Chapter Thirty-Nine: Land on the Mountain

  Ouyang Yun finished singing, the students were stunned at first, and then they applauded with a loud noise. Many people, especially those from the original third company, jumped up and down on the truck, shouting: "The captain sings well!" "Captain, come again!" "Captain, teach us!"...

  Ouyang Yun hastily waved his hand to stop, intentionally furrowing his brow and saying: "Can't praise anymore, if I'm praised any more I might become overly confident, who knows, I might get excited and go become a singer."

  "Haha!" The crowd cheered, and some mischievous ones said: "Captain, if that's the case, we'll definitely go to cheer you on." Others still wanted to express their opinions, but Ouyang Yun saw that everyone had rested enough, waved his hand and said: "Alright, after relaxing, let's continue - I announce that half an hour later, the first fifty people will switch to trucks!"

  A five-minute break was far from enough for the recruits who had not slept all night and were emotionally volatile, and it was precisely because of this that the temptation to "change buses" was not small. The recruits immediately shouted and rushed forward in a scramble.

  Ouyang Yun smiled slightly, touched his somewhat dry throat, retreated to the side of the road, looked back, and waited for Li Tieshu to approach. Then he said: "Commander Li, are you interested in running with me for a while?"

  Li Tieshu was taken aback, and immediately realized that he had something to do with him. He jumped off the horse, handed the reins over to Guo Xiaojiang, and ordered him to ride ahead first, saying: "Good."

  Two people fell behind the team and ran at a steady pace. Ouyang Yun said, "Li Lianzhang, do you think there will be a tail attached to our back?"

  Li Tieshu's thoughts were cautious and he immediately picked up on the underlying tone, looking at his superior with a newfound respect. He didn't expect him to still be thinking about those two Japanese plainclothes police officers, saying: "Hard to say, Captain, should we investigate?"

  "We'll talk about it when we get to Wan Village, Captain Li. You're older than me, so just call me Ouyang in private."

  "Alright, then please call out my name as well, Ti Shu is a rough person and doesn't have a courtesy name."

  Ouyang Yun smiled: "I don't have a word for this either, it's both a name and a word, troublesome."

  "Heh heh, Tuan, Ouyang, I took a close look at the wounds on those two plainclothes officers, they were inflicted by professionals."

  Ouyang Yun nodded and said: "The technique is very mature, if nothing unexpected happens, those two people should be Japanese spies buried here."

  "Ah, the shirt is in Japanese military style."

  "You're quite observant, Iron Book."

  "'Each other,' said Li Tieshu, and the two of them exchanged a smile."

  Ouyang Yun said: "It seems like a friend rather than an enemy."

  "I don't know if it's the 29th Army that has been sent to secretly 'protect' us," Li Tieshu emphasized the word "protect".

  "It's highly likely that I'm very important to them now."

  This statement is quite boastful, Li Tieshu looked at the young face of his opponent, in the morning dew, a layer of oil mist floated on that face, looking particularly confident. This made him feel that the other party was not joking or exaggerating, and he couldn't help but be even more puzzled by this little superior - Ouyang Yun was an enigmatic figure to him!

  Is this also the characteristic of a traverser?!!

  The "relay race" initiated by Ouyang Yun greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of the students, and the speed of the troops' advance increased a lot. At more than 9 o'clock in the morning, they arrived at the foot of a small hill on the left side of Baycun.

  All the way, in order to avoid revealing the purpose of this trip, when encountering people working in the fields, Ouyang Yun specially arranged for the students to explain to their fellow villagers: We are from the 25th Division and have been ordered by our superiors to withdraw from Hebei.

  Due to years of war, ordinary people suffered greatly from the war and generally kept a distance from military affairs. The Hebei Agreement had just been signed, and not many people were aware of it. In addition, rural areas were isolated from information, so even fewer people knew the truth. Therefore, there was not much reaction to the withdrawal of this small unit, and most people simply watched indifferently, at most mentioning it in passing after meals, as if this matter had nothing to do with them. Some well-informed scholars, on the other hand, lamented with clenched fists and tears: Alas! Is Hebei going to become another Chahar?

  Entering Bay Village, from the villagers' mouths, Ouyang Yun learned that the destination was called Tudi Mountain, and the mountain name originated from the Tudi Temple.

  The land is high but no more than 500 meters, about 10 kilometers in circumference, and the top of the mountain is lush with trees. It's not a problem to hide a few thousand troops inside.

