Bright Sword: This unit is really ruthless

"And what?" Zhang Ling asked.

"He also looked down on us old members of the independent regiment, thinking that we were all born bandits, uneducated, and undisciplined..." Li Dashan said indignantly, "After he came, he carried out drastic reforms on the independent regiment, transferring away the backbone of us old members of the independent regiment and replacing them with his own trusted members..."

"What?!" Zhang Ling was immediately furious when he heard this. He didn't expect that as soon as Li Yunlong left, someone would come to pick peaches, and even excluded the people of the old independent regiment. This was something that his uncle could tolerate but his aunt could not!

"How dare this blind man Cheng do this?!" Zhang Ling gritted his teeth and said, "Isn't he afraid of disappointing the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the independent regiment?!"

Li Dashan sighed and said, "Who says it's not true? But now he is the boss of the independent regiment, and we old brothers have no say..."

"No! I have to go to the independent regiment and take a look!" Zhang Ling stood up suddenly, with flames of anger flashing in his eyes.

"Sacrificed?" Zhang Ling felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on his head. The originally burning fire of revenge was extinguished in an instant, leaving only disbelief and a huge sense of loss in his heart.

He sat on the stool in a daze, and the scenes in "Drawing Sword" kept replaying in his mind: the scene where Li Yunlong rode a horse, led the soldiers of the independent regiment to charge into battle, and shouted "Fire! Fire!"; the scene where Li Yunlong cried bitterly in front of Zhao Gang's grave, roaring "Old Zhao, why the hell did you leave?"; the scene where Li Yunlong shot at Yamamoto Ikki's body on the top of the Ping'an County building, and roared "I'm going to kill you, you bastard!"...

These scenes are so vivid and exciting, but now, Li Yunlong is dead?

"How could this happen? How...how did he die?" Zhang Ling asked in a hoarse voice.

Li Dashan was silent for a moment before he slowly said, "My eldest brother...was killed by his own people."

"One of our own?!" Zhang Ling raised his head suddenly, his eyes filled with shock and anger, "Who did it?!"

Li Dashan gnashed his teeth and said, "It was the traitors from Wangjia Village. They colluded with the devils and tricked my elder brother into the encirclement. My elder brother... was outnumbered, and in the end..."

As he spoke, his voice choked up and he could no longer speak.

Zhang Ling clenched his fists, his nails digging deeply into his flesh. He wished he could rush to Wangjia Village right now and kill all those traitors!

"Uncle Dashan, tell me, who are those traitors? I want to avenge Captain Li!" Zhang Ling said with red eyes and gritted teeth.

Li Dashan shook his head. "Little brother, I know you feel bad, but now is not the time to act rashly. Those traitors are desperate criminals, and they have the support of the devils behind them. We can't defeat them."

"We have to fight even if we can't win!" Zhang Ling stood up suddenly, his eyes full of determination. "Captain Li is my savior, I can't let him die in vain! Uncle Dashan, tell me, who are those traitors? As long as I am still alive, I will make them pay with blood!"

Li Dashan looked at Zhang Ling with complicated emotions in his eyes. He knew that Zhang Ling, like Li Yunlong, was a tough guy who would rather break than bend. Once he made a decision, he would never change it easily.

"Little brother, have you really thought it through? Once you embark on this path, there will be no turning back." Li Dashan asked in a deep voice.

"I've made up my mind!" Zhang Ling answered without hesitation, "Captain Li saved my life. Even if it costs me my life, I will avenge Captain Li!"

Li Dashan sighed. He knew that he could no longer stop Zhang Ling.

"Well, since you have made up your mind, I won't stop you." Li Dashan took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Ling, "This is the list of those traitors. Be careful."

Zhang Ling took the list and opened it carefully. He saw a few names written on it: Wang Fugui, Wang Mazi, Wang Ergou...

"Wangjia Village..." Zhang Ling looked at the name on the list, a cold light flashed in his eyes, "Just wait for me, I will definitely come back!"

......

As night fell, Zhang Ling bid farewell to Li Dashan and embarked on the road of revenge alone.

He was not in a hurry to go to Wangjia Village because he knew that with his current abilities, he was no match for those traitors.

He needs strength and a strong team to avenge Li Yunlong!

So, he decided to find the Eighth Route Army first, join them, learn combat skills and improve his own strength.

He walked and asked along the way, and finally came to a place called Yangcun after a few days.

According to villagers, there is an Eighth Route Army troop stationed in Yang Village. The number of troops is small, but the combat effectiveness is very strong. They often appear mysteriously to attack the Japanese invaders. They are a famous "Iron Army" in the surrounding area.

When Zhang Ling heard the news, his eyes suddenly lit up. He decided to go to Yangcun to try his luck and see if he could join this team.

