Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

The sky gradually darkened. The nights nowadays were not as brightly lit as those in later generations. At night, every household turned off the lights and went to bed. At a glance, only a few houses still lit candles.

The soldier who escaped from Wangzhuang was called Wang Er, a native of the area. Lin Qiang called him over and said, "It's up to you now. Take us all in. When we get back, I'll have the kitchen staff make you some dumplings with pork filling!"

"Really?"

Wang Er's eyes sparkled in the darkness, and he patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, Platoon Leader. There will be absolutely no problems. Not many people know this route. I'm sure I'll get the dumplings. But Platoon Leader, you have to keep your word!"

Lin Qiang laughed and said, "If you gather all the militiamen in Wangzhuang into the team, don't even bother with dumplings. I'll send someone to the county town to buy you two roast chickens and a bottle of sweet potato stew!"

"Take action!"

"Yes!"

Wang Er took the lead, bending over and using the ridges of the fields to move towards the town. Lin Qiang and other soldiers followed closely behind.

After leaving the fields, Wang Er came to the door of a cellar and pointed at it, saying, "Platoon leader, this is the tunnel the Japanese dug when they came. It leads directly to the ancestral hall in the town."

Lin Qiang nodded towards Hu Zi and said, "Hu Zi, go with him and check out the situation first."

"The rest of you, rest where you are. No one is allowed to make any noise!"

Wang Er and Hu Zi went down to the cellar. Soon, only Hu Zi returned. "Sergeant, everything is safe. Wang Er will stay at the ancestral hall to keep watch."

"it is good!"

Lin Qiang whispered: "Start the action!"

After saying that, Lin Qiang took the lead and went down to the cellar.

It was pitch black in the cellar, but fortunately Hu Zi brought a few candles when he returned.

After distributing the firewood to the soldiers and lighting it, the team entered the tunnel in an orderly manner.

The tunnel was not very long, about two hundred meters. Hu Zi was the first to stick his head out to check the situation, and only came out of the tunnel after Wang Er confirmed that it was safe.

The exit of the tunnel is just behind the incense in the ancestral hall. The location is indeed very secretive, and most people would not think that there is a tunnel entrance behind it.

It seems that Wang Er is sure to have a good meal of dumplings!

The entire team came out of the tunnel. Lin Qiang asked the soldiers to hide. The situation outside was still unclear, and any rash action might lead to unexpected situations.

To ensure the safety of the operation, Lin Qiang gave Hu Zi an order: "Hu Zi, go and see what the situation is outside."

"Yes!"

Hu Zi soon returned to the ancestral hall and reported to Lin Qiang in a low voice what he had seen: "Platoon Leader, we didn't see any puppet troops or Japanese soldiers on the street. There are a few puppet troops guarding the two exits. Their horses are at the southern exit, and there's no one guarding them."

Lin Qiang pondered for a moment, then began to divide the work: "Qiangzi, take a few people to deal with the puppet soldiers guarding the north. Huzi, the ones in the south will be left to you. Wang Er, do you know where these puppet soldiers are staying?"

"Know!"

Wang Er nodded and said, "After these guys entered the town, they drove out the mayor's family and occupied the mayor's yard."

"Then you lead the way."

Lin Qiang said decisively: "The rest of you, follow me to the mayor's house."

"After you two are done, leave a few people at the exit to check the situation. Remember, have them hide in the dark. We are definitely not the only ones who want to take action tonight."

"Yes!"

"Take action!"

After leaving the ancestral hall, the team headed towards three different places.

Under the leadership of Wang Er, they soon arrived outside the mayor's house. At this time, the only sound that could be heard in the house was snoring.

After leaning against the window and taking a look to make sure that everyone inside was asleep, Lin Qiang was the first to climb over the wall and enter the yard.

More than a dozen soldiers quickly entered the yard, and Lin Qiang warned again, "Remember this, don't shoot."

"Do it!"

Wang Er gently opened the door, but before he even entered, he smelled a foul odor that was a mixture of sweat, foot odor, and alcohol, which almost made him vomit.

Lin Qiang rushed in first and was almost tripped by the puppet soldiers lying on the ground.

Seeing that the other person was about to wake up, Lin Qiang raised his foot and kicked him hard on the back of the neck, making him fall asleep completely.

The cavalry company of this puppet army had more people than an ordinary company, but it did not reach the level of a reinforced company. The huge room was forcibly filled with nearly a hundred people.

