Chapter 25 Birds
Liu Zhengfeng suddenly remembered something, his face changed, and he stood up abruptly and said, "Master, the situation is critical. We must prepare for a rainy day and take action immediately."
Guo Wanlin said: "The Japanese army is still a hundred kilometers away from here. Don't be so nervous. We can talk about it tomorrow."
Liu Zhengfeng said solemnly: "The main Japanese army is a hundred kilometers away from here, but it is hard to say about its vanguard. We must not be lucky."
Guo Wanlin pondered for a while and said, "Alright, from now on, the number of sentries will be doubled and the alert will be strengthened. Staff Officer Jin, pass the order down now."
"yes."
Staff Officer Jin responded, turned around and walked out.
Liu Zhengfeng frowned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. The problem that Guo Wanlin was worried about was not on the same level as his own. Simply increasing the vigilance force would not solve the problem at all. However, since Guo Wanlin had already expressed his position, he could do nothing about it. After all, there was no sign on the surface to support his speculation.
"Master, it's better to be safe than sorry. How about this? I'll go out and do some reconnaissance tonight."
Guo Wanlin felt a little sorry and said, "If you think it is necessary, then you can take a few more people with you, so you don't have to work so hard."
Liu Zhengfeng nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, Master. I only need to take one person with me, Wu Erdan who is in the same class with me."
Guo Wanlin nodded slightly: "Thank you for your hard work."
When Liu Zhengfeng found Wu Erdan, he and squad leader Hu Tiande were lying on the grass counting stars out of boredom.
Liu Zhengfeng said to Hu Tiande with a smile: "Squad leader, I want to borrow Wu Erdan for a while, and I will return it to you tomorrow morning."
Hu Tiande didn't move, muttering, "Why? Is he in danger? He's my last soldier."
Wu Erdan had been bored for a long time, so he jumped up and said, "Don't worry, squad leader. I won't let you be a commander without troops."
He stood up, grabbed Liu Zhengfeng and ran away without saying anything.
The two men held guns and walked quickly along the path to the south. As informed Wu Erdan of the current situation and made clear the goal for tonight - to detect small infiltration units of the Japanese army.
The two men walked for more than ten miles in one breath. The terrain became more and more steep. In many places, there were two peaks on both sides of the road, which was extremely dangerous. After walking a few more miles, the mountains became flat again, and a huge valley formed between the two peaks.
There are no tall trees on the hillside or in the valley, only low bushes and wildly growing grass.
Liu Zhengfeng and Wu Erdan climbed to the top of the mountain from the mountainside. The mountain wind suddenly became stronger, and the cool breeze brushed their bodies, making them feel relaxed and happy.
A crescent moon had just peeked out, the stars and the moon were dim in the sky, and it was gloomy from the mountain top to the valley.
Wu Erdan has now summed up his experience. In such a dark environment, as long as he calms down and lets his eyes slowly adapt to the environment in front of him, the scenery in front of him will slowly emerge.
In addition to the rustling sound of trees and weeds caused by the mountain wind, there are also occasional calls of unknown animals.
Wu Erdan lay on a large rock, holding the gun in both hands as if shooting, and watched intently the movements on the hillside below.
Liu Zhengfeng sat casually on the grass next to the big rock, looking at Wu Erdan's serious expression, a smile appeared on his face.
"Erdan, relax, the Japs haven't arrived yet."
Wu Erdan frowned: "How do you know they didn't come? Maybe they are hiding in a corner under the hillside, but we just haven't found them yet."
Liu Zhengfeng smiled and said, "Erdan, have you noticed a problem? Listen, there are no insects or birds chirping where we are. The sounds of insects and birds chirping you hear now are all coming from the hillside below and in the valley."
Wu Erdan listened attentively for a while, then turned his head to look at Liu Zhengfeng and asked curiously, "That's true, Brother Liu, why is it like this?"
Liu Zhengfeng explained: "There are no sounds of insects and birds here because we came and invaded their territory, so the birds flew away and the insects fell silent."
Wu Erdan was stunned for a while, then suddenly realized something and said happily, "Ah, I see. The insects and birds on the hillside and in the valley ahead are still singing, which means no one is disturbing them. No wonder you're not nervous at all."
The young boy is teachable. Liu Zhengfeng looked at Wu Erdan and nodded appreciatively.
"The Japanese army's vanguard is definitely not just one or two people, so there will be a lot of noise. So, you don't have to be so nervous. Being tense for a long time is very exhausting. You should save your energy for the battle later."
Wu Erdan looked at Liu Zhengfeng with admiration in his eyes: "Brother Liu, you really know a lot."
Liu Zhengfeng patted Wu Erdan on the shoulder and said, "As long as you experience more, you will naturally understand more."
Wu Erdan nodded: "Brother Liu, you should get some sleep first. I'll be watching you."
Liu Zhengfeng took off the Plum Blossom watch on his wrist and handed it to Wu Erdan: "It's eleven o'clock now. Wake me up at three o'clock in the morning. Can you check the time on the watch?"
Wu Erdan took the watch, nodded and said, "My third uncle works in a Shanghai shipping company. I met him two years ago."
Liu Zhengfeng nodded, leaned against a big rock, held the sniper rifle to his chest with both hands, and closed his eyes. Wu Erdan was now very enthusiastic and curious about everything. He didn't need to remind him to be careful and pay attention.
He had been running around all day and was exhausted, so he soon fell asleep.
Wu Erdan looked excited and his eyes were bright as he slowly scanned the dark valley ahead.
He was filled with a strong desire to discover something to prove his existence and value.
He would also glance at the watch on his wrist from time to time. In fact, he was not checking the time, he wanted to feel the feeling of looking at the watch. After all, watches were still a luxury for ordinary people at that time.
At two o'clock in the morning, Wu Erdan was admiring the feeling of wearing his watch when suddenly a flock of birds from the opposite mountain were startled and flew away. The cries of the birds were particularly harsh in the silent mountains.
Wu Erdan's heart sank. According to Liu Zhengfeng, someone must have invaded the birds' territory. The most likely possibility was that the Japanese devils had come and awakened the birds in the woods.
He was about to wake up Liu Zhengfeng, but found that Liu Zhengfeng had already sat up, looking at the mountains in the distance with his sharp eyes.
"Brother Liu, it's possible that the Japanese devils are coming."
Liu Zhengfeng hummed and looked ahead intently. His sharp eyes seemed to pierce the night sky. His palms were full of cold sweat. If it was really the Japanese vanguard troops, it would be extremely bad because Guo Wanlin and his men were not ready yet.
The most important thing is that the intelligence provided by Bai Chongxi, commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, was wrong. He thought that the Japanese army was still a hundred kilometers away, but he didn't know that they were already very close.
