; The sounds of explosions and gunfire eventually died down. Some of the torches that had not been extinguished were still burning. Within the range of visible light, some people continued to cry, some continued to shout, some continued to crawl, some continued to pretend to be dead, and the rest were all corpses.
"Those who can move, stand up now and put your hands behind your head. I'm only reminding you once." The cold voice came from the darkness, as if it came from hell.
The surviving puppet soldiers began to tremble in fear, looking in the direction of the sound in panic. The outline of a soldier gradually emerged from the darkness, step by step appearing at the edge of the torch light. The brim of his hat was very low and curled, and his face was too dark to be seen clearly, revealing only the sharp features of a man.
He held a long Type 38 rifle casually, with the bayonet pointing diagonally at the ground, reflecting the light of the torch. The rifle strap naturally drooped in a crescent shape, swaying slightly in rhythm with the soldier's steady steps, like an ornament of the god of death.
Some people's knees could not help but weaken, and they fell to their knees, holding the back of their heads tightly with their shaking hands. Some who were injured and unable to stand up tried to sit up, spreading their shaking palms in the light to indicate that they were harmless.
The barricades at the gate were lifted, and the two puppet army guards outside the gate also walked in. One of them carefully scanned the scene with a revolver in his hand, while the other hung a bayonet on the muzzle of the gun as he walked, and then approached the bodies lying on the ground step by step.
In the darkness outside the light, a soldier from the third squad muttered, "It's over so soon... So many people died... If we... persuade them to surrender first, wouldn't it be better..."
"Damn it, shut up! Do you think this is herding sheep? You are the only one with a conscience!" Luo Fugui held the machine gun and aimed at the area with light, staring at the new recruits of the third squad.
Boom!
The sound of a revolver gunshot startled the whole audience. A body that was not a corpse turned into a corpse. Maybe he was seriously injured and wanted to move, maybe he had just woken up from a coma, or maybe it was for other reasons. In short, Ma Liang understood his movements as potentially dangerous, so he turned him into a corpse completely.
The two men holding bayonets completely ignored the puppet soldiers who were either kneeling or standing around them, and walked past them calmly, stepping on the broken limbs and blood, stabbing the corpses and the seriously injured who could not get up with one knife after another, and moving forward steadily step by step.
When the sound of the bayonet being pulled out rang in his ears, a corpse pretending to be dead finally broke its nerves due to fear, and suddenly turned over crying: "I am not, I am not a corpse, I will get up now, I will get up..."
Unfortunately, the dark face under the curled hat brim did not react at all. The bloody bayonet pierced into the chest of the crying man without any hesitation, just like it did with every corpse, causing his screams to stop abruptly and turning him into a real corpse.
In the darkness beside the gate, a soldier from the second squad couldn't stand it anymore and muttered, "Platoon leader and squad leader... They didn't even let the seriously injured go?"
Shi Cheng asked back: "If it were you, would you rather die slowly while crying in pain, or would you rather be stabbed and die quickly?"
The recruits of the second squad were silent. Before they joined the ninth platoon, they heard rumors that the ninth squad was ruthless, mainly because the ninth squad had always been in a tough fight with the second company and fought more Japanese. Now as members of the ninth platoon, this mysterious veil has finally been lifted. It is not what outsiders see. The ninth squad is really ruthless, and it has nothing to do with the second company or anyone else.
…
Click--the watch case jumped up with a crisp metallic sound. Wu Shitou stood beside him like a sculpture, holding the torch motionlessly. The flames made the watch face look warm. It was 4:30 in the morning, and the day was about to dawn.
At the door of a house not far away, a little girl holding a lantern shouted, "Li Xiang, you carry the cans, Xu Xiao, take the two bags."
Then I heard Luo Fugui say, "Don't make any random arrangements. Li Xiang has more than a dozen grenades hanging on his body. Come on, I'll carry the cans."
"You're dreaming! I'd rather carry it myself than have your help!"
"Little girl, I'm thinking about the collective, do you understand?"
Hu Yi turned his gaze to the playground. Shi Cheng led a group of people holding torches and standing at surveillance posts on the playground. More than 20 puppet soldiers who had been imprisoned were released. Together with a dozen new prisoners, they stood in a pile on the playground. There were also a dozen injured prisoners sitting or lying next to them, bandaging each other, and also gathered in a small pile, waiting to accept an unknown fate.
On the other side, Ma Liang led his third squad, busy pouring kerosene on the bungalows and wooden walls. At this time, Liu Jianqiang came running over: "Squad leader, as you said, we picked the best guns and tied them into thirty bundles. However, there are still some good ones, should we take some more?"
"It's just a burden. We won't take any more with us. Let Ma Liang burn the rest." After saying that, Hu Yi started walking towards the playground, followed by Liu Jianqiang and Wu Shitou.
The Japanese instructor lying on the ground was gagged, groaning unwillingly. Shi Cheng followed Hu Yi's instructions and bent down to tear open the rope around the Japanese instructor's mouth.
"I demand... to be treated in a military manner!" The Japanese instructor knew some Chinese, and he started shouting as soon as the restraints on his mouth were untied.
"What is the military way?" Hu Yi asked calmly.
"I want my knife!"
"Do you think I'm interested in talking nonsense with you? The only reason you're still alive is because I accidentally forgot about you."
