Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

In the Japanese headquarters, Yokoyama Isamu stared at the sand table in front of him and said with a smug look on his face: "I have said it before, these hateful enemies don't have the courage to take risks at all."

"Sure enough, after their retreat was cut off, they feared being surrounded, so they left Hengyang behind and retreated to escape."

"In this way, no one can stop the imperial locust army from conquering Hengyang."

"Your Excellency the Commander is wise."

Yokoyama Isamu pondered for a moment and said, "Although the enemy's reinforcements have withdrawn, the crisis has not been resolved."

"We spent too long in Hengyang. The General Headquarters and the headquarters were very dissatisfied with this and repeatedly urged us to take Hengyang as soon as possible."

"If we delay any further, we will truly become sinners of the empire."

"Therefore, we must capture Hengyang as soon as possible no matter what."

A Japanese major general quickly said, "Your Excellency the Commander, don't worry. The enemy's reinforcements have already retreated and they won't dare to come back for at least a few days."

"The defenders of Hengyang have been almost exhausted. They can't hold out for much longer."

"We now have enough time to capture Hengyang."

"Yoshi~!"

Yokoyama nodded in satisfaction and said, "Even so, we must go all out. We cannot afford to lose this battle. We must take Hengyang as soon as possible."

"Therefore, I decided to personally go to the front line in Hengyang to command the battle and capture Hengyang City for me at all costs."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese officers present responded in unison, and no one dissuaded them, because in their opinion, it was a sure thing to capture Hengyang City this time, and there would be no danger for Yokoyama Isamu to personally command the front line this time.

The strategic focus of the entire 11th Army was also in Hengyang, so there was nothing wrong with Yokoyama Isamu personally commanding the front line, so naturally no one dissuaded him.

Yokoyama Yong continued, "Immediately order the frontline troops to adjust their deployment as quickly as possible and launch a new round of comprehensive attack on Hengyang City as soon as possible."

"Hayi~!"

A Japanese officer responded respectfully and turned to convey the order.

Yokoyama Isamu then ordered: "Relevant personnel of the headquarters, get ready immediately and follow me to the Hengyang front."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese officers present responded in unison.

The Japanese had indeed spent too long in Hengyang, and Yokoyama Isamu didn't want to delay any further.

He was going to Hengyang with some people from the headquarters and needed to make some preparations, but he didn't want to waste time. At the same time, he directly ordered the front-line troops to prepare to launch a new round of offensive so that nothing would be delayed.

It can also be seen that Yokoyama Isamu is already eager to capture Hengyang City.

……

It was getting dark.

Chen Jianghe, Song Weiguo and others all gathered in front of Li Guotao.

Li Guotao asked softly, "Have you finished counting everything?"

Chen Jianghe said: "We have counted the numbers, and the brothers have expressed their willingness to follow the battalion commander and return to Hengyang together."

Li Guotao couldn't help but feel moved when he heard this. After all, going back this time would definitely be a life-or-death situation.

As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. At this time, these brothers can still follow him unwaveringly, which is truly commendable.

Of course, they did this not just for Li Guotao, but also for the war of resistance, to kill the Japanese, and to defend their country.

Li Guotao said seriously: "If all Chinese people are like this, how dare the Japanese pirates do this?"

"With such outstanding soldiers, I believe we can win this battle."

"Notify the brothers to get ready and set off after dark."

"Let's go back to Hengyang!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison.

Li Guotao stood up and looked in the direction of Hengyang with an extremely determined gaze. Li Guotao must return to Hengyang, whether for himself or for the country and the people.

No matter how difficult it is, even if it is a life-and-death situation, he must go back.

These soldiers are not afraid, so why should Li Guotao be afraid?
No matter how difficult it is, he must try his best to win this battle.

At this moment, under the order of Isamu Yokoyama, the Japanese troops in Hengyang City began to mobilize and redeploy, preparing to launch a more fierce attack on Hengyang.

Even at night, more and more troops were mobilized in the surrounding area.

After dark, Li Guotao and his brothers set out on the journey back to Hengyang.

However, before they had walked far, they encountered three groups of Japanese soldiers on the march.

Li Guotao relied on his system and tried his best to avoid the Japanese.

At this moment, the brothers were hiding in a ravine. Everyone was squatting in the grass, looking at the Japanese soldiers marching on the road in the distance.

Chen Jianghe said softly: "These little devils are heading for Hengyang. It seems that the devils have increased their troops."

Li Guotao said: "Before our reinforcements arrived near Hengyang, the Japanese temporarily stopped the attack in order to stop the reinforcements with all their strength, and dispatched troops to join the blocking."

“That’s why we were able to get out of Hengyang so smoothly.”

"And now that they are sure that the reinforcements have retreated, they will naturally redeploy the troops to join the battle to attack Hengyang City."

"The Japanese mobilized troops overnight, and the scale is not small. It seems that the Japanese are also eager to capture Hengyang."

"I guess a new round of general offensive is about to begin. We should go back as soon as possible."

Chen Jianghe, Song Weiguo and others nodded, although they all understood that going back this time would not only be dangerous but also full of difficulties.

