Chapter 68

As the two continued walking, Hu Hao suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately grabbed Colonel Zhang, pulling him to the ground and rolling to the side of the road. Hu Hao then took out his sniper rifle and aimed it in the direction he felt the danger was coming from.

“Spit!” Colonel Zhang spat out the mud that had accidentally splashed into his mouth and said, "What’s wrong, Er Lengzi?"

"There’s someone up ahead aiming a gun at us. I’m not sure of the exact location, but it’s in this direction!" Hu Hao said.

"Huh?! Someone is aiming a gun at us? What’s going on? There are no bandits around here, and the devils can’t get in here. Strange!" Colonel Zhang said, "Could it be a sentry post set up by the munitions factory?"

"Sentry post? Why would a sentry post aim at us? We’re wearing Eighth Route Army uniforms; anyone can see we’re on the same side. Why would they aim at us?" Hu Hao said.

"Hmm, let’s wait a moment. I’ll shout a few times and see if it’s a sentry post!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Person up ahead, I’m Colonel Zhang from the Third Regiment, now the deputy director of the munitions factory. I’m here to report. Who are you? If you’re a sentry, send someone out!" Colonel Zhang shouted from where he was lying.

Soon, a person emerged from the shrubs on the hill, wearing a straw hat made of tree branches. As the person came down the hill, Colonel Zhang tried to stand up, but Hu Hao held him back and stood up himself. "Brother, aim at the person coming down. There should be a few more people up there. I’ll go check!"

"Er Lengzi, if there’s nothing wrong, okay, I’ll follow your lead, but be careful," Colonel Zhang said. Although he thought it was a sentry post set up by the munitions factory, it was better to be cautious. Moreover, Er Lengzi’s skills and reflexes were much better than his own. If there was any danger, he could quickly dodge. So, he aimed at the soldier coming down.

Hu Hao stood up and walked forward along the roadside. The soldier coming down the hill also approached with his gun raised.

When the soldier reached Hu Hao, Hu Hao carefully examined him. He was indeed an Eighth Route Army soldier, but Hu Hao still wasn’t sure if he had any ill intentions.

"Comrade, up ahead is a military restricted area. If you want to pass, please show your pass!" the soldier said.

Hu Hao listened and took out his pass from his bag, handing it to the soldier.

"Hello, comrade, you can pass now!" the soldier said after checking the pass.

"Hmm, I want to ask, why were you aiming at us just now?" Hu Hao asked.

"We are a sentry post. We can’t let anyone pass without checking. But you’re really good; you reacted so quickly. We hadn’t even aimed accurately when you and the other person rolled to the ground and disappeared!" the soldier said.

"Hmm, remember this. If you aim at me again, I’ll kill you!" Hu Hao said, shouting back, "Brother, come out, it’s confirmed to be a sentry post!"

Colonel Zhang stood up and came to Hu Hao’s side.

"Hmm, not bad. Why didn’t we notice you before when we came here?" Colonel Zhang asked.

"You’re Colonel Zhang, right? When you came before, you were with the division commander, and we were there, but we didn’t stop you!" the soldier said.

"Oh, I see. Well, can we pass now?" Colonel Zhang asked.

"Yes, please go ahead," the soldier said, stepping aside.

Hu Hao let Colonel Zhang walk behind him, holding his gun with the muzzle down, looking around. Only when he felt no one was aiming at him did he truly confirm that these people were indeed sentries of the munitions factory and not there to kill them.

When they reached a mountain pass not far from the munitions factory, they saw a checkpoint set up. Colonel Zhang went over and showed his identification and pass to the soldier in charge.

After the soldier verified everything, Colonel Zhang led Hu Hao forward.

"Brat, and the other two, you can tell when someone is aiming at you from a hidden spot," Colonel Zhang patted Hu Hao’s head and said.

"Of course, otherwise how could I go to the city without any trouble!" Hu Hao said proudly.

"Don’t brag so much. We’re in this place, and it’s a day’s walk to the nearest county. See how you’ll get to the county!" Colonel Zhang said. "And you can’t just go out randomly. You need a pass to go out and come in. If you dare to break in or out, those soldiers will definitely shoot you!"

"Pfft, if I want to go out, they won’t even notice!" Hu Hao said disdainfully.

"Brother, are you really coming to this desolate place to be a deputy director? Is the munitions factory big? How many people does it manage? Is it more than our regiment?" Hu Hao asked.

"How can it be more than our regiment? Our regiment has over 4,000 people, and how many are here!" Colonel Zhang said.

"That’s a real loss. Brother, why don’t we stay here for the night and go back tomorrow to talk to the division commander? He still owes me a favor. I can get you a battalion commander position. There’s no fighting here!" Hu Hao said as he followed behind.

"Rubbish, you think you can just become a battalion commander? Do you think the army is the division commander’s personal property? Besides, the favor you mentioned has already been repaid! Division Commander Chen used a lot of effort to reduce your punishment. Don’t bring it up again!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Ah! It’s already repaid? I didn’t even know. That was quick!" Hu Hao said.

"If you hadn’t caused trouble, how would it have been repaid? Anyway, let’s go. We’re almost there. The buildings are up ahead!" Colonel Zhang pointed to a large area of buildings up ahead.

"Wow, that’s big! Brother, you’re a deputy village chief now!" Hu Hao said.

"What deputy village chief? I’m a deputy director. Let’s go check out the cave first. The munitions factory is set up there. Director Wang should be there now. We’ll go report to him," Colonel Zhang said.

After passing the inspection at the cave entrance, Hu Hao followed Colonel Zhang into the cave.

Inside, the cave was quite large, but it looked like a junkyard where scrap was piled up. However, the scrap was mostly iron, and a lot of it was old guns.

"Brother, is this the munitions factory? It looks like a blacksmith’s shop!" Hu Hao pointed to the people hammering iron pieces.

"What blacksmith’s shop? This is the largest munitions factory in North China. Show me a blacksmith’s shop like this!" Colonel Zhang said.

"Brother, it’s just a blacksmith’s shop. Look, they’re all forging iron!" Hu Hao pointed to the people forging iron.

"Nonsense, who said this is a blacksmith’s shop?" a voice came from behind.