It is just when the sharp sword comes out of its scabbard

  The submarine slowly moved through the water and docked at the wharf. Yang Shuo Ming jumped onto the wharf, looking at Tang Jing and others who had come to greet him, just as he was about to say something, but suddenly saw a black dot rapidly enlarging in the sky.

  Soon, the outline of a biplane appeared in the sky, with the black and red "human" logo on the fuselage and wings clearly visible.

  Tang Jing looked at the plane flying over in the sky, a hint of worry flashing across his eyes.

  "What's wrong?" Tang Jing looked at Yang Shuo Ming and asked.

  Tang Jing knew that this plane was flying over at this time and should be reporting an emergency.

  Yang Shuo Ming calmly watched the plane circling in the sky, without saying a word.

  At this time, the plane began to dive, and at the moment of pulling up again, the pilot in the back seat threw down a cylindrical object. Several cavalrymen rushed to the place where the thing fell immediately.

  Soon, a cavalryman picked up something thrown on the ground by the plane and then turned around to gallop towards Yang Shuo-ming's direction.

  The cavalryman galloped up to the front, and Wang Chaoyong, who was on duty as Yang Shuo's adjutant, quickly stepped forward, took a brass cylinder from the cavalryman's hand, turned around and ran over to hand it to Yang Shuo. Yang Shuo opened the brass cylinder, pulled out a telegram inside and began to read it.

  "Top urgent. Western Jiangxi Yang Town Guardian Envoy. Extremely confidential. Investigating Japan's coercion against our country is extremely urgent, yesterday received an urgent telegram from the Ministry of War, ordering two divisions of Jiangxi troops to go north and deploy defenses. The envoy should tidy up troops, horses, artillery, supplies, and rations, and be ready to receive orders at any time. Additionally: The Ministry of War ordered each place to pay attention to deploying defenses, as Jiangxi Province is adjacent to Fujian, the envoy should pay close attention to strict defense, and not allow Japanese spies to infiltrate and probe our military's strengths and weaknesses."

  Yang Shuo Ming finished reading the telegram and let out a sigh, handing it over to Tang Jing.

  Tang Jing finished reading this brief telegram, his face becoming increasingly solemn.

  "Why must you be transferred north?" Tang Jing returned the telegram to Yang Shouming, "Why not transfer his men under Zhang Jingyao over here? I think there's a problem in this, it seems like Zhang Jingyao has taken a liking to the financial resources here and wants to take advantage of this opportunity to seize territory from your hands."

  "Do you remember that 'Twenty-One Demands' I told you about?" Yang Shuo-ming smiled wryly and said, "The sentence in the telegram that says 'Japan is pressing our country urgently', it's referring to this."

  At the mention of "Twenty-one Articles", Tang Jing's eyes instantly ignited with anger.

  "Japan has been plotting to destroy our China." Tang Jing said, "I didn't expect this day to come so soon."

  Yang Shuo Ming nodded silently and let out a deep sigh.

  "You plan to obey orders and head north, don't you?" Tang Jing guessed Yang Shuo Ming's thoughts and asked, looking into his eyes.

  "So you think I should go or not?" Yang Shuo Ming asked with a smile.

  After listening to Yang Shuo Ming's question, Tang Jing fell silent.

  "It's been over a year, and Ganzhou has changed so much," Yang Shuoming raised his head, gazing at the plane gradually disappearing into the sky, and the factory area shrouded in mist in the distance, sighing, "I really hope that our great land of China is full of such scenery everywhere!"

  "I also hope so." Tang Jing's gaze fell on the submarine parked at the dock and the crowd around it.

  "I think you should reconsider my revised proposal." Yang Shuo Ming looked at Tang Jing and said sincerely, "I know your concerns, but I still hope that you and the brothers can get rid of the identity of mountain bandits. And if I really leave, it will take some time to come back, so it's all up to you here. You can't still be like before, protecting the people here as a mountain king, right?"

  "Let me think again." Tang Jing sighed and said.

  "You can also pretend to be a security guard for the company, and you can drive Zhang Jingyao away with justification if he really comes." said Yang Shuoming.

  "Alright." Tang Jing turned his head and looked at his wife and daughter who were as alike as sisters, nodding.

  "When something happens, discuss it with Old Wu and Old Fu more often." Yang Shuo Ming followed his gaze, as if he had thought of something, smiled and said, "Your wife is also a talented person, you must make good use of her, don't waste her talent."

  Tang Jing couldn't help but burst out laughing at his words. Madam Tang and Tang Jiuniang heard his laughter and turned around, looking at the two of them with strange gazes.

  At night, Tang Jing sat alone in the house, smoking one cigarette after another. The room was soon filled with a faint mist of smoke. Tang Jing stared blankly at the neat military uniform on the table and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  "How can you smoke so much?" Along with a soft voice, the carved wooden door creaked open and an extremely beautiful figure walked in.

