Chapter Six: The Wine Party

  Actually, there is another reason to hit the Russians that Yang Xiaolin did not say. There is a saying that goes like this: A policeman who used to be a thief is the best at catching thieves because he knows how a thief thinks when committing a crime. By the same token, if a former policeman becomes a bandit, he will definitely be the most difficult to deal with, as he knows how to respond to others' pursuit.

  Yang Xiaolin understood that in this form, if he didn't want to go to the Qing Dynasty as a soldier and wanted to make a big deal, there was only one way: to make his name loud, and when his name became loud, the nearby bandits would have the possibility of coming to rely on him. With many people and guns, they could prevent the Manchu from easily annihilating themselves.

  With just over 200 people, they can't make a living. He also doesn't want to spend his whole life as a bandit with these more than 200 people in such a tumultuous manner.

  Yang Xiaolin nodded: "That's right, we have no way out in the future. I'd like to ask Master, if we don't do this thing, do you think it's the Russians or the imperial court that will give us a way out? The reason why Da Baozi is easier than Fengtian is that the Russians are now ready to withdraw, they must be slack, and we may find an opportunity."

  "Alas! Alright! But we must plan carefully and leave a way out in case the imperial court targets us in the future."

  Everyone knows the consequences, they only have 200 people, and perhaps the Russians can't do anything to them because the Russians are not familiar with the terrain. But the Qing is different, it can easily form an army that is equally familiar with Changbai Mountain, leaving these 200 people with no support.

  Jin Dadao didn't care about these things, he was very excited: "I'll go and get my brothers ready!"

  Gu Tianming quietly approached: "Yang Batou, are you really willing to take this path?"

  A gentle breeze blew over, Yang Xiaolin wrapped her clothes around herself: "The weather is changing, winter was cold, but it's gone and now it's spring with blooming flowers."

  Kong's disappointment was written all over his face. His greatest dream in this life was to become an official, to bring glory and honor to his ancestors. He thought that following Liu Yikun to serve the imperial court would bring him some reward, but he never expected it to end up like this today.

  But it's clear that Yang Xiaolin is right.

  "Yang Ba wants to take the stockade by strategy, it can't be taken by force." He finally fulfilled his duty as a teacher once again.

  Perhaps it was the heavens helping Yang Xiaolin, or perhaps it was the vengeful spirit of Liu Yikun protecting from above, just as Yang Xiaolin said, although the defense of Ganzi Village looked normal on the surface, the strings in the minds of these Russians had already loosened.

  Brov is preparing a celebratory feast for the evening, these five hundred people will go their separate ways after tomorrow, some following him to build fortresses in western Liaoning, while others return to Russia.

  Brov felt somewhat disheartened, to be honest this war didn't seem like a war at all in his eyes, he thought his opponent was the Qing army, but those queue-wearing guys were so unbearable that it left him somewhat disappointed.

  It was Liu Yikun and his men who had indeed caused him a lot of trouble. Now that the trouble had been resolved, Chet's Brov felt a little regretful. Why hadn't he caught the guy himself?

  War always leaves something to both sides, pride, hurt, regret. Now all this is over, one has to accept the regret just as Chinese have to accept the hurt. The Tsar's meaning was clear: from now on, Russians would no longer consider Chinese their main opponents but Japanese.

  This time they cut a large cake from the Qing Dynasty, but the Japanese wanted to take advantage of the Liaodong Peninsula and were stopped by the Russians. The Japanese were very unhappy and heard that Japan was already preparing for war. This made Che's Brov laugh, those Japanese radishes, can also fight with his own little brothers on the battlefield?

  His aide-de-camp, Shalda Yefimov, knocked on the door of his quarters: "Your Excellency, may I come in?"

  Burov gathered his thoughts: "What's the matter? Come on in."

  "General, the evening banquet is ready now. There's something that needs your decision. You know how can a banquet be less without women? The problem is that there are not many women following our army."

  "Go to town and find some Chinese women! Dear Sharl Davydov, we should consider these things as a matter of course."

  Shalva Dadyev said: "General, but Chinese women don't dance."

  Brov said: "No one expects their little feet to move as fast as our women, just take off your clothes and let the boys make do."

  Shal Dull Yev: "I understand, General. It's a simple thing. If they won't, I'm sure our little friend would be happy to teach them."

  Russian soldiers received orders to go into the city of Fengtian and seize enough women for them to have one each, at which these guys were really excited.

  Lao Maozi's moral integrity is well-known to everyone, and for a time the entire city of Fengtian was in an uproar. Those Qing dynasty soldiers who had just been showing off their military prowess in front of the common people were now, one by one, maintaining order under the leadership of the prefectural governor.

  What they called maintaining order was not to stop the Russians, but to stop the Chinese from resisting the Russians. When Chinese women were dragged onto carts by Russian men, these Qing soldiers were responsible for blocking those family members who wanted to rush up and save them.

  In the eyes of the Magistrate, it doesn't matter how many Chinese women are taken away. The key is that the foreigner must not be hurt. If that foolish boy were to injure the foreigner, the foreigner would be unhappy, and if the foreigner is unhappy, the old Buddha (the Emperor) would also be unhappy. That would be a serious problem, and he might lose his position as Magistrate.

  Yang Xiaolin and Jin Dadao entered the city just in time to see this scene.

  They entered the city to investigate again. The news brought back by Bing earlier was too one-sided, and some things were a bit vague, especially about the aspects of Ganzi Village, which was almost blank. So before taking action, they had to ask around again.

  Yang Xiaolin is now more certain that his choice was correct. If he were to return to the Qing army, he would not be able to convince his conscience to stand among those Qing soldiers. His hands trembled as he watched the women being dragged onto the carts, watching the Russians insult them with their hands, and watching the Qing soldiers standing by in their uniforms, holding guns. Yang Xiaolin had an overwhelming urge to punch him right then and there.

  Always heard that the Qing dynasty was muddled, but Yang Xiaolin never thought they were so muddled! Jin Dadao next to him obviously noticed his abnormality and was shocked to pull him: "General, you can't have done this before?"

  Yang Xiaolin glared at him: "Those women are our compatriots, don't you have any thoughts in your mind now?"

  "Ah! I'm thinking, if only I had an army to protect me when I rob, how great would that be?! Look at those Russians, they're robbing with such ease!"