Chapter 41: The More You Hide, the More You Reveal (Please Vote)

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Chapter 41: The More One Tries to Hide, the More One Reveals (Please Vote for This Novel)

Sun Desheng arrived with his men. Li Yunlong inspected them, then said to him, “Sun Desheng, I’m entrusting these men to you. Take every one of them out safely, and bring every one of them back to me safely.”

“Rest assured, Commander. I guarantee the mission will be completed,” Sun Desheng said solemnly.

“Avoid Old Zhong’s men and move out quietly. Do you understand what I mean?” Li Yunlong leaned close to Sun Desheng.

“I understand.” Sun Desheng nodded.

“Wu Ze, Old Zhong isn’t here, so hurry up and leave while you can,” Li Yunlong said to Wu Ze.

“Commander, don’t worry. When I come back, I definitely won’t disappoint you.” Wu Ze left Li Yunlong with those words, then disappeared into the curtain of rain under Sun Desheng’s leadership.

“Huzi, remember this. If Old Zhong asks about Wu Ze, tell him Wu Ze went down with the troops on a mission. Understood?” Watching Wu Ze’s back vanish, Li Yunlong turned to Huzi.

“Yes, Commander.” Huzi answered, then edged closer to Li Yunlong suspiciously. “Commander, what Wu Ze just said sounded rather mysterious. Could he really wipe out three thousand Japanese soldiers and traitors with nothing but rain from Heaven?”

“I’m not a worm in Wu Ze’s stomach. How would I know?” Li Yunlong replied. “All I know is that in this rain, the Japanese planes can’t fly, and their vehicles can’t travel through the mud.”

The Independent Regiment

“Damn it, that little Japanese devil Hirata Ichiro really has gone mad. He’s actually mobilized three regiments to encircle and suppress Li Yunlong’s New First Regiment.” After learning the latest intelligence, Kong Jie smoked furiously and cursed without pause. “Li Yunlong’s favors are truly hard to accept.”

“Commander, Li Yunlong’s New First Regiment has only eight hundred men. But judging from his posture, he really intends to take on those more than three thousand Japanese soldiers and collaborators,” Deputy Commander Xing Zhiguo said to Kong Jie. “If Li Yunlong gets bogged down in a desperate battle with them and falls into danger, then asks us for reinforcements, it may not be easy for us to rescue him even if we want to.”

Whenever he imagined the New First Regiment trapped in the midst of more than three thousand Japanese soldiers and collaborators, Xing Zhiguo felt his head begin to ache at the thought of the Independent Regiment going to save them.

“What’s the point of saving him then? We might end up dragging the entire Independent Regiment into it,” Kong Jie cursed. “That Li Yunlong—because of him, I can’t even stop worrying.”

“Commander, with something this serious, I imagine the Brigade Commander must know about it,” Xing Zhiguo said.

“If the Brigade Commander hadn’t given his approval, I doubt that boy Li Yunlong would dare do this,” Kong Jie replied. “Just wait and see. I’ll bet the Brigade Commander will come to the Independent Regiment himself…”

Sure enough, before Kong Jie could finish, Shen Quan, the commander of the Second Battalion, hurried over to report, “Commander, the Brigade Commander has arrived.”

“What did I tell you? Was I wrong? I said the Brigade Commander would come by.” Kong Jie immediately turned and went with Xing Zhiguo to receive him.

“Brigade Commander!”

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“Brigade Commander!”

Kong Jie and Xing Zhiguo saluted the Brigade Commander.

“Kong Jie, I suppose you were just cursing Li Yunlong behind his back, weren’t you?” the Brigade Commander said directly.

Kong Jie made no attempt to conceal it. “Brigade Commander, the New First Regiment has only eight hundred men, yet Li Yunlong intends to contend with more than three thousand Japanese soldiers and collaborators. Isn’t he practically throwing himself into a tiger’s mouth?”

“Li Yunlong isn’t going to fight them head-on, so what are you panicking about?” the Brigade Commander said. “Besides, the New First Regiment has the advantage of terrain. Now that it’s raining, the advance of Jiang Deshui’s forces will be slowed even further. Their artillery can’t follow them into the mountains. Li Yunlong’s New First Regiment knows the terrain well. Let them maneuver against the enemy for a while. It won’t be a serious problem.”

