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

Meanwhile, Nagano Yoko was sitting in his tent, furious! The entire battle lasted less than half an hour, and after deducting the time spent advancing and retreating, the actual fighting lasted less than ten minutes! Yet, in those ten minutes, their casualties had already exceeded one hundred!

Those were elite soldiers rigorously trained by the Empire, yet they were so easily defeated by this Mo Dao regiment! If such weapons were to be deployed on the battlefield, what suspense would there be in this war?

Even his bulletproof vest was useless; he truly had no idea how to deal with this hail of arrows!

Just as he was frowning in worry, a report came from outside.

"report!"

It was Inoue Masao's voice. Nagano Yokosuke hadn't seen him since his defeat at Laohekou a few days ago; he'd even had to find out about the battle from his own soldiers. The meaning was clear: after a defeat, he was relegated to the sidelines! When he'd remember him depended entirely on his mood.

"Come in!" Nagano Yoko naturally understood his intention. His own battle was stalled, and this junior had probably come to offer some advice.

"Senior! Given the current situation, I have some thoughts I'd like to share with you. Please give me another chance!" Inoue Masao said bluntly.

As expected, this junior student was not one to sit idly by!

“Speak!” Nagano Yokosuke said coldly.

"Hey!" Masao Inoue took two steps closer and said loudly, "We've now trapped them in the valley..."

……

In the blink of an eye, the mountain stronghold had been besieged for three days. During these three days, a dozen or so brothers ate, drank, and slept on the stronghold walls. There were sentries, both visible and hidden, deployed in both directions, ready to attack at any moment should the Japanese or traitors make any move.

However, for these three days, the Japanese soldiers seemed to be asleep, unusually quiet! From a distance, the Japanese soldiers were not on guard duty at all; they were hunting, roasting meat, drinking, and singing, as if they were on a picnic and having an unbelievable time!

On the contrary, the puppet troops on the back mountain maintained a high level of alertness and preparedness, as if they were the main force in the battle!

"Uncle Cang, being cornered at home like this isn't a solution! We're almost out of salt in the village!" Tiger said earnestly.

"It's not sustainable to be on guard all the time. How can you be on guard all the time when you're always trying to catch thieves? When will this siege without attacking end?" Da Zhao also became worried.

"The Japanese are using a vicious tactic! They're trying to wear us down! We have to find a way to lure them away!" Manxiang said.

"What can we do? The Japanese are just guarding the entrance to the valley and won't leave. As soon as we make the slightest move, they'll definitely rush over and occupy the village!" Tiger said worriedly.

"So what's your idea?" Manxiang asked irritably.

"I..." Tiger was interrupted by two cannon shots before he could speak.

"Boom! Boom!"

The shells hit the valley a hundred meters from the stockade wall, sending up a cloud of sand and gravel!

"Damn it! These Japanese devils aren't planning to cower anymore? Come on! Grandpa'll send you to meet the King of Hell!"

"Good that they're here! The sooner we wipe out the Japanese devils, the less we'll have to put up with this nonsense!"

"Damn it! I've had enough of this stockade wall these past two days!"

"Come on! My rockets are itching for fire!"

"Watch out behind us, Er Gouzi might sneak up on us!" Man Cang warned, raising his binoculars to observe.

The road ahead was deserted; there wasn't a single Japanese soldier in sight!

Quickly check behind them, Er Gouzi is still on high alert and shows no intention of attacking!

"Boom! Boom!"

Two more cannon shots rang out, but they were still dozens of meters away from the stockade wall, and still could not see the Japanese soldiers!

"Damn! What does that mean? Just firing cannons without attacking, and having too many shells to use?"

"Wait a minute! Why aren't the Japanese shooting at the wall?"

"Are you trying to scare me? Do you think I'm too scared to attack?"

"Master Cang! I can't take it anymore! Hit him!"

"Yes! Let's fight them! When have we brothers ever let the Japanese bully us like this?"

"Boom! Boom!"

As they were talking, two more cannon shots rang out, leaving everyone stunned and unable to even curse the Japanese. They were all seething with hatred!

There's nothing they can do about it. They only have so many men, and as soon as they leave the stockade, the enemy on the other side will definitely attack the stockade. In other words, they can't leave the stockade at all! The Japanese are definitely watching from not far away!

After three rounds of shelling, the Japanese soldiers calmed down, and the valley returned to peace. The Japanese soldiers at the valley entrance ate and drank as usual, their hoarse voices singing as awful as pigs being slaughtered!

"Let the clan chief and the others bring the food! Remember to wear bulletproof vests, and don't use baskets. Each person should have a bowl and eat something hot!" Mancang said to Manxiang.

"Ah?...I understand!" Manxiang's eyes lit up and he went down the village wall to make arrangements.

A short while later, a group of men wearing bulletproof vests climbed the stockade wall, each carrying a bowl of steaming noodles and handing them out one by one to the team members on the wall. Seeing everyone eating with relish, they showed knowing smiles and kept reminding the younger members to be careful.

Soon, after finishing a bowl of noodles, everyone reluctantly descended the village wall, chopsticks in hand, and returned to their respective positions, remaining on guard.

All the team members gathered in the village council hall, including the blacksmith, the carpenter, and the seven fairies: two village girls, two clerks, two doctors, and Zaohua, making a total of seven people. Everyone called them the Seven Fairies!

That's right, the reason for having the clan chief and the others climb the village wall one by one was to complete the switch under the noses of the Japanese soldiers, so that the village elders could stand guard for them! They were all wearing helmets and bulletproof vests, and it was impossible for strangers to tell who was who!

"Gentlemen, how many weapons do you have left in the warehouse?" Mancang asked the blacksmith and carpenter.

"There were also over a dozen rocket launchers and more than four hundred rockets, along with over a hundred long-handled swords and repeating crossbows. The Japanese had quite a few weapons," the blacksmith answered truthfully.

"That's good! You four and the Seven Fairies, take over from the clan chief and the others during dinner! Remember, as long as the Japanese don't attack, ignore them! Let them fire blanks if they want, just don't pay attention! Make sure you wear bulletproof vests and helmets. You seven fairies, all of you, tuck your hair into your hats so the Japanese can't see it! Understand?" Mancang instructed.

"Understood!" the seven women said in unison.

"The rest of you should get some sleep. We'll move out at 3 a.m. sharp!" Mancang continued.

"Good!" Everyone understood; they had an idea!

After several days and nights of working on the walls of the house, everyone was exhausted and looked pale and sickly. Without a good night's sleep, they couldn't get anything done!

"Alright! Go and get ready!" Man Cang waved his hand, signaling everyone to prepare.

He couldn't sleep, so he went to the warehouse, took out the newly captured mortar, and kept fiddling with it.

He retrieved all six Japanese mortars from the battle a few days ago, but they were still just a bunch of parts and not assembled together. No one else could do it for him; he had to do it himself.

Fortunately, no parts were missing, and it works perfectly after all the parts were assembled. However, I've never used this thing before, so I'll have to figure out how to get used to it.