On the cool autumn night in the south of the Yangtze River, apart from the sound of footsteps, only the sound of heavy breathing filled the dark night.
Only the distant sky flashed a faint red light and a faint muffled sound from time to time, reminding a group of Japanese soldiers who were running rhythmically in the wilderness that this night was not the tranquility they were experiencing now.
The battlefield several kilometers away from them was definitely fierce.
"Everyone, speed up!" A strong Japanese soldier at the front of the entire queue looked up at the horizon, breathed a sigh of relief, and tried his best to calm down the burning in his lungs caused by running long distances, and ordered loudly.
Koshu Aso is the second lieutenant of the 1st Infantry Squadron of the 2nd Squadron of the 8th Infantry Group of the 45th Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Brigade.
As a young man from a poor peasant family, he never went to a military school and had little education. However, he was able to reach the position of second lieutenant in the Japanese Army with many strong men. Aso Xiaoshu relied on the perseverance and bravery unique to peasant youths.
The fearless spirit was at the forefront in the wars organized by the empire against China again and again.
During the September 18th Incident six years ago, Aso Xiaoshu, who was still a senior soldier, followed his sergeant into the Peking Camp and used precise shooting skills to kill three Northeastern Army soldiers who dared to resist, including a captain and company commander.
Facing the few Northeast Army soldiers who rushed towards them desperately, he bravely stabbed two of them to death with his bayonet.
Judging from his young face, one of them must be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. It seems that he had no choice but to fight to the death after being surrounded. When Aso Xiaoshu's bayonet penetrated his chest, he ignored the sharpness of the blade and held it tightly with both hands.
Blade, a prayer on his face.
Although he didn't know what the young Northeast Army soldier was shouting, Aso Xiaoshu knew that he probably wanted to live and was begging himself to let him go.
Although the sharp bayonet pierced his lungs, it was not fatal to his left chest. If the bayonet was pulled out at this time and he used a hemostatic bag to stop the bleeding and performed surgery in time, the young Northeastern Army soldier who had not yet enjoyed his life would have survived.
The probability is more than ten percent.
At that moment, Aso Koshu must have felt compassion, but soon, the voice of 'They are the enemies of the empire and a stumbling block to the empire's expansion!' occupied Aso's mind.
Twisting the rifle hard, the bayonet blade scratched in the chest of the young Chinese soldier. You could almost hear the tooth-piercing friction between the blade and the bones. The young Chinese soldier's face twitched in pain, and his face was covered with tears and snot.
, did not arouse Aso Xiaoshu's pity anymore, until he gradually returned to peace.
Aso Xiaoshu didn't know what the young Chinese soldier called, but in the last sentence, there was mother! The pronunciation of the word "calling mother" in Japanese and Chinese is 80% consistent.
Later, a colleague helped Aso Xiaoshu translate, and what the dead Chinese soldier shouted was: "Oh my God, it hurts!"
As expected, they are a group of cowardly people. As the empire said, they do not deserve to have such fertile land. Aso Xiaoshu's eyes gradually became firm.
Aso Koshu, who killed five enemy soldiers by himself, became the next candidate for the sergeant of his team after this battle. He only needs to wait for his boss to be promoted or transferred, and he can become the leader of a small team.
Aso Xiaoshu had never looked forward to war so much.
So, his wish soon came true.
Two years later in Rehe, the Battle of the Great Wall came. Aso Xiaoshu followed the army and chased tens of thousands of Chinese, crossing the ancient Great Wall of China, which the Chinese are most proud of, and approaching the capitals of several previous dynasties in China.
.
In this war, the candidate sergeant Aso Xiaoshu killed eight Chinese soldiers again. After his own sergeant died on the battlefield, he was directly promoted to the position of sergeant.
It is a pity that the war ended in only three months. The empire seemed satisfied after obtaining the Jehol Province, signed an agreement with the Chinese and withdrew its troops.
If the status quo is maintained and nothing unexpected happens, Chief Cao will be the peak of Aso Xiaoshu's military career without any background. He will serve for a few more years, receive a retirement pay, go home, inherit the family business, and continue to be an ordinary farmer.
But how can Aso Xiaoshu, who has seen the wonderful world, continue to live like this? He is extremely looking forward to the empire launching another war, a war against China, so that he can have the opportunity to join the ranks of officers.
