The Xu Family Courtyard was temporarily selected by the Japanese as a warehouse for storing ammunition and supplies. For the safety of the ammunition, nearby residents had already been evacuated and cleared, which saved Yang Ling and the others a lot of trouble.
Zhuqi Heigu took the remaining thirty-odd Japanese soldiers and divided them into two groups, guarding the front yard and the back yard respectively. Facing Yang Ling and others who lacked heavy weapons, the defense line was impregnable.
But Yang Ling would not give the Japs a chance to survive. His purpose in coming to Ruichang this time was to take away the Japs' arms and supplies warehouse and cut off the Japs' logistical supplies on the Minshan frontier.
Although Zhuqi Heigu relied on the ferocious firepower of the courtyard to suppress the attacking troops, but now that Yang Ling was here, he had no intention of going back empty-handed.
Wang Huzi and others were ordered to look for fire starters. Although Ruichang is a county town, the fuel used by residents for cooking is still traditional firewood, which is piled up in every courtyard.
So Wang Huzi and the others quickly brought back large bundles of firewood, and at the same time, they also brought back gasoline from the fuel tank of the captured Japanese tricycle.
"Vice-General, where should we start burning?" Wang Huzi looked at the Xu family courtyard wall that was riddled with holes, and asked Yang Ling for instructions.
Yang Ling pointed his hand towards the houses on both sides of the Xu family compound: "Start lighting fires at the houses on both sides. Pile more firewood. We are going to burn the Japanese on fire today."
Wang Huzi looked at the Japanese soldiers who shot out from time to time along the shooting holes, and said with a ferocious smile: "Yes!"
The Xu Family Courtyard is not a separate courtyard, but is connected with many residential buildings. As long as the houses on both sides burn down, the Xu Family Courtyard will also be affected and burned.
The Japanese soldiers huddled in the courtyard seem to be safe now, but once the fire breaks out, this small courtyard will become their nightmare. Even if it is not burned to death, it will be smoked to death.
Wang Huzi and the others moved bundles of firewood into the adjacent house in the Xu family compound and piled them up, and soon they were full of firewood.
Several Japanese soldiers who were responsible for guarding the walls on both sides of the courtyard also heard the movement behind the wall, but they did not dare to climb up the ladder and look up. There were machine guns watching from the high roof. They looked at each other, grabbed a few grenades, and fired them on their helmets.
Knocked, raised his hand and threw it to the yard opposite the wall.
Several brothers were excitedly holding firewood and piling it under the courtyard wall. Suddenly they heard the sound of rolling behind them. They turned around and saw several black grenades bouncing to the ground among the rubble.
"Damn it, it's a wall mine, get down!"
When a veteran squad leader saw the black grenade rolling to his feet, he felt like he was dead. He picked up the grenade and threw it back.
Several brothers holding firewood also reacted very quickly and threw themselves to the ground in the opposite direction.
"Boom!"
Amidst the deafening tremors, the scorching air waves carried the overwhelming bricks and rubble, burying these brothers in a cloud of dust.
The grenade that was picked up and thrown back by the veteran squad leader also exploded at the top of the wall. Two layers of masonry at the top of the wall were cut off by the explosion, and the shattered bricks and mud flew everywhere, causing several Japanese soldiers behind the wall to flee in panic.
.
A platoon leader heard a sudden explosion in the courtyard, and rushed into the smoke-filled courtyard with several brothers with guns, shouting: "What's going on?!"
The veteran squad leader shook his head, and a large piece of floating soil fell. He coughed and cursed in the smoke: "Damn it, the little devil threw a few thunders over, and almost met the Lord of Hell."
Seeing that the veteran squad leader was okay, the platoon leader hurriedly waved to the brothers behind him to dig out the other brothers from the shattered rubble.
Fortunately, they reacted quickly. Except for one who was stunned and had a blood groove caused by the explosion, the others were all safe even though their faces were covered in dust.
"Stop dawdling, light a fire quickly and burn the idiot to death." Seeing that the brothers were fine, the platoon leader ordered the fire to be lit.
The veteran squad leader took out the match box from his arms, struck it hard, and a flame burst out, and then threw it viciously at the firewood.
In order to fuel the fire, gasoline was poured on the firewood. When it encountered sparks, it ignited, and the flames that were ten feet high burst into flames. The blazing flames made the brothers step back uncontrollably.
