Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

The team of twenty people was divided into four small teams, fighting and retreating in different directions.

As soon as the gunshots rang out, the sentries of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army ignored the orders from the regiment headquarters and retreated with the civilians to the first line of defense in the defense zone.

This was also part of Lin Qiang's plan. In fact, he was also gambling that the sentries of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army would not really abandon the people.

Although it was a bit immoral, he made the right bet.

Lin Qiang and others had no desire to fight. Although they did not know where the first line of defense set up by Chu Yunfei was, based on their experience, Lin Qiang only advanced one kilometer and then retreated with his team to catch up with the team that retreated first.

Everything that could be done had been done. If Chu Yunfei really endured this, Lin Qiang could only lead the team, bypass Chu Yunfei's defense zone, and return to the base of the independent regiment to make plans.

There was one thing that Lin Qiang couldn't figure out. He didn't know how many Japanese troops were chasing him, but he encountered at least a large group of Japanese troops surrounding him, and he believed that there were definitely more than that.

Why on earth were the Japs pursuing me so relentlessly?

It's not possible that just because he killed dozens of Japanese soldiers, he would be surrounded by Japanese soldiers who were close to a regiment, right?

Lin Qiang had no idea that he was surrounded by not just one regiment, but two regiments of Japanese soldiers!

They retreated all the way to the edge of Daogu Mountain. If they walked ten kilometers north, they would enter the defense zone of the independent regiment. Lin Qiang asked the team to take a rest for a while. There were secret sentries left in the rear who would notify them to retreat in time if they found the Japanese.

This is a fork in the road for Lin Qiang and the entire group. Whether to return to the base or continue to develop outside depends entirely on whether the battle of Dagu Mountain can be fought.

There were more than 20 people, and they had almost drunk all the water they had with them. There was not much dry food left. Seeing that the soldiers were exhausted, Lin Qiang was almost about to give the order to return to the base.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a burst of fierce artillery fire rang out.

The frightened soldiers sitting on the ground stood up instantly, holding their Type 38 rifles tightly and ready to fight the enemy at any time.

"Platoon leader? Where are you firing?"

As Qiangzi put away his gun, he also asked the other soldiers to put away their guns to avoid accidental injuries. Then he asked doubtfully, "From the sound of the cannon, it seems that the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army is really engaging in a war with the Japanese?"

No one responded to his words, not even Lin Qiang, but everyone knew what was going on.

The sound of the howitzer bombardment lasted for a full half hour, which made Lin Qiang and his companions' ears numb. Even now, sporadic sounds of artillery explosions could still be heard.

Chu Yunfei's team got into a fight with the Japanese, and Lin Qiang swallowed the order that was on the tip of his tongue. Without a battle map, he could only roughly determine a direction based on the route in his mind.

Continuing to walk southeast, you will enter another mountain range, which is an area where several forces intersect, including bandits, the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and the Central Army.

This time, Lin Qiang set his target on Heiyun Village.

In film and television dramas, the geographical location of Heiyun Village is extremely special, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Li Yunlong led a battalion and took over Heiyun Village with a single mortar shot. This was due to the existence of two prerequisite factors.

The first is that Li Yunlong's name had long been spread in northwestern Shanxi. Apart from anything else, in the battle of Cangyunling, although he almost lost all his wealth, Li Yunlong led the New 1st Regiment and defeated the Sakata Regiment, which was known as the elite of the Japanese army.

Even the 358th Regiment, the ace unit of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Sakata Regiment. Kong Jie suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Sakata Regiment, was seriously injured, and his political commissar was killed.

Being able to defeat this army head-on, who wouldn’t give Li Yunlong a thumbs up when seeing him?

Another thing is that the entire Heiyun Village had already agreed to join the Eighth Route Army and had lost the intention to resist. With Xie Baoqing's escape, the bandits lost their backbone and became a loose sand, allowing Li Yunlong to control them.

However, Lin Qiang knew his own strengths and weaknesses. It would be a difficult problem for the current team to rashly go to Heiyun Village and want to use it as a base for development.

