Chapter 28: The Military Procurement Officer

  The two of them walked and chatted, leaving their unpleasantness behind.

  "Right, old brother, in the cave, you said that Er Gou had saved my life before, but I really can't remember it. What exactly happened?" Dong Li Mao really wanted to know how Wang Jia Gui had saved Tai Ye Ye.

  "It seems that during those five days you were unconscious, you really forgot everything from before. This might be a good thing for you, some things are better off forgotten. Zhu Yongsheng shook his head and sighed, then continued: "If it wasn't for Er Tiao, you wouldn't have met such a great woman as your sister-in-law. It was an encounter battle with the devils... At that time, you were the deputy company commander, after the company commander died in battle, you took over command, and didn't sleep for a whole day and night. We fought over ten intense battles with the devils, half of our brothers died, and most of the remaining ones were heavily injured. It was your quick decision to have you and Er Tiao cover us while the rest retreated... When we saw you, it was Er Tiao carrying you back, covered in blood..."

  All the way, Zhu Yongsheng talked a lot about Tai Gong's past, including how Tai Gong and his wife met and got married.

  Dong Li Mao listened quietly, as if listening to a story. After walking for over an hour and climbing a mountain, they stood halfway up the slope, where they could see a village of several hundred households at the foot of the mountain.

  The village is located in a valley surrounded by high mountains on all sides, with the village hidden among the dense banyan trees, forming a strip along a river. On the left bank of the river, or opposite the village, a highway was built, and the entire village looks like a paradise on earth, without any signs of war or smoke.

  "No, did we go the wrong way? Why can't I see the military supply station?" In front of Dong Li Mao's eyes, not only was there no car, but it didn't even look like this place had been bombed.

  "It shouldn't be wrong, having walked so many roads, this is the only fake one I've seen," said Zhu Yongsheng.

  "Never mind if it's a military supply station, let the brothers go to the mountain stronghold to rest for a while. If there are cars passing by at night, we'll hitchhike to the military department," said Dong Li Mao.

  Thirteen people came down from the mountain to the highway, only to realize that the road heading east towards Donggua had to pass through a tunnel. In fact, it wasn't even a real tunnel, just a large cave. At the entrance of the cave, there was a military roadblock. It was then that Dong Li Mao suddenly realized that the military supply depot was actually located inside the cave, which is why it couldn't be seen from the mountain. This place hadn't been bombed because it was surrounded by mountains on all sides, making it impossible for planes to fly low, or perhaps they just couldn't see the hideout from high altitude.

  "Halt! Which unit are you from?" A junior officer at the roadblock saw Dong Li Mao and his group approaching, letting the soldiers in the machine gun emplacements made of piled stones on both sides of the mountain cave take aim, then stuck out his head to ask loudly.

  "We are from the Fifth Army's Garrison Brigade Special Operations Company!" Zhu Yongsheng replied.

  "Halt! Don't move from where you are! Let your superiors come forward! No weapons allowed!" the junior officer guarding the roadblock ordered.

  Dong Li Mao handed the rifle in his hand to Hu San, pulled out a pistol from the gun holster on his waist and handed it to Li Yuanyuan. He said calmly to the people behind him: "It seems that the person in charge of this military supply station is not an ordinary person, no wonder the devils' bombing didn't hit them."

  "I'm here!" Dong Li Mao raised his hands above his head and walked towards the roadblock: "Who's in charge here?"

  "Less nonsense! Slow down!" The lieutenant guarding the road barrier shouted vigilantly.

  Dong Li Mao slowly approached the roadblock and looked towards the mountain cave. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen.

  The lieutenant stepped forward: "Bring out your documents!" with a gun in his hand.

  Dong Li Mao pulled out the letter of appointment written by Du Yuming from his pocket and handed it to him: "I and my brothers are going to report to the military department."

  The lieutenant took the letter of appointment, glanced at it, then put away his gun and stood at attention: "Sorry, sir! I offended you just now." Then he dropped his hand and stared blankly at Dong Li Mao.

  "Do you know me?" Dong Li Mao thought that this young lieutenant was also an acquaintance of Tai Gong's, so he asked in this way.

  "Know... no... don't know... I heard the driver who came to the military supply station last night mention your great name, sir." The lieutenant replied with some tension, as if he had seen a star.

  "May I ask if it's possible for my brother to come over?" Dong Li Mao was pleased with himself, his reputation preceded him, but he still spoke politely.

