Chapter 5: The Battle of Xiao Zhou Village

  "No need to try it out, Li Baoguo has already used it to knock down several big trees. Look, that's the house we built."

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, a delicate small wooden house appeared in Yang's line of sight, completely Western-style all-wood structure, even on this beautiful vast grassland, it was as if he had arrived at a scenic spot in Western Europe.

  "How many days was I unconscious? You've actually built a house." Yang Jiong asked in surprise.

  "Three days." Gao Junping replied, "We've been awake for three days already. Li Baoguo originally wanted to set up a simple tent, but this small sword is too sharp, using it to repair this house is like playing."

  Yang Jie smiled and walked towards the house, only to find out that it was actually a villa. "Because they are not familiar with the situation, Captain Li takes you out to pick wild vegetables every day, they went out to gather information today, I'm going hunting."

  Yang Jie never thought he would become a burden, Li Ying carried a large bag of wild vegetables and followed behind, "In the future we can apply to make this place our secret base, what a great environment."

  "Designed by Nan for Ren, and crafted by Li Baoguo, how is it?" Gao Junping was extremely satisfied with the villa. "That small sword is really too formidable, cutting through such a thick wooden log in one go, even faster than an electric saw."

  Yang Jiong carefully observed that there was not a single iron object in the entire house, everything was made of wood. "Nan Wei Ren, is he studying architecture?"

  "Not him. His greatest wish is to have a house like this." Li Ying replied, "This guy really has taste."

  Yang Jie opened the window and secretly made up his mind. This time back, he must satisfy the wishes of these good brothers. "What are your wishes?"

  "Quickly suggest it to Captain Gao Junping, he will definitely agree with you at this moment. He is a big rich man and can definitely satisfy all your requirements."

  Li Yingtao understood Yang Guang, knowing what he was thinking in his heart. Yang Guang took a look at Li Ying and secretly admired her cleverness.

  Gao Junping had heard about Yang Jiong's huge prize, but he didn't believe it, especially after seeing how frail and weak Yang Jiong looked. After Li Ying said something, he half believed it and took a glance at Yang Jiong.

  Suddenly, a faint gunshot sound came. The three people looked at each other and quickly rushed out of the house, the gunshot was coming from the woods on the left.

  After Yang Jiong and the others arrived at the forest, Li Baoguo and Nan Weiren were hiding behind a rock looking down at the mountain. Seeing Yang Jiong coming, they exclaimed in surprise and delight: "Captain, you're okay?"

  Yang Jie nodded, "What's up?"

  "I don't know. We've been walking in the mountains for several days and haven't met anyone, can't figure out which direction we're going, and can't contact the outside world either." Li Baoguo violently put away his mobile phone.

  Another gunshot rang out. "Check ammunition, prepare for battle." Yang Jiong ordered simply.

  It wasn't until this inspection that they realized all the various weapons they were equipped with had disappeared. Before Li Ying returned to chase after Yang Wei, he and the other members of the team had taken a set of special forces uniforms, bulletproof vests, two handguns, seven magazines, daggers, and other equipment.

  Yang Jie: 92-style 5.8mm pistol, five magazines, a practical utility pistol with two magazines gifted by Germany, special bulletproof vest, Swiss military knife, US Special Forces' exclusive M9 multi-functional dagger, blow dart set, this is his habit. There's also a Tiger Tooth combat knife, a personal collection of Major Valiff from the US, only dozens of which exist in the US Special Forces.

  Li Baoguo: 92-style 5.8mm pistol, three magazines, a set of blow darts, two daggers.

  Gao Junping: 92-style 5.8mm pistol, five magazines, a set of blow darts, and a dagger.

  Nan Wei: Type 92 5.8mm pistol, three magazines, a dagger, a blowpipe set, and a compact sniper scope. That was what he used to observe the outside situation at that time.

  Weapons are not the most important factor; the human factor is. Yang Jwing pointed this out in the beginning of the chapter on weapons in "The Canon".

  Yang Jie made a gesture, and the other four people quickly hid around Yang Jie. A mountain man-like man on the mountain path was running up the mountain in a panic, looking back while carrying a long gun. More than a dozen military-style men were shouting and chasing after him from far behind.

