The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 389 The aftermath of the war

As the last Japanese soldier fell to the ground, sniped by Lei Tao's precise sniper, the battlefield finally returned to calm. The morning sun slowly penetrated the thick smoke, shedding light on the devastated landscape, clearly revealing the cruel traces of war: scattered corpses, broken guns, and the lingering, nauseating, acrid smell of smoke and blood.

After Lei Tao confirmed that all the Japanese soldiers in front of him had been killed, he slowly stood up, holding the still warm TSVL-8 tactical sniper rifle in his hand, his face full of fatigue, and walked towards his house with steady steps.

Once inside, Lei Tao gently placed his TSVL-8 tactical sniper rifle on the table. With deft hands, he quickly removed the bolt, disassembled the scope, and separated the stock from the barrel. After carefully cleaning and inspecting it, he placed each component in its proper place in the equipment box, where the sponge padding fitted perfectly. He then closed the box and placed it into the mysterious Bagua gyroscope.

Afterwards, Lei Tao called Scarface Li over, and with a look of concern, he said solemnly, "Brother Li, find a few brothers and deal with the Japanese corpses on the battlefield as soon as possible. If there are so many corpses, it will be troublesome if a plague breaks out. Also, take away the bodies of the two female spies in the house."

Scarface Li responded, turned around and shouted outside the house: "Gouzi, Erdan, both of you come in!" Soon, two young men hurried into the house. They were wearing tattered coarse clothes, and their expressions still showed the tension and anxiety after the battle.

Scarface Li pointed at the corpse of the female spy on the ground, frowning and ordering with a look of disdain, "Carry these two bodies out, quickly, and bury them somewhere far away. Don't leave them here as an eyesore." Gouzi and Erdan exchanged a glance, swallowed, a hint of fear on their faces, but they still hurried forward. They each lifted the corpse by the shoulders, the other by the legs, and with some effort finally lifted the female spy's body. The body drooped limply, and the two men carried it crookedly, stumbling all the way out.

Just as they reached the door, Gouzi accidentally tripped over the threshold and nearly fell, causing the body in his arms to sway. Erdan turned pale with fear and cursed, "Be careful, don't let me fall too!" Gouzi steadied himself and said with a bitter face, "It's too heavy, my hands are weak." The two of them carefully carried the body and continued to walk out, their figures gradually disappearing outside the door.

Scarface Li nodded and said, "Alright, Brother Lei, I'll make sure they get this done. I won't let the body stay here and cause trouble."

Just as they finished dealing with this, they heard hurried footsteps outside the house. Yi Guang and Meng Xiaoyu hurried into the house, their faces still showing the excitement and fatigue after the battle.

"Brother Lei, we have finally won a great victory this time!" Yi Guang said excitedly, his face filled with joy that was difficult to conceal.

Meng Xiaoyu was more composed. She looked at Lei Tao and asked with concern, "Are you okay? This battle was really intense."

Lei Tao nodded slightly, a smile on his face: "I'm fine, everyone has worked hard. We can win this time thanks to everyone's concerted efforts."

As the three were talking, Scarface Li and his men walked in. Scarface Li's body was still stained with the blood of the enemy, and his eyes were full of heroism: "Brother Lei, this cooperation is really exciting! If it weren't for your amazing marksmanship and everyone's cooperation, it would be really difficult to repel these little devils so smoothly."

Lei Tao smiled modestly: "Brother Li, you are too kind. Your bravery is also indispensable."

As everyone was chatting, Tang Zhangshan hurried in, his face slightly solemn. "Don't be too happy yet, everyone. I just received news that there's another battalion of Japanese infantry and a squadron of puppet cavalry in the nearby county. The troops they sent to encircle and suppress you yesterday haven't returned yet, and they'll probably regroup soon to attack you."

Upon hearing this news, the atmosphere in the room instantly became tense, and everyone was discussing what to do next.

"We have just experienced a great battle. Everyone is very tired and a lot of weapons and ammunition have been consumed. What should we do?" Yi Guang said anxiously.

After a moment's contemplation, Meng Xiaoyu said, "We need to replenish our ammunition as quickly as possible and organize our defenses. Perhaps we can take advantage of the terrain of the mountain stronghold and strike the Japanese army head-on again."

