Chapter 25

  Li Tie didn't get out of bed until the sun was high in the sky on the second day, while other team members had already started their normal training. Looks like his little body needs to be trained.

  Li Tie, who had a good night's sleep, got out of bed and the first thing he did was go take a look at his spoils of war - the radio.

  This is a radio powered by a hand-cranked generator, and although it looks like an antique to Li Tie's eyes, which are nearly seventy years ahead of its time, one has to admit that this was quite advanced for its era.

  Li Tie has disassembled mobile phones, let alone radios, it's a small matter. This radio, although I don't dare guarantee that if it breaks, I can fix it, at least using it is not a problem.

  Put on the headphones, let a team member shake the generator to supply power, Li Tie picked up the loudspeaker and adjusted the frequency to the one from the leader of the second dog district with some familiarity, then started shouting:

  "Company, company, I'm a fox, I'm a fox, hear me and respond, hear me and respond."

  There was a hissing sound of electric current coming from the headphones, but no response.

  "Company, company, I am Fox, I am Fox, hear me and reply, hear me and reply."

  Calling again, this time there was finally an echo.

  "Little Lee, is that really you? Where are you? Where did the radio come from? Has the main force arrived? Have you encountered the main force? Are we going to counterattack?"

  The captain of the Second Dog District was excited and incoherent, hiding in this small base, thinking that the main force had almost gone mad.

  Although there is food and drink here, and even better than when we were with the main force, it still doesn't feel quite right.

  "Commander, without a large troop, didn't we go out just a few days ago and accidentally got one, hehe."

  "Oh, you've been out for a trip, huh? Are you injured or not? You little scamp has gotten another radio, hasn't he? What other good stuff do you have? I knew you wouldn't come back empty-handed. Come on, confess honestly to me."

  "There's nothing left, just a radio station, one team member was slightly injured, plus three machine guns and two grenade launchers."

  "Is that all there is?"

  The captain of the Second Dog District didn't believe it at all. Now even Little Li is learning to be bad, daring not to report the truth about himself, wanting to keep private goods.

  "There's really nothing left, except for a few boxes of ammunition and some medicine, and just a little bit of food."

  "I knew you little rascal must have some private goods, send me a portion of the food, send over one machine gun, and send all the grenade launchers to me. Forget it, I'll just go myself."

  "No, no, Lian Chang, wait for you to walk over and it will be dark already. I'd better send someone to deliver it instead. Don't worry, can I still cheat others if I can even cheat you, Lian Chang? You know that, right, Lian Chang? Hehe."

  "Alright, I'll wait for you at the department, come quickly."

  After finishing the call, he threw away his earpiece and left through the hole.

  It's been a few days since I've seen Lian Chang and Gan Niang, and I have to admit that I'm starting to miss them.

  Tying machine guns and grenade launchers to the rear seat of a bicycle, Li Ties brought several team members to deliver war trophies according to the map.

  Of course, Li Tie's bicycle rear seat was not this kind of iron thing, but all the food on it was for Lian Zhang and Gan Niang, which is called serving both public and private interests.

  At first, the whole fox team thought they could ride this bicycle. It's a joke, I've had nearly 20 years of cycling experience myself, although I don't have a driver's license. But it seems that riding a bicycle doesn't require a driver's license. Now, all members of the team can ride this thing on mountain roads. Although some members fell and got bruised during the learning process, most of them quickly mastered this convenient mode of transportation.

  Riding bicycles, after nearly two hours of rapid march, Li Tie and his men finally arrived at the base. The current base is no longer the original one. Although the top of the mountain is still a military stronghold, the district team headquarters has moved to the foot of the mountain, not far from the summit. They found a relatively flat slope, built several rows of bungalows, which became the district team's office and dormitory. Some masses also found land nearby, built their own houses, and a village is gradually taking shape here.

  In the squad department, a small team of soldiers is stationed. In addition to defending the squad department, they also opened up some wasteland around the squad department and planted some beans, bean sprouts and other grains and vegetables. The artillery squad is also nearby, but not with the squad department together. In order to keep it secret, they are stationed in a valley on the other side of the mountain slope. Of course, there are observation posts set up on the top of the mountain, and camouflage is set up in the valley.

  When Li Tie arrived at the team's headquarters, it was just lunchtime. In the office, an eight-immortal table had been set up with four dishes: braised pork, which was Li Tie's favorite; roasted chicken, also a favorite of Li Tie's; garlic stir-fried beans and pickled cucumber. The roasted chicken was made by the cooking team, it was truly roasted chicken, cooked over an open flame, just like the legendary "begging chicken". The soup was wild mushroom soup.

  Everything is ready, just waiting for Li Tie to come and eat.

