HLnovel Chapter 1: Early Days in the Republic of China
Chapter 1: Early Days in the Republic of China
parallel world.
"Don't be afraid, everyone! Fire! Fire!"
"Da, da, da." The sound of bullets shooting accompanied the roar.
Hearing what sounded like firecrackers outside, Tang Ping groggily opened his eyes. Then he saw people dressed in Republican-era clothing holding guns, leaning against a carriage and firing at the outside.
The young man leading the group was firing a light machine gun, bullets gushing from the barrel.
"Wasn't I working overtime at the company? How did I end up here? Am I dreaming?" Tang Ping thought to himself as he slapped himself twice.
"That really hurts, damn it, this isn't a dream." Tang Ping instantly snapped back to reality. Hearing the gunshots around him, Tang Ping quickly lay down; survival was the priority.
Then, a jumble of memories that didn't belong to her flooded in.
Tang Ping's current body also bears the surname Tang, and his original name was Tang Jiye, meaning to inherit the family business. He was the son of a landlord in a small county town in Jinzhong, Shanxi. When he was young, his family suffered a misfortune, and his parents passed away, leaving only Tang Jiye, the only son, to guard the large family business.
Fortunately, under the care of the old steward of the Tang family over the years, Tang Jiye grew up smoothly, lived up to the expectations of his former employer, and successfully inherited the family business.
Two years ago, Tang Jiye, just 16 years old, went to Beiping (Beijing) to study with his follower, Tang Xiaohu, the son of the old steward. During his studies in Beiping, Tang Jiye was influenced by the anti-Japanese national salvation movement and resolved to serve his country. Not only that, he changed his name to Tang Weiguo. Tang Weiguo felt that studying couldn't save China, so he decided to emulate the ancient Ban Chao, abandoning his studies to join the army.
Unfortunately, Tang Jiye was too young and the army wouldn't accept him. So Tang Weiguo got stubborn and, in a fit of anger, dragged Tang Xiaohu back to their hometown in Shanxi from Beiping, deciding to go it alone.
"Serving in the military is the same no matter where you are in the military."
In order to successfully recruit soldiers, Tang Weiguo begged the old steward for help. Initially, the old steward disagreed with Tang Weiguo's plan. Tang Weiguo was the only son of the Tang family; if something happened to him, how could he face his deceased master?
But the old steward couldn't resist Tang Weiguo's desperate pleas, so he had no choice but to use his money to create a small militia unit for Tang Weiguo, along with a few dozen Hanyang rifles.
When Tang Weiguo took a look at the guns, he saw that they were all obsolete and had very few bullets left; they weren't even as good as the equipment of his own security team. "This won't do," he thought, "what's the difference between this and a fire poker?"
So, Tang Weiguo pestered the old steward again, asking him to help buy a batch of weapons and equipment. The old steward, exasperated by Tang Weiguo's nagging, thought, "It's your inherited money anyway, do whatever you want with it, work yourself to death, destroy it."
The old steward once again used his financial power to buy a set of regular battalion weapons and equipment from a distant relative.
Upon hearing that they had acquired the equipment, Tang Weiguo immediately dispatched dozens of guards from the Tang family to retrieve the weapons. However, while they were shouting and singing on the road, they were suddenly stopped by twenty bandits who demanded a toll.
How could Tang Weiguo's great cause of resisting the Japanese be stopped by a few mere bandits? So Tang Weiguo picked up his gun and fired. The bandits, seeing that he dared to fight back, immediately engaged in a battle.
During the battle, Tang Weiguo was knocked unconscious by a grenade thrown by bandits. Then, Tang Ping transmigrated and took over his body.
Having learned everything, Tang Weiguo couldn't help but admire the original owner of this body. Wouldn't it have been better to be a rich young master?
After a while, the gunfire subsided and gradually stopped. Tang Ping, or rather Tang Weiguo at this moment, slowly raised his head and, through the gaps in the carriage, saw the bandits who had failed to gain any advantage and were leaving.