Lei Tao thought for a while and asked, "How is the situation with the battlefield cleanup and the spoils?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Zhangshan quickly replied, "I just had a few brothers go count. In this battle, we seized a lot of weapons and ammunition: over a hundred Type 38 rifles, twenty Huaji submachine guns, three Type 99 light machine guns, two grenade launchers, over 5,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, 1,500 rounds of Huaji submachine gun ammunition, 500 rounds of machine gun ammunition, and 20 rounds of grenades. We also found some Japanese maps and documents, but they're all encrypted, so we haven't figured out what they're about yet."

Scarface Li's eyes lit up when he heard this, but then he frowned. "Wow, so many weapons and ammunition! It's really a timely help! But I'm afraid it's not enough. We have to deal with an infantry battalion and a puppet cavalry squadron in the county. I'm afraid this amount of firepower won't last long."

Yi Guang scratched his head, his tone full of worry: "Besides, we are short of manpower now, and many of our brothers are injured. What should we do?"

Meng Xiaoyu looked at Lei Tao, his eyes full of trust: "Brother Lei, you are experienced. How should we arrange our defense next?"

Lei Tao walked to the table, picked up a pen, and quickly sketched a topographical sketch of the stronghold on paper. As he drew, he said, "Look, the terrain to the east and south of the stronghold is open. The Japanese army is likely to attack from these two directions. Let's set up more traps in these two places, such as bamboo stick arrays and tripwires, to slow down their attack speed. There is a cliff on the west side. Although the possibility of a Japanese attack is small, we cannot be careless. Arrange a few brothers to look out from a high place to prevent them from making a roundabout attack from here. There is a narrow passage on the north side, which is a key position. Put the Type 99 light machine gun there to form crossfire, which will definitely deal a head-on blow to the Japanese army."

Lei Tao continued, "Being passive and taking a beating is not my style. As long as the Japanese send out a large group of troops to attack the mountain stronghold, the county town will inevitably be left empty. I will fly over and wipe out their lair. On the one hand, we will pretend to defend the mountain stronghold and deploy more decoy troops to make the Japanese think we are going to hold on to the death; on the other hand, I will take a few brothers who are agile and have good marksmanship and go around to the county town. When the main force of the Japanese is far away from the county town, we will raid their strongholds and destroy their ammunition depots and granaries, leaving them without support. When they come back to rescue, they will definitely be in chaos, and we will set up an ambush on the road and beat them so hard that they can't take care of both ends!"

Scarface Li slammed the table excitedly after hearing this. "Great! That's a great idea, Brother Lei. I'll go with you! I want to see how difficult it is to take down that Japanese lair."

Yi Guang also hurriedly said: "Brother Lei, count me in, I promise not to let you down!"

Meng Xiaoyu looked at Lei Tao and said firmly: "Brother Lei, I will go too. I can provide fire support from a distance."

Tang Zhangshan pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, Brother Lei, this plan is feasible. I will stay in the stronghold and lead the brothers to set up defenses to confuse the Japanese. I will have scouts keep a close eye on the Japanese movements and notify you immediately if there is any situation."

Lei Tao looked at everyone with a firm expression: "Okay, that's settled. Everyone hurry up and get ready, time is running out. In this battle, we must not only defend the stronghold, but also let the Japs know that they will pay a heavy price for their acts of aggression!" Everyone nodded and dispersed to prepare.

Just as everyone was about to leave, Lei Tao stopped Scarface Li, his expression concerned, and said solemnly: "Brother Li, since you are now fighting the Japanese with us openly, you must prepare to find a few footholds in case of emergency. As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. In the future, if we encounter an emergency, we will have a way to retreat and will not be trapped to death in one place. We must thoroughly survey the nearby mountains, forests, and abandoned villages, find a few hidden places that are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and stockpile some supplies in advance to make long-term plans."

Scarface Li scratched his head and suddenly realized something. "Oh, Brother Lei is really thoughtful. I was so focused on fighting the Japanese that I neglected this matter. Okay, I'll arrange for a few smart men to look for a suitable place nearby."

Lei Tao patted Scarface Li on the shoulder and said, "Brother Li, this is a protracted war. We must be careful and prepared for any eventuality. As long as we unite as one and use the right strategy, the Japanese will be driven out of our territory sooner or later!"

Scarface Li nodded heavily, turned around and took his men to arrange new tasks in a hurry.