Chapter Twelve: Overnight Fame

  That bullet hit Naoki Matayoshi's left chest, but did not take his life.

  Perhaps Li Zhongyun's sniping skills still need to be improved, perhaps it was because the distance was too far and the firearm accuracy was insufficient, or perhaps it was Li Zhongyun's deliberate intention.

  That bullet was only three centimeters from Koizumi's heart and two centimeters from his pulmonary artery, which means the bullet landed in the narrow gap between Koizumi's heart and pulmonary artery.

  If he were to be sent back to his grandmother's house with a single shot, his subordinates would likely escalate the battle out of revenge. Now that Koizumi is seriously injured, he needs to retreat immediately to gain time for treatment.

  The dark difference is right, but the battle has finally ended.

  Three months later, Koizumi Masao was discharged from the field hospital, but due to unauthorized changes in combat plans and disobedience of military orders, he was demoted and transferred to a city in 'Manchukuo' as deputy director of the police bureau.

  For a soldier, this is a shame, it's total defeat!

  So is Ye Tu Fei's complete victory?

  Zhang Luo Hui's unit of nearly three hundred brothers had only over thirty people left, while Ye Tu Fei's unit of over seven hundred brothers was reduced to less than three hundred, with dozens of lightly and severely wounded personnel.

  At the cost of nearly six hundred lives of his comrades, he exchanged for less than three hundred casualties of the Japanese army. Ye Tufei felt heartbroken.

  If it weren't for providing better medical conditions for his injured brothers, Ye Tufei would not have accepted Zhang Luohui's suggestion to move to the Jia family's house.

  In Jiajia Wang, Ye Tufei and Zhang Luohui received heroic treatment.

  The headquarters of the Fifth War Zone Command issued a war zone briefing to units above the regimental level in the Fifth War Zone, stating that Zhang Ye's troops were "precise" and united. In the battle against the Japanese sneak attack on Jiajiawang at Erlangshan, they bravely fought the enemy, with 427 casualties, they inflicted over 400 casualties on the Japanese army, a nearly one-to-one casualty ratio, which is the best number since the start of the Sino-Japanese War.

  At the same time, the headquarters of the Fifth War Zone reported to the Generalissimo's Headquarters in a special report on the combat process of Zhang Ye's troops. It is said that Chairman Chiang has already learned about this matter and entrusted General Li Zongren to heavily reward Zhang Ye and his men.

  On the third day after Ye Tutu led his troops to arrive at Jiajiawang, officials from the headquarters of the five war zones in Xuzhou arrived.

  The person who came was an old acquaintance of Zhang Luohui, that is, the officer who had just a few days ago promoted him from deputy regimental commander to acting regimental commander and then pushed him to death.

  "Let me introduce myself, my name is Yan Xiwen Shangxiao, I am a senior staff officer of the Fifth War Zone Commander's Office. This time I came here at the behest of Director Li to discuss with you two about the matter of going to Xuzhou to award prizes."

  Zhang Luohui was overwhelmed with emotions, and truly didn't know whether to thank Officer Yan or curse him.

  Ye Tu Fei remained silent, lowering his head to play with his cigarette holder. After the battle at Er Lang Mountain, his cigar was nowhere to be found, leaving only this cigarette holder behind.

  "Oh, and one more thing, Captain Li has entrusted me to seek Mr. Ye's opinion, the Fifth War Zone is preparing to take you in, from now on, you are no longer mountain-dwelling bandits, if everything goes smoothly, your troops' uniforms and equipment will arrive at Jiajia Bay tomorrow morning."

  Ye Tufei still didn't say a word. Zhang Luohui hastily nudged Ye Tufei with his elbow and whispered, "Sixth Master, this is a good opportunity for you, for your brothers!"

  Ye Tu Fei could ignore Yan Changguan, but he didn't want to ignore his own brother. He looked up at Zhang Luo Hui and replied: "Whether it's a good opportunity or not, I'm just one person, it doesn't count unless my brothers say so."

  Yan Xiwen didn't mind Ye Tufei's coldness and continued to speak enthusiastically: "The Commanding Officer's office is planning to commend the two of you, I can reveal some information in advance. Captain Zhang has been confirmed as a Lieutenant Colonel and will be awarded the Third-Class Cloud Banner Medal. From now on, the 'acting' prefix before his title can also be removed."

  Seeing Zhang Luo Hui's excited face, Yan Xi Wen also looked very happy. He turned to Ye Tu Fei and said: "As long as Mr. Ye wears the National Army uniform, he will be immediately awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and a third-class Yun Qi medal. As for his position, he will first serve as the deputy commander of the 258th Regiment, and when there is a vacancy, he will be promoted to regimental commander."

  Ye Tu Fei still lowered his head, but finally replied to Yan Xi Wen with a sentence: "Military rank and position are meaningless, I just want to be with my brothers."

  Yan Xiwen smiled and said: "That's natural. Once you join the National Army, you'll be their regimental commander. You brothers will of course be together!"

  Ye Tu Fei sighed and said: "Officer Yan, whether or not to join the national army, I don't have the final say. I need to ask my comrades before I can give you a definite answer."

  "Alright, alright, no problem. You can go ask your brothers for their opinions now. I still have time, so just wait here."

  Ye Tu Fei silently cursed Yan Xi Wen in his heart, and also, as a grown-up, he couldn't even understand Ye Tu Fei's implicit meaning.

  Zhang Luo Hui was very moved by Yan Xi Wen's attitude, he pulled Ye Tu Fei up and said: "Let's go, hurry up and ask the brothers, Officer Yan is still waiting here."

  Ye Tu Fei was dragged by Zhang Luo Hui to the brothers' base, except for Feng Zhong Liang who was still recovering from injuries in a field hospital, among the eight surviving brothers of the thirteen arhats, four agreed to wear National Army uniforms and four opposed it.

