A magazine of 30,000 rounds, you call it Hanyang

"What's going on? Don't be anxious, tell me slowly."

"Battalion Commander, Captain Chen and I were exploring the road ahead when we suddenly noticed a large group of people moving around in the ravine not far from us. They were gathered around a bonfire, and there seemed to be quite a few of them, perhaps around a hundred or so."

"We don't know whether they're friend or foe yet. Captain Chen has already gone to investigate. I'm here to report to you."

Zhao Chenggong was surprised when he heard this.

"Battalion Commander, could it be that the Imperial Army ahead got the news first and ambushed us here?"

Zheng Kaixuan shook his head.

"No, this group of imperial soldiers shouldn't be that evil. If they were really setting an ambush, they wouldn't have lit the bonfire. I guess it's just a coincidence."

Zheng Kaixuan also had doubts in his mind.

The temperature was over 10 degrees below zero, the ground was freezing, and the snow hadn't melted. At four or five in the morning, why were these people staying in the ravine so late at night instead of staying at home to sleep?

This also successfully aroused his curiosity.

Zheng Kaixuan was not in a hurry and ordered the team to stop and rest for a while.

Since Chen Shengli has gone to check the situation personally, he believes that there will be results soon.

Sure enough, after about ten minutes or less than twenty minutes, Chen Shengli came back with a dozen soldiers.

On the horses of Chen Shengli and several soldiers were several ragged men.

"Captain, we've already found out. It was a false alarm. Those moving around in the ravine are just villagers from nearby."

"Village?"

The soldiers nearby turned on their flashlights.

Zheng Kaixuan turned his gaze to the old men who had just been helped off their horses.

They were dressed in rags, their faces were dark and wrinkled. Indeed, one could tell at a glance that they were genuine farmers who worked hard in the fields.

"Fellow villagers, what are you doing in the valley so late at night instead of sleeping?"

Zheng Kaixuan asked one of the old men.

"You are Captain Zheng of the Eighth Route Army, right? Captain Zheng, you are finally here! God has opened His eyes! The young and old men have been waiting for you for so long, and finally, your savior has arrived."

The old man, with white hair and a somewhat hunched figure, turned around and shouted to the villagers who had come with him.

"Quick! Let's all kowtow to Captain Zheng and ask him to help us. We are saved."

After saying that, several rural men knelt down in the cold snow without saying a word and bowed their heads to Zheng Kaixuan and the soldiers.

"Old man, you can't do that! Don't do that."

Zheng Kaixuan quickly jumped off his warhorse and reached out to pull the old man up from the ground.

"Quick, help them all up."

Chen Shengli and other soldiers took action and helped several farmers on the ground.

"Captain Zheng, help! Please save us! We are all dying."

The old man held Zheng Kaixuan's hand tightly, and Zheng Kaixuan could clearly feel the cracked skin and calluses on his hands. These were the hands of a lifetime of farm work, genuine hands.

"Old man, don't be anxious. If you have something to say, take your time."

Zheng Kaixuan asked the soldiers to put a horse mat on the stones beside the road, so that the old man could sit down and catch his breath and explain what difficulties they had encountered.

"My last name is Niu, everyone calls me Old Niutou, and I live in Niujiayu..."

"Niujiayu!"

When Zheng Kaixuan heard the three words Niujiayu, his heart moved.

However, he did not interrupt Old Bullhead and motioned him to continue.

"That old man's surname is Zhang, from the nearby Xiaozhang Village. And this one, surnamed Huang, from Xiaohuang Village. All of them can't survive..."

The old bull was crying.

"It's freezing cold, and we're not stupid. Who wants to hide in this mountain valley in the middle of the night and be blown by the cold wind? It's really a dead end..."

From the old bull head's tearful accusation, Zheng Kaixuan finally understood the situation.

The reason why the villagers stayed in the valley so late at night was because they were forced to do so! They were forced to do so by the Imperial Army Security Corps in Niujiayu!

I can’t stay at home anymore! Or rather, I don’t have a home anymore!

The head of the Imperial Army Security Corps was named Niu. He had passed the imperial examination and became a scholar during the previous dynasty, so people called him Niu Xiucai.

This scholar Niu came from a landlord family and was relatively wealthy. Later, he spent a lot of money to study in Japan for a few years.

After returning from studying abroad, because he was fluent in the Japanese language and was rich and powerful in the local area, when the Japanese troops passed by Niujiayu, they supported him to become the head of the Imperial Army Security Corps in this area.

The literal meaning of the Security Corps is to protect the country and the people, but since it was supported by the Japanese, the meaning of this Security Corps naturally changed.

Ever since Niu Xiucai became the head of the security group, the folks living nearby have suffered a lot. They are really unlucky.

Niu Xiucai's family was originally an old landlord. His father, Niu Duyan'er, knew almost everything about the local situation. They knew how much stuff everyone had, how many geese and chickens they had, and which daughters were pretty.

"Over forty oxen used for farming in our Xiaohuang Village were forcibly taken away by Niu Xiucai. The village chief led some people to argue with him, but Niu Xiucai shot them dead. The villagers were terrified..."

"It's the same in our Xiaozhang village. Every now and then, the security team would come and rob us. They took away all the valuables in our houses. Later, when Mr. Niu saw that there was really nothing valuable left in our village, he took away more than a hundred iron pots in our village and even smashed our stoves..."

"Niu Xiucai is a lecherous bastard. He brings his men to any girl or young wife in the surrounding villages who is even slightly attractive and robs her. If anyone dares to say no, he will kill their entire family."

"After being the head of the security team for over a month, this bastard has already married thirteen concubines!"

"Nowadays, girls in our area smear dirt on their faces to deliberately make themselves ugly. Some girls, for fear of being noticed by Mr. Niu, have no choice but to disfigure themselves in order to preserve their chastity. There are several girls in our village who have been so cruel as to cut several scars on their faces..."

"In the cold winter, when there's a shortage of firewood, they go to the village and tear down the doors of people's homes! They even take tables, chairs, and beams..."

"What they did was no different from the Japs! These idiots are even more hateful than the Japs."

Through the villagers' descriptions, Zheng Kaixuan gained a more intuitive understanding of the Imperial Army Security Corps in Niujiayu.

Whether it was Niu Xiucai or the group of puppet soldiers under his command, what they did could not be called human behavior. This was simply the behavior of animals! They were even worse than animals.

Fortunately, I brought the Fourth Battalion here. If I and the soldiers had not come, would these villagers still be able to survive?

Fire was almost spitting out of Zheng Kaixuan's eyes.

Even when facing the Japanese, he had never been so angry.

"Chen Shengli! Zhao Chenggong! Wang Fugui!"

"To!"

"To!"

"To!"

"First Company! Second Company! Fourth Company! Everyone! Move to Niujiayu immediately!"

"Catch Mr. Niu alive! I'm going to skin this bastard alive!"