Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang stood up, looked at Tian Dan, and said, "Brother Tian, ​​your Yang'er Mountain also has nearly two hundred people. You can't just stand by and watch without contributing, can you? There's a squad of about thirty people facing off against your Yang'er Mountain. Can you handle them?" What could Tian Dan say? Tian Dan immediately said, "No problem. I can't say more than that, but these thirty or so are on my plate." Yang Jiefang said, "Alright, then I'll trouble Brother Tian to rush back to Yang'er Mountain tonight and make preparations for battle before dawn tomorrow. We'll attack Da Kuang Ji, and you attack those thirty or so soldiers in front of us!" Tian Dan said solemnly, "Okay, let's do it that way. Brother Yang, is there anything else you need to tell me?" Yang Jiefang smiled and said, "It's too formal to tell me anything. We're doing business together now, so of course both sides have to contribute. But if this business goes through, how we divide the spoils will depend on how much each side contributes. You agree, right?" Tian Dan nodded and said, "Brother Yang, I understand what you mean. We're not shameless people. We'll take what's ours, and we won't touch what's not ours."

Yang Jiefang laughed heartily, then changed the subject, "Brother Zheng, are you going back to Yang'er Mountain or coming with us to attack Da Kuangji?" Zheng Sandao replied without hesitation, "It was agreed that I'd fill in. The battle isn't over yet, how can I quit halfway? I'm willing to fight Da Kuangji with you." Yang Jiefang said, "Alright, then you can continue with Brother Liu's team! Brother Tian, ​​it's getting late, you should head back to Yang'er Mountain as well!" Tian Dan agreed, bid farewell to everyone, and turned to leave. At this point, he wasn't worried that Yang Jiefang and the others would give up halfway and turn back.

Watching Tian Dan's departing figure, Yang Jiefang said, "Brothers, I have two battle plans: First, when Yang'er Mountain attacks, the troops from Da Kuangji will definitely come to reinforce. Then we'll flank them from behind. That would be interesting, wouldn't it?" The others exchanged glances. Sun Zhiyong said, "Isn't that a bit unfair? You just made an agreement with Brother Tian..." Suddenly, he realized that this approach didn't seem wrong. Yang Jiefang shook his head, "It's not that I'm unfair, Brother Sun, it's that you're too kind. Believe me, if we don't fire first, the people from Yang'er Mountain definitely won't attack the enemy in front of us." The others suddenly understood, nodding in agreement. Sun Zhiyong stammered, "If everyone waits for the other side to make the first move, how can we fight this battle?"

Yang Jiefang said, "So, we have to start the fight, but we can't use brute force; we have to outsmart them. Think about it, my mother only has sixty men, while the other side has over sixty. If we clash head-on, regardless of who wins or loses, casualties are inevitable. Our brothers' lives are more precious than those bastard soldiers' lives; we can't let them sacrifice themselves in vain." The crowd looked at each other, and finally all looked at Yang Jiefang, feeling that only by following someone like him could they truly feel at ease.

Yang Jiefang knew everyone was waiting for his battle plan, so he said, "Brother Yan, Brother Gui, you always say you're good at ambushing and striking from the shadows, but your performance last night wasn't very impressive." This made Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu blush. Yang Jiefang continued, "Now I'll give you another chance to prove yourselves. There's a sentry post ahead, guarded by a squad of ten soldiers. Tonight, sneak over and take it down. Can you do it?" Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu replied simultaneously, "Yes." At this point, there was no room for retreat. They had to go, even if it meant facing difficulties. Yang Jiefang continued, "My requirements are: don't let a single one escape, and don't fire a shot, so as not to alert the soldiers in Da Kuangji." Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu felt the pressure and said, "Then we'll have to use knives." It was a sentry post; the enemy would definitely be on high alert. Getting close enough to use knives would be quite difficult. Yang Jiefang reminded him, "We'll move out before dawn. You can pretend to be people going to the market. The soldiers will definitely approach you to collect tolls." Yan Donglai understood immediately and assured him that he could get things done.

