Canteen System Assistance Notes

"I roughly understand. It's basically another 'Battle of East Jiguan Mountain.'" Okamura Neiji shook his head and sat up straight. "What about the Security Army and the Pacification Army?"

His chair creaked, and Youmo Jingsan paused before answering, "The troops were urgently transferred. The Security Army and the Pacification Army bravely rushed to the front to cover the rear of the Imperial Army. Their losses have not yet been calculated."

Oh, let me know as soon as you have the data... Alas, such a crushing defeat, oh no, such a great victory... I'm afraid I can't bear it again..." The troops he had poured his heart and soul into suffered heavy losses, and his carefully planned offensive was thwarted. Okamura Neiji felt a mixture of emotions. He wanted to vent his anger, but he couldn't find any place to vent. "When did the Imperial Empire's strategy in North China become so weak?"

It's a shame the Eighth Route Army didn't care about Okamura Yasuji's blood pressure and mood. Not long after, the bell in Okamura Yasuji's office rang, and a staff officer rushed into the room, clutching a stack of telegrams. "My apologies, Commander! Oh... Commander, Vice Commander! Latest telegram!"

Without waiting for their instructions, he began to read the telegram he had just translated as if he was firing a machine gun.

"The De County garrison reported they were attacked by two Communist forces, one in the east and one in the west. The attacking forces are equipped with long-range field artillery and have heavy firepower. They are now putting up a desperate resistance!"

"The remaining troops in the Shimen area reported that they were fiercely attacked by the Communist Army's Beiyue troops. It is reported that the attacker is Wang Xibei from the Beiyue area!

"The First Army reports that Shouyang, Yangquan, and other areas along the Zhengtai Line have been attacked by organized Communist Army units. Contact has been lost at several strongholds along the route!"

"There are reports of Communist attacks along the Jinpu Railway, the Jingzhang Railway, the Tongpu Qian Railway... and the Jincheng Railway!" His tone was panicked and his eyes showed disbelief.

"Commander! We are under attack from all sides!"

Chapter 444: Dawn Has Broken (4) "Hundred Regiments War"

"Little devils, this war will start when you want to fight, but it will not end when you want to end it."

Zhao Baosen stood on a small hill, half of his body straightened up in a rather wild manner, looking down through a very large telescope, as if he didn't care at all that this small hill, which later became the place where Erguotou was produced, was 40 kilometers southwest of the Japanese's command center in North China.

Through the telescope, I could see figures lining the railway line below. Some wore military uniforms, some wore civilian clothes, and many were shirtless, save for a pair of torn shorts. They were busy working on a track. But the track itself was a bit dismal—several large potholes were unevenly distributed along the roadbed, stretching from south to north. Not only were the sleepers but even small sections of the roadbed had been lifted up, and large sections of track had vanished.

The most disgusting thing is that these disappeared tracks are not even symmetrical - there is a locomotive that has overturned on the side of the road and has not been cleaned up yet, but judging by its miserable appearance, it is almost completely dismantled.

But things now seem to be improving. A large amount of dirt has been piled up next to the pit, and workers are shouting slogans as they use tamping stones to level the dirt. The shattered sleepers have been removed and replaced with new ones stacked nearby. Furthermore, the rails, the most crucial part of the railway, are stacked on numerous "taiping" (safety rail cars), seemingly unloaded.

"How's it going with Political Commissar Li?"

"The news from the last communication period is that the Miyun security team (30 people) gathered 20 to capture us, but they didn't expect there were two regiments outside the assembly area. They were completely wiped out by Political Commissar Li and his men that night - no more than 100 escaped."

"Sieve." Zhao Baosen shook his head. "It's only been a few years. The Japanese... they're really no match for us."

"After all, the guards aren't the old devils, they're the second devils..."

The signalman beside him, wearing a large monitoring headset and holding a microphone to his throat, reported cautiously, "But Commander Zhao, isn't it too conspicuous for you to look straight at me?"

—―-—--—-

"Alas, you don't understand. We've already secured the area within five miles, and how could a stray bullet hit me? Two-thirds of the Miyun garrison is gone, and the Japs' 64th Division (formerly the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade) has 116 garrisons to defend, and the 27th Division only has one battalion left. Now, the Japs have left the walls of Beijing, what can they do to us?"