“But even if there’s no immediate danger, the disparity in strength between the enemy and us is right there,” Kong Jie argued. “Once the skies clear and the roads dry, the puppet army will move its artillery into the mountains. Won’t the New First Regiment still be threatened?”

“By your logic, since the enemy is stronger than us, we should simply surrender,” the Brigade Commander said, glaring at him. “The Japanese devils have such superior strength. Why fight them at all? We might as well surrender outright.”

That left Kong Jie with no answer, and the usually blunt Kong fell silent.

“Kong Jie, look at Li Yunlong. Every time he’s stripped of his post, how does he manage to distinguish himself and get promoted back to regimental commander so quickly? Have you never considered the reason?” the Brigade Commander asked seriously.

“What other reason could there be? That fellow has too many tricks in his head,” Kong Jie said.

“Exactly. You yourself said that Li Yunlong has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, so what are you worried about?” the Brigade Commander replied. “Just make solid preparations to support the New First Regiment at any moment.”

“Brigade Commander, aren’t you afraid that Li Yunlong will fall into the tiger’s mouth and be unable to get out?” Kong Jie asked.

“The Japanese have invaded with an army of millions. We’re already caught in a tiger’s mouth ourselves, aren’t we? And yet we’re still fighting the Japanese devils, aren’t we?” the Brigade Commander said.

“I understand, Brigade Commander.” Kong Jie nodded.

“Still, you’d better keep your eyes open. If you discover that Li Yunlong is heading down the wrong path, don’t bother reporting to me. Restrain that boy immediately. Whatever consequences follow, I’ll take responsibility.”

“Brigade Commander, you just said you weren’t worried about Li Yunlong, and now you…”

“What about now? What about now? Can’t I take precautions just in case?” the Brigade Commander interrupted.

“Yes, Brigade Commander.” Kong Jie did not argue with his superior.

But inwardly he thought: If you truly trusted Li Yunlong, would you have come all the way to the Independent Regiment yourself? You could have simply called.

The very fact that you came in person proves that you are worried.

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And yet you claim you aren’t concerned.

This is nothing but trying to cover up the truth and making it more obvious.

Still, there was no point arguing with the Brigade Commander over it.

Forget the Brigade Commander’s concern—even Kong Jie himself was sweating for that boy Li Yunlong.

“All right, I have to get back to Brigade Headquarters. If anything comes up, call me,” the Brigade Commander said, no longer willing to discuss the matter.

“Brigade Commander.” Kong Jie stopped him.

“What else is it?” The Brigade Commander looked at him.

“If—just hypothetically—if I really can’t restrain Li Yunlong when the time comes, and he ends up surrounded by overwhelming enemy forces…” Kong Jie did not finish.

The Brigade Commander immediately began scolding him. “You two came up through the ranks together and are practically brothers. Can’t you say something good about Li Yunlong for once?”

“Brigade Commander, that isn’t what I mean. I’m just worried…”

“If you can’t restrain him, then go with him,” the Brigade Commander cut him off.

“Ah…” Kong Jie’s mouth fell wide open.

“What are you gaping at? If you can’t even keep one man under control, why else would I come here?” With that, the Brigade Commander left.

“Commander, couldn’t the Brigade Commander find someone else from Brigade Headquarters to handle this? Why does it have to be our Independent Regiment?” After the Brigade Commander had gone, Xing Zhiguo complained bitterly to Kong Jie. “You can restrain anyone but Li Yunlong. That boy is as stubborn as a jackass. I’m afraid we really won’t be able to hold him back. I hear he even dared to have his own deputy commander tied up.”

“That’s why I said Li Yunlong’s favors are hard to accept.” Kong Jie took two puffs of his cigarette and smacked his lips. “There’s no use thinking about all that now. Let’s first see how Li Yunlong plans to maneuver against those more than three thousand Japanese soldiers and collaborators. That boy has plenty of tricks, and he never suffers a loss in battle. Maybe the Brigade Commander is overthinking things, and we’re worrying for nothing.”

“Manuevering against them? It’s not that I lack confidence in Li Yunlong, but how can eight hundred men maneuver against more than three thousand enemies? If things go wrong, he’ll maneuver himself straight into an encirclement,” Xing Zhiguo said, shaking his head.

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