Chapter 1429: Strengthening the Ranks

In the quiet jungle, a group marched swiftly, yet there was little tension among them; they were all chatting and joking around.

Suddenly, a squad of over twenty routed soldiers appeared ahead.

The cannon fodder watched with amusement as Wang Yan stepped forward, raised his arm, and shouted loudly.

"Brothers, which unit are you from?"

"Oh, the Sichuan Army Regiment? So are we."

"Hey, you say you had it rough? Look at our hundred-plus men, see what we've become? Look at that one wearing a Jap's tunic, that one stepping in Jap boots, that one with a Jap watch on his wrist; yes, all our rifles are Type 38s. Come, come, brothers, have a smoke; Japanese cigarettes."

"Right, we fought a battle against the Japanese. Speaking of it brings nothing but bitterness. We flew over from Chanda, but while flying smoothly in the sky, we were shot down by Jap fighter planes; luckily, those foreign pilots had great skills and managed to land us safely. But we were dizzy and disoriented from the crash when we encountered a small Jap squad.

At that time, we only had the pilot's small handgun; it was truly perilous... Later we analyzed that reinforcements must be nearby, so we set up an ambush..."

Not far away, the cannon fodder sat lazily on the ground smoking, cursing as they shared the cigarettes; after all, there weren't many cigarettes but quite a few people, so everyone got only two puffs, and anyone who took more would inevitably get scolded.

They made noise and laughed, watching Wang Yan bluffing those people.

Long Wenzhang watched Wang Yan talking and gesturing, getting along quite well with them.

He couldn't help turning to look at Fan La beside him, who was puffing on a cigarette: "Was he always like this?"

Fan La thought carefully for a moment and said, "More or less, though before he didn't bluff people; he could chat, and it's true he could chat with anyone. Maybe you coming to bluff us gave him some inspiration."

Bu La said, "I think Mr. Wang just holds a grudge against officers; this time the opportunity is good, so he's simply stepping up to lead the fighting himself."

"Ah, Bu La is right." The Doctor fiddled with his dry-pipe smoker as always, "He's just tired of losing battles; now he wants to speak for himself."

"Yu Xiaoqing is also useless; before we came he talked a great game, but once we arrived, he got beaten and ran away." Fan La had no good impression of Yu Xiaoqing.

In fact, none of the cannon fodder had a good impression of Yu Xiaoqing; Bu La even started cursing: "That bastard Yu Xiaoqing; Mr. Wang was right, that turtle-son only knows how to bluff people."

"You said before that impersonating an officer gets you executed; now he's doing this, a mere second lieutenant platoon leader trying to gather troops and lead them into battle; even if he makes it back alive, his fate won't be much better. Following him, you'll all share the fallout." Long Wenzhang looked around at the cannon fodder.

"Just an expedient measure; whether we can return is uncertain, who can worry about what comes after?" Fan La said mockingly, "Besides, do you think our lord here wouldn't be in trouble even if he didn't do this? Do you know why none of us care that you're a real-or-fake lieutenant colonel?"

"There's more?" Long Wenzhang tactfully played the straight man.

Fan La snorted: "Before boarding the plane, to reduce weight we weren't allowed to wear clothes or carry weapons; our lord's watch caught the eye of the major in charge of the airport. Guess what? He kicked him, sending that major flying seven or eight meters."

"Did he want to die?"

"You think that was it? With guards pointing guns at him, he forcibly snatched a rifle, fired a shot at the ground between the major's legs, and finally pressed the gun barrel against the major's forehead. Given all that, do you think our lord has anything left to fear?"

Long Wenzhang fell silent; this was damn too fierce.

While the few were talking, Wang Yan successfully incorporated that group of over twenty men, bringing them over and immediately dispersing them into the ranks. Another headcount showed they now had one hundred sixty-eight men; everyone had weapons, though ammunition was somewhat scarce, but machine guns and submachine guns were all present, making them veritably a reinforced company.

Wang Yan waved his hand greatly: "Move out! Kill the Japs!"

Thus the team set off again.

"This route isn't directly to the airport, is it?" Long Wenzhang sidled up shamelessly, wearing a smiling face.

"Just asked around; quite a few people are fleeing this way; let's gather more brothers and give the Japs a surprise counterattack."

Wang Yan answered very patiently, his voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear; of course, he deliberately said it for the cannon fodder to hear, letting everyone know what he intended to do.

"I heard about what happened before you boarded the plane; you don't plan to go back, do you?"

Wang Yan glanced at him: "That depends on whether we can go back."

"You don't have confidence in this battle?"

"I don't have confidence in Yu Xiaoqing. You want to impersonate a regiment commander, so you should have many ideas about warfare; tell me, what is the situation of this battle so far?"