Yang Jiefang continued, “We previously operated in five squads, but that's probably not enough now. The soldiers are divided into squads and housed in six shops, plus the detachment leader who's staying at Cao Laoba's shop, making a total of seven locations. We need to adjust accordingly, dividing into seven squads to attack all seven shops simultaneously. We have sixty men in total, divided into twenty combat groups. Now, we'll reorganize them into squads of three, resulting in six full squads and one under-strength squad. The six full squads will attack the six squads, and I'll lead the under-strength squad to attack Cao Laoba's butcher shop. Does anyone have any objections?” No one had any objections. Naturally, they obeyed Yang Jiefang's arrangement and reorganized into seven squads. Yang Jiefang's squad only had two groups: Hou Fei and Sun Zhiyong remained in his group, while the other group consisted of Ma Shangfei, Wang Dali, and Chen Ergou.

By the time the reorganization was complete, the sun had set. Yang Jiefang told everyone to find a place to rest and wait. They ate some dry rations and huddled together for warmth. It was the dead of winter, and the nights were especially cold, but the bandits, used to sleeping in the open, didn't find it too harsh. They could manage a nap in the first half of the night, but the cold made it difficult to sleep in the second half. Yang Jiefang kept checking the time on his pocket watch. At this time, China was divided into five time zones, and Yang Jiefang's pocket watch was set to the Central Plains Standard Time Zone, also known as East Eighth Time Zone or Beijing Time in later times. Sunrise was now after 7:00 AM, and Yang Jiefang set the attack on the outpost at 6:00 AM. So, at 5:00 AM, Yang Jiefang woke everyone up, first letting them relieve themselves, then eat some dry rations to stave off hunger, and then reiterated the details of the operation and the attack targets for each squad, ensuring everyone understood their tasks before setting off.

Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu led a small team ahead, clearing the checkpoints. Yang Jiefang and the others followed, maintaining a distance of three or four hundred meters, advancing in the dark. The checkpoint north of Da Kuang Market was located on a hillside, with a makeshift hut erected there. Two men were on guard outside, while the other eight slept inside. Yan Donglai and his group made no attempt to conceal their movements, and were naturally spotted by the sentries on the hillside. It was the darkest time of day, and the two sentries could only vaguely make out people carrying loads. They asked, "What are you doing?" Yan Donglai replied, "Going to the market." "It's not even dawn yet, what market are you going to?" "It'll be light soon after we come down the mountain. If we don't hurry, we won't get good spots. Look, there are people behind us." The people behind were even harder to see, assuming they were all just people going to the market. The sentries didn't have pocket watches, and there were no roosters crowing on the mountain, so they had no idea what time it was or when dawn would break. So the sentry said, "Pay the toll first, or nobody can pass." Yan Donglai asked, "What toll? I've never heard of it before." The sentry laughed, "That was before. Now you have to pay." Yan Donglai deliberately complained, "Why do we have to pay for everything now?" The others echoed him, all putting down their loads and walking across empty-handed. As Yan Donglai walked, he asked, "We haven't even opened for business yet. How much do we have to pay?" Of course, the loads were fake; if he didn't put them down, he'd be exposed. The sentry replied, "Ten copper coins per person, ten copper coins for the load. Since you've both carried loads, each of you should pay twenty copper coins." Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu exchanged a glance, then smiled ingratiatingly, "The business hasn't even started yet, can you give us a discount?" The more respectful they were, the more arrogant the sentry became, resolutely replying, "No, not a single coin less." Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu had already approached the two sentries. Yan Donglai said, "We don't have enough money on us, how about we use this to settle the debt?" As he spoke, he reached into his robes. The sentries, unsuspecting, only realized it was a dagger when the dagger was pulled out. Before the two sentries could react, Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu reversed their grip and slashed the daggers at their necks. Blood gushed from the throats of the two sentries, and they collapsed backward without uttering a sound, quickly dying.

The other seven team members following closely behind also drew their daggers and rushed towards the nearby shack. The shack's door was a straw curtain; lifting it revealed only darkness and the sound of snoring. Fortunately, they were prepared. One of the team members lit a match, and by its light, they saw eight soldiers lying in a row inside. The eight soldiers were fast asleep, completely unaware of the commotion outside. The team member who lit the match held up the straw curtain, and the other eight, including Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu, filed in, each squatting beside a soldier. Before the match burned out, they were all in position and together they slit the soldiers' throats. The eight soldiers died in their sleep. One match burned out, and another was lit. Yan Donglai only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that all eight were dead. Then they ordered everyone to be searched, taking away all the guns, ammunition, and valuables. They then dragged the two corpses outside back inside. After they finished doing this, Yang Jiefang and the others arrived.

