Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 120 I Feel the Eighth Route Army Everywhere

Unlike the bustling New Second Regiment, the Japanese were increasingly troubled by the Eighth Route Army that could be seen everywhere in Shanxi.

Moreover, these Eighth Route Army troops have even expanded to central Hebei and even southwestern Shandong.

The Japanese were forced into a corner and finally did not even celebrate the New Year, and began to frequently carry out raids in the countryside.

Chen Chengxing also smelled a strong smell of gunpowder. The Japanese were now frequently dispatching small forces, which must be a preliminary intelligence reconnaissance. The Japanese might very well be planning to dispatch large forces at any time.

Therefore, Chen Chengxing also ordered the guerrillas to break up into small groups and disperse to various villages in the entire Dayunshan area. While resisting the mopping-up operations, they also led the militia from each village to learn and practice tunnel warfare.

Although the tunnels have not yet been finalized at this stage, each village has several preliminary tunnels, which are sufficient to support the initial tunnel warfare.

After all, the Japs had never encountered tunnel warfare before, and the initial underground warfare was enough to beat them to a pulp.

At this time, the Japanese soldiers who entered Dayun Mountain for a sweep felt a little embarrassed. Not only could they not capture the main force of the Eighth Route Army, but it seemed that the more they swept, the more Eighth Route Army troops there were.

Since the people in the base area were all loyal to the Eighth Route Army, the New Second Regiment was extremely well-informed. They knew exactly where the Japanese were currently and where they would be tomorrow. However, the Japanese were completely in the dark. It felt like the Eighth Route Army was everywhere, but they could not find them anywhere.

In the end, even the common people couldn't find them.

"Baga Yalu! Eighth Route Army, so cunning!" The Japanese squad leader stood at the entrance of the deserted village and shouted furiously.

This was the third village they had raided today, but they didn't see a single person.

"Taijun, this area is full of gullies and ravines. Those local rioters and unruly people can hide in the mountains and we won't be able to find any trace of them at all." said Ma Chen, the puppet army battalion commander on the side.

The disadvantage of raiding the mountains is that there are too many places to hide, and a raid by several hundred people will have no effect at all.

This time they set out from Luyang, with a total of one Japanese infantry squad and two Locust Association infantry companies, with a total of more than 2 people, but no fighting has taken place until now, or no one has been found.

"Baga! Go into the village and search!" the Japanese squad leader ordered.

"Hai!"

Shangyaozhuang is a relatively large village in the area. As it is built on the mountain, the village covers a relatively large area.

More than 2 Japanese soldiers and puppet troops entered the village in groups and searched house to house.

This search went wrong.

"boom!"

"Enemy attack! Quick! Support! Support!"

When the nearest Japanese soldiers arrived at the scene, they saw two puppet soldiers lying on the ground and screaming, and the other two puppet soldiers standing next to them were terrified.

Shit! I almost stepped on a landmine just now!

"Baga! What's going on?" the Japanese squad leader asked angrily.

"Madam, there are mines in the village!" the surviving puppet soldier said tremblingly.

"What?" The Japanese squad leader was very surprised.

The puppet soldiers who understood what was said nearby were even more shocked. Did this mean that they had just gone around in front of the King of Hell?
"Since the Eighth Route Army has laid mines, there must be something fishy going on here. Order the search to continue!" The Japanese squad leader thought for a moment and said to Ma Chen.

"Madam, this..." Ma Chen's face looked unhappy.

The existence of landmines in the village is no trivial matter. Who knows how many those unruly people have buried? What if you step on one?
"Baga! Follow orders and do your job!" said the Japanese squad leader in a stern voice.

There were no problems in the two villages they searched before, but mines suddenly appeared in this village, and there seemed to be something wrong no matter how you looked at it.

"Hi!" Ma Chen agreed reluctantly.

"Brothers, spread out and search in groups of two or three, and complete it as soon as possible!" Ma Chen turned his head and ordered.

Anyway, he had no intention of searching in person. At most, he would just walk around the main road. If he came across any suspicious place, he would immediately pretend not to see it.

The puppet army was in bad luck now. Every once in a while someone would step on a landmine, and there were all kinds of landmines.

