After leaving the bank of the Yellow River, everyone was walking on the road to Yanchang County in the border area. Due to the sacrifice of the old man, everyone was in a low mood. They didn't say anything and just kept their heads down and walked on.
Zuo Zhong noticed that the young guerrillas on the same boat were sobbing softly while walking, so he stepped forward and deliberately interrupted the conversation.
"Little comrade, how old are you? Have you ever read a book?"
The little soldier didn't want to be embarrassed in front of Agent Gou, so he raised his hand to wipe his nose, then tugged on the old muff on his shoulder that was taller than himself, and answered with his head held high in the dialect of Jin Province.
"I'm 13, and I can write 200,300 words."
Zuo Zhong was a little surprised when he heard this. Don't think that it is easy to write more than 300 words. The current army of the Republic of China is basically illiterate.
Whether it is the Guojun or the Eighth Route Army, most of the grassroots officers and soldiers are from poor backgrounds and lack the opportunity to study and receive education.
Although he is very brave in battle, he also has many shortcomings, such as rude words and deeds, weak ideology, and poor cultural knowledge.
He can't even rigidly execute the combat orders from his superiors, let alone understand them deeply.
Except for the teaching corps and a few elite units directly under the war zone, which have cultural requirements, other units do not require literacy at all, as long as they can handle a gun.
On the other hand, the Japanese have implemented compulsory primary school education since the Meiji Restoration, so that the basic soldiers of the Japanese have at least graduated from primary school and have certain cultural and understanding abilities.
If the army is well-educated, then the commander can use his arms and fingers as well as he can when commanding. Otherwise, the orders will not be understood and fighting will be very difficult.
"Oh? Little comrade, you must not talk nonsense."
After hearing this, Zuo Zhong pretended not to believe it and irritated the little warrior with a suspicious look on his face.
Judging from the sound, the other party was the one who called out that they were Shannan guerrillas during the previous ambush. He was going to repeat his same trick and "explore" the underground party's background.
The little soldier had never received professional counter-intelligence training, so he could not bear to be so suspicious. He immediately stiffened his neck and said angrily.
"Why are you lying to me? Your superiors require us to read and write, and even issued an order."
"Ahem!"
Cui Hongyong leaned over and whispered twice, glared at the young soldier fiercely, signaling him not to speak, and then looked at Zuo Zhong with a dark face.
"Team Leader Xu, it's not okay for you to do this. If you have any questions, you can ask me directly. There is no need to embarrass a child.
Both his parents died in the Japanese raids. After we rescued him, he insisted on joining the team to avenge his parents. "
After briefly introducing the background of the little warrior, Cui Hongyong sighed, took out a small notebook from his jacket pocket, handed it to Zuo Zhong and spoke slowly.
"Our Eighth Route Army is no match for our Guo Army. We are small in number and poorly equipped, so we can only do everything we can to improve our combat effectiveness.
Recognizing Chinese characters and learning tricks is one of the ways, striving to make everyone a combatant and a commander at the same time.
If I die, the remaining comrades will be educated and can continue to command the guerrillas and fight the Japanese to the end. "
Cui Hong's tone was extremely firm and his eyes were piercing. When he mentioned sacrifice, he was not timid, but full of glory and pride.
At this time, the little soldier also realized that he had been deceived. Thinking that this was the second time, he immediately gritted his teeth and looked at Zuo Zhong, wishing he could shoot this spy to death.
Zuo Zhong laughed, took the small book handed by Cui Hongyong, looked at the line of words on the cover, and read softly.
""A Must-read for Eighth Route Army Soldiers"?"
Opening the inner page, there are printed some rules and regulations of the Eighth Route Army, methods for learning tricks, specific standards for learning tricks, and a few jingles.
"There are so many rifle parts.
Three big things I can’t forget.
Gun body, bolt and stock,
Remember it quickly and don’t forget it. "
This is an introduction to weapons and equipment and tells soldiers common sense about weapon maintenance. The content is concise and catchy.
“The sky is desolate, the earth is desolate,
I am illiterate because I cannot read.
Don’t blame your father, don’t blame your mother,
Landlord Lao Cai is a jackal! "
This emphasizes the importance of learning tricks and letting soldiers know who the enemy is and who is exploiting them.
