Chapter 7, Nine Character True Words

  By getting close to Master Kong, Meng has formed a three-dimensional picture of the situation in Niu Tou Village and its surrounding areas. One can't help but admire the basic skills of the late Qing dynasty's xiucai, who truly spent ten years studying hard, unlike the so-called "fast-track" classes that are everywhere now. With clear arguments, logical reasoning, and a moderate tone, Meng described the local customs, geography, and terrain in simple terms, saving him and the assault team a lot of effort. It's worth noting that all the materials they have on hand now are non-renewable resources. Therefore, if possible, they should try to conserve them, and utilizing local resources from this era will be their top priority for future work. And this old devil, Meng must remember him, he will definitely be taken care of later.

  Yes, the current era is clear, 1920 - what a chaotic world, truly a chaotic world. The Republic of China has almost been established for ten years and still cannot unify China, how unfortunate, yet how fortunate also. This year, the communist group should be established in Beijing, the spark of a strong nation has finally been planted. And by next year, the small country that Meng Yao is most concerned about will start operating under the banner of supporting Zhang Zuolin, beginning their beautiful dream of Manchukuo.

  So, in order to keep an eye on this hungry wolf, what can he do now in this small Niutou Village?

  Under the master's patient and meticulous teaching, even under the temptation of his Da Zhonghua cigarettes, he personally dragged his old arms and legs to climb high and point, in the momentum of the old man pointing at the mountains and rivers, a hundred miles around the Cow Head Mountain stronghold, a large river, three highest peaks, hundreds of forests, thousands of villages, as well as a county town less than tens of kilometers away, are now all within his sight.

  What a great place, he really didn't expect that the heavens would toss them here and treat them so well. A county town, said to be currently ranked number one in the Great China County Rankings, unfortunately it's at the bottom of the list. The former county magistrate, now the county mayor, the first thing they do when taking office is to definitely wail and cry loudly.

  Where exactly was the Niutou Mountain stronghold located? This matter had already exceeded the capabilities of the teacher. Meng Yao could only order the communication team to try using a satellite phone, even if it meant wasting an entire high-energy battery. "Get me through to headquarters, the military district, the State Council, just keep trying," Meng Yao said viciously. "Who was that person, Zhou Fangyu? Wasn't she sent by the Ministry of War? And isn't she a doctor of joint communication in the war zone? Get her to figure out how to get me a satellite connection - Dongfang Hong 9, Fengyun 6, Shenzhou 8, any one will do. Civilian use is fine too." Someone questioned him, saying that the Dongfang Hong model was no longer in use, and that Shenzhou was a spaceship series, with military communication satellites having specific encryption codes. Meng Yao kicked them out. "What does it matter what kind it is? As long as it's up there, making a phone call shouldn't be a problem."

  Unfortunately, Lu Tao, who didn't know what was good for him, always wanted to control him. He seemed to have seen something and didn't want Meng Yao to become the dictator of the assault camp. Of course, he mainly didn't want him to make mistakes. You see, now people's minds are returning, and their hearts are floating. This wasn't a problem before crossing over, but after crossing over, who can really see clearly? From top to bottom in the whole camp, every officer and soldier, what they say with their mouths and what they think in their hearts, are they really the same thing?

  Unfortunately, Cao Feibiao didn't give him a chance. This kid always managed to guess Meng Yao's little tricks at the first time.

  "What are the exact coordinates of our current location? Who dares to claim they know?" Cao Feibiao cursed, "Grandma, after being a soldier for so long, this is the first time I don't know where we are. When it comes to fighting, we'll die without even knowing how."

  "Isn't it Niutou Mountain Stronghold?"

  "Right, where is Niutou Village?"

  So, if someone were to ask Meng Yao like this, Meng Yao would certainly tell him honestly, sorry, for now he can only know that it is roughly estimated, maybe at the junction of Hubei and Henan provinces, slightly leaning towards the north. In modern terms, as for which province and city it specifically belongs to, further investigation is needed. So, Meng Yao suddenly felt a wave of emotion in his heart: they say dictatorship is bad, but specifically on him, at this moment, in this scene, wouldn't being dictatorial be okay?

  The master said that the three highest peaks, Niutou Mountain Stronghold only occupies one of them. There are two more, respectively occupied by the fierce bandits Ma Dahu and Long Xiantian. The two families not only have over a thousand men and horses but also frequently rob and plunder, colluding with officials and forming alliances, making them extremely wealthy and possessing the best quick guns and machine guns today. Of course, the master doesn't know that machine guns are just toys to Meng Yao, not even comparable to his own machine gun. Mentioning this, Meng Yao becomes somewhat confused. How can others occupy their territory? If the two families are so powerful, how can Niutou Mountain Stronghold survive until now? It's not that he looks down on them; with the guns, knives, and spears in their hands, Ma Dahu could probably take them down in a minute. However, the master's answer makes him smile wryly. When buying pastries, if people are too rich or too poor, it won't work. As they say, "chicken ribs" - eating them is tasteless, but throwing them away is a waste. It seems that if Niutou Mountain Stronghold had even a bit of wealth, it would have brought about its own downfall. However, there's one thing the master doesn't dare to mention: this year, both bandit leaders sent betrothal gifts, and both families unexpectedly set their sights on Meng Yao's younger brother, making the master extremely anxious. Of course, if not for this, they wouldn't be so carefree this year.

