Chapter Eighteen: The Maiden's War

  Dai Qin looked at the few people sitting in front of him, his face full of disdain: "Look at you guys, can't you have some dignity? You're so pleased with yourselves over such a small thing."

  Wang Biao is a typical bootlicker, immediately saying: "That's right, look at me, I'm so steady, this is nothing. In the future, follow the big squad leader, and the equipment will be even better than this."

  Zhao Kai immediately went up and kicked him: "You're still talking about others, look at you, like a slut with his mother."

  Dai Qin took a look and indeed, everything on Wang Biao was new. During the meeting, he even had his binoculars hanging around his neck. As soon as Zhao Kai said this, Zhu Hou and Li Le immediately went up to kick him: "That's right, Captain, this guy is wearing all new clothes, including his underwear."

  Lian Zuo couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Wang Biao, didn't you used to not wear underwear?"

  Li Le said: "Exactly, this kid is particularly stingy, his mother doesn't even know where his military pay went, no wife, no children, and he's still crying poor."

  "Get out of here, you turtle egg! Mind your own business. Haven't you seen what kind of weapons my old unit used?"

  No one spoke for a moment, because they were all from different troops that had been dispersed and reorganized together. Wang Biao was from the Sichuan Army, part of which entered the Shanxi battlefield and another part entered the Songhu battlefront. Later, they retreated to Suzhou and Wuxing areas. His troop was dispersed while retreating to Nanjing, and Wang Biao was assigned to the 625th Regiment.

  He was temporarily appointed as the leader of this group, following Qi to run all the way here. The Sichuan army was the poorest army, when they first entered the battlefield, most of them were still wearing straw sandals, and their weapons were varied, including old-fashioned guns and bird guns. Other soldiers on the battlefield were seen, but Qi was known from later historical records. During the eight years of resistance against Japan, millions of Sichuan youths shed blood on the battlefield, seeing Wang Biao as a Sichuan soldier, Qi thought of Tongjiang County, General Wang Mingchang, and the bloody battle of the Sichuan army in Tongjiang County.

  Diqin believed that if they had guns and cannons, they shouldn't have died. His heart felt heavy, but what could he do? Should he lead his independent regiment to Xuzhou alone? He said fiercely: "This is all the doing of those damn devils, whenever I see a devil, I'll kill him, killing one won't scare them, killing a hundred, killing a thousand, when I've killed tens of millions, let's see if they're still not afraid."

  "That's right," Wang Biao said: "Exactly, kill all of them, kill the men, rape the women, and take all their money."

  Zhu patted Wang Biao's shoulder heavily: "What you said is right, I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but we can't beat the devils."

  Zhang Meng said: "That's right, if we can go to Japan, it would be great. Kill all the men and take back all the women."

  "Shut up!" Zhao Qin yelled loudly: "All of you shut up, how can my team be so rogue? We are the regular army of the national military, why are we like bandits?"

  Several people were speaking enthusiastically when they saw Dai Qin scolding loudly, and they were so frightened that they didn't dare to make a sound. Robbery and rape are taboos.

  Dai Qin stared at them for half a day and said, "Look at your little accomplishments, raping women. We are an independent regiment, as long as we enter Japan, do we still need to rape? They send themselves to our door, and we still have to see how they look. If they're pretty, then consider it, if they're ugly, kick them out directly. Do you know? Look at how much taste I have?"

  These people stood up together, didn't say a word, and came up with a flurry of fists, beating Dai Qin until he hugged his head and shouted: "Damn it, I'm the captain, I'm your captain."

  This is not an army, it's a gang of bandits. Even Zhao Kai couldn't help but burst out laughing. Zhai Qin stood up and said: "I've remembered you all, this is the first time and also the last time. If there's another time, everyone will be kicked back to their original troops. Now let's start the meeting."

  A few people just made a fuss, looking at these new equipment and ammunition, they were psychologically excited to vent. Zhai Qin remembered that he didn't even have a pair of binoculars, and it was impossible to see what the devils were doing from a distance. This time, with Commander Xue's approval, they got some high-end equipment.

