Tang Yulin soon received "heavy responsibilities" from the Japanese. As the Fengtian Military Governor who had been a figurehead for a time, he first received the authority of the Garrison Commander, at least controlling the guard duties of two of Fengtian's city gates. This could be considered a lucrative post; guarding the city gates meant one could collect gate taxes. More importantly, guarding the city gates meant receiving great trust. A day later, Tang Yulin's troops were given the task of guarding the city walls. This new responsibility did not make Tang Yulin's subordinates happy. Collecting money at the city gate was one thing, but standing on the city wall in the dead of winter being blown by the knife-like cold wind was certainly not as comfortable as hiding indoors roasting by a fire. However, these Northeast Army soldiers dared not complain about the Japanese. The Japanese were very fierce towards the Northeast Army, and would beat them if they found them unsightly.

The Japanese army currently had no time to supervise the Northeast Army's duty. They were all intensively making war preparations. The news circulating inside Fengtian City was that the Japanese army was going to launch a punitive offensive against the surrounding People's Party. Therefore, posts that had once been held in the hands of the Japanese army were successively transferred to the hands of Tang Yulin's subordinates.

"Brother, why does it look to me like the Japanese are about to run?" a subordinate of Tang Yulin asked at a banquet.

Tang Yulin had set up a banquet to treat everyone because the Japanese had promised Tang Yulin that after the beginning of spring, they would let Tang Yulin control the tax revenue of Fengtian Province. Hearing such insensitive words, Tang Yulin couldn't help but change his expression. If the Japanese were really going to run, wouldn't the status and benefits Tang Yulin had managed to exchange for defecting to the Japanese be completely lost?

Before Tang Yulin, whose face had darkened, could speak, others had already started scolding the speaker. "What nonsense are you talking about? Did you drink too much?"

Seeing everyone looking at him with dissatisfied gazes, the speaker hurriedly accompanied them with a smile and said, "I must have drunk too much and thought wrong. If the Japanese don't move out in full force, I'm afraid they aren't the People's Party's match either."

These words were also not what the people attending the banquet liked to hear. Before the snow fell, the People's Party had released a large number of Japanese prisoners. Although the Japanese had blocked the news, there were thousands of wounded after all; they couldn't truly cover up the sky with one hand by themselves. Tang Yulin's subordinates were not completely ignorant of the overall situation.

Tang Yulin looked around at the brothers who had come to eat. Everyone was of bandit origin and were long-time acquaintances. Just looking at their expressions, Tang Yulin felt extremely disappointed. Since they were of bandit origin, there was naturally no life-and-death friendship to speak of. Moreover, more than half of the people here had originally followed Zhang Zuolin, and only because they didn't have time to escape when Japan attacked Fengtian City, were they forced to defect to Tang Yulin after being captured. Tang Yulin could already see that at least half of these guys actually didn't have high hopes for the Japanese. It was just that no one dared to speak the truth directly like that person just now.

"Brothers, I actually don't rely on the Japanese now, I rely on my own brothers. There's no need for us to hide anything amongst ourselves, just say whatever you have to say," Tang Yulin said to this group of people.

However, this group of people did not say anything else that would make Tang Yulin unhappy, including the person from the beginning.

"We follow Big Brother Tang!"

"Big Brother Tang, can you still not trust us?"

...

Waves of such words expressing loyalty continued endlessly. Just listening to these words, it really looked like they were united in sincerity. But Tang Yulin didn't believe it at all. He was actually quite uneasy in his heart. As a bandit, even if he didn't understand strategy, his long experience in the bandit life made Tang Yulin very clear that if a force was consistently beaten by another force in the short term, then the best method for the beaten force was not to rise up and counterattack, but to slip away quickly.

But of the two forces before his eyes, one was the newly arrived People's Party, and the other was the Japanese who had been majestic in the Northeast for over a dozen years. No matter how Tang Yulin's common sense "hinted" that the Japanese were probably in trouble, Tang Yulin couldn't bring himself to believe that the Japanese would fail completely so quickly.

Not daring to be certain of Japan's failure in his heart, aside from this "blind obedience" under the accumulated might of Japan, from every other angle, Tang Yulin could not truly believe that the Japanese could win. The mood Tang Yulin originally had to win people over through promising official posts and making wishes was completely gone. He just pretended to be happy and drank for a while longer, and the banquet ended without result.

The Japanese did not break their promise. The various authorities originally promised to Tang Yulin were soon handed over to him. No delays, no duplicity; Tang Yulin quickly became the true ruler of Fengtian City.

On February 28, 1916, under gloomy weather, the Japanese army moved out of Fengtian City in large numbers to head south, in the name of suppressing the People's Party.

"Military Governor Tang, this Fengtian City is handed over to you," the commander of the 19th Division said earnestly.

Tang Yulin bowed and scraped, saying, "Yes! I will definitely guard this Fengtian City well."

Watching the large Japanese units marching mightily south across a stretch of pure white snow, even though Tang Yulin knew the Japanese were really leaving Fengtian City behind, he still couldn't connect the Japanese army's departure with the word "fleeing."

