Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Brigade Commander, the village ahead has been searched, and no danger was found." At this moment, the Japanese sergeant arrived and reported to the Japanese brigade commander.

"Okay, then gather the villagers together and kill them all!" The Japanese brigade commander nodded and said.

"I'm afraid that's not possible," the Japanese sergeant said upon hearing this.

"How could you not?! Don't even mention that you can't capture some ordinary people." The Japanese brigade commander said with a frown.

"No, all the villagers have disappeared, so there's no way to gather them together," the Japanese sergeant replied.

"What?! Gone?!" The Japanese brigade commander was immediately stunned. He hadn't expected the villagers to disappear. Could it be an abandoned village?

"Judging from the situation in the village, it's not an abandoned village; there are still signs that people have lived there. But the people are indeed gone. I suspect they were moved by the New First Regiment," the Japanese sergeant guessed.

"They attacked us and then evacuated the villagers. Did they anticipate our attack and prepare accordingly?" the Japanese brigade commander said, frowning. He felt things were becoming increasingly complicated.

"Yes, it seems like it was premeditated. Judging from their large-scale sabotage of the railway last night, they probably had a plan in place long ago," the Japanese regimental commander chimed in.

Such large-scale destruction could not have been ordered all at once, with all troops mobilized to attack. Given the conditions on the Eighth Route Army's side, it would have taken a considerable amount of time to relay the order, not to mention the need to evacuate the villagers.

"Are there a lot of dust accumulated on the tables in those houses in the village?!" the Japanese brigade commander asked the Japanese sergeant.

"Not many, I estimate about ten days to half a month," the Japanese sergeant said after thinking for a moment. He also used this as a basis to judge whether the village was deserted.

"I understand. The enemy started formulating this plan at least a month ago, then implementing it! To prevent the villagers from being affected, they moved them to a safe place in advance before starting the operation." After analyzing the situation, the Japanese brigade commander roughly understood.

Everything had been anticipated by the enemy, which is why the villages they encountered were deserted.

"The brigade commander's analysis makes a lot of sense. He truly lives up to his title." The Japanese regimental commander offered a small compliment upon hearing this.

"If that's the case, then the villages we encounter next will probably be deserted." The Japanese brigade commander was somewhat helpless. He had originally planned to slaughter all the villages we encountered along the way.

But now, there's nobody in the village, so what's the point of killing?! Forget about people, we can't even find any supplies.

"Brigade Commander, although we can't kill those villagers and thus can't have the greatest deterrent effect, we can still burn down those houses."

Although they've left, they'll definitely want to come back later, especially if we burn the village down.

When the villagers return and see that their homes, where they've lived for so long, have been burned down, they might harbor resentment towards the enemies. After all, if it weren't for them, we wouldn't have burned down the village.
"In this way, the villagers won't have a good attitude towards those enemies, which is also a way to sow discord," the Japanese regimental commander quickly said.

People in China have deep feelings for the houses they've lived in for a long time. If a house is burned down because of someone else, it's hard to believe they don't feel resentment.

"Alright, let's burn them then." The Japanese brigade commander nodded in agreement. He had initially thought that the villages they would encounter later were likely deserted and not worth visiting, but now it seemed that it was still necessary to go. Even if they didn't kill anyone, they should at least burn down the houses.

"Brigade Commander, I think we should report this. Maybe other units will also encounter empty villages, but they might just leave or pass through without entering or burning the villages. Wouldn't that be letting the villagers off easy?" the Japanese regimental commander continued.

"Good, good, do as you say. Send a telegram to the higher-ups." The Japanese brigade commander nodded in satisfaction. He felt it was necessary to do this. Those villagers always helped the enemy. Now that they couldn't kill them, they should at least collect some interest.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese regimental commander immediately went to find the telegraph operator.

"Take me to the village. I want to personally lead the first fire," the Japanese brigade commander ordered the Japanese sergeant.

"Brigade Commander, please." The Japanese sergeant led the way.

.........

