Chapter 121: The Cunning Japanese Wolves

  The scouting party sent by Matsushita Nagayoshi was very experienced. As they entered this relatively open ambush route, they became cautious and each person used the binoculars in their hands to search the woods and hills on both sides while walking. Their formation was also professional: two people in front, then two mules, behind the mules were three people, followed by more mules... The distance between the two people at the front and back was a certain distance apart.

  The iron horseshoes of the mule horse stepped on the gravel and made a crisp sound, Dong Li Mao, who was hiding in the bushes, could hear clearly, but he couldn't lift his head to observe. Judging only from the hoofbeats he heard, he estimated that this was the vanguard scouting party of the Japanese army, which means that as long as the vanguard scouting party didn't discover any suspicious situation, the main force behind would appear in the ambush circle.

  Dong Li Mao's body was tightly pressed against the bushes and grass, intently listening to the sound of hooves and footsteps on the road. He didn't want to hear those footsteps stop, as long as he could still hear them walking, it meant that the little devils hadn't discovered anything suspicious. But if he couldn't hear their footsteps, and they stopped in their tracks, that would be quite ominous.

  Dong Li Mao urged in his heart 'Hurry up! Hurry up...... Mustn't stop......' His whole body was tense with sweat.

  Beside him, Hu San turned his head to look at Dong Li Mao, waiting for the company commander's order. His right hand tightly gripped the charge horn, his heart racing with excitement, thinking that they were about to ambush the enemy on the road. He found it strange that the company commander had not given the order yet, and he wanted to ask but didn't dare, so he could only endure, feeling anxious in his heart.

  Matsushita Nagaki dispatched a vanguard reconnaissance team, carrying walkie-talkies. As soon as they discovered any suspicious situation, they would immediately notify the main force one or two kilometers behind them. Almost everyone had binoculars in hand, and they looked around at both sides and the mountains ahead while walking. As a reconnaissance vanguard, they were very professional. Generally, in this narrow strip of land, ambushes were laid during the day, and the forests on both sides of the mountain were the best places for an ambush. The possibility of close-range ambushes could almost be ruled out, so they mainly observed the forests on both sides and ahead, looking extremely carefully, not missing any lush big trees that could provide cover. Even if there was wind blowing or leaves rustling, they would immediately become alert and use their binoculars to carefully check what was happening. Therefore, more than a dozen people entered this narrow open area and slowed down their pace.

  Everyone has shortcomings and makes mistakes.

  Maybe it's because they've had a smooth journey all the way from Myanmar, or maybe they're just too tired, so exhausted that they don't even want to walk a few steps into the bushes on either side.

  The vanguard reconnaissance team of a dozen or so people sent by Matsushita Nagataka made a big mistake, that is, they didn't explore the thickets on both sides, but only looked at whether there were ambushes in the woods on both sides and in front. If one of them had walked a few steps into the thickets on both sides, then Dong Li Mao's carefully designed ambush would have ended in vain.

  The position where the special agent soldiers were ambushing was only a dozen steps away from the roadside, which was not only restricted by geographical conditions but also due to Dong Li Mao's prior intention of close combat.

  What if Dong Li Mao and his men were hiding in the woods on the mountain instead of the bushes by the road? Thinking small, the special forces would have suffered heavy casualties or been wiped out by the wild wolf daredevil squad led by Song Xiaogui. Thinking big, that would mean the Japanese army's vanguard daredevil squad had occupied the Huitong Bridge, and the main force of the Japanese army from Myanmar quickly passed through the Nujiang Canyon, advancing towards Baoshan and Dali all the way to Kunming, which would have rewritten history.

  When people are in adversity, they often complain that heaven is unfair. In fact, heaven is still very fair, and at critical moments, it always leans towards the side of justice. History has proven that no matter what kind of war, the ultimate victory always belongs to the just side.

  The footsteps on the road were slow, but they seemed to be getting farther and farther away. Dong Li Mao could tell from the sound of the footsteps that they appeared to be quickening their pace.

  In Dong Li Mao's heart, he let out a long sigh of relief, just as he thought the advance scouting party hadn't discovered the ambush here, when suddenly he heard shouting voices, and his heart which had just been put at ease was lifted up again.

  The shout also made the ambushing special agents and soldiers tense up, especially Zhang Dali, who almost couldn't help but open fire.

  When the Japanese scouting vanguard arrived at Zhang Dali's ambush position, a mule couldn't resist the temptation of the green grass by the roadside and left the team. Despite wearing a dragon suite (a rope harness that horse handlers put on mules to prevent them from eating grass along the way), this mule still wanted to try to nibble on some green grass. The clump of grass was just a few steps ahead of Zhang Dali, by the roadside. As the mule lowered its head and walked up to the grass, the person following behind it immediately shouted out loud. He was shouting at the mule, but his shout alerted more than a dozen people in the scouting vanguard, who stopped in their tracks. When they realized it was a false alarm, someone who seemed to be the leader hastily walked up to the person who had shouted at the mule and slapped him on the ear, then muttered a curse under his breath: "Baga..."

