Twenty-two

  For days, Fang Lan had been exhausted from the arduous march and day-and-night labor. Now, after taking a bath and changing into new clothes, he felt delighted and refreshed by the simple but delicious meal in front of him. He repeatedly praised Yu Lao Si for being a patriotic and righteous person, promising to reward him handsomely later on. However, Yan Wei and Wu Han Hui were worried about the two children who had been running high fevers and were concerned that their prolonged stay would delay their journey and cause them to be surrounded by the Japanese army. They began to think of a plan in their minds. Since they had entered Yu Jia Village and met Yu Lao Si, a military veteran, it seemed feasible to leave the seriously ill children with the village to take care of.

  Wu Hanhuai was even more calculating, thinking that if he could hand over all the children in the team to Liu Laosan for resettlement, it would be better for himself and Yan Wei's army to escort only one target person on the road. At most, they could give more money, and then send someone to deliver the resettlement fee again. It was just that Yan Wei might not agree, so he didn't dare to say his thoughts out loud.

  So, even though it's Sunday and they're exhausted from a day of work, facing a table full of delicious home-cooked food, the two of them still can't fully enjoy themselves.

  Just halfway through the meal, a soldier under Wu Huan's command rushed in to report: "The target has shown symptoms of fever! Please decide on the next course of action, sirs!"

  Yan Wei heard the report and immediately shouted outside the house to the soldiers on guard duty to quickly send a medical soldier. Wu Hanhuai immediately put down his chopsticks, left his seat and went to check.

  Tian Dou and Tan Guang quickly finished checking Xiao Hua's condition, knowing that the two officials were waiting for a response. Without waiting for Yan Wei and Wu Han to speak up, Tian Dou reported: "The symptoms are the same, and there are also signs of pneumonia! Currently, there is no specific treatment for pneumonia in the world, so we urgently need aspirin to control the patient's body temperature and bring down the fever! The other two children cannot be delayed any longer, their condition is worsening, and they need medication immediately!"

  At this time, two villagers who knew medicine also rushed to help. One of them said: "Please forgive me for speaking out of turn." He looked at Tian Fei and said: "Listening to the official's words, this child should be suffering from bronchitis. In fact, treating this pediatric lung disease doesn't necessarily require Western medicine. Mulberry leaves, Forsythia, apricot kernels, peppermint, tangerine peel, Scutellaria baicalensis, Cowslip, Trichosanthes, Ephedra, Platycodon, Atractylodes, Chenpi, Pinellia, Fritillaria, Carapax, Schisandra, Cimicifuga, Gardenia, Indigo, Pulsatilla, Bamboo sap, and Chrysanthemum all have therapeutic effects on this disease. Why not give it a try?"

  Judging from his attire and physique, the speaker was indeed the one who picked herbs in the mountains that morning. Yan Wei saw that this person was only around thirty years old, which was vastly different from the white-haired elder he had imagined sitting in the city's medical hall! Another villager doctor who came with him looked much older than this person, and after listening to his words, he nodded frequently with a look of admiration and respect. Then he turned to look at You Lao Si.

  Yao Lao Si understood Yan Wei's intention and looked at Yan Wei, saying: "Yan Tuan Zuo, this person is called Yao Yu, he is the descendant of my family's doctor in Yao Jia Cun. When I was young and fell ill, it was all thanks to his father's medical treatment. Now that his father has passed away, this person has become the highest authority on medicine in our entire Yao Jia Cun village. Every day, the illnesses of over 1,800 people, old and young, are all being taken care of by him."

  He pointed to the old man behind him and said, "This is You Zhou's apprentice. He usually helps You Zhou diagnose illnesses for the villagers and can be of some help."

  Yan Wei had previously thought that this person was just someone who knew a little about medicinal herbs, and in his daily life, he would go up the mountain to pick some medicinal herbs and sell them in the city to support his family. But at this moment, after hearing You Lao Si's words, he deeply felt that people cannot be judged by their appearance, so he immediately stepped forward and asked You Rong: "Sir, are you confident that you can cure the child's illness?"