Aso Xiaoshu's ambitions were not big. He never expected to be a high-ranking adjunct officer. He just wanted to be a second lieutenant who could make dozens of people obey him or a lieutenant who could make hundreds of people respect him respectfully.
So during the few years in the Northeast, he obeyed his superiors and led his men to fight against the endless stream of rebels. In order to find out the whereabouts of a rebel, he even went on a killing spree in an ordinary mountain village, stabbing ten people to death with bayonets in one breath.
Several villagers, ranging from old people to young adults to women and even children, finally made the Chinese surrender and handed over the Chinese rebel hiding in the cellar.
It's not that Aso Xiaoshu can't see the hatred that the sad Chinese people are trying to hide under their lowered eyelids, but what's the point? They're just a group of cowardly people. If his boss hadn't been interested in spending more time, he could have completely destroyed the rest of the village.
Dozens of people were killed.
Relying on ruthless killing, Aso Xiaoshu earned the reputation of "cold-blooded little tree" in the military.
Finally, the empire's war against China broke out again. When the "Strongest Division on the Surface" was replenishing the Kwantung Army, Sergeant "Cold-Blooded Little Tree" was transferred to the Sixth Division and promoted to second lieutenant.
Aso's ambition grew again, and he was extremely eager to become his dream lieutenant or captain in this war, so he would march forward bravely in every battle.
This time was no exception. After the brigade commander ordered the entire army to light up and quickly assemble at the position of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade, he ordered the team members to drop all their baggage and each person only carried 100 rounds of ammunition, two grenades and one
A jug of water and extremely light equipment allowed his infantry squad to rush to the forefront of the entire brigade and even the entire regiment.
The infantry team closest to him in the rear was also 150 meters away.
Aso Squadron is the arrowhead of the entire 36th Infantry Brigade. After this battle, my name, Aso Koshu, will definitely reach the ears of the regimental commander. Aso Koshu, who ordered his subordinates to continue to speed up, had such thoughts at the moment.
Even though there was a small river of unknown depth in front of him, Aso Xiaoshu did not hesitate and jumped into the river first, rushing towards the other bank with thigh-deep water.
The body that keeps running will dissipate enough heat to maintain body temperature. When entering the battle, the adrenaline bursting between life and death will also make people ignore these small colds. Aso Xiaoshu, who has experienced dozens of battles, has enough knowledge for this.
Clear understanding.
Unfortunately, the ambition of the Japanese Army second lieutenant who dreamed of changing his and his family's destiny through war ended here.
Before he had completely crossed the river, he heard a roar of "Hit me!"
Chinese, are there Chinese here? As soon as this thought that made his liver and gallbladder explode flashed through Aso Xiaoshu's mind, gunshots sounded in his ears so densely that it made his whole body numb.
That was the sound of a shell gun that he was very familiar with.
Not cheap but extremely effective, the German-made continuous fire firearm is a favorite of the Chinese.
Whether in the Northeast, North China, or Southeast, this weapon is never missing from all battlefields.
At a distance of 200 meters, Aso Xiaoshu could completely ignore the shell gun that the Chinese loved so much.
The constantly jumping muzzle and short barrel made them imprecise. Even if he stood there arrogantly, emptying the 20-round magazine in one go, nothing could do to him.
However, the nearly blinding firelight in the darkness ahead reminded him that the firing distance would never exceed 40 meters.
The brave and invincible second lieutenant of the Japanese Army is certainly not a fool. He longs to change his destiny in the war, but does not want to lose his life in the war.
With almost no thought, Aso's waist, abdomen and leg muscles instinctively exerted force and he fell forward.
This is the most instinctive reaction of a veteran. Regardless of whether there is water or something on the ground, or even if there is a knife poking underneath, he will not hesitate to pounce on it.
Bullets are the most deadly in war, not even artillery shells.
However, the 'cold-blooded little tree' was still 0.5 seconds late.
The trenches dug by Chinese soldiers outside the creek are only about 30 meters away from here.
In order to ensure a sure kill with one hit, the infantry company commander who led the team waited until Aso's team almost jumped into the river before giving the order to shoot.
As for the guard camp, the equipment rate of shell guns reached an astonishing 50%.
This means that in this single hail of bullets, at least hundreds of bullets were poured out.
Dozens of people from Aso's team, including Aso Xiaoshu, worked together to distribute the hundreds of flying warheads.
