Chapter Twelve: My Blue Devil Team

  The town of Ma Fang is called Ma Fang because it has been a place for raising military horses for generations, and its name comes from this. However, the Qing government later moved the horse-raising grounds northward, abandoning this location, but the name remained in use until today. After obtaining Yu Hao's consent, Kang Fan began building a new barracks on the site of an abandoned military horse grounds near Ma Fang Town. The barracks were built according to Kang Fan's design plan, and although the training and living facilities were simple, they had a modern feel and could fully play their role. With this barracks, Kang Fan had the hardware conditions to showcase his skills.

  Because the barracks were very close to He's residence, every time He Shuichang came to visit Kang Fan in the barracks, He Shui would often follow along to watch the excitement. Later on, He Shui simply brought her personal maid and took a carriage to come over, and from time to time she would send all sorts of delicious dishes to Kang Fan, making everyone very envious. Although Kang Fan was delighted in his heart, he didn't dare show it off because there were people around, so instead he appeared very awkward in front of He Shui. Even though they were separated by a screen window and the view was blurry, Kang Fan could still see that He Shui would always hide inside the carriage covering her mouth to secretly laugh.

  After the barracks were built, Kang Fan began to guide the team members in training, teaching them personally, and getting along with the team members, eating and drinking together, and instilling his theoretical knowledge and combat skills into the team members bit by bit. The 200 team members had high quality from the beginning, and after receiving Kang Fan's modern military training and guidance, they made rapid progress. The team members were not only convinced of his super personal ability and noble character but also more enthusiastic about improving their own cultivation, and soon formed a deep friendship with each other. After the basic training was completed, Kang Fan re-purchased 300 Russian-made Mosin-Nagant m1891 rifles and 5 British-made Vickers water-cooled heavy machine guns, as well as a large amount of ammunition, to equip the team. The batch of looted Japanese military weapons and ammunition had no need to be used again after completing the training mission, so Kang Fan sent them all to Yu Hao as reserve weapons for the county's garrison troops.

  The Mosin-Nagant M1891 carbine was shortened from the Mosin-Nagant M1891 rifle, which is a manual single-shot rifle that fires powerful smokeless cartridges with a 5-round magazine. Due to its smooth feeding and firing action, the gun has a crisp sound when fired, with minimal smoke, and during continuous fire, it sounds like water droplets falling, commonly known as "water droplets". Its combat performance far exceeds those of previous old-fashioned firearms.

  The Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun is the most lethal firearm of its time, with a firing rate of over 600 rounds per minute, making it highly effective against infantry charges. However, the various strong armies of the time did not give sufficient attention to this new automatic firearm, and the number of equipment was extremely small, especially in the Qing army, where the number of equipment was even smaller. The reason is quite laughable: excessive waste of ammunition. On the other hand, the militia team suddenly had 5 of these powerful automatic weapons, with an average of one gun per 40 people, which by today's standards is extremely frightening firepower.

  The team members' salaries, food, clothing, accommodation and living utensils were all funded by Kang Fan and uniformly allocated, with a standard that was unimaginable to the locals. Especially the uniforms, which were purchased from the US cavalry's full set of blue military uniforms, black boots and leather combat equipment, plus the Japanese army's high-crowned helmets, sabers and advanced Russian-style rifles, making them look extremely majestic and handsome, so they were nicknamed "Blue Devil Team" by the locals. Kang Fan then officially adopted this name, and he was naturally the captain of the Blue Devil Team.

  On the day of Xiaoshu, Kang Fan accidentally fell off his horse while training with the Blue Demon team members and scraped several places on one side of his body. He came alone to the county hospital to find Mei Xiang for bandaging.

  You silly soldier, I'm going to die of joy! Mei Xiang shouted excitedly, regardless of the crowd's gaze, and tightly hugged Kang Fan.

  Several wounds on Kang Fan's body made her touch all over, and she was in so much pain that she gritted her teeth.

  Mei Xiang found out and asked in surprise: "How did you do it? Which country's soldiers have you been fighting again?" After listening to Kang Fan's explanation, she finally put her mind at ease. "If you, as an instructor, are already so battered, what about your soldiers? Won't they be even more miserable? Why haven't I seen them come yet?"

  Kang Fan smiled wryly, their riding skills were all better than mine. This wasn't me teaching them, but rather them teaching me.

