Spy Wars: I can get rewards by being a bully!

Chapter 1156 Holding them off for a whole night

In the afternoon, we set up the stove and cooked a meal.

The whole camp had a good meal. Huang Zhicheng brought two sheep, which were slaughtered and used to make soup. Freshly baked white flour pancakes were soaked in the mutton soup, serving as both a dish and a meal.

When the soldiers could only enjoy such a good meal a few times a year, no one spoke for a moment; all that could be heard was the slurping sound of them drinking soup and eating flatbread.

Zhang Kedi shared the mutton in his bowl with several young soldiers around him.

He then stood up and began to mobilize.

"Comrades! As you all know, the Japanese are coming to sweep through again! This time there are tens of thousands of them, it's like a massive army pressing in! Are you all afraid?!"

"Not afraid!"

"Not afraid!"

"Not afraid!"

"Good! There are no cowards in our company! The orders have been given. After we finish eating, we're setting off. Where to? To find the Japanese!"

Zhang Kedi declared passionately, "Those damned Japanese devils want to attack us, don't they? They want to block us! This time, we're not leaving! We'll go find them! Let them taste our bullets, our grenades, our fists, and our teeth!"

"The higher-ups gave us orders to hold off the Japanese in Tanghe for a whole night. I said right then and there, let alone a whole night, let us fight with all our might, I'll hold them off for ten or eight days and make sure they can't move!"

Everyone laughed.

"Comrades, some of you are veterans who have fought many battles, while others are just kids who have only fired a few shots and have never even thrown a grenade. But we are all Chinese! As long as we hold on to our last breath, even if we are wearing straw sandals and using old-fashioned rifles, we will definitely drive the Japanese devils out, we will definitely achieve final victory, and we will definitely be able to protect our homeland!"

"Comrades, central Hebei is a wonderful place! Vast fields of farmland, the Hutuo River flowing day and night—how can we let the Japanese devils occupy this wonderful place? When we reach Tanghe, we must all move forward, not a single one of us can retreat. To sacrifice is glorious, to sacrifice is glorious!"

"It is glorious to sacrifice! It is glorious to sacrifice!"

"After you finish eating, find the clerk and instructor to write letters home!"

Writing a letter home is essentially writing a will.

The written letters would be collected together and sent to the regimental headquarters before the departure. The regimental headquarters would then send them to the base area headquarters. When a large number of main forces and regional teams withdrew, they would take these letters with them.

After finishing their flatbread and soup, everyone lined up to write letters home.

Most of them consisted of just a few words.

“My name is Li Angui, I’m from Huixian. I have parents and a younger sister at home. I’ve been away fighting for more than three years and haven’t been back. If I can send a letter back, I’ll send back these two silver dollars that I’ve saved up!”

"My name is Zhao Yong, from Liangqiu, Feixian County! My father was a guerrilla fighter who sent me to join the army. I was transferred to central Hebei. I'm not afraid of death; this is where I'll be buried!"

“I am from Shenxian County! My father was killed by a shell. I still have my mother and younger brother at home. If I die, please send a message home. I will not be able to take care of my mother. Please do not be sad. Raise my younger brother and send him to join the army!”

"I am Wuji! Tell my parents that if I die, the bullet hole will be in my chest. I won't let them down!"

"I'm from Anping! I... I'm engaged. Send a message to my parents that if I can't come back, they shouldn't hold the girl back!"

In the afternoon, the First Battalion set off for Tanghe!

Around 10 a.m. the next day, the troops arrived at Jianyang Village, east of Ding County.

To avoid being discovered while cooking, everyone took out the flatbread from yesterday and ate it bite by bite.

Cold flatbread is a rare delicacy for soldiers; it's made with wheat flour, from the newly harvested wheat flour this year!

They encouraged each other, "We still need to taste what next year's wheat flour tastes like! When the fighting starts, we have to charge forward. The more you charge forward, the less the bullets will dodge you!"

"Not just next year's flour, but the year after that, and the year after that!"

"All you want to do is eat wheat flour? The instructor said that after we drive out the Japanese, we can work for a few more decades and then we'll be able to live a comfortable life!"

What does "moderately prosperous" mean?

"You don't understand, do you? The concept of 'moderate prosperity' comes from ancient books, supposedly proposed by ancient sages. In our terms, 'moderate prosperity' means being able to eat your fill every meal and have meat every few days!"

"Back in northwestern Shanxi, I heard that Old Kou's house was full of electric lights and even had a latrine with running water! If I survived, maybe I could live like that in the future!"

"I haven't thought that far ahead. I just want to be able to farm peacefully with my own strength and not be bullied by anyone. After the war is over, I'll go home. My family still has some hillside land on Nanshan Mountain. If I'm not home, my mother won't have the strength to carry water up the mountain to farm it!"

"Live on! Let's see what the world will be like in the future!"

As evening approached, the regimental headquarters sent a messenger.

All three battalions of the main regiment were in position. The regimental commander had his eye on a Japanese outpost east of Dingxian and sent bold and meticulous soldiers to conduct reconnaissance. There were about two companies of Japanese soldiers at the outpost. The first and second companies were responsible for the vanguard. If they acted quickly, they should be able to achieve some results before the Japanese soldiers along the railway line came to reinforce them.

The Third Battalion was responsible for building fortifications at the rear. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrived, the First and Second Companies would retreat behind the fortifications and join the Third Company in blocking the enemy.

If the Japanese attack is too fierce, they will retreat to the second simple fortification east of Jianyang Village to draw the Japanese fire.

If the Japanese dare not go deeper, then they will harass them further.

In short, even if we wipe out the main force, we must repeatedly attract the Japanese's attention and hold them off for the entire night!

As night fell, Zhang Kedi led his entire battalion toward the Japanese outpost.

Even the mule and horse team came along. The large animals were tied up in the woods behind the second makeshift defensive line. Uncle Luo took out a long gun with a holster attached to the handle. He put his head in it, slung it diagonally over his shoulder, and used his missing arm to brace it. This way, he could still fire, but pulling the bolt with his left hand and firing with his left hand would be slower.

Chen Youdi was truly amazed. "Uncle Luo, no wonder they say you're an expert. How can you shoot like that? Is it accurate?"

Uncle Luo, with his pipe in his mouth, blew on the tinderbox, took a deep drag, knowing he wouldn't be able to smoke once they got closer to the outpost.

"Will it be accurate? I'll show you in a bit. One bullet, one Japanese soldier. Once I run out of bullets, an entire Japanese squad will be wiped out here!"

Around 7 p.m., the first battalion reached a distance of about 300 meters from the outpost.

If you keep going, you'll see Japanese patrols!

………………

P.S. The quality has been pretty good lately, so I'd appreciate some gifts; I'm almost out of the top 200. Thank you all for your support!