Chapter 44: The Gold Mine Recruits Soldiers

  Under the brilliant morning sun, a team, facing the biting cold wind, along the winding highway, on the endless snowy plain, rapidly marched.

  The first one was a burly man, carrying a heavy machine gun on his back, with a large backpack and a string of hand grenades around his waist, and a shotgun slung over his shoulder. As he walked, the ground shook beneath his feet, and it seemed effortless for him. Needless to say, this must be Shan Hu, that super pervert, who else could do this? Since last night when he saw those two heavy machine guns, he had abandoned his old light machine gun and wouldn't let go of the new one, weighing it in his hands and muttering to himself, saying it was just right, just the right weight. The whole team, including Tang Qiuli, were speechless, rolling their eyes, "Brother, can you not show off? That thing is meant for three people to handle, can you do it alone?"

  The mountain tiger saw everyone's disbelieving expression, but didn't say a word. He casually picked up a cartridge belt, this Type 92 heavy machine gun was fed by the belt, and skillfully loaded the bullets. Aiming at a flagpole in the courtyard, which still had a Japanese Rising Sun Flag hanging from it, he fired a burst. With a loud "boom", the flagpole was knocked down. The power of this heavy machine gun was truly terrifying. The Rising Sun Flag was blown away like a diaper, and before it could fall to the ground, it was swept away by the north wind, disappearing into the distance.

  Everyone stared in amazement, is this okay? Too perverted! Two people couldn't handle it, but you alone settled it, impressive, very impressive! Not only that, the mountain tiger saw the bracket below was in the way and added weight, so he simply dismantled it and threw it aside, then swung it onto his shoulder with a big smile, okay, we all surrender to you! Superman!

  Tang Qiuli walked up to Shān Hǔ's side, gave him a thumbs-up, and Shān Hǔ was even more delighted. He looked at everyone with an air of pride, "See? Even our boss is praising us!"

  Tang Qiuli didn't expect Shan Hu to be so skilled with heavy machine guns, it seems that some people are all-around talents. However, this guy is also too abnormal, just look at his equipment, he's a one-man combat platform! The devils will be in big trouble if they encounter him!

  After leaving the Blood Hand Gang's mark on the snowy ground, the team set off.

  Tang Qiuli didn't want to let go of the opportunity to seize the gold mine, now that the mountain forest police team guarding it had been completely annihilated. From the deputy captain's mouth, he learned that there were no armed guards on the side of the gold mine, only a few hundred miners. Isn't this a ready-made treasury? If they didn't go and take it, wouldn't that be foolish? In the future, the team would expand, and there would be more places to spend money. Not being in charge doesn't mean you don't know how precious food and firewood are. They had to consider the next step for the development of the team.

  When Tang Qiulai was about to leave, he left behind Autumn Spring Brother with three short-gun team members to monitor the original place. He had always been very cautious about "Zhan Manjiang", the captain of this mountain forest police team, who had slipped through the net in this bloody hand group's action. This guy is not a simple lamp, and after suffering such a big loss, he would not have a heart for revenge if he were abnormal. This kid is hot with the devils and will borrow the power of the devils.

  So he instructed Qi Quan, who was left in charge of surveillance, not to expose the target under any circumstances. Once something was discovered, he would immediately return and report back. Because in this valley, there is only one path, and in the mountains of Guandong, it's basically all like this. As long as you follow the direction of the main force, you can find the troops.

  The team walked for about two hours, and in the distance, they saw a row of huts along a frozen river. As they approached, it turned out to be a huge site with four or five hundred people working there!

  When they saw the team coming, they all stopped what they were doing, expressionless, with a cold and numb gaze at this young team, obviously some half-grown boys, their cotton-padded jackets tattered and worn out, with cotton wool flying everywhere, in the freezing cold weather, few of them wore decent shoes, looking half-dead.

  A short and stout man with a rugged face walked over, wearing warm clothing, including a leather jacket that was not in the style of young people today. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder and held a whip in his hand. Four followers trailed behind him, all carrying large guns. As they approached, he turned back to shout: "Get moving, you bastards! What are you standing around for like a bunch of wooden stakes? Are you trying to slack off? If we don't finish these earthworks by noon today, none of you will get to eat! You're all just a bunch of lazy laborers who need to be disciplined!"

