"What a bunch of bullshit..." Gu Chuanning muttered angrily through gritted teeth. "Damn it, our company holds target practice in Fengtai all the time without any trouble, and they had to pick today to stir up shit!"
"You motherfucking son of a bitch! Do you even deserve to call yourself Chinese? Tell your Japanese daddies to get the hell out of here, or by God, I'll open fire!"
The fat interpreter knew there was no point in arguing with Sun Yi. Turning around, he translated truthfully. The Japanese squad leader's expression grew increasingly ugly as he spewed more gibberish, and in his agitation, he slapped the fat man across the face, barking, "Baka!"
Clutching his stinging cheek, the fat interpreter spoke in a much meeker tone as he resumed "negotiations" with Sun Yi.
"The commander says that if any of our expatriates come to harm, it will become a diplomatic incident, and your side will bear full responsibility!"
Sun Yi refused to buy it, barking right back, "Diplomacy, my ass! Diplomacy is Commander Song's business, and Generalissimo Chiang's business! It's none of my damn concern—all I care about is pulling the trigger!"
With that, Sun Yi wasted no more words. He raised his right hand. The soldiers in the front rank clicked off their safeties, and in unison, chambered their rounds with a sharp metallic clatter.
The fat interpreter's knees instantly went weak. Terrified that these men would make an example of him first, he scrambled back to the squad leader's side. Just as he was about to pass along the response, the squad leader had already waved a hand behind him, signaling a retreat.
His mouth pulled tight, the squad leader seethed with rage. Glaring at the disheveled interpreter, he took out his fury by delivering two more stinging slaps to the fleshy face before turning away with his saber in hand and marching off.
At this moment, Zhu Shiqing understood roughly why Feng Zhian had deployed Sun Yi's regiment to guard Fengtai Station. For no other reason than that the man was unyielding.
A unit that had truly killed Japanese soldiers was one the Japanese feared, and Sun Yi, who had once stormed into an enemy barracks in the dead of night to lop off heads, was certainly among them.
Faced with such an overwhelming disparity in firepower, the Japanese had backed down. After all, with more than a hundred rifles aimed at them simultaneously—even one gun per man—the entire squad would likely have been wiped out within minutes.
The squad leader was no fool either. He carried out provocations whenever assigned, but to actually make a premature "honorable sacrifice" in loyalty to the Emperor was not something he was willing to do. Such glorious martyrdom required the right time and a worthwhile return.
The tension subsided slightly. Only after the Japanese had completely vacated the railway grounds did Sun Yi order his men to lower their weapons.
Zhu Shiqing circled around to an open space behind the cargo, where the soldiers wounded during the clash had been brought to be bandaged. A quick count showed over a dozen injured, all wincing and grimacing in pain. Those Japanese bayonets were razor-sharp.
A mere scratch was manageable, but when steel stabbed deep into flesh, the agony was excruciating, and healing took a long time.
"Rest up. Rest up well."
The medic carried a small medical kit and a roll of gauze, applying basic bandages to the soldiers. Zhu Shiqing followed behind him, examining the wounds while gently offering words of comfort.
"These little devils charge us whenever they feel like it, but not once do they actually fight it out!"
One soldier clutching his leg had his face pulled tight. In the scuffle, a Japanese bayonet had punched a hole straight through his calf, making him one of the most severely wounded.
"I'd rather fight a proper, no-holds-barred battle with them!"
Seeing this, Zhu Shiqing leaned down, placed a hand on the soldier's shoulder, and said firmly, "Don't worry. When the time comes, I promise you'll get to fight to your heart's content."
"Staff Officer Zhu, the regimental commander wants you over there."
Gu Chuanning, commander of the 2nd Company, rounded the corner with his hands on his hips and called out to Zhu Shiqing.
"Good work, Company Commander Gu."
By then, Sun Yi had pulled the reinforcing troops back to the southern outskirts of the station. To be safe, he left two platoons with Gu Chuanning just in case.