No wonder the Eighth Route Army fights more and more, and the more it fights, the higher its combat effectiveness is. The army has ideas and the cadres have faith. How can it not grow stronger in this way?
(It’s not hydrology, I just want everyone to know that the underground party attaches great importance to culture and education, and is not proud of illiteracy)
Quickly keeping these contents in mind, Zuo Zhong returned the notebook to Cui Hongyong, and decided to report the matter to Lao Dai and someone when he went back, so as to make a good contribution.
As for whether the secret would be leaked, since Cui Hongyong dared to show it to him, it meant that the other party was not afraid of the Guo Party knowing.
And judging from the number of prints on the cover, this should be a teaching material distributed on a large scale. It is not a confidential document, otherwise it would not reach the hands of the guerrillas.
Zuo Zhong and Cui Hongyong were chatting in the middle of the team, while Gui Youguang and the man with a Chinese character from the guerrillas were walking at the front of the team.
The two of them each led a group of people to explore the road to prevent an enemy ambush. Even if they had reached the hinterland of the border area, they could not relax their vigilance.
But the two sides have different ways of exploring the path.
The agents carried submachine guns and separated as individual soldiers. Each person kept a few meters away from each other and faced different directions to guard.
When crossing an open area, there is always someone waiting with rocks and trees as cover. This is the standard German field march and patrol formation.
Before the war between China and Japan, the Germans established multiple military advisory groups in the Republic of China. Naturally, the operational training of military commanders often referred to the doctrine of the German Wehrmacht.
Compared with agents, guerrilla formations are more loosely organized.
The team members all work in small teams, with two or three people forming a team. Each team is 20 meters apart, with the rifle in front and the only Czech rifle behind.
This kind of marching method is different from any other country. It is the experience summed up by the other side in long-term battles with the Japanese.
First of all, the marksmanship and combat effectiveness of the guerrilla fighters are incomparable to those of the Japanese. In most cases, the only way to defeat the enemy is through numerical suppression.
If one person can't beat you, then use three. If your marksmanship is poor, then use several guns to fire at the same time.
Furthermore, the distance of 20 meters is convenient for communicating with each other and shouting, and there is no fear of large casualties caused by shell explosions.
These are lessons learned with life and blood. The kind of swarm charge in movies and TV dramas has no effect except giving heads to the devils.
Two different ways of exploring paths also illustrate two different combat ideas.
The military unified action team attaches great importance to individual combat, while the guerrillas attach importance to group cooperation. There is no distinction between the two. It is purely due to the difference in combat tasks and the quality of the soldiers.
By noon, the team left the flat area by the river and entered the plateau, hilly and ravine area. The iconic ravines in the northwest can be seen everywhere.
This kind of terrain is very suitable for ambushes and sneak attacks. Gui Youguang and the man with the Chinese character tensed up their nerves in unison.
"Keep the distance and seize the commanding heights."
Gui Youguang gave the order softly. The distance between the agents changed from a few meters to more than ten meters, and the march route also changed from a road to searching along the ridgeline.
The formation of the guerrillas also changed. They avoided the bottom of the ditch, where they could easily be ambushed, and chose to move forward halfway up the mountain.
Each two teams is responsible for a high ground, one on the left and one on the right. Once attacked from the top of the mountain, they can quickly change direction and attack the incoming enemy from both sides.
Although it was their first time working together and they didn't like each other, the agents and guerrillas cooperated extremely well.
Gui Youguang glanced at the man with the Chinese character face, and the man with the Chinese character face also glanced at Gui Youguang. They both snorted and turned their heads at the same time, but they were satisfied with each other's performance.
Slowly, the sun rose to the right place.
Everyone was a little tired after staying up all night, especially the members of the Nanyang Consolation Group. They were dozing off while walking. It was only thanks to Wu Chunyang and others to support them that they didn't fall behind, but their movement speed inevitably slowed down.
Xu Enzeng, who had a good night's sleep last night, was full of energy, but he might have had a bad stomach. From time to time, he would stop and find a bush to squat down and apply fertilizer, which proved the old saying - a lazy donkey urinates more when he grinds his hands.
According to the map and coordinates, the team has only traveled less than 20 kilometers in a straight line, and it will take another full day to reach Yanchang County.
