Chapter 22: Rising Straight Up into the Blue Sky

  It's said that You Fei had made a big mistake, offended all the local leaders and his arrogant attitude was deeply hated by them. At this time, he shouldn't have any good reputation and no one should support him! However, on the second day, You Fei received enthusiastic support from ordinary people and welcomed the happiest day since he joined the army.

  Early in the morning, You Fei gathered a large pile of silver dollars and even gold bars, pouring them onto the table with a clatter. Jiang Zhuang, He Tianhao, Xu Zhiwei, Sun Qingyun, Wang Lie, Zhang Mingshan, and other backbone members of the troops were all sleeping in the same room as him, woke up to the commotion, opened their eyes and burst out laughing. Only You Fei looked somewhat lacking in spirit, his smile a bit forced.

  "My goodness! You guys just know how to laugh. I didn't sleep well at all last night, thinking about these good things in my heart! Hehehe! This is the first time I've seen so much money."

  "It's time to give our brothers their pay!" Jiang said.

  "My goodness! I've sent it ten times and still can't spend it all! That Liu Ligui is too rich, and the other rural officials are too self-aware. Haha! Actually, when I was in the National Army, I never even received my salary once!" You Fei said.

  "Big brother! Are you saying, get rid of his mother?" Xu Zhiwei asked.

  Several people heard him say that, and their eyes all converged on the money. Wang Lie even opened his mouth wide, He Tianhao licked his somewhat dry lips, and Sun Qingyun's stunned expression became even more stunned.

  "I also want to separate! But I'm afraid I won't have the good fortune to spend it!" You Fei said.

  "Oh!......" The crowd let out a long sigh and struggled to shift their gaze away.

  You Fei's eyes suddenly shone with a fierce light, and he said excitedly: "I've made up my mind. The Lie Feng squad will be rebuilt, equipped with the best weapons. A new special squad will also be established, led by Brother Sun. The other squads will also be expanded. Before the devils attack, we must do our best to strengthen our forces, even if it means forming a force of over a thousand men. If we can win, we'll fight; if not, we'll retreat..."

  "Report to the team leader! Many civilians have come outside. Don't know what they want to do!" A soldier reported loudly outside the door.

  "Ah! My idea is just that. Everyone think about it again. Tianhao and Old Sun, put away the money and keep it safe. Let's go take a look at what's going on outside!"

  Several people got busy, adjusted their clothes and walked out. When they passed by You Fei's side, they all said lightly: "Captain! I support you!"

  Everyone has left, He Tianhao and Sun Qingyun stayed in the house, but they said in unison: "Captain! (Big brother!) I support you!"

  "Ah!" You Fei was genuinely delighted at having such a group of brothers and didn't say anything else, hastily walking out of the house.

  The noise outside the school could be heard from a distance. You Fei and the crowd walked towards the gate, and at first glance, they saw that the entrance of the primary school was crowded with people, including many young and middle-aged poor people, old men, and women.

  "What's going on here?"

  "Report to the squad leader! They came flooding in early this morning. They want..." The guard at the door replied loudly to You Fei, but before he could finish speaking, the people outside the door shouted in unison: "We want to join the army!" Their voices drowned out the guard's voice.

  "Take me in! I'm strong!" "I have a grudge against the little devils! If you don't take me, I'll go and fight them to the death myself!" "That scoundrel Liu Buren said he's going to change the weather, oppressing us so much. Let's kill him and then we can focus on fighting the devils." "Captain! I'm useless! Fighting is a matter of life and death, take me in!"...

  You Fei suddenly understood, they were here to be soldiers. He heard some whispers in the crowd, "Others are having a feast on the playground! They have money." "Liu Ligui, Liu Buren's wealth is plentiful!" "I heard they looted a lot of foreign currency from the devils!" Upon hearing these words, You Fei felt somewhat embarrassed. Some people's motives for joining the army weren't so pure after all!

  An old woman squeezed in front also shouted with all her might. "Beat the devils! Exterminate Japan! Dig up the little devil's island."

  You Fei took a deep breath and stepped forward, asking: "Old man, you're not going to join the army too, are you?"

  "Our family is a martial arts family! Old and young, we all have good kung fu skills. The devils have caused trouble for the people on the south bank of the river, and we are refugees who escaped from there. Now I hear that Commander Yu has skills and can fight against the Japanese, so... I'll send my son to join the army!"

  "Haha!" You Fei let out a sigh of relief, "Your son, I've got him! Scared me to death, I thought you were going to join the army too!"

  "My body is still strong and sturdy. If you want to take me in, that's fine too!" The old woman said resolutely.

  Speechless and wandering aimlessly.

  People outside shouted, "Has my mother's priority! Hurry back home and carry my mother!" "555! My mother has passed away. Can I be a foster son to this elderly person?"

