Chapter 40: The Wei Army's Rear

  Liu Lao Liu saw me through the glass and waved at me vigorously. I signaled him to wait, then hastily put on my long pants and hiking boots. As soon as I thought about leading these hundreds of people to the top, I broke out in a cold sweat.

  I went downstairs and took a look, Liu Lao Liu was still sneaking around to see if there were any police on both sides of the street. 300 men stood like spears for half a street, with two people in a row and three people in a column, their ages varied, the oldest looked about 40 years old, and the youngest had a childlike face. Most of them wrapped their heads with worn-out black towels, looking dull and expressionless, not as if they had any deep hatred towards anyone. On their bodies, except for the uniform green military uniforms, the armor was all different styles, mostly wrapped around their chests with cowhide, some tied with wrist guards and leg wraps, and there were scars of knife cuts and axe chops on the cowhide.

  From the decorations, it can be seen that this is a team configured with lightness as the main goal, often performing extreme tasks. What makes me vomit blood is: they are uniformly equipped with long knives, some carrying bows and arrows, short knives of varying specifications, some inserted on the left back waist, and others tied to their legs. From their cold expressions and armor damage, this is a group of soldiers who kill people like hemp.

  Now the public security bureau is very strict in checking controlled knives, I estimate that they can detect more than a dozen or even more bloodstains on anyone's knife, if it falls into the hands of the police, I'd rather jump... nowhere to jump, if it falls into the hands of the police, I probably won't see the Yellow River for the rest of my life.

  Liu Laoliu pointed to a 40-year-old veteran and said to me, "That is Xu Delong, the junior commander of the Beiwei Army. He has the highest official rank among these people. If you have anything in the future, go find him."

  "What's with 'Humble Army'? What kind of name is that?"

  Liu Laosixi looked back and glanced at the 3,000-strong Baowei Army, which was Yue Fei's personal army and special forces. In Chinese history, apart from the PLA, I think there is no other unit that can match their ferocity. However, they were too few in number and didn't have much fame. With just a few hundred men, they could defeat tens of thousands of enemies with ease. During the Battle of Yancheng, 50 Baowei soldiers charged into the Jin army's camp and killed their commander, leading to the annihilation of the entire 150,000-strong Jin army. Even the Iron Floating Diagram and the Crooked Horse units, which were King Gold's elite troops, were completely wiped out. At that time, even Wuzhuo was in tears - this is a historical record, I'm not making it up.

  I got goosebumps one after another and asked: "How come none of these perverts survived?"

  Liu Laosixi sighed and said, "These 300 people were not killed in a normal battle, I was wrong before. They died in a suicidal charge after Yue Fei's death, their resentment is very heavy, even if their lifespan wasn't wrong, it won't be calm. Hope you can resolve their hatred..." Liu Laosixi said this and took a step back, my punch hit empty air. I knew I couldn't fight against this old godly thug, so I begged him: "Can you get Tang Seng to do this? I'm just an amateur at stirring up trouble, monks really aren't professionals at this!"

  Liu Lao Liu sneered: "The time to test you has arrived - oh, I have to go, today during the day two little rascals followed me for half a day, I suspect they are plainclothes." As he said this, he slightly crouched down, his eyes gazing at the sky, as if wanting to fly. But after a long time, there was still no movement, and I asked him: "Why haven't you flown yet?"

  He gave me a white eye and said: "I just farted." After finishing, he ran away quickly.

  I looked at the 300 fierce and sharp-eyed soldiers in front of me, couldn't help but smile bitterly, walked up to Xu Delong and smiled apologetically: "Captain Xu..." Xu Delong clasped his fists: "Xiao Zhuangshi!"

  I wiped the sweat from my forehead and said, "Just call me Qiangzi." I ventured to say, "Now that we're here, let's just forget about past grievances, shall we? I'm not some kind of hero or immortal, just a commoner. You're soldiers, and we should be united like one family, military and civilians alike."

  Xu De Long smiled at me and said, "Alright."

  My god, why is this person like a wooden stump? I originally thought their goal was also to have me send them back to the Song Dynasty, but now that I take a closer look, they didn't show any signs of disappointment after finding out I'm not an immortal.

  I said with a quivering heart: "Before we change clothes, can you hand over your knife to me for safekeeping first?" I know that all soldiers must love their weapons dearly, even to the point of fetishism. To ask them to surrender their arms is sometimes more troublesome than killing them.

  However, Xu De Long listened and turned back loudly saying: "Attention all, switch knives to right hand - release!"

  With a clang, 300 long knives were neatly placed at the feet of each person. I really wanted to shout "Comrades, you've worked hard!"

