Chapter 12: The Canary in the Back (Part 2)

  Suddenly, a shout of "Guangong Taigun, Guangong Taigun" came from the foot of the mountain. Yang Jiong took advantage of this to disperse his murderous intention. When the person below turned back to look in Yang Jiong's direction again, only a gentle night breeze was left blowing slowly by.

  Another person stood up from among the grass, and said to the one who had stood up earlier: "Mr. Liu, what's going on?"

  Yagyu looked at the mountain with a puzzled expression, shook his head: "Nothing. Mr. Miyamoto, who is coming?"

  Miyamoto Musashi: "A dog."

  Yagyu looked at the approaching figure and felt a wave of annoyance, saying: "Mr. Miyamoto, with our skills, we don't need these stupid pigs."

  Miya Moto thought for a moment, then looked up at the moon in the sky: "Yagyuu, if we were just robbing some things or supplying the empire's military, we wouldn't need these people; but to occupy China for a long time and make it our own home, we must use these people, and we need to use people with backbone. I studied history and am very familiar with Chinese history. In Chinese history, there was Genghis Khan, whose descendants established the Yuan Dynasty, which perished in just a few decades because they failed to utilize the talents of the Central Plains people; while Nurhaci's descendants built the Qing Dynasty, which existed for hundreds of years despite its corruption, largely due to their good utilization of various talents from the Central Plains. The purpose of this action is not only to obtain those military supplies but also to gain the dependence of the Chinese people on our great Japanese Empire."

  Yagyu bowed to Miyamoto: "Sir's insight is high, Yagyu has learned from it."

  Miyamoto saw the person below had already walked over, so he no longer put on a polite face to Yagyu and walked up to the newcomer, asking haughtily: "Where's Sekitōten? Who are you?"

  That man bowed to Miyamoto several times before saying, "Captain Ishi is waiting at the Old Master Temple. Everyone wants to surrender to the Imperial Army and trick Li Xuerong and his men into the temple. Once you arrive, we'll take action. This is Captain Ishi's map of the old master mountain fortifications that he asked me to hand over to you."

  Miya-moto took the map and handed it to one of his subordinates, saying in Japanese: "Go, give it to General Matsuo, let him resolve the battle within an hour." The man took the map, said "Hai" and turned away.

  Miura waved his hand at the crowd in ambush: "Depart!" The man was startled, and suddenly so many people appeared under his feet. He hadn't noticed anything just now.

  Looking at the gradually departing devils, Yang Ji waved his hand to Nan Erren, "You immediately dispatch someone to follow the devil who just left, go to the place and get rid of him, retrieve the defense map, let your special warfare team complete the task of solving the firepower control. Let Zhou Shicai's squad annihilate the ambush of the devilish troops, tell him to concentrate all firepower, and temporarily lend them the machine guns you have just captured. Quickly and resolutely eliminate this group of devils. Leave Zheng Jun Guo's squad behind, take everyone else with you, and execute the task."

  "People have been sent. It's already past twelve o'clock, I'm afraid Old Zhou has already taken control of the firepower on each mountain head. Unless I stay behind and let them support Old Zhou?"

  Yang Jie nodded and said with a smile, "Others may not be reliable, it's better if you go personally. Old Zhou is commanding for the first time and has no experience. You can give him some guidance. Don't worry about things here."

  Nan Zai Ren led his men to leave quickly, while Yang Jie led Li Ying and others to chase in the direction where Gong Ben went.

  Zheng Jun Guo was overjoyed when Yang Guang called out his name to stay behind and fight together, but he had no idea that tonight would be the most unforgettable, unwillingly remembered, and terrifying night of his life.

  Zheng Jun Guo, a renowned general in the Northeast Army, had experienced countless scenes of life and death, but he never expected that tonight's battle would be so brutal and cruel, making him unable to bear the sight, sound, or memory of it.

  Yang Jie led his men in pursuit, and along the way, they saw that the National Army's sentries, regardless of their numbers, were brutally killed by the devils. The devils seemed to take pleasure in killing these people, using extremely cruel and terrifying methods. One person was even drained of blood and left to die, with shallow knife wounds on his body, but his major arteries had been precisely severed. That person must have been extremely frightened before he died, literally scared to death.

