Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

He stomped down hard!

The plane landed precisely not far from the brigade command post. The canopy opened, and I jumped out, dusting myself off.

As soon as I stood still, I saw the brigade commander, his face dark, leading a few men, stride out of the command post and head straight for me.

"You little bastard!" The brigade commander's curses arrived before he even got there. "Without a word, you flew your Japanese plane right into my territory! If headquarters hadn't sent a telegram beforehand, I would have had the anti-aircraft company shoot you down!"

I touched my nose and chuckled, "Brigadier, headquarters specifically ordered that this be sent to you."

"You brat, trying to intimidate me with headquarters, huh?" The brigade commander kicked me, walked up to me, and looked me up and down. Seeing that I was unharmed, his expression softened slightly, but he still wasn't going to let it go.

"With all that commotion in East China, where's the plane? Just this one? I heard you've been scavenging quite a bit of stuff over there!"

I laughed: "The brigade commander left the plane to Old Chen and his men. They just won the battle in East China and need to keep things in order."

The brigade commander glared. "That old Chen guy sent me a telegram bragging about how he had everything he needed—land, sea, and air! It almost drove me crazy! You little brat, you're letting all the good stuff go to outsiders!"

"How could that be, Brigade Commander?" I leaned closer and lowered my voice. "I came back this time thinking that it's time to mobilize our brigade, and indeed the entire North China region. If East China could be liberated, why can't North China?"

The brigade commander's eyes lit up, but he immediately straightened his face: "Don't try to fool me. East China was a special case; the main Japanese force was tied down, and you took advantage of the situation. North China is different. The Japanese have a large force concentrated there. Although they liberated Shanxi, other areas are still completely isolated."

"An iron bucket?" I chuckled. "Even the hardest iron bucket has cracks. Besides, we're not like we used to be."

I paused, looked at the brigade commander, and my eyes became serious: "Brigade commander, trust me. East China is just the beginning. This time I'm back to turn North China, the entire North, upside down. We'll have planes and artillery in the future, and they'll be better than the Japanese's."

The brigade commander stared at me for several seconds, then patted my shoulder hard.

"Fine! I'll trust you this time! You've managed to fight your way in and out of the Japanese camp seven times and eight times, and you've turned East China upside down. Who else would I trust if not you? Tell me, how do you need my cooperation?"

"Let's rebuild our existing foundation first," I said. "What about Ye Qiao and the others?"

"They're all here! They're all at the camp in the back mountains." The brigade commander smiled as he said this. "Your Ghost Squad isn't just a handful of people anymore. Besides the original twelve, including Ye Qiao's group, we've gradually brought in more than twenty promising young men, all the best of the best from their respective units, and their political background checks are absolutely top-notch. Now we have more than thirty people, each one incredibly capable. We're constantly on small missions, but there haven't been any big ones. We're practically bursting with boredom."

"Okay, then I'll go see them first." I nodded.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" the brigade commander waved his hand. "Once you meet them, get me a plan right away! I'm waiting to hear how we're going to fight in North China!"

I saluted and turned to walk towards the campsite on the back mountain.

The camp was not far from the brigade headquarters, hidden in a forest. Even before getting close, one could hear shouts of combat training coming from inside, along with the muffled thuds of equipment colliding.

After rounding a thicket of bushes, the entire camp came into view. In the open space, more than thirty people were training in groups, practicing grappling and combat, disassembling and assembling weapons, and conducting tactical coordination drills.

Ye Qiao was correcting a player's thrusting motion in the center of the field, her back to me. Lei Dachui was wrestling shirtless, his muscles gleaming. Lu Guang squatted to the side, chewing on a blade of grass, scribbling in a small notebook.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat.

The training sounds suddenly stopped, and everyone turned to look.

Ye Qiao turned around abruptly, and when she saw it was me, her eyes lit up for a moment, but she quickly suppressed them and returned to her usual calm demeanor, though the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved into a smile.

Lei Dachui roared and rushed over: "Captain! You're finally back!" Lu Guang also quickly stood up, grinning.

The other team members, both old and new, all stopped what they were doing and looked over in unison, their eyes filled with curiosity, excitement, and a hint of scrutiny towards the legendary captain.

I took a look around, and they all seemed very energetic and spirited.

"Everyone assemble!" Ye Qiao shouted.

More than thirty people quickly lined up and stood in silence, with only the rustling of the mountain wind blowing through the trees.

I walked to the front of the line and looked at those young yet determined faces.

"I'm back," I said, my voice not loud, but everyone could hear me clearly. "You've probably heard a little about what happened in East China."

A slight commotion arose in the ranks, but no one spoke.

"That's not the end, it's the beginning," I continued. "Next, our work will take place in North China, throughout the entire north. We need to settle accounts one by one for how much land the Japanese have occupied and how many of our people they have killed."

I saw many people's eyes brighten, and their fists clenched quietly.

"But," I changed the subject, "ruthlessness alone isn't enough. In the future, we'll be facing not only strongholds in the mountains and pillboxes in the cities, but also much more complex situations. Our team needs to change as well."

Ye Qiao looked at me thoughtfully, while Lei Dachui scratched his head, somewhat confused.

"From today onwards," I took a deep breath and announced the decision I had been planning for a long time, "the title of 'Ghost Suppressor' ends here."

A collective gasp of surprise rose from the group, even Ye Qiao was stunned.

"Our new name," I said, looking at them and enunciating each word clearly, "is Zhenguo."

The title "Zhenguo" means to protect the country and its people, and to protect all enemies who dare to invade!

"We must be the strongest shield for this country!"

"Did you all understand?" I raised my voice.

After a brief silence.

"Understood!" More than thirty voices converged, breaking through the mountains and forests with a new and powerful momentum.