Chapter 35 of Part One

  Li Lei was sitting in the conference room of the commander's department, looking at a map. At this time, a guard soldier walked in and said, "Commander, there is a civilian who has come to report that the fishing village outside Ningbo City has been raided by Japanese pirates, and all the villagers, men, women, and children, have been killed without exception." Li Lei suddenly jumped up and grabbed the guard's collar, saying, "What? All the villagers are dead. Bring the person who made the report in quickly!" A fat middle-aged man was brought in. Li Lei looked at him and said, "Tell me what happened exactly?" The middle-aged man adjusted his clothes and said, "I am a merchant from Ningbo City. Recently, my wife became pregnant and suddenly wanted to eat fresh fish, so I went to the fishing village to find an old friend to get some fish. Originally, I was going to go yesterday, but then a guest from Yuezhou came to our home, so things were delayed." Li Lei looked at him with annoyance, calming down his anger, saying, "Just tell me what happened and that's all."

  The middle-aged man nodded and said, "Okay, this morning after I arrived at the fishing village. There was a bloody smell coming over. As I walked into the village, I saw that it was all corpses with severed limbs everywhere. Not many were intact. The houses had also been smashed to pieces. Several houses had already been burned down. Blood flowed all the way to the sandy beach by the sea."

  Li Lei took a look and said "Can you take us there to have a look?"

  The middle-aged man nodded in agreement. Then he said, "Can you send someone to my home to inform them that I'm discussing business with a client and won't be back for lunch?" He explained to Li Lei, "My wife is pregnant, and I'm afraid she'll worry that this will be bad for my health." After finishing speaking, he looked at Li Lei with an embarrassed expression.

  Li Lei said "No problem, I'll send someone to your home right away. Just tell me which street you live on."

  The middle-aged man told the guard next to him, "Then I'll leave it to you, sir. I can go now."

  Li Lei frowned upon hearing the two words "adult" and said, "Comrade, don't call me 'adult' or anything like that. Just call us People's Liberation Army comrades."

  The middle-aged man nodded and walked ahead, saying "From here, just keep going forward and you'll reach the fishing village."

  As soon as they walked to the outside of the fishing village, they smelled a pungent bloody smell. If eyes could kill people, Li Lei and the soldiers' gazes at this time could have killed hundreds of people. As a long-time bodyguard who followed Zhang, he had been indoctrinated with countless hateful thoughts towards the Japanese pirates by Zhu Xiao. Since the Ming dynasty, these pirates had been rampant, especially the Japanese pirates from the East Ocean were even more cruel and ruthless, invading our mainland's coastal areas to plunder and launch sneak attacks. If they succeeded, everyone would be killed and none would escape.

  Li Lei looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground and ordered his dozens of soldiers, "Clean up this place and let the dead rest in peace." As he spoke, he pulled out his own pistol and fired a barrage of shots into the sky until he ran out of bullets. He clenched his fist tightly and vowed, "I, Li Lei, swear to heaven that if I don't eliminate these beasts, I will take my own life as an apology to the people of Ningbo who suffered at the hands of the Japanese pirates."

  Li Lei turned around and looked at the middle-aged man who had already been frightened stiff, saying "I'm afraid I've scared you. Sorry about that."

  The middle-aged man came to his senses and said, "It's okay, it's okay. This comrade from the Liberation Army is really doing things for us ordinary people. We Ningbo are blessed now."

  Looking at the already cleaned-up fishing village, Li Lei said to the warriors, "Alright, it's all settled. Immediately return and issue an order that all fishermen living along the coast must move to the vicinity of Ningbo City, no excuses allowed. Income can be temporarily subsidized by us. In addition, station several companies of troops in a few key locations, and use the three captured large cannons for coastal defense. Immediately send a telegram to request naval cooperation to strike against the Japanese pirates."

  I was sitting in the office of the Group Army Liaison Department in Changsha, writing a book for the Military Academy on how to adapt to modern firepower warfare. At this time, the guard walked in and said, "Director, Miss Li Min is looking for you." As soon as I heard this news, my head started to hurt. Speaking of Li Dingguo's precious daughter, she was really troublesome about everything. She would find fault with me for no reason at all, asking me why I shouldn't have surrendered her father, and saying it with a straight face. I was really afraid of her, so I told the guard, "Just say I'm not here, I've gone to the front line."

