Section Fifteen

  As the base area expanded, the places that needed to be defended and patrolled also grew larger. The leader of the Second Dog District felt more and more that his troops were insufficient.

  Especially after the Fox Team was suddenly injured with three members, plus Li Tie's exhaustion, it has been several days, but the fatigue on his face has not dissipated.

  The Fox Team was originally used to perform special tasks, but now, due to the lack of troops, they can only participate in patrol teams and perform some of the most ordinary tasks. At this rate, when will the base be built on a large scale?

  The team leader of the Second Dog District stroked his shiny head and paced back and forth in the district office, while Captain Zhang smoked on one side.

  "Alright, Old Zhao, don't be too anxious. Anxiety can't get you hot tofu. I think we should first ask for instructions from our superiors, and if possible, incorporate the nearby guerrilla troops into the district team, then slowly select the best soldiers."

  "It can't be helped, Little Li and the others are fine now, right?"

  "It's nothing serious, I was just too tired at the time. The injury isn't a big deal, it's basically all scabbed over now. The other three team members' injuries have also stabilized and aren't inflamed."

  "Report!"

  "Come in." Just then, a warrior came over to report.

  "Report to Captain Zhao and Deputy Captain Zhang, we've caught a bandit who says he wants to see you both."

  "Bring him in."

  A moment later, a bandit was brought in with his hands and feet tied up.

  The bandit was brought in and, unlike the usual captured pseudo-soldiers, did not appear flustered. Instead, despite being bound, he stood at attention in front of Er Gou and Zhang Team Leaders as soon as he entered.

  "Have you been a soldier?"

  "Yes."

  Answer concisely and clearly.

  "What's your name and what brings you here?"

  "Reporting to the superior officer, I am Sun Wentai, I am from the self-rescue team, and I have come to find the anti-Japanese troops."

  "Looking for an anti-Japanese army?"

  "Yes, join the anti-Japanese team to fight against the devils. We have nearly a hundred people, but our armed forces are too weak and small, hoping that the officers can take us in and let us join your team to fight against the devils together."

  "As long as you're sincere about fighting against the devils, we welcome you. However, regarding taking you in, I myself can't make the decision, and need to discuss it with everyone."

  The captain of the Erduo district team untied him and poured him a bowl of water. He took it over and drank it all in a few mouthfuls.

  "Xiao Wu, take him out for a bite to eat." The captain of the Second Dog District said to the sentry at the door.

  The sentinel took Sun Wen down.

  "Old Zhang, does this little guy look like a real bandit?"

  "I didn't notice it myself, but I feel like he looks like someone who has been through a battlefield."

  Those who have been on the battlefield will emit a kind of murderous aura that ordinary people can't match, which is something that bandits don't have. Because generally, the bandit's aura will cover up this murderous aura, replacing it with an indescribable feeling. How to put it, let me make an analogy: this murderous aura is like the chastity of a virgin, while the bandit's aura is like the cheap perfume smell from a street vendor - although it smells good, it makes people feel uncomfortable.

  Because most of the self-rescue team members were upright and took protecting their fellow villagers as their duty, they didn't have the usual bandit air about them. Therefore, Captain Zhang couldn't sense this feeling from Little Sun.

  However, we need to discreetly investigate. When Sun Wen's transmission is controlled at the base, let someone go and investigate, see what kind of team this so-called self-rescue team is.

  "Let him go when Little Li is rested, I don't feel at ease with others going."

  "Let's go with Lao Lei from Team Three, he used to be a bandit and is quite familiar with this route."

  "That's the best."

  The next morning, Li Tie and Lao Lei set off.

  Lao Lei is almost forty years old, and he was Captain Zhang's childhood friend. When they were young, they mixed with the Northeast, and Lao Lei used to be a legendary "hairy boy". Later, when the team disbanded, he returned home, and after that, the devils came, so he joined Captain Zhang's team.