"Britain and America have withdrawn, our army is retreating in disorder, the Japanese army is advancing north, reaching the Nu River, opening a north-south connection, and compressing our army's living space."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "We've only been out fighting for less than twenty days, and we've already suffered a massive defeat; by now, the officers have probably all fled back; what do you think they will do now?"

"Blow up the bridge! Construct defensive works along the river!"

"Given the conduct of our superiors, do you think we can cross the river?"

Long Wenzhang remained silent for quite a while before saying, "If there are no pursuers behind, they might agree."

"Then do you think there will be pursuers by then?"

Long Wenzhang fell silent, letting out a long sigh...

After a long while, he asked again, "Then will you still lead the team back?"

"Depends on the situation."

Wang Yan gave no definite answer...

The team continued advancing, taking a not-so-short detour; along the way, they fought several small skirmishes, and by the afternoon of the second day, the team led by Wang Yan had expanded to six hundred eighty-three men, becoming a considerable force.

"Report, a squad-sized enemy force spotted ahead. They seem to be besieging a group of people."

As dusk approached, the scouts returned with the news.

Wang Yan ordered the troops to spread out and surround this small Jap squad, and further dispatched scouts to reconnoiter the enemy situation over a wider area.

As always, when a large force fights, it never acts alone; discovering one enemy group means there must be more enemies within ten kilometers nearby.

Especially now that they were approaching the airport, in its outer perimeter with less than two kilometers to go; according to information gathered from the routed soldiers they had incorporated, the airport was already under siege.

While deploying troops, Wang Yan instructed, "We have many hitting few; fight quickly and resolve this fast, then clear the battlefield swiftly. If we get surrounded in turn, we truly won't escape even with wings. No need to wait for signals; synchronize your watches... act directly in ten minutes; be careful not to hit our own men; go."

Since it was nearing nightfall, many suffered from night blindness.

Soon, the team dispersed into three groups; those capable of fighting went to both flanks, while the wounded, elderly, and weak stayed with Wang Yan for the frontal assault.

Creeping quietly close, they saw some Japs relaxing and practicing shooting for fun, truly leisurely; if Wang Yan hadn't appeared, Li Wula would have been shot one by one by these Japs for their amusement.

Seeing the scene before them, the cannon fodder fell silent; although all could be called battle-hardened veterans who had seen much, they always encountered new tricks from the little Japanese, which always stirred up memories of past brutality.

Ten minutes passed quickly; those who had long taken aim fired freely; instantly, gunshots erupted loudly, and the Japs, attacked from three sides, became momentarily panicked and disordered.

Six hundred men fighting sixty; the numerical advantage was quite obvious, and the battle ended in just ten minutes.

The group quickly cleared the battlefield, tallied casualties, and sent a portion of men to check the place where this group of Japs had been besieging others.

Long Wenzhang voluntarily took on the task of tallying casualties and ran over to report to Wang Yan: "Only two injured; one had his ear torn off, and one was hit in the arm with the bullet still inside; the Doctor is bandaging them."

"You're certainly quite proactive." Fan La followed alongside and made a sarcastic remark.

"I just wanted to do a bit more work." Long Wenzhang didn't even look at Fan La, only grinning mischievously at Wang Yan.

"Even if I promote you, it won't be recognized later." Long Wenzhang's thoughts were impossible to hide from Wang Yan; a man who wanted to be a regimental commander naturally had no desire to remain a lowly soldier below. "You're decent at fighting, daring enough to charge, and you have brains. Regardless of what happens later, for now, you'll serve as a messenger; consider yourself my deputy."

Wang Yan generously returned the treatment originally belonging to Fan La to Long Wenzhang.

"This job is good; I love being a messenger. I'll tear off my insignia to avoid everyone gossiping." Chuckling, Long Wenzhang removed his lieutenant colonel rank insignia and stuffed it into the upper pocket of his uniform.

"Lord Wang, Fan La, look who this is, hahaha~"

At that moment, Bula's joyful voice rang out.

Everyone turned to look, seeing only a person following behind him wearing foreign military attire and a fisherman's hat.

"Yao Ma!" Kang Ya beside them shouted loudly, then stepped forward. "Aiya, you damned dog have struck it rich! Look at these clothes, look at these shoes..."

"Brother Yao Ma!" Dou Bing grinned and hurried over.

Mi Long also approached and gave Yao Ma a kick that was neither light nor heavy. "You little rascal actually look somewhat human now."

"How is it? Not bad, right?" Yao Ma puffed out his chest proudly. "Laozi is doing much better than this bunch of unlucky bastards. Lord Wang, I heard you've truly become an officer."

