Secret base with electric grid

Viewed from one side, it's a range of peaks; viewed from the other, it's a single peak. Although the mountains of Xuzhou are not as beautiful as those of Lushan, they are uniquely beautiful. The clouds and mist swirl around the peaks, like fairies wrapped in light veils, and combined with the fresh mountain air, it is intoxicating.

A car slowly drove along a winding mountain road, blending into the stillness and movement of the vines laden with dew in the mountain mist, and soon the car disappeared into the vast sea of ​​clouds.

Dodo, dodo, dodo.

The tightly closed wooden door creaked open, and an old man wearing a thin shirt peeked out from inside.

The old man, who was still half asleep, was instantly wide awake when he saw the visitors. He hurriedly invited them inside and lit the lamps, saying, "Comrades, please come in. We've already given instructions from above."

The old man who opened the door was named Hao Liuchun, and he was the leader of the Fengshan militia.

It was very cool under the shade of the trees. Qingcheng, dressed in shorts, looked around the mountain courtyard. An irregular fence surrounded a thatched house, and wisps of smoke were rising from the house. Except for the area in front of the door, which had been cleared, the surrounding stone slabs were covered with green moss, and the fuzzy little leaves were topped with a few colorful dewdrops.

After entering the room, Wang Renyong, dressed in a sharp suit, waved to Qingcheng, who was looking around. Qingcheng put away her riding whip, and after confirming that no one was following her, she casually closed the old wooden door.

Uncle Hao was prepared for Wang Renyong and his group's arrival. He poured two cups of hot tea, and after introducing themselves, he began to recount the intelligence he had recently obtained.

Recently, the bandits have been carrying out a series of wooden crates, each as long as an adult man, from their secret base. No one knows what's inside; some people would believe they're transporting corpses. He's already sent men to follow them…

Before Hao Liuchun could finish speaking, a series of loud noises came from outside the window. Old Wang and Qingcheng turned around in surprise. It was the sound of rifles firing. However, Uncle Hao calmly lit his pipe and told the two to calm down.

It turned out to be an anti-bandit squad attacking the mountain. Even the slightest rustling in the mountains can travel far, let alone gunfire. In fact, the gunfight was very far away from them, so they could chat without worry.

After hearing the explanation, Old Wang breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the bandage on Qingcheng's ring finger with a half-smile. Qingcheng ignored him and took a sip of hot tea. Today, they mainly wanted to know how many men and weapons Hao Dabo's militia could provide, as the secret base might need to be attacked.

But Old Wang strayed from the topic and became interested in where the boxes went. Uncle Hao then went on to tell the story of how the boxes they found were eventually transported to the bandit stronghold of Fengshan.

This news basically confirmed that the bandits and the Japanese were colluding. Previously, they only had a rough understanding that there were a large number of Chinese people speaking different accents in the secret base, and a small number of Japanese people responsible for security at the entrance.

It seems those Chinese people were either forced laborers or local bandits. During the conversation, Old Wang seemed to have a sudden inspiration. He suggested leaking some information to the bandit suppression team, using them as a tool to kill, and then finding out what was in the box after the team seized it.

Suddenly, Uncle Hao burst into laughter. After taking a few puffs of his pipe, he began to explain that he had been doing this for a long time. When the bandit suppression team came to the village looking for a guide, he sent his own nephew to be the guide and "inadvertently" revealed that a small group of bandits was transporting things into the bandit's den.

Only then did Wang and He realize that Uncle Hao had been pretending to be stupid since they entered the door. He had already done what they could think of, and probably already knew what was in the box, but he had been keeping it a secret.

Old Wang, being shameless by nature, immediately showered Uncle Hao with praise, making him feel like he was on top of the world. Sure enough, Uncle Hao, in his delight, stopped keeping him in suspense and revealed that his nephew had personally seen the box filled with rifles, grenade launchers, and other valuables, all carefully wrapped in oiled paper, indicating they were likely new stock.

After the bandit suppression team finished their work, Uncle Hao planned to have his nephew give a personal account. However, Wang and He were concerned about secrecy and wanted as few people as possible to know their whereabouts, so Qingcheng steered the conversation back to how many men Uncle Hao could send.

