Under One Person: One Person Goes

Chapter 30 The East is Red

"Kill Cao Ying! Seize the main camp!"

Behind Wang Yi, the people of Pucheng who picked up their guns and followed Wang Yi's steps were inspired and shouted this slogan.

From the inconsistent sound at the beginning to the deafening sound later, the sound was so huge that even the troops led by Cao Ying not far away were a little frightened.

As mentioned before, warlords like Cao Ying were not regular troops. Most of them were ruffians who gathered for money. They didn't have the courage to follow Cao Ying with guns and fight with other warlords, but they certainly had the courage to exploit the people and plunder the countryside in the name of Cao Ying, and they were very brave.

It's okay for such troops to follow behind the main force and pick up heads, but if they really want to fight for their lives with others, they will run faster than anyone else!
They would never have thought that one day they would feel scared in front of a group of unarmed civilians. Their eyes made them dare not look directly at them or pick up the guns in their hands.

Their visible fear further confirmed what Wang Yi said, and gave a shot in the arm to the people of Pucheng who were shouting slogans to build up their courage and authority.

It turns out they are really afraid!
"What are you afraid of? They are just a bunch of untouchables! They are no longer untouchables just because they have guns. Hit them hard! Kill them!"

Cao Ying looked at the frightened expressions on the faces of his soldiers around him. He was already shocked and became even more angry. While shouting, he took out his gun and randomly selected several soldiers to kill in order to boost the morale of the troops. Among them were the guards who had been diligently protecting him all this time.

The blood, the gunshots and Cao Ying's ferocity temporarily calmed the situation, making these soldiers and bandits bolder. Under Cao Ying's orders, they began to shoot at the Pucheng residents who were walking towards them under the leadership of Wang Yi.

But this time, Wang Yi didn't play with them.

The human body's magnetic field was running at full capacity, releasing an invisible force field with a radius of ten meters with Wang Yi as the center. Although he couldn't cover the entire Taoist temple in the back mountain of Longhu Mountain with one hand of the Golden Light Mantra like the centenarian old Taoist priest Zhang Zhiwei in later generations, he could protect the people of Pucheng who surrounded him, just like Li Muxuan protected the protagonist group in his later years in the modern chapter of later generations.

It’s just that Li Muxuan in his later years is not as good as Wang Yi. It’s no exaggeration to say that Wang Yi’s current cultivation is almost the same as Li Muxuan in his later years. He is even slightly better than Li Muxuan in his later years because of his own practice of authentic human body magnetic field.

In addition, the characteristics of the human body's magnetic field will not allow bullets to be blocked but not removed. And the most important point is that the most critical mortar of Cao Ying's unit was destroyed by Wang Yi early on. Now it is just Hanyang rifles, Mauser rifles, and a few Taisho Type 11 light machine guns.

The firepower of these guns is at most similar to that of a modern armed force in later generations, not counting those high-powered weapons.

This scale of firepower is indeed not enough for Wang Yi, and Cao Ying's army is not enough either.

Bullets rained down on Wang Yi, but were blocked one by one by the force field he opened. This time, Wang Yi did not fight with them. The blocked bullets spun in Wang Yi's force field, and after the force was removed, Wang Yi reapplied the force to the bullet head and shot towards the camp where Cao Ying was.

The bullet flew past, bringing with it a wailing sound.

As Wang Yi unleashed his methods, the people of Pucheng behind him finally plucked up their courage and fired at Cao Ying with their guns in varying degrees.

They have not received any systematic training. Although they know how to shoot, it is difficult for them to shoot accurately.

The two sides faced off, one side had sparse gunfire, the other side was chaotic and complicated. It looked like a fight between weaklings, but the chaotic and complicated side should have the upper hand. But the fact was, under the cover of Wang Yi, the extraordinary man, the side with sparse gunfire was suppressing the side with chaotic and complicated gunfire, making them retreat step by step.

Wang Yi focused on taking care of the machine gunners on Cao Ying's side. If anyone dared to touch those light machine guns, the bullets Wang Yi had taken would hit that side.

People died one after another. Even if they hid behind the bunker, it was useless under the kinetic energy of the warhead applied by Wang Yi.

Less than five minutes after the gunfire rang out, the machine gunners on the side of warlord Cao Ying turned off their fire, and no one dared to touch those light machine guns.

