Chapter 302: Rearguard

At this very moment, He Yuzhu exerted force, and the rope on his body snapped with a sound; the broken ends of the rope whipped the surrounding soldiers like lashes, causing them to yelp in pain.

With one palm strike, He Yuzhu knocked Huang Bingren to the ground. While the other soldiers were still stunned, he quickly struck again and knocked Army Commander Song unconscious as well.

Taking advantage of the fact that the United States soldiers had not yet reacted, He Yuzhu swiftly threw out two explosive packs, simultaneously stowed Army Commander Song and Huang Bingren into his space, and then pressed the remote control.

"Boom— Boom—"

Two loud bangs exploded amidst the crowd, the earth-shattering sound of the blast echoing through the valley.

When the smoke cleared slightly, He Yuzhu appeared from his space, looked at the scorched earth and severed limbs covering the ground, and laughed up at the sky: "You grandsons, aren't you arrogant!"

He Yuzhu released Huang Bingren and said coldly: "Take a look, this is the end for you who forget your roots."

Huang Bingren struggled to his knees: "You... you are not human..."

"Honestly, how many of our brothers did you kill?" He Yuzhu's voice was as cold as ice.

"I didn't kill anyone!"

He Yuzhu grabbed a dagger and plunged it directly into his shoulder: "Will you speak or not?"

"I beg you, just give me a quick death!"

"Now you know how to beg me? Weren't you insulting me just a moment ago? Why are you starting to beg me now?"

He Yuzhu's dagger danced up and down, stabbing several more holes into Huang Bingren's body.

"We... we killed over fifty people!" Huang Bingren screamed.

He Yuzhu's dagger continued to dance up and down, and the shrill wailing echoed through the valley.

When the fiftieth knife fell, everything finally returned to silence.

He Yuzhu applied simple makeup to himself, tore his clothes into rags, and covered himself in blood.

He took out a mirror and looked; it looked convincing enough, so he released Army Commander Song from his space and carried him on his back as he ran back.

He Yuzhu had not run far with Army Commander Song on his back when the commander slowly woke up.

He shook his head, which still felt heavy, and asked in confusion: "Those enemies... what happened to them?"

"They were all blown to death." He Yuzhu did not stop his pace, his tone as calm as if he were speaking of the most ordinary matter.

Army Commander Song was stunned: "Over a hundred people, just died like that?"

He Yuzhu had been prepared and replied calmly: "We had buried explosives outside the mountain beforehand. After they walked to that spot, I deliberately let Huang Bingren get into a conflict with me to make their team stop within the blast radius. Once I pressed the remote control button, it was all resolved..."

"But, how did we escape?"

"To tell you the truth, I dug a large pit there. After I knocked you out, I jumped in with you, which is why we escaped disaster."

"Did you calculate that you would be captured?" Army Commander Song asked suspiciously.

"That really wasn't the case; that pit was originally meant for hiding people and operating the explosive device," He Yuzhu said.

"Little He, you comrade, you have both courage and strategy! You are capable of taking on great responsibilities!" Army Commander Song praised.

"You flatter me!" He Yuzhu said.

As soon as they returned to headquarters, Regimental Commander He hurried up to meet them and grabbed He Yuzhu: "Zhuzi, have those bastards been dealt with?"

"Not a single one left." He Yuzhu nodded, "They died miserably; there was almost nothing left of their remains."

Regimental Commander He gasped, clearly shocked by the result.

"Headquarters is about to relocate to Yuquan Cave, you need to prepare immediately," Regimental Commander He said.

Not long after, the appointment for He Yuzhu came down.

The higher-ups made him acting Battalion Commander, with the soldiers under his command being the trainees from the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Battalion and the Tank Training Battalion.

It was He Yuzhu's first time leading five hundred men into battle, and he was responsible for the rearguard, so he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

He also roughly understood that it was precisely his ability to rescue Army Commander Song this time that made his superiors dare to entrust a team of several hundred men to his leadership.

He looked at Instructor Ma Bingchao beside him and said: "Lao Ma, I think it would be more appropriate for you to be the Battalion Commander. I will be the Deputy Battalion Commander and just focus on fighting."

"That won't do!" Ma Bingchao immediately waved his hand.

"Army Commander Song has entrusted so many artillery and tank trainees to me, and I really don't feel confident. These men under us are all elites in the ranks; if something goes wrong, how could I face them?"

Ma Bingchao smiled and said: "Battalion Commander He, you are too modest. Based on your past combat record, let alone leading a battalion, you would be more than capable of leading a regiment."

He Yuzhu patted his shoulder lightly: "Because of those words, I will cook personally this noon so everyone can eat their fill, and we will set off after the meal."

Ma Bingchao said: "Battalion Commander He, I feel that it might not be appropriate for you to organize those black brothers into the Guard Platoon? After all, they surrendered to us..."

