Chapter Fifty-Nine

  "Lu Yingchang, I have a sentence and I don't know if it's suitable to ask!" After sitting down and finishing the tea, Xiao Ming spoke up.

  "Make yourself at home, Xiao Dangjia's family, don't be polite, just say what you want!" Lu Dashan said casually.

  "Your unit isn't stationed in Qin County, how did you end up here again?!"

  "Oh, last year when we were making a breakthrough, the team made some adjustments and I was assigned here."

  "Lao Lu, your grandma's... how are you getting more and more muddled? The soldiers under you, and the equipment in your hands, are far inferior to what they used to be!" Ma Liu spoke bluntly, thinking he was the master.

  "Newly formed team, you're making an old horse laugh!" Lu Dashi scratched his head and cursed in his heart: It's all because of your little trick!

  Last time, with Ma Liu and others, they collected a lot of things. Lu Dashi led his troops to build for several days, but he didn't have any ideas about being frugal or saving money. When they returned to their previous simple life, the troops couldn't bear it anymore and urged Lu Dashi to go out again: This time, everything will be theirs, and they can eat slowly! Unable to withstand the troops' constant prodding, Lu Dashi's mind was activated, and he secretly led a company to launch an ambush, obtaining some grain and other supplies. When they returned, their living conditions improved slightly. However, once they got a taste of it, they couldn't stop, and as a result, during one of their outings, they were ambushed by the enemy. If Lu Dashi hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been surrounded by the Japanese army. The regiment commander didn't dare to hide this incident and reported it to the military district. The old commander was furious and kicked him out of the main force regiment, sending him here: You love to cause trouble? Go cause trouble on the enemy's border! Lu Dashi pleaded with the regiment commander, who gathered two companies' worth of troops for him and reorganized the county battalion and some local armed forces. They barely managed to form a regiment, which was called an independent regiment, and Lu Dashi became the regiment commander.

  "Alright, I'll take care of lunch today. If I'm in a good mood, I'll even get you some useful household items and bring them back to you while leading the team. What do you say?" Ma Liu smiled at Lu Dashi with a grin.

  "That feeling is good, it's just..." Lu Dashi scratched his head, looking embarrassed.

  "Commander Lu, my brothers and I are tired and hungry. We'd like to borrow your land to rest for a while. Is this a meal? Have someone take us to buy some food, we won't cause any trouble! Let's talk about everything else later while we eat." Xiao Ming said with a smile. Seeing that Lu Da Shan seemed a bit embarrassed, knowing that there was nothing much in this mountain valley, especially during the current season when crops were scarce, he turned to Shan Wa Zi and said: "Wa Zi, take a few people to Old Villager's place to exchange some goods, don't be afraid to spend money!"

  "You see, how can I put it, you still have to spend money to get to my territory..." Lu Dashi sighed and had someone take Shanwazi away.

  Don't look at Shanwa's young age, he handled things very neatly. Seeing a villager raising a half-grown piglet, he threw down the money for a fat pig: "I want this pig! Are there any chickens, sheep, geese or ducks? Tell them to send it to the Mountain God Temple, I'll pay for it there!" As soon as the news came out, the villagers grabbed chickens and rushed to the temple, Shanwa didn't haggle over prices, welcoming all comers. The villagers were beaming with joy, while the people of Lushan stared in amazement.

  Lu Dashi's team got along well with the locals, and everyone helped to get things done. Lu Dashi invited the deputy regimental commander to join him for a drink. The wine was insisted on by Lu Dashi himself, but it was borrowed. Before he even drank, his face turned red: "Boss, Old Ma, Old Wu, you see how far they've come... I won't say anything else, I, Lu Dashi, am not someone who forgets old friendships. When the situation improves, I'll personally go to Feihu Village to thank them!"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "Lu Yingchang, don't be polite, we are friendly troops, it's only natural to support each other. Don't take this little matter to heart! Come on, let's have a drink!"

  Ma Liu understood Xiao Ming's thoughts and came to this unfamiliar place. If Lu Dashi could cooperate with himself, it might not be a bad choice. When the wine was warm and the ears were hot, Ma Liu opened his mouth: "Old Lu, in the past you had a long official career, and your days were tight, but now that the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, how come you're more confused than before?"

  Lu Dashi slammed his wine bowl and said with a scowl: "Damn it, I've come at the wrong time! When I arrived, I boasted that I would bring out an army in less than a year and become its commander. But who knew that after I got here, those little devils increased their troops? This year they even brought in a cavalry regiment and a division of puppet soldiers. It's embarrassing to say, but Old Lu hasn't had a victory in almost half a year... Ugh, what kind of life is this!"

  "Lao Lu, it's not that I'm saying you're a coward, but you really are! What's wrong with the cavalry? You took one look at the empty patrol team and ran off with the horses. Don't you have guns and horses now? Even if they're injured, can't you still eat meat when you get back? Are you such a scaredy-cat that you turn tail just because the other side has more people? If so, when are you going to pay me back?" Ma Liu said with a slanted gaze, his words laced with sarcasm and ridicule.

  "Your grandma's old horse, you're standing and talking without getting tired, you think I want to stay here, if it wasn't for... forget it, can't make you understand!" Lu Dashi raised his neck and downed the wine in one gulp.

  "Look, I'm telling you something and you're still not happy! Old Lu, there's a business deal that can take care of you, don't know if you want to do it or not!" Ma Liu took a sip of wine, smiling at Lu Dashi.

  "Grandma's, here we go again, I knew you little devil had something up your sleeve! Lu Dashi's brain quickly turned around and still couldn't help but ask: "What business?"

