Chapter 57: Bandits Are One Family

  On the way up the mountain, the bandit leader asked again why Dong Limao and others came to the enemy-occupied area, so Dong Limao roughly told what happened.

  "My goodness! So you're the famous Dong Lianchang!" The bandit leader shouted to the other bandits in Burmese, his expression extremely excited. All the bandits followed suit, cheering and gathering around to watch the commotion.

  Dong Li Mao couldn't understand what the bandit leader was shouting, quietly preparing his gun, thinking that this mob wanted to rob them. He turned back to ask Li Yuanyuan who was walking behind him with a smile: "What is he actually shouting?"

  "He told others that the person who is now with them is someone who can't even compare to Chiang Kai-shek, and also said that if you were to become the president, those Japanese monkeys wouldn't dare to wave their guns in front of your majesty... Haha... This bandit leader's words are really interesting, calling President Chiang 'Chiang Bald Head' and you 'American Monkey King'... Haha... I've never heard anyone call the Japanese devils 'monkeys' before..."

  "Hey, brother! Stop yelling! Cut it out! Don't yell anymore..." Dong Li Mao stepped forward to stop the bandit leader's shouting.

  The bandit leader stopped shouting, his eyes wide with excitement, saying: "Just now you called me brother, hehe... haha... did you all hear that? Captain Dong considered me a brother..." This time he was even more agitated and didn't speak in Burmese.

  Dong Li Mao was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and patted his back asking: "May I ask your honorable surname, elder brother?"

  The bandit leader, stroking his bald head, replied with a grin: "My surname is Ma, and others have given me the nickname 'Bald-headed Ma'. Originally, my head wasn't bald, but after I saw that big poster of Chiang Kai-shek at the entrance of Tengchong County, I thought to myself that I'm not inferior to him, and maybe even better-looking. If he can be president, why can't I? Haha... So I shaved my head bald, haha... Of course, compared to you, Dong Lianchang, I'm nothing special, haha..."

  Li Yuyuan burst out laughing: "Haha... I'm dying of laughter... You really look better than President Chiang, and your words are more pleasant to hear than his... What kind of god would make him the president and you a bandit? Haha..." Li Yuyuan imitated Guang Tou Ma's tone and laughed non-stop.

  Dong Li Mao was also amused by Guang Tou Ma's words: "Brother Ma..."

  "Hey! You shouldn't call me big brother, it should be the other way around." Bald Horse interrupted Dong Li Mao: "If you're willing, I'll let you take over as the leader of the Banna Mountain stronghold and sit in the commander's chair. With a big brother like you, I, Bald Horse, and my dozens of sworn brothers won't have any objections!" Bald Horse patted his chest as he spoke.

  "Is this Banna Mountain?" Dong Li Mao asked. He remembered what Xiao Sheng had said, and it seemed that they had accidentally stumbled upon something big, thanks to the help of these bandits.

  "Right, this is Banna Mountain, how about it? Big brother, come and join us in our rebellion, lead the brothers to fiercely kill those Japanese devils!" Bald-headed Ma shouted, changing his tone to address Dong Li Mao as big brother.

  "Thanks for your kindness, who knows, maybe one day I'll really have to rely on Big Brother Ma." Dong Limao thought of Taigong, what did he do after the defeat of the expeditionary army? Did he really go up the mountain and become a bandit? Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that he would be wrapped up with the bandits?

  "Big brother, you're destined for great things. A petty outlaw like me can't possibly live up to your expectations. I won't force myself on you, big brother. If in the future you suffer at the hands of those officials in the army, don't forget to come find me, Bald Horse."

  "Ma Ge, your hometown is Tengchong, why did you run here to be a mountain bandit king?" Dong Li Mao and Bald-headed Ma walked side by side on the mountain path asking.