Some were made of pottery, stone, and iron. Some were filled with iron sand, some were filled with pebbles, and some were filled with a pile of feces.

These mines usually don't kill people, but they can make life worse than death.

The puppet soldiers who were searching did not know that there were pairs of eyes staring at them in some corners.

Under the big stone mill at the entrance of the village, Hong Feng, the captain of the 3rd Squadron of the nd Guerrilla Team, was secretly observing the movements of the Japanese.

"Captain, how is it?" a soldier at the side asked in a low voice.

"Hey, the Japs drove the puppet troops into the village to search, and they ran to the threshing ground themselves." Hong Feng laughed softly.

"Come on, give me the Type 99 rifle, and then go and inform our comrades that we can find an opportunity to launch a surprise attack." Hong Feng ordered.

"Yes!" The soldier next to him handed the crooked-handled gun in his hand to Hong Feng, then walked away with his body bent.

Hong Feng took out two cotton balls from his pocket and stuffed them into his ears, then extended the muzzle of the gun a little and aimed it at the three puppet soldiers who were searching.

The sound of gunfire in the tunnel is extremely loud, so according to the tunnel warfare precautions issued by the regiment headquarters, we must take good protection.

"Thump, thump, thump" ...

It’s better to be prepared. Hong Feng fired two bursts of shots and then put the gun away.

Two of the three puppet soldiers facing the gun fell down immediately, leaving only one lying on the ground at a loss.

He didn't even know where the enemy was.

When the Japanese squad leader and his men came running over, the remaining puppet soldier was still lying on the ground.

"Where are the enemies?!" asked the Japanese squad leader.

If there were gunshots, there must be the Eighth Route Army, but he didn't find anything.

"No, I don't know," the puppet soldier said tremblingly.

"Baga!" The Japanese squad leader came up and gave two big punches.

"You're being attacked! Don't you know where the enemy is working?!" the Japanese squad leader said angrily.

"Madam, I really don't know. I just suddenly heard a burst of gunfire over there, but there was no one there." The puppet soldier was almost crying.

The moment he heard the gunshot, he lay down and looked for the enemy, but found nothing.

The Japanese squad leader looked in the direction pointed by the puppet soldier for a long time but found nothing, and that direction didn't look like a place where people could hide.

"Bagaya road!"

"Everyone! Search carefully!"

The Japanese squad leader could only let the puppet army continue searching, and at the same time ordered the Locust Army soldiers to disperse and monitor to see if they could find the sneak attacking enemy forces.

However, just two minutes after they dispersed, they heard a gunshot.

When they arrived, they saw a soldier lying in a pigsty.

"Baka! Baka!" When the Japanese squad leader saw this scene, he was so angry that he drew out his command knife and slashed around.

After a few minutes of hacking, the Japanese squad leader ordered: "Search the area carefully. Even if we have to dig deep into the ground, we must find the clues!"

The soldiers of the Locust Association were shot, and the guns could not turn, which means that the enemy was shooting nearby.

Hearing the squad leader's order, the Japanese and puppet soldiers immediately started stabbing everywhere with bayonets. They didn't notice it at first until one of the puppet soldiers casually hit the pig trough with the butt of his gun. The hollow sound attracted the attention of the Japanese squad leader.

"That thing! Check it carefully!" the Japanese squad leader ordered.

"Hai!"

Two Japanese soldiers immediately stepped forward and prepared to lift it down, but they failed. Now everyone knew that there was a problem here.

The pig trough is made of wood and normally one person can push it over, but now even two people can’t overturn it. This must have been specially treated.

"Madam, I'll ask our brothers to send in a few more people." Ma Chen volunteered.

"No." The Japanese squad leader didn't want to waste time at this moment.

"Everyone find cover," the Japanese squad leader ordered.

Then he took a grenade from the Japanese soldier next to him, knocked it against the gunman, and threw it into the pig trough.

"boom!"

After an explosion, the pig trough was blown to pieces, and a black hole appeared in front of everyone.

"There is a tunnel!" Ma Chen said in surprise.

