to his advice. So he was humble for once: "I don't have much experience in this kind of emergency. What do you think... should we do?"
"The Japanese don't know our strengths and weaknesses. If they fight in the dark, they will lose all their advantages. So they will stay in the village and refuse to come out no matter how we harass them. They want to wait until dawn. I guess now... they should have two choices. One is to continue to stay in the village and delay. After all, the village is not small and may not be burned down by dawn. The second is to withdraw from the village to the west and make other plans, either leaving or staying there."
Yang Dezhi nodded: "That makes sense, so what should we do now?"
"That's what I'm hesitating about. If we go to the west to make arrangements ahead of time, we might be able to take advantage of the chaos and make a profit from the Japanese. But if they don't choose to retreat westward, all our efforts will be in vain."
Yang Dezhi understood that what Hao Ping needed now was confidence. He thought for a moment and said, "Whether there are fish or not, shouldn't we catch some first?"
Hao Ping was silent for a moment as he looked at the fire, then he ordered the soldiers, "Notify the whole company to move westward."
In the woods south of the village, a platoon leader was lying in the darkness, whispering, "Second Company's move is great. With a big fire, the Japanese can only get anxious. Company Commander, do you think we should also go over there and join in the fun? Add a few more fires and burn the Japanese to ashes in one go?"
Wu Yan didn't say anything, but kept staring at the fire on the east side of the village. His face didn't look good, but because of the darkness, the soldiers couldn't see it.
At this moment, Wu Yan was desperately calculating and guessing the subsequent changes in the situation caused by Gao Yidao's setting the fire. It is estimated that the Japanese will have three reactions. First, continue to hold on in the village as long as possible. The closer it is to dawn, the more favorable the situation will be for them. Second, withdraw from the village to the west and then go straight to Lushuipu. This should be the most stable and conservative plan. Third, directly leave the village and engage in a night battle or a melee. The forces of both sides are equal. Although they have lost their advantages in accuracy and firepower, it is not certain who will win and who will lose.
Wu Yan was able to think of three possibilities, but without understanding the enemy commander's personality, he could not determine the answer among the three options; therefore, Wu Yan chose the possibility that was most unfavorable to his side according to his own personality to prepare for it.
In comparison, it is of course more troublesome to fight back. Once the situation is like this, the first and third companies are easier to deal with and can retreat at any time, but the second company in the middle is in danger and may even be eaten. I don't know how the third company will respond, so I can only do what the first company should do and hold on to the current southern forest. If the situation is bad, at least the second company can have a direction to retreat or break out.
"Attention, the first platoon continues to monitor the direction of the village, the second platoon changes to defend the west, the third platoon defends the east, the entire company holds this forest and is ready to engage the enemy at close range.
"Huh?" None of the three platoon leaders understood. Either fight or retreat. The whole company defends? Defend both sides? What's the point
"implement"
"Yes." The last stern tone made the subordinates dare not be vague and turned around to run to make arrangements.
"Brother, when... shall we set off?"
"Wait and see. When we know the enemy's movements, we'll set out."
Ma Liang was a little confused. Why did the devil come? He asked again: "Where are we going?"
"We will leave the same way tonight as we left last night. Everything will remain the same as before."
"Then... why did the devil come here?"
Hu Yi was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Now Gao Yidao is leading the Second Company to set fire. If you were a Japanese soldier, what would you do?"
Ma Liang looked back at the fire in the village, thought for a moment and said, "Looking at the situation, only half of the village will be burned by dawn. We can still stay here, right?"
Luo Fugui suddenly laughed at this time: "Hehehe, stupid? You go stay in the village and try it. If they don't burn you to death, you will be choked to death. Why are the little devils called little devils? Because they are so cunning. They are still roasting sweet potatoes in the village when it's so smoky? How stupid are they? Do you think they are all like Wu Shitou?"
Ma Liang was indignant: "Then what can they do in the dark?"
"Do I need to think about it? I'm running in this pitch-black darkness. I can run all the way to Green Water Shop. I don't believe it. Is there anyone who will follow me and burn it again?"
"… If you were a devil, we would be very lucky and have no more worries." This was Ma Liang's final evaluation of Luo Fugui.
"The Japanese won't stay in the village. They are a squadron, not a squad. There is no treasure buried in the village. It's not their temper to do this." Hu Yi spoke up, first denying Ma Liang's opinion, then paused and continued: "They won't run west either. There was no gunfire over there, but anyone with a little suspicion would not easily choose that direction. There is basically no visibility. What if they are ambushed? What if they step on a landmine? We really don't have an ambush, let alone a landmine. It's a pity that the Japanese don't know."
