under fire

West bank of the canal.

In the darkness, not far from the edge of the puppet army's sentry post in the open area.

A dark figure lowered his binoculars and turned around: "Battalion Commander, the Japanese light machine guns on the river have been firing for quite some time now..."

Quickly turning around, he tugged at Gao Yidao, who was pretending to be asleep: "Battalion Commander, shall we start fighting?"

"No, we have to wait for the Weihe Detachment to fire." Gao Yidao closed his eyes, his expression calm, showing no sign of tension.

Currently, the Second Battalion is facing a total of one company of puppet troops on the west bank of the canal.

The Weihe Detachment is carrying out the plan that they recently sent over, if they can really blow up those three Japanese gunboats.

He was 90% certain that a single charge would wipe out the puppet troops on the west bank of the canal.

Not to mention that the enemy's outer defense line they are facing now consists of only a platoon of puppet troops.

According to the plan they sent over, the canal detachment is only making a feint attack now, so it's no wonder he's nervous.

The observation post suddenly cried out, "Reporting to the battalion commander, flares have been fired about ten miles to the east, and the gunfire is intense. The Canal Detachment has launched an attack!"

Gao Yidao sprang to his feet, turned and kicked the sleeping Kuai Tui beside him: "Order, the Third Company launches a feint attack from the front, while the First and Second Companies launch flanking attacks. Remember, you must maintain formation!"

The tactics seem simple, but there is a major problem: if communication with subordinate troops is not smooth, the troops can easily be thrown into disarray once the battle begins.

"We can't let Ma Liang, the main attacker, get it!" Quick-legged ran and shouted.

"Main attack?" Gao Yidao looked towards the canal to the east and shook his head. Attacking head-on in the dark would make them vulnerable to sniping. Drawing enemy fire from the front and attacking from the flanks was the best strategy.

The problem is complicated now. The puppet army company on the other side is not an ordinary puppet army, but a company of regular Nationalist soldiers who have just surrendered to the Japanese!
Ma Liang felt conflicted when he became the captain of the patrol team.

The patrol team consisted of graduates of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University who were selected for further study.

Unfortunately, the Second Battalion didn't have any people who were literate and intelligent.

Fortunately, Hu Zasui wasn't qualified to enter the training team for further study.
East bank of the canal.

"The location of the shot is about five miles away. The Eighth Route Army is probably harassing us again." The fake company commander arranged for a platoon to come as reinforcements, but he didn't care much.

The fake battalion commander, who had been sleeping on the boat, arrived in a small boat and asked him, "How many people have come?"

The fake company commander paused for a moment: "The Imperial Army sent out a search team earlier, but they didn't find many people."

As the gunfire gradually subsided, the fake battalion commander suddenly sensed something was wrong: "You bastard, why didn't you send reinforcements?"

The fake company commander quickly replied, "The second platoon has already been sent over."

A figure rushed back from the east: "Reporting to the company commander, the third platoon's defense line has been breached by the Eighth Route Army. There are several hundred Eighth Route Army soldiers. The second platoon leader sent me back to ask the Imperial Army on the fleet to send reinforcements."

The puppet battalion commander was startled and quickly shouted to his men in the small boat on the river, "Quickly, go and request reinforcements from the Imperial Army!"

After speaking, he personally inspected the deployment of the puppet troops along the canal bank and gave them instructions on how to prepare for battle.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out from the west bank of the canal.
A sudden gust of wind seemed to pick up on the canal.

Bullets whizzed by, and sprays of water rose from the nearby river, creating a strange scene.

The firing direction came from the iron-hulled boat on the river.

To avoid the iron-hulled patrol boats on the south side of the canal, the soldiers, drifting downstream, scattered to both sides of the convoy. At this moment, the river surface was as bright as day.

Instead, they were not discovered by the Japanese soldiers who were on high alert.

The assault team leader was positioned parallel to the patrol boat, and seeing that the convoy ahead was only about 200 meters away, he poked his head out and glanced at the more than 20 long, flat-bottomed wooden transport boats moored on the river.

The enemy ship's side was covered in lights, making it impossible to approach openly.

They use the light underwater to guide their way!
He immediately ordered everyone to dive to the surface and risk their lives to approach the fleet.
Upon receiving the report from the traitor in the intelligence team, the Japanese captain quickly increased vigilance.

It could no longer use the water plants to cover its head.

The soldiers began to sink into the water.

Gas masks are not diving equipment.

The soldiers, who were drifting downstream, quickly lost their bearings underwater.

Finally, a soldier who peeked out to catch his breath was spotted by the searchlight, and more than ten bullets whistled through the air in an instant.

Before the soldier could dive back into the water, he was hit in the head by a bullet.

Because they needed to drift in the water for long periods of time, the soldiers wore inflatable sheepskin bags.

