Chapter Sixteen Arrived at Your Doorstep

  The militia officer walked up to the company commander and said in a low voice, "Commander, it's getting late, the brothers have been walking all day and should go back and rest."

  "Oh, all right." He ended his sermon with a tone of unfinished business and turned to shout at the guards: "Come on, take these Red Bandits away!"

  The guards rushed up immediately, rushing to the front of the captives and pushing them into the camp. But their excited expressions quickly turned into astonishment, because the tightly bound captives had all broken free from their restraints, waving short knives in their hands.

  A look of fear had just crawled onto his face, and before he could even make an evasive move, a sharp security knife was plunged into his chest and throat. Some who realized something was amiss and were preparing to flee hadn't even turned around when they felt the blade pierce their back.

  They felt life slipping away but didn't understand why such a misfortune had occurred.

  The guard commander was gloating over the prospect of enjoying endless prosperity, but after seeing a flash of knives, his subordinates fell to the ground one by one, and he realized what was happening and turned around to run.

  A large hand grasped his throat, he recognized it was the militia officer beside him, and said with difficulty: "Brother, we are all our own people, let's talk." As he spoke, he reached for the rifle slung over his shoulder.

  Another thug grabbed his hand from the side and twisted it behind his back, soon the guard lieutenant was tied up in a bundle, but the big hand on his throat never loosened.

  Several people came over one after another to report

  "There is no guard in the camp."

  "The duty room of the monitoring house has four duty personnel, who have been dealt with."

  "The sentinel has been taken care of, the gate is secure."

  "No guards were found in the kitchen, stable and toilet."

  "On-site elimination of 127 guard bandits."

  "Everything is normal around the school, no idle personnel activity."

  The high-ranking officer finally turned his face, looking at the struggling, red-faced guard lieutenant and said: "Did you hear that? Your prisoner of war camp has been occupied. I am Wang Dajun from the Red Army Independent Regiment, here to rescue captured comrades. Tell me, how many prisoners are being held in the camp?"

  As he spoke, he slowly loosened his grip. "Hoo... hoo... someone's coming..." Taking advantage of the opportunity to catch his breath, the stubborn and unyielding Colonel Ma of the cavalry regiment loudly called for help. As soon as he opened his mouth, he heard the sound of a throat being crushed, and everything fell silent.

  Wang Dàyǒng pushed away the corpse in his hand with a look of frustration, "This bandit army is really stubborn."

  He clapped his hands and said to the people around him: "The first company is in charge of the guard, the second company, the logistics company, and the women's company enter the detention room, tell the detained comrades that they have been rescued, do not get excited or noisy, count the number of people, register their names, duties, and numbers, distribute clothes, dry food, and drinking water, check their physical condition, and send those who are injured or ill to the regiment headquarters."

  "He pointed to the row of houses closest to the main gate, 'That's the temporary barracks, each company will act immediately.'"

  The quiet prison area came with the sound of colliding chains, occasionally mixed with a few cries, and then there was a sobbing cry.

  At the same time, in the General's Mansion on Beidajie Street, the battle had also been largely settled. The ancient and majestic courtyard was filled with an aura of killing, and the bloody smell wafted out from one guard room after another, only to be dispersed by the cold wind.

  Ma Quanyi lived in the rear courtyard of the General's mansion, the two guards at the gate and the deputy officer waiting at the entrance had been killed and stuffed into the shadows of the wall corner, two guards stood in their original positions, vigilantly gazing around.

  Chen Haisong stood at the gate of the courtyard, quietly waiting for the results from other directions and considering how to deal with Ma Quanyi.

  He was Ma Bufang's trusted confidant, both a close relative and a capable general. Born in 1912, he was 10 years younger than Ma Bufang. In later life, he was the commander-in-chief of the Ma family army during the era of Ma Jiyuan, holding the rank of lieutenant general. He fled to Taiwan in 1949 and lived a life of leisure until his death in 1987.

  Capture him, force his surrender, use him to solve the garrison in the city, capture the frontline commander-in-chief, and force Ma Bufang to stop fighting and withdraw troops. This is a more realistic and feasible plan.

  Li Yi walked over quietly and said softly to Chen Haisong: "The battle is over, everything has been taken care of."

  "Strengthen the guard," he said, leading two female warriors to the front of Ma Quanyi's gate.

  Chen Haisong stood in front of the door and listened for a moment, and faint voices came from inside. He frowned slightly, but still knocked twice on the door. Hearing the sound of someone coming over, he pushed open the door with both hands and walked in.

  "Ah, General Hu really is a man of his word. He said he'd come and here he is! How's that, Colonel Nian? Wasn't the wait worth it? Haha!"

  Ma Quanyi stood up with a smile and walked over to greet him. Next to the circle chair, a fat big beard also stood up, "How come you're just coming? Let me introduce you, this is the head of the military supply department of the 100th division, Nian Guangyuan. Where's the person you sent?"

  Chen Haisong smiled and nodded to Nian Guangyuan, saying "We were delayed on the way, and when we arrived at the camp, they had them wash up and dress up a bit, so we're late."