Zhao Baosen replied with a bit of arrogance, or perhaps confidence, "If you're worried about this, why not ask the comrades on the Beining Line about their preparations? The only thing that can pose a threat to us is the Kwantung Army." The signalman lowered his head and went back to operate the oversized, high-level radio that required three people to disassemble and carry. Soon, he pressed the monitoring headset and reported:

"Preparations for the Beining section are complete. The Railway Self-Defense Force has already notified the drivers to jump off the trains at the designated locations, and the loading and unloading workers have been sent to a banquet. Everything will proceed according to the predetermined plan. Now, if those little mustache-wearing Kwantung Army soldiers want to come into North China to reinforce, they'll have to do it on foot. The railway, the railway, the railway is gone. I don't think this is even a road anymore."

"Okay, Political Commissar Li will be back today. Actually, I think the 64th Division is unable to move, the 27th Division has not returned yet, and the Miyun Garrison is badly damaged. Why are we still being so timid?" Commander Zhao smiled. In his field of vision, there seemed to be something extra at the other end of the railway, flashing back and forth.

He lowered the telescope, focusing on the group of capable-looking puppet soldiers and the few Japanese troops. Almost all of the puppet soldiers had a rolled-up white towel around their waists, necks, or foreheads. "Get ready. Company commanders, count from 1 to 12," Zhao Baosen ordered.

Whether it was commanding 12 companies to act against the clock at one time, or instigating the puppet army to attack again on the railway that had already been attacked once, or taking advantage of the emptiness after the Japanese troop mobilization to leisurely overturn the puppet army group that interfered with the transportation line from the Pingxi base to the Jidong base and then leisurely withdraw, this was just one of a series of actions completed by the Jidong Military Region.

After judging the concentration and main attack direction of the Japanese mobile forces, this so-called "Hebei Heart-piercing War" was no longer a matter of the Hebei Military Region.

Peng, who was in charge of the Shanqian Command, quickly took over the command of several military regions in the base areas.

They began to unify and coordinate the actions of various military sub-districts.

This time, it is no longer the action in history that aims to "cut off the Japanese army's transportation lines and attack the enemy's vitality". The current comparison between the enemy and us gives General Peng, who is ready to take action, more cards in his hand and a more ambitious goal.

The first to take action was the Beiyue base.

As the direction most likely to undermine the 110th Division's rear, this was the primary target of Okamura Yasuji's defense. He ordered the 110th Division's search regiment to collaborate with the Special Mixed Brigade's mobile logistics detachment, severing forces to launch a feint attack on Pingshan County, pretending to attack the Beiyue base and clear the Taihang Mountain foothills. This forced the Beiyue Military Region to adopt a defensive posture for a time.

But now that the mobile logistics unit responsible for logistics was gone, the search regiment, lacking stamina, quickly became a rootless tree. Sensing the shift in the balance of power, the Beiyue base assembled a field division. Led by Commander Wang Xibei, they joined forces with the enraged "Pingshan Regiment" and stormed down the Taihang Mountains, defeating the search company before it could retreat and encircling Shimen City.

Surrounded by the city, the two remaining battalions of the 110th Division quickly retreated. While occupying barricades and fortifications, they sent out radio calls for assistance, hoping that the main force of the division and the task force brigade would return to rescue them. However, the two units that had already fled by then were unable to retreat quickly under pursuit.

The Japanese soldiers defending the city watched in despair as the Communists first bombarded an armored train that had been patrolling the railway lines to mop up guerrillas, destroying it. Then, they stormed the city's moat. The Seagulls dismantled the four main military camps outside the city. Finally, in full view of the Japanese troops inside, the Communists dismantled all the outer fortifications, piece by piece.

Okamura in Peiping had to mobilize troops from all over to rescue Shimen. Part of the 110th Division in Xingtai took the pseudo "Second Route Army of the Anti-Communist Army" on a train, preparing to go north to reinforce.

However, the two military sub-districts in the Taihang and Ji'nan bases had already prepared to attack the reinforcements. A battalion of over a thousand Japanese troops and Gao Delin's puppet Second Route Army, numbering approximately 350, were ambushed mid-route. Qin Jiwei and Fan Jiexia, two key generals from the eastern and western bases, pinned them down and beat them, forcing them to flee in panic, abandoning their baggage and equipment. Zou and Fan pursued them southward until they came into contact with the 50th Division (formerly the 1st Independent Mixed Division) arriving from Handan, annihilating and capturing as many as 3800 Japanese and puppet troops.

