The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

The two stood in the center of the field, five meters apart.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.

"Kill!" Lei Laohu roared, charging forward with his bayonet, his momentum immense.

His bayonet was pointed at Wang Yuan's chest.

Instead of fighting head-on, Wang Yuan dodged to the side with extremely agile movements.

Lei Laohu missed his target and nearly tripped over his own strength.

Before he could regain his footing, Wang Yuan had already moved to his side and swept the butt of his rifle across Lei Laohu's wrist with a "smack"—this time he used a clever technique, hitting the nerve end precisely.

Lei Laohu was in pain, and his bayonet fell from his hand and landed with a clang.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Yuan tripped, and Lei Laohu's massive body crashed heavily to the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt.

Before he could even get up, a bayonet was already pressed against his throat.

Wang Yuan held the gun in one hand, looking down at him: "Do you submit?"

His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Lei Laohu felt the chill in his throat, and his clothes were instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He knew that if the other party flicked his wrist even slightly, his throat would be pierced.

"I give up... I give up!" Lei Laohu shouted, his voice trembling slightly, like a cowardly dog ​​that had been scared out of its wits.

Wang Yuan sheathed his bayonet and took a step back.

Lei Laohu got up from the ground, his expression constantly changing, like he had just opened a dye shop.

He looked at the more than 300 onlookers around him, and then at Zhou Jindong, who stood there calmly.

Zhou Jindong looked at him as if he were an ant, which made him feel uneasy.

He knew that if he didn't back down today, his group of thirty-odd men probably wouldn't be able to leave the town.

Moreover, even if they manage to expand overseas, given Zhou Jindong's methods, they will eventually be swallowed up.

With a "plop".

Lei Laohu knelt on the ground, his knees slamming into the stone with a dull thud.

"Captain Zhou! I, Lei Laohu, am a rough man, blind to your greatness! From this day forward, my life belongs to you! All soldiers of the Black Wind Ridge Independent Brigade will obey Captain Zhou's orders! May we all be struck by lightning if we harbor any disloyalty!"

Upon seeing this, the more than thirty henchmen behind him also knelt down in a panic.

Zhou Jindong went over and helped Lei Laohu up.

He had a strong grip, and Lei Laohu felt as if he were being clamped by iron clamps.

"Boss Lei, now that you've joined the Dongzhai Town guerrilla force, you need to change your old bad habits." Zhou Jindong stared into Lei Laohu's eyes, his voice icy. "Robbing ordinary people and bullying women are capital offenses. Can you do that?"

His eyes held a menacing glint that made Lei Laohu dare not look him in the eye.

Lei Laohu gritted his teeth, drawing blood from his gums: "Yes! I, Lei Laohu, may be a scoundrel, but I know what's good and what's bad. Following Captain Zhou to fight the Japanese is better than being a bandit! If I offend him again, you can just shoot me!"

"Good!" Zhou Jindong shouted, his voice echoing across the entire playground. "Listen up, everyone! From today onwards, there is no Black Wind Ridge, no Thunder Tiger, only the Dongzhai Town Guerrilla Team!"

Everyone will be treated equally; those who perform meritorious service will be rewarded, and those who commit wrongdoing will be punished! However, if anyone dares to violate military discipline, don't blame me, Zhou Jindong, for turning my back on them without hesitation!

"We are ready to obey Captain Zhou's orders and fight the Japanese devils!" Lei Laohu shouted, taking the lead.

"Fight the Japanese devils! Fight the Japanese devils!!" More than three hundred people roared in unison.

In the days that followed, Zhou Jindong did not rush to send his troops out to fight.

He scattered all the newly recruited people and mixed them into the old units—each veteran soldier led two new recruits, like a master leading an apprentice.

Every day before dawn, the loud bugle calls echoed across the playground.

"Get up! Assemble!"

"Right dress! Eyes forward!"

"At ease! Attention!"

Zhou Jindong stood on the high platform, looking down at the more than three hundred people below.

Although they wore all sorts of clothes, each of them carried a gun and their eyes shone with a light—the light of hope, the light of revenge.

"Today's training exercise: tactical coordination!" Zhou Jindong shouted through a megaphone. "Don't think that knowing how to shoot guarantees victory! On the battlefield, one person is like a sheep, a group of people is like a pack of wolves! Wolves are powerful because they know how to coordinate!"

He pointed to a simulated firing position ahead and said, "Zhang Fang, lead the first squad to demonstrate! Wang Yuan, lead the second squad in the attack! Remember, although we're using wooden guns, the standards can't be lowered! Anyone who doesn't take it seriously won't get lunch!"

His punishment was simple, yet effective—in this chaotic world, not having food was worse than death.

The training ground was immediately filled with the sounds of battle.

Zhou Jindong's training plan was extremely rigorous.

Because he knew the principle that the more sweat a soldier sheds, the less blood he will lose.

Five kilometers of cross-country running in the morning.

Two hours of shooting training in the morning.

The afternoon consisted of tactical training and bayonet drills.

Evenings are for academic and political classes.

Zhou Jindong personally gave lectures, explaining why the war was fought, the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders—such as the Nanjing Massacre and the massacres carried out by the Japanese in Ningwu County; he also explained what the nation and its people meant, and the saying, "Everyone has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation."

His lectures were very engaging, like storytelling, and the soldiers listened with rapt attention; some even cried.

For those puppet troops and bandits who surrendered, Zhou Jindong specially set up "brainwashing classes"—actually ideological education classes.

He doesn't talk about grand principles, he only focuses on the details.

"You used to work for the Japanese, and you only got a few dollars a month. You were also beaten and scolded by the Japanese officers and criticized by the people."

"Follow me now, and you'll get honor if you win, medicine if you're injured, and compensation for your family if you die. You can calculate it yourselves, which is more worthwhile?"

Most people understood the implications and stayed on wholeheartedly.

They were just trying to make a living, and now that they have better options, of course they're willing to stay.

Zhou Jindong showed no mercy to those stubborn elements, directly confining them or sending them to do the hardest and most tiring work.

Release him only when he has figured it out.

There was a puppet army platoon leader who used to beat civilians. He was locked up for three days and made to carry manure for two days. After he was released, he knelt down in front of Zhou Jindong and begged for mercy: "Captain Zhou, I was not human before. From now on, I will serve you like a slave!"

In just half a month, Zhou Jindong had managed to train this ragtag army, composed of farmers, bandits, puppet troops, and surrendered Japanese soldiers, to develop a remarkable fighting spirit.

Although they are not comparable to regular main forces, they are already a force to be reckoned with in northwestern Shanxi.

At least, they are no longer sheep, but wolves.

Most importantly, they have an alpha wolf that's always craving meat!

On this day, Zhou Jindong was looking at a map in the command post—the map marked the strongholds around Ningwu County, with several targets circled in red.

Wang Yuanxing rushed in, a smile on his face, as if he had found money: "Dongzi! Good news! The scouts we sent to the county town are back!" His hat was askew from running, but he didn't bother to straighten it.