The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 438: The Dawn of Darkness: A Deadly Symphony of Jungle Strangulation and Recoilless Guns

When Lei Tao and his men successfully rappelled to the foot of the cliff, the sky was already turning pale, and the dawn light was about to dispel the darkness. However, the shadow of battle still loomed over their minds, and the Japanese pursuers could arrive at any time. Lei Tao quickly asked Zhang Weiguo, Zhou Zhiyuan, Liu Hong, and others to count the number of people. After confirming that everyone was safe, he whispered, "We can't stay here for long. Let's retreat deeper into the primeval forest..."

Dragging their exhausted bodies through the mud, the wounded's muffled groans mixed with their heavy breathing were particularly oppressive in the silent dawn. Lei Tao glanced around vigilantly, then suddenly raised his hand to signal the team to stop. A hundred meters away, the sound of metal clashing could be heard from the bushes, and several helmets were faintly visible in the morning mist.

"Captain Liu will lead a large force to make a detour from the left, and Staff Officer Zhou will cover their retreat." Lei Tao lowered his voice and glanced at the members of the "Underworld" team, "We will stay behind to clean up. Buffalo and Water Sheep, use the repeating crossbows to deal with the outer sentries; Feiyang, install a silencer on the submachine gun." He casually tossed the matte black silencer over, and the sound of metal collision muffled in his palm.

The Li brothers stalked the brush like cheetahs, the gentle whirring of their semi-automatic drum-fire crossbows blending seamlessly with the chirping of insects. Two lone Japanese soldiers were about to light cigarettes when a crossbow bolt pierced their Adam's apples, warm blood dripping slowly along the spiral pattern of the arrow's tail. Meanwhile, Lei Tao screwed the silencer on his MP443 pistol into place, locking it with a click, and led his team in a fan-shaped encirclement.

The Japanese squad leader suddenly raised his hand to signal the troops to stop, his eyes scanning the surroundings like a hawk. "Be alert! There might be someone ahead..." Before he finished speaking, Chen Feiyang had already flipped the safety of his Scorpion submachine gun to single-shot mode. The silenced barrel tilted slightly upwards, and he half-knelt in the damp, decaying leaves, his index finger gently pulling the trigger.

"Puff!" The moment the bullet pierced the squad leader's temple, the silencer muffled the gunshot into a muffled thud. Chen Feiyang quickly lowered the muzzle of his gun, and the second bullet accurately struck the deputy captain's throat. The two Japanese officers fell to the ground almost simultaneously, their bodies twitching twice before they were still.

The remaining Japanese soldiers panicked. Just as someone was about to pull the bolt, Li Shuiniu's semi-automatic drum-type crossbow launched the first attack. With the clatter of gears, the crossbow bolt pierced a Japanese soldier's neck. Chen Feiyang seized the opportunity to maneuver quickly against a tree stump, pausing to fire every three steps. The 7.62mm bullets from the Scorpion submachine gun pierced Japanese helmets one after another, the silenced gunshots resembling the rhythmic beat of a drum.

Li Shuiyang coordinated with his brother, firing his crossbow in a fan-shaped pattern to cover the right side. Chen Feiyang was responsible for suppressing the front. When a Japanese soldier attempted to set up a machine gun, he decisively fired two bursts, first breaking the opponent's wrist and then shooting him between the eyebrows. As the battle reached a fever pitch, Chen Feiyang lowered the muzzle of his gun and accurately hit a Japanese soldier in the knee. As he fell to the ground and wailed, he delivered the fatal blow.

Lei Tao, armed with an MP443 pistol, swerved from the flank, engaging Chen Feiyang in a crossfire. With the four men's coordinated efforts, the remaining Japanese soldiers were all defeated in less than a minute. The last enemy fell, his pistol raised, a frozen expression of terror on his face. The only sound on the battlefield was the rustling of leaves in the breeze.

However, the brief silence was broken by the distant barking of dogs. Lei Tao's face suddenly changed—the Japanese were pursuing them with their dogs! He immediately gave the order: "Split up and break out! Meet at the foot of Eagle's Beak Cliff in three days!" Before he had finished speaking, the sound of gunfire echoed through the forest. Li Shuiniu fired the last of his crossbow at the pursuers. Li Shuyang dragged the wounded team member into the stream, while Lei Tao ran in the opposite direction, firing continuously from his MP443, leaving dark red trails in the morning mist.