Although Wang Yi had never fought in a war, he knew that the essence of military tactics was to rely on the strong to bully the weak. The reason why the weak defeated the strong was recorded was that there were few examples, and it was worth recording them specifically so that people in later generations would not step on the pitfalls of their predecessors. Secondly, fighting was all about one's breath. Whoever lost his breath would be at a disadvantage in the war.

On Wang Yi's side, the people of Pucheng behind him had been plundered by Cao Ying's troops, and they had nothing left, even their homes. They were left with only their lives. On Cao Ying's side, everyone was a coward, a coward with a fierce appearance but a weak courage. With Wang Yi, a strange man who broke the balance of the battlefield, Cao Ying's side was already full of loopholes.

But this is not enough. If we really want to protect these civilians and enter Cao Ying's camp and engage in close combat, given the nature of these bastards, a dying counterattack will still cause many deaths here.

But with the sound of horse hooves and footsteps coming from behind Cao Ying, Wang Yi knew that everything was finally settled.
-
When Cao Ying was concentrating on commanding his soldiers to deal with the suppression from Wang Yi's side, a sound of breaking through the air was heard from behind them. Immediately afterwards, several artillery shells fell to the ground and exploded in Cao Ying's military camp, killing and injuring countless people.

This barrage of artillery fire directly stunned Cao Ying.

"Where did the gun come from?"

"Marshal! Marshal! An unknown number of troops appeared behind us, and they are coming towards us!"

"I can see it!"

Cao Ying was cursing, of course he could see it.

Because at this time the troops rushing from the rear were less than 500 meters away from his camp, and compared to the mob under his command, these troops marched in an orderly manner, just like regular troops. He had only seen such an army among Marshal Sun's direct subordinates. More importantly, Cao Ying could clearly feel that this army was different from Marshal Sun's direct subordinates, at least in terms of spirit.

But he still couldn't figure out where this army came from. He couldn't imagine that they would come from the south.

Just as he was wondering, the troops that appeared behind him had already rushed into the camp and dispersed his troops.

Faced with such a regular army, how could Cao Ying's men possibly have the ability to resist? They already had Wang Yi in front of them, and now there was another army like this one coming from behind. They had no choice but to scatter like birds and beasts, either surrender or run away.

This was a war of annihilation without any difficulty. It was so easy that even the general who was leading the troops alone was surprised. Are the Beiyang troops so weak?

Although he was confused, he still gave orders to the soldiers.

"Gather the remaining enemy troops and count the civilians' property in the camp! Also, send a group of people to put out the fire!"

"Yes!"

Next to this young general was Ma Feng, who had previously brought Zhang Yi's letter to ask for help.

He followed this army on a rapid march from the south, and watched as this army did not harm any civilians or villages along the way. This was the first time that Ma Feng had seen such a disciplined army in all his years of wandering in the martial arts world. He admired Wang Yi, who had advised his senior brother to revolt and follow the south. No wonder he was so sure that the south would win. The Beiyang faction could not defeat such an army even with the support of the British and American powers, because the advantage was never on their side.

"Mr. Ma, please tell us where your brother is to avoid accidental injury."

"My senior brother? My senior brother should not be here. If everything goes well, my senior brother is either in Pucheng now, or helping you, the general, to gather Cao Ying's remaining troops."

"Mr. Ma, you should just call me Commander Jiang. I am just following military orders this time. I am not a general."

"But you will definitely be a famous general in the future!"

"Thank you for your kind words."

The reinforcements that arrived here crushed Cao Ying's troops with lightning speed. Wang Yi's side, who was leading the people of Pucheng to fight against Cao Ying's army head-on, also felt the pressure dissipated as Cao Ying's troops were defeated.

Now that the dust has settled, Wang Yi looked at the people of Pucheng who were following him closely. They have not yet recovered from this sudden change.

"Go, go to the camp and take back what belongs to you. These reinforcements are real troops and can be trusted."

The people of Pucheng were not blind. Just by standing there and watching these reinforcements that came from nowhere and prioritized dealing with the remnants of Cao Ying's army after they broke into Cao Ying's camp instead of rushing to the camp to rob property, they knew that they were different from Cao Ying's troops. But after listening to what Wang Yi said, they were still a little skeptical, because they were really scared by these soldiers.

"Go ahead. You have to contact them eventually. Captain Yang, I'll leave them to you."

Wang Yi looked at Yang Kenan, the leader of the security team that followed him and said this. Yang Kenan nodded in response, but he quickly reacted.

