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

The Japanese soldier convulsed in pain, his bayonet lost its aim and pierced Sun Erniu's shoulder, cutting a deep gash that exposed bone. Blood instantly stained his cotton-padded coat red.

The Japanese soldier was about to stab again when Sun Erniu grunted and slammed his head forward, his forehead hitting the soldier's nose hard.

This blow made the Japanese soldier see stars, and he dropped his gun.

Sun Erniu took the opportunity to tackle him to the ground, his two large, iron-like hands gripping the Japanese soldier's neck tightly, his thumbs digging hard into the soldier's Adam's apple.

The Japanese soldier kicked his legs wildly, his eyes bulged out, and his face turned a purplish-red. He stopped moving after a short while.

Zhou Jindong dealt with the Japanese soldiers in front of him, and when he turned around, he saw this scene.

Without even catching his breath, he rushed over, taking three steps at a time, and fired a shot at a Japanese soldier who was trying to ambush Sun Erniu with his pistol.

With a "bang," the Japanese soldier's skull was blown off, and his brains splattered all over the ground.

Zhou Jindong grabbed Sun Erniu and pulled him up, glanced at the wound on his shoulder, and cursed, "You're not going to die, are you? If you're not going to die, then get up!"

Sun Erniu spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, grinned, revealing a mouthful of bloody teeth: "Vice Captain, this little injury is nothing."

"Stop talking nonsense, go and call the medic to bandage you up!" Zhou Jindong shoved him and turned to look at the battlefield.

The battlefield had now become one-sided.

The main force of the Independent Regiment pressed down from the right-hand high ground, like a sharp knife piercing the Japanese army's waist.

Okada Tomohisa's troops were already exhausted from the guerrillas' mine warfare and guerrilla tactics, and now they were attacked from both sides, causing their morale to collapse instantly.

Although the Japanese soldiers were still resisting by relying on the terrain, the ferocity in their eyes had disappeared, replaced by fear.

As Okada Tomohisa rode on his horse, watching the Imperial Army soldiers around him fall one by one, his command sword trembling in his hand.

He never imagined that his elite force of over eight hundred men would be surrounded and wiped out by a guerrilla unit and the main force of the Eighth Route Army, all dressed in tattered cotton-padded coats.

"Captain! Let's retreat! It'll be too late if we don't leave now!" Fujita Hiroshi shouted, emerging from some ditch, his face covered in mud.

He was stunned by the explosion and woke up to this horrific scene.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to!" Okada Tomohisa lashed Fujita Hiroshi across the face with his whip, sending him spinning in place. "Behind us is the main force of the Eighth Route Army, in front is Zhou Jindong's defensive line, and to the left and right are mountains. You expect me to retreat into the sky?"

"Then...then let's fight!" Fujita Hiroshi said, his face covered and his voice trembling with tears.

"Fight? What are we going to fight with!" Okada Tomohisa looked around in despair.

Just then, a mortar shell exploded not far from him, and the blast wave threw him off his horse.

He struggled to his feet and was about to order the guards to fight back when a bullet struck him squarely in the left chest.

Tomohisa Okada froze, looked down at the blood gushing from his chest, mumbled something unintelligible, and collapsed to the ground, never to move again.

With the battalion commander dead, the remaining Japanese troops were thrown into complete chaos.

Some knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender, some continued to fire blindly, and many more turned and fled into the ravine.

The soldiers of the Independent Regiment charged forward and used bayonets and grenades to end the last resistance.

Half an hour later, the gunfire completely stopped.

The road in Shilipu was littered with corpses and remains, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

Zhou Jindong leaned against a large rock, panting heavily.

His clothes were covered in blood, some from the Japanese and some from his own.

Wang Yuan limped over, carrying a large, blunt-bladed knife in his hand, his face streaked with black and white.

"Dongzi, it's all taken care of." Wang Yuan shoved the knife into the ground and plopped down next to Zhou Jindong. "That old devil Okada is dead for good. Fujita Hiroshi was captured alive and is kneeling over there crying."

Zhou Jindong nodded, took out a flattened Hademen cigarette from his pocket, and Wang Yuan lit it for him with a match.

Zhou Jindong took a deep breath; the taste of nicotine eased his tense nerves slightly.

"How are our casualties?" Zhou Jindong asked, exhaling a smoke ring.

"Twenty-three were killed and more than forty were wounded." Wang Yuan's voice was low. "Zhang Fang was on that position over there. His arm was cut by shrapnel and he's getting it bandaged."

"Make sure the medics use all the medicine they seized from the Japanese, don't skimp on it," Zhou Jindong instructed.

At this moment, a middle-aged officer in a gray military uniform and wearing glasses walked over. He was Li Zhengming, the commander of the Independent Regiment of the 120th Division.

"You're Zhou Jindong?" Commander Li looked Zhou Jindong up and down, his eyes filled with admiration. "You fought well in that battle just now, especially the minefield and the machine gun emplacement on the side. The positions you chose were very clever."

"Commander Li, you flatter us. We just got lucky." Zhou Jindong stood up and saluted.

"Blind cat? I think you're a tiger!" Commander Li smiled, then his expression suddenly turned serious. "But now is not the time to celebrate."

The interrogation of the prisoners and the intercepted telegrams indicate that Okada Tomohisa was merely bait. The Chida Regiment of the Japanese 26th Division, along with a puppet regiment, totaling over three thousand men, is heading straight for Ningwu County from Yangfangkou.

"More than three thousand people?" Zhou Jindong frowned. "We just finished a battle, we've used up a lot of ammunition, and we have many wounded. We definitely can't hold out against them."

"That's right. The division headquarters ordered our Independent Regiment and the 719th Regiment to quickly withdraw, avoid the enemy's main force, and lure them deeper into our territory. But Ningwu County was just captured by us, and there are still a lot of supplies and wounded soldiers inside."

Commander Li looked at Zhou Jindong and said, "Your guerrillas are familiar with the terrain. I need you to move the wounded and supplies to a safe area, and also to maneuver around Ningwu to delay the enemy's movements."

Before Zhou Jindong could speak, Wang Yuan exclaimed anxiously, "Regimental Commander, we want to go with the main force too! We want to fight the Japanese too!"

Commander Li glanced at Wang Yuan: "I know you want to fight, but this is an order. Moreover, the mission of staying behind is more dangerous than breaking through with the main force. The Chida Regiment is a Class A division of the Japanese army, well-equipped. Once they enter the mountains, the pressure you face will be ten times greater than it is now."

Zhou Jindong stubbed out his cigarette and turned to Wang Yuan, saying, "Brother Yuan, don't make a fuss. Commander Li is right, we can't abandon the wounded."

He turned to Commander Li and said, "Commander, I have an idea. I'll lead the elite guerrillas to follow the main force and act as your guides, leading you through back paths to the enemy's flank."

Brother Yuan led the wounded, new recruits, and captured supplies back to our newly found base. The terrain there was well-hidden, easy to defend and difficult to attack; as long as the entrance was sealed, the Japanese would have a hard time finding it. Moreover, we had stored a considerable amount of food in the valley, enough to last for a while.”

Commander Li's eyes lit up: "You're bringing men with us? Where to?"