An old friend in a new place

  Not far south of this narrow mountain valley, a village is seen at the foot of the mountain, with five horizontal and three vertical streets, neatly planned.

  The farmhouses are mostly two-story small buildings, with small trucks and motorcycles passing through the streets, full of vitality, looking like a very prosperous town.

  Zhan Biao was driving the minibus opened by Zhan Dongdong, slowly approaching and stopping at Zhuangkou for a long time. In the end, it did not enter the village but turned to a large breeding farm on the west side of the village. It could be vaguely seen that rows of pigpens, duck houses, chicken coops, and dog dens were all built on the foundation of the original old houses. A few deep barks seemed to ask where the guests came from.

  Zhan Dongdong and Sakura jumped off the car first. It turned out that Sakura had learned that Zhan Biao was going to stay here for a few days, and insisted on accompanying Grandpa Zhan all the way. She let the translator accompany her own grandfather, Yamamoto, back to the hotel in the city to rest. Zhan Dongdong also wanted to take advantage of the situation to "educate" Sakura out of courtesy, so he agreed to her going along.

  Sakura looked at the breeding farm built on the ruins with a puzzled expression. Zhang Dong opened the car door for Grandpa, who got out of the car without any assistance. He looked at the distant mountains and then at his feet, standing still for a moment before hurrying forward several steps, rushing through the breeding farm... Zhang Dong asked: "Grandpa, I understand now, this is the original Kao Shan Town, right?!"

  Zhan Biao was speechless, and it was also a definite answer to Sun Er. In his eager and rotating eyes, from his concentrated listening to the dog's barking, one could see that "greed" and excitement, he was using all his body and mind to feel and comfort every blade of grass and tree here, and savoring the past of every corner here.

  Sakura then understood that this was originally a not-so-small village, but it seemed to have been damaged in the war years ago. It should be severely damaged overall, so the people of this village simply built new houses next to it. She tentatively asked Dongdong for verification: "Dongdong brother, were these houses all destroyed in the war..." Dongdong nodded and replied while following Grandpa's gaze: "That's right, they were all blown up by your grandfather's men." He had heard from his grandfather about that passionate era, how Leshan Town was reduced to a flat ground in the decisive battle between the anti-Japanese machine gun squad and the Japanese army.

  Sakura was speechless for a moment, she must be thinking about how these houses and the old people inside survived that intense bombardment back then.

  At this time, an old man with a white beard walked out of the house at the end of a row of pigpens, rubbing his eyes and looking at Zhan Biao and the two young men. Apparently, Zhan Biao recognized the old man before he did, and his voice trembled: "Dai Yu, you still stole my heavy machine gun?"

  As soon as Da Yu heard this, he recognized Zhan Biao and stood there in a daze for half a moment. But he didn't go forward to greet him, instead he ran back to the small hut like a gust of wind, completely gone was his previous old demeanor. He burst through the door and shouted inside: "My dear little Yu, look who's come, it's Biao Ge, he's still alive!"

  There was a loud bang from the small cottage, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground. Zhan Biao shook off Sunzi Dongdong's support and shouted "Xiaoyu", then rushed into the small cottage in a few steps, where joyful sobbing sounds immediately came from inside.

  Zhan Dongdong hastily said to Yingzi, "This is one of Grandpa's nine dragons from back in the day, Da Yunye! Inside is one of the nine phoenixes, Xiao Yuniang!" After speaking, he also followed into the house to pay his respects.

  Dai Yu is still in a state of distraction, standing in front of the small cottage door, taking out his mobile phone and pressing the quick dial button. "Da Sunzi ah, quickly tell your old man that Biao has returned! What? You're not my grandson, you're Hu Secretary ah, then quickly notify County Magistrate Dai to come pick up his old man immediately! What, yes, I'm his grandfather! Where am I? Just tell him that Uncle Biao and Grandpa Biao are in the pigpen!"

  After the massacre in the valley, Zhan Biao led his comrades to lie still for three days without moving. The battle had greatly exhausted them, not only physically but also mentally. For the first time, they had really killed people with real knives and guns, resisted the invincible invaders, been wounded all over their bodies, and seen so many dead people... They did not cheer or celebrate, each of them lay on the military bed like a virtual collapse. Zhan Biao also lay still on the ground mat at the entrance of the cave, staring blankly.

  The valley was as quiet as the large number of people who died two days ago. The Japanese troops passing by later did not enter this valley again, and when they passed by, they silently mourned for a while and bypassed the mountain. It seems that the Japanese have already determined that this is an unlucky valley.

  In the past three days, everyone has been quietly nursing their wounds. Liu Yang counted the injuries of each person, with a minimum of two and a maximum of five. The most serious was Zheng Wen's gunshot wound on his left upper arm, fortunately without damaging any bones. The lightest were Er Zhu Zi and Zhang Jie's concussions and San De's bite wound. When changing their dressings, although no one cried out in pain, they all sucked in cold air with a "hiss" sound.

