Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Get over there and squat down." Gu Dayong kicked the cripple and pushed him into the group of prisoners.

He lowered his left hand, and in the torchlight, everyone could see that it was a person. However, he was silent and his fate was unknown.

"They're all here, not one missing." Gu Dayong's deep voice rang out, seemingly quite calm. But inwardly, he felt a sense of pride, proving that his skills hadn't declined.

"Wow, all nine of them were caught. You guys are really awesome, taking them down with just six people and without any casualties."

"No, I'm injured." Zhao Xiaogang raised his left hand, which was covered in blood.

"What's so special about your little injuries? Just a few cuts." The bystanders weren't surprised; instead, they joked.

"What happened? They're injured! Quick, quick, hurry back to the village and find Changhai to check on them." Zhao Youzhi was a little anxious. These were all good young men from his village, and they couldn't afford to be hurt in the slightest.

"Grandpa, no need. It's just a minor injury, my hand isn't even bleeding anymore." Zhao Xiaogang, who hadn't caught the bad guy and was even injured, had no choice but to save face in front of the village chief.

"We should get Uncle Changhai to take a look as soon as possible. It's all iron filings; we need to pick it out and disinfect it to prevent infection," Zhou Rui interjected. After all, he was his teammate, and he wanted to show some concern.

"Yes, yes, Ruiwa is right. Zhao Jie, take Xiaogang to Changhai to take a look. We need to bring these people back too."

"Changshan, take two men and take the village's oxcart to the commune overnight. Report the situation here to the commune secretary. Make sure the commune takes these people away as soon as possible to see if they are the people the higher-ups are looking for."

"Everyone has worked hard tonight, so let's head home early..."

Gu Dayong pulled Zhao Youzhi back: "Village chief, we can't go home yet. We don't know if these people are spies. The patrol posts can't be removed yet; we have to see what the higher-ups say."

"Okay." Zhao Youzhi listened to the advice and quickly changed his mind: "Dayong, you guys keep going. The rest of you should go back and rest. The next shift will come to relieve you on time."

"Everyone, hang in there these next few days. Our village has done a great job this time. I'll ask the higher-ups for a reward for your militia team."

Everyone got excited when they heard there was a reward, and no one was tired anymore.

"Village chief, what kind of reward is there? Will there be meat?"

"You're such a glutton, all you know is eating. Watch me," someone next to him laughed and scolded.

"Village chief, could we come and exchange some guns? Look at all these guns we have, they're all old-fashioned rifles or Type 38 rifles that were phased out during our training. Could you give us some Type 56 rifles?"

Zhao Youzhi stroked his chin: "That's a good idea. Based on our record, I'll go to the leadership and ask. Even if it means losing face, I'll get you a few wins."

"real?"

"Village chief, you're so kind! If I had five or six half, I could definitely catch a few more bad guys."

"That's right. Actually, our training is very good, it's just that this gun is no good. Our village's results in several target practice sessions have been mediocre."

"Yes, we always get laughed at by Gujiatun. All they have are a few more good guns. Next time there's a militia competition, I'll show them what we're really made of."

Zhao Youzhi was very pleased to see the high spirits of these young men, and felt that if everyone in the village was like this, there was no need to worry about the village's development.

"Village chief, are there still many things here?"

"What is it?" Zhao Youzhi followed the sound.

"Look at this."

The man lit the ground with a torch, revealing several sacks and bundles of things laid out on the snow.

Zhao Youzhi touched the things that were tied up: "This is leather."

"Open a sack and take a look."

Zhao Youzhi opened the sack, shone a flashlight inside, and quickly tied it up a few seconds later.

"Take all of these back, and don't open them. Also, take everyone back to the village and search them thoroughly. Don't leave any weapons or valuables behind."

"Let's go, let's go back. I need to go back to sleep for a while. I have to come back to take over my shift later."

"Get up, you scum, get out of here." After they finished talking, they began to escort the prisoners back to the village.

"Sir, please be gentle, my leg is injured," a prisoner pleaded.

"That's what you deserve, daring to show off in our village. Get out of here." Another kick followed. These people just didn't understand what was going on.

Zhou Rui ignored all of that and left with Liu Qingguo and Gu Jiacheng first, as they still had patrol duties to perform.

Back at the camp, Zhou Rui sat back down in his previous spot and picked up the unfinished pancake from the ground. Seeing it was cold, he had no choice but to put it back on the fire to bake.

"Grill more, I'm starving." Liu Qingguo rubbed his hands together; he had finished eating when he went out, and now he was hungry again.

"You eat so much, all you do is eat, you didn't even catch the bad guys." With his father back safe and sound, Gu Jiacheng was in a good mood to joke around.

"How could you not have hit it? I fired so many shots, I'm sure I hit it, it was just too dark to see clearly. Right, Ruiwa?"

Zhou Rui took out a few more pancakes and put them on the fire, smiling: "Yes, your marksmanship is good, you must have hit the target."

"Ruiwa, do you think there are spies among these people?" Gu Jiacheng was also very excited after tonight's small-scale battle, and he became much more talkative.

"I don't know," Zhou Rui shook his head. "But there's definitely no mixed-race person like the one they were talking about in the commune among them."

"Whether there are spies or not, they're all bad elements. Look at these people, each with a gun, they must have done a lot of bad things. Hmm...smells good."

Liu Qingguo couldn't wait to eat the pancake before it was even crispy. He wolfed it down, clearly very hungry.

"Brother Jiacheng, here you go." Zhou Rui handed Gu Jiacheng a crispy baked pastry.

As the night passed, the latter half of the night was quiet, as if a gust of wind had blown away the smoke of the first half of the night.

Early in the morning, Zhou Rui was already in bed.

The villagers all got up. The noise last night was too loud and lasted a long time. Everyone was at the village entrance asking each other what had happened.

Just then, a rumbling sound came from afar. A sidecar motorcycle led the way, followed by a large truck.

These were cars that no one had ever seen before, and when they saw them arrive, everyone immediately gathered around.

Three police officers got off the sidecar, and a dozen or so young men in military uniforms got out of the back of the truck.

Zhao Changshan then got out of the truck cab and walked over with two middle-aged men.

"Captain, let me introduce you. This is Minister Lin from the county's armed forces department. He heard we've arrested quite a few criminals this time, which is why he personally led the team down here."

"No, no, it's the deputy minister. Captain Zhao, you guys are very capable. I heard that you killed or wounded nine armed bandits with just the production team's militia and hunters. That's impressive." Deputy Minister Lin had a tough and imposing air about him, looking like he had just come from the battlefield.

"It's all thanks to the effective leadership of our superiors. Moreover, the militia undergoes annual training by the armed forces department, which is why they have become an elite force dedicated to protecting our country and combating crime."

Zhao Youzhi had very obvious dark circles under his eyes and didn't look too well, indicating that he hadn't slept all night.