  Mei Xiang burst out laughing and said, "You'd rather go dancing with swords and sticks than help everyone with the busy work on the construction site. This is what you get for being so lazy!"

  Kang Fan hastily explained: The students are all experts in construction, besides, there's Old Zhong over there, no need for me.

  After entering the hospital, Mei Xiang skillfully cleaned Kang Fan's wound and bandaged it. Then she leaned on his back, embracing him with both arms: "You're so heartless to leave me waiting here for such a long time without coming to see me."

  Kang Fan felt Mei Xiang's warm and soft cheeks gradually becoming scorching hot, his heart involuntarily tightening.

  Don't go tonight, Mei Xiang said.

  Kang Fan didn't dare refuse.

  Two people and the students in the hospital had a happy reunion dinner together, then each took a bath and returned to their dormitory to rest. The guards sent by Yu Hao were particularly diligent because they could receive extra pay from the hospital, so they took turns standing guard day and night. This made Kang Fan very satisfied, but he was worried about how to get through this night.

  Kang Fan didn't go to take a bath because he was injured, so Mei Xiang took him to her dormitory and then carried the washbasin to the bathroom to take a bath. Before leaving, she specifically tapped Kang Fan's forehead and reminded him: Don't run around, just stay in the room honestly.

  Kang Fan knew that Mei Xiang had a good impression of him, which he had noticed since their military training days. However, Kang Fan did not want to develop any relationship beyond friendship with these university students who were just starting out in life. Firstly, as a soldier, he could not let his personal feelings interfere with his mission; secondly, after this unexpected event, his new mission was to safely bring these students back home. He had to complete this new mission at all costs to give the military department, the employing unit, and the students' parents a good account of himself. Before completing this new mission, he had to keep everything as it was, intact. Therefore, Kang Fan had been controlling his emotions, despite his strong liking for Mei Xiang.

  Mei Xiang walked into the house after taking a bath, radiant and glowing, her whole body emitting an intoxicating fragrance, her eyebrows and eyes overflowing with a vague longing, making Kang Fan's heart flutter uncontrollably.

  Are you done? Kang Fan found his own voice trembling.

  The two of them smiled at each other in tacit understanding. Kang Fan didn't know what Mei Xiang was thinking, but his current feeling was vastly different from when he was at He Shui Chang's house. At that time, sleeping on the same kang with Mei Xiang for a week hadn't made him feel anything out of the ordinary. But this time, he had a very restless and uneasy feeling, which was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

  Go to sleep, it's late. Mei Xiang raised her eyes and glanced at Kang Fan, a blush spreading across her face, and then she reached out to turn off the lamp.

  Kang Fan was sweating profusely. In the darkness, Mei Xiang took off her clothes, got on the bed and lay down beside Kang Fan.

  You don't sleep in your clothes every day, do you? Meixiang asked with a tone of blame.

  Kang Fan was indeed too hot to bear, so he sat up, took off his clothes and only wore shorts, then lay down again, deliberately moving to the side.

  You're going to fall off if you lean over any further. This isn't Brother He's kang, said Mei Xiang.

  Kang Fan stopped moving. Mei Xiang laid one of his arms flat, using it as a pillow, but didn't actively lean her body over, leaving a gap between their bodies, in a state of being both close and distant.

  The bright moonlight shines through the curtains and spills onto the wall opposite, eyes having adapted to the darkness, the scenery in sight becomes clear. The two of them are lying silently and motionlessly. In the stillness, the sound of heartbeat in the ears grows louder.

  Look at you! Mei Xiang's voice was soft but very clear.

  Kang Fan pretended not to hear it, and sweat continued to seep out.

  After a while, Mei Xiang sat up, silently put on her clothes, got down from the bed, grabbed her towel and threw it at Kang Fan's face, then opened the door and left.

  Wipe your sweat. Mei Xiang threw down this sentence without looking back and slammed the door shut.

  Kang Fan let out a long sigh of relief, covering his face with a towel. The towel was cool and damp, with a fragrant scent.

  In the early morning, Kang Fan packed his bags and prepared to return to Ma Fang Township. He came to the backyard and led Chi Tu, originally wanting to say goodbye before leaving, but Mei Xiang and the students were still asleep, so he had to leave without saying goodbye. In the yard, he met a soldier who got up early to wash his face, and asked him to pass on a message. The soldier nodded in response. After walking a long way, when he turned back to look again, he saw Mei Xiang's figure appearing at the top of the highest building in the hospital - the water tower.