Chapter Thirty-Three: Personal Beauty Protection

  "Wang Lie, how's the distribution of excess grain going?" You Fei asked Wang Lie, who was reporting on the grain distribution work for poor households. Sometimes, You Fei would use Wang Lie as a versatile deputy, not just to lead the Lie Feng squad, but also to handle many miscellaneous tasks.

  Wang Lie was delighted to have done a good deed, and he smiled at You Fei, saying: "Every household has received their grain, and the troops' own military rations are also sufficient. This time it's a win-win situation, but poor Old Master Wang is suffering. I heard that for those 8,000 dan of grain, he was so worried that he didn't eat or sleep for two days and nights, really pitiful."

  "You little scoundrel, you're also squeezing the old boss Wang dry. How can you say that old boss Wang didn't let us off easy this time? Now he's gone two days and nights without eating, how can his body take it? Today, after you're done, go to the pharmacy and grab two doses of tonic medicine for me to send over. And on my behalf, ask old boss Wang to take care of himself, or with that skinny body of his, he'll be blown away by the wind like a piece of paper."

  Wang Lie burst out laughing wildly, almost laughing so hard he was about to suffocate.

  After a pause, You Fei remembered the matter of the army's reorganization and said: "How is the progress of the army's reorganization?"

  "Don't worry, everything is going smoothly. Once the wheat is delivered, our unit's reputation will be even greater and many enthusiastic young people will be eager to join." Wang Lie said excitedly.

  You Fei nodded and said: "Now the vast majority of soldiers don't even have military uniforms, they wear whatever clothes they want, damn it, it's really annoying to look at."

  Wang Lie also furrowed his brow and said, "This is a tricky problem, I think we can't solve it in the short term. It's hard to produce so many military uniforms in such a short time, where would we get the fabric from? Each person having a hat is no problem, I'll go take care of it as soon as possible and try to make each platoon look neat and tidy. The chest badges with the 259th Brigade number on them will be enough to make them feel proud."

  "Hmm, let's tidy up our military appearance later when the conditions are right. Now that we have plenty of food, the soldiers' meals are very good, aren't they?" You Fei said.

  When it comes to eating, Wang Lie's confidence is particularly strong, and he pats his chest and shouts: "Salted vegetable porridge can fill you up."

  You Fei shook his head and said, "From now on, we can't just eat big pot rice like this all the time."

  "Why is that?" Wang Lie asked.

  "Young Fei said in a deep voice: "From now on, when eating, we need to line up in order. Those who complete their daily training tasks better will be at the front of the line. The truly capable ones can occasionally get some meat. Moreover, each meal's quantity doesn't have to be enough, I want a large part of the people at the back to go hungry. Whoever wants to eat a full meal should train hard for me. A starving dog is ten times more ferocious than a well-fed wolf. I want them to become a fierce tribe. So if you continue to feed them too much, I'll chop you up and feed you to them. Did you hear that clearly?"

  "It is." Wang Lie thought this ghost idea was really damaging.

  "Alright, go and inform each squad, get a grip on this matter. You're in charge of supervising, now go take care of your business." Yu Fei instructed.

  Wang Lie let out a loud roar and then hurriedly went out to attend to his matters. You Fei gazed at Wang Lie's hastily departing figure, sighing in relief that having Wang Lie was truly a blessing, as he could now entrust many things to him without worrying himself. You Fei burst into hearty laughter...

  After several days of reorganization, the 259th Brigade now has more than 8,000 people. You Fei was also shocked when he saw the specific numbers. According to his original expansion plan, not only were all the regular battalions and regiments fully manned, but the two elite squads that You Fei relied on most heavily had also been expanded, and it would be more appropriate to call them large teams now.

  The 259th Brigade has three regiments, two battalions and two detachments, with a total of 8,174 people. Among them, the old 137th Regiment and the old 146th Regiment have veterans from the Songhu Battle as their backbone, and are officially called the Honorary 137th Regiment and the Honorary 146th Regiment. The new First Regiment is entirely composed of newly recruited miscellaneous armed forces, but they also had experienced hands who had handled guns before joining the New First Regiment. The two battalions are the Logistics Battalion and the Guard Battalion. The two detachments have the least number of people, with the Gale Detachment having 136 people and the Qingyun Detachment having 85 people.

  The commander of the 137th regiment was Xu Zhiwei, and the commander of the 146th regiment was Gao Yongtai, a veteran of the original 146th regiment. The commander of the new first regiment was Dong Tianhao, the commander of the guard battalion was Jiang Zhuang, the commander of the logistics battalion was Zhao Wei, the commander of the Liefeng battalion was Wang Lie, and the commander of the Qingyun battalion was Sun Qingyun, who also served as deputy commander of the 259th brigade. In addition, He Tianhao selected a group of clever people from various units to form a staff team, with him as the chief of staff. Detailed plans for all actions were being drawn up by the staff team and then submitted to You Fei for selection. This was also an important measure for You Fei to prevent himself from making mistakes. To be honest, commanding such a large group of people in battle made You Fei feel a bit apprehensive.

