Chapter 205 I Went Mad During the Republic of China 21
Zhou Jue and his group followed the middle-aged man and walked in one direction. They soon arrived at a makeshift camp, where several dilapidated tents lay askew, but the soldiers around them were alert and held guns.
Upon seeing Zhou Jue and his group, the soldiers in the camp immediately tensed up and raised their guns, aiming them at them.
The middle-aged man whispered a few words to one of his guards, who immediately ran into a tent. A moment later, a thin-faced man with sharp eyes emerged from the tent. This was Commander Yang.
Commander Yang sized up Zhou Jue and the crowd behind her, his gaze finally settling on Zhou Jue, who appeared to be the most spirited among them: "Are you refugees from Harbin?"
Zhou Jue stepped forward and looked directly at Commander Yang: "Yes, this group of people are from Harbin. Hello, Commander Yang, I am Xinghuo."
Commander Yang's eyes lit up. He looked Zhou Jue up and down, a hint of surprise on his face: "Comrade Xinghuo! It's you!"
He strode up to Zhou Jue, reached out, and grasped Zhou Jue's hand tightly: "The telegram from Yan'an arrived a long time ago, saying that Comrade Xinghuo would come to the Northeast to provide support, and that we should cooperate. I never expected you to appear in this way."
He looked at the group of people behind Zhou Jue; the scars and exhaustion on their bodies spoke volumes about the suffering they had endured.
A burly man knelt down with a thud and kowtowed to Commander Yang: "Commander! We were captured by the Japanese and forced to be 'Maruta'! It was this benefactor who rescued us from that hellhole of germ warfare experiments!"
"What? A bacterial experiment?" Commander Yang's expression changed drastically.
"Yes! Our benefactor single-handedly wiped out the Japanese devils' stronghold, killed all those inhuman beasts, and rescued us all!"
One after another, the group excitedly revealed all of Zhou Jue's "glorious deeds".
Throughout the camp, all the soldiers were stunned. Their gazes toward Zhou Jue shifted from wariness to shock, and then from shock to fervent admiration.
Commander Yang took a deep breath, trying to process the information. He waved for his guards to lower their guns and solemnly saluted Zhou Jue: "Comrade Xinghuo, on behalf of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, I thank you for your contributions to the country and the people!"
Zhou Jue accepted the greeting and said, "Commander Yang, let's not stand on ceremony. I'm here to deliver supplies to you."
Commander Yang was taken aback: "Supplies?"
“Okay.” Zhou Jue nodded. “I’ve hidden all the supplies seized from the Fengtian Arsenal in a nearby ravine. Send someone to transport them.”
Commander Yang's eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to an officer beside him and said, "Commander Cheng, take ten men and go with Comrade Xinghuo to take a look."
Zhou Jue shook his head after hearing this: "Ten people are probably not enough."
Commander Yang was taken aback, then looked at Zhou Jue with a look of confusion in his eyes.
"The more people who go, the better," Zhou Jue said. "If there are too few people, we can't transport them all in one trip, and we'll have to make several trips."
Commander Yang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and he immediately understood. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone! Except for those who stay on guard duty, everyone come with me!"
"Yes!" the soldiers responded in unison, their eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.
Zhou Jue led Commander Yang and the others toward the ravine where they had released the people earlier. When they arrived at the ravine, everyone was stunned.
A small mountain of bags appeared out of nowhere in the valley. The top bag tore open, and white rice flowed out.
"Rice! It's rice!" a soldier shouted.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the mountain of rice, swallowing hard.
"And this too."
Zhou Jue pointed again, and another pile of things appeared next to him.
Bundles of cured meat, boxes of canned goods, and large bags of flour and salt filled the air with a rich aroma of meat and grain, intensely assaulting everyone's olfactory senses.
"Meat...it's meat!"
"We have salt! We have salt now!"
One soldier could no longer bear it. He rushed over, grabbed a handful of salt, and rubbed it onto his festering, oozing wound. He grimaced in pain, but a relieved smile appeared on his face.
Zhou Jue looked at this scene and then pointed to the box on the other side.
"This is medicine. Penicillin, sulfanilamide powder, gauze, and alcohol—enough for your needs."
“These are weapons,” she said, pointing to another large pile of crates.