However, when he arrived at the entrance of Yangcun, he was stunned by the scene before him.

There were dozens of corpses lying in disorder at the entrance of the village, the ground was dyed red with blood, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

Among these corpses, there were soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and people wearing bandit clothes. From the messy wounds and distorted expressions on their bodies, one could tell what fierce battles they had experienced in their lifetime.

Zhang Ling's heart sank suddenly, and he realized that something might have happened in Yangcun.

He gripped the Hanyang rifle tightly in his hand and walked towards the village cautiously.

The village was dead silent, every household had their doors closed, and not a sound was heard.

Zhang Ling came to the threshing ground in the center of the village and saw more people lying on the ground.

Zhang Ling and Xu Erniu were both silent. They heard deep despair and hatred in Wang Xiurong's tone.

They were all soldiers. They had seen too many wars and too much death, but they had never thought that war could bring such great harm to a woman.

"So, you want to jump off the cliff?" Zhang Ling's voice became a little hoarse.

Wang Xiurong raised her head, looked at Zhang Ling with tears in her eyes, and said, "I can't live anymore... I have nothing left..."

She suddenly grabbed Zhang Ling's hand and begged, "Please, kill me! Give me a quick death!"

Zhang Ling looked at the poor woman in front of him with mixed feelings.

He didn't know what to say or what to do.

At this moment, a gunshot pierced the night sky...

Wang Xiurong walked in front tremblingly, her frail body swaying in the night wind like a dead leaf that could be blown off at any time. Zhang Ling followed behind her, holding the old Mauser pistol tightly in his hand, the barrel still retaining the residual heat of the Japanese. Xu Erniu was the last one to leave, his rough hands habitually touching the machete at his waist, cursing, "Is this woman trying to trick us? My machete hasn't tasted the taste of a woman for a long time!"

"Shut up!" Zhang Ling scolded in a low voice, but his eyes were fixed on Wang Xiurong's back.

The mountain road was rugged and difficult to walk on. The moonlight was blocked by the dense shade of the trees. Only the occasional cry of a night owl broke the silence of the forest. Wang Xiurong walked very slowly, as if deliberately delaying time. Zhang Ling was anxious, but he could do nothing about it. After all, he knew nothing about this road.

"You'd better not play tricks!" Zhang Ling walked up to Wang Xiurong and waved the muzzle of the gun in front of her eyes intentionally or unintentionally, "This gun of mine has no eyes!"

Wang Xiurong was so frightened that she waved her hands repeatedly, "No... I dare not, what I said is true, in front... in front is the artillery tower..."

"The gun tower?" Xu Erniu came over with a lewd smile on his face, "Besides the devils, there must be a lot of pretty girls in this gun tower, right? Hehe, let me pick them first when the time comes!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiurong’s face turned even paler and her body couldn’t help but tremble.

"It's already this late, and you're still thinking about women!" Zhang Ling glared at Xu Erniu, "Don't you think about it? Can we, the three of us, take down the artillery tower?"

"That's not necessarily true." Xu Erniu disagreed, "Back then, I was..."

"Shut up!" Zhang Ling interrupted him harshly, "Stop talking nonsense and save your energy!"

The three walked for a while, and suddenly the view in front of them opened up. A blue brick artillery tower suddenly appeared in front of them. On the artillery tower, the beam of searchlights swept back and forth, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

"Damn, there really is a watchtower!" Xu Erniu cursed in a low voice, but there was a hint of excitement in his tone.

"What should we do?" Wang Xiurong asked palely, her eyes shifting back and forth between Zhang Ling and Xu Erniu.

Zhang Ling didn't say anything, but just looked at the turret quietly, with complicated light flashing in his eyes. He knew that tonight was destined to be a sleepless night...

Wang Xiurong led the way tremblingly in front. The mountain road was rugged and she stumbled as she walked. She looked back at Zhang Ling from time to time, her eyes full of fear.

In the dim moonlight, Zhang Ling could see that Wang Xiurong's pretty face was covered in dirt, and her makeup was washed away by sweat and tears. Her cheongsam was also torn by branches in many places, revealing her fair skin.

"I say, you woman, hurry up! Why are you dawdling so long? Do you want to kill us?!" Xu Erniu followed behind and cursed impatiently.

Wang Xiurong was so frightened that she trembled, staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Zhang Ling held her and said to Xu Erniu coldly, "Stop talking! In this situation, whether we can survive depends on her!"

Xu Erniu curled his lips and said nothing more, but the look he gave Wang Xiurong was full of suspicion and vigilance.

The mountain road was winding and the three of them walked for about half an hour before finally arriving at a valley.

"It's... right in front..." Wang Xiurong pointed to the depths of the valley and said in a trembling voice, "There... there is the enemy's artillery tower..."