  In three days, Zhan Biao thought a lot. Seeing the master's heavy thoughts, everyone else was also thinking about it. Zhan Biao wondered, is this what war is like? Is this what battle is all about? Is this the legendary heroic sacrifice of life for one's country that has been sung and wept about since ancient times? Zhan Biao thought clearly and had a definitive answer! In the past, he followed the troops and the government without thinking too much. Now, as he led his own team in solo combat, he was forced to think deeply. And it was at this moment that Zhan Biao's unique quality emerged - when he made decisions on his own, his hidden potential and wisdom were revealed.

  After this battle, Zhan Biao and his fellow disciples underwent a huge change. Zhan Biao didn't communicate much with everyone, no one said anything to each other, but this transformation had quietly taken place. They had been injured, shed blood, experienced cruelty and terror, defeated their opponents, witnessed war, and become true anti-war soldiers! Everyone's eyes, language, and actions seemed to have matured in just a few days, they were all big men now. From then on, the fellow disciples didn't find it strange that the eldest brother became more confident and composed, Zhan Biao also didn't find it strange that his fellow disciples could all stand alone and think analyze problems independently.

  By the fourth day, everyone's physical strength had gradually recovered, and Zhan Biao began to arrange for people to exit the cave. They didn't know that the Japanese army had been searching and ambushing in front of and behind the mountain for three whole days and had just withdrawn on the fourth day. It was unclear whether they should be grateful to the Japanese or to Zhan Biao's group.

  After occupying the cave, Zhang Biao immediately began to familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain without stopping. The grass and trees on the mountain, the villages below the mountain, the terrain on the mountain, and the rivers below... To defend a place from the outside, one must know their surroundings, grasp the terrain, and understand the local customs and people. However, these observations were covert, as Zhang Biao's men only had Japanese and Nationalist military uniforms but no civilian clothes, and they all spoke with Sichuan accents. Zhang Biao did not want the nearby villagers to know that there was a small Nationalist army on the mountain, and it was better for them to find out later.

  Zhan Biao's observation of the surroundings was carried out from far to near. He first learned that he was behind enemy lines, and 20 miles south of the county town, there were an unknown number of Japanese troops stationed. The town of Kao Shan, five miles south of the mountain, was a mysterious town for Zhan Biao and his men at this time, and they observed it with binoculars every day. This town was a medium-sized village, long from east to west and narrow from north to south, with relatively flat surrounding farmland, and should be a very wealthy village. At night, they had approached the town several times for observation, and Zhan Biao told everyone that as long as they knew there were no Japanese troops stationed there, it was okay, and there was no need to disturb the civilians yet, so as not to reveal their hidden gun mission. With a flashlight shining on the stone tablet in front of the village, he saw the three bold characters "Kao Shan Town".

  After determining the safety of the surrounding area, Zhan Biao began to study the mountains and caves where he was located. The further west you go, the more and taller the mountains are, while the east is a plain with countless river branches. Cheng Yi learned from the captured Japanese map that the mountain range in the west is called Tianmu Mountain, which appears to be the intersection of Tianmu Mountain and Zhejiang Western Plain. From a distance, Tianmu Mountain is a magnificent landscape painting, with thousands of trees on the mountain, layered forests, and peaks stacked upon each other. Faintly visible are giant trees that three people can encircle, as well as towering trees over 60 meters high. Zhan Biao selected two routes to retreat to higher mountains in case of an emergency, but it would be impossible to carry all the weapons and equipment while retreating, so they also had to focus on protecting the cave.

  The cave is now home, and Zhan Biao and his fellow disciples have also made a thorough inspection and arrangement. After clearing away some stumbling stones at the foot of the cave, they piled up stones to make beds and tables. Cheng Yi smiled and said: "We are piling up stones as rooms, thatching with reeds, drinking from streams and eating wood, and cultivating ourselves in hardship."

  After more than ten days of hard work, Zhang Biao had figured out the mountains inside and outside, and everyone was recovering their bodies while adapting to the environment. The wounds of the crowd were gradually healing, and Zheng Wen's gunshot wound healed quickly, but he still couldn't bear weight. San Dezi had a bit more to do, which was to feed the little wolf cub. The little wolf was quite human-like, and after a few days, it licked San De's sealed bite wounds, as long as San De lay down, it would come over and gently lick, leaving no scars in the end. San Dezi was so moved that he named the little wolf Si De, treating him like a younger brother or son. This Si De seemed to have a good sense of humanity too, with clear likes and dislikes, being very friendly with everyone except Xiao Feng, who had killed its parents and brothers.

  After settling the "home", Zhang Zuobao called everyone together, as a military commander and as a senior brother, he made demands on his subordinates and junior brothers.