"I must end my life by myself!" The devil's eyes were filled with pride.
At this time, the puppet soldiers were all watching, everyone was watching.
Hu Yi turned his eyes away from the devil's face and began to scan the puppet army prisoners behind him, looking from left to right, and suddenly asked: "He is your instructor, does anyone want to talk?"
The whole place was silent. All eyes were filled with either fear or indifference. Only the burning torches around could be heard.
"It seems... you overestimate yourself. Unfortunately, in my eyes you are just a target, just like you see us!" After saying this, Hu Yi tilted his head: "Runny nose."
"have."
"Tell your men to bring the javelins." Not to mention a saber, they won't even give you a bayonet, so that you can be proud enough and go back home with three javelins.
Several soldiers from the second squad quickly turned around and ran into the darkness to retrieve the three darts that had been thrown away.
"You are not worthy of being a soldier! You are all cowards! Despicable Chinese pigs!..." The Japanese shouted at Hu Yi ferociously, struggling to stand up with his bound body.
Unfortunately, the soldier in front of him showed no emotion and stopped talking, as if the Japanese on the ground had turned into soil and he could no longer see them.
The three recruits from the second squad returned with javelins in their hands and looked at the platoon leader at a loss, but the platoon leader seemed to be an outsider and did not respond, so they turned to look at the squad leader again.
Liu Jianqiang frowned: "What are you still standing there for?"
Then three trembling javelins stabbed at the Japanese on the ground. I don't know whether it was because of panic or out of ignorance and compassion, but none of the three javelins of the three recruits penetrated the target. The Japanese with three holes in them was still rolling on the ground. Their pride was gone, and only the painful howls like pigs being slaughtered remained.
Liu Jianqiang was so angry that he, who always prided himself on being highly conscious in the Ninth Class, subconsciously kicked the new recruit under his command: "Do you want the whole platoon to wait for you three?"
After the kick, Liu Jianqiang realized that people are influenced by bad people. He was used to seeing him kicking people. How could he feel? Fortunately, Ma Liang was not there. Shame on him!
So the three javelins stabbed again, and this time they all went through, making six holes in front and back, plus the three holes in the first stab, sending the unlucky Japanese to death. The three javelins were not pulled out again, but stood slanted and tilted, presenting a sense of art that no one knew how to appreciate.
The puppet army prisoners were so weak at the sight of this that the faint voice suddenly appeared again: "This is the end of the matter. You can go home or report to your master in the county, but you are not allowed to come back to put out fires. Disband now."
Then he waved to Shi Cheng and turned back. The guys from Class 9 were already waiting at the gate, and the little girl was still arguing with the bear; Ma Liang and Class 3 were already lighting fires with torches, and the guys from Class 1 and Class 2 followed Hu Yi and left the playground.
The puppet soldiers stood there in a daze, looking at each other in disbelief. Was this nightmare really over? Could they really leave? The puppet platoon leader was also standing among them, looking at the torches going away, muttering in his heart: They are clearly the Eighth Route Army, but they are a little different from the other Eighth Route Army? From a few words, it seemed like the Ninth Platoon. The Ninth Platoon? Is there a system with this number
…
A streak of dawn appeared in the distant east. The huge fire in the direction of Hekouying was too far away to be seen, but there was still a red glow there, even the bottom of the clouds was illuminated.
Although there were clouds, it was no longer so dark. The road under my feet began to become clear and the nearby scenery could be roughly distinguished.
Heading northwest, not far from Lushuipu, the torches had long been abandoned and the team was moving cautiously, but they had not yet encountered the company of puppet troops that were reinforcing Luoye Village.
Hu Yi gave the order to stop, and the team immediately disappeared into the woods on the side of the road.
Ma Liang, the leader, ran back to Hu Yi in confusion and said, "Brother, why are we stopping here? It's almost dawn. I think we should run to the river in one go and hide there until the day is over."
Looking at the path not far from the woods, Hu Yi replied, "Now is not the time to hide. Go west a little and find a suitable position to observe the path. If you find puppet troops coming from the west, come back and report immediately." Then he whispered to the team resting in the woods, "Squads 1, 2, 3, and 9 spread out in a line and prepare for battle."
"Ah? Still want to fight?" Ma Liang's eyes widened.
"Not necessarily. It depends on the situation. Go to your location quickly."
Ma Liang nodded and ran away.
The artillery tower construction site at the mountain pass of Luoye Village was hit hard last night. Although Hu Yi didn't know that the Fourth Company was left there by the regiment commander to fight until dawn, there were only 20 to 30 puppet troops and Japanese devils when they left. The puppet army company that was reinforced by the Hekou Battalion must have stayed behind to help with the defense, but no one knew how long they would stay and whether they would come back after dawn.
Now that the Hekou Camp is gone, we can maneuver freely in this area to the north in a short period of time, so Hu Yi wants to strike again. If he can wait until that company of puppet troops is gone, he will have to give them a round of attacks even in the daytime. Annihilation is impossible, the goal is to kill a group of them by surprise, and then get rid of them quickly. Even if he cannot cripple them, he will at least make them lose a layer of skin. This is called going with the flow.
In the woods, the soldiers of the ninth platoon gradually formed a scattered firing line facing the path, silently...