  Under the command of Ouyang Yun and Li Tieshu, Chen Shichang, the troops drove down the mountain road and turned into the forest, where the soldiers covered them with branches and leaves, leaving a row of soldiers on guard. Li Tieshu selected more than a dozen old soldiers from the original third company, along the road towards Bayanping, extending over five miles, setting up many hidden sentries. Ouyang Yun had Chu Tiange lead several reconnaissance teams to ride horses to Bayanping to meet Chao Hongle and Pang Wenhui. The others gathered at Tudi Temple under the leadership of their respective superiors.

  On the square in front of the temple, the bodies of eight martyrs were neatly laid out, and the student soldiers stood solemnly, with many people holding dry rations that they found hard to swallow.

  Ouyang Yun had originally wanted to hold the farewell ceremony after everyone finished their breakfast, but at a moment of life and death separation, who could swallow their food?

  After several hours of arduous marching, many people were so exhausted that they almost forgot the fierce battle last night. However, facing the frozen faces of former classmates and comrades-in-arms, the tragic scene of last night's battle flashed back into their minds, and everyone suddenly came to their senses, realizing that they had just emerged from a test of life and death.

  It was unclear who let out the first sob, but soon the whole troop seemed to be infected, with most people shedding hot tears. Some close friends and classmates of the fallen soldiers gritted their teeth and vowed: "Farewell, your comrades-in-arms have avenged you, we will complete the unfinished mission for you!"

  Ouyang Yun faced the crowd, feeling unwell. He knew that sacrifice was the price of victory and that there would always be casualties in battle, but he couldn't help but have a glimmer of hope: if only his side didn't lose a single person, it would be great! He shook his head with a bitter smile, knowing this was just a foolish dream. He puffed out his chest and said loudly, "Comrades, remember these fallen comrades! For the sake of freeing our country from the iron hooves of the Japanese pirates, for the sake of a bright future for our motherland, they gave their young and precious lives!" After a pause, he shouted, "The entire student army is present, attention, remove hats, salute to the martyrs!" Then he led by example, standing at attention, removing his hat, turning around, and raising his hand in respect towards the eight sleeping comrades.

  With a rustling sound, all the personnel on the square saluted their deceased comrades with a loud and clear military salute.

  Near the Land Temple, Ouyang Yun and the students buried their comrades' bodies in a sunny spot, erecting a stone monument that read: "Tomb of the Eight Martyrs of the May 6 Defense War of the Student Army - Erected by all comrades of the 29th Army Student Army on May 7, 1935."

  Facing the monument, Ouyang Yun said softly: "One day, I will set up a huge monument on Tiananmen Square, let all future generations come to worship you, and forever remember your deeds - believe me."

  Chen Shichang stood beside him and asked in a low voice, "Captain, are we going to hold a summary meeting next?"

  Ouyang Yun looked around at the soldiers and saw that most of them were exhausted, so he said: "First let everyone have breakfast and rest. The summary meeting can wait a bit longer. Oh, leave a few soldiers who are good with words, preferably from Beiping. I have an important task for them to do. Tie Shu, you stay too."

  A few minutes later, Chen Shichang led six school soldiers into the left wing of the Land Temple, which is now the headquarters and command center of the School Soldiers' Corps.

  Ouyang Yun let everyone sit down and smiled: "You've been rushing around all night, aren't you tired?"

  "Captain, we can hold on."

  "Director, just give me whatever task you have."

  Ouyang Yun nodded in satisfaction and then stated his plan, finally asking: "Does everyone have confidence?"

  Chen Shichang stood up with six students and saluted: "Guarantee completion of the task."

  Ouyang Yun returned a military salute to them and said: "Alright, I'll wait for your good news at the Land Temple. Remember to make full use of the media's momentum, the bigger the stir, the better." He paused and then said to Chen Shichang: "Shichang, I'm entrusting these six people to you completely, after completing the task, you must bring them back safely for me."

  Chen Shichang bowed respectfully and said firmly, "Your Excellency, please rest assured that it's just a matter of moving one's mouth and pen, not going to war. I guarantee that no one will lose a single hair!"

  Ouyang Yun smiled and said: "I hope so, then I'll wish you a speedy success!" Then he shook hands with them one by one, and after they changed into casual clothes, he sent the seven people down the mountain.

  Historically, Shi You San and others took advantage of the National Army's withdrawal from Hebei to gather a large number of traitors and hooligans in Baying to start an uprising, attempting to control Beiping and establish so-called "Beiping autonomy". This incident caused a huge stir nationwide. Ou Yang Yun's arrangement was just pushing the trend of history, accelerating the 29th Army's entry into Beiping and subsequently controlling Hebei.

  He is so serious about it, from a certain perspective, in fact, it's to give Song Zheyuan a favor.