under fire

A little over a month ago, a typhoon swept in from the eastern sea, bringing torrential rain to the heart of the Central Plains, but unfortunately it didn't last long.

The mountains and plains absorb a lot of water and are unwilling to give it away easily.

As a result, the water level in the canal has dropped significantly.

The section of the Grand Canal near Donggu Town is often referred to by locals as the Wei River.

The river flows slowly to the ferry crossing in Donggu Town, and you can hardly see that it is flowing; it looks more like a lake.

The river is not wide, only about eighty meters.

The calm river surface shimmered in the morning sun.

Occasionally, birds fly across the river.

People from all around spread rumors that there were bacteria in the canal water and that contact with them could be fatal, so few people were willing to go near the canal.

The land on both sides of the canal was fertile, and the villagers who were lucky enough to survive were able to plant crops in the winter under the organization of the Eighth Route Army's Anti-Japanese Government Work Team.

The wheat sown a few days ago has already sprouted, and the tender yellow seedlings sway strongly in the wind, adding a touch of life to the barren plain.

Not far from the Donggu Ferry, there stands a solitary watchtower.

Puppet troops were lined up and doing drills around the pillbox.

The smoke rising from the firing ports of the pillbox did not spread due to the lack of wind, but slowly enveloped the pillbox.

Occasionally, the sounds of coughing and cursing could be heard.

The pier is located on the slope that extends from the riverbank to the river surface.

A large wooden boat was moored at the simple sloping dock.

The ferryman, who arrived at the ferry crossing at dawn, was now sitting on the riverbank, carefully filling his pipe with tobacco.

Everything seemed no different from usual.

After finishing a pipe of tobacco, I took a deep breath of the watery, fishy-smelling air.

Looking expectantly towards both banks of the canal, apart from the busy figures in the distant fields, there wasn't a single merchant or porter on the dirt road.
I don't know how long I waited, but finally I saw a blurry figure appear on the distant eastern horizon.

With hopeful eyes, I watched the blurry figure slowly become clear.
After finally realizing that the approaching group was a group of puppet soldiers, the boatman wanted to go down to the riverbank and row the ferry away.
These puppet troops are just as despicable as bandits; they never pay for boat rides.
I looked up and glanced at the watchtower not far away.
After much thought, he decided not to do it. If he left now, he would never have the chance to find work at the ferry crossing again.

The puppet troops were getting closer and closer to the ferry crossing.

The lead soldier carried a peach wood sword on his back, clearly indicating that he was a Taoist practitioner before joining the puppet army.
The one walking alongside the Taoist priest was covered in dust and dirt, looking as if he hadn't washed for eight hundred years.

As they passed the pillbox, they cursed and shouted loudly at the people inside.

The two stopped outside the pillbox, seemingly complaining about something.

Before long, the man whose face hadn't been washed in ages led a group of people into the pillbox.

Then, the puppet troops in the pillbox lined up and left, heading east.

Not long after, another group of puppet soldiers wearing peaked caps appeared from the east.

The leader of the puppet army, a man with thin eyebrows and narrow eyes, carried a rifle on his back and a Mauser pistol slung across his shoulder. His yellowish-brown uniform was impeccably tailored.

The puppet army commander stood at the entrance of the pillbox, whispered to the man who had come to relieve him, then took out a pocket watch to check the time, and immediately frowned.

The Japanese troops from Luxi were sent to reinforce the East Asian Allied Army, facing this sudden situation.

Blocking the Japanese troops near Donggu Town could very well bring annihilation to the important grain storage town in the district.

The zoning requirements stipulated that the ambush site for the Japanese troops should be located on the west bank of the canal, and that it should not be deployed on the east bank.

All the seriously wounded soldiers of the Ninth Battalion were hidden in Donggu Town, and their safety should not be a major problem.

To avoid drawing attention, the district did not arrange for more ferries to help the Ninth Battalion cross the canal.

Soon, the puppet army commander with thin eyebrows and narrow eyes arrived at the ferry with his men, and the Taoist puppet army began to call the puppet soldiers to board the ferry.

For the first time ever, the puppet troops didn't mistreat him; instead, they threw him a silver dollar.
After going back and forth several times, the boatman suddenly noticed that there was a young girl among the puppet army troops who boarded the boat again.

Such situations are not uncommon; perhaps it's the child of an official who needs to cross the river to visit relatives.

The Japanese and puppet troops pursuing the Ninth Battalion crossed the canal at the Dongguzhen ferry yesterday.

A day later, the Ninth Battalion, which was being pursued, crossed the canal again at noon.

