Vanguards of the War of Resistance! Let's travel back in time together, classmates!

096 A Belated Christmas

The next morning, Shangguan Yun convened a meeting of all officers and soldiers, reappointed a group of officers and soldiers, and assigned the work scope of three external assistants, requiring everyone to unconditionally cooperate with the work of these three individuals.

He also issued the latest work assignments to everyone. The reorganization of the new army was scheduled for the sixteenth day of the first lunar month after the Spring Festival, while his wedding with Song Xiaoyun was scheduled for the second day of the second lunar month.

"Tomorrow is New Year's Day. We Chinese people don't usually celebrate the Western New Year, but now that we have several international friends joining us, I've decided to hold the first Songjiazhai New Year's Day Carnival tomorrow. Please make the necessary preparations."

I will assign the specific tasks. The overall commander of this mission is Sister Zhu. All of you, please cooperate. Tomorrow night, we will hold a New Year's Eve party on both sides of the cable car on the east side of the mountain village. Okay, go now...

Shangguan Yun spent most of the day researching how to acquire resources. He studied various random things in the system, checked the terrain and mineral resource distribution within a 200-mile radius, and designed the most suitable defense method for Songjia Village based on the current terrain and terrain advantages, as well as the allocation of military forces and firepower.

Of course, this was not something he could accomplish alone. There were several other people with him in the operations room: Qi Chunlin, Min Wenqian, Chen Jinshan, Liu Ransong, and Mr. Johnson.

The group discussed the current situation in Songjiazhai and unanimously agreed that the Japanese would definitely launch an attack on Songjiazhai next year, a fact that Shangguan Yun had confirmed through radar monitoring.

Large quantities of Japanese troops and strategic materials were transported north to the vicinity of Wulongling by railway. Of course, these were not necessarily intended to deal with Songjiazhai, but once the Japanese forces were sufficient, they would certainly not let go of Songjiazhai, this small bandit force that had brought them shame.

Moreover, Shangguan Yun also detected through radar that a large number of new fighter jets and bombers were arriving at nearby airports, making the situation truly dire.

After discussing for a long time, everyone finally decided to reorganize the troops first, then deploy them to important positions, with each unit cooperating closely to strengthen themselves as much as possible before the enemy could recover, so as to survive in the gap.

Furthermore, the group unanimously agreed that although Wulongling was a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, it could not become a significant force. If they wanted to expand their forces and achieve greater success, they had to leave Wulongling, go out into the world, occupy more territory, and expand their living space.

Songjiazhai now has ample weaponry and equipment, although most people don't know where it came from, they only know that it's plentiful, a point that Shangguan Yun also acknowledged.

Therefore, everyone unanimously passed the resolution to continue expanding the army. That afternoon, the command issued a new order: to carry out a new round of conscription mobilization before the Spring Festival.

The conscription area covers the entire Wulongling region, as well as villages and towns near Zhuanghe County, villages and towns near Haicheng, and the Nanfen region northeast of Laoyeling.

Because these were all enemy-occupied areas, and the people there were also living in dire straits, they were the main targets for the anti-Japanese forces to unite.

In the afternoon, Old Man Wang came to say goodbye. He decided to let his children stay here and fight the Japanese devils with Shangguan Yun to avenge the villagers of Songshutun.

He also asked Shangguan Yun to take good care of the children, and Shangguan Yun readily agreed. Before leaving, he instructed Old Man Wang to gather intelligence in the county town, to be careful of his secrecy and safety, and to return to Songjiazhai immediately if anything happened. Old Man Wang readily agreed and took his leave.

After seeing everyone off, Shangguan Yun took a walk around the mountain stronghold. Seeing everyone busy at work, he felt a pang of emotion. Time was of the essence, and no one could afford to be idle.

Therefore, the reconnaissance company was ordered to gather more intelligence on Haicheng, in preparation for a raid in a few days.

"Dear audience members...distinguished guests...ladies and gentlemen, good evening...the first annual New Year's Day and Christmas Carnival of Songjiazhai in 1932 is officially open..."

With a shout from Zhao Peng's hoarse voice, the long-awaited New Year's Day and Christmas carnival party kicked off.

This was really a late-night party, because we arrived late; Christmas was already over. But actually, very few people in the village knew about it.

Even if a few people understood these things, no one bothered to explain them, because everyone was infected by the joyful atmosphere and joined in the revelry, forgetting everything. Shangguan Yun was also speechless; she hadn't expected Sister Zhu and the others to be so good at making things up, but it was quite lively nonetheless.

What Shangguan Yun didn't expect was that this custom of celebrating Christmas and New Year's Day at the same time actually became a traditional custom of Songjia Village and was passed down after many years.

At this moment, everyone was completely immersed in the celebration. It was past 5 p.m. and it was already dark, but Songjia Village was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Clusters of bonfires dot the hillside, and laughter echoes throughout the village!

Centered on the command post, extending all the way to Camel Peak opposite the cableway, Shangguan Yun exchanged for supplies such as diesel generators, electric lights, and wires. After two days of hard work, the engineering team finally turned this carnival into a night that never sleeps.

The children chased each other happily, while the villagers smiled happily as they looked at all sorts of novel and unusual electrical appliances.

Food, drinks, entertainment, karaoke, variety shows—the options are endless...

"Giddy up...whoosh..." A horse-drawn carriage approached from afar.

The driver was Shen Wuzhou, dressed as Santa Claus with a big beard, a red suit, and a tall hat, speeding towards them in a reindeer-themed Christmas rickshaw.

"Whoa...ah...dear children, Santa Claus is here! What gifts would you like? I can grant all your wishes..."

"Uh...where did this come from...how should I know...Santa Claus can grant our wishes...is it true...Hey...old man...I want a candied hawthorn..."

"Ah...okay...look...this is your gift..." Shen Wuzhou magically produced a string of candied hawthorns.

"Ah...this is real...a real Santa Claus...Great, I also want a slingshot...firecrackers...wooden horse...airplane..."

Shen Wuzhou was speechless. "Ah... children, I think I heard God calling me. I'm going now. The gifts in this box are all for you... Bye-bye..."

"Ah...it's mine...come on...ah...clink clink...ouch...don't take it..."

The Christmas donkey sleigh sped away, and the children who hadn't received any presents immediately chased after it.