It took two days and three nights to cover more than 190 kilometers, which was nothing compared to the 120 kilometers the Red Fourth Regiment marched in the rain, darkness, and over mountains in just 20 hours to capture the Luding Bridge.
But for the "corpse collection team" who are heavily equipped and need to conduct confrontation training on the way, this seems to be the limit. Everyone was exhausted, and the military law enforcement team had taken in nearly a company of stragglers. The six carts assigned to the field hospital were packed with soldiers exhausted from the long journey.
There are still six kilometers away from Changzhou City. I thought I could lie down and rest if I bite the bullet again.
However, the "public security" here is really unflattering. I don't know which god actually dug the road as if it had been gnawed by a dog under the eyes of the Japanese. Every other foot, a foot-wide ditch was dug. The rocks and soil are piled in the middle like a mountain. Not to mention that you can't walk a big car, even if you want to get across, you have to jump.
As if they were not satisfied with just destroying the road, they actually burned a wooden bridge, just an hour ago! When the forward search team arrived, flames were rising and the fire was soaring into the sky.
Captain Yamazaki was furious when his troops were blocked. If Master Chen hadn't strictly ordered him to assist Qiu Camp and Xie Camp to defend themselves on the spot, he would have had to lead two battalions to both sides of the road to "sweep" them.
"Team members, why don't we let the brothers rest on the spot and wait until daybreak to figure out a solution?"
The imitation Japanese Type 38 engineer shovel specially ordered from Shanghai Friendship Iron Works is the standard equipment of the "Corpse Collection Corps". With more than two thousand people working together, the road can be filled in up to an hour, but how to survive the current situation? A river more than ten feet wide is a problem.
There were no carpenters, no lumber, and no boats to cross the river. Zhang Xiaoguo was at a loss what to do, Wei Daguo said nothing, and Chen Shangwen, the director of the logistics department, simply suggested to rest on the spot.
Young Master Chen shook his head, "There are still five hours before dawn. We can't take this risk. After all, the bridge burned too soon. It's obviously coming for us."
Once the bridge is broken, the Japanese troops in the city will be unable to respond even if they want to, and it is indeed dangerous to stay by the river in vain. Chen Shangwen gritted his teeth and said with a ferocious face: "Commander, let them come. The main force of the army is here, are you still afraid of being eaten by them?"
Even if the remnants of the 67th Division and the 40th Division were active in this area, Master Chen was confident that he could withstand till dawn, but he still shook his head, "It's not that I don't dare to fight, it's that I don't want to fight. "Commander Zhang, let me know and let the brothers think of a solution. Even if three cobblers can defeat Zhuge Liang, I don't believe we can't cross this river."
"yes!"
"Commander Wei, you are responsible for building the road and try to complete the task within one hour."
Before Liang Weihua could speak, Chen Shangwen couldn't wait to ask: "What about me?"
"Just keep an eye on your baggage team." Master Chen took the rifle from Chen Changxi's hand. "I'll go to the river to have a look. If anything happens, come find me there. By the way, give Qiu Camp and Xie Camp another one. A large amount of ammunition to prevent unidentified armed forces from smearing and sneaking attacks.¡±
The wisdom of the masses is infinite. Ten minutes later, Zhang Xiaoguo and Chen Changlu brought a soldier who was all wet, "Regiment seat, our battalion's second company, Private Gu Sanhe, just went into the water to check and confirmed that all the wooden piles were coated with tar. , it¡¯s not easy to burn, just remove the burnt part of the upper part and you can build a bridge on it.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s the plank?¡±
Seeing the battalion commander wink at him, Gu Sanhe quickly stood at attention and saluted: "Report to the regiment, just take apart ten large trucks of the baggage team. I have estimated that the length is just enough."
"From now on, you are a corporal," Master Chen was ecstatic, and then turned around, "Battle Commander Chen, gather all the water-savvy brothers together and do as he says. You must move quickly."
"yes!"
At 3:26 in the morning, the roads and bridges were completed one after another, and endless cheers suddenly sounded under the night sky. To ensure nothing went wrong, the search team took the lead in crossing the river. Then Qiu Ying and Xie Ying, who were responsible for the defense on both wings, each took out a company to establish a defensive position on the other side to ensure that the main force of the army would not be attacked halfway across the river.
"Brothers, work harder and try to reach our new home before dawn!"