Outside the canal embankment on the west bank, out of the sight of the boatman, the puppet troops crossing the river began to construct positions using the higher embankment as natural cover. They were fortunate to have telephones in the watchtowers along the riverbank.

News kept reaching the west bank of the canal, eighty meters away.

Latest enemy situation report from the district: Half an hour ago, the vanguard of the Japanese army, consisting of more than 20 vehicles, was 50 li away from Donggu Town.

Hu Yi kept marking on the map, calculating based on the speed of the cars, that the enemy's vanguard should have already approached Donggu Town.

The Japanese arrived too quickly, leaving no time to construct a proper defensive position on the west bank of the canal.

Fortunately, the soil along the canal was loose, unlike the hard soil in the mountains. Although the position was not fully formed, the communication trenches and anti-artillery bunkers were quickly completed.

"If it weren't for Donggu Town, we could have planted ten large landmines at the ferry crossing on the other side of the river and blown those bastards to death," the little girl holding binoculars said indignantly.

In the nearby pillbox, Tang Dagou stared wide-eyed, occasionally firing a shot, then observing the impact points with binoculars.

Hu Yi's task for him was simple: once the battle began, Wan Baxi would fire a few chemical bombs towards the east bank.

They could take advantage of the smoke to secretly fire shots and ambush Japanese artillerymen or commanders.

Hu Yi held up his binoculars and looked around.

The figures that were busy in the fields have quietly left under the organization of the district's armed work team.

The cars marched westward in a grand procession.

Kujo Masao saw the small town ahead of the highway.

I had done my homework beforehand; this is the last small town in western Shandong.

Given the urgency of the military situation, he decided not to stay in town.

There is no bridge over the river at the Donggu Ferry Crossing on the Grand Canal. We need to get to the canal as soon as possible so that the engineers from the 63rd Division accompanying the team can renovate the ferry dock.

Once the large transport ferry from Tianjin arrives, all the cars will be transported to the west bank of the canal via ferry.

Time is of the essence.

When the convoy passed the watchtower five miles east of the town, it completely ignored the security troops lined up outside the watchtower.

They continued their westward rush, covered in dust.

When passing through Donggu Town, the town mayor, gentry, commoners, and children who were lined up outside the town to welcome the Imperial Army were directly driven away.
The Japanese arrived earlier than expected because they hadn't eaten lunch in Donggu Town at all.

When the lead tricycle arrived at the ferry crossing, it saw the ferry docked there, but there was no boatman.

A Japanese lieutenant, accompanied by a translator, stormed into a nearby pillbox.

The lieutenant looked at the wretched puppet soldier in front of him, who seemed to have not washed his face for eight hundred years. The guy looked exhausted and had red eyes, and his expression seemed very nervous as he looked at him.

After scanning the group of shivering security guards, whose uniforms were filthy and caked with dirt, I was utterly disappointed!

Then they started chattering and asking the translator questions.

The officer said, "Quickly find a few people who know how to row, lift the Imperial Army's tricycles onto the ferry, and transport them to the other side of the river."

Tang Dagou's fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the rifle: "Reporting, sir, a large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers have appeared on the other side of the river."

"Hey?" The lieutenant, an elite member of the Northern Special Police, lit up and asked in broken Chinese, "Damn it, you're saying there are Eighth Route Army soldiers working on the other side?"

They had only planned to cross the canal by ferry, but they never expected to find Eighth Route Army soldiers on the other side of the river.

This place is more than 120 li away from the headquarters of the Allied Autonomous Army in Weixian County!
He quickly came to his senses; the Eighth Route Army must have gone to such lengths to travel this far.

This place is at the border of Hebei and Shandong provinces. The fact that the Eighth Route Army came to this poor area must be an attempt to delay the Imperial Army's westward reinforcements.

He quickly went to Lieutenant Colonel Kujo Masao to report the situation.

Kujo Masao was also taken aback for a moment, then suddenly remembered that in the enemy intelligence report, there was indeed a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers operating in this area.

The Imperial Army's 9th Independent Regiment had prematurely halted its autumn mopping-up operation.

Immediately intrigued, he pointed at Tang Dagou, who was standing some distance away, and said in bird language, "Call that guy over here; I need to question him carefully."

Seeing Tang Dagou trembling before him, Kujo Masao said gently, "Don't be nervous. Tell me in detail about the situation on the other side of the river."

Tang Dagou had no idea that the Japanese soldier in front of him was actually a top Japanese spy chief.
His nervousness actually masked the hostility he possessed. (End of Chapter)