"Young Master Wang, aren't you coming with us?"

"I have to go and finish something, so I won't meet them for now."

As he spoke, Wang Yi dispersed the force field, walked towards the crowd, and disappeared into the crowd.
-
Cao Ying woke up slowly from his coma. A shell had just landed near him, causing him to fall off his horse and lose consciousness. Or perhaps he didn't want to wake up and wanted to try to escape by pretending to be dead. However, he didn't expect that he would actually faint.

When he woke up again, he found that his hands and feet were tied and he was thrown not far from his original military camp.

There were bursts of voices coming from the other side. It was obvious that the reinforcements were cleaning up the battlefield and returning the property looted from the people of Pucheng in Cao Ying's camp to the people of Pucheng.

Before Cao Ying could react to who had tied him up, he saw that his son Cao Shaolin, whom he had been thinking about day and night, was also tied up.

"son!"

At this moment, Cao Ying still called Cao Shaolin, but unfortunately when Cao Shaolin looked at his father, he did not feel any joy of father-son reunion.

"Oh, you're awake. I thought you wanted to sleep a little longer. After all, it's normal for you to be sleepy as you get older."

The voice that frightened him sounded again. Cao Ying turned around and saw Wang Yi sitting on the ground, looking at him with a smile.

At this moment, Cao Ying still had some backbone. He stiffened his neck and spoke.

"Since ancient times, victors have been kings and losers have been bandits. I accept that I have fallen into your hands. You are very skilled. If you want to kill me, please do it quickly. Let us, father and son, be reunited in the underworld!"

"Oh, now you are a bit brave, but who said I have to kill you?"

Ok?
Cao Ying was stunned, but when he saw Wang Yi's playful eyes, he felt something was wrong.

Wang Yi took out the gold-plated pistol he had seized from Cao Shaolin from his pocket and put it on the ground.

"I took this from your son. I fired a lot of rounds. Now I don't know if there are any bullets in it. Your son likes to play games, so I'll play a game with you and your son. Let's bet on whether there are bullets in this gun. If there are, one of you will die. If not, I'll hand you over to that unit and let them deal with you. It's better than having you in my hands, right?"

As soon as these words came out, Cao Ying and Cao Shaolin, father and son, were stunned.

But looking at Wang Yi's playful eyes, they also knew that they had no choice. One of them would die anyway, and it would be better for them to die themselves than for their son to die. Maybe they could save their son's life and continue the family line.

Before Cao Shaolin could speak, Cao Ying answered first.

"I bet there is! Come on, shoot me! It's my fault for not raising and educating my son. Shaolin is in this situation because of me. Just kill me!"

"Are you in such a hurry to die? I bet you're not."

As he said that, Wang Yi picked up the pistol and pulled the trigger at Cao Ying.

There was the sound of an empty bullet jamming from the muzzle of the gun.

There were no bullets? He won the bet?! Cao Ying listened to this voice, as if hearing heavenly music, only Cao Shaolin looked ashen, he knew Wang Yi was playing with them, just like he played with those civilians he shot to death. Cao Ying laughed, Wang Yi also laughed, only Cao Shaolin cried.

"Haha, I don't like shooting!"

Cao Ying's smile froze. Two copper coins flew out of Wang Yi's hand and directly pierced the foreheads of Cao Ying and Cao Shaolin, father and son. He let the bodies of the father and son fall in the haystack before he took the two copper coins back into his hand.

After doing all this, he stood up and left leisurely.

As for this father and son, haha, he never thought of giving them respect, they don’t deserve it!
-
This night was quite long.

With Zhang Yi's letter, they successfully called for reinforcements from the Northern Expedition Army in the south, and defeated Cao Ying and his minions with a crushing momentum. This small-scale battle did not even need to be recorded. At most, it was just a few words written in the battle report, and it had no value at all.

But for the people of Pucheng, it is a story worth recording in the county annals.

Moreover, they also clearly saw the difference between the Northern Expedition Army and Cao Ying's warlord troops. They would not harm anyone and would help them put out fires in the city, clean up garbage, bury and deal with corpses.

These things seem to be taken for granted in later generations, but in this era, compared with the troops led by those warlords, it was a complete dimensionality reduction attack.

