Hu Yi looked determined and waved his hand impatiently at Wu Shitou who was holding a shovel: "Bury him!"
A dumbfounded Luo Fugui sat in a long shallow pit. His Czech light machine gun was placed beside him in the pit like a burial object, with a ball of grass stuffed into the muzzle. "Wait, wait! Boss Hu, I don't think I can do this!"
"Then come out and bury me!"
"Why is it not you or me? Why is it always like this?"
"Didn't you also say that there are only two good machine gunners? I don't trust the others."
"I am... but... there is only one chance in a million. What if my machine gun jams?"
Hu Yi nodded expressionlessly: "You have reason to worry." He turned to Ma Liang and said, "Bury another Tang Dagou." Then he looked at Luo Fugui and said, "Any other questions?"
"I still... Maybe the enemy is very close to me? Even with a machine gun, I can't use it. I think..."
"That possibility does exist." Hu Yi waved his hand at Ma Liang again: "Bury another Wang Xiaosan."
"Boss Hu, that's not the problem. If that big horse hoof steps on me, I won't..."
Qin You, who was a spectator, couldn't stand it any longer and frowned at Luo Fugui in the pit: "Are you done yet? Do you want to bury the whole company with you? Come on, come out and bury me first!"
Luo Fugui was finally helpless, and Wu Shitou began to use the shovel vigorously, burying Luo Fugui shallowly, leaving only his nose and mouth, and covered him with broken grass.
Looking at this obviously uncoordinated piece of ground, Qin You asked Hu Yi: "Should we deal with it more carefully? It's a bit conspicuous."
"That's it! Cavalry scouts are very cautious. Even if they find something, they will think it is a booby trap or trap left by us. So Mule's last worry is unnecessary. Scouts will only avoid it and will not take the initiative to cause trouble."
"Did Gao Yidao come up with this idea?"
"Yes." Hu Yi turned around: "Rest is over! Let's go."
Looking at his back walking in the green with his Zhongzheng rifle, Qin You sighed softly: "You—"
To the northwest, nearly two miles away, behind a gently undulating slope, a Japanese soldier stood on the ground holding the reins, pulling two war horses side by side and close together; another Japanese soldier stood high on the horse's back, with a saddle under each foot, holding a telescope in his hand and facing southeast; more than ten meters away, another Japanese soldier rode a war horse, holding a Type 44 carbine in one hand, looking at the scenery with boredom.
This should obviously be a four-person reconnaissance team, but now one of them has left.
…
Before sunset, the gradually thickening slanting clouds caused the western sky to turn blood red. The sky was covered with large patches of floating gray like scales, with little blue.
A dozen fast horses were galloping in the fading wilderness in the evening light, as arrogant as the wind. The first rider in the front was the Japanese cavalry captain. His horse was running towards the southeast. He kept looking at the afterglow in the west, wondering if there would be any night rain, and who would be more disadvantaged by the rain.
On the southeast horizon, dark shadows gradually appeared. As they got closer, they became clearer. They were a dozen war horses taking a rest. Nearby, there were a dozen Japanese cavalrymen resting tiredly in the grass.
Seeing the cavalry captain jump off the saddle, a cavalry lieutenant immediately came forward and said, "Team 13 has found them. Judging from their tracks, they should have turned south from here. I just sent a new team to follow the tracks to the south."
The captain was stunned: "Did Group 13 not send any further information about their location?"
"This... you can go over there and take a look."
A minute later, the cavalry captain stopped beside a horse corpse. The unfortunate warhorse had been hit by at least seven or eight bullets. There was another horse corpse nearby, as well as the corpses of two cavalry scouts. Forty or fifty meters further ahead was the third horse corpse. About ten meters in front of the horse corpse was the corpse of the third cavalry scout lying upside down. Judging from the extremely inconsistent direction of his head, he had broken his neck before he was shot.
Seeing the captain staring at the horse corpse without saying a word, the second lieutenant reminded: "Judging from the time, they are within ten kilometers to the south!" Then he stared at the captain and waited for an answer. Should he continue to wait here for the cavalry groups to reunite or start chasing immediately
Unexpectedly, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers survived another day! The cavalry captain looked southward, and the distant sky was already dim. Perhaps in half an hour, he would not be able to see far.
He unfolded the map again, compared and measured again, "They will definitely cross the Meixian Highway tonight. This is the most advantageous option for them! Immediately send someone to Meixian County to report the latest position and movement of the Eighth Route Army and readjust the deployment. The range should be... the fan-shaped area southeast of Meixian, with the highway east of Meixian as the north and the road from Meixian to Xinglong Town as the west. By tomorrow morning, the Eighth Route Army must be in this range, and the radius will not be large! In addition, contact our two auxiliary camps and ask them to continue southward until they stop at the Meixian Highway, and then temporarily be under the control of the Meixian Patrol Team."