  The arsenal of the entire army was quite impressive, comparable to a weapons exhibition hall. From formal, Han Yang-made, and 38-style rifles to Czech-style machine guns, various handguns, grenades, mountain cannons, infantry cannons, and mortars, each type had some. Even bird guns and hunting guns, these old-fashioned muzzle-loading firearms were also being used by some people. In any case, more than 8,000 people did not have a single empty hand. The 259th Brigade was also strong and powerful at this moment, with sufficient personnel and weapons.

  There are more people, and there are more things to do. We need to seize the time to train each unit's personnel before the enemy's next invasion and enhance our combat effectiveness. We also need to handle the resettlement of some civilians after the last battle. The replenishment of ammunition is far from enough with just the captured ones, so we have to take the route of underground arms dealers to get more. You Fei was entangled in these things and couldn't leave even if he wanted to visit Lin Yuru, so he could only ask someone to go and pay his respects on his behalf.

  Lin Yuru's body has recovered, and she was just frightened, nothing serious. However, her grandfather is recovering very slowly, it can be said that "the illness is going away like pulling out silk threads". Originally, Lin Yuru was in a hurry to rush to Chongqing, but because of taking care of her grandfather, the trip had to be postponed again and again. Although Mr. Lin's condition has improved significantly compared to the beginning, Lin Yuru thinks that only when Grandfather is fully recovered can she feel at ease going to the rear. If it weren't for Grandfather's old age, she would have liked to go with him together.

  Taking care of Grandpa's affairs wasn't much, so Lin Yurui helped the troops settle the refugees who had escaped to the county town in her spare time. She also got along well with the two soldiers assigned to protect her. In her interactions with the soldiers, she became more curious about You Fei.

  As time passed, the situation in the county seat stabilized. The devils around also had no movement, if not for the daily tense training, people would have forgotten that they were in a war surrounded by strong enemies.

  That day, a mysterious guest arrived at the headquarters of the 259th Brigade. He brought two people and sneaked to the front of the brigade headquarters. The man looked around cautiously from under his lowered hat brim at the guards at the door. The guards felt very uncomfortable and were about to shout at him when he pulled out a small notebook and waved it, saying: "I am a special envoy from the Central Military Commission. This is my certificate. I want to see your brigade commander immediately. Please report this."

  "Ah!" The guard responded with a single word and let one person go inside to report.

  He Tianhao came out to greet him soon after.

  This delegate, surnamed Liu, claimed to be a senior colonel. He brought Yu Fei an authentic letter of appointment and three sets of officer uniforms. Delegate Liu first read out the letter of appointment: "Yu Fei is appointed as the commander of the 259th Independent Brigade of the Third War Zone, with the rank of Major General; Sun Qingyun as Deputy Commander, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; He Tianhao as Chief of Staff, with the rank of Junior Colonel - Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Third War Zone."

  Liu's special envoy handed the letter of appointment to You Fei, who looked at the various official seals and private seals on it, all of which were complete, and the printing and writing were also very exquisite. You Fei had a few fewer doubts about the identity of this special envoy. You Fei asked: "Colonel Liu, how did the Military Department and the Third War Zone Command notice my small team? How did you come from the enemy's war zone?"

  "General You, you don't know this! In the Huabei and Suzhou battlefields, our army has been retreating step by step, losing a lot of land! But under the enemy's siege, you have won a great victory, annihilating over a thousand enemies, greatly boosting the morale of the National Army and the people. The news of the Gui Creek triumph has already been written into articles by reporters who received the news in the past two days, and has been widely publicized in newspapers such as the Central Daily. A general like you who can win battles is very suitable to be a formal National Army general."

  "Oh! The great victory of Gui Xi, haha! Have all matters of the 259th Brigade been reported?" You Fei asked.

  "Hmm! Among the information we've gathered from the 259th Brigade, only the names of you three officers are mentioned. As for the others who have made contributions, you can report to your superiors yourselves. This time, I've brought a radio transmitter, and with the pre-set frequency and password, you'll be able to contact the Third War Zone Command directly."

  "Oh! That's great." You Fei said.

  Liu's special envoy smiled faintly and said: "General You, I have brought the Emperor's decree." After finishing this sentence, he suddenly became very serious.

  "Oh, you said." You Fei's smiling expression remained unchanged.

