under fire

The moon sets.

The earth sank into the darkness before dawn.

The swaying searchlight on the top of the artillery tower broke the silent night near Dashiqiao.

The blockade ditch extending from both sides of the stone bridge to the distance is as deep as a monster.

The light from the searchlight was dark yellow but dazzling.

Perhaps because they were afraid of falling, the police officers crossing the bridge raised their hands to shield their eyes against the light, jumped off their bicycles and pushed them towards the stone bridge.

A torch appeared in the darkness under the searchlight on the bottom floor of the artillery tower. Several puppet soldiers from the security regiment yawned and walked towards the stone bridge more than 20 meters away with rifles in hand.

After arriving at the stone bridge, two puppet soldiers spread out and stood on guard at the west end of the bridge.

Suddenly, a voice came from the southern bunker: "Guaguaer... I heard some movement in the ditch, go over and take a look..."

"Block the ditch? The patrol team is responsible for this..." The puppet soldier with a torch nicknamed Grasshopper directly refused.

I thought to myself, if there really were Eighth Route Army soldiers in the ditch, wouldn't I be a sitting duck for them if I went over there with a torch now?

Seeing that Grasshopper didn't move, the guy in the bunker continued to yell, "What the hell are you standing there for?"

"You are also at the ditch, why don't you go?"

"I have to keep an eye on the stone bridge..."

"The ones who came are from the police force. There's no one to watch over this broken bridge..."

"Oh, is this against the will of heaven? Are you going to die if you go and see it?"

The puppet soldier standing on the other side interrupted: "There is a rabbit in the ditch. If you are interested, go catch it quickly..."

The voice in the bunker became lower: "I'm just saying... What if there really are Eighth Route Army soldiers in the ditch..."

"It's as if I've never seen the Eighth Route Army sneak across the blockade ditch... every time they saw us, they ran away." Guoguo said this while still waving the torch into the ditch.

Unfortunately, the torchlight only illuminated an area of ​​about ten meters in front, behind, and to the left and right of him. The distance seemed even darker and he could not see anything.

"If you dare not obey my orders, the platoon leader will come and report you..."

"Gousheng, we are all here to make a living, don't take it so seriously..." advised a puppet soldier who was moving barbed wire wood to make chevaux de frise at the east end of the bridge.

"Since we take the Imperial Army's pay, we are the Imperial Army's people!" Gousheng in the bunker complained loudly while shaking his light machine gun.

There was a lot of noise from the puppet soldiers at the bridge ahead.

Liu Yuanqing followed Luo Ronghua and just stepped onto the stone bridge from the east.

When I heard the conversation between the puppet soldiers, I subconsciously turned my head to look at the blockade ditch on the south side. Under the flickering light of the torch, I really saw a group of blurry figures...

The big dog who came from the ditch to provide support and cover was pointing his gun at the puppet soldiers with torches.

Fortunately, the puppet soldiers on the gun tower could not see the big dog and his group sticking to the wall due to the angle of vision. The puppet soldiers on the bridgehead were paying attention to the black police crossing the bridge. As for the puppet soldiers in the bridgehead, they could not see the situation below the ground from the shooting holes...

The pseudo-platoon leader Zheng Sanpao followed his men out of the artillery tower, walked to Luo Ronghua who had walked across the stone bridge to the west end of the bridge, stopped and complained: "Why are you not sleeping well in the middle of the night? What are you doing?"

"It's my duty..." Luo Ronghua looked a little pale.

"Are you sure you found any traces of the Eighth Route Army?"

"yes…"

"how many?"

"Several dozen..."

"Just a few dozen?" Zheng Sanpao's eyes lit up and he continued to ask, "Are there any signs that they are coming this way?"

"I...they have legs like the Eighth Route Army, how would I know?"

Zheng Sanpao rubbed his hands and said, "How about I take my brothers and you lead the way back to capture this group of local Eighth Route Army, and then ask the Imperial Army for the reward?"

"What do you want to do?" Luo Ronghua was an old hand and he realized immediately that this guy was planning to catch the Eighth Route Army, but his real intention was to snatch their guns and sell them on the black market.

Thinking of this, he turned his head and looked at the darkness of the blockade ditch.

"What? Don't say you don't know. Hehe... after the deal is done, we'll split the money 30% to 70%, 70% for me and 30% for you..." Zheng Sanpao didn't notice the details of Luo Ronghua turning his head, and muttered excitedly: "The combat effectiveness of the Tubalu is very poor. As long as we can find them, this deal will definitely work!"

“…” Looking at this blind idiot, Luo Ronghua was speechless.

The Eighth Route Guerrillas might indeed be as weak as Zheng Sanpao said, but the man following behind him and the ones who entered the artillery tower were very powerful, as he had seen when he was captured.

As the black-skinned police officers walked by, they saw several dark shadows giving cigarettes to their men on duty, and two of them were walking towards the bunker at the bridgehead.