  This little brat cursed as he walked up to the group, gave Tang Qiuli a slight bow, and with a venomous gaze, immediately saw that Tang Qiuli was the leader of this team. "Gentlemen, you've worked hard, where are you from?" As he spoke, he swaggered, swinging his arms, with a look of disdain in his eyes. If it weren't for the fact that they were showing respect to Tang Qiuli and his men's dozens of guns, he probably wouldn't have even bothered with these few polite words, and would have directly chased them away with guns. Why bother wasting words on these little brats? As he spoke, he used his beady little eyes to take a few lecherous glances at the faces and chests of Xiaoling and the other girls, and unconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. His four followers were also ogling Xiaoling and the others, making faces and winking at each other.

  Tang Qiu could tell at a glance that this kid was not a good egg, with his fierce scolding, the way he spoke, and his lecherous behavior. He didn't even bother to waste words on him, just nodded to the team member beside him, who went up and knocked the five of them to the ground in the snow, guns down. "You dare to look at Tang Shao's woman like that? Just for this, you won't be let off lightly!"

  The little guy was pinned to the ground by two team members, his face full of horizontal flesh in close contact with the cold snow, still shouting: "Old big old big, three old four young, there's something to say, this is the land of Jiang Dazhang, he's my brother-in-law!" The four followers seemed to be used to being bullied too, and after being knocked down, they didn't behave themselves, struggling hard, until the team members kicked them hard in the ribs, only then did they calm down, no longer struggling, just humming.

  At this time, those miners all gathered around, looking at Tang Qiu's actions in surprise, but no one made a sound.

  Tang Qiuli came to the front of the miners, first giving everyone a brilliant smile. "Fellow countrymen, you have suffered, don't be afraid, we are not bandits, but an anti-Japanese army, specializing in fighting Japanese devils and traitors!" The crowd below buzzed with whispered discussions.

  "The crowds of people on the river have all been eliminated by us, from now on, you are free!" The murmurs underground grew louder, with more skeptical glances at Tang Qiuli and his team, as if to say, "Nonsense! You're just a bunch of kids, especially this one who's only seventeen or eighteen years old, how could he have accomplished such a big feat?" Ah, Brother Li, do you believe it? Ah, Liu, isn't this kid trying to deceive us? Little Wang, don't interrupt, let's hear what else he has to say. Anyway, there were all sorts of murmurs and doubts, but no one believed him.

  No wonder these miners don't believe it, this group of people is too young, who is that Jiang, a big name, with 160-170 men under him, all old veterans, not weak at all, and also backed by the Japanese, you think they can be eliminated just like that? Unbelievable!

  The miners' reactions were all within Tang Qiuli's expectations. When everyone fell silent, he smiled slightly and said, "Did you hear the gunfire last night? That was us annihilating the Mountain Forest Police Team!" After finishing speaking, he walked to the front of the horse-drawn cart, lifted open the canvas cover on top of it, and let the miners take a look at these spoils of war.

  The miners were all surprised, last night they indeed heard intense gunfire and hand grenade explosions, everyone was guessing what happened, it turned out that the people in front of them were fighting the mountain forest police team. Otherwise, where did these old guns and cannons come from? It's not like they came all the way to deceive us with these things, what benefit would they get from that? Looking at the person speaking, his tone seemed sincere, thinking about it, I believed him 90%.

  "Where are you all from? How did you end up in this place?" After a moment of silence, "Liaoning Fenyang's" a tall man stood up, followed by 80 or 90 people. "Heilongjiang's" a relatively young man stood up, also followed by 40 or 50 people. "We are from Shandong" a man in his 40s stood up, followed by over a dozen people. "Hebei's", "Beiping's", "Tianjin's"... it seems that these miners have quite diverse backgrounds, with people from all over! The only ones missing are locals.

  "This is it, I'm now thinking of expanding the team. If you want to stay with me and kill Japanese devils, stand on my left side. If you want to go home, stand on my right side." The miners below stood up separately, more than 300 people were willing to stay, and over 100 people wanted to leave, all of whom were older and weaker. Unexpectedly, the older Shandong leader also stayed behind. Tang Qiuli let Autumn Brother take out some money from the spoils, giving each person who wanted to leave 20 taels as travel expenses. This was not a small amount of money at the time, 20 taels could feed a family for one or two years.

  Everyone who received the news of Da Yang's death was filled with tears, and they all bowed deeply to Tang Qiu, taking a close look at his appearance, as if they wanted to remember the sound, appearance, and smile of this young man, who looked like a big kid but had accomplished such great things.