The buoyancy of the inflated sheepskin bladder lifted the soldier's body to the surface. The observing Japanese soldiers quickly spotted the soldier's body, and a small wooden boat swiftly paddled to its side.

The Japanese soldiers were terrified when they discovered the explosive charge and frantically rowed their small wooden boat back to the fleet to report the situation.

The captain looked at the river, though he had no idea how many Eighth Route Army soldiers carrying explosives had arrived.

But he believes there certainly won't be many.

He immediately ordered all the searchlights on the patrol boats to be turned on, and all the Japanese soldiers spread out along the sides of the transport ship to keep watch.

The captain had basic naval combat knowledge and knew that the lethality of a bullet would not exceed one meter after entering the water!
He did not order his men to fire on the river.

Instead, they focused their attention on the waters south of the fleet.

Even the Nationalist Navy had long been wiped out, so it was highly unlikely that the Eighth Route Army would have professional diving equipment.

Most people can't stay submerged for more than a minute; they'll eventually have to surface to breathe!
As a precaution, the captain even instructed all the Japanese soldiers to watch out for any tubular objects protruding from the water near the hull.
The murky canal water suddenly surged violently, and the oil lamps on the port side of the third transport ship all went out.

Captain Sato's gaze turned cold; only now did he realize the true tactics of the Eighth Route Army.
The floating corpse was wearing a gas mask attached to a sheepskin sac, which could provide the air needed for breathing for an extended period of time.

The sheepskin bag wasn't very big. He frantically calculated in his mind how long the air could provide, and quickly figured out that it could at least allow the Eighth Route Army to swim in the water for three to four or five minutes!
In three to five minutes, those who are fast can swim nearly 100 meters underwater.

In other words, if the Eighth Route Army soldiers started diving from 200 meters away, they could swim over without even needing to breathe.

A sinister grin spread across his face. Calculating the timeframe to a mere five minutes, he immediately devised a solution: "All transport ships, weigh anchor!"

The Eighth Route Army must have used the ship's lights for guidance while diving.

If the transport ship is allowed to drift northwards downstream for fifty meters, then all these Eighth Route Army guerrillas will have to surface after reaching their underwater limit. At that point, given the Imperial Army's accurate shooting capabilities...

Not one of them will escape!

The traitor on the ship's side suddenly pointed at the dark figure in the river and screamed, "Someone's approaching!"

Under the searchlight, the figure drifting diagonally was faintly visible.

Rifle bullets couldn't reach the Eighth Route Army soldiers deep inside, and the captain already had a plan in mind: "Throw a grenade, delay for two seconds!"

The delayed grenade will fly for another second in the air, and will not sink immediately when it hits the water, creating an effect similar to a shallow water bomb.

Although the shrapnel in the water could hardly harm the Eighth Route Army soldiers.

But most importantly, the explosion of a grenade will create a high-pressure shock wave in the vicinity.

As the first grenade tilted and sank into the water, the assault team was less than thirty meters away from the southernmost wooden boat of the Japanese transport fleet.

boom.
A barrage of grenades exploded in the river.

The soldiers who were a little further away from the explosion point desperately swam towards the lights.

Eventually, someone noticed that the distance between them and the flat-bottomed wooden transport boats did not seem to have decreased much.

Someone immediately realized that the enemy ship was moving.

When you breathe, air moves back and forth in the sheepskin bag, but less and less oxygen is supplied to the lungs.

Although I was breathing, my mind was slowly becoming foggy due to lack of oxygen.

One of the soldiers finally realized that something was wrong.
However, at this point, he no longer had the strength to hold on.

Eventually, it slowly sank to the bottom of the river.
The Japanese observation post on the iron-hulled ship quickly noticed the flag signals of the fleet behind them and hurriedly turned around to join the fleet.

Unbeknownst to anyone, three dark figures were swimming upstream against the current, approaching the steel-hulled patrol boat from beneath the surface of the water on the other side.

After diving underwater for two minutes, the buoyancy of the sheepskin airbag carried the explosive charge and his body slowly to the surface.

As the iron-hulled ship drew closer, a soldier tried to feel for the fuse rope hidden in the oilcloth.

While submerged in water, one cannot hear the whistling of bullets; instead, one hears the continuous muffled thuds of grenades exploding as they hit the water.

The sound no longer travels through the air, but rather strikes the ossicles directly through the head, like drumming.

The sound was unusually muffled.

I could tell from my senses that the searchlight's light source was getting closer and closer to my head.

There was no longer any chance to attach the explosive charge to the enemy ship.

One of the soldiers hesitated for a moment.

Finally, he pulled the fuse cord on the side of the oil-filled wrapper containing the explosive charge.
Then, he alternately kicked his legs forcefully, using his body to support the explosive charge and press it tightly against the bottom of the Japanese patrol boat. (End of Chapter)