Courtyard House: I only wiped out 30,000 Japanese pirates

The Japanese soldier naturally recognized it as a landmine.

He suddenly took a step back and shouted in Japanese, his voice sharp and urgent, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Another guard rushed over, and his expression changed drastically after seeing it.

The two men simultaneously raised their guns, pointing them at He Dajun's feet, before quickly moving them away.

One of the guards shouted at He Dajun, "Don't move! Don't move yours!"

He Dajun didn't understand and kept asking, "What? What is this thing?"

His face showed genuine confusion and nervousness.

Soon, the translator was called over. He glanced at what was at He Dajun's feet and his face turned pale.

He shouted to He Dajun, "Landmine! You've stepped on a landmine! Don't move! Don't lift your foot!"

He Dajun then "reacted," and the expression on his face changed from confusion to fear.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead—it was real sweat. Although he had planted the landmines himself, stepping on them while several Japanese soldiers were pointing guns at him was incredibly nerve-wracking.

His voice began to tremble: "Sir, save me! I am loyal to the Imperial Army, I can't die like this!"

Sergeant Suzuki, who was in charge of workshop security, also rushed over.

He squatted down and carefully examined the landmine under He Dajun's feet, his face so dark it could drip water.

The resistance forces of Daxia had actually planted landmines in the core factory building, clearly waiting for a large number of people to be present before detonating them, intending to wipe out both the new machines and the people in one fell swoop.

Luckily, He Dajun stepped on it beforehand; otherwise, once the machine was repaired and people were working there, an explosion could have killed dozens of people.

But he wouldn't say it out loud.

Instead, he stood up, looked at He Dajun, and said expressionlessly, "We don't have sappers here. We don't have mine-clearing equipment. Good luck to you."

After saying this, he turned to the other soldiers and ordered all the technical experts to be withdrawn, including the two Japanese technicians. He also sent someone to notify the engineering corps to come and clear the mines.

Master Xia was herded away from the rolling mill, and they walked out, their faces pale.

As he passed by He Dajun, someone glanced at him with a look of sympathy mixed with something else. This lackey had stepped on their landmine; they didn't know whether to thank him or laugh at him.

Soon, only He Dajun and a few Japanese soldiers remained in the workshop.

He Dajun almost cried, tears welling in his eyes, his voice trembling with sobs: "Sir, what am I going to do? You can't just abandon me! I'm an administrator personally appointed by Sir Sasaki, I'm of great use to the Imperial Army!"

Suzuki gave him a cold look.

Whether this Xia man lives or dies makes no difference to him. He's just a manager; if he dies, he can be replaced at any time.

But since He Dajun mentioned Sasaki, he couldn't go too far.

After thinking for a moment, he said in a tone of schadenfreude, "You, take a stick, put it on your foot, take off your shoes, and leave immediately."

"We must leave as quickly as possible!"

This is a method the Japanese taught their soldiers for clearing mines in dire situations. The principle is to use a stick instead of the weight of your foot to press down the mine's fuse, and then pull your foot away and walk away.

Theoretically it's simple, but in practice, it's difficult for the pressure of the stick to be exactly the same as the weight of the foot. If it's even slightly off, the spring will spring out and the landmine will explode.

This method has almost never been successful on the battlefield.

The sergeant's words showed a completely indifferent attitude. He Dajun was just a Daxia man, worthless.

He Dajun was overjoyed and repeatedly thanked the Japanese soldiers, taking the small wooden stick they handed him.

The stick wasn't long, about 80 centimeters long and as thick as a forearm; I don't know where it came from.

He Dajun squatted down, carefully placed the wooden stick on the instep of his foot, and then wrapped the stick and the shoe with shoelaces twice.

Just then, two other guards searched the workshop and found two more landmines behind scrap steel plates.

The Japanese soldier's face turned even paler.

Suzuki gasped when he saw the two landmines.

Three landmines were planted inside the core workshop. This was no small matter; it was a planned act of sabotage.

He quickly ordered everyone to retreat outside the workshop, leaving He Dajun to fend for himself.

