Courtyard House: I only wiped out 30,000 Japanese pirates

Sasaki nodded in satisfaction. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket, spread it out on his lap, wrote a few lines on it with a pen, and then stamped it with a small red stamp that he always carried with him.

He handed the paper to He Dajun: "This is a temporary appointment letter; the official appointment will be issued by the military. You're on leave today to recover from your injury. Your leg can't be delayed any longer. However, your mission cannot be delayed."

"I need you to quickly assemble a reliable puppet army. The total number should be no less than five hundred. The military will provide you with weapons and funding. You find the location yourself, and you choose the men yourself."

He Dajun took the paper with both hands, looked down and saw that it was a temporary appointment letter. The words on it were freshly written, and the ink had slightly smudged on the paper.

The red stamp was neatly applied; it was Sasaki's personal seal. He carefully folded the paper, placed it in his bosom, and nestled it securely against his heart.

Then he bent down, his voice choked with emotion, "Thank you, Sir! My life, He Dajun's life, was given to me by you. I will serve the Imperial Army with utmost loyalty! Once my leg heals, the first thing I will do is to get the troops back in order!"

Sasaki waved his hand, indicating that he could get off the bus.

The jeep had already stopped at the courtyard where the four Daxia resistance fighters had been interrogated. He Dajun pushed open the car door, got out of the car with a wooden stick, and bowed again to Sasaki's back at the factory gate.

Sasaki didn't turn around and went inside the house.

Soon, a Japanese soldier came out and prepared to take He Dajun back to the courtyard house on a motorcycle.

This time, not only was a three-wheeled motorcycle changed, but the driver was also changed.

This was a young Japanese soldier, who looked like he had just enlisted. His face hadn't yet developed the fierce lines typical of veteran soldiers, and there was a light layer of downy hair at the corner of his mouth.

Sitting in the back of the truck, He Dajun felt the letter of appointment on his chest and wondered how to turn the puppet army into a resistance army.

This is quite difficult.

The three-wheeled motorcycle bumped along the street, which was just as desolate as when he had arrived that morning; even the number of people walking briskly along the walls had decreased significantly. After last night's explosion and search, the people were even more afraid to go out.

When we got back to the courtyard house, it was only a little past four in the afternoon.

The three-wheeled motorcycle stopped at the entrance of the alley. He Dajun climbed out of the truck bed and thanked the driver profusely.

The driver turned the motorcycle around expressionlessly and sputtered away. He Dajun stood at the alley entrance, waiting for the motorcycle's exhaust fumes to dissipate before leaning on a wooden cane and limping into the courtyard.

He paused before entering the courtyard house. With no one around, he redeemed half a pound of pork belly from the system, wrapped it in oil paper, and tucked it into his pocket.

The oil paper package still retained the slight warmth unique to items redeemed through the system, and the aroma of meat wafted out from the cracks in the paper. He Dajun sniffed and then pushed open the gate of the courtyard house.

Thin wisps of smoke rose from the chimney of He Daqing's house.

He Dajun didn't go back to his own room; he knocked directly on He Daqing's door. The simple-minded father was lying face down on the kang (heated brick bed). The whip marks on his back had scabbed over after being treated with medicine, and he looked much more energetic than yesterday; at least his voice wasn't hoarse anymore.

He Liu was squatting in front of the stove, tending the fire, while Sha Zhu squatted next to her, scratching the ground with a twig.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and the family of three looked up at the same time.

He Liu was the first to stand up, almost dropping the fire tongs in her hand: "Dajun? Why are you back so early today?"

He Dajun walked in, leaning on a wooden stick, and sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

He pulled out the temporary appointment letter from his pocket, saying he had been promoted, and then took out an oil paper package and handed it to He Liu: "Sister-in-law, this is half a catty of pork awarded by the Grand Marshal. Take it and cook it; have a good meal tonight."

He Liu took the oil paper package, opened it, and sure enough, it contained half a pound of pork belly, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, glistening with oil.

Her eyes widened, and she kept muttering, "What should I do? What should I do?" as she hurried towards the kitchen.

Sha Zhu sprang to his feet and ran after her, shouting, "Meat! Meat! Mother! I want to eat meat!"