  As he watched the gaunt and weary miners, who were about to embark on their journey home, Tang Qiuli's heart was also filled with emotion. He realized that helping others could bring such joy. Good people, I can only do this much, wishing you a safe journey home! After bidding farewell to the miners and his fellow villagers, he withdrew his gaze. Xiaoling approached him, her eyes shining like water, gazing at him affectionately. "Qiuli, your heart is really good, I didn't misjudge you," she said, taking out a white handkerchief to wipe away a smudge of dust on his face. Tang Qiuli grasped Xiaoling's warm small hands, grinning foolishly, feeling proud and elated that the girl he liked was praising him, as if his own image had become more majestic!

  The members of the Blood Hand Gang had already seen this kind of scene many times, and they didn't think it was strange at all. But the miners who were left behind were seeing it for the first time, and everyone was watching with great interest as the young lovers played out their romantic drama! At the same time, they also understood in their hearts that this was the mistress of the big boss, and if Tang Qiuli knew what these miners were thinking now, he would rather die than do something like this. What kind of performance is this? My leadership image!

  Tang Qiuli saw that it was already noon, so he arranged for the team and the new miners to rest and eat. However, when they entered the kitchen and saw the food, they were furious - is this something humans eat? It's not even as good as pig feed! How can they treat people like this? Shan Hu Tou brought over that little scoundrel who was occupying Jiang's house, and it turned out he really was Jiang's brother-in-law. Anyway, he's still a brother-in-law, right? So he should be treated with respect!

  Tang Qiuli had the team members take out the reserved food to cook for the miners, and while they were busy, he called over those who were obviously leaders among the miners and chatted with them in detail.

  It turned out that the family was from Liaoning, Fengtian, a tall and strong man named Liu Tiehan. He was originally a veteran of the Northeast Army and was a regimental commander. On the night of the "9/18" incident, he led some brothers who were unwilling to put down their guns and fought against the Japanese devils for a whole night. As a result, they were outnumbered, and most of the brothers died in battle. The remaining ones were captured by the Japanese devils, and Liu Tiehan was also injured. He was then sent to this desolate mountain valley to pan for gold. Tang Qiuli heard about it and looked at Liu Tiehan with eyes shining like gold, just like looking at a beautiful woman. She thought that this tall and strong man must be a good person, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy in her heart.

  That young man from Heilongjiang, named Feng Ji Wu, was only twenty-five years old and a graduate of the Northeast Military Academy. After the "September 18th" incident, his troops were dispersed, so he ran back to his hometown, regrouped, and continued to fight against the Japanese devils. However, there was a traitor in the ranks who sold out to the Japanese, causing many brothers to die or escape. The remaining dozens of brothers were captured by the Japanese and were initially sentenced to death. But somehow, they ended up here, panning for gold. Tang Qiulai's eyes gleamed with gold, making Feng Ji Wu feel uneasy at heart.

  That family is from Shandong, an old man named Zhang Quan, everyone calls him "Quan Shu", a peddler who was captured by the Japanese as a laborer in Northeast China. His companions escaped and were shot dead on the spot, including his only son, who was about the same age as Tang Qiu. He first dug coal in Fushun's coal mine, and later was sent here. Whenever he mentions the Japanese devils, Zhang Quan becomes furious, gritting his teeth with hatred all over his body.

  There is also a group of leaders from Hebei, Beiping and Tianjin, named Wang Xu, who is a student at Yenching University, majoring in chemistry. During the September 18th Incident, he was arrested by the Japanese while visiting relatives in Fengtian, accused of being a special agent of the National Government. After severe torture, nothing came out of it, but they didn't release him either. Fortunately, they didn't kill him, and that's how he ended up here.

  Others are more or less the same, either being kidnapped, cheated or caught, in short, no one comes voluntarily.

  Tang Qiuli was overjoyed, this is great, whatever he wanted came true, and they even picked up some treasures. The team has expanded, and he was worried that there wouldn't be enough capable people. Those old men from the Blood Hand Gang are quite useful, and none of them have a military background, which has always been one of his concerns. Now everything is settled, they have a deputy commander, a chief of staff, someone in charge of logistics, and someone researching military equipment. Oh heavens, who is this great sage that sent him these talents? And there's also Liu Tienan and Wang Xu's subordinates, all of whom are from a military background, so they can skip the basic training. This time it was worth coming, this world lacks what? Talents! Moreover, each person is filled with hatred for the Japanese devils, no need to worry about the team's stability and morale problems, how could they go be traitors?!

  When it came to this, the few of them were furious, their eyes turned red with rage, gritting their teeth in anger. Liu Tieshan was even more enraged, his whole body trembling with fury...

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