The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 284 Northwest Shanxi? (Combined Chapter)

"Holy crap! What's going on? How did we end up in such a desolate, godforsaken place?"

"Hey! Chaozi, how did you end up here this time?"

This was Hu Biao's first thought after opening his eyes and seeing his surroundings and the people around him during his latest time travel.

That was indeed the case; at that moment, a hazy sun hung overhead, and it must have been noon.

They were currently halfway up a mountain, with a dirt road more than two meters wide beneath their feet.

All around, there were only rolling mountains and deep ravines between them; not a single flat piece of land could be seen.

If that's the case, it's not a big deal. At least we can live off the land!

But the rolling mountains in front of them were all yellow earth, with hardly any trees, just some yellowed weeds and shrubs, which were sparse and not green at all.

There were no rivers or ponds to be seen; the world seemed to be filled with only a depressing gray-yellow color and a sense of desolation, making one want to shout at the top of one's lungs.

A slightly cool mountain breeze blew by, carrying with it quite a bit of sand and gravel.

Not only did the blow sting his face, but it also poured into Hu Biao's mouth, which was involuntarily wide open in surprise. A considerable amount immediately followed, causing him to vomit violently, spitting repeatedly.

It can be said that this was the first time in Hu Biao's life that he had come to such a desolate environment, as a southerner.

To make matters worse, the clothes they were wearing had all turned into tattered homespun jackets belonging to ordinary people.

The group was now gathered around the two mule carts. The numerous pieces of equipment and supplies they had originally carried had vanished, except for a pistol that could be faintly seen tucked into their waistbands.

All of these factors combined made Hu Biao and the others inexplicably panicked.

In comparison, among the people who traveled through time this time, besides Annie, Zanana, Old Yu, the Wizard, Mr. Nanze, Van Gogh, and a few others...

Even Chaozi, the guy who died in battle, has transmigrated here.

The situation of the other five, who are clearly new transmigrators and one of them is a delicate young woman, seems less important.

Just as the group of veterans were looking at each other, somewhat bewildered, a surge of information suddenly rushed into their minds like a divine intervention.

The sheer volume of information caused them a throbbing headache.

It was precisely this information that allowed them to understand what this place was and why they were there:
The current time should be September 4th, 9. Five months have passed since they last traveled back to the modern world.

If no major changes occur in the history of this world, then the famous Battle of Wuhan is currently taking place on the land of China.

At this moment, we are in a rural area called Pingding County in northwestern Shanxi Province.

Pingding County is said to be the prototype of Ping'an County in the popular TV series "Bright Sword".

However, this is not the world of "Bright Sword". It is unlikely that the famous Li Yunlong, the Jin-Sui Iron Triangle, or Chu Yunfei of the Jin-Sui Army would exist here.

The reason they were here was that after the Battle of Taierzhuang, they had been recuperating in a certain place in Anhui Province.

During his recovery, he contacted a prominent figure in the Baota area via radio and the two discussed the issue of joining the Communist Party of China.

During the communication, the great man naturally welcomed Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment with open arms.

However, this is a crucial period for the two parties to unite and fight against Japan. If the news of Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment joining our party is announced, it will definitely have a serious impact on the situation of the joint resistance against Japan.

Even the bald-headed principal will surely seize such an opportunity to do everything in his power to smear the image of our Party.

Therefore, after some communication, both parties finally reached the following consensus.

Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment officially joined our Party, but this matter was only known to a small number of people, including the Great Man, and was kept secret from the outside world.

Therefore, Hu Biao and his comrades could not join any of the base areas.

Instead, they went to northwestern Shanxi, a complex region entangled with various forces including the Japanese, our party, and the Jin-Sui Army, to first rebuild the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

Due to secrecy reasons, the Jin-Sui base area of ​​our Party could not provide any assistance to the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

In fact, throughout the entire Jin-Sui base area, the total number of people who knew about their joining our party was no more than three.

However, at Hu Biao's invitation, our Party still sent a senior cadre with some logistics personnel to join the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment after changing their names, to help with some auxiliary work.

The group set off in August and, after many days of travel, finally arrived at this place.

Their civilian attire was merely a disguise for convenience during their journey.

The equipment and supplies prepared before this journey did not disappear; they were simply hidden in two donkey carts.

The reason for stopping here was simply because, as agreed upon at the radio station, this was the place to meet up with that senior officer and some logistics personnel...

After digesting the massive amount of information that suddenly flooded into my mind.

Hu Biao lifted some hay that was being used to cover a donkey cart next to him.

Immediately, I could see an MG34 general-purpose machine gun and a bulging backpack below, which put my biggest worry to rest.

With these things, at least self-preservation shouldn't be a problem.

Thinking about that senior cadre of our Party, and the logistics personnel he led, I wondered when they would appear and join us.

Hu Biao knew he couldn't procrastinate any longer; he had to get some things sorted out to avoid any trouble later.

