The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

Wang Yuan flung open the curtain, bringing in a gust of cold wind and a man wearing a tattered cotton-padded coat and covered in mud.

The man's face was covered in soot, clearly indicating he had rushed back from a forced march.

"Dongzi! Hurry! Zhao Laosi is back!" Wang Yuan's loud voice made the kerosene lamp in the shed shake.

Zhou Jindong slammed the pencil in his hand on the table and stared up at the detective named Zhao Laosi.

Zhao Laosi was also an old man from Dongzhai Town. He used to be a hunter. He was agile and had good eyesight. Zhou Jindong specially sent him to the county town to keep an eye on the movements of the Japanese.

"Captain..." Zhao Laosi's voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed charcoal. He grabbed the water jug ​​on the table and gulped down the water, choking halfway through before coughing several times to recover. "The Japanese... the Japanese have moved! They've all moved!"

Zhou Jindong raised an eyebrow, said nothing, took out a pack of Hademen cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it over.

Zhao Laosi didn't stand on ceremony. He took the cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag to calm his breathing.

"Tell me slowly, how exactly do you intend to do it?" Zhou Jindong lit a cigarette for himself, his tone calm and unreadable.

"Just as it was getting dark, I lay in ambush in the sorghum field outside the north gate of the county town. I saw the Japanese battalion headquarters retreat first, followed by the supply train. The wagons were all harnessed to horses, and the wagons were loaded with either grain or ammunition boxes, all covered tightly with tarpaulins."

Zhao Laosi gestured, "The strangest thing was that I saw Japanese engineers dismantling machine gun emplacements on the city wall, and some people even took off the barrels of several Type 92 infantry guns and wrapped them up. That old Japanese devil Fujita Hiroshi was riding his horse back and forth beside the column, whipping those puppet troops with his whip, telling them to hurry up and not block the way."

"They withdrew?" Wang Yuan scratched his head, looking bewildered. "Dongzi, this isn't right. Okada Tomohisa still has over eight hundred men. Even though we raided the warehouse, they weren't seriously injured. Why did they just run away? Is this a trap?"

Zhou Jindong exhaled a smoke ring, the smoke swirling under the light.

He stared at the map on the wall and drew a line on the highway between Ningwu County and Yuanping with his finger.

"More than 800 people, how much food do they need to eat and how much water do they need to drink every day?" Zhou Jindong suddenly laughed, a cold laugh. "We took Cangshan Pass, and their supplies were cut off. Okada Tomohisa is a seasoned veteran; he knows that holding onto an isolated city is just waiting to die."

But that old Japanese devil wasn't stupid. Even if he was retreating, he shouldn't have been in such a hurry, even dismantling the fortifications..."

Zhou Jindong's finger suddenly stopped at a point on the map—Yangfangkou, an important gathering place for the Japanese army.

"Unless..." Zhou Jindong's eyes suddenly narrowed, "unless something forces him to run, and to run fast!"

"What could possibly force eight hundred Japanese soldiers to flee?" Wang Yuan still hadn't figured it out.

"The main force." Zhou Jindong stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "Our Eighth Route Army's main force is back! Okada Tomohisa must have gotten wind of it and knows our main force is about to encircle us. He's trying to slip back to Taiyuan before the encirclement closes!"

Just then, the sentry at the gate suddenly shouted, "Halt! Password!"

"Red Star! Respond to the order!"

"A wildfire!"

The curtain was lifted again, and this time a middle-aged man in plain clothes entered, wearing a tattered felt hat with the brim pulled low.

As soon as he entered, he took off his hat, revealing a square face.

Upon seeing this person, Zhou Jindong immediately stood up, his back ramrod straight: "Committee Member Zhao! Why have you come in person?"

The visitor was none other than Lao Zhao, the liaison officer of the Eighth Route Army's Northwest Shanxi Military Region.

He waved his hand, said nothing, walked directly to the map, and tapped his finger heavily on the location of Ningwu County.

"Comrade in the Near East, the military region has just intercepted a telegram from the Japanese army. Okada Tomohisa did receive the order to retreat, but he disobeyed and tried to take the supplies and heavy weapons with him."

To eliminate this enemy force, the Independent 1st Regiment and the New 2nd Regiment have been marching overnight and are advancing towards Ningwu County. They are expected to reach the outskirts by noon tomorrow.

Committee Member Zhao looked up at Zhou Jindong: "However, that old devil Okada is very cunning. If we let him take these eight hundred well-trained veterans back to Taiyuan, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains."

The commander's order was: Hold him off at all costs! Even if it means biting him, keep him in place until the main force arrives!

Currently, the only combat-capable teams here are...

"Understood!" Zhou Jindong slammed his fist on the table, making the teacup bounce. "Committee Member Zhao, please relay the military sub-district's orders!"

"There are no orders, only tasks," Committee Member Zhao said in a deep voice. "Your Dongzhai guerrilla team is now the closest armed force to him."

The Independent 1st Regiment was still thirty li away, while the New 2nd Regiment was on the flank. Okada's vanguard had already gone five li outside the city.

What you need to do is be like a nail stuck in his backside, attack his defense, bomb his car, harass him, make him slow down and afraid to stop!

"Mission accomplished!" Zhou Jindong didn't hesitate for a moment, turning to Wang Yuan and Zhang Fang, "Brother Yuan, get the soldiers assembled! The whole team assembled!"

Ten minutes later, more than 300 people had gathered at the threshing ground outside Dongzhai Town.

The team looks completely different now compared to just two weeks ago.

Although the clothes were still varied, with some wearing yellow coats of puppet soldiers, some wearing black cotton-padded jackets of civilians, and others wearing old uniforms of the Jin-Sui Army, everyone had a weapon on their waist, a gun in their hand, and a fierce look in their eyes.

Zhou Jindong stood on the stone roller, holding a Mauser pistol in his hand, his gaze sweeping across the entire scene.

"Comrades!" Zhou Jindong's voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely penetrating, and everyone present heard it clearly. "We just received intelligence that the Japanese devils in Ningwu County are trying to escape! They stole our grain, killed our men, and now they want to pack up and run back to Taiyuan! Do you agree to this?"

"No way!" More than three hundred people roared in unison, their voices shaking the snow off the trees.

"If you don't agree, come with me and intercept them!" Zhou Jindong waved his hand. "Wang Yuan!"

"arrive!"

"Take a platoon, plus Lei Laohu's men, and lay mines along their inevitable retreat route. Lay as many as you can, whether they're pull-trigger or tripwire mines, specifically targeting their trucks and wagons!"

"yes!"

"Zhang Fang!"

"arrive!"

"You take the second platoon, along with Ogawa Kosuke and a few other Japanese soldiers, and be responsible for harassing the flanks. Once the battle begins, you shoot at his rear, fire a few shots, then move on to a different spot. Don't linger in the fight."

"Understood!" Zhang Fang's eyes lit up as he touched the grenade at his waist.

"Sun Erniu!"

"Here!" Sun Erniu replied in a muffled voice.

"You lead three platoons as reserves. Charge wherever the situation gets tense!"

"yes!"

Zhou Jindong glanced at his watch; the hour hand pointed to nine o'clock in the evening.

"Let's go! Destination: Ningwu to Yuanping highway! Tonight, we're going to give Okada Tomohisa a 'big gift'!"