  I opened a box, took out a set of clothes and shoes and socks, demonstrated how to wear them briefly, then said to Xu Delong: "Trouble Leader Xu to put your weapons and the changed clothes in the original box for new clothes, find a few strong men to carry them on their backs. After we change our clothes, we still have a long way to go."

  Xu DeLong instructed several soldiers to take off their clothes, and then they started changing into new ones in the middle of the street. I noticed that all of them had scars all over their bodies. When they saw "Jing Zhong Bao Guo", they didn't seem to have any special reaction, although most soldiers at that time couldn't read, but there's no reason they wouldn't recognize these four characters. This is the same logic as the soldiers of Steel Seventh Company not knowing "Never Give Up".

  The clothes and weapons were quickly packed into boxes, along with the unopened ones, each of which was carried by a designated person. This was indeed a highly efficient and well-trained team, as the entire process took less than 1 minute, without anyone saying a word.

  Because they all had long hair, the headscarves were still tied up. I looked at everything and asked Xu Delong: "Brothers have come from afar, do you want to rest for a while? We need to run 30 kilometers of cross-country." Xu Delong smiled: "Let's go."

  I pushed off on the 28-inch bicycle borrowed from Old Zhao, and said with great embarrassment: "Sorry, I have to ride this, I'm not in a position to compete with you guys..."

  Then we started a forced march, at first I was afraid that some people would not be able to keep up, so I rode slowly. Later, I found out that no matter how hard I pedaled, these people didn't care, because there were still people sleeping in the earthquake shelters on the open land. So I chose to take the desolate small roads, and later my physical strength finally became a problem. After taking down the tent and riding for another section, I was unable to pedal anymore.

  Xu De Long sent two soldiers to push me from behind and I continued running, I never thought I could do something so embarrassing, I remember when I was in school, we would run cross-country and the teacher would ride a bicycle, sometimes if someone really couldn't run anymore, the teacher would give them a ride, but if it were a girl, that's okay, if it were a boy, then he would lose all face.

  I was quite uncomfortable on the bicycle, if I didn't pedal at all it would be a bit too much to say, but if I pedaled a few times, I couldn't catch my breath. So I pedaled a few times and then turned around in circles, making myself look busy. Although it was a small road, occasionally there were speeding cars passing by us, and on both sides of the road there were flashing neon lights and various shiny billboards. Just looking at the exterior, you could tell that these abnormal species had already become strange to their own grandmother's house. But surprisingly, not even one person asked questions. The strict discipline of the Yue family army is indeed well-deserved. I think I should find some time to systematically introduce this world to them, and next time bring Qin Shi Huang along, can't let them misunderstand that this earthquake has something to do with my fart anymore. Actually, after living together for so long, whether or not I am a god to Qin Shi Huang is no longer important, they have enjoyed all the benefits they should have, and now I have money, except for sending Xiang Yu back to the grave, whatever they want, I can appropriately satisfy them a little bit. What's the difference between this life and that of a god?

  At the toll booth ahead, a police car with flashing lights was parked on the side of the road. Two policemen were leaning against the car smoking, seemingly doing nothing, purely as a precautionary measure by the government during this special period. When I saw them, they also saw us.

  It's too late to turn back now, I slowed down my pace and said to Xu De Long: "We can't afford to offend the people in front of us, just do as I say later." Xu De Long passed on the order.

  Two policemen saw several hundred people wearing labor reform uniforms walking towards them, and they subconsciously put their hands on their guns. When they saw me, they slightly let out a breath of relief, possibly because the scene of riding a bicycle was particularly familiar to them. However, an old policeman still asked me vigilantly: "What are you doing?"

  I stepped on the ground with one foot and said with a smile but with an underlying mysterious tone: "If I tell you, it will be troublesome."

  A young policeman on the side whispered: "Are special forces executing a task?"

  I praised him and said: "This little devil is very clever, which unit is it?" Without waiting for his answer, I loudly ordered 300: "Attention!"

  The moment I shouted this sentence, the sweat on my head also came down. I didn't know if they could understand the specific meaning of this command. Xu Delong reacted quickly, he put his hand behind his back, and his legs naturally spread apart to stand up straight. The soldiers behind him followed suit in an instant, their movements were so uniform that it was like they were programmed, but there was one thing wrong: this movement was at ease!

  I turned back with a guilty conscience, and indeed saw the old policeman say in confusion: "What unit are you from, why are you wearing...?" He suddenly realized, "This is your special military uniform, right?"

  I smiled mysteriously and didn't respond.

  Actually, the 300 wore everything except for the number on their chest, that's absolutely authentic labor camp attire. Only their head wraps were very stylish. You see in movies, those wearing steel helmets are usually ordinary soldiers, casually wearing a cloth hat is special forces, if they wrap their heads up, that's definitely a killing machine nurtured by the country with heavy investment. Of course, this actually varies depending on different combat environments, but how would ordinary police think so much? Moreover, 300 indeed had exceptional military quality, the aura they emitted was absolutely not something labor camp prisoners could have.

