Chapter Twenty-Eight: I’ll Send You on Your Way—Go Below and Kneel Before the Comrades Who Died at Baizhang Pass to Beg Their Forgiveness!-Guerra de Resistência: Estrela de Huangpu, Subjugando Li Yunlong no Início(As coisas mudaram, e as pessoas também não são mais as mesmas.)

The Great Victory at Baizhang Pass shook the entire Great Xia. With the Ma Family Army’s leader, Elder Ma, decapitated by Li Yunlong’s blade, the Ma Family Army swiftly collapsed and fractured into several disparate warlord factions. Simultaneously, the alliance between the Ma Family Army and the Blue Sky Party forces crumbled on its own. After all, with Elder Ma gone, the remaining Ma Family forces, having been thoroughly terrified by the Rainbow Army, dared not harbor any further designs on the base area. As for the other two of the Three Mas of the Northwest, they were certainly not foolish enough to avenge Elder Ma by engaging the Rainbow Army in a head-on confrontation.

Following the loss of their "ally," the Ma Family Army, Commander Hu received an extremely stern telegram from Jinling. The Old Man scolded Commander Hu mercilessly. Of course, scolding was one thing, but the aftermath still had to be managed. To clean up the mess, the Old Man personally "offered guidance" to Commander Hu and even engaged in micromanagement. Finally, the Old Man even declared that he would find a time to visit the Northwest to "thoroughly eradicate the bandit menace."

On the other side, the victory achieved by the First Column at Baizhang Pass was unprecedented. In this battle, the Ma Family Army suffered over 12,000 casualties. The Rainbow Army captured 11,638 bolt-action rifles, 36 light machine guns, 13 heavy machine guns, and 88 mortars. Additionally, there were seven pieces of heavy artillery of various models, 180,000 rounds of ammunition, 18,000 hand grenades, and 293 artillery shells. Most crucially, however, were the warhorses. Since the Ma Family Army prided itself on its cavalry, horses were indispensable. In this battle, the Rainbow Army captured 4,316 warhorses, enough to equip a formidable cavalry force. Thus, the results of this battle were immensely gratifying. The strategic impact was even greater: with the Ma Family Army broken, the remaining remnants were forced to retreat and cower in the Northwest, losing all courage to launch further offensives against the Rainbow Army or its base area. This significantly eased the immense pressure on the Rainbow Army, winning it the strategic space for further development.

After withdrawing from Baizhang Pass, Su Changqing and the First Column rested at Yang Village. On the first night after arriving, Su Changqing locked himself in his room, ordering that no one be allowed to enter. He claimed he needed to rest his body. Regarding his orders, whether it was Ding Wei, Kong Jie, or Li Yunlong, all obeyed unconditionally. Of course, Su Changqing was not actually in the room. He had no intention of remaining idle. He had locked the door simply to facilitate his upcoming actions.

"Commander, where are we going?" asked the guard accompanying Su Changqing.

"Cangnan County."

"Cangnan County?" the guard asked, stunned. "Commander, what are we going to do there?"

"To hijack someone! For now, do not call me Commander; call me 'Boss.' You and the others are bandits from Cangnan County. According to the intelligence we have, a certain individual will be leaving Cangnan County in a sedan, escorted by a local security regiment, heading toward Jinyang City. It is this person and this convoy that we are going to intercept."

For Su Changqing, a gentleman does not leave a grudge unavenged. "Follow me!"

"Yes, Boss..."

Although the guards did not know what Su Changqing was planning, their instinctive obedience led them to follow him immediately. Outside Cangnan County, everything happened exactly as the system had indicated. A black sedan moved slowly forward, followed by a transport truck packed with soldiers from the local security regiment. Using a security regiment to escort the black sedan showed that the person inside was of extraordinary importance.

"Zhang... Mister Li!" someone in the sedan said to the mysterious figure sitting in the back, who was resting with his eyes closed. Realizing the identity of the mysterious man, he quickly corrected himself. If this person’s identity were revealed, it could cause problems. Now, he only needed to deliver this man to Jinyang City to secure his own promotion and fortune.

"Brother Zhongtai, this is all thanks to you!" the mysterious man replied. "As long as I escape alive and make a name for myself within the Party, I will never treat you poorly in the future." Upon receiving this guarantee, the man called "Brother Zhongtai" beamed with joy. "Mister Li! I will rely on your patronage in the future. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west."

Watching Lin Zhongtai’s fawning expression, Mister Li felt a surge of satisfaction. Though he had lost his power and chosen betrayal, he was full of confidence in his future. He was already fantasizing about heading to Jinling immediately after leaving Jinyang. As long as he poured out all his years of experience, there would surely be a place for him in Jinling. After all, the man in Jinling dreamed of nothing more than wiping out the Rainbow Army.

Just as the two were lost in these delusions, an explosion rang out. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The violent blast made everyone's heart skip a beat. The panicked Mister Li poked his head out to see a group of bandits with their faces covered in black cloth attacking from nowhere.

"Bandits! Bandits!" Seeing the roadblock, the security regiment soldiers fell into a panic. Usually arrogant and oppressive toward the common people, they had no courage to counterattack when faced with these bandits. In particular, the bandits' marksmanship was incredibly precise; they were like sharpshooters, their Hanyang rifles acting like the scythe of death. After a brief attempt at resistance, realizing they could not win, the security regiment soldiers turned tail and fled. They were only hired for an escort job, after all; it wasn't worth their lives. The poorly trained regiment scattered instantly, leaving only the black sedan on the road. Even the driver scrambled away.

Mister Li and Lin Zhongtai were left staring at each other, gulping in terror. "Sir, if it's money you want, we'll give it to you!" Lin Zhongtai pleaded. "We will gather it immediately. Just spare us, and we will do whatever you say."

"Big brother, what now?" the guard disguised as a bandit asked cleverly.

"Who the hell said being a bandit is only about robbing money?" Su Changqing bluffed. "I am acting on behalf of heaven! Lin Zhongtai, you’ve oppressed the people, and I’ve had my eye on you for a long time. Today, I’m sending you on your way!" Without hesitation, Su Changqing raised his gun and shot Lin Zhongtai dead.

Seeing the hole in Lin Zhongtai’s head, the man known as "Mister Li" was nearly scared out of his wits. "Hero! Hero! I don't really know this man. I’m a good person, I’m a good person!"

Seeing the man groveling, Su Changqing became interested. "A good person? What kind of good person hangs out with someone like him? If you want to talk about good people, the Rainbow Army that stands up for the commoners is who I call good."

Hearing this, the man’s eyes flickered, as if he had caught a glimmer of hope. "Hero! I am a good person! I am with the Rainbow Army, really... you can check!"

Su Changqing chuckled coldly. "I certainly will." He pulled off his black mask. When the man saw Su Changqing’s face, he was paralyzed with terror. "It's you! Su Changqing, why is it you?" Realizing the situation, he stammered, "According to discipline, what you are doing is wrong. You should hand me over to the organization... you cannot use extrajudicial punishment!"

Su Changqing curled his lip. "Do you see anyone else around? Besides, I am a bandit now. A bandit! Do you understand? A bandit who kills and robs! Enough talk. I don’t believe in waiting ten years for revenge. Go on your way! Go down to the underworld and kowtow to apologize to the two thousand comrades of the First Column who died at Baizhang Pass!"

"No!"

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Gunshots echoed along the road. Su Changqing emptied his magazine and turned to leave. "Take everything of value. Blow up the car! We are bandits, and we have to look the part. It's a robbery, after all; we can't let anyone be suspicious!"

"Yes, Boss!"

The men, loyal to Su Changqing, immediately carried out his orders.