Zhu Shiqing trotted out, and before he could speak, the impatient Sun Yi laid it all out: "Division headquarters called the regiment earlier and couldn't find anyone, so they called through to the station. The damn Japanese have been clamoring fiercely over by the division commander today too. He asked how things are here in Fengtai. Staff Officer Zhu, something's seriously amiss this time."
"The enemy probably isn't after us," Zhu Shiqing said. When thinking, he habitually looked around; having gone without food all day, he was already so hungry that stars were dancing before his eyes. "If they were targeting us, they wouldn't have retreated just now."
"Spot on. Keep going." Sun Yi privately agreed with Zhu Shiqing's assessment. When it came to reinforcing speed, there was a whole battalion of Japanese garrison troops stationed right behind Fengtai Station. If they truly intended to fight, it wouldn't have been this half-hearted display.
Zhu Shiqing set his hands on his hips and pointed in the direction of Guozhuang, offering his speculative analysis. "I think the key still lies with the puppet troops. Regimental Commander, you said those men usually wouldn't venture this far out. If that's the case, then aside from Guozhuang, other villages probably haven't escaped either."
The 3rd Battalion Commander had only been listening quietly, but hearing this, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Damn it, there isn't even a famine this year! Why the hell are they travelling all this way to loot grain?"
"If it's a large-scale confiscation operation..." Zhu Shiqing's voice slowed until he paused, then continued, "...they might be stockpiling provisions in preparation for war."
Sun Yi fell into deep thought, exhaled softly, chewed on nothing, turned away, and stared blankly for a moment. "Signaler, connect me to the division commander."
Hearing the order, the signaler beside him cranked the handle of the field telephone inside its wooden box several times, raised the handset to his mouth, and called, "Connect to division headquarters, Fengtai Station here." The call went through quickly. Sun Yi took the receiver and asked immediately:
"Commander, are those bastards from the Northern Hebei Peace Preservation Regiment making moves today? Before the Japanese marched on Fengtai, I wiped out a bunch of puppet troops in Guozhuang."
"You hit the nail right on the head, kid! Today Changxindian and Dawangmiao both called me, saying puppet troops are scouring everywhere for grain. That bastard Yan Qiwen took advantage of the Japanese stirring up trouble with us and turned loose three peace preservation regiments today to pillage grain!"
At division headquarters in Wanping, Feng Zhian listened to Sun Yi's report while pinning down a topographical sketch on his desk, his finger tracing along until it rested on Guozhuang.
Receiving the news, Sun Yi looked up at Zhu Shiqing and continued, "Commander, we suspect the enemy is amassing provisions for combat. They must have set up a supply depot nearby!"
"You don't need to tell me that—I already know! I've already dispatched men to search for it. Head back to Zhaojiazhuang immediately, assign your men, and search along the Jinnan Highway! Report back the second you find anything!"
Feng Zhian hung up as soon as he finished speaking. Holding a broken stub of a pencil, he drew and made notes on the map. He had marked down the recent movements and timing of the Japanese and puppet troops; even before Sun Yi's report, several staff officers at headquarters had already been piecing together the strange occurrences of the past few days.
"Who is this Yan Qiwen?"
Zhu Shiqing had listened for a good while, but had no idea who this "bastard" named Yan Qiwen was.
Putting down the phone, Sun Yi explained, "The son of a bitch was originally a brigade commander under Sun Dianying in the Rehe garrison. After Sun Dianying defected to the Japanese, this old bastard turned his coat too, and ended up as commander of this goddamn Northern Hebei Peace Preservation Regiment."
...
The assessment of Feng Zhian's division proved entirely correct. Across the North China Plain, most of the villages along the line from Beiping to Tianjin were ransacked by puppet troops that day, and large numbers of people were forcibly relocated to Japanese- and puppet-controlled areas such as Tongxian and Weixian.
In this grain-scouring campaign, over five thousand puppet troops were deployed across North China, leaving more than a hundred villages stripped of every last kernel of grain and nine out of ten houses desolate.
Chapter 34