under fire

Several major events occurred in 1943, and the situation of the War of Resistance seemed to have changed.

There was a piece of news in the police station newspaper: Half a year ago, the Allied forces killed the Japanese naval commander-in-chief Yamamoto Isoroku.

Although it was different from what the Japanese had said publicly that he died in a plane crash in a fierce battle with the enemy, dead was dead anyway.

Although what happened in the distant Pacific Ocean had no direct connection with the Japanese army in North China and had almost no impact on the situation in the North China Anti-Japanese War, it broke the saying that the Japanese were invincible.

In late autumn, a cool wind blew across the plains, raising gusts of dust and sweeping across the shabby streets of the town.

The floating dark clouds deepened the color of the sky, making it more blue than gray.

The sun hanging in the sky became higher and farther away.

Donggu Town is not a big place.

At noon, security guards, pseudo-police officers, and detective team members carrying black dog backpacks and boxes kept leaving in batches, which soon attracted the attention of some people.

"Something's wrong. Why are there so many unfamiliar faces?" The informant, who had just returned to the town and usually hung out with the police, looked surprised.

"Those people were wearing the uniforms of our police force, how come I didn't see any familiar people here?" The informant thought he was also a member of the police force.

"I think the bank was robbed, and they went to search for the robbers."

"I suddenly felt that the day seemed to have changed."

"What?"

The plainclothes police officer pointed at the security team walking down the street ahead and said: "Look, their spirits are much better than before."

As the two were talking, a woman came out of the alley, walked up to one of the spies, grabbed the ear and pulled him into the alley: "Wu Laosi, go home quickly, something big has happened."

Wu Laosi, who was dragged into the alley, broke free from his wife's hand and asked, "What's the big deal?"

The woman's face was clearly filled with an almost uncontrollable smile: "Go home and talk about it!"

"What's going on? I still have to go back to the station to report."

"Someone threw this into the yard." The woman looked around and saw no one else in the alley.

Then he mysteriously took out a piece of cardboard and unfolded it.

Wu Laosi's eyes widened: "Isn't this the deed to our ancestral land that we mortgaged to the bank?"

Amid the misty autumn wind, a gray and dilapidated village stands out on the horizon.

A tiny black shadow was walking among the weeds on the harvested fields outside the village.

It was an old man carrying a rattan basket on his back.

After autumn, no one continued to work in the fields.

There was nothing left to harvest from the fields, and it was obvious that the old man was planning to collect some firewood to get through the coming winter.

In order to get medical treatment and medicine for his sick wife, Old Man Wang mortgaged his house to a money lender and became homeless. He borrowed the mud wall of an ancestral hall outside the village to build a leaky hut.

That's his home.

He didn't want to know at all where those puppet soldiers from the security corps, traitors from the detective team, and police officers named Black Dog who were walking on the road were going.

Because, if there is no food and no firewood, the coming winter may very well be the last winter that my wife and I live in this world.

The two daughters, the eldest girl jumped into a well when the Japanese invaders were on a raid, the second girl's husband joined the Red Spear Team to fight against the Japanese invaders and died under the Japanese bayonet, and the second girl was later said to have been abducted and sold into a brothel.

Now, apart from my spouse, I have no worries.

Suddenly, I saw a gray figure holding a gun hiding in the grass in front of me.

Old Man Wang wasn't even afraid of these security guards who were running rampant in the village.

If I were beaten to death by him, it might be a relief.

So, he even deliberately walked past the gunman carrying firewood.

"Hey, Old Man Wang. Old Man Wang." A vague voice came from far ahead.

Looks a bit like Liu Baochang?

Old Man Wang rubbed his eyes. Yes, it was him. His heart, as stagnant as water, was slightly startled. Could it be that his wife who stayed in the village had an accident?

Captain Liu trotted along the path between the fields to Old Man Wang, and naturally discovered the sentry from the Ninth Battalion hiding in the bushes.

He hesitated for a moment and didn't go up to say hello.

