Chapter 43: The Unlucky One, Fire Exchange

Under the pale moonlight, Li Wensheng led Bai Yan and the scholar, pressing themselves tightly against the warehouse wall as they moved forward. On both sides of the warehouse were solid walls, not even a ventilation opening, so the enemy hadn't stationed anyone to guard there.

Soon, Li Wensheng brought his companions to the front of the warehouse. Peering around the corner at the enemy soldiers stationed before the warehouse, a faint smile appeared on Li Wensheng's face. Just as Shi Xiaozhen had anticipated, using dozens of corpses to confuse the enemy had worked—they had fallen right into the trap.

Now, only about twenty enemy soldiers remained in front of the warehouse, far fewer than the numbers observed during the day. “In a moment, I’ll fire first. When you hear commotion from Chief Shi’s side, then step out and start shooting,” Li Wensheng whispered as he turned to his companions. Bai Yan and the scholar nodded quickly.

Seeing their response, Li Wensheng turned back, took a deep breath, then stepped out from the corner and fired rapidly at the enemy soldiers at the entrance.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four shots, each deadly accurate, and four of the enemy fell before Li Wensheng immediately ducked back behind cover. The rest of the enemy had already spun around, raising their rifles. No matter how skilled Li Wensheng was, he had only two hands; if he lingered longer, he’d be killed.

Gunfire erupted by the wall, and then, from behind, came a thunderous explosion!

The blast startled both the enemy soldiers and Li Wensheng himself—he hadn’t expected Shi Xiaozhen’s group to use explosives.

Overcoming his surprise, Li Wensheng turned swiftly, shouting, “Fire!”

Bai Yan and the scholar stepped out instantly, raising their pistols and firing at the enemy soldiers who were rushing back to check the warehouse. The explosion at the rear had thrown the enemy sergeant into confusion; with their leader rattled, the rest of the soldiers followed suit.

Now, as Li Wensheng and his group suddenly opened fire, the enemy soldiers were thrown into disarray—they didn’t know whether to retreat into the warehouse or fight back. Disorganized soldiers were as good as dead, just like when tens of thousands of Nationalist troops were chased by only a few hundred enemy soldiers, each one unsure of what to do except to follow their survival instincts—flee.

Some of the twenty or so enemy soldiers ran for the warehouse, others tried to shoot back. But all they had were Type 38 rifles, which required cycling the bolt after every shot.

Li Wensheng and his companions, armed with pistols, had firepower greater than a dozen enemy riflemen.

After a few exchanges, darting from the cover of the wall, all but a handful who managed to slip into the warehouse were shot down by Li Wensheng’s team. However, among the three of them, someone had been wounded. Li Wensheng glanced at the unfortunate Bai Yan and asked, “Can you hold on?”

Bai Yan, shot in the left shoulder and sweating from pain, replied in a low voice, “I can!”

Li Wensheng nodded slightly, a trace of admiration in his eyes. Female agents trained by the Bureau rarely underwent the grueling endurance training their male counterparts did; most learned seduction or telegraphy. Bai Yan’s ability to endure was already impressive.

At that moment, a fierce exchange of gunfire erupted from within the warehouse. Li Wensheng didn’t dare delay; he immediately led Bai Yan and the scholar, hugging the wall as they moved toward the main entrance.

Once at the door, Li Wensheng peered inside, then quickly ducked back. Just as he did, several bullets struck the wall by the entrance. Several enemy soldiers were posted at the door with rifles—it was impossible to simply walk in.

“I’ll jump out in a moment. As soon as I do, start shooting,” Li Wensheng whispered to his companions. When they nodded, he drew a deep breath and suddenly dashed toward the entrance.

Bullets chased after him, but always a step too slow. The instant shots rang out from inside, Bai Yan and the scholar emerged, firing into the warehouse at the enemy guards.

Li Wensheng reached the other side of the doorway, stopped, spun around, and shot down three enemy soldiers who were just turning their weapons toward Bai Yan and the scholar.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Three shots, three enemies down—the entrance was clear. Li Wensheng dashed inside, reloading as he went. Bai Yan and the scholar followed close behind.

