Chapter 47 It is raining again

Chapter 47: Rain Again

A large number of cattle and sheep belonging to the local villagers had been seized and brought over directly in trucks.

Every company of the puppet troops was allocated a small herd of livestock. They pulled the animals along with ropes and drove them forward, forcing the cattle and sheep to lead the way while they followed closely behind.

"Commander, those puppet dogs really did snatch livestock to clear the minefields for them," Zhang Dabiao said upon seeing this, filled with admiration for Li Yun龙's immensely rich experience.

"A piece of cake. This is just an old routine we used to play back in the day," Li Yun龙 said indifferently.

"I've already instructed the wire-pullers to let the cattle and sheep pass. Once the puppet soldiers enter the optimal zone, they are to pull the detonators," Zhang Dabiao reported.

"Mhm," Li Yun龙 acknowledged.

The landmine operators remained completely unmoved as the livestock entered the minefield.

As soon as the animals passed through and the puppet soldiers behind them stepped into the danger zone, the operators yanked the ropes hard without hesitation.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

...

The minefield erupted once more.

Terrified, the livestock bolted forward in a desperate frenzy, breaking free from the puppet soldiers' control.

The landmine operators had no time to worry about catching the animals. Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy's artillery fire had yet to arrive, some of them scrambled frantically to the other side of the ridge, while others dashed into the blind spots of the valley mouths where artillery shells couldn't reach, making a swift escape.

"Ah, my leg! My leg!"

"Brother, brother, open your eyes and look at me! Look at me, brother!"

...

This time, the casualties among the puppet soldiers exceeded a hundred once again.

The wounded lay on the ground wailing; some cried out for help, while others called the names of their loved ones.

More of the puppet soldiers panicked, firing their weapons blindly and haphazardly in the direction of any suspicious movement.

"Open fire! Give me artillery support!" Jiang Deshui roared furiously at the artillery crew upon seeing this scene.

"Sir, the Japanese commander gave strict orders. If we don't see the Eighth Route Army, we aren't allowed to fire," the artilleryman replied to Jiang Deshui.

Fujimura Yeno had not only given Jiang Deshui a warning, but he had also issued strict orders to the artillery unit as well.

Without a trace of the Eighth Route Army in sight, opening fire was strictly prohibited.

Yet at this moment, there was not a single shadow of the Eighth Route Army anywhere in their field of vision.

Or rather, the Eighth Route Army troops had already vanished from view, leaving the artillery with no time to even aim.

"Damn those Eighth Route soldiers!" Jiang Deshui could do nothing but stamp his feet in frustration, his burning anger having nowhere to vent.

***

Lacking any better strategy to deal with the Eighth Route Army for the time being, Jiang Deshui had no choice but to order the engineering corps to resume mine-clearing operations.

And just like that, the day passed.

***

Five days later, early in the morning, Jiang Deshui woke up in a state of extreme exhaustion.

This wasn't because the Eighth Route Army had launched a nighttime raid, but simply because Jiang Deshui had been utterly unable to sleep.

Over the past five days, the casualties in his troops had already reached the size of more than half a regiment—over seven hundred men lost.

And what about the New First Regiment? It wasn't as if he hadn't achieved anything; he had managed to luck out and kill a dozen or so of the enemy.

Killing a dozen enemies while suffering over seven hundred casualties of one's own—no matter who was in command, there was no glory to be found in such numbers.

Even so, Jiang Deshui's encirclement campaign had made some progress.

Over these past few days, he had compressed the New First Regiment's territory by a third, leaving them with a depth of just over twenty kilometers.

Judging by this rate of progress, finding the main force of the New First Regiment would likely cost him another fourteen or fifteen hundred casualties.

As for this pace, Fujimura Yeno showed no signs of impatience on his end.

Fujimura Yeno didn't care about the casualties among the puppet troops since his own Japanese soldiers hadn't suffered a single loss, leaving Jiang Deshui free to thrash about as he pleased.

The moment Jiang Deshui rooted out the main force of the New First Regiment, Fujimura Yeno would immediately step in to finish the job.

As Jiang Deshui ate his breakfast and looked at the dark clouds drifting across the horizon, it was painfully obvious that a heavy rain was coming today.

Once this rain started, their progress would be stalled yet again.