  The team members watched as the killing methods became increasingly brutal and vicious, some people's hearts grew timid, Yang Jiong saw that some of the team members' faces had turned white, he knew in his heart that these people might not be afraid of death, but the psychological impact brought by this terrifying scene was the hardest to control, it could make these fearless warriors produce subconscious fear emotions deep within their hearts.

  Yang Jie said to Li Ying and Zheng Junguo: "The devils are too cruel, we must speed up, see if we can save a few people, after all, everyone is Chinese soldiers."

  Li Ying naturally understood that Yang Wei was trying to stimulate the morale of the warriors by killing the devils, and inspire their inner courage.

  The whole team no longer stopped to look at the National Army corpses, and soon heard a few people's mournful screams not far in front. That was the sound of human beings' innermost fear, despair, and helpless cries.

  Yang Jiong's body floated away, suddenly disappearing from everyone's sight. His speed was so fast that even Li Ying was shocked, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe him as a ghostly figure.

  When Li Ying Zheng Jun led the team members to arrive, Yang Wei was standing in front of four or five Japanese ronin, laughing wildly. Behind Yang Wei, there were three National Army soldiers, trembling and shivering together. On the ground lay seven or eight National Army corpses, one of which still emitted a low moan. The limbs and bodies were scattered all over the place.

  Yang Jie saw the team members arrive, let out a low growl, and flashed forward. The dagger in his hand was like a brush, with extremely elegant movements that were very clear to the team members. However, for these Japanese ronin who were involved, their hearts skipped a beat as they suddenly realized that their opponent had made a move. By the time they understood what was happening, every part of their faces and bodies that could control strength and support had been severed by Yang Jie's dagger, using the same tactics against them. The dagger only cut shallowly into the flesh, merely severing the tendons. Four or five ronin collapsed to the ground like piles of limp meat.

  Present were Li Ying and others, except for Zheng Jun Guo who saw that Yang Gun relied on a strange footwork to win, everyone else didn't understand, thinking that the Japanese martial arts were nothing special.

  Yang Jie took a deep breath, put away his dagger and said to the team members: "The enemy is cruel and poisonous, but you can't be afraid. Only when you are more ruthless than him can you psychologically defeat the enemy and defeat yourself. When fighting wolves, sometimes you have to let the wolf bite your arm, only then can you fight back even harder. On the battlefield, it's not just about who is braver, but also who is more ferocious, more ruthless and more savage."

  The team members looked at the slender and quiet Yang Jiong, his face was stern, his eyes were extremely majestic, sweeping over everyone's face, as if they could pierce through every person's hypocritical packaging, directly into the heart of each person, seeing clearly the cowardice, baseness, and selfishness in each person's heart.

  But when everything is exposed to the sunlight, with Yang Kang's extremely rich and wild words, what surges up in everyone's heart is no longer fear of the enemy's cruel means, but rather a strong confidence in oneself.

  An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

  The greatest pain in life is not death, but not daring to stand up with dignity in the face of death. When you give up trying, you also give up hope for living.

  Lao Ye Temple is located on a flat land near the top of Lao Ye Mountain, surrounded by dense forests, and the terrain resembles a chair. The temple was built on the "seat" of the chair.

  It's impossible to say that Li Xue Rong doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve. He can control the entire camp with just a small position as a company commander, he must have some extraordinary abilities. Although only an empty shell is left, the more chaotic it is, the more it reveals the controller's ability.

  The day after Shi Fengtian returned to Lao Ye Mountain, Li Xuerong's trusted confidant reported Shi Fengtian's whereabouts and some of his misdeeds.

  He also brought a personal letter from General Fu Zuoyi, the highest authority of the First War Zone. In the letter, General Fu highly praised Li Xueyong for persisting in fighting behind enemy lines and promised that if Li could hold on until the arrival of the special task force sent by Fu, he would personally recommend to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek to appoint Li as a lieutenant general and commander of a division.

