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

"Two o'clock in the morning!" Tatsuo Shigeshita confirmed the final time for the night raid. Although the two rounds of poison gas bombardment during the day hadn't achieved the desired effect, the gas was still enough to give the enemy a hard time! A sneak attack at night would be all about surprise, defeating the enemy using their most effective methods—it was sure to be a spectacular sight!

"Hi!" Kunimoto Shoji responded.

Two o'clock in the morning arrived quickly, and the two-thousand-strong night raid team was ready to go. Led by Koiso, an advisor to Kunimoto Masaji and Eshita Tatsuo, they made their way towards the Shijiawan position.

The squad quickly approached the position under the cover of night. The place had already been shattered by the bombs during the day, and there was a faint smell of gunpowder in the breeze.

Strangely, their journey was far too smooth; they encountered neither enemy night watchmen nor any forward observation posts. It was as if the entire enemy force on the position had been wiped out by the daytime bombing!

New recruits fear the sound of cannons, while veterans fear silence. Kunimoto Masaji and Koiso naturally realized something was wrong, exchanged a glance, and stopped the advancing troops.

"Koiso-kun, something's not right! According to our reconnaissance during the day, the enemy has only suffered heavy casualties, but they are far from being defeated. Could it be that the legendary invincible Mo Dao Group has retreated because of a single bombing?" Kunimoto Masaji said, puzzled and unable to figure out the specifics.

"That's hard to say! The Mo Dao Group's actions are unpredictable and unpredictable. Who knows what tricks they're up to this time!" Staff Officer Koiso had followed Tatsuo Shigeshita in battle for many years. He was just a new recruit when he fought against the Mo Dao Group and knew how strange they were.

"What should we do now? Should we continue?" Kunimoto Masaji asked.

"Of course! Just be careful in everything. I don't think the enemy will expect us to launch a night attack! Go up from here, and if you spot the enemy, deal with them with bayonets. Don't fire yet! Pay attention to the surrounding situation!" Staff Officer Koiso said, pointing to the hills on the left.

"Hi!" the crowd responded softly.

The night was as dark as ink, and the ground beneath their feet was soft soil. The group climbed the hill, one step at a time, until half an hour had passed before all two thousand people had reached the top.

The night remained dark, and all was quiet. No trace of the enemy could be found; only rolling hills could be vaguely discerned stretching into the distance. It seemed less like a battlefield and more like small hills awaiting recovery after being bombed!

"Report! A cave has been discovered ahead, with signs of human activity!" Just as the two officers were completely bewildered, a soldier came over to report.

"What?! Let's go check this out!" Since there were no enemies, there was no need to lower his voice. Staff Officer Koiso quickly followed the soldiers toward the cave.

This is a cave that is only half a person high. There is a door at the entrance that is clearly used by people. The inside is dark and no one knows where it leads.

"Oh my god! Those Chinese are so cunning! They must have escaped through the cave!" Kunimoto Masaji guessed, looking at the cave.

"One squad, go into the cave to search and determine the enemy's whereabouts!" Staff Officer Koiso ordered.

This wasn't the first time they'd seen tunnels. A few years ago in Mafang Village, they encountered an enemy who suddenly appeared from behind and stole their tank! Now that they think about it, they must have sneaked through tunnels to carry out the ambush without anyone noticing. These Chinese are truly elusive!

"Hey!" A small squad of Japanese soldiers turned on their flashlights, grabbed their rifles, and filed in. A dozen minutes later, they quietly withdrew.

"Report! We've gone over a hundred meters into the cave and still can't see the end. However, we've found quite a few broken shoes and rudimentary equipment left behind by the enemy along the way!" The soldier handed over a broken crossbow and several tattered shoes.

"Hmm?" Kunimoto Masaji took the crossbow and examined it closely.

“Sure! Our guess was right. The enemy, fearing the spread of poison gas, escaped through the tunnel! Look, this break is fresh, which means the enemy hasn't been gone for long!” Kunimoto Masaji said, pointing to the recently broken break on the crossbow.

"Yosh! Pursue!" Staff Officer Koiso perked up immediately. As long as they could find the enemy, they were determined to take a big bite out of them during this night raid! The fact that the enemy was willing to abandon their positions and ignore everything meant that the poison gas bombing had caused them considerable trouble! Although it hadn't achieved the desired effect, it had kept them busy and they were now in a difficult situation. Now was the time to expand their gains!

"Hey!" With renewed confidence, everyone followed the two officers inside.

Sure enough, just as the soldiers had said, there were more than a dozen broken shoes left behind by the enemy inside the cave, and occasionally broken bows and arrows could also be seen. The two officers were even more certain of their judgment and quickened their pace to walk deeper into the cave.

……

At the foot of the hill on the back side, Liang Ping, who had been busy for a day and a night, finally had a moment to stretch and yawn. He took a sip of water from his kettle, but the exhaustion on his face was impossible to shake off.

"Thank you for your hard work! It's all thanks to this recipe, otherwise we would have suffered huge losses!" Mancang, who hadn't slept all night, said with a yawn.

Yesterday's bombing did indeed have a significant impact on the brothers. Over 20% of them suffered severe symptoms, including fainting, and many more experienced varying degrees of poisoning. At first, it wasn't noticeable, but just after noon, vomiting, dizziness, fever, and runny noses all appeared! The entire unit seemed to be infected with a plague; even Mancang himself had a fever exceeding 39 degrees Celsius, and his condition was critical!

In this critical moment, Liang Ping and Wang Min came up with a prescription to treat the plague and tried it. It worked very well, and the condition of several brothers with milder symptoms was relieved after taking the medicine.

But there aren't enough medicinal herbs for so many people! Especially the two main herbs, dandelion and bupleurum, which are used in huge quantities and are in severe shortage. There was no other way but to call on the able-bodied brothers to leave the battlefield and dig for herbs all over the mountains.

Dandelions are easy to spot; their small yellow flowers are readily identifiable in early spring. Bupleurum, however, is more troublesome. The old branches and leaves have withered, and new ones haven't sprouted yet. People can only identify it by a thin stick protruding from the ground. Once dug up, if it's the right plant, it's kept; otherwise, it's discarded. Gathering the required amount is a real challenge for these guys!

Sure enough, the entire camp was brought under control just before dawn, allowing everyone's tense nerves to relax a little.

"A little hardship is nothing, the real worry is not having a way to deal with it! The Japanese are too vicious! This kind of poison gas is extremely contagious. If one person is not careful, the whole village will be infected, and that would be a huge problem!" Liang Ping said thankfully, stretching his neck.

"Plague! It's very likely the plague!" Mancang said with certainty.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japanese were notorious for their bacteriological bombs, and plague bacilli were among them. Judging from the symptoms of you brothers, it is highly likely that it is plague.

"Wang Min and I also diagnosed it as the plague! The Japanese are truly insane, using such despicable and outrageous things! Don't they know what it means to be outrageous?" Liang Ping cursed viciously.