The soldiers carefully moved away all the weapons piled at the door, and then followed Lin Qiang's instructions and took a lot of effort to tie up all the puppet soldiers.

After finishing everything, Lin Qiang pointed at one of the puppet soldiers and said, "Wake him up."

Wang Er took the lead, raised his hand and slapped the puppet soldier in the face, and then kicked him with lightning speed.

"what!"

The puppet soldier howled in pain like a pig being slaughtered, which showed how deep Wang Er's hatred for him was. He would kill him when he got the chance.

There were nearly a hundred puppet soldiers in the room, and Lin Qiang didn't care if Wang Er killed one or two.

The howling woke up most of the puppet soldiers. When they woke up, they found themselves tied up. When they looked up, they saw a burly and handsome man wearing the gray uniform of the Eighth Route Army standing in front of them.

“Eight…Eight…Eighth Route Army!?”

"What Eighth Route Army? I think you didn't sleep well. There's no such thing as...Eight...Eighth Route Army!"

At this time, Wang Er walked to Lin Qiang with his head down and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Platoon Leader, I did something wrong, please punish me!"

"What did you do wrong?" Lin Qiang asked back.

"You asked me to wake up one person, and now so many are awake."

Wang Er said sincerely, "Platoon Leader, I shouldn't have done this for my own selfish desires. I will absolutely obey your orders from now on. There will definitely not be a second time."

"It doesn't matter."

Lin Qiang said nonchalantly, "These people will be woken up sooner or later. You are just doing it for me."

At this time, Wang Er took the initiative to suggest that they go find other militiamen in the town. Lin Qiang certainly wouldn't refuse, nor was he worried about other ideas. His 95% loyalty said it all: "After you find them, tell them that their first priority is to evacuate the people in the town."

Wang Er said, "Platoon leader, we don't need to worry about this."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Wang Er explained, "There's more than one tunnel in our town. There must be no one here now. If you don't believe me, just go to any house and you'll see."

There were more important things to do right now, so Lin Qiang had no time to verify this. Instead, he asked, "Then how did you find the others?"

"I know where they're going to go."

Wang Er smiled and said, "After the Japanese invaders come, the people will return to the town and continue their lives. We have carried out such actions several times."

Hearing Wang Er say this, Lin Qiang wanted the militia here to continue organizing the people to hide from the devils: "In that case, let them stay here and continue to protect the people."

"That's not necessary."

Wang Er said, "Platoon leader, you don't know that it's always the mayor who tells us the news of the Japanese coming. It's not our team that organized it at all. We are only here as a precaution."

After hearing Wang Er's explanation, Lin Qiang no longer had any concerns: "Okay, then hurry up and bring them all here."

"Yes!"

After Wang Er left, Hu Zi and the others also found this place.

Lin Qiang interrogated one of the puppet soldiers: "Tell me, what is the purpose of this operation of the devils?"

"Sir, I'm just a cannon fodder. How could I possibly know the...the Japs' purpose?"

Lin Qiang asked the same question to another puppet soldier and got the same answer.

Then the third, fourth, fifth...

After asking more than ten people, he got the same answer, which made Lin Qiang feel more worried.

We are not afraid of the enemy taking action, but we are afraid that the enemy will take action but we are not clear about their purpose. If we don’t know the enemy’s purpose, we will not be able to take effective countermeasures.

Just when Lin Qiang was at a loss, the puppet soldier who was questioned first spoke again: "Sir, we don't know what the devil's purpose is, but I know who knows what the devil's purpose is."

Lin Qiang's eyes lit up, and he turned around and asked, "Tell me, who is it?"

"I said you could let me go..."

The puppet soldier hadn't finished speaking when he saw Lin Qiang's look and didn't dare to continue. Instead, he mentioned a name: "Huang Zhengmin, our company commander. He must know what the devils' goal is."

In a corner of the room, someone couldn't help but tremble after hearing this name.

This man was none other than the commander of this puppet army cavalry company, Huang Zhengmin.

Ever since he discovered that he was captured by the Eighth Route Army, Huang Zhengmin chose to pretend to be dead. He thought he could escape, but he didn't expect to be betrayed by his own men!

"Um... Master Ba, I'm here!"

Knowing he couldn't hide, he decided to step forward. Huang Zhengmin stood up and said, "I said I don't know what the Japanese's purpose is. Do you believe me?"

"That depends on whether you are telling the truth."

Lin Qiang said coldly: "If I were you, I would never tell a lie."