The sun was blazing, and a large group of prisoners of war were sweating on the construction site, and even the Japanese soldiers on the side were so hot that they were all huddled in the shade of a tree, panting like dogs.

Keiichi Yamada sat leisurely under the umbrella, and Mantang stood behind him with a banana fan to fan the wind.

Yamada pretended to drink water, covered his mouth with a water cup and whispered, "Mantang, you have caused trouble......"

The hall was shocked: "What's wrong?" ”

"Didn't Zhang Baowang and Xue Zhankui have a fight a few days ago? Here's the trouble, Watanabe has his eye on these two people, and he plans to arrange another joust, but this time it's a real thing, and these two people are in a very dangerous situation. ”

"Brother Yamada, can you elaborate on that?" Mantang asked as he looked around.

"I don't know yet, but I know that Watanabe called Noto, a staff officer at the headquarters of the First Army, and asked Noto to find two assassins to come to the prisoner of war camp to compete. Both Noto and Watanabe are from Hokkaido and have been neighbors since childhood, and I heard that both of them came from samurai families and were avid kendo enthusiasts. ”

"What's the comparison? Is it a real knife and a real gun to the death, or is it pointed? ”

"Fight for your life, of course!" Keiichi Yamada said worriedly, "In fact, this kind of duel is strictly forbidden by military discipline, and once someone is killed, they will be sent to a military court, but it still happens from time to time in the Japanese army, and these aggressive guys would rather be tried by a military court than give up this bloodthirsty game." ”

Man Tang suddenly felt a cold air rise from under his feet, enveloping his whole body in an instant, and a cold sweat oozed under the scorching sun. He looked at Keiichi Yamada helplessly and asked, "Brother Yamada, Zhang Baowang is my friend, I can't let him die, is there anything you can do?" ”

"I'm sorry, Mantang, I can't help it, I can't help you." Keiichi Yamada shook his head slightly.

"No way? If you can't help it, you have to find a way, you can't let Zhang Baowang wait there to die, right? Brother Yamada, tell me, what day are you on night shift? ”

Kei Yamada closed his eyes and said: "It doesn't matter which day I am on the night shift, what I want to tell you is, don't be brutal, you can't run out with the strength of a few of you, don't make senseless sacrifices!" ”

Man Tang wiped his sweat and begged: "Brother Yamada, please, help me, help these brothers, you have a way." ”

"Mantang, turn your face away, don't look at me, you have to be cautious! Yes, that's it...... I will carefully consider your request, this is not a trivial matter, once it happens, we will all be unlucky. Mantang, I told you that I don't want to die on the battlefield because this war is none of my business. Now I want to add that I, Keiichi Yamada, don't want to die on the execution ground, do you understand? ”

"Understood, I'll wait for your letter."

Kei Yamada kept getting up and waved his hand in a big way: "Mantang, you have been resting for a long time, it's time to go do some work, replace Zhang Baowang, I want to talk to him." ”

Watanabe is in the office receiving Nakasa Noto from the First Army stationed in Taiyuan. Noto has a dark complexion, a short man of about 1.6 meters, and a looped leg, but a very stout man. Like Watanabe, he came from a samurai family in Hokkaido, and they played together when they were teenagers.

Japan's samurai class is a product of history, originating in the Heian period in the 10th century, as a private army established by local lords, and then gradually becoming an institutionalized professional military organization, and until the Meiji Restoration, the samurai were the dominant force in Japanese society. After thousands of years of inheritance, the samurai class's ideological heritage "Bushido" advocated the martial spirit of defying the hardships of death, being loyal to duty, and being capable and brave, has become an important part of modern Japanese culture.

In Japanese culture, there is no better way to embody the spirit of "bushido" than "kendo". "Kendo" is the craft of the ancient samurai, if the swordsmanship is not good, it is equivalent to ruining the job, and you can't mix in the circle. To be fair, although "kendo" originated in ancient China as a "two-handed sword" and spread to Japan during the Sui and Tang dynasties, it evolved over the years of war in Japan and became a unique and practical form of Japanese swordsmanship by the Edo period. In modern times, Japanese swordsmanship has been divided into two branches, one is the sport of kendo, which is used for competition, in which players wear protective gear and use bamboo swords to compete; The other is traditional ancient kendo, known as "kenjutsu" in Japanese, which usually uses an unbladed ***, and participants engage in actual combat without wearing protective gear. This type of fighting is extremely dangerous, often involving casualties, and is a favorite game for some bloodthirsty people.

Watanabe and Noto were both admirers of "swordsmanship", and since their teenage years, they scoffed at the competitive sport of kendo, believing it to be a coward's game and that real samurai simply disdained such things.

When they were twelve or thirteen years old, they used a real *** to do it once, but before they could play two rounds, they were told by other children, so the parents on both sides went crazy, and the two little "samurai" were each taken home by their ears and beaten up solidly. Watanabe and Noto are both neighbors and best friends, and the two fight for their lives not out of hatred, but out of friendship and affection, which outsiders cannot understand. They look forward to growing up quickly so that they can continue the duel when they reach adulthood.

However, when the two grew up, they didn't have this opportunity. They first entered the Army Infant School, and later entered the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, and after graduation, they were assigned to different units, starting as second lieutenant officers. The war did not bring them luck, and Watanabe was hit by two heavy machine gun bullets in his right arm during the Battle of Songhu in 1937, and although he was lucky enough not to be amputated, his right arm was crippled and could not continue to serve in combat units. After recovering from his injuries, he was transferred to a prisoner of war camp, which can be regarded as the old commander's care for him.