But by the time the 110th and 57th Divisions (formerly the 8th Independent Mixed Division), most of their forces trapped in the Hebei-Central Base Area, finally pulled themselves out and advanced along the railway, preparing to launch a central offensive to rescue the railway hub of Shimen City, the Wangxi North Division, which was surrounded outside the city, had already slipped away. They had dived into the Hebei-Central Base Area, a place the Japanese would never again enter, and disappeared.

Then, not long after, the situation outside Dezhou City, which was being besieged by Yang Guofu's troops from the Hebei-Shandong Border Military Region and Song Shaowu's troops from the Southern Hebei Military Region, suddenly changed!

Under the dull gaze of the Japanese 56th Division (formerly the 7th Independent Mixed Division) and the 12th Army Group, the troops of the Ji-Lu Border and Ji-Nan Military Region, which were originally just deploying troops and investigating the situation outside the city,

Suddenly bared their fangs.

The artillery began to roar, and the harmless probing turned into a fierce penetration and assault. The two battalions responsible for defending the city outside the city were under increasing pressure and had to shrink their defenses and request support from friendly forces.

Texas is under siege from multiple sides and is on the verge of collapse!

Faced with such a critical situation, from the 12th Army to the North China Front Army, no one could immediately spare a fully equipped mobile force to come along the railway to provide rescue!

With his head on fire and his bottom on fire, Okamura Neiji could only force the 27th Division, which had been fighting for eight consecutive months and had just been hunted down, to "contribute one more time to the Imperial Kingdom." They had to end their leave and join the 32nd Division, whose route home was blocked, to rescue Dezhou and drive out the evil communist army from the city.

He was so anxious that he didn't even have time to pay attention to the rumors that the railway north of Sijiucheng had been cut off, the puppet troops in Miyun District were almost annihilated, and "Commander Bao" was going to lead troops into Sijiucheng. While Peng was heating water in his teacup, he received a new telegram. He blew into the teacup while reading the telegram forwarded from the Shandong Provincial Military Region.

"We have completely annihilated Song Tingyu's forces of the 8th Group of the Pacification Army, Li Xiekun's forces of the 3rd Route Army of the Puppet Anti-Communist Army, and the stubborn forces of Zhao Baoyuan and Cai Jinkang. We can now move our forces eastward without any worries..."

"Good Monk Xu, huh... Now, not counting the Japs, the total number of casualties from the various military regions against the puppet troops is almost 4."

General Peng placed his teacup on the table and turned to look at the map on the wall. He narrowed his eyes and began to imagine a red arrow emerging from the Jiaodong District where Xu Heshang was, gradually heading west towards Dezhou. "It's time for us to attack."

Chapter 446: The Final Standoff

(Inventory nature of this chapter)

What the Japanese called "the enemy's cross-border operation in central Hebei" and what we recorded as the "Second Anti-encirclement and Suppression Campaign in Central Hebei" finally ended at the end of May 1941.

The war-torn Hebei-Central Base Area returned to its former tranquility, and displaced people gradually returned home under the organization of the base's military and political systems. The base area buried and held funerals for the soldiers and civilians who had died in the battle. Many civil affairs officials didn't even have time to grieve before returning to their intense production work: the materialistic world showed no sympathy for the survivors, and the ticking clock of time wouldn't linger over people's grief and nostalgia.

The "double harvest" work began in the summer of 41. Fortunately, the Japanese attack had not yet interfered with this year's farming season, and there was still time to remedy everything.

In the farmlands freshly trampled by the Japanese invaders' iron hooves and tracks, golden wheat was harvested in bundles, and sorghum and corn were sown for the autumn harvest. The Central Hebei base area unceremoniously deployed captured Japanese and puppet troops, drove captured donkeys, horses, and mules, and used American gasoline and diesel smuggled from Tianjin to attach plows and spacers to the newly captured Japanese motor vehicles, forcing them to assist the masses in the rush to harvest, plow, and sow.

The flames of war that the Japanese invaders wantonly spread into the base area are now burning along the main transportation routes throughout North China.

-―——―――—

After losing their last available mobile units, the Japanese army's predicament went beyond simply retreating to key transportation routes. The grain-producing areas controlled by the Japanese were further reduced. Outposts protecting key cities were gradually lost due to insufficient manpower, and the defense line was shattered. Major cities like Shimen, Quancheng, and Sijiucheng were faced with a situation where "the Eighth Route Army was everywhere outside the city walls."

