Chapter 1428: Long Wenzhang

The jungle was utterly silent; Fan La and the others held their breath, feeling their hearts pound violently.

A Yi, who followed in the same squad as Fan La and Snake Butt, felt even more as though his heart were about to leap right out of his mouth...

For before their very eyes, they saw the Japanese soldiers spreading out through the jungle, approaching with guns raised and alertness. More than a dozen men, dispersed over a considerable area, tested with the front foot, shifted with the rear, moving cautiously, bent low with rifles shouldered, scanning in all directions.

Bang!

A single gunshot startled countless birds from the trees.

Yet just as the birds took flight, gunshots rang out one after another, then suddenly became dense and rapid.

At that very moment, Fan La, Mi Long, and the others lying in ambush here launched their attack.

"Fire!" Fan La shouted loudly, cleanly pulling the trigger.

Bu La yelled excitedly, "Haha, you damned little Eastern Barbarians, Laozi will shoot you dead."

"Fuck your mother, you little Japanese devils," Mi Long cursed, operating the machine gun, suppressing them with a burst of tut-tut-tut fire.

In just that one exchange, half the Japanese squad that had approached was wiped out; the survivors hid behind trees, constantly shifting positions, performing various tactical maneuvers.

Fan La and the others were naturally no fools; they shifted positions as well, encircling the remaining few Japanese soldiers. Throwing grenades, taking potshots, the fighting grew extremely fierce.

The two sides, separated by only twenty or thirty meters, fired wildly at each other, engaging in close-quarters combat...

Here, only A Yi proved most inadequate; he stood behind a tree, hands trembling as he gripped his pistol tightly. Every time a bullet whizzed past the bark, he would shudder.

Fortunately, his ordeal did not last long; in no more than five minutes, the gunfire ceased.

"A Yi, go run an errand, get the Medic and the others over here, quickly!"

Wang Yan's loud shout came through; A Yi subconsciously responded and ran off swiftly to deliver the message.

"Is everyone alright?" Wang Yan asked with concern.

"No problem, just this bunch of little Japanese devils, they're nothing at all," Mi Long laughed heartily. "That fight was satisfying, I'm happy!"

"Yes, yes," Snake Butt also laughed there. "Although our arrival was miserable, we won immediately upon engaging. Lord Wang, how did things go on your end? I saw several running over?"

"All dealt with; not one escaped. This time, two small squads came over; I checked, and including the earlier ones, we've exactly killed thirty-nine Japanese soldiers."

"That's nearly a whole squad; you're mighty impressive, Lord Wang," Fan La said, his words always carrying a tone of teasing and mockery.

"I've never fought such a big victory before," the simple-minded boy Dou Bing said, grinning foolishly with joy.

After gathering to chat and laugh for a while, A Yi returned leading more than a dozen men. Without needing Wang Yan to say more, they quickly moved forward to search the corpses, taking food, drink, supplies, weapons, and ammunition; they even stripped off the clothes, wasting nothing that could be used.

Soon, having completed these tasks, everyone returned to the crash site.

The group set to work digging pits not far from the aircraft wreckage, burying the pilots and the bodies of their fellow brothers who had come with them; they found pieces of wood and used bayonets to carve out grave markers.

Perhaps decades later, when the white bones here are unearthed, people will once again recall the battles of this distant day long ago...

Before the graves, Wang Yan led the way, with more than thirty men standing solemnly.

"Brothers, we cannot send you home, so just sleep here. We probably won't be buried far away ourselves; when we all go down eventually, we'll be able to walk together. Now, let me report to you brothers: we killed thirty-nine Japanese soldiers. A great victory! A great victory indeed!

Everyone now has guns—machine guns, rifles, pistols; we all have combat capability. Except for your bad luck, there have been no casualties so far; only Snake Butt got a graze on his shoulder, nothing serious.

We must move on, still need to fight the little Japanese; wish us well. That's all I'll say. Salute!"

At Wang Yan's loud command, the cannon fodder behind him all raised their hands to their chests, very solemnly.

"Depart! Expedition! Resist Japan!"

Wang Yan waved his large hand and strode forward first. The cannon fodder followed, laughing and chattering, as if their earlier sorrow had vanished...

Of course, they were not wandering aimlessly or marching foolishly as a clustered mob; Wang Yan had selected some men as scouts to lead the way ahead, and even those behind, though chatting and laughing, kept their voices low and murmuring, never losing their caution.

The unit of more than thirty men was spread out over a large area, maintaining the ability to support each sector.

"I must say, Lord Wang, your skill in leading troops is high; you can be called Han Xin reviewing his soldiers, Sun Wu reborn, strategizing within a command tent," Fan La, having pondered for quite a while and finally understood the intent behind all the arrangements, immediately began praising while limping along.