  "Damn it! If this goes on, everything will be messed up! Pass down my order, the recruitment work starts immediately today. Tell those in charge of selecting soldiers to reject anyone who is weak or wants to get rich."

  The warriors rushed over to set up tables, organize people in line for physical examination, and ask questions. The noise gradually subsided.

  ……

  You Fei retreated to a room, just about to catch his breath, when Sun Qingyun walked in. "Captain! Two old soldiers and He Tianhao's brothers are guarding the house with the money, so you can rest assured. I came to discuss merging with several nearby bandit groups and buying military supplies as soon as possible."

  "I was just looking for you!" You Fei said. The two of them immediately started discussing something.

  Sun Qingyun was very familiar with the local situation. After the original National Army defense team left, there were more than a dozen "hairy" teams set up here, in addition to the defensive team in the county town that had already been swallowed up by the flying troops. They had different flags and scales of varying sizes. Moreover, they also had conflicts with each other, and Sun Qingyun's hairy team had even dispersed a real hairy team, so it was famous outside. Among the existing bandits, the three largest teams, two of which were somewhat acquainted with Sun Qingyun. Sun Qingyun patted his chest to guarantee that they were not extremely evil villains, but just didn't want to stretch their necks and wait for beheading when the devils came.

  "You Fei said: "I am afraid! There are too many of those people, and our soldiers have become the minority. It's hard to manage."

  Sun Qingyun replied, "You see how well I can handle it! For those unruly bandit leaders who refuse to submit, just kill them and be done with it. As long as their leader surrenders to us, the rest will fall into place. Those who are unwilling to come over can do as they please."

  You Fei nodded in agreement and decided on the spot to have Sun Qingyun go talk to the bearded men.

  Buying arms is also very dangerous, only people with great courage and meticulousness can do it. According to the contact location provided by Sun Qingyun, You Fei decided to let Wang Lie and Zhang Qingshan run an errand. You Fei found them to talk and asked them to grasp the principle of not shooting without seeing a rabbit, then let them go.

  Before noon, Wang Lie and Zhang Qing-shan ran back. "One hundred rifles, twelve Czech-style machine guns, and two mortars. The price is a bit expensive, but they are available in stock, and each comes with two boxes of bullets and shells. We'll have someone pick them up right away."

  "Rifles, and what about bullets?" You Fei asked.

  "They don't have it now, but they say they are thinking of ways to transport it in."

  "Damn it! Wang Er Dan, you've been cheated. No bullets and rifles, how are we supposed to fight?! The things we bought aren't useful at all!" Yu Fei said, then thought for a moment and whispered in Wang Lie's ear: "Take these things back first! But examine each gun carefully. As for the rest of the stuff, just pretend to believe him and urge him on a bit more. Heh heh! This military goods merchant wants to make money off me? I'll make it hard for him to even break even!"

  Wang Lie didn't know what You Fei had planned, he just responded with a "Yes!" and then took tens of people away.

  Sun Qingyun has also returned. He brought seven or eight people with him. You Fei warmly welcomed them, and Sun Qingyun introduced the bandit leaders one by one, then began to flatter You Fei again. What anti-Japanese vanguard, model of loving the people, You Fei could only smile foolishly while listening. Almost without any negotiation, this group of people decided to follow You Fei. Don't underestimate these seven or eight people, behind them are a total of 700 men and guns!

  It was agreed that today would bring people to accept the adaptation, and You Fei sent them away.

  Turning back, You Fei pulled Sun Qingyun and said: "Old Sun! You have made a great contribution. How about we go for another round tonight?"

  "You're the captain! I'll listen to you!"

  "Lao Sun, these past few days, I've also figured out why you'd be the leader of that original group. You're a Shaolin lay disciple with exceptional martial arts skills and an honest, steady personality. I think it's best if you organize some skilled fighters to form a small team called Qingyun, which can work together with Liefeng, and their combined strength will surely be considerable. Taking advantage of the successful reorganization of the bandits and recruitment, you can select a few people to establish this special team. Tonight! Let's gather the Liefeng team composed of veteran fighters and have both teams go to the Japanese devils' place to reap some benefits."

  Sun Qingyun said, "I understand. You're worried that this new group of bandit soldiers doesn't have any fighting power. First train a couple of elite teams and you'll feel at ease."

  "It makes sense. But these two teams will still be elite in the future, and they can also be assigned to the troops as platoon leaders or something."

  "Alright! Let's do it!"

  The soldiers went to gather the new fierce wind squad. Sun Qingyun went to select the people and horses of the Qingyun squad. By nightfall, they agreed to secretly assemble outside the city.

  Two teams of fifteen people each, with each person having a pistol, a dagger and a Zhongzheng or Type 38 rifle. The Qingyun team had two soldiers who were accustomed to using the Ghost Head Big Knife, but the blade was painted black to prevent reflection in the dark night.

