Chapter Fifty-Five: Weaving Defense

  Peng Youming's chess level is really not bragging, he single-handedly took on three opponents and didn't fall behind.

  He Ye and Tu Fei were simultaneously challenged to a game of Xiangqi by Peng Youming, along with Han Hongxun and Yan Xiwen. If not for the fact that they couldn't find a fourth set of Xiangqi pieces, Wei Xiangdong would have also joined the battle.

  Yan Xiwen was the first to admit defeat. After losing, he looked at Ye Tufei's situation and Han Hongxun's situation, then squatted beside Han Hongxun as a high-ranking advisor. Wei Xiangdong, on the other hand, moved his nest to help Ye Tufei come up with strategies.

  Another ten minutes passed, and Han Hongxun couldn't hold on anymore. He encountered a situation where he would either be killed or lose his car. Yan Xiwen sighed and blamed Han Hongxun for not listening to his advice. Han Hongxun didn't buy into Yan Xiwen's nonsense and said: "Your brother's level is the worst, who dares to believe your tricks?"

  Yan Xiwen gave Han Hongxun a white eye, dropped Han Hongxun and ran to Ye Tufei's side.

  Ye Tu Fei's situation was also in disarray, seeing Yan Xi Wen coming over to intervene, fortunately he admitted defeat.

  Peng Youming won three games in a row, feeling great, and pointed at Yan Xiwen saying: "Old Yan, old Yan, we two are still a good pair after all. If it wasn't for your help, I wouldn't have been able to win this game against General Han!"

  Hearing Peng Youming's words, Han Hongxun also fired at Yan Xiwen: "Listen? Brother Yan, if you hadn't come over and disrupted my thinking with your nonsense, how could I have lost this game of chess to Secretary Peng?"

  Yan Xiwen disagreed, saying: "You can't blame the outhouse for not being able to take a dump. Old Han, you can't speak with a guilty conscience. How did I affect your thinking? I just want to ask, do you have any thoughts?"

  At this time, Ye Tu Fei 'inserted' a sentence: "Even if Han Lü Chang didn't have any ideas, you stirred it up like that, and Han Lü Chang couldn't take it. Otherwise, why did I admit defeat as soon as I saw you coming?"

  Yan Xiwen pointed at those people one by one, pretending to be so angry that he couldn't speak, and finally sighed: "Befriending the wrong people!"

  Everyone has made their move and had a good laugh, now it's time to get down to business.

  The matter is simpler than playing chess, Peng Youming said the goal and its importance in a few words, then Yan Xiwen talked about his initial plan, and Ye Tufei conveyed Gao Qiaoxin's opinion to everyone.

  "Mr. Gao suggested that we take action on the 15th of the first month! The Japanese are now just celebrating 'New Year', but they still attach great importance to the Lantern Festival."

  Peng Youming furrowed his brow and said, "What we can think of, the little Japanese devils will also be able to think of. We thought that the fifteenth day of the first month should be the day when the Japanese are most off guard, but the Japanese will also recognize this, so it's possible that the opposite result will occur."

  Everyone agreed with Peng Youming's analysis, and Han Hongxun hastened to say: "Secretary Peng is right, in my opinion, let's take them by surprise, choose the 14th of the first month to take action, what do you all think?"

  Everyone thought about it and felt that Han Hongxun's opinion was quite reasonable, so they all expressed their agreement.

  Next，it's division of labor.

  Finally, Ye Tufei mentioned his bandit camp. Ye Tufei said: "We have over 200 brothers, if we say to play with our lives against the little Japanese, that's not a problem, my brothers are also holding their breath for this, but there is one problem, we are seriously lacking bullets."

  Peng Youming looked at Wei Xiangdong and said: "Captain Wei, are you sure you can help Ye Liu's family with this matter?"

  Wei Dong nodded and said, "Transporting some ammunition to the brothers of Zhongyitang shouldn't be a big problem, the key is that we are also very tight on our hands, can't allocate enough ammunition!"

  Han Hongxun burst out laughing and said, "You Communist Party are just like a 'flower' child, okay, I'll provide the bullets, as much as you want, I'll guarantee they're enough!"

  Yan Xiwen patted Han Hongxun's shoulder and said, "Han the rich man, you're quite something. Next time we play chess, I'll sew my own mouth shut."

  Han Hongxun glared at Yan Xiwen and said, "You've sealed your mouth shut, but can you guarantee that the lower part won't make a sound?"

  Everyone burst out laughing!

  After finishing the main topic of discussion, everyone had a simple lunch and then went their separate ways, each busy with their own tasks according to plan.

  Ye Tu flew back to Jiajia Wang and met with Takashi Gao directly, informing him of the plan they had discussed at noon.

  "Hmm, good timing! I was worried too. What if that idiot Yamashita suddenly came to his senses and made a big deal out of January 15th? We'd be in trouble."

  "Tomorrow is the 30th of the Lunar New Year, and there's only half a month left before we take action. Mr. Gao, are you confident that you can get your hands on the Japanese army's defense map at Jiajiawang?"

  Takahashi sighed slightly and said, "It's not easy, you know. That idiot Yamano has already become suspicious of me, so getting my hands on this confidential document will require some brainwork."

  Ye Tu Fei smiled and said: "Mr. Gao says so, I'm relieved! As long as you can get the Japanese fabric defense three days in advance, we'll have time to make good preparations."