A soldier walked up curiously and pried open a box.
“Clatter.”
The box was opened, revealing a brand-new Type 38 rifle. The oil on the gun body was still wet and glistened in the sunlight.
"New guns! All new guns!"
"And this too!" Another soldier pried open a long crate, revealing a brand-new Type 91 light machine gun!
"Machine gun!"
"There are still bullets! My God, so many bullets!"
The soldiers went crazy. They rushed into the candy store like a bunch of children, hugging their new guns and touching boxes of bullets, laughing and crying with excitement.
The entire valley erupted in cheers, which nearly shook the forest to its core.
Commander Yang stood there, looking at the mountain of supplies in front of him and the cheering soldiers. His usually tense face trembled slightly.
The eyes of the officers around him were also red.
They suffered so much. Surrounded by the enemy, they lacked food, clothing, and medicine. Sometimes, they had to fight to the death for just a few bullets. Now, looking at all this before them, they felt like they were dreaming.
Commander Cheng stood at the back of the crowd, his face alternating between pale and flushed. Looking at the grain, the medicine, and the brand-new weapons, the nascent idea in his mind was shattered.
The money and official positions promised by the Kwantung Army were nothing compared to the support they were receiving! If they really had enough resources and weapons, who would betray them? Wouldn't it be better to drive all those damned Japanese devils out?! At this moment, Commander Cheng was filled with fervor, excitement, and self-reproach for his wavering.
Zhou Jue's gaze swept across Commander Cheng's face almost imperceptibly before landing on Commander Yang.
"Commander Yang, these are only a part of it."
Commander Yang came to his senses, walked up to Zhou Jue, his lips moved, a thousand words were about to be said, but in the end, they all boiled down to one sentence: "Comrade Xinghuo, I am deeply grateful."
Zhou Jue waved his hand: "These were all captured from the Japanese devils, and they should have been used to fight the Japanese devils in the first place."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "I've also moved the production line from the Fengtian Arsenal here. You can choose a safe location, and I'll help you build the arsenal."
"What?!"
If the supplies were a pleasant surprise, then these words were like a bolt of lightning striking Commander Yang's head.
He grabbed Zhou Jue's arm suddenly, his voice trembling with excitement: "Comrade Xinghuo! Are you serious? The production line?"
“Yes, they have everything, from manufacturing guns and cannons to producing bullets,” Zhou Jue affirmed.
Commander Yang's breathing quickened instantly. He knew what this meant. It meant they would have an endless supply of weapons and ammunition! It meant they would no longer have to fight enemy machine guns and tanks with broadswords and spears! It meant the anti-Japanese situation in Northeast China would be completely changed!
"Good! Good! Good!" Commander Yang said three times. This iron-willed man, who had never bowed his head in front of the enemy, had tears welling up in his eyes.
He released Zhou Jue's hand, turned around and shouted to all the soldiers, "Attention! Salute!"
"Whoosh!"
All the soldiers present, including the newly rescued "Marutas," stood ramrod straight and gave Zhou Jue a solemn military salute.
Zhou Jue looked at them, at those eyes burning with fire, and nodded.
She turned to Commander Yang and said, "The arsenal matter isn't urgent; let's deal with the immediate issues first. I have something else here that might be useful to you."
As she spoke, she took a tablet out of her bag.
Commander Yang stared at the iron plate he had never seen before, which had a glowing screen on it, his face full of confusion.
"This is……"
Zhou Jue opened a file, and a detailed map immediately appeared on the screen, with coordinates marked by red dots.
"This is a map of all Japanese military deployments in Northeast China that I obtained from the Kwantung Army Headquarters, including their troop strength, firepower configuration, supply routes, and secret strongholds."
Zhou Jue's finger swiped across the screen, and the map moved accordingly.
“And this one.” She opened another file, which contained a long list.
"This is a list of traitors and spies that the Japanese have bribed and are hiding in various places, as well as some people who are being contacted but have not yet defected."
Zhou Jue's gaze finally landed on Commander Cheng's face, which had changed color.
"Commander Yang, we must first secure our internal stability before we can resist external threats."
"If there are traitors in the team, no matter how much supplies there are, they may become the enemy's overnight."
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