  "Come in!" she called out from outside the door, then smiled sweetly at the two of them.

  Ma Quanyi and Nian Guangyuan gazed eagerly at the entrance, where two female soldiers appeared in their line of sight. They were neat and tidy in appearance, with fair complexions and well-proportioned figures. Tonight was going to be a lucky night.

  "What's that in their hands? Ah, it's a gun! The muzzle is still pointing at themselves. What...what's going on?! They exchanged fearful glances and simultaneously looked towards Chen Haisong, 'Colonel E Hu, what act is this?'".

  Chen Haisong was still smiling as he made a welcoming gesture to the two of them, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, let's sit down and talk slowly, please, please."

  The two men sat down helplessly. Two female soldiers came over and searched Ma Quanyi's body, taking out a small handgun and putting it in their own waistbands before retreating to the side.

  Chen Haisong sat down in front of them, refilled their tea cups and poured one for himself. After taking a sip, he said: "Actually, I'm not called Ge Hu, nor am I from the Xunhua Militia. I'm Chen Haisong, the political commissar of the Red Ninth Army."

  "Ah——" The two of them opened their mouths in incredulity.

  He calmed down and continued: "On the 22nd, I led the Ninth Army to Linze for reinforcements. On the way, we encountered Han Zhongliang's Hualong Fourth Workers' Militia, fought for more than three hours, defeated them, and Commander-in-Chief Han surrendered with his remaining men."

  That night, we stayed in his military camp at Dongchuan Kou. We heard that Ma Buqing was just two miles away at Du Jia Bao and had captured many of our prisoners. So we crept into his camp overnight.

  It's no wonder that after his big victory, he was lax in defense and we were able to infiltrate. Unexpectedly, his entire team was slaughtered by our female warriors. In a fit of rage, I killed them all.

  My troops originally had 600 people, and with the rescued captives, there were over 1,200 people. In order to eat their fill and dress warmly, they wanted to attack your Zhangye City.

  No choice, I went to Ma Yuanhai's place on the 23rd, and brought back a certificate of receipt.

  On the 24th, I took another day off and now I'm standing in front of your door today.

  "At this moment your prisoner-of-war camp has been taken over, the prisoners are being treated and restored to health, tomorrow I will have three or four thousand men available for use."

  Ma Quan has already recovered and is standing in front of him, pointing at him "You, you, come here——"

  Chen Haisong didn't even move and said "Don't waste your energy, there are only two of you left in the 600th regimental headquarters who are still breathing, I don't mind killing two more."

  Ma Quanyi's face was filled with disappointment and discontent, he sat back down and asked in a huff: "What do you want to do?"

  "I just said so, I just want to eat well and dress warmly."

  "Aren't you afraid of being besieged by the hundreds of thousands of troops surrounding Zhangye?" "Why would they besiege me? I am a civilian militia, we are our own people."

  Ma Chao is currently locked in a stalemate with the Wei army at Niuzhu, who would have time to care about me? Who could think that I am here? Once my troops are rested and replenished, I will bring enough food and ammunition to return to Shaanbei.

  "How will you deal with us? How long are you going to stay in Zhangye?"

  "Don't be afraid, you two. We're now seeking wealth, not trouble. You are Ma Bufang's brother-in-law, we won't do anything to you. Otherwise, if Ma Bufang got the imperial edict, wouldn't he pursue and kill us all over the world?"

  "As for how long I'll stay, it depends on the recovery of my injury, probably more than two months."

  Good heavens, this red bandit leader really dares to think that I would live with you for two months? Thinking of this, Ma Quanyi said: "I'll give you enough ammunition and provisions, leave tomorrow, otherwise the various logistics teams will definitely discover you, and when the time comes, Commander Ma will mobilize his troops to surround you, and you won't be able to escape. This is for your own good."

  Chen Haisong thought for a moment and said: "Alright, the night is long and dreams are many. Then let's stay for two more days, and when the wounded are treated, we'll leave."

  "Just for these two days, the city gate needs us to come and guard it. The ammunition, food, and hospital need us to control them. Let your people go to the East Campus to rest, how about that?"

  Nian Guangyuan hastily said: "This won't do. If we go in like that, we'll all be arrested and left unarmed, how can we defend ourselves against your sneak attacks?"

  "I said we only want wealth, not trouble. What's the benefit of killing you for me? I'm worried that exposing our military movements will bring a large army to surround and annihilate us. Don't worry, as long as your people stay quietly in the East Campus, I won't touch them even with a single finger. My words count."

  "If you don't cooperate, I'll have to send someone to raid your subordinates overnight. Their lives are now in your hands. You decide what to do!"

  The two highest officials in Zhangye City exchanged a glance and sighed, nodding their heads in agreement.

  Ice and snow, thank you to all book friends for their attention and support to the Western Route Army. I was originally very nervous, worried that the purely military orthodox theme would not be accepted by everyone, it seems I was wrong. I will double my efforts to repay everyone's longing for passionate years.