Chapter 38: The Horse's Might

  Honzō Shigeru nodded in agreement upon hearing Ishihara Kanji's words, "Ishihara-san, I'll leave the pursuit of Hua Lieyang to you! At that time, I will have Tsuchiura Kenji cooperate with you!"

  "Hey! Thanks for the recommendation, Commander!" Ishihara Kanji said excitedly. Upon hearing Ishihara's words, Honjo Shigeru turned to Itagaki Seishiro on the side and said: "Itagaki, your appointment has been finalized! You can prepare to return home tomorrow!" Hearing Honjo's words, Itagaki Seishiro suddenly felt a tightening in his chest, and he obsequiously said: "Thank you, Commander, for recommending me to the Minister of War this time!"

  Nakatani Sekijirō was about to continue speaking when Honjō Shigeru interrupted him, saying: "There's no need to say any more on this matter! I hope you will make greater efforts for the Empire from now on!"

  "Hey!" said Ittetsu Banda, bowing to Motojirō Tomo. "Don't worry, Commander! My lifelong ambition is to expand the empire's territory!"

  "Go west! Botan-kun, I hope your promise comes true!" Saying that, Motozuka thought for a moment and said: "You guys go down and get ready!"

  At the same time, just as Itagaki Seijirō and Ishihara Kanji left Honjō Shigeru's office, a large unit of the Japanese Kwantung Army arrived at the pseudo-cavalry regiment to ask about Hua Lieyang's whereabouts! Under the two battalion commanders' added fuel to the fire, the Japanese unit commander was eager to make achievements and did not wait for the troops to rest before hastily leading the troops in the direction that Hua Lieyang had left.

  With the help of horses, Hu Lieyang and more than a hundred people arrived at the meeting point as scheduled. Just after Hu Lieyang arrived at Ben Songzi Ridge, Yang Chunshuang also brought his men to hurry over.

  Looking at the exhausted Yang Chunshuang, Hua Lieyang said with a heart full of guilt: "Uncle Shuang, are you okay?!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunshuang smiled and said: "Jiting, don't worry! Your Uncle Shuang is fine!" As he spoke, Yang Chunshuang glanced at the soldiers beside him and continued: "Jiting, Uncle Shuang only brought out these brothers from the whole regiment!"

  When Yang Chunshuang finished speaking, Hua Lieyang glanced at the soldiers and saw that their eyes had become moist. After a while, when he regained his composure, Hua Lieyang said to Yang Chunshuang: "Uncle Shuang, you guys work hard for a little longer! We'll get to Huapi Gou and let everyone rest properly!" When Hua Lieyang finished speaking, Yang Chunshuang thought for a moment before saying: "Jiting, don't you think we should let the brothers rest first?!"

  "Hmm, okay! Let's go after Uncle Chao and the others have prepared everything!" Yang Chun heard Hua Lieyang's words and asked in confusion: "Ji Ting, what else do we need to prepare?!"

  Hua Lieyang smiled and replied, "Nothing much! On the way here, we happened to drop by the puppet army's cavalry camp and brought their horses along! Now Uncle Chao is leading people to make sleds!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's ambiguous words, Yang Chun was momentarily stunned.

  After a while, Yang Chunxiao walked up to Hua Lieyang and said: "Jiting, the sleds are all set! Now we're just waiting for your orders!"

  Hua Lieyang heard Yang Chunxiao's words and smiled, saying: "Then let's call on everyone to get on the sleds and hurry along! This way, the brothers can also rest on the sleds!"

  All the warriors heard Hua Lieyang's order and immediately got on the sled, rushing towards the direction of Huapi Gou. At dawn the next day, Hua Lieyang arrived at Huapi Gou with his men. As soon as they got off the sled, they saw Zheng Sanpao, the leader of the bandits in Huapi Gou, running to Hua Lieyang and saying: "I didn't know General was coming, I'm sorry for not welcoming you from afar!"