Just then, Sasaki arrived.

When Sasaki entered Workshop 2 with two guards, he was met with a bizarre scene.

The workshop was empty; all the workers had left. In a corner, He Dajun had one foot on a landmine and the other half-squatting, stuffing a small wooden stick under the sole of his shoe.

His forehead was covered in sweat, and his hands were trembling, but he didn't stop moving.

"What's going on?" Sasaki asked.

Suzuki quickly stepped forward to report. After listening, Sasaki raised an eyebrow, glanced at the landmine at He Dajun's feet, and then at the other two landmines that had been found, a look of great interest on his face.

I wasn't afraid; instead, it felt like watching a performance.

He walked up to He Dajun, stopped four or five meters away, and asked, "He Dajun, are you... afraid?"

He Dajun looked up, saw Sasaki, and his face lit up with a "grasping at a straw" expression: "Lord Sasaki! You've come! I'm not afraid! Serving the Imperial Army, even dying is an honor!"

His voice was passionate and rousing, but his legs and hands were shaking.

Sasaki smiled, seemingly quite satisfied with He Dajun's "loyalty".

He even arranged for a guard to go forward and help He Dajun. Although the guard was unwilling, he could not disobey his superior's orders, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go forward to help He Dajun hold the small wooden stick.

He Dajun was still sweating profusely, his face showing a mixture of tension and gratitude, a jumble of emotions that made him look utterly disheveled.

Then he suddenly remembered something, looked up at Sasaki and said, "Sir, I have an idea. Could you bring me a sandbag for fortifications?"

Sasaki asked him what he meant.

He Dajun explained that by holding the sandbags close to his chest, they could block shrapnel if a landmine exploded. Even if he was injured, the shrapnel wouldn't be fatal.

After listening, Sasaki stared at He Dajun for two seconds and nodded.

Although the idea was far-fetched, it sounded somewhat reasonable. But what interested him even more was He Dajun himself.

At this point, he was still thinking about how to use sandbags to block shrapnel. Interesting.

Soon, a guard carried over a sandbag for fortification, weighing about twenty or thirty pounds, filled with coarse sand.

He Dajun hugged the sandbag to his chest and took a deep breath.

Have the Japanese soldier use a small wooden stick to hold down the sole of the shoe and slowly untie the shoelaces. Pull your left foot out of the shoe inch by inch, first the toes, then the ball of your foot, and then the heel.

His movements were extremely slow, almost millimeter by millimeter, and beads of sweat slid down his forehead, dripping onto the broken bricks with a soft sound.

The heels came off the straw sandals completely.

He Dajun took a deep breath and, with lightning speed, pulled his left foot out of his shoe, simultaneously slamming the sandbag down on it.

Boom!

The sandbags hit the blast point directly at the moment the landmine exploded.

Most of the shrapnel was blocked by sandbags, but the blast wave still sent He Dajun flying.

He was thrown a meter or two away, his back slamming into a pile of broken bricks, his ears ringing.

He had several bloody marks on his body, all on his left foot, from shrapnel that had spilled out.

He Dajun lay on the ground for a few seconds, then began to scream in agony.

The sound was shrill and mournful, echoing in the empty workshop, as if only now did the pain become apparent.

In fact, it was quite a close call. If I hadn't used the rare golden armor protective skill, the injury would have been much more serious. This time it was just a minor injury.

Sasaki and the others stood at the workshop entrance, completely dumbfounded.

Sandbags blocking landmines? Nobody would believe that if word got out.

But He Dajun survived, and apart from a few bloodstains, he didn't lose any parts of his body.

Sasaki looked at He Dajun, who was sitting on the ground clutching his leg and screaming in pain, and his eyes showed a hint of genuine interest.

This person is tough, quick-witted, and lucky.

These three things combined are more useful than mere loyalty.

He wanted to give him an important position, but of course, he had to put him through tests beforehand, such as having him publicly kill several members of the Great Xia resistance army.

The more they kill, the more loyal they become to the Imperial Army.