He Yuzhu sighed: "To be honest, it's not that I really need them to protect me. It's just that I don't feel any position is suitable for them. I could put them in the Tank Platoon, but they don't speak Chinese, so communication is really too difficult."

Ma Bingchao said: "I think that if your Guard Platoon only consists of these five black men, it might make the soldiers have thoughts, feeling that you don't trust them."

He Yuzhu nodded: "How about you recommend a few to me? The people I brought are the main force of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company; I can't have them staying by my side every day!"

Seeing his firm attitude, Ma Bingchao stopped trying to persuade him.

"To tell you the truth, my eyelid has been twitching all day today; I have a feeling this journey won't be very smooth," He Yuzhu said in a low voice.

Ma Bingchao said sternly: "These are all feudal superstitions; we Communists don't go in for that sort of thing."

At noon, while the soldiers were packing their things, He Yuzhu cooked personally, stewing canned food and vermicelli in one pot, the aroma wafting everywhere.

The soldiers were all satisfied with their meal.

Only Ershuan came over with a worried face: "Zhuzi, I really can't do this job as Logistics Platoon Leader. The people under me all have more seniority than I do."

He Yuzhu's tone was firm: "You must be this Platoon Leader; I don't trust anyone else."

He had his own considerations for having Ershuan take this position.

His ability to produce supplies at any time would inevitably cause a stir if it were someone else. But Ershuan was already accustomed to his mysterious capabilities.

The Commander-in-Chief and the main military leaders had set off with Regimental Commander He early in the morning; only their rearguard team did not set out until the afternoon.

He Yuzhu stood before the five hundred soldiers, his gaze sweeping over every determined face.

"Comrades! Although we have only trained for a little over a week and many of you haven't fully mastered your professional skills, you are all veterans, and each of you has rich combat experience. This time, headquarters has entrusted the heavy responsibility of the rearguard to us. I will ask just one thing: do you have the confidence to complete the mission? Do you have the confidence to complete this glorious and arduous mission?"

"Yes!!!"

More than five hundred soldiers roared in unison, the sound wave shaking the accumulated snow on the tree branches until it fell with a rustle.

He Yuzhu and Ma Bingchao spent the entire morning doing nothing but dividing this temporarily assembled force into four companies.

The First Company was the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company, with its core staff being He Yuzhu's original New First Company. Although only thirty-some veteran brothers remained, each was highly experienced, and the former Platoon Leader Sun Tao served as Company Commander.

The Second Company was the Tank Company, equipped with five heavy Tanks. The Company Commander was the most intuitive Feng Baoqing.

The Third Company was the Firepower Company, with Zhang Guowei serving as Company Commander—he already possessed the qualifications of a Company Commander.

When He Yuzhu conjured up fifteen Heavy Machine Guns, over thirty Light Machine Guns, and a mountain of ammunition as if by magic, even the worldly-wise Zhang Guowei was thrilled to bits.

The Fourth Company was the Infantry Company, and the position of Company Commander was given to Li Xiaobiao, who had originally been a Company Commander.

At two in the afternoon, the troops officially set out. Who would have thought that before they had even walked a few miles, Scout Platoon Leader Ma Qian would come rushing back with two men.

"Battalion Commander, the United States devils are not far from us!"

He Yuzhu had not expected the enemy to arrive so quickly.

He found Instructor Ma Bingchao and said, "Lao Ma, the United States devils are catching up. My opinion is to retreat to the base immediately. What do you think?"

Ma Bingchao pondered for a moment, his brows tightly locked: "Retreat is indeed a safe choice. But what if we get blocked inside the base—it is surrounded by mountains on three sides with no reinforcements outside; how would we retreat then?"

"You and I are thinking differently. What I am worried about now is that if we continue forward, we will neither find suitable terrain to construct defensive positions nor have enough time to build fortifications. By then, we will not only have to face the enemy but also fight this deadly heavy snow; even if we aren't wiped out by the enemy, we will freeze to death right here."

Ma Bingchao looked at the snow-filled sky and nodded slowly: "You are right. In that case, let's immediately summon all the Company Commanders and Platoon Leaders for a meeting to unify our thinking."

The meeting was held in a crisp and efficient manner. He Yuzhu stated the current predicament, and most people agreed with his assessment.

However, Third Company Commander Zhang Guowei raised a concern shared by everyone: "Instructor, Battalion Commander He, if the enemy really presses in with heavy forces, can our five hundred-plus people hold the base?"

He Yuzhu looked around at everyone, his tone firm: "If it really comes to that point, we will break into smaller units, adopt the tactics of special forces, and break out from the mountain to the south."

With the decision made, the troops immediately turned around and quickly retreated to the base.