No matter how much worry and fear I experienced yesterday about the future, when dawn comes the next day, what is due will still not be late.
When the sun just rose in early spring, a large group of puppet troops set off eastward from Luoye Village.
There were more than 300 soldiers in a battalion, lined up in a neat formation, in a long double-row marching formation, and behind them were three Japanese three-wheeled motorcycles, facing the morning glow in a continuous stream.
Objective: The raid on the combined area of Anxian County and Meixian County has officially begun.
A soldier was panting and was being chased. He ran in the morning mist and quickly rushed up a hillside. He shouted excitedly: "Coming, Captain Meng, coming, coming from the west. It stretches for a mile in front and back. There are motorcycles and... car."
Captain Meng grabbed the soldier and asked, "Have you counted how many people there are? Are there any cavalry?"
"Too many, at least three or four hundred! I didn't see any cavalry..."
Captain Meng immediately felt relieved, gritted his teeth, turned around and shouted to the soldiers guarding the hillside: "Xiao Liu, immediately hang the mines buried on the road according to the method taught by Platoon Leader Chen. Let's retreat north now." "
Someone next to him immediately asked: "Captain, Lao Qin and Liu took the people north. Shouldn't we go south?"
Captain Meng shook his head: "Do you think the enemy will be a fool? If we deliberately go north, the enemy will think that the people have gone south. Do you understand?"
"I see!"
Captain Meng chuckled: "You know what the hell, we will go north first, then west, and finally south, taking them in a circle in the hilly area."
"What if the enemy arranges for someone to intercept us?"
"Just one battalion of security forces wants to chase and intercept us in such a large area. Let him just dream."
"Yes, we will circle around the plain and drag them to death."
After saying that, he looked at a squad of security troops running down the hillside: "Then...the top security troops who are chasing Xiao Zhou, do we want to give them a blow?"
Xiao Zhou, who had just returned from reconnaissance and was still panting next to him, said anxiously: "No, their muzzles are raised very high. Let them hang them slowly first."
Everyone was about to retreat when a bicycle appeared with a cloud of dust from the east.
After a while: "Report, east of the blockade, there are massed puppet troops everywhere, and most of the people in the city, Wang Jingchang and Ma Dabangzi, have come out."
...
This raid to test the capabilities of the security forces is not just in Meixian County, but also in all counties on the plain.
On the surface, it was to clear the security area, but in fact it was to prepare for the upcoming sweeps.
After receiving the order, the bandit Ma Dabangzi was overjoyed. Early in the morning, he drove westward according to the route drawn by the imperial army, with the goal of wiping out the guerrilla base areas west of the blockade.
The translator said that the Northern Security Army Commander Li Ying's First Security Army was also conducting a sweep. Compared with previous sweeps, this sweep was unprecedented in scale, but the main force of the sweep was no longer the imperial army.
The imperial army sent an observation team, and Ma Da Bangzi felt a little uneasy. Although he had dealt with the imperial army before, he always cooperated with the security forces of Commander Wang Zhiquan in the city and followed the security forces. The scope of activities was generally not large. , and this time, it was directly regarded as the main force by the imperial army.
Most of the low-ranking security forces under Ma Da Bangzi were bandits in the past and were no strangers to this area. It would not be difficult to find those guerrillas who were acting like cowards.
The only difference is that his group of security forces is different from other security forces. They have no pay and no supplies. They even have to provide their own guns, ammunition, and personnel. Therefore, Ma Da Bangzi feels that he must perform well this time and strive to enter the imperial rations. queue.
This operation was only a small-scale raid in different areas. The translator also said that the imperial army had already sent people to attack the guerrillas. The guerrillas had received the news yesterday and had moved.
This sweep may be just a formality.
Ma Da Bangzi is not surprised. The guerrillas have been rooted here for so many years. They must not be fools. They must have placed spies among the puppet army. It would be strange for such a large-scale operation to get wind of it and not run away.
Multiple armies are advancing together. Strength is everything. The place is only so big. Although the raids are just exercises, it will be useless even if the guerrillas get the news of the encirclement and suppression! Look where those Eighth Route guerrillas can lead the people... to where they can go!
The terrain in the hilly areas is complex, but with the combing and sweeping arranged by the imperial army, the elimination of these guerrillas is just around the corner.
The national army liaison officer who had just gotten on the line was actually happy to see the results of the raid against the guerrillas.
It’s not surprising that the national army said they were cooperating with the Eighth Route Army to fight against the imperial army, but they were fighting among themselves.
The situation was too complicated and exceeded the limit of his ability to see the situation clearly, so he kept an eye on it and did not pull out all the people.
You say that when gods fight, mortals suffer! Preserving strength is the most important thing.
As for the people who were facing a disaster, he didn't have much interest in paying attention to them. In the years of the disaster, most of the people who escaped were poor people who wanted money but no money, no food, and robbing them was a completely loss-making business.
