Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 6 Fishing and Killing (2)
Grandpa Seven was sitting in the house drinking tea.There was a charcoal fire burning in the room, which was very warm.Before he finished drinking a cup of tea, he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door.Grandpa Seven hadn't turned his mind around yet, when he saw a group of devil soldiers with loaded guns rushing in aggressively, surrounding him, the bolts of their guns rattling, and the black muzzles of their guns aimed at him.Seventh Grandpa shook his hand, and poured a cup of hot tea on the cotton-padded clothes.

A Japanese officer with leather boots and a sword in hand walked in slowly.Seventh Grandpa took a closer look, and saw that this man was tall and thin, with a trowel face, and his eyes were shining brightly. He recognized him as Jiang Yuecheng, an out-of-towner whom he had met on the Xiulin River back then.Seventh Grandpa was taken aback immediately, holding the whitebait in his hand, looked at him and said in a low voice, "Jiang, Mr. Jiang, you, the whitebait you want..."

The Japanese officer swung the saber with sheath in his hand, knocked the whitebait in his hand to the ground with a bang, laughed, and said in standard Chinese: "Old man, to tell you the truth, my surname is not Jiang, My name is Kazuo Yoshii, and I am the captain of the Japanese army. A few days ago, we were inspecting the topography and water situation on the river near Xiulin City. We were accidentally bumped by you. My men wanted to shoot you down at that time, but it was far away from Xiulin City. Lincheng is too close. I was afraid that the sudden sound of gunfire would alert the garrison in the city, so I let you live. You asked what we were doing there. In order not to arouse suspicion, I casually said that we are outsiders. I came to the Xiulin River to catch whitebait for medicine. I never thought you would catch such a big whitebait for me."

Seventh Grandpa was not a stupid person, he was stunned for a moment, then suddenly slapped his head, and suddenly realized: "You are exploring the depth of the water on the Xiulin River and looking at the terrain. Could it be that you want to raid the Xiulin City from the waterway?"

Yoshii Kazuo said: "That's right, we are planning this. Don't pretend, old guy. In fact, you have already guessed our identity and purpose, haven't you? Otherwise, you will enter the city the day after you meet us." When selling fish, why did you go to the national army garrison to find their commander Bao Guoan? You went to him because you wanted to tell him that the imperial army might attack from the waterway and remind him to strengthen defense on the waterway, right?"

Seventh Grandpa was taken aback again, and blurted out, "How do you know?"

He met "Jiang Yuecheng" and his group on the Xiulin River that day, and saw that each of them had bulging waists, obviously with pistols in their waists, and it seemed that it was very difficult for them to speak Chinese, and they seemed to be faint. Guess their identity and purpose.When he went to the city to sell fish the next day, he stopped by the national army garrison to see Captain Bao, and wanted to tell him his suspicions, and told him to beware of the Japanese army attacking Xiulin City by water.Unexpectedly, head Bao didn't pay attention to him as a small commoner at all, and only sent an orderly to deal with him.After hearing the "military information" he provided, the orderly dismissed it at all, saying: "Our regiment commander has already calculated that it is impossible for the Japanese army to attack by water. First, at the entrance of the Xiulin River passing through the Xiulin City And the exit, the national army has already deployed machine gun firepower on the east and west banks. If both sides fire at the same time, an airtight firepower network will be intertwined on the river surface. Not to mention the Japanese soldiers and ships, even a waterfowl cannot fly into the city. Come on. Second, it is already the middle of winter, and the weather is getting colder and colder. It is estimated that in a few days, the river will freeze and boats will not be able to sail on the river. There is absolutely no way for the Japanese army to approach Xiulin City by water." Seventh Grandfather saw the country Jun didn't listen to his opinion and was very discouraged.After catching the whitebait, he knew that "Jiang Yuecheng" was not a good traitor, but in order to further inquire about the Japanese army's information and provide convincing and accurate information for the national army, he still bit the bullet and came to "Jiang Yuecheng" with the whitebait.

Kazuo Yoshii proudly said: "Of course I know. Not only do I know that you went to find Bao Guoan, but I also know that he never saw you at all, and only sent a small orderly to perfuse you. They didn't listen to your opinion at all. ,is not it?"

Seventh Grandpa said in surprise: "You, how do you know such details? Could it be that there are spies of yours in the national army?"

"That's right, we do have our eyes and ears in the garrison of Xiulin City, otherwise, how could we know your every move?" Kazuo Yoshii laughed, "Don't be afraid to tell the truth, your deduction is very accurate, we really plan to Assault on Xiulin City from the waterway."

"But the river is about to freeze, how do you cross the river?"