  Ma Liu was secretly delighted, as long as Lu Dashi spoke up, this matter would be halfway settled. He habitually looked around and couldn't help but smile: "Hehe, we're all family here! Old Lu, what's with the big deal? Looking at your situation, let's just forget it! You said there were puppet troops nearby, let's take care of them! After the deed is done, we'll still follow the old rules, 50/50 split, what do you say?"

  "This... " Lu Dashi didn't say a word, but his heart was already churning. He glanced at the deputy battalion commander with his eyes and found that he didn't even lift his head, still struggling with a pig's trotter. He silently cursed him for being useless. But the decision had to be made by himself, after all, these military leaders were all his own people. The good thing was that he had the final say, the bad thing was... but there wasn't really anything bad about this matter, was there?

  "Since Lu Yingchang has difficulties, I'll just pretend I didn't say anything! Come on, come on, let's drink! Let's drink!" Ma Liu had an air of nonchalance and started pouring wine for everyone at the table.

  "Lu Yingchang, don't listen to Ma Liu's nonsense. However, the exit heading west has been blocked by the devils, if you can send someone to guide us through and get us to the puppet army, Fei Hu Zhai will be eternally grateful!" Xiao Ming interjected with a smile.

  The deputy commander finally lifted his head, saw Lu Dashi staring at him, and hastily shook his head, unsure if he was saying no or not caring. Lu Dashi gritted his teeth, slammed the table, and said viciously: "Old Ma, you little devil provoked me, and I really fell for it! Thirty miles south, there's an exit that doesn't attract much attention, going west from there is the border of Ling County, where a regiment of puppet troops is stationed. I've been eyeing them for a long time, let's take action from there!"

  "It seems that Director Lu had this intention all along!" Xiao Ming smiled, "Director Lu, it seemed like we were being followed on the way here, I wonder if they are your people?"

  Lu Dashi smiled and said: "Of course, within a radius of 50 miles, there are our people everywhere. What if the little devils come?"

  Xiao Ming's heart sank, but his face remained expressionless as he smiled and said: "In that case, this time we'll have to be more secretive about our actions, so as not to implicate the villagers!"

  Lu Dashi nodded: "What Xiao Dangjia said is that we should study how to fight without drawing attention..."

  In the afternoon, the independent regiment had an emergency assembly, saying that they received intelligence that a group of Japanese troops were approaching. Lu Dashi arranged for one platoon to escort the villagers to move into the mountains, while two platoons built fortifications at the village entrance and ordered everyone who returned not to go out. He himself led two companies to prepare to attack the enemy, busy until nightfall.

  After dinner, Xiao Ming led the way and set off first, heading west, saying that he was going to see if the Japanese army had withdrawn. Later, Lu Dashi led two companies to block the enemy and also set off.

  After walking for more than three hours on the mountain road of over 30 miles, Xiao Ming and his group finally arrived at the agreed location, only to find that Lu Da Shan was already waiting there. They had climbed up the mountain and thus arrived earlier.

  The two groups of people merged together. Xiao Ming glanced at his watch, it was just past 10 o'clock, and ordered a rest. He dispatched Ye Maozi, Ma Liu, and Shan Wazi to go out for reconnaissance.

  Thinking of the equipment in the camp, Lu Dashi's heart was racing, and he couldn't sit or stand still. He wished he could go back and get it immediately. He wondered if Xiao Ming was being too cautious! Since they had agreed that Feihu Zhai would lead the attack, he didn't dare to rush them.

  Xiao Ming saw Lu Dashi's anxious and flustered appearance, and couldn't help but smile as he said: "Commander Lu, there's no need to rush. Once our people return, we can take action!"

  "Steady, steady! Xiao Dangjia's family is involved, this concerns the lives of several hundred people, be careful!" Lu Dashan forced a smile.

  "Lu Yingchang, there's something I wanted to tell you later, but I'm afraid it's too late! On the night we arrived, our whereabouts were exposed. I think either we encountered a Japanese scout or there's a traitor among your people. You should be careful and go back to investigate! Of course, maybe I'm just being paranoid, nothing is certain!"

  Lu Dashi finally understood why Xiao Ming had made such a big show of himself all afternoon, it was to cover up the truth, and he was so careful because he was afraid that if the news got out, they would be plotted against. Thinking about his own team, there were indeed mixed fish and dragons, even if there wasn't this situation, they still needed to be cleaned up.

  More than an hour had passed, and the Night Cat and others returned, using the moonlight to detail the enemy's distribution: This regiment of pseudo-military forces was divided into three battalions in a triangular formation, with attention focused on the west, indicating that the battle situation in the west was more intense. The nearest battalion was five kilometers away from here, and the distance between the other two battalions was also five kilometers, also in a triangular formation, with balanced firepower and internal and external considerations. No Japanese patrol teams were seen.

  Xiao Ming closed his eyes for a moment, then said to the crowd: "We'll do it this way. We'll mix the troops into three teams. Ma Liu will lead one team on the left route, Wu Dingbang will lead one team on the right route, and I'll lead one team in the middle route. After I launch the attack, you two will take action at the same time. Got it?"

  Lu Dashi listened for half a day and found nothing to do with himself, so he quickly asked: "Xiao Dangjia, what are we doing?"

  "Divide into four routes, one route stays here to respond, the remaining three routes follow far behind, after we take down the enemy's position, you quickly sweep the battlefield, remember, the action must be fast! Withdraw back here before the opponent reinforces."

  "How can this be! Since we've come together, why don't we also block one side, wouldn't that make it more secure?"

  "Lu Yingchang, what I mean is that if we can't take it down, you guys shouldn't show up at all, we'll make a swift transfer! If you participate in the attack, you'll only drag us down!"

  "What you mean is that whether we succeed or not, you won't be coming back?" Lu Dashi was puzzled.

  "Yes!" Xiao Ming's eyes flashed with a cold light, "Tonight, let them know what Chinese men are made of!"