  What's to be done?

  Ye Tu flew towards Zhang Luo Hui and spread out his hands, indicating that he also had no way.

  How could Zhang Luohui be difficult? He immediately rushed to the war zone hospital and obtained Feng Zhongliang's consent to join the National Army.

  "The minority must obey the majority! That's what democracy is, brothers!" Zhang Luo Hui started working on his brothers who disagreed with wearing military uniforms.

  Kuo Chung-lin was the most resolute among the dissenters. When Chang Lo-hui tried to educate them on democracy, one by one, Kuo Chung-lin became even more determined not to wear military uniforms. However, Chang Lo-hui's principle of minority obeying majority put him in a very passive position. In his anxiety, he thought of Yeh T'u-fei.

  "Sixth Master, you haven't spoken yet, at least you should count as one vote!"

  From Ye Tufei's innermost being, he was very willing to wear military uniform, but in the dark, he was also very resistant to this national army uniform. Thus, Ye Tufei, who was caught in a dilemma, stood on Guo Zhonglin's side.

  Five by five.

  Guo Zhonglin looked at Zhang Luohui with a smug expression, his eyes slanted as he gazed at the dejected and disheartened man.

  "Alright, let's put this matter aside for now. Brother Luo Hui also meant well, after all, the business on this mountain is not a long-term plan." Ye Tu Fei mediated.

  After reporting the result to Yan Xiwen, Yan Xiwen seemed very calm. He comforted Ye Tu Fei by saying: "This indeed requires a process of transformation, but don't worry, I can wait. Whenever you guys figure it out, just let me know, and the National Army's 'door' will always be open to you."

  After seeing off Yan Xiwen, Zhang Luo Hui dragged Ye Tu Fei to the war hospital to see Feng Zhong Liang.

  Feng Zhongliang's two arms were injured, his left arm was scratched by the Japanese shell and the bone was exposed. Due to improper handling during emergency treatment, it also caused terminal ischemic necrosis. After being sent to a field hospital, an amputation had to be performed.

  Fortunately, the injury on his right arm was relatively minor, just a slash from a Japanese bayonet that required stitches, and it wouldn't leave any lasting effects after healing.

  Feng Zhongliang, who lost an arm, woke up and didn't have any major issues. On the other hand, Zhang Luohui surprisingly shed tears. Afterwards, he spent almost 24 hours in the hospital, chatting with Feng Zhongliang, feeding him, and even helping him with his bowel movements.

  Kuo Chung-lin joked that Chang Lo-hsuan was Feng Chung-liang's daughter-in-law in her past life.

  Zhang Luo Hui listened and just smiled.

  However, afterwards when he went to the hospital again, he always dragged a brother along. This time, he dragged Ye Tufei.

  It was just this casual delay that unexpectedly led to a big deal.

  Zhang Luohui and Ye Tufei arrived at the field hospital just as the chief physician was making his rounds.

  The doctor who performed the surgery on Feng Zhongliang was a 'female' military doctor named Ouyang Xueping. When Ye Tufei entered the house, she had just finished checking the room and came out, and the two of them brushed past each other, a faint scent of fragrance forcing Ye Tufei to turn his head and take a glance at Ouyang Xueping, just one glance, but it made Ye Tufei deeply understand what it means to be etched in one's memory.

  After seeing Feng Zhongliang, Ye Tufei pulled Zhang Luohui to one side and said in a low voice: "Brother Luohui, you stay here with Old Man Feng for now, I have something to attend to and will leave first."

  Zhang Luo Hui grabbed Ye Tu Fei's clothes and said, "What's the hurry? It won't be late to accompany Mountain Tiger brother for a few words before leaving!"

  Ye Tu Fei gritted his teeth and stared at Zhang Luo Hui, holding it in for a while before finally saying: "I have to go back and do some work on Guo Lao Er, I've made up my mind, I'm going to join the National Army."

  Zhang Luohui said, "This matter is not urgent either. Anyway, Officer Yan has already returned to Xuzhou."

  On the other side, Feng Zhongliang spoke up on the "bed", saying: "Luo Hui brothers, just let Liu Ye go."

  One thing comes down and another goes up; a slap in the face brings a fart from the buttocks.

  Zhang Luohui dared to be stubborn with Ye Tufei, but as soon as Feng Zhongliang spoke up, he immediately became obedient.

  After Ye Tu flew away, Feng Zhongliang beckoned to Zhang Luohui and whispered: "You stupid donkey, can't you see? Our Sixth Master has taken a liking to that Dr. Ouyang!"

  Zhang Luo Hui suddenly enlightened, shaking his head and saying repeatedly: "No wonder, no wonder he changed so quickly!"

  Feng Zhongliang's face 'exposed' a smile that was extremely out of place with his appearance, saying: "Since ancient times, heroes have always had a hard time passing the beauty pass, haha, Sixth Master!"

  Zhang Luo Hui took an apple from the bedside table of Feng Zhong Liang, wiped it on his body a few times, cut it open with a knife, and fed it to Feng Zhong Liang in small pieces. "Shan Hu big brother, you said that Liu Ye is your master's younger brother, and Liu Ye's kung fu is so good, then your master must be very formidable too?"

  Feng Zhongliang gnawed on an apple and replied: "Our brothers' master doesn't know a thing about martial arts."

  Zhang Luohui was taken aback and said: "How is it possible? What's going on?"

  Feng Zhongliang smiled and said, "Our master is called Jia Chunfeng, a distant relative of the largest family in Jiajia Village. Although our master doesn't know martial arts, he has two unique skills: one is brewing wine and the other is roasting lamb. We, on the other hand, are apprentices who have come to learn the art of brewing wine and roasting lamb."