In the Battle of Wuhan in 1938, Noto was crushed by shmelel and turned into a cripple. If it weren't for the expansion of the war and the extreme shortage of soldiers in the army, such disabled soldiers would have been discharged long ago. Thanks to the care of his superiors, after Noto recovered from his injury, he was transferred to the headquarters of the First Army as an operational staff officer. At this point, Watanabe and Noto's wishes will never come true in this life.

After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese army gradually developed into a modern army, and the gap between it and the Western army was constantly narrowed in terms of strategy and tactics and weaponry, but the thinking of the Japanese soldiers did not necessarily enter the modernization, which has its profound historical reasons.

Japan's Sengoku period in the 16th century was an era of no authority, when the Japanese archipelago was full of giants and the whole country was in chaos. The traditional aristocracy collapsed, and local tyrants, commoners, and even ronins began to be dissatisfied with their lowly status and prepared to make trouble. The introduction of Western Christianity and muskets changed the form of society and warfare, so that Japan gradually got rid of the previous system of integration of soldiers and peasants, and changed to the employment of ronin as professional soldiers in cash. As a result, large-scale battles in the Japanese archipelago became the norm, and the unified shogunate was born from the flames of war...... At this time, the samurai were considered to have a formal job, and they could finally receive their salaries like nobles, of course, whoever gave money fought for whomever they wanted, and they were only loyal to their lords, and did not obey any authority. No matter how illustrious the family background and title of the target of the attack, the lord can destroy his entire family with a single word. Therefore, none of the princes of the Warring States period of Japan lived too long, and they always let others die before they could sit down. The "Lower Take---Sho-Shang" operation pursued by the Japanese army in later generations has had a theoretical basis since then. Since the Meiji Restoration, although the Japanese army has developed into a modern army, the way of thinking and behavior of the soldiers has been polarized, as the main body of the army The soldier class only emphasizes patience and obedience, while the officers, especially the middle and lower rank officers, are unruly and have a tendency to resist the superior, and if they are slightly dissatisfied, they will implement the "lower and higher", once they shoot, they will be fierce and abnormal, even if it is a river of blood, and they will not hesitate to do so, the "226 coup" in 1936 [1]

is the best example of this.

Watanabe and Noto also belong to this category of officers, who naturally dislike being controlled and are always willing to live according to their own ideas. They are brave and ruthless, and they regard their own lives and those of others as if they were a mustard. They are radical and paranoid, and once they think they are right, they die without repentance; They flouted authority and sneered at high-ranking officers. In Watanabe's words, the biggest regret of his life was that he didn't catch up with the "226 Coup", and if he had served in the Guards in Tokyo at that time, he would have killed the elders of the ruling faction. He was very envious of those officers who were sentenced to death after the failure of the "226 Coup", and it should be a glorious thing to do such a beautiful thing, even if they went to the execution ground.

Watanabe and Noto agree that while the disability of the war deprived them of the opportunity to make a career prematurely, that didn't stop them from making some exciting stories, otherwise their military careers would have become very boring, and they didn't like boring lives.

At this time, Watanabe sat at his desk and carefully flipped through the text materials brought by Noto. This is the service resume of two military cao, one of whom is Masao Matsutsuki, 28 years old, who has been serving for 10 years, and has been practicing kendo and kendo[2]

Nearly 20 years. According to his resume, Matsutsuki Masao participated in major battles such as Nanjing, Wuhan, and Nanchang, and his record was that he killed 78 enemies with a saber or bayonet in 23 white-knuckle battles, and he was unharmed.

Another soldier is called Yanagawa Nobutsu, 27 years old, this person began to practice kendo and kendo at the age of 10, and participated in more than 30 white-knuckle battles during his service, and his record was to kill 81 people, and he was unharmed.

Watanabe raised his head and asked, "Noto-kun, from a technical point of view, these two military cao should have no problems, they are both cold weapon masters, the key is whether they are mentally prepared for the consequences of the game?" ”

Noto sat straight on the chair with his waist straight, habitually spread his legs, and put his hands on his knees, in a standard non-commissioned officer sitting position. He replied in a low voice: "These two military cao, like you and me, are fanatical 'swordsmanship', disgusted with modern warfare, and nostalgic for the era of cold weapons. As far as I know, both men have repeatedly participated in private duels, they have managed to hide from the eyes of the gendarmes, and so far there is no bad record. ”

"Noto-kun, have you thought about it? There were only two results in the duel, and if these two military caopers won, they would naturally be happy, and no one would care about the lives of the **** prisoners of war. But there is another possibility, even if only one of our people is killed, you and I will have to go to a military court to stand trial, and maybe the death penalty. This question...... Has Noto-kun considered it? ”

Noto shrugged his shoulders and showed a cynical look: "The air in the headquarters is suffocating, I wish I could change places, and the feeling of being in prison is no worse than the feeling of sitting in an office." Watanabe-kun, I met Matsutsuki Masao yesterday, and he bowed to me vigorously, and kept saying, thank you, sir, thank you! I asked him, why thank me? He said, "Thank you, Chief, for giving me this opportunity." I said don't get too happy, it's not going to happen. Matsutsuki Masao said, please, sir, it must be done, in the past two days, my adrenaline has been surging up like a blowout, and I can't suppress it, my heart is beating faster, my breathing is short, and my pupils are dilated...... The doctor said it was called a 'combat reaction,' and if it was canceled, I would definitely go crazy......"

The two laughed.

