Chapter 21: The Constipated Captain

  A middle-aged man with a dull expression, carrying a rifle in one hand, pushed through the crowd and shouted: "Is Captain You here?"

  You Fei recognized him at a glance, he was the middle-aged man who had been mistaken for a friendly army and claimed to be a bandit. You Fei smiled: "Brother, I am You Fei, what can I do for you?"

  The bandits and the current flying troops are strong and powerful, with high morale. If they were to fight against the exhausted remnants of the flying troops, it would be hard to say who would have the upper hand! So when Flying saw both sides pointing guns at each other, he spoke without any tone of blame, his voice flat and emotionless.

  "Put down your guns! Dammit! Now that we've met, why are you still shouting?" With the middle-aged man's shout, the bandits one by one put down their guns. It can't be seen that this wooden-faced person is actually the leader of these people!

  "Commander You, I am the leader of these bandits - Sun Qingyun. I have come to surrender. These 44 men are all yours now. Don't look down on them, they're worth one enemy each when it comes to killing devils."

  You Fei was confused: "What's going on? I thought you were robbers. I was thinking, what benefits could we soldiers have?"

  Sun Qingyun's face turned red and he said, "You Lianchang, don't treat us like bandits! I'm a rough man, I don't understand the rules. You tell me, how can we surrender? Do you want us to bring back some Japanese heads and submit a letter of surrender?"

  You Fei was delighted at first, and even threw in a name card. He really took us for bandits! You Fei deliberately put on a serious face and said: "Alright, you can surrender. But first, tell me clearly what kind of murder and robbery you've committed. And how did you become bandits anyway?"

  Sun Qingyun said: "I'm the leader, everything they do is my idea, whether to kill or behead, I take responsibility alone. But all brothers know that you are truly for the good of the people and will not coexist with the devils, they all want to follow a true hero like you. Please accept these brothers. As for killing people and robbing goods, we haven't had time to do it yet! This group of beards, even if we were late in catching up, only killed a dozen or so devils."

  "Oh? How can you say they are bandits then?" You Fei was puzzled again.

  "Cough, cough!" Sun Qingyun awkwardly smiled, "That's what the county magistrate said. That day, the devils chased us to almost reach the county town, and the county magistrate said we were not part of any official organization, but just bandits. Not only did he not allow us to enter the city, but also wanted to annihilate us."

  "My god! This corrupt official. Dares to oppose those who fight against the devils, which means opposing me, and I'll kill him if I get the chance."

  Sun Qingyun squeezed past several soldiers and approached You Fei. At You Fei's signal, the soldiers did not block Sun Qingyun either. By You Fei's ear, he said: "The county magistrate and a local regiment have all run away! They say they are ordered to withdraw. Now this place has several teams, no one listens to anyone else. But you, Captain You, are different, you are a regular army, recruit more soldiers, buy more guns, and this place will be yours in the future! The key is whether you are willing to fight against the devils! I have one sentence, those who have grievances with the devils will definitely follow your lead."

  "Oh?" You Fei exclaimed, looking up and down at Sun Qingyun, "Old Sun, I didn't expect you to be so shrewd! From now on, let's consider ourselves partners!"

  "Haha! I'm surrendering, I'll listen to you. Whatever you say goes!" Sun Qingyun said.

  "You flew in quietly and asked: 'Old Sun, where did you get the money to buy a gun? I still want to learn from you!'"

  "Even the battalion commander! Didn't those rich households escape? Supporting anti-Japanese resistance, I think they won't have any objections."

  "Ahah! Haha!" "Hehe!" "Hahaha!" "Hehehe!"

  Two gangs of people, led by You Fei and Sun Qingyun, laughed wildly for a while. From this scene, it's really hard to tell whether the bandits were disciplined by You Fei or if the banditry spirit was rekindled in You Fei.

  They joined forces and rushed towards the county town.

  In the county town, a militia-style armed force is now stationed - the Su Province Four Counties Security United Defense Brigade. Why four counties? It turns out that there are four counties whose connection with the big rear was cut off by the devils. The various armed forces of the four counties communicated with each other and formed several loose joint brigades. The composition of these armed forces is very complicated, with real bandits and pro-Japanese elements, but no regular national army. They mainly gathered some private security teams originally hired by rich households. No need to doubt that if the Japanese came to attack this county town, the first to surrender would be this defense brigade. However, they are still Chinese armed forces, and they do not dare to block the National Army troops like You Fei's. After all, if the devils lose on the main battlefield?

