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

The experts sent by the military arrived in the morning; there were two men and one woman. The woman, named Mieko Takahashi, was the person in charge of this incident. After a brief introduction, the two sides proceeded directly to the main road of Wangjiagou without further delay.

Inoue Masao had people guarding the place, and it had remained exactly as it was, untouched. As they approached, a faint stench of decay wafted into their nostrils, and the group of men instinctively put on gas masks.

"Lieutenant Colonel, was it like this from the beginning?" Mieko Takahashi asked, pointing to the corpse on the ground.

“Yes! The concentration of poison gas inside is very high; even gas masks can't stop it. My men have never dared to go deep inside,” Nagano Yokoo said.

"Yoshi! You did a great job!" Mieko said, putting on latex gloves and squatting down to examine the body on the ground. The other two people also got to work.

The inspection took up most of the morning. The three of them went deep into the center of the explosion along the main road, collecting samples and recording data. They didn't come out until noon. Nagano Yoko was waiting outside and was very cooperative.

"Miss Mieko, have you found anything?" Nagano Yokoo asked urgently as the three of them came out.

"Some of them started from the ammunition depot, and there was still a faint smell of gasoline in the air. This suggests that the burning gasoline ignited the shells in the ammunition depot. In other words, the person who caused the explosion was very likely someone from inside the base! And the burning area was definitely not far from the ammunition depot, maybe even less than ten meters away. It is very likely that the arsonist was already blown to pieces in the explosion!"

“Aside from the dozen or so corpses with knife wounds we saw at the beginning, the rest of them died from poison gas. This means that the perpetrator had accomplices. The soldiers who escaped were killed by this accomplice. He left hastily when he saw that the people who escaped later were too severely poisoned.”

"There weren't many people who carried out the whole thing, maybe only two! Because those dozen or so people had identical wounds, clearly indicating they were killed by the same weapon or even the same knife!"

"This knife is very special. The tip is an obtuse triangle with two sharpened edges and it is very wide."

"I think with this information, Lieutenant Colonel, you should be able to find the murderer, right?"

After recounting her findings in one breath, Ms. Mieko stared intently at Nagano Yokoyuki.

"Uh...one of our own, a very special knife, not many people...excuse me for being frank, I still have no clue. This base has always been independently managed and has hardly had any contact with our military police. The people coming in and out are all soldiers of our Imperial Japanese Army. I really can't think of anyone who fits the above conditions!" Nagano Yokoo said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that! Our purpose here is to collect any remaining data. The investigation into the killer will have to rely on your efforts, local official. Please send a small team to help us search for anything of value in the ruins, Lieutenant Colonel. I will inform you immediately if there are any further discoveries,” Mieko said.

“Of course, Miss, you can tell me if you need anything!” Nagano Yokosuke said.

"Thank you so much! We'll stay at those temporary camps; Lieutenant Colonel, you don't need to stay with us. I hope you find the murderer soon!" Mieko said, pointing to the military tents below the valley.

……

The small courtyard of Zhang Youcai's house in the county town was bustling with activity today. Their son, whom they hadn't heard from in years, had finally sent someone to visit his parents! The two elderly people and their housekeeper were overjoyed!

"Old man, this is a gift from the regimental commander to you two! Originally, the regimental commander wanted to buy you two some rare things, but we were so busy on the way that he didn't buy them! The regimental commander said that you two should just sell whatever you want or need, don't be reluctant!" Platoon Leader Sun took out a box of silver dollars and handed it to the old couple.

"This child! He's learned to save money now! He used to only know how to spend it. Now that he's in a higher position, he's grown up too! Alright, we'll keep this money and use it to help him get married when he comes back! He's over thirty and still doesn't know how to settle down!" The old lady kept muttering to herself while holding the box. No matter how old a child is, in their parents' eyes, they'll always be a child!

"Tell him not to worry about home, there's plenty of money! With all this war and chaos, and you're on the front lines, be careful! Remember my words, fighting the Japanese and traitors is fine, but you can't bully the common people!" Zhang Youcai was also full of pride; his son becoming a regimental commander made him very proud!

"Yes! I've noted it down and will relay it verbatim!" Platoon Leader Sun stood up and saluted.

“You silly child, you’re not in the military at home, you don’t need to salute all the time! You should stay here a few more days, we old folks like a lively atmosphere, come and join us!” Zhang Youcai said happily.

“Alright! Besides visiting the two elders, we have another mission: to inquire around in the county town.” Platoon Leader Sun said.

"Oh? You have a mission? What do you need to find out? Have the housekeeper find out for you. It's not some military secret, is it?" Zhang Youcai asked with concern. Helping his son was the thing the old man was most willing to do!

"It's not a secret. Have you heard about how a secret Japanese base was bombed a few days ago?" Platoon Leader Sun asked.

"Hmm?...Is this what you're talking about?" The old man said, taking out a copy of the "Yudu Morning Post" and handing it to the other person. The headline of the newspaper was about the secret base.

"Huh?...It's in the newspaper!" Platoon Leader Sun was astonished. Once it's in the newspaper, things become much more difficult! Originally, they had come quietly to investigate, find the person behind the scenes, recruit them, and then return. But now that the matter is in the newspaper, that group will likely hide even deeper, making it even harder to find them.

"The base has been destroyed. Is your mission to find the hero who carried out this?" Zhang Youcai, being an experienced old man, immediately guessed the other party's purpose.

"Yes! The regimental commander intends to recruit these people to fight the Japanese and serve the Party and the country, so he specially asked me to come back!" Platoon Leader Sun explained the purpose of the visit to his own people.

"Hmm...that might not be easy! This old man has lived in the county his whole life and has never heard of such a hero. If we follow the newspaper's speculation, and it's a mistake on the part of the Japanese, you might be disappointed!"

"That's highly unlikely! These bases are all staffed by Japanese agents; there's no way a mistake could have occurred. Unless one of our Chinese descendants successfully infiltrated the Japanese ranks and orchestrated this incident, in which case this righteous man would likely have perished in the explosion! I still lean towards the idea that a certain force planned and carried out this explosion. Let's investigate first before making a judgment!"

"Very well! If we can find these righteous men, please let this old man get to know them. It is the pride of the whole county that our hometown has produced such heroes!"

"Haha, the old man is just as passionate as the regimental commander! If we find these people, I'll definitely introduce you to them!"