Chapter 23

In the midst of the mountain forest, a line of horses walked along a snowless hill. Dongku, who had disappeared, was now leading the horses, talking to the second-in-command with a beard as they walked.

"Brother Dong, how did you determine that the Japanese would follow us?"

The second-in-command turned out to be Liu Zhong.

"The Japanese are secretly building military fortifications, trying to cover up their actions. They haven't revealed many troops in Anle Town, but in fact, Houtu is under full military control, and Anle Town is filled with spies from the Special High Police. We bought so much cloth, and although no one checks us when we leave, the buns and cloth will be seen by the Japanese as supplies for the anti-Japanese guerrillas in the mountains. So, they will definitely follow us," Dongku continued after a pause.

"Ah..."

The few people listening with their ears perked up suddenly understood. It turned out that Brother Dong had anticipated the tracking from the beginning, which is why he staged the kidnapping by the bandits, making it impossible for the Japanese to trace them.

"Brother Zhong, your two lines of bandit talk were really convincing."

Shan Zi quickened his pace and said.

"I almost got pulled up the mountain by the bandits before, so I know a few lines."

Liu Zhong's resolute face flashed with a hint of reminiscence, but he didn't elaborate.

"Hu Zi, you did a great job acting."

Meng Zi turned his head to look at Hu Zi and praised him.

"Indeed, he did a great job."

Sun Tao smiled and praised him.

The group continued on, laughing and talking, heading towards the Ewenki settlement...

"Brother Morigen,"

Two days later, Dongku looked at Morigen, who had seen them off at the edge of the pine forest, and said, "The mountains here are too small. The Japanese will search the area within a year at most. Right now, they aren't searching the mountains; the puppet troops just patrol the edges. You can survive the winter, but it will be difficult next year. So, be extra careful."

"Understood."

Morigen nodded heavily and said, "Brothers Dongku and Liu Zhong, you are our tribe's eternal friends. When you pass by Dahuishan again, don't forget to come and drink a bowl of horse milk wine."

"Can't forget it. I still want to drink you under the table!"

Liu Zhong laughed heartily and said.

Dongku glanced at Haritu and Balebatu, took a deep breath, patted Morigen's shoulder, and said, "Take care." Then he mounted his horse and gave the order to depart.

Thus, the group of fifteen horses slowly disappeared into the forest.

Morigen watched until their figures vanished before turning and walking back to the tribe alone...

Five days later, Dongku and his group appeared in Dahu River Town, about 100 kilometers from what would later become Baoqing County, near what would later be Dongxing Township. They trudged through the thick snow, heading straight for what would later be called Yanwo Island. There, for hundreds of kilometers, it was all wetlands, connecting to Raohe, Dajiahe, and Fuyuan, and bordering the Ussuri River. In summer, there were many rivers and swamps; in winter, the land was flat, with snow over a meter deep in some places, and no one lived there. Even the Japanese were reluctant to enter the marshes, let alone in winter. Once trapped by the snow, even an entire division would be left in the snow, becoming food for wolves.

The next day, Dongku arrived at Yanwo Island, where he had once trained in survival skills.

"Brothers Balebatu and Baritu, farewell. Be careful on your journey..."

Dongku and his group waved goodbye to the two Ewenki hunters who were leading the horses back to Hulin.

After the two Ewenki hunters disappeared, Dongku and his group quickly got to work. They cleared the snow and built windbreak walls near the snow shelters they had built the previous day. Liu Zhong led Meng Zi, Shun Zi, and a few others to cut reeds and Ula grass from the reed beds and marshes a few miles ahead.

Dongku, with the remaining few, set up the framework of the shelter using tree branches they had cut along the way.

In the distance, on the snowy ground, a tall grass wolf watched the busy figures, its long fur fluttering in the wind, seemingly deciding whether these two-legged creatures were suitable prey for the pack.

By afternoon, a shelter that could accommodate ten people was built. Outside the shelter, thick dry reeds were piled up, and the reeds were completely covered with snow, leaving only a ventilation hole made of grass and mud protruding from the snow. Inside the shelter, a ground stove ran through the beds of dry grass on both sides, extending out of the shelter and connecting to a chimney made of mud and grass.

A few dozen meters from the shelter, a large area of snow was cleared, which would be the training ground for Liu Zhong and his group.

Seeing the large pit dug in the morning, Dongku couldn't help but deeply admire the wisdom of the people. The mud used for the chimney, the ground stove, and the stove was made by Hu Zi, who spent three hours burning the frozen soil. Otherwise, with only an axe and bayonet, it would have been impossible to get the mud from the frozen ground.