  You Zong looked at Yan Wei and nodded slightly, then walked straight to Xiao Hua's side, bent down and stretched out his right hand to grasp Xiao Hua's right wrist at the inch pulse corresponding to the lung meridian. He stared straight ahead without speaking for about a minute before standing up and saying to Yan Wei: "Sir, I have made a diagnosis and it is accurate. This child has indeed contracted a severe case of bronchitis, resulting in persistent high fever, which is accompanied by chills and fever. I will use Jin Fei Cao, Xing Ren, Fu Ling, Qian Hu, Chen Pi, Ban Xia, Jing Jie, Ma Huang, and Gan Cao to make a medicinal decoction, which can alleviate the symptoms after three doses, take effect after ten doses, and cure the illness after thirty doses."

  "I don't know how many doses of the medicine Mr. has prescribed to take per day?" Apparently, when Wu Han heard the number thirty doses, he immediately thought of the time problem, and thinking of the time problem, he naturally thought of the safety problem.

  "Two doses a day." You Zhen said calmly.

  Wu Han and Wei Yan looked at each other in dismay after hearing this.

  You Yu noticed the thoughts of the two and said: "I don't know much about Western medicine, but the medicine I prescribed is very mild. I think it won't conflict with the Western fever-reducing medicine that the previous official mentioned. If you can find Western medicine to help with the treatment and speed up the recovery, then it's not impossible."

  Yan Wei looked at You Jue and said, "The matter should not be delayed, please hurry up and administer the medicine to treat him. There are also many children who have been sleeping in the wind and rain for several days and have contracted colds, so please also rescue and treat them. A doctor's kindness does not need to be mentioned, if I can get your help, it will be a personal favor that I owe you."

  Hua Yuan is now in this state, and after returning to the main house of You Laosan, everyone has no appetite to continue eating. Yan Wei asked You Laosan: "Old You, how far is Tianmen County from here? Is there a Western doctor in the county?"

  "Not far, more than 40 miles of mountain road. The Western doctor is indeed real, it was opened by a British missionary in the county town during the Qing Dynasty, but I heard that he had made enough money and left during the Beiyang period. The clinic remained, was taken back by the county government and is now called the County Hospital. There are Western doctors inside, I've seen them, I can be sure!" Old Four said with a firm nod at last.

  "I'll take the medic with me on a trip." Yan Wei said, looking at Wu Han Hua.

  "You are the highest military officer here, how can you go? If your subordinates are not working, I will send someone. My people are still very professional in doing this." Wu Hanhuai said.

  "This doesn't ask for a diagnosis, and there's no patient either. It's probably not easy to get it done even if we go to the clinic. Who knows, we might have to resort to some underhanded means! Besides, I'm not clear about the current situation with the Japanese army outside, so this time when I go, I'll take the opportunity to gather some information. It's better for me to go in person." Yan Wei insisted.

  "Wu Han sank into thought for a moment before saying, 'Alright, but you have to inform your soldiers that if anything happens to you on this mission and you can't return to the team, I will take full command of all your troops.'"

  Yan Wei sank into thought for a moment before saying: "It should be so!"

  "It seems I'll have to trouble you to take me there yourself, Brother." Yan Wei said, looking at You Lao Si.

  "Look at what you're saying, what's troublesome or not troublesome, it's all for the party and country anyway." Yu Lao Si said with a matter-of-fact expression.

  Yan Wei stood up and was about to go out to meet Lan Gang, but stopped at the door and turned back to look at Wu Hanhui: "Hey, I'm asking you, Swimming Creek brother, do you think I won't be coming back?" Yan Wei said this without waiting for Wu Hanhui's response and turned around to leave.

  Looking far away at the county town gate, where the Japanese army with live ammunition and nuclear bombs were densely stationed, You Lao Si couldn't help but shake his head and sigh: "It's really come to our doorstep! The last time I entered the city, the ones standing guard here were still our National Army soldiers. Who would have thought that now the Tianmen County City Tower has already been planted with the Japanese national flag!"

  Yan Wei smiled and said, "Old You, that's not the Japanese national flag, it's the military flag of Japan. The Japanese national flag is just a big red circle symbolizing the sun! Look, on the Japanese military flag there are also sixteen red rays extending from the center, representing the sixteen-petaled chrysanthemum flower that symbolizes the imperial family of Japan, also known as the Rising Sun Flag. But whatever flower it is, as we Chinese say, 'A man has no good days for a thousand days, and a flower has no red days for a hundred days!' Now it seems like in a hundred days we won't be able to pluck this chrysanthemum of theirs! But one day, this little Japan's chrysanthemum will have to wither on our land!"