The Japanese squad leader also saw the dark hole and immediately signaled the soldiers next to him to go forward and check.

But all they could see on the ground was an overturned ladder, and if they wanted to get down they had to jump down.

"You, go down and do the reconnaissance work!" The Japanese squad leader ordered the puppet soldiers who were peeking out to watch the fun.

"Ah?" The puppet army was confused.

Go down? It's obvious from the first glance that this is not a good place. There must be Eighth Route Army soldiers inside. Wouldn't it be a death sentence to go down?

"Baga! Hurry up and work!" The Japanese squad leader waved his hand and a big bag of ass was thrown.

If you dare to talk nonsense again, just throw it away.

The puppet soldier had no choice but to find a rope for others to hold and then he went down. After going down to the tunnel, the puppet soldier disappeared into the darkness with his rifle in hand, trembling.

At the corner of the tunnel, guerrilla soldiers were already waiting for him with spears in their hands.

When the puppet soldier was about to turn the corner, he felt someone pulling his rifle hard, and his body staggered involuntarily.

Then there was a flash of cold light.

"Ah~~"

The Japanese and puppet soldiers who were waiting for intelligence in the pigsty only heard a scream coming from the tunnel, and then no more sound.

"Erdan? Erdan!" The person on the ground shouted twice, but there was no response.

Everyone looked at each other and thought, he's dead.

"Throw grenades!" the Japanese squad leader ordered immediately.

The situation below is unclear now, and grenade bombing is the best option.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

The sound of the grenade exploding in the tunnel was particularly dull.

"Go!" The Japanese squad leader signaled to the two Japanese soldiers next to him.

Now that it has been confirmed that there are enemies below, it would be a waste of time to send the Locust Army forward.

However, the two Japanese soldiers had just jumped into the tunnel and walked a short distance when they heard something fall to the ground.

"Be careful!" the Japanese soldier in front immediately whispered, and at the same time used a flashlight to search for what it was.

However, before they could find it, they heard a loud explosion.

The grenades produced by the New Second Regiment were still weak in power, and the two Japanese soldiers did not die on the spot. Instead, they still had the strength to shout for help.

After hearing the explosion and cries for help, the team leader on the ground immediately sent two Imperial Army soldiers down to rescue people.

There were no accidents this time and the people were rescued successfully, but the two were seriously injured.

Now the Japanese and the puppet army were at a loss and didn't know what to do.

Everything in the tunnel is unknown. Going down would be like adding fuel to the fire, which is a taboo in military strategy.

But if they can't go on, they won't be able to destroy the Eighth Route Army at all, and their trip would be in vain.

A stubborn mind becomes a blockage in both ends!

After thinking for a long time, the Japanese squad leader ordered: "Go get some water and fill it up!"

"Hey, Sir! Great!" Ma Chen gave a thumbs up. Not only would the water attack not cause casualties, it would also pose a fatal danger to the Eighth Route Army underground.

"Hurry! Brothers! Go get some water!" Ma Chen ordered.

However, the puppet soldiers worked hard for more than four hours, poured countless amounts of water into the tunnel, were exhausted, and stepped on several mines, but the tunnel did not respond at all.

The guerrillas in the tunnel watched the water rush in and then rush out, and they couldn't stop laughing.

"The commander's move is really clever. He had already anticipated that the Japanese would launch a water attack." The soldier laughed.

According to Chen Chengxing's requirements, there must be special drainage ditches when the tunnel is built. When necessary, sandbags can be used to block the main road to force the water to flow back to the well through the drainage ditch.

Although the tunnels in each village have not yet been truly three-dimensionally completed, various protective works have already taken shape.

The puppet soldiers worked very hard for a long time, but they just became porters of well water.

"Since the Japanese won't come down, let the comrades have a rest. I estimate that the Japanese will not leave at night, and we will give them some gifts then." said the captain.

"Also, have the militia take good care of the villagers. There is no condition to open fire now, so eat some dry food first."

"Yes!"

The Japanese were busy until the evening, but found that they could not do anything about the entrance of the cave, so the Japanese squad leader decided to block it directly.

"Dig and bury!" ordered the Japanese squad leader.