  Usually, when everyone has nothing to do, they listen to Lao Lei talk about his experiences as a bandit in the Northeast. Who would have thought that this time we'd be dealing with bandits again?

  According to the approximate location provided by Sun Wen, Li Tie and Lao Lei changed into plain clothes, each carrying a shotgun, to check if this group of bandits was really an anti-Japanese force. If they were, that would be best; if not, they had to be eliminated. They couldn't have a time bomb on their own side, who knows when something unexpected might happen?

  The next afternoon, according to Sun Wen's information, they should be approaching their base.

  As he passed through a forest, Li Tie discovered that someone was secretly following him, and it was probably one of Sun Wentai's accomplices.

  Li Tie and Old Lei exchanged a glance, continuing on their way without making a sound. Before long, the person tailing them was gone.

  After crossing a mountain, the two were walking along when several people suddenly emerged from the bushes, each holding a rifle, and the leader of them was carrying a shotgun.

  "Mushrooms, which way? What price?" The leading bandit suddenly asked.

  "Hey! Whatever you think of comes true. When you think of milk, your mom arrives. When you think of your relatives from your mother's side, your uncle is here."

  Lao Lei fluently answered the bandit's first sentence of slang, and made a hand gesture of pressing his nose tip while answering. Then he walked forward, five steps away from the bandit, and gave a rustic bandit salute:

  "Tight for three days, loose for three days, why can't I see Mount Tianwang?"

  Several bandits exchanged a glance with each other, and the leader suddenly made a cracking sound with his hand.

  "A wild chicken can't fly over Mount Tianwang."

  "There's rice on the ground, oh no, it has a foundation."

  "Have you eaten?"

  "There is no tile on his house, no, not, not; not, not, no."

  "Great!"

  "It's all over now."

  The leader of the bandits and Old Lei's slang, Li Tie didn't understand a single sentence, relying on his own experience of watching "Tracks in the Snowy Forest", only knowing that famous phrase "Heavenly King Covers the Earth Tiger, Precious Pagoda Suppresses the River Monster", but with the leader of the bandits' facial expression, he knew he had already connected with them.

  "Ask him, are they always rich and noble on the mountain," Li Tie said in a low voice to Old Lei.

  "May I ask, is this your gang's usual haunt?" Old Lei asked the leader of the bandits.

  "Right, is there anything else you'd like to instruct?"

  "We have important matters to discuss with the two masters of the house and others, so brothers, please introduce us."

  "Alright, alright."

  Because they didn't know if these bandits were also anti-Japanese, Li Tie and Lao Lei did not reveal their identities. However, for those who venture out, the most important thing is to have the word "morality" in the middle, with the word "righteousness" on both sides, and the most important thing is that when two armies clash, they do not kill the envoys, so Li Tie and Lao Lei were not worried about their own safety.

  Li Tie and Lao Lei took out the shotgun and handed it over to the leader of the bandits. Lao Lei bowed his head to the leader: "Thanks, brother, for leading the way."

  Several bandits took them towards the bandit lair.

  The big base of the rich and powerful was an ordinary thatched hut, located on one side of a mountain top, with similarly low and humble thatched huts or sheds next to it. Although simple, it was relatively clean and there were not many idle people around. Li Tie walked while sizing up the area, but didn't see the usual scenes from TV shows about bandit lairs - everywhere you looked, there were people, either gambling, drinking, or sleeping. This place was very ordinary, if it weren't for the guards standing watch in the distance, one would have thought it was just a poor little mountain village.

  The leading bandit led them to a thatched hut and had them wait at the door while he went in to report.

  His movements were not big, he came out and made a gesture of invitation. He let Li Tie and Lao Lei into the house.

  Inside the house, this is an ordinary room that can't be more ordinary. There is only one table inside, which looks like it was made not long ago and is still very new, but very rough. Next to it are two rows of seats, equally rough.

  Three people sat in front of the table. Li Tie estimated that these were the three masters. The shotgun of Li Tie and Old Lei was placed on the table.

