Chapter 23: The Naming Ceremony

  The Totsugeki corps has been stationed at Gyuuto-san for three months. With the arrival of the third month, heavy snow began to fall on the three main peaks of the Gyuuto mountain range.

  Just before the snowflakes arrived, Li Jiankun led his construction army to complete the first true base of the assault camp. Of course, this is thanks to Long Xiaotian's large investment in the early days of this former bandit lair. So, Li Jiankun was equivalent to a program repairman, as long as he completed the basic infrastructure construction of a residential area, such as the urban water supply and drainage system, road traffic network system, and the interval and privacy requirements between civilian residences, as well as necessary entertainment venues, large gathering places, etc., he would have accomplished a great achievement. Other things, such as the soldiers' barracks, training grounds, classrooms, and officers' mess halls, only needed to be renovated and transformed on the existing basis.

  With the completion of the highest and largest main peak base, the shock camp also officially moved to the base. The original temporary camp and another bandit's nest were simultaneously transformed into forward bases, which are still heavily guarded as military forbidden zones.

  On the day of Qiao Jian's joy, the assault camp also held its first full-camp meeting since crossing over.

  The conference is divided into three agendas:

  Naming Ceremony Based on the Location

  The meeting unanimously agreed that the first external unified name of the base would be called E Yu Lan Base, in memory of the shock troops who marched thousands of miles to get here.

  2. The inaugural ceremony of the new party committee of the shock troops and the General Front Command

  According to Meng Yao's nomination, the conference unanimously agreed that the Strike Battalion was officially upgraded to a regiment-level enhanced combat unit. All subordinate companies and directly affiliated units were correspondingly upgraded, and a Political Department, an Air Police Office, a Science and Technology Office, a Logistics Office, a Recruitment Office, and a Base Management Office were added. However, it is still uniformly referred to as the Strike Battalion externally. At the same time, Gao Zhiyuan was supplemented as a member of the battalion party committee and director of the Political Department.

  New Recruit Enlistment Ceremony

  According to Meng Yao's order, Gao Zhiyuan reviewed and audited the original two major bandit armed forces, totaling 2,789 people. Except for a handful of extremely sinful and evil individuals, after Lu Tao's one-month rectification and Fu Xiao's one-month intensive training, 2,732 people were transformed into Red soldiers in one fell swoop. Most of them were independently formed into three main force battalions, while a small number of particularly outstanding ones were selected to join the shock troops and mixed into various main force companies. After the oath-taking ceremony, the bandit leader Ma Dahuazi and his few followers were verified by the Base Area Management Office based on evidence provided by the original reconnaissance team, and were found to be extremely sinful and evil, and were executed according to law to appease public outrage.

  After the Storming Conference, Long Xiaotian also sent his letter from Guangzhou through his liaison point in Yangweitown, explicitly stating that he would like Meng Yao to come to Guangzhou to meet Sun Wen and formally fulfill and hand over his promise on Niutoushan. This promise includes the pre-purchased weapons and ammunition in Yangweitown and its county seat, as well as a contract signed with German Wilhelm. The contract clearly states the rights and obligations of both parties, but the core is only one clause, that is, the mining rights of Niutou Mountain Range. As compensation, Wilhelm will provide a production line for the world's best rifle.

  Meng Yao really wanted to go and pay his respects to the great man of the century. Unfortunately, on one hand, the weather was not favorable, with heavy snow blocking the mountain, and on the other hand, the party committee of the assault camp also disagreed with him taking risks to go there. In the end, he had no choice but to give up and end the matter with a letter of apology.

  Although the heavy snow has blocked the mountain, and it's almost New Year's Eve, there are still people constantly breaking into the mountain from outside.

  After several days of investigation by the local authorities, they had no choice but to hastily conclude the case. Among these people, some were deceived into believing that Niutou Mountain really had heavenly soldiers and generals descending from heaven, so some bold ones came in groups of three or five. Others were hunters from nearby areas, who happened to be in hunting season at this time. Even more were Yuan's original subordinates. After several months of drifting outside, they probably still felt that the mountain stronghold was easier to mix with, so they plucked up their courage and returned to the mountain. As for these people, Meng Yao's opinion was generally to release most of them. A few suspicious ones were mainly driven away and captured as a supplement.