On the North China Plain, the Japanese army's two arterial routes, the Jinpu Railway and the Pinghan Railway, could no longer maintain even a superficial blockade, even with the deployment of mobile patrols and armored trains. Transport convoys between bases began to brazenly and openly cross the railway in broad daylight to support other bases. The Beiyue, Taihang, southern and central Hebei, Hebei-Shandong border, Hebei-Shandong-Henan, central and southern Shandong, and even Huaizhong base areas began to effectively become "connected."

Even the last "underpants" of the Japanese invaders - the big cities along the railway line - were no longer safe. The besieged city of Dezhou was on the verge of collapse, although it was not about to fall directly.

But it was also struggling to hold on. The Japanese army in North China could not let the Eighth Route Army attack.

We had no choice but to send troops to support this key node connecting the Shide Railway and the Jinpu Road, but we couldn't spare any mobile troops in good condition...

In this battle, which was later referred to as "the Battle of Texas", the exhausted Japanese 32nd and 27th Divisions could only provide tactical guidance to friendly forces at a nearly crawling pace. They were unable to even consider whether our army had the intention of surrounding a point and attacking reinforcements, and were unable to detect whether our army had reinforcements approaching in secret. They could only drag their aching bodies and incomplete equipment and crawl towards the predetermined destination.

This suggests that the First Army stationed in Shanxi Province, previously the target of our army's main attack, fared slightly better. They didn't have many missions in this campaign, simply staying within the protection of their field artillery to cultivate the land. They managed to harvest some millet and grains, which provided enough food to keep them fed and training to maintain their minimum combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the many puppet troops supported by the devils due to lack of manpower also suffered a devastating blow.

The "Security Army", "Anti-Communist Army", and many guard teams and security groups were attacked vigorously by our local troops after the Japanese troops that provided them with consulting services and "organizational" bonuses were withdrawn to reinforce them.

Not to mention those units with questionable combat effectiveness, even the "regular puppet troops" trained by the North China Puppet Army School could hardly be a match for our main local forces. Moreover, due to our army's continuous operations behind enemy lines, even the puppet army's master, the Japanese army, was extremely short of supplies. How much supplies could they get?

Without food, ammunition and training, even the strongest troops cannot fight. This rule applies to both the Japanese and puppet troops.

At one point, the Eighth Group of the Shandong Provincial Security Army under Song Tingyu, the Third Route Army of the Puppet Suppression of the Communists under Li Xiekun, the stubborn forces under Zhao Baoyuan and Cai Jinkang, the Second Route Army of the Puppet Suppression of the Communists in Henan Province, the Miyun Garrison and the North China Security Army in Hebei Province, and even many of the Wang Puppet regime's "pacification armies" and "peace and national construction armies" were all struck. Our army mercilessly annihilated all the puppet troops it could fight, and even created the conditions to strike hard at those it could not—unless they were willing to lay down their arms and surrender honestly for reform.

In a short period of time, the puppet army in North China was reduced by over 4 men, their strength drastically reduced, making major tactical maneuvers nearly impossible. The countless remaining puppet soldiers either holed up in the cities, carefully checking to see if their faces appeared on the latest version of the wanted poster playing cards; or secretly hid the red and black list leaflets, secretly counting their black and red dots when no one was watching.

As for the National Army, as the "main force and backbone of the War of Resistance", although it did not suffer heavy losses due to the active offensive of the Japanese army during this period, it made "outstanding contributions" to the War of Resistance.

But during the time when the war in North China attracted most of the Japanese army's attention

They finally made some changes.

First, with the dedicated efforts of Chiang Kai-shek and the Civil Affairs Clique, the Nationalist Army's "Twenty-Nine Years of Refined Troops" finally began to move forward. The "Twenty-Nine Enhanced" organization, spearheaded by Chen Chi-hsiu, was first piloted in the Sixth and Ninth War Zones of Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Sichuan Provinces. Units like the Fifth Army underwent a reduction and retraining under the "Twenty-Nine New Organization" rules. The original 40,000-50,000-man force was reorganized into three newly formed divisions, each with approximately 8,000 men. Several directly affiliated regiments, each with a strength of over 1,000 men, totaled approximately 10,000 men to compensate for combat losses. This was supplemented by artillery and reconnaissance units, resulting in a significantly more streamlined and effective force than before.

I believe that once the equipment that is currently in short supply arrives, these new National Army troops will be able to play a different role than before.

