under fire

About forty miles west of the canal.

In a dilapidated village.

There were puppet soldiers lying everywhere, sleeping with their clothes and guns in their arms.

A soldier with his military cap askew and a look of panic on his face ran into the village.

He strode towards the largest courtyard in the village, but did not see the head of the group.

He pushed away the guard on duty at the gate who tried to stop him and ran straight to the room inside the house.

The door was closed and the man didn't dare to kick it.

Standing outside the door, he shouted: "Commander, it's bad. The Eighth Route Army has surrounded us."

A woman in the house screamed.

Soon, the head of the group, wearing shorts and with his upper body naked, opened the door and asked sleepily, "What did you say? We have surrounded the Eighth Route Army?"

"No, the Eighth Route Army is attacking us! From the east, west and east, the closest one is less than three miles away! There are people everywhere, at least three regiments."

"What?" The regiment commander's eyes widened suddenly, not even bothering to put on his pants: "How is that possible? I didn't even hear a single gunshot?"

"The Eighth Route Army has approached the outer guard post and is shouting slogans"

"Slogan? What slogan?"

"You have been surrounded. The Eighth Route Army will treat prisoners well and will not kill them if they lay down their weapons and surrender."

"Wait, what did you just say? The Eighth Route Army came from the east, south and west."

"Yes."

"What about the north?"

"No Eighth Route Army has been found yet."

"Then why are you still standing here? Go and arrange a breakout to the north."

"The Eighth Route Army must be using the strategy of surrounding three sides and attacking one side. There must be heavy troops lying in ambush on the north side." Hearing the shouting in the yard, the deputy regiment commander was awakened and hurried over from the next yard.

"That makes a lot of sense. The Eighth Route Army is short of ammunition and they dare not launch an offensive, so they set up an ambush in the north, waiting for us to fall into the trap. I will not fall for their trick." Captain Zhi was clear-headed, but frightened, and nodded in agreement.

"But you said there were three regiments surrounding us." The deputy regiment commander looked at the patrol sentry who came to report the news with an unbelieving look on his face: "Did you see clearly?"

"There's no mistake. I've seen people in three directions. There are people everywhere. The people on each side are almost the same as when our entire regiment was lined up together." The patrol sentry vowed.

The pseudo-regiment leader slowly calmed down: "What's wrong with three regiments? We have three rifles and eight-way troops. As long as we can withstand his first three attacks, we can do whatever we want to him."

Another soldier ran into the yard and said, "Report to the regiment commander, a large number of troops have been spotted to the west. They appear to be the Eighth Route Army. There may be a regiment. The distance is about two miles!"

"It seems to be the Tubalu? Didn't you hear the Eighth Route Army in the south shouting?" The patrol sentry who came to report the news first shouted: "You are the one who reports now."

"They didn't shout. How would I know if they were the Eighth Route Army?"

Another figure rushed into the yard: "Report to the commander, the eldest master has led a battalion out of the village to the north."

The pseudo-captain was a little confused: "I haven't given the order yet, and he dares to leave?"

"The eldest master said... he wanted to be the vanguard of the breakout and carve out a bloody path for the entire group."

What a brave boy! He dares to run around without even knowing the common military knowledge of surrounding three sides and attacking one.

The Eighth Route Army has placed most of its troops in the north!

Regimental Commander Zhi suppressed his anger and reluctantly gave the order: "Assemble the troops immediately. The third battalion will be the rear guard, and the second battalion will follow me to the north."

"Yes"

"Yes"

The deputy regiment commander quickly reminded him in a low voice: "Commander, you arranged for the third battalion to stay behind to guard the house. They didn't come out this time."

One battalion against three regiments of the Eighth Route Army?
Even if there are three guns and eight cavalry, one person's spit can drown you!

The fake leader panicked again.

The deputy regiment commander was still slightly calmer.

Originally, he received an order to cooperate with the Imperial Army to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army in the canal area.

If it was cooperating with a mop-up operation, they would have probably reached their destination by now.

