Chapter Forty-One: Something Sinister!

Zhang Dabiao immediately replied, "Reporting to the commander, the reconnaissance results are basically in line with the intelligence we previously gathered."

"There are three prisoner-of-war camps in Pingyao County."

"The camp we are targeting is one that the Japanese devils seized from a landlord's estate and converted."

"In addition to the original estate, the devils have built a high wall around it using mountain stones."

"They have set up four Type 11 light machine gun emplacements on top to suppress the prisoners."

"The main gate is constructed from heavy timber, and there are two bunkers and a watchtower at the entrance."

"Furthermore," Zhang Dabiao continued, "there are searchlights at each of the four cardinal directions of the camp."

"Once turned on at night, they can cover every corner inside and outside the compound."

"Every night, two or three devils patrol the high walls, leaving absolutely no blind spots."

"The other two camps are set up in much the same way."

Li Yunlong nodded, indicating he understood.

For a conventional small-scale combat unit, launching a surprise attack on this camp in Pingyao would not be an ideal choice.

The Japanese defenses are extremely tight, and without a large number of artillery pieces, it would be difficult to resolve the battle quickly.

Once the camp is not taken within a short time, two Japanese infantry battalions stationed near Pingyao County would arrive to provide support.

At that point, retreating would become very difficult.

However, these six hundred men of the New First Regiment are different.

They are a one-of-a-kind elite force!

Beyond the MP40 submachine guns and M1 Garand rifles carried by the regular soldiers, the assault teams responsible for clearing the outer defenses have brought a total of 30 RPG rocket launchers.

To bolster their firepower even further, Li Yunlong has even gone to the extreme of bringing in 40 M2 60mm mortars.

This American mortar, modeled after the French Brandt, is shockingly light, weighing only 19 kilograms.

That is half the weight of an M2 Browning heavy machine gun!

It is simply absurd!

With this hardware, the Japanese grenade launchers can finally retire.

Possessing such overwhelming firepower, Li Yunlong doesn't need to consider any fancy assassination tactics.

He will simply use raw firepower to blast his way through!

"There is one more thing!" Zhang Dabiao said, clearly puzzled. "I just noticed that the other two camps are currently transporting their prisoners to our camp."

"Commander, what in the world are those bastards up to?"

Hearing this unexpected development, Li Yunlong was also surprised.

However, time is of the essence, and he has no time to investigate further.

"Forget it. No matter what tricks those devils are playing, I am determined to take this camp!"

"Dabiao, tell the brothers to prepare to move out after dark!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

Inside the prisoner-of-war camp.

Two Japanese soldiers in mustard-colored uniforms approached, each pushing a small cart.

The front cart was loaded with several large buckets of thick rice porridge, and the rear one was filled with sweet potatoes and white potatoes.

Seeing this, Xu Hu (from the TV series *Snow Leopard*) looked pleased and whispered to the young man beside him.

"Commander, it’s really bizarre!"

"For the past two days, the devils have been giving us sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, and the rice porridge is no longer thin and watery."

"There’s even a bit of minced meat in it."

"Do you think the devils are planning to abide by the Geneva Convention?"

All along, the Japanese have never treated captured Chinese soldiers as human beings.

They eat less than chickens every day while working harder than donkeys.

Long-term starvation combined with heavy physical labor meant that many people simply never woke up after lying down to sleep.

Zhou Weiguo (from the TV series *Snow Leopard*) shook his head in disdain.

"Huzi, if you're counting on the Japanese to find their conscience, you might as well count on the sun rising in the west."

"When things are abnormal, there must be a sinister reason behind it."

Zhou Weiguo, originally named Zhou Wen, is a native of Shanghai.

After graduating from the Berlin Military Academy in Germany, he returned to China to participate in the Battle of Shanghai.

After the defeat in Shanghai, he was supposed to be sent to the Battle of Nanjing, but on the way, he was diverted by Chiang Kai-shek to support Yan Xishan.

During the Battle of Taiyuan, he was knocked unconscious by Japanese heavy artillery.

When he woke up, he had already been captured by the Japanese.

Fortunately, his bodyguard, Xu Hu, was quick-witted and had helped him change into the uniform of a common soldier.

Otherwise, Zhou Weiguo would have been in terrible trouble if his identity as an officer had been discovered.

From the moment they stepped into the Japanese camp, Zhou Weiguo and Xu Hu had been racking their brains, searching for any opportunity to escape.

But the Japanese deployments were exceptionally tight.

Every gap was guarded by devils holding guns, and there were machine guns covering the walls.

Zhou Weiguo could not find a single chance to break free.

Time passed day by day.

Just as they were falling into despair, things changed starting the night before last.

They were actually given extra food, and they were no longer forced to go out to work.

Facing this sudden "good fortune," Zhou Weiguo felt no joy at all.

Based on his understanding of the Japanese, these bastards would never show kindness for no reason.

Consequently, Zhou Weiguo devised a plan. He feigned a look of desperate hunger and intentionally leaned close to the prison gate.

He was the first to reach out with his broken bowl.

The Japanese soldier in charge of distributing food not only didn't get angry, but unexpectedly ladled a full scoop of rice porridge into his bowl.

However, at that very moment, Zhou Weiguo keenly caught the strange look in the Japanese soldier’s eyes as he stared at them.

That gaze was like looking at a group of pigs and dogs about to be sent to the slaughterhouse—merciless and mocking.

Immediately after, the Japanese soldier grabbed two sweet potatoes from the cart behind him and dropped them into Zhou Weiguo’s bowl.

Then, he chuckled maliciously in his native tongue: "Eat, eat, eat as much as you want..."

"Chinese pig, only when you are full will you have the strength to go to your deaths!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Weiguo felt a jolt in his heart, and his pupils constricted.

Just as I expected, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

This is a "last meal for the condemned"!

A last meal is what a prisoner on death row receives before execution.

It is usually quite hearty. After all, no one argues with a dead man!

Wait!

Zhou Weiguo shook his head slightly.

Even if it were a last meal, the Japanese wouldn't have kept them well-fed and idle for two consecutive days.

There must be some other intention!

Thinking of this, Zhou Weiguo narrowed his eyes and immediately signaled to Xu Hu.

"Huzi, I’m afraid the Japanese are about to make their move against us!"

"Delay will only lead to trouble. We must act tonight!"

"Otherwise, we won't have a single chance left!"

Xu Hu glanced outside the prison gate and whispered.