Although he has no interest in raiding, for Ma Da Bangzi, who is half gangster and half fake, there is no psychological barrier to killing a few people.
Along the blockade.
Three battalions of puppet troops in the county, organized into companies, arrived early in the morning outside the artillery stronghold next to the blockade trench on the westernmost line.
As long as the imperial army gives an order, the large group of troops can cross the suspension bridge and sweep westward at any time.
Sun Dewang, the new company commander of the security group, led more than a hundred people to the blockade ditch before dawn to assemble.
At this time, the team was sitting in a mess on the open space outside the turret, basking in the sun, watching helplessly as six or seven figures dug holes to make fires and cook on the spot.
So far, the security group does not even have an instructor from the imperial army. Therefore, they are directly looked down upon by the puppet soldiers in the gun tower, and they are not even allowed to use the kitchen.
The mission given to the security group is much simpler: guard the outer defense line and wait for opportunities to catch the guerrillas who escape.
The puppet army Wang Jingchang's team in the south heard that the troops were divided into twelve groups and were waiting for orders from the imperial army.
Seeing that we are about to cross the blockade, we advance from east to west.
Farther north, a large number of troops from the Western Front of the First Public Security Army were sharpening their knives.
In the enemy-occupied areas, the reconnaissance teams, police traitors, and various commanders who had taken refuge with the Japanese also began to clean up the enemy-occupied areas and reduce the scope of the guerrillas' activities.
Work behind enemy lines has become unprecedentedly severe.
Beside the turret.
While waiting for orders from the imperial army, the two puppet battalion commanders, one fat and one thin, got together and said, "There are so few people in the security team and we ask them to follow us. What does the imperial army mean by this?"
Another tall and lanky man immediately curled his lips: "The Imperial Army asked these timid and fearful Imperial Army to form a second line of defense with the detective team and the police to prevent any of us from deliberately letting the guerrillas go."
The fat man immediately became unhappy: "This little devil is really not a good person. It's a shame that our commander Wang works so hard for them."
"Shut up and call the Imperial Army."
"It's just the two of us here. We're so scared. Besides, people's hearts are made of flesh. Those common people in the west are our compatriots. I think we'd better turn a blind eye and just calculate the ball."
The tall and lanky man looked around: "Damn it, just know it in your heart. Why did you say it?"
"I think the instructor Park who trained us must be related to Master Ba in the mountains!"
The thin battalion commander chuckled: "So what if he is related? Just like Ma Da Bangzi in the south... He is also related to the national army. Do you think there are people who don't know?"
The fat man was stunned for a moment: "You mean, the imperial army knows everything? Uh... But why does he still use them?"
"You know nothing, do you know how big our place is? Can we keep a close eye on the Imperial Army alone? Sooner or later, we will have to rely on those unscrupulous guys to keep an eye on those mud-legged people."
"Hey, our group now has many people and guns, but the territory is not large. Look... should we take the opportunity to occupy the security group's territory this time?"
"Keep your voice down, don't let the regiment leader hear it. He has a good relationship with the instructor named Park from the security regiment."
"Then we have to secretly dig a hole for the security team. What do you think..."
"Dig a hole? Just you... me, the bad battalion commander?"
The fat man winked and said, "Don't you know... you can collect taxes and grains by occupying space."
"You really don't know how to write the word "death"? Li Ying in the north is eyeing the area to the west. Last year, he sent a group of Guo Qing with thousands of numbers. First they occupied the security group's nest, and in the end they didn't eat it. What a big loss? You ran back with your tail between your legs in disgrace, you know why?"
"Tell me, I've never understood it. The security team is just a group of broken soldiers and hundreds of bandits. How can they beat Guo Qing?"
The thin battalion commander lowered his voice: "Hey, I heard that the Eighth Route Army sent a work team to join the security group. In addition, the security group did business with the guy named Xu from the investigation team, plus the national army's corrupt democratic government I have also fallen in love with the security group, and the security group has a good relationship with our group leader. At this time, no matter who has the idea of the security group, he will offend several other companies at the same time. In this case, your small camp Do you dare to say that you are planning to attack the security team?"
"I'm just joking about this, don't take it seriously."
"Now that there is a big disaster, many commanders in the south are said to be too poor to open the pot. The reason is that all the people have fled! Who is willing to occupy more space!"
"I mean, if we can achieve some results and the commander's territory expands, then we might be able to work as a regiment leader, don't you think?"
"You idiot, you are a battalion commander. As long as we listen to the regiment commander, we will still enjoy the good life. If anything happens, the regiment commander will take care of us. If you become the regiment commander yourself, these days, the Eighth Route Army, the National Army, and land grabbers are everywhere. Commanders, how many troubles will come to your doorstep?"
(End of chapter)