  Yang Jie whispered to Li and Gao: "Take him alive." Li and Gao quickly moved forward, stealthily approaching the man.

  "Captain, it seems like they're filming a movie. Take a look." Nan Wei Ren handed the scope to Yang Gong.

  Yang Jie took over the sight, and saw in the lens a dozen or so people wearing Japanese military uniforms that he had only seen in movies, shouting and chasing after him. There was no sign of the Red Cross flag, nor were there any film crew members in sight.

  Li Ying had been keeping an eye on the mountain path, and she only felt a flash before her eyes, and there was no one left on the mountain path. Li Baoguo had already captured that mountain villager.

  When the man was brought before Yang Jue, he did not appear to be frightened, but rather seemed pleased. Before Yang Jue could speak, he said: "Gentlemen, I have come to join your ranks and kill the devil's son."

  Everyone was stunned, "Neurosis?!" Although they thought so in their hearts, Yang Wei had never said anything.

  "Kill devils?" Yang Jiong was also confused when he heard it, "What devils to kill, what era is this that we're still killing devils!"

  "What year is it?" The man thought for a moment, "It's the 27th year of the Republic, today is April 8th, the day of the market in Kangjia Town."

  "It's 1928!" Several people were stunned. "The Republic of China in the twenty-seventh year is 1938!" Li Ying shouted, "We've gone back to the past?!"

  That man looked at several people in surprise and thought: "These few are not mountain bandits, why do they speak strangely?"

  Yang Jie carefully examined the man in front of her, and made a gesture to Li Ying, who understood that she was being asked to use hypnosis. She leaned over and said: "You must be very tired from being so tense, right?" Her tone was as warm as the spring sun, making one's whole body feel soft and lazy, drowsy. "No need to be so tense, you're safe now, can rest for a while, yes, close your eyes and take a good nap." The voice seemed to come from within the man himself.

  Yang Jie saw that the man's eyes quickly became empty and knew that Li Ying had succeeded. He asked: "Why did you kill the devils?"

  The man's body shook, somewhat excited, wanting to stand up, his hands clenched tightly. Li Ying did not expect this question to make him so excited, and hurriedly repeated it, "Don't worry, think carefully, say it out loud and we'll all help you kill the ghost."

  The man slowly calmed down, "We lived well on the south mountain, I hunted, she farmed, and our child was clever. That day, when I returned from hunting, my wife and daughter were raped by Japanese devils... they died... they died. At that time, I was stunned, I had known that the Japanese devils had arrived in Kangjia Town, but I thought we were deep in the mountains and hadn't provoked them, what did we have to fear? Those damned Japanese..."

  "How did you kill Guizi?" Li Ying heard it, although he knew it was history, but he gritted his teeth in anger.

  "I hid in a mountain cave in Kangjia Town for three days and three nights, until finally three devils went out to wreak havoc on Huailin House, and I killed them one by one."

  At this time, Li Baoguo sent a secret message, the enemy is coming. Yang Gong led several people to Li Baoguo's side, "How many devils are there in total?"

  Nan said: "There are twenty in total."

  Yang Jie took a glance at the relatively open terrain ahead and said, "Li Ying, left rear, three; Nan Wei, right rear, three; Li Baoguo, left, four; Gao Junping, right, three. The rest are mine, I'll make the first move. Be careful not to use guns! Action!"

  Nan looked at Yang Jue with a skeptical gaze, somewhat hesitant; Li Baoguo directly asked: "Captain, are you okay?"

  "If you have time, kill a few more devils." Yang said calmly.

  Li Ying said to Nan Er, "Let's go, Captain assigns tasks based on the time it takes to kill."

  This shocked Nan Ren even more - how could the captain kill seven devils in the same amount of time it took him to kill three?

  The facts soon convinced Nan Zhiren.

  When the devils who were chasing entered the ambush circle of the special warfare group, Yang Jiong suddenly jumped out from behind the stone, with a dagger and a blowpipe, one hit and three people fell to the ground instantly. Yang Jiong's moves were simple and ruthless, one hit to defeat the enemy, without any room for mercy. After killing the three people in front of him, he rushed into the middle of several devils behind, punching and kicking, and knocked them down in the blink of an eye. In fact, Yang Jiong had killed nine devils. This made Li Ying Gao Jun very dissatisfied, as they had clearly agreed that each person would kill their own share.

