Chapter 29: Preparing for the Unexpected

  "Immediately pursue south, catch a few villagers who ran away and bring them back to me." Mei Huan-yu shouted loudly. Today's task is considered completed, caught the villagers, also seized landmines. Burned to death the Wu Gong team members, no matter how it's calculated, it's a great achievement.

  The Morning Star disappeared in the night sky, and the night seemed even darker. The firelight of Tongluo Village gradually dimmed, and dawn was approaching.

  Yan Jufan's heart was filled with excitement and inexplicable worry, as more and more people from Pingshi Village joined in, the team growing bigger. But how could he unite their hearts? With these thoughts, Yan Jufan fell into a daze of sleep.

  Qin Wanjun was also considering the same issue, and in order to adapt to the current form, the Anti-Japanese Alliance Federation must play a greater role. She decided that after dawn, she would go back with Yan Jufan to confirm this matter with Yan Xiawu, as it had already reached a critical moment. The personnel were becoming increasingly complicated, and the proportion of mountain people was decreasing. As their leader, Yan Xiawu needed to continue playing a role and leading these gathered people to continue holding high the anti-Japanese flag, so he must let the Anti-Japanese Alliance Federation play a greater role and firmly unite the people around him. This could guarantee the interests of the Yan and Qin families and allow this team to move forward in the right direction, making it more likely for people to follow their hearts. Otherwise, if other southern parties were to take notice of this place and develop organizations here, they might end up doing things for others, which was not what they wanted to see. Qin Wanjun made up her mind to settle this matter as soon as possible.

  Zhang Yun Tian gazed at the distant firelight gradually fading, a wisp of smoke rising slowly, his heart growing increasingly heavy. Except for the group of villagers who had been relocated in an orderly manner, another group of soldiers had not returned to their unit until now. It was likely that they were mostly dead, and although he did not want to believe it, the facts seemed to be getting closer and closer to this reality.

  Twenty or so good comrades, just sacrificed like this, it's almost the biggest loss since the founding of the Wu Gong team. From the squad leader to the soldiers, these are all seeds of the People's Party. But because of negligence, they were all buried in Tongluo Village. At first, I was happy to see the enemy suffer casualties and losses, thinking that we finally had a powerful weapon. But then I became complacent and didn't expect that the enemy would be so cunning, launching a surprise attack at night, sneaking up from the fields and avoiding our landmine defenses. This led to this tragic outcome, with countless villagers in Tongluo Village killed by stray bullets, and over a hundred people who were caught by the enemy while trying to escape. Many more were found with landmines in their homes and were shot on the spot. This is almost the biggest defeat since I took command of the team. I regret it so much that I want to bang my head against the wall. He glanced at Chen Jian behind him and said, "Old Chen, we must now rally our spirits. One failure should be a long-term lesson. This bloody lesson warns us that any complacency will result in a terrible price. We can't afford not to be cautious."

  Chen Jian slowly raised his head, with tears glistening in his bloodshot eyes. His voice choked as he said: "You're right, this time we were negligent and didn't expect the enemy to be so cunning. But their blood will not flow in vain, a life for a life...". Tears blurred his vision again, these fallen comrades had followed him through many battles, old friends who had weathered storms together. To die at the hands of the enemy's sneak attack was something Chen Jian couldn't accept for a moment.

  It used to be the Wu Gong team that ambushed the ghostly pseudo-army, but unexpectedly this time they were ambushed by others. This is a great shame and Chen Jian's self-blame also infected the surrounding soldiers. Their comrades unfortunately sacrificed themselves to cover their retreat with the villagers, which was a heavy blow to them. Everyone could not extricate themselves from the fact that they had been ambushed and defeated by the pseudo-army after winning the victory for the time being.

  "Look at you all, sinking into self-blame! You're still our revolutionary warriors, aren't you? Aren't you those passionate anti-Japanese heroes? Look at yourselves! Look at your spirits! Our fallen comrades are watching us, they're angry. They're angry that you're not thinking of ways to avenge them, but instead, you're crying like women here! They must be ashamed of you. If you're men, then summon your spirits and stop wailing with your big mouths!" Zhang Yun Tian shouted loudly.

  Chen Jian wiped away his tears and shouted loudly: "Old Zhang is right, we are men, let's lift our spirits! We have a stick in our crotch, don't let others look down on us! What is the slogan of our party?"

  "We are passionate, we are brave..."

  "We will not yield, we will be resolute."

  "We persevere, we persist..."

  "We are willing to work hard for the construction of a new country!"

  A loud answer rolls towards the sunrise, towards the green earth! What a magnificent statement!

  Qin Wanjun and Yan Jufan quickly returned to Cui Shi Village, where they met with the Yan brothers in the main hall to discuss plans for strengthening the Anti-Japanese Alliance Association. Yan Xiawu smiled as he looked at everyone, thinking that these people were all his relatives now, and it seemed that they needed to expand quickly, after all, only by gathering privately could they discuss widely.

  Yan Jufan felt that there must be some plan from his father's expression, so he smiled and prepared to listen carefully to his father's intentions. The little boy had the idea of seeing his father's long-term vision in mind. However, Yan Xiawu did not let him have his way.

  "Every time, you can give us some new ideas, most of the time they're not bad, so now guess what's the most important thing for us." Yan Xiawu said slowly and calmly, his eyes looking towards Qin Wanjun.

  Qin Wanjun also smiled slightly, seemingly understanding her husband's meaning. Everyone's gaze then fell on the lazy rascal leaning back in his chair.

  At this time, Yan Jufan finally understood that the gaze was indeed pressuring, and he twisted uncomfortably all over. However, he didn't dodge it after all, and hurriedly covered up: "Yes, Dad called us together to discuss something important, everyone understands, haha, so let's listen to what the leader has to say first." The little boy seemed to want to resist to the end. But everyone wasn't diverted by his evasions, still staring at him.

  The bad boy found that the "Transfer of Attention Great Law" and "Flattery Secret Book" from his previous life were ineffective, and he was considering whether the current era was more pragmatic than the previous one. The crowd, who had long understood his thoughts, still used their gaze to put him on the stove for roasting.