In the upper reaches of the Ash River, at the foot of Mao'er Mountain, there are about a hundred families dotted here. This is Kaoshantun, the headquarters of the Anti-Union Independent Regiment.
The local security chief was worried about being "revolutionized", so he fled to the town with his family overnight.
The Baochang family became the temporary headquarters of the Independent Regiment.
…
Two hours ago.
Under the dim kerosene lamp, Zhang Zhaolin wrote very seriously stroke by stroke: Borrowing sweet potatoes from Shantun patriot Zhou Maocai, and potatoes each weighing a kilogram, which will be returned by the government after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. Zhang Zhaolin, Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces Independent Regiment, in the 30th year of the Republic of China June.
He copied more than twenty copies, but except for the different names, the content was the same.
Battalion Commander Liu Guiyong stepped in.
The independent regiment is not fully organized and can barely manage to form a battalion. Liu Guiyong is the only battalion commander. He used to be the commander of the guard company of the teaching brigade.
The independent regiment can be formed mainly by using the teaching brigade guard company as its team.
Zhang Zhaolin raised his head and glanced: "It's so late and I haven't slept yet."
Liu Guiyong pulled up a chair and sat down, poured himself a bowl of water, drank it in one gulp, and then said: "I went to the village entrance for a walk... Political Commissar, let me tell you something. Director Guo said he was going to the town. I bought medicine and never came back, will something happen?"
Zhang Zhaolin stopped writing: "How many days has he been gone?"
Liu Guiyong said: "Three days. Normally, we should be back in two days at most."
Zhang Zhaolin thought for a moment: "Let's do this. I'll send someone to the town tomorrow to find out. Every time he goes to town, he always stays at the Wang family's old store."
Liu Guiyong agreed, took an IOU and looked at it: "How much is left to write?"
Zhang Zhaolin said: "It is estimated that there are still seventy or eighty copies left."
Liu Guiyong was speechless: "When will this be written?"
Zhang Zhaolin smiled and said: "I'm not in a hurry, why are you in a hurry?"
Liu Guiyong said: "Political Commissar, you should rest early. Tomorrow I will find two people who can write and let them write. Why bother lighting a lamp and boiling oil here?"
Zhang Zhaolin shook his head: "How can that be done? The villagers have said that it must be me, an official, who writes the IOU, so that others dare to lend us food."
Liu Guiyong disagreed: "Few country people can read. They can't tell who wrote the IOU at all."
Zhang Zhaolin said seriously: "Comrade Guiyong, this kind of thinking is unacceptable. The common people lending us food shows their recognition of our party. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. What does our party rely on to get to where it is today?" ?It depends on being based on the broad masses of the people..."
"Report!"
The signal soldier came in.
Zhang Zhaolin asked: "What's the matter?"
"Political Commissar, this is the telegram I just received."
The communications soldier handed over the translated message, saluted with a military salute and left.
After reading the contents of the message, Zhang Zhaolin frowned.
Liu Guiyong asked: "Political Commissar, what happened?"
Zhang Zhaolin said: "We received a call from the Binjiang District Committee saying that at four o'clock in the morning, the Binjiang security group, plus a police brigade, were going to conduct a night attack on us!"
Liu Guiyong asked: "Is it tonight?"
Zhang Zhaolin nodded: "Yes, tonight."
Liu Guiyong stood up: "I will gather the team and move immediately!"
Zhang Zhaolin glanced at his pocket watch and said: "There is still time, so I tell you not to panic and take away what you can."
"clear!"
Liu Guiyong walked out in a hurry.
The army of more than 400 people could not just leave. Since most of them were new recruits, they had to be busy for a while.
Zhang Zhaolin read the telegram again.
There is a sentence at the end of the message: To ensure the safety of the valley, Guo’s rebellion must not be leaked.
Only those involved in the operation from the Secret Service know the inside story. If the source of the leak lies in this matter, it will inevitably bring danger to "Valley" Jiang Bin.
Therefore, Zhang Zhaolin didn't mention this matter just now.
He reached out and took off the kerosene lampshade, preparing to burn the telegraph manuscript.
"Who's there?"
The sound of a sentry came from the courtyard gate.
The other party answered vaguely: "Passing by..."
The sentry picked up his rifle, pulled the bolt and loaded it: "Password!"
At such a late hour, strangers entered the regimental area, and the sentries became more vigilant.
This was followed by a short exclamation from the sentry, and then no more sound.
Zhang Zhaolin knew something must have happened.
He immediately blew out the kerosene lamp, put the telegram manuscript into his pocket, and peered out through the glass window.
The scene in front of him shocked him. Two sentries had fallen to the ground. Two black figures dragged the sentinels aside. Several more black figures slowly approached the door. If they were close, they could see it.
