The night was deep and dark. No stars or moon could be seen because the sky was overcast and covered with dark clouds, making it pitch black.
A team of twenty-six people formed a line and marched hurriedly in the darkness. Their uniforms that had been soaked in the river water had not yet dried.
Gunshots could be heard faintly in the distance, coming from the direction of the mountain pass; it seemed that the 1st and 4th companies had already started fighting.
"Brother, Luoye Village is just ahead. Should we fire a few shots to show our respect?"
"No need, just go straight to the pickup location and make the most of your time."
"Yes." Ma Liang received Hu Yi's instructions and ran to the front of the team again.
A few miles away from the west mountain pass, the sound of gunfire became more and more intense, and the team entered Luoye Village. Dogs began to bark wildly, and people began to run towards the courtyard in panic. The Li family militia in the courtyard began to climb up the wall in a mess. The few houses that were originally lit suddenly became dark, leaving only one house that was still lit, which was particularly conspicuous in the dark night.
They went through the alleys and headed straight for the light. That should be the location. The second squad rushed directly into the yard, the first squad set up security all around, and the third and ninth squads stopped at the gate outside the yard.
Hu Yi walked through the yard and entered the house. The oil lamp was lit in the house, but no one was there. A dozen boxes were piled in a corner of the house. He opened a few of them and looked at them, then turned back and ordered, "Lift the heavy ones, carry the light ones, and take them all away in one go."
When the last box was out of the door, Hu Yi grabbed the oil lamp and threw it on a pile of bedding in the room. The flame gradually turned into a fire line, and then began to burn up the wall. The goods were in his hands.
When the flames burst out of the roof, the Ninth Platoon had already left the village with the goods and began to move towards the mountain pass in the west. It was only a few miles away from the artillery tower construction site. Victory was in sight.
It has been about half an hour since the gunshots were heard. Judging from the time, the battle at the mountain pass should be almost over. When the ninth platoon was halfway through carrying the goods, the gunshots at the mountain pass ahead were no longer as frequent as before, and suddenly became sparse.
Hu Yi looked back at the fire in Luoye Village, and then looked at the direction of the mountain pass in front of the team. The campfires were already clearly visible. The gunshots gradually faded, indicating that the battle was coming to an end, and the timing was just right.
When they were only a mile away, they finally realized something was wrong. The Type 99 light machine gun was still firing, so it must be the Japs. The sounds were becoming more and more sporadic, and there was also a Czech-style rifle in the company, which was firing just now but has stopped now.
Hu Yi sped up and overtook the marching team, approaching the mountain pass construction site first.
As the range of the campfire became clear and stopped about two or three hundred meters away, Hu Yi and Ma Liang were dumbfounded.
The flames of the crooked-handled rifles came from the first floor of the gun tower. Nearly a hundred civilians were tied together with ropes and stood in a circle around the half-built gun tower. A dozen puppet soldiers huddled behind the human wall and occasionally fired into the darkness around them. Many puppet soldiers' bodies were lying near the construction site, and there were also several Japanese bodies. There were also 20 to 30 bodies near the campfire to the west, in Eighth Route Army uniforms, and it seemed that they were either from the first or fourth company. The reason why the gunfire began to sparse was that the first and fourth companies had stopped firing.
…
On the western hilltop, Wu Yan sighed deeply and was at a loss.
Everything was going smoothly, but when the first company was about to attack the artillery tower, the remaining enemy suddenly formed a human wall with civilian workers, making it impossible for the commandos to advance any further. They could only retreat back into the darkness, leaving behind a pile of corpses. The remaining few Japanese soldiers took the opportunity to sneak into the half-built artillery tower and used the completed ground floor for defense. The civilian workers were commanded by the remaining puppet troops to surround the artillery tower and become a shield and amulet.
A figure hurriedly ran to Wu Yan's side. He was the company commander of the fourth company, named Wang Lai Fu. The regiment commander wanted to command the battle personally this time, but in view of his injury last time, the political commissar strongly opposed this. So the regiment commander stayed in the wine station, and the company commander Wu Yan became the combat commander, in charge of the fourth company.
"Captain Wu, what should we do? How can we fight this?" The fourth captain had no combat experience to begin with, and he was a little confused in this situation. He could only pin his hopes on Wu Yan, the backbone.
A few miles to the east, a ball of fire could be seen in Luoye Village, indicating that the ninth row had already picked up the goods. Calculating the time, they should have reached the mountain pass and were waiting to pass. But now the civilians had become a human wall. How could they fight? If they wanted to fight, they would have to kill them first. Would they dare to do this? Could they accept it with conscience? They dared not, could not, had no solution, and felt extremely helpless.
"Captain Wu, why don't you say something?"