  After You Fei entered the city, his title announced to the outside world was: Colonel You Fei, commander of the 137th Independent Regiment of the National Army. It was also announced that the four counties in Su Province that had been cut off would be fully responsible for defense matters under his command. The original Security Joint Defense Brigade is now also under the unified jurisdiction of You Fei, and the brigades of the other three counties can temporarily act independently. However, all armed personnel in this area must immediately accept his reorganization, and those who do not cooperate will be prosecuted for treason.

  The security joint defense battalion was assembled. Given the mixed bag here, You Fei, under Sun Qingyun's suggestion, removed some people with great grievances and even some who didn't look like good birds. Finally, they completely disrupted their formation, reorganized two understaffed companies with himself and Sun Qingyun's men as the backbone, and took over all the guns and ammunition. This way, You Fei had a force of over 300 men under his command. However, this was only the framework of the new troops.

  You Fei has started recruiting soldiers. He didn't adopt the method of dragging strong men away. In his words, pulling people out of their bridal chambers to become soldiers is something You Fei absolutely cannot do. You Fei's recruitment takes the form of voluntary registration. Of course, large-scale propaganda work also cannot be neglected. "The country's survival depends on every individual." "Protect your family and defend your country!" "Japanese people are beasts and dog bastards, those who want revenge come join the army." "Men with blood in their veins, pick up guns and let the damned Japanese devils not live a peaceful life." These slogans have some that sound reasonable and others that don't. You Fei says this is more down-to-earth for ordinary people, and they are posted everywhere, both inside and outside the city.

  The group of civilians who escaped under the protection of You Fei's troops became his free propagandists. In a situation where strong enemies were lurking on all sides and the devils might move at any time, there were indeed people who voluntarily joined the army, and the momentum continued to grow. You Fei felt the support of the common people, and for the last time when he sacrificed half of his men to protect the civilians, he finally felt that it was not so unjustified after all. However, he still maintained a deeply hateful attitude towards those who wanted money but not their lives.

  At the same time as You Fei's troops expanded on a large scale, the defensive fortifications of the county town did not strengthen much. The wealthy households in the county were dissatisfied and formed a local gentry association to donate property to You Fei as a condition for negotiating with him. You Fei readily prepared a banquet to entertain the members of the local gentry association. Of course, the cost of the banquet was also borne by the local gentry.

  The scheduled reception and negotiation time was at noon, the time had almost arrived, and a burst of gongs, drums, and firecrackers sounded outside the gate of the county elementary school where You Fei's troops were temporarily stationed. You Fei came out to take a look, and a group of people carrying several large fat pigs, wine jars, and other things, blowing and beating their way over. The first two men held up a banner that read: "Baoguo Association comforts the National Army's 137th Regiment."

  "Haha! Fellow villagers, you've worked hard. I, You Fei, represent the National Army's brothers to thank everyone."

  "Commander You, you're too kind. Our humble village's defense still relies on Commander You and your brothers from the noble clan. Please, don't be polite!" said a man with a snowy white goatee, dressed in a brand new ceremonial robe, speaking slowly and elegantly.

  "You're welcome!" said Yufei, and then he stopped talking. The villagers all walked towards the school. Yufei ordered to slaughter the live pigs and eat the meat, and also had wine brought in to share with all the soldiers. In the school's large playground, a grand feast of wine and meat was held for everyone.

  In the original school auditorium, several tables of wine were arranged in a row. The rural gentry sat down contentedly to prepare for dinner, just waiting for the leaders of both sides to finish their opening remarks.

  "Hmm! Ladies and gentlemen, I'm You Fei, new to this place, and everyone's been so kind to me. I'm truly humbled! However, I must say something unpleasant upfront - those who don't cooperate or even cause trouble, I'll show no mercy, one word: kill! And that includes all of you present here, no exceptions! Now, let's eat! Hehe, everyone, dig in!"

  The faces of the gentry suddenly turned ugly, and the white-bearded man who seemed to be a leader stood up, saying slowly and stubbornly: "Commander You, our Association for National Salvation has brought twenty gold bars this time, enough for you to add some family property. We take out so much gold and silver just to exchange for one word from Commander You. Does Commander You not need the support of us common people?"

  "Haha! Of course, of course! How can we not need it? Whatever requirements you have, just say so! Don't beat around the bush!" You Fei seemed to be giving face to Jin Tiao, and was being somewhat polite to this person.

