Chapter 58

Hu Hao squatted on the ground smoking, and the bear named Houzi also squatted beside him.

"Brother, can you give me a cigarette?" Houzi asked.

Hu Hao glanced at him angrily, then stood up and started punching him.

"Hey, hey, why are you hitting me again? I just asked for a cigarette, didn't I?"

Houzi tried to dodge, but how could he escape?

"I told you not to come to the county town for no reason. You just had to cause trouble with the Japanese, delaying my escape and getting me beaten by my brother!" Hu Hao said as he continued to hit him. "I told you to ask for a cigarette, and I got beaten by my brother because of this cigarette. You still want to smoke?"

"Stop hitting me, or I'll get angry!" Houzi dodged around, but he couldn't escape.

"I'll make you angry, I'll make you angry, come and show me!" Hu Hao continued to hit him.

"Xiong, come over, let's deal with him together!" Houzi quickly shouted.

"Okay!" Xiong stood up and rushed over to Hu Hao, but Hu Hao pushed him away, sending him flying far.

"Brother, I can't fight him!" Xiong said as he fell to the ground.

"Stay there and don't move, or I'll break your legs!" Hu Hao said while hitting Houzi.

"Brother, brother, please, stop hitting me, I'm wrong, I'm wrong, okay!" Houzi, seeing no way out, begged for mercy.

"Lengzi, where are you? The truck is loaded, hurry up and drive it back!" Colonel Zhang's voice came from the warehouse.

Hearing Colonel Zhang call him, Hu Hao quickly stopped and said, "Coming."

He limped over to the truck. Colonel Zhang had beaten him quite badly earlier, using his hands and feet instead of a belt. That's why Hu Hao was taking it out on Houzi.

Seeing Hu Hao stop, Houzi pitifully said, "Killing the Japanese wasn't just my doing, why do you only hit me and not Xiong?"

"You talk too much, it annoys me," Hu Hao said, turning back. Houzi quickly slapped himself.

"Alright, follow me," Hu Hao said, seeing Xiong still lying there. "Stop being a corpse, get up and follow me!"

Xiong quickly stood up, brushed off the dust, and hurried over.

Hu Hao led Houzi and Xiong to the warehouse. The two limped over to Colonel Zhang, with Chen Yundie and the political commissar standing nearby.

Colonel Zhang knew what had happened and didn't say much.

"Drive them back, and take Chen Yundie with you. After you get back, take them to the canteen for a meal. I'm not cooking tonight!"

"Okay." Hu Hao turned and walked to the truck. After a few steps, he turned back and asked, "Brother, where's my cigarettes? I need to take them back!" Colonel Zhang had taken Hu Hao's bag of cigarettes and hadn't returned it. Hu Hao finally asked.

"No cigarettes, they've been confiscated. If you want cigarettes, you'll get beaten again!" Colonel Zhang said sternly.

"Okay." Hu Hao, hearing that the cigarettes were confiscated and that asking would get him beaten, obediently turned and left, but thought to himself, "Hmph, I'll buy more cigarettes in the county town tomorrow, I still have money!"

As Hu Hao walked to the truck, he said to Houzi and Xiong, "You two sit in the back of the truck!"

Houzi and Xiong quickly went to the back, but found it was already full, with no room for them. They ran to Hu Hao, who was opening the door, and said, "Brother, the back is full, we can't sit there!"

"Full? How can it be so full?" Hu Hao quickly went to check and saw that the wooden boxes of weapons were indeed piled up.

"Alright, you two hold onto the doors and come with me to the base," Hu Hao said.

"You, get in the passenger seat, and you two each hold a door," Hu Hao pointed at Chen Yundie and the two of them.

After Chen Yundie got in, Hu Hao got in and saw a bag. He quickly opened it and found cigarettes.

"Hehe, you tricked me!" Hu Hao quickly stuck his head out to Colonel Zhang, who was nearby, and said, "Thanks, brother!" After Houzi secured the door, Hu Hao started the truck and drove off.

"Ha, Old Zhang, look at this guy, he's more interested in cigarettes than his life," the political commissar said. "But you really beat him up today, look at how he's limping!"

"Yeah, if I don't beat him hard, he won't learn. This time he caused such a big problem. If I don't beat him, who knows what he'll do next. And this time, I'm definitely going to be disciplined!" Colonel Zhang said.

"That's not true. This time we won a big battle and seized a lot of supplies. We even killed the Japanese brigade commander, even though we changed the ambush to an attack, it shouldn't be a big problem!" the political commissar said.

"It is a big problem. The Japanese from Taiyuan have already sent a brigade to reinforce us. They'll be here by tomorrow morning! And after we captured the city, the Japanese will definitely strengthen the defenses here." Colonel Zhang said.

"Moreover, the Japanese brigade commander was here to inspect the preparations for the attack on us. We seized their supplies, so the Japanese will reassess our strength and increase their forces against us. This will put a lot of pressure on us! Sigh!" Colonel Zhang continued.

"That's not a big deal. We seized a lot of supplies, and we have the mountains. The Japanese can't do much to us for now," the political commissar said.

"Yeah, I'm not worried about us, but what about other places? The Japanese will also increase their forces there. So I'm going to be criticized this time," Colonel Zhang said.

"True, we're not afraid of the Japanese, we can just go into the mountains and fight guerrilla warfare. But other places will have problems," the political commissar said.

"If it doesn't work, we can talk to the division commander. We seized so many supplies, we shouldn't be criticized!" the political commissar said.

"Hmph, seizing is one thing, but criticism is another. Don't cause trouble for the division commander. You know the situation," Colonel Zhang said.

"Sigh!" The political commissar sighed.

"Alright, stop sighing. Quickly direct the soldiers and the people to move the supplies. The Japanese don't give us much time!" Colonel Zhang said.

"It's not a big deal, at most I'll be demoted. As long as I can still fight the Japanese, it's fine!" Colonel Zhang comforted the political commissar.