Chapter 43: This Damned Mouth of Mine

...Every time after a time-travel transition, there are always far too many things that give me and my companions headaches.

There is the absolute superiority of the Japanese devils in air force and artillery, the numerous internal factions within the National Revolutionary Army, and their mutual scheming and backstabbing in many aspects.

However, if I had to name the most agonizing thing of all, it would be the time-travelers—who had long since adopted an arrogant "Heaven is number one, Earth is number two, and I am number three" attitude in the modern plane—frequently failing to keep their mouths shut.

A moment of carelessness would lead to the wrong words being said, offending people and sparking a mountain of trouble, and I was certainly no exception myself...

...Excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection, "Biao's Nonsense"...

The reason for Black Star's foul mood was very simple: in the newspapers of the past month, there was practically not a single piece of good news.

It was either news of where the devils had landed, which defense line had fallen, or how far the devils had advanced.

In the aforementioned battles, how many more soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army had become casualties, or which heroic general had died for his country.

Or perhaps, because of these hostilities, the lives of the ordinary people in Shanghai were becoming increasingly difficult.

Water and electricity supplies were cut off amidst the devils' bombings, and prices were skyrocketing; crops in the fields that were about to ripen dared not be harvested, leaving people to simply watch them rot in the fields, while countless individuals died unjustly and in vain.

Even before crossing over, he had been aware of the general outline of this period of history, but reading through the newspapers from start to finish, there was scarcely a single shred of good news.

Once Black Star took all this in, the frustration churning inside him was suffocating.

You must know that he was a native of Central Henan Province, where he currently rented hundreds of acres of land to grow grain, alongside dabbling in the grain trade; he had always held a profound affection for agriculture and food.

Fueled by such emotions, combined with his own understanding of this historical era, Black Star could no longer hold back and began to curse:

"Damn it all, what kind of bloody, miserable fighting is this? Especially that Baldy headmaster—his competence is hopelessly naive, yet he is so fond of meddling with blind commands. He bears the primary responsibility.

If you put a pig in command, it wouldn't result in such a complete disaster.

Since they had already decided to fight from the very beginning, and clearly knew we couldn't match the Japanese devils in firepower, they instead pinned their hopes on mediation by Westerners. They fought timidly and coweringly, completely forfeiting the strategic initiative."

Just as his voice trailed off, Huang Ah-Di chimed in with his own complaints:

"His wife is just as muddled, yet she fancies herself some kind of master strategist.

I heard that the procurement funds for the air force in the years before the war were enough to buy 1,300 airplanes; but who knows which bastard's suggestion they listened to, deciding to buy just 300 first to make do.

They wanted to hoard the rest of the money and wait until the fighting broke out before buying even more advanced aircraft.

Leaving aside whether this sum of money was embezzled, how much was left, or whether the reserves of pilots were sufficient; given the greed and vile nature of the Western devils, would they still be willing to sell to us now, and at the original prices?

Well, look at it now—that handful of planes has been completely wiped out in combat, and the sky has practically become the devils' backyard."

"Indeed, where on earth can you even reason with such absurdity?" Chaozi joined the topic amidst a string of curses:

"Right now, let alone the skies above Shanghai, even Nanjing is bombed by the devils from time to time. Many participating units marched into battle with the resolute determination to defend their homes and country.

And what was the result? Before they even caught a glimpse of what a devil looked like, half of them were blown to pieces halfway there. That bald-headed couple are ruining the country."

In the moments that followed, AT and Uncle Bo also joined in the venting session.

Their emotions were agitated and their words exceptionally fierce, as if they intended to use this method to purge the accumulated depression, terror, and other pent-up feelings in their hearts through endless complaints.

For a time, not a single member of the Nationalist Government's upper echelons—from the bald-headed headmaster and his wife to Chen Xiuci of the Earth-Wood clique—escaped their condemnation; they were all subjected to scathing criticism.

Only Hu Biao sat in silence with the newspaper in hand, his complexion turning terribly grim.

Why? Because on a newspaper from a month ago, he had laid eyes on a news item that read:

The author was shocked to hear that in yesterday's bombing by the Japanese devils, Deyue Pavilion, the famous Huaiyang cuisine restaurant, was reduced to ashes in the flames of war, with dozens of casualties.

Among those who died a tragic death was Miss Annie, the premier beauty of the Paramount Ballroom. Alas, the impermanence of the world, and the cruel fate of beauties...

Upon reading this, Hu Biao's heart was filled with an indescribable surge of anger and sorrow, leaving him completely stunned.

It was rather laughable, really—Hu Biao hadn't even laid eyes on Annie herself, let alone had any further interactions with her. Strictly speaking, they shared no deep friendship to speak of.

Yet Hu Biao would never forget that moment at Position No. 7, when he was in the depths of utter despair, upon seeing that photograph and the promise written on the back.