Watanabe laughed: "There must always be some people in this world who regard bloody fighting as a kind of entertainment. This Matsutsuki Masao is a good soldier, you and I are also good soldiers, if a soldier does not have the courage to fight with cold weapons, then he had better return to his mother's womb, just as if he has never been to this world, let him be born again. ”

"Watanabe-kun, I hate the 20th century, I hate those damn machine guns, artillery, close air support...... Where is this war? This is a meat grinder, there is simply no difference between a hero and a coward, a cannonball can send them together into the sky, and no matter how brave a samurai is, he will not be able to resist the firearms in the hands of a coward. This is not the fault of the samurai, it is the tragedy of the times. It's frustrating to say that during the Battle of Wuhan, I had not yet met the enemy face to face, and my saber was sent to the hospital in a daze before I had time to splash blood, and this kind of war was really disgusting. Noto said bitterly as he thumped his injured left leg.

Watanabe sighed: "Yes, if we can be born 200 years earlier, we can still catch up with the Edo period, when there were many enviable samurai, and one *** could go all over the world." It's like now, a person from a farmer can be a general, it's really untimely. ”

"Watanabe-kun, is that **** prisoner of war really a martial arts master? Are they trained in machine fighting? The reason why I tried my best to make this happen was because I really wanted to see a high-level, fairer duel, otherwise we might as well have shot those two prisoners of war, so why bother? ”

"Noto-kun, please believe me, I still have this bit of eyesight, they are not ordinary as soon as they shoot, in terms of footwork, body shape and speed, and explosiveness, it is impossible to have this kind of skill without years of training and expert guidance. Don't worry, old friend, there is no Chinese martial artist who does not know how to use equipment, in my opinion, the stick and stabbing techniques in Chinese martial arts are more practical than our 'gun kendo'. ”

Noto stood up and seemed to have made up his mind: "Okay, even if this matter is decided, I will bring Matsutsuki Masao and Yanagawa Nobuzhe in three days, and you will take care of the rest." By the way, did the gendarmes often come to the prisoner of war camps? ”

Watanabe smiled: "Noto-kun, in this ravine, I am God, and God will be afraid of the gendarmes?" ”

Xue Zhankui sat on the floor in the dormitory in a daze, and in front of him were a few white flour buns and a bowl of stewed haggis, which were added to him by the gang according to the order of Watanabe Shaosa, the supreme commander of the prisoner of war camp. Xue Zhankui was in a bad mood and had almost no appetite. In his opinion, these foods that are not usually seen are nothing more than pig feed, the purpose of which is to fatten the pigs before slaughtering. Xue Zhankui regretted it very much, he really shouldn't have caused such a big deal for the sake of a nest, and the fight with Zhang Baowang not only made him lose face in public, but also caused him to be killed. When Watanabe informed him of the duel, Xue Zhankui made it clear that he was unwilling to participate in this kind of meaningless duel, and Watanabe did not intend to ask for his consent at all, and only offered him two ways to die, either to be shot or to die in the dueling arena, the former was certain to die, and the latter still had a fifty percent chance of survival.

In fact, there is no choice, Xue Zhankui has to do it if he doesn't do it. I heard that his opponent was a kendo and gun kendo master, Xue Zhankui had only heard of Japanese kendo before, and he had never heard of gun kendo before. Watanabe's explanation was simple: "According to you Chinese, it's called a bayonet, you are a veteran, you should be familiar with it, right?" It's up to you whether you want to use a sword or a bayonet, but I personally suggest that you'd better choose a bayonet, otherwise you won't have any chance of winning. ”

Xue Zhankui said in his heart, he is not sure of these two ways, let alone kendo, he has never even touched the *** used by the Japanese hands. As for fighting bayonets, Xue Zhankui is quite familiar, in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, Xue Zhankui's unit and the Japanese army had a battalion-level white-knuckle battle, the combat effect was very bad, in his memory, although he stabbed four devils unscathed, but after the battle, the statistics of the whole battalion reached two-thirds of the casualties of each company, so that the brothers talked about fighting bayonets as soon as they talked about tiger color, and morale was low.

Before the war, the Nationalist army did not pay much attention to assassination training, and although many high-ranking Kuomintang military and political personnel had a background in Japanese military academy education, this did not have any positive impact on the army's assassination training. Since its establishment, the Whampoa Military Academy has put political education in the first place, and military training has been in second place, and the reason why this military academy is famous all over the world is determined by the background of the times and political factors. For example, the first batch of students spent 6 months in school, the second term 11 months, the third term was a little longer, only 15 months, and the fourth term became 7 months. In all fairness, the officers trained in the early days of the Whampoa Military Academy were inferior to the Baoding Military Academy of the Beiyang Department in terms of tactical literacy, not to mention the training in cold weapons, which was almost zero.

After the 30s of the 20 th century, Sino-German military cooperation entered a honeymoon period, and the Kuomintang army, especially the Central Army, was deeply influenced by German military thought. Since the German Army traditionally placed more emphasis on the continuity and rate of fire of the infantry, and similarly did not attach importance to assassination in the training subjects, only in isolated cases such as street fighting or trench assault battles would the German infantry use bayonets, daggers and sapper shovels in hand-to-hand combat. This did not correspond to the actual situation of the Chinese army at that time fighting with Japan as an imaginary enemy. This training mistake cost the Chinese army dearly in the war.

Xue Zhankui served as a soldier in the Central Army for eight years, and although he became a soldier, he also had no assassination training. At this time, Xue Zhankui looked at Luoxia in the west blankly, his mood became heavier and heavier, he didn't know what kind of fate was waiting for him.

Xue Zhankui practiced martial arts, and the reason why he practiced martial arts when he was a teenager was very simple, in his hometown, Weijialin Village, Shenxian County, Hebei Province, at the end of the 19th century, there was a martial arts master Wang Qianzhai. Mr. Wang Xiangzhai learned martial arts as a young man, traveled extensively when he was young, visited famous mountains and rivers, and learned skills from many martial arts masters, and later on the basis of Xingyi Boxing, he learned from the strengths of all families, and founded his own school of "Yiquan".

