The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 205 Arson Expert Major Li Mingcheng

If you ask someone in Guangdong province how many steps it takes to kill cockroaches with cockroach medicine, he will tell you it only takes three steps.

The first step is to find and catch a cockroach.

The second step is to pry open the mouth of the big cockroach.

The third step is to pour the cockroach medicine in.

Obviously, when facing the giant flying cockroaches from Guangdong Province, only the first step among these three steps is the most critical and difficult.

Li Mingcheng, a former battalion commander of the Northwest Army who was born in Shaanxi Province and grew up in poverty, only heard the Guangdong soldiers in the team tell this joke that Marshal Zhang often told after he joined the Anmin Army.

So when faced with the numerous tunnels dug by the Japanese in the mountain, Battalion Commander Major Li Mingcheng naturally thought of this joke.

He asked himself, how many steps would it take to destroy the Japanese tunnels?

In fact, it only takes three steps.

The first step is to find the entrance to a Japanese tunnel.

Step 2: Pour the gasoline in.

The third step is to light it and burn it slowly.

One of them is the first step which is the most difficult, so after taking control of the hill, he sent out a large number of scouts to search for the entrance to the devil's tunnel.

Whether it's a ventilation hole or a hole for people to enter and exit, just find one or two.

Thinking of this, Li Mingcheng soon saw a figure running towards him.

"Boss, we found the ventilation hole of the Japanese tunnel."

The scout, wearing a steel helmet and covered with various camouflage plants, ran over in two steps to report to Li Mingcheng.

Li Mingcheng nodded, then waved his hand, and a combined assault team of more than 50 people immediately advanced towards the area mentioned by the scout under his leadership.

At present, all the positions on the surface of the mountain have been controlled by the Anmin Army. The Japanese can only hide in underground fortifications and wait for nightfall to counterattack.

Li Mingcheng walked in the middle of the team with a carbine in his hand. The commandos did the same, forming a formation and moving slowly, holding their weapons tightly and looking around vigilantly.

Since all the Japanese artillery on Song Mountain had been destroyed, Li Mingcheng could lead his assault team on the surface without fear of being bombarded.

At this moment, they just need to be careful that the Japanese soldiers who are hiding somewhere may suddenly come out and attack them.

After walking for a while, they came to a place where the mountain was steep.

Li Mingcheng received the signal from the scout and immediately waved to signal everyone to stop and remain on guard.

Then he saw the scout walk forward, pull aside the bushes growing close to the mountain, remove the camouflage made of rock by the Japanese, point to a black hole as big as a bowl and say to him:

"Boss, the wind around this cave entrance, I'll bet two packs of Camel cigarettes that this is definitely the Japs' ventilation hole." The scout's voice, with a slight Jiangsu accent, was full of confidence.

He patted the ground with his hand and added in a low voice, "There seems to be some movement underground."

Li Mingcheng was delighted. Just like the joke about cockroaches, as long as he found the entrance, the rest would be easy.

"Wait," Li Mingcheng lowered his voice and waved his hand. "The Japanese have sharper noses than wild dogs. Don't alarm them yet."

After saying that, he waved his hand to signal the soldiers holding submachine guns and shotguns to disperse and be on guard against any sneak attacks by the Japanese at any time.

Then he turned around and glanced at the commandos behind him, and asked softly, "How is the gasoline preparation going?"

"Five barrels," a young soldier from Guangdong Province replied in a low voice. He then grinned at Li Mingcheng, "Boss, this is 'cockroach medicine,' right? Should I pour it in or spray it?"

There was a burst of laughter in the team, suppressed and short-lived.

Soon, several tall and strong soldiers came forward carrying several barrels of fueled gasoline and manual sprayers.

The joke about cockroaches in Guangdong Province came to mind again.

He once heard veterans in the team vividly describe how the cockroaches in Guangdong Province were so huge and so powerful that they could "extinguish an oil lamp with a flap of their wings."

