Chapter 2 The Old Man is Trapped

  Everything is inferior, only reading is superior. The common people have great respect for scholars. Old Master Chen even had a separate study built in the private school especially for Mr. Lin, where he could rest and relax after teaching.

  Zhang Baoquan, Zhang Fucheng rushed from Xinyizhen west of Liaoyang to see Old Master Chen, but neither the old master nor Liu Guan was at home. He slipped into the private school next door and chatted with Mr. Lin, sitting in the study drinking tea while waiting for the old master to return.

  Chen An ran in with a smile, shouting loudly, "Zhang Ergou, Zhang Ergou, haha, do you have any gifts for me this time?"

  Zhang Ergou burst out laughing, "How could I forget Young Master An? Here, this is a brand new model that just arrived." A shiny new revolver was handed to Chen An.

  "This revolver is quite strange, how can a left-handed one have a fixed magazine style, and it's a seven-shot capacity?" Chen Anai asked curiously while playing with the newly acquired left-handed revolver.

  He pulled out a bullet and Zhang Ergou explained with a smile, "This is the 7.62mm Nagant revolver equipped by the Russians, and the matching bullets are also special, called buried head bullets, the entire bullet head is wrapped in a cartridge."

  He picked up the rifle again and examined it carefully for a while. Chen An was puzzled, "Why is it designed like this? The magazine is fixed, how can you load bullets?"

  Just as Zhang Ergou was about to explain in detail, Mr. Lin, who had just finished telling the children the Three Character Classic, walked into the study, waved his hand and smiled, saying, "Fu Chen, An Er, this is a place for teaching and resolving doubts, why are you fighting? Go to the martial arts arena."

  Chen An hastily stood up and paid his respects, then grabbed Zhang Erge and rushed to the martial arts arena on the north side of the village. The arena was very spacious, with an additional archery range attached to it.

  Zhang Ergou took over the Nagant revolver, loaded bullets one by one from the cartridge hole on one side of the magazine, and then gestured to Chen An to try it out.

  With a single shot of seven bullets, Chen An shook his wrist holding the gun and said with ill intentions, "Seven bullets are enough to make an enemy unprepared, making them think you've run out of bullets when in fact there's still one left. How sinister, I like it. It's just too much trouble to reload."

  Zhang Ergou smiled and said, "I reckon the Russians have this idea too. Also, the Nagant revolver uses a fixed cylinder and headless cartridges, its power is slightly greater than other revolvers. However, the Nagant revolver is still a revolver, its power is still too small, unless it hits a vital spot, otherwise three or four shots are not enough to kill a person."

  He loaded seven more bullets and, with some interest, shot again before asking, "Zhang Ergou, what brings you to Chenjiazhuang this time?"

  Zhang Ergou suddenly slapped his forehead, "Oh, I was so busy sending things to you that I forgot about the main thing."

  "This isn't a fight between Russians and Japanese, the imperial court has abandoned Liaodong, it's chaotic with soldiers and horses everywhere, it's really too dangerous. Big brother sent me to invite Old Master Chen and you all to stay in Xinmin for a few days." Zhang Ergou quickly explained his intention.

  Zhang You Ting, the elder brother of Zhang Fu Chen, is now a battalion commander in Xinmin's patrol camp, with more than 300 cavalry and infantry officers under his command, making him a relatively powerful force. Before Zhang You Ting made a name for himself, he wandered around looking for food to eat, and was once an accountant at Da Shi Bridge, but was framed by someone and almost lost his life. Fortunately, Old Man Chen lent a helping hand, and he narrowly escaped with his life. Later, Zhang You Ting simply became a bandit, but soon sensed the situation and accepted the imperial court's amnesty, finally becoming a figure of note. Zhang Fu Chen and others are all his sworn brothers.

  Zhang Yuting is very mindful of old favors and has a good relationship with the Chen family. He often visits Old Man Chen, bringing gifts for Chen An. Zhang Erge has accompanied his brother several times and is naturally familiar with Chen An and others.

  Chen An nodded after listening to Zhang Ergou's words, "This needs to wait for the old man to come back. I hunted a lot of game today, let's have a good gathering."

  At this moment, a fast horse rushed into the Zhuangzi and greeted the Chen's house guard before turning around and rushing directly to the martial arts arena.

  As soon as he entered the martial arts arena, Zhuang Ding Zhao Si jumped off his horse and rushed to Chen An and Zhang Erge, who were somewhat stunned, and said anxiously, "Young master, the old masters have been captured by the Russians!"

  Chen An was shocked and pale, and he immediately wanted to grab Zhao Si for questioning. Zhang Ergei quickly intercepted Chen An and asked in a low voice, "Slow down, don't be in a hurry, what's going on?"

  "The old master led the merchant team on the official road, but was captured by Russian troops halfway along with all their goods. The Russians came in hundreds, surrounding them with guns, and the old master's group didn't dare to move, so they gave up resistance. I had diarrhea, fell behind, and when I caught up later, I found something was wrong, so I hid directly." Zhao Si, already exhausted, stopped to catch his breath. Chen An and the others waited patiently, not urging him on.

  Zhao Si continued, "I fell behind them and followed all the way to the Russian defense line. It turned out that the Russians were arresting people everywhere to use as laborers to build defensive fortifications. Lao Yezi and Liu Guan Jia are temporarily fine. I took a shortcut back to report the news."

  "Where is it?"

  "About one mile south of Dashiqiao Bridge, there are also construction works on both sides, which is very long." Zhao Si replied.

