Chapter 100: The spoils of war
Although this group of Nationalist troops was retreating, they were not in a panic. They took turns to cover each other and retreated in stages. With at least one machine gun supporting them, they appeared to be in an orderly manner.
When Liu Zhengfeng saw that all the Japanese soldiers had walked out of the bamboo forest, he immediately took Big Beard and Wu Erdan and quietly approached from the edge of the bamboo forest on the right.
They did not go around behind the Japanese soldiers because that would mean they would also have to endure attacks from the Nationalist soldiers, and the bullets fired by the Nationalist soldiers would also hit them.
Liu Zhengfeng whispered, "Everyone keep your distance. As usual, our first targets are the enemy commanders and weapons that pose the greatest threat. Open fire."
The situation was critical, and Liu Zhengfeng broke the rules and did not follow the practice of shooting first.
The bearded man pulled the trigger first, and the Type 99 light machine gun in his hand roared, and he fired a long burst of shots.
When the machine guns here sounded, the Japanese soldiers were caught off guard, panicked, and suffered heavy casualties.
The Japanese commander was hit in the thigh by a bullet and fell to the ground. He turned around in pain and looked at Liu Zhengfeng and others in disbelief.
"Enemy attack, behind us, fight back, quickly..."
Before he could finish his words, Liu Zhengfeng's bullet pierced his head with a sharp whistling sound, and he fell to the ground and died.
The Nationalist soldiers who were fleeing in front were stunned when they heard the fierce gunfire behind them. They couldn't believe their ears. It took them a while to come to their senses and they all looked happy.
The commander of the national army was a 35-year-old middle-aged man named Su Jun, a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander. Although he looked haggard, his eyes were still bright.
He clearly felt that the Japanese army's firepower had been reduced by more than half. He picked up the telescope on his chest and put it over his eyes, only to see that the Japanese army's position was in chaos.
Moving the telescope to the northeast corner, I saw two National Army soldiers and a gentle young man shooting at the Japanese army.
It was obvious that these guys were no simple men. They specialized in targeting the Japanese machine gunners and grenade launchers. They were good marksmen, especially the gentle young man. As long as he pulled the trigger, a Japanese soldier would fall down.
"Wow, that's awesome."
The Soviet soldier muttered to himself for a moment, then ordered his soldiers to stop retreating and switch from defense to offense.
The Japanese machine gunners and grenade launchers were actually suppressed by Liu Zhengfeng and others. Any soldier who dared to touch the machine guns and grenade launchers would be shot in the head the next moment. In the end , no one dared to touch these two things anymore.
The captain of a small Japanese squad realized that something was wrong and quickly ordered his soldiers to retreat. The remaining Japanese soldiers ran to the bamboo forest on the other side.
The Soviet army waved his hand and led his troops to chase after them.
The Japanese soldiers ran wildly through the bamboo forest, abandoning their weapons and armor along the way. Only a dozen people escaped, climbed onto the last car, and drove away in reverse.
The Kuomintang soldiers chased to the edge of the bamboo forest and were strafed by machine guns from the Japanese soldiers, so they had to stop chasing.
The battle was over, and all that remained was to rescue the wounded and clean up the battlefield. Big Beard and Wu Erdan also went.
Liu Zhengfeng did not go because the KMT commander Su Jun was walking towards him.
Liu Zhengfeng saw that the other person was a lieutenant colonel, and saluted him according to military rules.
The Soviet soldier returned the salute and asked, "Which unit are you from, brother?"
Liu Zhengfeng thought for a moment and said, "National Army Guo Wanlin Division."
The Su Jun was slightly stunned, then nodded: "Master Guo Wanlin? It seems that we are in the same boat. I am from the 84th Army. Like you, my troops were dispersed by the Japanese army and ended up in a foreign land."
Liu Zhengfeng was about to speak when he suddenly heard a quarrel coming from the front.
Big Beard and Wu Erdan were cleaning up the battlefield and taking bullets from the Japanese soldiers when suddenly a platoon leader of the National Army came over to stop them.
"Hey, who are you two? Why are you trying to steal our spoils?"
The bearded man frowned, stood up, and said coldly: "Why do you say this is your trophy? Did you kill these devils?"
The platoon leader of the Nationalist Army raised his eyebrows and said angrily: "We lost more than 70 brothers in this battle, and you didn't lose a hair. How dare you steal our things?"
Wu Erdan smiled and said, "Sir, we just want some bullets to make up for our losses. We don't want anything else. We'll give them all to you."
The Nationalist platoon leader snorted and said, "I recognize you. You are the driver who just drove through the bamboo forest. Let me tell you, if our battalion commander hadn't suspected that you were not real devils, you would have died under our gunfire."
Wu Erdan smiled and said, "Thank you for not killing me, sir."
The bearded man angrily said, "Erdan, why are you so confused? Thank you for nothing."
The Soviet army came over and shouted, "What are you doing? Why are you arguing?"
The platoon leader of the Nationalist army seemed to have found his backbone and hurriedly said, "Battalion Commander, you came at the right time. Please judge for yourself. They want to eat for free. These spoils were obtained by more than 70 of our brothers who sacrificed their lives. Why do they want to steal things?"
The Soviet army sighed and patted the platoon leader on the shoulder.
"Platoon Leader Tie, you are right. These spoils were indeed obtained at the cost of our brothers' lives, but we must also be reasonable. More than half of these devils were killed by others. What's wrong with them taking a little bit of their spoils?"
Platoon Leader Tie blushed and stammered, "I... Battalion Commander..."
The Soviet army waved his hand and said to the bearded man and Wu Erdan, "You two, take as much as you can."
The bearded man looked at Liu Zhengfeng, obviously asking for Liu Zhengfeng's opinion.
Liu Zhengfeng said with a smile: "Take as many bullets as you lost, and don't take the others. After all, it's not easy for our brother troops either."
Su Jun said, "Brother, you are being too polite. We in the Soviet Army clearly distinguish between gratitude and resentment. You have indeed helped us a lot. Brothers should settle accounts clearly. Don't be polite."
Liu Zhengfeng's eyes flickered, and he said with a smile: "Well... I won't be polite then, Erdan, take another grenade launcher, half of the shells, and also take the telescope from the Japanese commander."
"Sir, is it okay for me to take just this little bit?"
Liu Zhengfeng smiled at Su Jun, who said to Platoon Leader Tie: "Platoon Leader Tie, give him all the things he wants. Don't be stingy like a local tycoon. These are what others deserve, understand?"
The iron platoon leader nodded aggrievedly.
The Su Jun looked at Liu Zhengfeng and smiled, "Let me ask you something. There are only three of you. Why do you need so many weapons? How do you get them?"
Liu Zhengfeng smiled and said, "In the current situation, having one more weapon may save our lives. As for how to get the weapons, we have a car. Didn't you see it just now?"
The Soviet soldier had a strange smile on his face: "If I hadn't heard you guys talking, I might have ordered to open fire."
Liu Zhengfeng laughed and said, "No, sir, even if we don't speak, you can't attack us because the Japanese army is hundreds of meters behind us and will be there in a blink of an eye. You can't run away even if you want to."
The Soviet army used double entendres in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the confrontation with Liu Zhengfeng, but Liu Zhengfeng didn't buy it and made his point clear.
