under fire

After the Ninth Battalion captured the Zhendong Artillery Tower without any danger.

Li Laosi and Da Gou did not stop and sneaked into the town before dawn. Liu Yuanqing took the initiative to lead people to "guard" the prisoners. The artillery tower also needed to be kept the same as before, and by the way, practice ideological work.

The layout of Donggu Town is not complicated.

The main road passes the stone bridge watchtower and enters the town from east to west. After running through the entire town, it continues to extend westward for about six miles to the canal ferry.

There is also a main road running from north to south, which intersects with the east-west road in the center of the town. Several alleys run parallel to the main road, dividing the entire town into a network.

Most of the security corps and puppet troops who were not eligible to participate in the autumn mopping-up operation were scattered in the artillery towers outside the town.

There were not many people left in the barracks in the town, and with a prisoner leading the way, Tang Dagou captured him without firing a single shot.

Next, they took advantage of the situation and wiped out the fake township office in the town.

The town police team’s headquarters is called the police station!

The word "police station" comes from bird language. Its original meaning is a branch agency, not specifically a police station.

In theory, since they are disguised as puppet soldiers and come here to avoid the limelight, they have to keep a low profile.

Unfortunately, Luo Ronghua knew that since he led the Eighth Route Army to trick the enemy down from the artillery tower, he had lost the qualifications to continue working as a household registration police officer in the police station.

This man was also a ruthless person. He directly told most of the police officers of Huyi Police Station to go outside the town to gather information, leaving only a few police officers on duty.

Seeing Luo Ronghua quietly coming in with a large number of "security troops", the police officers who stayed behind were well-informed and did not dare to say a word. They just raised their hands and accepted as prisoners.

Fortunately, after the "security forces" took control of the police station, they gave them the opportunity to continue working as before...

Hu Yi sat on the second floor studying the map.

He knew very well that it was almost impossible to hide from the Japanese who were tracking him with their wolfhounds, and it was only a matter of time before he was found by them.

Now we need to keep a low profile and try to stay in the town until dark.

Now the whole town is under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Battalion.

Compared to the population of the entire town, the Ninth Battalion actually has very few troops.

A town has a lot of daily affairs, and there are all kinds of messy things.

The towns governed by the Enemy-Occupied Area Maintenance Association are different from normal towns and their management is simple and crude.

The devils' demands were simple: deliver grain on time, maintain law and order in spring and autumn, and organize civilians to perform labor.

The puppet troops of the security corps are all locals, and the boundary between the military and civilians is blurred.

The Ninth Battalion’s management of the town was completely in vain.

Only the original personnel can be used.

The focus is on the phone that can be used to communicate with the outside world.

By controlling the telephone, there is no need to worry about the Japanese getting the news that the 9th Battalion is hiding in Donggu Town in a short time.

Hu Yi's ideas go even deeper into a higher level.

The Japanese troops who were on the mopping-up mission mobilized their forces to pursue the 9th Battalion, but they would not be able to succeed with fewer people.

As long as the Japanese retreat and continue searching, it will give the Third Division a chance to catch its breath.

The Japanese released bacteria into the canal, causing mass deaths of villagers. The superiors were already aware of this.

It's not your turn to worry about what your superiors will do next

After running all night, most people fell asleep except for the soldiers who were scattered at the four main entrances and exits of the town to guard and guard the prisoners.

The sun is rising.

The sky was blue and cloudless, and there was a light breeze.

A rare good weather in autumn.

When it comes to understanding the situation in the town, the underground organizations stationed in the town are naturally the best choice.

The divisional courier followed the Ninth Battalion too far, beyond the scope of his daily work.

He didn't know who the intelligence agent lurking in Donggu Town was, so he had to draw an obvious mark in a conspicuous place at the cross street and let a soldier squat next to the mark and wait for the intelligence agent to contact him.

The symbol is a combination of a triangle and a diagonal cross.

There are many shop signs near the Cross Street.

It shows that the small town located on the main transportation route was once very prosperous.

At this moment, outside the grocery store on the southwest side of Cross Street, a girl with a ponytail on the back of her head came over. The little girl was biting a string of candied haws in her mouth.

Behind her, there was a Taoist priest holding a fortune-telling sign.

Not far behind the two men, a dozen young people dressed in different styles were walking casually.

The little girl stood outside the grocery store, watching the people coming and going on the street.

