Chapter 24: When the fish dies, the net breaks

  At this time, I was thinking of four words in my mind: "Fish die and net break"

  "Get out!"

  "Qianglong is back!"

  "What's going on? Has he been punished?"

  ……

  As soon as I returned to the barracks, I was surrounded by soldiers who didn't even let me catch my breath before asking me this and that, leaving me bewildered.

  "What's going on? What penalty?" I asked back in confusion.

  As soon as I said that, it was the warriors' turn to be stunned, they looked at each other in silence.

  "Are you still asking us?" Chen Dalie was the first to speak up, he raised his head and said: "Squad leader, stop playing dumb with us, if there's any punishment just tell us straight! Anyway, we've killed so many little devils, even if we die it won't be unjust!"

  "Exactly! It's been a long time..." The other warriors chimed in: "The commander called you away for more than half a day, and we've been waiting here, getting anxious. We're just waiting for you to come back and give us a clear explanation. And yet, you still ask about us!"

  "Ah!" Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but slap my forehead. Only then did I remember that Zhang Zizhong had called me over to deal with the troops under my command in the first place. It's just that later on, new situations arose and it was left unsettled. Because I was preoccupied with the impending fierce battle, I temporarily forgot about this matter... Unfortunately, the soldiers under my command were stuck in the barracks for so long, guessing how their superiors would deal with them...

  "Don't worry!" I chuckled and said: "There's no punishment at all! Who knows, we might even get a reward! Of course, that is if we make it out alive..."

  "What? And a reward?" As soon as I said that, the warriors were even more disbelieving. The monkey was still a bit nervous and said: "Squad leader, don't tease us anymore. If our superiors didn't tie us up and send us to the Japanese as gifts, it would be our good fortune from our past lives! And there's still a reward..."

  "That's right!" The other warriors also nodded and said: "In any case, we are disobeying military orders. If we are not punished but rewarded instead, the 29th Army will be in chaos!"

  "Don't worry, I've got this!" The old squad leader slowly tapped the empty pipe on the wall, then skillfully wrapped the tobacco pouch around the pipe stem and secured it to his belt. He raised his head again and said: "The higher-ups have their own arrangements, we just need to do our part as soldiers... Besides, isn't everything taken care of by our platoon leader? I say, why are you eunuchs in a hurry when the emperor is not?"

  I couldn't help but smile wryly in my heart, this old squad leader finally said a few different words, but the meaning of these different words is still to let his superiors, that is, me, the platoon leader, consider it!

  "Unless... " Li Wenxi, who had been sitting on the bed without speaking, stood up and looked at me with an inquiring gaze, saying: "Unless it's the superior wanting to have a real showdown with Little Japan!"

  Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but admire Li Wenxi's intelligence and wit. I knew how he had arrived at this conclusion - if we didn't have to suffer punishment but instead received rewards for doing so, the Nationalist troops stationed on the front lines would soon follow suit, having been forced to swallow their anger and humiliation due to orders from above. As a result, the entire army would quickly lose control, and the conflict between those in power and the Japanese would rapidly escalate and become irreconcilable. Therefore, there was only one possibility - that those in power were going to turn against the Japanese.

  Although it's not difficult to draw this conclusion, being able to think of this point so quickly is probably only possible for Li Wenxi, a graduate of Central University.

  The warriors heard Li Wenxi say this and couldn't help but cast surprised and questioning glances at me, even the usually calm and composed Old Squad Leader raised his head.

  I smiled slightly, found my place and lay down on the bed, saying: "This is not what I said, you know what to do!"

  "Good!" The barracks suddenly erupted in a burst of cheers, but was quickly stopped by the old squad leader.

  "Hey, you few... come back here!" Just as several soldiers were about to run off to other barracks to spread the news, Old Squad Leader hurried over to block their way and said: "You all know what's going on, just don't go around talking nonsense or shouting randomly, got it?"

  "Understood!" The several warriors nodded hastily.

  "I'm talking to you few..." It was obvious that those soldiers were under the old squad leader's command. He glanced at me and then severely scolded those soldiers, "How should I put it? This is how I've always taught you: do more and talk less. Look at you now..."

  I know the old squad leader actually has a bit of a sarcastic tone, but thinking carefully about it, what he said is actually true... At this time, although it's not far from the time when our army and the Japanese formally turned against each other, leaking the news out wouldn't be a big deal. But since orders from above haven't come down yet, if I were to leak the news like this, it would clearly have the meaning of overstepping my authority.

  Do you know how Yang Xiu died? It was because he heard Cao Cao call out "chicken ribs" and guessed his intention, so he issued the order to withdraw troops ahead of time. As a result, although he guessed correctly, he ended up losing his own life. Although I think Zhang Zongchang shouldn't be such an unscrupulous person, after all, this is a major taboo in the military, and apart from being hated by his superiors, there won't be any other outcome!