They are all German-made MP18 submachine guns.
Kaoshantun is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there is only one road into the village. The independent regiment has set up hidden sentries on the outside, and there are no more than one place. For a force with good mobility, this level of security is very tight.
If an enemy attack is discovered, just fire a warning shot from a hidden whistle, and the independent regiment will have enough time to retreat to the mountain.
How did these people get in?
Could it be the bandits entrenched in Mao'er Mountain?
According to previous information, there are about sixty or seventy bandits in Maoershan, and their bandit name is "Lai Rufeng".
Not long after he came to Kaoshantun, Zhang Zhaolin planned to recruit this armed force, but the bandit leader "Lai Rufeng" avoided seeing him, so the matter was dropped.
In fact, what Zhang Zhaolin didn't know was that "Lai Rufeng" was the disguised identity of the Loyalty and National Salvation Army, and of course they would not accept the incorporation of the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
The two sides are on good terms and are unlikely to come to the Independent Regiment's headquarters to fight for no reason. With the strength of "coming like the wind", they do not dare to provoke the Independent Regiment.
These thoughts only flashed through Zhang Zhaolin's mind for a moment. He didn't have time to think about it carefully and fired a shot at the black shadow.
The security company is nearby and can quickly come to support upon hearing the gunshots.
Zhang Zhaolin has experienced hundreds of battles, and his marksmanship is not only perfect, but he has never missed a shot at such a close distance.
But today, an "accident" happened. The black shadow made a perfect tactical move, rolled sideways on the spot, and narrowly avoided the shooting.
Da da da——
Da da da——
Da da da——
When the black shadow stood up again, he and his companions pulled the trigger. The MP18 submachine gun sprayed flames, like white lines in the dark night. Bullets were like rain, breaking the doors and windows and shooting into the house.
Zhang Zhaolin clung to the wall, unable to even fight back. He couldn't help but be secretly surprised. The opponent was definitely not an armed bandit. Judging from the firepower, it was even stronger than most regular army units.
Through the moonlight, he could vaguely make out that these people were all wearing Japanese-style steel helmets and covered with anti-reflective rope nets. They were definitely enemies.
What is strange is that their clothing is not the common Japanese military uniform.
Not to mention the weapons, each person had a German MP18 submachine gun, and a Southern-style pistol hung on his waist. In addition to grenades, there were two bullet pouches hanging on them.
The unconventional weight-bearing has not had any effect on them at all. For example, the black figure just now moved at an extremely sensitive speed when dodging bullets.
This was the first time Zhang Zhaolin had seen such a "weird" army.
As an energy-poor country, in order to reduce consumption, the Japanese army rarely equips automatic weapons. The standard weapons are mainly single-shot Type 38 rifles.
They believe that as long as the soldiers are trained strictly, the enemy can be defeated with a single weapon - this is one of the reasons why the Japanese army has strong individual combat capabilities.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army began to develop automatic weapons after many battles with the Chinese army and the power of submachine guns.
…
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Gunfire rang out outside the hospital.
After hearing the news, the security company of the Independent Regiment came to reinforce the situation.
It's called the "Guard Company", and its full strength is less than fifty people.
With a sharp whistle, the black shadow in the yard stopped shooting and quickly retreated.
Before the leader left, he took out a black object from his waist, quickly knocked it on his helmet, and then threw it towards the house.
This movement of banging the helmet instantly reminded Zhang Zhaolin.
——It’s a grenade!
The Japanese Type 91 grenade had a too long fuze delay and was often thrown back by the enemy. Later, the Type 97 grenade was improved to shorten the detonation time.
In order to ensure that there will be no accidental damage, an additional safety feature is specially added - it needs to be knocked on a hard object to finally trigger the fuse.
Zhang Zhaolin had fought with the Japanese army for many years and was very familiar with this action. At the critical moment, he jumped out of the window.
Almost at the same time, a grenade exploded in the room. When he got up from the ground in disgrace, the enemy had disappeared.
Guard Company Commander Sun quickly came forward. Seeing blood dripping from Zhang Zhaolin's shoulder, he shouted loudly: "Health worker, come here quickly!"
Zhang Zhaolin just felt the pain, and he didn't know when he was injured.
The hygienist checked the injury and said happily: "It's just a scratch from the grenade fragments, it's not a big problem."
Seeing the mess in the house, Captain Sun said with lingering fear: "Fortunately, the political commissar is very skilled, otherwise, he would have been almost destroyed in the hands of the little devil!"
At this time, Liu Guiyong hurriedly came with a large army.
After arranging defenses, we entered the courtyard.
"How many enemies are there in total?"
