Chapter 1063: Yue Monkey Armed Forces
Several crackling bonfires provided the main light and heat, and also reflected several distorted and excited faces.
Several militants, dressed in a mix of military camouflage uniforms and ordinary civilian clothes, all of which were extremely dirty, were gathered together, laughing and shouting loudly. Most of them were holding AK-series assault rifles in varying states of maintenance.
Surrounded by them were two ragged, shivering young women, who looked like local survivors.
Their faces were covered with traces of tears and fear. One of them had blood at the corner of her mouth. She was being roughly pulled by a short and strong leader with a fat face.
Some of the other militants around were wiping their weapons, some were playing cards and gambling, and some were watching all this with numb eyes, as if they had long been accustomed to it.
Deeper in the commercial city, there is an "Arsenal" converted from a large shop, which is also the real core of this commercial city!
The scene inside the arsenal was completely different from the chaos and barbarity outside. Here, there was a suffocating "order" that was forcibly distorted by violence.
The air was turbid, a mixture of the pungent smell of chemicals, the fishy smell of metal friction, the choking smoke from burning low-quality coal, and the strong stench of sweat and despair.
The huge space was simply divided into several areas, including the ammunition reloading area, the weapons modification area...
In the ammunition reloading area, dozens of survivors with haggard faces and black fingers (both men and women, and even half-grown children) sat in front of broken tables and chairs, repeating dangerous movements like machines.
In front of them was a pile of discarded bullet casings collected from various places.
Some people were carefully cleaning the primer grooves of the cartridge cases with simple tools, some were using rough scales and spoons to weigh and fill a gray-black powder; and others were using wooden hammers and molds to press polished scrap metal blocks into rough bullet heads.
The entire process had no safety measures and any carelessness could cause an explosion. Although everyone's face was filled with fear and numb fatigue, they did not dare to pause for even a moment.
Just because there are monkey militants holding whips watching them, and if they see anyone slowing down or deliberately slacking off, they will start with 20 lashes...
Under the condition of long-term malnutrition leading to physical weakness, anyone who was hit by 20 strokes would lose half his life...
Next to the ammunition reloading area is the weapons modification area, which has slightly higher technical requirements and is managed by several captives who were mechanics before the end of the world.
They operated crude vises, hand drills, and grinders, sharpening bayonets, splicing gun barrels, and even trying to imitate AK series stocks and handguards using steel pipes and wood.
There were a lot of metal scraps and scrapped parts scattered on the ground, and around them were piled many long and short guns that had been repaired or were waiting to be repaired, mainly AK series and various hunting rifles and homemade guns.
The Vietnamese monkey militants who were monitoring this place were obviously more concerned and would pick up the repaired guns from time to time to check them.
Each of the above two areas was monitored by at least five armed Vietnamese monkey militants. They did not participate in the labor, but just patrolled indifferently with their guns, spewing vicious curses from time to time:
"L? l?n Trung Qu?c cho má! Con mong ??i qu?c gia c?a các ng??i s? t?i c?u các ng??i sao?" (Damn you Zhou Bang pig, are you still thinking your country will come to save you?)
“?? má mày, ??ng co l??i!” (CNM, don’t be lazy)
...
Once someone is found to be lazy or produces something unqualified, they will be whipped or kicked at the very least, or dragged out and punished in public at the worst, to serve as a warning to others.
A dying man, covered in wounds, was tied to a rusty iron pole, clearly an example of "disobedience".
This is one of the main reasons why the Vietnamese militants chose to cross the border, because compared to their homeland, Zhou Bang is full of "gold" for them!
More importantly, compared to their home country where the control over civilian armed forces is weak, when they come to Zhou State where the gun ban is unprecedentedly strong, they only need to be careful to avoid the opponent's regular army. This group of stray dogs who escaped from the country can easily live like local tyrants!
In addition, as long as they are willing to put in the effort, they can easily find equipment and supplies that are difficult to find in the Vietnamese mainland...
...
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM——
Sudden--
An extremely dull yet rhythmic roar came from the distant north, penetrating the dilapidated walls of the trading city and drowning out the crackling of campfires and the noise of human voices.
At first, no one cared.
I wondered if someone was making some big noise again, or if it was thunder in the distance?
But soon, the sound not only did not disappear, but became more intense and clearer!
“All, all, all—!!!”
“Boom boom boom boom!!!”
This time, there was the unmistakable, continuous sound of artillery explosions! This noise was far more intense than when they were usually fighting or hunting!
At this point, the monkeys realized something was wrong, and the arrogant laughter in the commercial city stopped abruptly.
The little leader who was pulling the woman suddenly stopped and listened. The flesh on his face twitched, and his drunken excitement was quickly replaced by surprise and suspicion:
“?m thanh gi v?y?!” (What’s that sound?!)
The people playing cards put down their cards, the people wiping their weapons raised their heads, and all the militants subconsciously tightened their guns and looked vigilantly in the north in the direction where the sound came from.
"Ti?ng sung! Ti?ng pháo! R?t l?n!" (Gunshots! Cannonshots! Very loud!) A pointed-eared Vietnamese monkey militant shouted with an uncertain fear on his face.
"Where are you from? From the north? From the railway?" another person asked nervously.
"Could it be that Ma Laosan's gang got some serious stuff? They want to come after us?" someone speculated, but then denied it.
Impossible! Those losers wouldn’t make such a noise!
“Nghe h?a l?c này… ch?t ti?t… kh?ng gi?ng ki?u ?ánh nh? l? chut nào…” (Listening to the power… Damn… it doesn’t seem like a small fight…)
The short and strong little leader pushed away the woman beside him and his face became solemn. He had been on the border for many years and was more sensitive to the sound of gunfire than his men.
The continuous and rhythmic sound of fierce shooting revealed a kind of discipline and destructiveness that these scattered soldiers absolutely did not have!
A more terrifying thought emerged in the minds of some Vietnamese monkey militants, but they did not dare to say it out loud.
Could it be... that Zhou Bang’s army has returned?
But according to the information from these captives, didn’t the Zhou Bang army in Pingxiang withdraw long ago?
I heard that I couldn’t even take care of Chongyou’s safe zone, so how could it suddenly appear in Pingxiang?
Moreover, the firepower sounds like it is of considerable scale!
"Don't just stand there!" The little leader reacted and shouted sharply, trying to dispel the uneasiness in his heart:
"L?y v? khi! Lên c?a s? và lên mái nhà quan sát ngay! Nhanh lên!" (Copy guy! Go to the window and the roof and look! Quick!)
Don't even think about retreating! If you do, you'll be treated as a deserter and executed!
Hearing the shouting and cursing, the remaining militants finally woke up from their dreams, grabbed their weapons in a panic, and rushed to the windows of the building and the stairs leading to the rooftop.
