allonlinenovel Chapter 1196 You Can't Escape
Chapter 1196 You Can't Escape
The explosion behind them rang out with a deafening roar, and a scorching blast of air, carrying debris, swept over them. Smoke and dust instantly engulfed half of the alley, temporarily slowing down the Japanese army's pursuit.
"We can't linger! The main Japanese force could close in at any moment!" Chen Gongshu pulled Qi Anzhi forward, his voice filled with blood and urgency.
Just then, Lan Zichun suddenly stopped, turned around, picked up his pistol, and fired three shots at the corner of the alley, accurately knocking down two Japanese scouts who had shown their faces.
"Station Chief Chen, Lao Zhao, you take your men and go first!" Lan Zichun's voice was as steady as iron. His gaze swept over the three surviving brothers of the action team who had also stopped beside him: "I'll stay here with them to cover your retreat and buy you enough time to break through!"
Zhao Guangyuan's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around abruptly: "Zichun! Are you crazy? This alley is in a dangerous location, and the Japanese firepower is fierce. You can't hold it at all! Come with us!"
He knew that covering the rear meant certain death, and Lan Zichun was a key member of the Beiping station and his most trusted brother; he absolutely could not let him perish here.
"There's no time for arguing!" Lan Zichun grinned, his face covered in dust and blood, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light: "Our Beiping station can't afford to lose even its station chief, and the mission to assassinate Wang Kemin can't stop!"
I'll hold them off here. You all hurry and find cover. Stay alive so you can avenge our fallen brothers!
Qi Anzhi stopped, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. He then took out two boxes of Thompson submachine gun magazines from his backpack and tossed them over, telling his team to leave the two machine guns behind: "Brother Lan, take care! We'll be waiting for you at the designated hiding spot. Make sure you rejoin us alive!"
This is not the time for sentimentality. Lan Zichun's decision is the best solution. Only by breaking through as soon as possible can we live up to this sacrifice.
Lan Zichun caught the magazine, nodded vigorously, and then shouted to his three brothers: "Set up a temporary position and block the alley entrance! Set up the machine gun behind the pile of debris, and fire hard when the Japanese charge!"
The three team members responded in unison, deftly setting up their light machine guns and knocking over the pottery jars and wooden crates on both sides of the alley, quickly constructing a makeshift defensive line.
"Let's go!" Chen Gongshu gritted his teeth, finally hardened his heart, turned around, supported the injured Zhao Guangyuan, and signaled Qi Anzhi to lead the way.
He dared not look back. Behind him, the sound of Lan Zichun's pistol and the shouts of the Japanese soldiers were already intertwined, and every gunshot felt like a blow to his heart.
Qi Anzhi grabbed the arm of the imposter Liu Geqing and led the team forward quickly, occasionally turning back to fire his gun to provide weak cover for the others who were covering the rear.
As Lan Zichun watched the figures disappear around the corner of the alley, the last trace of concern in his eyes faded. He then bent down, set up his gun, and aimed it at the direction the Japanese army was pursuing.
The footsteps of the Japanese army grew closer, and the roar of armored vehicles could be clearly heard. He said to his brothers in a deep voice, "Brothers, today we will be loyal to our country and our people. We must stall for time and let the Japanese devils know that we, the Military Intelligence Bureau, are not to be trifled with!"
"Yes!" the three team members answered in unison, their voices not loud, but filled with a resolute determination to die for their cause.
Moments later, the vanguard of the Japanese army had already rushed to the entrance of the alley. Upon seeing the few men who had set up a defensive line, they immediately launched a fierce attack. Dense bullets rained down on the position, hitting the pile of debris with a "thud" sound, and wood chips and gravel flew everywhere.
Lan Zichun remained calm and collected, waiting until the Japanese soldiers were close before pulling the trigger. The gunshots were precise and sharp, each one taking away a Japanese soldier.
The light machine guns beside them opened fire, the "rat-a-tat-tat" sound forming a net of fire that blocked the alley entrance. The Japanese troops were forced to retreat repeatedly and were unable to advance an inch for a time.
Meanwhile, Chen Gongshu and his group had already rushed into another intricate alley.