  But Li Baoguo, who had never seen Yang Guang take action before, and the other three people re-recognized their captain. Li Baoguo was secretly happy for a long time - fortunately, he didn't challenge the captain, otherwise, it would have been very ugly to die.

  Gao Junping suddenly thought of what Yang Wei had asked him about his wish in the villa earlier, and smiled as he leaned in close to Yang Wei, "Captain, my greatest wish is ---"

  Yang Jiong smiled sweetly at Nan Wei: "My greatest wish is to hurry back!"

  Gao Junping was stunned for a moment, and then smiled silently.

  "Sweep the battlefield, carry out the three alls!" Yang Jiong took a look at the Japanese devils who had fallen to the ground, and felt a bit unreal in front of him.

  Twenty Type 38 rifles, sixty bullets were found on each devil's body, and four hand grenades were found on each devil. A lieutenant had a pistol with four magazines. One combat knife.

  Four hundred and fifty silver dollars, this is the hard currency of that era. A gold bar was found on the body of the officer, along with several pieces of gold and silver jewelry.

  A woman's photo, elegant and charming, standing under a tree full of cherry blossoms.

  From hat to boots, everything was stripped and taken away. The corpse was thrown into a deep ravine.

  "Captain, what should we do?" Li Baoguo's body was covered with spoils of war, but he had no joy. He was originally going to get married on National Day.

  "Let's talk about it back at the villa." Yang Xiang was also confused in his heart. Liu Qingqing had originally asked him to meet her parents, although they already knew about their relationship, but the formalities still needed to be followed. This was exactly what Yang Xiang wanted to tell Li Ying.

  But now transcending time and space.

  Everyone except Li Ying had a heart full of worries. As long as Yang Wei was there, Li Ying wasn't afraid even if the sky fell down. Her old father, Li Shang, was her only concern, but with Yang Wei around, he would definitely have a way to handle it. Due to her extreme trust in Yang Wei, Li Ying didn't worry at all.

  Back at the villa, Yang Jie sat among everyone, it was still his first time formally hosting a meeting: "First consider this question: how did we come to this era."

  "It was a ball of lightning." Gao Junping still has some vague memories of the situation at that time because he was standing inside.

  "It's the captain's small sword." Li Baoguo was very interested in Yang Wei's small sword, and he was certain that the white line was now a small sword.

  "Time-space variation requires energy, and through the time-space tunnel, even more energy is needed to protect it," Nan Weiren was originally a top-notch physics student with some understanding of time-space energy. "If this little sword really has energy, then it should be that it brought us to this time-space during the Big Bang."

  "Your meaning is that in order to go back, both conditions must be met?" Yang Xiao's heart was preoccupied with how to return, and he asked.

  "Time-space variation is still in the theoretical stage, and it's impossible to gather so much energy through artificial means. We can only wait for the next coincidence."

  Everyone fell silent at once. Nan Wei Ren's analysis made some sense, and it actually cut off the last hope in everyone's heart. "What should we do?" Li Ying asked.

  "It's come to this, what can we do, fight the devils." This was what everyone thought in their hearts, but they all looked at Yang Jiong, waiting for his decision.

  "Beat the devils," said Yang Jie. "First, we need to find an identity for ourselves that is both red and expert, and also has a reasonable explanation."

  "All we need is to give you an identity, and it's fine if we all pretend to be the ones who took you in," said Li Ying. "I remember during the Jinggang Mountains period, there was a bodyguard surnamed Yang beside Chairman Mao, who fought bravely in battles and later got injured during the Long March, staying behind in Jiangnan. Which one of you knows his name? I think you can impersonate him."

  "Yang Shijie, is that right?" Yang Wei was taken aback, how could he have forgotten this matter. Yang Shijie was Yang Wei's uncle, who went to the revolution at the age of 17 and later received news that he had become a bodyguard for Chairman Mao. Yang Wei estimated it was very likely, because his uncle's martial arts skills were well-known at the time, and joining the revolution was just being mobilized to go.

  "Yes, it's Yang Shijie. Because his name is similar to yours and he's also from Jiangsu Province, I even looked up his information at the time, but unfortunately, there wasn't much useful stuff." Li Ying said regretfully.

