Industry began in 1937

After meeting with Zhang Xian, Wen Shizhou, filled with excitement and heavy entrustment, and Han Shitou, who had been listening attentively the whole way with a growing light in his eyes, rushed back to Gouzi Village through the night.

He did not directly reveal the name "Eighth Route Army," but in his secret discussions with Third Master, Old Man Han, Zhao Dachui, and Chen Yuan, his tone and the information he revealed were enough to make the listeners feel the extraordinary weight of the matter.

"Third Master, Brother Han, Big Hammer, Brother Chen," Wen Shizhou's voice was low but clear and forceful under the dim oil lamp in the side room of the ancestral hall, "Shi Tou and I got some definite news on this trip. A team has come from Shanxi, and they are real soldiers who fight the Japanese! They are completely different from the defeated soldiers who used to plague the local area, and those ragtag armed groups that used various pretexts to make a living. They are extremely disciplined, do not disturb the people, and pay for things they buy. They specialize in fighting Japanese traitors, collaborators, and bandits and defeated soldiers who harm the people."

He observed the three men's reactions and continued, "This team has only recently arrived in our western mountainous area. They are assessing the situation and mobilizing the villagers. They value our village, which is capable of self-defense and has a strong sense of patriotism. I reckon that if the world is to change, the forces we can truly rely on are probably those like this."

Third Master stroked his beard, still somewhat doubtful: "Mr. Wen, these days, soldiers are as easy to deal with as combs, and bandits are as easy to deal with as combs. Anyone can say nice things. Can this army really be relied on? What if we're just letting a wolf into the house again?"

Old Han had already heard about the situation from Shi Tou, so he naturally trusted Mr. Wen. He said, "Having a good team is a good thing for our mountain village."

Zhao Dachui was even more direct: "Mr. Wen, you're saying they really fight the Japanese and also routed soldiers? If they could join forces with us to deal with those bastards in the western mountains, and... that increasingly restless 'Red Spear Society,' they would be a good helper!"

Chen Yuan didn't speak, but the thoughtful look in his eyes showed that he understood Wen Shizhou's implied meaning.

This could very well be the legendary team from history.

His "flint" seemed to have found a clearer direction.

"Whether someone is reliable or not, time will tell," Wen Shizhou said calmly.

"But right now, we need to establish ourselves first, and we need to be strong. What people respect is our ability to defend our home and contribute our strength. I've already managed to leave a contact point. Our most important task right now is to protect Gouzi Village, train our village protection team, and stabilize Brother Chen's blacksmith shop, which is our foundation. This is what they call 'to forge iron, one must be strong oneself.' In case... I mean in case, if that team sends someone to contact us in the future, or if we need to contact them, we'll have the resources to back us up and we'll have the confidence to speak with authority."

These words are reasonable and convey both hope and an emphasis on self-reliance.

Third Master nodded: "Mr. Wen's consideration is thorough. That makes sense. It's better to rely on ourselves than on others. We need to hold on first."

However, before they could transform this glimmer of hope into tangible strength, the dark clouds of external crisis, accompanied by a biting wind, loomed heavily over Gouzi Village.

The one who came was Liu Dahong, the "Special Envoy of the General Headquarters" of the "Red Spear Society". He entered the village with an armed retinue and arrogantly proposed the following levies: 500 catties of grain, all guns, and 20 able-bodied men.

"Our Red Spear Society needs to unite, so those villages with money should contribute money, those with guns should contribute guns, and those with strength should contribute strength."

Third Master naturally wouldn't agree to these demands.

"Your village of Gouzi has made quite a bit of money since you came in, but now that you've raised the red flag, you can't keep it all to yourself," Liu Dahong said to Third Master.

"Those are the chews we earned through hard work forging iron; we didn't make much money from them," Third Master naturally denied.

Business is better now, but it's impossible for him to give it to the Red Spear Society. He regrets compromising and hanging the red flag back then.

Now people are using this as a topic of conversation.

