Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang ignored Wang Yang and the others' departure and carefully arranged the defenses. Qinglong Village now had fewer than two hundred people, mostly elderly, women, and children. The only combat-capable members were the Phoenix Team, personally controlled by the Black Widow, and Yang Jiefang's Liberation Team. The Phoenix Team was small, only about twenty people, secretly called the Widow Team, but that wasn't accurate; many of them were unmarried women, not widows. Once these women married, they would leave the Phoenix Team. Chu Gu and Pang Ya were actually members of the Phoenix Team. Yang Lianhua and others were also receiving training from the Phoenix Team and, barring unforeseen circumstances, would also be incorporated until they married. In other words, the Black Widow had incorporated all the adult single women on the mountain into the Phoenix Team; this was also a protective measure for the single women on the mountain.

When Yang Jiefang returned, he ran into Li Yichao, who was standing there watching Wang Yang and the others descend the mountain. Yang Jiefang greeted him. Li Yichao said, "The entire Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf teams have come down the mountain, except for your Jiefang team, who are all there and fully armed. Now is the perfect time for you to do something." Yang Jiefang nodded and said, "We should do more. This is the weakest point for our stronghold. If government troops or other bandits take advantage of the situation, it will be a real problem!" Li Yichao frowned and said, "Didn't you understand what I mean? Kong Zongru and I don't respect you, and Peng Dahu and Lin Baozi may not truly respect you either. A bunch of old men on the mountain also don't like you. Don't you want to take this opportunity to do something?" Yang Jiefang shook his head and said, "Whether you respect me or not is up to you." "Your affairs won't affect my success in the slightest. On the contrary, if you miss out on me, it will be your lifelong regret!" Li Yichao said, "I admit you have some ability, but it's not enough, not enough for me to entrust my life to you. If you want to win us over, show us some real skills and make us truly convinced." This was a proud man who wouldn't easily bow his head, but Yang Jiefang was even more arrogant, saying, "There are limited positions around me. If you want to follow me, you'd better hurry. If you come late, no matter how capable you are, you'll only be able to stand aside." Li Yichao replied, "We'll see!" He turned and left with a sullen face.

Yang Jiefang surveyed the entire Qinglong Village, familiarizing himself with the terrain, and simultaneously devised strategies for handling any emergencies. Black Widow withdrew the Phoenix Team to defend her widow's compound. The entire outer perimeter of Qinglong Village was entrusted to Yang Jiefang. He treated it as a test, making the best use of his somewhat unprofessional military knowledge, acquired through various channels in his later life, to arrange the defenses. At night, he dared not sleep too soundly, frequently getting up to check on the inhabitants.

For three days, all was well. At sunset on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Ergou rushed in to report that a group of soldiers, over a hundred in number, had arrived from the mountain. Yang Jiefang was startled and told Chen Ergou to inform Black Widow, then gathered everyone and rushed to the village gate. Yang Jiefang climbed the watchtower and indeed saw a group of people slowly approaching. It was too far away, and without binoculars, he couldn't see very clearly, but his uniform was clearly visible – it was the uniform of the Laiyang County garrison. Soon, Yang Jiefang noticed something unusual: these people weren't carrying firearms, and there were some people in the group who weren't wearing uniforms.

Upon receiving the news, Black Widow had a cow horn blown and hurriedly led her men over. Soon after, all the leaders of the mountain stronghold arrived. Niu Sanbian roared and cursed, saying, "We came from the main road, how come we only discovered this place after arriving? Where's the secret hideout of Xu Family Inn? Why didn't they report it? Are they dead or blind?" No one answered him; they all nervously stared down the mountain. Gao Huilan also arrived with Chu Gu, Pang Ya, and others, carrying three boxes of rifle ammunition. Without needing orders, she immediately opened the ammunition boxes and distributed the bullets to everyone.

Yang Jiefang, from the lookout tower, turned and shouted, "Don't be nervous, it might not be the enemy. Those in uniform aren't armed, while those not in uniform are carrying guns." Just as he finished speaking, someone shouted, "Hey, isn't that Tian Dan from Yang'er Mountain?" It was Cao Laoba. He had only been on the mountain a few days ago, and with his family, he had been busy settling in and hadn't been assigned to Yang Jiefang's patrol. He had heard the alarm from the ox horn and rushed over. Cao Laoba had excellent eyesight and immediately recognized Tian Dan in the crowd. Yang Jiefang observed carefully and indeed found Tian Dan, along with Zheng Sandao. As the group drew closer, they quickly confirmed Cao Laoba's words. It was indeed Tian Dan and Zheng Sandao leading a group of men guarding dozens of soldiers.

