At this moment, Wang Diren returned from the modern era and heard Li Yunlong shouting "a promise is a promise" from afar. Knowing that Li Yunlong had already made a major decision, he said loudly:
"You promised to wait for me to come back. How can you have the nerve to talk about keeping promises?"
"Keep your voice down. We want to launch a surprise raid under the cover of night and go to Wanjiazhen to do a little side business."
"Wanjiazhen? The enemy situation there is very complicated, and there are little Japanese nearby. What if you alert the Japanese? How will you manage to get away?"
"We'll hit them and pull back fast, absolutely no entangling in a prolonged fight," Li Yunlong vowed solemnly.
"I'm afraid you don't get to decide that alone. The reason I told you to wait for me was precisely to get this good stuff." Wang Diren produced a silencer.
"Just a busted piece of iron pipe, and you're acting all mysterious," Li Yunlong said dismissively.
"This is called a silencer. It can basically make the gunfire disappear. I shouldn't say completely disappear, but the sound is very small. At least it doesn't sound like gunfire; it just sounds like someone cutting the cheese."
"Kong Erlengzi, hand over your C96 so I can test how loud this guy's farts are." Li Yunlong spoke with implied meaning.
Kong Jie pulled out his C96, couldn't wait to attach the silencer, and the group walked together to the shooting range, firing two shots at a tree.
*Pop, pop* went two muffled sounds.
"That's way quieter than Li Yunlong's snoring!" Kong Jie exclaimed in shock.
"There's no time like the present. I say we move tonight. It's time to take your Special Operations Company out for a taste of blood," Li Yunlong urged impatiently.
"Then let the Special Operations Company, the Sharpshooter Company, and the Guard Company form a single battalion. Actually, two companies are plenty; the Guard Company is mainly just used for holding horses," Kong Jie also decided on the spot.
"Why are you guys whispering so deliberately? You look like a bunch of thieves," Wang Diren asked suspiciously.
"You don't know this, but a political commissar just transferred here, and he's some pretty boy. He might file a secret report on us," Li Yunlong said while secretly filing a report himself.
"What's the big deal? Just say we were doing field training and accidentally lost our way," Wang Diren said unconcernedly.
"That makes sense! I was going to use 'doing side business' as an excuse, but that just sounds like making trouble. This sounds much better, and it keeps people from getting confused or lost!"
No sooner said than done, the three companies were pulled out, under the guise of field training.
Naturally, Sun Desheng was called along. When he heard that the cavalry battalion was being prepared specifically for him, he was overjoyed.
"Don't hurt my horses, everyone be careful."
Equipped with two drones, Wang Diren and Sun Desheng led the way, scouting ahead the entire journey.
Soon, they reached the outskirts of Wanjiazhen.
It was the middle of the night, and the sentries were drowsy. The entire defense perimeter was tight on the outside but lax on the inside.
Strangely, a large building was brightly lit. A bunch of officers were gambling around a gaming table, making the entire military camp look like a casino.
"Big, big, big! Roll big!"
"I bet small, roll small."
The clamor was deafening.
Two C96 pistols were fitted with silencers and secured to the drones.
*Pop, pop* went two muffled shots.
The two sentries were thus eliminated. The soldiers were highly alert; two soldiers equipped with night-vision goggles flashed forward, catching the falling bodies while grabbing their weapons to prevent the sound of the drop from making a racket. Fortunately, no commotion was raised, and the people inside remained completely oblivious to anything unusual. Wang Diren and Sun Desheng respectively operated the two drones, maneuvering them into the shadows of the room's lights to fire cross-shots. Without seeing any muzzle flash or hearing any gunfire, the puppet army officers gambling with their weapons collapsed one after another with a series of heavy thuds. Alert soldiers heard the commotion, yet heard almost no gunfire, and actually thought it was divine retribution.
They couldn't help but surrender and beg for mercy, dropping to their knees in a large group, their bodies trembling like chaff in the wind.
"We never did anything bad! Please, Heavenly Father, spare our lives!"
"I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below! Please, Heavenly Father, show mercy, and in my next life I will work like an ox and a horse to repay your kindness!"