He Liu turned around and gently patted him on the head, but her face was full of smiles.

He Daqing lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked at this scene with his head turned to the side, a smile appearing on his face.

He looked at He Dajun, raised his hand and patted him twice on the knee: "Dajun, thanks to you this time. If it weren't for you speaking up for the Japanese, I'm afraid I would be dead in that room by now."

He Dajun waved his hand: "Brother, we're family, no need for formalities. By the way, Sasaki-sama asked me to form a puppet army."

He Daqing's brows furrowed immediately, but the way he furrowed was different from before.

In the past, when he heard that He Dajun was close to the Japanese, he felt fear and worry. Now that he heard that He Dajun was going to be promoted again, he felt a mix of emotions, but more than anything, he felt a sense of relief that he couldn't quite explain.

The fact that one's younger brother is well-liked by the Japanese soldiers might actually be a good thing in these chaotic times of war.

He was silent for a moment before saying, "Then be careful. Managing so many people is no small matter."

He Dajun nodded. At this moment, Bai Ling came over from the side room.

When He Dajun saw her, he stood up, walked over, pulled her aside, and briefly explained the situation in a low voice.

Bai Ling's eyes widened upon hearing this, but she quickly regained her composure.

Looking at He Dajun, she opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she just nodded slightly.

She knew she shouldn't ask too many questions at this point, but she had already made a judgment in her mind: He Dajun was probably forced into it.

On the other side, He Liu was busy in the kitchen.

She couldn't bear to eat the entire half-pound of meat in one meal, so she cut off a third of it and stewed it with cabbage in a big pot. She rubbed the remaining meat with salt and hung it on a hook above the stove to eat slowly.

The aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen, filling the entire house.

Sha Zhu squatted by the stove with a small bowl in his hand, peeking into the pot every now and then, his saliva almost dripping into the bowl.

Just then, He Dajun had a "ding" in his mind.

[Mission to rescue He Daqing is complete.]

[Mission Reward: Detailed locations of ten tunnels in Beijing.]

[Please check your message, host.]

Immediately afterwards, a detailed map of Beijing unfolded in He Dajun's mind.

The map is marked with ten flashing dots, distributed throughout the city, from the upper district to the outer district, and from the north to the south. Next to each dot is a label indicating the location, direction, depth, and exit of the tunnel.

Some are hidden doors in abandoned ancient wells, and others are steps under the base of Buddha statues in dilapidated temples.

The funniest thing is that the Baolin Pharmacy that Bai Ling and I went to before actually had an underground tunnel.

This is the closest tunnel to the courtyard house.

He Dajun closed his eyes and leaned against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), memorizing each of these locations.

With ten tunnels, plus the super tunnel that the system rewarded him with under the bed, he now had eleven hiding places and escape routes underground in Beijing.

Then, as if remembering something, he took Bai Ling back to his room. After they closed the door, he said, "Bai Ling, can you find your comrades? I have some important information that I want to pass on through you."

Bai Ling hesitated for a moment before replying, "Currently, there's only one person we can contact, and that's Old Yang, the manager of Baolin Pharmacy."

When Lao Yang was mentioned, Bai Ling frowned slightly.

The last time she went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for He Daqing, Lao Yang had already been targeted by the Japanese, who had even sent Liu Shengyun to infiltrate the pharmacy. Contacting him now was very dangerous. But he was currently the only comrade she could contact; the organization had been severely damaged, and all other contacts had already been relocated.

Then he asked, "Why are you asking this? What kind of information is it?"

He Dajun paused for a moment, organized his thoughts, and lowered his voice to the lowest possible level: "Today in the jeep, Sasaki inadvertently revealed that after the Japanese occupied Beijing, their next step was to attack Shanghai and threaten Nanjing."

"And it's very likely that war will break out soon. I hope you can contact the major parties as soon as possible and have them relay the message to the Kuomintang so that we can make preparations early."

Bai Ling's expression changed, and she looked very serious.

The old city of Beijing was the cultural center of the Xia Dynasty, Shanghai was the economic center, and Jingzhou was the political center.

That's actually quite possible.