"Do the three of you have any good suggestions or ideas for today?" Jiang Deshui asked, looking at the three puppet regiment commanders sitting before him.

Jiang Deshui was certainly unwilling to sustain another fourteen or fifteen hundred casualties.

If that happened, out of three thousand men, only a few hundred would be left, which would look far too disgraceful.

Once he returned, Pingtian Yilang would most likely relieve him of his command.

The three puppet regiment commanders looked at one another, exchanging helpless glances, and remained silent.

Over the past five days, they had practically wrung their brains dry, exhausting every conceivable method.

At this point, where could they possibly find any good suggestions?

The heavy rain soon began to pour down.

Jiang Deshui simply declared, "We will suspend the encirclement today. We'll resume the suppression once the rain stops."

Fujimura Yeno did not interfere with Jiang Deshui's decision.

***

Over at the New First Regiment:

"Dabiao, it's pouring rain," Li Yun龙 said to Zhang Dabiao, watching the heavy downpour cascading from the sky.

"Commander, are you planning to use the heavy rain as cover to launch a raid on the puppet troops?" Zhang Dabiao asked.

Li Yun龙 replied, "Wu Ze has been gone for five days now. When he left, it was also raining just like this."

"Commander, what did Wu Ze go off to do?" Zhang Dabiao inquired.

"I have no idea," Li Yun龙 shook his head. Wu Ze had mentioned that his idea had something to do with rain. At the time, Li Yun龙 had even joked whether Wu Ze intended to use the rain to wipe out all three thousand Japanese and traitor troops, but Wu Ze hadn't taken the bait, merely offering some perfunctory remarks.

Yet Li Yun龙 could sense that Wu Ze's so-called plan was definitely no ordinary idea.

For Li Yun龙 to command the New First Regiment in a guerrilla campaign against more than three thousand Japanese and puppet soldiers, suffering only a dozen or so casualties while inflicting hundreds of deaths and injuries on the enemy, this achievement was already remarkably brilliant.

Even so, Li Yun龙 still found himself worrying about Wu Ze.

There were still over two thousand Japanese and traitor troops remaining, and they had already compressed the New First Regiment's territory by a third.

Following Li Yun龙's current tactics, a direct, head-on clash with the Japanese and traitors later on would still be unavoidable.

Even if they called the Independent Regiment over by then, casualties in a direct frontal battle would be bound to happen, given that the combat effectiveness of a Japanese infantry company was nothing to scoff at.

Li Yun龙 couldn't help thinking: if Wu Ze returned, perhaps he could wipe out the remaining Japanese and puppet troops without lifting a finger.

If that happened, casualties for both the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment could be avoided, and those six artillery pieces might even be theirs for the taking.

Li Yun龙 had a love-hate relationship with those six cannons.

The dozen-plus casualties the New First Regiment had suffered were entirely inflicted by those very six guns.

"Commander, could you really not know what Wu Ze went off to do?" Zhang Dabiao asked, astonished.

Hadn't the commander assigned a security squad to accompany Wu Ze? Oh right, word had it that he even took along a few engineering soldiers and some explosives.

"Wu Ze only said he had some ideas; he didn't tell me anything else," Li Yun龙 made no secret of it with Zhang Dabiao.

"Commander, if Deputy Commander Zhong asks you about Wu Ze later, what are you going to tell him?" Over the past few days, Zhong Zhicheng had already questioned Zhang Dabiao three times about Wu Ze's whereabouts, and Zhang Dabiao had brushed him off every time.

However, paper couldn't wrap up a fire; Zhang Dabiao could already sense that Zhong Zhicheng was growing suspicious.

"Let him ask whatever he wants! I gave Wu Ze a classified mission, is there a problem with that?!" Li Yun龙 glared, then snapped at Zhang Dabiao, "Dabiao, since it's raining heavily, immediately organize a suicide squad. Take advantage of the rain's cover to raid the puppet soldiers—we can't give them a chance to rest!"

Over the past five days, the puppet troops had been pushed to the absolute brink of exhaustion.

If it hadn't rained today, Li Yun龙 would have definitely launched a night raid this evening.

But now that it was raining and the puppet troops had halted their operations, they were bound to be resting—and they simply couldn't be allowed to sleep.

Otherwise, the timing for the night raid would have to be postponed all over again.

"Understood!" Zhang Dabiao acknowledged crisply.