The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

The puppet soldiers reluctantly pushed and shoved forward, muttering curses under their breath.

The column moved again, and the first half of the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops had passed through the narrowest area and entered the area under the densest fire coverage of the ambush.

It's now!

Zhou Jindong raised his pistol, aimed at the puppet army company commander riding a black warhorse, and decisively pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

Zhou Jindong set his sights on the Japanese sergeant riding a horse and holding a command sword next to the puppet army company commander.

He knew he had to take down the commanding officer first. The sound of the Mauser pistol rang out sharply in the quiet morning.

The Japanese sergeant shuddered and fell off his horse.

Gunfire is the most direct and intense signal of attack.

"Fire!" Zhou Jindong roared, and fired another shot. A Japanese soldier who was frantically trying to find cover fell to the ground.

"Da da da da—!"

The Type 92 heavy machine gun on the high ground to the left roared again, and its superior firepower instantly enveloped the Japanese squad.

Bullets rained down on the Japanese soldiers who were lying down or trying to return fire, kicking up clouds of dust on the dirt road.

At least three or four Japanese soldiers were silenced in the first round of gunfire.

"all!"

The mortars of the fourth company also opened fire. Although they were only two small cannons, the power of the explosions was amplified in the narrow valley.

The shells whistled as they fell, missing the crowd but striking the front and rear of the convoy, kicking up clouds of dirt and rubble and effectively disrupting the enemy's formation.

"Throw the grenade!"

Wang Quan waved his hand and gave the order from the high ground.

The soldiers had already unscrewed the back covers of the grenades and put the pins on their fingers.

Upon hearing the order, dozens of soldiers almost simultaneously threw their wooden-handled grenades into the ditch.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Explosions echoed one after another. Grenade fragments and shockwaves reverberated through the valley, and shrapnel flew everywhere.

The mules and horses were startled, neighing and running around wildly, turning the cart into a complete mess.

Several puppet soldiers were blown down to the ground, and more puppet soldiers were thrown into chaos. Some crawled under the vehicle, while others dropped their guns and ran back.

"Machine guns! Grenade launchers! Suppress the flanks!" a Japanese corporal shouted, organizing a sporadic resistance.

Several Japanese soldiers tried to mount a Type 11 light machine gun behind an overturned truck.

"Bang!" Zhou Jindong fired another shot, the bullet hitting the corporal in the shoulder. He screamed and rolled to the ground.

Wang Quan reacted quickly, immediately turning the heavy machine gun around and unleashing a burst of bullets that tore the Japanese soldiers who were trying to operate the machine gun to pieces, silencing the machine gun.

"Baka! Counterattack! Counterattack!" Another bespectacled Japanese lieutenant drew his sword, trying to rally the soldiers around him.

But his shouts sounded so faint amidst the popping gunshots and explosions.

Liu Rengui and the soldiers of the Third Company had already rushed down the hillside on the right, firing as they went.

The puppet troops were the first to collapse. They saw intense gunfire and explosions all around them, and their Japanese masters in the middle of the column were being overwhelmed and even their commander had fallen. They were terrified.

"Stop hitting me! Spare my life, Eighth Route Army grandfathers!"

"We surrender! We surrender!"

A puppet soldier threw down his rifle, covered his head, and squatted on the ground.

Like the first domino falling, dozens of puppet soldiers dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground or huddled together.

Without the cover of the puppet troops, the dozens of Japanese soldiers were immediately at a complete disadvantage.

They were well-trained and quickly formed two or three groups, using carts, embankments, or rocks as cover for resistance. The precise "bang, bang" of their Type 38 rifles rang out continuously, posing a threat to the county brigade rushing down the hillside. Two soldiers who were charging too fast were hit, groaning and rolling to the ground.

"Damn it! Grenade launcher! Knock out those firing positions!" Zhou Jindong, lying in the ditch, saw it clearly.

Although the Japanese soldiers were outnumbered, they were accurate marksmen and relied on the terrain to put up a stubborn resistance. A direct assault would result in casualties.

"Grenade launcher! Over here!" Liu Heiqi shouted to his fourth squadron.

Several veterans quickly carried the Type 89 grenade launchers they had just captured from the Japanese patrol to the flank, and after a quick range test, they put the grenades inside.

"Thump! Thump!"

Several muffled thuds followed as the grenade launcher grenades traced low parabolic arcs and exploded near the Japanese positions they were holding.

Although the grenade launcher is not very accurate, at this distance and in this environment, the deterrent effect of the explosion and the fragmentation damage are sufficient.

A grenade landed right next to a small group of Japanese soldiers who were stubbornly resisting by relying on a large cart. The cart was blown apart and splinters flew everywhere. Two Japanese soldiers were thrown over by the shockwave. The remaining Japanese soldiers hurriedly moved away and were immediately exposed to rifle fire.

"Da da da!"

