Bright Sword: This unit is really ruthless

"Captain Kong, I've long heard of your name!" Zhang Ling stepped forward and said with a smile.

Kong Jie dismounted, patted Zhang Ling on the shoulder generously, and laughed: "You are Zhang Ling? You are indeed a handsome man, and heroes are born young! This battle was fought beautifully. I was stunned even on the opposite hill!"

"Captain Kong, you are too kind. It is all thanks to the bloody battles of my brothers. I am just lucky." Zhang Ling said modestly, and at the same time calmly dodged Kong Jie's "bear paw".

"Haha, don't be so modest, I saw with my own eyes that you killed that old Japanese Yamamoto Ikki with one shot! Your shooting skills were amazing!" Kong Jie said, giving a thumbs up.

"It was all luck, luck..." Zhang Ling smiled and changed the subject, "Why is Captain Kong here?"

"Oh, forget it. The brigade commander sent me here to support you, but when I arrived with my team, the battle was over!" Kong Jie said with a depressed look, "If I had known earlier, I would have set off earlier and still be able to catch this feast!"

Zhang Ling laughed secretly in his heart, this Kong Jie was really an "impatient person", but he could understand it, after all, everyone wanted to kill more Japanese on the battlefield.

"By the way, brother Zhang Ling, how did you kill Yamamoto Ikki? That old devil was notoriously cunning. I fought with him several times, but I couldn't get the upper hand!" Kong Jie asked curiously.

"It's nothing actually, I just..." Zhang Ling was about to explain, when suddenly, his face changed and he threw Kong Jie to the ground.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, a shell exploded where they had just stood, raising a cloud of dust and rubble.

"Damn it, the Japs even have artillery!" Kong Jie got up from the ground, cursing, with a bloody mark on his face from the rubble from the explosion.

"It seems that the Japanese want revenge!" Zhang Ling's face was solemn. He knew that once Yamamoto Kazuki died, the Japanese would definitely not let it go and would definitely retaliate crazily.

"What's there to be afraid of? I haven't fought enough yet!" Kong Jie said as he picked up a light machine gun beside him and started firing at the Japanese positions in the distance.

"Da da da......"

The roar of machine guns echoed in the valley, and bullets poured out like raindrops, temporarily suppressing the Japanese offensive momentum.

"Zhu Zi, hurry up, organize the people and prepare to retreat!" Zhang Ling commanded calmly. He knew that now was not the time to fight and they had to evacuate here as soon as possible, otherwise once the Japanese reinforcements arrived, they would be unable to escape.

"Yes!" Zhuzi took the order and turned around to convey the command.

"Brother Zhang Ling, let's fight our way out together!" Kong Jie said to Zhang Ling while shooting.

"Captain Kong, you take your brothers and retreat first, I will cover you!" Zhang Ling said, picking up a submachine gun and rushing towards the area where the Japanese were most concentrated.

"You kid, are you trying to kill yourself?" Kong Jie was shocked and wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Zhang Ling's figure had disappeared in the smoke-filled battlefield.

"Da da da......"

Zhang Ling rushed down the mountain like a tiger, the submachine gun in his hand spewing flames, and he swept down the Japanese soldiers who blocked his way one by one.

He knew that his current situation was very dangerous, but he did not retreat, because he knew that behind him were his comrades and countless civilians. He could not retreat, and he must not retreat!

"kill!"

Zhang Ling roared and continued to charge. Suddenly, he felt his feet go empty and he fell into a deep pit...

Zhang Ling felt the world spinning around him, and his ears were filled with the whistling wind and the sound of falling dirt and gravel. He tried hard to steady himself, but found himself in a narrow space, with his limbs tightly stuck and unable to move.

"Cough cough..." He struggled to cough out a few mouthfuls of saliva mixed with dirt, trying to adapt to the dark environment. With the weak light, Zhang Ling observed his surroundings and found that he had fallen into a pit with slippery walls, which was obviously dug recently.

"Could it be a trap set by the Japanese?" Zhang Ling thought to himself, but he clearly remembered that the place where he charged was a flat ground, so how come a pit suddenly appeared?

"Lao Zhang! Lao Zhang! Where are you?!" Kong Jie's loud voice like a broken gong came from above his head. Zhang Ling was delighted and quickly responded loudly: "I'm here! There is a pit below!"

"Good boy, you are lucky! Wait, I will pull you up right now!" Kong Jie's voice was filled with a bit of relief and eagerness.

Soon, several thick ropes hung down from the mouth of the pit, and with the help of the soldiers, Zhang Ling finally climbed out of this strange deep pit.

"Damn it, when did the Japanese dig the pit? They almost buried me alive!" Zhang Ling brushed the dust off his body with lingering fear and couldn't help cursing.

