The Fourth Volume: The Sixth Chapter - Oath of Brotherhood Before the Battle Array

  He blinked his eyes, stroked his moderate-length beard, and said to his children and grandchildren with some pride: "You've always asked me when I became Lao Ba. It was during that time when I was a lone hero."

  Zhan Biao nodded and said, "That time when I met Songshan, the gains were not small. Not only did I become sworn brothers with your grandfather, but also figured out the weaknesses of the toad, and the biggest gain was rescuing over a hundred workers who had been forced into the army."

  Da Yu's eyebrows flew up as he told Director Liu: "This time you can really understand, back then Biao Ge created the five ultimate moves of the heavy machine gun and tank warfare, the cruelest move was stripping clothes!"

  "Actually, the armor of the T-26 tank is very thin and was one of the worst tanks in World War II. It's also known as a 'tin can' or an 'iron coffin'. When facing Soviet Red Army tanks, there was no need to shoot, just ram into them and it would be done. At that time, we didn't have many anti-tank guns or armor-piercing weapons, which is why they were able to wreak havoc for a while." He then glanced at Sakura.

  Zhan Biao saw Songshan riding a horse, and for some reason, he stared at Songshan's eyes in an instant. He instinctively felt that this seemingly refined and gentle-looking Japanese man was his opponent.

  Songshan also found it strange, this young man driving the cattle cart, his eyes didn't seem right, as if a chill ran down his spine, causing the wound that was almost healed to throb with pain. He secretly laughed at himself, how could he be intimidated by Zhuo Banlang's few tricks, so spineless.

  Songshan turned to look at Da Yue, saw that there were still these two sturdy young men in the village, and nodded towards the officer beside him, then walked over to the pile of farmers behind.

  The officer shouted in broken Chinese: "Your, hard labor, people, cars, imperial army artillery work." Several Japanese cavalrymen rode over and without saying a word, incorporated Zhang Piao and Da Yuan's ox cart into the labor force.

  Zhan Biao heard Yuan Bo running over from a distance and said, "Mr. Songshan, their homes..." Songshan bluntly interrupted Yuan Bo: "After the cannon tower is repaired, let them go home." Hearing that the military officer was indeed Songshan, Zhan Biao turned his head and took a deep look at Songshan.

  Zhan Biao and Da Yu were pushed into a thatched hut surrounded by two layers of iron wire mesh in the south of the village, where the watchtower was being built. The cattle cart was also thrown among more than a dozen large carts surrounded by the fence. There were already over 50 workers inside the thatched hut, plus Zhan Biao's group of over 40 people, making nearly a hundred young rural workers in total.

  Zhang Biao comforted Da Juan: "Don't worry, we're on the outskirts of the village and it's easy to escape. Let's observe for a while and see how the devils build their artillery tower, so that when we attack the artillery tower later, we'll have an idea."

  In the evening, the Japanese army brought in another batch of more than a dozen people. What surprised Zhang Piao was that there were San De, Er Zhu Zi and Liu Yang among them.

  Yuan Bo immediately sent a child to report the news as soon as he saw Zhan Biao being taken away to repair the cannon tower, knowing the importance of Zhan Biao in this area. At the same time, he also sent intelligence to Tan Yingchang and Gui Secretary. San De, who was on the mountain, did not panic after hearing the news, knowing that his elder brother's skills would allow him to escape without much effort. However, thinking that Zhan Biao might need help, he arranged for Tian Fu to take care of things, leaving Si De in charge of Xiao Yu, and led Er Zhu Zi and Liu Yang to sneak in on purpose.

  Zhan Biao thought it was good for everyone to understand the situation, but he never expected that the next afternoon, when they were transporting stones, a group of over 20 laborers sent back by the Japanese army included Xiao Feng, Qiangzi, Chengyi and Zhengwen!