  Upon hearing Zheng Sanpao's words, Hua Lieyang smiled and said: "Commander Zheng, how is the development going now? If there's anything that needs my help, just say it directly!"

  Zheng Sanpao heard Hua Lieyang's words and said seriously: "General, the ammunition and other materials you gave me are enough for our mountain stronghold to use for seven or eight years! However, my subordinates' training is a bit lacking!"

  "Don't worry about this! After a while, I'll send someone to help you train!" Hualeiyang looked around at the surroundings and asked: "What's the recent movement of the Japanese around here?"

  "Recently, the little devils have been desperately transferring troops to Heilongjiang! I just received reliable news that recently, the little devils have had multiple contacts with Zhang Haipeng, the commander of the Northeast Army in Suinan Town, Heilongjiang! It's very likely that Zhang Haipeng has already sold out Heilongjiang to Little Japan!" Zheng Sanpao said seriously.

  Hua Lieyang thought for a moment after hearing Zheng Sanpao's words, then said: "This Zhang Haipeng will definitely betray the country! But his subordinates may not be the same as him!" After thinking for a moment, Hua Lieyang said: "I've decided to go to Zhang Haipeng's place tomorrow and take a look! If he has already betrayed the country now, I'll get rid of him first! To avoid any future trouble!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang had already begun to plot his own little scheme.

  The next morning, Hua Lieyang left with all the wrongs from Huapi Gou, crossed Songhua River and entered Heilongjiang. Entering Heilongjiang, Hua Lieyang looked at his watch and said: "We must speed up! We must reach Suihua before dark!" Hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunduan seriously asked: "Jiting, are you really going to see Zhang Haipeng?!"

  Hua Lieyang nodded and replied, "Yes! I'm not doing it for Zhang Haipeng! I'm doing it for the soldiers under his command!" With that, Hua Lieyang swung the whip in his hand and galloped towards Suizhou.

  In the late afternoon, Hua Lieyang led his troops to Suizhou. Looking at Suizhou in front of him, Hua Lieyang seriously said to Yang Chunshuang: "Uncle Shuang, your unit immediately controls each key position in Suizhou!" Then Hua Lieyang said to Yang Chunsuo: "Uncle Chuo, you take your men and I don't care what method you use to first make contact with the armed forces of the Suizhou garrison troops!"

  Before Hualeiyang finished speaking, Yang Chunxiao smiled and said: "Jiting, are the ten of us going with you?!" Hualeiyang heard Yang Chunxiao's words and smiled, saying: "Of course!" As he spoke, Hualeiyang led the group slowly into Suihua City.

  After entering Suihua, Hua Lieyang said to Yang Chunxiao: "Xiaoshu, you and Lei Shu accompany me to the Northeast Army's Heilongjiang Suinan Town Guardian Mansion to find Zhang Haipeng! The other few uncles occupy the advantageous terrain around! When I clap my hands as a signal, snipe at the hidden firepower points around!"

  "Yes!" Yang Chunfeng said, leading the others away. After watching Yang Chunfeng leave with his men, Hua Lieyang smiled and led Yang Chunxiao and Yang Chunlei to the northeast military Heilongjiang Taonan Town Guardian Mansion's mansion. About three or four minutes later, Hua Lieyang, Yang Chunxiao, and Yang Chunlei arrived at the gate of Zhang Haipeng's mansion.

  Hua Lieyang looked at the sign on the gate and smiled, then took Yang Chunxiao and Yang Chunlei to rush in. The guard at the door saw Hua Lieyang and Yang Chunxiao, Yang Chunlei three people about to rush in, immediately blocked their way and said: "Do you know what this place is? Dare to rush in?! Do you still want your heads?!"

  Hua Lieyang burst out laughing upon hearing the guard's words and gave Yang Chunxiao a signal with his eyes. Yang Chunxiao, who was standing beside him, immediately understood and took a step forward to block Hua Lieyang behind her. She slapped the soldier blocking the door twice and shouted: "Damn it! You want to die? You dare to stop even General Zhang! Go call out Zhang Haipeng for me!"

