There was also a smile on Lao Zhao's face. This operation went so smoothly. He didn't fire a single shot or lose a single person, and he got this weapon that can equip more than a hundred people.
He was so happy that he patted the young men's shoulders again and again, and said to them: "Great, you have made great contributions. I will report and ask for credit for you. You are all good people and heroes."
Instead of returning to Chengde, they headed into the mountains and headed south on the mountain road.
A group of people walked through the mountains for five or six days before returning to the guerrilla base camp.
The first thing Lao Zhao did when he came back was to organize a transportation team, send out four carriages, and commandeer Xiao Wuzi and his carriages. Then he asked Lin Qiang to lead some people back to transport weapons and equipment.
Originally, Lao Zhao had already made a report, writing down the experiences of everyone in the Xiaowuzi team and reporting it to the head of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region. He originally planned to send them to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei headquarters near Baoding after obtaining weapons. .
But when I got home and my butt was still hot, someone came to report that the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces summoned Lao Zhao to a meeting, saying that there was an urgent matter.
When Lin Qiang was away, Lao Zhao captured Er Niu as a temporary training officer because Er Niu had received regular Eighth Route Army training.
Erniu also did his part and took up his post immediately, making the training a success.
Jin Liang also stayed to assist Liu Xia in giving cultural classes to the team members, because the most educated person in the entire team was Master Jin, who had a serious education.
Xiao Wuzi temporarily acted as Lao Zhao's bodyguard and adjutant. Xiao Wuzi carried a box cannon on his back, a Browning gun brand in his waist, and a knife in each sleeve on his leg. He was truly armed to the teeth.
The two of them did not ride horses, because the horses were taken away by the transport team. It was not too far from the coalition headquarters, about twenty miles away, so the two of them could only go there on foot. Xiao Wuzi was not worried, he was a little afraid that Lao Zhao would not be able to follow. It's faster than him, so slow down and wait for him. Who knew that Lao Zhao came here during the Long March, and walking on mountain roads was a piece of cake in their eyes. He was walking faster than Xiao Wuzi, so Xiao Wuzi had to speed up to keep up.
The coalition headquarters is in a village in the valley, but the scale and momentum of the headquarters are different.
This is a large courtyard with five fronts and backs, and there are forts at the four corners. It is exactly the same as the rich man's house that Xiaowuzi saw in the northeast.
There were militia guards at the door. Seeing that Old Zhao obviously knew him, he immediately put his hands across his chest and performed a gun salute.
Lao Zhao returned the gift seriously and led Xiao Wuzi into the courtyard.
As soon as he entered the hospital, an old man in his fifties came out, wearing a robe and a woolen top hat, which looked a bit nondescript.
But a pair of shining little eyes showed shrewdness and ability.
Old Zhao said: "This is the commander of the coalition forces, Mr. Wei, the commander of the militia.
Xiaowuzi stepped forward, stood at attention, gave a military salute, and shouted: "Hello, Commander."
Commander Wei raised his hands and clasped his fists, with a smile on his face. Then he came over and grabbed Lao Zhao's wrist and said, "Brother Zhao, something big happened. Brother Li was recognized when he returned to Zunhua. Let the Japanese Caught.
The crowd under him is leaderless and can no longer be suppressed. Some want to save people, while others want to break up. What do you think we should do? "
As he spoke, he pulled Lao Zhao inside. There were three young men at the door. At first glance, they were close buddies because they looked very similar.
When they saw Lao Zhao, they all saluted. What these people saluted was a military salute, because they were all wearing military uniforms, the military uniforms of the National Government.
Mr. Wei is a landowner with an area of dozens of miles. His ancestors guarded the cemetery for the emperor's family, so this large area of land outside the Great Wall was assigned to his family in the Qing Dynasty.
The Japanese came, occupied his land, said they wanted to mine, and robbed his food, saying they wanted to work for the army.
Mr. Wei had gone to school and almost passed the examination to become a scholar, so he was very patriotic.
So he spent all his wealth, recruited troops, and organized an anti-Japanese armed force to fight against the Japanese.
Mr. Wei had five sons. The eldest son was in Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army, the second son was in Shanxi's Eighth Route Army, and the remaining three, four and five became his squad captains.
Everyone entered the room and sat down. Xiao Wuzi stood behind Lao Zhao and took on the responsibility of his bodyguard.
It turned out that another deputy commander of the coalition forces, surnamed Li, was from the Northeast Army and was a subordinate of the young marshal. After the young marshal was put under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek, the Northeast Army was divided and disintegrated by Chiang Kai-shek. There was no difficult battle. They must be sent there. No, Lao Li and the others fought a big battle in Shanxi. They even lost Taiyuan and their troops were scattered. Lao Li fled all the way, gathering stragglers along the way. When they returned to the border of Hebei, they also Hundreds of people were admitted.
As a result, these hundreds of them became lonely ghosts, with no one to care about and no one to ask. They went up the mountain on their own. In name they were still the Nationalist Government's army, but in fact they had become bandits robbing homes and homes.