"Oh my, weren't you once a company commander? What strategizing is there in this basic marching and route scouting?"

Fan La shook his head repeatedly: "You truly overestimate me; when I was a company commander, there was still a battalion commander above me; how to march, what route to take, were all orders transmitted by the battalion commander, and I simply obeyed. I didn't lead vanguard troops either, having no responsibility for opening the path. How is that like now, with contact cut off from above, where you alone make every decision, leaving our Commander A Yi completely sidelined?"

"Don't talk about me," A Yi quickly interjected. "Lord Wang, I've never fought a battle; I shouldn't harm the brothers. Besides, the brothers don't listen to me anyway."

Speaking of no one listening to him, A Yi could not help but feel a touch of bitterness; after all, he held the rank of Major.

But then he recalled that before boarding the plane, Wang Yan had kicked a Major flying with a single blow, even seeming ready to shoot someone dead at the slightest disagreement, and so his bitterness vanished. The fault did not lie with him...

Wang Yan smiled and waved his hand: "No one is born knowing how to fight; what is learned in military academies must be tested in actual combat. The principle that blindly trusting books is worse than having no books needs no explanation from me. Let us fight a few more battles, starting small and growing large; if you ponder often, you will surely improve."

"You're just comforting him," Fan La laughed playfully. "This matter of fighting, I feel, cannot be learned; if you can fight, you can, if you can't, you can't. This Little Master also studied military strategy, yet is not as formidable as Lord Wang."

"Only you know how to talk nonsense," Wang Yan said. "We've only fought one battle, plus now marching; what military strategy is there to speak of?"

The Medic, walking silently, interjected: "You are too modest, young man; you are indeed formidable; I am convinced."

"As for you, forget it," Fan La retorted irritably; he loved to snap at the Medic. "You haven't killed a single person, nor saved a single life; what use is your conviction?"

"Does that mean I'm not a soldier then?" The Medic also loved to argue with Fan La.

These were the three people around Wang Yan: Fan La, whose leg had not yet fully healed; A Yi, who lacked combat capability; and the Medic, who was old and whose combat capability might even be worse than A Yi's.

The four of them chatted and laughed all the way, encountering large groups of troops along the route, which they carefully avoided, detouring quite a distance. Thus, until afternoon, they unexpectedly saw that very house from the original drama.

Wang Yan was leading the team on a detour according to his own intentions, yet coincidentally, it happened just so.

"We've walked half a day; brothers, rest a while, drink some water, eat some of the Japanese military rations. Long, take some men and search inside; see what there is."

"Alright," Mi Long responded, shouting to gather Snake Butt, Li Wula, and others; they kicked open the door and went in, and before long, emerged carrying a large pile of cloth.

"Here, brother, you're tall and strong; wrap yourself in this cloth; it will help at least a little," Mi Long said, handing the fabric to Wang Yan.

Wang Yan did not refuse; he valued practicality, unlike the Long Wenzhang portrayed in the drama, who insisted on elevating everything to higher meaning. Myanmar was indeed somewhat warmer, but it could still be cool, still humid; in truth, it was not particularly comfortable.

So Wang Yan quickly wrapped himself in the cloth, resembling a tusi or chieftain—in short, an uncivilized tribal leader.

Speak of Cao, and Cao arrives; this saying is not empty talk, at least for Wang Yan, it has proven true many times already.

While he was wrapped in cloth acting as a chieftain, simply eating the Japanese individual rations and drinking some water, and just as he was smoking, someone was brought back from afar by Bu La and others pointing their guns at him.

The cannon fodder all turned their gaze, looking at the two stars on the man's collar.

That person approached yelping strangely, showing not the slightest awareness of having guns pointed at him; he walked from left to right, then from right to left, examining each of the cannon fodder one by one.

"Good! Excellent! You are all excellent!"

With hands on his hips, he stood before the cannon fodder, "All the way here, you are the only unit I've seen still engaging the Japanese army. The guns in your hands are all Japanese; it seems your combat results are quite good."

Mi Long frowned, "Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Aiyo, from that place in the Northeast?" That man mimicked Mi Long's accent, "Can't you tell? I am your regimental commander! The commander of the Sichuan Regiment! My name is Long Wenzhang."

"Bullshit! Isn't Yu Xiaoqing the commander of the Sichuan Regiment?" Fan La retorted.

"Yu Xiaoqing is dead! My superiors appointed me as your Sichuan Regiment's commander; any problems?" Long Wenzhang swept his gaze over the cannon fodder, giving them no chance to question him, "Look at each and every one of you; what a sight you are? Huh? Wearing little Japanese devils' clothes, neither fish nor fowl. And you, why are you wrapped in a bunch of rags? Aren't you ashamed? Do you feel disgraced?"

