under fire

The crescent moon is in the west.

The Japanese troops on the raid had long been accustomed to chasing and hunting prey as weak as chickens.

Sporadic gunshots and explosions were heard occasionally.

The hunters seemed to realize that this time the prey seemed to be quite powerful.

As the number of casualties continued to increase, the arrogant hunters seemed to gradually understand one thing: the night was not fair to both parties involved in the pursuit.

It is more beneficial for the escapee!

As for the phrase "don't pursue a desperate enemy", the major in charge of the command obviously didn't know it.

The major was in a very bad mood when he saw the wounded soldiers of the world's best imperial army being carried to the rear after being shot by hidden guns or blown up by landmines.

This is unacceptable!

He had to order the team to slow down the pursuit.

"...The order issued by the headquarters is: Eliminate this group of Eighth Route Army at all costs..." The military police captain who hurried over spoke in a bad tone.

"I have spared no expense..." Looking at the wounded soldiers on the ground, the major was in a bad mood.

"Are you concerned about casualties?"

"How far can the Eighth Route Army run in one night with only their two legs?" The major said nonchalantly: "They will die sooner or later."

"Don't fool yourself! From the traces left on the ground, we can see that the Tubalu had quite a few bicycles..."

"My eyes are not blind, I can see..."

"Then launch a full-scale attack immediately!"

"You know they have bicycles, how can you launch a full-scale attack in the dark?" The major said in a dissatisfied tone: "If you have the time to talk to me, you might as well send more people to block them in front."

The military police captain was a little embarrassed: "The occupied area is short of troops, and it takes time to assemble and move to the right place."

"When it's daybreak, I will ask the headquarters for aviation support for reconnaissance. No matter how chaotic this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers are, we can know their movements in advance and then deploy troops to encircle them."

While the two were talking, a Japanese soldier came hurriedly with a telegram: "Report, the headquarters has an urgent order to annihilate the group of Eighth Route Army who escaped the encirclement!"

The major was stunned for a moment: "Those people in the command center are too ignorant and have no idea of ​​the actual situation!"

The military police captain gloated: "Maybe it's because there hasn't been a major war for a long time. I think there's something wrong with your attitude!"

The major was furious: "Damn it, it's not your turn as a lieutenant to point fingers in front of me..."

Having said that, the major had to quickly adjust the deployment.

He immediately gave the order to use the Imperial Army's tried-and-true tactics: advance the pursuit in parallel and maintain pressure.

The large force advanced rapidly along the main roads on both wings, hoping to achieve the result of dividing and encircling the enemy before daybreak.

Time keeps passing.

The Eighth Route Army vehicle with wheels under its feet was running very fast.

As a result, the Imperial Army's flanking attacks failed to trap the enemy several times.

The moonlight is still hazy.

A mile ahead, there were sparks of fire.

In the field of view of the telescope, an east-west windbreak belt is faintly visible in the distance.

The flames were from the Eighth Route Army soldiers blatantly laying mines with torches at the edge of the woods.

The second lieutenant of the vanguard who was pursuing was in a bad mood. He knew without thinking that the Eighth Route Army was laying mines again.

I have tried several times to shorten the pursuit distance to more than 100 meters.

However, every time they closed the distance, they could not gain any advantage. The group of Eighth Route Army soldiers who were left behind not only had good marksmanship, but also had several light machine guns.

Machine gun bullets were fired at the pursuing imperial army as if they were free.

After firing a magazine and causing casualties to the Imperial Army, they buried a mine and immediately continued to run away like a rabbit.

The Imperial Army's grenade launchers lost their reference points in the dark and could not accurately measure distance.

Several consecutive shots failed to destroy the Eighth Route Army machine gun.

The lieutenant gasped and looked up at the crescent moon in the west.

I turned on the flashlight and looked at my watch. The hour hand on the egg-sized dial was pointing to three.

It was three o'clock in the morning. We only needed to hold on to this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers for another two or three hours before daybreak.

By then, the Imperial Army will be able to easily complete the encirclement.

If the air force comes to conduct reconnaissance again, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers who escaped by taking advantage of the loopholes in the blockade line will no longer be able to hide.

The lieutenant turned off the flashlight and suddenly found that the team had stopped moving forward.

