Liang Jian: Lao Li, I'm really not a military expert

"Captain, the deputy battalion commander ran away from behind the village, leaving our company here to hold on. Let's retreat quickly!"

"Shi Tou, you're not fucking lying to me, are you? The deputy battalion commander clearly said that he would live and die with us. He planned to leave the village from the back and attack the main force of the Eighth Route Army with us from the front and back. How could he possibly escape?" Li Gou'er asked Shi Tou in disbelief.

Shitou curled his lips. He had no way to deal with his brother's stubbornness. He snorted, "Second brother, that bastard Li Tianlai took dry food with him when he left. He also took away several boxes of beef cans from the Japanese. How could he bring food with him when he went to the war? He is planning to use us as cannon fodder to buy time for them to escape!"

"Brother, my mother asked me to watch you. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain to her! Besides, we don't have many bullets left. If we continue to fight like this, it will only waste bullets. It won't have any effect at all. We have been fighting for so long and haven't killed even one Eighth Route Army soldier. If we tell others about it, we will be laughed at!"

Li Gou'er patted Shitou's head and angrily scolded, "Shitou, move your pig head. Don't I know what kind of person Li Tianlai is? But now the devils are in power. If we surrender to the Eighth Route Army, what will happen to our fellow villagers in Lijiazhuang?"

"Let's fight for a while longer, and then surrender when we run out of bullets. That way, even if the Japs ask us about it, we'll have an excuse, and they won't attack us anymore!"

Shitou touched his head and complained harshly: "Second brother, don't hit me on the head. If you hit me again, I will become even dumber. Then I will complain to our mother, and our mother will never forgive you!"

Li Gou'er led his men to fire for more than half an hour, and finally used up all the ammunition. He then had his men shout loudly, "Grandpa Eighth Route Army, we won't fight anymore. We surrender. We'll throw our guns on the ground and walk out. Don't shoot!"

Lin Zhenhua did not expect that this group of puppet soldiers would surrender. Seeing how fierce the fight was just now, the leader of the puppet army should be a die-hard element. Unexpectedly, he also made a gesture of surrender. He shouted back: "As long as you surrender honestly, we will not shoot. Tie your hands with clothes and walk out of the position one by one, and I will believe that you really surrender!"

Li Gou'er didn't expect Lin Zhenhua to be so cautious. He arranged for Shitou to make some cloth strips and asked everyone to tie their hands. Then he shouted loudly: "Grandpa Eighth Route Army, we have tied our hands as you requested. Now we are starting to walk out of the position. Don't shoot!"

Li Gou'er led the remaining 80 puppet soldiers out of the position with their hands tied. Lin Zhenhua quietly poked his head out, confirmed that the puppet soldiers had not done anything tricky, and issued an order: "Second Platoon Leader, you take a squad to accept the surrender of the puppet soldiers, and the others should be on guard. If the puppet soldiers pretend to surrender, shoot them immediately!"

"Captain Lin, don't worry! If the puppet troops dare to play tricks, I will kill them immediately!"

The surrender ceremony that followed was extremely peaceful. None of the puppet soldiers resisted and they all came out to surrender obediently.

"Second Platoon Leader, collect the weapons that the puppet soldiers have laid down, and let the villagers hurry up and cook. After dinner, leave here with us. The Japanese have suffered a great loss here, and they will definitely take revenge in the future. We cannot let the villagers stay here any longer!"

"Duan Peng, hurry up and persuade the villagers to follow us to Lijiazhuang. When you leave, take all your belongings with you. If you can't take them with you for the time being, come back in two days to get them!"

Duan Peng replied, "Captain Lin, I will go and persuade the villagers. Duanjiazhuang has suffered such a great disaster this time. The villagers should agree to leave here temporarily!"

When the villagers packed up their things, it was already dark. There was still snow on the road, so they had to stay for one night and leave tomorrow.

After dinner, Lin Zhenhua called a meeting of squad leaders to plan tomorrow's return route. According to his calculations, it would take three days to reach Lijiazhuang, so some factors had to be taken into consideration.

"Captain, if we want to relocate all the villagers in Duanjiazhuang, it will take three days just on the road. There are too many variables and it is too dangerous. I think your decision is a bit hasty!" Second platoon leader Wang Dazhu spoke first.

Third Platoon Leader Lu Xiaohai continued, "What Platoon Leader Wang said makes sense. I have carefully checked today. There are less than 200 villagers left in Duanjiazhuang, plus the more than 80 puppet soldiers we captured. The total number is less than 300. We only have 50 people in total. We can't guarantee the safety of all the people at all!"

"Captain Lin, you have participated in few battles before, and you don't know much about the situation on the battlefield. We need a squad to explore the way ahead, and another squad to cover the rear. Now we only have more than 30 people left, and one person is responsible for the safety of nine people. This will put the escort team in danger all the time. If we encounter the devils on the way, we won't even be able to organize an effective defense!"

Lin Zhenhua knocked on the table and said earnestly, "Just now, the second and third platoon leaders expressed their opinions, which are very reasonable. I also like to listen to other people's opinions and don't like to act arbitrarily."

"After all, I have only led troops into battle twice, and this is the second time. I am indeed unfamiliar with some aspects. But what I want to say is that we must relocate the folks in Bijiazhuang, no matter what the cost. We must not let the Japanese have a chance to retaliate!"

"Regarding the problem of shortage of troops, I have already found a solution. That is to recruit soldiers locally, expand our team, and hand over the villagers to the new recruits for management. This way, we can free up enough manpower to be responsible for the escort along the way!"

"We also captured more than 80 puppet soldiers this time. We can ask them to carry things for the villagers. We can also bring out all the cattle and horses that can be used in the village, let the elderly, the weak, women and children ride in the carriages, and even contribute most of our war horses. This way, the problem can be properly solved!"

At this time, the villagers in Duanjiazhuang were talking to each other. Village Chief Duan stopped everyone from talking and asked Duan Peng, "Xiao Peng, this time we old guys have finally understood that if we don't drive the Japanese away, we can't live in peace. I plan to send you young men to join the Eighth Route Army. What do you think?"

Duan Peng replied in surprise: "Village head, I am willing to join the Eighth Route Army. The Japanese killed dozens of our fellow villagers. I want to lead the young people in the village to fight against the Japanese and avenge our fellow villagers! But my mother is old. If I join the Eighth Route Army, I will definitely have to fight against the Japanese. My old mother at home can only rely on the people in the village to take care of her!"

Village Chief Duan promised directly: "Xiao Pengzi, as long as I have something to eat, I will not let you young men who go out to fight the Japanese invaders starve. You can rest assured about this. I swear on my ancestors!"