  At this moment, Yan Wei's mouth was saying something light, but his heart was already extremely worried! The Japanese military flag was personally granted by the Emperor of the Great Japanese Empire, and only troops that reached the level of Army Infantry Regiment and Cavalry Regiment could have it! And every Japanese infantry regiment that had a military flag would regard this flag as the soul of the entire regiment! They would arrange a special guard team to protect it! They would also specially appoint an excellent second lieutenant officer from the entire regiment to serve as a professional flag bearer!

  It has been forty-four years since the first war between China and Japan in the 20th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, and the Chinese army has never successfully captured a Japanese military flag as a trophy in the war with the Japanese army! It's probably that this record of the Japanese army will never be broken in the world forever!

  At this moment, since the Japanese military flag has appeared in this small Tianmen County, it means that at least one standard regiment of the Japanese army is stationed in this small county town! Since the Japanese army launched a full-scale invasion war last year, there are no more than three hundred Japanese regiments on the entire Chinese battlefield! That is to say, the Japanese Rising Sun flag flying over China has only more than two hundred faces! Now, I have seen the Japanese military flag in this small Tianmen County, and Yan Wei is certain that it must be related to the target person he is looking for! If his troops are discovered and surrounded by the Japanese army here, without the Japanese army mobilizing a regiment of troops, a battalion will swallow up his entire troop, including their bones!

  Yan Wei suddenly realized that he had underestimated the importance of this matter to the Japanese army. It seemed that from the moment he received the task a few days ago, he had taken it very lightly! But after fighting all the way here, it didn't seem like there was anything difficult about this task either! Even if it was tough, they had still managed to cover over 300 miles, hadn't they? And no one had been scared into trembling with fear! However, thinking about it in this way, Yan Wei still fully realized the severity of the situation! So he said to everyone: "It seems that the situation is far more complicated than we imagined. At present, it's impossible for us to bring our guns into the city. Alright, immediately hand over all your sidearms and let Jiang Chen take them back to find a place to bury them! We'll all wait here first." With that, he took the lead in pulling out his own handgun and handing it over to Jiang Chen.

  "Director Zhang, if we lose our guns in the city and happen to clash with the Japanese army, then all we can do is wait for death!"

  Yan smiled and said, "Take action? With a regiment of Japanese troops? Everyone listen up, our mission this time is to come up with a plan to get medicine. Our current identities are all ordinary citizens. If we end up having to take action against the Japanese army, that would mean our mission has completely failed! Time is running out, according to the Japanese army's usual practice, whenever they occupy a city or capture a stronghold, they will impose a curfew at the first opportunity! If we delay any further, I'm afraid once the city gates are closed, nothing can be done."

  The situation was indeed as Yan Wei had expected. The Japanese soldiers guarding the city, with the assistance of more than a dozen traitors, were particularly meticulous in checking the citizens who brought their children into the city! Those who could not clearly state their identity and address were all taken away together with their children! In this scene of waiting in line to enter the city, three households with children were caught by the Japanese soldiers and taken into the city tower!

  Yan Wei was really convinced by the scene in front of him! What kind of nation is this? What kind of people are these? Judging from the overall situation of the Battle of Wuhan, the fall of Tianmen County should not have exceeded a dozen or so days! In just this short period of time in occupied territory, there were already traitors! And one by one, they would occasionally come up with a few words of Japanese! His mother studied Three Principles of the People and didn't see it happen so quickly!

  Several people had just walked through the city gate and hadn't taken a few steps when they suddenly heard a local accent behind them shouting, "All of you, stop right there!"

  "You're the one who's been stationed here with the 75th Army, Zhao Tengxiang's unit, and you've been using this dog to search for civilians' wealth and kidnap women!" Yu Lao Si said in a low voice to Yan Wei. At the same time, he turned around and laughed loudly, "Oh, it's Director Zhou! I didn't notice you, Director Zhou, how have you been these days?" He quickly walked up to him.

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