  "Officer, please!" The lieutenant stepped aside and waved his hand towards the people behind Dong Li Mao, shouting: "You can come over now!"

  "I want to see your highest commander here," Dong Li Mao said to the lieutenant.

  "Yes! Sir! I'll take you to see the station master right away." The lieutenant stood at attention again.

  As he walked into the cave about fifty meters, what Dong Li Mao saw with his own eyes made him somewhat unbelievable. Inside, in addition to a venue of four or five basketball courts, there were also many wide forks, all of which were filled with military vehicles, and the guards stood almost every ten meters, standing at the fork mouth with real guns.

  "Colonel, this tunnel is called the Gem Tunnel. It's an artificial cave left over from thousands of years ago when people mined for rubies. Isn't it magnificent? Those little devils would probably break their heads trying to figure out where the lifeline's pulse is hidden." The lieutenant colonel introduced with some pride.

  "How many military trucks can be parked in this cave if it's fully loaded?" Dong Li Mao asked, looking at the horse lanterns hanging from each vehicle head, his eyes a bit dizzy.

  "This has never been counted, but once it stopped over 300 vehicles and still couldn't fill up the cave!"

  "What a wonderful place! Unfortunately, heaven helps those who help themselves!" Dong Li Mao exclaimed involuntarily.

  "Sir, this way, please. The station master is inside." The lieutenant stopped in front of a cave entrance with a wooden sign that read "Jade Pit Military Supply Depot".

  Dong Li Mao glanced inside, the walls of the cave were hung with lanterns, and many people were busy, using ammunition boxes as tables and stools. He saw a fat man sitting at a bamboo desk in the back, with two military officers standing on either side, seemingly looking at something on the table.

  Dong Li Mao and others followed Shao Wei through the ammunition boxes on both sides of the cave wall, walking to the desk in front of the fattest one inside.

  "Report to the post commander! Captain Dong of the 5th Army Special Operations Company and his brothers request an audience!" The lieutenant stood at attention, saluting loudly.

  The fat officer sitting behind the desk raised his head and gave Dong Limao a fright.

  Isn't this Tu Hongbo, nicknamed 'Winter Melon' by his high school classmates?!

  "Gourd!" Dong Li Mao exclaimed.

  "Are you Dong Jiacheng, who led a few wounded soldiers to annihilate the ambushers in the mountain pass?" The fat officer asked with a flicker of his small eyes.

  "Winter melon! Have you also crossed over? I am Li Mao." Dong Li Mao rushed to the front of the table, his hands pressed on the table, he had already forgotten that he was now Taigong's identity.

  "What nonsense are you talking about! I'm asking if you're Dong Jiacheng, the one who annihilated the enemy at Shan Ao!" The fat officer stood up from his chair, raised his voice and asked with his hands on his hips.

  Zhu Yongsheng hastily walked forward, accompanied by a smiling face: "Commander, our company commander was seriously injured in the East Gourd Battle and woke up with amnesia, often saying some nonsense..."

  Dong Li Mao seemed to have come back to his senses and took over Zhu Yong Sheng's words, asking: "Are you the stationmaster here?"

  "That's right, I'm the boss here." The fat officer walked out from behind the desk and paced back and forth beside Dong Li Mao, sizing him up.

  Dong Li Mao found it amusing that he would run into Tu Hongbo, this "winter melon", here. The nickname for the commander of the Third Battalion was Short Winter Melon, and compared to the man in front of him, it was indeed a fitting name, as he was half a head shorter than a winter melon.

  "Look at you, not even twenty years old, and yet you're a national army anti-Japanese hero! You're truly amazing! Amazing!" The fat officer stood in front of Dong Li Mao with his legs apart, stretching out his thick right hand and raising his thumb to praise Dong Li Mao: "The drivers who arrived here at dawn today mentioned your great name, Dong Jia Cheng, and they were all beaming with joy, haha... I thought you should be a god like Erlang Shen with three heads and six arms, but it turns out you're just an ordinary person!"

  Dong Li Mao saw that the fat officer's rank was Captain, and he thought to himself: "This kid used to be my lackey, but now he's a quartermaster and even a captain, on an equal footing with me."

  "I'm afraid Erlang Shen descended to the mortal world, either being shot by the little devil's 38 large cover with countless blood holes or being blown into powder by airplanes and cannons! " Dong Limao laughed and said: "Who do you think is more powerful, him or me?"

  (I've got it! Won't let you down!)