Chapter 97

The fat man threw the pair of cloth shoes that Song Ming cherished in front of him. He needed every member of this team to understand cooperation, so that if they really encountered something unexpected, they wouldn't scatter like a bunch of sand, waiting to be finished off.

"None of you want to train anymore, right? Fine. Mr. Sai, don't just stand there, lead your men to do a thousand push-ups." The fat man's face was expressionless. Although these men had drawn their guns to protect him, they hadn't done so with his permission, which made him very unhappy. If it weren't for their willingness to fight the Eighth Route Army for him, he would have made them do two thousand push-ups, tiring them out one by one.

Sai Laohu and the others were collectively stunned. After a moment, they began to grumble. Any bandit who had been punished with push-ups looked extremely distressed, which made Sai Laohu even more irritable. He roared, "Follow me, and if anyone dares to do less, I'll shoot him!"

There was a series of clicks as the rifles were chambered, and then one by one, the bandits lay on the ground, following Sai Laohu, Yang Yun, and Jia Daode, the three leaders, to start doing push-ups.

The fat man's lips curled into a smile. Fine, they were still obedient.

He then scanned the scene and saw that Chen Gan and the others were starting to put away their guns, while Zhao Laosan was standing there like a wooden stick, holding a Mauser pistol. The fat man showed a mocking expression and said to the nearby Monkey, "Did you prepare the shovels and hoes I asked you to prepare last night?"

"Sir, rest assured, they are all ready. Including me, there are a total of eight," Monkey hurriedly replied.

"Go and get them," the fat man instructed, then turned to look at Colonel Ma and the Eighth Route Army, as well as Song Ming, who had picked up the shoes and returned to the Eighth Route Army formation. He smiled slightly and walked over.

Colonel Ma's face was not good. He thought, "Damn, I considered you a brother, but you, fat man, are even messing with me. That's not right."

Xiao Li and Lei Dabiao also looked troubled. They had dared to draw their guns against these bandits when the fat man was on their side, but now that the fat man was with the bandits, the contrast was too much for them to bear.

Zhao Laosan and the driver were fussing over Song Ming, wiping the dirt off his face, while Chen Gan was shaking his head with a bitter smile. This fat man was really nasty. He had almost provoked a battle just now, which made Chen Gan realize that this fat man would never play by the rules. To him, all rules were meant to be broken.

"Hey, are you all gritting your teeth at me, Fat Master?" The fat man smiled at the group of Eighth Route Army soldiers and said a sentence that made everyone extremely angry: "Fat Master advises you all to quit this mission quickly. What just happened was just a small farce, boring. This is just the beginning. From now on, you will face all kinds of threats to your life over the next two days. As long as you say 'I quit,' you can save your life!"

The reason the fat man deliberately caused this incident was to make them hate him. Over the next two days, he would make everyone here face the threat of death.

"Our mission, if anyone is to quit, it should be you," Zhao Laosan spoke up again.

The fat man laughed, not bothering to respond. As long as this guy didn't cry and beg for mercy later, it would be fine.

Monkey came to the training ground with a pile of hoes and shovels, placed the tools on the ground, and then walked over. The fat man said to him, "Go to my room and get the hand grenades from those little devils."

Monkey nodded and returned to the attic, where the fat man's bedroom was.

"Anyone who wants to learn some survival skills from Fat Master, step forward. Each of you take a tool and come get it." The fat man glanced at Colonel Ma and the others, then lit a cigarette, letting them choose.

Colonel Ma was the first to walk over, picked up a shovel, and then walked to the fat man, asking, "Brother, I'm not saying this to criticize you, but what are you up to today?"

The fat man handed a cigarette to Colonel Ma, lit it for him, and then asked a seemingly nonsensical question, "Old Ma, are you afraid of death?"

"Of course, how could I not be? I'm not afraid of you laughing, but every time I hear the Japanese artillery on the battlefield, my legs start to tremble. After a round of artillery, seeing my comrades' blood and flesh, some of them not even complete, I think, maybe one day I'll be even worse, and my wife won't even be able to collect my remains. Tell me, am I not afraid?" Colonel Ma took a deep drag on his cigarette and continued, "But, who made me a soldier? Dying on the battlefield is the natural order of things, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"You see things clearly," the fat man smiled, turning his head to see that Chen Gan and the others had each taken a tool, though Zhao Laosan was reluctant and finally took a hoe.

The fat man threw away the cigarette butt. At this moment, Monkey also brought the hand grenades he had modified overnight, then joined the formation. The fat man then took out a blueprint from his pocket and said to everyone, "Today's training is to dig trenches to protect against artillery. I drew the trench diagram last night. It has the dimensions and shape. Take a look, and if you understand, go to the other side of the training ground to dig the trenches. I'll check later."

He handed the blueprint to Colonel Ma, and Chen Gan and the others hurriedly gathered around to study it.

At this moment, a small leader led a few brothers, dragging the Type 92 infantry gun onto the training ground. Both the bandits doing push-ups and the Eighth Route Army studying the blueprint looked over.

Everyone was curious, what were these bandits dragging the gun out for? And they brought a box of shells? Who were they going to bombard?

The fat man threw a pack of cigarettes to the small leader. There were plenty of cigarettes from the last battle, and the bandit camp had taken most of them, enough for him to distribute them widely.

The small leader led his men to set up the Type 92 infantry gun, while the fat man lay in a rocking chair in the hall of the attic, watching the bandits do push-ups and Colonel Ma and Chen Gan discuss the trenches.

"Colonel Ma, in my opinion, these trenches are really good. Although they take more time to build, they have two layers. The upper layer has an inclined soil layer, so when the Japanese throw hand grenades, they will roll down to the lower layer's anti-grenade pit. As long as the soldiers spot the grenade and lie down, they can be protected. The lower layer's anti-grenade pit can also protect against most of the Japanese mountain guns and field guns, which have a small firing arc."

"Yes, that's good, but it's hard to protect against Japanese mortars and grenade launchers," Colonel Ma nodded, then suddenly thought of something, looked up at the Type 92 infantry gun set up in front of the attic, shivered, and his pupils dilated. He exclaimed, "No good, Brother, are you going to use real artillery to bombard us to test the trench's ability to protect against artillery?"