On a mountain about two or three miles from the village, several scouts from the 772nd Regiment were keeping an eye on the Japanese troops' movements.

"Squad leader, how come there are only this many Japanese soldiers who have entered the mountains?!" a soldier whispered. He was puzzled. Weren't all the Japanese soldiers who had passed through the county town supposed to come out in full force? How come they've only found this many? Probably only about a company.

"Are you stupid? This must be the vanguard of the Japanese army, specifically tasked with scouting potential dangers. If the vanguard is attacked, the troops behind can flank them from both sides," the squad leader replied.

The Japanese were so afraid of being attacked, or rather, so afraid of being ambushed, that they dared not fail to send advance troops, lest their main force be wiped out.

"These little Japanese devils are really funny. They're clearly afraid of being ambushed, so why do they still go into the mountains?" the soldier said with a smile.

"Who cares about them? Our task now is to keep an eye on the Japanese. As for what they're thinking, how would I know?" the squad leader replied, too lazy to guess what the Japanese were thinking.

"Squad leader, those Japanese devils have entered the village! The regimental commander was right, the Japanese really have entered the village." Another soldier's voice suddenly came over. He discovered through his binoculars that the vanguard of the Japanese troops had entered the village.

"Luckily, we made preparations in advance and moved the people to a safe place beforehand. Otherwise, who knows what kind of beastly things the Japanese devils would have done if they had entered the village." The squad leader grabbed the binoculars and started watching as well.

He was also somewhat relieved that everything was going according to plan; otherwise, if the common people had suffered, that would have been their problem.

"Something's not right. Why are these Japanese devils starting to move firewood into houses?! They've moved so many houses; it looks like they're planning to fill every house in the village with firewood!" The squad leader noticed this a dozen minutes later.

"What are those Japanese devils doing?!" The other soldiers were also puzzled after hearing this.

"Oh no, the Japanese devils are planning to burn the village down!" The squad leader thought of a possibility and said it aloud.

"Damn it, these bastards can't harm ordinary people, so they've set their sights on houses!"

“These houses have been inhabited by the people for a long time. If the Japanese devils burn them down, how heartbroken they will be.”

"Squad leader, what should we do?!"

Several soldiers were talking, and some even asked what they were going to do next.

"What can we do? Just watch. You don't think a few of us can stop the Japanese, do you? Don't forget, there might be a large Japanese force behind us." The squad leader was also somewhat helpless. Although he was angry, there was nothing he could do.

"Are we really just supposed to watch the Japanese burn down the people's houses and do nothing?!" the soldier sighed. "The houses can be rebuilt after they burn down. We can help out then," the squad leader said. At least the villagers' lives weren't in danger, so losing their houses wasn't a big deal.

"That's the only way." Several soldiers nodded, acknowledging the situation.

"I thought the Japanese would leave once they found the village deserted, but I underestimated their brutality." The squad leader sighed. Who could have predicted this?

"Sooner or later, we'll kill these bastards!" a soldier said through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Don't speak yet, I'll contact the battalion commander and report this to him." The squad leader took out a walkie-talkie.

"How's the situation?!" Cheng the Blind's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Commander, the Japanese have arrived in Yun Village, and judging from the situation, they seem to intend to burn down the houses. In addition, the group of puppet troops who came with them also seem to be quite formidable."
Unlike the local puppet troops, they seemed quite disciplined. I guessed they were puppet troops from Manchukuo and had some combat capabilities! The squad leader quickly explained the situation.

"Okay, I understand. Keep an eye on things and report back immediately if anything happens," Blind Cheng replied.

.........

Led by a sergeant, the Japanese brigade commander quickly arrived at the village entrance. Behind him followed a large force, including Japanese soldiers and puppet troops.

"Brigade Commander, everything is ready." A Japanese lieutenant approached and reported that firewood had been piled up in the houses in the village, and now all that was left was to light the fire.

"Yosh, pass on my order: the moment you see the first wisp of smoke, light the fire and burn this village down," the Japanese brigade commander ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Soon, the order was relayed, and many Japanese soldiers stood in front of the houses, each holding a torch.

