Chapter 161: He Yuzhu Gets Caught Up in the War

He Yuzhu suddenly brought the vehicle to a stop; a sense of foreboding quietly rose in his heart.

He Daqing, in the passenger seat, was startled awake by the sudden stop and asked groggily, "Zhuzi, where are we? Why did you stop?"

"There is a mountain hollow ahead, surrounded by mountains on all sides. If the enemy is lying in ambush there, we will be like turtles in a jar—we won't be able to escape even if we want to."

He Daqing scolded, "That is the Regimental Commander's concern, what does it have to do with you? Drive quickly and keep up with the main force!"

"But..." Before he could finish, his father slapped him on the back of the head; although it wasn't heavy, it was extremely insulting.

"If you don't move, that's desertion in the face of the enemy!"

He Yuzhu was helpless and had to restart the vehicle.

The further they went, the more his heart sank.

The mountain peaks on both sides were towering, the mountain road the convoy was traveling on was less than ten meters wide, and rushing river water flowed beneath their feet.

While driving and observing the surrounding terrain, he suddenly noticed two mountain tops directly facing the mountain road, and a plan formed in his mind: "Dad, do you want a higher rank?"

"Less nonsense, speak quickly!" He Daqing perked up.

"Don't you have over sixty people under your command? Lend me twenty, and I will let you perform a great service."

"What are you plotting?"

"We have been traveling all night, and the soldiers need to rest. If the enemy occupies the mountain tops and sets up machine guns, we are dead. It would be better to send people to occupy those two high grounds first to prevent trouble before it happens."

He Daqing looked around at the terrain and saw that the troops ahead also seemed to have stopped. After thinking for a moment, he nodded: "What you say makes sense."

Immediately, he ordered the dozens of men in the Ordnance Section to stop, selected twenty young soldiers from among them, and handed them over to He Yuzhu to occupy the high ground.

Just then, an order came from above: rest in place for two hours before continuing the march.

He Yuzhu led ten men up to the commanding height, raised his Telescope to look, and immediately gasped: more than twenty miles away, dust was rolling—even across the mountains, one could see that it was definitely not the People's Liberation Army—it must be the enemy's mechanized unit!

He immediately sent someone to deliver the intelligence back and asked He Daqing to relay it to Regimental Commander Yang.

Afterward, He Yuzhu led the new recruits to dig Individual Foxholes and connect them into trenches.

Seeing that He Yuzhu was young and not a soldier, these new recruits naturally did not want to listen to him and were unwilling to dig trenches at all.

He Yuzhu could only patiently explain to them that with trenches, the chances of survival would be many times higher, while teaching them how to dig Individual Foxholes, Zigzag Trenches, Communication Trenches, and Machine Gun Emplacements. (Of course, He Yuzhu learned all of this from watching movies.) Slowly, He Yuzhu won the trust of these new recruits.

There was a layer of permafrost on the ground, making excavation extremely difficult.

He Yuzhu had the soldiers dig small pits first and then used Explosives to expand them.

"Do you know how precious Explosives are? They are meant for blowing up Dark Bunkers and Tanks!" a new recruit couldn't help but complain.

"If you can't even protect yourself, what is the point of talking about blowing up Tanks?" He Yuzhu replied.

The new recruits looked at each other and said nothing more.

Subsequently, He Yuzhu led people to build the same fortifications on another high point.

About twenty minutes later, Regimental Commander Yang arrived in person.

Looking at the dust flying in the Telescope, his expression immediately became grave, and he issued an order: "Xiao Qi, immediately send a telegram to Commander Guo: the enemy's speed of advance exceeds expectations, we can only set up defenses in the Xiahuayuan area... we must hold this lifeline."

"Your decision to stop the troops was truly brilliant. If we had gone any further, we wouldn't have seen the main enemy force behind us. Once they occupy this place, our reinforcements won't be able to get in."

Regimental Commander Yang nodded, "I have a premonition that the Bald Party has set a pocket formation for us this time, but they didn't expect our troops to arrive so quickly."

"This is not necessarily a good thing; we might be attacked from the front and back," He Yuzhu said worriedly.

"You also think there are enemies ahead?" Regimental Commander Yang asked.

"My dad said this is a large-scale pocket formation. They have people in all directions, but there might not be too many enemies in front of us..." He Yuzhu said with a grin, wanting to take the opportunity to flatter his father.

"Stop trying to claim credit for your father," Regimental Commander Yang laughed and scolded. "If you told me he invented a new dish, I'd believe it, but when it comes to fighting, he doesn't understand a thing. Your strategy, however, doesn't look like that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old kid," Regimental Commander Yang praised.

Just then, a guard ran over, covered in sweat, to report: "Regimental Commander, the Scout Platoon ahead encountered an ambush, only three people returned!"