It had felt like a sudden ray of light illuminating his heart, filling him with a profound sense of warmth and giving him the courage to keep fighting and stay alive.

Without realizing it, he had already developed a fierce emotional attachment to this woman he had never met, and to Deyue Pavilion mentioned in their pact.

Before crossing over, the mere thought of visiting Deyue Pavilion with Annie to drink to their hearts' content had filled this fellow with eager anticipation; yet now he discovered that both the person and the restaurant were gone, and the fury in his heart felt as though it was about to blaze into a raging fire.

Huang Ah-Di, sitting beside Hu Biao, noticed that the veteran had remained unresponsive for a long time and gave him a nudge.

He asked, "Old Hu, what do you make of this?"

Snapped out of his daze, Hu Biao, brimming with anger, immediately burst into furious cursing: "I make of it with my eyes, looking at these idiots and fools..."

The torrent of curses pouring from Hu Biao's mouth stopped dead in its tracks.

Because sitting directly facing the door, he suddenly noticed a man in his thirties wearing the rank insignia of a major general standing right at the entrance.

Accompanied by the very same Staff Officer Liu from earlier, the two men stood there with faces as dark as iron.

Presumably, the complaining words spoken by his group driven by their dreadful mood had been heard loud and clear by this officer.

As for the man's identity, it was naturally the new commander of the 67th Division, Division Commander Huang.

Realizing the situation, Hu Biao and the others inwardly cursed "Oh no," no longer daring to utter another word.

After a long silence, Division Commander Huang shook his head and said: "What am I to make of the likes of you? Not only are you veterans returning from the wounded ranks, but you can also read books and newspapers, and your insights are not bad at all.

Especially you, Hu Biao, leading two dozen remnants to hold Position No. 7 for a day and a night without yielding a single inch to half a battalion of devils—you are definitely a man of talent. Right now, the 67th Division is desperately short of capable men, and I was planning to give you an important assignment.

Yet the highest authorities of the National Government—are they people for you to casually criticize and discuss?

If not for the military merits you carry on your bodies, Commander Huang would have had you all executed under military law today.

However, while I can pretend I didn't hear these words today, I dare not keep you in the 67th Division any longer. Later on, I will arrange a new place for you; from now on, you had better watch your foul mouths, and take good care of yourselves."

With that, Division Commander Huang turned on his heel and walked away with the staff officer, leaving the group staring at each other in dismay.

After a long pause, Huang Ah-Di slapped himself hard across the face and cursed:

"This damned mouth of mine, why does it blurt out everything that crosses my mind? 'Everything relies on the Headmaster's brilliant strategy, the Commander personally braving the hail of bullets, and the timely support of friendly forces'—it's not like we don't know how to spew these pretty words..."

******

Not long after Division Commander Huang left, Staff Officer Liu returned once more.

Only this time, he lacked his initial warmth, replaced instead by a lukewarm, perfunctory attitude. He led them to a place resembling a firewood shed to settle them in, though they were not placed under strict guard.

At this moment, if Hu Biao and the others had wanted to flee, it probably would have been quite easy.
    
Yet, having witnessed the object lesson provided by that square-dancing elderly woman at the start, it would have been a miracle if Hu Biao and his crew dared to run. They had no choice but to calmly wait right here for their next assignment.

Throughout the process, because of the distressing news about Annie, Hu Biao was in such a foul mood that he didn't bring up their previous time-travel experience with the others.

Since he didn't feel like talking, the others naturally had nothing to say either; amidst this helpless and dead-silent waiting, a whole day quickly passed by.

By evening, a private first class finally brought them their evening meal: a basin of coarse brown rice, along with some boiled greens—the kind of delivery where the person simply drops it off and walks away immediately.

This left Hu Biao and the others with no way to inquire about how much longer they would have to wait.

Seeing this, Hu Biao could only urge everyone to eat first and leave other matters for later.

Whether it was due to their poor mood or because it was their first time in this lifetime eating food so utterly lacking in oil and salt, the six newcomers only took a few perfunctory bites before putting down their chopsticks entirely.

Hu Biao didn't mind this; modern people accustomed to easily obtainable, lavish meals always reacted this way right after crossing over.

As long as they went hungry for a few meals and burned through the fat reserves in their bellies, everything would naturally start tasting genuinely delicious.

Thus, he and Zhu Cong simply took the remaining rice, mixed it with the vegetable soup, and polished off the entire basin of coarse brown rice down to the last grain, even though the stuff genuinely tasted awful.

Yet just as night fell and everyone assumed that any transfer to another unit would have to wait at least until the following day, things took a sudden turn.

That same staff officer appeared once more, followed by two soldiers carrying rifles on their backs, and said to them: "Move. Today, I'm taking you to your new unit..."