A light machine gun, which had just been captured and hadn't even had a chance to be used yet, was picked up by one of Wang Quan's gunners, and short bursts of fire kicked up a cloud of dust.

"Go! Finish them off! Take no prisoners!" Zhou Jindong saw that the time was right and gave the final order.

In the midst of a rapid annihilation campaign, he had neither the time nor the means to accept prisoners of war from these stubborn Japanese soldiers.

"Charge!"

"Kill the Japanese devils!"

With bayonets at their heels, the soldiers charged at the remaining Japanese soldiers from several directions like tigers descending a mountain.

The Japanese resistance lasted only a short time.

Faced with overwhelming numerical and terrain advantages, and under a hail of bullets and bayonets from all sides, their resistance was quickly crushed.

The last three Japanese soldiers stood back to back, bayonets in hand, letting out howls like trapped beasts.

A soldier from a county brigade tried to smash it with his rifle butt, but his squad leader yelled, "Use your bayonet! Don't waste bullets!"

Several soldiers rushed forward and engaged the Japanese soldiers in a brief but fierce hand-to-hand combat with their bayonets.

The clash of blades produced a piercing metallic scraping sound, accompanied by roars and death screams. Soon, these Japanese soldiers were also stabbed to the ground.

The gunfire gradually subsided, leaving only sporadic shots and the echoes of explosions.

"Inspect the battlefield! Quickly! Clear out the remaining enemies! Finish off any Japanese soldiers who aren't quite dead!" Zhou Jindong stood up from the ditch, observing the battlefield while quickly issuing orders, "Maintain vigilance on the outer perimeter! Keep a close watch on the puppet troops! Check what's on the vehicles!"

The soldiers immediately sprang into action. Some of them cautiously examined the enemy corpses lying on the ground with their guns, disarming them to ensure that none of them were feigning death, whether they were Japanese soldiers or puppet troops.

When encountering a heavily wounded Japanese soldier groaning in pain, experienced veterans would not hesitate to fire a finishing shot. As for puppet troops, they would rudely order them to squat down with their hands on their heads.

Wang Quan led a few men and charged towards the large trucks.

He lifted the canvas of a car, shone a flashlight on it, and immediately froze.

Underneath the canvas were not the expected ammunition or supplies, but bundles of neatly folded yellow military uniforms.

He ran to a car next to him, lifted it up, and there was another military uniform inside.

Flip it over again, and it's still the same!

"Dongzi! Come and see!" Wang Quan's voice was filled with surprise and elation.

Zhou Jindong walked over quickly, picked up a military uniform, and looked at it.

This is a standard Japanese winter combat uniform, made of thick yellow woolen fabric.

He then opened the bundles below and found that, in addition to military uniforms, there were also a large number of leggings, military caps, and even some fur-lined winter boots.

"Are they all Japanese military uniforms?" Zhou Jindong asked.

"Yes! All military uniforms! More than thirty large trucks! Mostly military uniforms, but also some canvas tents and miscellaneous items!" Wang Quan's voice trembled with excitement. "Dongzi, this...this is our big win!"

Zhou Jindong's mind raced.

He immediately thought of something: the county brigade had been established for a short time, and many of the soldiers had just been transferred from bandit groups. Their clothes were all kinds of colors, including gray, black, blue, homespun cloth, and tattered clothes, which was extremely detrimental to the unified management and operational concealment of the troops.

Although the Japanese military uniforms captured at this moment are ugly in style, they are numerous, thick and durable, and most importantly, they are uniform!

If we could make use of these military uniforms...

Liu Heiqi also came over, picked up a military uniform and held it up against himself, grinning and saying, "Damn it, the Japanese devils' yellow leather is pretty good, thick and sturdy! It's just that the color is too garish."

Zhou Jindong nodded, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers who were escorting prisoners and cleaning up the battlefield. Seeing the patched-up clothes on their bodies, his resolve hardened.

"Take all these uniforms off and count them carefully," Zhou Jindong ordered. "Wang Quan, find a few skillful soldiers to remove all the Japanese markings on the uniforms, such as collar tabs, armbands, cap badges, etc.! For those that can't be removed immediately, use cigarette ash, mud, or dark paint to cover them up!"

He then turned to Liu Heiqi: "Captain Liu, take a few men and organize those surrendered puppet soldiers. Have them help unload the trucks and count the goods. If they do a good job, don't kill them."

"Understood!" Liu Heiqi grinned and roared at the puppet army prisoners squatting on the ground, "Did you all hear that? Those who don't want to die, get up and get to work! Take off all these uniforms and stack them up!"

The puppet soldiers, as if granted a pardon, scrambled to their feet and, under the bayonet supervision of the county militia soldiers, hurriedly began unloading the goods. Their movements were swift and efficient, clearly indicating their familiarity with the shipment.

While the trucks were being unloaded here, the battlefield was also being cleared up rapidly.

The Japanese squad of more than fifty men, plus a reinforced company of more than one hundred puppet troops, were mostly annihilated or captured, except for a few who escaped in the chaos.