"You know best how much you earn, but this is the order from the headquarters. Disobeying the order is the same as not respecting the 5000 brothers in the headquarters." Liu Dahong was basically threatening Gouzi Village with lives.

Wen Shizhou had long seen through their true nature and knew that they didn't have five thousand men.

There probably aren't that many able-bodied young men in the villages of the Taihang Mountains to the west.

"The routed soldiers are still rampaging; it seems you haven't eliminated them yet?"

"It is precisely because there are defeated soldiers that we need to concentrate even more able-bodied men and weapons."

"But I heard that you took the grain given to you by Lin Xia Cao at the foot of the mountain, yet you refused to help those in distress?" Wen Shizhou said, recounting what had happened just a few days ago.

Linxiacao Village was occupied by more than 30 defeated soldiers. The villagers went to the Red Spear Society, but when the Red Spear Society members arrived and saw that the soldiers had guns, they ran away without saying a word.

This enraged the fleeing soldiers, who then launched a brutal attack on Linxiacao Village. The soldiers killed people, raped women, and burned down many of the village's houses.

This matter has spread widely in the surrounding area.

"They think they can get everyone to fight desperately with just a few pennies? Do you think it's that easy?" Liu Dahong knew that this was unacceptable, so he simply pointed it out directly.

"If giving it away won't save the village, why should we give it away?" Third Master was so angry that his beard stood on end.

"If we don't give it to them, it's hard to say whether the defeated soldiers will come, but you'd better watch out." Liu Dahong directly threatened them.

"We have guns, let's see who dares to come." Zhao Dachui stood up immediately after hearing his threat, staring at Liu Dahong with wide eyes.

A man who has seen bloodshed exudes an immediate sense of intimidation.

Liu Dahong's momentum immediately weakened. "So you're disregarding the General Association's orders?"

"The General Council only demands food, guns, and men, but doesn't do anything humane. That won't do!" Third Master regretted his actions and decided not to continue stalling.

Seeing that he couldn't win the argument, Liu Dahong stopped talking.

Goodbye.

He turned and fled the village in a disheveled state, under the watchful eyes of the guards who had already picked up their weapons.

But he was still furious, and shouted again at the village entrance, "If you don't pay in three days, just wait! We'll eventually use the charge of 'colluding with deserters and rebelling' to send troops to raze Gouzi Village to the ground."

The threat was like ice water poured over their heads, instantly plunging everyone who had just begun to feel a little warm into the depths of winter.

After Liu Dahong left, the ancestral hall was deathly silent, with only Zhao Dachui's heavy breathing and Third Master's deep sighs.

"That damned Zhang Juejiu! He's trying to suck us dry and tear us apart!" Zhao Dachui's eyes blazed with fury, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "Grain is everyone's lifeline, guns are our courage to protect the village! If we hand it over, we're lambs to the slaughter! If we don't, they really dare to come and attack!"

Third Master's face was full of worry: "The Red Spear Society has many people and great power, and Zhang Juejiu is ruthless. How...how can we stop them!"

Although the Red Spear Society doesn't have the 5000 members Liu Dahong mentioned, it can still muster three to five hundred people on a regular basis.

This number is greater than that of men, women, and children in Gouzi Village.

I heard they have quite a few long and short guns, so Gouzi Village won't be easy to deal with.

"We have to stop them even if we can't!" Wen Shizhou said resolutely. At this moment, he had to be the backbone. "Third Master, Big Hammer, we have no way out. If we hand over the goods and people, the village will collapse and be at the mercy of others. If we don't hand them over, we have no choice but to fight! The Red Spear Society is not a monolithic entity. Zhang Juejiu's annexation of various villages has already caused widespread resentment."

"Our Gouzi Village now has a village protection team, we have the advantage of terrain, and we have guts. We might just be able to knock a few teeth out of them!"

"Mr. Wen is right! Let's fight!" Zhao Dachui roared. "We know the mountain paths, so let's dig traps, set ambushes, and outmaneuver them!"

Upon hearing the news, Chen Yuan also came to the ancestral hall.

"I'm afraid determination and favorable location alone are not enough," Chen Yuan calmly analyzed.

