Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Just when the soldiers were on high alert and ready for battle.

Suddenly, a large number of refugees emerged on the street in the distance, and noisy sounds came from far away. These were refugees fleeing, dragging their children, walking along the street towards the new garbage bridge.

These people also knew that the main force had gradually withdrawn from the urban area and that the urban area would soon be occupied by the Japanese.

Some refugees began to retreat towards the west of Shanghai following the direction of the troops' retreat, while others did not want to leave and flocked to the concessions for refuge.

Now this new garbage bridge has become the last passage to the concession, so these refugees have flocked here, preparing to enter the concession for refuge.

Li Guotao just casually glanced at the refugee team and stopped looking. The Japanese invaders were invading on a large scale, and the land of China was littered with corpses and blood. Such tragic scenes were happening everywhere all the time.

Li Guotao was also afraid that watching it too much would only increase his sadness, so he simply stopped watching it.

Facing this catastrophe, one person's power is limited after all. All Li Guotao can do now is to try his best to kill more Japanese devils.

A team of soldiers rushed out of the fortifications, stood on the road and began to maintain order.

"Everyone, please stop crowding!"

"Be careful of the mines on the ground!"

The refugee group began to flow into the New Laji Bridge in an orderly manner. On the opposite side, there were patrolmen and soldiers from the concession authorities who were responsible for maintaining order and checking the refugees entering.

These foreign devils did not dare to offend the Japanese, fearing that they would give them an excuse, so they strictly prohibited soldiers from entering the concession and only allowed civilians to enter.

Li Guotao suddenly remembered Duanwu and others, opened his eyes and turned his head to look.

It was discovered that Duanwu and Lao Hulu were hiding behind a bunker, craning their necks to observe the refugee group.

Lao Hulu, the old fox, never gave up the idea of ​​escaping. He didn't want to wait to die here.

He found that the soldiers around him were all maintaining order. A large number of refugees were passing by, and there was chaos. Moreover, it was night time, so no one noticed him at all.

If you don't run now, when will you wait?
Old Hulu saw the opportunity, patted Duanwu next to him, and whispered, "Call Xiao Hubei and follow me!"

After saying this, Lao Hulu crouched down and ran out of the fortifications, diving into the crowd.

"Uncle~!"

Duanwu shouted softly, trying to stop Lao Hulu from escaping. He really didn't dare to be a deserter.

Besides, Xiao Hubei was just called upstairs and was not here at all. How could he call him?

Duanwu couldn't possibly abandon Xiao Hubei, so he didn't run away with Lao Hulu, but he didn't stop Lao Hulu either.

When Li Guotao saw this scene, he couldn't help but sigh slightly. He was asking for death himself, so he couldn't blame others.

At this time, Zhu Shengzhong shouted loudly: "Everyone else, don't be idle, continue to strengthen the fortifications."

Then everyone else was called over and continued to work.

However, there are constantly refugees passing by on the road, so it is temporarily impossible to lay mines.

Li Guotao was also busy helping to reinforce the fortifications.

At this time, a soldier ran over and said, "Squad leader, we don't have enough mines."

Zhu Shengzhong said: "Go ask the company commander for it."

The soldier said helplessly: "It's useless to go to the company commander, even the battalion commander or the deputy regiment commander."

"These are all the mines we have, and they're all here."

"Codes!"

Zhu Shengzhong couldn't help but curse. He knew very well that with their limited military strength, it would be too difficult to resist the crazy attack of the Japanese.

If we want to hold out for a longer period of time, we must make the best use of the terrain advantages, build more defensive positions, and place more mines in the direction of the enemy's attack.

This can not only slow down their attack speed, but also cause certain casualties to the attacking Japanese.

At this time, Li Guotao next to him suddenly said: "If there are not enough mines, then use grenades to set up booby traps. As long as they are cleverly arranged, the effect can even be better than mines."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shengzhong looked at Li Guotao and asked with a frown, "Can you also set booby traps?"

Li Guotao said casually: "What's so difficult about this? If you want to learn, I can teach you."

"As long as you're not stupid, you can learn it."

Zhu Shengzhong looked Li Guotao up and down. Judging from his military uniform, he was just a member of a third-rate unit like a security regiment. It was incredible that there was such a capable person in such a unit.

Zhu Shengzhong really didn't believe that Li Guotao had this ability, and sneered, "Who can't brag?"

Li Guotao smiled slightly and said, "I will convince you."

