Squire is a complex concept and a complex group. Especially in China, which has more than 5,000 years of civilization accumulation, this class seems more complicated. They are not officials but have the power to govern, they are the people but are above ordinary civilians. Most of them have huge family property, and many of them also have the power of the patriarch.

In fact, until the Republic of China, China's governance was only at the county level. Further to the lower towns, the governance of towns could only rely on local gentry. Although these gentry were not formal government officials, they had the power to kill and kill the people under their rule, and they were basically like local emperors in the local area.

Of course, not all gentry bullies men and women. Most of the gentry can actually achieve general fairness and justice. After all, they are fellow villagers in the countryside, and China is a society that pays great attention to ethics. They still care about their faces, but there will inevitably be scum in the middle.

Zhou Baipi from Qiaotou Town is undoubtedly such a scum

Zhou Pipi was originally just a lost scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, and his family was not well off. However, after he was recommended by the clan to be the head of the Zhou clan last year, this guy kept using his power to embezzle the clan property, and then put a lot of money to exploit the village. In just a few decades, he accumulated a lot of wealth and tens of millions of acres of fertile land, becoming a dominant in Qiaotou Town.

That evening, after dinner, Zhou Feixie asked Changsui to hang a lantern under the eaves of the Qi Aunt's house, which means that he would spend the night at Qi Aunt's house tonight. Although Zhou Feixie is already in his seventies, the Qi Aunt's house is only eighteen years old, and is even two years younger than his granddaughter. Do you think he will do evil or not?

While rinsing his mouth, Zhou Heipi, the captain of the servant, suddenly ran in panic and shouted: "Master, no, a large group of militants of unknown origin have entered Qiaotou Town and have surrounded the Zhou family's mansion."

"What's the matter?" Zhou Baipi was calm and composed. There were few bandits who had been trying to attack the Zhou family over the years. But in the end, they all ran into blood outside the iron wall of the Zhou family's mansion. He said immediately, "This time I came here, there are some thieves who are not open-minded. Just lead people to guard the fort wall and corner tower, and I'm sorry they can't get in."

Zhou Heipi said in a trembling voice: "Master, this group of people is different from the bandits who fought Qiufeng in previous years. They don't have many people, but they are all quick guns, heavy machine guns and mortars. I guess, especially if the National Army is fighting back, it would be bad if the National Army is fighting back."

"What did you say, the National Army?" Zhou Feipi was so scared that he shivered.

After the Japanese army conquered Zhenjiang, Zhou Baipi was one of the gentry who took the lead in surrendering. According to the newspaper, he is now a hard-core traitor. If the national army fights back, can they spare themselves?

Zhou Heipi said: "Master, the national army is a regular army. We can't win, why don't we surrender?"

"Fuck, why surrender? The national army can spare you and me?" Zhou peeled and angry, and then cheered Zhou Heipi, "But you don't have to be afraid. Millions of national troops have defeated the imperial army. At most, this time, it's just a group of scattered soldiers. You can watch it first. Master, I'll call the provincial capital now and ask Taijun Aoki to send troops to rescue him."

"Hey hey hey hey, I'll go up to the fort wall and stare at it myself." Zhou Heipi responded repeatedly.

Zhou Peipi turned his head and told the eldest son to follow Zhou Laosan: "Lao San, go and call the eldest son."

Although Zhou Paipi was the first gentry in Jiangsu to defect to the Japanese, he still had no relationship with Aoki. If he wanted to bring reinforcements from the provincial capital, he had to go through his son Zhou Yaozu.

After Zhou Yaozu received the news, he ran over to report Aoki Taro overnight.

"I understand, I will deal with this matter. Zhou Sang, please go back first." Aoki seemed very cold. This guy was a pure warrior. He looked down on the Zhou family father and son who surrendered and the people from all walks of life in the provincial capital. He pushed others with his own advice and felt that the Chinese should not surrender to the enemy.

Zhou Yaozu could feel Aoki's coldness, but now his life is suddenly blocked by his son. He had to bite the bullet and continue to persuade: "Aoki Taijun, all signs indicate that the Communist guerrillas who were robbing the train and robbing the armies cannot be separated from the Kuomintang army. Maybe they are the same group. This is a rare opportunity to catch them all in one place..."

Aoki glanced at Zhou Yaozu coldly and said, "Zhou Sang, why don't you be the commander of the military police?"

"Uh, this" Zhou Yaozu looked miserable and had to swallow the second half of the words back into his stomach.

Aoki turned around and ignored him. Zhou Yaozu could only leave the military commander after he lost his soul.

In fact, Aoki also has his difficulties. The Central China Front Army Command was very angry because of the robbery of arms. He ordered Aoki to ensure the safety of the entire Shanghai-Nanjing Railway and no accidents could occur. Now almost all the military police have been dispatched to maintain the safety of the entire Shanghai-Nanjing Railway. Where can I go to mobilize troops to rescue Qiaotou Town?

