Chapter 8: The Prairie Wolf King Wang Zhan Kui (Mid-Autumn Festival Happiness)

  The soldiers of the National Defense Army, under the leadership of He Tianxi, soon settled down in a large car store. This big car store was made of earth and wood structure, with walls made of yellow mud, and had five rooms, each room being spacious with a large kang (heated bed) from north to south. The facilities of this big car store were even more simple, with several wooden tables and long benches placed on the ground.

  In this era, not just anyone can open a large store. The owner must have a certain amount of wealth and also have good relations with both the underworld and the authorities, either relying on official backing or secretly maintaining close ties with local gangsters, possessing the financial resources and influence to settle disputes. Apparently, the Li family is also a prominent force in the Black Mountain area, with Li Enyi's second uncle, Li Delin, serving as the head of the Chamber of Commerce, having deep-rooted power and influence. Having an insurance team of less than 200 people in this era is already a significant force, and they are quite powerful in the Town An area as well.

  For dinner, Li Enyi prepared cornmeal pancakes, fried cakes, a stack of radish strips and pickled vegetables, and bok choy potato soup. After dinner, He Tianxi rested early and fell into deep thought about the future direction of the troops.

  For an armed force to develop step by step, the first step is to have soldiers, the second step is to have equipment, the third step is to have training, the fourth step is to have a grand goal, and the fifth step is to have overall military theoretical integrity.

  Thinking of his current national defense army, He Tianxi felt very lucky that he had formed his own armed forces in such a short period of time and had sufficient equipment to expand. He thought that the most pressing problem to be solved now was training and objectives. The first step, the second step has been basically achieved, but now the biggest problem is training. Although he is a person from the future, the only experience with military affairs is military training. A solution must be found in the short term to accelerate the military literacy of new recruits and individual combat capabilities. Only in this way can this army continue to develop, otherwise it will eventually become a second-rate armed forces in this era of warlord chaos.

  Considering the near-term goals and development direction of the National Revolutionary Army, one is to continue discussing with Madrid Dove, and the other is to provide a pen assistance, playing a crucial role at critical moments, annihilating the small Japanese troops that harm the people.

  Secondly, take root in the present and continue to develop one's own armed forces, annihilate the local bandit armed forces nearby, and slowly develop without rushing into a head-on confrontation with the little devils.

  In comparison, the second goal is more feasible. The National Revolutionary Army has only 100 old soldiers and a security team of 190 people. The remaining soldiers are basically new recruits who have not received any training. Their combat effectiveness is probably not even comparable to that of bandits, let alone the well-trained Japanese army. If they're not careful, there's a possibility that they'll be completely wiped out again."

  Considering the armed forces in his hands, two Maxim machine guns and over 1,000 Berdan II Russian rifles, plus the help of the Russians, ammunition is definitely not a problem. If he doesn't consider other factors, He Tianxi already has the ability to follow the Russians and make a big move, but He Tianxi does not want to change the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, at most hoping that both sides will mutually slaughter each other, making both sides more miserable, Japan may win, but it will be a miserable victory, and he can take advantage of the situation.

  What He Tianxi needs to do is to seek development in the chaotic world, on the premise of his own development, turn the whole into zero, use small troops to harass the Japanese army, eliminate and annex pro-Japanese bandits, make the war trend return to balance as soon as possible, let both sides consume each other, and give himself more space for development.

  "Knock, knock, knock," a knocking sound came from outside. "Is Lord He asleep?" Li Enyi asked softly.

  He Tianci stretched his waist and sat up, saying: "It's Li Guandai, come in quickly, I haven't slept yet!"

  Li Enyi walked up to He Tianci with a smile, then chuckled and said: "He sir, I Li Enyi am a straightforward person, I won't bother you with those useless things. I came today specifically to thank you. As soon as I joined your ranks, you promoted me to be in charge of the troops, I really don't know how to thank you enough." After saying that, he laboriously pulled out a bag of silver from his pocket and said: "He sir, please accept this, these soldiers under my command all need to be bribed."

  He Tianci deliberately put on a serious face and said solemnly: "Li Guandai, what are you doing? Take this money back first. In the future, I, He Tianci, will definitely have use for your place. I'll call you 'old brother', can you help me out?"

  Li Enyi looked a bit embarrassed and took the money back. He Tianci glanced at him, smiled, and then paused for a moment before asking, "Brother, do you know if there are any bandit forces around here?"

