Chapter Five Three Reasons

  Jin Dadao was a man with a bad temper, but he was indeed a man of his word. He let Yang Xiaolin sit beside him and even had Biao serve them tea. Yang Xiaolin did not decline the offer and took the opportunity to collect her thoughts.

  It happened too suddenly, although he had been passively accepted, but the thread of resistance and a little hidden loss in his heart still made him feel somewhat lost.

  Yang Xiaolin had been a soldier for three years, and from his perspective, these people were not qualified as an army. They didn't have uniforms or strict discipline. A troop without discipline could persist in battle for over half a year, which was truly a miracle! Yang Xiaolin knew that this miracle was created by Liu Yikun's personal charm. Now that Liu Yikun was dead, what path should they take next? Yang Xiaolin still hadn't figured it out.

  He knew that heaven gave him a chance to do something big. But why did he have to cross over to the Qing Dynasty, this rotten and crumbling court? Why not the Han or Tang Dynasties? If not, even the Ming Dynasty would be fine!

  If he had woken up yesterday, Liu Yikun would never have been allowed to go to Fengtian.

  These men are all of a heroic disposition, China has never lacked for people with backbone, what it lacks is leaders with backbone. The Qing imperial court doesn't even know what heroism is.

  Even if we take a step back and forget about the Qing dynasty, his current identity is still embarrassing. A battalion commander of the Qing army! How can he help the Qing dynasty in the future? Yang Xiaolin has always been opposed to the Qing dynasty of this era, especially that old woman Cixi. He felt uncomfortable with the long braid on his head and couldn't bear to kowtow to others at every turn. As a straightforward police officer, he was not willing to rely on a group of bandits for important matters.

  The hardest thing for people is that no matter how they choose, it's always a path they don't want to take.

  Yang Xiaolin put a piece of leaves that had drifted down from the tree into his mouth and chewed slowly, watching those who were working hard, thinking in his mind where he should start.

  In the end, he discovered a very cruel reality, that is, he had no other choice. Yang told Xiaolin that he had neither connections nor funds; Yang was just a low-ranking officer in the Qing army, and even if he went back, no one would take him seriously. It's also possible that the Qing government would treat him like Liu Yikun, beheading him.

  Moreover, the Qing army is actually more bandit-like than the bandits! Thinking of this, Yang Xiaolin's mouth corners rose with a wry smile. It seems that he must change his thinking from how to be a good police officer to how to be a good bandit. This role reversal really made him uncomfortable.

  The whole day passed in anxiety, and on the second day at noon, Suibing returned.

  Su Bing told Yang Xiaolin that there are now more than 2,000 Qing soldiers in Fengtian City and over 500 Russian soldiers. The Russian troops are no longer in the city, they are stationed in a place called Ganzi Village five miles north of Fengtian.

  Liu Yikun's head was hung at the gate of the Russian soldiers' camp, and his body was on the city wall of Fengtian, used by the governor to demonstrate to the public. The governor issued a proclamation telling all Qing citizens that opposing the foreign powers would end in this fate.

  Everyone was outraged after hearing this, and Liu Xian knew that his father's body had been torn apart. He wanted to take the escorts to avenge him immediately, and Jin Dadao agreed with him, pulling the team to leave. Yang Xiaolin stopped them and asked them to listen to Suibing finish speaking.

  Yang Xiaolin asked Su Bing if he had found out anything else, and Su Bing said that just as Yang Xiaolin had estimated, the governor of Fengtian killed Liu Yikun and immediately dispatched troops to leave the city, claiming to be surrounding and annihilating Qiangshan Mountain. However, after passing by Ganzi Village, the troops stopped in their tracks, and those soldiers robbed some Qing Dynasty citizens who were preparing to return home but did not take another step towards Qiangshan Mountain.

  They're just pretending to show off to the Russians, actually going deep into the mountains and forests to suppress bandits? The Qing dynasty's soldiers aren't that stupid.

  There are probably only over a thousand Qing soldiers in the city now, but the Qing army is approaching here, and some other bandits have also been recruited. Their numbers are increasing every day.

  He also heard that the Russians, although they returned Shenyang to the Qing Dynasty this time, do not plan to return the area west of Liaoning. The Qing is currently negotiating with the Russians.

  Yang Xiaolin remained silent for a long time after hearing this, Jin Dadao became somewhat impatient: "Yang Batou, you should say something! If you don't want to avenge Liu Ge, then clear the way now. I won't blame you if you do. You can continue being an official soldier with your men, and we'll mind our own business from now on!"

  Yang Xiaolin shook his head and still didn't make a sound. At this time, he was thinking about one thing: the solid fortress that Russia would build in western Liaoning was not to defend against the Qing dynasty, but to prevent Japan, which also had ambitions for China's northeast, from advancing. It should be 1901 now, when did the Russo-Japanese War break out?

  Yang Xiaolin really couldn't remember. He had returned his middle school history textbook to the teacher, and now it was impossible to get it back in the 21st century. However, he had studied several major battles in the army, just like history, and even the specific months they occurred were forgotten by him, only remembering what happened during that time.

  He is regretful for owing an apology to his history teacher, and when Jin Dadao speaks, he just slightly shakes his head without expressing whether he will go or not.

  Jin Dadao was about to urge again when Kong Luodi pulled him back: "Brother Jin, let Yang Butou think for a moment."

  Yang Xiaolin thought for a moment before speaking: "There are currently 2,000 people in Fengtian, including bandits and soldiers. They don't know each other well, which gives us a good opportunity."

  Jin Dadao laughed when he heard this: "I knew Brother Yang was definitely not a coward! Otherwise, you wouldn't have helped me block that iron bullet back then! As long as Brother Yang is willing to go, I'll listen to you!"

  Yang Xiaolin smiled and looked at Jin Dadao: "Wrong, I'm not going to fight in Fengtian."

  "What?" Jin Dadao was taken aback.

  Yang Xiaolin beckoned to a few leaders to come over, and said in a low voice: "Even if Fengtian is chaotic, we have too few people. Even if we win, we will pay a great price. Moreover, the guards at the prefecture's yamen must be very strict, I don't want to go against this stone wall, I think we should go to Zhangjia Village."

  As soon as he said this, everyone in the audience was shocked. These people had fought against the Russians before, and apart from taking advantage of the terrain to gain some benefits, they themselves were very clear that whether it was individual combat or collective coordination, they were absolutely not on the same level as the Russians.

  If Manchu is a stone, then Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is a boulder!

  Yang Xiaolin straightened his back: "I have three reasons. First, I want to distinguish between victory and defeat with the Russians, I want to tell Brother Liu's spirit in heaven that we won. Second, I want to take back Brother Liu's head and let him rest in peace. Third, when the Russians make a move, someone will clean up that know-it-all prefect for us."

  Everyone was still clearly reeling from the shock, Yang Xiaolin looked at Jin Dadao whose face had already changed: "What? Scared?"

  Jin Dadao finally came back to his senses: "Me afraid? When have I ever been afraid?! We're all just a bunch of idiots, let's do it!"

  Kong Luo Di and Gu Tian Ming hesitated: "Yang Ba Zong, if we do this thing, we'll have no way out in the future."