The dawn was swaying in the wind and rain.
Old man Zhao has lived for more than fifty years, and in his memory, the heavy rain with hail in summer has never lasted for such a long time.
I have been worrying about the sorghum and corn fields in the fields.
At dawn, he put on a bamboo hat and a raincoat made of canvas that had been patched and discarded at the station, and left the village carrying a hoe.
From time to time, the sound of the train wheels and the rails hitting each other could be heard on the railway not far away, which together with the strange buzzing roar of the locomotive broke the heavy rain alone.
The train went away, leaving only the sound of raindrops hitting the sorghum leaves that had fallen to the ground, and the surroundings became deathly quiet.
The more silence there is, the more irritable it brings to Zhao Laihan.
Everywhere you look, there are patches of sorghum lying on the ground with broken branches and leaves.
I always felt lucky and even hesitated to go to my own land.
Maybe praying to God every day has helped?
Finally, from a distance, I saw that nearly half of the sorghum in my dry land on the mound had fallen, and the sweet potatoes in the ground seemed not to be affected much.
Heaved a sigh of relief
He couldn't support his family on three-thirds of the land, so he had no choice but to rent two acres of irrigated land from the Guo family, a big landowner.
Braving the wind and rain...
Old Man Zhao's heart sank. Most of the two acres of sorghum he planted on the well-watered land he rented from the Guo family fell down, and there was not even a tenth of the remaining sorghum left.
My hands and feet were trembling, and I sat down in the mud...
"Damn thief God, this is a posture that doesn't want people to live!" He cried heartbreakingly.
I got up like crazy and saw the ruins of the crops in the farmland...
Under the violent storm, there was no chance.
I couldn't live this day anymore, so I shouted again: "God, why are you so cruel to me?"
The Guo family is the dominant force in Zhangnan, and the land rent must be paid on time, otherwise, the Guo family's servants will make life worse than death for those who do not pay rent.
Old Man Zhao had lost hope in his eyes. He sat slowly in the rain-filled sorghum field like a zombie, holding the broken sorghum pole in his hand without saying a word, hoping to reconnect it.
Tried countless times without success
No matter how heavy the raindrops slid down from his forehead and into his neck, he didn't seem to feel that there was really no way out.
Tang Dagou was in a very unhappy mood. There were dogs and ghosts barking early in the morning.
On such a rainy day, we could bump into such an old guy. Looking at him like this, he must be a poor ding-dong-dong.
The old man stood in the rain, just blocking the activities of the soldiers led by Big Dog and Madman Yang!
"Platoon leader, would you like to go over and ask this old man? Although he is poor, he may know some things about the railway."
"Yes, you see he is wearing a raincoat made of the canvas used to protect the train from the rain."
"so what?"
"This time when we build a railway, we must at least find some people who are familiar with the situation to guide us!"
"It makes sense. At such an old age, he must be active in this area frequently. He at least knows the basic situation of the railway and even knows the patrol patterns of the Japanese and puppet troops..."
"I also feel that the elderly must know much better than us."
"What the hell are you two talking about so much nonsense? Gong's words are nice, but where is the underground traffic officer? I haven't even seen a ghost so far."
"The puppet soldiers and devils have been arresting people everywhere these past two days. How do I know where he is?" A soldier from the county brigade was dissatisfied with Big Dog's attitude.
"Gong Shaofeng said he knew people from the traffic team. Then tell me, where are the people from the traffic team?"
"Aren't you talking nonsense? I don't know if the captain can contact the people in the traffic team..."
While I was talking, another train rumbled past in the distance...
"What the hell is a Japanese armored train!"
"Do you really know what an armored train is?" The county brigade soldier was stunned for a moment.
"It's a train equipped with armor and heavy artillery..."
"Big dog, tell me in detail..." a soldier asked.
"What the hell, you don't understand"
"If you don't want to say forget it, I'll ask the old man, maybe he knows..."
"Hey, old man, we are the Eighth Route Army, what are you doing here?"
Although it was strange to see someone appearing in the pouring rain, Uncle Zhao's brows did not relax in any way.
I always feel that the world is unfair to me. The food at home can only last for a day or two at most, and there is no way to survive these days.
He ignored the soldiers who came to ask questions.
"Hey, old man, what are you asking for?" The big dog soldier who followed him in the rain lost his temper again. He had never looked at the common people seriously before, and his experience in getting along with the villagers at the wine station was rather strange.
Naturally, the words were not very polite.
Being called an old man...Old Zhao now has no intention of caring about whether this person is polite or not. Being able to survive is all he hopes for now.
But now that all hope has been shattered, he feels... there is nothing left to miss in this world.
I originally thought that a heavy rain would bring hope, but in the end it brought not only no hope... but despair.
My mind began to be confused: These people came to find me with guns on their backs...
The Guo family must have sent someone to collect the land rent...
"You vampires, old man, I will follow you today..."
Old man Zhao holds a hoe in his hand and is about to fight Tang Dagou when he swings it...
…
After heavy rain and heavy rain, the blocked ditches were filled with water.
No one could be seen three to five meters away.
The Minghe River Iron Bridge was filled with people.
The rivers in the plains are not turbulent.
The water rose steadily and was already level with the bottom of the bridge.
"Evacuate all!" This was the Japanese engineer's helpless order.
Amidst the clicking footsteps, the armored train parked in the south of the bridge sounded its whistle and started slowly.
The steam locomotive pulled three armored carriages southward along the railway that seemed to be floating on the river.
The railway bridge is no longer passable. The Japanese who have lived on the island all year round certainly know the ins and outs of this sudden summer storm.
Everyone is guessing whether the heavy rain will continue until dark today or early tomorrow morning.
There was a long procession walking on the railway. The Japanese engineers in raincoats led the procession, followed by the civilian workers in canvas and raincoats. The chaotic footsteps were louder than the sound of wind and rain.
Finally arriving at the train station, the crowd dispersed into various stations.
The railway armored patrol car parked in the maintenance workshop lit up with a beam of light and started slowly for routine patrol.
Several maintenance workers buried several Japanese corpses in the pits they had dug, and then gathered together and whispered: "Hey... Shangfeng wants us to destroy the railway. God is doing us such a big favor..."
"The goal this time is to paralyze the railway line for at least half a month to prevent the Japs from crossing the Yellow River south... According to the Japs engineers, this heavy rain is called a storm. It can last for a day at most..."
"Don't say much, wait until Brother Lu comes back before making plans..."
A figure walked through the wind and rain, greeted the puppet soldiers standing guard, and hurried into the workshop.
He took out a white strip of cloth and tied it on his left arm, and then began to assign the task: "The Eighth Route Army has destroyed the Japanese Railway telephone line. The attack is scheduled to start at eleven o'clock and will end before dawn tomorrow."
"The armored patrol car has been dealt with and is filled with explosives. However, the wind and rain are too strong now. The Japanese and puppet troops guarding the bridge have banned anyone from going to the Zhanghe River Bridge. It is too difficult to blow up the Zhanghe River sedan..."
"you sure?"
"The problem lies with the Minghe River Bridge. The water in the river has surged and will overflow the bridge in at most an hour."
In the wind and rain, there were dense crowds of shirtless men carrying ropes, wooden poles, hammers, wrenches and other tools for dismantling the rails.
"superior!"
More than a dozen man-powered carts, dragging heavy tools, creaked closer to the railway line.
A squad of "puppet army" patrols spread out to guard the half of the railway that was missing a section of track.
"Please be quick in your movements..."
(End of chapter)
