The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

Soon, another day had passed.

Zhou Jindong and most of the guerrillas have moved to a new destination.

He looked up at the sun in the sky.

It was just past 10 a.m., and the wind in Cangshan Valley was a bit harsh, feeling like tiny knives on the face.

More than a hundred people were lying in the bushes behind him, including former guerrillas and former puppet army labor prisoners who had surrendered.

This operation was short-handed, so apart from the necessary personnel to stay behind and harass, the Dongzhai guerrilla team came out in full force!

These people are holding their breath, not daring to even breathe loudly, their eyes fixed on the winding dirt road below the mountain.

"Dongzi, we've been waiting for half an hour already. Will those 'two dogs' who deliver vegetables still be here?" Wang Yuan, lying on Zhou Jindong's left, muttered under his breath, his palms sweaty.

"Just wait patiently, what's meant to come will come! Relax, nothing will be delayed, except for our meal!" Zhou Jindong didn't even turn his head, his eyes still fixed on the intersection. "Didn't we already investigate thoroughly? Every three days, without fail. Today is the third day, we won't miss it."

He then turned to look at Kosuke Ogawa on his right.

"Xiao Chuan, when that vehicle arrives, you and your soldiers are the first to charge in. Remember, speak tough and be aggressive, don't let those puppet troops see through your ruse. If you give yourself away, I'll be the first to rip your head off."

Kosuke Ogawa shrank back and quickly nodded and bowed: "Captain Zhou, don't worry, I'll handle it perfectly. Those puppet troops are just trying to make a living. When they see the Imperial Army... when they see us, their legs will definitely go weak."

As they were talking, a cloud of dust rose from the bend in the dirt road at the foot of the mountain.

Immediately afterwards, the roar of two truck engines came from the distance.

The first vehicle had a Japanese flag stuck on it, flapping loudly in the wind. Inside the vehicle sat about twenty puppet soldiers, leaning against their guns crookedly, looking listless.

"They're here!" Zhou Jindong shouted in a low voice, waving his hand. "Get your weapons ready and wait for my signal."

The truck slowly climbed the dirt road, its wheels kicking up gravel that bounced everywhere.

When the car was about fifty meters away from the ambush point, Zhou Jindong suddenly raised his hand.

"action!"

Kosuke Ogawa was the first to rush out, waving his sword and shouting in Japanese, "Baka yarou! Stop the car! Everyone get out! Inspection!"

The dozen or so "Japanese soldiers" behind them also rushed out, pointing their guns at the truck.

The truck driver was startled by the sudden turn of events and slammed on the brakes, killing the driver.

The tires left two black marks on the ground, and the front of the car suddenly lurched.

"Sir? What are you doing, sir?" A fat man dressed in a puppet army officer's uniform jumped out of the truck's passenger seat, looking at Ogawa Kosuke who was rushing over with a bewildered expression.

This man was a platoon leader in the puppet army, named Fatty Liu.

Before Fatty Liu could react, Zhou Jindong had already led the remaining guerrillas to outflank them from the roadside bushes.

Soon, they surrounded the two cars.

Zhou Jindong pressed the Mauser pistol against Fatty Liu's forehead, the cold barrel sending a shiver down Fatty Liu's spine.

"Don't move! I'll kill you if you move!" Zhou Jindong's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a murderous aura.

Fatty Liu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his legs began to tremble: "Eighth...Eighth Route Army Grandpa, spare me! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

When the puppet soldiers in the carriage saw that their platoon leader was being held at gunpoint, they dared not move.

Several men tried to touch the guns, but as soon as they raised their hands, they were knocked to the ground by guerrillas who appeared from the surrounding area with the butts of their guns.

"Get down here, all of you! Hands behind your heads! Squat on the ground!" Wang Yuan roared, scaring the puppet soldiers so much that they scrambled off the vehicle and squatted obediently in a row.

Zhou Jindong ignored the group of puppet soldiers and walked up to Fatty Liu. He looked him up and down, then suddenly smiled and reached out to straighten Liu's crooked hat.

"Platoon Leader Liu, right? Don't be afraid, we don't kill prisoners. However, we fully respect their personal wishes. After all, if someone wants to die, we can't stop them, can we? I just want to ask, do you want to live or die?"

Fatty Liu swallowed hard, trembling as he said, "Grandpa... I'll do anything you ask as long as I can live. I still have an eighty-year-old mother at home..."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhou Jindong interrupted him. "I won't beat around the bush with you. See? There are only about sixty Japanese soldiers guarding this Japanese warehouse in Cangshan Valley."

"Sending them food is aiding the enemy, a crime of treason, punishable by death if caught. But you're lucky you ran into me today."

Zhou Jindong pointed to the newly surrendered puppet army labor prisoners behind him: "See those brothers? They used to work for the Japanese, but now they're fighting the Japanese with me. They get to eat every meal and can even redeem themselves through meritorious service. If you know what's good for you, surrender with your men and work for me from now on. If you don't know what's good for you..."

Zhou Jindong didn't finish his sentence. He simply flicked the safety off the Mauser pistol with his thumb, making a soft "click" sound that sounded like a death knell to Fatty Liu.

Fatty Liu was a shrewd man. After a moment's hesitation, he knew what to do. He immediately bowed and shouted, "Grandpa! No, sir! I, Fatty Liu, will work for you from now on! I know the roads in Cangshan Pass well, and I roughly know the locations of the sentry posts!"

"You're smart." Zhou Jindong nodded, then turned to Sun Erniu and said, "Erniu, strip them all off and let's change into their clothes. Hurry up, don't waste time."

Ten minutes later, the two trucks started up again.

This time, however, the driver was different, and two-thirds of the guerrillas sitting in the carriage had changed into puppet army uniforms.

Fatty Liu was being held at gunpoint in the lower back by Wang Yuan, who was sitting in the passenger seat giving directions.

The convoy turned into the Cangshan Valley along the mountain road.

The Cangshan Pass is a terrain where two mountains enclose a ravine, with a narrow entrance and a large interior.

Once inside, the view suddenly opens up, with a flat valley in the middle and steep cliffs all around.

At the bottom of the valley stood rows of large brick and tile houses, surrounded by barbed wire, with a guard tower at each of the four corners, equipped with searchlights and machine guns.

Directly opposite the intersection was a large iron gate, with four Japanese sentries standing at the gate, and two machine gun emplacements made of sandbags.

"Halt! Password!" Seeing the truck approaching, a Japanese sergeant poked his head out of the fortifications, waving a small red flag.

Fatty Liu quickly poked half his head out of the car window, smiling obsequiously as he called out, "Sir! It's me, Old Liu! I've brought supplies for the Imperial Army! The password is 'May your military fortune last forever!'"

The sergeant squinted at the truck, then at Fatty Liu, but couldn't see anything amiss.

He then looked at the puppet soldiers in the car, and many of them did look familiar.

In his eyes, apart from being taller, Chinese people were all pretty much the same.

This time, however, he felt that the person next to Fatty Liu was really quite outstanding in appearance, and he seemed to have never seen him before.