Chapter 083: Determining the Direction of the Breakthrough

  Tai Li said on the way back to the house with Dong Li Mao: "Dong Lian Chang, your appearance of carrying a rocket launcher and roaring just now was really too scary!"

  "Is it? I'm not a monster, what's scary about that." Dong Limao laughed and replied.

  "You make me feel that there's something more terrifying than a beast emanating from you, like... uh... like a raging lion ready to tear its opponent apart at any moment, and like a hungry wolf preparing to pounce on its prey. Anyway, your body is full of the ferocity of various beasts." Teri smiled, she also didn't know how to describe Dong Li Mao's state at that time, the kind of desperate fighting spirit that emanated from him, where it was either you die or I live. As a woman, she liked this beast-like nature in men, and as a white woman, she could feel this masculine instinct even more with her sixth sense.

  "Haha... This is what they call fearlessness! What's wrong with the general? He's also a living person, no different from me! So I'm not afraid."

  "Fearless ones have no fear......" Taili repeated this sentence over and over again, as if she couldn't quite grasp its meaning.

  "Miss Tilney, go to sleep for a while, later you might not be able to sleep even if you want to." Dong Li Mao said to Elizabeth Tilney as he walked to the door of the house.

  "The Fifth Army is in the south, while we are in the north, with a primitive forest separating us. Tell me, Commander Dong, how do you plan to lead us to the headquarters of the Fifth Army?" Taire asked before leaving.

  This was exactly what Dong Limao was most worried about. He stared at Tai Li for a while, thinking: How did Grandpa Taigong lead them out of the encirclement back then?

  "Dong Lianchang..." Tairi saw Dong Li Mao staring at herself without responding, and called out again.

  "Ah...... there must be a way, heaven won't cut off all roads for men!" Dong Limao said, shouting to Hu San: "Little Huzi! Get several platoon leaders and Gou instructors to come here! Then get us some British canned goods."

  After everyone arrived, Dong Li Mao said: "At present, we have injured twenty-three brothers. I've checked and they are all lightly wounded, there's no problem with participating in the breakout battle. The question is, which direction should we break out from? Let's hear your thoughts."

  Hu San carried a box of canned goods looted from the British military armored warehouse, using his army knife to open each one and hand them out to everyone.

  Zhao Yong spoke first: "Breaking out of the encirclement is a matter of speed, we can't get entangled with the devils. After tearing open a gap, quickly shake off the devils' pursuit. This point, relying solely on the combat strength of our special operations unit, is not difficult to achieve. However, we have to consider several hundred unarmed journalists and missionaries. In this case, it's likely very hard to rapidly break out of the encirclement."

  "Commander Zhu, for the sake of the British devils, has lost his life here. We can't let more brothers take risks for this group of ungrateful foreigners. In my opinion, we'd better not bother with them and make a break for it ourselves!" Wang Jiagui said indignantly.

  He glared at Wang Jia Gui, who was very displeased with his selfish behavior. He took over the conversation and said: "I'm announcing an appointment. The position of deputy company commander will be temporarily taken by Zhao Yong, who will also serve as the leader of the main attack platoon. Does anyone have any objections?" After scanning everyone's faces and seeing no one speak up, he continued: "Since no one is speaking, that means you all agree. I'm appointing a deputy company commander at this time because I'm considering the well-being of our entire company. Our special operations company is a collective organization, after all. We can't let all our brothers be stuck in grief over losing Deputy Commander Zhu at such a critical moment. This isn't the time to think about taking revenge on the Japanese devils or competing with the British. Instead, we should be thinking of ways to escape alive. Why are we fighting against the Japanese devils? Isn't it because we don't want them to bully our brothers, sisters, parents, and fellow countrymen? The journalists and missionaries may mostly be foreigners, but they're innocent just like our compatriots. Can you bear to leave them to be slaughtered by the Japanese devils? As soldiers, our duty is to protect the weak and uphold justice. Everything we do now will be remembered for a long time to come, even after we've all died. The descendants of these foreigners will still remember that we didn't abandon their ancestors today! If anyone among you dares to say anything about abandoning them and escaping on your own in front of me again, I'll make sure they can leave the special operations company right now! We don't need cowards who only think of saving themselves and don't care about others' lives!"

  Dong Li Mao's words made Wang Jia Gui lower his head and stop making a sound.

  After a moment of silence, Gou Hao broke the dull atmosphere: "In my opinion, we can break through from the direction of the primeval forest and use the forest as cover. The little devils won't be able to do anything to us!"

  "But have you thought about the old, young and women among those journalists? They can't run or walk like us." Dong Li Mao had thought of it, but considering that it was not just a breakout of over 100 special agents, he ruled out this direction.

  "Otherwise, let's break through in the direction of the highway." Zhao Yong looked at the map and said: "Now we have a car, as long as we can rush out of the Japanese army's encirclement, keep driving forward, two hundred kilometers away is the 66th Army, where we will replenish fuel and ammunition, and then head towards the 5th Army's barracks. It's estimated that it will take one day and one night to send them to the military department."

  "But this position is where the devils are defending the strongest, we're afraid it's very difficult to break through the devil's defense line." Zhang Dalie shook his head in denial.

  Dong Li Mao was intently studying the map, he had also considered breaking through in the direction of the highway, but was worried about the dense defense of the Japanese army at this location. However, with the addition of armed jeeps and rocket launchers, they now had enough firepower to break through the tank formation, it wasn't impossible. The question was how to ensure the safety of the journalists and missionaries on the truck.

  "Except for this road, we really can't find a faster breakthrough." Dong Li Mao slapped his palm on the map and said: "As the saying goes, the more dangerous the place is, the safer it is! Those little devils may not have thought that we would break through from this direction!"

  "The key is timing!" Zhao Yong was indeed a seasoned commander, and with one sentence, he solved the problem that Dong Li Mao had been unable to figure out.

  "That's right! The key is the timing!" Dong Li Mao suddenly became clear-headed: "The new 38th Division will launch an attack from the opposite bank of the river at midnight, which will attract some devils to move towards the riverbank, including heavy weapons that will gather towards the riverbank. And we just need to choose the right moment to break through the devil's defense line on the highway! Zhao Yong, what do you think is the most suitable time after the battle starts?"

  Zhao Yong stroked his chin with his right hand, thought for a moment and said: "After the breakout battle starts, let's see how strong the new 38th Division's offensive firepower is. If the riverbank is not a feint but a main attack, then within two hours, the Japanese army should be able to gather its defenses from other directions to provide support."

  "I can be sure that the new 38th division indeed took the riverbank as the main direction of attack, and with the cooperation of the British armored regiment in front, quickly captured the Japanese position on the riverbank, and then rapidly expanded to both sides, blocking the Japanese on both sides of the river, forming a safe area for crossing the river. Two days later, more than 7,000 officers and soldiers of the British First Division and Armored Regiment crossed the river and escaped from the encirclement..." Everyone was stunned by Dong Li Mao's words.

  Zhao Yong couldn't help but interrupt Dong Li Mao and asked: "Commander, how did you know the British army could be successfully rescued?"

  Dong Li Mao couldn't explain to them that he knew this from the book "The Burma Expeditionary Force" given by Bai Ruxue, so he scratched his head and replied with a self-deprecating smile: "Hehe... I just think it should be like this."

  Apart from Dong Li Mao, almost no one, including all the British officers and soldiers, believed that a single regiment of the New 38th Division could rescue an entire British division plus an armored regiment from encirclement by a Japanese division. Otherwise, Scott would not have asked Du Yuming to let the Special Service Company help, assigning the task of transferring journalists and missionaries to the Special Service Company.