Before the figures of the Japanese rear guard had completely disappeared from Tang Yulin's binoculars on the Fengtian city wall, the troops guarding the north of the city suddenly sent someone over. The communications officer seemed to have been frightened quite badly. The top of the city wall was slippery, and he ran too fast to stop his feet, falling directly to the ground, and sliding and rolling right to Tang Yulin's feet. "Military Governor Tang, bad news! Many People's Party people have appeared in the north of the city!"

"What?" Tang Yulin was greatly shocked. "How many people came?"

"Countless. Anyway, the north of the city is full of enemies, I can't see clearly either." Just as the communications officer finished speaking, the sound of guns and cannons firing in unison could already be heard from the direction of the north of the city.

"Quickly send someone to invite the Japanese back!" Tang Yulin actually felt quite excited. The Japanese were going to fight the People's Party, and now the Japanese didn't even need to make a move; the People's Party had delivered themselves to the door.

However, the situation did not develop as Tang Yulin had imagined. The Japanese army should have been able to hear the sound of guns and cannons from Fengtian City. But the Japanese rear guard did not turn back immediately, but continued forward as if they hadn't heard anything. Every few minutes, Tang Yulin raised his binoculars to look at the Japanese rear guard, and then watched helplessly as the Japanese figures disappeared into the binoculars.

"Quick..., quick..., quickly send someone to call the Japanese back!" Not knowing if his body was cold or his heart was cold, Tang Yulin finally shouted with trembling lips.

Just as Tang Yulin's voice fell, someone on the inner side of the city wall shouted, "Big Brother Tang, Big Brother Tang!" Accompanied by the shouting, a person wearing a Beiyang Army officer's uniform scrambled up the city wall. "Big Brother Tang, bad news! The People's Party has already attacked the east of the city! Quickly send people over!"

Tang Yulin was completely stunned. He grabbed the officer who came to report the news and shouted sternly, "What exactly is going on?"

"The People's Party attacked the east of the city!" That person was the one who had thrown cold water on Tang Yulin at the banquet two days ago. His face was pale, looking like he was frightened badly.

Fengtian was also a big city. Even if the city wall was lost, the attacking People's Party couldn't conquer the entire Fengtian in a short while. However, the sound of guns and cannons was getting closer and denser.

Tang Yulin did try to mobilize troops to resist a bit, but no one expected the People's Party to choose this time to attack Fengtian City. Most of the troops and civil and military officials had scattered first after sending off the Japanese, and now many had not returned to their office locations. In the panic, the people who should be found couldn't be found at all.

After another hour or so, the seven or eight cavalrymen who went to chase the Japanese finally ran back. "Military Governor Tang, Military Governor Tang! The Japanese don't believe us, they said we are lying to them. So they won't turn back at all!"

"What exactly did you say to the Japanese?" Tang Yulin asked in panic.

"We said the People's Party is attacking, this gunfire is already denser than setting off firecrackers..."

Tang Yulin waved his hand to stop those brothers' words. "Could you hear the gunfire where the Japanese were?"

"Not too clearly, but we could still hear it. The sound of cannons was much clearer." The Northeast Army soldiers who went to invite the Japanese back hurriedly answered.

"Fuck his mother!" Tang Yulin shouted, his body teetering. Fortunately, several brothers beside him hurriedly reached out to support him, otherwise Tang Yulin would have fallen to the ground. Supporting himself on the city wall, he gasped for several large mouthfuls of air. The cold winter air finally restored the function of Tang Yulin's lungs. The matter at this point couldn't be clearer: the Japanese had really run away. Not only did they run away, but the Japanese also used Fengtian and Tang Yulin's troops as bait. Tang Yulin knew he was still quite lucky; at least he had the chance to understand the matter clearly. If the People's Party had attacked half a day later, Tang Yulin would have really dared to foolishly defend Fengtian to the death.

After thinking this through, Tang Yulin scanned the group of subordinates in front of him, and a calculation immediately formed in his heart. The Japanese had let him be bait, so Tang Yulin absolutely couldn't let others know about this. He first ordered the few people on the city wall who knew the situation to follow him back into the city to "restore command."

After controlling the few insiders, Tang Yulin ordered his subordinate troops to set up defense lines in several blocks of Fengtian. Tang Yulin didn't have much confidence in these defense lines either. No one knew if relying on those people could stop the People's Party. Tang Yulin had the people below pass down the order, "We can't beat the Japanese, but the People's Party are all Chinese, what do we have to be afraid of? Let the brothers fight well, as long as you can hold until noon, everyone gets five silver dollars!" With such a reward, the Northeast Army's morale was at least somewhat boosted.

Having arranged these things, Tang Yulin immediately took the insiders and his personal entourage and rushed into the city. Those who saw where Tang Yulin was going naturally felt very at ease. Tang Yulin shouted that he was going to "restore command"; if he wanted to restore command, he could only go inside the city. The Northeast Army on the city wall naturally couldn't see that the direction Tang Yulin was going was his current official residence, the "Fengtian Military Governor's Manor."

