Xu Dalong was most worried about the situation of such a camp bombing. If any prisoners of war did not listen to the instructions and fled rashly when the conditions were not mature, it would inevitably alarm the surrounding Japanese and puppet troops, which would harm everyone.
Therefore, when the special forces members sent the three officers into the prisoner of war camp, they locked the outside door.
This almost caused misunderstanding among the prisoners of war. Fortunately, the officers patiently explained the reason and everyone calmed down.
Xu Dalong and others did not bring much dry food, so they made a fire to cook all night. Fortunately, a large amount of daily necessities were stored in it, and they quickly prepared hot meals and several large pots of egg drop soup.
The prisoners of war had not eaten such fragrant food for a long time, and they devoured it voraciously. Some of them were holding their stomachs and rolling in pain because they ate so fast.
So far, things are normal in the mining area. The living supplies in the mining area can last for a few days without any problem. Now they need time to recover their physical strength and transport a batch of weapons and ammunition they seized from Tianhe County to arm these prisoners of war.
Xu Dalong trusted the three officers very much and asked them to select a group of trusted soldiers and distributed to them the weapons and ammunition of the Japanese and puppet troops and the mine protection team seized from the coal mine, thus increasing the number of combat backbones and guerrillas. The ability to resist risks is partially increased.
Lin Xueying is a very careful person and has experience in secret service, so Xu Dalong gave her the task of dealing with external situations.
At dawn, businesses near the mining area called to tell them that they had prepared food and other daily necessities for them, and asked them when the vehicles responsible for purchasing them would arrive.
Lin Xueying arranged for the person in charge of material procurement among the prisoners captured from the mine to answer the phone and told them that there was something going on at the mine today and that the purchase of materials would have to be postponed until tomorrow morning. The people on the phone were all acquaintances, so the other party did not arouse any suspicion.
This day was relatively calm. There were just a few calls coming in from outside, and under Lin Xueying's supervision, the relevant personnel responded normally without any problems.
This day passed peacefully. Don’t underestimate this short day. Most of the prisoners of war were young and strong men. They had eaten well and slept well. The sick people had taken medicine and their physical strength had recovered. Soon, my mental outlook was completely different.
Seeing this gratifying change, Xu Dalong believed that as long as there were two more days, although these people would not be able to return to their previous physical strength, they would be fully capable of marching and fighting.
On the morning of the second day after entering the mining area, in order to transport the weapons safely into the mining area, Xu Dalong escorted the mining area purchasing personnel into two material transport vehicles and drove out of the mining area to Celadon Town.
After the vehicle left the mining area, it drove on the mountain road. When they were about to leave the mountainous area, a Japanese checkpoint appeared in front. The Japanese army's inspection was very strict. They not only checked everyone's documents, but also sent people on the train to check if there were any laborers or prisoners of war.
Seeing this situation, Xu Dalong felt a little depressed. He originally hoped to take the opportunity to pull out supplies and bring weapons in. It seemed that this road might be difficult.
Xu Dalong and others arrived at Qingciyao Town. While loading supplies, they walked around the town to familiarize themselves with the terrain, and then returned to the mining area with the vehicle purchasing supplies.
On the way back, the inspection by the Japanese soldiers was still so strict. They did not simply lift the carriage board and look inside, but someone actually came up to inspect inside. This completely eliminated Xu Dalong's idea of using material vehicles to transport weapons and ammunition.
Xu Dalong had just returned to the mining area, and Lin Xueying said: "Captain, you came back just in time. During the period after you left, there were about nine calls from outside. Eight of them were not important, and they were all dealt with.