But they believed that Li Guotao could definitely take them back to Hengyang.

After spending some time together, Li Guotao's abilities have completely conquered these arrogant soldiers and generals, and now they even have an almost blind trust in Li Guotao.

After the Japanese troops in front left, Li Guotao and his brothers continued to advance quietly towards Hengyang.

Thanks to the system map, the journey was relatively smooth.

The group crossed mountains and rivers, took deserted paths, and tried their best to avoid the Japanese.

On the way, they encountered two Japanese sentry posts that could not be avoided. Li Guotao led his men to quietly eliminate the Japanese sentry posts and gradually approached Hengyang City.

As they had wasted a lot of time on the road, it was almost dawn. Li Guotao frowned and said, "We have to speed up."

Song Weiguo said: "I know this place, it's not far from Hengyang."

Li Guotao frowned and said, "But now we are facing a difficult problem."

"At the intersection ahead, a group of Japanese soldiers suddenly appeared and blocked the road we had to pass through."

"The terrain there is difficult and easy to defend. As long as we use machine guns to block the gap, it will be difficult for us to eliminate them and pass through the area ahead."

"Once the battle starts, the surrounding Japanese will surely come to support us quickly. By that time, we may be held back and won't be able to leave."

Chen Jianghe said: "Can we get around it?"

Li Guotao sighed helplessly and said, "Time doesn't allow us to do that. Once daybreak comes, we will be more easily exposed."

Song Weiguo gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's fight them. Even if it means risking our lives, we must open a gap."

Li Guotao pondered for a moment and said, "I do have a suggestion. Although it is a bit risky, it still has a certain chance of success."

Chen Jianghe asked quickly: "What method?"

Li Guotao raised his hand and pointed in another direction, saying, "There is a Japanese camp over there. The scale of that camp is not small."

"And there are a lot of supplies stored there. If we raid this camp, the surrounding Japanese will definitely rush over there to support us."

"This way we have a chance to take the intersection ahead."

"But it's a bit risky. If we're not careful and get caught by the Japanese, we won't be able to leave."

Song Weiguo said: "The intersection ahead is easy to defend but difficult to attack. A strong attack is definitely not a solution."

"A sneak attack isn't very safe, the battalion commander's method is a good one."

"As long as we can lure those devils over there out and kill them, we can get through."

"But even if we attack the military camp at night, it is still dangerous, and we must make as much noise as possible to attract the Japanese soldiers over there." Li Guotao nodded and said, "Yes, so doing this is also full of dangers."

Chen Jianghe said: "I will go, even if it means risking my life, I will lure these little devils out."

Li Guotao also understood that time was running out and they could not hesitate any longer.

Li Guotao gritted his teeth and said, "That's settled. We've come this far, we can't give up halfway, let's give it a try."

"And if we can take advantage of the opportunity to destroy that camp, it will be a great achievement."

Chen Jianghe, Song Weiguo and others became excited when they heard this.

These guys are all veterans and are not afraid of death. At this moment, they will naturally not retreat, but become more excited instead.

These people have all come to terms with it. They have already earned their money back by killing so many Japanese devils. Even if they really sacrifice themselves, it is worth it.

In fact, when these people followed Li Guotao out of the city, they all believed that they would die.

But Li Guotao did not want to sacrifice in vain. Relying on his own abilities, he tried his best to avoid direct conflict with the Japanese. After all, they only had so many troops. They could not defeat them and could not afford the consumption.

Li Guotao still wanted to bring them all back to Hengyang safely, but now it seems unlikely.

We can only fight!

Li Guotao said: "Song Weiguo, you take 40 people to deal with the Japanese at the intersection."

"Divide into two groups. One group will lie in ambush on the roadside over there. Once the Japanese soldiers at the intersection come out to support the Japanese camp, destroy them immediately."

"Another team will ambush carefully in the bushes over there. Once the battle starts here, they will immediately raid the intersection, eliminate the remaining Japanese soldiers, and occupy the intersection."

"Chen Jianghe and I will take the rest of the people to raid the Japanese camp."

Song Weiguo couldn't help but frowned when he heard this and said, "Captain, I'm worried that we can't take down the Japanese at the intersection. You should stay here and take command."

"Chen Jianghe and I will each lead a team to sneak up to the camp and raid the Japanese camp in two groups."

Li Guotao flatly refused, "Time is running out. Now is not the time to argue about this. Let Chen Jianghe and I go. I believe you can open a passage for us. It all depends on you."

Li Guotao said this and patted Song Weiguo on the shoulder.

In fact, Song Weiguo was not worried about not being able to complete the task, but was worried about Li Guotao's safety.

After all, if they raided the Japanese camp, they would only have to rely on a few dozen people. It would be easy for them to be surrounded by the Japanese and then annihilated. It would be a life-or-death situation.

Song Weiguo didn't want Li Guotao to take risks, so he proposed his own plan.

But Li Guotao no longer had time to continue arguing with them and directly rejected his proposal. In fact, he had roughly guessed what Song Weiguo was thinking.

Li Guotao’s idea was very simple. If he couldn’t complete the task, it would be even more difficult for others.