  "It's all right, he is my uncle." Yang Xiu said with a smile.

  "Really?!" Everyone was overjoyed, this was also too coincidental. But also very proud, able to pull off a connection with Chairman Mao.

  Everyone studied their respective identities again, considering all kinds of situations as thoroughly as possible. Yang Jiong sighed softly and got up to walk to the window, in front of him was a picturesque landscape, how could it tolerate the Japanese pirates' arrogance.

  "Is he awake?" Yang Jiong asked. It turned out that the mountain man had been in a semi-comatose state since being hypnotized by Li Ying.

  "I'll go wake him up," said Li Ying, walking out. Before long, Li Ying brought the man in, and it was clear that he had told him something, as his attitude towards Yang Jue was extremely respectful.

  Yang Jie saw that he was a bit nervous and smiled: "Don't be tense, we are the Eighth Route Army, specializing in fighting against the devils. What's your name?"

  "Comrade, I'm Zhou Deqin. Can I fight the devils with you?" Zhou Deqin asked cautiously.

  "Of course, we are going to mobilize the people to fight against the devils. Such a beautiful landscape, how can it be ruined by those little devils? You are our first team member, from now on you will call me Captain, just like them." Yang said warmly, pointing at Li Baoguo, "From now on, you will follow him and learn from him, he will teach you how to fight against the devils. Make sure to learn well, his skills are impressive."

  "Yes! Captain." Zhou Deqin said happily.

  "Tell everyone about the situation here." Yang Wei invited others to come and sit down.

  "This place is located in the northeast corner of Wei County, to the north are Zhuolu and Shacheng, to the east is the border of Beiping, to the south is Laiyuan, and to the west is the border of Shanxi's Guangling and Datong. All around are mountains..." He was about to continue when he was interrupted by Yang Jue, because he was very familiar with the data on Wei County.

  "Tell me about the situation with the devils here." Yang Wei hinted.

  "Devils," Zhou Dekun scratched his head, he only knew that there were devils in Kangjia Town, and nothing else. Yang Xiong saw him being evasive and knew he wasn't clear about the situation. Smiling, he said: "No big deal, first lead us to Kangjia Town to take a look at the situation."

  "Going to Kangjia Town?" Zhou Deqin's face changed color, he was really afraid of being caught by the devils.

  Li Baoguo smiled and said: "We've killed twenty devils and aren't afraid, what are you afraid of?"

  "Did you really kill all the devils who were chasing me?" Zhou Deqin asked incredulously. When he killed those three devils, it was all by sneak attack, and he almost got hurt by one of them.

  "So, you must study hard and learn how to kill ghosts. This is knowledge." Yang Cong said with a hint of persuasion.

  "Change into your uniforms, gather your weapons, and get ready to depart!" Yang Jiong commanded.

  A few people picked up the devils' military uniforms and found that these devils' military uniforms were all a bit short, especially Li Baoguo, a big man of 1.8 meters, who simply didn't have suitable clothes.

  Yang Jie had no choice but to let them burn their special warfare uniforms, wear casual clothes, bury their long guns and clothes, and under Zhou Deqin's leadership, they left the villa where they had been staying for several days.

  This is a mountain path, if there was no hunter like Zhou Deqin to lead the way, I'm afraid several people would really get lost in the vast mountains, the scenery around is almost the same, all are trees, stones and occasional flowers.

  It was already four o'clock in the afternoon, Yang Jie followed behind Zhou Deqin and asked, "How much further?" as he gazed at the winding road that stretched out endlessly before them.

  Zhou Dekun stopped and pointed to a fork in the road, saying: "This way leads to Xiao Zhou Zhuang, seven miles away. After crossing this mountain, you'll arrive; it's still twenty miles to Kang Jia Zhen, I reckon we can make it before dark. Why don't we rest at Xiao Zhou Zhuang first? My home is just there."

  "Still twenty miles to go!" Li Baoguo raised his face and let out a long sigh, "Isn't your home in South Mountain? Aren't you hunting alone?"

  "My hometown is small Zhou Zhuang, I have relatives there. We can take a break and then continue." Zhou Deqin said with a smile, looking at Yang waiting for his decision.

