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

Time slowly passed.

That evening, He Dajun closed the account book, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

Most of the names on the ledger have been crossed out. Each crossed-out name means that a person has disappeared from this world.

Zhao Bingwen, Cai Mazi, and those who openly urged people to surrender in teahouses, led the Japanese to search their neighbors, and proactively tipped off the Japanese—they all died in different ways.

Some were strangled to death at their own doorsteps, some were stabbed to death in their beds, and some simply disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead.

But no matter how they died, everyone had a note on their chest.

The words on the notes got shorter and shorter. At first, they said "Those who advocate the subjugation of the country shall die" and "Those who lead the way shall die," but later they simply wrote two words: "Traitors."

Later on, they stopped writing "traitor" altogether and just drew an X.

One fork, one life. Simple and clear.

Bai Ling pushed open the door and came in, carrying a half-basin of hot water.

She placed the basin of water on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), soaked and wrung out a towel, and handed it to He Dajun.

He Dajun took the towel and wiped his face; the towel was covered in ash.

"I got news from Lao Yang." Bai Ling sat down next to him and said in a low voice, "The Japanese camp is in complete chaos right now. Some people say that war god isn't human, he's a ghost. Some people say he can fly and jump over walls without leaving a footprint."

He Dajun draped the towel over the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and smiled.

That's exactly the effect he wanted. Killing one Japanese soldier would scare several others nearby.

Killing one traitor terrifies everyone who wants to become a traitor.

But the threat on the note—to kill one citizen of the capital and ten people from the Sakura Kingdom—terrified not just a few people, but everyone.

Because everyone knows they have family, and everyone knows their family isn't in Beijing, but in Japan.

Since that war god could kill more than a thousand elite soldiers by himself outside the city, who would dare not believe him when he said he was going to Japan to kill people?

"There's something else," Bai Ling said, lowering her voice even further. "Old Yang said that recently several puppet army squad leaders have been privately inquiring about the Loyal Righteous Army. They're asking how many people there are, where their headquarters is, and whether they can defect."

He Dajun opened his eyes.

This is a new situation.

The fact that the puppet troops wanted to join the Loyal Army shows that the Japanese control over the puppet troops was weakening, and also shows that the Loyal Army's reputation had become so great that the puppet troops felt that "following the Japanese has no future."

But he doesn't plan to take these people in, at least not now.

The puppet army was a mixed bag, including poor people forced into service and thugs who genuinely served the Japanese. Until a proper screening process was possible, none of them could be accepted.

"Have Old Yang pass on the message: the Loyal Army doesn't accept new recruits, but they remember everything everyone has done. Those who helped the Japanese, you'd better watch yourselves."

Bai Ling nodded.

She understood what He Dajun meant by those words.

The next morning, He Dajun went to work at the steel rolling mill as usual, leaning on his wooden cane.

When he reached the factory gate, he noticed a detail: there was an extra Japanese guard who usually stood behind the sandbag fortifications.

Three guards, carrying Type 38 rifles with bayonets already fixed to the barrels, had expressions on their faces even more tense than usual.

One of them saw He Dajun approaching and instinctively took a half-step back, his fingers clenching and unclenching the gun barrel.

He Dajun nodded at him with that standard sycophantic smile on his face, but inwardly he was sneering.

The mass killing spree worked.

Japanese soldiers are human beings too; they also have families.

They are not afraid of dying on the battlefield, but they are afraid of their family members dying at their doorstep.

This fear is more penetrating than any artillery shell; it can seep into a person's bones, keeping them awake at night and constantly looking behind them while on guard duty during the day.

He Dajun walked into the factory area with a wooden stick and stood at the entrance of Workshop 2 for a while.

The workers were moving the newly delivered parts, and Suzuki stood beside them, holding a folder and making notes.

Everything seemed normal, but He Dajun noticed that Suzuki's complexion was not good.

This sergeant, who usually has a stern face, had dark circles under his eyes today, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept all night.

He Dajun walked over and greeted Suzuki, who simply nodded without saying a word. He Dajun didn't ask any further questions and continued walking into the workshop, leaning on his wooden cane.

In the afternoon, Sasaki convened an emergency meeting with all officers.

He Dajun didn't know the content of the meeting, but after the meeting, Suzuki came to him and said that Major Sasaki wanted him to go to his office.

He Dajun, leaning on a wooden stick, walked into the office building and knocked on the door of Sasaki's office.

Sasaki sat behind the table, the ashtray in front of him overflowing again, the air thick with the smell of smoke.

His military uniform collar was buttoned up neatly, a rare sight, but his expression was more tired than ever.

"He Dajun," Sasaki said without any pleasantries, "how's the security situation being maintained by your puppet troops lately?"

He Dajun bowed, his face switching to that standard respectful expression: "Reporting to the officer, the puppet troops have recently increased patrols. They've searched several alleys near Nanluoguxiang, but haven't found any new resistance fighters. However..."

He paused for a moment, as if hesitating whether or not to speak.

"But what?"

"However, some of my brothers in the puppet army told me that there have been some rumors circulating in the barracks recently. Some people say that the Loyal Army can scale walls and leap across rooftops, and some people say that the leader of the Loyal Army came from outside the Great Wall and has killed hundreds of Imperial Army soldiers. These rumors are spreading very widely."

Sasaki's expression immediately changed; this was what he feared most.

At this point, He Dajun's expression changed from hesitation to worry. "Some brothers started to get scared after hearing this, saying they didn't want to be puppet soldiers anymore and wanted to go home and farm. Sir, if these rumors aren't suppressed in time, they might affect the morale of the puppet army."

Sasaki remained silent for a long time.

He knew what the "rumors" He Dajun was talking about were, and he also knew where these "rumors" came from.

Many soldiers saw the more than a thousand corpses brought back from the battle at the camp outside the city.

"He Dajun," Sasaki finally spoke, his voice low but his tone heavy, "Your puppet troops have been performing well lately. The military has approved the expansion plan, and starting next month, the puppet troops will be officially expanded to three thousand men. Weapons and funding will be allocated this week. Do a good job; the Imperial Army will not mistreat loyal men."

He Dajun bowed deeply, repeatedly saying "Thank you, sir," his face filled with gratitude, but in his heart he was calculating how much of a role these three thousand armed men could play.

Sasaki expanded his forces at this time not because He Dajun was doing a good job, but because the Japanese army was short of manpower.

The battle outside the city resulted in the loss of over a thousand elite troops, and the Shanghai-Nanjing front continues to erode manpower. The number of troops stationed in Beijing has dropped to its lowest point in history.

The Japanese needed more puppet troops to fill the gaps, even if these puppet troops had almost no combat power, they could at least be used to stand guard and keep watch.