"That's right. If I hadn't been sharp-eyed and noticed the newly turned soil here, you would have died here!" Kong Jie was also terrified. He pointed at the place where Zhang Ling fell and said, "Watch your step next time. Don't just charge into battle without caring about your life!"

"Yes, yes, Captain Kong is right. I will pay attention next time." Zhang Ling responded verbally, but he was even more confused in his heart. The appearance of this pit was too strange. He was sure that there was no such trap here when he charged before.

"Okay, stop standing there and retreat quickly!" Kong Jie urged. The battle was still going on and the Japanese artillery fire was still fierce. They had to leave here as soon as possible.

Zhang Ling nodded and followed Kong Jie and the soldiers to retreat to the rear. However, just when they had just crossed a ridge, the scene before them surprised them.

They saw a group of people standing densely on the road where they were supposed to retreat. These people were wearing khaki military uniforms, helmets, grenades on their waists, and various weapons in their hands, staring at them eagerly.

"Yes...it's the Central Army..." A soldier recognized the other party's identity, with a slight tremor in his voice.

The Central Army, whose full name is the National Revolutionary Army, is the regular army of Deputy Prime Minister. Although they and the Eighth Route Army are nominally anti-Japanese forces, in reality there are constant frictions and contradictions.

"Damn it, why did the Central Army come here? Do they want to..." Kong Jie's face looked grim, and his hand holding the gun tightened.

Zhang Ling frowned and glanced at the Central Army team in front of him. He found that they were numerous, well-equipped, and all of them had a stern look on their faces. It was obvious that they had no good intentions.

"Captain Kong, what should we do?" Zhang Ling asked in a low voice. He knew that with their current strength and condition, if they came into conflict with the Central Army, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Don't act rashly." Kong Jie lowered his voice and signaled the soldiers to stay calm. Then he took a deep breath, stepped forward, and shouted loudly: "We are from the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. May I ask which unit your army is from? Why are you blocking our way?"

However, what responded to him was a burst of laughter.

"Hahaha...Eighth Route Army? Just because you are a bunch of beggars, you are worthy of being called the Eighth Route Army?" A sharp and piercing voice came from the crowd. Then, a short and fat officer with a protruding pot belly and a face full of fat walked out surrounded by a group of soldiers.

He looked up and down at Kong Jie, Zhang Ling and the others, his eyes full of disdain and contempt. He snorted and said, "I am Chu Yunfei, the commander of the 40th Regiment of the 39th Division of the 115th Army of the Central Army. You, a bunch of Eighth Route Army soldiers, dared to enter the defense zone of my 115th Regiment without authorization and injured the soldiers of my 115th Regiment. Today, none of you will leave here alive!"

Zhang Ling felt like he was thrown into a sack, the world was spinning, the whistling wind and the smell of dirt filled his ears. When he finally landed, he found himself in a pit, not very deep, but deep enough to make him dizzy.

He shook his head, struggled to get up, and looked around in the dim light. This seemed to be an abandoned air-raid shelter, the walls were damp, and the air was filled with a musty smell. The entrance of the cave was half collapsed by the explosion, leaving only a narrow gap, through which one could vaguely see the scene of artillery fire outside.

"Zhu Zi? Monk? Where are you?" Zhang Ling called out a few times tentatively, but only heard an empty echo.

He knew that now was not the time to hesitate. The enemy's shelling was getting more and more intense, and the air-raid shelter could collapse at any time. He had to find a way out as soon as possible and join the troops.

He crouched down and groped along the wall of the cave, hoping to find another exit. Suddenly, he heard a faint groan.

"Who?" Zhang Ling immediately became alert and tightened the submachine gun in his hand.

"Yes...it's me..." a weak voice came intermittently.

Zhang Ling looked in the direction of the voice and saw a figure huddled in a corner. With the faint light coming through the gap, he recognized it as the commander of the cavalry company of the independent regiment - Sun Desheng.

"Old Sun? Why are you here? Where are the others?" Zhang Ling hurried over and helped Sun Desheng up.

Sun Desheng's face was pale, with a trace of blood on the corner of his mouth. He covered his chest and said painfully: "Ahem... We were blown apart by the Japanese artillery shells... Zhuzi and the monk... They... They..."

"What happened to them?" Zhang Ling's heart tightened and he asked anxiously.

Sun Desheng took a breath and said weakly: "They... were... killed by the Japanese in order to protect me..."

Zhang Ling felt a surge of blood rushing to his forehead. He knew that what Sun Desheng meant was that Zhuzi and the monk sacrificed themselves to cover his retreat.

"Damn you Japanese!" Zhang Ling gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. He never thought that he would lose two brothers who had lived and died with him just for a short while.

He suppressed his grief and checked Sun Desheng's injuries. He found that he was scratched by shrapnel in many places, one of which even injured his lung. The situation was not optimistic.

"Old Sun, hold on, I'll take you out right away!" Zhang Ling said as he was about to carry Sun Desheng on his back.