Chapter 5: Troops Gather at Mount Taihang (New Book Seeking Surrounding Watch)

  The security team recruited people for the next week, and soon all the refugees in Xinghe County were gathered by Chen Feng, and then they were sent to Daqing Mountain overnight.

  Daqing Mountain, the only high mountain in Xinghe County, is 20 kilometers away from the county seat. Daqing Mountain is an independent high mountain, with only one way up since ancient times. However, after reaching the top of the mountain, the terrain becomes very flat, and there are almost no plants on the mountain, except for large bluestones everywhere, which makes it very desolate.

  Chen Feng favored this place for two reasons. On the one hand, its terrain was treacherous and easy to defend but hard to attack, rivaling the danger of Jianmen Pass in Shu; on the other hand, the mountain top was flat with many caves that could accommodate people, making it an ideal location for stationing troops.

  On the other hand, Chen Feng had his eyes on the mineral resources in the mountains. The Daqing Mountains were rich in minerals, with not only iron ore but also small amounts of gold and silver ore. Although the gold ore here was extremely rare and not suitable for mining and smelting at all. But what Chen Feng had his eyes on was not those gold and silver mines, but the iron ore.

  To develop independently, the arsenal is indispensable. The production line for producing weapons and ammunition is easy to handle, and with money, it's not a problem to buy what you need. However, Xinghe County is located inland and has no railway, making it difficult to obtain raw materials for manufacturing guns, cannons, and bullets. Except for self-production, Chen Feng couldn't think of any other way, so he chose the auspicious location of Daqing Mountain.

  In order to build this place into a solid base of his own, Chen Feng forcibly sent more than 3,000 refugees to Daqing Mountain, and also sent food to the mountain day and night. In addition, he also sent three special warfare teams that were most elite in his hands to the mountain.

  For a whole week, several million kilograms of grain were delivered to the Daqing Mountains by Chen Feng. With food, people on the mountain also felt at ease, although everyone was unclear why Commander Chen had sent them to this desolate and barren place, but at least there was still enough food to save their lives, and they wouldn't starve to death.

  Besides, they are all refugees who fled in a hurry, not even bringing a single piece of luggage with them. What can the commander of the city defense do for himself? So there is no need for Chen Feng to take any measures, and with just one order, everyone happily went up to the Great Green Mountain.

  Chen Feng took a count and found that there were 3,466 people on the mountain, including 334 special warfare personnel. The vast majority of these people were young men and women, with almost no elderly people, and only about 150-160 children.

  All the strong and healthy men were drawn out to form three infantry battalions of 690 people each, and a guard company of 145 people. Then, the women on the mountain were organized into four battlefield medical rescue teams of 60 people each, and a base logistics team of 720 people. The special forces, except for one squadron that was assigned as instructors, maintained two independent special forces squadrons, thus marking the establishment of Chen Feng's Daqing Mountain Base.

  Due to the limited number of caves on the mountain, regardless of whether they were husband and wife, according to Chen Feng's order, men and women had to live separately, and other things would be considered later when conditions permitted.

  November is a relatively cold season in the north, and it's no longer suitable for construction, so these refugees had to stay in the mountain cave throughout the winter.

  Although it was just a cave, Chen Feng thought it through thoroughly. According to the size of the cave, each one could accommodate ten to twenty people. Regardless of how many people lived there, each person would be given a quilt.

  The troops have been formed, but the weapons and equipment are in short supply. Although Chen Feng has used all his connections over the past two months, he has only managed to purchase less than 800 rifles and ten light machine guns. Adding the more than 300 rifles brought by Li Jingyuan, there are only a little over 1,100 guns.

  Chen Feng now has, in addition to the security team of over 1,100 people, more than 2,400 regular troops at the Daqing Mountain base. Furthermore, the Chen family also has a protection team and a grain protection team of over 2,000 people established by Chen Feng. This army of nearly 5,000 people only has over 1,100 guns, which is a huge shortage.

  This is indeed a big problem, the war is imminent, and Chen Feng's side is short of guns and ammunition. If this issue is not resolved, even if the war breaks out, these people will only be a group of miscellaneous soldiers, and taking them to the battlefield will only make them worthless cannon fodder.

  Things have come to this, Chen Feng has no other choice. He asked his old man to contact the German arms dealer on one hand, and on the other hand, he let Xu Hu closely monitor the movements of the Northeast Army in Chahar region.

  But what made Chen Feng depressed was that before he even got a message from the German side, his own backyard had caught fire.

  Just after settling down on the other side of Daqing Mountain, Chen Feng was blocked by Wang's sisters at the door as soon as he returned home. To be honest, Chen Feng had always been afraid of these two sisters in his heart.

  "Chen Feng, you're really a spoiled brat! Not only did you harass women on the street yourself, but you also had the audacity to send people to snatch women in broad daylight, and at that, dozens of them! You...you're truly shameless!" His sister Wang Jingya scolded Chen Feng as soon as she saw him.