He immediately spoke and issued a series of commands:
"Gap-toothed, Iron Man, Lao Cao, and Silent Gourd, the four of you go and keep watch around immediately; be alert, don't let anyone sneak up on you without you even noticing."

Annie, Sanpang, and Zanana, you three hurry up and take stock of the supplies. This is the foundation that our Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment built up in Northwest Shanxi.

My advice is to keep those newbies calm first; we can't let them do anything foolish.

The "Iron Man" mentioned above is the nickname of this guy, Chaozi, because he is a truly straight-laced guy.

Hu Biao felt quite warm and familiar with this nickname, which he hadn't used in a long time.

I wonder when my companions, such as Constipated Ghost AT, Old Cucumber Black Star, Big Silly Black Star, Fatty Yellow Brother, One-Eared Chen Tang, and others, will be able to participate in time travel again.

Now, if Hu Biao were to calculate carefully, this would actually be his fifth time traveling through time. The above arrangements were naturally in good order, and the group of veterans also acted according to the instructions.

No! It was only at this point that Hu Biao realized Annie was acting quite strangely.

He didn't react to my greeting and just stared blankly into space.

Seeing this, Hu Biao stepped forward and slapped her on the buttocks, yelling, "What are you doing! Hurry up and go check the supplies."

Ever since the last time Annie was about to fight with her landlady, Hu Biao slapped her on the butt to stop her.

This seems to have become a rather unique way for him to interact with Annie; there's no way around it! As long as he uses this trick, this girl seems to be exceptionally obedient.

But to Hu Biao's utter surprise, Annie snapped out of her daze.

After speaking, he said, "Brother-in-law! Stop fooling around."

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao finally realized that this was not Annie at all, but his cousin Mina.

The two women were already quite similar in build and appearance, so when they suddenly changed into a village girl outfit from the Republican era, he didn't recognize her at first.

So here's the crucial question: how did Mina end up in this world?

Anne is gone? Did her time travel fail, or is she like the Sihang Warehouse, appearing in a different place...?

******
Looking at her bulky and dowdy floral-patterned jacket and the gray and desolate land in front of her, Mina was completely bewildered.

So what did I do to end up here?

She probably disliked being forced to eat dog food by Hu Biao and Annie every time she went to Deyuelou, so tonight she was quite craving the delicious food her cheap brother-in-law cooked.

I went to a newly opened bar in the capital city with a handsome instructor I had met at the flying club.

Mina was only just starting to feel tipsy around 11 p.m., and the instructor who had tried to get her drunk had already vomited three times in a row. Left with no other option, the instructor had to call a designated driver to take her home.

Mina took a taxi back to her cousin's house and picked up a case of beer at the 24-hour convenience store at the entrance of the community.

Then, she discovered that her cousin wasn't home. She was alone on the sofa in the living room, drinking alcohol while eating the braised pig's head that Hu Biao had made for Annie, and scrolling through her phone.

After drinking most of a case of beer, I couldn't help but feel a bit tipsy and fell asleep on the sofa.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in such a desolate place; her attire had also changed to that of a village girl from the Republican era.

Instead of seeing my cousin Annie, I saw my brother-in-law and a group of men, all dressed as ordinary people from the Republican era, with two donkey carts beside them.

At first glance, everything seems like a plot from a novel where the protagonist travels back to the Republican era.

Her first thought was:
This was Annie and Hu Biao playing a prank on me. While I was drunk, they changed my clothes and transported me to this desolate place in the north.

However, she soon dismissed this conjecture.

The reason is simple: Deyuelou's main branch had just opened, and it only started to improve on the day he got drunk. This despicable couple was focused on the restaurant's business and had no time to mess with him.

There's another point, though I don't know if it's just her imagination.

The brother-in-law Hu Biao, whom she remembered as a small shop owner who was always amiable, now inexplicably exuded a fierce and domineering aura, making him seem quite unfamiliar to her.

So you really did time travel, and traveled to the Republican era?

Just as Mina was completely bewildered and finding it hard to accept the fact that she had traveled through time, Hu Biao also managed to figure out why Annie had disappeared and was replaced by his sister-in-law who had traveled through time.

The main concern is whether Annie traveled to another place.

In the time that followed, he still had some methods that could be confirmed.

That is, during their rest period, the time-traveling team actually had a contingency plan in place for what would happen if they were separated after the time travel:

An agreement made in advance to use a radio frequency for communication.

As long as both parties find a radio station and turn it on at the agreed time, they can always make contact if they are not too far apart.

So, after composing himself, Hu Biao grabbed Mina's arm and walked over to the other five—four men and one woman—newbies, saying with unusual seriousness:

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Hu Biao, and like them, I am a time traveler from the past 25 years."

There's no doubt you've traveled through time.

Think about where you were before you opened your eyes, and what absurd things happened during that time, and you'll know I'm not lying to you.

It is now September 4th, 9, and this is Pingding County in western Shanxi.

