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

At dawn on September 4th, the first truck drove onto the stone bridge.

Duan Peng lay prone behind the bushes on the north ridge, his binoculars propped on a rock. In the footage, the truck's headlights were still on; the Japanese soldiers were bold, swaggering into the valley. The front column of about three hundred men had already crossed the bridge, the middle column was pressing down on the bridge surface, and the rear column was still lined up in a long queue outside the bridge.

Approximately 1,200 people. The same number that Zhi Zi overheard.

Duan Peng counted the convoy: seven trucks, more than twenty mule carts, and several flatbed carts carrying ammunition boxes. The headlights flickered in the valley like a swarm of flies that had somehow gotten caught in a spider web. He looked at the sky; the eastern mountain ridge was just beginning to lighten, the fog hadn't yet dissipated, and the visibility on the bridge was just enough to see the convoy but not enough to make out the people on the ridges on both sides.

"Wait a little longer," Duan Peng said to the messenger beside him. He wasn't waiting for more enemies, but for the enemy's command vehicle. The strategy is to strike the snake from the head; if you don't attack the lead vehicle first, attack the vehicles behind it, and the ones in front will turn back and run away; if you attack the lead vehicle first, the ones behind will be stuck in the road and unable to move.

At 6:24, a jeep with an antenna flag crossed the bridge. Duan Peng recognized it as a command vehicle; the antenna flag was the insignia of the detachment's command vehicle. At 7:00 sharp, the last radio truck also drove onto the bridge. The radio truck had an extra antenna compared to a regular truck, and a spare radio was mounted on its roof.

Duan Pengsong unfurled the red flag.

The eight mountain guns were positioned at four gun emplacements, with two engineering companies guarding three sets of detonators: one set at each end of the stone bridge and one set on the old roadbed. However, the detonator wires under the bridge malfunctioned. Moisture from the river seeped into the wires, preventing the trigger caps from igniting. The deputy squatted under the bridge arch, his palms drenched in sweat. He disassembled the trigger caps, wiping them twice with his sleeve, his hands trembling violently. He wiped them three times before finally cleaning them and connecting the spare wire.

"Activate the backup line. All three groups should sound simultaneously." Duan Peng's voice was relayed to the area under the bridge by the messenger.

The moment the red flag was lowered, both ends of the stone bridge exploded simultaneously.

The explosions echoed back and forth through the valley several times. Stone slabs on the bridge were ripped off, and rubble flew into the air, splashing white foam as it landed in the river. A truck, along with its occupants, overturned off the bridge, creating a large crater in the riverbed. The bridge railings at the bridgehead flew more than twenty meters away, embedding themselves in the muddy bank. A third burst of blasts on the old roadbed blocked the escape route; several mule-drawn carts were overturned by the blast wave, and the startled mules kicked and brayed wildly in the middle of the road.

Eight mountain guns opened fire simultaneously. The first volley of shells landed in the middle of the convoy, directly hitting an ammunition car. The resulting explosion sent flames soaring several meters high, illuminating the wreckage on the bridge in a fiery glow. The second volley hit the bridgehead, which had already been destroyed; the shells landed on the wreckage, burying those trying to climb over the debris to escape. The third volley hit the radio car and the command vehicle. The radio car was overturned in the river by the shells, its antenna broken in two and floating on the water. The command vehicle was riddled with shrapnel, its doors flying off and getting caught in tree branches.

After three cannon shots, 1,200 people were cut into three pieces.

"Eat the middle section first!" Duan Peng stood up from behind the bushes. "The front team shouldn't chase, and the rear team shouldn't touch it!"

The first three hundred men had already crossed the bridge and were running into the valley. Duan Peng didn't order anyone to pursue them, as that would stretch the battle line and weaken the defenses at the rear. The rear guard was still outside the bridge, their retreat blocked by the explosion at the old roadbed. Duan Peng also didn't order anyone to rush them, as that would only lead to chaos.

The three hundred-plus people in the middle section suffered the worst. The bridge was broken, there was no way forward and pursuers behind, cars were overturned in the river, and ammunition trucks were smoking. Some people crawled out from under the overturned cars, their faces covered in blood, and lay behind piles of rubble firing their guns. Bullets hit the rocks on the ridge, sending sparks flying.

The enemy deployed an infantry gun. The gun mount was positioned next to the bridge wreckage, and four gunners crouched down to load ammunition. Zhao Tieshan, at gun position number two on the east side, could clearly see through his binoculars that the gunners' movements were very skilled; from opening the ammunition box to loading, it took less than thirty seconds.

"East No. 2, adjust half a notch to the left," Zhao Tieshan reported the correction. The gunner turned the handwheel, and the second mountain gun shell landed, overturning the infantry gun company's tractor into the ditch. The gun carriage flew up, spun once in the air, and crashed onto the riverbank. One gunner had half his head sliced ​​off by shrapnel and fell beside the gun carriage. The other three gunners didn't have time to run and were crushed under the overturned tractor.

After eight o'clock, the monk led four hundred special agents down the north slope. His target wasn't people, but the radio station.

The four hundred men were divided into four groups of one hundred each. Two groups flanked the enemy's fire in the middle, one group blocked the retreat route at the bridgehead, and Monk led one group to rush straight for the radio truck. The radio truck had already overturned in the river, but the radio operator climbed out of the truck and set up a makeshift radio on the bank. A brazier was lit next to it for illumination before dawn, as the operator was afraid he wouldn't be able to see the codebook clearly.

As the monks approached the brazier, the radio operator was throwing documents into it. The documents floated into the fire one by one, their edges curling up and turning black.

