Chapter 524 The courtyard at the foot of the mountain
The sun rises
In a remote mountain forest, more than a dozen Japanese soldiers in ragged clothes were fleeing in confusion.
The leader was an old Japanese soldier in his fifties. He was none other than the commander of the 108th Division, Torajiro Iwai, who had been taken to his lair by the Ninth Battalion, and his group of guards.
Originally, Torajiro Iwai wanted to run south and meet up with the 240th Regiment, but the Chinese people behind him were chasing after them as if they were beaten to death. Torajiro Iwai had to flee while constantly sending people.
In the rear of the palace, there were originally about a hundred people, but now there are only a dozen or so people left.
One night passed, and Torajiro Iwai and his party were not only lost, but their bodies were almost at their limit. Everyone was tired and hungry. If they couldn't find anything to eat, Torajiro Iwai doubted that he might even survive today.
Don't go there.
Looking at the newly promoted people, Torajiro Iwai asked the chief of staff on the side: "Kobori-kun, where are we now?"
Kohori swallowed hard and moistened his throat, which was as dry as if it had been cut by a blade. After determining the position in front of the rising sun, he calculated silently in his mind and then said in a hoarse voice:
"Your Excellency, based on the direction, route and location we traveled yesterday, we should now be in the Tuojing Mountain area to the west of the Taihang Ridge. More than a hundred miles to the north is Pingan County, and more than eighty miles to the west is the Sixth Division. To the west is the Sixth Division.
A few dozen miles to the south is the 240th Regiment. I don't know where we should go now. Could you please give me some advice?"
Needless to say where to go, Ping'an County is where Gangcun Neiji's headquarters is located. If you go there, you will probably be arrested by the military police as soon as you arrive and sent to the mainland to be tried by a military court, right?
To the west is the location of the Sixth Division. If he, the dignified commander of the 108th Division, really sought refuge on the territory of the Sixth Division, this shame would probably stay with him for the rest of his life.
Torajiro Iwai pointed south without thinking, "Go and join the 240th Regiment. Even if I die, I will die with my subordinates."
"Hi!"
The group of people followed the direction of Torajiro Iwai and walked towards the south. More than half an hour later, they finally walked out of the woods and arrived at the foot of a mountain, and a small courtyard with an earth and stone structure appeared in their sight.
"Look... there's a yard there!"
"Hurry... hurry over. The chimney in that yard is still smoking. There must be someone inside."
"Amaterasu, we are finally saved."
When a group of people saw this small courtyard that they had never paid attention to on weekdays, everyone including Torajiro Iwai was so excited that tears filled their eyes, because having someone there meant that they had food and they could finally fill it up.
I'm full.
When a group of people stumbled to the door, the door opened, and a slim girl with a big braid came out carrying a basin of water. When she looked up, she saw more than a dozen ragged people.
Japanese soldier.
"Bang..."
The wooden basin fell heavily to the ground, and the water in it was spread all over the floor. The girl didn't care about the wooden basin anymore. She was so frightened that she ran back, shouting as she ran: "Grandpa...grandpa...
…The Japanese are coming.”
Seeing this young girl who turned pale with fright, Iwai Torajiro and his group seemed to have regained their confidence after being chased all night and almost being frightened.
Several guards immediately shouted: "Yo Xi... it's the flower girl!"
Iwai Torajiro stroked his beard and pretended to be calm and shouted into the courtyard: "Flower girl, don't be afraid. We are the Imperial Army of Japan and we are here to help you build the Imperial Paradise."
As a division commander, Torajiro Iwai still wanted to show off, but the guards next to him didn't care so much and just kicked in the door with their rifles.
When they entered the courtyard, they saw an old man with tattered clothes and a gray beard walking out of it, nodding and bowing to Torajiro Iwai and others, "Dear princes, we are all good citizens and have never done anything bad.
"
As the second-in-command, Kohori Akira directly raised his eyes and asked: "Old man... have you found anyone from the Eighth Route Army or the Liantai Militia here?"
"No...absolutely not." The old man's head shook like a rattle.
"Taijun... my granddaughter and I are the only ones left in our family to depend on each other. Our whole family is a great and good citizen."
"Yoshi."
Iwai Torajiro nodded, and he looked around the yard. The entire yard could almost be described as a bare house. Except for a few animal skins and a few strings of dried chili peppers hanging under the eaves, there was nothing.
Such a family is also very consistent with Torajiro Iwai's impression of Chinese people.
He put the Nanbu pistol in his hand back into the holster on his waist and patted the old man on the shoulder, "Old man... you don't have to be afraid. Our imperial army will never bully good people. We are here to help you build an imperial paradise."
drop."
"Yes Yes Yes……"
The old man kept nodding and bowing, his waist almost bent at a right angle, and the charming smile on his face never stopped.
Seeing that Torajiro Iwai was still pretentious, Kohori Akira, the chief of staff, couldn't help it. He said with a straight face: "Old man... we have been gone for a day, why don't you go in and light the fire to cook?
Is this how you welcome the imperial army?"
"Oh...yes, yes...look at me...I'm so busy talking, I actually forgot that the imperial army is hungry, Yingzi...what are you still doing? Why don't you hurry up and cook? You really don't have any eyesight."
No."
After being scolded by the old man, the young girl said belatedly and ran towards the house.
The old man welcomed Torajiro Iwai and his party into the house, asked them to sit down, and began to serve them tea and water. He was so respectful that even the most picky Japanese would find it difficult to find fault with them.
The girl's hands and feet were also extremely agile, and it didn't take long for a steaming meal to be ready. In order to entertain Torajiro Iwai and his party, the grandfather and grandson even took out the preserved bacon to entertain them.
Although even so, this meal still seemed a bit crude to Torajiro Iwai, but for Torajiro Iwai and his party, who had been running all night, this meal was no different from the delicacies of the mountains and seas. The group of more than ten people ate it with smiles.
.
Torajiro Iwai, who had finished three bowls of grain rice in a row, patted the old man on the shoulder, "Old man, you have a great conscience. I will reward you well when I get back."
"Your Majesty, thank you...it's our honor to serve you." The old man was still nodding and bowing, his wrinkled old face smiling so hard that he couldn't even see his eyes.
Just when Torajiro Iwai was satisfied, he turned to the eldest girl standing next to the old man who timidly looked at him secretly, with a sly smile on his face and was about to say something, he suddenly found that his eyes were a little blurry, and the eldest girl in front of him was slowly
Slowly turned into a ghost.
"not good!"
As soon as this thought came into his mind, his body tilted to the side uncontrollably, and his whole body slowly slid to the ground.