  Takahashi Shin replied: "Within five days! If we can't make it in five days, then there's no hope."

  "Does it need my help? Or my brother's?"

  "What can you help with?"

  Ye Tufei said: "Zhongyitang's thirteen Arhats, ranked eleventh, Xinyin Shou, aka 'Shadowless Hand' Xin Zhongming, is a top-notch thief in the Jianghu."

  Takahashi Shin narrowed his eyes and said, "You'd better be prepared, you might really need it. Alright, Little Ye, I know your brothers are all capable and righteous men, gather them all together for me, who knows what kind of unexpected role they'll play on the road ahead?"

  Ye Tu Fei nodded and said: "I have already gathered them all back, if you need me just give a shout, I Ye Tu Fei will definitely go all out."

  "Alright, alright. Xiaoye, I won't play chess with you today, it's getting late, go back and rest early, let me think about it carefully, seems like there's a way to easily get that fabric defense map..."

  Takahashi's voice grew smaller and his eyes narrowed, and Yeto knew that this was the moment when Takahashi entered rapid thinking. He couldn't disturb Takahashi's thoughts, so he didn't make any more noise and retreated from Takahashi.

  After Ye Tu flew away, Gao Qiao Xing suddenly opened his eyes and took out Jia Jia Wang's cloth map from the safe beside him. He muttered to himself: "How should I 'hand' it over to them? How can I make it self-consistent without revealing any flaws?"

  Takahashi Shin muttered to himself as he slowly closed his eyes again.

  On New Year's Eve, the weather suddenly changed, and by nightfall, it started snowing lightly.

  The next day, which was New Year's Day, the snow showed no signs of stopping and instead grew denser, with the snowflakes gradually increasing in size.

  Wei Dong led a few brothers to deliver the first batch of "ammunition" to Ye Tufei. The "ammunition" was hidden in the false bottom of the carts carrying goods for the Huangpu Army and transported into the city. In fact, this method of hiding things is not reliable, and anyone with some experience can easily discover the secret. However, with Gao Qixiang's backing, it's a different story. After all, Gao Qixiang is also the highest-ranking official in Jiaxing Prefecture.

  As for the fact that Yamashita Kōsuke suspected and monitored Takahashi Shin, most Japanese soldiers, including junior officers, were unaware of it. They only knew that this Takahashi Shin was very influential, and even the commander of Xuzhou City, Yamashita Kōsuke, treated him with great respect.

  He unloaded the ammunition and Wei Xiangdong didn't even have time to take a sip of water before he had to rush back. Ye Tufei was unwilling to give in, but Wei Xiangdong resolutely refused Ye Tufei's persuasion, saying: "Commander Han is really generous, this is only one quarter of the share given to you, Sixth Master, I have to hurry back, look at the weather, it won't stop snowing for a while, and it's still possible to travel on snowy roads, but if we wait until the snow melts, we won't be able to travel."

  Something urgent came up, so Ye Tufei didn't stay any longer.

  That snow fell for three whole days, and Wei Dong was busy for three whole days. On the third day of the New Year, he finished transporting the last batch of "ammunition" to Ye Tufei and said: "This time it's enough to eat, isn't it? Relying on Liu Ye's influence, my big team also gained a lot of benefits!"

  Ye Tu Fei replied, "I've seen plenty of gold bars and silver dollars, but so many bullets? That's a first. Back when I wore the National Army uniform, each brother was issued 300 rounds of ammunition, and we thought we'd struck it rich. Haha, thinking back on it now, it's really interesting. Our 258th Regiment compared to the Korean troops is like a child born out of wedlock."

  "Wei Dong said, "You can't think of it that way. The equipment of the Korean Traveler is something that was exchanged for his life. The superior of the National Army approved so many weapons and ammunition for him, what's the point? It's to let Han Hongxun stay in the enemy's rear and complete the tasks assigned by the superior."

  Just as they were talking, Takashi Gao appeared. As soon as he came over, he beckoned Ye Tufei and Wei Xiangdong to hurry inside, saying he had something important to discuss.

  Wei Xiangdong was unclear what important thing it was, but Ye Tufei had already understood at this time, it must be that Gaoqiao Xin had obtained the Japanese defense map of Jiajiazhuang.

  As soon as he entered the house, Takahashi's first words were that he had obtained a map of the Japanese army's deployment. He took out a small metal tube from his pocket and handed it directly to Wei Xiangdong, saying: "You go back immediately and develop this film. The content of the film is the Japanese troops' deployment map in Jiajiawang."

  Wei Dong was overjoyed and asked: "Older brother Gao, how did you get this thing?"

  Takashi Kōhashi said, "That idiot Yamashita only dares to play 'dirty' with me, so the officers in the Japanese army still have a lot of respect for me. Tell me, when a Japanese army lieutenant colonel receives an invitation from Mr. Takashi to drink together, what kind of reaction do you think he will have?"

  Ye Tu Fei replied: "Need you ask? Of course I'm excited!"

  Takahashi Shin laughed and said, "That's right, my excuse is to thank him for his hard work in excavating the ancient tomb and sealing it. I also told him that Takahashi-kun wanted to invite him to taste authentic Japanese cuisine, but unfortunately, it couldn't be done at Jiajia Wang's place, so he could only regret it. Hehe, that guy immediately said that he would go to his place and make authentic Japanese cuisine."

  Recently, my collection has been rising rapidly, and I feel happy when I see the old smoke codes... Let's keep going, friends!