The monk kicked over the brazier. Embers scattered across the floor, and several burning documents were trampled out. The monk squatted down to pick up the codebook. A corner was burned, but most of the writing was still legible. He stuffed the codebook into his robes and turned to call for someone to carry the radio.

The radio operator was pinned to the ground by two special forces soldiers, a rag stuffed in his mouth. The radio, spare batteries, three maps, and a file box were carried by four men as they ran up the north slope. The monk followed behind, bringing up the rear, a knife clutched in his hand. A Japanese officer crawled out from under the vehicle to give chase, but the monk struck him on the shoulder with the back of his knife, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The prisoners and their weapons and supplies were guarded in three separate areas. The monks in the prisoner area had given a strict order: anyone who placed radio files with prisoners would have their hand cut off.

At 10:00 AM, over 300 enemy soldiers in the central section resisted, relying on the wreckage of vehicles. Three heavy machine guns were positioned on the eastern slope, their crossfire pinning the charging infantry to the riverbank, preventing them from raising their heads. Bullets struck the rocks, sending pebbles flying. Several soldiers lay motionless on the riverbank, pinned down for over half an hour.

Duan Peng didn't rush in. He crouched on the ridge and watched for a while. The three machine gunners had a habit of firing a few bursts before changing positions. But if no one returned fire, they wouldn't change positions. Duan Peng was waiting for them to stop changing positions.

When the three machine guns were positioned behind the same vehicle formation, Duan Peng ordered the two mortars to adjust their firing. Mortar shells slammed into the gaps between the vehicles, the explosions overturning two trucks, and shrapnel flew through the vehicle formation. The gunner of one heavy machine gun was hit by shrapnel, and the gunners of the other two panicked, grabbing their rifles and trying to run. Two platoons of infantry slid down through the smoke screen, flanking the vehicle formation. The smoke screen consisted of wet straw and chili powder from the engineers' camp, making it difficult to open one's eyes.

The stone bridge and the back bridge are about eight kilometers apart. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy's unified command was cut off, the radio was lost, the telephone line was blown up, and the flag signalmen were killed or wounded. The three companies each tried to find their own way. Some climbed up the mountain, but were driven back by the pre-positioned machine gun team; some jumped into the river, but were picked off by the riflemen on the riverbank; some huddled under the vehicles and waited for dark to run away.

Before 6 p.m., the last organized resistance was suppressed. At 11 p.m., a charred supply wagon fired three shots from the rubble. Two soldiers were wounded, one with a cut on the face from broken glass, and the other with a stray bullet grazing his arm. At 1 a.m., the last resistance was cleared.

The firing started at 7 a.m. and lasted for 1 a.m., a total of 18 hours.

Phase results: Approximately 820 enemy dead, 310 captured, and about 70 scattered into the eastern mountains. The total for all three categories is exactly 1200. Our army suffered 44 dead and 117 wounded.

Forty-four fallen soldiers were gathered on the north side of the rear bridge for identification. Identification relied on three things: identification documents, ammunition packs, and names of comrades from the same platoon. Three men were covered in grime, their faces unrecognizable, but they were identified by their gun numbers and name tags. One soldier recognized a comrade from his platoon whose name on the tag matched his gun number, but whose face was unrecognizable. That soldier squatted down, untied the tag, put it in his pocket, and said nothing.

The wounded were separated according to their severity, and they were not allowed to take the same route as the prisoners. Yang Xiuqin established a rule at the aid station: the routes for the wounded and the prisoners could not intersect, or something bad would happen. There were monks watching over the prisoners' side, and medics accompanying the wounded. The two routes were separated by a mountain ridge, so neither side could bump into the other.

A headcount of the captured vehicles revealed approximately 200 vehicles: nine cars that could be driven away immediately, over 40 mule carts that were usable, and over 20 flatbed carts that were usable. The rest were dismantled, with fuel tanks, wheel hubs, bearings, and tarpaulins removed. Zhao Tieshan and his men dismantled all usable parts from the wrecked vehicles, leaving not a single screw behind. Over 400 rifles were divided into three piles: intact, awaiting repair, and scrapped. Six mortars were being repaired. The captured ammunition and rations were only enough to supply the Japanese for two days after they had killed 1,200 men, indicating that the Japanese logistics were also strained.

The monk delivered the file box to Zhao Weiguo.

Zhao Weiguo opened the file box and flipped through the documents inside. At the bottom was an unissued mobilization order: a second batch of reinforcements, approximately 2,500 men, were to be deployed in two routes into the East River Valley to relieve the siege of the stronghold at Shiqiao. The enemy only knew that they had lost contact with Shiqiao and were still waiting for the first batch to report back.

Zhao Weiguo placed the transfer order on the table and looked at it for a long time.

"Let them think the first batch of reinforcements has arrived." He made three decisions: evacuate the wounded first, separate the prisoners and supplies, and have the second main force retreat three kilometers and not return to the original ambush position.

Duan Peng asked, "What about the bridge?"

"Take your time repairing it," Zhao Weiguo said. "The bridge is also a military structure. The slower the repairs go, the more reassured the second team will be when they arrive."

Duan Peng understood. The fact that the bridge was under repair meant that the first batch of reinforcements had arrived and were working on the bridge to reach the stronghold. When the second batch arrived and saw the bridge under repair, they would think everything was normal. Once the second batch had also entered the network, the gate would be closed.

Zhao Weiguo took the paper boat out of his breast pocket and examined it. The paper boat was soaked with sweat and the creases were blurred. He put it back and looked out the window. Dawn was approaching.

The second batch of 2,500 reinforcements was on their way. Little did they know, the first batch had already been used as bait.