The War of Resistance: From Overseas Chinese Mechanics to King of Nanyang

"Where is this? The Gates of Hell?"

A hoarse, dry voice rang out from the sickbed, carrying a hint of weakness and confusion. On the other side, Dai Anlan, who had been in a coma for a long time, finally slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the scene before her, her first reaction was that she had come to the gates of hell.

A moment later, his consciousness gradually cleared, and the excruciating pain in his body instantly reminded him of the fierce ambush, the bullets coming at him, and the brothers who had fallen beside him.

He struggled to move, but found himself powerless, and the wound in his chest was throbbing with pain. He could only move his eyes with difficulty.

A wave of anxiety washed over him: Had his men managed to break through the encirclement?

"Commander, you're awake?"

The orderly guarding him had been keeping a close eye on the sickbed. When he saw Dai Anlan open his eyes and murmur a few words, an undisguised look of surprise flashed across his face, and his eyes immediately reddened. After confirming that Dai Anlan was really awake, he turned around and quickly ran out of the tent to report.

Before long, the makeshift ward—which was actually a large military tent—was crammed full of officers.

When Gao Jiren, who was in charge, saw that Dai Anlan had woken up, his excitement was palpable.

He immediately went to the bedside, tightly grasped Dai Anlan's cold hand, and said in a trembling voice, "Commander, you're finally awake! You were unconscious for a whole day and night, and we were all so worried!"

"Yes, Commander, it's wonderful that you've woken up. The brothers are all waiting outside, hoping you'd wake up," the other officers chimed in.

"Hmm, I thought... I was already on the verge of death." Dai Anlan looked at the familiar face in front of her, a bitter smile barely tugging at the corners of her lips, her voice still weak.

He genuinely believed he had died in that ambush, after all, he had been shot in the chest, the pain was excruciating, and his consciousness had instantly blurred; he never imagined he would wake up alive.

The fact that he was lying here conscious meant that he had been rescued, which was indeed quite unexpected for him.

"By the way, wasn't I shot? How did you manage to revive me?" After catching her breath, Dai Anlan frowned slightly, a hint of doubt in her eyes, and asked with difficulty.

He was very clear about the conditions of his division's field hospital. If it were before the war, treating gunshot wounds would definitely not be a problem, but due to the hasty retreat, all kinds of medical supplies had been lost. In theory, there should not have been the conditions for surgery.

Unless he was flown back to China at the time, he would probably still be in a coma.

But the fact that he actually succeeded in the surgery is quite surprising. Are the medical skills in field hospitals really that advanced? How could they succeed without any medical equipment?

"Commander, it's like this..."

Seeing this, Gao Jiren stepped forward and, at the same time, softened his tone and slowly recounted the whole story.

From the moment the troops were in dire straits, to Huang Zurong leading the militia to suddenly rush to their aid and defeat the Sakaguchi Detachment, to the delivery of rare medicines and medical equipment, the military doctor was able to successfully perform surgery on him with the help of these medical supplies.

Dai Anlan listened quietly, her originally weak eyes gradually becoming serious, her brows furrowing more and more tightly, and her fingers unconsciously clenching the bedding beneath her.

He never expected that so many twists and turns would happen during the two days he was unconscious. He was even more surprised that there was a local militia here who showed no fear in the face of the Japanese army and took the initiative to attack.

"We really have to thank them properly." Dai Anlan sighed softly, his tone full of gratitude. "If it weren't for their help, I'm afraid I would have..." He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood—without Huang Zurong's supplies and rescue, Dai Anlan's chances of survival were slim, and even if the troops managed to break through, the casualties would be even greater.

As soon as he finished speaking, Dai Anlan seemed to have suddenly discovered something. His gaze slowly swept over the officers present, and the doubt in his eyes gradually turned into unease.

Logically speaking, once I woke up, the commanders of each regiment should have rushed to visit me immediately. However, the faces in front of me were mostly staff officers from the division headquarters and a few battalion-level officers. Many familiar figures, especially the regimental commanders and deputy regimental commanders of several regiments, were nowhere to be seen.

His heart sank, and the pain in his chest seemed to intensify. He spoke with difficulty, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly: "By the way, what about our casualties...?"

Upon hearing this, the previously noisy tent instantly fell silent, and the faces of everyone present turned ashen. They all lowered their heads, and no one dared to utter a word.

The atmosphere instantly became heavy and oppressive, with only Dai Anlan's faint breathing and the faint sound of the wind outside the tent remaining.

"Say something." Dai Anlan seemed to have thought of something, but still couldn't believe it. Despite the pain in her chest, she couldn't help but ask.

Finally, Gao Jiren took a deep breath, slowly raised his head, his face full of grief and guilt, sighed, and said, word by word.

"Commander, our casualties this time are...very heavy. Among them, Dong Gan, the chief of staff of the division headquarters, died heroically in the ambush; Liu Shuren, the colonel commander of the 599th Regiment, was hit by several bullets and died heroically while covering the breakout of the troops; Liu Jie, the colonel deputy commander of the 600th Regiment, was unfortunately hit by artillery shells while blocking the Japanese army and his body was never found...In addition, dozens of battalion and company-level officers were killed, and the number of soldiers killed or wounded was as high as thousands."

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Dai Anlan shuddered violently, her breath caught in her throat, and a piercing pain spread through her chest as if struck by a boulder. Her lips trembled as she looked at Gao Jiren, seemingly trying to confirm that it was all a lie.

"Is this... real?" Dai Anlan murmured, her face now completely drained of color.

"Commander, please don't get agitated. Your injuries haven't healed yet, you can't move!" Gao Jiren was startled when he saw the other person's expression, and at the same time felt very guilty. He should have said so earlier.

"Is it all true?" Dai Anlan leaned against the hospital bed, panting heavily, her chest heaving as she asked again to confirm.

"Yes," Gao Jiren had no choice but to admit it, forcing himself to.

Upon hearing this, Dai Anlan's eyes were filled with grief and self-blame, and her voice choked as she said, "It's my fault... it's my fault for poor command that caused our brothers to sacrifice themselves in vain... I'm so sorry for them..."

Seeing this, the other officers present all had tears in their eyes, and some couldn't help but try to persuade them.

"Commander, take care. The brothers are counting on you to lead us back home."

"Yes, Commander, once you're better, we'll lead the brothers to avenge you."

At this point, these are the only words that can be said to ease the other person's grief.