If it weren't for the lack of troops, Qingmu would have led his troops to slaughter Yangzhuang long ago.

Aoki has never suffered such a great loss since he set foot on the Chinese battlefield. However, in recent days, he first lost a batch of arms, and then lost half a team. According to Aoki's temper, he wanted to lead the main force of the military police to attack Yangzhuang, and then kill all the guerrillas and the young and old Yangzhuang.

But the troops are insufficient.

In Qiaotou Town, all the guerrilla forces have been deployed.

After Zhou Baipi became rich, he did too many bad things and was very afraid of others' revenge, so he began to increase the walls of the Zhou family courtyard. Over the past few decades, the walls became fort walls and corner buildings also became bunkers. Zhou Baipi still felt unsafe, so he bought and demolished the surrounding houses by clever means, and the Zhou family courtyard completely became a locked fortress group.

At this moment, there were torches on the fort walls of the Zhou family courtyard, as bright as daylight, and there were always people with live ammunition from the servants, and at least hundreds of people were there.

Looking at the fort walls made of blue bricks in the Zhou family courtyard, He Keqi couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Xu Shijiu seemed very calm. Anyway, he decided to help, so he simply helped the whole thing. After using the telescope for a while, Xu Shijiu said to He Keqi: "Captain He, the servants on the fort wall are all harsh and ruthless. This battle is not difficult. A mm-caliber rifle bullet and a mortar shell are enough to solve the problem.

"What did you say?" He Keqi couldn't believe his ears.

The walls of the Zhou family's mansion are strong, with bunkers in a row, and more than a hundred servants are almost guarding. In his eyes, He Keqi is definitely a tough bone to crack. Even with heavy machine guns and mortars, he dare not say that he will take them down, but Xu Shijiu said that an mm-caliber rifle bullet and a mortar shell are enough to solve the problem.

The guerrillas Yu Bu also looked at each other. Is this guy a little too crazy?

Xu Shijiu didn't explain much, but said to Gao Shenxing: "Shenxing, have you seen the guy with a box cannon? He should be the captain of these servants, so I'll order him first."

"Okay." Gao Shenxing agreed and raised his modified rifle.

After a while, Zhou Heipi, who heard the gunshot of "Bingge", was walking back and forth on the fort wall, constantly cheering his servants, fell into a pool of blood. Bullets shot into his eyebrows, lifting the back of his head. The red and white brain particles were all over the floor behind him, leaving only half of the skull cavity.

The servants guarding the fort wall were frightened and quickly put out the torch and hid in the corner building.

Looking at the lights coming out of the shooting hole of the corner tower, Xu Shijiu smiled and whispered: "Come on the cannon."

A guerrilla had already brought the mm-caliber mortar over. Xu Shijiu took the cannon and carried it directly on his shoulder. He Keqi and the guerrilla artillery soldiers suddenly lit up. Xu Shijiu was trying to show his shoulder-mounted mortar straight shot straight shot skill, and then they all held their breath.

The distance and shooting angle had just been measured. Xu Shijiu first asked the people behind him to dodge, and then asked an artillery to load shells into the cannon barrel, then fired the cannon barrel... Then, with a loud sound, a ball of fire dragged a long tail flame toward the corner tower a hundred meters away.

Then the northeast corner building of the Zhou family compound was bombarded. In the dazzling firelight, countless broken bricks and tiles were flying all over the sky, and the figures of servants were rolling in the flying waves. When the firelight was annihilated, the entire northeast corner building had already collapsed and fell down. The thin brick wall could not withstand the direct fire of the mortar.

He Keqi was stunned. Can a mortar be used like this?

The five artillery soldiers were excited and wanted to carry the cannon immediately and take a shot.

Xu Shijiu wiped the smoke that was sprayed on his face and said to He Keqi: "Captain He, you can send someone to come over now and let the servants in the fort line up to surrender.

"Captain, I'll go." Yin Shangwen volunteered to stand up.

He Keqi reminded: "Shangwen, you told the servants on the wall of the fort that our Communist guerrillas never kill innocent people. These servants are also poor people who are bullied by the Zhou family. As long as they put down their guns, they will no longer help the evil and make accomplices for the tiger, we will not blame them. If we continue to resist stubbornly, we will kill them."

Xu Shijiu added: "I also want to tell them, don't think it's okay to hide in the bunker. If they hide in the bunker, we will blow the entire Zhou family compound into a pile of rubble with one shot. You might as well tell them that Captain He robbed the train last time and robbed ten cannons plus a thousand shells."

Yin Shangwen agreed and went there excitedly.

The servants in the fort were obviously scared. When they saw Yin Shangwen walking to the gate alone, no one dared to shoot. Yin Shangwen negotiated with the gate for a moment, and the heavy door opened from the inside. Then the servants held up their rifles and walked out dejectedly.

He Keqi couldn't help but look at Xu Shijiu again, his eyes a little complicated.
Chapter completed!