  Tan Yingchang received Yuan Bo's intelligence and immediately sent it to Peng Xuefei overnight. Peng Zuolong had long been moved by Zhan Biao's sense of justice, especially this time when Zhan Biao insisted on infiltrating the enemy's lair to gather information about their war chariots, which made him admire him even more. Upon learning that Zhan Biao was trapped in the repair tower, Peng Zuolong was willing to risk everything to rescue him, first sending Xiao Feng and others to sneak in and set a plan for a nighttime uprising, then he led his troops to provide cover from the outside.

  At noon, when drinking porridge, eight fellow apprentices and Da Yue were squatting together, surrounded by more than a dozen Japanese soldiers holding rifles with bayonets monitoring the construction site. Zhan Biao looked at his fellow apprentices with emotion and sighed: "How did you all get in? Leave some outside."

  San De said with a mischievous tone: "No way, we have to stay together with Lao Da. If you're repairing the cannon tower, we'll come too. Who cares about being on guard or training?"

  Zhan Biao took a light sip: "San De, don't talk nonsense!" Then he looked at everyone: "I didn't expect that we would all gather in the devil's den, only missing Old Eight." Everyone fell silent and lowered their heads to drink porridge. Xiao Feng covered it up: "This devil makes us work hard, so they have to feed us well, just drinking porridge won't do." After Zhang Jie's sacrifice, Zhan Biao and his brothers rarely touched on this painful wound. Everyone was particularly careful not to mention Zhang Jie in front of Zhan Biao, fearing that he would be saddened. Every time it was always Zhan Biao who spoke up first, and everyone reminisced for a while.

  Dai Yu cleared his throat and said hesitantly: "Brother Biao, brothers, I'm Dai Dashun. There's something I want to say, but I don't know if it's right or not. If it's not suitable, just pretend I didn't say it, okay? Brother Biao..." Zhan Biao seemed to sense that Dai Yu was going to say something and stared at him for a moment before nodding his head.

  Dai Yu's face turned red, she took a deep breath and said: "Chang Jie, he's gone... look at me, can I make do as your eighth elder?" Everyone suddenly fell silent, their movements stopped. They looked at each other, then all looked at Zhan Biao.

  Dà Yuè's idea was too sudden, and no one was mentally prepared. No one expected Dà Yuè to accept this group like that, or for Zhān Biāo Shī brothers to acknowledge him like that. Everyone's first reaction was to be moved, they looked up to us. But following that, everyone had some worries in their hearts, at least one of which was that Dà Yuè didn't know martial arts, and the time they spent together was after all very short, and the relationship with them since childhood was different.

  But in the cruel war environment, where one does not know when they will die tomorrow while still alive today, especially in a specific environment of being in the enemy's lair, there is no more room for discussion or hesitation.

  Zhan Biao also looked at everyone, his eyes moving from one person's face to another. Finally, he picked up the rice bowl in his hand and said slowly: "Alright, Old Eight - Da Ju! We'll use porridge instead of wine, and rely on each other for life and death!" The nine people's rice bowls all came together, except for Cheng Yi who hesitated slightly. After the rice bowls touched, Da Ju tilted his head back and took a sip, then poured the remaining porridge onto the ground: "Chang Jie, don't worry, I'll be good to you as your Old Eight."

  Watching Da Yu's actions, Zhan Biao and everyone else showed excited and satisfied expressions. Since Da Yu said it out loud, since everyone accepted it, from now on, the nine brothers of Zhan Biao's generation became whole again, and their bond and promise would be deeply rooted in the hearts of the nine people.

  Suddenly, someone outside the circle of nine people spoke up: "Zhan Biao, why didn't your fellow disciples complete their mission?"

  Everyone was shocked, this is in the enemy's array front tiger den, can be recognized as a non-friend or enemy. Turning back to look, Zhan Biao first shouted lightly: "Squad leader! Nie squad leader, how are you here?" The man walked over with a crutch: "All become crippled squad leaders, quickly say, why are all of you here?"

  Nie Pailiang was Zhan Biao's immediate superior, and Zhan Biao was very enthusiastic. He looked around, lowered his head and began to report to Nie Pailiang, who also told Zhan Biao about his own situation.