"Yiquan" has no routines and fixed moves, and the name is "Yiquan", in order to emphasize the important role of "Yi" in boxing training. The establishment of "Yiquan" was a major revolution in traditional Chinese martial arts, which caused a great shock in the martial arts world at that time. Later, Zhang Yuheng and Qi Zhenlin, two old gentlemen from Beiping, gave the name of "Yiquan" and "Dacheng Boxing", so "Dacheng Boxing" spread.

"Dachengquan" controls the limbs with thoughts, emphasizes mental concentration, natural breathing, and relaxation of the body, so that all parts of the limbs are connected into a whole, so that the spirit and the limbs, and the limbs and the outside world achieve a high degree of harmony and unity, so as to give full play to the energy of the spirit and body.

Xue Zhankui, as Wang Qianzhai's little fellow villager, followed Mr. Wang to practice "Dacheng Boxing" with some children in the same village when he was a teenager, and he insisted on practicing for more than ten years, and he did not give up after becoming a soldier. With his technical ability, if he fights with ordinary martial artists, Xue Zhankui is still quite confident.

Xue Zhankui had participated in white-knuckle warfare, although he had not received special assassination training, but with his body shape, footwork and reflexes, only a few Japanese soldiers were naturally not a problem. The problem is that the opponent this time is too strong, these two Japanese soldiers are the best of the tens of thousands of soldiers, and they fought in actual combat, such opponents are undoubtedly terrifying.

The door of the dormitory was pushed open, and Zhang Baowang walked in with a paper bag.

Xue Zhankui hurriedly stood up. In the fight a few days ago, Xue Zhankui suffered Zhang Baowang's loss, and he knew better than anyone else that if it weren't for Zhang Baowang's mercy, his nose bone would have been broken. Thinking of these, Xue Zhankui was still a little embarrassed.

Zhang Baowang was still as usual, his face was calm, he didn't show any joy or sorrow, he just asked lightly: "Old Xue, how are you prepared?" ”

"What is there to prepare? Anyway, it's a damn dick up, resign yourself to fate! ”

Zhang Baowang was silent for a moment and said: "Lao Xue, you have practiced martial arts, you should understand that people are supported by one breath, you and I are the same, if we don't have this breath, we don't have to play, just admit defeat!" But there is one thing, even if we admit defeat, won't the devil shoot us? ”

Xue Zhankui replied in a muffled voice: "But what if we win?" The devil has to shoot us even more, anyway, it's all a death! ”

"That's different, if we kill these two assassins, then it's worth dying! This is called pulling a cushion on the verge of death, at least it is better than letting someone pull it out and shoot it. ”

Xue Zhankui looked at Zhang Baowang and said, "Lao Zhang, you came to me just to say this?" ”

"No, I came to you to say something to you."

"Then say!"

Zhang Baowang sincerely apologized: "I was a brother who fought a few days ago, I was wrong, I want to make amends to my brother, they are all brothers who stir spoons in a pot, poor brothers who suffer together, what can't be discussed well, why do you have to fight?" Alas, we Chinese, that's what is wrong with us, always fighting in the nest. ”

Xue Zhankui sighed: "Yes, if we all endured it at the beginning, we wouldn't have caused the current disaster." People, they don't have front and back eyes, and they can't see too far. ”

"Brother, we are all people who practice martial arts, no matter what sect it is, there is such a saying, don't cause trouble if you have nothing to do, and don't be afraid of anything if you have something. Now that it's coming, it's useless for us to hide, it's better to fight with those two devils with one heart. Let me tell you this, I've been in this POW camp for three years, damn it...... What haven't you seen? I've seen a lot of people who have the ability and kung fu than the two of us, so what happened in the end? It's not the same as letting the Japanese toss to death. To tell you the truth, I'm really bored, I don't want to endure it like this for my life anymore, I've endured enough, anyway, it's a death, why don't I die like a man? Zhang Baowang, who is usually taciturn, said so many words in one breath for the first time.

Xue Zhankui suddenly felt a rush of blood rushing to his head, he stood up abruptly and said loudly: "Brother, you are right, anyway, Hengzhi is a death, let's kill these two devils and die!" ”

Zhang Baowang stretched out his hand: "Okay, it's decided, let's take a good look at it and find a way to kill these two devils." ”

Xue Zhankui held Zhang Baowang's hand hard: "!" Life and death are a hammer deal! ”

Zhang Baowang regained his composure and began to study countermeasures: "In fact, from the perspective of Chinese martial arts, the assassination technique is not complicated, and even the marksmanship of the red tassel gun is not comparable. The red tassel gun marksmanship is not only a stab, but also a stick trick, but if you think about it, a rifle with a bayonet, in addition to the bayonet and **, the lethality of the rest of the parts is very limited. In my opinion, the most critical technique of fighting a bayonet is a stab, and it is an action to push away your opponent's bayonet and stab homeopathically. ”

"In fact, our stick method is also a bit like assassination, that is, piercing, stabbing, picking, collapsing, splitting a few basic movements, I proposed to Watanabe, if you want to compete, I want to choose my own equipment, just give me an ash rod to take advantage of. But Watanabe disagreed, saying that the rules had to be set by them. There's no way around it, this is a prisoner of war camp, our lives are in the hands of the Japanese, how can there be any fairness? Xue Zhankui picked up the white flour bun and took a bite.

