Chapter 71 The Delated Reconnaissance Plane

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Chapter 71: The Delayed Reconnaissance Plane
(I)
Much like the Yejitai stronghold, the blockhouse at Bai Village could not accommodate many Japanese soldiers or puppet troops, so a residential area with a large courtyard had also been established there.

However, this large courtyard contained only one company's worth of dormitories, meaning that the company transferred in later was entirely billeted in Bai Village itself, which immediately bordered the stronghold.

According to the intelligence gathered by the 1st Battalion's scouts, the company headquarters of the reinforcements had moved directly into the large Bai family estate. Roughly half of Bai Village consisted of relatives of the Bai family, and the puppet soldiers who had come to guard their homes and property were quartered among their households.

Judging by this arrangement at a glance, it was clearly not meant for actual combat, but rather to put up a bold front and intimidate the Eighth Route Army, hoping to make them retreat in the face of difficulties.

(II)
"Is this going to work? Will this actually work?" the puppet company commander asked, still lingering with fear.

"Don't you worry!" Bai Siqi patted his chest to guarantee the matter, saying to the puppet company commander, "My elder brother works in Taiyuan and even has access to speak directly with General Shinozuka. Once Lord Haneda and the other lords sleep off their wine tomorrow, we'll get our stories straight. They certainly won't expose this charade. It's fine, absolutely fine!"

At the midday banquet, the puppet company commander had actually gotten drunk as well, but the phone call that Major Hirata had just made had broken him out in several cold sweats, sobering him up almost completely.

Wiping away his sweat with a trembling hand, the puppet company commander asked skeptically, "Did the Eighth Route Army really take the Yejitai stronghold? The commotion just now was so loud..."

Bai Siqi wagged his finger and shook his head like a rattle-drum, saying, "Impossible! Impossible! Don't we know what those Eighth Route Army fellows are capable of? They cut the telephone wires to leave you in the dark, and then they set up ambushes along the roads, attacking whoever rushes out to reinforce. Right, Company Commander Zhang? We certainly aren't going to court that kind of bad luck!"

"That is true as well. The Eighth Route Army doesn't have any artillery. Besides, even if they did, there's no way they could carry cannons across the mountains to Yejitai! Hmph, it must be just meant to scare people..." The puppet company commander could only comfort himself.

Bai Siqi said with absolute confidence, "Nothing to worry about, Company Commander Zhang! With our strong forces here, the Eighth Route Army would never dare to come. Look, aren't they just playing these foolish tricks instead?"

(III)
A buzzing sound echoed from overhead. The political instructor raised his head and looked in the direction of the noise as a Japanese reconnaissance plane flew in from the north, arriving above the Yejitai stronghold.

The massive plume of dust and smoke over the Yejitai stronghold had only thinned somewhat and had not yet completely dissipated. Most of the fighters remained quietly scattered and concealed, while those clearing battle spoils within the rubble heaps and the backyard also crouched and lay prone obediently.

The reconnaissance plane flew almost directly into the cloud of dust and smoke without discovering anything.

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"What time is it? What time is it now?" Lü Feng gently nudged Guan Shan with his elbow.

Guan Shan, whose mouth and nose were covered by a wet towel, smacked his lips, rolled over, and continued to sleep soundly. Lü Feng pulled over his arm and took a glance.

It was 5:28 in the afternoon. The sun in the west was about to set, and the Japanese aircraft had finally arrived at this hour.

The Japanese and puppet soldiers in the rubble heaps were all thoroughly dead. The only ones who had survived were two puppet soldiers who had scrambled and crawled into the trenches; by now, they had already undergone a brief interrogation, their hands and feet bound and their mouths gagged.

The reconnaissance plane circled three times above the ruins of the blockhouse, then flew toward the mountain pass to the north where the two battles had broken out.

The corpses of the Japanese and puppet troops in that direction were strewn in all directions, looking even more tragic than the ruins here.

In that direction, the reconnaissance plane also circled several times, as if searching for something.

If they were looking for the corpse of the Japanese lieutenant colonel, they were likely to come up empty-handed because the uniform on the Japanese corpse had been completely stripped off. Guan Shan had said to keep it as it might prove useful later, and Chu Lianzhang and Lü Feng hadn't asked any further questions before instructing the soldiers to carry out the order.

After hovering around for about ten minutes in total, the reconnaissance plane flew off toward the south.

"Don't move! Don't move! We can wait a little longer! Wait until it is pitch dark!"

There had been no movement whatsoever in the direction of the southern reinforcement-blocking position—no gunfire and no explosions.

That being the case, waiting until dark to haul away all the supplies in the backyard of this stronghold, along with the two armored vehicles, was actually entirely feasible!

They had struck it rich; this time, they had truly struck it rich!

As Lü Feng thought about this, he couldn't help smiling again, but a mouthful of gray dust choked his throat, and he hurriedly blocked his mouth with his elbow to cough.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

Accompanied by the buzzing sound, another reconnaissance plane flew in from the south, looking somewhat different from the one that had just left.

"Damn it, if we had deployed properly, we could have brought every last one of the bastards down!" Lü Feng said with bitter resentment.

"Political instructor, who are you getting so worked up against?" Guan Shan asked groggily.

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"Hey, you rascal, you're awake!" Lü Feng chuckled and said, "Another plane just flew past. There should have been one coming from the north and another from the south; they probably didn't come from the same airfield."

"Oh." Guan Shan pulled down his towel, stretched, and yawned. Choked by the dust in his throat, he quickly covered his mouth and nose with the towel to cough. After a few coughs, Guan Shan suddenly stopped and pricked up his ears.

"What is it? What did you hear?" Lü Feng asked, instantly feeling a bit nervous.

"It sounds like a telephone ring? Political instructor, didn't you hear it?" Guan Shan cocked his head to listen intently.

"A telephone ring?" Lü Feng tried listening left and right, but heard nothing.

"It seems to be over there, I'll go take a look!" Guan Shan looked up to see that the plane had flown far away, then stood up and ran toward the ruins on the hillside.

"Really or not? That's got to be two hundred meters away..." Lü Feng figured Guan Shan must be messing around.

However, looking up, the sun had already sunk completely behind the western mountains; it would be pitch dark in ten minutes at most, so Lü Feng did not stop Guan Shan.

(IV)
The third floor of the Yejitai blockhouse had completely collapsed, and the second floor had also caved in for the most part, yet the ground floor had only suffered a blown-out, massive gaping corner.

Guan Shan insisted he had heard a telephone ringing within the ruins of the second floor, so Lü Feng had the soldiers follow Guan Shan over there. Not only did they actually dig out a telephone, but they also managed to unearth the Type 92 heavy machine gun.

"There's another one here..." The soldiers groped around and dragged out yet another Japanese corpse. Showing no courtesy, they immediately set about searching the body, gathering equipment, and stripping off the uniform.

"Political instructor! Political instructor! Tiesuo, who was sent out for liaison, is back! Battalion Commander 3 has sent comrades from the 7th Company to help out!" A soldier ran over breathlessly, shouting toward the figures among the ruins.

"Good, good, good! He even brought a flashlight. Hey, look at how efficiently this work gets done!" Lü Feng smiled and greeted, "Is Company Commander 7 here? Old Song, how did the fight go on your side?"

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(End of chapter)
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