However, they all still have some bottom line: they do not harm the common people, but only attack the Japanese and puppet troops.
The year before last, Lao Zhao came and contacted Mr. Wei's militia and Lao Li's troops to form an anti-Japanese alliance.
Old Li's name was Li Changhe. He came from the Northeast alone and settled in Zunhua when he was working under the young marshal.
A few days ago, Lao Li was injured. Lao Zhao originally contacted the Eighth Route Military Hospital in the west of Beijing, but he insisted on going home to take a look. Wouldn't something happen?
The two most important things now are to appease his subordinates and to find a way to get him out.
Although Mr. Wei is the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, he has no military talent. When something happens, his claws are numb, so he has to call Lao Zhao all the way.
After listening to Mr. Wei's narration, Lao Zhao stood up and said to the Wei brothers: "I'll go take a look. Can one of you brothers please take me there?"
The third son of the Wei family hurriedly said: "Their village is quite far away from here? Commander Zhao should go after dinner!"
Lao Zhao said: "You can eat at any time. The matter is urgent. Let's go to their village first and calm them down first."
So, Wei Laosan led Lao Zhao and Xiao Wuzi to the east along the Great Wall, and Lao Li's mountain stronghold was built on the Great Wall.
There was a meeting going on in the village. A group of people were noisy and no one was convinced. There were also a few people standing nearby who were sneering and noncommittal.
When Lao Zhao came, they were still very respectful and stood up to greet him.
Lao Zhao calmed them down with his first words.
: "If you want to be dragged out to work alone, if you continue to fight the Japanese, I will respectfully send you away.
If you surrender to the Japanese, you will be the enemy of all Chinese people. Just step on my corpse! "
There were two people over there who advocated going it alone and said with red faces: "Commander Zhao, it's not that the brothers are distracted, it's that our commander has been arrested, and no one is convinced by the rest. Everyone has his own ideas, and we That’s why we proposed to work separately. Doesn’t this mean we can avoid having to constrain each other and be more independent?”
Lao Zhao said: "We are all old brothers. I won't scold you anymore. Can you listen to me? If you listen to me, everyone will still stick together and rescue Brother Lao Li first."
When Lao Li comes back, tell him if you have any grievances. "
Those who advocated rescuing people said in unison: "Commander Zhao, although you are not our commander, we have all heard of your name and we are all convinced. You tell us how to do it. We will all listen to you. As long as you can Just rescue our eldest brother."
Therefore, Lao Zhao temporarily became the commander of this team. He first sent a few people who were familiar with Zunhua's environment to find out where Commander Li was being held and whether he had been tortured. After knowing the exact location, he sent troops as a last resort. Commander Li snatched it out.
Xiaowuzi gave Lao Zhao another idea. He said that he could find a few people to put on makeup and enter Zunhua City to get out a senior Japanese official, but he could not exchange hostages with them.
Old Zhao looked at Xiao Wuzi's bright eyes and nodded in approval. Then he said to those brothers of Lao Li: "Go out and ask around. I will come over in two days to get the news. If there is any accurate news, brothers must listen to my command. Rescue Lao Li is the top priority." .”
Those brothers are all Northeastern men, and they all say that Commander Zhao is the only one who follows the lead.
Lao Zhao declined the group of people to let them eat, and led Xiao Wuzi back. When he left, he took away a brother here, and then took Wei Laosan back to Wuling Mountain.
In the evening, Lao Zhao organized a meeting on how to rescue Li Changhe. The brother he brought this time also had the surname Li and was Commander Li's brother, so he was loyal to Commander Li.
This Xiao Li discovered that Xiao Wuzi was actually from the Northeast, so he chatted with Xiao Wuzi. It turned out that his hometown was Tonghua. He had been away for more than ten years and was very homesick. He didn't know what was happening to the elderly, brothers and sisters at home. , his face was filled with tears as he spoke.
Xiaowuzi understood very well the attachment of this wanderer to his hometown.
Lao Zhao attaches great importance to Xiao Wuzi's plan, so he starts to select people now.
Xiao Li's name is Li Changfu. He is a veteran and has fought many battles. He counts as one. Wei Laosan came because he begged for it, so he counts as one.
Xiao Wuzi was the planner and executor, so he ordered Erniu and Jin Liang because Jin Liang could speak Japanese, which would facilitate communication.
Lao Zhao said: "You are all the best in your respective teams. I know you are all a little arrogant, but in this risky operation, you must obey the command. If you don't obey the command, the entire operation will fail."
You can decide for yourself which one is more important. Although Xiao Wuzi is young, he is a veteran. Everyone must obey his orders. Understand? "
Everyone answered in unison: "Yes."
On the third day, the Xiaowuzi team first went to the Great Wall to listen to the information brought by the inquirers.
Surprisingly, Li Changhe was not punished. The Japanese military police captain planned to persuade him to surrender, so so far, he has not suffered any crime.
The second news was refreshing. The captain of the Gendarmerie in Zunhua was actually a big shot, a very special big shot.
