Chapter 4 The Flag is Fluttering (Volume 6, Part 2)

  After several days, Zhang Songling practiced the three treasures of the special forces under Shi Liangcai's guidance. Unfortunately, his shooting talent was limited, and although he had a good teacher, he could only hit the target within 100 steps. This was far from meeting Shi Liangcai's requirement of "raising his hand to shoot, pointing to where he hits". On the other hand, the big knife was wielded by him with great force due to his physical strength being much better than that of his peers. After just a few afternoons of practice, it already looked similar, and at first glance, it could deceive many outsiders.

  By nightfall, the roles of the two were reversed again. It was his turn to be the teacher, guiding Shi Liangcai in reading and arithmetic. Shi Liangcai was an orphan who had never attended school for a day. Through his own efforts, he had already completed the first year of junior high school curriculum and was now diligently studying the second-year language and mathematics textbooks. According to his own words, the purpose of studying was to be able to stand on his own in the future. Because Old Camp Chief was favored by General Feng Yuxiang for being well-read, he became one of the thirteen guardians under his command. Since Shi Liangcai was raised by the 26th Army, it was only natural that he took Old Camp Chief as his role model.

  Lao Ying Zhang refers to the commander of the 26th Route Army, Sun Lianzhong. Through recent intensive tutoring, Zhang Songling has learned the origin of this nickname. However, he took an attitude of "hearing it for now" towards Shi Liangcai's explanation. Because several times in the middle of the night when he woke up from his sleep, he saw Shi Liangcai still sitting under the lamp reading hard. It was no longer the junior high school textbook that he had asked him about before, but another large book with a thick cowhide cover.

  Every time this happens, Shi Liangcai always smiles apologetically at him and then turns off the lights to sleep. He never explains what he is reading! Zhang Songling also never asks more questions, because in their home, there is also a similar thick book. Except for Old Man and Big Brother who have the qualifications to flip through it, all other idle people, including Stepmother and the big accountants in the shop, can't find where the book is hidden. Putting himself in others' shoes, he can suppress his curiosity and not ask at that time, and then forget afterwards. After all, he has just entered the camp for a few days and cannot access some of the core secrets of the Special Operations Team, which is normal. If he could immediately figure out the inside and outside of the Special Operations Team, that would be truly dangerous.

  In the morning, another tense and busy day begins. According to the training plan tailored by Shi Liangcai for him, Zhang Songling first needs to run around the military camp with other soldiers from the guard battalion. After running until he is sweating profusely, he returns to wash his face with water, then heads to the cafeteria to pick up breakfast. After finishing breakfast, he needs to tidy up and sweep the yard. Once breakfast has been digested, he goes to the training ground to practice knife skills. After practicing knife skills, he immediately goes to the shooting range to practice marksmanship. First, he practices long-range aiming with a rifle, then short-range shooting with a double-handed pistol. Next is bayonet fighting and knife-to-knife combat drills. Once all the exercises have been completed, it's time for lunch. The two men return to their quarters, wash their hands and faces again, and bring back their lunches along with Captain Gou's lunch to enjoy together.

  Most of the time, Officer Lao Gou's lunch was divided between Shi Liangcai and Zhang Songling. As the captain of the first battalion of the Special Task Force, he was busy every day. He rarely had leisure time to rest in his own room during the day, and even if he occasionally sneaked a nap, it was limited to one hour. When the time limit was reached, either he woke up by himself or was woken up by Shi Liangcai. Then he put on his clothes and went out to inspect the training progress of all soldiers in the battalion or attend meetings at the division headquarters.

  These two tasks, he didn't need to bring guards. So Shiliangcai voluntarily stayed in the room and seized every opportunity to ask Zhang Songling about the difficulties encountered in his studies. His talent for reading was very close to Zhang Songling's talent for shooting. After reaching a certain critical point, no matter how hard you try, no matter how brilliant your teacher is, progress will be minimal.