  He Jingxiang also discovered Shi Fengtian's misbehavior and timely conspired with Li Xuerong to devise a strategy, a plan to lure the snake out of the cave and muddy the waters was born amidst their laughter. Li Xuerong also wanted to take the opportunity to screen and filter out how many unstable personnel were in his own powerful unified team.

  Shi Fengtian, originally the chief of staff of the garrison, was a cunning and treacherous person with many tricks up his sleeve. He had no intention of secretly carrying out activities, so he didn't avoid Li Xueyong's investigation, even mentioning to Li Xueyong about surrendering to the Japanese in person. However, his strategy was complex, with both real and fake elements. On the surface, he openly advocated for surrendering to Japan, while secretly observing people's different reactions and making different plans for different individuals. For his trusted subordinates, he even tested their loyalty one by one, let alone others. Shi Fengtian wanted to use this troop to build up his own foundation, so that he could negotiate with the Japanese, therefore he used various means to divide and disintegrate these people's anti-Japanese faith, while using bribery, coercion, and other means to win over Li Xueyong's subordinates. Finally, after three months, he established a group of trusted followers, which he believed were reliable, and then notified the head of the Japanese special agency in Beiping, Ono Masao. Ono highly valued this information, on one hand reporting it to Tōjō Hideki, on the other hand sending his deputy Miyamoto to support Shi Fengtian. Because Shi Fengtian's intelligence specifically pointed out that Li Xueyong was very skilled in Chinese martial arts, Ono specially asked his friend Yagyu Munenori, who happened to be staying in Beiping at the time, to bring a few rōnin and twenty or so of Yagyu's trusted disciples and friends to accompany Miyamoto to provide support.

  Shi Fengtian learned that there was a guerrilla activity in Caojia Slope, and immediately ordered someone to urge Li Xuerong to lead his troops to rob him. He knew that Li Xuerong would not lose his life in Caojia Slope, but he wanted to weaken Li Xuerong's power by taking advantage of the situation, and also warn Li Xuerong that his influence was not to be underestimated. This was because a few days ago, Li Xuerong had scolded him in front of everyone, calling him a traitor who sold out his ancestors, a national thief who sold his dignity, and worse than pigs and dogs.

  Li Xue Rong wanted to infuriate Shi Feng Tian, because Li Xue Rong discovered that his own people were not as reliable as he had imagined, and Shi Feng Tian had stirred up the whole water, making it impossible for him to distinguish who was trustworthy.

  Li Xue Rong led the sneak attack on Cao Jia Po, and immediately made a thorough arrangement with He Jing Xiang. They took advantage of the momentum to hold a grand celebration banquet at Lao Ye Miao, planning to give Shi Feng Tian a "Hongmen Banquet". Meanwhile, Shi Feng Tian wanted to take the opportunity to eliminate Li Xue Rong and formally take over the Liu Shou Ying camp.

  Both sides have their swords drawn and bows stretched, each with ulterior motives.

  It was already midnight, and Li Xue Rong found that the people he had arranged were not in position yet. He couldn't help but feel anxious, wanting to slip away to check, but Shi Feng Tian and others were tightly wrapped around him. He gave a secret signal to He Jing Xiang, who understood and left, only to return quietly after a while, whispering to Li Xue Rong: "A Tong is gone, I've arranged for Wang Tie Niu to re-arrange everything, it'll be fine soon."

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, soon Wang Tie Niu led Li Xue Rong's guards fully armed and silently filled the main hall of the old temple. Li Xue Rong saw this and felt a great sense of relief, raised his wine cup and said loudly: "Everyone, please drink up, I'd like to introduce an important friend to you all, come on, come on, cheers!"

  Someone looked at Shi Fengtian, seeing him smiling all over his face, raising his cup to drink, and also raised his cup to laugh loudly. For a moment, the main hall was filled with a noisy sound, but soon it calmed down, after all, these people knew that tonight there would be a thrilling dragon-tiger battle that would decide everyone's fate.