Amidst the sound of guns and cannons filling the city, Tang Yulin took a group of people and rushed into his home. As soon as he entered the door, he immediately had his family pack up valuable things. Tang Yulin's family had long been frightened into a panic by the sound of guns and cannons, and hearing Tang Yulin shout like this, someone immediately started packing up various valuable properties.

Tang Yulin thought that various items could be packed up very quickly, but he didn't expect that after being busy for a good while, the family actually hadn't packed out a clue. He saw big bags and small bags, big boxes and small boxes of things being moved back and forth, and there were even a few boxes that five or six people couldn't lift. Seeing those boxes, Tang Yulin remembered that those were the things he used to store silver dollars. He thought viciously, "If I had known earlier, I would have made a few cellars to bury these silver dollars!"

The direction of the gunfire outside was constantly moving. Originally it was the north of the city, later it was the east of the city, and now it had already reached the west of the city. Relying on experience, Tang Yulin already knew that danger was constantly approaching, but catching sight of the wealth he had used all kinds of methods to obtain, no matter how anxious Tang Yulin was in his heart, he still couldn't help but gesticulate and scold his wives, "Don't take this! Take that!"

However, Tang Yulin was of experienced bandit origin after all. After just making a noise for a while, he knew things were wrong. He no longer gesticulated, but tucked a heavy small box under his arm and took two personal guards walking towards the inside. Bypassing the others, the three went straight to the back door, opened it, and slipped out.

"Big Brother, we're ignoring the people inside here?" A personal guard walked a few steps, then remembered the big and small boxes of things inside, and couldn't help but ask.

"At a time like this, how can we care about so much, leave quickly," Tang Yulin said.

"Where are we going?" The personal guard still didn't immediately understand.

"Leave this place of trouble, Fengtian, quickly; we'll talk about future matters later!" Tang Yulin said while hurrying forward. At this time, every household in Fengtian City had closed their doors and locked them. The roads were empty of people. It was just that with many pedestrians walking on the street, the snow had been stepped on until it was solid. Tang Yulin walked while talking with the heavy small box tucked under his arm. Accidentally, he slipped, staggered, and the small box flew out of his hand. After landing on the ground, the box lid was thrown open, and a pile of gold bars tumbled out with a crashing sound.

The two personal guards had never seen so many heavy yellow gold bars and were stunned for a moment. Tang Yulin hurriedly pounced over to stuff the gold bars into the box. Just as he gathered them up, he heard a sound of footsteps coming from ahead. Looking up, he saw his old acquaintance Wang Yongjiang appearing in front of Tang Yulin with a squad of soldiers.

"Oh! Tang Dahu, looks like you're doing a great job as the Fengtian Military Governor!" Wang Yongjiang said with a sneer. With a crashing sound of guns being raised, the soldiers behind Wang Yongjiang had already aimed their gun muzzles at Tang Yulin and the two personal guards behind him.

Tang Yulin was originally squatting on the ground. Now seeing the situation was wrong, he knelt down to Wang Yongjiang with the momentum. "Brother Wang! Brother Wang! For the sake of our past acquaintance, I beg you to give me a way out. These..., these gold bars are all for you, all for you!"

Seeing Tang Yulin still behaving like this even now, Wang Yongjiang couldn't help but sneer. "Tang Dahu, I thought that after you defected to the Japanese and hung up the title of Fengtian Military Governor, you would be somewhat different from before. I didn't expect that you, a thief to the bone, haven't changed a bit. Still so despicable!"

Too lazy to continue saying anything more to Tang Yulin, Wang Yongjiang waved his hand. "Arrest him!"

The battle to attack Fengtian started quickly and ended even faster. Tang Yulin's troops were originally a collection of bandits with nowhere else to go. Without the Japanese maintaining order, Tang Yulin had no way to truly bring these people together. Facing the surprise attack of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, these people collapsed at the first touch. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army seized Shenyang in less than a day.

Wang Yongjiang had originally been assigned the job of a "liaison officer." When he learned that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was "feigning an attack" on Fengtian, he still felt there wouldn't be any substantive progress. He never expected the Japanese to leave so decisively, and Tang Yulin's resistance to be so negligible. The Northeast Army's scattered resistance collapsed immediately under light machine gun fire. The time and energy the troops spent capturing prisoners far exceeded the battle itself. Wang Yongjiang simply took people straight to the Fengtian Military Governor's Manor, and unexpectedly caught Tang Yulin directly.

Even Tang Yulin, the nominal supreme commander of Fengtian, had been caught, so the others were not even worth mentioning. Wang Yongjiang mistakenly admired the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's decisiveness in turning the feint attack into an offensive based on the changing situation. At the same time, Wang Yongjiang, a Northeasterner, also felt extremely ashamed of the bandit nature exposed by the Northeast Army.

When the siege of Shenyang basically ended, Wang Yongjiang wanted to find Mu Husan to discuss matters after taking over Shenyang, but unexpectedly Mu Husan was not in the city at all. No matter how Wang Yongjiang asked where Mu Husan was, the comrades in the troops all answered with the three words "I don't know."