  Three people stared at Li Tie and Lao Lei, looked for a long time, but no one spoke. Neither did Li Tie nor Lao Lei.

  The room fell silent for a moment.

  Finally, the man in the middle spoke up.

  "I am Zhang Fu Gui of the Self-Help Team, and these are my two brothers. What brings you here seeking us?"

  "Sun Wen is a legend, you know him?" Li Tie didn't answer his question, but instead asked him back.

  "Sun Wen is our brother, how do you know him?"

  "We are from the Eighth Route Army's Meng County District Team. A few days ago, Sun Wen transmitted to our base and told us about the intentions of the three masters, we don't know if it's true or false, so we came over to take a look."

  "Ah, you're a comrade of the Eighth Route Army! Forgive me for not showing respect earlier. Please, take a seat." The master of the house hastily stood up, and the other two also rose to their feet, their tense expressions replaced by hopeful ones.

  Sun Wen's biography is the confidant of three people, and can say his own situation, it must be that he encountered the legendary Eighth Route Army, and these two people know this situation, how could they pretend not to?

  Three people hastily gave up their seats to Li Tie and Old Lei.

  The two sat down, and the master of the house pushed the shotgun on the table in front of them, constantly saying apologetic words.

  "I am Lao Lei, a soldier of the Eighth Route Army. This is Li Tie, our squad leader." Old Lei introduced Li Tie to the three men.

  "Have met Captain Li." Everyone hurriedly paid their respects to Li Tie, and Li Tie hastily returned the courtesy. After a few rounds of polite exchanges.

  "Now, the three of you are our guests. We understand each other, so let's not talk about those superficial things. Since the three of you are truly fighting against the enemy, we also truly welcome you. As for the family issues you mentioned, please rest assured that as long as our troops have food to eat, we will absolutely not let them go hungry. Additionally, I need to explain one thing to the three of you: after your team joins the Eighth Route Army, it will be dispersed and reorganized into smaller teams. Moreover, some members may need to leave the main combat troops due to age or physical reasons and join the reserve militia forces. What are your thoughts on this?"

  "As long as we can fight against the Japanese devils, we have no objection."

  "Alright, since that's the case, after we get back, let's report to Captain Zhao and Deputy Captain Zhang, then send someone to reorganize the troops."

  "What's wrong, aren't you taking us with you today?"

  The three masters were anxious. How can we still wait? We've been waiting for the Eighth Route Army until the flowers have withered.

  "Don't worry, everyone. This place will soon become our own base and we'll need troops stationed here. Moreover, if we take all the men and horses over there, our forces will be too concentrated, easily arousing the enemy's vigilance and bringing unnecessary trouble. By reorganizing here, we can expand our defensive zone without drawing the enemy's attention. Rest assured, after I return, I'll immediately arrange for a batch of grain to be sent over by the troops that come to reorganize, first solving everyone's food problem, then discussing other matters."

  With Li Tie's guarantee, the three masters took out their treasured items to welcome the two Eighth Route Army representatives.

  After a full meal, Li Tie and Lao Lei, under the leadership of the three masters, visited the camp of the self-rescue team and met with most of the personnel (a small number were on an external mission). Then they left the self-rescue team and returned to their base overnight.

  The leader of the Second Dog District was overjoyed when he heard about this and immediately sent a small team to reorganize. The Sixth Small Team was established, with Wang Wei as the team leader, mainly composed of young and strong men selected from the Self-Rescue Team, plus some soldiers drawn from Teams One and Two. As Fang Fugui and Yu Yishui were older, they led a portion of the remaining members of the Self-Rescue Team to form a militia battalion, although not many in number, but made do. Of course, even the weapons and equipment of the militia were far superior to those used when they were bandits - all Type 38 Arisaka rifles. This left Fang Fugui and Yu Yishui so delighted that they couldn't sleep well for several days.