The lieutenant had no choice but to ask: "Should we... give chase again now? We can catch up!"
"What can we do if we catch up with them? Show them at a distance before dark? Do you think they are not fast enough? Give them a light whip to give them new motivation? Kogoro, calm down. The cavalry's goal is time, not the enemy. Think about it, how long have they been marching? Do you think they can move at the same speed as today tomorrow? Tomorrow, we will definitely see them again, maybe at noon tomorrow. Tomorrow will be much easier than today!"
"What if they turn east tonight and get farther away?"
"That's a good question! That will make this hunt even longer. I'm more inclined to think that they will turn west and appear on the north-south line from Meixian County to Xinglong Town tomorrow morning. Kogoro, not all people who are escaping will panic and lose their way. I can bet with you on this one!"
At this moment, the cavalry captain's horse was snorting not far away, and the straight-line distance between it and Hu Yi's Zhongzheng rifle that was shaking behind his shoulder was 7,651 meters.
…
In the early morning, the sky was so dark that there was not only no moon, but also no stars. Everything was covered by clouds and I had no idea what time it was.
A few miles east of Xinglong Town, the military camp that was once turned into a temporary concentration camp is still a military camp.
During that chaotic mutiny, many people were unjustly killed and countless people were replaced. Although the military camp has been restored, things and people have changed. There are few old people. Some were transferred or captured. The new recruits’ training has just ended recently.
The playground in the military camp was brightly lit with torches, and more than 300 soldiers were standing there in a black mass. The new battalion commander was loudly announcing the telephone order he had just received: the Eighth Route Army fled into the southeastern border of Meixian County last night, and the garrison in Xinglong Town must cooperate with the blockade operation, heading north, and establish a blockade along the way with the friendly forces heading south from Meixian County.
After some heroic speeches before departure, the barricades at the entrance of the military camp were raised, and the troops rumbled out with torches, yawning and still listless.
After the troops had left, the two puppet soldiers guarding the gate pushed up the barricades again, returned to the dim horse lamp at the base of the gate wall, and sat leaning against the wall with their rifles in their arms.
One of them said, "Are you crazy? How can there be so many Eighth Route Army soldiers? You make it sound like they are everywhere! I can't even sleep peacefully. Hey, is that right?"
The other one put on his hat and didn't bother to pay attention, just leaning against the wall and continuing to sleep.
I don't know how long it had been, maybe before dawn, there seemed to be footsteps coming on the road outside the gate. The puppet soldier who had spoken earlier yawned, pricked up his ears, stood up with his rifle, and poked his head out of the gate from the wooden fence: "Who is it?"
"I'm here to look for someone." A figure was very close, approaching the dim light area next to the gate. He stopped cautiously and spread his arms to both sides, indicating that he was not a dangerous person.
The puppet soldier still pulled the bolt to load the bullet, and pointed the muzzle of the gun at the approaching person through the barricades: "Stop talking nonsense! Are you a ghost or a human? Stand closer, can you hear me?"
The man had no choice but to take two steps closer and stand outside the barricade. The lantern beside the door could already illuminate his entire body. He was covered in dust, and the puppet soldier frowned at the sight: "I see you are wearing something like that?"
"I don't even know what I'm wearing, I just found it. I'm really here to look for someone, it's urgent! Please, help me get Mancang out."
"I said, do you know where this place is? I..."
The puppet soldier held his gun at the muzzle and hadn't finished speaking when the man sleeping with his cap on suddenly jumped up and looked through the wooden fence. His eyes almost fell to the ground: "Brother Ma Liang?"
The visitor smiled tiredly outside the barricade: "Mancang, how are you?"
The puppet soldier finally put down his gun, what a true love!
The man asked Mancang through the barricades: "How many people are left in your camp now?"
"Nineteen."
"Full sentry?"
"After the battalion commander left, I guess only the four corner sentries are left."
"Is there a way to solve the problem without firing a gun?"
Mancang subconsciously turned back to look at the military camp: "This... there is a way. How many people do you have?"
"More than 200. I can't walk any more. There's nowhere to stop. I need to stay."
The puppet soldier next to him was already dumbfounded, and only then did he manage to pick up his chin: "Wait a minute! You...he...this is..."
Mancang then turned to look at his colleague and said ashamedly, "He is an Eighth Route Army soldier. I am also... an Eighth Route Army soldier."
The person outside the barricade also turned to look at the puppet soldier: "Keep your voice down! Don't point your gun at me again, or someone behind me might accidentally fire!"
…