  Under the leadership of Lie Feng, a group of people familiarly and stealthily approached the same Japanese sentry post they had passed by last time.

  He Tianhao's wish was to return the poisonous gas to the devils, and now it can finally be realized. You Fei specially let He Tianhao do this task.

  The night was very dark, and there was no wind. The enemy's sentry was also very diligent, but he couldn't resist the power of the poisonous gas. Several iron cans were opened and thrown into the bunker, next to the enemy's sentry post. With a series of coughs and struggles, one of the enemies shouted a few sentences in panic, and soon there was no more movement.

  "My grandma! The devils are not human!" You Fei cursed, moved by the power of the poisonous gas weapons.

  Several members of the Storm Troop, who were wearing protective suits, had jumped into the enemy's fort and took away all the devils' rifles, machine guns, small cannons, bullets, shells, and gas masks. Finally, the Storm Troopers returned to report that the devils had increased their manpower at this stronghold, with a total of thirty-nine people. Unexpectedly, they were quietly wiped out by us. A battle without gunpowder smoke is even more terrifying!

  Before leaving, You Fei had them cut off all the intact clothes of the devils and take them away. Unexpectedly, they only cut off twelve sets, because the warriors were afraid that the devils were not dead yet, so they took care of them with their bayonets, and some clothes could no longer be taken.

  A fierce wind is at work. The members of the Green Cloud Squad are just watching. Next, the Green Cloud Squad takes action.

  Taking advantage of the night, they moved to another devil's stronghold. From the appearance, the two strongholds are about the same size. Although Qingyun Station team is executing such a task for the first time, they have high skills and great courage, so they put on protective suits and prepare to stage a simulation show against fierce winds.

  Dodging the enemy's searchlight, crawling to the bottom of the trench, opening the poison gas canister... all these actions went very smoothly at first. But as the enemy's stronghold began to fall into chaos, the situation took a drastic turn.

  Inside this stronghold, there was actually a bunker. The devils inside heard the commotion and very experiencedly judged that it was a problem with the poisonous gas. They immediately put on their protective suits and sent two people to the front to check the situation.

  "Two devils, wearing protective suits and thus unidentifiable as Japanese soldiers, mumbled to each other as they faced a warrior of the Qingyun squad who was about to enter the bunker."

  "Damn it! Son of a bitch!" A soldier from the Qingyun squad, wearing a gas mask, yelled and rushed over. Now even an idiot would know that there were no Japanese soldiers inside the gas masks.

  "Ah! Wow!" Two devils shouted and rushed over.

  The warrior who rushed forward tilted his body, kicked out with one foot, and a devil was kicked in the abdomen, curled up on the ground. Another devil pounced empty-handed, turned around, found that the cloth strip on the neck of the protective suit had come loose, he wanted to tidy it up, but found that the blood gushing out of his neck was rapidly draining the strength from his body.

  Rat-a-tat! Rat-a-tat! The enemy's machine gun fired. The warriors of the Qingyun squad quickly flipped over and lay down, hiding themselves. This action had been repeatedly demonstrated by their leader, Sun Qingyun, before they set out. The martial arts masters with exceptionally agile movements also performed the hiding action swiftly and smoothly. The enemy's machine gun hit empty space.

  With the machine gun blocking, this stronghold seems to be impossible to take down. You Fei said to Sun Qingyun: "Let's retreat! Blame me for not doing a good job in reconnaissance."

  "Wait!" Sun Qingyun was about to put on a protective suit and head towards the enemy's position.

  "Old Sun! Don't be reckless. Let's just forget about it!"

  "Haha! Don't worry! I'm not stupid enough to not know life and death!"

  Sun Qingyun made a few swift movements and arrived at the side of the front-line soldier. In the faint light, it was just like a shadow floating by. However, the enemy's machine gun still swept across with a burst of joy.

  After a pause, the black shadow jumped up again, and then disappeared. The enemy's machine gun went crazy and swept around wildly.

  A large hand stretched out from below, grabbed the barrel of the machine gun and pulled it hard, causing the machine gun to fall silent. The other warriors of the Qingyun squad couldn't miss such a good opportunity, several people rushed up, and a fierce battle broke out in the enemy's bunker.

  The devils were notorious for their ferocity in close combat, and Sun Qingyun, who was already a bit older, also jumped into the bunker. You Fei couldn't help but worry about him too.

  Sun Qingyun's figure suddenly appeared outside the land, single-handedly holding a Japanese soldier. Amidst the wailing of the devils' soldiers, he exerted his strength and threw the devil far away. With a loud explosion, the devil fell to the ground, and the hand grenade stuffed in his body exploded, splashing blood and flesh everywhere.

  "Damn it! If you want to die with me, you'd better have the skills for that! Hahaha!" Sun Qingyun burst out laughing.