  Li Enyi's big eyes sparkled for a moment, and then he said: "Near our northwest border with Fuxin, there is a force called the Grassland Wolf in the Mongolian grasslands. They have been stationed at the Wild Wolf Fort for a long time, so they are also known as the Wild Wolf Gang. The head of the gang is Wang Zhan Kui, also known as the Wolf King. It's said that Wang Zhan Kui was originally from Shaanxi Province in northern China, but somehow ended up coming to our area and joining the escort agency. He has excellent martial arts skills and is ruthless when doing things. A few years ago, during Old Escort Head's 60th birthday celebration, he beheaded Black Blind Man (Northeastern Black Bear) to obtain bear gallbladder for Old Escort Head as a birthday gift, which earned him the position of head of the escort agency. Later, when Red Whisker from Northeast China was causing trouble and the escort agency couldn't operate anymore, Wang Zhan Kui took up his pole and went to the Wild Wolf Mountain stronghold to become a bandit.

  His subordinates are even more formidable, with Tuo Tianliang (also known as Mr. Mo, the military strategist and chief of staff), nicknamed "Divine Calculator", whose real name is Li Yuanfang, excels at calculations, wears a small pair of glasses, and appears to be a cultured person, seemingly from a scholarly background, but somehow ended up joining the gang after his family's downfall.

  This top beam (also known as the cannon head, is the commander-in-chief of the vanguard in the team and also the captain of the dare-to-die corps) is called Liu Dazi, who is also the second master. This kid "Guan Zhi" (has accurate marksmanship), hits a hundred shots with a hundred bullets, can shoot two-handed box cannons.

  Shun Tian Liang (also known as Grain Platform, in charge of grain and vegetable storage and supply, roughly equivalent to the Logistics Support Chief in the army) is an old lady named Ji Yauhua, who looks quite decent. In her early years, she opened a wine shop on the grassland, but later got involved in a homicide case and was put behind bars.

  Ying Tian Liang (also known as Shui Xiang, in charge of distributing sentry and patrol duties. Roughly equivalent to the chief of security in an army) was a Mongolian fellow whose name nobody knew, tall and strong, everyone on the road called him Jin Gang, this Jin Gang was quite something, a great warrior, with bare hands he could take down a hundred men!

  This prairie wolf is a stray, but Wang Zhan Kui has also established three no-snatch rules:

  First, don't rob the poor; second, don't rob women and children; third, don't rob honest travelers' money.

  "In Fuxin area, he is also a hero who robs the rich to help the poor, and can be considered a good guy. He is also very chivalrous, and his 500 or so brothers are all skilled in riding and shooting. In these years, they have not had fewer conflicts with the old enemy."

  "Listening to you, this Wang Zhan Kui is indeed a hero. Are there any other bandits around here?" He Tian Cai laughed and said.

  Li En-yi hesitated for a moment, rubbed his head and said: "Ah, also, on our eastern side, between the towns of Anxian and Xinminfu, there's a guy called Liu Erhuangdi, a gold-armed man who is greedy and lustful. He's got a big gang under the name of an insurance team, which has developed rapidly over the past few years. This guy not only has over 1,000 men under him but also occupies a copper mine and a small gold mine in that area. Under the guise of an insurance team, he actually bullies men and women, and in previous years, he colluded with the old devils to harm the common people. Now, he's working with the little devils again. If he takes a fancy to any woman, whether she's a young girl or someone else's wife, he'll just take her by force. He's simply a local tyrant. With the war between Russia and Japan in the northeast, he took advantage of the Qing government's distraction to give himself the title of Second Emperor, and over the past few years, he's made a lot of money from the chaos in the northeast.

  When it comes to the insurance team system, the initiator was Feng Lin Ge, a powerful bandit in western Liaoning who later became Zhang Zuolin's early opponent. Taking advantage of the chaos in Northeast China, he established an insurance team and claimed to emulate Zhao Zhigang, a righteous man from Northeast China, under the banner of "robbing the rich and helping the poor". In reality, they were extorting and looting within their designated insurance areas, doing all sorts of evil. The slightly better ones, like Zhang Zuolin later on, still had some sense of justice and never made trouble in their own insurance areas, as the saying goes: "a rabbit does not eat the grass near its nest". Instead, they went to other insurance areas to commit crimes.

  At this time, Feng Delin was in a triumphant position, with the notorious 108 gangs under his command, the leader of the Japanese East Asia Yiyou Army, who had intercepted the old Russian military supplies.

  "Older brother, it's getting late, get some rest! Go back and inform that leader to bring his men tomorrow, I'll take them to Fuxin Wild Wolf Mountain stronghold to meet Wang Zhan Kui." He Tian Ci said seriously.

  Li Enyi was taken aback at first, then showed a fearful expression and hesitated to say: "I'm saying, Lord He, you're not joking, right? We're all new recruits, how can we fight against the Wolf Gang who have been through many battles? The Grassland Wolf Gang is so powerful that even the old Russians have to give them three points of face. With our small number of people, won't we be completely annihilated?"