"I'm just making a phone call to report to the Imperial Army. Why are you all here?" Zheng Sanpao finally felt that something was wrong. He yelled at the shadow who was about to enter the bunker: "Hey, the phone is in the turret. What the hell are you doing in the bunker?"

Liu Yuanqing saw the searchlight on the top of the artillery tower move toward the bunker and knew that the soldiers who entered the artillery tower had succeeded.

He took two steps forward from behind Luo Ronghua and stood in front of Zheng Sanpao. "Your name is Zheng Sanpao, right?"

Zheng Sanpao turned his head when he heard this: "Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you yell at me!" Liu Yuanqing took out the Mauser pistol from his waist with a click and pointed it at Zheng Sanpao's forehead: "How about this onion?"

Zheng Sanpao was a little confused. He opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly heard screams coming from the bunker.

what…

The one who screamed was his machine gunner Gousheng. Zheng Sanpao's face turned pale instantly and his whole body began to tremble.

No matter how stupid he was, he knew that there was something wrong with Liu Yuanqing in front of him.

Soon, dark shadows emerged from the blockade ditches on both sides of the stone bridge.

Looking at the few men who were patrolling back along the blockade ditch in the distance to the north with torches in hand, the last glimmer of hope was shattered. This time... it's all over!

Zheng Sanpao looked as pale as death.

When he thought of the evil things he had done, he looked at Luo Ronghua with despair: "It's over, it's all over..."

As for resistance...

This guy even pooped and peed...

The word "resistance" does not even exist in his life creed...

The sky soon brightened.

An early bird flew high in the sky.

Overlooking the vast fields in the morning light.

There are watchtowers dotted like stars, and paths on the ground that are as dense as a pearl net.

People carrying baskets and pushing chicken buses kept appearing on the main road, showing that the small town not far from the canal is still full of vitality.

The soldiers of the Donggu Town pseudo security corps came from the common people in the surrounding villages.

During the Japanese invasion in spring and autumn, the nearby villagers who had close ties with the security corps were able to get the news in advance and simply hid their food and belongings and ran away.

When the Japanese mopping-up troops passed the line and the security forces were still there, the villagers in the surrounding villages near Donggu Town had already returned home and continued to farm.

The village is far from the town, but it is where the Eighth Route Army secretly operates. After the enemy raids, they hide and run...

Over the years, every time a mopping-up operation was carried out, the Eighth Route Army and various anti-Japanese elements would suddenly surround the area.

After the news that the Eighth Route Army had broken out to the north spread last night, a large number of Japanese soldiers, puppet troops, police forces, and plainclothes teams left the city.

After dawn.

Those with more people established regional blockades, those with fewer people set up checkpoints at important roads, and those who were alone ran around to gather information.

All signs indicate that the Eighth Route Army who fled to the north split into two groups: one group ran north and the other ran west.

Most of the traitors have a dual identity. On the one hand, they work for the Japanese devils, and on the other hand, they are the backbone of many families.

Of course, we do not rule out professional traitors who work for the Japanese.

The Japanese asked the government's security corps, police officers, and the gendarmerie's detective team to assist in the defense. The deployment seemed tight, but in fact many people were just going through the motions.

The people are still hardworking and busy after the autumn harvest. Some of them secretly run back home to plant wheat and hoe the fields.

The information we received indicated that someone had seen a group of people moving around at night. Based on the principle of less trouble is worse than more trouble…

Some people simply conceal the facts.

Otherwise, I have to act as a guide to find

The Eighth Route Army is elusive.

There will be a reward for finding it, but you have to be on guard against the Eighth Route Army Anti-Espionage Team day and night...

What if you don’t find it?

At the very least, they would be beaten, and at the worst, they would be maimed or even killed by the angry devils, and eventually their families would be destroyed...

These days, it’s better to have less trouble than more!

If you have that much free time, it is better to work hard to make a living...

Or you could cut a few bundles of grass and sell them to the wealthy families in town, and then use the money to buy oil, salt, sauce and vinegar to live on.

The villagers near Donggu were not very afraid of the puppet soldiers of the security corps guarding the artillery tower.

Because they all know each other more or less, some idle puppet soldiers may be notorious, but as long as you don't meddle in other people's business and provoke them, generally nothing will happen.

Dashiqiao is the main transportation route into the town.

A group of scattered security soldiers set up checkpoints on the west side of Dashiqiao.

There were a few unfamiliar faces behind the barricades.

"Nephew Sanpao, call the town police. Captain Wang's uncle passed away last night... Tell him to go back quickly to attend the funeral..." An old man stopped behind the barricades and shouted to the crowd sitting outside the artillery tower...

The dejected Zheng Sanpao heard the shouting coming from afar, turned his head to look at the old man in the distance, and then looked at Liu Yuanqing who was doing ideological work.

Liu Yuanqing turned his head to look at the old man who was shouting, and waved to Zheng Sanpao who was sitting on the ground in the front row with a pleasant expression: "I'm calling you, go to the gun tower and make a phone call, come back soon..." (End of this chapter)