late at night.
A faint crescent moon has almost set in the west, unable to bring any light to the earth.
Due to the continuous drought, the sandy roads on the plains are filled with floating soil where the wheels have rolled over them. Bicycle wheels continue to grind through the dust, and no one can stop the firm steps.
The road that is slightly above the ground has been run over by cars to form two ruts, but the most used ones on the road are mules, horses and oxen-carts.
As for cars...even the Japanese look down upon them. Except for the annual routine sweeps, where can you see wheel marks at other times?
The bicycle team hurried forward on the plains in the cold wind of early spring. It had been more than an hour since they set off. The cyclists and the soldiers on the back seat kept exchanging positions in order to reach the fastest speed, but the speed of the team's progress was still obvious. Slowed down.
The team was wandering on this road...at least it looked like they were wandering, with the handlebars swinging from side to side, and the torch on the back seat swinging too.
The dirt road looks flat, but in fact it is full of big and small potholes. The bicycle not only rocks left and right, but also bumps up and down, causing the body on the back seat to constantly swing up and down and left and right.
The people in the back seat were almost knocked out. They desperately grabbed the spring under the seat cushion with their hands again and again. The wheels picked up the loose soil on the ground, forming a small dust mist. The continuous dust mist filled a certain section of the road.
The farther back the group goes, the more the bicycle riders can see only the gray road.
The sore thighs stretched and contracted desperately, and they continued to step on the pedals fiercely. Amidst the creaking sound, the rider felt like he was flying in the wind and sand...
There are no road signs, let alone mileage display monuments, because the Eighth Route Army has already destroyed all the markers on the ground. I hope the Japanese will not be able to find their way here!
Naturally, most of the people in the team had no idea where they were now. They only knew to follow the torch light held by the soldiers of the armed work team at the front.
Riding a bicycle is indeed convenient and fast for short-distance travel. If you take a person on the back seat for a long distance, you will find that it is not much easier than running, but in terms of speed, it is much faster than walking.
"Comrades, work harder... We are halfway through the run and less than thirty miles away from the goal!"
Sounds came one after another in the team, from the front to the end of the team.
After a long time, someone who was not very proficient in riding a bicycle suddenly yelled: "Oh, I have sand in my eyes..."
After he finished speaking, the man subconsciously let go of his hand that was tightly gripping the handlebar and was about to wipe his eyes. The handlebar immediately began to shake violently. Under the weight of two people, he retracted his hand and squeezed the brake. It also failed to brake the wheels. The wheels squeaked due to the friction of the rubber brakes, but they were still swinging from side to side.
The person in the back seat quickly stretched out his legs, hoping to support the bicycle under his crotch, but the reality was completely opposite.
Instead, the bicycle became more violently shaking, and several voices screamed together...
With a bang, the two men on the bicycle rushed directly into the ditch on the side of the road.
"Why are you stretching your legs when you have nothing to do?"
"Didn't I see that you were riding unsteadily? Couldn't I help you by stretching my legs?"
"It's no help at all. If I don't stretch my legs, I'll be back after shaking a bit..."
"Come on, you have such skills, you still need to practice more..."
While they were talking, the two of them had already stood up holding on to their bicycles.
The convoy did not stop, and the bicycle with a torch on the back seat flashed by: "Haha, another one fell..."
A minute later, a single bicycle stopped on the side of the road: "How is the situation? Can you still walk?"
The two men in the ditch on the side of the road immediately reported: "Hey...that horse company commander...it's okay...we can just switch to someone else to ride!"
Half a minute later, the bicycle was on the road again. The person in the back seat handed the two rifles to the "driver" and then grabbed the bicycle handle: "You rest for a while, I will ride you behind!"
After saying that, he sat on the bicycle, put his feet on the ground, raised his legs to start running, but he kicked off the pedals and said, "No, the chain fell off..."
The man carrying the rifle immediately stepped forward, and using the light of the torches passing by, he stretched his hand towards the chain: "Isn't it enough to hang it up?"
After all this tossing, the bike finally got on the road again, following the group of bicycles in front of them.
...
There is a three-way intersection in the southeast of the road, and a slightly higher gentle slope in the north of the road.
Several dark figures were lying on the side of the road observing. One of them, Captain Jia, was looking carefully at the road with his beloved telescope.