Not long after, the courier came out of the grocery store.

The little girl asked quietly: "Hey, have you contacted me?"

“No…” The traffic officer shook his head.

The little girl whispered, "You said we can't fight against local tyrants and evil gentry, but the black-hearted money houses and pawnshops in the town that squeeze the hard-earned money of the people must be eliminated."

"The money house is also run by the masses, so it's not appropriate to do this." The courier was a little worried that the girl would do something wrong.

The little girl shook her head: "According to what you said, even if we take down a county town, we can't do anything?"

Li Laosi interjected, "What if... we can prove that the person who opened the bank is a traitor?"

"how to prove?"

...

A small river running east-west runs across the plain.

On the south bank of the stream, a group of devils and puppet army officers gathered together.

The Japanese major who had been chasing northward for a whole night was leaning on his command knife, his face pale.

The traces of the bicycle wheels on the ground suddenly disappeared after reaching here, and everyone frowned in thought.

After completing the investigation, the Japanese soldier ran towards the crowd and said, "Report, based on the traces on the river bank, we can preliminarily judge that the escaped Eighth Route Army boarded the boat here and fled."

The major turned around and stared at a middle-aged man in black and asked, "Damn it, your detective team didn't get any information at all?"

The detective captain shrank his head and said, "There is a lot of information, but none of it is useful."

The head of the regiment next to him interrupted and said, "It is impossible for nearly 300 people to disappear out of thin air. Since it is confirmed that the Eighth Route Army boarded the ship here, they must be heading east or west."

"." The assistant was speechless. The river flows from west to east. The Eighth Route Army disappeared here. Of course, it was either going east or west. Can this be considered a brilliant analysis?

The major continued to give orders: "Send a telegram immediately and ask the headquarters to arrange for reconnaissance planes to come here and search along the river in the east and west directions respectively!"

"Yes!"

"Taijun, I think the Eighth Route Army must have been trying to escape from us!" Captain Zhi spoke again.

"Escape? What does that mean?"

"It is very likely that only a part of the Eighth Route Army fled north to here. Most of the Eighth Route Army may have left along the way."

"Give your opinion!"

"This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is different from the ones we encountered before. When they broke through, they did not take the civilians with them. They must be the main combat force of the Eighth Route Army!" Commander Zhi began to express his opinion: "An entire company of my men is missing. This is unusual."

"A company is missing?" The major looked up and glanced at Captain Zhi with a sharp look.

"It is obvious that there are only about 100 to 200 Eighth Route Army soldiers who escaped, plus more than 100 of my men, nearly 300 in total. With so many people, the river is small and shallow, so only flat-bottomed boats can be used. It is impossible for the escaping Eighth Route Army soldiers to get so many boats in a short period of time to transport nearly 300 people together!" Captain Zhi was not afraid.

A company of his own men were captured by the Eighth Route Army!

He didn't feel sorry for the more than a hundred men, but a company of more than a hundred guns could be worth ten thousand dollars!

As for the fact that Taijun knew that his men had surrendered to the Eighth Route Army, it was nothing. His ultimate goal was to encircle and destroy that group of Eighth Route Army so that those guns could return to his hands!

Besides, if his men were too good at fighting, it would arouse suspicion from the imperial army.

Qi Zixiu, the commander of the Guanxian Security Army, is too good at fighting. He has also tried to appease and win over the hearts of the peasants. He will definitely be dealt with by the imperial army.

"You mean, the Eighth Route Army split up in the middle of the night?" the major seemed thoughtful.

"That's right, Madam, look at this map. To the east is Liaocheng, and to the west is the canal, so I dare to guess that they ran to the west." At this point, his finger pointed westward along the map: "They are probably hiding in the villages near the canal. The reason is that if we launch a large-scale roundup, the Eighth Route Army can cross the canal and run to the Allied Army's territory in the west."

"Then where do you think they are most likely to hide?" The major regained some confidence.

"I think the most likely location is..." Captain Zhi's finger swiped across the map for a while: "In a village near Donggu Town!"

Captain Zhi was quite capable and had determined the direction of the Ninth Battalion's movement and its current location to a near-ideal level.

But he never dreamed that the Ninth Battalion had sneaked into Donggu Town.

A phrase came to my mind: small seclusion is in the wild, great seclusion is in the city.

He felt that the Tubalu were unlikely to have the guts to hide in the town. (End of this chapter)