  Baldy Ma let out a deep sigh and said:

  "It's been five years since that happened. I used to be a farmer, renting two acres of land from the local landlord Wang Fugui. My family of five barely made ends meet... That year, I and my childhood friend Hua Hua were about to get married. Oh, right, Hua Hua is my wife, you'll see her later... Just as we were preparing for our wedding a month before, Wang Fugui's eldest son, who was the head of the county security team, returned to the village and took a liking to Hua Hua, wanting her to be his concubine. He threatened that if Hua Hua's parents didn't agree, he would take back all the land they rented... That night, Wang Fugui's eldest son brought two men to Hua Hua's house to take her away. I knew about this, big brother, can you imagine a man like me swallowing such an insult? So I killed Wang Fugui's eldest son with a knife and chased away the other two, then fled with Hua Hua that night... We originally planned to go to Yangguang to seek refuge with my uncle, but who would have thought, damn it! Disaster struck again. When we arrived at Banna Mountain, we were robbed by a group of bandits. The leader was a Burmese man, and he took a liking to Hua Hua, wanting to make her his mountain fortress wife... Big brother, you can imagine that I, as a man, couldn't just stand by and watch my woman be taken away, right? That night, I snuck into the bandit leader's room, and that son of a bitch was on top of Hua Hua, trying to do his thing. Hua Hua shouted and refused, but he still raised his hand to slap her face... If you saw your own woman being ridden by another man, wouldn't you rush up and strangle him like I did? Big brother... After I killed that dog, I took his gun and fled with Hua Hua, planning to kill all the bandits on the mountain. At that time, there were only a few bandits on Banna Mountain, fewer than ten... When Hua Hua and I charged into their hideout with guns, everyone knelt down and begged for mercy. Don't laugh at me, big brother, but back then, I didn't even know how to use a gun properly. Luckily, Hua Hua was quick-witted and told me not to go find my uncle, but instead lead these people as bandits... Hehe... That's how Hua Hua and I settled down on Banna Mountain, and now we have a three-year-old son who's full of energy and lovable."

  Dong Li Mao listened to the story as if it were a tale, occasionally responding with "uh-huh" and "ah", and when Guangtou Ma finished speaking, he asked: "Brother Ma, can you lead us through the Japanese army's blockade line tonight?"

  "No problem, I'll take care of this. Recently, those Japanese monkeys seem to have run away a lot, and many checkpoints are not being guarded." said Bald Horse.

  "Did you run far? Where did you go?" Dong Li Mao asked vigilantly.

  "I don't know where they've gone, but there are definitely a lot fewer people than before."

  "Is it going back to Yangon?" Li Yuanyuan interrupted and asked.

  "No, if we withdraw from Yangguang, we will definitely pass through the road just now, but only troops are transported from Yangguang to the front, and I have never seen any transportation from the front to the back." Bald horse shook his head in response.

  "I know where they've gone, they must have taken the primitive forest route, making a detour to prepare an ambush and cut off the expeditionary army's retreat." Dong Li Mao recalled what he had read in a book: "So they started deploying troops this early!"

  "It's impossible! No one can cross that primeval forest, our intelligence department has analyzed all kinds of situations, if the Japanese army really goes through the primeval forest, at least two-thirds of non-combat casualties will be higher than the losses in direct combat with our army, and most importantly, it is not conducive to the action of their mechanized troops." Li Yuanyuan did not believe what Dong Limao said.

  Dong Li Mao knew that whatever he said was useless, the expeditionary army's march towards ultimate defeat was something his own strength could not change. No matter how capable a person was, they couldn't turn history around. Now what he had to do was think of a way to lead all his brothers out of the Japanese army's encirclement before April 28th.

  Is it possible that Taigong also realized at this time that the battle situation was unfavorable to the expeditionary army? Otherwise, how could he have survived the Songshan Battle? Is it possible that Taigong discovered the abnormal movement of the Japanese main force through this deep penetration behind enemy lines?

  Dong Li Mao did not want to think about these unverifiable broken things again. He believed that all his doubts and answers would be personally experienced by him.