  I saw two policemen fainting, so I took advantage of the situation and said: "You've worked hard, we still have a long way to go, goodbye." Then I ordered 300: "Run - march!"

  Xu De Long stood at attention as soon as he heard the word "run", but when he heard "go" he was stunned, and could only stare blankly ahead before taking off in a sprint, with the other 299 following close behind.

  300 meters ahead, I rushed out and smiled at the two policemen, then pedaled my bicycle to catch up with them. I also heard the young policeman say in admiration: "Look at their troops, they are reversing their passwords to confuse the enemy, they must be from the fifth type of troop, I wish I could get in."

  Everyone can be my witness, I've never said that I'm from the army. Later on, Yucai Wenwu School opened and people saw this uniform, it's actually just a school uniform. If we were to go to court, I'd have the upper hand!

  After passing the toll station, it's not far from the destination. When the soldiers stepped onto the grassland, they all looked quite cheerful and excited. It seems that none of them like cities very much. Professional soldiers should be like this, content with simplicity, enjoying plain food and drink. I really like their character, because if they were also into indulging in food and entertainment, forget about bars, taking them out for a bowl of noodles would cost over 1,000 yuan. Do you want to add some small dishes? Should I add more boiled eggs for them? With a large population, the quality of life will inevitably decline. What a great basic national policy family planning is...

  When I pointed out several dilapidated houses to them, Xu Delong waved his hand and shouted: "Take cover!" 300 people rushed into the grass without saying a word, Xu Delong pulled me down with one hand, and the bicycle was pressed on my body.

  When I explained that this would be their future habitat and that we were going to camp on that empty land tonight, Xu Delong firmly rejected my proposal, thinking it was too exposed.

  Actually, nobody is watching, so what's the big deal about exposing a bit?

  Finally, they set up camp in a place that overlooked the empty land. The tent, which I had never used before, was skillfully put up by the soldiers. Xu Delong patted the green canvas tent with satisfaction and said: "Sturdy! And it's also waterproof, and can even withstand fire for a short time - did you make this?"

  I'm so angry that he doesn't listen to me, I think if Yue Fei were here, he would definitely humbly accept my opinions, even if he didn't agree with them in his heart. After all, I'm the landlord and have been doing this for over 20 years, it seems that being a general and a soldier is different when it comes to political intrigue.

  The tent was set up, and I only then realized that my legs had gone soft like a door curtain. In this state, if I were to ride back, the word "crash" would be prepared for me. 300 people set up 61 tents, one of which was used to store those boxes. I discussed with Xu Delong, and we decided to sleep in that tent for the night first. Xu Delong smiled and said: "You go to sleep."

  300 people, setting up tents and getting in took less than 5 minutes. Except for the sound of fabric unfolding and hammering tent pegs, not a single person spoke. This is starting to look a bit terrifying. Now even I can tell that these people must have some secret or unmentionable purpose. This silence can't hide the signs of a live volcano about to erupt. What the hell do they want to do?

  Tomorrow I have to buy some chewing gum, if we keep holding it in like this, won't everyone get bad breath?

  Out of habit, they sent two people to keep watch. I said we've all run a sweat and are tired, let's sleep soon. They didn't pay any attention to me. When I said "a sweat", actually only I was like that. The two on guard happened to be the ones who bullied me, and in their hearts they must have looked down on me.

  After lying down for a while, my stomach started growling, and I suddenly remembered that they had been following me all night without food or water. This was absolutely a dereliction of duty on my part as their master. But none of these people complained, which made me feel even more guilty. As the saying goes, "dumb children are more pitied". The Yue Family Army's motto is "freeze to death but don't dismantle the house, starve to death but don't plunder", and I wondered if they would cross this moral line if I didn't take care of them...

  When we were sleeping, the east had already turned white, and I was woken up by them before 8 o'clock in the morning. When I walked out of the tent, I saw that more than 300 people were holding a trumpet-shaped flower each, with their buttocks exposed, collecting dew from the grass leaves to drink. Two soldiers were cleaning up a pile of dead rabbits, and someone had already lit a fire, set up a roasting rack, and Xu Delong saw that I was awake, pointing at the row of trumpet flowers at the foot of my tent, saying: "Those are prepared for you."

  I looked down and saw that a long row of trumpet-shaped flowers were full of collected dew, enough for a thin person to take a bath. How much time did it take?

  I said with tears in my eyes, "Leave the tea here, you can drink as much as you want -" I pointed to those several dilapidated houses in the distance and said, "There is running water over there."