"Boss, boss, are you alright?" the leading youth called out when he saw Tang Weiguo lying on the ground. Tang Weiguo couldn't admit that he was faking his death, so he replied, "I was knocked unconscious by a grenade."
"Tiger, how are you? Are the brothers alright?" Tang Weiguo asked the man in front of him. Through the original owner's memories, this man was called Tang Xiaohu, the old steward's son, about the same age as him, strong and burly, with a fierce personality, the kind of person who would really go for it if something happened, so Tang Weiguo simply called him Tiger.
In this battle, Tang Xiaohu fought the fiercest, single-handedly holding a machine gun and keeping the bandits from raising their heads.
"Boss, it's alright now. The bandits left two corpses and ran away. Three of us brothers were bitten by bullets, but the rest of us are fine," Tang Xiaohu shouted.
"It's good that the brothers are all alright. Clean up the battlefield, thoroughly search the bandits, and bury them in the nearby woods."
Tang Xiaohu directed the guards to clean up the battlefield and re-secure the purchased weapons. To prevent the bandits from calling for their teammates, Tang Weiguo urged everyone to hurry on their way.
"Tiger, what day is it now?" Tang Weiguo asked, sitting in the carriage.
"Boss, are you alright? Did the explosion damage your head? It's the seventh day of the third month of the twenty-fifth year of the Republic of China." Tang Xiaohu looked astonished. What happened to his boss?
"I'm fine. I just wanted to test you to see if you could remember it. You should focus on driving." Tang Weiguo replied to Tang Xiaohu casually, but his thoughts were already churning.
"In the 25th year of the Republic of China, let me do the math... Holy crap, I've actually traveled back to 1936! That's why the Japanese launched the Marco Polo Bridge Incident the following year, beginning their full-scale invasion of China."
"Now that I've traveled through time, I have the opportunity to do something that young people in later generations all want to do: give the Japanese a good beating."
"With less than a year until the full-scale war of resistance, there's barely enough time to prepare in advance. I need to build my own army," Tang Weiguo thought to himself.
Just as Tang Weiguo was planning for the future, he heard Tang Xiaohu shout, "Boss, we're finally home." Tang Weiguo looked up and saw a village in front of him.
The village ahead is Tangjia Town, located west of the county seat, backed by the Taihang Mountains. A winding river flows in front of the town. As dusk approaches, wisps of smoke rise from the town, creating an exceptionally peaceful and serene atmosphere.
Seeing the scene before him, Tang Weiguo became even more determined to prevent this beautiful land from being invaded by the Japanese invaders.
Tang Weiguo and his party crossed the river in their carriage and arrived at the Tang family's gate. The Tang family's house was small, consisting of only one courtyard. The old steward was already waiting for Tang Weiguo and his party at the gate.
Seeing Tang Weiguo and his group return safely, the old housekeeper finally felt relieved.
"Master, come in and rest. Tang Dazhuang, quickly put the things in the warehouse through the back door and keep a close watch on them," the old steward said to one of the people beside him.
"Butler, I'll go right away."
“Boss, Brother Hu, you two take a rest. Leave the rest to me,” Da Zhuang said.
"Uncle Tang, some of my brothers are injured. I'll arrange for them to go to the clinic first, but I'll need your help to bring them back later," Tang Weiguo said.
"Oh, what happened?" the old butler asked with a worried expression.
"Uncle Tang, let's go back and talk. I'm starving now."
"We're ready to open now. I've had the kitchen prepare all the food so we can eat and chat at the same time."
At the dinner table, Tang Weiguo recounted how he and his companions fought bravely against the bandits they encountered on the road. When Tang Xiaohu mentioned that Tang Weiguo had been knocked unconscious by the bomb, the old butler, who had just gotten up, said to the outside, "Thank you for protecting us, old master. Thank you for protecting us, old master."
That night, Tang Weiguo had a long dream in which he killed the Japanese soldiers on the battlefield, making them run for their lives. He couldn't help but laugh.