The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

Spring has arrived in Ping'an County.

The sounds of vendors calling out their wares returned to the streets. An old man carrying a load on a shoulder pole entered from the south gate; the pole had willow baskets at both ends, filled with pickled vegetables and bran cakes. The sentry guarding the south gate recognized him, checked his pass, and let him through. A cloth shop in the west of the city opened its doors, a patched blue cloth banner hanging in front, flapping against the door in the wind. A woman carrying a child on her back stopped at the shop entrance and asked for two feet of white cloth.

A barber had set up a stall on the street. The barber was a local; he had been hiding in the cellar for a month and hadn't come out. Now he had brought out his tools: clippers, scissors, and a scalpel cloth. The scalpel cloth hung on the end of a carrying pole, and when the wind blew, the strips of cloth fluttered.

A barber was shaving the heads of soldiers in an independent regiment. The soldiers sat on a bench, a white cloth around their necks, their eyes closed. The barber's clippers shaved their heads from the sideburns upwards, and the black hair that was shaved off fell onto the white cloth.

Zhao Weiguo looked down from the north gate city wall.

The city is no longer what it was a month ago. A month ago, Japanese Type 92 heavy machine guns were still mounted on the north gate wall, bullet holes remained in the sandbags, and blood still stained the ground. Now, the Type 92s have been moved to a locked warehouse below the city gate, the sandbags have been replaced, and the bullet holes have been filled with soil. There are more people on the streets than in the first few days after the siege, and their expressions are different. In the first few days after the siege, people would avoid anyone wearing gray military uniforms, but now a few daring vendors have set up stalls on the street.

The sound of work chants came from the parade ground. The new recruits were running outside the city. The chants weren't very synchronized; some were faster than others. The veteran leading the group cursed, and only then did the chants become a little more unified.

"Commander."

Zhao Gang came up from the horse path ahead, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"From the brigade headquarters."

Zhao Weiguo climbed down from the city wall and took the paper. It wasn't large; it was a telegram, folded in half. The edges of the telegram were slightly wrinkled. He unfolded it and read it twice.

> Brigade Headquarters Order to Independent Regiment: The enemy's spring mopping-up operations will focus on the northern front, leaving the southern front undefended. The Independent Regiment is ordered to take advantage of this window of opportunity to advance south to Xiangyuan and Lucheng, expanding its base area. The first phase must be completed within ten days.

Zhao Weiguo folded the telegram and put it in his pocket.

"Let's go back to headquarters."

He descended the city wall without saying a word. Zhao Gang followed behind, but didn't ask either.

The two rode horses. Running fast was prohibited in the city, and the mules' hooves on the cobblestones were a bit slippery. Only after leaving the south gate did the mules pick up speed. The willows in Willow Gully hadn't yet sprouted leaves; bare branches lined both sides of the road.

Zhao Gang glanced at Zhao Weiguo from his horse.

"To fight or not to fight?"

"We'll talk about it when we get back."

The regimental headquarters was located in an ancestral hall three miles south of the county town's south gate. The ancestral hall originally had two courtyards; a corner of the front courtyard had been destroyed by artillery fire, leaving a draft. The back courtyard remained intact; the main hall served as Zhao Weiguo's office, the east wing as Zhao Gang's office, and the west wing as a communications room. Zhao Weiguo tied his mule to a stone block in the front courtyard and went straight into the main hall.

An oil lamp was lit in the main room. A map was spread out on the table.

He closed the door.

The sound of the latch falling echoed inside the room.

He closed his eyes briefly, and the system panel appeared in his field of vision. The semi-transparent interface hovered before him, and the [Advanced Tactical Simulation] module lit up, the progress bar jumping from 82% to 85%. He entered the names of the two counties, Xiangyuan and Lucheng, and filled in "Japanese troops sweeping the northern front, the southern front is empty" as a parameter.

The simulation is running.

The numbers flipped across the panel. The Japanese deployment on the southern front consisted of two garrison battalions and one puppet army regiment, approximately four thousand men, scattered across four strongholds: Xiangyuan, Lucheng, Changzhi, and Tunliu. The mopping-up forces were concentrated in the Taihang Mountains in the north; returning to defend the southern front would require assembly, resupply, and maneuvering, taking at least ten days.

The deduction is complete. The conclusion is displayed.

The simulation results came out quickly: it was highly feasible, and the time window was between ten and fourteen days.

Zhao Weiguo turned off the control panel.

He opened the map.

The map was copied by Zhao Tieshan from a captured Japanese surveying book, and it was more detailed than the one he drew himself.

Xiangyuan is located southeast of Ping'an, and Lucheng is south of Xiangyuan. The two county towns are like two nails, driven into the northwest corner of the Jinzhong Plain.

"Fighting is permissible."

Zhao Weiguo picked up a red and blue pencil and drew two lines on the map. The first line started from Ping'an County, bypassed the highway, took mountain paths, and pointed north of Xiangyuan County. The second line started from Xiangyuan, followed the valley of a tributary of the Zhang River southward, and pointed towards Lucheng.

"But you have to be quick."

Zhao Gang leaned over to take a look.

"They'll attack Xiangyuan within ten days, then from Xiangyuan they'll attack Lucheng. We also need to factor in the time it takes for the returning troops to assemble. Once the Japanese have finished their mopping-up operation and are withdrawing, they'll reach Xiangyuan in as little as ten days. If they're slower, it could take two weeks or more."

