Chapter 48

"Er Lang Zi, get your ass in here!" Colonel Zhang shouted.

Hu Hao walked in and saw the officer so angry that his face was red. He said to Colonel Zhang, "Bro, take him down. He’s a lunatic. I was squatting there, and he insisted on making me stand up!"

"Take him down? I told you to take him down, who are you going to take down, huh!" Colonel Zhang went over and hit Hu Hao, who dodged.

"Hey, bro, why are you hitting me? You don’t hit him, the lunatic, but you hit me! Why?" Hu Hao covered his head and dodged.

"Enough, enough, Colonel Zhang!" Commander Chen and the Political Commissar hurried to mediate.

"Xiao Jiang, do you have nothing better to do? Why are you picking on him?" the Political Commissar said to the officer surnamed Jiang.

"No, Commissar, I, how can you say I’m picking on him? You didn’t see how he was outside, he was squatting..." The officer surnamed Jiang was still complaining, but was interrupted by Commander Chen.

"Enough, go outside and find out who he is, you should be ashamed! Get out!" Commander Chen shouted. The officer surnamed Jiang looked confused and left with a sullen expression.

Alright, Colonel Zhang, sit down and continue the meeting.

"Alright, Er Lang Zi, go stand outside, no squatting!" Colonel Zhang said to Hu Hao.

After Hu Hao went out, he saw the officer surnamed Jiang still waiting outside. When he saw Hu Hao come out, he looked at him with anger.

"What, want to fight one-on-one?" Hu Hao said.

"I’m not in the mood to talk to you," he said and walked away.

"Crazy, waiting here just to tell me you’re not in the mood to talk to me, what a nutcase," Hu Hao said, looking at his back.

The guards around him looked at Hu Hao with admiration.

"Hey, bro, you’re awesome. Even Jiang can’t do anything to you. What’s your name?" a guard asked.

"Why should I tell you! Go cool off somewhere, bro, I’m in a bad mood, don’t mess with me!" Hu Hao said.

"Hey, I was just saying..." Before he could finish, Hu Hao leaned against a pillar and squatted down.

The meeting continued until 3 PM, and Hu Hao followed Colonel Zhang back from the division headquarters. On the way, Hu Hao didn’t say a word, just followed behind.

"Er Lang Zi, give me a cigarette, I’m out of smokes!" Colonel Zhang said from the front.

Hu Hao felt in his pocket and took one out for Colonel Zhang. Seeing this, Colonel Zhang quickly snatched it.

"Look at you, so stingy, like giving me a cigarette is going to kill you! Here," Colonel Zhang took two more from the pack and gave them to Hu Hao, who was stunned and took them.

"No, bro, the cigarettes are mine, these two are for you, the pack is for me!" Hu Hao said, reacting.

"Bullshit, a little soldier smoking such good cigarettes, I’m not going to beat you up, that’s enough!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Right, Er Lang Zi, stay away from that Jiang officer in the future, got it? If you mess with him, he’ll make your life hell, and we’ll really be in trouble!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Ah! Who is he? If he messes with me, I’ll kill him!" Hu Hao said.

"Kill him? I’m telling you, it’s fine to mess with other colonels or division commanders, at worst you’ll get a beating. But if you mess with him, you’ll have a hard time!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Bro, he’s that powerful? I don’t believe it. Wait, I’ll go back and kill him!" Hu Hao said, turning to go back.

"Get back here, kill him, kill him, do you think you’re killing the Japanese?" Colonel Zhang said.

"Didn’t you say he’s powerful? I’ll see how many heads he has!" Hu Hao said.

"Enough, don’t mess with me. If you kill him, we’ll both be shot tomorrow!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Come on, let’s go back, it’ll be dark soon!" Colonel Zhang said.

When they returned to the base, it was already dark. Colonel Zhang went to the regiment headquarters and told Hu Hao to get something to eat. The next day, the troops continued training. Hu Hao had nothing to do, so he either lay down or wandered in the mountains. He now knew the terrain of the mountains very well. Each time he went, he didn’t go far, just enough to get something for two people to eat.

Before they knew it, it was April. These few months, Hu Hao had been quite well-behaved, relatively speaking. In April, the weather in the northwest had improved, and Hu Hao was bored staying at the base. Most importantly, he had run out of cigarettes. He asked Colonel Zhang for money, but he said he didn’t have any. What was even more infuriating was that the red envelope he had given him was taken back.

That morning, Hu Hao woke up and saw that he only had one pack of cigarettes left in his box. He finally made up his mind to go buy cigarettes. If he didn’t have money, he would rob the Japanese.

So he changed out of his Eighth Route Army uniform and put on civilian clothes, tucking two pistols into his waist. He came to the hall and saw a few steamed buns, a plate of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of preserved meat on the table. Hu Hao quickly washed up and ate, knowing that if Colonel Zhang saw him, he wouldn’t be able to leave.

After eating, Hu Hao walked slowly to the county town, taking over an hour. Finally, he saw the city walls. Hu Hao followed the civilians into the city but noticed that the Japanese seemed to be on high alert. Previously, there were only two Japanese soldiers and a few puppet troops guarding the city gate, but today it was all Japanese soldiers, and they had set up fortifications and machine guns at the gate.

"What’s wrong with them, making such a fuss over a small county!" Hu Hao thought.

It wasn’t that they were making a fuss; the division commander of the Japanese 8th Brigade was coming to inspect the defenses, and the Japanese were afraid the Eighth Route Army would cause trouble.

Hu Hao entered the city and saw the boy selling cigarettes, but didn’t go over. He had no money, and he couldn’t rob the boy; if Colonel Zhang found out, he would really break his legs. Hu Hao touched his nose and decided to go find the Japanese for money first.

At the same time, an emergency meeting was being held at the regiment headquarters, with all officers above the battalion level in attendance.

"Comrades, we just received intelligence from higher-ups. The intelligence says that the division commander of the Japanese 8th Brigade is coming to the county to inspect the defenses, preparing for the next Japanese offensive. The higher-ups want us to keep the division commander in the county and not let him return. Now, everyone, what ideas do you have?" Colonel Zhang said.

"Colonel, I suggest an ambush on the road. If the Japanese are in the city, we’ll be at a disadvantage," said the commander of the third battalion.

"Yes, I agree. We should wait for the Japanese to go to the county and then attack them on their way back. This way, we can catch them off guard and eliminate them before their reinforcements arrive," the chief of staff said.

"Yes, I agree. We should ambush them on the road. Attacking the city is not to our advantage, and most of our troops are new. It’s better to ambush them first to help the soldiers adapt," the Political Commissar said.

"Alright, we’ll ambush the Japanese. Everyone, where do you think is the best place to set up the ambush?"