pappabearbooks Chapter 5 Military and Civilians as One Family
Chapter 5 Military and Civilians as One Family
Zhou Dachui's voice came from outside, and Yang Zheng put down his thoughts on the architecture and went out.
Besides Zhou Dachui, there was also Zhou Shunzi, the middle-aged man they had met before, and several other villagers.
At their feet were several large bags, which looked like grain—grain they had snatched from the Japanese soldiers—along with the fat pig and the mule.
"Company Commander Yang, this is for your Eighth Route Army. Without you, all this grain would have been stolen by the Japanese devils!" Zhou Dachui said as soon as he saw Yang Zheng come out.
Several villagers next to him nodded frantically.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Yang Zheng was taken aback, but then smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Fellow villager, we can't accept this! The discipline of our Eighth Route Army is not to take even a needle or thread from the people. If our regimental commander finds out, he'll beat me!"
Zhou Dachui seemed angry and said somewhat irritably, "If your commander wants to beat you, then I'll just kill myself in front of him! We've already kept half of it, enough to last us until the next harvest; you must take the rest."
Yang Zheng was about to wave his hand to continue declining when Zhou Dachui said, "If you don't accept it, our village won't be at ease! Company Commander Yang..."
Yang Zheng paused for a moment, understanding their concerns. They were simply worried that if the Japanese really came, they would abandon Changning Village and leave.
"Don't worry, everyone. Our Eighth Route Army is a special force to fight the Japanese devils. It is also the people's army. When the Japanese devils come, we will definitely stop them to the end."
However, we will need your cooperation at that time. If the Japanese are too strong, we cannot fight them head-on, that would be too foolish. So we need the villagers to go into the mountains and hide for a few days first! Yang Zheng did not refuse, but instead began to communicate the arrangements after the Japanese really came.
Zhou Dachui and the others hesitated for a moment, but Yang Zheng quickly added, "Don't worry, it'll only be a few days. We'll be back once the Japanese are gone!"
Now they had no objections. Zhou Dachui even tapped his cane and nodded, saying, "I'll talk to the villagers; they'll definitely cooperate!"
"Good!" Yang Zheng clapped his hands, then looked at the grain and meat the villagers had brought. Just as he was about to speak, Zhou Dachui said, "But Company Commander Yang, you must accept these things!"
Yang Zheng was a little helpless. After thinking about it, he didn't refuse anymore. He called Chen Xiaoquan over and had him register the batch of grain and write IOUs for the villagers, promising to repay it in the future.
Then he looked at the mules, which weighed several hundred pounds of meat. He decided to use them and eat meat with the villagers to strengthen the bond between the army and the people!
"Da Hu, notify the cooks to come and butcher this mule. Set up a big pot in the center of the village and stew the mule meat. Our Eighth Company will have a feast with the villagers!"
Zhao Dahu licked his lips and shouted excitedly, "Yes, sir!"
They quickly made arrangements, and the fat pig and grain were carried into the company headquarters (ancestral hall) and put away.
Meat is a good thing. With this, the physical training for the soldiers of the Eighth Company can be made more intensive.
Otherwise, without any resources, Yang Zheng would be hesitant and timid when arranging training, fearing non-combat casualties.
Soon, the aroma of meat filled Changning Village, drawing the villagers to gather around. Yang Zheng then shouted for pots and pans to be brought out so everyone could eat together, and they were all overjoyed.
As the sun gradually set, the laughter and joy in Changning Village grew even stronger.
As long as a person is alive, they have to live; life is already hard enough, so there's no need to keep wallowing in sorrow.
During this time, Yang Zheng carefully inspected the sentry posts at several locations outside the village, and only returned after confirming that there were no unexpected situations.
The meat for the sentries has been saved so that they can have some to eat when they return from their shifts.
Around the campfire, soldiers from the Eighth Company gathered with more than two hundred villagers from Changning Village to share meat.
As night deepened, the people all went to rest, and most of the soldiers also fell asleep, except for the 10 men on guard duty who were still faithfully carrying out their mission.
Gradually, the sun slowly rose from the east, and a new day began. This day was September 28, 1938.
On this day, the Jin-Cha-Ji base area was besieged by ten Japanese troops, totaling 5 men, while Changning Village in Xiyang, Jinzhong, where Yang Zheng lived, was peaceful and quiet.
Early in the morning, the soldiers of the Eighth Company began training under the organization of platoon leaders Chen Xiaoquan and Zhao Dahu, with shouts of battle constantly ringing out.
The Eighth Company is currently short of supplies. Although they have captured a lot of ammunition, live-fire exercises are still a bit unrealistic.
To put it bluntly, the captured ammunition was all Type 38 rifles, and the soldiers who were assigned Type 38 rifles were all veterans who had fought on many battlefields. They were already familiar with the guns and at most fired a few shots to get used to the feel of them.
As for the others, they can't develop marksmanship by firing a few bullets, and if they fire more, there won't be any more bullets to make for them.
Another point is that if he were to lavishly have his soldiers practice a lot of live-fire shooting, and Li Yunlong found out, you could probably hear him cursing from miles away.
"Damn it..."
Yang Zheng felt a strange sense of anticipation. Once he got the blacksmith shop up and running and mass-producing bullets, the soldiers could train and fight as much as they wanted. When Regiment Commander Li Yunlong found out, would he scold him first or show a smile of triumph?
The morning of the 28th passed peacefully; the anticipated Japanese reconnaissance and retaliation did not come, perhaps they were still mobilizing their troops.
To be honest, they had just arrived in this area and were not very familiar with it. They didn't even know which Japanese strongholds were nearby or how many Japanese soldiers were stationed there.
When asked, the villagers knew nothing; they had never left the vicinity.
So at noon, Yang called Mao Dashuan over and asked him to take the two of them to scout out the direction the Japanese had originally returned from, to find out where the Japanese stronghold was and how many Japanese soldiers were still inside.
Just after Mao Dashuan and his men left, a burly middle-aged man driving a mule cart arrived at the village entrance.
"My name is Li Dachui. I am a blacksmith from Dongshan, Pingyao. The Japanese burned down my shop and looted my grain. I escaped with these tools."
These are pliers, a bellows, and a small hammer. If you don't believe me, I can fix any broken farm tools or knives you have in your village.
"You're from the Eighth Route Army, right? I've heard your unit specializes in fighting the Japanese. I can repair your weapons and help you fight the Japanese."
Blacksmith Li Dachui spoke to an Eighth Route Army soldier guarding the village entrance, while also taking out various tools to demonstrate them.
His authentic dialect and the tools he used left no room for doubt.
Soon, the news reached Yang Zheng's ears, and he also looked at the system notification.
"Blacksmith Li Dachui has arrived in the vicinity. Please be ready to receive him!"
PS: After much consideration, I've made a slight change to the upgrade requirements for the blacksmith shop.