Chapter 65: Brigade Commander: I'm Heading to the New Regiment Immediately

Chapter 65: Brigade Commander: I'm Going to the New Independent Regiment Right Now

"Regiment Commander, there's no time to lose. We should hurry as well," Wu Ze nodded.

To make the most of their time, Li Yun龙 specially left behind a few horses from the regimental headquarters.

Wu Ze did not know how to ride a horse.

However, that was not an issue; he picked it up very quickly.

"Wu Ze, there is something I need to tell you," Li Yun龙 suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to mention a particular matter to Wu Ze.

"What is it?" Wu Ze asked.

"You were left for dead in a mass grave because you took the blame for someone else," Li Yun龙 said. "Old Zhong told me that you look a lot like Zhong Ze, the son of Zhong Yunhe, who is the commander of the 1st Independent Regiment of the Peace Preservation Corps. The ones who attacked you were from the Nationalist army, and they mistook you for him."

Upon hearing this, Wu Ze was instantly puzzled: "Regiment Commander, could Deputy Commander Zhong be mistaken? I actually look like Zhong Ze, the son of Peace Preservation Corps 1st Independent Regiment Commander Zhong Yunhe?"

Wu Ze had an impression of this man, Zhong Yunhe.

In the television series *Sword*, when Li Yun龙's forces faced the enemy's brutal counter-sweep, the troops were broken down into small units and scattered to break through the encirclement.

Li Yun龙 and Zhao Gang led a small contingent to ambush the Japanese traitors, killing Kasahara Koizumi, commander of the 22nd Regiment of the 4th Japanese Brigade. Afterwards, they were surrounded by a large force of Japanese troops and traitors in a village called Xinzhuang.

The newly arrived Japanese officer was Hongxin Ichiro, deputy commander of the 22nd Regiment of the 4th Brigade, while the commanding officer of the Peace Preservation Corps was none other than 1st Independent Regiment Commander Zhong Yunhe.

Later, taking advantage of the enemy dozing off at night, Li Yun龙 and Zhao Gang broke through the encirclement. It was only then that Hongxin Ichiro and Zhong Yunhe discovered that the Eighth Route Army force inside Xinzhuang consisted of merely dozens of soldiers, not an entire regiment at all.

Zhong Yunhe only had a few brief appearances, leaving a rather shallow impression on the audience.

Wu Ze never expected that he would actually look like Zhong Ze, the man's son, and thus suffer a wrongful attack of mistaken identity by the Nationalist forces.

"Although Old Zhong and I don't see eye to eye, that old fellow's ability to gather intelligence is top-notch. There's no mistake," Li Yun龙 replied.

"That still doesn't quite sound right," Wu Ze doubted aloud. "The son of a traitor—even if he isn't plump and fair-skinned, at the very least he shouldn't be malnourished. My physical condition clearly screams that I'm a child from a poor family. Could they really mistake someone like me?"

"As for that, I wouldn't know. Old Zhong was trying to track your whereabouts at the time, and to brush him off, I didn't ask him too many details," Li Yun龙 answered.

"Regiment Commander, do you know where this Zhong Ze is right now?" Wu Ze asked. "What kind of position does he hold on the enemy's side?"

"Didn't ask. I didn't even ask about that. Like I told you, to brush him off, I didn't chatter much with him," Li Yun龙 said.

"Regiment Commander, this matter cannot be ignored. We must treat it with the utmost caution," Wu Ze said solemnly. "We must send someone to notify Deputy Commander Zhong and dig up Zhong Ze's complete personal background. If possible, it would be best to capture the man alive without alerting the enemy."

"Little Hu, head back to the New Independent Regiment headquarters and relay Wu Ze's words to Old Zhong." Although Li Yun龙 was not well-versed in intelligence warfare, having spent considerable time mingling with Zhong Zhicheng, he subscribed to the adage that proximity to ink makes one black.

Now, hearing Wu Ze put it this way, Li Yun龙 immediately understood.

Since this Zhong Ze had been targeted for assassination by the Nationalist side, his position must be quite high, or he must be of great importance to the Japanese.

If there were a chance to capture him alive and extract his background, Wu Ze might just have the opportunity to assume Zhong Ze's identity and infiltrate the enemy's rear.

