Chapter 44: Explosion and Retreat

Li Wensheng quickly pulled out several cargo crates, using them as stools, and sped to the summit of the mountain of goods. Crouching down, he took a glance below and saw the enemy still divided into two squads, slowly closing in on both his position and Shi Xiaozhen’s. Without hesitation, Li Wensheng drew a dagger from his belt and pried open the crate in front of him with force.

Finding three Type 96 light machine guns inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they were light machine guns; otherwise, if Shi Xiaozhen and the others later discovered these crates lacked them, he would have had a hard time explaining. He immediately stored one Type 96 in his system space and retrieved a Czech light machine gun from it.

“Take cover!” Li Wensheng shouted, then stood up and opened fire at the enemy below.

A barrage of bullets tore through the air, flames spitting from the muzzle. The enemy soldiers, caught off guard, fell in droves before they could react.

“Baka!” the enemy captain roared furiously, raising his pistol to fire back. But before he could pull the trigger, Li Wensheng swivelled his gun and riddled him with bullets.

With their commander dead and Li Wensheng’s machine gun still roaring, the enemy dared not retaliate and hastily sought shelter among the surrounding crates.

After emptying a magazine, a swath of enemies lay dead on the ground, only about twenty of them managing to escape behind another mound of goods.

Seeing this, Li Wensheng put away the Czech machine gun, drew out a Type 96 from the system space, tossed it to the ground, then hefted several crates, hurling them toward the surrounding mounds for cover.

With his concealment prepared, he drew his pistol, vaulted onto a nearby pile of goods, and strode swiftly to the edge. From above, he fired at the terrified enemy soldiers cowering against the goods.

Though these enemy soldiers were well-trained, they were still human—fear could not be denied. Their captain was dead, many comrades slaughtered by machine gun fire; their courage had already deserted them. When the gunfire rang out, one dropped instantly; the rest didn’t even consider fighting back but scattered in panic.

Quickly emptying his magazine and killing several more, Li Wensheng saw the remaining enemies either hiding behind other mounds or fleeing toward the main gate. He immediately shouted, “Come out and finish the job!”

Shi Xiaozhen and the others quickly emerged from behind the innermost mound, firing at the fleeing enemies. Scholar and Bai Yan, as they came out, spotted several enemies hiding behind crates at a diagonal and quickly opened fire as well.

With Li Wensheng commanding the high ground and Shi Xiaozhen’s group and Bai Yan forming a crossfire, the remaining enemies were swiftly eliminated.

Afterward, Li Wensheng leapt down from the mound and ordered, “Shi Xiaozhen, you, Gunman, Scholar, and Old Ox—plant the explosives. Bai Yan, keep watch at the gate.

Quickly, we must set the charges before enemy reinforcements arrive from the train station!”

Earlier, Shi Xiaozhen had already used explosives, and the gunfight had lasted several minutes. The enemy at the station must have heard it. Once they realized what had happened, they would surely rush over.

“Yes!” Shi Xiaozhen quickly led the group toward the main gate to retrieve the explosives.

Bai Yan, suppressing her pain, hurried to the entrance and kept a sharp eye on the road leading to the station.

Li Wensheng immediately began searching the heaps of goods for Western medicine. He opened crates from three different piles but found only canned goods. As he was about to try another pile, he noticed that, in the distance, only a few crates were stacked together.

“How foolish. Western medicine is so precious now—even the enemy wouldn’t have as much of it as canned goods,” he muttered, striding quickly toward those crates.

Prying one open with his dagger, he found it filled with boxes of Western medicine. Counting quickly, he saw there were six crates in total.

“We’ve struck it rich this time!” Li Wensheng murmured. Glancing back, he saw Shi Xiaozhen and the others busy with the explosives and not paying him any attention. He swiftly stored five crates in his system space and carried the remaining one to the warehouse entrance.

Setting the crate down, he saw Bai Yan’s face, usually rosy, now deathly pale. Li Wensheng frowned, then turned and went back into the warehouse to help set the charges.

Three minutes later, all the explosives were in place. The group hurried out of the warehouse and onto the grassy area behind. Li Wensheng loaded the crate onto the boat, Scholar helped Bai Yan aboard, while Gunman climbed onto Old Ox’s shoulders to pull the fuse through the hole blasted in the ventilation shaft.

Once the fuse was down, Shi Xiaozhen struck a match and lit it.

As the fuse sizzled and burned rapidly, the three of them quickly boarded the boat.

Old Ox and Li Wensheng grabbed the oars and rowed with all their might, while Shi Xiaozhen and the others tended to Bai Yan’s wounds.

The boat had barely travelled ten meters when a series of thunderous explosions erupted behind them.

Li Wensheng glanced back and saw the warehouse collapsing, flames leaping skyward. He turned and shouted, “Old Ox, faster!”

Old Ox immediately increased his rowing speed.

Soon they reached the previous landing spot, but it wasn’t the planned disembarkation point, so they continued downstream. After about ten more minutes, by which time Old Ox’s arms were numb from exhaustion, the river ahead narrowed.

“Dock here!” Li Wensheng ordered.

Once ashore, they immediately pulled the boat into the nearby woods and hurried off to the right under Li Wensheng’s lead.

Emerging from the forest, they found themselves facing a dense cluster of houses.

The original residents here had all been massacred by the enemy. Given the remoteness and the slaughter, not a living soul remained.

Leading his group onto the main street, five figures suddenly emerged from the darkness of a nearby house.

“Captain!”

At their head was Little Mao. Knowing that the explosion at the train station couldn’t be handled by his team of five alone, Yu Jiarong had arranged for these men, who had been covertly observing Jinling Station, to assist Li Wensheng’s group.

“Hurry, Bai Yan’s been shot—go find Deputy Stationmaster Yu and have him send a doctor,” Li Wensheng ordered urgently.

Little Mao glanced at Bai Yan, saw that her upper body was soaked in blood, and immediately took two men to seek help.

Once they were gone, Li Wensheng led the others, following the remaining two men, to a large but not completely abandoned residence.

“You two, keep watch at the street. If you see any enemy soldiers, report at once,” Li Wensheng instructed.

The two nodded and departed immediately.

At this moment, Bai Yan suddenly fainted.

Shi Xiaozhen hurried forward to catch her, felt her forehead, and anxiously said, “Captain, Bai Yan’s lost too much blood and now has a fever. If this goes on, she may not survive until the doctor arrives.”

Li Wensheng looked at Bai Yan in Shi Xiaozhen’s arms and sighed. “None of us know medicine. All we can do now is hope she pulls through. Take her to a room and re-dress her wounds.”

Shi Xiaozhen’s expression dimmed—she had hoped Li Wensheng might have medical skills and save Bai Yan, but now, all they could do was leave her fate to chance.