Zhang Baowang pointed to the paper bag he brought: "This is for you, you have to eat enough and increase your physical strength." ”

After Zhang Baowang left, Xue Zhankui opened the paper package and found that it was four rice balls and two salted fish. This was specially saved for him by Zhang Baowang from his own rations.

Xue Zhankui's eyes were moist, and when it came to life and death, his own compatriots could still be relied on.

As soon as the POWs arrived at the construction site, Mantang frequently glanced at Keiichi Yamada, and Yamada immediately understood that Mantang was by his side.

Mantang asked in a whisper while fanning Yamada, "Brother Yamada, what about me...... What are you thinking? ”

Yamada sighed softly: "This matter can only be tried, but there is a condition, it is necessary to control the bastard of Gao Sheng." This man seems to be not normal, he is always very energetic, wanders around at night like a ghost, and likes to eavesdrop on the prisoners of war outside the window, and then immediately report to Watanabe. I have only noticed his whereabouts in the last day or two, and with this man in his presence, your plans cannot be completed, and I cannot help you. ”

"This is easy to do, as long as you arrange it over there, we will kill Gao Sheng immediately!" A full house should be accepted.

"It's your business, I'm a Buddhist, I won't advise you to kill someone, it's against my faith. I decided that the day after tomorrow would be the day after tomorrow, and that the morning after tomorrow would be the time for the contest, and that the staff officer of the First Army, Noto, would bring five or six officers to watch the battle, and Watanabe had already informed me that he would prepare more food and drinks at noon the day after tomorrow, and that he would entertain the contestants and the officers watching the game for dinner. Be ye prepared to move in the second half of the night that day. ”

Day after tomorrow? Mantang's hand holding the teapot began to tremble. The outcome of the contest is difficult to predict, in case a Baowang ...... Mantang didn't dare to think about it anymore.

"Brother Yamada, why do you have to act the night after tomorrow? Will it work tomorrow night? ”

"I'm afraid not, I won't have a chance until the night after tomorrow. Watanabe was going to send them back to Taiyuan that afternoon, stayed at the headquarters of the First Army that night, and returned to the prisoner of war camp the next day, so the night after tomorrow was the opportunity. The fewer people who know about this, the better, how many of you are there? ”

"There are five of us...... No, if Xue Zhankui is still ...... the night after tomorrow Alive, he also walks with us. ”

"Well, I know, the plan is six people, but there will only be four people when you leave, and Zhang and Xue can't live until noon."

"No, I don't believe it, they are all kung fu people, and it is possible to win."

"I hope so......" Yamada said without saying a word.

Today is the day of the martial arts competition in the prisoner of war camp, and the sky has been gloomy since the morning. More than 800 Chinese prisoners of war were gathered in an open space in the courtyard, and the interpreter Gao Sheng announced to the prisoners that they would stop working today and that all personnel must watch the competition.

A group of Japanese soldiers set up a wooden three-story platform on the playground, and the open field was surrounded by Japanese soldiers with loaded guns, their rifles were shining with cold lights, two wolf and green army dogs kept roaring, two Type 92 heavy machine guns were erected on the watchtower at the entrance of the barracks as usual, and four crooked light machine guns were also set up on the roof of the barracks behind, and the atmosphere in the open field was solemn and tense.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the sound of car horns sounded outside the camp, and Noto Nakasa and seven or eight Japanese officers got out of the car. Some of these officers were from the 1st Army, some were from the 12th Army, and they were all young Zhuang officers, and the highest rank among them was a Dazuo.

Watanabe Shaosa was in a good mood today, and he was busy running before and after socializing. Watanabe was busy for a whole week for today's contest, because this kind of contest is a serious violation of military discipline, so he must be extremely cautious in making preparations, first, he must not let the news be known to high-ranking figures in military circles, and second, he must create reasons for the two military officers participating in the contest to go out, because they are both serving in field units, and they must obtain the consent of the commanders of their respective units when they go out. These preparations were all done by Watanabe and Noto, and the officers who watched the battle did not have to worry, they were also the same as Watanabe and Noto, they were not very well-behaved people, and on certain occasions, military discipline was like bullshit to them.

The host, Watanabe Shaosa, beckoned the officers to take their seats in the stands. In front of the stands sat two Japanese soldiers, Matsutsuki Masao and Yanagawa Nobutusaki, who had arrived at the prisoner of war camp the night before.

Zhang Baowang and Xue Zhankui sat on a bench opposite each other as "players" of the national army.

Today's contest was presided over by Nakasa Noto, who announced that it would be up to the duelists on both sides to choose their weapons. The two Japanese soldiers sat still, their rifles and bayonets brought by themselves, and they had already made their hands easy. Zhang Baowang and Xue Zhankui stood up and picked between a dozen Type 38 rifles and Type 30 bayonets. Zhang Baowang carefully inspected the body of the rifle, loading and unloading the bayonet. He tested the bayonet tenon with spring control on the right side of the bayonet handle, which is a small but very important part, if the spring that controls the bayonet tenon is not sensitive, etc., it will affect the coordination between the bayonet handle and the bayonet seat, so that once engaged in a battle with the enemy's bayonet, the bayonet may fall off, which is definitely a matter of life and death. Zhang Baowang chose the bayonet, tried the blade with his thumb, then loaded the bayonet into the rifle and stood up. At this time, Xue Zhankui had already chosen his weapon and was already sitting on the bench.

Noto Nakasa began to announce the rules of the duel and the promises of the organizers.