The brightly lit warehouse was enormous, as spacious as a small parade ground. Toward the back, gunfire raged; up front, aside from the bodies just felled by Li Wensheng’s group, there were no other enemy soldiers.

Li Wensheng scanned the warehouse, then led his team deeper in. After covering more than a hundred meters, he saw over a hundred enemy soldiers fanned out in a semicircle, surrounding a mountain of stacked crates.

From behind the crates, the three gun enthusiasts would occasionally pop up and fire, but it was to no avail; the moment a head appeared, a rain of bullets would greet it.

Li Wensheng instantly raised his pistol and fired. Bai Yan and the scholar joined in, and in a matter of moments, over a dozen enemy soldiers fell, but their magazines were empty.

Li Wensheng led his companions to take cover behind another stack of crates. Once hidden, the three quickly reloaded, as a hail of bullets tore into the corner of the crate stack.

“Damn it! Tajima can’t even hold them off for a few minutes!” an angry voice in the local dialect came from outside. Li Wensheng couldn’t help but smile. The enemy commander, just like a master tactician, had foolishly hoped to first stabilize the internal situation and then deal with external threats.

He’d counted on the twenty or so soldiers at the entrance to hold them off while he focused on eliminating Shi Xiaozhen’s group, planning to deal with Li Wensheng’s team afterward. It was a good plan, but it hadn’t occurred to him that the entrance guards would be unable to stop them.

“Do you speak the dialect of the city?” Li Wensheng asked Bai Yan.

“I do—I’m a local,” Bai Yan replied, puzzled.

“Shout out in dialect, count to three in your head, and then we all open fire together.”

Bai Yan understood his intention, a faint smile appearing on her smooth, pale face.

“Chief, count to three in your head and open fire together!” Bai Yan shouted at the top of her lungs. As she finished, the sweat on her brow increased—shouting had aggravated the wound in her shoulder.

As Bai Yan’s voice faded, Li Wensheng silently counted to three, simultaneously pulling a crate from the stack. On the count of three, he hurled the crate out.

Bullets instantly riddled the crate, and as the enemy focused their fire on it, Li Wensheng, Bai Yan, and the scholar darted out and opened fire.

At the same time, Shi Xiaozhen’s group also popped up, firing at the enemy. When their magazines were spent, Li Wensheng and his companions ducked back behind the crates to reload.

“Damn it! Damn it!” came furious shouts from outside. Li Wensheng smiled—they’d learned their lesson. The enemy was growing smarter.

Just as Li Wensheng was about to tell Bai Yan to shout again and count to five before firing, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching. His expression sharpened; he peeked out quickly, then ducked back.

“Fire!” he shouted.

The enemy had split into two teams, simultaneously closing in on his group and Shi Xiaozhen’s. There was no time to coordinate an assault.

Li Wensheng gave the order, and he and his companions immediately leaned out and opened fire. Shi Xiaozhen’s team did the same.

This time, Li Wensheng couldn’t empty his magazine; the enemy, ready and waiting, fired as soon as he appeared. After a few shots and felling several foes, Li Wensheng pulled his companions back into cover.

But someone had been hit this time—once again, it was the unlucky Bai Yan. Li Wensheng glanced at the wound on her right arm and quietly asked, “How is it?”

“I can manage,” Bai Yan replied, biting her lip, though her face had turned pale.

She said she could handle it, but with two bullet wounds, her reflexes were clearly slowing. Li Wensheng knew that if this kept up, after another two rounds of firefights, Bai Yan would die here.

His mind racing, Li Wensheng quickly turned to the scholar. “Take care of Bai Yan.”

The scholar nodded with some confusion.

Li Wensheng moved to the side and began swiftly pulling crates from the stack. The scholar watched in awe—these heavy, loaded crates seemed weightless in Li Wensheng’s hands, as if they were made of foam.