Upon hearing that they were about to launch a full-scale attack on the secret base, Uncle Hao silently put down his pipe, took out a bamboo whistle from his pocket, gestured for the two to wait a moment, and then ran to the courtyard and blew the bamboo whistle under the glaring sun.

The whistle sounded like birdsong in the mountains, and it even had a certain rhythm; it seemed that mountain people had their own way of communicating. A moment later, accompanied by the sounds of horses' hooves and light footsteps, the two of them looked towards the courtyard.

At this moment, a simple-looking young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with wheat-colored skin and a sparse mustache, appeared in the courtyard, leading a horse. He was talking to Uncle Hao. Seeing the young man, Wang Renyong's eyes lit up, and he secretly said to Qingcheng, "How about we have him shave his beard?"

"I think it's great. Young skin looks good, so I can save on foundation." Qingcheng covered her mouth with the back of her hand and answered softly, her eyes sparkling.

The two exchanged a smile and immediately reached a consensus: they would take this energetic young man.

Then Wang Renyong praised, "Oh my, our young comrade is getting better and better at managing things. Hard work and plain living are the fine traditions of our Party, and we must maintain them."

"You can just say I'm stingy, and stop calling me 'little' comrade. I feel like you're insulting me," Qingcheng retorted irritably.

"Alright, if this battle goes well, if it's a resounding success, I'll take you to see Wu Hao," Wang Renyong assured her confidently. Qingcheng glanced at Old Wang in disbelief, but immediately realized, "What a lunatic! What good could possibly come from meeting a high-ranking leader? No way!"

"I'm doing this for your own good. Your marriage application is hard to get approved, but Wu Hao is the most reasonable person. You know what I mean, right?" Wang Renyong had already said this much. If you still didn't understand, you'd be a fool. If you have trouble, go to the leader—pull some strings.

Who would have thought that Miss He's lifelong happiness would be tied to a mission? Qingcheng also had her doubts: Old Wang made it sound so simple, would such a high-ranking leader care about such a small matter? But she was always willing to try if there was a glimmer of hope.

When Uncle Hao led the energetic young man into the room, he saw Wang Renyong and Qingcheng sitting side by side, both of them grinning and showing their standard eight front teeth, staring straight at the young man with "kind" eyes.

The young man swallowed hard, standing rooted to the spot, until Uncle Hao gave him a push from behind. He then awkwardly bowed to the two of them, and Qingcheng reacted quickly, immediately getting up to help him.

But Old Wang was unlucky. The two of them were sitting on a long bench, and if he lost his balance, he would fall to his knees and face the ground.

Old Wang's sudden shove startled the child, who immediately knelt down, repeatedly saying he couldn't accept such a grand gesture. Old Wang chuckled, twisting his waist without a trace of annoyance, and muttered, "Reciprocity is key."

The two nodded to each other like they were getting married, and Qingcheng almost laughed herself silly. Sure enough, as long as she wasn't embarrassed, it was others who were embarrassed.

According to the rules, aliases must be used when working outside the task force. Qingcheng suppressed a laugh, quickly pulled Lao Wang up, and formally introduced him to the young man: "Hello, this is our leader Meng Sansheng, and my name is Qin Xiaofei. Please take care of me in the future."

Old Wang patted his buttocks and extended his hand in a friendly gesture. The young man tremblingly grasped the hand with both hands and shook it gently. As if afraid that Old Wang would bite him, he immediately withdrew his hand, clutching his trouser leg, and curiously peeked at the two of them.

"The kids in the mountains are shy around strangers, please don't mind them. This little guy is my youngest nephew. Don't let his age fool you, he's the youngest guerrilla captain in our regiment. He's a little dragon in the mountains. And it was his team that scouted out that base," Uncle Hao said, patting the little guy's head.

"It's alright, it's alright. Little brother, what's your full name? How old are you? Have you joined the Party?" Wang Renyong seemed to be trying to ease the awkwardness by making conversation. Qingcheng was speechless. Asking a barrage of questions right after meeting was going to scare her even more.