  Dí Qín got Huáng Biǎng Jié almost in tears, it's said that Dí Qín is the young master of a wealthy family, but he acts like a poor ghost. He only has one regiment, originally less than 2,000 people, and even the company commanders have fewer than 20 binoculars, yet Dí Qín took away more than 50 pairs of binoculars. This is as if planning to give each platoon commander a pair, when did the National Army become so wealthy?

  Or as Zhao Kai said, Wang Biao was a slippery fellow. The entire battalion had only 750 men. Each squad leader had a pair of binoculars and wore leather boots that were normally reserved for regimental officers.

  Dai Qin said solemnly: "Now I announce several rules of our independent battalion, listen carefully. If you can't do it and dare to violate them, I'll be the first to shoot him."

  This time, Diqin's eyes were full of ferocity. These people believed that Diqin could absolutely do it, and they all sat up straight with a serious expression. Diqin said: "Firstly, we are an anti-Japanese army, not bandits. We can do whatever we want to the Japanese, however ruthless we want to be, but when it comes to Chinese civilians, if anyone dares to touch even a single blade of grass or a single brick, I will absolutely disown them."

  Zhang Meng said: "Does Han traitor count?"

  "Are you a bloody idiot? Are traitors Chinese? This is the second thing I want to say, when it comes to dealing with traitors, we need to distinguish between different types of traitors. Those who were coerced, and those ordinary people who had no choice, let's just forget about them. But as for those die-hard traitors, don't coddle them!"

  Zhang Meng has thoroughly conceded to Di Qian, and long since lost his arrogant attitude. Upon hearing Di Qian's words, he said: "This is easy, just ask the captain about how to deal with traitors."

  Wang Biao immediately said: "Don't you see, they say I'm a bootlicker, but Zhang Meng is the biggest bootlicker."

  Wang Biao's words were immediately agreed upon by several others. Zhai Qin was not a regular soldier either, and he was used to being with the workers, so this military meeting was held like a discussion session.

  Dai Qin said: "The third point is that anything captured will be collectively owned by the independent regiment, and no one is allowed to keep it for themselves. It must be distributed uniformly. If there's money to be made, everyone gets a share; anyone who eats alone will be dealt with immediately."

  Zhao Kai said: "This goes without saying, follow you and listen to you, how can brothers share with you."

  The other four people immediately pointed at Chai Ke with their fingers and said: "Oh, so the biggest bootlicker is here."

  Seeing the looks of the four people, Zhao Kai said: "What the f**k is this? Do you guys have a problem?"

  The four of them hastily shook their heads, none of them dared to say they had any opinions. Looking at the commander's battle, the casualties were small and the gains were great. After a trip to headquarters, the independent big tone was made like a nouveau riche.

  Dai Qin said: "Everyone knows that our independent battalion is a separate combat unit. Orders to leave the General Command are not allowed for anyone else. Do you understand?"

  "Understood. We just listen to the squad leader, no one else." The five of them said in unison.

  "A bunch of bootlickers."

  "Alright, let's talk about our combat mission," said Zhai Qin. The few people immediately became serious and looked at Zhai Qin together. They didn't understand these things, they just listened to the squad leader for instructions on how to fight.

  Dai Qin said: "According to Cheng Shizhong's reconnaissance, Xuancheng has a large team of devils. That is the logistics support unit of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, with a total of about 800 people. Our goal is these 800 devils."

  Zhao Kai exclaimed in surprise: "You want to attack Xuan City?"

  Diqin tilted his head and asked: "How about it, won't work?"

  Zhao Kai said: "We don't even have a cannon, and that's a whole battalion of devils, attacking Xuan City is too risky, isn't it?"

  Dai Qin said: "What is called adventure? Our battalion has 750 people, the devils have a battalion of 800 people, are we afraid of them?"

  Zhao Kai said: "But the devils are defending the city and refusing to come out, how can we attack? So I think it's still impossible to fight."

  Zhao Kai's words were agreed upon by everyone. Looking at the five people, Di Qin said: "No way, it's my misfortune to have you pig-headed bastards as my subordinates. I told you to attack that big regiment of devils, who said we should take the city? From now on, remember this, tell you guys, fighting is done with brains, not with your ass."

