Chapter 57: Rendezvous at Yaojiayu

Threading through the mountains and ridges, Li Yunlong and his men plunged deeper into the Taiyue Mountains as the sky gradually grew dim.

Marching through the mountain forests at night was no easy task, especially since the physical condition of many former prisoners of war was far from optimistic. Consequently, Li Yunlong had someone find a wind-sheltered mountain col, where the captives could get some food and rest for the night before resuming the journey.

Cooking fires were lit, and pots of thick, steaming porridge were boiled. Many of the Nationalist soldiers found themselves choking back tears as they sipped from their bowls.

Once a bowl of hot porridge reached their stomachs, their bodies slowly revived. Eating a freshly griddled flatbread right after that made these former prisoners feel as though they had truly come back to life.

Of course, there were those with stronger constitutions. Without a trace of hesitation over the heat, Wei Dayong chugged down a bowl of hot porridge in one go, then attacked from both sides at once, grabbing three or four flatbreads and devouring them ravenously.

In no time at all, everything had vanished into his stomach. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Wei Dayong carried his bowl right back over to the mess squad. With a grin and to the utter astonishment of the cook, he asked for another bowl of hot porridge and four or five more flatbreads.

Just as Li Yunlong was about to take his bowl and cozy up to some of these men, Zhang Dabiao hurried over.

Glancing around, Zhang Dabiao lowered his voice and said, "Battalion Commander, our food supplies are running low."

Li Yunlong tilted his head. "How much longer can we last?"

Zhang Dabiao calculated mentally. "At our current rate of consumption, once the 6th Company Commander brings his men back to the main body, we can hold out for three more days. After three days, we'll be completely out of food!"

Li Yunlong nodded. "I know. Once we reach Yaojiayu, we'll figure out where to borrow some grain!"

Just as he was about to leave, Li Yunlong remembered something else. He halted his steps and looked back at Zhang Dabiao. "Right, send someone back to the brigade headquarters tomorrow. File a report with the brigade commander and submit the information about that unusual bunch of little Japanese in the prisoner camp."

"At the same time, put in a requisition for another five hundred—"

Li Yunlong initially raised one hand with all five fingers spread wide, but just as the words left his mouth, he switched to showing eight fingers instead. "No, eight hundred sets of uniforms!"

"Hehe, we've solved our own weapons, ammunition, and food problems, but brigade headquarters damn well better support old Li with some uniforms!"

"We can't go out in public dressed like a patchwork quilt! That wouldn't just be my face getting slapped, hehe!"

Having assigned the tasks to Zhang Dabiao, Li Yunlong walked over to Wei Dayong with a smiling face and his bowl in hand.

"How is it? Are you full? You can have this bowl too!"

Like a hamster with stuffed cheeks, Wei Dayong was chewing away. Seeing the bowl handed out by Li Yunlong, he hurriedly gulped everything down, wiped his hands haphazardly on his clothes, and took the porridge bowl from Li Yunlong's hands.

"Thank you, Commander Li!"

Li Yunlong waved a hand, smiling like a blooming flower. "Sit down, let's sit down and talk, haha."

"Alright," Wei Dayong replied cheerfully as he hurried to sit down.

"Stop calling me Commander Li. Old Li is no longer the commander of the New 1st Regiment; right now... I'm just temporarily serving as a battalion commander!"

Shifting the conversation to Wei Dayong, Li Yunlong asked, "Never mind about me, let's talk about you. Where did a kid like you learn those moves? How did you end up in the Japanese prisoner of war camp?"

Wei Dayong was thoroughly straightforward. "In my mind, you're still the regimental commander. My name is Wei Dayong. I spent ten years as a monk at the Shaolin Temple before, so Commander Li can also call me Monk Wei if you like!"

"I used to be a squad leader in the Central Army's 27th Division. During the Battle of Xinkou, I got knocked out cold by a Japanese artillery shell, and that's how I became a prisoner of war!"

Li Yunlong looked him up and down in surprise. "Heh, no wonder a kid like you has such remarkable skills."

Following that, Li Yunlong straightforwardly extended an invitation. "How about it, Monk? Why don't you follow me and throw in your lot with yours truly!"