  Li Xuerong's face showed no signs of drunkenness, and he stood up with a dignified demeanor, saying loudly: "Everyone, this gentleman is someone you all know, but perhaps you don't know his true identity." He pointed at He Jingxiang and said: "Mr. He is not just some teacher, he is the special envoy appointed by Chairman Chiang himself to fight against the enemy in the rear, and the secretary-general of the First War Zone Administrative Office. Mr. He's trip deep into enemy territory this time is to let everyone know that our country, our government, and Chairman Chiang have not abandoned you all. Mr. He has come specifically to Lao Ye Mountain to deliver Chairman Chiang's personal letter of appointment. Everyone, please listen as Mr. He reads out the letter of appointment."

  He Jingxiang stood up in his military uniform, took a thick stack of appointment documents from the deputy officer's hand, and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, when I came here, I was summoned by the Chairman of the Committee. The Chairman is very concerned about the scattered National Army generals behind enemy lines. He specially ordered General Fu Zuoyi of the First War Zone to form a special operations team to rescue the scattered generals and reward those who can persist in fighting behind enemy lines. Now I will read out the appointment documents."

  He finished speaking and glanced at the National Army officers around him, seeing that everyone was indeed looking up at him. In his heart, he secretly thought: "The military is in a precarious situation, success or failure depends on this one move."

  "Firstly, Shi Fengtian, the Chief Advisor," he said, glancing at Shi Fengtian, and laughter echoed from the crowd.

  According to procedure, Shi Fengtian should loudly say "Yes!" and take a step forward. Then, He Jingxiang would read out the letter of appointment, after which Shi Fengtian would go up to receive his letter of appointment, military uniform and other items.

  But Shi Fengtian just sneered and said, "Is it going to be a lieutenant general's military rank for someone named Shi?" This sentence didn't mean anything to others, as most people who received the title already knew about their own affairs. However, Li Xuerong and He Jinxing were shocked because there was a conspiracy involved - that is, when Shi Fengtian went forward to receive his appointment certificate, He Jinxing's personal bodyguard, Hu Yi, would seize him. Catch the king first, then the bandits; as long as they could capture Shi Fengtian, the others would be easy to deal with.

  So the two of them had not previously leaked out that Shi Fengtian was going to be rewarded, and now hearing Shi Fengtian say it, they were shocked in their hearts, knowing that someone had leaked the secret. They couldn't help but glance at each other, and He Jingxiang quietly made a gesture to Hu Yi, indicating for him to be careful in his response.

  "Let's not mention that it was you, Secretary Li, who forged the sacred edict during your long vacation. Even if Chairman Chiang really issued an appointment letter, I, Shi Fengtian, wouldn't care. Chairman Chiang is now far away in Chongqing, but the Japanese are more practical and beneficial to us right here. Can Chairman Chiang provide us with rice to eat? Clothes to wear? Financial support? No! The Japanese can! Brothers, we can't just sit back and starve to death or freeze to death. I've figured it out over these many days - your lives are not even as good as those of the Eighth Route Army guerrilla troops led by General South. We're guarding our rice bowls but going hungry - why? Isn't it because Li and the secretary are waiting for Chairman Chiang's rescue day and night? Give up on that idea! Nanjing has fallen, Wuhan is surrounded by the Japanese, and the National Government has fled to Chongqing. Brothers, let's speak frankly - if you're willing to follow me, Shi Fengtian, in surrendering to Japan, I'll ensure you have meat to eat, wine to drink, and women to play with. If you want to stay with Li, I won't force you - leave now and go as far as you can. Otherwise, when the Japanese arrive soon, you won't be able to escape. Shi Fengtian is also Chinese and doesn't want to see brothers die in vain."

  Shi Fengtian's words immediately caused a stir in the hall, with many people looking out the door as if the Japanese were outside. Some people approached Shi Fengtian and stood behind him, while more people looked at Li Xuerong, who remained calm and stepped forward, saying loudly: "My fellow brothers from the mountains are all national soldiers who have fought against the Japanese with swords drawn, how can you, Shi Fengtian, betray your country just because of a few words? Who doesn't know that the Japanese have killed our brothers, sisters, and stolen our property on our Chinese land? The atrocities committed by the Japanese, who among us hasn't seen them? Do you want to follow Shi Fengtian and become accomplices to the Japanese invasion of China, and be the executioners who harm our parents and siblings? Can that be done?"