“My full name is Li Chui. I’m sixteen, no, I’ll be seventeen next week. I haven’t joined the Party yet. My uncles always say I’m too young.” Li Chui looked at Uncle Hao with some grievance.

"It's not a matter of age, nor is it that we won't let him in. It's his own brother who won't allow it. He's the one who went to be a guide for the bandit suppression team. You know, if the family doesn't agree, it won't pass the review," Uncle Hao explained, exhaling two more smoke rings.

"We'll discuss joining the party later. Li Chui, how many people do you have under your command? Tell us about the secret base as well." Qingcheng promptly brought the topic back on track.

“You can still call me Little Thing. I have about forty men under me, half of them are around my age, all clever and resourceful from years of hard work in the mountains.” Talking about the mountains, Li Chui visibly relaxed and began to explain the secret base to the two men…

After Li Chui finished his introduction, Uncle Hao suggested that when the bandit suppression team launched a general offensive against Fengshan, they should take advantage of the situation by having disguised guerrilla members cleverly seize the base.

Once the general offensive begins, most of the bandits will be transferred back to defend the mountain, leaving only the Japanese, laborers, and some technical personnel behind. Of course, they also need to consider the worst-case scenario: that the bandits remain at the base and are not transferred back.

Furthermore, according to Li Chui and his team's reconnaissance, the iron fence surrounding the base is dangerous because it can burn birds. Birds that touch it will be charred. Now, apart from crows, no other birds dare to fly there. The Japanese guards at the gate are also very fierce and will beat villagers without cause. Real villagers all avoid the base.

It seems the iron fence is made up of a high-voltage power grid. Old Wang suggested that since they were going to outsmart the enemy, they could emulate Troy's tactics, working together from the inside and outside to sabotage the base's power system, including the backup generators, once inside.

Then cause some minor damage, like setting a fire or blowing up a roof. Take advantage of the chaos to open the main gate, allowing the guerrillas outside to provide cover and then ambush them.

At this moment, Kiyosumi silently raised her hand. She needed to know first whether the base's power source was self-generated or externally supplied.

If the power source is external, the substation will be located in the open air on the side closest to the power line from the external power grid. This allows for convenient access to the substation and avoids creating overhead lines around the building area.

If the power generation is internal, the substation is usually located near the center of the building complex. For the convenience of wiring, a machine room is usually set up in the basement to house the transformers.

Qingcheng used to play at the hospital often. The hospital's backup generator was right next to the substation, which made it easy to connect wires, reduce power loss, and facilitate management.

Old Wang, standing beside him, pondered for a moment. He felt that generating electricity independently was more likely. But how long would the power lines be if they were to connect to the power source on the mountain? He also wondered if the surrounding small towns could supply the enormous amount of electricity required by the base.

As soon as Old Wang finished speaking, the little guy silently raised his hand and asked them innocently, "What kind of thing is a transformer? And what is a computer room? Is it for raising chickens?"

Old Wang and Qingcheng exchanged a helpless glance. Oh no, the children have never seen a power system before, let alone a backup system. How are they going to sabotage it?

“Boss, you need to direct the overall team to provide support outside. I'll take them in.” Qingcheng raised her head, her eyes clear and resolute.

Wang Renyong resolutely refused: "No, anyone can lead the team, but you can't go in. They're all scum inside, you know that."

Old Wang had already stated the bottom line: no real female comrades could be sent to lead the charge. But Qingcheng still wanted to try: "Let me finish speaking. I'm about the same height and build as that wheelbarrow. Someone has to play the wheelbarrow and lead the team."

No matter how much Qingcheng tried to persuade him, Wang Renyong simply refused.

"Alright, stop arguing. I'll be the wheel." Uncle Hao slammed his hand on the table, and instantly everyone fell silent, three pairs of eyes staring at him expectantly.

“I’m a local, and my accent and age should be similar to that person’s. Besides, there are some things only people my age would know; young people should step aside. It’s just a transformer, right? Describe it to me.” Uncle Hao made the final decision, and no one present objected.

“Alright, Uncle Hao, give me the brush and ink, and I’ll draw a picture for you.” Wang Renyong rolled up his sleeves, ready to draw.