With someone as intelligent as Wu Ze successfully infiltrating the enemy's rear, he would undoubtedly become a living nightmare for the Japanese and the traitors!

Taking down a formidable opponent through sheer frontal assault is always exhausting.

However, attacking from the inside and making that strong opponent fall ill from within makes bringing them down effortless.

Wu Ze taking Zhong Ze's place was precisely the embodiment of this logic.

"Regiment Commander, Deputy Commander Zhong is an expert in this field. Even without me saying anything, he'll probably do it anyway..." Little Hu remarked.

"It's still better to make a trip," Li Yun龙 interrupted Little Hu.

"Understood, Regiment Commander." With that, Little Hu departed.

"Regiment Commander, has my identity and background been uncovered yet?" Wu Ze inquired.

"Wu Ze, why aren't you asking who the bastard was that beat you up?" Li Yun龙 countered.

"The Nationalist side made a mistake in their identification, but their intention was to eliminate a traitor. Their initial motive was right..." Wu Ze said.

"Even if their initial motive was right, almost beating a pillar of our nation to death is simply unforgivable," Li Yun龙 interrupted Wu Ze. "Once Old Zhong finds out who did this, I'll crush his balls!"

"Regiment Commander, this is currently the period of the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation. If you pull something like that, it's bound to cause friction," Wu Ze advised. "Besides, I'm doing fine now. We should still prioritize the bigger picture."

"Cooperation my foot!" Li Yun龙 cursed unceremoniously. "Back when my New Independent Regiment was crossing the Yellow River to help Yan Laoxi fight the little Japanese devils, his 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army guarded the ferry crossing and flatly refused to let us pass, claiming they couldn't verify our unit designation. Why didn't his Shanxi-Suiyuan Army talk about Kuomintang-Communist cooperation back then?"

...

386th Brigade Headquarters

"Brigade Commander! Brigade Commander! Brigade Commander!" A staff officer came running frantically toward the Brigade Commander.

"What is it? Did Li Yun龙 manage to poke a hole in the sky for me?" Looking at the staff officer's frantic appearance, the Brigade Commander's heart tightened.

Although Jiang Deshui's forces were now reduced to two thousand men, the Japanese company remained entirely intact.

The troops under Li Yun龙 and Kong Jie were fewer in number than the enemy's. Even though they held the geographical advantage, the battlefield situation was volatile and changed in a split second.

Until the very end, no one dared to predict the outcome in advance.

"Brigade Commander, Li Yun龙 and Kong Jie have routed the enemy! By the time our intelligence officer rode back to report, Li Yun龙 and Kong Jie's troops had already captured six artillery pieces and were in hot pursuit..." The staff officer had not even finished his sentence.

The Brigade Commander nearly lost his footing, his eyes instantly widening into enormous circles: "What did you say? Say that to me again! Did that rascal Li Yun龙 capture all six artillery pieces?"

That Li Yun龙 would win the battle did not surprise the Brigade Commander; even when his heart tightened a moment ago, it was just a passing spasm of tension.

What shocked the Brigade Commander was whether that rascal Li Yun龙 had actually managed to capture all six cannons!

Earlier, he had even been daydreaming, hoping that if Li Yun龙 could pull off some unimaginable miracle and capture just a single piece of artillery, he would wake up laughing from his dreams at night.

And now, the staff officer had run over to tell him that Li Yun龙 had actually managed to get his hands on all six cannons?!!

Good grief, how was that even possible?!

Since when were artillery pieces so easily captured?

Unless Jiang Deshui's troops had simply handed the cannons over on a silver platter—was that even remotely possible?

"Yes, Brigade Commander, our intelligence officer saw it with his own eyes..." the staff officer said.

"Have that intelligence officer come see me right now—" halfway through his sentence, the Brigade Commander immediately changed his mind. "Never mind, I'll go find him myself. Show me the way."

"Yes, yes, yes!" The staff officer eagerly led the way for the Brigade Commander.

Arriving at the quarters where the intelligence officer was resting, the man had just caught his breath and was vividly recounting what he had witnessed on the battlefield to others, talking passionately about the capture of the six artillery pieces. The air was filled with his flying spittle.

The other intelligence officers stood around with stunned expressions, utterly unable to believe it.