"Hi!" Ma Chen immediately waved his hand to signal his soldiers to work.

While the puppet soldiers were working hard, Ma Chen asked, "Taijun, it's getting late now, should we leave?"

After hearing Ma Chen's question, the Japanese squad leader thought for a moment and said, "Let's stay in this village, but we must order everyone to be on high alert to prevent sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army."

The Japanese squad leader also knew that there could not be only one entrance to the tunnel here, so he wanted to try to lure the Eighth Route Army out.

Therefore, after giving the order to the Locust Association, he also ordered all Japanese soldiers not to rest tonight and to set up firing points on the commanding heights of each roof. As long as the Eighth Route Army dared to appear, they would be caught off guard.

When the local guerrilla leader learned that the Japanese and puppet troops had not left, he immediately understood the Japanese's thoughts.

Go ahead to dangers.

Either this person is a fool or there is an ambush. The Japanese are definitely not fools, so there must be an ambush.

"The Japanese must have an ambush. Comrades, be careful and try not to use outdoor passages," the captain ordered.

Although the village is low-lying and not yet fully developed, it has many outlets.

Knowing that the Japanese were lying in ambush, the best option was to use the indoor exit. With cover, the Japanese would not be able to detect their movements.

"Yes!"

Late at night, there were some subtle noises coming from the kitchen stove.

Then the iron pot on the stove was lifted up, and a pitch-black face stretched out.

After finding that there was no danger around, the guerrilla fighter gently placed the iron pot aside, turned it over and gestured downwards.

Soon two more people climbed up the ladder.

The three communicated through gestures throughout.

When they stuck their heads out and found that there were people sitting and resting in the windows and at the door on the outside of the house, they immediately each took out two grenades.

After counting 321 several times, they pulled the string and threw it over at the same time.

After throwing it away, he turned around and returned to the tunnel from the stove. The person at the back also put the iron pot down again.

The puppet soldier who was hit by the grenade fiddled with it impatiently in his sleep.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
A series of explosions immediately alarmed the entire village.

When the Japanese squad leader rushed over, he saw only a messy room and seven or eight puppet soldiers lying on the ground, breathing more than breathing in.

"Baga! What's going on? Has anyone seen the enemy?!" asked the Japanese squad leader.

"Madam, I have just asked and no one has found the enemy." Ma Chen explained.

He asked everyone in the nearby rooms, but found nothing.

"Baga! Could it be that the Eighth Route Army emerged from underground?!"

"Search immediately!" ordered the Japanese squad leader.

"Hai!"

More than two hundred people searched the village for a long time, but found nothing except a few unlucky guys who stepped on landmines.

"Increase vigilance! Disband!" Having gained nothing, the Japanese squad leader had no choice but to disband and asked everyone to be vigilant.

But no matter how vigilant the Japs and puppet troops were, sneak attacks kept happening, and explosions and gunshots rang out all night long.

Until they could no longer bear the fear in their hearts and fled from the village in a panic.

Standing on the high ground outside the village, the Japanese squad leader looked at the silent village and felt a chill in his heart.

He was not afraid of head-on fighting or any brutal battlefield, but this silent fear was even more terrifying.

"Madam Jun, what should we do now?" Ma Chen said with some fear.

That night, they didn't see anyone, but more than 30 people were beaten to death or injured.

Later they found several tunnel entrances, but no one dared to go down. Even in the end, they pretended not to see the tunnel entrances when they saw them.

They are not fools. No one would go even though they know they are going to die. They join the Locust Army to make a living, not for some bullshit Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

"Rest here, we will return to Luyang to work tomorrow!" said the Japanese squad leader.

The Japanese squad leader didn't dare to take any more risks. He knew without thinking that there must be tunnels in the two villages before, but they didn't enter the villages to search at that time, so they didn't find them.

When Ma Chen heard that they would return to Luyang after dawn, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

He was too afraid that the team leader would fight him to death.

That night, many troops had similar experiences as this group of devils.

The Japanese soldiers who saw the tunnel warfare for the first time were dizzy and even though they wanted to have a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army, they could not find anyone.

(End of this chapter)