  In such a desolate and barren place, why have the two great bandits gathered and refused to move their nests? This is definitely not something that can be glossed over as "difficulty in leaving one's hometown". As expected, Cao Feibiao brought back an astonishing piece of intelligence with his disguised reconnaissance team in less than two days.

  "Head," Cao Feibiao spread out the independent regiment's battle map, pointing to a county town with a somewhat bitter smile and said: "I didn't think this map would still be useful. After our careful comparison and further understanding of the local dialect, customs, and their living environment, we verified that this county town should be the later generation's Henan Tang County."

  "Tang County?" Meng Yao thought for a moment, and couldn't help but shake his head. "After all the fuss, from our original base in Hubei to here, it's just this distance. I thought we had traveled through time and space many times. For my camp's combat capabilities, it's basically still at our doorstep."

  Cao Feibiao suddenly stared at him with a gleam in his eyes and said: "Boss, the key is not here. You forgot that we can just wait here, conserve our energy and wait for the Battle of Wuhan to start in history. Then we'll advance to Suizhou and give those Japanese devils, Lieutenant General Okamura Neishi and his 3rd, 13th, and 16th Divisions, as well as the 2nd and 4th Cavalry Brigades, a good beating. We can also rescue Zhang Zizhong at the same time. This way, we not only save the famous anti-Japanese general Zhang Zizhong but also change history a bit, and the highest rank of our martyred generals in the War of Resistance will be reduced by one level."

  Meng Yao poked his head out and tapped Cao Fei's excited head, "You're dreaming, it's only 1920 now, do you want my assault camp to squat in the pit for more than a decade? Let alone other things, we have advanced technology, equipment, and attacking power that is equivalent to an entire division, or even an army. Don't you think it's just a waste of resources?"

  Cao Feibiao suddenly reacted, rubbing his shiny bald head and laughing. "Forget it, forget it. Let's go out for a big circle first, and then make a comeback. You say, where do we go?"

  Meng Yao glared with her eyes: "Who said I want to go out? We'll just stay here and be a good little rabbit for once."

  "Ah," Cao Feibiao was stunned, "then what can we do here?"

  "It's very simple, plant some fields, raise some flowers, and flirt with girls." Meng Yao said with a slight smile. "Of course, that requires having a girl who likes you. However, to live comfortably here, planting fields, raising flowers, and flirting with girls, first, no one can disturb us, I don't want someone lurking around looking for trouble all day. Second, we need money, lots of it, otherwise how would we support you bunch of good-for-nothings who only know how to eat meat and drink wine? Lastly, humph, don't you think that although our little group is very powerful, but aren't we a bit short on people? Therefore, our current three major tasks are six words: plant fields, earn money, and snatch people."

  When he heard about making money, Cao Feibiao hastily said "oh" and continued, "Almost forgot the main thing. Boss, you see, this is the nearest town to us, Yangweizhen, and further ahead is the county city. These three mountain strongholds usually have people coming and going for supplies, all using Yangweizhen as a transit station. Of course, it's also the main den for Ma Dahuizi and Long Xuetian, these two big bandit chiefs to sell their loot. As for Niutouzhai, after this investigation, it seems they really aren't genuine bandits, they don't have any power there. This shows that they are still a relatively clean group of people, just a bunch of poor families gathered together.

  "Don't jump to conclusions," Meng Yao waved his hand and said, "Let's talk business."

  Cao Feibiao suddenly became spirited, and his mouth followed suit, mysteriously whispering to Meng Yao's ear: "You just said you wanted to make money, and now it's here. The boss is really lucky to have you. According to our reconnaissance, Ma Dahuizi and Long Xiaotian's two groups are still negotiating in Yangweitown. When we came back, they had already started drinking cross-cupped wine. From what the outside rascals said, it seems they found some kind of mine. Oh, right, there were also a few foreigners at the banquet. We didn't dare to pry deeper, but from what we heard, it sounds like genuine English."

  Meng Yao was taken aback, staring at Cao Feibiao and asking, "How is it that foreigners have arrived so quickly? This is the heartland of China, what wind could blow them here?"

  "Cao Feibiao said affirmatively, 'That's right, the bandits treated them as honored guests. The yard outside was tightly surrounded by many large vehicles, and we were chased away by the guards when we tried to get close. But with our eyes, we can tell roughly from the shape that the foreigners must have sent them some big guns and ammunition.'"

  Meng Yao slammed his hand on the map and said fiercely: "Alright, it's these two families. Biao, you must assign people to follow them continuously and wait for orders at all times."

  "Yes," Cao Feibiao replied loudly with a pleased smile.