After witnessing the difference between the two with his own eyes, Wang Yi also understood why an 80-man force could be defeated by a 60-man force. In addition to the difference in command, there was also a difference in why the two were fighting. Wang Yi understood these principles, but understanding them was certainly not as shocking as seeing it with his own eyes.

Faced with such an army, the people of Pucheng responded with the greatest enthusiasm.

They took out the chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, rice and flour from Cao Ying's camp and cooked for the soldiers who had worked all night for the people of their city, so that they could have a bite of hot food after a night of hard work.

This is how ordinary people are. All they want is to have a place to live, three meals a day, and books for their children to read. That's enough.

If you give them these, they will do their best to repay you with their greatest enthusiasm.

In Pucheng, inside the relatively intact Tieniu Noodle House.

Wang Yi was eating the soup dumplings in the bowl. The boss Tie Niu gave priority to the noodles for the Northern Expedition Army who had been busy all night. There were some steamed buns and dumplings left that had been wrapped yesterday. Wang Yi was not picky and ordered a portion of beef dumplings, then started eating them in big mouthfuls.

At this time, Zhang Yi also came in from outside with his junior brother Ma Feng, and saw Wang Yi eating with hearty appetite at a glance.

"Brother Wang is in a good mood!"

As soon as he came in, Zhang Yi's face was full of joy.

As Wang Yi said before, everyone with a discerning eye could see that the South was going to march north, and this early deployment was just a small test. Zhang Yi was naturally regarded as a typical example of someone who was able to revolt and surrender in advance when most people were not optimistic about their northern expedition, and who also sent Cao Ying as a snack.

Besides, Zhang Yi didn't do anything evil in the first place, and most of the time he was forced to do things against his will. In addition, he did have some talent in leading troops and fighting.

In the camp, he was directly assigned to serve as a battalion commander under Captain Jiang. Zhang Yi also heard about the deeds of this soldier from his junior brother Ma Feng. He was a rare military talent with a bright future.

Although his official position changed from colonel to battalion commander, Zhang Yi was very happy.

Being a human being, who the hell wants to be a half-human, half-ghost guy?

"After working all night, you have to reward yourself. Do you have any noodles? If you have, give them a bowl too. I'll pay for it."

"Brother Wang, what are you talking about? Collecting your money? I, Tie Niu, still want to stay in Pucheng!"

The boss Tie Niu pretended to be angry, but he brought up two large bowls of beef noodles, one for Ma Feng and one for Zhang Yi. However, Zhang Yi looked at the bowl of beef noodles in front of him and felt a lot of emotion.

"I've also heard what Captain Yang told us. You were also forced to do things against your will, but you're not a bad person. This matter is over. From now on, just be a good person!"

"thanks, thanks."

Zhang Yi never thought that he would choke up because of the words of an ordinary person, but he couldn't help it.

Ma Feng looked at his senior brother who went with the flow of the times and understood what he was carrying. After a sigh, he looked at the dumplings in Wang Yi's bowl and was stunned for a moment, but then he understood.

The three of them ate in this tacit understanding until Zhang Yi started to talk.

"Brother Wang, the commander told me that the troops will be stationed in Pucheng for a while until the corresponding troops arrive. He also heard about your previous arrangements from me and my junior brother and wants to meet you. Do you want to go?"

"No, I won't go. I didn't play a big role in this. The one who made the final decision was the commander Jiang, not me."

"But without you, the current situation would not be so good. Moreover, at your age, it is better for you to join the army with me and my junior brother. You had no choice before, but now you can do great things openly. With you by my side, why worry about not achieving great things?"

Zhang Yi started to think about Wang Yi, but there was nothing he could do about it. They were all human, but their brains were so different.

But Ma Feng stopped Zhang Yi's persuasion and pointed at the beef dumplings in front of Wang Yi without leaving any trace.

Zhang Yi understood it all at once.

But Wang Yi still answered Zhang Yi's questions with a smile.

"No, if I go, I'm afraid I can't help myself."

"What can't you bear?"

"Kill someone you've always wanted to kill."

Zhang Yi was choked and didn't dare to ask any more questions.

But after thinking for a while, he couldn't help but consult Wang Yi.

"Since Brother Wang said so, I won't force it. But can you give me and my junior brother some advice? I believe that even the southerners who intend to march north are not a united front, right?"