There was just one thing that was more difficult to deal with. Ten minutes ago, a man named Saburo Shiromoto from the Datong Military Police Headquarters of the Japanese Army wanted to find the Japanese mine manager. I made an excuse and said that the mine manager was out. Saburo Shiromoto said he would take him with him. When people come to the mine, let me inform the mine manager to prepare for the reception. I asked at the time that there were four of them in total. As for what they were here for, he didn’t say anything. He just said that he had met the mine manager to interview him. "
Xu Dalong looked at his watch. It was only about 20 kilometers away from Datong. Since the mining area is directly connected by highway, it would not take long to get here by car from Datong. How to deal with these Japs was a troublesome matter.
Now that the mine manager and deputy mine manager are dead, they will definitely be able to find the problem. Hu Lane was inaccessible, so they could only be detained by force. I just don’t know who these guys greeted when they came. What will happen if they don’t go back in a short time? Will it attract others? Suspect?
Things have reached this point, and we can only bite the bullet and act as the situation arises.
Xu Dalong said: "It seems that there is really no other way. Let's detain them first. If someone comes to find them, just say that they drank with the mine manager and deputy mine manager. They drank too much. Tonight Just live here.”
Lin Xueying said: "I understand."
Monk Wei said: "Master Long, there is something I want to tell you alone."
Xu Dalong said: "Okay, I'm going to meet those prisoners of war. Let's talk while walking."
The two came outside and walked towards the work shed where the prisoners of war lived.
Monk Wei said: "Captain, I went to see the workers who were imprisoned by the Japanese. They are really miserable. Should we just save these prisoners of war and ignore them?"
Xu Dalong said: "Do you want to rescue them too?"
Monk Wei said: "Yes, those workers have been tortured by the Japanese until they are no longer human. If this continues, they will die here sooner or later."
Xu Dalong later visited mass graves in the area of Mine 13. Most of the bones inside were laborers who had been tortured to death by the Japanese. It was indeed horrific.
He couldn't bear to let the miners die here in vain, but the task assigned to him by his superiors was to rescue these prisoners of war. Now it is already very difficult to rescue these prisoners of war. If we add more than 8,000 unarmed, It is almost impossible for workers who are injured and injured to take them out.
Once intercepted by the Japanese and puppets, these laborers lacked organization and would be in chaos and would flee in all directions. They would only die if they were captured by the Japanese. At the same time, they would also implicate the guerrillas and the prisoners of war, and no one would be able to leave by then.
Thinking of this, Xu Dalong sighed and said: "Monk, my thoughts are the same as yours. But you also know that it may be difficult for me to take them out together. Also, there are enemy-occupied areas around here, so even if we It is possible to rescue all 8,000 workers, but it is impossible to bring them back to our base area. Captain Ma and the others do not have a fixed base area. How will these people be resettled after they leave? If they are released, they will probably die."
Monk Wei knew that what Xu Dalong said made sense, but he really couldn't bear to see the miners stay here and be tortured by the Japanese.
He insisted: "Master Long, I know things are difficult, but you are Master Long, you must have a way."
Xu Dalong understood Monk Wei's mood and asked, "What do the brothers in the special team think?"
Monk Wei said: "Everyone has the same idea as me. I hope you can find a way to rescue them all."
Xu Dalong thought for a while and said, "Let's do this. You send someone to call these labor representatives over, and we'll ask about the situation."
Monk Wei heard that Xu Dalong's tone was a little relaxed and said quickly: "Okay, Master Long, I will send someone to handle it right now."
With this new situation, Xu Dalong decided not to see the prisoners of war for the time being, and first figured out what the miners were thinking.
Soon after, Xu Dalong and Wei Monk met the labor representatives. There are six representatives in total, and they are also the foremen appointed by the Japanese and puppets. These people have high prestige among the laborers. They represent different groups from the same hometown or have other interests. The Japanese and puppets took advantage of this to let them restrain the miners.
Xu Dalong had not made up his mind at this time whether to rescue these workers. He knew that this matter was too complicated. He also understood the thoughts of the special forces team members, so when he met with labor representatives this time, he specially called the team leaders over to let them listen to the complexity of this.
Most of the workers are distinguished by their hometown. These workers are from Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Chahar, and even a small number are from Ah.