Luo Fugui suddenly realized and said, "How about... I shout to tell them that everything is fine in the west. Do you think... they can understand?"
There was a crackling sound, and in the darkness, someone threw things towards Luo Fugui, including sand and dirt. What made Luo Fugui most angry was that someone actually threw stones at him, and it seemed that it came from the direction of Xiao Hongying.
It was not until the bear barked a few times in the darkness that Ma Liang patted the dirt off his hands and said, "Brother, if you say so, the Japanese will only have two directions left, either south or north."
"I guess so, so... let's wait and see."
There were roaring and crackling sounds all around, illuminating the surroundings, sometimes bright, sometimes red, and sometimes dim. Some gray soldier figures were crawling or hiding, fighting in a wretched and awkward manner among the flames, ashes and rubble.
Gao Yidao, who was hiding behind a broken wall, had a blackened face and a dirty body. He was removing the bayonet from the muzzle of his gun, carefully wiping both sides of the blade in front of his chest, and only after making sure it was clean did he put it into the bayonet sheath on his waist.
He had to take it off because the gun body with the bayonet was too long and was extremely inconvenient among the rubble. Only then did he realize the advantages of a pistol, and Gao Yidao regretted not preparing one for himself.
With a loud rumbling sound, the roof of a burning house not far away suddenly collapsed, and a large mist of dust and embers and sparks were rolled and pushed to the surroundings, bringing with it a burst of burning breath, covering a large area and causing coughs all around.
The gunshots were sparse, but still ringing, and some wall tops or brick cracks occasionally bounced with flying debris, which was no longer conspicuous in the flickering firelight. A figure crouched and shuttled through the smoke of the ruins, sometimes jumping cleverly, sometimes crawling quickly, and soon rushed to the nearby area.
Gao Yidao took a closer look at the blackened face in the light of the fire. It was Kuaitui'er.
"How's the second row doing?"
"Phew—there are still about ten left."
"What? He can kill more than half of the soldiers by setting a fire? What does Erzhuzi think he is for? Go back and tell him now that this platoon leader doesn't need him anymore, replace him right now." Gao Yidao got angry and shouted at Kuaitui'er in a hoarse voice.
"It has been changed. Erzhuzi is dead. There was a grenade. It went off before the cord was pulled and the weapon was released. Seven or eight people died on the spot, including Erzhuzi."
Gao Yidao was sitting behind the broken wall, speechless, with his head down, and sighed deeply. What can be said about this? This is fate. It's just that they... died unjustly, this is fate.
Now there are more than ten people left in the second row, more than ten in the first row, and more than ten people around him. More than half of the second company has been killed or wounded. It is not clear how many Japanese soldiers died, maybe twenty, but it is definitely less than the second company. The original purpose was to rely on courage to disrupt the Japanese's formation, but now it seems in vain. At this moment, the fire has burned into a large area, but the Japanese still don't feel panic. They don't even think about putting out the fire, but just continue to shoot steadily from the other side of the flames. Gao Yidao is a little discouraged.
"Captain, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just a headache from the fire." Gao Yidao was thinking whether the Second Company should retreat now.
Kuai Tui'er was the signalman of the Second Company, and was equivalent to Gao Yidao's tail. He could probably guess what the company commander was thinking, so he said nothing more and sat down against the broken wall next to Gao Yidao, looking at the darkness in the fields and listening to the occasional rising and falling gunshots.
After a while, Kuaitui suddenly spoke.
"Captain, the sound of gunfire... seems a little off."
Gao Yidao came back to his senses: "What's wrong?"
"Listen, why are they using Type 79 instead of Type 38?"
Gao Yidao pricked up his ears immediately after hearing this, frowned and stood still. Sure enough, the sound of the Japanese's Type 38 rifles was no longer heard from the other side of the flames, but instead the sound of Type 79 rifles, one here and one there.
"Damn it, the enemy is the puppet army now"
"Are the Japs tired? Are they sending puppet soldiers to take their place?" Kuaitui muttered suspiciously.
"It's impossible! The Japs must have moved." Gao Yidao suddenly turned over, squatted behind the broken wall and stuck his head out. Unfortunately, the smoke was so thick and the fire reflected in the opposite direction that he couldn't see the situation on the opposite side clearly.
"Hurry up and notify the first and second platoons. Pay attention to the flanks and wait for my orders at any time."
The fast-footed man hurriedly got up and rushed into the hot smoke again...