Chapter 44: Wartime Mobilization

  The pseudo-army of the devils had just left the city, and the scouts of various forces immediately ran to report to their masters. These people had been watching the movements of Mei Da Hanjian for a long time, after all, he had just been disturbed on his wedding night, if there was no reaction, this hot position would be unstable, how would others look at him? He couldn't hold his face down, as a result, Mei Huan Yu's mobilization of troops and equipment naturally fell under the eyes of everyone.

  Zhang Yun Tian was no exception, since Chen Jian's downfall, he had been nervously arranging for people to monitor Mei Huan Yu's movements day and night, fearing that the Japanese puppet army would launch a surprise attack again. Naturally, Mei Huan Yu's actions in gathering grain were also known to him clearly.

  However, even if he knew that he still had to temporarily retreat, the large troops of the devils and puppet army were not something he could resist with just a few men. This time, the devils and puppet army's mobilization was on a large scale, and it was unknown whether they would be able to get a good outcome. Chen Jian silently executed the order without a word, unlike in the past when he would have jumped up and rallied the crowd to fight. However, now that he had caused such big trouble himself, he felt guilty, although the villagers, except for Zhang Yun Tian who scolded him, did not blame him much.

  Watching him quietly doing his own thing, Zhang Yun Tian patted his shoulder and nodded, Chen Jian chuckled and directed the team to organize the villagers to evacuate. In the village, except for the militia, women and children were carrying their belongings, bringing food and walking out of the village. This was already the nth time, since the devils came, everyone ran once, although it was for the sake of everyone's life, but no one was willing to do these things willingly. It's hard to bear leaving one's own home.

  The devils came once, and everyone had to rebuild their houses and reorganize their yards. After several rounds, the craftsmanship of the people has become more and more skilled, and many have already become comparable to professional bricklayers. Just as the grain was about to ripen, the devilish traitors arrived again, and everyone in their hearts couldn't bear to part with the crops in the fields. If they didn't harvest for a season, everyone would go hungry. Those who had received news knew that this time it was Chen Jian, the captain of the Wu Gong team, who had provoked the devils and traitors. It was said that he had gone to the city and killed the owner of the silk store, who was a relative of the Tongcheng Security Team. This time, many people came to take revenge, and the villagers were very envious of the silk store. Many people in this life had only heard of such things but rarely had the ability to buy them. The money from selling the crops for a year was not enough for the whole family to buy a few feet of silk. Naturally, they didn't have the ability to buy it. This time, hearing that they had killed their owner, everyone seemed somewhat indifferent to killing some traitor in the distant city. They were most concerned about whether they could pay less rent next year. Amidst their envy, people couldn't help but secretly wonder what kind of benefits Chen Jian had gained.

  These words gradually spread in the village, and many militiamen from surrounding villages gathered together to prepare for a joint operation with the Japanese puppet army. Upon hearing these words, Chen Jian's eyes changed, and some clever people suspected that the Wu Gong team had invited the Japanese traitors for personal gain, but they couldn't defeat them, and in the end, they implicated everyone else. For a time, morale was somewhat scattered. Some city dwellers with relatives who were militiamen couldn't help but secretly discuss Chen's killing of many comrades. Everyone quietly wondered if one day they would also be killed as traitors.

  Zhang Yuntian and Chen Jian were extremely worried, if they didn't calm down the masses' minds, once the devils and puppet troops came and fired a few shots, these ordinary people would scatter like birds and beasts. There was no way out, the masses' minds had to be calmed down, Zhang Yuntian called on everyone to gather together for a meeting, and the crowd gathered in the threshing ground, with Zhang Yuntian looking at everyone.

  "Fellow villagers, the Wu Kung team owes everyone an apology. Some time ago, many of our fellow villagers were killed in a sneak attack by the devils. This time, Captain Chen was seeking revenge and in his anger, he rashly killed Lei Er from the silk store in town. As a result, he provoked the devil's puppet army to come and take revenge. He acted too impulsively. So many people were killed without trial, which is wrong. And many innocent people were wrongly accused. But which temple doesn't have unjustly killed ghosts? Even if we hand over Old Chen, it won't stop the devils' revenge. Didn't they sneak attack us while we were sleeping last time and kill so many of our fellow villagers?"

  Zhang Yun Tian waved his hand with force and said: "Although we didn't do anything, will the devils and puppet troops reason with us? They are determined to bully us, every time they come it's either to rob our grain or take away our villagers, and many villages have been slaughtered by them for no reason. Can we just let them run amok? Everyone works hard all year round to harvest that little bit of grain, can we just let them snatch it away?"

  The atmosphere under the stage gradually became more intense, a warrior waved his arms and shouted loudly: "We can't let them grab food, resolutely beat out the devils and overthrow the traitors who betray our country!" For a time, everyone followed suit, shouting in unison, Zhang Yun Tian waved his fist and shouted loudly, everyone responded in unison, and morale was boosted.

  Chen Jian secretly admired him, indeed a veteran of political work, effortlessly turning the tide of public opinion. If it were in the past, Old Zhang would have shouted "Revitalize the country and return our rivers and mountains!" However, the peasants before them didn't seem to care about such things as the country or the nation; they only hoped to live their lives honestly and quietly, so not allowing the devils to seize grain was even more inciting.

  Looking at the excited crowd below, Zhang Yun Tian nodded silently. The morale is still usable, so there's no need to worry about the villagers fleeing in panic. However, these people can only be on the second line; those who have not experienced the test of war and blood cannot take on important tasks. Nevertheless, it's better than having no one at all. As long as everyone cooperates and uses the new types of landmines developed by the Wu Gong team, they can still counter the invasion of the Japanese puppet army. After all, they won't be able to sweep through here for a long time and will eventually have to leave. As long as everyone can hold on, this team will have cohesion, and these people can become the backbone of each village in the future. With the party members and active elements secretly developed in each village, this base area will be firmly grasped by the People's United Party.

  Everyone finished eating and drinking, and waited nervously for the arrival of the puppet army. However, this time Mei Huan-yu had an extra trick up his sleeve. He grabbed dozens of people from a village they passed through and made them lead the way, each tied with ropes, walking in unison at the front. The villagers ahead were clever and already knew that the puppet army was using them as human shields, so they wailed loudly and moved forward. A few puppet soldiers looked away, unable to bear it, these were new recruits who had been farmers in the fields until recently. However, the leaders of the puppet army and their company commanders were all seasoned veterans of massacres, and were completely at ease with this, after all, it was better for others to die than themselves.

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