Chapter 294: All Hands, Board the Boats! Cross the River!

Standing in front of Jiang Anguo was the Clear River.

The moonlight was like frost, the River Surface was only two hundred meters wide, the water rushed rapidly, the surf roared, and a trace of chill settled on the River Surface.

He just raised his hand, ready to Exchange points for an assault boat and a rubber dinghy to cross this Clear River.

It's nothing more than spending some points; he had just earned tens of thousands of points, and had nowhere to spend them!

At that moment, on the distant River Surface, specks of lights suddenly appeared!

Like stars falling into the Clear River, they flickered, drawing nearer.

"It's a boat!" Xiao Si exclaimed.

Dozens of fishing boats surged through the waves, lanterns hanging high at their bows, flashing on and off, reflecting the weather‑worn faces of the fishermen. At the head was an old man, his beard and hair all white, standing at the bow, his voice booming like a bell:

"General! This old man is too old to carry a gun or move a cannon, but the matter of fighting the Little Devils cannot be ignored by the people of the Clear River! Tonight, I will stake my old life to get you across the River!"

Before the words finished, the fleet of boats pulled up to the shore.

The men on the boats jumped ashore, grabbed the reins, preventing the boats from drifting, and waited for the Independent Regiment's soldiers to board.

Jiang Anguo felt a lump in his throat.

He could have summoned an iron boat with points, but at this moment, these wooden boats carried not soldiers but the people's hearts.

"I, Jiang Anguo, thank you, Old Man, for your righteousness; after this battle, I will personally thank you for today's assistance to our forces."

Jiang Anguo turned sharply, his voice hoarse yet iron‑like:

"All people, board the boats! Cross the River!"

The soldiers quickly formed a line and boarded.

Wooden oars sliced the water, like arrows released from a bow.

Jiang Anguo stood at the bow, looking back at the south bank; those specks of fishing lights illuminated the road ahead more than any equipment obtained through Exchange.

"Xiao Si, have all the hometown folk been put on the boats?" Jiang Anguo asked.

Xiao Si nodded, "The Young Master has arranged everything: a crate of canned food and a Medical Pack."

Jiang Anguo felt a slight relief, then followed the main force, under the cover of night, continuing the march toward Xiaoting.

Jiang Anguo himself had no money, not even silver coins, so he could only give the hometown folk some food; fortunately medical items were a bit pricey, and if the hometown folk sold them, they could fetch some money.

Traveling by water from Yidu was naturally much faster than by land, but Jiang Anguo's only five Transport Vehicles were all used to assist the 150th Division in crossing the River.

The night was as black as ink, and the mountain wind, wrapped in moisture, slipped into the collars.

Jiang Anguo led the Independent Regiment's main force along a small path on the North of the River's bank, quietly advancing north. From Yidu to Xiaoting's south bank was less than forty kilometers; the road was difficult, even walking was hard, let alone Transport Vehicles.

Therefore moving troops with Transport Vehicles was hardly feasible; they could only rely on two legs.

To preserve stamina, the marching speed was not fast.

The unit moved through the hills and ravines of western Hunan, without torchlight or commands, using only whispered orders and hand signals.

Yang Jiafen village was dead silent, only a few dog barks echoed at the alley's end, then were muffled and cut off; that was the Special Forces Unit's first strike before entering the village.

"Special Forces Unit, advance," Jiang Hao whispered, his figure crouched like a leopard behind the village entrance's stone slab. His face was painted, his eyes sharp as wolves in the dark. Behind him, fifty teammates silently spread out, all bearing MP40 Submachine Guns pressed to their chests, magazines fully loaded.

Jiang Anguo felt extremely lucky, having met a hometown folk on the march, who had returned from hunting in the mountains late at night and informed him that a Little Devil unit was in Yang Jiafen.

The numbers were few; a Japanese Army squad of about thirty men was stationed in the village's ancestral hall.

Jiang Anguo realized this was a sentinel unit the Japanese Army had placed on the south bank facing Xiaoting.

In ordinary days they ruled with tyranny, and the villagers had long despised them.

Clearly this Japanese Army squad was careless, fatigued and lax; the sentinel even leaned against the door to nap.