Once there, the condolence team can contact the border area residents and mountain towns through the local underground party organization.
I walked 20 kilometers in the morning, which doesn’t sound like much, but marching in this kind of terrain is far more difficult than in the plains. Sometimes two cliffs look tens of meters apart. If you want to get over, you have to go around for several kilometers or even further. .
Zuo Zhong looked at Mr. Chen who was walking heavily, exchanged opinions with Cui Hongyong, and loudly announced that he would stop and rest and start again in the evening.
If we continue like this, without the enemy firing, more than half of the condolence group will fall.
There is no way, these Nanyang businessmen have never suffered this kind of crime, and it is no longer easy to survive until now.
Moreover, marching at night is more advantageous for guerrillas who are familiar with the terrain. If they encounter an attack, the night can also cover their retreat and transfer.
Immediately, the spies and guerrillas stood guard, cooked, and rested.
Exhausted, Mr. Chen and others sat directly on the ground and fell asleep within a few minutes. They slept through the night.
"Set off."
Following an order, the people who had regained their strength cleared away the traces of the camp and continued to move forward in high spirits, much faster than during the day.
Under the bright moonlight, the two teams quickly moved over the mountains and ridges towards the target. Two hours later, when the pathfinding team climbed over a small hillside, they encountered an unexpected situation.
"alert!"
Gui Youguang leaned behind a big tree, tilted his head and looked at the Eighth Route Post at the foot of the mountain, frowned, and whispered to his subordinates.
Normally, one should be happy to meet friendly forces, but Gui Youguang felt that something was fishy.
This location is neither a traffic hub nor a major highway. Why did the Eighth Route Army set up a sentry post here, and it seemed that there were quite a lot of people there.
Thinking that the group of attackers who ambushed the car convoy were also wearing northwest military uniforms, he had to suspect that this was an enemy trap.
"What happened?"
After hearing the news, Zuo Zhong from behind came over and asked after taking cover. Then, at Gui Youguang's signal, he took out his telescope and carefully observed the outpost.
The first thing that caught the eye was a machine gun position made of sandbags. There were about two squads of infantry in front and behind, some of them were patrolling and some were resting in simple bunkers. It looked normal.
The problem is that each of these eight soldiers is carrying a 38-inch cover, and the bullet bags on their chests are bulging. Next to the Czech-style machine gun on the machine gun position, there is also an original Czech iron magazine box.
"Hmph, when did the Eighth Route Army become so wealthy? Get ready to fight!"
After reading this, Zuo Zhong sneered. The other party was treating him as a fool. If the Eighth Route Army had this kind of equipment, Yoshio Shinozuka would not be able to sleep well. Taiyuan would have become a base already.
Others don't know it, but the intelligence from the Military Commission and the Military Command clearly states that there are only a few hundred thousand troops in the northwest, but only more than 1,500 machine guns.
Each infantry regiment in Pingjun is equipped with about 10 guns, all of which are obtained through seizures. Not to mention original accessories, many machine gun tripods are homemade.
For a post that can't even be called a key pass, equipping such a luxurious machine gun is definitely not the Eighth Route Army's style of conduct, and the Northwest does not have this capability.
However, how did the enemy know that they would pass by this place?
Zuo Zhong felt that perhaps the Japs patrol on the bank of the Yellow River reported to the police that the group of attackers operating near the border area had received relevant information, so they came here to contain them. After all, there were only a few routes from the bank to Yanchang County.
He looked at the dark hills around him and knew that they should have been targeted. The actions of the guerrillas, the condolences group, and the military commanders couldn't be hidden at all. The Japanese were not blind.
The reason why the other party didn't take action directly was because they either wanted to capture people with high intelligence value alive, or they wanted to reduce casualties. In short, they couldn't leave.
Another thing to note is that the condolences group are not professional soldiers and have not received professional training. Once they are followed and pursued, they may easily fall behind or get injured if they retreat in a panic.
In this case, let's have a good fight. If you want to sway someone's target, it depends on whether you have a good mouth!
Zuo Zhong thought to himself, a stern look flashed in his eyes, and under the cover of Gui Youguang and other agents, he stood up suddenly and shouted outside.
(End of chapter)