"Third platoon leader, what's going on with that pit? Find something to cover me quickly"
The officers and soldiers shouted, waving torches and firearms, dragging the mules and horses whose lives were uncertain, and almost at the same time swarmed up the pitted and broken road. The frightened horses did not obey the command and struggled like epilepsy. The mules behind them rushed into the horses in front like crazy. Several pits where there was not enough soil to fill the bottom with branches made a cracking sound, and the wheels would sink in if they were not careful.
As soon as he walked across the bridge in a shaky and nervous manner, Wang Kelang's horse suddenly slipped down the slope. Everyone yelled angrily and used ropes to pull the horse up. Wang Kelang clenched his fist convulsivelyThe rope was slippery, but the horse was struggling wildly, causing the rope to tremble in his hands.
The team was blocked, and Young Master Chen immediately shouted at the top of his lungs: "Battle Commander Lin, everyone who told you to move back!"
The simple bridge tied with hemp ropes creaked. Lin Shanhu reacted suddenly and quickly ordered: "Get back. Everyone on the bridge will get back. Wait for the horses from the other side to get up and then cross the river in platoons." ¡±
When the chain fell off at the critical moment, Wang Kelang was more anxious than anyone else. He pulled hard again and again, and even his feet got caught on the willow branches by the river. With the help of more than a dozen brothers, the horse was finally pulled up, but its front legs were wrapped in knots. He couldn't untie them for a long time. In his extreme excitement, he actually bit the knot with his teeth - biting the knot that was painful. Soak, soaked knots of stink and disgusting slime.
The truth was finally cleared, and the brothers on the other side were crossing the river in an orderly manner. Young Master Chen was relieved and was about to order the baggage team to speed up to catch up with the Chen camp in front. The old master came here more than two months ago to stand in front of the large army. and Chen Liang appeared in front of him.
"You fools, why are you here?"
The old master held his hands tightly and said with great excitement: "You are not familiar with the place, and you are tired of riding and riding. We won't worry if you don't come and see us."
Chen Liang glanced at the bridge and echoed with lingering fear: "Tuanzu, Wujin is no better than Shanghai. It's a mess here! Especially at night, not even a Japanese squadron dares to go out easily."
"It's hard for you," Young Master Chen nodded slightly, and then asked with a smile but not a smile: "Uncle Liang, how is the business doing? Do you know which immortal did this bridge and this road?"
"If you guessed correctly, it should be the Youth Inspirational Group. They specialize in sabotage and often mobilize people along roads and railways to break roads, burn bridges, and cut telephone lines. In comparison, this is still a small fight. It¡¯s a joke. As soon as you enter the city, you will know that they just dug up the Wuyi Highway from Qianhuang to Yuncun and from Nanxiashu to Fengshuqiao. "
"Is your surname Guo or G?"
"They are neither Guo nor G, they are just a bunch of bold local guys."
The last group of brothers finally crossed the bridge. Young Master Chen immediately turned around and said, "Let's go, let's talk as we walk."
The old master nodded and said hello to the officers and soldiers around him, while whispering: "Captain Murakami and Military Police Lieutenant Morita were relatively easy to talk to, and agreed to let us take over the airport, and withdraw the Matsuo team stationed there, and even gave the big wood merchant Qian Linfu's We will let you live in Weiyuan, but a group of local gangsters led by County Magistrate Tang Zhuoran, Police Chief Tang Renjie, and Police Chief Tang Binghui are not very welcoming to our arrival."
"We'll talk about those local snakes later," Master Chen lit a cigarette and asked nonchalantly: "Let's talk about the 49th Infantry Brigade first. How many troops do they have in total? What is their equipment like? How are they deployed?"
The old master was very familiar with these situations, and without thinking about them he introduced them in detail: "The standard establishment of a brigade is 1,100 people, and the brigade headquarters is 30 people. In addition to the standard four infantry squadrons, there is also a transport squadron of 110 people, and a transport squadron of 110 people. 174-man machine gun squadron. Each machine gun squadron consists of a 14-man squadron and 1 ammunition squad. Each squad has 4 heavy machine guns, and there is a total of 12 artillery squads. A 70mm Type 92 infantry gun.
The deployment was relatively scattered. There was a squadron in the city, a squadron at the train station, a squadron deployed along the railway and several highways like soybeans, a small squadron at the airport, and the rest were stationed in Benniu and Luoshu Bay. town. As you expected before, this small amount of troops cannot control such a large territory. There are at least fifty towns and villages in the five districts and seventy-two towns without a single soldier. "
"What about the vigilante group?"
