Chapter 49: The Night Assault-Brilhando a Espada: No Início, Ajudo Li Yunlong a Conseguir um Canhão Italiano(Iniciar jogo)

Chapter 49 Night Raid

"Commander, the Eighth Route Army took advantage of the rain lowering the visibility. They used bows and arrows to take out our outer sentries, and then set up huge slingshots in the perimeter, launching dozens of bundled grenades into our encampment..." a puppet army regiment commander reported to Jiang Deshui.

Jiang Deshui interrupted him: "What are the casualties?"

"The casualties are a bit heavy this time, about two hundred men," the puppet regiment commander replied in a dejected tone.

Bang!

Hearing this, Jiang Deshui slammed his fist fiercely against a tree trunk.

This was the heaviest casualty count since the operations began.

Combined with the previous seven hundred casualties, the total toll was now approaching one thousand.

The Eighth Route Army's guerrilla tactics of wearing down the enemy in a cumulative fashion were truly terrifying.

"Commander, the rain is letting up. Judging by this, it will stop by the afternoon. Should we continue the encirclement and suppression?" the puppet regiment commander asked Jiang Deshui.

"Although the rain will stop, the roads are so muddy and movement is difficult, how can we carry out an encirclement?" Jiang Deshui worried aloud. Moreover, with the soldiers soaking in muddy water, they were prone to falling ill.

"Then... shall we resume the encirclement tomorrow?" the puppet regiment commander probed tentatively.

"No need," Jiang Deshui waved his hand. "I dare say the Eighth Route Army will definitely launch a night raid tonight. Let's make preparations."

In the eyes of the Eighth Route Army, the puppet soldiers must be utterly exhausted.

After being blasted by those bundled grenades, they surely wouldn't dare to sleep and rest.

By nightfall, they would be even more fatigued, which would present the prime opportunity for a night raid.

"Will the Eighth Route Army really come?" the puppet regiment commander asked. "If we keep our guards up and don't sleep again, we'll only become even more exhausted."

"Can't we sleep now?" Jiang Deshui retorted. "Have the troops seize the time to sleep and rest during the day. The Eighth Route Army has already come to harass us once; they will be preparing for the night raid and won't show up again during daylight."

"Commander, what if the Eighth Route Army comes during the day anyway..." The puppet regiment commander felt Jiang Deshui was taking a huge risk.

The Eighth Route Army was as elusive as ghosts. If they slept during broad daylight and the enemy suddenly materialized again, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"I'll communicate with the Imperial Japanese Army. They've been resting well at night these past few days. Having them help us keep watch during the daytime today should be fine," Jiang Deshui said.

With the Imperial Japanese Army squads on guard, there would be nothing to worry about.

Jiang Deshui went to find Fujimura Noichi and explained the situation to him.

Fujimura Noichi was very cooperative and immediately arranged for the Japanese soldiers to take over guard duty.

***

Li Yunlong's scouts detected this development and quickly hurried back to report to him: "Regiment Commander, there has been some change in the enemy's situation. Previously, guard duty was entirely handled by puppet soldiers, but today they were suddenly replaced by Japanese troops."

"Dabiao, what do you make of this?" Li Yunlong turned his head to ask Zhang Dabiao.

"It's likely that the puppet soldiers were simply too exhausted, while the Japanese soldiers have been conserving their strength these past few days. They are covering guard duty for the puppet soldiers so the latter can get some urgent rest," Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment and said.

"Mm, well said," Li Yunlong acknowledged, then continued, "Then in your opinion, what should we do now?"

"The Japanese soldiers are highly vigilant and possess strong combat capabilities, far beyond what puppet soldiers can compare to. They have been conserving their strength and are full of vigor. Trying to launch a sneak attack now is probably ill-timed," Zhang Dabiao replied.

"But if we don't attack now, won't the puppet soldiers get the urgent rest they need?" Li Yunlong pointed out.

"Not necessarily," Zhang Dabiao said. "The rain will stop by the afternoon. According to our original plan, we should carry out a night raid, and the puppet side must have anticipated that as well. I estimate they will stay fully alert tonight, waiting for us to walk right into it. If that happens, they won't get any rest tonight either, and won't they just be exhausted all over again?"

"Dabiao, scout carefully. I'm going to launch a night raid tonight anyway and give them a hard time," Li Yunlong said. "Even knowing there are tigers on the mountain, I'm determined to march right through."

"Yes!" Zhang Dabiao acknowledged.

Night fell, and Fujimura Noichi's Japanese soldiers withdrew, replaced entirely by puppet soldiers on duty.

To trick the Eighth Route Army, Jiang Deshui deliberately had the on-duty puppet soldiers fake drowsiness while secretly setting up hidden sentries.

After scouting the situation, Zhang Dabiao reported to Li Yunlong: "Regiment Commander, the Japanese soldiers have gone to rest, and all guards have been replaced by puppet troops. The puppet soldiers are dozing off, but when I deliberately made a disturbance with some livestock, they instantly snapped to attention. It looks like they are deliberately feigning lax defenses. There is definitely an ambush tonight!"

"Ambush or no ambush, let's teach this Jiang Deshui a lesson. Even if he has an ambush, I can still pull off a night raid."

The time advanced into the second half of the night, or more accurately, drawing close to dawn.

This was the hour when humans were most prone to drowsiness.

Even if the puppet soldiers forced themselves to stay alert, they would inevitably grow sleepy.

Aside from thirty light machine guns, Li Yunlong had all six heavy machine guns brought over.

"Regiment Commander, the minefield is set," Zhang Dabiao came over to report.

"Mm," Li Yunlong grunted, then turned to the light and heavy machine gunners, asking, "Are you all ready?"

"Regiment Commander, everything is ready," the machine gunners answered in unison.

"Good," Li Yunlong nodded and ordered the heavy machine gunners, "Open fire!"

Rat-tat-tat!

Clack-clack-clack!

...

At Li Yunlong's command, six Maxim heavy machine guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, and light machine guns instantly spat out long tongues of flame into the dark night.

They fired wildly at the locations where the puppet troops had set their ambush.

Faced with the sudden machine gun barrage, the puppet soldiers were dumbfounded for a moment before snapping out of it and hurriedly grabbing their weapons to fight back.

In an instant, gunfire erupted fiercely in the darkness.

"Idiots, cease fire! All of you, cease fire!" The puppet officers frantically ordered their men to hold their fire.

If they opened fire like this, wouldn't they completely expose their ambush?

"Cunning! These Eighth Route Army troops are simply too cunning!" Jiang Deshui watched the tongues of flame from the light and heavy machine guns in the distance, extremely furious.

Although he had anticipated that the Eighth Route Army would launch a night raid, he never expected them to use such a method.

Moreover, it seemed the Eighth Route Army had already foreseen the ambush.

Since the ambush was exposed, stopping fire was meaningless, and Jiang Deshui could only roar at the top of his lungs: "Quick, quick, immediately counterattack! Set up the artillery and blast them!"

"That's enough, we're withdrawing." The moment Jiang Deshui issued his command, Li Yunlong decisively ordered an immediate retreat.

No sooner had Li Yunlong withdrawn than Jiang Deshui's retaliatory firepower poured wildly onto the exact spots where the machine guns had just been firing.

Boom!

...

Jiang Deshui's six artillery pieces quickly roared to life, venting their fury in retaliatory bombardment.

"Quick, quick, charge after them! The Eighth Route Army must have hauled all their heavy machine guns along; they definitely can't move fast. Travel light and pursue them!" Taking advantage of the roaring artillery, Jiang Deshui ordered his troops into pursuit.

Several hundred puppet soldiers quickly gave chase under the moonlight.