  After hearing this, Chen An's face was overcast with a mixture of emotions.

  Zhang Ergou turned around a few times, then said, "An Shao, I'll go to Liaoyang right now and use Big Brother's name to ask the authorities of Liaoyang Prefecture to send someone to retrieve the people. There's no time to lose, I won't eat dinner, I'm leaving immediately."

  Chen An nodded heavily and made a fist in gratitude. "Thanks, Zhang Ergou. Tiger, quickly prepare some dry rations for Zhang Ergou and the others."

  Zhang Ergou retorted with a blunt sentence and directly called his entourage to follow Hu Zi as they set off.

  Chen An pulled Zhao Si back to report the news and rushed back to Chen's house. Soon, Mr. Lin, Liu Shi who was nursing his wounds, and Lin Yushan were also summoned to the front hall of Chen's house.

  After finishing the message, Chen An's face turned gloomy. "The Russians are the most shameless, no one knows what will happen, and the merchant team has dozens of people who are also the main guards of the Zhuangzi, it's easy to have accidents at night, we must rescue them as soon as possible."

  "The stone was injured, and it was sitting in the village, summoning the group to practice, issuing guns and ammunition, and being on guard. Yushan took two people with him, carrying some gold bars, and detoured from the north into Haicheng, looking for Lieutenant Yevich to ask Colonel Yudenich to come out and rescue them, abandoning all goods. I brought two people directly to the Russian camp at Dashiqiao Bridge, taking a sneak peek. Mr. Lin, what do you think?" Chen An quickly spoke his mind, looking at everyone's opinions.

  Mr. Lin shook his head, "I'm just a scholar, I don't understand these things, you handle it. However, you go to Haicheng and let Yushan check Dashiqiao."

  "Chen An hastily explained, 'As for sneaky things, Yushan is not as good as me, so it's better if I go, that's settled.' Immediately, Chen An shifted his gaze to Liu Shi. Liu Shi nodded and did not speak out in opposition."

  Turning his head to look at Zhao Si, Chen An patted his shoulder, "Eat dry rations on the road, and follow me again to Da Shi Bridge, can you digest it?"

  The man who had just gulped down a large bowl of water nodded and said only two words, "Alright, let's go."

  Several people immediately went their separate ways.

  Chen An loaded the newly acquired Nagant revolver with bullets, not expecting to use it so soon. After sending off Zhang Ergou's Tiger, he quickly returned and met up with Chen An. Tiger brought back a new Japanese-style revolver, and the other three were just enough for Yushan and others to carry for self-defense, but there weren't many matching bullets.

  Chen An's face was not good after going to the密室, he regretted making rifle bullets today, as a result, he used up the daily quota of the portable box, otherwise, he could have temporarily scanned and manufactured a few revolvers and bullets.

  Chenjiazhuang quickly rang the large bronze bell in the center of the village, and the reverberating bell sound quickly spread to the distant corners of the mountainous area. The people of Chenjiazhuang, as long as they heard the bell sound, knew that a major incident had occurred, those outside the village must hurry back to the village, and the team members inside the village need to immediately assemble for patrol. There were not enough team members to guard the village, so everyone needs to return to defend the village.

  When Chen An and Hu Zi, Zhao Si were eating pancakes and riding horses to leave the village, the guards at the entrance of the village had already held guns and set up sentry posts.

  Dashi Bridge Russian army frontline.

  Chen An and Zhao Si quietly lay in the thick thorny bushes, while Hu Zi kept watch over the horses in the woods behind.

  Zhao Si pointed with his hand to the left front, and said in a low voice, "I saw Master and others being taken there, Russians gathered many broken hoes and shovels from somewhere, using whips to force them to dig soil."

  Chen An nodded, took out a pair of binoculars from the Japanese leather bag he had picked up, and carefully searched. A very long battle line, a large number of Chinese people were captured by the Russians, many of them were in tattered clothes, even covered in scars, being forced to repair fortifications under the threat of rifles and bayonets.

  Soon, Chen An saw the old men mixed in the crowd, working on the construction site with a shovel, several foremen standing by, glaring fiercely, occasionally waving their whips and scolding loudly, and people were constantly being flogged.

  A laborer who was really unable to move was beaten with several lashes and suddenly fell to one side, never getting up again. A Russian soldier next to him sneered and went over, using a rifle with a fixed bayonet to stab him directly, causing blood to splatter high into the air.

  Chen An suddenly burst into anger, damn it, those Russians, damn it all.

  Suddenly, a shot in the telescope caught Chen An's attention. Several Russian soldiers were carrying some parts and quickly walked into a repaired circular fortification. A moment later, these Russian soldiers assembled a cylindrical instrument with a triangular bracket support, with a short pipe similar to a gun barrel at the front end, directly aiming forward. Another Russian soldier came over and fiddled around, and a long strap was installed in the rear section.

  What's with the big gun? But it's impossible for a big gun to have a muzzle as small as a rifle. And there aren't any artillery emplacements set up that far forward either. What's with the strap too? Chen An was baffled, but he quickly committed the appearance and location to memory. Suddenly, a vague idea popped into Chen An's mind - this thing was definitely a deadly weapon, and he had to be extremely careful.

  Chen An and Zhao Si quietly retreated, firmly remembering the terrain around them.

  Deep in the woods, three horses with bridles were tied under a big tree. Seeing Chen An and others returning, Hu Zi slipped down from another side of the tree silently, "Young master, how was it?"

  Chen An closed the safety on the revolver in his hand and said with a calm face, "Go back and tell them that I have seen Master and the others."