I understand that you still don't believe everything I've said and have a lot of doubts and reservations.

It's okay, just keep walking with us and you'll see that it's all true.

However, as a veteran who has traversed the trek five times, I can offer you some advice during this process.

Do not attempt to escape, do not speak carelessly or reveal your identity as a time traveler, and do not think about changing history; for the mysterious being who brought us to this era will inflict punishments you cannot bear.

Conversely, if we follow its plans and fight the Japanese invaders well, we can not only return to the modern world, but even if we are injured or die in battle, we can perfectly recover and be resurrected.

In addition, it can improve one's physical fitness in all aspects and bring back some valuable spoils.

Even Dr. Zhou Kun from the modern world, the one who researched 'room-temperature superconducting materials' and 'controlled nuclear fusion', was a time traveler in the past.

His inspiration for those technological breakthroughs actually came from the rewards we received for fighting the Japanese invaders.

Alright! That's a preliminary introduction. Now, are you willing to join us and see how things go before making a decision?

Anyone with a sound mind could accept Hu Biao's offer to follow along; including Mina, they all nodded in agreement.

The tragic incidents of the square-dancing aunties who wouldn't listen to anything, as happened several times before, did not occur...

After Hu Biao initially calmed the novices down, about ten minutes later, Zanana and the others completed an inventory of all the equipment and supplies on the donkey cart.

Even Zanana, this girl, was quite meticulous and made a simple statistical table.

After Hu Biao took a look, he found that the situation was actually not bad; they still had some assets that they could use to start a business.

Regarding weaponry:
Two MG34 general-purpose machine guns, one Czech light machine gun, several matching ammunition belts and magazines, and 2000 rounds of 7.92mm Mauser rifle ammunition.

MP28冲锋枪3支，配套的7.63*25毫米手枪弹600发。

Three Mauser G98 rifles and 300 rounds of K-type ammunition specifically designed for anti-armor purposes.

Five Type 5 rifles and 500 rounds of 6.5mm rifle ammunition.

Nine lever-action shotguns, with a total of 270 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun shells and slugs.

勃朗宁M1911手枪9支，每把都是配2个备用弹匣，以及20发11.43毫米口径手枪弹。

Two Type 89 grenade launchers and 40 dedicated fragmentation grenades.

The Solothurn 20mm anti-tank rifle comes with 100 rounds of ammunition.

These are clearly large knives forged by a blacksmith in the countryside; there are 12 of them in total.

In terms of supplies: there are dozens of Western medicines such as penicillin, sulfonamides, aspirin, and aminopyrine, as well as traditional Chinese medicines.

There are also two simple, quick-loading loader sets made by Van Gogh, a complete set of simple metalworking tools from the wizard, canned goods, chocolate, sugar, etc.

An old-fashioned radio from the early days of World War II, complete with batteries, antenna, and other accessories.

Property such as cultured pearls and artificial gemstones, as well as small equipment such as binoculars, water bottles, and gas masks.

And about thirty sets of brand-new uniforms for junior and middle-ranking officers of the National Revolutionary Army, including boots, leather shoes, belts and other complete outfits, with ranks ranging from lieutenant colonel to second lieutenant.

Some dry food such as biscuits and steamed buns, about twenty silver dollars, and more than one hundred yuan in legal tender.

It should be noted that compared to the number of weapons that Zanana and Uncle Bo prepared before their time travel, the weapons listed above are missing two MP28 submachine guns, one Browning M1911 pistol, and some matching magazines and bullets.

In addition, supplies such as medicines and finances have also decreased by about one-third.

These few missing details alone, even without making contact via radio, were enough for Hu Biao to be certain of one thing: Annie had definitely traveled through time this time, and she was accompanied by an old bird who had died in the previous time travel.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to determine exactly where they were teleported to or who the experienced bird next to them was at the moment.

Just as Hu Biao finished reading the list and was wondering where Annie and another veteran had been teleported to,

Then, at the corner ahead, Hu Biao saw a group of people walking enthusiastically towards him.

One of the young men leading the group was probably a senior cadre sent by our Party.

Hu Biao's guess was correct. This was indeed a partner and comrade-in-arms that he would still think of from time to time many years later: Zhao Zheng.

After watching Zhao Zheng walk over with the gap-toothed guy and the silent guy who were on guard, Hu Biao immediately recalled some information about the other party that he had received earlier.

He graduated from Yenching University with excellent grades and joined the Communist Party of China two years after the September 18 Incident.

Graduated from the first class of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University in Baota with outstanding grades and had one or two years of work experience, they were definitely high-quality talents of this era.

The only problem is that, if things had continued as they were, Zhao Zheng would definitely have become a high-ranking cadre of our Party in the future.

But why did Hu Biao have no recollection of this person among the founding generals?

Upon analysis, it's likely that they sacrificed their lives during the long war.

After all, in order to save this nation from its most perilous moment, too many outstanding predecessors did not live to see the victory arrive...

(End of this chapter)