Today, Hou Fei was leading the guard duty. He stood next to Yang Jiefang, and when the group approached, he fired a shot into the air. The approaching men sensed something was wrong and immediately stopped. Tian Dan ran up alone and immediately saw Yang Jiefang on the watchtower, shouting, "Brother Yang, it's me, Tian Dan." Yang Jiefang asked, "Brother Tian, ​​what's going on here during the New Year?" Tian Dan shouted, "It's a long story. I've brought back the soldiers you captured in Da Kuang Village." Yang Jiefang said, "Come in and tell me!" Then he stepped down from the watchtower.

Tian Dan entered Qinglong Village and was immediately surrounded by the crowd. Facing their questioning gazes, Tian Dan seemed a little embarrassed and said, “Brother Yang, you left the soldiers you captured to us. Chief Tian immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Laiyang County. Didn’t they ask us for 20,000 silver dollars and 50,000 catties of grain? We turned around and demanded 40,000 silver dollars and 100,000 catties of grain. Originally, we were asking for an exorbitant price, expecting them to lower their demands on the spot, but who would have thought the officials in the city would completely ignore us? They didn’t reply for a long time. Then, guess what? They simply listed these people as fallen soldiers and gave each of them a pension of twenty silver dollars. And that was it, and we happily celebrated the New Year.”

Yang Jiefang was stunned, and the crowd erupted in protest. These officials were truly speechless. Tian Dan continued, "Not counting the dead, these ninety-seven survivors are all in our hands. Killing them would be too cruel, releasing them would be unsatisfying, and keeping them is useless; we still have to feed them two meals a day. After discussing it, Chief Tian and Chief Xu decided to send me and Old Zheng to pay a New Year's visit to Chief Chu, to thank Qinglong Village for their rescue, and to bring these people here as well. Brother Yang, what do you suggest? We'll listen to you."

"They've already brought the people over, and you're still asking what to do?" Yang Jiefang suppressed the urge to curse and said, "Why don't you just take the living people to their homes to exchange for their compensation? You could at least recoup some of your costs." They were all bandits; did they need to be taught how to kidnap and extort? Tian Dan smiled bitterly, "These soldiers' families are also struggling. They're not willing to part with the money they've already got. A few families are willing to bargain, wanting to pay three or five silver dollars for their release. But those few dollars aren't even enough to fill a tooth gap. If we agree, we won't be able to explain it to you!" Yang Jiefang was somewhat helpless and turned to ask, "Boss, look at the mess this has made, what should we do?" Black Widow directly shifted the blame, saying, "You decide! Do whatever you want." Since she knew it was a false alarm, Black Widow didn't want to stay any longer and led her men back. Niu Sanbian and the others also left. Niu Sanbian was still muttering to himself that the secret operation in Xu Family Shop hadn't given prior notice; he would definitely investigate and punish them severely.

Yang Jiefang had no choice but to take over this mess, which was actually something he himself had left behind. He then had Tian Dan, Zheng Sandao, and others bring the prisoners in and hand them over to Sun Zhiyong and his men to guard. After handing over the prisoners, Tian Dan said, "Brother Yang, we have some business to attend to and need to return to Yang'er Mountain tonight, so we'll take our leave now." Yang Jiefang politely replied, "Brother Tian, ​​you've come all this way, why rush off? You should stay for a few more days." Tian Dan declined, saying, "I have a lot of things to do at home, I really can't get away. Brother Yang, let's not stand on ceremony between brothers. You go about your business, I'll be going now, farewell!" He insisted on leaving, and Yang Jiefang didn't insist on keeping him, letting him go.

Zheng Sandao spoke up, "Brother Yang, I'd like to stay here for a few days. Would you be willing to take me in?" Yang Jiefang laughed, "Brother Zheng, what are you saying? We fought against the government troops together; we're sworn brothers. You can stay as long as you want, as long as you wish." Zheng Sandao said, "Then I'll shamelessly stay. Brother Tian, ​​please go back and tell Master Xu for me! I'll go back in a while." Tian Dan couldn't control Zheng Sandao, nor could he easily persuade him, so he had no choice but to agree.

At this moment, someone among those who had come with them said, "If Brother Zheng is staying, then I want to stay too." Immediately, someone echoed, "Anyway, we're all living under someone else's roof, I want to follow Brother Zheng too." Soon, about ten people expressed their desire to stay as well. Yang Jiefang quickly discerned the underlying dynamics. Tian Dan and Zheng Sandao each led eleven men, forming two small teams. It was unclear whether they had learned this from Yang Jiefang. The two groups didn't seem to get along well. Zheng Sandao chose to stay, and those who followed him demanded to stay as well. Those who followed Tian Dan remained silent, looking at Zheng Sandao's men as if they were strangers. Xu Zishan's stronghold had been destroyed by government troops, leaving him nowhere to go but temporarily residing on Yang'er Mountain. Xu Zishan and Tian Yisan were sworn brothers and got along quite well, but the men under his command were less harmonious, often experiencing minor conflicts.

