The courtyard is similar to the courtyard of a landlord's house. It is obvious that this family was once a wealthy family in the village.

The houses are also made of green bricks, and there is not a single weed in the yard. It is obvious that someone takes care of it regularly.

When Zhao Zhiguo and others came to the middle of the courtyard, more than a dozen people held torches and surrounded the courtyard.

These dozen or so people all have weapons in their hands, and these weapons are of various kinds, including homemade earth and fire blunderbuss, Sanba Gaigai, and Jin-made weapons.

There is a chair facing the entrance of the lobby. Sitting on the chair is a man in his forties, yawning.

Obviously he is what these people call Master Jiu.

Master Jiu leaned back on the chair, squinting his eyes, as if he didn't care who was coming.

The person who captured Zhao Zhiguo quickly ran to Master Jiu and reported Zhao Zhiguo's identity to Master Jiu in a low voice.

Hearing the word "Eight Road", Master Jiu obviously became more awake.

In this area, you may not know the Northwest Army or the Shanxi-Sui Army, but you must have heard the name of the Eighth Route Army.

Because in this area, there are not many troops that can defeat the Japs, but the Eighth Route Army is one of them.

Moreover, this place is not very far from the defense area where the Gao Cang First Regiment is located. Even if the news is very limited, you can still hear more or less about what happened in the First Military Division of the Eighth Route Army.

"Are you the Eighth Route Army? Why did you pass by our village?" Master Jiu looked solemn.

They had never interacted with the Eighth Route Army before, but now the Eighth Route Army sneaked into their village, and it must have a purpose.

"Passing by here, pay your respects to the pier!" Zhao Zhiguo said.

Of course he couldn't tell anyone that their chief of staff was passing by.

If it is to pay homage to the dock, it can also be regarded as giving face to the other party, making the other party think that he is still influential in this area, and even the Eighth Route Army will give him face.

"Hmph! Do you think I will believe the nonsense of a yellow-haired boy like you?" Master Jiu said.

Their village looks like an abandoned village from the outside, and no one would think that there is anyone living in the village.

"Whose armed forces are you? The Japs or the Northwest Army? Or the bandits?"

Zhao Zhiguo wanted to know who the other party was and why there was a group of people in this abandoned deserted village.

"Village Self-Defense Force!" Jiu Ye said, "Thanks to the brothers from all over the country, they think highly of me and call me Jiu Ye, and I will lead them to find a way to survive."

"Village Self-Defense Force?"

Are these people spontaneously armed? Zhao Zhiguo has some doubts.

But it is impossible for such an armed force not to involve the interests of other forces here.

"Does your Eighth Route Army also want to recruit us?" Master Jiu said.

When Master Jiu said this, Zhao Zhiguo also understood what it meant. Someone must have come to talk to them.

"Where do you want to join?" Zhao Zhiguo asked.

"Whoever joins has better conditions, we will naturally join that side."

"Is the little devil's side no exception?" Zhao Zhiguo asked.

Master Jiu suddenly became more vigilant: "We are not affiliated with your Eighth Route Army, and your Eighth Route Army should not use your rules to convince us."

"I really have no power to control you, but you are still Chinese. You should know who is responsible for your current fate, right?"

Zhao Zhiguo did not expect them to join the Eighth Route Army, but he could not let them go astray and join the Japs.

"Your Eighth Route Army's control is really lenient. Don't forget, you are in our hands now. If I deliver you to the Japanese army, the Japanese army will treat us favorably no matter what."

Although they didn't know that the man in front of them was the commander of the First Military Division, according to Zhao Zhiguo, he was the company commander.

Even if the official position is a little small, if it is given to the little devils, the little devils will definitely reward them.

"I'm here now. If you really want to hand me over to the little devil, you can tie me up now."

Zhao Zhiguo took a step forward, then stretched out his hands, asking to be bound.

Master Jiu stood up slowly. He did not expect that the guy in front of him was not afraid at all that they would hand him over to the Japanese army.

"I've heard that the people in the Eighth Route Army are full of courage. Now it seems that what I heard is true!" Master Jiu nodded, "How about you stay and join us?"

"I have no bad intention of defecting! If you don't keep me, then I will leave," Zhao Zhiguo said.

"etc!"

Master Jiu came directly to Zhao Zhiguo, holding Zhao Zhiguo's pistol in his hand.

"Could it be that you are planning to force me to stay?" Zhao Zhiguo looked at Master Jiu seriously.

"We don't have the strength to go to war with the Japs yet, and we've heard some rumors about your Eighth Route Army recently."

Recently, the First Army Division has been reporting frequent successes on the frontal battlefield, and the little devils were beaten until they cried for their fathers and mothers.

If you join the ranks of little devils at this time, you will be unhappy.

"I admire your commander Zhao Zhiguo very much. Please give him a message for me."

"Oh? What?" Zhao Zhiguo asked curiously.

"One day, I will have more soldiers than him, and then we will have a showdown on this land." Jiuye said.

"Then we'll wait and see!" Zhao Zhiguo showed a smile.

Zhao Zhiguo finally understood what this armed force was going to do. This man who became the ninth master wanted to compete with Mr. Yan.

Let’s not talk about whether the little devil will agree or not. If this armed force really has a reputation, Mr. Yan will definitely be uneasy.

For Mr. Yan, the emergence of Zhao Zhiguo in his territory is enough to give him a headache.

If a "Ninth Master" pops up, then "Ten Masters" and "Eleventh Masters" will spring up like mushrooms after a rain.

"Return this gun to you." Master Jiu reluctantly returned the Browning to Zhao Zhiguo.

Zhao Zhiguo put away his gun: "If you can't survive anymore, go to the boundary of Anyang Town. Once there, even if you join us, you can at least give your people a full meal."

"Send him out!" Master Jiu ordered.

As soon as they walked out of the gate, they met Zhu Hongsi and another soldier.

"Commander, are you okay?" Zhu Hongsi looked at Zhao Zhiguo worriedly.

"It's okay, let's go."

Zhao Zhiguo took Zhu Hongsi and two others out of the village and returned to the camp of the Chief of General Staff.

The chief of general staff and most of the soldiers have already fallen asleep. There is still a long way to go, so they naturally need to maintain their physical strength.

When setting off at dawn, the chief of general staff went with Zhao Zhiguo to inquire about the situation in his village.

"It is a militia organized by some people who are homeless or unable to live in the neighborhood," Zhao Zhiguo said.

"Where's your judgment?"

You can't just say whatever the other person says.

"Although they let me go, I think they are mothers if they have milk!" Zhao Zhiguo said.
Chapter completed!