Zhao Gang didn't speak. He stared at the map for half a minute.

"Should we wait for Lao Li and the others?"

"This time, the brigade headquarters only named the Independent Regiment."

Zhao Weiguo put down the red and blue pencils.

"Ping'an County was captured by the four regiments together. This time it wasn't."

Zhao Gang pursed his lips. He wanted to say something, but didn't.

"Go and summon Lao Zhou and the battalion commanders."

Zhao Gang went out the door.

Zhao Weiguo sat alone in the main room.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered, casting his shadow on the wall. He looked at the names of two counties on the map: Xiangyuan and Lucheng. This was his first time leaving the Taihang Mountains to fight on the Jinzhong Plain. Mountains and plains are different. Plains offer no natural defenses, and fighting there is a different story.

He opened the system panel and brought up the data for Xiangyuan County.

The city wall was six meters high, made of earth, and not as sturdy as the brick wall of Ping'an County. The garrison consisted of about one battalion plus one puppet army company, totaling around 1,200 men.

There were two weak points in the city's defenses: the south gate and the west gate. A tributary of the Zhang River flowed through the south of the city, and the city wall was built low there.

He stared at the section of the city wall south of the city for a few seconds.

There was a knock at the door.

Old Zhou came in first. His left shoulder was bandaged, and his arm was still not very flexible. He glanced at Zhao Weiguo's face as he entered, then looked at the map on the table.

Following behind were the battalion commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions. The 3rd Battalion commander was newly appointed; the previous 3rd Battalion commander had been wounded in the leg during the Ping'an County battle and transferred to the rear.

Zhao Weiguo and the other three stood still.

"Order from the brigade headquarters."

He handed the telegram to Lao Zhou. Lao Zhou took it, glanced at it, and then passed it to the Second Battalion Commander. The Second Battalion Commander read it and passed it to the Third Battalion Commander.

"The Japanese forces on the southern front are weak. The brigade headquarters has ordered us to take Xiangyuan within ten days. After taking Xiangyuan, we will then attack Lucheng."

Old Zhou didn't ask "Should we fight?" He asked about something else.

How many people are there in Xiangyuan?

"1,200. A Japanese battalion plus a puppet army company."

What's the situation with the city walls?

"Earth-walled. Six meters high. Not as good as Ping'an County."

Old Zhou nodded. His eyes swept across the map, taking in the roads, rivers, and mountains surrounding Xiangyuan County. He relied on experience, not maps, in warfare. But maps could help him avoid taking detours.

Zhao Weiguo picked up a red and blue pencil and drew a circle around the location of Xiangyuan County.

"Phase One Target: Xiangyuan."

He pointed the pencil tip at the section of the city wall south of Xiangyuan County.

"Xiangyuan City is located south of water, on a tributary of the Zhang River. That section of the city wall is the shortest. If a dam is built upstream to block the flow, and the water is allowed to accumulate to a certain height before being lowered, it could wash away that section of the city wall."

The second battalion commander raised an eyebrow.

"Water attack?"

"Water attack."

The third battalion commander didn't speak. He was calculating the water storage capacity in his mind.

"Old Zhou."

Zhao Weiguo looked at Lao Zhou.

"Send someone upstream of Xiangyuan County to get a clear understanding of the hydrological conditions. How wide is the river channel? How strong is the current? Are there any dams to be built nearby? Only after we have this information can we determine the timing of the water release and the water level."

Old Zhou responded.

"I'll go."

"You don't need to go. Send the reconnaissance platoon first. You take the engineer platoon and follow."

Zhao Weiguo put down the red and blue pencils. He closed the map, rolled it up, and put it back in the map tube.

"No one can get anywhere without a clear understanding of the hydrological conditions. Water isn't a cannonball that can be blown up and then replenished."

He paused for a moment.

"Take your engineering platoon and come with me to see the floodwaters of Xiangyuan."

The main room was silent for a second.

Old Zhou glanced at him but didn't ask why the regimental commander had to go in person. He didn't ask any further questions.

"I'll go and call the engineers to assemble."

Old Zhou went out.

Zhao Gang stood by the door. He looked at Zhao Weiguo.

"I'll go too."

"You stay here. The city is newly under our control; there's a lot to do. We need to deal with prisoners, compile lists of the wounded and injured, repair the breaches in the city walls, and distribute the spoils."

Zhao Gang wanted to retort. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"OK."

Zhao Weiguo picked up a dry biscuit from the table, broke it in half, and handed it to Zhao Gang. He put the other half into his pocket.

"I'll be gone for a few days. You keep an eye on things in the city."

Zhao Gang took the dry biscuit but didn't eat it.

Zhao Weiguo lifted the curtain and went out.

Old Zhou was already calling the engineers in the front yard. The platoon of about thirty men was coming out of the west wing of the ancestral hall, carrying shovels and pickaxes, with entrenching tools on their backs. The commotion startled a flock of sparrows in the yard, which fluttered over the collapsed corner of the eaves.

Zhao Weiguo untied the mule's reins from the stone block and mounted the mule.

The mule snorted.

Zhao Weiguo glanced back at the ancestral hall. The collapsed corner of the eaves revealed rafters, and several tiles on the rafters were broken. Zhao Gang stood at the backyard gate, holding half a dry biscuit in his hand, uneaten.

Zhao Weiguo pulled on the reins, and the mule headed towards the south gate. Its hooves pounded on the bluestone slabs, the sound echoing through the alley.