  "Haha! General You is an officer who rose from the grassroots, and there are some things he doesn't know about. I won't say more idle talk. Commander, order your troops to find a way to break out of the Japanese army's encirclement, preserve their strength, and retreat to the rear to prepare for a bigger counterattack against the Japanese army. The commander values talent, and he specifically instructed General You to be careful during the breakout and to bring out as many troops as possible."

  You Fei thought for a moment and asked: "Colonel Liu, didn't the higher-ups say anything about relocating the civilians here? What will they do after our troops leave?"

  "I'm not quite clear about this, I'll follow the orders above and rush back immediately. Send someone to pick up the radio outside the city. Brother, I have official business on hand and need to cross the enemy's war zone, so I won't stay long, goodbye!"

  After Liu's special envoy left with his men, You Fei fell into deep thought.

  The Battle of Gui Creek, over a thousand devils were eliminated. In the eyes of the National Army, which had been suffering consecutive defeats, this small-scale battle was surprisingly touted as a major victory. You Fei even gained the title of Lieutenant General because of it. At the same time, the devils would not let things go like that, and there are usually bigger conspiracies behind the calm. But can he abandon his troops and fellow villagers? Can the 259th Brigade still have its recent good luck in the upcoming brutal battle?

  After a long silence, You Fei came to the conclusion that the county town was absolutely impossible to defend. On the plain, a large regiment could not be hidden and had no choice but to relocate. This army and the people who supported them had to move out!

  However, I am not very clear about the surrounding situation, and I have no idea about the distribution of Japanese troops and peripheral national armies. In this way, the direction and method of transfer cannot be determined.

  You Fei was in a dilemma when Jiang Zhuang came in and asked: "Big brother, Miss Lin is leaving, who should we send to escort her?"

  Suddenly, You Fei had an idea: "Hey! Where's our General He? Quickly let him come and discuss the matter."

  He Tianhao arrived soon, and You Fei told him his idea. It turned out that You Fei wanted to let the Lie Feng Brigade dispatch a team to escort Lin Yuru through the enemy's war zone, and at the same time investigate the number, distribution, and distance of the Japanese army in various directions from here. All this information had to be figured out. This time sending Lin Yuru to Chongqing was extremely far away, and it happened that Lie Feng's reconnaissance range could be extended very far. After arriving in the rear, two people would go to send Lin Yuru, and when the rest of the personnel returned, they could still collect some intelligence.

  You Fei expressed his general idea and added, "A team of more than 30 people from Lie Feng's side scattered to investigate and escort. This can also ensure Miss Lin's safety. I think we should send some good hands to do this."

  He Tianhao nodded and said, "The surrounding area is too large, we can only escort Miss Lin in one direction. I think we should also send a small team to scout out the other directions, all the way to the rear of the enemy's war zone, so that we can fully understand the overall situation around us."

  "You Fei said: 'Dispatch two small squads, this is also good.'"

  He Tianhao said: "From the six teams of Lie Feng and Qing Yun, select suitable ones for this action, and specially select two teams to be elite. In this way, success is guaranteed."

  You Fei said: "The elite soldiers are ready, but as for the strong generals, I think it's better if we two brothers each lead one branch!"

  He Tianhao was anxious when he heard this: "Big brother, I used to be in the original Liefeng squad, and I'm an expert at doing this. You're the captain, you can't leave, who will take care of this mess? Now I'll go find two battalion commanders to discuss it with them, they won't agree with you going either."

  You Fei pulled He Tianhao back and whispered in his ear, "Tianhao, I must go out this time. You also know that Xie Peishan and I haven't consummated our marriage yet! She was brought back by our efforts, although nominally she's my wife, but she's still a young lady who can think I'm dead and marry another good family. By the time I return to Guangzhou, they'll have kids! Tianhao, you can't delay your big brother's wedding!"

  He Tianhao asked in confusion: "Big brother, what does not letting you go to the enemy's war zone have to do with Auntie Xie Peishan?"

  "Haha, it has nothing to do with her, but it has something to do with me. Big brother, I need a wife too! You don't know, actually I've had my eyes on Lin Yurui for a long time. Now that we're soldiers, we can't just abduct or force someone into marriage. But if I treat her well, care about her, and show her some love, it should be fine, right?"

  He Tianhao's eyes widened, and he couldn't speak for a long time. You Fei patted his shoulder and said: "You go call Wang Lie and Lao Sun over! In a while, it will definitely be noisy. This matter must be kept secret, but we can't shout loudly. You fully support me, my official position is high, and I'll suppress them again. I'm sure I can take action with Miss Lin then!"

  You Fei pushed He Tianhao out, letting him go find the two team leaders. He Tianhao broke free from his grasp and asked in a low, urgent voice: "Who's in charge of the 259th Brigade? What do we do if the devils come?"