The veteran from Guangdong Province remained calm when talking about these terrible pests, but Li Mingcheng, a native of Shaanxi, could not imagine what the scene would be like. In his hometown, the drought-stricken Shaanxi Province was filled with only swarms of locusts that covered the sky.

I guess this big cockroach is similar to a locust?

Everyone on the battlefield was nervous, and Li Mingcheng had to think about all these random things to relax his tense heart.

He waved the muzzle of the carbine, and several big men immediately stuffed the rubber tube into the ventilation hole, and then pressed the lever of the manual sprayer up and down.

"One, two! One, two! Push harder!"

With the efforts of the strong men, a barrel of viscous gasoline with additional sugar, sulfide and rubber added was quickly pumped into the vent.

Golden liquid poured down from the cave entrance, seeping into the dark tunnel with a pungent smell.

At this moment, the air was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.

"Go on, go on, pour it all in and make it into braised duck for the Japanese."

Following Li Mingcheng's order, five large black iron barrels of gasoline were soon pumped into the Japanese tunnel.

As soon as Li Mingcheng blew the whistle hanging around his neck, the entire commando team immediately drew their weapons and stood ready for battle.

"Xiao Han, come on."

The scout and Major Li looked at each other, and immediately understood what he meant. They took out the melon grenade, pulled the ring, and threw it into the vent.

A few seconds later, a muffled "boom" was heard, and the flames instantly engulfed the cave entrance, making a low, muffled sound.

A stream of scorching air gushed out of the cave entrance, bringing up a cloud of gravel and dirt. The surrounding soldiers retreated one after another to avoid the scorching heat wave.

What followed were several screams coming from deep within the tunnel, which made people's hair stand on end.

What followed was a period of eerie quiet and silence.

Li Mingcheng didn't have to wait too long, and soon there was movement in the bushes in the distance.

“Ahhhh, it hurts so much!”

Several fire men covered in flames howled as they moved away the coverings at the entrance of the cave and rushed out with their fangs and claws bared.

"Don't shoot, let them burn!"

Li Mingcheng stopped the soldiers who were about to shoot and decided to inflict the greatest pain on these devils.

In the distance, a few Japanese soldiers were running around while wailing, but it was obvious that this was of no use to the flames flowing on their bodies. In the end, they fell to the ground while running, struggled for a few times, and then stopped moving.

Soon, as the sticky gasoline in the tunnel flowed everywhere, flames and high temperatures filled the Japanese tunnel. Several hidden entrances were opened, and several groups of Japanese soldiers with flames all over their bodies poured out.

"Open fire!" Li Mingcheng saw that the Japanese soldiers who appeared this time were closer, so he immediately gave the order to prevent the flames on their bodies from burning him.

In an instant, there was a burst of gunfire, and the sound of ping-pong filled the air.

"Bazooka, be careful!" The two-man bazooka team was not to be outdone. They shouted and fired a round of high-explosive ammunition.

With a loud "boom", the 60mm M6A3 anti-personnel high-explosive rocket (pictured in the author's caption) exploded, blowing several Japanese soldiers running in flames into the sky.

"Damn, what a waste!" Li Mingcheng cursed, "Remember to save ammunition."

Soon, all the Japanese soldiers who appeared were knocked down and turned into pieces of charcoal under the licking of flames.

Li Mingcheng squatted down, staring at the scene of flames engulfing the cave entrance and the carbonized Japanese soldiers around him, his heart filled with the pleasure of victory.

He said coldly, "Go ahead and burn them all."

After clearing this area, other scouts soon came to report that they had found traces of other Japanese tunnels. Li Mingcheng immediately led the commando team to deal with the next tunnel.

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1月20日，经过三日血战后，腾冲城外来凤山五个堡垒群被远征军 53 军 116 师 346 团和安民军第 2 师 4 团合力攻下。

Tengchong City was surrounded on all sides.

At this time, there were less than 4 days left until the New Year's Eve of the Jiashen year.