  At this time, a voice sounded behind the security guard, "Hmph, what kind of nonsense are you talking about? You're clearly here but still saying you're not. How dare you deceive Miss, luckily I'm clever or else..."

  "I stood up and said, 'Miss Li, it's not just a small matter of chicken feathers and green beans. Besides, this is also your father's own voluntary decision. He can see the situation clearly and avoid the suffering of the common people from the war, which is a good thing too. Why do you always quarrel with me? I've never seen you before, nor have I offended you.'"

  Li Min put her hands on her hips and said, "You haven't offended me, humph, Zhu's surname. I'll tell you, from the moment you wanted my father to surrender, you've already offended Miss. Think about it, my father would rather lose a battle than surrender to anyone. I'm telling you early on, even if my father is willing, I'm not. This lifetime, I won't be finished with you."

  Looking at her spirited appearance, I burst out laughing and said, "You're going to be with me for the rest of my life. Are you not going to get married? This is no good, I won't want a shrew like you anyway. Do you want me to find someone for you to marry casually and settle down? It's better than having you come bother me every day."

  Li Min shouted, "Who wants you to intervene? I'd rather become a nun than follow you, you yellow-haired little boy. I really don't know how such a good army was brought up, I think it's all thanks to Zhou Lun that lecher. Besides, what am I to you? How can you have the nerve to speak about my affairs? You're really like a dog biting a mouse, meddling in other people's business."

  I took a look at her angry appearance and said, "Unexpectedly, you're still beautiful when you're angry. Sigh, I'm just not bothered to care about Xiaozhi's affairs anymore."

  At this time, the orderly knocked on the door and saw Li Min here just about to go out. I called out "Come in, what's the matter." The orderly handed me a telegram without saying a word and said "This is a telegram from Ningbo." He then saluted and walked out.

  I opened the telegram and read it, Li Min also started making trouble beside me. Seeing that a fishing village in Ningbo was killed by Japanese devils, unarmed ordinary people, I raised my head with angry eyes and said to Li Min "Get out, get out of here, don't bother me. Don't make me call the guard to chase you away, disappear immediately."

  Li Min looked at me, never using such a big temper with her before, and now her eyes were already filled with tears. She said in a crying tone, "Fine, I'll leave, Zhu's family. They just wanted to see you, but every time you ignore me, so I have no choice but to use this wild way to talk to you. You not only don't appreciate it, but also tell me to get out. Fine, I'll go. I won't come to see you again. I hate you, Zhu Xiao." After finishing speaking, she rushed out. Listening to her words, I never thought that every time she argued with me was just to talk to me. Just thinking of going up to chase her, I looked at the telegram in my hand and sighed, saying to myself, "Let's deal with this matter first before talking."

  Inside the State Council's conference room, Grandfather Song Yingxing, Xu Jin, Chen Hui, Zhou Lun, Xiao Rang and several military officers from Changsha, including Yi Tianhang, Wang Hu, and Shi Can, all sat there silently staring at the telegram I brought. At this time, Xu Jin stood up and said, "If we must fight, then let's fight! I think our government is fully capable of conducting multiple full-scale wars simultaneously. Now that Jiang Hao has set up several steel smelting plants in various regions of our base area, the problem of steel materials has been well resolved. In Hong Kong, a 5,000-ton ironclad warship has already been built, and three more are under construction. Adding to the original navy's three ironclads and some wooden ships, we can fight against the Easterners now."

  "Your Majesty, I think it's not yet time to engage in this battle. Firstly, the Zheng family in Taiwan has not been eliminated, and if we send troops rashly, they will surely launch a sneak attack from behind, causing us great losses. Secondly, the war situation in the north is pressing, requiring large-scale military supplies. If too much steel is used for shipbuilding, other aspects will be neglected. Thirdly, this time can serve as a lesson; we can still defend ourselves on land. As long as we temporarily ensure our people are not invaded, it's not late to fight when the timing is ripe." He finished speaking and bowed slightly to his grandfather, saying "This is my humble opinion, I await Your Majesty's wise decision."