  Hearing the hubbub at the entrance, the captain of the guard slowly walked to a spot not far from the door and took a look. After that, he immediately turned around and ran to Zhang Haipeng's office, saying: "Commander, it's bad! Yang Yuting's grandson has arrived!"

  "What?! Zhang Haipeng was shocked to hear the captain of the guard's report and jumped up, saying: "How did this jinx arrive?! Did he hear some rumors?!"

  "I don't think so! He's only brought two guards with him!" The captain of the guard said seriously.

  "Where is he now?!" Zhang Haipeng asked after some thought.

  "Right at the gate! The guard at the gate was even slapped by him!" The captain of the guard said. Upon hearing the captain's words, Zhang Haipeng furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before saying: "You go gather the trusted men! Arrange to ambush beside the living room! As soon as I smash the cup, you all immediately come out and kill!"

  "Yes! Commander, you just watch!" The guard captain said, turning around and leaving. After the guard captain left, Zhang Haipeng straightened his clothes and walked out. He personally went to the gate to welcome Hua Lieyang.

  Zhang Haipeng led Hua Lieyang into the living room, and after glancing around at the decorations, Hua Lieyang smiled and said: "I didn't think you'd learn so quickly! You've even learned from the Tiger Hall incident!" As soon as Zhang Haipeng heard Hua Lieyang's words, he was stunned. He thought to himself: "How did he know I had people ambushing in the hall?! It's not necessarily that my people leaked the information! Eight out of ten chances this kid is trying to trick me!" Thinking this, Zhang Haipeng smiled and said: "Ji Ting, how could that be? After all, I'm still someone Yang Shuai promoted with his own hands!" As he spoke, Zhang Haipeng called out: "Bring tea!"

  Soon a servant came up with two cups of tea and placed them beside Hua Lieyang and Zhang Haipeng. Hua Lieyang looked at the teacup, smiled, picked it up, glanced at Zhang Haipeng's expression, and then accidentally dropped it. Seeing the fallen cup, Zhang Haipeng's face suddenly turned green.

  Just as the cup hit the ground, the sound of shattering was heard, and the eunuch who had been hiding behind the screen immediately led six men with guns to rush out! Seeing this scene, Hua Lieyang smiled and clapped his hands, saying: "Zhang Haipeng, you're getting more and more impressive!"

  As soon as Hua Lieyang's voice fell, six crisp gunshots were heard, and in the blink of an eye, six gunmen fell to the ground. Seeing this scene, Zhang Haipeng was stunned! Seeing Zhang Haipeng's expression, Hua Lieyang burst out laughing.

  After a while, Yang Chunshuang and Yang Chunchao led their men into Zhang Haipeng's mansion. As soon as they entered the living room, they saw the six corpses in the living room, and Yang Chunchao spoke up: "General! We have successfully taken over all of Zhang Haipeng's troops! However, most of them were deceived by Zhang Haipeng and his trusted subordinates!"

  Upon hearing Yang Chun's words, Hua Lieyang smiled and said: "Take Zhang Haipeng and his men out and execute them publicly!" Then Hua Lieyang turned to Yang Chun and said: "Uncle Shuang! Immediately notify Ma Zhanshan! Let him take charge of all matters in Heilongjiang! At the same time, let him send someone to reorganize Zhang Haipeng's men and prepare to resist the Japanese army!"

  "Yes!" Yang Chunshuang turned around and left. Ma Zhan Shan, who received the news soon, rushed to Suihua from Qiqihar with his men!

  After arriving in Suizhou, Hua Lieyang smiled and said to Ma Zhan Mountain: "I've done everything I can for you! Now it's up to you!" As soon as Hua Lieyang finished speaking, Yang Chunxiao hastily came to the front of Hua Lieyang and said: "General, we just caught a Japanese spy! Do you want to interrogate him personally?"