  Every time Zhang Songling explained an algebraic operation that wasn't particularly complicated to Shi Liangcai until he finally understood, the two of them were already exhausted. At this point, it was basically time to light the lamps. Officer Gou Tianyi would return from the 27th Division headquarters or the 26th Route Army headquarters around seven or eight o'clock, drinking tea made from jujube leaves by Shi Liangcai while muttering curses under his breath: "Damn it, those sons of bitches in the 29th Army are all a bunch of cowards who've been scared shitless by the Japanese devils. They said they'd hold out for three days, but they couldn't even last an hour and lost their position!"

  After scolding Song Zheyuan's 29th Army, he continued to scold Guan Linzheng's 52nd Army, "What a national pillar, what a reincarnation of Guan Yu, nonsense! They don't even know how to fight! The top let him guard the eastern line, and he really stuck his butt out to defend it. He doesn't even understand advancing forward, attacking the enemy to rescue, what a waste of all those big and small cannons given by the Germans!"

  Even for the central government, Officer Lao Gou had a bellyful of grievances. "The field artillery and heavy machine guns they promised us, they said would arrive quickly last winter, but now it's already been a year and we haven't seen even a shadow of them. Every time our old regimental commander calls to ask for them, they either say the central government doesn't have money to pay the Germans or that the ships were hit by typhoons at sea. Bullshit! They don't give us, the 27th Division, cannons and machine guns, but they do give them to the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 14th Divisions - not a single day is late. When it's time to fight the devils to the death, Chiang Kai-shek's own troops retreat to the back, yet they urge our 26th Route Army to charge forward on the front lines, using big knives to fight Japanese tanks!"

  But no matter how angry and furious he was when scolding, every time after venting, Officer Lao Gou would not forget to add loudly, "To hell with it, what can others do, we basically can't control them. But we, ourselves can always take care of ourselves!" This sentence is more like self-consolation than an excuse for his own behavior. It's as if he wouldn't go crazy from excessive anger or become a big smoker like Li Camp Chief of the medical battalion if he didn't add that sentence.

  When Lao Gou scolded the street, Zhang Songling was usually on the side listening quietly, neither interrupting nor whispering in agreement. Compared to the "victory reports" broadcast every day in the military camp, he felt that Lao Gou's scolding words were much more realistic, vivid and helpful for him to understand the trend of the front line. Through Lao Gou's scolding, he concluded that the current war situation was not very good, at least not as bright as the broadcast said. The 29th Army, which had cut off countless devils' heads on the Great Wall, had been hit by the double blow of Han traitors and Deputy Commander Zhao Dengyu's heroic sacrifice after suffering from low morale. Even if Song Zheyuan personally went to the front line to direct the battle, vowing to live or die with the position, he could not reverse the trend. At present, they have lost Beiping, Tianjin, Jinghe, and Machang one after another, and the main force has "advanced" to the side of the 52nd Army, and there is still a tendency to continue advancing southward.

  The 52nd Central Army, led by Guan Linzheng, was also at a disadvantage due to its unfamiliarity with the battlefield and enemy situation. The Japanese devils, with the help of traitors, dispatched countless small units to infiltrate the flanks and rear of the 52nd Army. Wherever they went, they either killed people and set fires to create chaos or gathered into companies or larger formations, leading local bandits and traitor troops to attack the 52nd Army's warehouses and supply lines. As a result, the 52nd Army was forced to constantly withdraw troops from the front line to plug holes and put out fires, leaving it without any counterattacking power.

  The two friendly armies were both busy dealing with the Japanese devils, and suddenly the 26th Route Army at the forefront became the next key target of attack by the devils. From the moment the 29th Army withdrew from Beiping, the Japanese army concentrated all its tanks, mountain guns, and field artillery to repeatedly bombard the Liangxiang position defended by the 26th Route Army. The 26th Route Army was a famous beggar army, with only four mortars per regiment, not to mention mountain guns and field artillery. In the absence of German cannons promised by the central government, the brothers of the 30th and 31st Divisions used hand grenades and their bodies to block the Japanese artillery and tank attacks. They also left nearly two battalions of devils forever on Chinese soil.