Zhang Zhaolin asked Company Commander Sun.
Company Commander Sun said: "It was dark and I couldn't see clearly. There were probably more than thirty people."
"It looks like he is a scout for the Japanese."
Liu Guiyong analyzed and said.
The sacrificed sentries were brought over and a cursory inspection revealed that there were no obvious external injuries on their bodies and it was not clear how they died.
Zhang Zhaolin thought for a moment and said: "Company Commander Sun, check their necks."
Captain Sun came back soon and whispered: "My neck is broken."
Zhang Zhaolin said: "I don't feel like the Japs' scouts. Scouts are not so bold. There are only thirty or so people who dare to go deep into the hinterland of our army..."
Liu Guiyong said: "Why didn't the secret sentry find the enemy?"
Zhang Zhaolin ordered: "Liu Battalion Commander, gather the team and move to the mountain immediately!"
He knew very well that this group of enemies came with bad intentions. The fact that they could sneak into the village quietly and kill the sentry under his nose was enough to explain the problem. The hidden sentry placed on the periphery was more likely to be more dangerous than good.
Ten minutes later, the independent regiment formed two columns and walked along the rugged mountain road to Maoer Mountain.
As long as they go up the mountain, even if the main force of the Japanese army comes to clear them up, they will have no choice but to return without success since they cannot carry more heavy weapons.
The mountain road was covered with thorns, and a dozen soldiers carrying hatchets were leading the way.
Zhang Zhaolin took out his pocket watch and took a look. It was now 1:30 in the middle of the night, so he said: "In two hours, we can reach the middle of the mountain..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a loud bang!
There was an explosion ahead.
Liu Guiyong shouted loudly: "Stop advancing and prepare to fight!"
Zhang Zhaolin ordered: "Company Commander Sun, send someone to the front to take a look!"
Soon, the news came back.
The vanguard tripped a booby trap, killing three people on the spot.
There are booby traps on the road, indicating that there is an ambush nearby. The enemy's large force cannot come so fast. The "ambush" is most likely the same group just now.
If it's in an open area, more than thirty people can't stop a group no matter what.
But now we are on a mountain, and the opponent is obviously well prepared and has brought enough ammunition. In such a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they can be entangled at least until dawn.
The problem is that the security team and police brigade arrived at four o'clock in the morning. By then, they would be attacked from both front and back, and they would really be attacked from both sides.
After a brief discussion, Zhang Zhaolin and Liu Guiyong decided to return to the original route and evacuate Kaoshantun from the main road before the enemy's main force arrived.
With an order, the rear army became the front army.
The team headed down the mountain.
Zhang Zhaolin also understood at this time that this group of enemy troops appeared so suddenly, taking advantage of their small number and ease of hiding.
A group of more than thirty people hiding casually in the bushes would be difficult to detect during the day. If it were an army of hundreds of people, the target would be too large to hide their whereabouts.
What is puzzling is that the furthest reconnaissance posts sent by the independent regiment are almost five kilometers away, but no one has noticed any trace of this group of people.
For example, if the security team went out of the city during the day for this cleanup, Zhang Zhaolin would be able to get the news in advance even if Jiang Bin didn't tip him off.
This is also the reason why the Japanese and puppet troops have never been able to completely eliminate the rebel forces.
Ta-ta-ta!
Da da da da!
Suddenly, gunfire rang out in the jungle.
Accurate shooting, no missed shots.
Caught off guard, several soldiers were shot and fell to the ground. By the time the independent regiment organized a counterattack, the enemy had disappeared. In order to prevent attacks from the dark, they were forced to stop and go on the way down the mountain.
Cold sweat broke out on Zhang Zhaolin's forehead.
Because he vaguely realized that he might have fallen into the enemy's trap.
This small group of well-equipped enemy troops raided the backing camp at night with only one purpose: to force the independent regiment to move up the mountain overnight.
It is easy for anyone to make a misjudgment and think that what is coming is an enemy scout.
There is nothing wrong in moving to a safe area when encountering unknown dangers, not to mention that Zhang Zhaolin received a telegram from the Binjiang Prefectural Committee in advance.
Time was running out, so he could only lead the team to move.
The enemy's trap begins.
When the independent regiment went up the mountain, they stood still. When they went down the mountain, they frequently harassed them. On the one hand, they created panic, and on the other hand, they slowed down the marching speed of the independent regiment.
It's now three o'clock in the morning.
According to time calculation, the independent regiment is most likely to encounter the security group at the entrance of the village. If one goes against the other, the entire independent regiment may be annihilated.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhaolin received the information.
Even if the news was received in advance, the outcome seemed to be predetermined. There was a clear gap in strength between the two sides, and there was almost no suspense about the outcome.