Chapter 3: Niutou Mountain Stronghold

  Chapter 3: Niutou Mountain Stronghold

  Actually, when Xiaohua and Meng Yao were talking, Wang Er had already arrived outside the house. With such a big commotion outside, as the leader of the mountain stronghold, she couldn't help but be concerned about the safety of her entire stronghold. It's just that she came out a bit late and didn't see the shocking scene that Xiaohua and the others saw. However, she trusted Xiaohua, and since Xiaohua wasn't on guard, then she didn't need to be either. Now what she needed to do was quietly wait for Xiaohua to bring that stranger in front of her. It seemed that the mountain stronghold would have another stranded person. Oh well, whether it's useful or not, let's take a look first and see.

  Although he had mentally prepared himself, Meng Yao still startled him. But that's not all, this strange and weird person actually stretched out his hand with colorful sleeves, smiled at him and said "hello", what on earth was he trying to do?

  Brother angrily stared at Xiaohua for a moment, raised his chin and asked: "Tell me, what's with that mountain?"

  Xiao Hua hastily pulled her over and pointed at the sky.

  He looked at him with a puzzled expression, then glanced up at the sun in the sky. What did he mean? Was he dropped from the sky or something? Just as he was thinking about it, someone who looked exactly like him ran over like flying and stopped abruptly in front of him, panting loudly and shouting: "Report to the battalion commander, the guard platoon has assembled at the designated location, 36 people should be present, but there are actually 37 people. Please instruct."

  "Hey, I didn't expect you to be a leader after all." Meng said with a sneer, but before he could continue to mock him, he noticed that the person in front of him, Meng Yao, suddenly furrowed his brow and hummed in response. The visitor was startled and hastily puffed out his chest to explain: "Reporting to the battalion commander, Instructor has already assigned me to the guard platoon."

  Meng Yao's face lit up with joy as soon as he heard the news, "Great, hurry back and follow the instructor's arrangements for now, while quickly gathering the troops."

  "Yes," the newcomer replied, but his feet didn't budge.

  "What else?" Meng looked at him with a puzzled expression, suddenly understood and waved his hand, "You should be able to see that they are our friends, go ahead and rest assured."

  The squad leader hesitated, then suddenly stretched his neck and whispered in Meng Yao's ear, "Captain, the instructor asked me to tell you that we seem to have a problem. The time and location don't match our drill plan. He asks you to hurry over."

  "Alright," Meng Yao glanced at the distance without changing his expression, just about to speak when Xiangdi suddenly pointed at the leader of the guard and asked sternly: "Hey you, what's your name? Your superior gave you several orders in a row, why didn't you listen to a single word?"

  "What's wrong?" the reconnaissance squad leader replied subconsciously, suddenly reacting and glaring angrily, but was stopped by Meng Yao. "Go back, return to the team immediately and execute the order."

  The cow just left, and Brother Wan said with a pout: "The name is quite majestic, but it doesn't listen to orders."

  Meng Yao smiled and re-examined his younger brother, then said seriously: "I've made the chief laugh, I'd like to thank the chief for his teachings first. Also, I have something to ask, may I ask what place this is? It seems like it's late August today, but I don't see any fruit on the trees."

  Brother Pan slanted his eyes at Meng Yao, saying slowly and calmly: "Today is already autumn, just like the emperor has abdicated, our Cow Head Mountain stronghold within a hundred miles from now on only belongs to us, but there's nothing you said."

  Although he had been mentally prepared, Meng Yao's face still darkened upon hearing this.

  "What's wrong, aren't you happy that the Emperor has abdicated?" Meng Yang looked at Xiang Di with a provocative gaze, and said somewhat suddenly enlightened: "You're not here to surrender, you have troubles, you're here to seize the mountain stronghold, right?"

  Meng Yao hastily said with a serious expression: "Master of the stronghold, don't misunderstand, I'll leave immediately."

  After finishing, he subconsciously looked around and secretly thanked himself for still understanding a bit of the language and customs of this era. He then gave his younger brother a fist bump and smiled at Xiaohua beside him, saying "Thanks Xiaohua, we'll meet again."

  Xiao Hua's eyes instantly welled up with tears as soon as she heard. She grabbed her brother Pan's hand and shook it vigorously, regardless of everything.

  Bother Han coldly snorted, shook off Xiaohua's hand and loudly shouted: "Wait a minute."

  Meng Yao turned around and quietly looked at her.

  "Since you're the leader, you should be a sensible person." Xiangdi said while quickly thinking in his mind, "You didn't come to surrender, nor did you say what you came for, and now you just want to leave like this? How can I explain it to my 800 brothers in the mountain stronghold?"

  Meng Yao's pupils constricted at these words. But soon, the short gun slung at his waist caught his eye, and he almost couldn't help but burst out laughing. With great effort, he suppressed his laughter and responded calmly: "In that case, please enlighten me, Chief."

