At a street corner not far away, Yang Yuting watched in silence.
Two solemn-faced guards stood behind him.
He took in the standoff below, and yet the corner of his mouth curved in a barely perceptible smile.
"Commander-in-Chief, Battalion Commander Zhang... he's being far too impulsive. If a shot goes off by accident, I'm afraid..." one of the guards behind him said worriedly.
Yang Yuting spoke unhurriedly.
"Impulsive?"
"I'd say he's struck exactly the right note."
A calculating glint flickered in his eyes.
"Sometimes, a fist works better than reason. Our Battalion Commander Zhang has taught everyone a lesson today. Let those little devils see that the Feng Army isn't made of clay, and that our people aren't theirs to bully."
"The bigger this gets, the more face the Japanese lose. If they dare to make a move, all the better. The Feng Army has been holding back its anger for so long—it's time we let some of it out."
Yang Yuting understood the situation perfectly.
Zhang Xueming's outburst looked reckless, but in truth, he had shoved the Feng Army's hardline stance right in the Japanese Army's face.
Yang Yuting had no intention of stopping him. In fact, he was already figuring out how to maximize the benefits of the situation.
Just then, a hurried series of footsteps rang out.
A squad of Japanese soldiers, surrounding a short, stocky officer, charged over in a menacing rush.
The man was Matsui Shigeki.
He spotted the three mangled heaps of flesh on the ground at once, and his face turned purple with rage.
"Baka!"
He roared, then launched into a furious tirade in Japanese at the officers facing him.
Zhang Xueming couldn't understand a word of that foreign tongue. It just sounded grating.
He raised his hand and fired at the flagstones by Matsui Shigeki's feet.
Bang!
Stone chips flew.
Matsui Shigeki flinched, swallowing the rest of his words.
"Clatter!"
The Feng Army soldiers behind Zhang Xueming followed his lead, raising their rifles in unison and firing into the sky in a show of force.
The coordinated gunshots reverberated so loudly that the whole street seemed to hum.
Now it was the Japanese Army's turn to stand there dumbfounded.
When had they ever seen a Chinese army act with such brazen arrogance?
Matsui Shigeki's expression shifted again and again. At last, he realized these people were serious.
He drew a deep breath, forced down his anger, and shouted in clumsy Chinese, "Mr. Zhang! You, know what you are doing? You are provoking conflict between our two countries!"
Zhang Xueming picked at his ear, looking impatient.
"Quit feeding me this useless crap."
He pointed his gun at Watanabe, the reporter beside them, who was nearly pissing himself.
"If you want to know what happened, ask him."
"Ask your Japanese reporter whether his men struck first or mine did."
Matsui Shigeki immediately turned his gaze on Watanabe.
Watanabe shuddered all over. Under Matsui Shigeki's murderous stare, he stammered out what had happened.
With every sentence, Matsui Shigeki's expression grew darker.
By the time Watanabe finished, he had nothing left to say.
They were in the wrong.
But he couldn't admit it.
How could the Great Imperial Japanese Army apologize to the Chinese?
His eyes darted about as he tried to smooth things over. "Mr. Zhang, they were only a few farmers. Their lives are not worth much. It isn't worth damaging relations between our countries over something so trivial..."
He hadn't finished speaking when a chill swept over him.
Zhang Xueming's gaze was cold enough to freeze a man stiff.
"What did you say?"
"Say that again."
"Farmers' lives aren't worth much?"
Those words finally set Zhang Xueming off.
He whipped around and gave Chu Shixin another order, each word seeming to grind out from between his teeth.
"Chu Shixin!"
"I told you to chop them up and feed them to the dogs. What the hell are you standing there for?"
"Yes, sir!"
Chu Shixin jolted, and this time he didn't hesitate at all. He shouted for his men to go find something to use.
Matsui Shigeki was thoroughly enraged. His hand instinctively reached for the holster at his waist.
"General, you mustn't!"
His adjutant clamped down hard on his hand and shook his head desperately.
If they opened fire here, not one man in his company would make it out alive today!
At that hair-trigger moment, a gentle voice rang out.
"Oh, dear, gentlemen, gentlemen, let's talk this out. There's no need to reach for knives and guns, is there?"
Yang Yuting walked over.
First, he gave Zhang Xueming a look. Then he smiled broadly and cupped his hands toward Matsui Shigeki.
"General Matsui, it's been a long time. I trust you've been well."
Matsui Shigeki's brow furrowed even more when he saw Yang Yuting.
He knew this smiling tiger was harder to deal with than that hotheaded fool, Zhang Xueming.
"Commander-in-Chief Yang," he said coldly. "Your battalion commander is behaving far too tyrannically!"
"Tyrannically?" Yang Yuting replied with a chuckle. "I'd say your soldiers were the ones who broke the rules first. We made an agreement long ago: the Feng Army would suppress bandits in Nanzhen, and your army would not interfere. But now you've not only interfered, you've bullied Chinese civilians as well. How do you explain that?"
Yang Yuting's tone suddenly sharpened.
"General Matsui, I don't care what excuse you have. I demand that you withdraw every brigade stationed near Nanzhen immediately! Otherwise, if another clash like this occurs, you'll bear the consequences!"
Matsui Shigeki's pupils contracted sharply.
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