They must open a channel to return to Hengyang, and try to bring more people back.

After Li Guotao made all the arrangements, he immediately took action.

Following Li Guotao's instructions, Song Weiguo led 40 people and quietly ambushed under the cover of night.

Li Guotao, Chen Jianghe and other people quietly approached the Japanese camp.

The two men each led forty men, split into two groups, and quietly approached the enemy's camp.

Li Guotao personally led several scouts and quickly eliminated several sentries outside the Japanese army. The brothers groped in the dark and quietly approached the Japanese army's camp.

Li Guotao made a gesture, and the twenty soldiers behind him took out their grenades, while the other twenty soldiers prepared to charge.

Li Guotao raised his gun, and with a crisp gunshot, a Japanese sentry in the distance was shot in the head and killed on the spot.

The gunshot was an order, and twenty soldiers threw grenades without hesitation.

Grenades fell towards the Japanese camp.

"Boom~! Boom~!"

There were loud explosions and the tents were engulfed in flames. Many Japanese soldiers were killed in the explosions while they were still asleep.

"Follow me~!"

Li Guotao roared, raised his gun and shot while rushing out.

The soldiers also rushed out one after another, each one like a tiger descending from the mountain, unstoppable in courage.

The soldier in the front rushed forward and fired at the confused Japanese soldiers.

The soldiers behind kept throwing grenades at the Japanese. The sounds of explosions and gunfire filled the air. The Japanese had no time to put up effective resistance and were stunned by the sudden attack.

At the same time, Chen Jianghe also led another team of people and broke into the Japanese military camp from another corner.

The soldiers in the front were also firing and firing with all their might, while the soldiers behind them were rushing forward and continuously throwing grenades into the chaotic crowd of Japanese devils.

Under the fierce charge of the soldiers, the Japanese soldiers were thrown into chaos and suffered heavy casualties.

Li Guotao led his men to charge into the Japanese military camp and successfully joined forces with Chen Jianghe and his men.

The Japanese suffered heavy casualties, their formation was in disarray, and the scene was in chaos.

Li Guotao shouted loudly: "Set fire immediately and burn the supplies in the camp."

There was a lot of supplies piled up in one place in the camp.

Several soldiers took the opportunity to rush over and threw the Molotov cocktails they had prepared in advance.

"Boom~!"

Flames shot up into the sky, and the supplies piled up in the camp and some parked trucks were ignited one after another, starting a raging fire that grew more and more intense.

Although Li Guotao and his men fought bravely, there were simply too many of the Japanese.

After the initial panic, the surviving Japanese soldiers gradually began to reorganize and resist under the leadership of Japanese officers.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Guotao shouted, "Chen Jianghe, retreat immediately."

"Yes~!"

"Brothers, retreat~!"

Following Li Guotao's order, the soldiers immediately began to retreat while fighting along the original route.

At the same time, the military camp here was attacked, and the team of Japanese soldiers who were originally guarding the intersection also gathered a group of people and quickly prepared to rush to provide support.

As a result, they were ambushed by Song Weiguo and his men just after they walked more than a hundred meters.

Two machine guns and several submachine guns fired at the crowd of Japanese devils.

Then a round of grenades were thrown over, and loud explosions were heard, and the Japanese were immediately blown to the ground.

In a moment, dozens of defenseless Japanese soldiers were all killed.

Another group of people took the opportunity to attack the Japanese at the intersection.

Several sharpshooters sniped and killed several Japanese soldiers who were craning their necks to watch from a long distance, and the others immediately rushed forward recklessly.

There were not many Japanese soldiers left at the intersection at this moment. The Japanese machine gunner wanted to open fire, but he was shot in the head as soon as he set up the machine gun.

After Song Weiguo and his men dealt with those dozens of Japanese devils, they rushed over to provide support.

Because their goal was to capture this key intersection, dozens of soldiers rushed forward desperately. The remaining few Japanese devils were eventually killed, and Song Weiguo successfully captured the intersection.

Song Weiguo looked up into the distance, feeling extremely worried, and muttered, "Captain, you better hurry up."

Fortunately, not long after, Li Guotao led the soldiers to retreat from a distance. The brothers ran all the way and did not dare to stop at all, because everyone knew that if they wanted to return to Hengyang alive, they had to race against time, and they did not have much time left.

Once all the Japanese soldiers around gathered together and started a counterattack, their small number of people would not be enough to fill the gaps in the Japanese's teeth.

When Song Weiguo saw that Li Guotao and his men had finally arrived, he shouted excitedly, "They're back! The battalion commander and his men are back."

Li Guotao rushed over first and shouted, "Go!"

Because behind them, a large number of Japanese soldiers were rushing towards this side.

Song Weiguo immediately set up a machine gun, aimed it at the Japanese soldiers in the distance and started firing.

He shouted loudly: "Captain, you go first, I will cover you."

Intensive gunfire rang out, and strings of hot bullets poured towards the Japanese.

The Japanese soldiers rushing in the front were immediately swept down.

Li Guotao led the soldiers across the intersection, turned around and shouted loudly: "Song Weiguo, retreat quickly~!" (End of this chapter)