  Brother Pan hesitated for a moment before speaking quickly: "This mountain was opened by me, leave behind the money to buy the road."

  "Alright," Meng Yao nodded briskly. "Please wait a moment, chief. I'll go back and discuss it with my people, then we can decide on the toll."

  "Alright then, let's settle on sunset." Brother said, and quickly turned around to head towards the small hut.

  Meng Yao looked at Meng Xiong's actions and suddenly shook his head and laughed. His smile, however, made Xiaohua look frightened, hastily following Meng Xiong to turn around and run away, but she couldn't help turning her head back to look at Meng Yao, her eyes full of apologetic expressions like withered mountain flowers.

  Rushing to the assembly point, most of the military dependents' assault camp had already gathered. Except for the instructor's voice, everyone was silent. With just one glance, Meng Yao already understood what kind of mood everyone was in at this moment. Cao Feibiao came over from afar, letting out a strange laugh halfway, which also had some heroic spirit. As he approached, before he could open his arms, Meng Yao coldly shouted: "You demon, don't say anything, don't do anything, just honestly stand there for now."

  Seeing Meng Yao's furious face, everyone was shocked, but it seemed to calm down instantly.

  "What's the situation on your side?" Lu Tao approached Meng Yao and whispered, "Yao'er, it seems we've encountered trouble, big trouble. What should we do? Should we immediately convene a battalion meeting with all party members attending?"

  Comrades, brothers, I only have one sentence to say: we've encountered some inexplicable trouble at the moment, and we'll talk about it later. Now, here are my orders: Cow Jian's guard platoon will immediately deploy and establish an effective perimeter around us. Cao Fei Biao's reconnaissance platoon will immediately split into four routes to pick up the scattered personnel who have not returned yet. Ji Xuan's mobile platoon will immediately take stock of all equipment and supplies, and submit a clear report. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions will immediately concentrate their equipment and supplies, except for ammunition, which is limited to half the standard amount per person. At the same time, the battalion headquarters and communication team will maintain uninterrupted contact with HQ for 24 hours, no matter what the outcome is, we must hold on until tomorrow noon. The order is complete, now please let the instructor speak.

  Lu Tao was taken aback at first, probably not expecting this turn of events. But he quickly jumped onto a rock, imitating Meng Yao's gesture, waving his hand and shouting loudly: "Comrades, what is the greatest advantage of our People's Army? That's right, it's that we never fear, never yield! This is both our military anthem and our military soul. Now, we've encountered some trouble, but we must have confidence, we will definitely return to the bosom of headquarters!"

  Cao Feibiao listened, suddenly curled his lip, sneered and muttered: "What's the fuss about, it's just a crossover, making everyone nervous, we should be happy instead."

  Meng Yao lowered his voice and roared: "Shut up for me."

  "When will he understand the pros and cons of this?" Lu Tao jumped off the rock, anxiously staring at Cao Feibiao's back. Meng Yao shook his head with a forced smile: "You're overthinking it, Lu Tao. As long as we calm everyone's nerves in the next few days, even if the sky falls, our assault team will still be intact."

  "It's easy to say," Lu Tao quietly sized up the troops, and began to urge: "Let's hold a battalion meeting immediately, or else my heart will keep jumping."

  Meng Yao glanced at Lu Tao, this bookworm, and thought that convening a battalion commanders' meeting could solve the problem. Wouldn't everything be explained then? However, the battalion commanders' meeting must be convened, but the focus is not here. Thinking of this, he turned his head to call over Ji Xu, specially reminding him: "The personnel, equipment, and materials inventory must be done quickly, as soon as the list comes out, we will immediately convene a battalion commanders' meeting."

  "Yes." Ji Xiu also seemed to have thought of something and replied solemnly.

  Ji Xuan walked away, and Meng Yao turned around on horseback, simply telling Lu Tao about the requirements of his younger brother. Before he had even finished speaking, Lu Tao suddenly jumped up in anger, "What is she doing? Is she taking advantage of the situation? Those people I've seen from above are just bandits, actually a group of farmers. I don't believe they dare to reach out to the People's Army."

  Meng Yao looked at Lu Tao strangely and asked: "Then how do you think we should handle it?"

  "Is this still something to be discussed?" Lu Tao's eyes bulged, and he made a chopping motion with his hand. "What are we? The people's iron fist, the Republic's steel vanguard. I'd like to see who dares to touch us."

  Meng Yao sighed and muttered: "What you said is great, the iron fist of the people."

  Lu Tao suddenly reacted, scratching his head, "No, it seems there's a bit of a problem. Although they have weapons in their hands, those are simply a pile of firewood, we can't act rashly."

  "Does it look good like this?" Meng Yao said, whispering in Lu Tao's ear while secretly smiling to himself.

  What weapon is more powerful than a smile at this moment?

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