Chapter 21: The Dirty Braid Army
"Why are you so afraid of him? I don't believe he can hold his own in front of the Marshal. He doesn't even have a braid!"
"Alas, you don't understand. Don't be fooled by this Wan's seemingly pampered appearance; he's full of ulterior motives. It's true that he doesn't have a queue, which makes him a bit of a misfit among our queue-wearing army, but since the Marshal, who takes this matter very seriously, can turn a blind eye to him, it's clear that he's no ordinary person. Even if his words aren't final, Marshal Zhang certainly won't take his words lightly."
"So who is this person?"
"I don't know his exact origins, but I heard that this Wan might have a royal background."
"Royal background? Oh—no wonder the Marshal attaches so much importance to it! Now I understand."
"Yes, the Marshal has always expressed his loyalty to Emperor Xuantong and the Holy Mother Empress Dowager. He will support the royal family to regain the throne whenever he has the chance. So if this person has a royal background, he will naturally be entrusted with important tasks by the Marshal."
"This isn't something we subordinates should discuss, but...wouldn't the President be dissatisfied with Marshal Zhang's political views?"
"Staff Officer Han, this isn't something we should discuss. But since you brought it up, let's just chat about it privately. While the Republic of China may appear unified on the surface, everyone understands that power is essentially divided between the North and the South. The President in the north and the Sun Yat-sen and Huang Zong forces in the south are locked in a fierce conflict, with war imminent. The President is in dire need of new personnel. Generals Feng, Duan, Cao, and Zhang are all his right-hand men, and none of them can be dispensable. Even if Marshal Zhang's political views differ from his, as long as he can be used to eliminate Sun Yat-sen and Huang Zong and unify the country, he won't pursue his position."
As they walked and talked, they were approaching Yin Chuan and Lin Lang. What Yin Chuan didn't expect was that Situ Xin and Han Chi suddenly turned a corner and walked towards another row of barracks, followed closely by several guards. This caught Yin Chuan and Lin Lang off guard. Lin Lang was sharp-eyed and took a sneak peek in the direction of Situ Xin and the others. Hey, isn't this the row of barracks they first came to? The barracks of the regiment commander, deputy regiment commander, and staff officer are all in this row. Yin Chuan also noticed it at this time, and then he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Did you hear what they said just now?" Yin Chuan asked Linlang in a muffled voice.
"I was so nervous just now, and they were talking so quietly, how could I hear them?" Linlang shrugged. "You have such sharp ears, did you hear anything they said about the case?"
"Not really. I only heard Situ Xin say that General Wan seemed to be a member of the royal family, which is why Zhang Xun placed him in such high esteem. However, from their conversation, I can tell that the Yuan army is superficially united but actually divided, and the rift between them is quite deep."
"What does the conflict between those high-ranking officials have to do with us? We should focus on how to get out of this unscathed."
Yin Chuan thought about it and realized that those things were all internal struggles within their regime. Why should a small-time figure like him worry about them? He agreed and planned to move on.
It was midday, the sun shining brightly after the snow. Yin Chuan watched Situ Xin and Han Chi enter the innermost barracks. He remembered that the tent next door had been the scene of Shen Hui's murder, and a wave of regret washed over him. Captain Shen was a capable general, a man who had treated the local civilians with impunity. It was a shame he had given himself to Zhang Xun's pigtailed army. A truly precious talent was being thrown into the dark. He decided to do his best to restore the truth of this case and give him some justice.
Just as he and Linlang continued to head towards the logistics supply storage area, he suddenly turned around and looked at Chen Hui's barracks. He noticed that there were two soldiers standing guard in front of the door, but there was no one standing guard in the barracks next to Situ Xin and the others. This made Yin Chuan feel a little strange, but he really couldn't figure out what was strange about it.
"Why don't you leave? Is there something wrong?" Linlang asked in confusion when she saw Yin Chuan in a daze.
"Oh, nothing."
"This is not a place to stay for long, let's leave as soon as possible."
Linlang beckoned Yin Chuan not to stop and to quicken his pace. Yin Chuan had no choice but to follow Linlang with a hint of doubt in his heart.
Soon, the two arrived at the northwest corner of the independent regiment's base. They found burned barracks and numerous supply vehicles scattered across the snow. The destroyed fences had been re-erected and reinforced. Many soldiers were busy coming and going, some rebuilding the barracks, some arranging the vehicles, and some counting supplies...
Yin Chuan and Lin Lang walked over to a junior officer who was shouting orders around. Yin Chuan gave him a perfunctory military salute and said, "Sir, what are you busy with?"