Long Wenzhang continued to scan them, releasing feigned authority, yet he did not receive the imagined arguments; he only felt the gazes these cannon fodder turned toward him suddenly become somewhat bizarre.

This left him baffled.

Wang Yan, who had been silently puffing on a cigarette, finally spoke, "That's enough; stop pretending. Has there ever been a regimental commander fleeing alone? Even if scattered, one would still have people following. Get him some food; let him eat and drink a bit."

The Doctor obediently moved, took out some items, and slapped them into Long Wenzhang's hand, who remained utterly baffled.

"Presumptuous! Did you not see my rank? How dare you..."

Long Wenzhang wanted to continue arguing, but before he could say more, Bu La walked over and slapped the back of his head.

"If it's given to you, just eat it, you bastard; don't say Lieutenant Colonel, even if you were a General, don't come swaggering around us."

Wang Yan nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, pointed at Bu La, and turned to smile at everyone, "Look, look at Bu La's spirit, at his tone; truly tough! You all should learn from this."

"No, you guys..."

"No 'you guys'; go sit there honestly and eat, then follow us in a moment." Mi Long kicked him, feeling inexplicably comfortable, simply refreshed and invigorated.

Long Wenzhang wanted to speak again, but the next moment, amidst a clatter, half the people raised their guns and aimed them at him.

Mi Long kicked his buttocks again, patted his head, and said, "We are all our own people; just do whatever you are told to do. Obey orders and follow commands, understand? Keep pretending, and I'll kill you."

Thus Long Wenzhang became obedient; he had clearly grasped the situation: these people took the man wrapped in rags as their leader, that man possessed great prestige, and these people revered him deeply.

Wang Yan smiled, said nothing more to Long Wenzhang, turned to Fan La to get the map, and checked their position.

Then, pointing in a direction, he said, "The airfield is over there; we are approximately ten kilometers away."

"Truly not easy; we've walked for half a day, yet somehow walked even farther away." The Doctor, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette, laughed.

Fan La said, "Not bad; all the way here we have been safe and sound. Right now, I just want to go to the airfield and see what kind of weapons our allies can provide us."

"Airfield?" Long Wenzhang suddenly jumped up again, "You are going to the airfield? That place seems to have been assaulted by the Japanese army; the specific situation is hard to say, but in the best-case scenario, it is surrounded."

"Did you see it?" Fan La asked.

"Analysis." Long Wenzhang seemed to have found a use for his talents; he said confidently, "When we came over, we encountered an ambush; the troops were scattered, and now many people are fleeing in panic, wanting to run back to our country. Think about it; if things are like this here, how could England or America be any better? The Japanese army simply will not let our several nations' forces converge; they are cutting off our connections, understand?"

"Let's take it step by step; no matter what we say, we must run over and see for ourselves." Wang Yan said with a smile, "What if we find their weapons? Wouldn't that be trading bird guns for cannons?

Besides, we have just arrived, completely in the dark, knowing too little intelligence; let's head over there first and adapt to changes as they arise. Also, didn't they say the troops were scattered? We can gather them along the way, strengthen our ranks, and improve our combat effectiveness."

"Hey, you really can't say that, brother." Mi Long clapped his hands in approval, "I think those few moves he made while pretending were quite good; later you learn from him. We aren't bad at fighting; perhaps after this battle is fought, you might truly become 'Prince Wang'."

"That's good, that's good. We cannon fodder also have a day to amount to something." Bu La laughed heartily, walked over, and slapped the back of Long Wenzhang's head, "You bastard, what are you standing there for?"

"Huh?" Long Wenzhang wore a face of complete incomprehension; what did this have to do with him? With a face full of grievance, he said, "We are all brothers; can you not hit me at every turn?"

"It's because we are close to you."

Fan La said teasingly, "I say you really have no sense; what are you standing there for? Hurry up and take off your clothes; dress up our Prince Wang, won't you?"

"Aiya, absolutely not." A Yi understood; seeing Long Wenzhang readily taking off his clothes, he hurriedly stopped him, "Prince Wang, you must be extremely careful; impersonating an officer is punishable by execution."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile and waved his hand, "Alright, stop; those clothes look quite fitting on you and wouldn't fit me. Moreover, when we brothers fight, is it those two stars that decide who speaks with authority? Is it not the trust and esteem of the brothers?"

"Aiyo, the way you put that is truly wonderful!" Long Wenzhang grinned and sidled closer to flatter him.

"We are all brothers; you need not waste effort on such schemes, and you might avoid a couple of slaps." Wang Yan called out, "Everyone, hurry up and drink water; relieve yourselves quickly. We will rest for ten minutes then move out. Today we will most likely have to travel by night."

The cannon fodder responded, immediately scattering to attend to their respective tasks and organize their belongings.

Long Wenzhang watched silently; this script was not right...

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(End of Chapter)