"Stop looking and let him burn himself."
The platoon leader took the brothers out of the yard. There were enemy weapons next door, and they didn't want to be buried with the enemy.
The flames spread quickly along the firewood, and the beep-beep-beep sound made the Japanese hiding behind the wall puzzled. They couldn't help but throw a few more grenades behind the wall.
The grenade exploded with a rumble, shaking the tiles on the roof and falling, and the dust stirred like a waterfall, but the burning sound of the beeping beeping did not diminish, but became clearer.
Until the flames spread and expanded, jumping along the base of the wall and onto the top of the wall. In the firelight, the tired faces of the Japanese became clear.
"The Chinese are lighting a fire!"
The situation was quickly reported to squadron leader Takeki Kurotani, who was smug with a reply from brigade commander Maruyama Masao. As long as Ruichang and the arsenal were defended, he would be the hero of the 6th brigade.
"What kind of fire?" Zhuqi Heitani didn't react for a moment, raised his head and asked in confusion.
The Japanese second lieutenant was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He pointed outside anxiously and said: "The Chinese have set fire to the houses on both sides, and the fire is spreading towards us!"
"Nani?!" When Zhuqi Heitani heard this, the smile on his face disappeared. He ran out of the house in three steps and two steps at a time. He looked up just in time to see the flames scurrying on the wall and the billowing flames covering the sky.
Thick smoke.
"Despicable Chinese people!" Looking at the fire, Zhuqi Heitani's eyes were full of anger, and he shouted at the Japanese soldiers in the yard: "Quickly put out the fire!"
Zhuqi Heitani knew very well that once the fire spread, the ammunition stored behind them would be enough to blow them into ashes without the need for the Chinese army to attack.
The Japs in the yard also realized the seriousness of the problem. Even the wounded soldiers took action and rushed to the water tanks one after another, scooping water from wooden basins to put out the fire. The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
However, their efforts did not extinguish the spreading fire. Instead, the fire grew bigger and bigger, covering the walls on both sides and starting to burn to the beams. The faces of the Japanese were reddened by the hot air waves.
Yang Ling and the others had enough time to hide in the distance and watch the roaring fire burning. The houses on both sides were constantly collapsing in the raging fire, and even the air was boiling hot.
"Now the little devil is going through a lot. If you want to be a coward, there is no way." Wang Huzi wiped the sweat from the barbecue and laughed while looking at the yard filled with black smoke.
The heat wave hitting his face made the Japanese squadron leader Zhuqi Kurotani's heart sink to the lowest point. Looking at the flames that couldn't stop scurrying around, he really wanted to strangle the person who set the fire.
But now for the sake of the ammunition depot behind them, and for them to survive until reinforcements arrived, he had to order people to push the tied-up security battalion commander Meng Fanggang onto the wall.
Zhang Heizi and others who survived the security camp were busy running back and forth to assist Yang Ling and others in setting fire to the Japanese. When they suddenly saw Meng Fanggang being pushed to the wall, they were dumbfounded.
"yes, Sir!"
"The one on the wall is our battalion commander!"
Meng Fanggang, a burly and resolute man, went on a hunger strike to resist the Japanese's attempt to surrender. He looked haggard and exhausted after not eating or drinking for two days.
At this moment, the Japanese were pushed against the wall with bayonets on their arms. The soldiers in the security camp stopped carrying firewood and shouted towards the wall.
"People outside, listen, surrender quickly and put out the fire, otherwise your battalion commander Meng Fanggang's life will be at stake!" Chairman Zhou Fulu poked half of his head out from behind the wall and shouted loudly toward the outside.
At this moment, Zhuqi Heigu, who was huddled in the courtyard, thought that the mutiny in the security camp and the sudden attack by Yang Ling and others were colluded in advance, so he launched Meng Fanggang as a threat.
But as everyone knows, Yang Ling and the others actually have nothing to do with the security camp. Everything is just a coincidence. Now fighting them together is just to deal with a common enemy.
"Machine gunner, knock out the shouter!"
Wang Huzi didn't know Meng Fanggang at all. He didn't care about his life or death. Killing the Japanese was more important. He raised his head and shouted to the machine gun team on the roof.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot, that's our battalion commander on the wall!" When Zhang Heizi saw that the machine gunner was about to shoot, he immediately became anxious and shouted hurriedly.