  The man who was shouting at the mule seemed to have realized his mistake, pulled in his legs, hung his head and responded with a "yes".

  All of this was seen by Zhang Dali through the gaps in the bushes. Just as the man shouting at the mule rushed to its side, his hand had already reached into the trigger of the machine gun, thinking he had been exposed and preparing to shoot the man shouting at the mule. But Zhang Dali, who usually acted quickly, restrained himself for a few seconds this time because he was someone who listened carefully to Dong Limao's orders. In those few seconds, he remembered what Dong Limao had said: no one could act arbitrarily before the charge was sounded. This military style of following orders at all times played a crucial role at that critical moment.

  Dong Li Mao's palms were sweating, and when he heard the footsteps again, he relaxed his clenched fists. He didn't know what had just happened, but fortunately, it was a false alarm.

  The Japanese army's advance scouting party quickened their pace after crossing the narrow open area, soon disappearing into the mountain path at the front intersection.

  Matsumoto Nagayoshi's Wolf Corps, under the scorching sun in the afternoon, slowly climbed up the mountain, everyone was so tired that they almost closed their eyes. They had not slept for a day and night, originally planning to rest in Mengga Village, letting people and horses take a good break, and then set off again after dark when the weather cooled down. However, an unexpected conflict broke out in the village, although the victorious side was them, this also brought trouble to them, worrying that some villagers might escape to seek help from the army, so Matsumoto Nagayoshi decisively ordered to continue on their way.

  No matter how brave and daring the dare-to-die corps were, they were still human, and could not withstand the torment of fatigue and exhaustion. Almost everyone took off their jackets and trousers, walking with just their undershirts on, not wanting to carry anything heavy on them. When a person felt that even the clothes on his body were a burden, he could do nothing but rely on his willpower to mechanically move his legs forward, and naturally had no strength left to shoulder his gun.

  Not only light and heavy weapons, but even dry rations and drinking water were all loaded onto the mules. Some people even held up wild banana leaves above their heads to block out the sun or fan themselves.

  Wild wolves are so scary because they are one of the most cunning and sensitive-smelling animals in the animal kingdom.

  Matsushita Nagataka is more terrifying than a wolf.

  As his footsteps entered the entrance of this narrow strip where Dong and Li Mao were ambushing, he seemed to have smelled the danger and stopped cautiously at the side of the road, staring intently at the open space two or three hundred meters long. A person beside him asked: "Lieutenant Colonel, do you suspect there is an ambush here?"

  Matsumoto Nagataka didn't answer, and climbed up a towering boulder by the side of the road, using binoculars to look into the woods on both sides. The person who spoke also followed him up the boulder, looked through the binoculars for a while, put them down and laughed, saying: "Captain, you're being too cautious! If there's an ambush, our vanguard would have discovered it long ago. It's impossible for the Chinese army to set up an ambush here. We've been advancing smoothly since we entered China, which means that the Chinese intelligence agency has no idea about the existence of our Wolf Special Forces, codenamed '穿山甲'!"

  Matsushita Nagaki carefully observed with binoculars and said: "Things are going too smoothly, it's not necessarily a good thing!"

  "Ah...... isn't this great? In a few more hours, we'll be able to make it to the Huitong Bridge." The speaker seemed to have seen victory in front of them and said with optimism.

  "Anything can happen before we reach our destination!" Shōsuke Matsushita put down the binoculars and let out a long sigh, saying: "If the Chinese army has set up an ambush with just one company, we're probably all going to end up buried here!"

  "Haha……But the fact is that the commander of the Chinese army, without Lieutenant Colonel, you are wise. With the protection of the Emperor, our Great Japanese Imperial Army will be able to cross the Nujiang Canyon smoothly if we hold on to the Huitong Bridge!"

  Matsumoto Nagakazu snorted and said: "Order the troops behind to halt their advance!"

  "Halt the advance? Lieutenant Colonel, are you having the troops rest here?" The person beside Matsushita Nagayoshi asked, looking at the men and horses that had already entered the narrow strip of land.

  "Let the ones in front go first, and the ones in back wait for a while." Matsushita Nagahisa was indeed a mountain warfare commander: "There's an old Chinese saying, 'A careful sailor can sail for ten thousand years.' The closer we are to victory, the more cautious we should be! This is really a great place for an ambush! Ikeda-kun, look at this terrain - narrow at both ends and wide in the middle. If the enemy sets up an ambush here, attacks from both sides, and places a few machine guns on the surrounding hills, we'll be in a tight spot!"

  The person calling out to Inoue then asked: "Should we have the troops in the rear get ready for battle?"

  Matsushita Chōka hesitated for a moment, then gave up his intention to prepare for battle: "No need, if there's an ambush, they should have made their move by now." He gazed at the front half of the troops that had entered the narrow strip, with over 200 men about to exit from the mountain pass on the opposite side.

  "Captain's orders! Men and horses in the rear, halt your advance for now! Stand by where you are!" The words had barely fallen when a bugle call to charge suddenly rang out.