Chapter 2: Southern Expedition

The surrounding civilians were so frightened that they retreated one after another. Yin Chuan, who was standing nearby, saw that things were not going well and quickly stepped forward to advise: "My lords, my lords, please don't be angry with my brother. He is a rude man with no sense of propriety. Please be magnanimous and don't argue with him."

Linlang also stepped forward and spoke softly, just to prevent Du Yunzhang from causing trouble for no reason. But who would have thought that the officer on horseback would suddenly see Linlang, a woman with red lips and white teeth and quite beautiful appearance, and couldn't help but have evil thoughts in his heart.

"Hey, this girl is really pretty. Where is she from? Are you interested in going back to the camp with me, the general?"

The officer's lewd expression instantly ignited Du Yunzhang's fury. He lunged forward, yanking the officer off his horse and punching him. The guards nearby wouldn't let him succeed. They rushed forward, relying on their numbers to pin Du Yunzhang to the ground.

The officer stood up from the ground, his face pale with anger, "Okay, you're rebelling again! You dare to use force against me?" As he spoke, he was about to draw the pistol from his waist and shoot Du Yunzhang in the street.

This frightened Yin Chuan and Lin Lang. Yin Chuan's blood boiled, and he stood in front of Du Yunzhang, constantly saying good things. Lin Lang, in her panic, even shouted something in Portuguese, which could be considered an accidental saving of Du Yunzhang's life. The adjutant nearby was moved by Lin Lang's casual foreign language and leaned over to the officer and whispered, "Captain Shen, this girl can actually speak Portuguese. She's definitely not an ordinary person. Don't act rashly."

The officer was stunned. "Portuguese? What's so special about that?"

"You might not know this, but it's not uncommon for people here to speak English, Russian, or Japanese. But if someone speaks Portuguese, it's likely they have a strong background. Besides, I've noticed this woman has a rather impressive demeanor and conversation. She might be connected to some foreign envoy, but who knows for sure?"

The officer thought for a moment, then took another look at Ou Yelinlang. He figured the adjutant had a point, so he prepared to release Du Yunzhang and drive them away. But then the guard holding Du Yunzhang down yelled, "Captain, this guy has a smoking thing!" Then he pulled out the mirrored case pistol from Du Yunzhang's waistband and held it up for the officer to see.

"Great! So they're bandits too!" The officer was taken aback, but then he remembered his adjutant's words and felt a bit trapped. The day before, the troops had been ambushed by Deng Erniang's troops from Black Cloud Village, and the shock was still lingering. On the way back to camp, they were passing by the temple fair in Huaiyin County, intending to have some fun, when they spotted three unidentified individuals with weapons. There was no way they could let them go, but if they were truly connected to the foreign forces, he couldn't act rashly.

Just as he was hesitating, his adjutant offered him an idea, "Why don't we take these three people back to the barracks and hand them over to the regiment commander? After all, the regiment commander is your brother, and he won't let you suffer any harm, right?"

That's a solution. The officer nodded, then said to Yin Chuan and the other two, "Please come with us, three of you. We're afraid there might be some misunderstandings, so it's best to talk things over with our superiors. Please." As he spoke, he asked the guards holding Du Yunzhang to let go, but he wouldn't let the three of them leave, and naturally, he didn't return the guns.

Du Yunzhang looked at Yin Chuan, who clasped his fists to the officer with some resignation, "Thank you for your generosity, sir. In that case, we will go with you and explain the matter to your superior, and then we will feel at ease."

Linlang tugged at Yin Chuan's collar and asked in a low voice, "Hey, do we have to go with them?"

"Don't you see what's going on? If they find Lao Du's mirrored box, how can he get away? We can't just abandon him, can we? I think this military leader's attitude towards us has changed drastically for whatever reason. I think if we go to his superiors, with my eloquence, I should be able to ensure the three of us return safely."

Since Yin Chuan knew what was going on, Linlang and Du Yunzhang stopped worrying and followed the queue-wielding troops. After the commotion in the street, the soldiers calmed down a lot and lined up again to leave Huaiyin County.

The military camp was stationed on the edge of a village three miles away from the county town. There were more than a thousand people in the entire regiment. Because the villagers said that there were often bandits around, the army commander did not dare to live in the village. Perhaps he was afraid that there would be no large army guarding and he would be attacked by bandits at night. For safety reasons, he decided to live in the military camp.

This unit was an independent regiment under Yuan's government, commanded by Zhang Xun. Commanded by Chen Hui, it comprised three battalions. Ordered to station in Huaiyin County on the 20th day of the first lunar month, their ostensible strategic objective was to monitor the Sun Yat-sen and Huang Yu forces in the south and consolidate defenses along the Huai River. In reality, President Yuan had been intent on wiping out the influence of the Southern Alliance. He would seize the opportunity to launch a massive southward offensive, with Zhang Xun's troops as the vanguard.

Chen Hui stationed the entire regiment here, firstly to defend Huaiyin County and secondly to deter the surrounding bandits. However, in reality, the bandit groups, both large and small, had long been a local nuisance, with officers and soldiers eradicating them year after year to no avail. Furthermore, due to years of war, the people were living in dire straits, and refugees were everywhere, turning to banditry. The bandit forces only grew stronger the more they were suppressed.

