The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 210 Vegetable Pancakes

At 3:20 in the morning, I saw Tengxian Railway Station, which was cleaner than after being gnawed by dogs after all the rails and sleepers were stripped away.

Hu Biao said loudly to the huge crowd in front of him:

"Fellow villagers of Teng County, I, Hu Biao, will remember your kindness in helping me today. Dawn will be here in two or three hours at most. Everyone, go back and grab some luggage and quickly escape through the east gate."

After saying this, he saluted solemnly.

Annie, Xufeng, Lao Yu and others around him also quickly followed suit and saluted.

The reason for this is that during the construction process tonight, the people of Teng County helped them a lot.

Otherwise, with their limited manpower, just dismantling the tracks and sleepers of the train station would take up a lot of their energy, leaving them with no time to make other arrangements.

Faced with the salute from Hu Biao and others, the people of Teng County who came to help were actually a little at a loss. After returning the salute with words like "Master Hu, you're too polite", they finally left.

However, among the crowd that was leaving, a man wearing glasses and a Zhongshan suit went against the crowd and appeared in front of Hu Biao and others, carrying a load on his shoulder.

Seeing the man's appearance clearly under the moonlight, Hu Biao hurried to greet him.

He said in a respectful tone, "Brother Zhou, why are you here? It's almost dawn, you should quickly lead the people to evacuate."

The Brother Zhou that Hu Biao mentioned is actually named Zhou Tong.

Even though he looks dirty and miserable now, he is still the county magistrate of Teng County.

All the people who helped tonight were organized by him. During this period, he ran around the city to coordinate and solved countless problems for them.

After hearing this, Zhou Tong smiled and said:

"Thank you for your concern, Commander Hu. Zhou will be leaving soon.

I saw that you had been busy all night, and I thought you must be very hungry now, so I asked my sister-in-law in the city to make some pancakes to fill you up.

I also made some extra for you guys to use as rations. I can’t let you go to fight the Japanese on an empty stomach.”

After hearing this, before Hu Biao could say anything, Annie's eyes lit up.

I had been busy for most of the night and was now starving. When I heard Zhou Tong's words, the scene of people in Shandong Province eating scallions wrapped in pancakes in movies and TV dramas immediately appeared in my mind.

She was born in Sichuan Province but grew up in Northeast China. Naturally, she has no objection to eating raw green onions. She even likes it very much. Her saliva is almost flowing out at this moment.

The only thing I am a little worried about is that my pig's trotter is from the south and I am afraid he may not be used to this combination.

Fortunately, when Suihuo took out a pancake from the shoulder pole, he was indescribably surprised.

Because the sisters-in-law in Teng County were thoughtful, they probably thought of the different tastes of the Sichuan Army brothers in the city; so the pancakes were not rolled with green onions, but with green vegetables, bacon and chili peppers.

After taking a bite, the outer layer is crispy and delicious, while the inside is soft, sticky and spicy. One word to describe it: really delicious.

Hu Biao and others were also hungry at this moment. They didn't bother to be polite with Zhou Tong. They picked up a unique pancake and started eating it with big mouthfuls, with an indescribable look of satisfaction on their faces.

During this process, Zhou Tong did not leave quickly, but smoked and watched them eat and drink silently.

There was an indescribable smile on his face, and he was even happier than when he was eating.

This situation continued until he saw Lao Yu not far away, holding a pancake with only one bite taken, seemingly unable to finish his meal.

He immediately asked with concern, "Is this young man not used to eating pancakes, or is he feeling unwell somewhere?"

"No, I ate too fast just now and choked a little. It will be fine after I eat slowly." Lao Yu said lightly.

But he lowered his head while speaking, because only in this way could he avoid the other party seeing his eyes which were already a little red.

Why? There were some things that Hu Biao and his group didn't know, but only he, a local native, knew clearly.

First, the special pancakes in Hu Biao's hands are actually one of the famous foods in Tengzhou area in the future: vegetable pancakes,

It was born in the defense of Teng County, and was born from the selfless love and care that the sisters-in-law of Shandong Province showed to the ragged Sichuan Army soldiers who were thousands of miles away from home, just like they were their own children and nephews.