"Brother Zhang is indeed smarter than Brother Ma Feng, and he deserves to be Brother Ma Feng's senior. It's just that he is too cautious and is not as straightforward as Brother Ma Feng. I think this is why our teacher named you Feng and Yi. Feng means advancing without retreat and moving forward courageously, so he should practice swordsmanship. Yi means a follower, who often goes with the flow and cannot help himself. Combining the two, our teacher just wants you two to help each other. He hopes that Brother Zhang, as the senior brother, can listen to Brother Ma Feng, as the junior brother, when he is indecisive."

Wang Yi was fooling his two fellow disciples like an old charlatan, but he also hit the nail on the head.

As he spoke, Wang Yi also dipped his finger in the noodle soup and wrote a name on the table.

"My suggestion is that after you get there, find out about this person, and then protect him no matter when and where! Let him have an armed force that he can mobilize! And when he has nothing, you must protect him even more! Even if you die, he must live! If you are lucky enough to see the world at peace, your future will be bright. If you are unfortunate enough to die on the battlefield, if you have descendants, as long as they don't commit evil, they will live a healthy life and bless their descendants."

Seeing Wang Yi instructing them so seriously, Zhang Yi and Ma Feng nodded to him based on their trust in Wang Yi.

On this point, Wang Yi trusts these two people. Apart from anything else, they know right from wrong. In this era, knowing right from wrong is the greatest skill.

"I know you are confused, but believe me, as long as you can see him and contact him, you will understand why I say this. If you still don't believe it, then remember that I am his student."

Zhang Yi and Ma Feng were both confused. No, aren’t you Master Quan Xing Wang Yaozu?

"I have attended his classes and read his books, but I have never met or spoken to him. But in my heart, I am his student, and I don't need the teacher to know me."

Zhang Yi and Ma Feng had never seen Wang Yi like this before.

Yearning, yearning, remembrance and excitement. It was hard for them to imagine that a young and outstanding person like Wang Yi would express such sincere emotions, and such emotions made them believe Wang Yi's words even more.

As I spoke of this, it was already daylight outside and the sun was rising from the horizon.

As Wang Yi looked at the dawn that broke through the night, his smile grew even wider.

He stood up and walked towards the door.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Ma Feng, all good things must come to an end. I'm leaving now, so you don't have to see me off. Oh, by the way, there's one more thing I need to trouble Brother Zhang with."

"But it doesn't matter!"

"Please also tell your leader that being too rigid will lead to failure. There are some things and some answers that do not need to be proven by oneself. Time will give the answers. Please remember this. I hope this can help him. Everyone, I hope that one day, we can all see peace and prosperity on this land, and the mountains and rivers will be unified. Farewell, Yi Ren Wang Yi!"

After saying what he needed to say, Wang Yi turned around and left in a casual manner.

He came to Pucheng very suddenly, and left very suddenly, without giving people any time to react or to persuade him to stay.

In just a moment, he disappeared into the crowd and from the sight of Zhang Yi and Ma Feng.

Zhang Yi and Ma Feng stood at the door of the store, looking at Wang Yi who had disappeared long ago, without saying a word for a long time.

"Strange man Wang Yi..." Zhang Yi read Wang Yi's self-introduction, and then smiled freely, "Junior brother, compared to this little brother Wang, perhaps he is the real strange man, and we are all ordinary people."

After saying that, Zhang Yi no longer hesitated. He just remembered the name Wang Yi wrote on the table and the words that he told his team leader, then wiped the water marks on the table.

As for Wang Yi, he walked on the muddy road facing the rising sun, humming a song that did not belong to this era, just like a traveler.

"The East is Red ~ The Sun is Rising ~"
-
Postscript: In 1996, a stone tablet was erected in Pucheng Park, which was incorporated into the city in the Fujian area.

The stone tablet is engraved with the county annals of the city's predecessor, Pucheng.

In May of the 14th year of the Republic of China, warlord Cao Ying and his son entered Pucheng, looted property, and intended to burn the city, burying Pucheng and its people in the fire.

There happened to be a strange man named Wang Yi passing by here. Upon hearing about this, he stepped forward and led the villagers and the Northern Expedition Army to wipe out the warlord Cao Ying outside the city. Afterwards, the strange man Wang Yi disappeared, so he is specially commemorated here.

On the stone tablet, there is a statue of a young man.

He was wearing a simple long gown and jacket, sitting at the table, eating noodles in his bowl. Next to him was a group of children, and the young man was looking at these children with a gentle expression.

(End of this chapter)