Chapter 39: The Beauty of Daydreams

  Hua Lieyang smiled and shook his head, saying: "You hand over the spy to General Ma for disposal! We should also leave!" After finishing speaking, Hua Lieyang bowed his hands to Ma Zhanshan with a smile and left.

  Watching Hua Lieyang leave, Ma Zhanshan said calmly: "This child is boundless!"

  Hua Lieyang led his troops out of Suihua, and halfway through the journey, Yang Chunduo couldn't help but ask: "Ji Ting! Why did you give up on Heilongjiang?!" Hearing Yang Chunduo's words, Hua Lieyang smiled and said: "Who says I gave up?! Now I am a thorn in the side of the Nanjing government and Young Marshal! If I occupy Heilongjiang, many people will surely instruct Young Marshal to deal with me! Why should I become their target?!"

  Hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chun asked seriously: "Ji Ting, what should we do next?" Hua Lieyang thought for a moment and said: "We are now hiding near Qiqihar! Let's see the direction of the devils' attack! If necessary, we can deal with Ma Zhan Mountain from behind!"

  As soon as Hua Lieyang finished speaking, Yang Chunxiao spoke up and said: "Ji Ting, he's right! After all, we're outnumbered now! If we clash with the little devils head-on, our brothers around us will only be able to fill in one by one! By then, it won't have any effect on Little Japan!" As Yang Chunxiao looked at Hua Lieyang and continued: "Ji Ting, since Zhang Haipeng is gone, will the little devils temporarily slow down their advance into Heilongjiang?!"

  Hua Lieyang shook his head and said: "In this period of time, the Japanese army has transferred at least four divisions and 100,000 people from Korea to Northeast China! Even if there is no Zhang Haipeng, there are Li Haipeng and Zhao Haipeng! We can defend against one but not a large number! We can only use our advantages to fight against the little devils and gradually eliminate their living forces!"

  Hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chun super suddenly asked: "Ji Ting! So what is our advantage?!"

  "Our advantage lies in the geographical location! We are familiar with this region of Northeast China! We can use a small force to nibble away at them, one by one, today we eliminate one devil, tomorrow we eliminate two! Like this, how many little devils can we eliminate?" Hua Lieyang said with a smile.

  After a while, Hua Lieyang looked at his watch and said: "Everyone! Let's hurry up!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang urged the war horse under him to run towards Qiqihar.

  Time's wheel hasn't deviated in the slightest. In the blink of an eye, it was October 1st, 1931, and three puppet army corps were rushing towards Qiqihar. Upon receiving the news, Hua Lieyang shook his head helplessly and said to Yang Chunxiao: "Xiaoshu! Tell Shuangshu! Let him get ready! We're going to meet those puppet troops!"

  When Yang Chunxiao heard Hua Lieyang's words, he was stunned and said in a daze: "Jiting, I think you'd better not go! Now Ma Zhanshan has a strong army!" Before Yang Chunxiao could continue, Hua Lieyang stopped him: "Uncle Xiao! I'll still go take a look! Chinese people don't need to be the running dogs of little Japan! Chinese people won't fight Chinese people!"

  "Since you've decided! I won't say anything more!" After finishing speaking, Yang Chunxiao turned around to make arrangements. About half an hour later, Hua Lieyang led Yang Chun and five agile warriors to rush towards the pseudo-army's command center. When they ran to the entrance of the pseudo-army's command center, the soldiers guarding the door were stunned by the sudden appearance of Hua Lieyang!

  Seeing the soldier's surprised look, Hua Lieyang smiled faintly and said: "Go tell your highest officer! I, Hua Lieyang, have arrived!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, the soldiers guarding the gate were suddenly frightened! After a while, they came back to their senses and rushed in hastily.

  At the same time as a guard went in to report, Hua Lieyang gave a signal with his eyes to one of the soldiers beside him. The soldier who understood Hua Lieyang's intention smiled and quietly snuck up behind another guard, knocking him unconscious. Then Hua Lieyang led his men directly following the guard into the place.

  Just as the guards were about to report, Hua Lieyang rushed in with his men, guns at the ready. The three puppet army commanders inside the command center were taken aback by Hua's sudden appearance, and one of them quickly regained his composure and shouted: "Who are you?! How dare you come here and cause trouble?!"

  Hua Lieyang burst out laughing upon hearing the fake army commander's words, saying "Just because of my three words 'Hua Lieyang', you dare to come and clean up you bunch of traitors who betray your ancestors!"

  The three fake brigade commanders heard Hua Lieyang's words and immediately softened their feet, kneeling down without warning, shouting in unison: "General! Spare me! I have an 80-year-old mother above and a three-year-old son below who is waiting to be fed!"

  Hua Lieyang saw the three regimental commanders and said disdainfully: "You can put away this set! In my eyes, you three are just three corpses!" At this moment, gunshots sounded outside the camp gate. After hearing the gunfire, the three pseudo-army regimental commanders stood up simultaneously, one of whom said to Hua Lieyang: "Now our people have arrived! You're all going to die!"

  Hua Lieyang heard the words of the pseudo-army commander, Hua Lieyang smiled and was about to say something when Yang Chundui rushed in and said: "Ji Ting! We have already solved their three-person security team!"

  When Yang Chunshuang finished speaking, Hua Lieyang looked at the three fake army corps commanders and said, "Get them out of here!" After that, Hua Lieyang walked into the adjacent telegraph room and told the telegraph operator, "Tell the attacking troops in front to stop their attack!" As soon as Hua Lieyang's order was given, a soldier who was responsible for observing the enemy's movements ran to Hua Lieyang's side and said, "The devils are coming this way with about two divisions!"