Just like that, without firing a single real shot, the fighters captured this bunch of puppet troops. The puppet troops, believing that the Eighth Route Army soldiers in their strange costumes were divine warriors descended from heaven, eagerly cooperated to the utmost, each of them proactively holding horses and assisting with the stirrups. The Guard Company had their horse-tending chores entirely stolen by the puppet troops, leaving them practically nothing to do except maintain a perimeter guard.
Knowing it wouldn't be easy to fool Zhao Gang, Wang Diren simply had the soldiers pass an order down the line to each of the captives:
"If you want to stay alive, pour out your grievances."
The grievance-airing movement was the most core method used by the Chinese Communist Party to reform captives. Back in the day, the military and political cadres of the Eighth Route Army would gather captives together, encouraging everyone to recount their experiences of being oppressed by the landlord class and the Kuomintang bureaucratic class.
On the one hand, this served to vent the negative emotions pent up in their hearts; on the other hand, it also ignited a deep-seated hatred and disgust toward the Kuomintang within them. Over time, everyone would naturally distance themselves from the Kuomintang and identify with the Chinese Communist Party from the bottom of their hearts.
Soon, several hundred captives along with several hundred horses were escorted back to the Independent Regiment.
Along the way, people shouted and horses neighed amidst a noisy din.
"Haha, the comrades who lost their way are finally back!" Li Yunlong laughed heartily while playing dumb, followed by a bewildered Zhao Gang.
"Report to the regimental commander: the three companies organized for training have successfully returned to the fold. Unable to discern directions in the dark, we had a bunch of puppet troops blocking our way ahead. I had Brother Wang eliminate the eyesores, but who would have thought Brother Wang found every single puppet soldier disagreeable and wiped out almost all the officers? The rest cried and shouted that they wanted to surrender, so things ended up like this. They're all tragic souls of bitter background."
Praising each other like carrying a sedan chair, Kong Jie smiled shrewdly and pushed Wang Diren out to take the blame.
The other puppet troops weren't fools either; hearing the phrase "tragic souls of bitter background," they instantly got into character:
"Grandpas of the Eighth Route, we've suffered so much! Those officers didn't treat us like human beings—a kick with every step, a lash with every wave of the hand! Look at all these scars on my body!"
"Me too! I was just press-ganged, and when I tried to sneak away, they beat me half to death!"
"My poor younger sister was seized by them to please the Japanese, and her fate is unknown. I would be unworthy of being human if I didn't kill the Japanese—I want to join the Eighth Route!"
"Kill the Japanese! Join the Eighth Route!"
"Kill the Japanese! Join the Eighth Route!"
What might have started as an act eventually struck a raw nerve, touching off genuine grief and stirring a wave of surging passion.
Though slightly dumbfounded, Zhao Gang automatically stepped into his role:
"Brothers, you all come from bitter roots as well. Imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism are the three great mountains weighing down upon us. Only under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party can the Chinese nation move from suffering toward the light. We welcome those who are willing to be Eighth Route Army soldiers, and we will not force those who are unwilling."
Just as he blurted out, with scholarly naivety, that "we will provide travel expenses for you to go home," Li Yunlong stepped on his foot and whispered in his ear:
"These people cannot be allowed to leave. They have witnessed our new tactics, which is bad for keeping secrets."
"However, if you go back, there is still a high probability you will be rounded up and press-ganged into becoming puppet troops once more. You will be sent to the Border Region Government for labor reform for one year to observe your future conduct," Zhao Gang recovered quickly and altered his phrasing.
In the eyes of the captives, this was simply the carrot and the stick. The vast majority expressed their willingness to become Eighth Route Army soldiers.
Without wasting any breath, Li Yunlong assembled the Independent Regiment.
"Those who have served as cavalry and know how to ride horses, step forward!"
*Swish, swish, swish.*
Nearly a hundred men stood before him.
"Form three rows in front of me. Shortly, each of you will pick two people from the new recruits; you will constitute the First through Third Cavalry Companies. Cavalry Battalion Commander Sun Desheng, fall in and organize your ranks."
Inadvertently, the captives who had undergone the "three-step" transformation of division, education, and grievance-airing showed a vastly improved mental outlook and personal caliber. Zhao Gang stood somewhat dumbfounded, seeming to experience a sudden epiphany.