"We still have too few guns and not enough bullets. With red-tasseled spears and broadswords, we'll suffer heavy losses before we can even get close to enemies with fast guns. We must strengthen our firearms as soon as possible. I'll have five more gun barrels made and immediately attach mechanisms to make them into firearms. In addition, we need to have a sufficient supply of gunpowder and bullets."

The number of bullets we captured earlier was still too small; we wasted several during test shots.

To continue fighting, they still needed to rely on muskets.

"You take care of the muskets and bullets," Wen Shizhou said to Chen Yuan, then looked at Zhao Dachui, "Dachui, the village is also getting more gunpowder."

Zhao Dachui immediately said, "Han Laoshuan, and He Guaizi from the west end of the village, they both know how! We can scrape the saltpeter, Brother Chen got some sulfur before, and charcoal is readily available. I'll find them right away and we'll set up a stove in a secluded mountain valley to fry the herbs!"

"Alright!" Wen Shizhou nodded, his mind clear. "We'll split into three groups. Da Chui, you'll be in charge of the overall defense, training the troops, setting up sentry posts and traps, and organizing people to make gunpowder. Brother Chen, you'll focus on making muskets and bullets. Shi Tou and I will secretly go to Liu Jia Tai Zi, Wang Jia Yu, and He Kou Ji below. We don't expect them to send troops to help, but at least let them know and agree that if the Red Spear Society launches a large-scale attack, they should try to send us a message or create some disturbance on the periphery to distract them. More eyes mean more options."

"Mr. Wen's method is sound!" Third Master also calmed down. "Let's unite as one! Big Hammer, Chen boy, do as Mr. Wen says! I, this old man, will take care of keeping the villagers calm and procuring some dry food and salt water."

The crisis brought out everyone's potential, and Gouzi Village sprang into action.

Zhao Dachui divided the village protection team into three shifts, keeping watch day and night. They dug tripping pits on the main road into the village, set up simple deer fortifications, and pushed rolling logs and boulders to dangerous locations.

At the same time, he found several experienced craftsmen, including Han Laoshuan and He Guaizi, and set up a large pot in a secluded mountain valley behind the village. They carefully mixed and stir-fried the scraped saltpeter, sulfur powder, and fine charcoal powder in an ancient ratio. The air began to fill with a pungent and familiar smell of gunpowder—a part of the mountain village's memory of self-preservation, which was now being rekindled.

Chen Yuan then plunged back into the mine.

He worked through the night using the "Flint" platform, consuming very little energy, to mass-produce thousands of round, hard cast iron beads, each the size of a little finger joint.

These iron balls were mixed into ordinary iron materials as a reserve for future "shotgun shells".

Next, he devoted himself to the final assembly of the five muskets.

The barrel was readily available; the musket had already been made before, so this time it wouldn't be difficult.

The village is on high alert.

Wen Shizhou quietly left the village under the pretext of "returning to customers and inquiring about iron ore prices".

In Liujia Taizi and Wangjia Yu, they heard the same worries and discontent.

The Red Spear Society's demands for contributions also hung like a knife over the heads of these villages.

Upon hearing that Gouzi Village was determined to resist and that it would offer preferential treatment in future arms exchanges if they could provide information and support, the two villages, though not daring to openly form an alliance, secretly agreed and pledged to closely monitor the Red Spear Society's movements and do their best to provide information.

Han Shitou was sent out to find reinforcements.

Although Third Master didn't believe that the righteous army Mr. Wen mentioned would save them, having another helper would be good.

In just two or three days, the entire village of Gouzi united as one, displaying a fierce determination to survive.

The furnace fire illuminated the blacksmith's solemn face, white smoke carrying the scent of saltpeter drifted from the medicine-frying pot, shouts of training echoed across the threshing ground, and a chilling killing intent lurked beside the mountain path.

The Red Spear Society flag had been personally taken down by Zhao Dachui, which undoubtedly marked a complete break between Gouzi Village and the Red Spear Society.

The "three-day deadline" is ever-present, pressing ever closer.