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Zhu Zhaolan looked outside through the observation port in the car and said, "There's nothing we can do. We can't move now. By the way, how much ammunition do we have?"

"We still have 6 shells and 4 smoke bombs in this tank, and the other two have about the same number! Platoon leader, did you really see it clearly? Is there really a secret base of the Japanese nearby?"

Zhu Zhaolan answered with a confident look: "There is no doubt that the Japanese must have a secret base nearby, but I don't know what it is for! Although we lost the group of Japanese, I saw traces of several trucks passing by the source of the river in the northwest direction.

Just imagine, if these trucks were from the Majiazhai Iron Mine, they wouldn't have had to go all the way to the back of this deep mountain. And I don't see obvious marks on the ground, which means that the Japanese trucks don't often carry heavy cargo like iron ore. They should be carrying some supplies or people."

The tank driver said with a troubled look on his face: "But platoon leader, no matter what is there, we have lost contact with the troops, and we can't move now. If we continue like this, we will die!"

Zhu Zhaolan: "No, we still have a chance. I left special marks along the way. As long as our people get close to this place, they will be able to find us! So what we have to do now is to wait until the rescuers arrive!"

"What mark? Why didn't I see you make any mark at all?"

Zhu Zhaolan would never tell him that the marks he made were taught by the guard team and were used exclusively by the Intelligence Department for tracking or searching missions.

He believed that Xu Le would send an escort to find him, and the troops all knew that the armored regiment's last combat location was within a few kilometers around Majiazhai.

So he was betting that he would not freeze to death or starve to death before the guards found him!

......

On the other side, Xu Le led his men over mountains and across ridges, passing directly through the middle of the mountain range. He knew Zhu Zhaolan's approximate location, so even if he deviated from the battle area, he would not run too far.

This is what his memory told him. He knew that Zhu Zhaolan was a very smart man and he must have encountered something that he couldn't get rid of, so he couldn't leave.

"Young Marshal, ahead is Xiabai Village, an abandoned village. After going down the mountain is the road between Fenxi and Yan County. Are we going to go through it today?"

"Well, time waits for no one. The weather is so cold now, and Zhu Zhaolan and his men don't have enough logistics. If we arrive later, they will be in more danger!"

"Okay, I'll have Xu Jiu and Xu Shi continue their scouting, and we'll try to get across the road before dark. As long as we cross the road, we'll be not far from Majiazhai!"

...

The next morning, Xu Le and others had already begun searching near Majiazhai, and there were traces of the battle everywhere.

"Young Marshal, this is caused by the tank's artillery. There were tanks nearby and they had a fierce battle with the Japanese. There are bullet holes from large-caliber machine guns everywhere, which is enough to prove this!"

However, Xu Le was puzzled: "No, according to your previous investigation, the Japanese defense of Majiazhai is very tight. Now that the battle is temporarily over, the Japanese should redeploy their firepower points for garrison, but we have been here for so long and have not seen a single Japanese sentry.

The iron mines have always been there. It is impossible for them to disappear just because of a war. Why would the Japanese stop defending them? Did they abandon the iron mines?

That's not right either. If the Japanese gave up the iron mine, why would they deploy heavy artillery for support? Wouldn't that sacrifice the concealment of the heavy artillery in vain? "

Xu Da: "Could this all be a trap set by the Japanese? On the surface, the Japanese are heavily guarding the iron mine, but in fact, they are not defending the iron mine, but have other purposes. It's just that the iron mine happened to be here, so we mistook it for the iron mine's defense force."

Xu Le was also surprised: "That makes sense, and it can explain why the Japs attach so much importance to an ordinary iron mine. It is very likely that there are other things nearby that the Japs value very much.

But I think the location of that thing and the iron mine is not accidental, it should be intentional by the devils, so that they can put the iron mine in the open and make others think that everything they do is for the iron mine, so as to cover up the protection of that thing!"

At this time, Xu Jiu, who was scouting ahead, came back: "Young Marshal, we found our mark, pointing to the northeast!"

"Let's go over and have a look!"

After a moment, Xu Da said with certainty: "Young Marshal, I dare to conclude that this was left by Zhu Zhaolan. Although this mark is very similar to that of the Intelligence Department, our guard team is more sophisticated. You see, just like this arrow, its tail is thicker than the front part. This is one of the unique marks of the guard team. And this method of use is only taught to Zhu Zhaolan!"

Xu Le nodded. This was the first time he had heard of such details. He touched the mark on the bark and said, "Based on the degree of corrosion, this mark is about a week old, which means Zhu Zhaolan passed by here a week ago. He must have been following something, otherwise there would be no need to leave a mark in normal combat!

Let's go, follow the marks and we will definitely find him!"

The group set out again, and sure enough, there were marks along the way, and the marks were getting newer and newer.

During this period, they encountered several waves of Japanese patrols. The further they went, the more patrols appeared, which made Xu Le more certain that Zhu Zhaolan must have discovered something.

"Young Commander, the marking ends here. There is a downhill section ahead, and going further ahead is a swamp!"

Before Xu Da could finish his words, he discovered something, reached into the bushes in front of him, and pulled out a few broken branches.

After a while, he came back and said, "Young Marshal, if you go in from here, there are broken grass and trees along the way, but they are covered up. The technique is not very sophisticated, but if you don't look carefully, you really can't see it! But I am sure that this is caused by our Type 59 tank!"

Xu Le finally breathed a sigh of relief: "We finally found this guy's trail. He was quite cautious. We didn't see any traces of tanks along the way. He handled his tail so well. If it weren't for the marks, we wouldn't have been able to find this place! Let's go and follow the traces!"

In the swamp tank, the observer suddenly shouted: "Platoon leader, someone is coming!"

Zhu Zhaolan hurriedly woke up from his dream. Because the temperature was too low, he shivered. "Where is it? Tell everyone to be alert. If the devils find us, we will take the initiative and catch them off guard. Then we will blow up the tanks. We can't leave the tanks to the devils!"

After waiting for several days, Zhu Zhaolan was already a little desperate. He was cold and hungry. Almost everyone was holding on by relying on a belief.