"Captain, give me some more people, I will lead the team to try again." After finishing his work as an instructor for new recruits, Tiedan returned to the first company and continued to serve as his platoon leader. The assault mission just now was carried out by his platoon, but because of the sudden appearance of the wall of civilians, they were unable to fight back and almost lost all their troops. He himself was also injured, and the gauze of the wound was bright red.
Wu Yan shook his head. "How do you try? With a gun or a grenade?"
"I... will get close and fight." Tiedan gritted his teeth as he said this.
"No way to suppress, no way to cover, how close can you crawl in the firelight?" This is suicide, Wu Yan absolutely cannot accept it, turning back to call out: "Communicator!"
"have."
"Hurry back to the wine station and explain the situation. This battle cannot be fought. Let's see what the commander says."
"Yes." The communicator hurried westward into the darkness.
…
East of the pass, five people stood in the darkness, quietly watching the bonfire on the construction site.
"Damn it, what are devils? This is what we call devils, cunning and wicked. Forget it, it's all in vain, we can't get through." Luo Fugui muttered as he watched.
"I'll lead Class 2!" Liu Jianqiang was unwilling.
"What can you do? Are you planning to lead your second squad to die, or are you planning to lead them to kill civilians?" Luo Fugui sneered.
"I'll charge in and fight them with bayonets!"
"There are bonfires everywhere and they cannot be suppressed. How are you going to break through? How are you going to fight with bayonets if you can't get close?" Ma Liang also spoke.
Liu Jianqiang was speechless.
"We... is it possible to sneak over there?" Shi Cheng asked.
Ma Liang added, "If I don't bring these goods, I estimate that half of them will die. If I take the goods with me, no one will die."
Shi Cheng sighed: "It seems we can only wait."
"Waiting is not a solution." Hu Yi spoke up at this time: "The enemy's reinforcements will arrive sooner or later, and by then there will be no chance for us to get through this mountain pass."
Ma Liang thought for a while and said, "Reinforcements can only come from two places. One is Lushuipu, which is the closest; the other is Hekouying, which is the most reasonable. Since there is no chance here, why don't we... go to Lushuipu to have a look? If some of their reinforcements come over, there might be a chance over there!"
"If reinforcements arrive from Lushuipu, then we will go to Lushuipu to look for opportunities. The prerequisite is that the first and fourth companies can continue to drag on here so that there will be plenty of time." At the moment, this wall of civilians forced Hu Yi to prepare to adopt Ma Liang's plan.
Liu Jianqiang asked back: "But... how can we know if the enemy's reinforcements are coming from Lushuipu? Maybe from Hekouying?"
Ma Liang answered for Hu Yi: "Time. Think about how long it would take for the green water to reach here, and you can tell if it is right or not."
This time, not only Liu Jianqiang, but even Shi Cheng understood: "So, we are waiting here for the enemy reinforcements to arrive?"
"Yes." Hu Yi finally made a one-word summary.
…
After listening to the report of the company's signalman, the regiment commander hastily dressed up and rushed to the mountain pass of Luoye Village with his guards, looking gloomy. Wu Yan didn't dare to make decisions on his own in the current situation, so Ding Deyi couldn't stop the regiment commander anymore. However, before leaving, the political commissar seriously reminded the regiment commander: Don't act on impulse. My opinion is that it is better to give up the goods and try to pull the ninth platoon back.
The plan did not change quickly enough. What was expected to be a simple operation turned out to be complicated. The human wall was built against the enemy and no one could get through.
Seeing the gloomy-faced regiment commander arrive in person, Wu Yan prepared himself to be scolded. He stood aside with the fourth company commander, not daring to speak.
The leader didn't say anything and asked directly, "Is the ninth platoon in place?"
"There is a fire in the direction of Luoye Village. There are no unusual gunshots. They should be here." Wu Yan replied.
He took out the telescope, stood on one foot on the top of the hill and observed the area around the campfire, and asked, "How many enemies are left?"
"Four or five Japanese soldiers, armed with Type 99 rifles, entered the turret; about twenty puppet soldiers hid behind the human wall."
Putting down the telescope, he stared at the direction of the campfire in silence for a long time before speaking: "Even I have arrived. Their reinforcements should be here soon. We can't defeat them. Wang Laifu."
"Yes." When the fourth company commander heard the regiment commander suddenly calling him, he took a step forward.
"Your Fourth Company stays here and continues to fight. You can fight however you want. Just hold the enemy back. Don't take any risks. But make sure the enemy sees that you have a company. Hold the enemy out until daybreak. Even if the enemy reinforcements come, I don't think they have the courage to fight."
"yes."
"Wu Yan, take your men and follow me to Lushuipu. March quickly."