His words were translated by Gao Sheng to the Chinese prisoners of war: "In order to show the courage of the soldiers, the two sides voluntarily engaged in an assassination duel, and they were at their own risk. In the spirit of fairness, the organizers guarantee with the honor of the military that neither side will be held accountable for the winning side, regardless of the outcome of the duel, and now the duel begins! In the first battle, the Japanese Matsuki Masao Army Cao fought, and the Chinese Sergeant Xue Zhankui fought. ”

Xue Zhankui stood up and patted Zhang Baowang on the shoulder as a farewell, Zhang Baowang nodded to him and said nothing.

Matsutsuki Masao has a full face and beard, he is about 1.65 meters tall, with a short figure and a strong physique. He made a posture of preparing to draw his gun, his legs slightly bent in a squatting position, the rifle in his hand was at 45 degrees, the tip of the bayonet was level with the center of his eyebrows, and he looked confident about battle. In contrast, Xue Zhankui's posture with a gun was not so standard, his expression was calm, and the rifle in his hand was horizontally forward, as if he was not in a hurry to attack. Matsutsuki Masao's attack was very decisive, he took a step forward with his left leg, and with a strange cry of "ah", a stab stabbed at Xue Zhankui's left chest. The man was well trained, and his thrust was so strong that his bayonet was on a horizontal line with his arms, shoulders, and head. Xue Zhankui's right hand holding the gun twisted his wrist, used the barrel of the gun to pull away the opponent's bayonet, and immediately stabbed the opponent's chest. Matsutsuki Masao was indeed a veteran, he had already taken precautions, and immediately took a lightning step back and dodged the fatal blow......

The Japanese officers in the stands applauded, and the Chinese prisoners of war shouted hello.

Zhang Baowang sat on the bench and watched the movements of both sides of the duel with cold eyes. Although he, like Xue Zhankui, has not made special efforts to practice assassination techniques, he has a foundation in Chinese martial arts and has practiced the routines of the red tassel gun, so he does not think that the Japanese army's "gun sword" technique is terrible.

In fact, the actual combat technology of all cold weapons in the world is similar, armed combat is different from hand-to-hand combat, and its characteristics are reflected in the nirvana of a single blow, and there will be no situation where the two sides are entangled with each other in hand-to-hand combat. The fighting of cold weapons is characterized by the moment when the weapons of both sides collide with each other, they have already been distinguished, and whoever seizes the opportunity to win the first blow is the winner. This is where the brutality of white-knuckle warfare comes in. In white-knuckle combat, the proportion of those killed is usually greater than that of the wounded. Due to the extremely close proximity of the two sides, the injuries caused by cold weapons such as bayonets are mostly concentrated in the vital parts of the human body such as the chest, abdomen, and throat, so even if the wounded in the battle do not die on the spot, they will lose their lives due to excessive bleeding in a relatively short period of time.

Matsuki Masao and Xue Zhankui's fight has been going on for four or five rounds in the blink of an eye, and the two sides have not yet been separated. But Zhang Baowang had already sniffed a hint of ominousness, and he found that there were some obvious flaws in Xue Zhankui's movements. Although the technique of assassination is very simple, and the core element is nothing more than a pinch and a stab, there are still some tricks. Its trick is that its movements are concise, fast and ferocious, and it kills with one hit. In white-knuckle combat, the range of action to remove the opponent's bayonet should be small, but the explosive power should be strong, as long as you slightly change the direction of the opponent's bayonet, you can take advantage of the momentum to make the opponent hit the tip of the bayonet. And Xue Zhankui's flaw is that the range of action is too large when dialing, and when he moves, he flashes out of the air, exposing his front. This is definitely a fatal flaw, and it is easy to be exploited by the other party.

Zhang Baowang was about to remind Xue Zhankui to pay attention, but it was too late, Matsuki Masao was another stab, Xue Zhankui habitually made an anti-right stab, and when he used the barrel to pull the opponent's bayonet, he was empty, and his chest and abdomen were completely exposed. Matsutsuki's thrust was a feint, and he took a step forward with a standard thrust, stabbing the bayonet into Xue Zhankui's abdomen......

The hundreds of Chinese prisoners of war in the open field shouted in unison, while the Japanese officers and the Japanese soldiers who were on guard on the periphery cheered one after another.

The full hall in the crowd closed his eyes in pain, this scene was too bloody, Xue Zhankui ...... It's over! He really didn't want to look any further...... Suddenly, the audience erupted into a burst of screams, and the hall opened its eyes with tears in its eyes, and the situation on the field reversed, only to see Xue Zhankui, who had been pierced by a bayonet, throw away the rifle in his hand, grab the opponent's gun body with his left hand, and twist his body violently...... This is a real hand-to-hand encounter, and the two sides are so close together that they are already face to face. At this time, Xue Zhankui used all his strength to deliver a dying blow, only to hear a muffled sound, Matsutsuki Masao's chest was really slapped hard, and his body flew straight out two meters away, and fell to the ground on his back......

Everyone present was stunned, and the audience was silent.

Xue Zhankui, who was covered in blood, did not fall, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the rifle with a bayonet inserted into his abdominal cavity and threw it on the ground. The Chinese prisoners of war present all saw Xue Zhankui's open abdomen flowing out of blue and purple internal organs, and a large amount of blood spurted out like a spring. Xue Zhankui shook his fists in his hands and clasped his fists at the Chinese prisoners of war, and said a few words with difficulty: "Brothers, brothers, I ...... Go first......" He fell to the ground with a final finish.

Keiichi Yamada ran to Masao Matsutsuki with several Japanese soldiers and tried to carry him onto a stretcher, only to see a loud snoring sound coming out of his throat, and blood spurting out of his mouth and nose. Keiichi Yamada did a brief examination and found that Matsutsuki Masao's chest had collapsed, and it seemed that Xue Zhankui's palm had shattered all the ribs on his chest, and his internal organs had also been severely damaged. Kei Yamada was speechless with shock when he saw this scene, and he judged that Masao Matsutsuki would be crippled for life even if he did not die. This Xue Zhankui's Jedi counterattack was simply shocking, it was incredible that a person could burst out with such a huge amount of energy when he was dying.