A few days ago, he ordered the Second Battalion Commander, his brother, Shen Xi, to the provincial capital to deliver food, fodder, and military supplies. He hadn't anticipated that on their return, they would be ambushed by Deng Erniang, a member of the Black Cloud Village, resulting in the loss of over twenty men and several carts of supplies. Anyone else escorting the supplies would have feared a reprimand from the regimental commander, but Shen Xi, relying on his brotherhood, not only showed no concern but also took the initiative to lead his men into Huaiyin County and commit atrocities. Shen Xi, convinced that as long as his brother didn't question his actions, no one would hold him accountable, was unaware that someone was secretly documenting every detail.

Upon arriving at the barracks, Chen Xi sent a guard to inform the regimental commander, Chen Hui, that he had returned from escorting supplies and had brought back several individuals suspected of collaborating with bandits, who needed to be handed over to his brother for questioning. The guard returned shortly afterwards, informing Chen Xi that the commander had asked him to come into the tent to speak. Chen Xi then led Yin Chuan and the other two to the commander's tent.

Yin Chuan looked around as he walked. This was his first time in a military camp, and everything he saw was completely new to him. He saw neatly arranged rows of tents, roughly ten in total, each row containing around twenty barracks. Around the perimeter were several rows of roadblocks and trenches more than a man deep. It looked like they were going to be stationed there for quite some time.

"Old Du, if I remember correctly, you used to be a soldier in the Qing Dynasty, right? Judging from this situation, it should be much stronger than you were back then." Yin Chuan turned to Du Yunzhang and said.

"Well... of course they're better than the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing Dynasty. Those were just scoundrels, but if compared to our militia... who knows who's better!"

Linlang chuckled, "Brother Du, no matter what, local militia troops can't be compared with regular troops, right?"

Du Yunzhang raised his eyebrows. "Don't say that. The local militiamen are just inferior in terms of weapons. In fact, in terms of military quality, they are no weaker than the so-called regular army. Think about it, it was the militiamen who resisted the foreigners in the local area. The regular army of the imperial court was beaten to pieces long ago."

Listening to Du Yunzhang's bragging, the three followed the officer to the depths of the ninth row of barracks in the military camp.

"You two keep an eye on them and don't let them move around freely. I'll go to the regimental barracks to get orders first." The officer ordered the guards around him, then walked a few steps to the innermost barracks in the row.

Yin Chuan counted in his mind. This last barracks was the 24th in this row. From the outside, it was no different from the barracks in front and behind. There was no sign that this was the headquarters of the regiment.

Although the three of them were still five or six meters away from the regimental barracks, Yin Chuan, who had extraordinary hearing, could vaguely hear the voices inside.

"Captain Wu, what are you doing? We still don't know how many bandits there are on the nearby hills." A voice with a Shaanxi accent came, and the tone seemed quite tough.

"Report, Chen Xi from the Second Battalion..." It was the officer's voice.

"Wait a minute," interrupted him in a Shaanxi accent. "And you, Old Li, the village chief just came to see me. Someone from your battalion took away their donkey. What did I tell you? If you're stationed here, don't disturb the locals. You ignored my words, didn't you?"

"Captain, my brothers did something wrong, but there must be some misunderstandings here..."

"Misunderstanding? The villagers won't wrongly accuse you. Second Battalion Commander, why did you come back just now?"

"Brother, I..."

"How many times have I told you not to call me 'big brother'? This is a military camp!"

"Uh... Captain, my troops were robbed by bandits on the way, so we returned a little late."

"Bandits? Which hill are they from?"

"It was a chaotic fight at the time, and I couldn't figure out where the bandits came from."

"Oh, what can I say to you! You were ambushed and you don't even know who hit you..."

"Captain, it was so sudden. Those bandits were like a whirlwind, charging at us like a flash, and their marksmanship was incredibly accurate. In a short time, we lost over a dozen men. Luckily, the deputy battalion commander arrived with a platoon of reinforcements, and we were able to break the siege. Although we lost some men and supplies, I've captured a suspected bandit spy in the county town. I've brought him to the regiment headquarters and await your decision."

"A few bandits and spies still need my help, why don't you just deal with them yourself?"

Yin Chuan's heart trembled when he heard this. Oh no! This battalion commander seemed to be a brother to the highest-ranking officer here, and he actually said we were spies for the bandits, and the regiment commander believed him. If this battalion commander took advantage of the situation, wouldn't the three of us be wrongly killed?

Just when he was feeling uneasy, he vaguely heard the second battalion commander in the tent lower his voice, "Commander, you should ask the question yourself. I found that..." Yin Chuan could not hear what was said after that.

"Hmm...I see. Let them in. Everyone, go back and take care of your men, especially your first battalion, Lao Li."

Soon, the barracks door opened and several officers came out one after another. They each looked at Yin Chuan, Du Yunzhang and Lin Lang, and then hurried away.

"You three, our regimental commander wants you to come into the tent and answer questions." The officer, the commander of the second battalion, said to Yin Chuan and the others.

Yin Chuan smiled and nodded, then followed him into the barracks. He didn't know whether this would be a blessing or a curse.