He stuffed a land deed and a house deed into Old Man Wang's hands and said, "We, the Eighth Route Army, are standing up for the poor. We have taken back the land deed and house deed that your family had mortgaged to the bank."

The land deed has been mortgaged to the bank for many years. Old Man Wang even forgot that he had the land: "Take it back, what's the point?"

"This land is returned to you! From now on, this will be the base of our Eighth Route Army! The Eighth Route Army is the army of us poor people, and we are the masters of our own house. We no longer have to worry about being bullied by landlords and gentry. A mutual aid group has been established in the village. Maybe there is a chance to cure Auntie's illness..."

Old Man Wang is actually only in his early forties, and the two girls in the family were married off early.

The eldest girl jumped into a well during the Japanese raid. The second girl's husband died during the raid. After the second girl buried her husband, she was said to have been abducted and disappeared.

Looking at the house deed in his hand, his lips trembled: "Are you really going to give it to me?"

"That's good to hear!" Finally able to reveal his identity, Chief Liu was in a good mood: "There's news about your second daughter, too. Do you want to hear it?"

"Second girl, where is she?" After hearing that there was news about his second girl, Father Wang asked repeatedly in a trembling voice: "She... where is she? Is she still alive?"

Liu Baozhang's eyes were full of sympathy and pity. He gently patted Old Man Wang on the shoulder and said, "Yes, the second girl is still alive. She works as a maid for a touring opera troupe. Although it's a bit miserable, at least she's still alive. If you're willing, I'll arrange for someone to take you to bring her back so that your family can be reunited."

Hearing this, Old Man Wang burst into tears. The years of suffering and the pain of losing his loved ones seemed to be somewhat comforted at this moment.

Murmuring to himself: "It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive..."

Take him back. I am homeless now. Do you want to take him back and die together with me?

No, now my house has been recovered!

The ancestral land is back...

He murmured, "Yes, I'll go get the girl back right away."

Then he looked up at the Eighth Route Army soldiers who were lying on guard in the grass not far away.

Obviously, they are in the same group!

He looked at Liu Baozhang again, his voice full of determination and gratitude: "Thank you, thank you all, I kowtow to you!"

Liu Baozhang quickly grabbed Wang Laodi and said, "No, we are all equal in the Eighth Route Army, and we don't care about this."

"You gave me the hope to live. From now on, if there is anything you need me to do, even if it means dying, I will never frown!"

Liu Baozhang smiled and shook his head, saying, "Old Man Wang, you are too polite. We in the Eighth Route Army do everything for the people. It is our responsibility to let the villagers live a good life. You can go back to your ancestral home in the village and live there. We will bring Erya back and build our new home together."

After saying this, he turned and looked at the Eighth Route Army sentry not far away.

Old Man Wang also looked over and saw the soldier in the grass and the rifle next to him. He felt an unprecedented warmth and strength in his heart.

He knew that from now on, his life would no longer be filled with darkness.

Because we have the Eighth Route Army and other teams like them who are willing to speak for the poor, our lives will definitely get better and better.

Old Man Wang tightly held the lost and recovered land deeds and house deeds in his hands, his heart full of longing and expectation for the future.

The scout lying in the bushes, with only one button left on his hat badge, didn't know that he had left an indelible mark in Old Man Wang's heart and became his most solid support during the difficult years.

Little did he know that this person would be the father-in-law who would send him millet in the future.

Security teams came out of the town one after another.

Many were carrying stretchers.

Soon, a team of traitors on bicycles began to overtake the security team under the autumn sun.

About twenty miles east of the town.

The huge Japanese army was marching westward rapidly.

Motorcycles lead the way, followed by trucks, and infantrymen trailing behind in the dust.

Behind them, a large number of security forces followed in a crooked manner.

A Japanese officer stood on a truck parked on the side of the road and spoke to the pseudo-regimental commander who was riding a horse under the truck: "The intelligence department has confirmed that this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers has passed the canal. We must speed up!" (End of this chapter)