under fire

East of the village.

Platoon leader Zhi and a group of his men watched helplessly as the fake imperial army entered the village.

He stretched his neck, stamped his feet and pounded his chest: "It's over, Captain Ma is finished."

"Hehe, doesn't this give you, the platoon leader, a chance to be promoted to company commander?" a squad leader under him muttered in a low voice.

"Am I that shameless?"

“There must be…”

"roll…"

"If you really care about the company commander, you should lead your brothers into the village..." The squad leader muttered in a low voice: "Even if you let everyone open fire together..."

"Didn't you hear that... Sakazai... What if the ones coming are really the Imperial Army..."

"Uh…"

As he was talking, a dark figure sneaked into the ditch: "Platoon leader, something terrible has happened! A large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers appeared in the south, definitely more than a hundred."

The platoon leader Zhiyi made a prompt decision: "It seems... the information from the regiment is wrong. Brothers, retreat to the north!"

The second squad leader was stunned for a moment: "The order from the regiment is for us to set up a blockade here so that not even a fly can fly over."

"Damn it, which eye of yours saw a fly flying past?" Platoon leader Zhi slapped him with his neck.

A squad leader immediately added: "The platoon leader is right, the Eighth Route Army is not a fly..."

"The Eighth Route Army is famous for not fearing death and daring to fight. We have money, a family, and wives. It's not worth it to fight with them..."

"But what should the company commander and the others do?" The third squad leader came out.

"Oh, you have great ambitions. You are even beginning to care about the company commander? If you go to the village now... remember, you must go alone to report the news to the company commander..."

"Well... the village is quiet, so let's not disturb the captain..."

"I think we should ask the second company commander to come for reinforcements..." suggested the squad leader.

"That's right. If we run...retreat, we have to find someone to take the blame!" Ma Gan nodded.

So, after notifying the friendly troops in line to come for reinforcement, a platoon of more than 30 security troops, except for firing three shots as a warning, most of them did not even see the shadow of the Eighth Route Army, and quietly ran away to the north.

As for whether the Eighth Route Army will fight with the Second Company after they arrive...

Then I will make up another set of words according to the situation...

You are lying with your eyes open. If you can't even do this, how can you become a senior official in the court?

When Hu Yi arrived, the security forces had already disappeared without a trace.

After establishing a cordon on another village a few miles away, the team quickly entered the village.

Not long after, Li Laosi rushed into a yard on his bicycle: "Report to Captain Hu, a large number of Japanese soldiers chasing us from the south are not letting go."

Liu Yuanqing, who was sitting opposite Hu Yi, analyzed the situation for a while and then said, "It is possible to march at night when the Japanese are raiding, but it is very easy to be ambushed, so they rarely fight at night.

But this time they kept chasing us, obviously because the target was very tempting to them!"

"Tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers and tens of thousands of security forces are carrying out a sweep. Their target can't be us, right?" Hu Yi immediately realized the danger, but he didn't quite believe it.

"Commander Hu is awesome for making the devils make such a big noise!" Liu Yuanqing tapped the map on the table with his hand: "This may be a coincidence, but it may also be a crisis, if the devils' target is really us..."

Hu Yi frowned and said, "Tell me in detail."

"Ahem." Liu Yuan cleared his throat. "It's just a coincidence. The enemy's strategic goal this autumn is to open up the canal transportation line. As for the crisis, my personal opinion is that the 9th Battalion is the first to rush around on the plains, which can easily cause a chain reaction among the various resistance forces. So the enemy is eager to destroy our resistance force that is fanning the flames."

Hu Yi nodded: "No matter what, we must prepare for the worst first."

Hu Yi had more far-reaching ideas and never fully understood the purpose of his superiors in letting the 9th Battalion cross the canal.

It is imperative for the superiors to gain a firm foothold in the plains and expand their base.

In addition to the Eighth Route Army, the anti-Japanese forces on the plains included various nationalist guerrillas, rangers, anti-espionage teams, traffic sabotage teams, and local armed forces that were not under the same jurisdiction.

However, in recent years, there have been almost no large-scale battles against the Japanese invaders on the plains, and the situation in the occupied areas has become increasingly calm.

The Japs even had time to raid the mountains.

The people in the occupied areas have been bullied by the Japanese for so long that many of them will slowly lose their courage just like what happened in the three northern provinces!

Only by creating chaos on the plains can we break the current security situation that the devils are constantly strengthening.

And then expand the influence of the Eighth Route Army in the plains...

After thinking for a while.

Still not getting the point, I roughly analyzed that the superiors threw the 9th Battalion, whose combat effectiveness was still acceptable, into the plains. There was a high possibility that they treated the 9th Battalion as a catfish put into a fish pond!

"Platoon leader, platoon leader, the Eighth Route Army soldiers in the village have gathered together. Judging from their appearance, they are probably planning to run away."

Huh. Five miles north of the village, a large group of security forces who were "on high alert" all let out sounds of relief.