As for the encirclement and suppression, the regiment commander said we should think carefully about it.

After running the business for so many years, they have accumulated considerable wealth in the town. Even if they send out troops, they have to leave one battalion behind to look after the house, and only bring two out of the three battalions.

The leader's son is a piece of shit. He actually abandoned the regiment headquarters and ran away.

At this time, there was only one battalion, one guard squad, and one communications squad left in the village. Facing three regiments of the Eighth Route Army, should they fight or not?
Damn, this group is not mine.
If the Eighth Route Army really attacks us later, I will just surrender with my trusted men.

The whole village was in a state of panic.
In the open area to the south.

An Eighth Route Army soldier poked his head out of the ditch again.

Holding a tin loudspeaker in his hand, he shouted loudly: "Listen, villagers, you are surrounded." To his left and right, countless figures were hurriedly digging earth to build shelters.

In the temporary command post that was hastily dug out in line with the bunker.

The deputy commander looked at his watch.

Half an hour had passed since the time for launching the general attack.

The battle on the commander-in-chief's side has already begun.

It has been a full half hour since we took down the enemy's guard post.

Neither side fired a single shot!
With the strength of three regiments, they wiped out a puppet army that had been wrapped up like a dumpling. The result was no suspense at all.

What we need to do now is to reduce casualties and try to avoid shooting to save ammunition.

Of course, this also includes the ammunition carried by the puppet troops.

North of the village.

In the open space in the dark night, there were figures lying on the ground.

Light machine guns, rifles, grenades, and broadswords were nervously waiting for the chaotic breakout team to come running over.
boom.
"beat"

The first shot rang out.

Two or three miles north of the village.

Without any warning, the gunfire was as crazy and loud as a storm.

Haodaer did not choose to order his men to charge and break out at the risk of their lives.

If this is really the case, with a battalion of more than 300 people, at least some of them will be able to break out.

Without shouting, they immediately lay down and fought back, holding their ground and waiting for help.

With more than 300 men under his command, and concentrated forces, he was still able to fight against the scattered and ambushed Eighth Route Army.

They don't even have a battalion of troops under their command!

There is absolutely no problem in competing on equal terms.

This person chose to turn around and retreat!

If it's a retreat, at least we should arrange a rearguard force to fight while retreating, right?

As soon as the gun was fired, the chief officer ran away.

The three company commanders under Haodaer were stunned.

Well, you don’t even want the property that the commander has worked so hard to acquire over the years, so why should we risk our lives to block the bullets for you?
The team's morale was already low because they had heard that they were surrounded.

As soon as the Eighth Route Army finished firing three shots, the puppet soldiers lying on the ground collapsed.

It's just surrender. You won't be killed if you hand over your guns.

There was a severe drought last year, and nine out of ten houses on the plain were empty.

Nowadays, there is a shortage of people on every hill who can shoot a gun and speak a few rudimentary tactical terms.

Even if you don't have a gun, you can still make a living anywhere!
As for being a member of the Eighth Route Army, that is definitely not something I can do.

Because Mr. Ba only eats two meals a day.

Kidnapping and robbery for money are not allowed.

You are not allowed to sleep with women.

The puppet troops didn't rush over and there was no time to throw grenades.

The light machine gun lost its target before a whole magazine of bullets was fired.

After a while, the battalion commander in charge of the ambush remembered that it was time to clean up the battlefield.

The soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield saw a strange scene.
A puppet soldier who had just surrendered his gun asked seriously: "I don't want the two dollars anymore, can you let me go?"

"Stop talking nonsense, squat down and put your hands on your head," he scolded.

Hiss, the crotch of my pants is torn.

"I'm rich, I'm very rich." Excited voice.

"Master Ba, can you leave two for me as a souvenir?"

"I can finally use the rifle. What should I do with my musket?" he said in a troubled voice.

"How about I help you carry it?"

"Pistol. Pistol squad leader, I seized a pistol! It's exactly the same pistol as the regiment commander's!" A strange cry.

"Your squad leader and regiment commander both have pistols?" (End of this chapter)