  The intense battle at the front line made Zhang Songling's heart burn with anxiety. But every time he suggested that he also wanted to go to the first-line troops to fight against the devils, Officer Lao Gou would pat his shoulder and say: "What's the hurry? Are you afraid there won't be a chance for you to kill the devils? Don't forget, we are the special operations team, the old camp's elite squad. Good steel must be used on the blade, when it's our turn to go into battle, either we'll be fighting against the devils or our 26th Route Army will be making a desperate last stand. You should learn how to shoot from Shi Tou, and don't embarrass our special operations team!"

  "Hmm!" Zhang Songling reluctantly responded, continuing to bitterly practice the three treasures of the special forces: rifle, big knife, and box cannon. Whether he had made progress or not, even he himself was unclear. But the bullet shells he picked up and handed over to the military supplies department every day could fill a small pocket. Old Qian, who was in charge of training new recruits, would shake his head in distress whenever he saw Zhang Songling use bullets like they were blowing in with the wind. But as soon as Shi Liangcai glared at him, he would obediently hand over all the bullet clips on his body.

  "His life was saved by me from a pile of dead bodies, and he dares to be stingy with me? I'll shoot him with my gun!" Shi Liangcai explained Old Qian's behavior like this. But as for which battle it was, he was extremely evasive. Once, when Zhang Songling unintentionally pressed him for an answer, his face turned bright red, and the scar between his eyes seemed to come alive like a giant centipede. "What's the point of asking so many questions? Anyway, I saved his life, that's all! In which battle? I've fought in so many battles, how can I remember each one clearly? Don't ask random questions, just focus on practicing your marksmanship. I don't believe it, with so many bullets piled up, we still can't produce a master shooter!"

  Most of the gods are made out of bullets, only a few geniuses are exceptions! Old Qian, who is in charge of training new recruits, also holds the same view as Shi Liangcai. In order to repay Shi Liangcai's lifesaving kindness, he opens up opportunities for Zhang Songling within his authority, hoping to cultivate another godly shooter who can wield two pistols with both hands. However, this plan had only been carried out for a few days when it had to be suspended. One evening, an urgent order came from headquarters: the special forces unit ended its training and set off immediately that night. The specific destination was not allowed to be inquired about!

  Except for the three treasures and two days' worth of rations and ammunition, everything else, including spare clothes and bedding, was left in the camp. No one was allowed to carry anything with them. Before leaving, the squad leader Shi Liangcai carefully locked up his precious junior high school textbooks in a cabinet facing the stove. Then he bent down and dug out a small, exquisite wooden box from an inconspicuous corner at the bottom of the cabinet, opened it, wrapped it in cloth, and tied it to his back.

  "This thing, in our camp, only the superior and I know about it. You are the third person. If one day I'm unfortunately hit by a bullet, don't worry about me, first take this box down and keep it safe." He glanced at Zhang Songling who was beside him, wanting to speak but hesitating, and whispered, as if saying something that went without saying, his face showing no hesitation.

  "I...!" Zhang Songling was stunned for a moment, then nodded seriously, "Good!".

  Shi Liangcai burst out laughing, revealing a mouthful of neat white teeth. He patted Zhang Songling's shoulder and led him out the door in big strides to join the troops who were about to march.

  Outside the window, brothers have already begun to set out, with military flags held high in the air, fluttering and making a rustling sound in the night wind.

  The flag is waving!

  Northward, northward, and further northward!

  Note 1: The 3rd, 6th, 9th and 14th Divisions were all Central Government elite units of the Nationalist Party, earliest to be equipped with German arms and hired German advisors as instructors.