The Japanese brigade commander, holding a torch, approached the nearest house and threw the torch onto the firewood. The dry wood and weeds ignited, and smoke billowed up. The other Japanese soldiers nodded in agreement.

In an instant, all the houses in the village were engulfed in flames, and thick smoke billowed up, obscuring the sky over the area. The firewood crackled as it burned, and the Japanese soldiers all wore smiles on their faces.

It's as if burning down someone's long-inhabited house is something to be very happy about.

The puppet troops following behind, upon seeing this scene, did not show the slightest joy; instead, they felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

"Continue your advance. If you spot any enemy activity, immediately send someone back to report," the Japanese brigade commander instructed the Japanese lieutenant.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant didn't say much. After assembling the troops, they continued their march.

"Brigade Commander, are you feeling better now?" the Japanese regimental commander laughed.

"It's alright, it's just a pity we couldn't kill all the villagers. If they were still here, we should have thrown them into the fire and burned them too, which would have saved us from wasting bullets," the Japanese brigade commander replied.

Compared to burning him alive, he felt that killing him would be more satisfying. Looking at the raging fire, he felt a little relieved.

"Brigade Commander, I suddenly have a question. Now that no villagers are being killed, how can we determine whether that Northeast Army is still around here?!" The Japanese regimental commander couldn't help but ask.

Their original plan was to gather all the villagers together and kill them to see if anyone would directly attack them. Now, their plan has fallen through.

Simply burning down houses won't force the enemy out, will it? After all, houses can be rebuilt, but if people are gone, they're truly gone.

"No rush, let's keep moving forward and see how things go. I don't believe they'll be able to hold back from making a move," the Japanese brigade commander said slowly.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese regimental commander nodded.

.........

On the mountain, several soldiers were furious when they saw that the village had really been burned down.

"Damn it, these beasts really burned the house down!" A soldier glared angrily, cursing under his breath, wishing he could kill all those Japanese soldiers.

"Keep your voice down, don't let the enemy find us. Judging from the current situation, the Japanese have indeed come out in full force. However, these puppet troops are probably not the local recruits. They are actually quite capable in combat." The squad leader changed the subject appropriately.

If they are local recruits of puppet troops, there is no need to worry too much, because these puppet troops have no combat capability. However, the puppet troops that the Japanese transferred from Manchukuo have a certain combat capability and still pose a certain threat to them.

“The local puppet troops simply don’t have the stamina to run such a long mountain road,” a soldier responded.

…………

On the other side, Cheng the Blind Man also remained silent for a while after learning that the Japanese were going to burn down the village.

"Commander, the village is burned down, so be it. We'll rebuild it later," Political Commissar Liu comforted him. He knew that Blind Cheng was silent because he was saddened by the loss of the people's homes.

"Hmm, sigh... I thought the Japanese devils would leave as soon as they found the village deserted, but I never expected them to choose to burn the village down!" Blind Cheng nodded, then sighed and said.

"Actually, it was expected. Given the Japanese soldiers' character, massacring villages and burning houses was commonplace for them. At least this time, the Japanese only burned houses and didn't have the opportunity to kill anyone."

"Next, let's think about how to find an opportunity to make these Japanese devils pay the price," Political Commissar Liu said slowly.

He couldn't swallow the fact that the Japanese devils burned down people's houses; he had to make the Japanese devils regret it.

Moreover, judging from the current situation of the Japanese devils, they will probably burn down any village they encounter.

“Don’t they like to send advance troops to scout ahead? Then let’s start by taking down their advance troops. Even if we can’t kill them all, we’ll make them regret ever entering the village!” Blind Cheng said slowly.

He planned to take action against the vanguard of the Japanese troops. Since they needed the Japanese to pursue them anyway, they needed to make a move and expose their whereabouts to prevent the Japanese from leaving if they couldn't find them. Otherwise, all their efforts would have been in vain. (End of Chapter)