  Chen Feng was scolded until he was stunned, he really didn't remember when he sent someone to the street to rob a woman, and besides, did he need to go to the street to rob a woman if he wanted one, weren't there two in front of him?

  "Hey, Wang Erniang, no matter what, I'm your sister's husband. Can't you speak more politely? Besides, when have I ever sent someone to rob a woman on the street? Don't be so vicious!" Chen Feng said loudly.

  "Shame on you, you scoundrel! You flirted with our sister first and then forcibly took the woman away. I saw all this with my own eyes. Are you daring to do it but not dare to admit it?" Wang Jingya said angrily.

  "What you saw with your own eyes, when was it?" Chen Feng said with a frown.

  "It was just a week ago that my sister and I saw your soldiers on the street, arresting people at will, regardless of whether they were men or women. My sister even went forward to reason with them, asking why they were arresting women. Your soldier said it was an order from you, Commander Chen, personally, saying that no one would be spared, whether they were young girls or middle-aged women, and that everyone would be arrested."

  This was what Chen Feng suddenly remembered, he had indeed given this order, but it was to establish a women's medical team and logistics team that he did so, and he seemed to have sent people to recruit on the streets, not to catch people on the streets, apparently there must be some misunderstanding in between.

  "This is impossible, Commander Chen never gave such an order." said Chen Feng.

  "Warlord! You scum, you can actually say that out loud. My sisters saw those women enter your military camp, do you still dare to deny it?" Wang Jingya was even angrier, her tightly clenched teeth wanting to bite Chen Feng to pieces.

  "I did send people to the streets to recruit, and I explicitly ordered that no matter who the woman was, as long as she was willing to be a soldier and eat rations, she could come. So many women came to answer the call. What's wrong with that?" Chen Feng said.

  "Warlord, this is sophistry! Men can be soldiers and eat rations, but what can women do? You're just arresting those women to satisfy your beastly desires. There's not a single good warlord!" Wang Jingya shouted loudly, showing no mercy to Chen Feng.

  Chen Feng knew that it was pointless to argue with these two women who had already formed a deep prejudice against him, and he didn't have much time to waste on them either. So Chen Feng shouted towards the door: "Tie Bao, come in!"

  Soon a robust young man in his twenties rushed in and said loudly: "Commander, is there something?"

  "Take them to the barracks for a look and then escort them back, ensure their safety, got it?"

  Yes

  "You two go to the military camp and take a good look, then come back and find me." After finishing speaking, Chen Feng no longer paid attention to Wang Jia sisters, and walked towards Chen Binggong's study.

  Although the Wang sisters did not know what Chen Feng was up to, they were indeed curious about the fate of those women, so although their faces still showed lingering anger, they did not refuse.

  In the study, Chen Bing Gong was calculating accounts. Seeing Chen Feng push the door and walk in, Chen Bing Gong put down the account book on the table, rubbed his temples with his hands, and asked: "Those two girls are quite troublesome, they come every day to ask if you've returned, originally I thought they were concerned about you, but it turns out they're looking for trouble with you, haha!"

  "Dad, don't tease me anymore. I'm more pitiful than Dou E, the only thing missing is snow falling from the sky." Chen Feng said with a bitter face.

  "Haha, even if it snows heavily today, it's not a big deal. Didn't it just snow a few days ago? Honestly, did those two sisters wrong you?" Chen Binggong said with a smile.

  "Of course, it's true that the child has recruited women, but those women really went to the troops. You want to fight and must hurt people, if there is no rescue team, I'm afraid the mortality rate of the wounded will rise sharply. When it comes to fighting, women are naturally not good at it, but when it comes to taking care of people, women are much stronger than men, so the child thought of forming a female rescue team."

  "Can a woman be a soldier? Isn't there a regulation in the army that women are not allowed?" Old Man Chen was just a businessman and didn't know much about the regulations in the army.

  "Dad, this is different. These women are not like the ones you mentioned. They are real soldiers, a separate branch of the army called medical soldiers. Now, whether it's Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army or Yan Xishan's Shanxi Army, all units have such medical soldiers." Chen Feng explained.

  "That's good then. By the way, your German father has already arranged for you to meet someone. His name is Feng De Li Xi, a major arms dealer from Germany, and he's in Beiping these days. Do you want to meet him?" asked Chen Bing Gong.

  "Of course we'll meet, the child will go to Beiping in a few days. Father, how's the procurement of grain and medicine going?" Chen Feng asked again.

  "Grain is still manageable, after all, it's our old family business. According to your request, I've already sold off all the fine grains stored in the shops of Gui Suo and Bao Tou, and then purchased a large quantity of coarse grains. Now, the corn and millet transported to Xinghe amount to over 30 million catties. Moreover, there are several teams of carts on their way back."

  "However, we haven't been able to procure many medicines. On the one hand, we don't have any connections, and on the other hand, the government has strict controls over medicines, so up until now, we've only managed to buy five or six carts' worth, which is far from meeting your requirements."