Wei Dayong accepted just as readily, nodding happily and repeatedly. "Since Commander Li is showing me this respect, I'll definitely take you up on it. I already heard about you back in the POW camp—how Commander Li led troops into a direct bayonet fight with the Sakata Regiment and took out Sakata with a single artillery shell!"

"I'm joining Commander Li! I'm joining the Eighth Route Army!"

Delighted, Li Yunlong patted Wei Dayong on the shoulder. "Good, Monk, from now on you'll be my personal bodyguard, haha!"

"Huzi, take the Monk to get a set of uniforms and a weapon!"

Watching Wei Dayong follow Huzi to change into his uniform, Li Yunlong set his sights on the others.

As the saying goes, if you don't risk the child, you won't catch the wolf. Li Yunlong brought out his precious white sugar and medical supplies.

With a smile as bright as a blooming flower, Li Yunlong personally led his men in distributing a block of white sugar to each of the former prisoners. For the soldiers suffering from injuries and illnesses, he offered warm words of comfort and tailored treatments.

Given Li Yunlong's actions—and the fact that they were already deeply grateful to him for saving their lives—the emotions of these prisoners were now running exceptionally high.

Compared to the Chiang Kai-shek government, which had ignored them completely and left them to fend for themselves and perish in the POW camp, they had never experienced this kind of genuine care for the common enlisted men.

Among them, a few former officers understood that this was Li Yunlong's way of winning their hearts, but they were more than happy to accept this kindness.

After all, this officer's troops looked nothing like the stereotypical ragtag Eighth Route Army of their impressions; some even felt that this rivaled the fully German-equipped instruction regiments of the Central Army!

To their surprise, however, Li Yunlong did not use his saving grace to coerce them into joining his forces; he simply told everyone to get some proper rest.

"We haven't broken out of the danger zone yet, and we have to march again tomorrow. Once we reach Yaojiayu, everyone can properly recuperate and nurse your bodies back to health!"

Naturally, Li Yunlong did not forget Wang Kai and his men, treating them with the same generosity and completely regarding them as his own people.

Early the next morning, the troop set out bright and early.

Wei Dayong, now sporting an Eighth Route Army uniform, carried two Mauser c96 pistols at his hips and slung an M3 submachine gun across his back, marching right behind Li Yunlong alongside Huzi.

After a morning of marching, the column entered a mountain valley. Following a path along a stream, they arrived at Yaojiayu, nestled deep within the Taiyue Mountains.

Liu Bo and his detachment had arrived earlier than them and had already negotiated with the villagers, securing and preparing the troops' encampment.

Standing at the village entrance, Liu Bo watched from afar as Li Yunlong and his column approached, feeling somewhat surprised that the number of personnel was significantly larger than he had anticipated.

Liu Bo trotted over to Li Yunlong and saluted. "Reporting to the Battalion Commander, the 2nd Platoon of the 1st Company has successfully completed its mission. Requesting permission to rejoin the ranks!"

Li Yunlong returned the salute. "How are the casualties in your company? You weren't bitten in the rear by any Japanese reinforcements, were you?"

Upon hearing Liu Bo's report of zero fatalities, Li Yunlong patted him on the shoulder approvingly. "Good. Let's head into the village first, get the troops settled, and then you can give me a detailed report on the situation over your way!"

"Yes!" Liu Bo shouted loudly, turning to the troops. "Everyone follow me, the encampment is right this way!"

The villagers looked on with curiosity at this rather peculiar contingent, which consisted of Eighth Route Army soldiers, Nationalist soldiers, and quite a few Shanxi-Suiyuan provincial troops mixed in.

Of course, Wang Kai and his men had already changed into Eighth Route Army uniforms the previous night, having firmly decided to cast their lot with the Eighth Route Army.

After arranging for the soldiers and the former Nationalist troops to rest in their respective quarters, Li Yunlong brought Zhang Dabiao and Liu Bo along to take stock of the remaining resources and the harvest they had secured.

Li Yunlong needed to calculate in advance how many weapons he should have Brother Xu bring next time. Good as those weapons were, they certainly burned through ammunition at an alarming rate.

Especially given this unrestricted expenditure, the initial complimentary base unit of ammunition was no longer enough. Aside from weaponry, he had to figure out how much ammunition needed to be stockpiled.