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but blush, and only then did I realize that I was still a bit inexperienced in handling relationships...

  Most of the warriors under my command were student soldiers who didn't know about this, but after being reminded by the old squad leader, they realized something and all became very quiet on their own initiative. The difference from before was that the worry and indignation on their faces had completely disappeared, replaced by excitement and anticipation.

  Their excitement is because their superiors have finally allowed them to have a good fight with the little Japanese, they are looking forward to seeing the little devils become corpses under their bayonets and rifles as soon as possible.

  "Alright!" Chen Dalie, wiping his gun with a smile, sat down beside him and lowered his voice to ask: "Tell me... is this another one of your ideas for the Master?"

  "What's there to ask?!" The monkey proudly raised his head and said: "Who is our squad leader? With one shot, we burned tens of thousands of little devils, we disobeyed orders and killed the little devils to save people... not only were we not punished, but we also received rewards! Not to mention, this time our squad leader will lead us again to make merits and kill enemies!"

  The warriors burst into a heated discussion as Chen Dali and the monkey sang in harmony:

  "No wonder Master asked Pai Zhang to discuss for so long!"

  "We were worried and afraid, thinking that the teacher was discussing how to punish us, but unexpectedly, we were still allowed to go and serve as a consultant!"

  ……

  I'm so wronged! This time it's not what I said, and even the last time wasn't what I said. They all guessed it out themselves! Who let them be student soldiers with brains that are so easily used?

  I innocently looked at Lao Ban Zhang, and he could only sigh and shake his head in helplessness.

  "I said fall back!" Chen Dalu seemed unwilling to give up at this point, and he continued to ask: "Didn't they say... we're all surrounded by the little devils? Reveal some information, tell us how we can break out..."

  "Go, go, go..." I sat up from the bed and interrupted Chen Dali's words: "Everyone do their own thing, the superior has his own arrangements, we should just...".

  It wasn't until then that I suddenly realized I had unconsciously stolen the old squad leader's words, and I couldn't help but shut my mouth in embarrassment. The dormitory fell silent for a moment before suddenly erupting into laughter.

  "Deputy Platoon Leader!" After a burst of laughter, someone teased Chen Dalie: "I seem to recall you saying... our platoon leader wants to come up with some ideas to deal with the Japanese devils, and you'd be willing to kowtow to him 100 times in response, right?"

  "What's the use of saying it? I, Chen Dali, say what I mean and do what I say!" Chen Dali replied nonchalantly.

  "It's nothing! We'll come up with one idea after another, I'm just worried that your brain will get smashed!"

  The warriors burst into laughter again with a "haha" sound.

  "Everyone is here! Secret assembly!" The warriors had just finished laughing when the voice of Xu Lianzhang came from the entrance of the camp. Although the warriors were mentally prepared, they all couldn't help but be stunned for a moment: secret assembly?

  This is also what Zhang Zizhong and I agreed on, why did we secretly gather? Do you know why the Little Japanese were able to occupy the outer strongholds of Beiping one after another like withering leaves? Do you know why the Little Japanese were able to set up ambushes in advance on our army's retreat route? The reason is actually very simple, that is, there are quite a few Han traitors among us who provide military intelligence to the enemy, and even the order to retreat was known by the enemy before it reached the front-line troops...

  China indeed has no shortage of brave warriors who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country, but there are also quite a few traitors who are willing to be running dogs!

  So if we still want to assemble troops and make all the arrangements as usual with great fanfare, it would undoubtedly be telling the Japanese what we plan to do.

  The warriors were only stunned for a moment and soon reacted by shouldering their already prepared luggage, grabbing their rifles and rushing out.

  The sky had started to drizzle with fine rain at some point, and the moon had also hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, plunging the entire military camp into darkness. What outsiders didn't know was that in this darkness, row upon row of soldiers stood at attention, their guns loaded and ready, waiting for the order from above to rush onto the battlefield and engage in a life-or-death struggle with the Japanese army...

  "Third battalion, first regiment, follow me!"

  "Second company, follow me!"

  ……

  "First battalion of military training team, follow up!"

  It has finally come to us, without a solemn oath, no one cheered for us, nor did we drink the last cup of wine... The warriors just walked into the darkness in front of them one by one...

  What will be waiting for us ahead?

  I don't know!

  At this time, I only thought of four words in my mind: "Fish die and net break".

  I've finally finished writing the second chapter. I started writing it immediately after finishing the first chapter, so you can all take a look at the release times of both chapters and calculate how much time it takes me to write 3,000 words per chapter. In fact, that's not all - sometimes I also need to consult a large amount of reference materials. So please forgive me for updating slowly; my slow updates aren't because I'm not working hard, but because I have high standards for myself and don't want to release anything that I wouldn't be satisfied with reading myself!