Yang Jiefang laughed, "Brother Zheng's brothers are my brothers too. I'm very happy that you brothers are willing to stay! Hou Fei, go find some lodging for the brothers and settle them in properly!" Hou Fei immediately agreed. Zheng Sandao watched Tian Dan and the others leave and whispered, "Brother Yang, you have to be careful! They didn't do things right this time, pushing all the blame onto you. The government troops will come looking for trouble sooner or later." Yang Jiefang said, "Then you're still willing to stay? Aren't you afraid of being implicated by me?" Zheng Sandao said, "That's exactly why I'm staying. You said it yourself, we're sworn brothers, so naturally we'll share any difficulties together." Yang Jiefang was naturally moved by his loyalty and said, "Good brother, just stay here. We'll face anything together." He told Hou Fei to take Zheng Sandao and the others to settle in first, and then instructed Chen Ergou to go to the kitchen and tell them that they should prepare extra dishes for the brothers that night.

Afterwards, Yang Jiefang arrived at the drill ground. The ninety-seven guards, escorted there by Sun Zhiyong, were all squatting on the ground awaiting their fate. They were all bruised and swollen, filthy, clearly having suffered greatly. When they looked up, their faces showed fear, and their eyes darted away. Xu Zishan and Tian Yisan had originally intended to extract some benefits from them, but they hadn't gotten a single copper coin and had even lost so much grain. It was already merciful that they hadn't lost any limbs. Don't feel sorry for them; if it were the other way around, and bandits fell into their hands, they would have been in even worse shape.

Yang Jiefang shouted, “I am Yang Jiefang. I commanded the battle at Da Kuangji. Perhaps some of you are not convinced and think that I succeeded through a sneak attack and am not a hero. Hehe, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care, think what you want. The government doesn’t care about your lives, so who cares about your feelings? I think you already know that the government has treated you as fallen soldiers, and your families have received twenty silver dollars in compensation. Do you know what that means? It means that you are now dead, and you can’t go home. If you don’t go back, you are fallen heroes; if you dare to go back, you are deserters and will be shot. Hehe, do you feel wronged? Do you feel aggrieved? But compared to what you did, it’s not wrong at all. You deserve to die!” Many people raised their heads and glared at Yang Jiefang.

Yang Jiefang laughed, a smug laugh, and then continued, "Looks like someone's not happy about this. Anyone dare to step forward and say something to me?" No one stepped forward. They had learned their lesson at Yang'er Mountain; whoever started it would be in trouble. Yang Jiefang continued to provoke them, saying, "You're all a bunch of cowards, spineless cowards. Even if I didn't launch a sneak attack, if we were to fight openly and honestly, I could still take on ten of you by myself." Finally, someone couldn't hold back any longer and stood up, shouting, "I'm not happy about this, so what?" Yang Jiefang sized up the man. He was quite young, tall, with dark skin, and his face was so bruised and swollen that it was hard to recognize him. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with anger. Yang Jiefang asked, "What's your name?" The man replied, "I'm Squad Leader Song Youde. I admit I was careless this time, allowing you to launch a surprise attack. Of course, in war, there are always victories and defeats; a defeat is a defeat, and being captured alive is no one's fault but yours. But look at what you've done! You've been ruthless to prisoners who have laid down their weapons. Is this all you've got? And you dare to laugh at us? Pah..." Yang Jiefang looked at him with a mocking expression and asked, "Anyone else who disagrees? Have the guts to stand up and show me." Perhaps because Song Youde was there as an example, several people actually stood up. Yang Jiefang counted; including Song Youde, there were eight people in total. Looking at the others, some seemed hesitant, wanting to stand up but also a little afraid; most hung their heads, clearly lacking the courage to stand.

Yang Jiefang asked, "What are you dissatisfied with? You were beaten so badly your own mother wouldn't recognize you, so you're dissatisfied?" Song Youde, his neck bulging, shouted, "Kill me if you want, torture me if you want! If I even flinch, I'm a coward! Taking your anger out on us brothers all day long is the behavior of a weakling." Yang Jiefang countered, "If you win this bandit suppression campaign, what will you do with the bandits you capture?" Song Youde retorted, "That's different. Every bandit deserves to die; no punishment is too harsh. Especially a bandit leader like you, being torn to pieces is your just deserts."