"Grab some grenades and follow me!"

Zhu Shengzhong also wanted to see how capable this guy was, so he followed Li Guotao obediently.

Li Guotao chose a suitable location, demonstrated it to Zhu Shengzhong personally, and told him in detail how to choose a suitable location, etc. a series of key points.

Then he took Zhu Shengzhong to choose two other suitable locations to set up booby traps.

After this operation, Zhu Shengzhong was convinced.

Zhu Shengzhong said with some doubt: "You should be a veteran who has been to the battlefield. How did you end up in a third-rate unit like the Security Corps?"

Li Guotao explained casually: "That was all in the past. Later, I joined the security team by mistake, and then came here."

Zhu Shengzhong didn't ask any more questions. Although this guy looked fierce at ordinary times, he still respected capable people very much.

Li Guotao's strength naturally won his respect.

Zhu Shengzhong then asked, "I heard that you were attacked by the Japanese when you arrived at Dachang. How come you are suddenly in the city?"

Li Guotao asked with a smile: "You want to ask me how I became a deserter, right?"

"No no no~!"

Zhu Shengzhong quickly waved his hand and said, "You are a man of real ability. I believe you will not desert."

Li Guotao explained helplessly: "At that time, we suddenly encountered the Japanese in Dachang. You also know the combat effectiveness of the security corps."

"As soon as the battle started, the troops were in disarray and fled in all directions. I had no choice but to kill a few Japanese soldiers and fight my way out."

"After I came out, I thought that since I was here, I had to go to the battlefield to kill the devils. I didn't know the situation at the time, but I just thought that there must be more devils in the city, so I ran to the city."

"Then I met Captain Lei and his men on the road, and we followed them to the Sihang Warehouse."

"So that's how it is. That's what I said. You are definitely not a deserter." Zhu Shengzhong said with a smile.

Li Guotao smiled and said, "Didn't you call us deserters before?"

"Just now he was shouting that he wanted to kill us all."

Zhu Shengzhong said somewhat embarrassedly: "That was because I was ignorant. I apologize to you."

"Actually, I was just trying to scare you and make you behave. I wouldn't really shoot you." "When I shot that guy just now, I didn't really shoot him in the head."

"But that guy is not bad either. He has quick reactions and is a veteran who has experienced many battles."

"Ok!"

Li Guotao nodded slightly and said, "I can see that."

Li Guotao naturally knew that Yangguai was indeed a veteran who had experienced many battles, and he also saw that Zhu Shengzhong did not really shoot at Yangguai's head at that time, but deliberately missed it by a little bit.

The fortifications were quickly built, and Li Guotao returned to the warehouse with the soldiers.

Zhu Shengzhong shouted to everyone: "Okay, everyone is tired, let's take a break first."

Li Guotao came to a seat near the window, sat down, lit a cigarette, and looked across thoughtfully.

The concession is across the Suzhou River, and the streets along the river are also extremely prosperous. Even late at night, it is still decorated with lights and full of feasting and revelry.

The surroundings gradually became quiet, and a faint singing voice drifted from the opposite side.

Li Guotao looked in the direction of the sound and saw through the window of a building opposite a beautiful young and gorgeously dressed singer singing.

Li Guotao sighed helplessly: "The merchant woman knows not the sorrow of losing her country, she still sings the song of Houtinghua across the river."

The beautiful singing attracted the attention of many soldiers in the warehouse. Most of these soldiers were from rural areas and had never seen such a scene before. They crowded around the window and looked at the singer opposite.

"This little girl is so good-looking!"

"She sings beautifully, like a lark."

An officer couldn't help but scold: "What are you looking at? What's there to see? You are a bunch of country bumpkins."

"I see you're still not tired, so continue to build fortifications."

Li Guotao finished smoking a cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, crushed it with his foot, stood up and walked to Zhu Shengzhong, and asked: "Can you take me to understand the terrain of the warehouse?"

Li Guotao and his companions are in an awkward position now. If one person wanders around alone, it might cause some unnecessary trouble. It is better to let someone else take care of him. Now the only people Li Guotao can talk to are Zhu Shengzhong and Lei Xiong, but no one knows where Lei Xiong has gone, so he can only look for Zhu Shengzhong.

"No problem at all."

Zhu Shengzhong readily agreed.

The war was imminent, and as an experienced veteran, Zhu Shengzhong naturally had to be as familiar with the terrain as possible, so he had no doubts about this.