  "Someone's coming!" Yang and Li Baoguo said in a low voice almost simultaneously. Li Baoguo quickly pulled Zhou Dekun down, crouching in the roadside bushes, and whispered in his ear: "From now on, you'll follow me, be smart. One is coming."

  Zhou Dekun only then heard the urgent but nimble footsteps coming from the road leading to Xiao Zhou Village, looked up and didn't see Captain and the others, couldn't help but think of looking around everywhere, was pressed down heavily on the head by Li Baoguo, "Don't move!"

  Zhou Dekun looked through the gap between the grass roots and found that it was his own cousin Zhou Detree, who had come to Li Baoguo and whispered: "It's my cousin." Just as he was about to stand up, a hand pressed down on him like a mountain, and Yang Jie's voice came from beside his ear: "Take another look."

  Zhou Deqin never thought that the seemingly gentle and weak captain would have such great strength. He only felt that Li Baoguo quietly retreated, and soon appeared behind Zhou Detree, shaking his hand in this direction.

  Zhou Detree walked hastily over, completely unaware that someone was peeping at him from beside.

  Yang Jie said in a low voice: "You go out and ask him what he's doing. He seems to be in a hurry, don't expose me."

  Zhou Deqin understood that these five people were indeed capable of killing those twenty devils. He stood up and waited for Zhou Detu to come over: "Detu."

  Zhou Detu was overjoyed to see Zhou Dekin, and he grabbed his hand excitedly: "Brother, it's great to run into you! Now the village is saved. Brother, you often go hunting, do you know where the bandits are?"

  Zhou Deqin was taken aback and asked: "What are you looking for with the bandits? Do you want to be a bandit?"

  Zhou Detree almost cried out: "Brother, it's very urgent, the village has been surrounded by devils. I came back from picking herbs and happened to run into them. I didn't dare enter the village. I thought that only bandits had guns, after all we're all Chinese people, at most they'll ask for some things, saving lives is what matters."

  Zhou Deqin was stunned, he knew the cruelty of the devils, in Bajia Gou village, hundreds of people were harmed by the devils, men were stabbed to death, women were taken to the military camp to be ravaged by the devils, even children were killed, it's said that they were bitten to death by dogs, a terrible sight.

  "How many devils are there?" It was Yang Guang's voice, they were standing right next to Yang Guang, and as he spoke, he stood up and waved his hands around, the others emerging from different places.

  Li Baoguo and Gao Junping were on high alert, one in front of the other, while Nan Weiren and Li Ying stood behind Yang Ke. Their positions were strictly regulated. In combat, they had to be constantly vigilant, protecting the life of their superior officer being the top priority.

  Zhou Deqin, as soon as he saw Yang Wei, felt a sense of reliance in his heart, and hastily introduced him to his brothers: "This is the captain of our guerrilla team. Whatever situation you have, you can tell him. The guerrilla team is specialized in fighting against the devils."

  "Are guerrillas bandits? Do they have guns?"

  Yang Jie stopped Zhou Deqin from scolding Zhou Dexu and smiled: "The guerrilla team is the Eighth Route Army, they have guns. How many devils have you caught in your village? Have you gathered all the people together?"

  "There were about 150 people or so, when I arrived the devils had just entered the village, and it seemed like they hadn't yet."

  "Li Baoguo, Gao Junping," Yang Jiong ordered, "Advance twenty meters to scout ahead and wipe out the enemy's outer sentry."

  Zhou Detree and Zhou Dekin, two brothers, walked quickly ahead, leading the way for the two.

  The devils did not gather people together like in the movies, add machine guns and give speeches. At this time, the devils were purely for looting and venting.

  Li Baoguo and Gao Junping were hiding at the entrance of the village, unable to do anything about the sentry standing by the road, because there was a very open stretch of road ahead that made it impossible to advance stealthily. They also didn't dare disguise themselves as villagers, because the Japanese sentries might shoot without asking questions. Gunshots could be heard from time to time within the village.

  Yang Jiong then came up, raised his hand and fired two shots. The pistol was at a distance of fifty meters, and even Lian Nan felt uncertain about hitting the target. But Yang Jiong walked forward without hesitation, not considering whether he could hit the target or not.

  Walking up to him, Nan Erren gave Li Baoguo a thumbs-up, and both guns hit him right between the eyebrows.