novelden Chapter 169: Monk, you have made great progress. I will promote you when I return!
Chapter 169: Monk, you have made great progress. I will promote you when I return!
Li Yunlong had been leading the first battalion for a day, but he had not yet met Lin Zhenhua, who was supposed to meet him. He called Wei Dayong and Zhang Dabiao over and ordered them with a serious face, "Monk, take the reconnaissance squad to the front immediately to see if the college students have arrived."
"According to my estimation, our two teams should have reunited at noon, but now there is no news at all. I suspect that the college students may have encountered trouble. We must find them as soon as possible. After the two teams reunite, we will have enough strength to resist the risk!"
Wei Dayong didn't smile this time, but replied seriously: "Captain, I will take people to the front to check the situation. Captain, you should be careful. It was too quiet on our way back. Even the merchants who usually come here have disappeared. In addition, Xue Changkun and you had a bad breakup before. I think this old guy is going to attack us!"
Li Yunlong said with relief: "Monk, you have really gained a lot of experience in this period of time. You can see the danger here. You are much better than before! I originally planned to let you be the commander of the special forces company, but considering that you are not smart enough, I kept dragging this matter. I didn't expect that you would give me a surprise this time. I can finally hand over the special forces company to you with confidence this time!"
"But you don't have to worry too much. Xie Changkun will definitely not send people to attack here. He can choose two places to attack. One is Ercha Ridge and the other is Black Cloud Village. The terrain of these two places is most unfavorable to us. They are good places for ambush."
"Compared to the college students, we have four armored vehicles to protect us. As long as the Japanese don't interfere, the bandits' firepower is no match for our battalion. Even if we didn't bring much ammunition this time, we should have no problem breaking out of the encirclement."
"What really worries me is the college students. The secret mission they are carrying out this time is very important. It is related to the future development of our independent group. If something goes wrong with the things they are escorting, it will have a huge impact on our independent group!"
"Da Biao, our four armored vehicles are too close. Send one of them out with the monk to conduct reconnaissance. Have the artillery platoon set up the mortars on the carriages for me, and be ready to fire at any time!"
Li Yunlong readjusted the team's marching formation, using armored vehicles and infantry to advance, forming three echelons. The distance between each two echelons was 200 meters. In this way, even if they encountered an ambush, the losses would not be great.
Let’s go back to six days ago, to the location of the headquarters of the 726th Regiment in Yushugou.
Xue Changkun was meeting a mysterious visitor here. When the person in front of him revealed his face under the black cloth, Xue Changkun said in horror: "Impossible, how is it possible? Weren't you dead a long time ago? I shot you with my own hands, how could you still be alive?"
Who would have thought that the mysterious man's face was exactly the same as Xue Changkun's? He said to Xue Changkun in a contemptuous tone: "My dear brother, you didn't expect that your brother is still alive, right? Today I come to seek revenge on you!"
Xue Changkun was about to call the guards outside the door, but was interrupted by his brother Xue Changming: "My dear brother, the guards outside your door are all my people, so don't call them. Just follow me obediently and don't force me to do anything to you. Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about your son. After all, you only have one son!"
Xue Changkun knew that his brother was an absolute beast. From the moment he arrived, he knew that his fate was sealed and that resistance would be futile and might even endanger the lives of his relatives. He had no choice but to compromise and was secretly taken away from the regiment by Xue Caiming.
That night, Xue Changming replaced Xue Changkun's identity and became the commander of the 726th Regiment, and began to plan actions against the Independent Regiment.
Erchaling, the bandit coalition’s blocking position.
Xue Laosan had already led two battalions of troops, changed into bandits' clothes, and ambushed on the hillsides on both sides, waiting for Li Yunlong to come and fall into his trap.
As the leader of the bandit alliance, Xie Baoqing of Heiyun Village personally went out this time to gather together the surrounding bandit strongholds, large and small, with a total of more than 1500 people, and ambushed on the small hills on both sides. They were specifically responsible for cutting off Li Yunlong's retreat.
Xue Laosan put down the telescope in his hand and said to Xie Baoqing beside him: "Master Xie, we can't show our true identities when we ambush Li Yunlong this time. Tell your men to wear a black cloth over their faces. As long as they have this black cloth to cover up, no matter how much evidence Li Yunlong produces, it will be useless. Captain Xue has a way to help us demonstrate it. You must explain it clearly to your brothers. Li Yunlong's life must not be harmed."
"As long as we don't kill Li Yunlong, injuring him is not a big deal. We can completely blame the devils this time. If Li Yunlong hadn't been so ignorant as to provoke our Captain Xue, I, Xue Lao San, wouldn't want to be an enemy of Li Yunlong!"