Under the leadership of Zhu Shengzhong, Li Guotao first came to the basement.

There is a waterway in the basement that leads directly to the Suzhou River outside. Li Guotao lowered his head and looked at the waterway below, frowning and said, "Once the frontal attack of the Japanese is frustrated, they may sneak in from the waterway to launch a sneak attack. We have to be on guard."

Zhu Shengzhong nodded and said, "What you said makes sense."

"I'll tell the company commander and the others."

Li Guotao went on to say: "This place is connected to the Suzhou River outside, so there is no need to worry about water problems."

"In addition, our warehouse is basically sealed. If the Japanese fail in their assault, they may use poison gas bombs."

"Do we have enough gas masks?"

Zhu Shengzhong scratched his head and said, "I'm not sure about this. There should be some, but it may not be enough."

The 88th Division was a German-equipped division and was originally equipped with gas masks, but these were consumables and they had been fighting for more than two months, so the consumption in the war was still not small.

Therefore, even the troops left behind in the Sihang Warehouse cannot provide each of them with a gas mask.

Li Guotao said, "Aren't there a lot of supplies in the warehouse? Give everyone a few towels to carry with them. Water should be stored in various places in the warehouse. If the Japanese release poison gas, you can wet the towels with water and wrap them in multiple layers to prevent poisoning."

"When the province was in a hurry, there was no water, so I had to use urine."

Zhu Shengzhong nodded and said, "I'll make a note of it and report it to the superiors later."

After listening to Li Guotao's analysis, Zhu Shengzhong was even more impressed by Li Guotao.

"You are really wasting your talent by staying in the Security Corps. With your knowledge and skills, you can easily become an officer in our 88th Division."

Li Guotao was in no mood to chat with him at the moment. He said a few polite words and followed Zhu Shengzhong upstairs for a walk.

When I reached the third floor, I happened to meet Battalion Commander Yang.

Battalion Commander Yang saw Zhu Shengzhong leading Li Guotao around and asked curiously, "Zhu Shengzhong, what are you doing?"

Zhu Shengzhong hurried over, introduced the situation to Battalion Commander Yang, and reported all of Li Guotao's suggestions to Battalion Commander Yang.

After listening to Zhu Shengzhong's words, Captain Yang looked at Li Guotao curiously and asked, "Have you ever fought against the Japanese before?"

Li Guotao shook his head and said, "Not really, it's just that I've been paying attention to the battle situation on the front line during this period."

"Yesterday, we had a fight with the Japanese in the big field."

Captain Yang seemed to have remembered something and said, "I just heard from Lei Xiong that there was a man in the big field who killed several Japanese cavalrymen by himself. Is that you?"

Li Guotao nodded.

Captain Yang nodded with satisfaction and said, "It seems that you have some skills. Just follow me!"

"Now that the country is in crisis, it is time to recruit talents. As long as you work hard, your future will surely be bright."

Li Guotao was not interested in this big pie. A sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth and he asked, "Battalion Commander, I would like to ask you, what are your plans for the future?"

Captain Yang frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Li Guotao said: "What I mean is, do you plan to stay here forever, or do you have other plans?"

"If we keep holding on, there shouldn't be any big problems in the short term, but over time, the Japanese will sooner or later take over the Sihang Warehouse. Even if they take it bit by bit, they will be able to consume all of our hundreds of people."

"If that's the case, what future do we have?"

"What? Are you scared to death?" Captain Yang asked with interest.

Li Guotao sneered and said, "Are you afraid of death? If I were afraid of death, I would have run all the way west when I was in Dachang. With my skills, it would be easy for me to escape to a safe place. Why would I risk coming to the city?"

Captain Yang nodded slightly and said, "Since you came to the city, you are here to fight the Japanese, so why ask more questions?"

Li Guotao said: "I just want to know in advance so that I can be mentally prepared."

Captain Yang sighed helplessly and said, "To tell you the truth, we don't have any specific plans in this regard right now. We can only take it one step at a time."

"Although the Sihang Warehouse is strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack, who can say for sure how long it can hold out?"

Li Guotao said: "Based on the current situation, I dare not say how many more there are, but it is still easy to defend for a few days."

Captain Yang nodded and said, "Let's just get through these few days first."

As a result, Li Guotao also firmly believed that Captain Xie and his men had not received any further instructions from their superiors.

Actually, that's true. The superiors probably didn't expect them to be able to defend the Sihang Warehouse. (End of this chapter)