Uncle Hao suddenly burst into laughter. He couldn't read at all, so where would he get pen and ink? The little one, however, was clever. He asked everyone to go to the yard and draw on the muddy ground with twigs. Wang Renyong and Qingcheng agreed with smiles.

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The temperature was even higher than the past few days, and the roadside vendors listlessly tended their stalls, their calls for customers barely audible. The teahouses, however, remained bustling with activity.

A customer dressed in a light gray long gown emerged from the teahouse, put on sunglasses, and walked straight to a shoe-shining stall. He sat down and stretched out his left foot. The shoe-shiner skillfully rolled up the customer's trouser leg, took out a clean cotton cloth, and began to shine the shoe with focused attention.

"Isn't today supposed to be a mountain-climbing day? What are you doing here?" The shoeshine man asked, head down, seemingly talking to himself.

"It's alright, someone else is watching the place. Have you made contact with your senior sister yet?" the customer replied.

"Yes, my senior sister has personally handed me the contact codes for each mountain, and the checkpoints in Flagpole Town have all been replaced by our own people." The shoeshine man kept his head down.

"You must ensure complete control of communications in Flagpole Town and sever all connections between the north and south. Today is the final test. If you fail, you'll have to deal with the consequences yourself when you get back." The guest's words carried a threat as he flicked the dust off his long robe.

"It has to pass muster, you don't trust my skills?" The shoeshine man looked up angrily, but when he met the customer's deep eyes, his face lit up with a smile. "Sir, please switch feet. But what about Kitten? I always said I should have used my good looks to seduce him, I was even tempted. You insisted on sending Kitten, and Kitten is such a coward."

The guest switched to his right foot and lowered his voice, saying, "To each their own. Others just like softies, but you're too wild. Can you, Lei Shanhai, really be expected to serve people with such humility?"

"Ahem, I'm having a bit of a problem... Cats are much better at serving people." The shoeshine man, Shan Hai, sighed. "What a pity, that female bandit was quite pretty, still charming, and I was a little tempted."

The guest silently removed his sunglasses, revealing his true face—it was Gao Junxiao himself. Shan Hai, that kid, is indiscriminate in his advances towards any beautiful woman; he's quite a character.

But who would have thought that Gao Junxiao, who should have been commanding the battle, would actually appear in the county town?

"Grandpa, what's that greenish stain on your shoes? I can't wipe it off with a dry cloth." Xiao Shan Hai put away the dry cloth and rummaged through his toolbox.

"Tsk, I told you you don't know how to serve, and you're getting too cocky. Go and polish my shoes properly," Gao Junxiao said arrogantly.

"Alright. I have another question, when are we going to attack Mangshan?" Xiaoshanhai took out a brush from the toolbox and scrubbed it vigorously.

"Did you see someone from Mangshan?" Gao Junxiao immediately became alert.

Xiao Shan Hai paused for a moment, then squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "Liu—Sheng—Qi".

"You've got some nerve, coming to the city with your wanted poster still up. Are you going to visit brothels?" Gao Junxiao's voice was calm; he wasn't surprised.

Shan Hai sighed and replied, "Yes, but he's disguised, and even if the local security police see him, they'll pretend not to recognize him."

“Then we can’t act rashly. The yard isn’t even clean yet, how can we let the brothers in?” Gao Junxiao casually took out a handkerchief and wiped his sunglasses.

"I'm almost done cooking, and you're still controlling the heat." Shan Hai pouted and complained softly, "Actually, I can wait, but I'm afraid my senior sister can't wait that long. She's sick, and she can't be cured on the mountain."

"Find a reliable doctor to treat her first..." Gao Junxiao was interrupted by Shan Hai before he could finish speaking.

"It's a mental illness." Shan Hai's voice became somewhat hoarse, and he stopped what he was doing.

For a moment, the two remained silent. Suddenly, the cicadas resting in the tree began to chirp loudly, making the sweltering afternoon even more suffocating. It was indeed inhumane to keep a frail woman by the side of a ruthless murderer every day.

However, Gao Junxiao had no choice in this situation. When it came to matters of principle, personal interests had to be put aside. The bandit suppression team's primary objective was to capture Fengshan.