The dawn light penetrated the treetops, casting dappled shadows across the devastated battlefield. Lei Tao leaped over the warm corpses. Behind him, he heard the Japanese commander's roar: "If they're alive, I want them. If they're dead, I want their bodies!"

Lei Tao suddenly stopped mid-sprint, spotting a rubble-covered slope ahead. He quickly retrieved twenty anti-personnel mines from his Bagua spinning top. With a few quick movements, he scraped through the rotten leaves and dirt, burying them in a plum blossom formation. He then pulled out wire to connect the fuses. After each mine, he carefully covered it with dead leaves and rubble to ensure no trace remained.

The barking of dogs grew closer. Lei Tao grabbed a handful of dirt, smeared it on his body, and ran thirty meters down the slope, scratching deep gashes in the tree trunks. He then tore off the corner of his shirt and threw it on the ground. He then quickly circled to the bushes on the side of the minefield, gripping his silenced MP443 pistol and waiting.

Five minutes later, the Japanese vanguard appeared. Three military dogs suddenly barked at the scratches on the tree trunks, tugging at their leashes and lunging forward. The Japanese squad leader waved his hand, and two soldiers, rifles drawn, cautiously followed the dogs. Following the scent, the dogs ran straight into the minefield.

"Boom!" The first mine was triggered, its blast carrying shrapnel and exploding. A series of explosions followed, and the entire slope became a sea of ​​fire. Japanese soldiers screamed and fled in all directions, some falling to the ground after being struck by shrapnel, while others, in their panic, triggered more mines. Lei Tao, seizing an opportunity in the bushes, fired several shots at the surviving Japanese soldiers, striking several of them in the vitals before they could react.

Taking advantage of the Japanese army's confusion, Lei Tao turned and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest. Behind him, the sounds of explosions and screams gradually subsided, leaving only the crackling of burning trees in the morning breeze.

After sprinting through the dense forest for half an hour, Lei Tao, having temporarily shaken off his pursuers, spotted wisps of smoke rising from the valley ahead—a temporary Japanese supply base. He crouched on a high vantage point, observing through binoculars. The base consisted of three tents and a simple guardhouse, surrounded by barbed wire. Over twenty Japanese soldiers were carrying ammunition boxes, while a machine gunner set up a Type 92 heavy machine gun on the eastern slope.

Lei Tao quickly retrieved four SPG-9 recoilless rifles from the space between two large trees, quickly adjusting the gun's angle. Through the PGO-9 optical sight, the scene of the Japanese supply depot was magnified 4.2 times: ammunition boxes stacked in front of the tents, sentries pacing in the guardhouse, soldiers reloading heavy machine guns—every detail was clearly visible.

He unloaded an OG-9V fragmentation grenade and expertly loaded it into the gun barrel. This grenade had a 15-meter damage radius, enough to destroy half a camp. Lei Tao took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. With a resounding "boom," flames erupted from the rear of the gun, and the grenade, trailing a trail of smoke, streaked through the air, accurately impacting the ammunition crate.

A violent explosion instantly engulfed the entire tent area, and ammunition boxes exploded one after another, sending flames shooting into the sky. Before the Japanese soldiers in the guardhouse could react, a second shell roared in and hit the guardhouse directly. The concrete structure collapsed, burying the soldiers inside under the rubble.

The Japanese troops were thrown into disarray. The machine gunners frantically turned their guns, but could not locate the source of the bombardment. Lei Tao fired a series of shells. The third destroyed the heavy machine gun position, and the fourth overturned two transport trucks parked at the edge of the camp. The shockwave from the explosion toppled the surrounding barbed wire, sending flaming debris flying everywhere.

The Japanese commander inside the camp brandished his sword and roared as he organized a counterattack. Lei Tao locked onto him through his scope and loaded the last grenade into the cannon. As the shell fired, the commander and several soldiers around him were blown away by the blast, landing heavily on the burning tent.

Looking at the supply station engulfed in flames, Lei Tao quickly disassembled his recoilless rifle and stored it in the Bagua Gyro. The sound of Japanese reinforcement engines could be heard in the distance, but he knew the bombardment had successfully attracted the enemy's attention, buying time for the main force.