"You really guessed it, kid; there was an ambush indeed," Regimental Commander Yang said. "Xiao Qi, go pass the order: command the First Battalion to build a defensive line on the spot to intercept the enemy in front! The Second Battalion will build the second line of defense, and the Third Battalion will retreat to hold our route into the mountains!" Regimental Commander Yang ordered decisively.

"Regimental Commander, I have a devious plan, would you like to hear it?" He Yuzhu said.

"Don't keep me in suspense, speak!"

"Do you see that open ground where we entered the mountains? We'll arrange for the Third Battalion to guard it first. After fighting for a while, we'll intentionally lose that open ground, and the enemy will definitely go to seize it. If I'm not mistaken, they will set up artillery there to hit our two high grounds. The mountain there is loose, so I can go up and plant Explosives. Once they have their artillery set up, I'll wipe them all out at once."

"Can you climb such a steep mountain?" Regimental Commander Yang asked.

"If I say I can do it, I definitely can."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Regimental Commander Yang said.

"No rush, that's just a side task. I have to finish the fortifications on the two high grounds first before I go deal with that," He Yuzhu said.

"These two high grounds are bare and hard to defend," Regimental Commander Yang frowned.

"Time is tight, we can only use Explosives to dig trenches," He Yuzhu said.

"But we don't have that many Explosives."

"My dad has some. Once I finish the job, you just need to promote him!"

"You brat, this is the army, not your kitchen. Going from Squad Leader to Battalion Commander in two days? You're dreaming!"

"Just remember this merit, and in the future..." He Yuzhu laughed.

"You're even more of a rank-chaser than your father!"

After the small pits were dug, He Yuzhu pretended to take High Explosives and Detonators from the car, but in reality, he took them from his space.

After a few deafening explosions, the shallow pits turned into deep trenches.

Subsequently, he had the soldiers connect the tunnels and continue digging air-raid shelters.

To prevent bombing by enemy planes, he even blasted several hideouts into the hillside.

More than an hour later, the two positions had begun to take shape.

The ammunition and spare weapons managed by He Daqing were also moved into the Cave.

With nothing to do in the Cave, He Daqing returned to his old profession and began cooking for the soldiers.

When he served the stewed pork with vermicelli, he immediately won the favor of a group of people.

Seeing that the work was mostly finished, He Yuzhu climbed the cliff like Houzi, placed the Explosive in the mountain body, and connected the US-made Wireless Detonation Device.

After He Yuzhu returned, he was not holding any wires, so Regimental Commander Yang immediately asked, "You don't need to connect the wires?"

"This is wireless remote-controlled," He Yuzhu said, holding the small Remote Control.

"What if it doesn't explode?" Regimental Commander Yang asked worriedly.

"I have arranged a double-safety mechanism."

"If that section of the road is blown up, our own people won't be able to get in either; I don't know if it's advantageous to us or if the disadvantages outweigh the benefits," Regimental Commander Yang said, hesitating a bit again.

"When a general is in the field, he is not bound by the orders of his sovereign; as long as it is advantageous to us, that is enough!"

"You little brat, if you had been born thirty years earlier, you would have been a hero of your generation!" Regimental Commander Yang said.

Soon, the enemy launched an attack from both sides simultaneously.

Because the People's Liberation Army had already seized the favorable terrain, and thanks to He Yuzhu's arrangements, two fire points tightly sealed off the enemy's passage into the mountains.

Regimental Commander Yang gave most of the equipment to the First Battalion; they had thirty Light Machine Guns and ten Heavy Machine Guns.

The battle began; on the First Battalion's position, thirty Light Machine Guns and ten Heavy Machine Guns spat out tongues of fire simultaneously, weaving a web of death.

The Bald Party soldiers charging at the front fell like harvested wheat, and screams echoed through the valley.

The enemy had thought they would wipe out this group of the People's Liberation Army in one charge, but they did not expect to encounter such a tough opponent this time.

They left behind hundreds of corpses in the first wave of the charge.

At the same time, the battle on He Yuzhu's side also began.

It did not take long for the two highlands to become a thorn in the enemy's side.

Hundreds of Bald Party soldiers, urged on by their officers, charged upward desperately.

Once the "Old Gan Ma" Heavy Machine Gun on the highland opened fire, it was simply a Harvester of human lives...

He Yuzhu, meanwhile, was in the Cave he had dug himself, using his Sniper Rifle to specifically target and fire at the commanders.

It did not take long for over a dozen commanders to be killed.

This charge was beaten back, and a new round of charging began.

He Yuzhu's eyes were fixed tightly on a regimental-level commander hiding behind the soldiers, and he pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" came a sound.

That officer was shot in the head.

Just at this moment, the roar of airplanes suddenly sounded in the sky.