Xue Zhankui's dying palm showed the highest level of "Dacheng Fist". The essence of "Dacheng Fist" is to use the mind to mobilize the energy of the whole body and instantly concentrate on one point and burst out, commonly known as "force". "Dacheng Boxing" is a very technical boxing technique, its power is very distinctive, only emphasizing in a very short distance, with a small movement, with explosive speed, to release a huge amount of energy, in order to complete a very devastating and effective strike. Xue Zhankui's palm before his death finally did not disgrace his master, Mr. Wang Qinzhai.

Noto was a hard-hearted man, and in the face of such a bloody scene, his facial expression did not change in the slightest, but he waved his hand coldly, signaling the soldiers to carry away the bodies of the seriously injured Matsutsuki Masao and Xue Zhankui.

When Xue Zhankui's body was carried out of the field, the prisoners of war of the second brigade were grief-stricken, and bursts of suppressed cries rolled in......

Yanagawa Nobutsu was a true outlaw, and Matsutsuki's tragic situation did not cause him any fear, but rather appeared to be unusually excited, as if he had taken a stimulant. Noto looked at him with admiration, thinking to himself, but all such people are true bloodthirsty, and for such people, blood and mutilated limbs do not make them afraid, but rather stimulate their great pleasure and act as a stimulant.

Zhang Baowang didn't wait for Noto to announce the start of the second duel before he took the initiative to stand up, and he walked to the middle of the field with a rifle in hand.

Noto looked at Yanagawa Nobuzhe and smiled: "Yanagawa-kun, are you ready?" ”

Yanagawa Nobuzhe bowed to Noto and replied calmly, "Ready, thank you for arranging such an interesting game for me." ”

"Then let's get started, Yanagawa-kun, good luck!" Noto gave the order.

At this time, Zhang Baowang raised his hand: "Wait, Watanabe Shaozuo, I have something to say." ”

Watanabe stood up in surprise: "Zhang, what are you going to say?" ”

Zhang Baowang stuck the bayonet into the soil: "I have conditions for this duel below, otherwise I refuse to duel, and I will shoot you with you." ”

Watanabe frowned: "Zhang, the rules of the duel have been announced just now, life and death are at your own risk, no matter what the outcome of the duel is, I promise that I will not retaliate against the winner." ”

Zhang Baowang snorted: "Since I dare to play, I am not afraid of retaliation, if you Japanese don't keep your word and take your own words as a fart, it doesn't matter if you shoot me." Watanabe, you listen well, my conditions are: first, bury our brother Xue Zhankui well; second, to increase the ration of food for all prisoners of war in the future; Third, humane treatment of sick prisoners of war. ”

Watanabe sneered: "I know, the following words are, if I don't agree, you refuse to duel?" ”

Zhang Baowang replied forcefully: "That's right, it's a death anyway, it's the same no matter how you die, doesn't this military cao want to play games?" Lao Tzu doesn't play with him anymore! ”

Watanabe's face sank, in this prisoner of war camp, he was God, and no one had ever dared to speak to him like that. Gao Sheng behind him shouted angrily: "Zhang Baowang, you fucking ate leopard gall, dare to talk to Watanabe Taijun like this?" ”

Zhang Baowang pointed at Gao Sheng with a bayonet and shouted: "Gao Sheng, you dog, there is a kind of you!" If you don't dare to get on, get away! ”

Watanabe was about to have a seizure when he was stopped by Noto. Noto walked up to Zhang Baowang with a pleasant face, patted him on the shoulder, and said in stiff Chinese: "Zhang, you are very bold, my admiration!" I don't think your demands are too much, and I can promise you that your conditions can be met. ”

Noto turned his face to look at Watanabe: "Watanabe-kun, I made a promise without consulting you, I hope I didn't offend you." ”

Watanabe nodded: "Yo Xi!" Noto-kun, I will keep my promise. ”

Zhang Baowang turned to the prisoners of war and shouted, "Brothers, did you hear that? ”

The prisoners of war replied in a calamity: "Hear me!" ”

"Brother Baowang, can we believe what the Japanese say? Don't be fooled. ”

"Lao Zhang, let Watanabe write us a note, don't let them regret it......"

At this time, the full hall raised his hands and shouted: "Brothers, don't quarrel, brother, can I say two words?" ”

The Chinese prisoners of war fell silent.

Zhang Baowang turned his body around, faced Mantang and said calmly: "Mantang, if you have something to say, I'll listen." ”

The hall said loudly: "Brothers, Brother Baowang is about to fight the Japanese, and no one knows whether he will be dead or alive for a while, that's it, Brother Baowang is still thinking about everyone, and wants to use this life to fight for the brothers...... Brothers, we are all five-foot-tall men, if we still have a little conscience, we shouldn't bargain with the Japanese with Brother Baowang's life! If you want me to say, we don't want anything, we have to ask Brother Baowang to use his real skills and slaughter this Japanese military Cao! ”

The prisoners of war exploded at once, and everyone shouted angrily: "Yes, kill him!" ”

"Lao Zhang, kill this devil and avenge Lao Xue!"

Hundreds of prisoners of war shouted and cursed, and there was chaos in the venue. The wolf and green dog in the hands of the Japanese soldiers became restless and barked at the crowd. The Japanese sentries on the watchtower also became nervous, pulling the bolt of the heavy machine gun "click-click".

