Gao Yidao was a man of swift and decisive actions. This time, each of them showed their unique skills. He did not want to lose to the Third Company at all, so he was unwilling to delay any longer, even for a minute or a second. So, he led the Second Company and set off in a hurry in the middle of the night.
Hao Ping was confident that donating food to the Eighth Route Army was like donating food to the anti-Japanese war. Even in the Japanese puppet area, he did not believe that all the landlords and gentry were conscienceless. So, when it was daybreak, he ordered the third company to get up, form a team, and set out steadily.
Ding Deyi didn't sleep all night. Without Captain Lu, he became the only head of the independent regiment. Normally, he should have visited the second and third companies before departure, or reminded them of safety, but he didn't. The second company left in the middle of the night, but he didn't see them off. In the morning, when the third company left, he still didn't leave the house.
Although the decision made at the meeting was the most economical and feasible solution for the current independent regiment, the Second Company, the Third Company and the Ninth Class were like the three children of the independent regiment, like Ding Deyi's three children. Now that his family was poor, he had to kick these three children out of the house and force them to make a living and support their family in the midst of crises from all sides. Ding Deyi did not feel comfortable about it. He was not proud of his status as the head of the family, but rather sad.
In the middle of the night, the second company went to the kitchen to find Uncle Niu to get two days' rations and set off; early in the morning, the third company also sent people to get the third company's share; but now, it was already noon, and there was no movement from the ninth squad. Uncle Niu was worried, so he personally carried the ninth squad's share and delivered it.
As soon as he entered the room, he realized that the ninth class had just gotten up and was just starting to pack up. However, Uncle Niu felt relieved when he saw this. After all, they might have to sleep outdoors, and Hu Yi should have let them have a good night's sleep.
Hu Yi was a man of few words, and Uncle Niu was also a man of few words, so they just said hello briefly, and there was no need to say anything else to each other. Uncle Niu came over because he was thinking about the little girl. After he stuffed the food into Hu Yi's pocket, he grabbed the little girl, took out a white flour bun, and stuffed it into the little girl's pocket. Uncle Niu only had a little white flour, just enough to make a small bun.
Suddenly, the door opened again, and everyone stood up quickly, because the person who came in was Political Commissar Ding Deyi, who had not slept all night.
Ding Deyi was not here to see them off. On the contrary, he came this time to cancel the mission of Class 9. Class 9 had few people, so they were not too many in the group, and they were not too few outside. There was no need to go out and take risks.
This was the first time that Ding Deyi came to Class 9's nest. He didn't say anything, but waved for everyone to continue with their work and patted Uncle Niu on the shoulder. Ding Deyi knew that he was here to send the little girl off. Then he looked around the two rooms inside and outside, sat down at the broken table, picked up a broken jar on the table, picked up the thermos on the table, poured himself some water, and looked at the people who were packing their luggage.
A Czech-style rifle was placed on the table, with a spare barrel next to it, well-maintained and shiny. The burly Luo Fugui was stuffing four fully loaded magazines into a shoulder bag on one side, while the other bag was also bulging and occasionally made a rattling sound. Ding Deyi couldn't figure out how many bullets he had on him.
There were three Type 38 rifles hung neatly on the wall. On the butt of one of them, the word "Liu" was engraved stroke by stroke, followed by two "Zheng"s. Ding De immediately understood it. It was "Liu Zheng Zheng". This gun should belong to Liu Jianqiang. "Zheng Zheng" should mean that he had killed ten enemies.
The other gun stock only had "正止" engraved on it, with no other markings. Ding Deyi guessed that this gun belonged to Ma Liang, which meant that he had killed nine people.
There was no name or "正" engraved on the butt of the third gun, but there were two puppies painted crookedly on the edge of the butt. Looking at such a bizarre idea, Ding Deyi couldn't guess the meaning; however, looking at the unruly lines and the ability to draw dogs and tigers, it should be the work of Xiao Hongying, so this gun must be Hu Yi's.
Ding Deyi turned his eyes away from the wall and looked at the busy people in the room again. Except for the little girl, everyone had a bayonet with a sheath and a box gun, all wearing Japanese-style individual equipment, and the bullet boxes were full. The most unique thing was that three of them had shovels on their backs. Wu Shitou, the silly boy, even had a pickaxe and was busy carrying a bundle of thick ropes on his back.
Regardless of how useful those shovels, pickaxes and ropes are, just based on the weapon configuration and ammunition base, Ding Deyi felt that this squad 9 was extraordinary. If compared with the regiment, its firepower was definitely equivalent to that of a platoon. If the sustainability was taken into account, it would be even more difficult to say.
For some reason, Ding Deyi's mood suddenly improved a lot at this moment. He suddenly decided to change his mind and no longer planned to cancel the outing of Class 9. He smiled unconsciously and said, "Oh, I heard a long time ago that you guys who didn't realize it are getting rich. After seeing it today, I, a poor political commissar, have opened my eyes."
Several people were stunned by the sudden words of the political commissar, and they didn't know what to say for a moment. Xiao Hongying was the most nervous, and she argued without hesitation: "Uncle Political Commissar, you can't listen to their nonsense. We don't have any guns! Look, there are six of us, and we only have four guns in total. How can we compare with them?"
Ding De saw the little girl's urgency and couldn't help laughing in his heart, but he asked Xiao Hongying seriously: "Girl, you can't just count the long spears, don't count the short ones, right?"
"I..." Xiao Hongying was speechless, with her two pigtails sticking up and her big eyes rolling rapidly.
Seeing that this unruly little girl was stumped by his question, Ding Deyi seemed to feel better, so he continued, "Also, there are rumors that your comrade Hongying is secretly reselling ammunition. Ah, of course, I firmly don't believe this. You, little girl, must be considered a veteran of our independent regiment, right? How can you not have this awareness? Don't you think so?"
Xiao Hongying was dumbfounded by what he said. She had no idea what to do. She didn't understand why the political commissar suddenly said this. If she continued listening to him, things might get bad. The best thing to do now was to leave. She nodded quickly: "Yes, that's nonsense, absolutely nonsense. Uncle Political Commissar, we are about to set off now. Well, I'm leaving first!" After saying this, she ran out of the house without thinking twice.
Seeing the little girl fleeing in panic after being beaten by his words, Ding Deyi finally showed a smile that he couldn't hide, and said to the few people who were still standing in the room: "What are you still standing there for? Do you want to have another meal? Go early and come back early, don't let a poor political commissar like me starve to death!"
…
The morning sun was shining brightly. Class 9 set off. A group of six people walked slowly out of Dabei Village and walked up the mountain road to the east.
The mission objective was simple, first try to feed yourself, then try to feed as many people as possible. Hu Yi didn't know where to go, the food was only enough for two days, if there was someone he knew outside to rely on, that would be the best, it would save a lot of trouble. After thinking about it, there was actually someone, Lao Luo who met Su Qing in Qingshan Village, but I didn't know if he was still there after being exposed.
Let’s take Qingshan Village as our first stop and give it a try…