On a small island in the delta of the Irrawaddy estuary...

I know that Suoso...

A figure swayed out of the bushes.

There was no one around, and the early morning glimmer was obscured by the dense canopy of trees, making it almost impossible to see the surrounding scene.

Before the day was fully dawn, Private Ono Hitoshi Ono began to wander aimlessly in the woods.

He carried several jugs of water on his back, and whenever he saw the wide broad-leaved bushes, he would immediately run over and carefully remove the dew from the leaves and pour them into the jugs.

Today there was a heavy fog, the humidity was heavy, and the bushes in the forest were covered with dew, which also made Ono Hitoshi's job a lot easier today, filling three water bottles in less than an hour.

Through the canopy, Onozuka looked at the sky that was getting brighter and brighter, and he knew that time was running out, and it wouldn't be long before the sun would rise.

The June sun is very scorching, and the dew on these leaves will evaporate in an instant, and when the water is not full, the team leader does not know how to clean himself up.

Alas, it has been more than a month since it was stranded on this small island, and now the whole army has been cut off from water and food, and the situation can be said to be very bad.

The food stolen from the natives had long since been exhausted, and the troops of more than 10,000 people were scattered on various small islands, almost without radio communication with each other, and could only rely on manpower to transmit information.

But the expeditionary force will not let them get better, as soon as they find any movement on the island, the artillery on the opposite side will immediately start bombarding indiscriminately, as if the shells do not cost money, and a round will come every day.

There are also enemy planes hovering in the sky, and if they are not hidden carefully enough to be discovered, they will be greeted by merciless bombing.

Onozuka's team hadn't eaten a hot meal for several days, and they had long since cut off contact with the chief, so the team leader had to let the rest of the people use local materials to solve the problem of eating and drinking with the animals, birds, beasts, and swamp pools on the island.

Southeast Asia's tropical climate is not short of water, but these small islands at the mouth of the sea are not high in elevation, not even a hillside, let alone a lively river or stream, only a dirty swamp quagmire.

If you don't have anything to eat, you can beat monkeys and birds, dig sweet potatoes and pick fruits to satisfy your hunger, but you won't live long without water to drink.

Tortured by scorching heat and hunger every day, those thirsty Japanese soldiers didn't care about 3721, and they started drinking water one after another.

The number of microorganisms in the water of the tropical rainforest is unfortunately known, and it is not a matter of whether it is clean or not.

As a result, before the enemy could attack, many Japanese soldiers fell ill from malaria infection, and the death toll fell faster than when they were in the war.

It was not that they did not think about boiling water, but once a fire was lit, the smoke that slowly rose from the cooking was like a signal light, and in a short time it would attract the enemy's artillery fire, and they would die faster.

There is no way, for now they can only rely on the early morning dew to meet their needs, even if it is a drop in the bucket to keep them alive.

In addition to hunger and dehydration, the most fatal thing is disease and infection, you must know that when the little devil was besieged on the island, there were thousands of wounded people of varying degrees in the team.

As time passed, the condition of these wounded deteriorated day by day, and the number of people who fell ill for various reasons also increased, and finally they basically died of pain under the helpless eyes of their companions.

Some little devils can't stand the torture of pain and infection, and they choose to commit suicide to extricate themselves, and those who are still alive have to be devastated, and life is better than death.

Touching his rumbling belly, Ono Tsuka's face was full of sadness, thinking of the first time he came to Myanmar to feast, he unconsciously licked his lips, and now he seems to have almost forgotten what the fragrant rice tasted like.

Shout...

A piercing scream interrupted Onozuka's reverie, and the sound frightened him to fall to his stomach, and dozens of shells fell to the ground a few seconds later.

Rumble!

Rumble!

…

The explosion was deafening, and Ono Hitoshi had to hide in a low-lying pond with his head in his hands.

These damn Chinese people, why don't they stop in the morning?

Rumble!

Unfortunately, one of the shells happened to land near his location.

With a loud bang, Ono Tsukashi instantly felt dizzy, and the huge impact shook his internal organs and almost fainted.

After hearing the movement, the little devils on the island instantly became a mess, and each of them looked for cover in a panic, for fear of being taken away by the shells.

But the shelling lasted short, and it was like a sneeze compared to a normal day.

The Japanese could not have imagined that this was purely the work of a group of idle artillery officers of the expeditionary force who had nothing to do in order to pass the time, in their words: add some food to the little devil's breakfast.

I don't know how long it took, but Onozuka Hitoshi who had fallen into a coma woke up slowly, and before he could rejoice that he was not dying, the pain in his leg made him gasp.

A piece of shrapnel the size of an index finger was shot into the thigh, and the end of the flesh was stuck by the femur, causing the other half of the shrapnel to be exposed.

Ono Tsuka Ren got up from the ground with difficulty, he didn't dare to stay any longer, and he didn't care about the pain in his legs, so he found a branch on the ground to support him, and limped towards the place where the team gathered......

……

The team was not far away, but fortunately there were no casualties from the shelling just now, and at this moment most of the little devils were chewing on the roots and vines of the tree to serve as their breakfast and lunch today.

Squadron Leader Masao Hikawa had just peeled off the outer bark of a plantain tree, revealing the white and flawless core inside.

Licking his lips, Masao Hikawa immediately devoured it.

The core of the plantain tree is crisp and brushed when you bite into it, and although it has no taste, the juice is still quite rich.

This was spoiling to the other Japanese soldiers, and seeing that the squadron leader was eating, everyone couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and instantly felt that the wild vine leaves in their hands were not fragrant.

There were more than 70 little devils hiding on this small island, most of them were still wounded, and they could not contact other troops, so they could only hide here and survive.

After being on the island for so long, the little devils who can eat and drink have been searched all over the place, and the living creatures in the forest have long been eaten up, and the wild fruits have also been looted.

The little devil did not dare to go to the water's edge to fish, because that would only attract the enemy's guns.

Although the expeditionary force did not attack, the patrol boats would still cruise near the island from time to time, and as long as they saw someone coming up, the machine guns on the ship were by no means ambiguous.

Hungry and helpless, the little devil began to dig the wild sweet potatoes on the island, and when the sweet potatoes were eaten, he began to dig up edible tree roots and wild vegetables and vines, and even the earthworms and reptiles in the soil.

Don't look at the plantain tree core, which is usually not eaten by dogs, but now it is a supreme delicacy that can only be eaten by the chiefs.

Among them, there is also a climbing vine called the sunflower potato, which has green and juicy leaves and produces fruits that resemble ginger, but it tastes slimy and not very good.

The advantage of this plant is that it reproduces quickly and can be found everywhere in the bushes.

The local natives used its vine leaves and fruits to feed their livestock, but now it has become a rare ration for the little devils, and it is really used to the fullest.

It's hard to swallow, but it's the only thing that can replenish sugar and water at the moment, so you have to swallow it in your stomach in order to survive, even if it's unpalatable.

(End of chapter)