"The Eighth Route Army is leaving? Damn it, didn't the Second Company Captain and his men fight with the Eighth Route Army?" A platoon leader who retreated northward to the "second line of defense" complained in a low voice.

The second squad leader under his command whispered: "Even we ran away. The second company didn't have the courage at all. They were probably just cowards like us..."

The platoon leader raised his hand and gave the second squad leader a big slap on the neck: "If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb."

"So... now, what should we do?"

"Nonsense, of course I'm ready to run away again!"

"The Eighth Route Army is about to flee, why should we run?" "What if the Eighth Route Army continues to move north? Are you going to stay here and fight them to the death?"

The second squad leader asked again: "But what if the Eighth Route Army doesn't go north?"

The platoon leader Zhi said righteously: "Then we can take this opportunity to fight back and retake the position, and then hold on and wait for reinforcements!"

"Great, Platoon Leader, great idea!"

"high!"

“It’s really high…”

When the platoon leader said this, there was a loud shout from the field.

As the saying goes, heroes emerge in troubled times. It is truly remarkable that Platoon Leader Zhi can live a comfortable life in such troubled times!

Some people surrendered to the Japanese and joined the Imperial Army in order to save their lives, some did so because they couldn't bear to leave their wealth, and more people did so because they could live a better life than others by joining the Imperial Army.

The so-called surrender under duress are actually just excuses.

Revolt?

The end is a dead end.

If ordinary people can have the opportunity to change their class and become soldiers of the Imperial Army, their ancestors will surely be filled with joy!

With guns, power, money, you can have whatever you want.

This is a chance for farmers to turn their lives around!

In fact...

In addition to those who joined the Japanese army, there were also a large number of traitors in the Maintenance Association.

From ancient times to the present, there have been countless people on this earth who take money but do nothing.

The brave will die of overeating and the timid will die of starvation. Such heroes are everywhere.

The captain of the second company, who lives just across the village, is also a man of insight.

Reinforce the first company?

He felt that his brain was normal. If a person does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. How could the more than 100 people he had gathered with great difficulty fight against the Eighth Route Army?

Besides, even if we need reinforcements, we have to wait until there is movement over there, right?

The village next door was so quiet that even the chirping of crickets could be heard clearly, which meant that the village was safe and sound.

Even if the regiment investigates the matter later, they can just say they didn't see the people from the first company coming to ask for help. Anyway, it was pitch dark and there was no evidence...

I would rather die than let my friend die!

The best way is to protect your own piece of land and have men and guns under your command.

These days, if you don’t have a gun or a person in your hand, what you say means nothing.

Except for a few spies who were sent out, the rest of the company of more than 100 people were all crowded in the village.

I waited in fear until midnight.

Finally, he heard from his scouts that the Eighth Route Army had assembled and was heading north. The second company commander heaved a sigh of relief, raised his pistol, and fired a shot at the crescent moon in the sky.

呯.

The silence of the plain was broken in an instant.

The sudden gunshot in his ear frightened the security forces in the yard into chaos.

After they all lay down, they heard the company commander yelling loudly: "What are you all standing there for? Open fire!"

Bang bang bang.

Da da da.

Boom

Rifles, light machine guns, and grenades were used one after another, and the battle was very intense.

If you don't know, you might think there are hundreds of people fighting in the village.

"Captain, the Eighth Route Army has all run away. Isn't it a waste of bullets to open fire?"

"The Eighth Route Army's surprise attack company left overnight after their success, which means the Imperial Army will be here soon. If I don't open fire now, how will I explain it to them when they arrive?"

"But the Eighth Route Army ran right under our noses."

"Yeah, they ran away right under my nose, so what? The Eighth Route Army ran away from the Ma Gan side, it's none of our business."

"Then...should we send someone to chase them?"

"I'll give you the gun, and you chase them now!" The second company commander hit his subordinate's chest with the barrel of his gun.

"Brother, be careful of accidental discharge... Hehe, I'm just saying."

At the same time, Li Laosi, who was in charge of the rear guard, led his team not far away from the village entrance in the dark.

Suddenly there was intensive gunfire.

Li Laosi and his group were all frightened to the ground.

The gunshots came from a village not far to the east.

"There is an ambush!" In an instant, a thought flashed through Li Laosi's mind: Oh no, the battalion commander took most of the people and left first, and the ambushing puppet soldiers took the opportunity to rob.

The pursuing Japanese troops are about to arrive, and no matter how many puppet troops are in ambush, they cannot fight here.

If you waste time, it will be difficult to escape once you are caught by the Japanese.

"Machine guns, fire." Li Laosi ordered without hesitation: "Evacuate in turns."

The observer next to him said, "The enemy is at least two or three miles away from us. Are you blind?"

"Is it really that far away?" Li Laosi jumped up first and looked around. The gunshots and gunfire were indeed very far away.

He really wanted to kick the observer who had embarrassed himself, but after thinking it over he held back.

He shouted and led everyone to get up and run quickly to the north. (End of this chapter)