Xie Baoqing responded flatteringly, "Third Master is right. Li Yunlong is too arrogant and doesn't even give Captain Xue face. He deserves to be taught a lesson this time!"
"There is one more thing. I don't know if the Third Master has told Captain Xue about it. It's about the bounty for the Japanese. So many strongholds are willing to come here at once, mainly to earn the huge bounty. Before I get the accurate information from Captain Xue, I can't explain it to the big leaders of the strongholds!"
Xue Lao San spit out a circle and replied nonchalantly: "Xie Baoqing, our Captain Xue doesn't even care about that little bounty, I'll give it all to you, but you all have to work hard when the fight starts. If you dare to run away, my supervisory team will not be vegetarians!"
Xie Baoqing quickly assured him, "Third Master, don't worry. If anyone dares to escape, I, Xie Baoqing, will be the first to disapprove. You don't need to do anything, I will kill him directly!"
Xue Laosan now doesn't care about that tiny bit of bounty at all. Xue Changming has promised him to be the commander of the 126th Regiment, otherwise he would never work so hard. The reason why he wants to spare Li Yunlong's life is to capture Li Yunlong alive and use Li Yunlong to set a trap to catch Lin Zhenhua. It can be said that one thing is linked to another. Anyway, Xue Changming will not stop until Lin Zhenhua is caught. After all, this is the only task given to him by the Japanese. If he fails to complete it, his end will not be good!
Xue Laosan kept the jade-faced scholar and sent Xie Baoqing aside, and the two of them began to talk in private.
"Scholar, what does my eldest brother mean? There was no news before, why is he suddenly ready to surrender to the devils and even ready to use Li Yunlong as a token of his surrender? Why do I feel like there is something fishy going on?"
In response to Xue Lao San's question, the Jade-faced Scholar gently shook his feather fan and replied with narrowed eyes: "Third Master, you don't need to test me. You know very well who is standing behind me. The reason you came to ask me is that you just want to confirm whether this thing can be accomplished and whether there will be other unexpected situations."
"Third Master, you don't have to worry about anyone settling scores with you later. We will help you become the head of the 726th Regiment. Xue Changkun will commit suicide to apologize for his crime. We will also clean up the mess for you. As long as you listen to us and work for us, you will definitely get some benefits. You will get a promotion and make a fortune!"
Xue Laosan actually didn't want to betray Xue Changkun, but the Japanese offered him too much. Besides, he had been the battalion commander for six years. He was the one who did all the hard work on weekdays, and all the credit in the end went to Xue Changkun. How many six years could he have in his life? If he continued like this, he would never be able to become the regiment commander even if he worked until he died of old age.
But with the help of the Japanese, it was completely different, not to mention that the life of the 726th Regiment was not as easy as outsiders imagined. After all, Xue Changkun had to support so many soldiers. This market had only been established for a year, and the investment was very large. It could be said that all the assets accumulated by the 726th Regiment were invested in it, and money had to be paid out like water every month. This caused dissatisfaction among many people. Xue Laosan was one of them. Since its establishment, his life was not as good as before. If no one was willing to follow him before, he would have led his people to join the Japanese long ago.
"Scholar, I have waited for so many years, and finally I have this opportunity. As long as you can help me become the leader of the 726th Regiment, you will have the final say in this market from now on. Isn't this a big gift for me?"
The jade-faced scholar nodded and accepted the gift with great joy. All he had to do next was to bring Lin Zhenhua back and his undercover mission would be completed.
Lin Zhenhua didn't know that the Japanese were ostensibly targeting the independent regiment, but in fact they were only targeting him. At this time, Lin Zhenhua was leading the armored battalion and had traveled for another day and night. Finally, they only had four hours left to travel to Erchaling. Seeing the soldiers' tired faces, Lin Zhenhua asked them to stop and rest for two hours before continuing to move forward.
Lin Zhenhua seized the opportunity and told Wang Chengzhu the question in his mind: "Zhuzi, what did Xue Kai want to talk to you about? Why did you leave two platoons of soldiers for him, and even a mortar and 20 rounds of shells? When I asked you before, you were vague. In order to hurry, I didn't ask in detail. Take advantage of this break time, tell me in detail!"
Wang Chengzhu drank the water in the kettle and replied directly: "College student, Xue Kai came to me before and said that the commander ordered me to leave two people and a mortar with him, and he and Duan Peng would go to rescue people. I asked curiously at the time, but Xue Kai kept his mouth shut. He said that this matter must be kept secret. Once it is leaked, even we will be in danger."
Lin Zhenhua didn't expect that Duan Peng was involved in this matter. Since Li Yunlong had already made arrangements for this matter, he had nothing to worry about. According to the agreement between him and Li Yunlong, if the two parties missed each other halfway, Li Yunlong would wait for him at Erchaling for a day.