Secondly, in terms of equipment, Guofu recently received a new batch of arms—the Soviet Union delivered 36 76mm field guns to the Nationalist Army, and the 51st Arsenal in Chuncheng, with the help of relocated equipment, produced the first batch of domestically produced Madsen N machine guns. For the former, these two battalions of artillery marked the end of several years of Soviet-aided equipment, and were the last batch of Soviet aid that the Nationalist Army would receive. As for the latter, although the steel for the weapons still had to be imported, it was at least able to produce its own machine guns. With the help of Danish equipment and Indian Tata Steel, the 51st Arsenal was currently able to reach a monthly output of 50 machine guns.

Of course, the Nationalist troops were still unable to launch an offensive against the Japanese. With the Japanese advance southward already imminent, the Japanese troops in North China were struggling for their own survival, while those in South and Central China were preparing to capture Wan Chai Island and invade Southeast Asia.

Ignoring the previous commander's request for help, the Japanese 11th Army in Central China, after analyzing a lot of information obtained from the National Army, the current 11th Army Commander Sonobe Kazuichiro believed that if they wanted to allow the troops to move south with peace of mind, it would be better to launch a proactive attack and cripple the National Army in front of them.

He was aware of the Nationalist Army's current restructuring and equipment replenishment. Although the Nationalist Army's combat effectiveness had always been low in General Sonobe's eyes, its vast manpower reserves and artillery firepower, supported by Instructor Akuro, still posed a significant challenge to the Japanese. Furthermore, the Imperial Army's logistical supply lines in Central China were already too long, so long that even with the Yangtze River and railways, it was difficult to provide the same abundant supplies as at the start of the war.

How will this battle end? He couldn't help but ponder.

Chapter 447: Spy (14) The Daily Life of Shopkeeper Xiao Zhou

"Jingle Bell!"

Summer mornings are easy to wake up, but if the sun hasn't yet risen outside the window, only a hint of faded white glimpsed through the mountains—at this moment, even the most diligent person can't help but stay in bed for a while. But Zhou Jingu couldn't stay in bed. He opened his eyes, reached out to slap the alarm clock to stop it, and grasped it in his hand for a moment. The fluorescent hour hand watched coldly from the bottom of the dial, while the minute and second hands clashed with each other. It was half past four. He straightened up from the bed and began to get dressed.

"Jin Gu, you're awake."

"Well, Xiuhua, how long have you been up?"

"Not long, maybe a quarter of an hour?" a woman's voice came from outside the wooden door. Her tone was calm, as if she was used to this. "You've been injured, so get some more sleep. I can still boil water and make tea."

Come on, I, the head of the household, still want you to do heavy work. Don't worry about being laughed at." Zhou Jingu quickly got up from the bed and quickly put on his clothes, but he saw his wife poking her head in from the door, angrily hushing him. She lowered her voice and said:

"What are you arguing about? Be careful not to wake the baby!"

"oh oh....…"

Next to the ferry west of Lizhou City, this grand house with three rooms at the entrance and some side rooms is the home and shop of Zhou Jingu's family.

Zhou Jingu was a young, unfinished student at Jiaozuo Institute of Technology. The reason for his failure was simple: he was expelled for participating in the December 129th student movement against North China's autonomy. Afterward, this passionate young man returned to his hometown of Lizhou, where he taught mathematics at the local liberal arts middle school. There, he met a female teacher, fell in love, and married.

This should have been the beginning of a happy life. However, after the young couple, due to their similar personalities and common language, were both admitted as probationary members and active members by the local Party organization, the educated Zhou Jingu read in the newspapers about the Party's industrial development in northern Shaanxi and Ning Province. As a Taiye student from an engineering school, he considered traveling north through Hanzhong and Guanzhong, returning to northern Shaanxi. However, Xiuhua was pregnant, so he had to stay behind to care for his wife and child.

But who would have known that instead of looking for the organization, the organization would come to him - one day in the second half of 37, the "Yongchang Society", which mainly sold cloth, found him and confirmed his identity. Then, with the introduction of the "Pao brothers", Zhou Jingu and his family found a good job under their "distant relative" Zhou Fulin, the shopkeeper; then, because he was efficient at work and could read and write, and because Zhou Fulin, the shopkeeper, had "climbed up the ladder and got close to a noble person", and was going to Chengdu to open a branch, Zhou Jingu inexplicably took over the "Jinniu Xuecheng" store and became the store manager and shopkeeper.

Well, since I can't go north, then being a good administrator of this intelligence station and safe house is also a contribution to the revolution. "Today is - milk taro balls, iced black tea, and pearl milk tea."