  Li Tie brought everyone to the team department, and was pulled over by Er Gou District Captain. After a close look, it was indeed found that Li Tie had not lost any parts. Er Gou District Captain patted Li Tie's shoulder, saying repeatedly "Well done, well done! Let's eat first, then talk about the battle process. Our district team can have two radio stations, it's really amazing. Hehe. Come on, let's eat first, I specially got you braised pork and roasted chicken."

  "And what's this?"

  Li Tie took down a package from the car and took out several cans of food and more than ten boxes of cigarettes.

  The arsenal strictly prohibits smoking, and the members of the Fox Team are required not to smoke. Because smokers have a strong smell of smoke on their bodies, it is easy to expose the target. As a result, these cigarettes were not smoked by anyone, and Li Tie sent a favor to Er Gou District Captain and other old smokers.

  Apart from the few team members who came with Li Tie, there were only a few people from the team department to accompany them, including the instructor and the team leader. These few smokers were particularly happy when they saw that there was tobacco.

  Li Tie ate while leading his comrades to test new weapons, surrounded by devils, how to escape and then counterattack the wounded devils, snatching the radio station, introducing everyone once, listening to everyone is like intoxication, shouting over joy.

  Although I couldn't go and fight the devils myself, when my own troops defeated them, I was still extremely happy deep down.

  After dinner, he gave the machine gun and grenade launcher to the team leader, Li Tie said goodbye to everyone and returned to the mountain base of his adoptive mother's home, visited his adoptive mother and brought some food for her.

  As there was no battle, Li Tie stayed at home for two days and helped his mother-in-law with some farm work.

  That day, Li Tie was helping his mother-in-law clean the courtyard when the district chief sent someone to call him, saying that a guerrilla team had come to join the Eighth Route Army.

  Li Tie followed the team members back to the team department, and this guerrilla squad had arrived. In the courtyard of the district team, four were standing on the east side and five on the west side, with nearly twenty guerrilla fighters, some of whom still had injuries and bloodstains on their bandages. The district team leader was talking to the guerrilla commander in his office.

  Seeing another person with a handgun coming in, the guerrilla fighters all looked somewhat uneasy.

  But from the moment he entered this courtyard, Li Tie felt that these people were not normal. Specifically what was abnormal about them, he really couldn't recall. It was just a hunch.

  As they entered the office, Er Gou introduced them: "This is Wang, the commander of the guerrilla troops. This is Li Tie, the captain of our district's fourth squad."

  Li Tie politely greeted Captain Wang and then stood behind Er Gou, listening to their conversation while observing the team captain.

  From Captain Wang's words, Li Tie heard that this was a guerrilla team active in Donghai County, nearly 100 miles away. Due to the enemy's sweep, they suffered heavy losses and were forced to make a strategic transfer. It is said that the anti-Japanese situation in this area is relatively good, so they came here to join the Eighth Route Army and fight against the Japanese again.

  The Second Dog District Captain welcomed Captain Wang's arrival and promised to give them a campsite, temporarily organizing them as the Seventh Small Team, pending formal reorganization after verification with their superiors.

  Captain Wang agreed.

  Their camp is near the district office, next to a small squad.

  After Captain Wang led his men away, Er Gou District Captain said to Li Tie: "How was it? Did you notice anything?"

  Li Tie shook his head, but still expressed the concerns in his heart: "I didn't see any problems, but I always feel that this guerrilla team is not quite like what we usually see. I have an inexplicable feeling about them."

  "It's probably due to geographical differences, after all they are quite far away from us and their living habits are also different."

  "Maybe, ask your superior to contact them and see if they can check it out."

  "Hmm, I'll send a telegram to our superiors in a moment."

  On the third day after the telegram was sent by the captain of the Second Dog District, the superior finally replied: There is indeed a guerrilla team in Donghai County, and the equipment is still available. However, nine days ago, they suffered a devastating loss due to the Japanese enemy's sweep, and their current whereabouts are unknown. The local underground party organization also cannot be contacted, with some saying that they were all eliminated by the Japanese enemy, while others say they hid in the mountains, but the specific situation is unclear.

  Nine days ago, this guerrilla team arrived six days before the district team. Calculating from the time, six days ago was exactly the day when the devils were sweeping. From a temporal perspective, this guerrilla team doesn't seem to be fake. But Li Tie believed his intuition, this guerrilla team absolutely has problems.

  From the intelligence from above, it cannot be confirmed that this guerrilla team is real, but it has also alerted Li Tie and others. If this guerrilla team is real, then it must be the one that escaped from Donghai County. If it's fake, it can only mean that the devils have already noticed their base and are plotting to get rid of them, and this fake guerrilla team is just a pawn in their inside-outside collaboration. Indeed, with such a big commotion, the devils should have taken notice long ago.