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

Straightening up, Gu Cheng coldly looked at Shen Yi and his men standing to his left and right. He first turned to Yang Song and ordered him to quickly take Gao Tianqi and the wounded brothers back to the brigade headquarters.

"Hurry to Huishantang and find Manager Bai. Tell him to fetch a doctor immediately... Find the best doctor and the best medicine, and heal Tianqi and the brothers at all costs!"

Watching them leave, Gu Cheng shouted instructions. At this moment, Mu Haisheng arrived with his guards, and his expression was extremely unpleasant upon seeing the situation.

Before he could ask, Gu Cheng waved his hand at him: "Old Mu, take the brothers and keep watch nearby—"

After saying that, he turned his cold gaze to Shen Yi and said, "Chief of Staff Shen, come with me."

The group exchanged glances, and Shen Yi looked particularly nervous, quietly following behind him.

Seeing that the distance was enough to block out the sound of their conversation, Gu Cheng stopped and first took out a cigarette.

He leisurely handed the other man a cigarette, then lit it and took a puff: "Chief of Staff Shen, you're in quite the mood. Where have you been in the middle of the night?"

Shen Yi's fingers trembled, and the cigarette between his fingers almost slipped from his grasp. He quickly composed himself and hastily explained, "Master Gu, I... I was just on my routine patrol along the Xiaoling River with my men when I heard the commotion here..."

His words were hurried and clearly showed a hint of panic, but before he could finish speaking, Gu Cheng suddenly turned around, stepped forward, and grabbed his collar tightly.

Shen Yi was pulled so hard that he staggered, his neck tightened suddenly, and his breathing became labored.

Gu Cheng's brows furrowed, his gaze fixed on him, his suppressed voice brimming with rage: "If you hadn't happened to save Tianqi and the brothers today, I would have killed you right now!"

As he spoke, he shoved the other man aside, pointing at him who was still staggering, "What do you mean by leading a patrol? You and those bastards all reek of opium and alcohol! What, are there opium dens and brothels along the Xiaoling River?"

These words struck Shen Yi like a thunderbolt, leaving him completely stunned.

He took another half step back, facing his superior who seemed possessed by a fierce god, and then he remembered those thugs who had been executed. His last bit of composure vanished completely.

"What, are you still planning to keep hiding this?!"

Gu Cheng's murderous aura surged, and his right hand suddenly reached for his waist. With a crisp "click," the Mauser pistol was instantly chambered, and the black muzzle was aimed at Shen Yi.

Shen Yi shuddered violently, the effects of the alcohol completely vanishing with fear, and he almost knelt down before Gu Cheng on the spot.

"Master Gu! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Please spare my life!"

Shen Yi panicked and blurted out the truth, "Today, my men and I have been helping with the construction at the camp site. We carried sandbags all day long and ran back and forth. Everyone is so tired that their backs ache!"

"My subordinate was momentarily confused. Feeling sorry for the brothers' hard work, and also being careless for a moment, I secretly led a few men into the city to relax and have some wine to relieve their fatigue..."

He kept his head down, not daring to look into Gu Cheng's murderous eyes. "We... we timed our return journey perfectly, and on our way back to the team, we happened to run into a group of enemies ambushing Staff Officer Gao and his men at the Xiaoling River fork in the road!"

Knowing the urgency of the situation, my subordinates led their men in a desperate charge, firing their guns to their aid, which saved Staff Officer Gao and his men!

Gu Cheng approached with a gun and realized that the kid was indeed telling the truth.

Despite the strong smell of alcohol, his military uniform did show signs of wear and tear, not from combat.

In addition, these people fought bravely and risked their lives to save Gao Tianqi and the others... Of course, to put it bluntly, if these people hadn't sneaked out to have some fun, Gao Tianqi and the others would probably be in grave danger.

Gu Cheng suppressed his anger before gritting his teeth and holstering his pistol: "You're lucky to be alive today. It's all thanks to your accidental rescue of Tianqi; your good deed outweighs your bad. If you had been even a moment later, or hadn't even passed by here, I would have killed you on the spot to uphold military law!"

Shen Yi was filled with relief at surviving the ordeal, and almost collapsed to his knees on the spot. He hurriedly said, "Thank you so much, Master Gu, for sparing our lives... I will definitely abide by military discipline from now on and never dare to act recklessly again!"

Gu Cheng's tone was cold and hard: "There's no need to rush to express gratitude for forgiveness. Right now, the casualties are heavy and the situation is chaotic. There's no time to argue about past crimes with you. Take your men and come back to the brigade headquarters with me immediately."

Shen Yi immediately straightened up: "Your subordinate obeys!"

By now, dawn had broken completely, and the morning mist shrouded the banks of the Xiaoling River, where scattered bullet casings and bloodstains were still clearly visible.

The sudden ambush just now was full of strangeness. The masked assassins acted ruthlessly and decisively, and their target was the person who delivered the order. It was obviously a carefully planned operation by the forces behind the scenes. Only by finding out all the clues could they follow the trail and find the person in charge.

Shen Yi followed closely behind Gu Cheng, his drunkenness completely gone, leaving him only with guilt and vigilance. He carefully recalled the scene of the battle just now and replied in a low voice, "Don't worry, Master Gu, I remember it clearly. There were about fifteen or sixteen assassins, all of them masked, dressed in black short-sleeved suits, and carrying both standard pistols and sharp daggers. Their movements were swift and skillful, definitely not ordinary bandits."

He licked his lips hard, carefully recalling the enemy's retreat. "We led our men to rush up and attack from both sides. Knowing that they could not win, the enemy had no will to fight. After a brief exchange, they all withdrew and retreated. Finally, they fled into the depths of the reeds and headed towards the mountains and forests in the northwest suburbs."

Gu Cheng nodded slightly, silently memorizing this information.

The terrain of the northwestern mountains and forests is complex and the dense forests make it an excellent place to hide and escape. It seems that it will not be easy to search for and surround them immediately.

He turned to look at the mixed brigade camp in the distance, where wisps of smoke were still rising. The ruins looked desolate and bleak in the morning light.

The barracks destroyed overnight, the lost food supplies, the wounded and killed brothers—each and every one of these things weighed heavily on my mind.

First, the enemy set fire to the main camp to distract the main force; then, they intercepted and cut off the transmission of orders halfway; finally, they launched a surprise attack on the camp and severely damaged the defending troops. This series of interconnected schemes by the enemy precisely exploited the loopholes in the army's lax discipline.

He would take Shen Yi back first, and after questioning him thoroughly, he would send someone to investigate secretly.

Then, he had to figure out how to settle the troops of the 11th Mixed Brigade... more than two thousand men, which was no easy task.

"Let's go." Gu Cheng pulled himself out of his thoughts. "Once we get back to the brigade headquarters, we'll immediately report and summarize these situations. At the same time, we'll arrange for manpower to set up sentries along the perimeter of the northwestern mountains to keep watch and prevent the enemy from turning back and causing trouble again. We'll discuss and deal with the rest of the matters after we've tallied up the casualties and losses."

Shen Yi responded and followed the group, not daring to utter a single idle word along the way. He knew in his heart that he had only narrowly escaped military punishment this time, but the fault of dereliction of duty was undeniable. He would never dare to be negligent or careless in his actions again.