  Hua Lieyang said to Yang Chonggui after hearing the report: "Uncle Shuang, you immediately start reorganizing the three regiments! After reorganization, support Ma Zhanshan!"

  "Yes!" Yang Chunshuang turned and left. After Yang Chunshuang left, Hua Lieyang looked at his watch and said to the signal soldier: "Immediately send a telegram to Ma Zhanshan! Tell him to get ready, the devils are coming with about two regiments along the railway!"

  Soon, Ma Zanshan received a warning telegram from Hua Lieyang. Looking at the telegram, Ma Zanshan gathered all his subordinate officers together and said straightforwardly: "Brothers! The main force of the devils has arrived! If anyone has any ideas, speak out directly! If you want to leave, then leave! But leave your troops behind!"

  Upon hearing Ma Zhan Shan's words, everyone discussed it for a while. Suddenly, an officer stood up and said: "Deputy Commander Ma, you also look down on us brothers too much! If we want to leave, before the little Japanese arrive, we can slap our buttocks and lead our own troops to a better future!"

  As soon as the officer finished speaking, other officers also responded. Ma Zanshan looked at the reactions of all the officers and thought for a moment before saying: "As long as we hold on to the Nenjiang Bridge! We can temporarily stop the enemy's offensive momentum!" As he spoke, Ma Zanshan looked at the officers sitting on either side of him and said: "Border Defense Garrison Brigade Commander Xu Baozhen and Provincial Defense Infantry First Brigade Commander Zhang Dianjiu, your two troops must arrive at Nenjiang Bridge before dawn tomorrow. If you can hold out for three days there, we can defend the entire Heilongjiang!"

  Upon hearing Ma Zhan Shan's words, Xu Baozhen and Zhang Dianjiu stood up in unison and said: "Deputy Commander Ma, rest assured! We'll take care of it!" After finishing their sentence, Xu Baozhen and Zhang Dianjiu turned around and left the conference room. Watching the two people leave, Ma Zhan Shan immediately called out to them, saying: "Take Zhang Haipeng's troops with you too! The more people, the better!"

  Ma Zhan Shan had just finished speaking, Zhang Dianjiu said seriously: "Deputy Commander Ma, I don't have any other requests! If I die for the country! I hope Deputy Commander Ma can treat my family well!"

  Ma Zhan Shan patted Zhang Dianjiu's shoulder and said, "Don't worry! As long as I, Ma Zhan Shan, am here, your family will not suffer any grievances!" After hearing Ma Zhan Shan's guarantee, Zhang Dianjiu and Xu Baozhen turned around and left.

  After Xue Baozhen and Zhang Dianjiu left, Ma Zhanshan made some arrangements and hastily walked out of the conference room. As soon as he walked out of the conference room, Ma Zhanshan immediately asked his staff: "Is there any news about Hua Lieyang?!"

  "Just received intelligence! He took people to the command centers of Liu Zhuangsheng, Gou Shangxun and Lan Xuanming!" The staff replied seriously. Upon hearing the staff's reply, Ma Zhanshan thought for a moment and said: "You send someone to pay attention to Hua Lieyang's movements at all times!" After saying that, Ma Zhanshan thought for a moment and said: "Forget it! You send someone to strengthen the monitoring of the Japanese army's movements instead!"

  Just as Ma Zhan Shan was arranging the battle, Yang Chun Chao looked at Hua Lie Yang with a worried face and said: "Ji Ting, do you think Ma Zhan Shan can hold on to Heilongjiang?!" Hua Lie Yang shook his head and said: "Ma Zhan Shan is a good hand in administration! But in military affairs, he is a mediocre talent! I don't have any hope for him to hold on to Heilongjiang at all!"

  Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chuncao looked at him with a questioning gaze and asked: "Then why did you still want to hand over the troops we had recruited to Ma Zhanshan?"

  Hua Lieyang said calmly: "In name, he is the highest official of the entire Heilongjiang! Although I don't take him seriously, I still have to give him face!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang continued calmly: "As long as he can hold on for more than four months, I'll be satisfied!"

  Just as Hua Lieyang and Yang Chun were talking, the Japanese 23rd Division, 199th Division and 80th Mixed Brigade rushed towards Heilongjiang with great momentum. In the command center, Lieutenant General Nishiyama Fukutarō, commander of the Japanese 23rd Division, looked at the advancing troops with a smile and said to Major General Mōri Senrō, commander of the 199th Division: "Mōri, as long as we take down Qiqihar, basically the whole Heilongjiang will be ours!"

  "Let's go west! West Mountain, you're right! Let's work hard for the Emperor's great goal!" said Mōri Senpachi with a smile.

  Just as Nishiyama Fukutarō and Mōri Senjirō were chatting, the commander of the 80th Mixed Brigade, Lieutenant General ōtani Shūji, rushed over and said: "Those Chinese are really bad!" Hearing ōtani's words, Nishiyama Fukutarō asked in puzzlement: "ōtani-kun! What on earth made you so angry?!"

  "Originally, we agreed to attack the Chinese army together with the Imperial Army, but they still haven't shown up! If we keep waiting like this, our entire plan will be ruined!" Masao Akutaro said seriously. Upon hearing Masao's words, Nishiyama Fukutarō and Mōri Senjirō were taken aback. After a moment, Nishiyama regained his composure and thought for a while before saying to Masao: "Masao! It seems we have no choice but to rely on ourselves! You haven't forgotten the famous imperial proverb that 'the Chinese are forever unreliable', have you?!"