I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

The brothers' eyes lit up at the mention of cleaning up the battlefield. Although they hadn't wiped out the enemy completely, they outnumbered them! Especially those puppet troops; their bodies weren't even taken away, and their weapons were scattered all over the ground. It would be a waste not to collect them! As for the corpses, they'd just burn them!

Without needing to be urged, everyone quickly got to work. Even Man Cang rushed to the spot where the artillerymen had fallen, searching for cannon barrels. These were valuable items! If there weren't enough men, they'd make up for it with equipment. They didn't believe that each of them would be afraid of bombarding the Japanese with a mortar!

"Wow! That's amazing! Look how badly that Er Gouzi was blown up!"

"Serves you right! Why did you have to become a lackey for no reason!"

"He's just following the Japanese devils to harm the people; it's too good for him to die like this!"

As they stripped the corpse of its contents, they cursed and swore, quite satisfied with the rocket's effectiveness in combat!

"Full house! Full house! Something's wrong! The Japanese have set up camp at the mouth of the valley and built up a dense defensive fortification. There are over a dozen Japanese soldiers guarding it, including more than a dozen machine guns!" Just as everyone was happily collecting the captured supplies, Shimizu ran over to report!

"Huh?...The Japanese devils still haven't given up? What are they trying to do?" Tiger asked, puzzled.

"Did you see clearly? Are you sure all the Japanese soldiers are blocking the entrance to the valley?" Da Zhao asked.

"I can see it clearly! Apart from the seriously wounded Japanese soldiers who were taken away, the rest are blocking the entrance to the valley! The small green houses that have been erected are filling up the open space behind them!" Shimizu affirmed.

"Damn! The Japanese are determined to wear us down! Quick, go check behind us, see if the exit from the back mountain is blocked!" Man Cang understood the Japanese intentions after a moment's thought. They couldn't defeat them, so they surrounded them, trying to wear them down! If there were also Japanese soldiers on the back mountain, wouldn't we be like rats in a bellows, blocked from both ends?

"What?... What do you mean? If we block the exit, we can't get out? Don't joke around. Are you kidding me? Are you sure it's that hard for us mountain kids to climb over a mountain?" Da Zhao laughed, pointing at the mountains on both sides.

“We’re a small group, so we can just pack up and get out of here, but what about the villagers in the village? With so many people crossing mountains and valleys, won’t the Japanese catch up with us?” Manxiang said.

"Fight! If we can repel them once, we can repel them a second time! What's there to be afraid of!" Da Zhao said nonchalantly.

"That won't work either! What if we attack the Japanese in front and then launch a sneak attack from behind? If the Japanese get into the village, our families will be in trouble!" Manxiang said with distress.

"This... seems to make sense! What should we do? Aren't we just like a wronged wife caught in the middle?" Da Zhao also understood their current predicament.

Just as they expected, Shimizu soon came running back in a flurry, shouting from afar:

"Cangwa! Cangwa! A lot of Japanese devils have come from the back mountain. They've built strong defensive fortifications just like the Japanese devils in front, and they're holding the exit tightly. We're trapped in this valley!"

"Er Gouzi?... How many of them are there? What are their weapons and equipment like?" Man Cang asked anxiously.

"There are about a hundred of them, and the machine guns they're carrying are quite unique!" Shimizu said breathlessly.

"Quite unique?..." Mancang thought of another type of machine gun from the War of Resistance against Japan—the Czech-made one!

The Japanese machine gun, though intimidating-looking, could only fire twenty rounds at a time. After that, it needed to be reloaded, making sustained fire difficult. Our anti-Japanese war heroes used this reloading time to eliminate the Japanese machine gunners, achieving remarkable results!

The Czech ZB-26 light machine gun (also known as the Czech ZB26 light machine gun, or simply the Czech light machine gun in China) is a light machine gun developed by the Brno State Arms Factory in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s. While the 20-round magazine capacity of the ZB-26 is still considered too small for a light machine gun, changing the magazine is easy! It can be easily done with one hand!

Furthermore, the Czech-made barrel has built-in heat sinks, allowing for continuous firing for over two hours. It's also lightweight, making it perfectly usable as a submachine gun while running and firing!

In this era, our revolutionary predecessors used this Czech-style weapon to defeat the Japanese invaders so decisively that they couldn't even raise their heads!

We have to get our hands on it! Such a good gun is a waste in Er Gouzi's hands!

"Let's get the things back first."

For a moment, Mancang didn't have a good solution. They were too few in number, and if they attacked from one side, the others would definitely take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. The village was full of family; they couldn't just abandon them!

Let them block the road if they want! Anyway, the village has enough supplies. Blocking the road for a month or forty days won't affect our lives.

It's all about people. If there were hundreds or thousands of Japanese soldiers, would they dare to be so arrogant? If I didn't slaughter them all, I'd consider my time travel a waste!

Knowing their current predicament, the brothers lost their playful mood and their movements became much faster.

……

Behind the village, Wang Daben urged his brothers to reinforce the fortifications, wishing they could build a bunker there if possible! Having witnessed the fighting prowess of the villagers, they were all terrified! Without the Japanese soldiers shielding them, they were unsure of themselves facing such a powerful enemy alone! Their only hope was to make the fortifications even stronger!

"Captain, the dozens of brothers guarding our place in the county are almost here. They've brought all our belongings over," said Wu Erdan, the puppet army platoon leader, as he approached.

That's right, it's Wu Erdan who provided the information to Mancang! With the battalion commander fighting here, how could Wu Erdan, who was right at his doorstep, be idle? As soon as he left the valley, Wang Daben sent someone to call him over to reinforce him and guard the back mountain together.

"Move it! Throw it all in! If we can wipe out this Mo Dao Regiment this time, it will all be worth it! Even if we can't wipe them out, we can't lose our lives! If we lose everything, we'll find a way to ask the Japanese for more. The point is, they can't let anyone out of our territory!"

Wang Daben knew the Japanese devils' nature perfectly well. If they won, the Imperial Japanese Army would be all high and mighty, casually giving them a pittance. But if they lost, these puppet troops would be scapegoats, and they wouldn't rest until at least two of them were executed!

This time, we absolutely cannot afford to fail in defending the exit. We can refrain from launching an offensive, but we must hold the exit!

"Yes!" Wu Erdan's heart was pounding. He knew the man inside best. With so many good things displayed here, wouldn't that attract attention? He would definitely try to break through this way just for these things!

Try letting a cat sleep with a salted fish as a pillow? You'll definitely get to eat it all, even the bones!

To be honest, these puppet troops had quite a few good things. Czech-made mortars were a given, but they also had four mortars, and piles of shells! They also had Mauser pistols, Chiang Kai-shek rifles, explosive charges, and so on. All of these were captured from the Nationalist army; the Japanese didn't want them and gave them to these puppet troops to make up the numbers!