On the county brigade side, seven or eight soldiers were killed and more than a dozen were injured, which was a considerable loss, but compared to the spoils, the loss was entirely worthwhile.

Zhang Fang ran over, his eyes shining: "Dongzi, the battlefield is basically cleaned up. The Japanese squad of fifty-six men was wiped out."

The puppet army company consisted of 123 men, of whom more than 30 were killed or wounded, and more than 80 were captured.

We ourselves lost seven people, two were seriously wounded, and eleven were slightly wounded.

Two Type 91 light machine guns, 42 Type 38 rifles, seven pistols, three grenade launchers, and a considerable number of grenades were seized.

The puppet troops had a mixed bag of guns, including Hanyang rifles and old-fashioned rifles, totaling seventy or eighty. They also had over twenty horses, which they had all taken.

"Okay." Zhou Jindong glanced at the sky; the east was already showing signs of dawn.

"Time is of the essence. Have the medics treat our seriously wounded, and give the lightly wounded who can walk a simple bandage."

The fallen comrades… should be buried on the spot, marked, and dealt with later. Weapons and ammunition should be gathered quickly, and the soldiers should take the time… to change clothes!

"Change clothes?" Zhang Fang was taken aback.

"Yes! Change into Japanese uniforms!" Zhou Jindong pointed to the uniforms being moved. "We're about to meet up with the 771st Regiment in Yuanping and Xiaowangzhuang. We'll be crossing enemy-occupied territory, and wearing these brightly colored clothes will make us too conspicuous! Changing into Japanese uniforms will save us a lot of trouble! It's necessary for the mission!"

Wang Quan's eyes lit up: "That's right! If we're dressed as Japanese soldiers, we can fool them even if we encounter checks or small groups of enemies on the road! At least we can gain the upper hand!"

Liu Rengui also realized: "That's a good idea! But we need to fix the clothes so that people can't tell at a glance."

"So get your men to start dismantling it now!" Zhou Jindong urged. "Remove all visible markings, especially cap badges, collar insignia, and breast badges. If you can't remove them, dirt them, tear them—just make sure they look legitimate from a distance!"

The order was quickly passed down.

The soldiers were initially a little awkward when they heard they had to wear Japanese uniforms, but after Zhou Jindong explained, they all understood the implications.

During the break between clearing the battlefield and moving captured supplies, the soldiers began to change their uniforms in batches.

They took off their patched-up, worn-out clothes and put on Japanese military uniforms.

Many people don't even know how to button up this kind of clothing when they wear it for the first time, and it takes them ages to figure it out.

Some clothes were too big or too small, so they would find suitable sizes among the prisoners to change into, or simply use bayonets or captured bayonet belts to temporarily alter them.

The most troublesome thing is dealing with those rank insignia.

The collar insignia are easy to remove; you can just use the tip of a bayonet to pry open the threads and pull them off.

Soon, more than 900 people, including Zhang Fang's First Company which had been urgently recalled, mostly changed into khaki Japanese military uniforms.

Although there are still many flaws in the details, such as the clothes being of different lengths, from a distance it already looks very much like a Japanese army unit.

The team immediately appeared much more orderly, and an indescribable sense of solemnity was inexplicably amplified by their uniform attire.

Zhou Jindong himself changed into a well-fitting Japanese army junior officer uniform, without shoulder insignia, but the collar and buttons on the chest were polished to a shine.

He concealed the Mauser pistol inside his coat and carefully wrapped the sniper rifle in a cloth, carrying it on his back.

He checked his own attire, then looked at Wang Quan and the others around him, who were also dressed in Japanese soldier uniforms. He wanted to laugh, but he felt the mission was too important to laugh.

"Assemble the team!" Zhou Jindong commanded.

The soldiers, dressed in Japanese military uniforms, quickly lined up in their respective companies.

Zhou Jindong stood at the front of the column, his gaze sweeping over each face: "Comrades, you may be wearing the skin of the Japanese devils now, but your hearts are those of the Eighth Route Army, the hearts of the Chinese people! This uniform is our tool for penetrating deep behind enemy lines, completing our mission, and striking the enemy! Never forget your roots!"

"Don't worry, Captain! Wear the Japanese uniforms and chop off their heads!" a soldier whispered in the ranks, eliciting a suppressed laugh.

"Very good." Zhou Jindong nodded. "Now, target Xiaowangzhuang. Advance at full speed! Remember, avoid main roads and villages as much as possible. If you encounter the enemy, do not fire without orders! Follow orders in all actions!"

"yes!"

The column set off again. This time, the march was even faster.

Wearing Japanese military uniforms provided camouflage, but it also increased psychological pressure, since they were operating under the enemy's nose.

They bypassed villages that might be inhabited.

After a few close calls, and most of the day's forced march, the group finally approached the valley near Xiaowangzhuang as the sun began to set.