Xu Dalong patiently held discussions with them, and these people had different ideas. Most people from other places want to leave here and escape back to their hometown. Most of the locals wanted to stay. Although they had witnessed the cruelty of the Japanese with their own eyes, they were worried that their families would be harmed if they escaped. Some of them still had illusions because they came in as workers and the Japanese agreed. They can go home after three years of hard labor. Although most people will die violently if they don't make it through these three years, they still hold on to the illusion that if the Japanese are true to their word and really let them go, they are not willing to take the risk.
The physical condition of the workers is really bad. Although they are now well fed, there are still a considerable number of people who are unable to keep up with the army's actions and require a long period of recuperation.
However, there was no time at all, and these people came from different places. They were not united and had deep conflicts with each other. It was very difficult to get them together and take them out.
Seeing that the guerrillas were interested in rescuing the workers, the labor representatives from other places were also very excited. They insisted that the guerrillas could take them with them to escape from this magical cave.
Xu Dalong understood their mood and asked: "After you go out, we don't have the ability to escort you back to your hometown. If you want to go home, you have to travel through hundreds or even thousands of miles of enemy-occupied territory. You don't have the appropriate identity. If you are interrogated by the Japanese and puppet troops, you will definitely be detained and sent back to the mine. Have you thought about the consequences of this?"
Xu Dalong's question made some representatives from other places hesitate.
The representative from Shandong was the first to say: "Sir, we Shandong people must escape. Even if we die on the road, it is better than staying here and waiting to die slowly."
Most of the representatives also had this opinion, and they all demanded that the guerrillas must rescue them.
Xu Dalong said: "Let's do this. You go back and count first. How many people are willing to follow you? Let's find out what everyone really thinks first."
After the labor representatives left, Monk Wei scratched his head and said, "Oh, I thought all these people were willing to leave, but I didn't expect that things here are really complicated."
Xu Dalong said: "The problem goes far beyond that. First of all, it's hard to say whether the superiors agree with our plan. Secondly, our original plan was just to rescue the prisoners of war, but now we have to take these people with us, it's hard to say whether the prisoners of war are willing. If If they don't want to, it will be even more difficult to lead the team, and it will be very chaotic.
Also, even if we can successfully rescue all these people, there is no way to escort them back to their hometowns, and it is impossible to take them back to our base area.
The Daqingshan guerrillas cannot feed so many people, and they have no fixed base. The troops often move. If we bring these people with us, it will definitely drag down the guerrillas. I'm afraid it won't be long before even the guerrillas will be eaten by the Japanese.
The captains of the special operations squadron were full of enthusiasm out of sympathy for the miners. After Xu Dalong's analysis, they realized that it was not that the captain did not want to save them, but that the problem was unexpectedly complicated. .
Everyone looked at each other and expressed their obedience to the captain's decision.
Monk Wei still refused to give up and said, "Master Long, can we organize all these miners to join the guerrillas and fight against the Japs together?"
Xu Dalong said: "I have also considered this. First of all, most of them may not be willing to join the guerrillas. They just want to escape back to their hometowns, and not many people can be left behind.
Secondly, there are too many of them. The Daqingshan guerrillas are not so large and cannot absorb so many people. At best, they can only absorb a few hundred people. Otherwise, the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas will be seriously weakened.
Even if a considerable number of them are willing to join the guerrillas, they must be given at least two to three months of rest and training time before they can keep up with the guerrillas' actions.
This is not our base area. The land of this generation is barren and the people are poor. It is very difficult for the people to feed themselves. It is difficult for them to provide for so many people. "
Hearing this, Monk Wei was also a little discouraged, and he said: "It would be great if this place was closer to our base, and we can do whatever you want.
I still hope to be able to rescue them, so why not make it clear to them in advance that if they want to get out, they must join the guerrillas. Since you have become a guerrilla, don't be afraid of death. Or just stay here and wait to die. "