Although his current role and responsibilities were different, Zhou Jingu's habit of doing things himself remained. He pulled out a small blackboard and wrote down the names of three drinks: "Sweet and Soft Taro Bowl," "Mint and Lemon Iced Black Tea," and "Sweet Fruit Black Pearl Milk Tea." He then noted their prices and the note "Additional ice costs extra."

These three cold dishes were for today's meal, while more common items like tea, lemonade, and small pastries had already been written in calligraphy on wooden signs and hung on nails on the wall. "I'll make the tea. When the water cools down, I'll add some milk."

"Hey." The wife nodded, stood up, and walked into the back room. She also took the large cotton-padded jacket hanging on the wall, putting it on as she walked.

The three servants who lived in the side rooms had also risen. Their employer, Zhou Jingu, was well-known in Guangyuan and offered generous wages, so the servants worked very hard. They began adding firewood to the stove, fetching water from the Jialing River, and helping the shop owner prepare the various ingredients for the day's business.

"Boss, the water is boiling!"

"Okay, put it aside."

Zhou Jingu deftly took the humming kettle and set it aside to dry. With one hand he opened the cabinet door next to the counter and pulled out the tea brick. With the other he fumbled for a rolling pin and gave the large tea brick wrapped in oil paper a loud bang, instantly breaking into several pieces.

By this time, the kettle had cooled slightly. Shopkeeper Zhou crushed the tea leaves with a large rolling pin, threw some more tea leaves into the pot, and then boldly poured water in. "Swish!"

Even if it is just a very common black tea brick, under the fierce flow of water, the mellow fragrance of tea leaves and the mist of water vapor explode in the small room, like a bomb filled with multi-colored stripes.

-like, it instantly covered the entire room; it was like the sun jumping out of the mountain

At the top of the mountain, the magnificent sunlight pierced through the mist and kicked people's spirits out of the morning trance.

Meanwhile, the hostess, Xiuhua, had emerged from the ice cellar in the backyard. She took off her cotton-padded jacket and placed the numerous enamel pots on the cart next to the counter—brown sugar pearls, sweet taro balls, multicolored sweet beans, syrup… even a whole pot of ice cubes wrapped in a quilt.

This is ice in May and June!

Although ice cubes are a scarce and precious commodity in the country in summer where there are not many refrigerators and power supply is scarce, this kind of quality is a must for the Lizhou store in Jinniu Snow City! This store is not only eaten by the officials and their wives of the Lizhou County Government, Lizhou Security Command and Lizhou County Party Committee, but even the families of some bigwigs in the mountain city of Rongcheng love it very much, not to mention the merchant groups and nobles walking on this Chencang Road - as for those laborers, most of them can only afford the sweet tea and salty tea from Jianchaping in the north.

No wonder big boss Zhou Fulin was so wealthy that he opened a branch in Chengdu… Zhou Jingu pondered this as he stirred the tea leaves in the pot. Seeing the temperature of the water in the other pot dropping, he handed the pot of tea to the helper and prepared to dig out the can of milk powder to make some milk for the shop and his own children.

The sweet aroma of milk came out from another pot, and it intertwined with the tea fragrance in the house, inseparable, turning into a beautiful melody that teased the tip of the tongue and made people salivate.

After several hours of busy work, as the door opened, the fragrance in the room mixed with the smell of grass and water vapor, and the store had a more lively feeling - today's business was about to begin, and when the guests who came to Lizhou City to stop for the night passed by in carts or cars, the Jinniu Snow City would surely usher in the first business peak of the day.

The shop assistants who were responsible for helping out and delivering food rode bicycles to deliver iced milk tea to the headquarters of the New 9th Division stationed there; Boss Zhou and his wife, as well as the remaining two shop assistants and a cashier, hung the cloth banner sign on the flagpole and began the busy morning market.

"Two bowls of sweet and soft taro soup, two trays of yam cakes! Come in, come in!" "Ten cups of mint lemon iced black tea, and ten portions of savory egg cakes to take away—"

"Oh, you're a student here? And you're heading north? Then you must try this 'Sweet Fruit Black Pearl Milk Tea'. It's very popular in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou, and students love it!"

Intelligence work, especially for intelligence workers like Zhou Jingu, doesn't always involve walking in the shadows, nor does it often involve thrilling covert operations. More often than not, he maintains the identity of an ordinary person, working and living like this.