Republic of China, 1922: Rise from the Post-Zhili-Fengtian War

Gu Cheng rarely swore: because he thought Tang Yulin or someone else might stop them from taking the person away, but he never expected them to be so audacious as to dare to confront each other with guns.

At this moment, Zhang Tingshu's face turned pale with anger: "Of course! Others may not know, but I do... That Han Chengzhu is a bearded man who followed Tang Yulin in burning, killing, and looting. He doesn't take military regulations seriously at all, and keeps saying that it's their 11th Mixed Brigade's territory, and it's not our place to interfere in interrogating people."

As soon as we arrived at the territory, he immediately ordered his men to load their guns and point their machine guns at us, saying that if we dared to take another step, he would open fire!

Later, when Tang Yulin arrived, he took advantage of his seniority, constantly calling me his nephew to pressure me, and even referring to the victimized people as "troublemakers," clearly showing his bias towards his subordinates. He also brought up my father's position as the assistant commander, using the old rules of the Fengtian Army to control me.

He got angrier and angrier as he spoke. "What's most infuriating is that he absolutely refuses to hand over the person today. He just keeps making excuses, saying that the matter hasn't been investigated and that he'll send the person over the next day."

Who doesn't know what he's up to? He's definitely planning to shirk responsibility, or collude with those veterans to overturn the verdict, or if all else fails, secretly move and hide the body, and finally fabricate a reason for suicide out of guilt to easily cover up the bloodshed of these three lives!

I argued with him, but he instead threatened to shoot anyone who dared to force their way into the area. The other side outnumbered us, had more guns, and had set up a defensive line. Fearing unnecessary casualties from a forced conflict, I had no choice but to lead my men back.

Gu Cheng's face darkened completely, his eyes blazing with barely suppressed rage, and he uncharacteristically swore again: "You bastard!"

He had expected Tang Yulin to be protective of his own and resort to excuses to delay, but he never anticipated that the other party would be so audacious—

In broad daylight, he condoned his subordinates' disregard for human life. Afterwards, not only did he refuse to submit to the law and hand over the perpetrators, but he also dared to openly confront them with guns and obstruct law enforcement with force. Where did he have any regard for military discipline or the military order of the Fengtian Military Command?

Moreover, he had clearly promised that he could handle things at the South Residence, but when he actually sent people to ask for the person, he actually pulled this stunt and acted like a rogue.

Seeing Gu Cheng lose his temper, Mu Haisheng, who was standing to the side, also gritted his teeth and said: "This 11th Mixed Brigade is really lawless! Just because they are the commander-in-chief's sworn brothers and veterans of the Fengtian Army, they dare to disregard military regulations, protect criminals, and even fight against friendly forces with guns."

Master Gu, I think we need to take a tougher approach! Just give the order...we'll immediately gather our men, storm the camp, tie them up, and bring them back—

They dare to act recklessly, but we're not pushovers either; if things really escalate, reason and popular support are on our side, and even if the commander-in-chief holds us accountable, we won't be blamed!

In fact, right after Zhang Tingxu finished recounting what had happened, Gu Cheng had a fleeting thought of leading his men to fight the 11th Mixed Brigade to the death.

But he knew very well that with the current strength of the 105th Regiment, fighting against the 11th Mixed Brigade would be a complete waste.

Furthermore, since Tang Yulin dared to make such a show of force, he must have already prepared a countermeasure. If they launch a strong attack, whether they can win is another matter. Tang Yulin is very likely to take advantage of the situation and go to the commander-in-chief to complain.

Although he had Feng Delin's backing in the Fengtian Army, Feng's power was waning, and the Marshal might not side with him—the best outcome would most likely be a draw.

Since things have escalated to this point, assigning equal blame to both sides would be tantamount to Tang Yulin winning.

Thinking of this, the anger surging in Gu Cheng's heart gradually subsided.

As if noticing the change in his expression, Zhang Tingxu took a deep breath to suppress his anger: "Jingchuan, do you have a plan? Should I have my father go see the Marshal?"

Gu Cheng shook his head: "It's not appropriate to always trouble the assistant commander... This matter definitely needs to be reported to the commander, but you have to think about it. Jinzhou is our own territory. If someone challenges us and causes problems, and we hand the problem over to the commander, he will think we are incompetent!"

Zhang Tingshu seemed to understand something, and quickly nodded: "Yes, before we came, my father also said: Jinzhou is a mixed bag of people, and everyone is eyeing it; but if we can break through from this place, we will definitely have a bright future!"

Gu Cheng nodded: "That's right, we have to do a great job this time! The Marshal will definitely look at us with new eyes and entrust us with important responsibilities!"

After saying this, he turned his gaze to the Jinzhou city defense map spread out on the table. "If he's playing tricks, then let's play along."

…………

The night was as dark as ink, and the area outside the temporary encampment of the 11th Mixed Brigade was so quiet that only the howling of the wind could be heard.

Gu Cheng, Mu Haisheng, and a group of soldiers, dressed in black, crouched in the shadow of the low wall, their eyes fixed on the rear entrance of the camp like hawks.

There were sandbags piled up there, machine guns mounted, and several soldiers on duty constantly patrolling.

However, that place is opposite to Jinzhou City... If Tang Yulin intends to move those 17 bastards, he will definitely take advantage of the night to go that way.

"Mr. Gu, do you think Tang Yulin will really get rid of those people?"

Mu Haisheng whispered in his ear, "If nothing happens, then all our work will have been for nothing."

Gu Cheng smiled, revealing a row of white teeth in the pitch-black environment: "It's better to work for nothing than to wait at the regimental headquarters for him to make trouble."

However, I'm sure he'll send them away first, and then say they all committed suicide out of guilt and were given a proper burial. We can't exactly dig up the ground to examine the bodies.

Before Tang Yulin came to Jinzhou, he was reprimanded and a junior had caught him red-handed. If he admitted to this, he would be the "first blow" in the military reform, and he would lose all face among the elders.

Therefore, he will definitely clean up these stains.

Mu Haisheng was still somewhat skeptical, but just then, a sentry trotted back: "Reporting, Commander, there's movement..."

Everyone's spirits lifted, and they all looked up at the same time—

The wooden barricades at the entrance were lifted aside, and then a group of men in civilian clothes quickly withdrew.

"one two three……"

Gu Cheng squinted and roughly counted about thirty people. Besides the men in civilian clothes, there were more than ten soldiers with guns on their shoulders, guarding one side with vigilant expressions. They were obviously escorting someone.

Just as Mu Haisheng was about to raise his hand to signal his personal guards to rush forward, Gu Cheng grabbed his shoulder with such force that he was startled.

"No rush." ​​Gu Cheng's voice was as cold as ice, his gaze still fixed on the group. "They're too close to the camp. If we make a move, the people inside will hear the commotion and immediately bring reinforcements. We're outnumbered; there's no need for a direct confrontation! Let's go, we'll follow them—"

Mu Haisheng's eyes lit up: "Great! Master Gu! There's a grove ahead, we can take a shortcut and ambush these bastards!"

The more than thirty guards immediately concealed their presence and, under the cover of night, led by Mu Haisheng, who was familiar with the terrain, quickly made their way to the ambush site they had planned, via the country paths.