"Three squads seal the back door, two squads control the roof, one squad follow me and charge forward!" Jiang Hao quickly analyzed the enemy and assigned tasks to the soldiers behind him.

Silently they slipped.

A Little Devil sentinel just opened his eyes, his throat already slit by a dagger, his body slumped, trying to make a final resistance, but his mouth was tightly covered by a comrade behind him. His body was also stead­ily caught by two teammates, gently set down, and soon his two legs ceased moving, quieting.

Inside the ancestral hall, snoring rose and fell.

Jiang Hao kicked open the wooden door, MP40 fired first.

Puf puf puf!

The MP40's dull sound, like a tongue spitting, cut the Japanese Army inside before they could rise, turning them into a sieve.

"Enemy attack!" a Sergeant struggled to draw his sword, but before he could finish speaking, a bullet struck his forehead, and he fell face‑up into the fire pit.

A Machine Gunner reacted extremely fast, rolled to the corner to operate a Type 96 light machine gun, but before he could fire, a black creature opened its massive jaws and bit down, *crack*, a bone‑breaking sound, the Little Devil's neck was snapped by the creature.

It turned out to be Jiang Anguo's Hunting Dog squad; to coordinate with Jiang Hao's action, Jiang Anguo had assigned three German Shepherds to the Special Forces Unit.

The whole battle lasted only two minutes; inside and outside the ancestral hall, thirty‑two Japanese Army soldiers were all killed, none escaped.

The Yangtze River's surf sound well concealed the noise of this operation.

Surely the Little Devils at Xiaoting now would not notice this spot, after all they faced a far stronger opponent.

Jiang Hao stepped over a pool of blood, kicked aside a corpse, and searched the chest for a map, hoping for important information, but regrettably it was only a topographic map of the area around Yang Jiafen.

"Clear the traces, leave no survivors," he ordered coldly, "Withdraw in five minutes."

The Special Forces Unit quickly poured oil and set fire; the ancestral hall roared into flame.

In the firelight, after finishing all this, the Special Forces Unit retreated swiftly, like ghosts slipping back into the forest behind them, leaving Yang Jiafen a charred, dead silence.

The villagers of Yang Jiafen awoke early to find the Little Devils in the village dead, their faces full of terror; fortunately a hunter stepped forward to calm them, but everyone feared retaliation from the Little Devils and dared not leave their homes.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the main force quietly approached; Jiang Anguo's main troops did not enter Yang Jiafen, instead bypassed the small village.

The march lasted several hours.

Dawn was about to break, and the troops arrived at Luo Jia Chong.

On a hillside backing the Yangtze River, everyone concealed themselves here.

"Rest in place, no fires, no noise," Jiang Anguo whispered.

His command was quickly passed down.

The soldiers slumped onto the stones, the earth slope shifting, and from the backpacks behind them took out dry rations and canned food, ate a few big bites, then took out a blanket and covered themselves, seizing every moment they could rest.

Someone leaned against a tree trunk and fell asleep instantly, but the gun remained tightly pressed to the chest.

The east was faintly white, and morning mist rose.

Jiang Anguo and Independent 1 448th Regiment Regiment Commander Yao Quanyi stood on a height, looking toward Yichang.

There was the Little Devil 13th Division's command post in Yichang, and through the binoculars they could already see the plaster flag on the opposite bank, and the dock area had already begun to bustle.

"Yao Quanyi, do you think a daytime attack or a night attack would be better?" Jiang Anguo's eyes were bloodshot, his body unusually tired, but he could not stop; the war had not ended yet.

Yao Quanyi quickly contemplated a battle plan, and soon said, "Commander, after dawn we can order our air force to air‑strike Xiaoting, and at the same time have a formation bomb the Yichang Ferry, flattening this spot. We need to clear a landing zone; the time for the final assault is set for tonight! We will act after nightfall."

"Alright, feint east and strike west, make the Little Devil think we are concentrating forces to attack Xiaoting, while they do not know we are right under their noses. Fine, seize the time, go rest now." Jiang Anguo was also sustaining his body by sheer will.

He casually found a patch of ground, lay down and fell asleep.