"...Where did this damn bicycle team come from! Judging from the direction they are heading, they should be heading towards Shawo Village..." The men next to them muttered in a low voice.
Captain Jia never took his telescope away from his eyes: "More than sixty bicycles, almost a hundred people, some of them even have disassembled mortars hanging on the back!"
The men were shocked: "Mortars? Captain, they are all wearing black clothes and holding torches in flagrant manner... Could it be that night raid teams from other places have also come to us?"
Captain Jia felt that something was not right about this: "We are in trouble this time. It seems that the imperial army does not trust us, so they sent people from other places to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army!"
"Looking from the direction they came from, they happened to be on the side where the battle took place yesterday. Could they be people from the Eighth Route Army?"
Captain Jia shook his head: "The ultimate plan is not the Eighth Route Army. If the Eighth Route Army can have such good equipment, what will happen to us on this plain?"
The subordinate asked: "They must have ridden a long distance, and the speed is not very fast... Do you want to catch up and say hello to them?"
After pondering for a while, he said: "You just say hello, and you don't even say a word when you come to our territory. You clearly look down on us. Hehe, I am poor in this place, but is that something that any of them can step on?"
The subordinates were convinced: "This place is less than twenty miles away from Shawo Village. If brothers, we move faster and run forward... we should be able to arrive in an hour. We will see the situation then."
Several black figures descended the gentle slope, carrying a figure in the darkness, following the crescent moon along the road where only the outline could be seen, following the retreating bicycle team in a hurry south.
...
It’s true that all roads are fast. After walking in the mountains for a long time, the speed was not slow. Now when I returned to the plains, I traveled lightly and ran more than 30 miles in more than an hour!
It was late at night, and the moonlight in the sky had no effect at all. The team kept walking at a trot pace without a single break along the way. When they heard that bandits surrounded the wounded team, everyone was filled with energy and wished they could Get to the battlefield early.
Moving forward on two legs would not make it faster, but it would continue to flow toward the southeast like water.
The two broken carriages in the middle of the team kept creaking, as if they might break apart at any time.
The cold wind penetrated into the body along the neck, and from time to time someone wiped the sweat on the cheek, and the hot body did not feel the cold at all.
My body was sweating all over my military uniform. It clung to my skin and felt very uncomfortable. I braced my rifle and slung it behind my back to avoid hitting my back with every step I took.
The leggings were already covered with dust, and heat was radiating from the inside of the military boots. From time to time, some energetic murmurs came from the marching team: "Brother, let me tell you... this place is really flat. If you can live in this kind of place, When it comes to crops...one acre can definitely produce five hundred catties!"
"What a beautiful thought. Why would you do it without water?"
"Tsk tsk... If the Yellow River hadn't changed its course, the land here would have been all fertile farmland!"
"It's useless even if it's fertile land. Can the Japanese let you go?"
"Hehe, this time let's kill the bandits first, and these lands will belong to us. Then we drive away the devils, and then I can bring the folks from the wine station to farm the land!"
"Can you be something of a future? You know how to farm all day long... Why don't we brothers go to the city to do some business in the future?"
"Are you still the Eighth Route Army? Our Eighth Route Army doesn't farm...can we still be called the Eighth Route Army?"
"Huh? Who said the Eighth Route Army must farm? I became the Eighth Route Army to fight the Japanese!"
"How about we two brothers kill all the Japs and then come back to farm together...?"
"I want to raise chickens!"
"Raising chickens? Why?"
"Because the company commander likes to eat chicken..."
"Then they will farm half of the land and raise chickens on the other half!"
Luo Fugui, who was pulling the carriage with one hand and swinging his legs quickly with one hand, smiled. These two of his men were quite conscientious. It seemed that... they would have to take good care of them in the future.
The girl's laughter came from the carriage next to her.
"Why are you laughing!" Luo Fugui asked casually.
The girl's voice came from the carriage: "You, the company commander...are not in vain."
Luo Fugui said proudly: "Of course, it doesn't matter who I am!"
"cut."
"I asked, how could Boss Hu agree to lead the team to open Zhaojiacun?"
"Gao Yidao and Wang Peng's two companies, plus a battalion and a half company, Tian Sanqi company and friendly forces, they should have no problem staying to deal with those Japanese and puppet troops..."
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