Chapter 41 What the Hell Do You Mean By That

"Oh?"

A curious expression instantly appeared on Wu Shanhe's face. "The Regiment Commander and I have participated in far too many battles. Which one are you referring to?"

Sun Ting paused for a moment before speaking, "It's the battle that broke out right after Grandpa Ye received a demerit."

Wu Shanhe looked slightly startled upon hearing this. Naturally, he knew about that incident.

"So you're talking about that battle," Wu Shanhe said slowly. "Originally, the Regiment Commander had already received his rehabilitation letter, but the battle broke out right at that moment. I asked the Regiment Commander to send someone to deliver the rehabilitation letter to the command headquarters, but the Regiment Commander refused. Instead, he said this battle was of utmost importance, and not a single person could be spared!"

Initially, many people had doubted what Ye Yuan had said previously about not sending the rehabilitation letter. However, when Wu Shanhe stated this himself, everyone believed it.

Wu Shanhe had once been Ye Yuan's political commissar, and nowadays, he was one of the very few surviving generals of the Dragon Country. An old veteran like Wu Shanhe, who held the same supreme reverence for the revolution, would never talk nonsense just to protect his old comrade-in-arms. Leave alone an old comrade; they wouldn't even cover up for their own biological sons.

"So, could you please tell us more about the details?" Sun Ting looked at Wu Shanhe with anticipation, eagerly wanting to know the outcome of that major battle.

"That was the Battle of Fangxing Pass in 1940."

Sitting on the sofa with a nostalgic look in his eyes, Wu Shanhe spoke softly, "The terrain of Fangxing Pass is complex—easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Japanese devils had occupied the strategic stronghold, and our soldiers suffered heavy casualties while failing to capture the position there time and time again."

Everyone present sat up straight, listening intently to Wu Shanhe's words. Even the viewers in front of their televisions held their breath, making not a sound.

"The fraternal units repeatedly failed to take it, and the Brigade Commander was extremely anxious. At the time, the Regiment Commander and I were with the Brigade Commander. The Brigade Commander asked the Regiment Commander if he could chew through this hard bone. The Regiment Commander patted his chest and said something—guess what he said?"

Wu Shanhe purposely kept them in suspense.

Sun Ting immediately asked out of curiosity, "What did he say?"

Wu Shanhe smiled as he explained, "The Regiment Commander said, 'Chewing through it is no problem, but can we not take any prisoners of war?'"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Sun Ting, but everyone present and the audience in front of their televisions burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha... As expected of Old Hero Ye!"

"This is once bitten, twice shy!"

"Grandpa Ye: Just got disciplined for killing prisoners of war, so I must make this crystal clear."

"To avoid taking prisoners of war, simply don't leave any prisoners of war!"

The chat room was buzzing with lively discussions.

Sun Ting laughed so hard she swayed back and forth, seemingly completely forgetting that they were currently live on air. Once she had laughed enough, she continued, "And then? Please tell us more."

"The Brigade Commander had no other choice," Wu Shanhe spread his hands. "Under those circumstances, apart from our unit, anyone else capable of taking that place would have had to be transferred from other battlefields. But the general offensive was underway at the time, and there simply wasn't time to redeploy troops."

"The Brigade Commander nodded, patted the Regiment Commander's shoulder, and said, 'Then annihilate them completely.'"

Everyone's heart burned with fervor. Was the veteran hero Wu finally going to talk about the details of this battle?

Wu Shanhe sat there, his eyes slightly unfocused, clearly lost in his own memories. Sun Ting did not rush him, simply waiting quietly.

After a few seconds, Wu Shanhe finally spoke, "That battle was almost the most difficult one our Independent Regiment ever participated in."

"What kind of weapons were the Japanese devils using? Type 38 rifles... ah, or what you call the Type 38 'big lids'. If one hit you, it left a huge hole, and the range was long. Inside the blockhouses, Type 92 heavy machine guns would sweep across, cutting down large swaths of men."

"They threw grenades as if they didn't cost money, just like a hailstorm. When we charged forward, we were stepping over the corpses of our compatriots who had fallen on the battlefield during earlier charges!"

As he spoke, pride flashed across Wu Shanhe's face. "But our Independent Regiment's equipment wasn't bad either. Almost everyone had a Type 38 rifle, ammunition was in ample supply, along with four 'crooked-handled' [Type 11 light machine guns] and one 'chicken neck' [Type 92 heavy machine gun]."

"Grandpa Ye's Independent Regiment was equipped that well?"

For the sake of this program, Sun Ting had specifically consulted Sun Weiguo about the weapons used by both sides during the war back then, so she knew how luxurious the equipment mentioned by Wu Shanhe truly was.

"When I first arrived at our Independent Regiment, we were terribly poor. We used Hanyang rifles, which lacked range and lethality, and were always prone to jamming and exploding in the breech."

Wu Shanhe slowly continued, "At that time, the Independent Regiment hadn't been established for very long, but in less than three months, we had rifles, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, and even the Brigade Commander was envious of our regiment's equipment."

This time, Sun Ting did not laugh, because she knew how many battles Grandpa Ye and Grandpa Wu must have fought, and how many brothers must have died, just to obtain all that equipment.

"I remember when I was charging forward, I accidentally tripped and ended up face-to-face with a corpse. It was a young lad, barely over twenty years old, who had died just like that on the battlefield."

Wu Shanhe went on, "I didn't dare to look. There was only one thought in my mind: to take revenge and wipe out the hatred for all the brothers who died on the battlefield!"

"We fought that battle for three hours, and in the end, we literally used grenades to blow up the Japanese devils' blockhouse before we could charge in. I still remember the Japanese commander's name was something like Masao Pinggu."

"When that little Japanese devil was surrounded by us, he was still damned well shouting something about 'Banzai', demanding that we show Bushido spirit and fight him one-on-one with bayonets. The Regiment Commander walked right up, slapped him across the face, and said, 'Banzai your mother's banzai,' before putting a bullet straight through the little devil's head."

The more Wu Shanhe spoke, the more excited he became, even starting to swear. "We people of the Dragon Country have been modest, courteous, and kind since ancient times. But modesty, courtesy, and kindness are how we treat friends. As for invaders and little Japanese devils, we have to make them taste lead!"

"Well said!"

Sun Ting couldn't help shouting in praise. Realizing she had broken composure, she saw that all the audience members at the scene were deeply immersed in Wu Shanhe's story, and only then did she relax.

"And then?" Sun Ting pressed on.

"That was it," Wu Shanhe shrugged. "The enemy force was completely annihilated, not a single prisoner of war was left, and all the captured equipment was used to arm our Independent Regiment. By the end of this battle, our regiment directly gained an artillery platoon."

"But the result... guess what happened next?"