Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 19 The Japanese Invasion
Seeing Dafei's anxious look, Chen Ming asked:
"What happened?"

"According to news from our comrades in Ping'an County, the Japanese have gathered a small squad, along with more than a hundred puppet troops, and are heading straight for Xiaowangzhuang," Dafei said anxiously.

"what!"

Chen Ming stood up.

"According to the information we received, a traitor reported to the Japanese that a district militia was hiding in Xiaowangzhuang, which is why the Japanese sent troops to Xiaowangzhuang."

Dafei said.

"How long have the Japanese been gone?" Chen Ming asked, getting straight to the point.

"The exact time is unclear, but the comrades in the county town got the news from the puppet army. At that time, the puppet army had already gone to assemble," Dafei said.

Hearing Dafei's answer, Chen Ming nodded.

Xiaowangzhuang is located in a mountainous area with poor roads, so the Japanese soldiers' cars could not get in and they could only proceed on foot.

Xiaowangzhuang is 20 kilometers away from Ping'an County. At a normal marching speed, the Japanese could arrive in no more than five hours.

"How long has it been since we received the news?" Chen Ming then asked.

“From the time the news came from the county town to the time it reached our soldiers in Xiaowangzhuang, and then to the time the soldiers ran back to Yanxia Village, almost two hours had passed,” Dafei said after thinking for a moment.

The message was initially delivered to the soldiers who remained in Xiaowangzhuang. Although the district squad had moved, they left several soldiers in Xiaowangzhuang as a message relay station, while also taking on the task of protecting the villagers.

I didn't expect it to work so quickly.

However, the Japanese only sent a small squad plus a little over a hundred puppet troops, totaling about 150 or 160 people.

It seems they are unaware that the district squad has now grown to over three hundred people.

It's probably because after being tricked last time, they couldn't find anyone to ambush the transport team, so they took their anger out on their district squad.

"Those little devils are trying to retaliate against us. Pass on my order: the whole team assemble." Chen Ming issued the order.

The team quickly assembled.

"Comrades, the Japanese have gathered a small squad and more than a hundred traitors, and they are heading to Xiaowangzhuang to harm our fellow villagers. What do you say we should do?"

Chen Ming gave a brief pre-battle mobilization speech.

"Kill those sons of bitches of Japanese devils."

"Yes, we can't let them hurt our fellow villagers. Captain, give the order."

When the soldiers heard that the Japanese devils were planning to harm their comrades again, they were all filled with indignation, especially since many of the soldiers came from Xiaowangzhuang, and the people of Xiaowangzhuang were their relatives and friends.

The other soldiers also developed a deep affection for the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang.

"Alright, now I order everyone to take all the team's weapons and equipment and advance towards Xiaowangzhuang," Chen Ming shouted.

"Time is tight and the task is heavy, so everyone should speed up. The sooner we arrive, the safer the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang will be."

"Yes."

The district squad of over three hundred people quickly sprang into action, marching towards Xiaowangzhuang.

In that era, our army had no cars, so we could only rely on the soldiers' own two iron feet to race against the Japanese.

Countless victories were achieved by the soldiers' iron feet outrunning the enemy and outrunning time.

Yanxia Village is eight kilometers away from Xiaowangzhuang, and the road is mountainous. Even so, the soldiers managed to shorten the marching time to 50 minutes.

Upon arriving at Xiaowangzhuang, Chen Ming ordered the soldiers of the Second Detachment to help the villagers evacuate, while the soldiers of the First and Third Detachments took a break to prepare for fighting the Japanese and buy time for the villagers to evacuate.

Chen Ming opened the three-dimensional combat map and found that the enemy had just appeared on the map, meaning that they were less than five kilometers away.

After carefully observing the surrounding terrain, Chen Ming had an idea. "Sir, the Ping'an County squad is hiding in Xiaowangzhuang, three kilometers ahead. They'll be there once we cross that valley. Once we block the three exits from the village, they won't be able to escape."

In the Japanese ranks, a thin, middle-aged man with a middle parting in his hair spoke obsequiously to a Japanese officer.

"Hey, Liu-san is truly a friend of the Great Japanese Empire, a truly good citizen." The Japanese officer patted the traitor on the shoulder and encouraged him.

"It's my duty, it's my duty. It's my honor to serve the Locust Army." The traitor bowed even lower.

"Then let's speed up the advance, wipe out the Chinese army as soon as possible, and I can go back for a drink sooner," the Japanese officer ordered.

When he received this combat mission, he was actually a little confused.

The district squad was a third-rate armed force, with at most twenty or thirty people and two or three broken guns. They could be wiped out by any small detachment.

Lord Hirata Ichiro sent him with his squad, plus over a hundred puppet troops, to wipe out this beggar army. Isn't that going too far?

Therefore, this Japanese squad leader didn't take the mission seriously at all; he just wanted to eliminate the district squad as soon as possible and return to the county town to drink and have fun with courtesans.

Hirata Ichiro did this because he was angered by Chen Ming's ambush of the transport team earlier.

He searched for a long time but found no trace of Chinese troops in his defense zone, and the information he received from the spies indicated that no troops had infiltrated the area.

It was as if this unit had appeared out of thin air.

But Hirata Ichiro suffered a loss and lost face, so this matter cannot be left unresolved.

Upon learning that a district squad was stationed in Xiaowangzhuang, he immediately found a target to vent his anger on.

So they sent a small Japanese army squad and more than 100 puppet troops to completely annihilate this force and vent their anger.

Of course, Hirata Ichiro was unaware that the ambush on the transport team was carried out by Chen Ming's district squad, nor did he know that the district squad had grown to more than three hundred people.

The traitors only learned that the district squad was stationed in Xiaowangzhuang.

Otherwise, Hirata Ichiro wouldn't have only sent a little over 150 people.

The Japanese troops marched all the way to the valley leading to Xiaowangzhuang. Looking through the valley, they could already see the village not far away.

"Sir, Xiaowangzhuang is just over there," the traitor surnamed Liu said obsequiously.

"well!"

The Japanese squad leader nodded.

Sudden.

"Snapped!"

A gunshot rang out abruptly from the valley, and a bloody hole appeared in the chest of the traitor.

The traitor lowered his head, staring incredulously at the bloody hole in his abdomen, and collapsed to the ground, powerless.

"Enemy attack!"

Upon hearing the gunfire, the Japanese soldiers immediately scattered and began searching for cover while simultaneously looking for traces of the enemy.

"Oh!"

Another shot rang out, but this time it missed.

At that moment, the Japanese squad leader also discovered the enemy's location.

"Damn it, there are only three enemies!" The Japanese squad leader cursed as he saw three people emerge from behind a large rock ahead, fire two shots, and then run away.

(End of this chapter)