Actually, Yang Jiefang had a backup plan in mind: if Yan Donglai's operation failed or shots were fired, they would immediately launch an assault, taking over the checkpoints and rushing into Da Kuangji as quickly as possible. Now, it was clearly unnecessary to use this plan; Yan Donglai's operation had gone smoothly. Yang Jiefang walked up to the two men and praised, "Brother Yan, Brother Gui, it seems you two have a real talent for special forces! Train hard later; we need to form a special operations team." The two men didn't know what a special operations team was, but they were still very happy to be praised by Yang Jiefang.

From this checkpoint to Da Kuang Market, it was still two or three li (about 1.5-2.5 kilometers), and Yan Dong led the way again. They encountered no one along the way and entered the market smoothly. The market was empty and quiet; clearly, no one had come to the market so early. Yang Jiefang breathed a sigh of relief. Based on the information provided by Cao Laoba, Yang Jiefang located seven shops where soldiers were staying. The seven squads quickly found their assigned shops and almost simultaneously banged on the doors, shouting, "Boss, open the door! We need a door panel!" The doors of these shops were assembled from individual wooden planks, which had to be removed one by one to open the door. Each plank was about fifty centimeters wide. Two long benches were placed opposite each other, and two planks were laid side by side to form a temporary stall. People who frequently went to the market usually rented a particular shop's plank stall on a long-term basis. The stall fee was generally not expensive; payment was made when returning the planks at the end of the day. When the shop owner hears the shout, he will usually come out to open the door immediately; when business comes, why leave customers outside?

Yang Jiefang led his men to Cao Laoba's butcher shop. Sun Zhiyong knocked on the door for a long time, and a furious voice came from inside: "What are you knocking for? You've disturbed my sweet dreams!" It wasn't Cao Laoba's voice; it was undoubtedly the soldiers staying at his house. By this time, some shops had already opened, and the heroes rushed in, meaning the battle had officially begun. Yang Jiefang asked, "Who are you? Where's Cao Laoba? Tell him to come out and open the door; it's almost dawn, and we're in a hurry to set up our stall." The soldiers inside replied, "Cao Laoba isn't here. You'll have to borrow from other shops!" They wouldn't open the door. Yang Jiefang frowned slightly, then, a thought struck him, and he said, "Fine, if you don't want to borrow, do you still want the money I owe for the meat?" The men inside immediately shouted, "Wait... leave the money for the meat!" Then they scurried over to open the door. Yang Jiefang sneered inwardly; they were indeed greedy for money.

Soon, the shop door opened, and Sun Zhiyong was the first to rush in, pushing the person who opened the door back against the wall. Sun Zhiyong held a pistol to the man's head with his right hand and covered his mouth with his left, whispering, "Don't move! Don't make a sound! Or I'll shoot you dead." The cold muzzle of the gun was pressed against his forehead, and the man was completely terrified, unable to react for a moment.

Suddenly, a series of gunshots shattered the tranquility of Da Kuang Market. Yang Jiefang shouted, "Not good, charge!" He drew his gun and rushed inside, followed closely by Hou Fei, and then Ma Shangfei and the others. It was still dark, and the rooms were dimly lit. Stumbling and bumping their way through the shops, they discovered several more rooms inside. Yang Jiefang whispered, "Split up and search!" He then chose a room further inside and rushed in.

Inside the room, a disheveled man, holding a holster, was frantically trying to draw his gun. Yang Jiefang didn't fire; instead, he rushed forward and kicked the holster and gun away. Hou Fei, following closely behind, rushed forward, pressed his gun against the man's chest, and shouted, "Don't move! Hands up!" The man hurriedly cried, "Don't shoot!" and raised his hands. Just as he raised his hands, his pants fell down with a rustling sound. He had been pulling up his pants with one hand while trying to draw his gun with the other; no wonder he hadn't been able to pull it out in time. Yang Jiefang glanced around and saw someone hiding under the covers on the bed. He pulled the covers back up, pointed his pistol forward, and shouted, "Don't move!" The sight under the covers shocked him; it was a naked woman. Although the light was dim and he couldn't see clearly, it was undoubtedly a naked woman. She was curled up on her side, covering her face, trembling. Yang Jiefang quickly pulled the covers back over her.