Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 106 Chapter 105, Crossing the River, Cold Night

We walked and stopped along the way, but it was getting dark. It was already the second half of the lunar calendar, and the moon hadn't come out so early, so it was dark all around.

The water of Yingli River was flowing happily, and the occasional biting cold wind blew, causing waves on the river surface. However, the people in the team were very excited and warm. This time, the New 1st Regiment and the guerrillas had undoubtedly gained a huge harvest by helping Beiyue District resist the mopping-up. Not only did they change their equipment, but they also had all kinds of warm clothes.

Of course, the sacrifice was huge! The guerrillas lost 36 comrades, and the New 400st Regiment lost about soldiers.

However, everyone survived and held on until the end of the raid, and they still made money! If they made money, it was worth it!

After walking for about an hour, the river valley became wider, and the special forces company at the front of the team had already reached the confluence of the Hutuo River and the Yingli River.

Coo... coo... In the dark night, the call of a night owl was heard. Soon, the cackling of pheasants was heard from the nearby woods, matching the secret signal here.

"Company commander..." Gong Mao, the platoon leader of the special forces company, walked out of the woods with his men and met Wei Ming.

"What's the situation here?" Wei Ming asked.

"We set out from the town at noon today and arrived here at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. According to our investigation, there are no Japanese soldiers staying nearby, nor are there any Shanxi Suiyuan Army or bandits. It's just that when the Japanese soldiers evacuated the Hutuo River, they burned all the wooden bridges across the Yingli River! So, if we want to cross the river, we have to build a bridge ourselves. Don't worry, Captain, we have not been idle this afternoon and have prepared the wood."

"Haha, we cut a path through the mountains and build bridges over the rivers. Our special forces company is the vanguard! Everyone is included. Platoon leader 3, you send out sentries to the east and west respectively. The others follow platoon leader 1 to build a bridge by the river. Our mission is to ensure that the large force crosses the river tonight. Get busy!" Wei Ming understood the situation and quickly made arrangements.

Soon, piles of bonfires were lit at the location of the original wooden bridge across the river. The comrades of the special forces company divided the work and began to build a new bridge at the location of the original wooden bridge.

Before leaving, the Japanese set a fire and burned the wooden bridge across the river, but did not burn the bridge piers. Why? Because the bridge piers were piled up with large stones, and the front and back were piled up like the bow of a boat, just to facilitate water transportation. So, under the care of the bonfire, everyone carried a log with a diameter of 30 cm and went into the water.

It was already winter, and the temperature had dropped to several degrees below zero, but the river had not yet frozen. Even if it had not frozen, the water was still freezing cold. But in order for the large army to cross the river smoothly, the comrades simply took off their pants, went into the river with bare legs, and then worked hard to drive the thick logs onto the bridge.

Fortunately, it is winter now and the Hutuo River has entered the dry season. The water here is just above the knees, so everyone has the opportunity to do this.

Take a boat? The special forces company was unable to find a small broken boat from the village along the river. So, after the comrades put the logs as the longitudinal beams on the piers to make a bridge, three carpenters walked across the bridge to the first pier, then dragged the rope, tied to the wood as the crossbeam to the pier, and then worked together to lift the wood onto the pier.

The wood had already been cut with mortise and tenon grooves, which fit the crossbeam perfectly and were buckled onto the longitudinal beam. At this time, the comrades also placed another longitudinal beam on the bridge pier. Just in time, the crossbeam buckled in and matched with the crossbeam on the bridge head, and a frame was completed. The rest of the time was to line up the repaired logs one by one on the bridge and fix them, and then this section of the bridge deck could be laid.

After the first bridge pier was completed, the second bridge pier was in the middle of the river. The water here was very deep, and it was difficult for everyone to go down. However, the span of the two bridge piers was not large, so a ten-meter-long log was first placed across the bridge piers, and then a few brave soldiers walked over along the single-log bridge. The remaining soldiers pushed the log as a bridge forward along the bridge deck, and the soldiers on the bridge piers used ropes to drag it to prevent it from falling... In short, with a relatively light weight, there is a way to deal with it with more people.

"Are you in the water? Come here and dry yourself off, put on your clothes, warm yourself by the fire and take a rest! Kitchen staff, is the ginger soup ready? Bring a bowl each!"

"Okay, there is no shortage of wood for the bridge deck. Put all the wood in the bonfire and burn it. Comrades, you have all worked hard."

"Captain, the bridge has been paved. We can cross the river now..."

It took more than an hour to build a wooden bridge that was more than 1 meters across the river. No matter how good-looking it is, it is at least strong enough to allow a large army to cross the river.

During this time, the main force led by Li Yunlong had already arrived here. Looking at the ugly but sturdy wooden bridge, Li Yunlong waved his hand and everyone crossed the river one by one and continued to head west.

From here, heading west, the team stopped again after another hour. This time, everyone had to cross the Hutuo River and then walk south along a river valley in the south. Fortunately, the Hutuo River here is a shallow beach. Although the span is large, the river water is also very shallow, at most covering the ankles. The key is that there are still many large rocks exposed on the water surface, and you can cross them by stepping on them and jumping over them.

Of course, the big animals in the team did not have the ability to jump and walk on the hands, and they were carrying heavy objects and could only wade across the river.

These were not a big deal. After crossing the river, they continued marching. After walking for a while, the team stopped to rest.

Li Yuexuan checked the time. This was a five-hour march, from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m., covering a distance of more than 9 kilometers. This speed was already very fast, especially for a large-scale march.

Because the team was far apart, the replenishment camp stopped at the entrance of a village. In the dark night, it was hard to see the size of the village, but the village in the mountains couldn't be that big. After all, the ravine here was not wide, and the river was only about five or six meters wide, and there was not much arable land.

Without much arable land, there will not be much food output, and naturally it will not be able to feed too many people. This is a rule.

It was late at night, and the team did not choose to enter the village, but chose a wind-proof spot on the hillside outside the village as their campsite for the night. To be honest, in a weather several degrees below zero, even if there was no direct north wind, it was still very cold.

Fortunately, the guerrillas still had some tents captured from the Japanese. After finding a place to set them up, everyone huddled together and it was quite warm.

(End of this chapter)