Everything was ready. When the damp smoke began to rise from the chimney, everyone, except Dog Dan who was drying the ground stove, put on their heavy clothing, chewed on dried meat, and carried their guns to the training ground.

Gunshots echoed in the cold air, breaking the silence of the desolate land. A lone wolf foraging in the distance fled in panic. Even the rats and muskrats under the snow stopped foraging and fled back to their burrows. Wild chickens searching for seeds in the snow nests flapped their wings and fled to the distance...

In the days that followed, the desolate land became lively. Continuous gunshots and explosions made the wilderness as lively as a New Year's celebration.

In a few days, Dongku had figured out the strengths and abilities of the group. Among the nine, Meng Zi and Meng Zi were best suited to be machine gunners, as they had the strength to reduce the machine gun's violent vibrations. Shan Zi and Dog Dan, one from a family of herbalists and the other from a family of blacksmiths, had a unique talent for mortars. Liu Zhong was versatile, excelling in sniping, using mortars, and machine guns, and in hand-to-hand combat, he was second only to Dongku.

Shun Zi, Sun Tao, Liu Hai, and Hu Zi were the best snipers, with Shun Zi having the highest awareness, Sun Tao being the most steady, Hu Zi being the most agile, and Liu Hai being slightly less skilled. However, all nine had a good sense of stealth and concealment.

Dongku didn't hesitate to use bullets, even the few hundred pistol rounds, for training. He knew that the more they practiced now, the fewer casualties they would have in battle. Feeding bullets was essential for training soldiers.

After experiencing the battlefield and easily eliminating two groups of Japanese, Liu Zhong and his group no longer feared the Japanese and strictly followed Dongku's orders.

They completed all training tasks meticulously, with daily physical training. Training was also one of their favorite activities, though it was tough, it allowed them to taste various fresh fish.

Originally, Dongku designed the physical training to involve cutting ice holes, using bayonets tied to wooden sticks as ice chisels, and requiring each person to dig two large holes, two meters in diameter and one and a half meters deep, on the ice each day. The fresh fish were caught by throwing grenades into the holes, which were less than twenty centimeters thick but could still hold a person. The explosion would cause the ice to crack and the water to surge up, pushing the fish onto the ice. The remaining fish could be collected after the water froze.

This was a necessity. Dongku didn't want to waste time, but they only had a portion of dried meat, five hundred steamed buns, and two hundred pounds of sorghum. These wouldn't last long for ten men undergoing intense physical training, so they needed to supplement their food here.

To solve the food problem, Dongku also arranged additional training, such as skiing, setting traps for pheasants, rabbits, foxes, and any other animals they could see.

For the hunters, this was a piece of cake. They caught several pheasants and rabbits each day and dozens of pounds of fish, which they buried in the snow outside their door.

On the eighth day, Liu Zhong, Meng Zi, and Hu Zi caught two roe deer that had wandered into the wilderness, luckily not noticed by wolves but trapped in the snow.

With over a hundred pounds of meat, several hundred pounds of fish, and dozens of pheasants and rabbits, the food crisis was resolved, allowing Dongku to fully implement his training plan and making Liu Zhong and his group truly understand what hellish training was like.

Every day, Liu Zhong and his group, drenched in sweat and with wet heads, entered the shelter. The first thing they did was to hang their clothes and shoes on the hot ground stove, and the second was to fall asleep immediately, too exhausted to even eat.

Dongku knew they were tired but didn't relax at all. Without waiting for them to sleep for an hour, he immediately knocked on his helmet and shouted for them to gather...

Each time, Liu Zhong and his group scrambled, causing chaos in the shelter. However, after several times, they became more organized and could pack their belongings and carry their guns to the shelter's entrance in a short time.

Although they were exhausted, no one complained. Dongku was their absolute idol, and they had no intention of disobeying his orders, even Liu Zhong, who was skilled.

Thus, in a month, when the surface of the snow began to melt during the day and freeze at night, Liu Zhong and his group had been trained into true soldiers. Although they were far from special forces, they were no worse than any veteran or elite in the country. Moreover, they were all versatile, with specialized skills but trained in machine guns, mortars, rifles, pistols, grenades, and mines.

Dongku trained them to the standards of special forces, teaching them not only the use of weapons but also hand-to-hand combat, stealth, sniping, assassination, and radio operation. Time was too precious for Dongku. The sooner he trained these iron-blooded warriors, the fewer Chinese would die.

PS: I recommend a friend's book, a good urban novel. Also, this book has received its first recommendation and is strongly promoted. Here, I call on everyone to collect and recommend, so that "Resistance 918" can achieve good results on the charts. Thank you!

[bookid=2568144, bookname=《The Immortal Club》]

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