  Li Le said: "Squad leader, it's with hands, not with buttocks."

  When Li Le spoke, several people burst out laughing. Zhai Qin saw that the meeting was not going anywhere and said straightforwardly: "Let's not have this meeting, go back and prepare immediately. Send someone to deliver the remaining soldiers to Zhang Tongye. Each person will bring a day's worth of dry rations. Set off at nightfall and launch a surprise attack on Xuan City."

  "Yes," five people immediately stood up straight and replied.

  Zhao Kai and the three deputy battalion commanders went to prepare, leaving only Wang Biao by his side. In this reorganization of the troops, Zhang Meng became the first deputy battalion commander, Zhu Hou the second deputy battalion commander, and Li Le the third deputy battalion commander. As a result, among the original three platoon leaders, only Wang Biao remained in the battalion headquarters, becoming the logistics officer.

  Dí Qín said: "You remember, after entering the city, immediately find a horse cart, and transport all the valuable things in the city and the devils' supplies to me. If you can't transport them, then immediately go enlist as a soldier for me."

  Wang Biao didn't become the deputy captain, but he was particularly happy in his heart. This is the logistics team leader, and the captain said that from now on, all matters of the independent regiment will be managed by him, mainly managing money. The captain's words were too reasonable, money isn't omnipotent, but having no money is absolutely not allowed.

  Wang Biao knew that without money, nothing could be done. He was the eldest in his family with seven younger sisters and brothers, each smaller than the last. He had to join the army, and every month he would find a way to send his military pay back home. He had to support his whole family, so he became notorious for being stingy, unwilling to spend even one cent. Growing up like this, if he hadn't joined the army, he wouldn't have even owned a pair of underwear.

  Following Lian Zhang for these few days, he was allocated five taels of silver. This was a reward from Lian Zhang for his determination to listen to him. Among them were two taels earned by throwing grenades.

  Diqin was chosen because he is calculating and meticulous, which made him the logistics team leader. Upon hearing Diqin's words, they quickly stood at attention.

  Dai Qin said: "Next time, remember, you can strip the devils' clothes, but don't take those things, we don't wear the devils' clothes. However, letting them expose their corpses in the wilderness is a good idea."

  Wang Biao's sly smile, the last time they stripped the devils' clothes, it was his idea, those were good clothes, if they could bring them back home, their younger brothers and sisters wouldn't have to freeze.

  Dai Qin handed over these things and said to the reporter Ma Chun who was following him: "What are you looking at? Pack your bags and get ready to leave. From now on, you will be the chief of staff and logistics director of the independent regiment, along with my secretary."

  Ma Chun was stunned, hearing that someone from the communications department was being sent to the front-line troops as a reporter, this was an opportunity to fight against the devils in the War of Resistance, many passionate people wanted to go. The communications department was part of the cultural section, most of the people here were young students, all very passionate, even the girls wanted to come. He didn't know how Zhai Qin had chosen him, anyway he followed Zhai Qin to the Independent Brigade.

  A meeting opened his eyes wide, what kind of troops is this? The military discipline of the National Army was not good, but it wasn't like this either, it was just a gang of bandits occupying the mountain.

  Ma Chun felt a little regretful, if he had known it would be like this, he wouldn't have come. Can such an army fight? No matter how good the equipment is, it's useless. At this time, looking at Zhai Qin who was idle, he asked: "Squad leader, why did you choose me?"

  "Nonsense, I like women, who would look at you?" Zhao Qinxiao said: "I let you come because you have three points that interest me. First, you can actually drive a car. Second, I heard your family died in the devil's plane. Third is that you didn't mess around with those girls."

  These three points confused Ma Chun. The first one was still acceptable, the second one had a good reason, but what about the third one? He asked in confusion: "What about the third one?"

  Ji Gui, who was standing on one side, said: "You're really stupid, this proves you don't have a good eye for women and won't fight with the young master over them."

  "What? This is also a reason?" Ma Chun's mouth was wide open in surprise. Zhai Qin burst out laughing and went out the door, he wanted to see how the troops were preparing, this was his independent battalion's "maiden battle".