At present, Fengshan and Mangshan are almost divided between north and south. However, the alliance between the bandits is full of lies and betrayals. Their attack on Fengshan is just to show their master to their dogs. Cutting off communication is to sow discord between the two bandit leaders.

Seeing that Fengshan had been besieged several times without receiving reinforcements from Mangshan, the remaining small hills, each with their own agendas, faced a dilemma: should they continue to observe, provide support, or re-choose sides? Divisions always begin from within.

At this moment, Gao Junxiao suddenly realized that Liu Shengqi would not suddenly come down the mountain. He boldly guessed that Liu Shengqi's visits to brothels were not only for fun, but also to find an opportunity to persuade people to join him.

When Gao Junxiao asked if a group of unfamiliar faces had come to the county town in the past few days, Shan Hai said that there were indeed about ten unfamiliar faces who checked into the inn the day before yesterday. After he finished speaking, Gao Junxiao gave him a "Do you understand?" look. Shan Hai scratched his head and thought for a while, then said "Oh" and realized that the group of people had also gone to the same brothel.

Gao Junxiao turned his head and asked Shan Hai again if he had any way to regain Liu Shengqi's trust.

Shan Hai, the shoe shiner, nodded in agreement, his eyes once again showing provocation towards Gao Junxiao: "But you'll have to offer another pledge of allegiance, like your head."

Gao Junxiao smiled and lowered his head, not angry at all: "I'm afraid they can't afford my head, but would the head of an entire squad of the advance reconnaissance team for bandit suppression be enough?"

"You're willing to do that?" Shan Hai's eyes were filled with surprise and doubt.

"Why would I be reluctant to part with them? They're not even mine." Gao Junxiao's words left Shan Hai completely bewildered.

Xiao Shan Hai's eyes widened, seemingly not understanding Gao Jun Xiao's meaning, and he immediately retorted, "How can the bandit suppression team not be your people? Aren't they soldiers you trained?"

Seeing Shan Hai getting anxious, Gao Junxiao explained with a smile, "Silly child, I said which team is the bandit suppression team, and that's who they are."

Shan Hai's eyes darted around, then a bright smile spread across his face as he diligently began polishing the shoes again: "Understood, sir, the shoes are polished, take a look."

"Your shoes are nicely polished, here's a reward for you. Buy some cool water later to cool down, lest you get heatstroke." Gao Junxiao tossed Shan Hai a silver coin, straightened his long robe, and got up to leave.

The sky was a clear blue, with the sun hanging like a fireball, and the flat, wide road looked like a red-hot iron plate, radiating waves of heat upwards.

By the time Lao Wang had assigned the tasks, the sky had turned into a fiery sunset. Uncle Hao wanted the two of them to stay for dinner, but Lao Wang repeatedly declined and dragged Qingcheng back to the car as if they were fleeing. The village was poor, and how could they accept eating the meager rations of the villagers?

Inside the train carriage, Kiyosumi reviewed the known information once again.

First, Xu Qiao sold state-owned assets to the Japanese. The Japanese ostensibly acquired a worthless coal mine, but they were likely after the copper and iron ore inside. Of course, once they obtained the mining rights, they could take all the minerals inside.

But the fact that they only secretly transported the copper and iron ore out at night made it seem like they were trying to cover it up. It was highly likely that the ore was transported directly to the secret base, and then the base shipped out a batch of brand-new weapons to supply the bandits.

Most importantly, in order to verify her idea, Kiyosumi took a risk and sought out Kratos. She told Kratos that the bandits in the mountains were also involved in the arms trade, and they had messed up the prices on the black market.

This time, Kratos didn't treat Kiyosumi with any courtesy. The door was tightly shut, and dozens of guns were pointed at her, demanding to know who she was.

"You're going to make a mistake by acting impulsively like this. Go back and write a self-criticism!" Wang Renyong was furious at Qingcheng's recklessness. She went to provoke the gang all by herself. Did she have a death wish? But Wang Renyong was also curious and asked her how she got away from the Red Flower Society.

