Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Two hours later, Zhou Rui and his two companions returned to their camp with three rabbits and two pheasants.

It wasn't that Zhou Rui's sixth sense was bad, but rather that this place was too close to the roadside, and there were simply no animals to be found.

There wasn't much meat, not even enough for the men of Jiaolong Gorge to be half full, but the hot food still gave them a lot of energy.

Chen Xiaoni, in particular, had forgotten the fear she had felt the night before after Zhou Rui handed her two large chicken legs.

Nestled in Zhou Rui's arms, he even sucked up the last bit of meat from the bones.

As dawn approached, the quiet duty room of the county armed forces department was suddenly broken by a crisp ringing of a bell.

"Hello, this is the county armed forces command center."

"Hello, I am Wang Yuankun, the director of Hongqi Commune in Yunshui County. I have an emergency to report."

Director Wang's voice was a little hoarse from just waking up, and you could hear his barely suppressed urgency even through the phone line.

"Okay, get ready to start recording, please go ahead." The voice on the other end of the phone was very calm, which reassured Wang Yuankun a lot.

"Two cases occurred simultaneously in Jiaolongxia Production Brigade last night. One was child abduction, and the other was the theft of village collective grain."

"The grassroots cadres of Jiaolong Gorge immediately organized a large number of militiamen and able-bodied men to give chase, and have rescued three children so far."

"We have now cornered four human traffickers and a group of grain thieves in a valley."

"The enemy has automatic rifles and sniper rifles. Their position is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We are short-handed and lack firepower. We request immediate support from the armed forces department."

The duty officer who answered the phone paused, then immediately sat up straight: "Report the exact location, the number of enemy personnel and their weaponry, and whether there are any civilian casualties?"

"The location is on the path from Luotian Production Brigade to the neighboring Hongqi Commune, in the middle of which there is a place called Jiapigou."

"The criminals are four human traffickers, and the grain thieves are estimated to be fifteen or more."

"At present, we can confirm that we have a high-powered sniper rifle and a 30-round burst rifle."

"So far, only one militiaman was knocked unconscious while patrolling the village; no ordinary villagers were injured."

"I'm afraid that if this drags on any longer, the thugs will become desperate and rush out to hurt people."

Wang Yuankun reported the information brought by the villagers verbatim, and added a sentence at the end.

"We've blocked the entrance to the valley for over three hours, not letting a single person out, just waiting for you to come and close the net."

"Received. Stay put and do not advance rashly. I will report to the leadership immediately. The team is expected to assemble and depart within ten minutes."

The staff officer hung up the phone, closed his notebook, and rushed to the barracks in the backyard.

A few minutes later, the whistle shattered the early morning silence of the armed forces compound.

The soldiers, who were still resting, quickly sprang up from their bunks, grabbed their guns, loaded their ammunition, and boarded the vehicle, their movements fluid and efficient.

In less than fifteen minutes, two military trucks covered with tarpaulins sped out of the compound, their headlights piercing the thick fog of the early morning, heading straight for the Red Flag Commune.

Meanwhile, the snow had stopped in the Jiapigou Valley.

Hao leaned against the tree trunk, a half-frozen cigarette between his fingers, his eyes fixed on the entrance of the valley.

Dajun leaned closer, his voice trembling, "Brother Hao, something's wrong outside. They're just defending and not attacking. I'm afraid they're calling for reinforcements."

The cigarette butt between Hao Ge's fingers was suddenly crushed, and tobacco shreds mixed with ice crystals fell through his fingers.

He had previously thought that he could catch these peasants from Jiaolong Gorge off guard by coming in, and that he could use his third brother's family as cannon fodder to wear down the enemy.

But now, this group of people are not following his plan at all. Instead, they are blocking the valley and waiting for a regular army to come and wipe them out.

Thinking of this, a chill instantly ran down his spine.

"What's the panic?" He shoved the cigarette butt into the snow, his face contorted with rage.

"Send those four human traffickers to the valley entrance first, use them as scouts, and see what the situation is like outside."

"Also, tell the brothers to get the livestock and sleds ready, and let's all break out together. I don't believe that those half-baked militiamen can stop us."

Just as Dajun was about to turn around to relay the order, a crisp click suddenly came from the woods, the sound of stepping on a dry branch.

Hao turned his head sharply and saw Third Brother clutching that chipped, worn-out tortoise-shell pistol, his knuckles white from tension.

His wife, brothers, and nephews had already raised their old, worn-out rifles, pointing them diagonally at their direction instead of at the valley entrance.

"Brother Hao, I'm sorry." Third Brother's voice trembled violently, but he gritted his teeth and finished speaking.

"We brothers are just here to make money, we don't intend to throw our lives in this snow. If you want us to be cannon fodder, we have to find a way to survive first."

He realized this when he was gnawing on the cornbread that had been thrown on the ground: these grain thieves never intended to leave any survivors from the start.

Once they've run out of bullets at the valley entrance and fulfilled their role as cannon fodder, they'll be shot one by one from behind and buried in the snow.

Rather than waiting to be used and then disposed of like trash, it's better to turn against them now, grab your weapons and run away. Maybe you can even evade the militia outside and save your life.

"You've gone too far!" the man in the military overcoat next to him cursed. Just as he was about to raise his gun, the pistol in Third Brother's hand fired first.

The bullet grazed his shoulder, sending a trail of blood through the air, before striking the pine tree trunk behind him, causing the snow on the branches to fall with a whooshing sound.

The valley instantly descended into chaos.

Hao's men didn't expect the human traffickers to turn against them so directly. In their haste, they could only hide behind a tree and fire. The bullets swept across the snow, leaving black tracks in their wake.

The three brothers, though not very accurate, used the time they had spent in the previous hours to find another firing position and hold their ground, turning all the firepower in the valley into a chaotic mess.

Zhou Rui, who was scouting at the valley entrance, immediately noticed that the gunshots coming from the valley had two completely different rhythms mixed in.

One side has a standard shooting style with steady accuracy and rhythm, while the other side has a chaotic, indiscriminate spraying that doesn't even know how to fire in bursts.

He immediately realized that the human traffickers and Brother Hao's gang of thieves had turned on each other.

Zhou Rui turned his head and whispered in Gu Jiacheng's ear: "Go back and tell your father that there's infighting inside."

"I'm worried that someone might try to escape, so I told him to arrange for armed men to block them up, so that the criminals don't get away if we're not careful."

"Okay." Gu Jiacheng didn't waste any words and turned to run away.

Before Gu Jiacheng could run back to the valley entrance, an explosion, distinct from gunfire, suddenly rang out from the depths of the valley.

It was Shunzi's old, worn-out homemade gun that exploded.

The scalding hot metal sheet blew off two of his fingers.

"Auntie, my hand is broken." The boy rolled around in the snow, clutching his left hand, his face covered in snot and tears.

The woman threw down the gun in her hand and rushed forward to hug her nephew.

This is her second brother's child, whom she raised herself, and she must bring him back alive.

Third Brother turned his head and glanced at it, then turned back and gripped the tortoise shell box even tighter.

He fired three shots at the bandit peeking out from behind the tree. Two shots missed, but the last one ripped off the bandit's cotton hat.