Chapter 40: Why Is a Victory Not a Cause for Joy?

Chapter 40: Why Is a Victory Not a Joyous Occasion?

(I)

"Commander Li!" Deputy Captain Feng said, beaming. "Congratulations on your victory!"

"My thanks to the comrades in the local area; it was very thoughtful of you!" Li Yunlong had his own suspicions, but now was not the time to ask; he had to maintain appearances.

"Brother Yunlong!" Chu Yunfei said, "I won't be heading over with you. You've caught quite a few big fish from the Japanese ranks in this haul, and the little devils certainly won't take this lying down. They will surely seek retaliation, so I must return to my post immediately to make arrangements and deployments!"

"Fair enough!" Li Yunlong turned his head and said, "In that case, Brother Chu!"

Li Yunlong beckoned, and Monk Wei brought over a field officer’s sword. Li Yunlong took the sword and handed it to Chu Yunfei, saying, "I’m afraid I cannot give you that general’s sword; I have to present it to my superiors, haha. I picked this field officer’s sword out myself—consider it a return gift for the pistol you gave me!"

"Very well! I shall accept it without false modesty!" Chu Yunfei took the sword, drew it to inspect the blade shimmering with a cold light, then sheathed it with a sharp *clack*. He cupped his hands and said, "Brother Yunlong, until we meet again!"

"Until we meet again, Brother Chu!"

(II)

It was dusk by the time they returned to Mopan Village. The exhausted Li Yunlong was just about to pour two ounces of liquor and take a nap when Zhao Gang’s phone call came through.

"Political Commissar, ha-ha-ha, I’ve let you down, making you suffer for my sake!"

Li Yunlong, who had been grumbling as he walked over to answer the phone, instantly beamed with a hospitable smile the moment he picked up the receiver. Even though Monk Wei was used to this, he couldn't help but turn his head away, smirking and curling his lip.

"Oh, I see! That’s great, that’s wonderful! Alright, alright, I’ll head over there right now!"

Hanging up the phone, Li Yunlong turned to the monk. "Monk, saddle the horses. We’re going to Chenjiayu!"

"Yes, sir!" Monk Wei strode out immediately.

Deputy Commander Xing Zhiguo walked in, carrying half a bottle of sweet potato liquor and a bag of peanuts. He asked curiously, "In such a rush to go out? Didn't you say you wanted to have a couple of drinks?"

Li Yunlong scratched his large head and looked at Xing Zhiguo, puzzled. "They said the ambush wiped out over thirty little devils and about twenty puppet troops? We only had a dozen or so casualties and twenty-some wounded. Logically speaking, we came out on top, so why does Old Zhao sound so downcast? Oh, right—it was that group of devils from Yang Village!"

"What? Over thirty? That group from Yang Village?" Xing Zhiguo asked, dumbfounded.

During that encounter at Yang Village where the Independent Regiment suffered a crushing defeat, Li Yunlong had been at the garment factory, but Xing Zhiguo had been Deputy Commander Kong Jie’s right-hand man at the time. He knew firsthand how difficult those devils were to deal with and had felt the pain of that defeat in his bones.

Li Yunlong sneered, "Look at that naive expression on your face. Don't tell anyone you served with me in the future, and certainly don't mention you came from the Dabie Mountains. It’s embarrassing!"

Xing Zhiguo frowned at Li Yunlong. "Old Li, if that group of devils really lost over thirty men, our losses shouldn't have been that light. Is there something the Political Commissar couldn't say over the phone?"

"Pah, pah, pah! Don't talk nonsense!" Li Yunlong also began to feel that something was off.

After thinking for a moment, Li Yunlong instructed Xing Zhiguo, "Old Xing, you hold down the fort. Don't spread the news of the victory just yet! The Political Commissar said I should come over to verify everything, and then I’ll call you with the final word."

"Alright, sounds good!" Xing Zhiguo pulled a cornmeal pancake from his pocket and stuffed it, along with the peanuts, into Li Yunlong's hand. "Take these to eat on the way."

Li Yunlong took a big bite of the pancake, his eyes fixed on the liquor bottle in Xing Zhiguo's hand. He nudged his chin toward it.

"Forget about the drink for now. I’ll keep it for you until you get back!"

Li Yunlong didn't press the matter further. He walked to the table, gulped down some cold water to wash down the pancake, then turned to Xing Zhiguo. "The Political Commissar said he had Tian Daqing and Sun Desheng move through the back mountain to Chenjiayu. Have them return tomorrow; tell the communications officer to notify their companies later."

"Understood. Oh, right, Commander, has Shanzi returned yet?" Xing Zhiguo asked.

"Shanzi was called over there by the Political Commissar too; they all went together. Why? What do you want with him?" Li Yunlong asked.

"Not me, heh heh." Xing Zhiguo smiled without elaborating.

"What is it? You start a sentence and leave half of it out! Did some girl ask about him when you saw her? Which one? Isn't it just that same old mess? As if everyone doesn't already know!" Li Yunlong acted as if he were unfazed.

"Commander, do you think Little Shanzi is going to get into disciplinary trouble?" Xing Zhiguo asked with a smile.

Li Yunlong nodded. "That kid does need to be knocked down a peg or two."

(III)

The battle at the front mountain of Sandaoliang: the ambush routed a platoon of puppet troops, eliminating twenty-one and scattering the rest. They captured one light machine gun, thirteen rifles, one Mauser pistol, and a quantity of ammunition and grenades.

Li Yunlong listened to Tian Daqing’s detailed report. It was mostly thanks to the mines Sun Bin had laid. The reason they were forced into the minefield was that Xu Jianguo had used a grenade launcher to herd them like ducks. Oh, and that machine gun team was also taken out by Xu Jianguo with a grenade launcher; the Type 11 light machine gun was damaged quite badly and needed to be sent to the ordnance shop for repairs.

One soldier killed, one wounded—but not in the rearguard action; they had triggered a booby trap set by the Japanese.

Regrettable, but acceptable.

The battle at the back mountain of Sandaoliang... that couldn't even be called a battle.

"I heard from Tianzuo and Dagou that there was a route, so when I was at the liaison office, I grabbed a few bags of grenades. I figured after I finished reporting the situation to the Political Commissar, I’d take that route and circle around to the devils' rear..." Guanshan looked at Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang. "Later, I told the Political Commissar that after I climbed the first ridge, I was so tired I wanted to rest for a bit. As it turned out, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I found the devils were right beneath my feet..."

Zhao Gang turned to look at Li Yunlong. "That’s the long and short of it!"

"Heh!" Li Yunlong looked at Guanshan with a grin. "A lucky general, aren't you? You son of a gun, you take a nap, and the devils just deliver themselves to your doorstep!"

Zhao Gang added, "After he threw the cluster grenades, he didn't dare go down to check. He headed back down the mountain to find a temporary phone point to report to me, and he ran into the telephone squad who were reeling in the lines."

"Good, heh heh! Really good!" Li Yunlong beamed, reached into his pocket, pulled out half a bag of peanuts, and tossed them to Guanshan. "Eat up, eat up! A reward for you!"

"Later, Sun Desheng led a team to sweep the battlefield. Because he was worried about booby traps, he brought a soldier named Sun Bin who is skilled at demolition. According to them, the Japanese had definitely been there. A radio set must have been taken, as they found a broken antenna and some spare parts." Zhao Gang pointed to the pile of items on the table.