  Other military officers also expressed their views, but overall they were similar to Song Yingxing's point of view. I calmed down and thought carefully, feeling that attacking Japan at this time was not in line with the actual situation. I stood up, saluted, sat down and said "I basically agree with the Premier's view. In the end, it's still up to Grandpa to make a statement."

  Grandfather fell into thought for a moment. During this period, Grandfather had basically stopped managing things. Military matters were handled by me, Zhou Lun, and Xiao Rang, while government affairs were completely handed over to Song Yingxing, Xu Jin, Chen Hui, and others to manage. Grandfather coughed and said, "I think Changgeng's idea is still very comprehensive. We are indeed not suitable for fighting this war with Japan now. The fact that Taiwan Island has not been liberated and the north has not been unified is a big obstacle for us in attacking Japan. Alright, Ah Xiao, send a telegram to Li Lei: Headquarters has decided to temporarily stop attacking Japan, prioritize civilian safety. Do not go out to sea to fish, all expenses will be subsidized by the government. At the same time, strengthen coastal defense construction. Just don't let them attack us. Dismissed."

  After things were settled, my heart felt down for some reason. Zhou Lun walked over and patted me on the shoulder, saying "Still angry about what happened in Japan? Sigh, nothing can be done now. In the future, we'll make him pay for it."

  I shook my head and said, "I've already made up my mind about those Japanese devils. Why bother with them?"

  Zhou Lun looked at me with a strange expression and said, "It's not because of the little Japanese thing, is it? Could it be that our Liberation Army Commander Comrade has fallen in love? Is it Li Dingguo's precious daughter?" After finishing speaking, Zhou Lun patted my shoulder and said, "Good comrade, work hard! This girl is not bad, don't miss her!"

  Standing at the gate of Li's residence, the soldier on duty welcomed me in, carrying perfumes and face powder bought from France in Changsha City. Following his direction, I walked in. The courtyard was not very large, with a simple beauty to it. As I turned around, I saw Li Min sitting by the pond, staring blankly into space. At that time, there were no longer any servants in Changsha City who worked for free; all of them required a monthly salary. Originally, the Li family had enough military pay and benefits to hire servants, but since we didn't have any, they only hired a few people to cook and do laundry. Seeing Li Min sitting by the pond, playing with water, her face still bearing the marks of recent tears, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in my heart. Ah, others would only look for you to talk to you, yet you treated this young girl like that. I walked over, carrying my things, and said "Li Min."

  At this time, Li Min turned his head and looked at me, saying "What are you doing here? Haven't you scolded me enough? Do you want to continue scolding me? Want to see my joke? You get out, don't think that just because you're the commander-in-chief of the army I'm afraid of you. The laws of the empire, I've studied them too. If you don't leave, I'll report it to His Majesty."

  Looking at Li Min's string of words, my heart felt sour, perhaps I really hurt this girl. Seeing her tears fall again, I gently put down the gift and walked up to wipe away her tears with my handkerchief. "Minmin, can I call you that? Sorry, it was wrong of me to lose my temper at you earlier. Actually, I care about you a lot, otherwise, how could I have been so patient when you used to argue with me all the time? Today, my anger got the better of me because I just received news that Japanese people killed innocent civilians in our empire and it really made me furious. Can you forgive me?"

  Li Min looked up at me with a surprised expression and asked, "You, you really don't dislike me but like me? You're not just comforting me?"

  I looked at Li Min with an unbelievable gaze and said, "No, I actually liked you a long time ago, but just didn't dare to tell you. Today, you blurted it out in your anxiety, that's when I knew how you felt about me. Minmin, sorry, I promise next time... no, there won't be a next time, forever and ever."

  Li Min then happily hugged me and said "A Xiao, I only now feel how happy I am."

  I took a look at Li Mindao and said, "Silly girl." As I spoke, I brought the gift over and said, "Look, this is a French perfume and makeup that I specially bought for you. It cost me a month's worth of military pay!"

  Li Min hugged me, holding things and said, "Hmph, this is just today's compensation, the gift doesn't count. Tomorrow go with me to buy more things. You haven't spent much of your military allowance for the year anyway, might as well spend it all."