  "Ah! This is it! Team leader, I need to speak with you privately."

  "No need to be polite, the people present today are brothers who have been through life and death with me. Since you've all come together, you must have discussed what you want to say. If there's anything to say, let's say it here!"

  "Alright! I can see it now, Captain Yu is a straightforward person. I'll just say it directly."

  You Fei smiled and looked at him with a very kind attitude. The gentleman representative, on the other hand, had an expression of being fully in control, thinking to himself that the power of gold was great, and said confidently: "We ask you to ensure our property and lives are not threatened. You should consider strengthening the city's defenses to prevent the devils from attacking!"

  "You all, if the devils come with several divisions, no matter how we strengthen our city defense, it will be useless. The reinforcements can't fly over, do you think I, You Fei, will fight the Japanese head-on?"

  Everyone present fell silent, and no one spoke for half a day. After a while, the rural squire said: "Commander You is indeed straightforward. Our plan is also like this, whether we win or lose, we must be decisive. If we can win, we will fight, if we can't win, we will work with the devils together. Hehehe! Commander You is really my kindred spirit!"

  "Kindred spirit? I don't know your esteemed surname and given name, sir?"

  "How dare I! How dare I! I am Liu Ligui, the president of the Association for Reporting to the Country. I hope we can cooperate happily from now on."

  You Fei's smile on his face gradually solidified, and he said viciously: "My troops are the National Army, not a private bodyguard. We will not cooperate with traitors who have surrendered to the enemy. As for the city defense issue, don't be fooled by this Liu Ligui. Except for traitors, any Chinese person is within our National Army's protection range. Liu Ligui! Who is Liu Baoguang to you? How are you connected to him? Speak!"

  Liu Ligui became visibly flustered, but still tried to put on a haughty air: "Our precious Huang Jun has already made contact with us. He sent word saying that he will definitely win. Everyone should make early preparations! My brother can speak for everyone at Huang Jun's place."

  "Zhang Mingshan!"

  "Arrived!" Zhang Mingshan also shouted loudly.

  "You killed Liu Baogui two days ago, today you'll kill this traitor from their family too!" Yóu Fēi yelled.

  "Report to the squad leader! This son of a gun isn't worth wasting a bullet on. Can I borrow your dagger for a moment?" Zhang Mingshan said.

  You Fei took out the dagger he had treasured. This dagger was a relic of Ding Ling's martyrdom, and he solemnly handed it over to Zhang Mingshan.

  Liu Ligui fell to the ground with a thud, and everyone smelled a foul odor. He had shit and pissed himself at the same time, this kind of bravery was quite fitting for a traitor. Liu Ligui struggled to say: "Com... Commander You! I'll personally donate twenty more gold bars. Use them to buy back my life. Please spare me!"

  "Haha! Pass on my order. Liu Ligui has colluded with the enemy army, his entire family property shall be confiscated."

  A warrior responded with a "Yes!" and ran out. Zhang Ming-shan, who seemed impatient, took a step forward, pounced on Liu Li-gui, and stabbed him repeatedly. After three or four knife wounds, Liu Li-gui fell to the ground, dead. Fresh blood splattered onto Zhang Ming-shan's face, making him look particularly ferocious.

  You Fei put on a smiling face again, beckoning to the crowd: "Everyone eat! Liu Ligui's matter has nothing to do with anyone. Nothing to do with it! Haha! Everyone is still very patriotic, right? This patriotism requires taking out some silver to show one's determination! Don't rush, everyone, let's take our time after dinner! Haha! Eat well and drink well! Drink well and eat well!"

  You Fei finished speaking, the whole room was silent, only a fly flew into the dirty bloodstain left by Liu Ligui, occasionally buzzing and calling out.

  Who dares to eat here anymore? They hastily paid the bill and fled back home in a hurry. Those who didn't bring much money promised to send it over immediately, and You Fei didn't make things difficult for them, so he let them go take it. It's strange to say that this time when they went to fetch the money, not one of them took advantage of the opportunity to run away. Moreover, without prior agreement, they all sent over an extra generous donation.

  Liu Ligui, who was in a fight with Japanese people, was killed. You Fei also extorted money from local wealthy gentry by taking advantage of this incident. The two most direct consequences of this matter are: First, You Fei got the nickname "Hooligan Captain". Second, the number of people coming to enlist as soldiers suddenly increased.