He Daqing, do you know how I've lived these past years?

Inside the Lou's Steel Plant, the workers watched as soldiers continuously withdrew from the gate.

Those Land Cruiser trucks were piled high with mortars and heavy machine guns.

They all cowered inside the houses, too afraid to come out.

"Has the army from the Kanto region attacked?"

"What should I do? My wife and child are at home; I need to go home right away."

"Are you out of your mind? If you encounter a mutinous army on the road, you're doomed."

Inside the canteen's kitchen storage room, He Daqing shuddered upon hearing the distant sound of a bomb exploding.

He hurriedly got up from on top of the white widow.

"Boom"

The sound didn't attract their attention; they hurriedly straightened their clothes and ran towards the door.

"Great Qing, I must go home, otherwise I won't feel at ease."

He Daqing, who was picking up He Yushui who was playing in the mud outside, was also startled and grabbed the widow, shouting:

"Are you crazy? There's artillery fire everywhere outside. If we run into some mutinous troops, you'll get arrested."

The white widow also cried as she pried He Daqing's hand away and shouted:

"Great Qing, I have to go back immediately. I have two children at home; if anything happens to them, I won't live anymore."

He Daqing was stunned upon hearing this.

"What, you have two more children?"

The white widow gave Da Qing a deep look, then hurriedly turned and ran towards the factory gate.

In the kitchen of Emei Restaurant, He Yuzhu was also given a cleaver and kept a close eye on the restaurant entrance, which was now blocked by tables and chairs.

The little boy, who had been peering out the second-floor window, ran down from upstairs shouting:

"Shopkeeper, all I heard were explosions and gunshots. Aside from the police running south, I didn't see any fighting."

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, He Yuzhu shouted loudly:

"Damn it, that bastard Xu Damao is still lying at the alley entrance."

Then he hurriedly called out to his master beside him:

“Master, one of my neighbors from the same courtyard is still lying at the entrance of the alley not far away,”

Sha Zhu's master also looked at the shopkeeper with difficulty and said with difficulty:

"Zhu Zi, what... what am I supposed to say?"

But seeing Sha Zhu's pleading eyes, he softened and whispered to the shopkeeper:

"Shopkeeper, could you please consider my apprentice's intention to save lives and open the door? He'll be back soon."

After a moment's hesitation, the shopkeeper told He Yuzhu to run out the back door, rescue the person, and return if no one followed; otherwise, find another way.

After He Yuzhu expressed his gratitude, the group moved the table that was blocking the back door. He Yuzhu then slipped through the crack in the door and ran towards the alley where he had knocked Da Mao unconscious that morning.

"You son of a bitch, only I would save you, otherwise you could just wait to die."

From afar, He Yuzhu spotted Xu Damao still curled up on the ground. He rushed over, scooped him up, looked around briefly, and ran towards the restaurant.

"Master, open the door quickly! No one followed us!"

Upon hearing this, the people at the back door immediately pulled back the tables and chairs to let the two people in.

Panting heavily, He Yuzhu entered the room and immediately threw Xu Damao to the ground. Perhaps he had pulled on Xu Damao's testicles, because the pain woke Xu Damao up and he rolled around on the floor.

"You damned idiot Zhu, I won't let you get away with this!"

Meanwhile, the onlookers watched with amusement as they protected Xu Damao, who was writhing in pain in his lower body.

He Yuzhu awkwardly scratched the back of his head and cursed at Xu Damao:

"You have the nerve to insult me? Listen to the explosions outside! If I hadn't run back to save you, you would have been beaten to death by the rioters."

Xu Damao also stopped cursing. After regaining his senses, he heard the huge explosion had stopped and stared blankly at He Yuzhu.

Meanwhile, at the Drum Tower, Jia Gui, who was engaged in a firefight with the mercenaries, was trembling with fear, hiding behind the earthen wall, too afraid to show his face.

The mercenaries on the other side were firing wildly, as if machine gun bullets were free.

"Dunzi, you bastard, did you even notify the mansion and the police stations?"

A patrolman with a white cloth wrapped around his arm, revealing red underneath, fired a few shots, then turned back and shouted:

"Master Jia, everyone has been notified."

"What can we do? They're even fiercer than the Japanese. They don't charge, they don't stop firing, they just keep spraying bullets."

Jia Gui, also annoyed, took off his hat and said:

"What a mistake! I didn't expect them to split into two groups, one attacking the new recruits and the other blocking our advance."

"This tactic is somewhat similar to that man's strategy for destroying a country decades ago."

Dunzi, pressing his bleeding arm, said:

"What kind of strategy does Master Jia have to destroy a country? Who is so powerful?"

Jia Gui also sighed and said:

"Heaven is blind; it was vetoed by a woman. Otherwise, so many people wouldn't have died fighting the Japanese all these years. Back then, that man proposed using domestic forces to contain the Japanese, then paying foreigners to directly attack Japan and wipe out the country."

Dunzi slapped his forehead and said:

"It's him, I remember now."

"Hmph, after the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan was eyeing us covetously. Unfortunately, after President Yuan left, that young marshal of the Kwantung Army ran away without firing a shot, and a large amount of heavy industry and banks in the Kwantung region were given to Japan at bargain prices."

Jia Gui nodded in agreement.

"There was resistance, but the main force had already withdrawn. Only a small group of people disobeyed and fought back, but they couldn't withstand it. How could a few dozen or a few hundred people fight against thousands or tens of thousands? Countless women were captured and raped."

Dunzi sighed, and was just about to stick his head out and fire a few shots when dirt immediately flew up from the earthen wall.

He could only curl up into a ball and say:

"Master Jia, you mentioned Shan Chu's hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army troops counterattacking. I wonder what the situation is now. It's just a pity for them. I heard that hundreds of thousands of soldiers either sacrificed their lives across the country or on their way back to Kwantung."

Jia Gui also snorted coldly and said:

"There aren't that many Shan Chus. Do you think everyone is General Yue, afraid to fight just because they can't beat Su Xiong Kingdom, or afraid to fight just because they're afraid of General Guanggun?"

Just as Jia Gui was about to continue speaking, he suddenly saw Lu Wang speeding towards them from not far away and excitedly stood up and shouted:

"Brothers, reinforcements are here! Hold on!"

"what"

When Dunzi saw Jia Gui stand up, he hurriedly pulled him down with all his might, but he was still shot in the shoulder.

"Master Jia, are you out of your mind?"

Jia Gui pressed his hand against the gunshot wound on his shoulder, trembling all over, and said:

"Dunzi, quickly go and tell the reinforcements what we've discovered, and get to support the new recruits immediately."

Dunzi nodded and crawled on the ground toward the houses in the distance.

Half an incense stick later, a flurry of bomb explosions erupted from the enemy's position behind them.

Jia Gui forced open his already blurry eyes.

I vaguely saw the general's wife leading her men rushing over.

Immediately following was a great deal of shouting and fighting, and then he fainted.

Jingxian, who was leading the charge, saw Jia Gui lying on the ground and ordered him to be taken away for treatment. Then she led the mercenaries who were trying to stop her to rush over.

The police soldiers who had joined up also carried machine guns and followed closely behind several vehicles carrying Lu Wangchao's rescue team on the other side.

Loud gunfire and dense bullet spray filled the entire southern district.

The people trembled with fear and hid in their homes, some even kowtowing frantically before the stove.

Some were facing Guan Gong, while others were hiding in the temple kowtowing.

Black smoke filled the entire city of Beijing, and towering flames outshone the blazing sun as the fire continued to spread.

……