Chapter 49: Su Changqing > Li Yunlong > God Almighty

July 7, 1937!

Mount Wutai Base Area.

"Commander, Commander!"

"News from Peiping! Those little Japanese devils can no longer hold themselves back."

"Using the pretext of a missing soldier, they have launched an attack on Peiping in our great nation of Daxia."

Su Changqing, still caught in his slumber, was awakened by his alumnus, Song.

Throwing a light summer robe over his shoulders, Su Changqing lit a kerosene lamp inside the room.

By the dim, yellowish glow of the kerosene lamp, Su Changqing read through the telegram dispatched from Peiping.

Indeed!

Nothing had changed; the little devils were following history's established track.

Once again using the excuse of a missing soldier, they had initiated a full-scale invasion of Daxia.

Su Changqing let out a sigh.

He walked toward the door, greeted by the rhythmic chirping of cicadas echoing across the Mount Wutai base area.

Yet, Su Changqing's gaze was exceptionally sharp.

That resolute, profound gaze seemed capable of piercing through human hearts.

Capable of spanning the vast currents of history.

Everything had finally arrived.

This time, things would undoubtedly be different.

Su Changqing clenched his fists tightly, exerting so much pressure that the veins on the back of his hands stood out prominently.

"Commander!"

"What is the matter with you?" asked his alumnus Song, a graduate of Whampoa.

"Nothing!"

"Junior, I believe I must return to Yan'an to see the headquarters leadership."

"If I am not mistaken, another cooperation between the two parties is imminent."

"Before that happens."

"I must also prepare the comrades psychologically."

The grievances between the Red Army and the Nationalist Party could never be explained simply in a few words.

Previously, they had fought to the death, harboring a sea of blood and deep-seated hatred.

Yet now!

They were forced to cooperate once again, and even be reorganized into the Nationalist Party's military.

To strip off the uniforms they had worn for so long, and replace them with the uniforms of the Nationalist Party's army, topped with caps bearing the "Blue Sky and White Sun" emblem.

For the veterans of the Red Army, this was an exceedingly difficult pill to swallow.

To say the least.

The Northwest Iron Triangle of Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Kong Jie would find all of this exceptionally hard to accept.

In the television series *Drawing Sword*, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Kong Jie caused a great deal of trouble precisely because of changing into the new uniforms.

It was only after a severe reprimand from the veteran division commander that they finally settled down.

Now!

At this critical juncture, these three fellows would undoubtedly stir up trouble.

...

"Old Ding, have you heard? The little devils are attacking Peiping."

"Those bastards really made their move."

"Looks like we're going to have a proper go at those eastern little devils very soon!"

Li Yunlong said, cracking melon seeds as he looked toward Ding Wei.

"Ha, Li Yunlong!"

"You think you're the only one with quick access to news?"

"As soon as things went down yesterday, my guard dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night."

"There's fierce fighting over at the Lugou Bridge; the soldiers of our Daxia nation are no cowards."

Kong Jie leaned sideways in his chair, his brows furrowed tightly.

Clearly, he harbored some worries about the Japanese devils launching a full-scale invasion of Daxia.

After all, no matter how vast Daxia was, it remained an agricultural country at its core.

And the little devils?

Airplanes, heavy artillery, tanks, and even aircraft carriers...

They had everything.

It wasn't that Kong Jie was showing cowardice before the battle.

It was simply that once this war dragged on, four hundred million fellow countrymen of Daxia would likely suffer terribly once again.

"What are you two blindly worrying about?"

"When the sky falls, the tall guys will hold it up anyway."

"I heard one of the leaders at the headquarters personally led a delegation to negotiate with Nanjing."

"After months of bickering, there was no progress."

"During this period, however, a breakthrough has been achieved."

"Now that the gunfire of the little devils has sounded, the negotiations are most likely going to succeed."

Ding Wei's strategic vision was still sharper than that of Li Yunlong and Kong Jie.

Through the analysis and judgment of these events, he had already more or less guessed how the situation would unfold.

"Old Li, Old Kong, do you know what this means?"

Ding Wei kept cracking melon seeds, intentionally withholding the punchline.

"I say, Old Ding, where did you pick up this stinky habit?"

"We've been comrades for so many years, and you're still playing coy with me and Old Kong?"

"Spit it out, damn it!"

Li Yunlong's fiery temper flared up instantly.

"Once the negotiations succeed, our Red Army will inevitably be incorporated into the Nationalist Party's army."

"A country can only have one nominal backbone."

"By then, you, me, and Old Kong will probably become colleagues with those white-dog soldiers who chased us across twenty thousand *li*."

"You, me, and Old Kong will likely have to put on the Nationalist Party's uniforms and wear those caps with the 'Blue Sky and White Sun' emblem."

Hearing Ding Wei say this, Li Yunlong sprang up instantly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, its fur standing on end.

"No way! Absolutely not!"

"Damn it, so many of my brothers died at the hands of those white dogs."

"So many comrades, so many battle brothers!"

"Now you want me to put on the skin of those white dogs? There is no way in hell."

"Even if you kill me, Li Yunlong, even if you execute me by firing squad."

"I, Li Yunlong, will never wear the skin of those white dogs."

Li Yunlong was a man of deep passion and sentiment, having fought against the Nationalist Party's army for so many years.

Countless comrades had died in battle.

For a veteran like Li Yunlong, what he loathed most was the very skin of the Nationalist Party's army.

To make him wear this "skin" felt to him like a betrayal of his battle brothers and his comrades. Naturally, this was something Li Yunlong could never accept.

"Old Ding!"

"Old Kong, if you bastards dare to put on the skin of those white dogs for me."

"I'll shoot you both first and break off all ties!"

Roared at by Li Yunlong, Kong Jie's temper flared up instantly as well.

"Li Yunlong!"

"Who the hell are you looking down on?"

"You're the only one who values loyalty?"

"Weren't so many of my battle brothers also killed by those lackeys wearing Nationalist Party uniforms?"

"You think I'd be willing to wear the skin of those white dogs?"

"Do you take me, Old Kong, for some unfeeling, unrighteous wretch who would betray brotherly bonds for personal glory?"

Having secured Kong Jie's stance, Li Yunlong turned his gaze to Ding Wei. "Old Ding, what's your opinion?"

"What opinion could I have?"

"What uniform we wear, what cap we put on—I'm comfortable wearing the Red Army uniform."

"Fighting the little devils is satisfying and puts fire in my belly."

"It's not like you can only fight little devils by wearing the white dogs' uniforms."

"To hell with changing uniforms! I just love the military uniform on my back."

"Hahaha, right, right, right! The three of us just love the uniforms we're wearing."

"Even if the Jade Emperor himself came down, he couldn't make me take off this uniform."

The Northwest Iron Triangle looked at one another and burst into hearty laughter.

At that very moment!

With a loud bang, the door was suddenly kicked open by Su Changqing.

"Li Yunlong!"

"Ding Wei!"

"Kong Jie!"

Seeing that it was actually Su Changqing who had arrived, Li Yunlong's expression shifted immediately.

He put on a smiling face and said, "Oh, Commander!"

"What kind of wind blew you in here?"