The lieutenant quickly strode to the front of the scout team that was stopped more than 300 meters away from the windbreak forest and growled in dissatisfaction: "Why did you stop?"

The men quickly turned on their flashlights, shining the beams of light on the road full of bicycle tracks. Every two or three meters on the road, there were thin hemp ropes tied to branches stuck in the ground: "The despicable Tubalu have buried mines here again!"

Mines!

The lieutenant frowned and said, "Why not just go around it on the ground?"

"There are some in the field too!" The man shone the bright beam of the flashlight onto the field next to him.

There were a large group of Japanese soldiers squatting in the field, and in front of them were thin hemp ropes tied to branches stuck in the ground!

The Eighth Route Army can really do it.

I really don't know where the Tubalu got all this hemp rope.

It is possible to take a detour, but it would be a waste of time because the local troop riders are always very fast on bicycles.

The pursuit was not easy.

The Japanese demining engineers arrived quickly, panting, and began their work.

Having learned from the previous experience, I didn't dare to touch the hemp ropes casually.

First, gently pull away the loose soil around the branches.

Revealing the dark mines underneath

Da da da.

Da da da.

Suddenly, there was a terrible sound of light machine gun fire coming from the dark woods.

The impact point splashed a rain of mud in the minefield.

When a branch stuck in the ground was broken by a bullet.

Then the hemp rope was pulled.

boom.

The first mine exploded in a shower of mud.

The splashing mud hit more hemp ropes

bang

Rumble.

A series of explosions were heard from the location where the Japanese vanguard team was staying.

The loud noise of the explosion drowned out the screams of those torn apart by the impact of shrapnel shock waves.

The blood and flesh splattered everywhere like hell on earth

Windbreak edge.

Wow

With a slight click, the machine gunner replaced the magazine with a new one, then lifted the Czech light machine gun and put it on his shoulder, then spread his legs and jumped onto the back seat of the bicycle waiting on the side of the road.

The leading bicycle is holding a flashlight!

In the team, the rider and the darkness on the back seat kept whispering loudly.

"This chain mine developed by Liu Yuanqing is really amazing!"

"He just used the principle of a match, rubbing the match directly into the explosive, and the mine would explode when the branch shook."

"The problem is that if he didn't tell us, how would we know that landmines could be played like this?"

"It's just that burying this thing is really too dangerous, your hands can't shake at all"

"I think Liu Yuanqing's skill in handling explosives and setting mines is even better than that of Captain Li Xiang!"

"That is required."

"I have a question that I can't figure out. If the Japanese directly use mud to hit the rope on the ground, then wouldn't the mine go off in vain?"

"Hey, this is how we prevent accidental mine explosions. The key is to tie matches to the branches that are inserted into the mines. Shaking the branches left and right will prevent the mines from exploding."

"Matches. So those ropes are just a trick?"

"Yes, the branches are elastic. Only by pulling the branches up and down like striking a match in the mine can it explode."

“Isn’t this ridiculous?”

"Hey, I told you to learn to read but you didn't take it seriously. After this battle, I'll tell you the principle of mine explosion using flammable matches as fuses."

"Liu Yuanqing, a deserter, is so powerful, how come the national army can't defeat the Japanese?"

"Do you think the Japanese are fools? They would run into a minefield in the dark like a club."

"That's true. The Japs are good at shooting, and they have machine guns, cannons, and tanks."

After several miles of bumpy ride, a dark figure sitting in the back seat felt that the backpack was a bit cumbersome: "Squad leader, can I throw away this sandbag I'm carrying?"

"If you want to die, throw it away"

The shadow who was asking the question hesitated for a moment and complained: "This sandbag is so thick that it can't stop the Type 38 bullet with extremely strong penetrating power."

"It's better to be safe than sorry. What if we get blocked in the dark?"

The leading cyclist suddenly stopped, panting and shouting: "I can't pedal anymore, let's take over now."

After a brief pause, the team ran north again.

After running north for more than ten miles, I saw more than ten dark shadows standing on the side of the road.

The shadow saw the bicycle team coming and said: "Turn off the flashlights, everyone, get off the bikes immediately and run westward."

The dark figure took the bicycle, waited for the rearguard team to leave to the west, and then used the branch in his hand to sweep away the footprints left on the ground.

Then, one of them jumped on a bicycle and pedaled hard to continue heading north. (End of this chapter)