  "Don't always walk around like a ghost, you're scaring me to death." Tang Jing didn't want her to discover his disturbed emotions, so he smiled and made a joke.

  "This is the skill I've been practicing since I was young." Mrs. Tang smiled and waved the newspaper in her hand to disperse the cigarette smoke floating towards her face. When she saw the cigarette butts all over the floor, she couldn't help but frown.

  "Don't smoke so much, didn't you hear what the Town Guardian said? Smoking too much is bad for your body. One cigarette can shorten your lifespan by five minutes, look at how many five minutes you've accumulated." Madam Tang said as she walked slowly to the window and opened it for him.

  "He's leaving." Tang Jing heard her mention Yang Shuo Ming, and his face unconsciously darkened again.

  "Has he been promoted or transferred?" Madam Tang asked immediately after hearing her husband's words.

  "The Beijing Army Department has sent a telegram, ordering him to lead the army north to participate in the defense." Tang Jing said, "He may take all the people from the Fifth Brigade with him."

  "Does he get to decide whether or not he goes? If he doesn't want to go, can't he just make up an excuse and send a telegram?" Mrs. Tang asked somewhat curiously, "Can't he just say he's ill and be done with it? With his intelligence, does he have to be so stubborn?"

  "This time is different, the Japanese are likely to come and fight." Tang Jing said.

  "No wonder today's newspaper would carry such reports." Madam Tang understood and said with some indignation, handing the newspaper to Tang Jing. Tang Jing extinguished the cigarette in his hand and took the newspaper to read.

  The front page of the newspaper prominently carried the main content of the "Twenty-one Demands".

  "The Japanese have not let us off the hook even here," said Mrs. Tang, "it is clearly written here that the Japanese want to occupy Pingxiang's coal mines and our Jiangxi railways."

  Tang Jing slammed the newspaper onto the desk, as if feeling overly oppressed and indignant. He strode to the window and gazed out at the distant mountains.

  "My China's mountains and rivers, I absolutely cannot let Japan take them! Absolutely not! Absolutely not!" Tang Jing loudly shouted.

  Mrs. Tang noticed the military uniform on the table, and with a hint of sadness, she walked over to the table, gently stroking the epaulets on the uniform, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

  "It's time for you to come down from the mountain." Madam Tang said softly, "The days of daily dragon spring wall ringing should also end."

  "Should I go with him?" Tang Jing turned around and asked his wife.

  "Well, you'd better discuss it with him quickly then." Madam Tang knew that her husband had already made up his mind and a relieved smile appeared on her face.

  Shuanglong Town, Renhe Primary School.

  Yang Shuoming stood outside the red brick wall, listening to the sound of children reading inside, and a warm light flashed in his eyes. He hesitated several times, wanting to step into the campus, but finally stopped in his tracks.

  Yang Shuo Ming noticed Huang Yunzhi's unusual gaze towards him from behind and revealed a covering smile.

  "What I love most is the sound of children reading." He said, as he returned to his wife's side, who was holding their child, took the son from her hands and kissed his rosy cheek.

  "Are you going away for a very long time and won't be able to come back?" Huang Yunzhi asked, looking at him steadily.

  "I'm not sure," Yang Shuo Ming didn't want her to worry, smiled and replied, "Maybe it'll take a month or so, maybe just a few days and I can come back."

  "Can't you take us both with you?" Huang Yunzhi looked at him with a hint of resentment, her voice trembling slightly, "So that we can take care of each other later..."

  "No, you and the child should stay here safely." Yang Shuo Ming turned his head to look at her, "If you two accompany me there, once we really fight with the Japanese, if anything happens to you and your daughter, I will never forgive myself this lifetime."

  After listening to his sincere and heartfelt words, Huang Yunzhi looked at her son who was smiling foolishly in his arms and held back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

  "The troops dispatched by the Ministry of War are definitely present in every locality, but Li Jun's big commander-in-chief didn't go, and Zhang Jingyao, the garrison commander of Nanchang, didn't go either. Why did they have to send you, this unremarkable garrison commander?" Huang Yunzhi said resentfully, "What right do they have?!"

  "I'm not going for them, but for the hundreds of millions of ordinary Chinese people like you and me!" Yang Shuo Ming looked at her, his eyes radiating an unyielding light. "If each of us had their kind of thinking, one day the Japanese would use bayonets to pierce our corpses and tell their descendants: 'Look! These are slaves!' Do you want to see that day?"

  "Dry mother! Don't worry! We will protect Dry Father's safety!" Wang Chaoyong, who had been standing not far from the couple, suddenly said.

  Huang Yunzhi turned her head and looked at Wang Chaoyong, who was wearing a military uniform with a string of fifty firecrackers on his back, and revealed a happy smile.

  "Alright." She glanced at the other kids who had gathered around, nodded vigorously and said, "You all be careful too, remember to take good care of Grandpa and come back with him, okay?"

  "We guarantee completion of the task!" The six kids stood at attention and shouted in unison.