"What officer? It's just that the brothers trust me."

Wang Yan waved his hand, looking at the foreign devils following further behind. "Enough nonsense; hurry up and report the situation here."

"We flew directly to the airfield, were issued new uniforms and foreign weapons, and organized into a patrol team to guard the perimeter. Last night, the little Japanese surrounded us, trapping us inside so we couldn't get out; we've been fighting for a day and a night. I don't know anything else."

"Fan La, go communicate with those foreign devils." Wang Yan nodded his head upward; Fan La walked over and began speaking English to those few foreign devils.

"I asked; they said they aren't clear on the situation at the airfield either, and they're requesting that we lead them in an attack on the airfield."

Wang Yan nodded and called out loudly, "Hurry and clean up the battlefield; we withdraw in five minutes."

"Wait, Lord Wang, are we still going to the airfield or not?"

"Come here, Messenger, you tell him."

"We're definitely going!" Long Wenzhang said. "But we can't go straight there. We just finished a battle here, and the commotion was significant; reinforcements will arrive soon. Moreover, we are completely in the dark regarding the battlefield situation, knowing nothing at all. We must certainly maneuver around outside first, understand the situation clearly, and then act."

Fan La glared at Long Wenzhang and said, "I'll go tell them to lead the way and scout the surroundings; they must be more familiar with the area than we are." Having said this, he turned to communicate with the foreign devils.

The battlefield was cleaned up quickly; they recovered one heavy machine gun, three light machine guns, three grenade launchers, several bombs, dozens of rifles, pistols, and other equipment, along with various other supplies.

These were secondary; the main thing was that killing over fifty Japanese from that single squad made everyone happy, as they had truly inflicted casualties.

This battle had ended a bit too quickly; some people hadn't even really seen the Japanese before being chased back, their spirit and energy entirely run out of them, truly becoming a motley crew.

Now, following Wang Yan back to fight, although it took more than a battalion's worth of people to kill just over fifty Japanese, this motley crew was still very happy. Especially upon hearing that their own side had not a single death, only two injured, and half a person written off, they became even happier.

Even their morale surged momentarily, increasing their combat effectiveness by at least ten percent.

Shortly after, the battlefield cleanup was complete; after taking everything useful, Wang Yan led the team away from this place, marching urgently from the north around to the southwest direction...

"Report! Another group of Japanese troops discovered ahead; numbers unknown, the column is very long, at least a company strong; judging by their appearance, they are heading straight for us."

A scout ran back to report the enemy situation.

"Luckily we are walking through the mountains; we've walked right into the little Japanese nest," Fan La remarked with a sigh.

Without a moment's thought, Wang Yan said, "Head toward the place they came from. They arrived so quickly, which means they aren't far away; they sent out so many, which means that side must be empty, perhaps even containing warehouses or the like. Pass the order: increase speed, strike and run."

Very quickly, the order reached all units, and they suddenly accelerated.

"Old sir, that move was truly brilliant." Limping along, Fan La did not forget to praise Wang Yan; he truly admired him. Bold, full of ideas, skilled personally, and daring enough to make decisions.

"Sycophant!" Long Wenzhang immediately countered; he was currently seeking to prove himself, and this Fan La was truly annoying, always competing for favor.

"Then you say, was Lord Wang's move brilliant or not?"

"Brilliant, truly brilliant!"

"There you have it then? What nonsense are you spouting here?"

Wang Yan laughed heartily. "Alright, enough flattery; killing Japanese is what's real. Since you both say it was brilliant, tell me, after we finish fighting ahead, what do we do next?"

"Run, obviously," Fan La stated as if it were only natural.

"Run my ass! We must execute a feigned retreat followed by a sudden counterattack! Right now, the little Japanese don't know how many men our unit has or what our combat capability is, so their defenses must be lax. After we finish fighting ahead, we will definitely run back and strike another wave; then we can still gain an advantage, and only after finishing that side do we continue running."

Long Wenzhang wore an expression of complete admiration, looking at Wang Yan with respect. "Lord Wang, it really has to be you, old sir. Truly, after so many years, you only became a second lieutenant; that is such a waste of talent."

Seeing Fan La looking at him, Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "That is indeed the idea. However, after we finish fighting over there, we probably won't need to run anymore; we can charge directly into the airfield. I've observed that the Japanese might also have reservations about the foreign devils and didn't act too ruthlessly; otherwise, every few steps we took here would reveal a pile of little Japanese popping up. This is our opportunity."

Having finished speaking, he looked toward the Veterinarian. "Old sir, are you holding up?"

"Holding up just fine, no need to worry about me. Hearing that we're about to win a victory, even my old arms and legs feel energized..."

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? (End of Chapter)