When he was in the modern dimension, he ate a lot of this stuff.

But even though he compared these hastily prepared vegetable pancakes to the more elaborate ones in his modern world, he swore they were the best he had ever tasted, bar none. Secondly, don't be fooled by the County Magistrate Zhou Tong, who had just promised Hu Biao and the others with a smile that he would lead the people out of the city and escape.

In fact, he never thought about leaving from the beginning to the end.

The reason was that Zhou Tong had already made up his mind: although he was a scholar, his determination to defend his country was no weaker than that of a soldier.

Since the Anti-Japanese War, countless Chinese soldiers have died in battle, but not a single local official has died in the line of duty, so let’s start with him now.

In history, when Teng County was broken and Commander Wang Mingzhang was killed in battle, he stood on the top of the city wall facing the Japanese soldiers who were rushing up with bayonets, and cursed them as "Japanese pirates".

He then jumped off the city wall and committed suicide for his country.

But even though he knew all this, Lao Yu could do nothing. For a moment, he felt so filled with anger, helplessness and irritability that he couldn't even eat the vegetable pancake in his hand.

After a short silence, Lao Yu had an idea in his mind.

He forced a smile and said to Zhou Tong, "Mr. Zhou Tong, I felt a sense of familiarity with you from the moment we met. After this separation, I don't know when we will meet again.

How about letting me take a photo as a souvenir?"

During the break in today's battle, Lao Yu learned from old friends like Xufeng about the various strange legends about Hu Biao's "Leica camera".

At this moment, he still insisted on taking a photo of Zhou Tong, which naturally meant that he no longer had any expectations of his survival.

So I simply took a photo of Zhou Tong, returned to the modern dimension to develop the photo, and then found a way to send it to the Tengzhou Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.

It can also allow future generations to not forget the national humiliation and remember even more the ancestors who sacrificed their lives to defend this land.

Facing Lao Yu's request, Zhou Tong also replied with a smile: "What's wrong with that? Just take a picture."

As he spoke, he stood beside a fire.

It was only at this time that Old Yu discovered that Zhou Tong, the county magistrate and this intellectual man, was dressed very strangely, even to the point of being out of place.

Specifically, he had a fountain pen, a type of pen unique to intellectuals, pinned to the breast pocket of his Zhongshan suit.

But he had a belt around his waist, on which was a large Mauser pistol and two wooden-handled grenades with the back covers removed, ready to be detonated at any time.

But whether it was Lao Yu himself, or Hu Biao and others who vaguely understood something from Lao Yu's actions.

There was no complaint at all about Zhou Tong's weird attire, only indescribable respect for him.

Because he is an ancestor who deserves all the respect from these younger generations; he is worthy of the Chinese blood in his body, and he is worthy of being a descendant of the dragon...

******
It was a few minutes before 4:30 in the morning, the time when the human body is most sleepy and wants to doze off.

The east gate of Teng County, which was originally closed, was slowly opened, and a group of people stranded in the city quietly left the city with large and small bags of luggage.

Sure enough, in the chaotic crowd, Hu Biao and his friends did not find the figure of Zhou Tong, the county magistrate.

After the city gates were closed, Chen Tang came running over with an exasperated expression and told the bad news:
"Damn it! Xiangcai and Gongzi, the two new recruits, are missing. We've searched everywhere but can't find them. Didn't they just take advantage of the opportunity and run away?"

After hearing this, Annie glanced in the direction outside the city, the meaning of which was self-evident.

These two cowards must have mixed in with the large group of chaotic people and escaped from Teng County.

After understanding Anne's meaning, Chen Tang felt inexplicably angry; he took off the Mauser G98 rifle on his back and was about to rush to the city wall.

See if you can find them both in the crowd and then shoot them dead.

At this critical moment, Hu Biao grabbed him and said:

"We can't fire, or we might alert the Japanese and bring disaster to the people. Let them rain or marry, and let them do as they please.

Let’s finish the final work before daybreak.”

Chen Tang sighed helplessly and could only give up. He continued to work hard until the sky finally brightened, indicating that the brutal street fighting was about to begin...

(End of this chapter)