“I told her I occasionally do some small business. Prices in Shanghai are so high. Without connections, how can a young woman like me support herself?” Qingcheng meant that she had connections and occasionally did some smuggling work.

"That old fox believes you? What a joke." Wang Renyong glanced coldly at Qingcheng to show his disbelief, but the beads of sweat on his nose betrayed his emotions.

Perhaps seeing how nervous Lao Wang was, Qingcheng chuckled, revealing a pair of small dimples at the corners of her mouth: "Do you remember the batch of counterfeit weapons of unknown origin that appeared on the black market in North China? I said I was one of the people who handled the shipment."

That day, Qingcheng also had an indifferent attitude. He calmly sat down with dozens of guns around his neck and immediately made his stance clear to Brother Kui: some money could be earned, but some money should never be earned, no matter what.

Qingcheng and Chen Yao put what they learned to good use, righteously condemning the small workshop that produced black weapons. She accidentally discovered that a Japanese person was involved in the batch of goods she handled and was the big boss behind the scenes.

Seeing that Kui Ye was somewhat moved, Qingcheng continued to escalate the situation. She said, "We can fight amongst ourselves, but as a Chinese person, we can't tolerate an outsider coming to our territory and interfering. Not exposing them would be a betrayal of our compatriots."

From the matter of Ryoko, Kiyosumi discovered that Kui-ye had a mysterious contempt for the Japanese, and that the Japanese were using our mines to manufacture weapons, which would sooner or later disrupt the domestic arms market.

Kui must have thought of this too, and immediately ordered his men to investigate. That's why Kui is called the local tyrant of Xuzhou City. In less than an hour, he found the real smuggler who shipped the goods and, by following the clues, confirmed that the supplier was the deputy mine manager, Gao Qiao.

In this way, regardless of whether Kiyosumi was the real person in charge, Master Kui would never tolerate the Japanese interfering in the arms trade of Xuzhou City, and would even be grateful to Kiyosumi for telling him the news.

Although this tactic of using someone else to do the dirty work was risky, Kiyosumi was incredibly bold, or rather, being bold yet meticulous was also part of her strength.

Upon hearing the good news that the source of the black market had been uncovered, Wang Renyong chuckled and tapped Qingcheng's head: "Sometimes I can't even tell whether you or Gao Junxiao are the ones who have been influenced by bad company."

"Without a doubt, Gao Junxiao is definitely the more ruthless one. I'm just a pitiful little thing who was bullied by the big devil." Qingcheng replied with a forced smile, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes.

"Hahaha, doesn't your conscience hurt when you say that? You poor thing, daring to infiltrate a gang. But the fact that someone could force you to wear that big gold ring shows you're not quite there yet. Hehe, I think I could learn from that." Wang Renyong's relaxed and cheerful expression returned, and he even took out his notebook and pretended to jot down a couple of notes.

"Do you think I'd let you try to trick Rui Rui? You're just too frivolous. Rui Rui will think you're not sincere, that you're just flirting." Qing Cheng glared at Lao Wang, tore off the tape on her finger, revealing a gleaming gold ring.

“My heart is as pure as gold, and it can withstand any fire.” Wang Renyong patted his chest, looking aggrieved. “Why don’t you put in a good word for me and say that Wang Renyong is a good comrade, a very, very good comrade.”

"Hahaha, Wang Renyong is a good comrade, how did you come up with that?" Qingcheng laughed heartily, clutching her stomach.

"I am a good comrade," Wang Renyong reiterated firmly. Qingcheng, who was beside him, ignored him. He couldn't get rid of his frivolous habit, and it was no use for anyone to tell Ruirui that Wang Renyong was a good comrade.

As for how to deal with the fact that the base was an arms factory, both of them were smart men. Some things were better left unsaid, so they decided to take advantage of the bandit suppression team's attack on the mountain and wipe it out to prevent future troubles.

Humans cannot see clearly in the purest light or the purest darkness; they can only wander in the gray area where black and white blend, holding the torch of revolution high.

But some questions remain, such as why the Japanese wanted to assassinate Kiyosumi, and what purpose the children bought by the base serve? They'll probably only find out after they enter the base.