  These two sentences made people's blood boil, and many in the hall exclaimed: "No way!"

  "To die of hunger is a small matter, but to lose one's integrity is a serious matter. Our difficulties are temporary, how can we betray our ancestors and the country because of this little difficulty?"

  Shi Fengtian burst out laughing and said sarcastically, "What a magnificent speech! What a great 'dying of hunger is a small matter, losing one's integrity is a big matter'! I'd like to ask Commander Li, who was it that knelt down in the secret room in front of Secretary He, swearing an oath saying 'even if half of our brothers starve to death, we must wait for General Fu's reinforcements to arrive, and at that time, you promised us a lieutenant general rank, don't go back on your word.' Using the lives of half of our brothers to exchange for a fake lieutenant general rank, I, Shi, may be lowly, but I wouldn't stoop to that."

  Li Xue Rong burst out laughing: "Are you Shi Mou Ren's words worth listening to? Who doesn't know that you're best at spouting blood and turning black into white?" As he spoke, he took a few steps forward. "We brothers who fought in the same trench against the devils, how can we follow your words and surrender to the devils?"

  As he spoke, his body suddenly rushed to the front of Shi Fengtian, grabbed the collar of his shirt with one hand, and pressed the muzzle of the gun against Shi Fengtian's head with the other. He said viciously: "You dare to spout nonsense again, I won't hesitate to use these few bullets. You dog traitor, if it weren't for waiting for General Fu's orders, I would have blown your brains out long ago."

  Shi Fengtian didn't show any anxiety or fear, and calmly said to Li Xuerong: "Kid, you're not a match for Shi Dage. Don't you think about it, does that thing in your hand have bullets?" As he spoke, he gently took Li Xuerong's hand away. "And I'll tell you another unfortunate piece of news, your beloved Cuihua madam has eloped with someone, and probably has already escaped from Lao Ye Mountain, who knows? You two are a gift given to me by them."

  Li Xue Rong's head buzzed as soon as he heard, and subconsciously pulled the trigger repeatedly. As expected, there were no bullets in the gun. He loudly cursed: "Stone surname, you're so ruthless, you're really ruthless. I'm going to fight you to the death." Saying that, he lifted his leg and kicked towards Shi Fengtian's crotch.

  This kick is called a Yin Leg, if it hits, Shi Fengtian will not only be childless, but also spend the rest of his life in bed. Shi Fengtian was completely unprepared for Li Xuerong's sudden attack, he was gloating over Li Xuerong's loss of his wife and soldiers, when suddenly Li Xuerong's face twisted into a fierce smile, and he remembered Li Xuerong's martial arts skills, his heart skipped a beat, and saw that Li Xuerong's leg had already flown up.

  It was too late to speak, and before he knew it, Shi Feng's hand suddenly stretched out from behind his back and lightly pushed Li Xue Rong's leg, effortlessly dissolving his attack.

  Li Xue Rong stared and shouted: "Xiao Hu Zi, what are you doing!" The one who had blocked Shi Feng Tian's attack was Li Xue Rong's younger brother, Li Xue Hu.

  Li Xuehu was tall and large in stature, with a dark complexion and an extremely loud voice, the whole Zhang Fei-style character. He said in a deep and sonorous tone: "Brother, I think you're infatuated with Hua's surname, no matter how good he says it is, it can't be eaten as rice, brothers haven't had a meal for several days, where is his rescue? It's still better to listen to Shi Canmo's words, 'where there's milk, there's mother', we can't just wait for death with our eyes open. Brothers who are willing to follow Shi Canmo come over."

  About half of the people walked away, leaving seven or eight still standing behind Li Xuerong. Li Xuerong shouted loudly: "Wang Tienniu, have these traitorous bastards shot!"