"More than 1,200 people are stationed at various strongholds along the railways and highways. The regiment leader Tang Binghui is in name only, because those soldiers all obey the Japanese. There are also more than 400 policemen, who are stationed in addition to assisting in the defense of Changzhou City. It collects taxes, has average training and average equipment, and can only bully the common people."
At this point, the old master seemed to think of something, and added, "Ishikawa lives in the brigade headquarters at No. 7 Hokita Bank. He called me last night and said that he would have a meeting with Captain Murakami, Lieutenant Morita and the county magistrate at noon today. Tang Zhuoran and his gang of local snakes will take over for you."
Young Master Chen nodded slightly, then changed the subject and asked curiously: "Uncle Liang, where are our pharmacy and Wuyang grocery store? How is the business?"
"The most prosperous street in Changzhou City is undoubtedly South Street. It is said that there were nearly 200 stores before the war. Unfortunately, there are only four stores left now, and two of them are still ours. Things are rare and valuable. If it weren't for the fact that I often go to the countryside, If you work alone and are exploited at all levels, you might actually be able to make a small fortune. "
Of course Chen Liang understands that Mr. ChenNot knowing this, after a pause, he continued: "The countryside is not peaceful and business is not easy to do. Some business groups and stragglers organized 'guerrillas' under the slogans of 'anti-Japanese' and 'protecting the family and the people' , each dominates one side. There are Yuetai and Jiang Dingsheng tribes in Huangli, Dong'an, and Cunqian; Bu Xifan and Zhang Dao tribes are in Lihe and Buyi areas; Jiang Zhaofan and Tian Daren tribes are in Xiaxi and Houyu areas;
There are also many people who are close to the GCD, such as the "Southern Jiangsu People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army" organized by Li Fu, the principal of Shangde Women's Vocational School in Zanglin; the "People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army" led by Ai Huanzhang, Jiang Tieru, and Xue Bin; Zhuge Liang; Shen and Qin Yusheng's "Changhui Qixiang Joint Defense Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps", and the "Danjinwu Military Workers Team" directly under the banner of GCD.
Except for the 67th Division and the 40th Division of the Communist Party of China, the "Dadao Hui", which is part of Zhang Shaohua's department and half militia and half gang, is the strongest. Zhang had joined the Youth Gang in his early years, and later surrendered to the Communist Party and became a company commander. He colluded with the bandit Fan Linlin and ganged up on robberies in the Yangtze River. After the fall of Changzhou, he took advantage of the chaos to form a team with more than 3,000 guns. He was just recruited by Han Deqin this year and was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the "Wujin Self-Defense Corps". He can legitimately set up cards to collect taxes and extort money. "
It was really chaotic. Young Master Chen sighed softly and asked nonchalantly: "Where is the Broadsword Club? Who are they closer to?"
Chen Liang cleared his throat and continued: "The Machete Club is a spontaneously formed local armed force. There are about four or five thousand people, each with a machete. They are all desperadoes and have very strong fighting power. The leader of the altar is a monk. His name is Kuang Senlin. He looks down on Zhang Shaohua and refuses to pay him taxes. Zhang Shaohua just led more than 1,500 people to raid his base areas in Zhenglu, Sanhekou, Jiaoxi and Chengxi.
They were even more ruthless than the Japanese. They burned down houses, snatched cattle, and even raped women. They committed all kinds of evil. The machete will rise up to resist. If you tell me, you won't believe it. Just with the machete, he actually killed more than 200 Zhang soldiers, captured more than 400 people, and drove Zhang Shaohua dozens of miles away at once. "
How to grow in strength is to rely on the big fish to eat the small fish and recruit people all over the world.
Young Master Chen weighed it up and said resolutely: "Deputy Commander Chen, from now on, we will focus on Zhang Shaohua's department. If we don't have enough manpower, we will transfer him from the military law team. We will find out his whereabouts as soon as possible and try to get rid of him within two months. "
The old master was very happy to pick out the weak persimmons. He couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Members of the group, do you want to do some courtesy first and then attack?"
Young Master Chen shook his head and said coldly: "No need. If we don't kill such a person, it won't be enough for the people to be angry. Let's have him stabbed and use his head to sacrifice the flag of our regiment!"