  "Young Fei said: "The devils are coming, the transfer channel has not been found yet, can only fight! Lao Sun, Xu Zhiwei, Jiang Zhuang, Dong Tianhao and others are still there! Don't say that the new first team is unreliable, I just want to see if their hearts are in sync!"

  He Tianhao was speechless again and had no choice but to go call Wang Lie and Sun Qingyun.

  As expected, Wang and Sun both supported the suggestion of forming two temporary small teams, but as soon as they heard that You Fei was going to participate in person, their faces immediately turned ugly, like they had seen a ghost. You Fei and He Tianhao tried to persuade them, but couldn't calm down their anger.

  You Fei also pulled down his face and said gloomily: "I brought more than 100 people from Jiangnan to Jiangbei, from the devils' group to here, I have experience! When I leave, I'll say a word to several battalion commanders, the 259th Brigade is in charge of Lao Sun this local snake, who can't rest assured? Besides, if I don't leave, those who should rebel won't rebel? We do it secretly, just to test the loyalty of some people! Hehe!"

  Although You Fei said a lot, Wang Lie and Sun Qingyun's heads were still shaking like waves, and Old Sun just said one sentence: "Disagree, that is disagree."

  Wu Nai had to put on a gloomy face and show them his attitude. Wang Lie and Sun Qingyun also looked serious, without a hint of a smile. The two thought to themselves, at this time, showing off their attitude was useless, who's afraid of whom!

  You Fei saw that it was really not possible, so he changed to a smiling face and accompanied the two with a smile. He said very sincerely: "Actually, I have other things! This is convenient for you, you must give! This concerns my life and death! I guarantee to come back at the fastest speed. The words are all said to this point, you just give a refreshing sentence!"

  Wang Lie and Sun Qingyun glanced at He Tianhao standing beside them. He Tianhao nodded slightly. Wang Lie and Sun Qingyun whispered a few words, "Alright! We agree. However..." Wang Lie declared that they had agreed, but didn't finish the sentence, leaving half of it unsaid as he looked at You Fei.

  "Oh! Got it! I'll follow orders from now on. Wang Lie and I will escort Miss Lin this way, while He Canzhang takes another route. I'll just consider myself the dumbest soldier under Captain Wang Lie's command!"

  "Haha! You're still self-aware. This time I'll let it slide, but don't think you can get away with it next time!"

  "Haha!" You Fei laughed. At this moment, he looked like a triumphant traveler, and his pleased expression made him look like a child who had just obtained a treasure.

  A few people took advantage of the situation and discussed a specific plan of action. After everything was settled, You Fei informed the heads of each department under the Travel Department to come to a meeting, where he briefed them on what each department should focus on in this secret operation. He especially reminded them that during his absence over the next few days, Sun Qingyun would be in charge of all matters. Everyone was forbidden from revealing to outsiders that You Fei was not at the Travel Department.

  The next day, the officers and men of the 259th Brigade escorted Lin Yuru to the outskirts of the city. On the surface, only three people were escorting her. You Fei returned to the brigade after seeing off Lin Yuru. When saying goodbye, Lin Yuru even smiled at You Fei. The smile was beautiful, and You Fei read a little reluctance, a little melancholy, and a bit of playful doubt from it.

  After more than ten minutes, two special teams disguised as ordinary people quickly left the city. One team, led by Wang Lie, caught up with Lin Yuru. Lin Yuru was surprised and a little suspicious of these thirty or so people who suddenly appeared, also doubting their identities. Fortunately, the three people originally arranged to escort Lin Yuru all saluted Wang Lie before making a simple introduction to Lin Yuru.

  It's said that this is the captain of the elite Leifeng squad, directly under the 259th Brigade. Lin Yurui couldn't help but take another look at Wang Lie. The slender Wang Lie was unremarkable, except for his eyes which shone with a sharp light. Lin Yurui said: "Captain Wang being able to travel with me makes me feel much safer. Thank you!"

  Wang Lie said: "No need to thank us. Our team is on a mission, and we have a few sections of road that overlap with yours, so it's convenient for us to escort you to the rear as well. We won't be sending you all the way to Chongqing."

  Lin Yuru smiled: "I'm not some big shot, how dare I let you go to such a faraway place? If it's on the way, I should be thanking you."

  Wang Lie stopped talking, nodded at Lin Yurui and quickened his pace, soon disappearing into the distance. The other warriors of the Liefeng squad also dispersed to farther locations, with only a few accompanying them for a short while before hurrying off in different directions.

  As they had not yet reached the enemy's war zone, the group was in no hurry to rush along. It wasn't until nightfall when they set up camp that they arrived near the border.

  The real test is about to begin tomorrow!