After giving the order, the frowning commander looked into the darkness to the east. I hope you, Hu Yi, are not a stubborn person. All I can do as the commander is to try to open up Green Water Shop. The rest depends on the luck of your ninth platoon!
…
A team marched in the night, carrying a dozen boxes on straps, running south from Luoye Village to Lushuipu.
Two platoons of puppet troops arrived at the mountain pass of Luoye Village. Judging from the time and scale, it was Lushui Pao, so the ninth platoon set out to the south. Obviously, the original plan failed, and now they can only rely on themselves.
They were in a hurry and exhausted all the way. When they were not far from Lushuipu, thanks to the quick reaction of the leader Ma Liang and the proper handling of the situation, the ninth row of people carrying boxes and goods almost ran into a group of oncoming puppet soldiers.
They only had time to hide for a dozen meters beside the path when a group of puppet soldiers hurriedly passed by the Ninth Platoon. The size of their group was a company, and their target was naturally the mountain pass of Luoye Village. It was judged that they came from the Hekou Camp.
After the near miss, they continued to move forward. When they reached the Lushuipu Pass, everyone in the ninth row was dumbfounded again.
Bonfires were lit on both the east and west sides of the mountain pass. The artillery tower was completed today, and the laborers had disappeared. There was no need to worry about the Japanese repeating their old tricks, but... a squad of Japanese and a platoon of puppet troops had already entered the artillery tower and started operations.
It was surrounded by a wide trench, with chevaux de frise and suspension bridges visible in the firelight, and a circle of barbed wire around the inner edge of the trench; the turret had three floors, and at the top there was a vague sight of a sentry dangling with a gun on his back. What could be done
In this situation, even if we fight to the death regardless of sacrifice, we might be able to fight until dawn. Can we afford it
"Retreat. Go back to Lushuipu first." Hu Yi gave the order helplessly. The last hope of the Ninth Platoon was Li Youcai.
…
Unexpectedly, only a few days after the last meeting, Hu Yi, the evil star, called him out again in the middle of the night. Li Youcai reluctantly rushed to the south bank of the river and came in front of two figures, one big and one small.
"Captain Hu. Haha, Sister Hong is here too? How are you?" Li Youcai said as he waved to Xiao Hongying in the darkness.
Xiao Hongying just waved her hand and said nothing, because now was not the time to talk nonsense.
Hu Yi got straight to the point: "Help us cross the mountain pass."
"Again? Did you bring those two sets of clothes from a few days ago? They belong to my subordinates, and they must be returned! They thought I had exported them, and they kept asking me to redeem them!"
"I didn't bring it this time. Let's talk about it next time. Is there any way for us to pass the mountain pass tonight?"
"Miss Hong, it's inconspicuous, but you have to change your clothes."
From Li Youcai's tone, it seemed that they were about the same, so Hu Yi turned around and whispered to the back: "Rest is over, get ready to go!"
Just as he finished speaking, there was a loud rustling sound, and more than twenty people walked out of the bushes, carrying more than a dozen boxes on their backs.
"Oh my god—" Li Youcai stumbled on the spot, barely steadied his weak legs, and waved his hands at Hu Yi: "Stop! Stop, stop, stop. Just ignore what I said. This job is too big, right? Ah? I can't do it."
"You have to do it even if you can't. You must find a way for me." In this situation, Hu Yi could only start with Li Youcai. His tone turned cold, trying to squeeze out all his potential.
"Captain Hu, just shoot me. I'm serious." Li Youcai was so fearless that he patted his chest with a righteous look on his face. "Come on, kill this traitor of mine, so that the Imperial Army... No, it's better to save the Japs from torturing me. Come on, I won't blame you at all."
The intimidation was ineffective and Hu Yi was speechless.
The little girl said dissatisfiedly: "You traitor, since you are not afraid of death, why are you afraid to help us?"
"How can it be the same? You... How can I help you? No matter whether I can get through it or not, can I cover up this situation? The imperial army will definitely take my life, I can't run away. I might as well let you kill me. Maybe you can't do it because of our old friendship, and I can still live." Li Youcai's words were also straightforward, and he dared to say shamelessly.
"Li Youcai, you are really an awesome guy. Go back now." Hu Yi was no longer interested in making things difficult for him.
"Am I really leaving then?"
"Let's go, it's none of your business."
Li Youcai turned around and disappeared into the darkness.
Hu Yi sighed and became worried. His last hope was shattered. What should the Ninth Row do next
At this moment, a clear gunshot suddenly came from the direction of the gun tower at the mountain pass, followed by a burst of gunfire and the sound of machine guns.
Hu Yimeng turned around and wondered if the 1st and 4th companies had also fought their way here? Were they really going to attack
The night seems to be getting darker...