The sound of gunfire on the battlefield ahead hadn't stopped yet. Hu Zi didn't understand what the other party was planning to do by staying here, so he walked over to Lin Qiang and whispered, "Platoon Leader, you're not still thinking about getting involved, are you?"

The voice was very low, but Qiangzi, who was standing beside him, still heard it and immediately asked loudly, "Platoon leader, do we really want to get involved?"

The soldiers resting nearby heard Qiangzi's words and all looked at Lin Qiang, waiting for his answer.

This actually made Lin Qiang give up the idea of taking advantage of the situation. He knew that as long as he said it, the soldiers would definitely carry out it unconditionally, but he himself was not sure whether this was a suitable opportunity.

The soldiers' looks varied, some were eager to try, and some were confused.

Damn it, the bold ones will die of overeating, and the timid ones will die of starvation!

Just lead the team to test the edge. If you encounter a small group of Japanese devils, eat them up. If not, then retreat!

Lin Qiang gritted his teeth and made his choice.

He immediately announced this decision, and to his surprise, only four people showed some resistance.

One of the four soldiers in the group responsible for transporting the heavy machine gun said aggrievedly, "Platoon leader, can we not go? Look at us four brothers, we are so tired!"

Qiangzi jokingly said, "Didn't I help you carry it too?"

"How dare you say that!"

The man angrily said, "Qiangzi, you're such a cunning person! I promised to help you, but you just ran away with all four legs!"

"Four legs are heavy too."

Qiangzi looked at Lin Qiang with a guilty conscience and said, "Okay, okay, let the four of us carry it!"

"Qiangzi, don't count the three of us!"

"Stop talking nonsense, the three of us are a team!"

According to the group that had just retreated, Qiangzi naturally assigned himself a team leader and said with a smile: "Hurry up, otherwise there will be no dinner!"

After a burst of laughter, the atmosphere became much more lively.

The heavy machine gun was given to Qiangzi and a few others to carry. No one in the team objected to Lin Qiang's plan. Instead, they seemed a little impatient.

The soldier in charge of front-line observation returned to report the situation. The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army's artillery fire was so fierce that the Japanese soldiers were blown so hard that they could not even raise their heads.

The soldier said excitedly, "Platoon Leader, I see the Japanese have retreated a long distance, and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army hasn't arranged anyone to clean up the battlefield. How about we...?"

The meaning of this statement was obvious, and the other soldiers also agreed with this approach.

They all thought Lin Qiang would agree, but they saw him shaking his head: "No, if we rush into the battlefield rashly, we will most likely be accidentally injured by the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. As I said before, if there is soup, we will drink it. If there is no soup, don't force it. There are more important things to do later."

Lin Qiang did not choose to tell his plan now, so as not to distract the soldiers.

But seeing a big piece of fat meat right in front of me, I couldn’t even go forward to smell it, and I felt really uncomfortable!

The gunfire stopped. Lin Qiang didn't believe that all the Japanese had followed the main force to withdraw from the battlefield. He ordered Qiangzi to withdraw with the heavy machine gun first, while he led the team to see if he could get a bite of soup.

Qiangzi was reluctant to leave, regretting that he had taken on the responsibility of carrying the gun. Lin Qiang made him leave obediently with just one sentence: "Qiangzi, what you are carrying is not a machine gun, but our hope of becoming bigger and stronger!"

The independent regiment was broken up into smaller units, each developing independently in companies and platoons. Qiangzi didn't want to return to the regiment and see other companies and platoons returning with full loads while he was penniless.

"Brothers, remember, no one is allowed to shoot without my order!"

Lin Qiang repeatedly emphasized this point because he was afraid that someone would lose control and attack the Japanese.

To put it bluntly, they are worried that the newly joined soldiers will not be able to control themselves. This is not an isolated case. Most recruits will not be able to control themselves and will take action when they encounter the Japanese.

The purpose of joining the army is to kill the Japanese devils. All kinds of hatred can easily blind one's eyes, so Lin Qiang had to get a few more shots of vaccination.

A team of 23 people, led by Lin Qiang, groped their way forward along the edge of the battlefield, picking up every piece of supplies they could, including the bullets that fell on the ground.

There is no way, we are too poor!