The officer glanced at Yin Chuan and asked, "Which battalion are you from?"
"We were sent by Deputy Head Situ."
"Deputy Captain Situ? What are you doing here?"
"We just drove the bandits away, and seeing that everyone has been busy all night, they specially asked me to come and offer my condolences."
The officer looked Yin Chuan up and down disapprovingly. "Consolation? Give everyone a few dollars? Or have the kitchen staff stew a pot of meat? Or let the brothers go into Chenjia Village and have some fun?"
Linlang frowned immediately. She didn't expect that Zhang Xun and his queue soldiers were so despicable. Apart from wine, meat and money, they also wanted to do evil!
Yin Chuan had long understood that in today's world, soldiers were bandits and bandits were soldiers. It wasn't surprising for them to think this, so he said with a smile, "Brothers, you've worked hard and made great contributions, so the commanders in the regiment will naturally treat you well. However, due to the considerable loss of baggage, the commanders at the regiment are worried that we won't be able to keep up with the supply, so they have to ask for more hard work from you brothers. Once more food and wine are shipped from the provincial capital, we will make sure you are satisfied."
"Hmph, so this is just another empty promise?" the officer said impatiently. "You're right under my nose, so you can say whatever you want. I've got your point across, so get on with what you need to do and don't get in the way of our work!"
"Hey, don't be so anxious to send us away. I still have something to trouble you with."
"If you have anything to say, say it now!"
Yin Chuan took out a cigarette case from his pocket and handed it over. "You should be in charge of the logistics platoon, right?"
The officer was stunned. He took the cigarette and tapped it in his hand. "Well... because our platoon leader Lu is in custody, I, the deputy platoon leader, will be in charge for the time being."
"Oh, I see. Then I want to ask, were those barracks at the regimental headquarters built by the logistics platoon? Especially the one owned by Staff Officer Han."
The officer seemed puzzled and looked at Yin Chuan and Lin Lang again. "Why do you two... look so unfamiliar? Are you from the Independent Regiment?"
Linlang tensed up at the question. Yin Chuan, however, possessed considerable experience, remained calm, chuckling. He leaned in and whispered, "Old man, don't you think we're unfamiliar? You know what's going on with Chief of Staff Han, right? Even though we claim to be sent by Deputy Commander Situ, we're actually his trusted aides."
The deputy platoon leader seemed to understand something and immediately changed his tone, "Oh...oh...then what are you doing..."
"Platoon Leader Lu has been detained. Staff Officer Han is actually quite dissatisfied with Situ Xin's actions. So he asked the two of us to come to the logistics platoon to investigate what happened to the deserter. He also wants to find out whether he was involved in the construction of the regimental barracks." Yin Chuan took out a few silver dollars from his pocket and said, "This is a little gift from Staff Officer Han. I hope you will take care of it and cooperate."
The deputy platoon leader's face lit up with joy when he saw there was something to be gained. He was a completely different person from before. He immediately took the silver dollar and quickly put it in his pocket. "No problem! It's just a small matter. Wait a minute..." Then, he waved to a young soldier who was carrying things not far away. "Little Er! Come here! I need you for something!"
The soldier was carrying a box. Although he was a strong man, walking in the snow was still quite difficult. When he heard someone calling him, he put the box down and turned around to ask, "Deputy Platoon Leader, what do you want me to do?"
"Come here! Someone from the regiment needs your help. It's a good job!"
"Hey! Here I come!" The young soldier named Xiao Erzi was naturally very happy when he saw that he didn't have to carry big and heavy boxes anymore. He threw his braid around his neck and walked over excitedly.
"These two were sent by the regiment headquarters. You do whatever they tell you to do. Do you understand?"
"Then this..." He looked at the box on the ground.
"You're addicted to moving boxes, right? Just go when I tell you to, why are you talking so much nonsense!" The deputy platoon leader kicked the waiter hard on the butt.
"Okay!" This young man was eager to slack off and avoid doing this dirty and tiring work. When he heard that he was supposed to serve the people from the regiment headquarters, he immediately agreed, thinking it might be a good job. "What do you two want me to do?"
"Let me ask you, do you know anything about the desertion in the logistics platoon?"
"Little Zhao? I don't know anything about him."
Seeing that he really didn't know, Yin Chuan changed the subject and asked, "Did you help build Staff Officer Han's barracks?"
"Hey, you've asked the right person. Not only Chief of Staff Han's barracks, but even the regimental commander and deputy regimental commander's barracks have been taken over by me."
Yin Chuan was delighted, "That's great, come! Go over there, I need your help."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