  For Meng Yao's every move, there was one person who had been secretly paying attention. This person was none other than his sworn brother, who now hated him to the core. However, as time passed, especially after the Special Forces took down two bandit dens in one fell swoop, his sworn brother's originally dull and lifeless thoughts began to stir once more like a thawing river.

  As more people returned, Meng Yao unknowingly had a good impression of Fu Xiao again. Just as she was wondering how to make a breakthrough, especially with the increasing number of old comrades returning, her pressure increased once again. However, Meng Yao made another gesture of goodwill towards her. On the second day of the snowstorm, Fu Xiao, who had previously defeated them, brought a large batch of food, pork, and wine to her doorstep, along with an invitation for her and Shifu to celebrate the New Year together on the 30th.

  Now Meng Yao and his shock troops, although still not wealthy or noble, after several months of hard work, they not only had the whole camp eating steaming hot rice, fresh pork and vegetables, but also allowed soldiers to drink a small amount of millet wine every weekend to keep warm and boost morale, of course, liquor was still strictly prohibited.

  Looking at Meng Yao, who was being extremely polite and courteous after his initial arrogance, Xiaohua must be the most regretful person on the mountain right now. She hid alone in the thatched hut, having secretly cried many times already. The more she cried, the more unbearable it became for her. She realized that she couldn't even remember what Meng Yao looked like anymore; all that was left in her mind was a blurry image of him smiling. Thinking this way made her heart feel even more bitter.

  "No way, I'll go take a look at him no matter what, even if it's just a sneak peek."

  Xiaohua muttered to herself in her heart, and her body involuntarily walked towards the destination. But often, she would unconsciously walk halfway before suddenly waking up. The awakened Xiaohua was immediately flustered by her own blush, walking back and forth on a mountain road covered with snowflakes, repeating this process several times.

  All of this, of course, did not escape another pair of eyes.

  Of course, these eyes are not Meng Xiang's. She can't take care of Xiaohua now, the village has suddenly added so many people, she is anxious and worried about whether to bring up old affairs with Meng Yao, and simply put everything on him. But for a while, she couldn't find an appropriate opportunity. Without an auspicious occasion, she couldn't open her mouth.

  All that's left is Master Ye's pair of old fox eyes.

  Apart from the assault camp, at this moment, the only one on the entire mountain who can be considered a wise man is Kong Xue Meng. For several months, it's hard to say whether it's long or short, but his eyes haven't been idle for a moment, always turning around the assault camp. Good fellow, more than 500 people standing together, black and dense, with an intimidating atmosphere. When scattered in the mountains, not even a shadow can be seen, it's as if they've been possessed by evil spirits. Isn't this the legendary divine army? When they emerge, it's like thunder rolling. When they retreat, it's like a cunning rabbit hiding in three burrows. In motion, they're like a long rainbow stretching for miles; at rest, they're like still water in a pond. Later on, more than 500 people were deemed too many, and over 200 people were split off without any effort, taking down the two largest mountain strongholds with ease.

  Wait, let me recall, since I was born, how many times have the government troops surrounded this place, and how many times were they defeated and fled in disarray? I've lost count, I've lost count. Kong Xue Meng counted on his fingers, twirling his beard, shaking his head and sighing from time to time. Brother, you don't understand, you really don't understand. Having a treasure by your side is like having a heavenly gift, yet you still want to make things difficult for others, it's as if you've been blinded by greed, watching a precious thing go pick up a donkey's dung egg. What did they do to you? Wasn't it just helping you train soldiers? The medicine was a bit too strong, but what are you afraid of? A pile of muddy water still wants to have dignity? Fortunately, others didn't treat us like we were on the same level, everything went according to our wishes, otherwise... humph, could this broken stronghold be stronger than those two dead men's strongholds?

  "What's wrong with that little flower dead girl? What kind of demon is she wearing, like a small donkey with blinders on pushing a mill over there?"