With his keen battlefield intuition, Qi Anzhi led the group through the houses, avoiding the line of sight of rooftop snipers.
The imposter Liu Geqing staggered as he was dragged, his face filled with terror. Looking at the receding gunfire behind him, he suddenly struggled and cried out, "Let me go! You'll all die!"
We've already laid an ambush ahead; you can't escape! Just surrender!
Qi Anzhi slapped him across the face with his other hand, his eyes icy cold: "Stop talking nonsense! If you dare to shout again, I'll kill you!"
Zhao Guangyuan's face was solemn. He quickened his pace and whispered to Chen Gongshu, "I am familiar with the three alleys ahead. Only the one on the far east side leads to the back alley, where our informant, Lao Hu, is located."
However, the route passes through several residential areas, so be careful of Japanese sentries hiding nearby.
Chen Gongshu nodded and immediately instructed Qi Anzhi to adjust the formation: "The two of you lead the way and check the hidden sentries in the houses."
The two men provided cover from behind, guarding against a Japanese attack from the rear.
The team members immediately sprang into action, nimbly moving between the houses and vigilantly observing the surroundings.
The gunfire from Lan Zichun and the others behind him gradually weakened, with occasional loud explosions. Chen Gongshu's heart sank to the bottom, but he could only force himself to keep moving forward.
He knew that only by successfully breaking through and finding a hiding place could this sacrifice be meaningful.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At dawn the next day, the cold wind, like a knife tempered with ice, swept across the gray bricks and tiles deep in the alley, carrying the chill of the desolate northern suburbs.
The roof tiles, weathered by a century of wind and rain, were already covered with a thin layer of dust and remnants of snow. When the wind blew them up, they mingled with the coal dust and withered leaves on the ground, lashing against the mottled courtyard walls like arrows, making a "whooshing" sound. This sound, mixed with the faint whistles of the Japanese guard towers in the distance, echoed through the empty alleyways, exuding a bone-chilling desolation.
Lan Zichun leaned against a pile of half-withered foxtail grass at the exit of a tunnel, her back pressed tightly against the cold earthen wall, trying to use the slightest bit of shelter to ward off the cold wind.
The coarse bandage on his left arm was already mostly soaked with dark red blood, sticking stickily to his skin. The dull pain deep in the wound drilled up his head along his nerves. Every weak breath pulled at the damaged muscles, and he was in so much pain that beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The beads of sweat, mixed with the soot and dust on his face, slid down his jawline, leaving dirty streaks on his neck. Only his eyes shone with an unyielding light in the dim light.
The rearguard action from last night is still churning in my mind, and the smell of gunpowder seems to still linger in my nose.
The roar of Japanese armored vehicles rolling over the cobblestone road, the shrill shouts of secret agents, and the whooshing sound of bullets piercing the air all intertwine and still echo in my ears.
At that time, the Japanese army and secret agents surrounded the alley from all sides like mad dogs, and the lights pierced the night, illuminating the alley as if it were daytime.
He and the two remaining members of the action team fought desperately to buy time for Chen Gongshu and the others. Bullets rained down on them like a dense storm, scattering countless fragments on the bluestone pavement. Some embedded themselves in the walls, while others grazed past their ears, leaving a scalding sensation.
Finally, using their familiarity with the terrain, they found an abandoned tunnel left by a coal mine owner years ago and escaped. However, the two brothers fell forever under the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley. Their blood seeped into the frozen soil through the cracks in the stone slabs, quickly freezing into dark ice stains in the cold wind.
He remembered how Xiao Li, to cover him, suddenly pushed him aside, but was himself hit in the chest by a burst of bullets, his body slamming heavily against the old locust tree at the alley entrance. Blood instantly stained the trunk red, flowing down the cracked bark and eventually seeping into the cracks of the frozen, hard stone slabs.
Xiao Zhang turned around and fired at the tunnel entrance to draw enemy fire until the last shot rang out, at which point the enemy could no longer keep up with him.
The shadow of that old locust tree still seemed to be right before my eyes. The bloodstains on the ground had long been frozen into dark ice stains by the cold wind, hard and glaring, like a scar that could never be erased.