Gao Sheng took out the **** "Bang!" Bang" fired two shots into the sky and shouted, "What are you doing?" Do? Want to rebel? Whoever makes another heckle will be shot! Now I declare, the duel begins! ”

Zhang Baowang picked up the rifle, pointed his finger at Yanagawa Nobuzhe and whispered, "You, shoot!" ”

Wearing a yellow military uniform, Yanagawa Nobutsu was a medium height, thin in stature, with a duck egg face, his skin was fair, his eyebrows were clear, and he did not look like a Japanese samurai, but like a white-faced talent, soft and handsome. This is the true answer to the saying: people should not be disguised.

Yanagawa Nobuzhe was already impatient, he shook the gun ring with his gun, and with a "whoosh", it was simply a stab, Zhang Baowang was not polite, and immediately used an anti-left stab action to push away the opponent's bayonet, and stepped out with an arrow step, and also came to a standard stab. The experienced Yanagawa Nobuzhe did not take a step back to dodge the bayonet, but changed his position and gently slid a step to the left, twisting sharply while dodging the blade, and the ** of his right hand drew an arc diagonally upward, hitting Zhang Baowang's throat. These two movements are simple and practical, not fancy, showing extremely solid basic skills, such as flowing water, in one go, this is a master of delicate technology.

Zhang Baowang didn't dodge, he blocked the ferocious blow with the bullet magazine with a hard gun, and with a "dang" sound, both sides were shocked and took a step back.

Yanagawa Nobutsu is worthy of being a master of "Gun Kendo", he is full of a strong sense of attack, and he does not allow his opponent to have a little respite, and it is a stab like lightning...... Zhang Baowang took a step forward diagonally, the rifle in his hand turned sideways, and while his body avoided the blade of the opponent's knife, the blade of the bayonet in his hand was facing forward, clinging to the upper part of the opponent's gun...... Yanagawa Nobuzhe was suddenly shocked into a cold sweat, he immediately understood the opponent's intentions, Zhang Baowang's bayonet blade had already slashed along the body of the gun with the help of the opponent's momentum, and Yanagawa Nobuzhe's left hand holding the gun. Although this move is not fatal, it is very tricky and vicious, because once the blade is in place, Yanagawa Shinzhe's left hand holding the gun is useless.

Yanagawa Nobuzhe was a veteran after all, and in a hurry, he didn't think much about it, so he simply dodged sideways, let go of his hands, and the rifle fell to the ground with a "bang...... Yanagawa Nobutei's left hand was saved, but his front body was completely exposed to Zhang Baowang's bayonet......

If it is a normal competition, Zhang Baowang will politely put away the gun and let the opponent pick up the gun to continue the competition, but today is different, the fight to the death, you can't be polite, there is no draw in the dueling arena, either you die or I live. Zhang Baowang took a step forward suddenly, raised his gun and stabbed with a sharp bayonet, and the sharp bayonet instantly pierced Yanagawa Nobuzhe's chest...... Yanagawa Nobuzhe's facial expression froze suddenly, and he looked at Zhang Baowang in surprise, as if he didn't believe this result, his lips moved, but he didn't make any sound. Zhang Baowang stared into Yanagawa Nobuzhe's eyes, the luster in his eyes gradually dimmed, and it seemed to be covered with a layer of white mist...... Zhang Baowang twisted the bayonet without hesitation, and everyone watching the battle clearly saw that Yanagawa Nobutsu's back was about 10 centimeters sharp, and the blade of the bayonet had turned 90 degrees in his body.

Yanagawa Nobuzhe's body was paralyzed, and he slowly slid to the ground with the bayonet inserted in his chest in both hands, Zhang Baowang withdrew his gun and pulled out the bayonet, and watched Yanagawa Nobutsu lie down and swallow his last breath......

The white-knuckle battle is so cruel, and the life-and-death duel is only in a moment. The duel took less than two minutes to make sense.

The POWs erupted in cheers. Watanabe, Noto, and several Japanese officers all walked out of the courtyard without saying a word, and they didn't even glance at Yanagawa Nobutei's body.

Zhang Baowang threw away his rifle and sat down on the bench. He stroked the rough surface of the bench, two lines of tears dripping down his cheeks to his chest. Just half an hour ago, Xue Zhankui was still sitting here with him preparing to fight, and his body temperature seemed to be still on the bench, but in just a moment, Xue Zhankui's soul had drifted to an unknowable place...... Zhang Baowang knelt down with his legs and raised his head to the sky and roared: "Old Xue, you are good to go...... Brother I...... I'm seeing you off......"

Man Tang, Tie Zhu, Sun Xincang, Li Changshun and others in the crowd also knelt down one after another, crying bitterly.

[1]

At dawn on February 26, 1936, 1,500 Japanese soldiers led by the 3rd Guards Infantry Wing, led by young officers of the Imperial Mission, attacked the Prime Minister's Office and several other key offices, killing Minister Minoru Saito, Director of Education Watanabe Shotaro, and Minister of Finance Takahashi Isaki, seriously wounding the Emperor's attendant Kantaro Suzuki, and then occupying the Nagata Town area for four days. The purpose of the uprising was to "respect the emperor and seek treachery" and to promote the implementation of the "Showa Restoration." In fact, the cause of the uprising was the long-term struggle between the imperial faction and the control faction, and between the officers of the army and the officers of the staff.

[2]

Kendo is a unique instrument fighting technique in the Middle Ages in Japan. After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Army began to conduct large-scale bayonet skills and tactics training, and according to the characteristics of Japanese soldiers, the techniques and tactical movements of "gun sword" were combined, and developed into the modern "gun sword", which is actually the bayonet technique on the rifle.