"What we are waiting for is the day when the river freezes and when the defenders of Xiulin City are paralyzed. I have already trained a hundred soldiers of the Death Squad, and as soon as the river freezes and the defenders relax, our Death Squad will divide the troops into two groups." , broke through the ice and dived into the water from the entrance and exit of the Xiulin River through the Xiulin City, and sneaked into the Xiulin City from the bottom of the ice quietly. I led a feint attack at the four gates outside the city to attract the attention of the defenders, just waiting for the death squads Sneak into the city from the water, release the signal flare, and then we will cooperate with each other inside and out, and beat him inside and out. Isn't the tiny place of Xiulin City in our hands?"

Grandpa Seven was heartbroken, stomping his feet and cursing: "Sure enough, I guessed it. The idiots of the national army don't listen to the old man, and they are at a disadvantage! No, I have to report to them!" He suddenly bumped away with his shoulder. A Japanese soldier took the road and fled.

"Bagayalu!" Yoshii Kazuo yelled loudly, showing his ferocious face, caught up with him a step, pulled out his saber, and stabbed out suddenly.Grandpa Seven was stabbed in the back with a knife, and his heart shuddered. With an "ouch", he fell in a pool of blood in pain.Pity my Seventh Grandfather, a fisherman on the Xiulin River, who spent his whole life in peace and kindness, and died so tragically in the end.

Three days later, the temperature dropped sharply, snowflakes floated in the sky, and a thick layer of ice formed on the Xiulin River.At a glance, there is a vast expanse of whiteness in and out of the river.People are shrinking at home, afraid to go out.Seeing that the time had come, Kazuo Yoshii immediately ordered the implementation of his underwater raid plan.

One hundred Japanese soldiers who had undergone underwater cold-resistant training were divided into two groups, and they came to the entrance and exit of Xiulin River passing through Xiulin City respectively, and dug ice in a secret place hundreds of meters away from the national army sentry at the river mouth. Enter the water and sneak into Xiulin City from both north and south directions at the same time.

As soon as the Death Squad entered the water, Kazuo Yoshii immediately led the Japanese army to launch a feint attack on the four gates of Xiulin City to attract the attention of the defenders.All of a sudden, guns roared outside Xiulin City, and the sound of killing shook the sky.

However, nearly two hours later, the signal flare that Kazuo Yoshii was expecting did not rise above Xiulin City.He kept looking at his watch, and waited patiently for another half an hour. The Japanese soldiers who feinted outside had wasted countless guns and bullets, and there was still no movement in the city.Kazuo Yoshii knew that an elite infantry brigade of the Kuomintang Army was stationed in Jingzhou City, which was less than a hundred miles away from Xiulin City.If the Xiulin defenders ask Jingzhou for help, the reinforcements will arrive within three or four hours.As soon as the reinforcements arrive, the Japanese army will fall into the unfavorable situation of being attacked from both sides.The Death Squad did not send out an attack signal for a long time, and he knew that his feelings had changed. Although he was unwilling, he could only order to retreat.

Just as the Japanese army turned around and retreated, Bao Guoan, the commander of the Chinese army in the city, suddenly opened the north gate and led a group of troops to kill the generals.The Japanese army was caught off guard, and when they were about to turn back to fight, the bullets of the national army had swept in like a storm.The Japanese army left more than 200 corpses and fled several miles away before joining forces attacking the other three sides of Xiulin City.

When Kazuo Yoshii heard the news, he was furious and immediately organized a firepower counterattack.Bao Guoan retreated after the first battle, and he had already retreated to the city, the gate of the city was closed tightly.Kazuo Yoshii ordered the artillery to bombard it with all its strength. In an instant, countless shells poured down on the walls of Xiulin City like hail.

Yoshii Kazuo brandished his saber and roared loudly: "Even if we can't take down Xiulin City today, we will blast him into a piece of scorched earth." Before he finished speaking, there was a whistling sound, and a bullet flew from behind, hitting his ass.When I looked back, I saw that hundreds of meters behind me, the reinforcements of the national army had already spread like a flood like an unstoppable flood.Seeing that the reinforcements had arrived, the defenders in the city raised their morale, opened the city gate, and came out like a tiger descending a mountain.The Japanese army suddenly fell into the danger of being in a dilemma.After half a day of fierce fighting, the Japanese army was defeated, leaving countless corpses. Only Kazuo Yoshii led more than [-] people to break through the encirclement and fled to the north.

What puzzled Kazuo Yoshii was how could the hundred death squads he personally trained remained silent after entering the water?His underwater surprise attack plan was originally foolproof, how could it fail?
A few days later, the sun came out, the sky cleared and the snow melted. When the national army was patrolling the water, they found something strange on the surface of the Xiulin River near the entrance and exit of Xiulin City. After sending people into the water, they picked up several rolls There are many bloody corpses of Japanese soldiers hanging on the rolling hook.Counting carefully, there are a hundred Japanese soldiers hanging on the rolling hooks.

Bao Guoan, the head of the national army, thought about it for several days, but he still couldn't figure out what was going on.

(End of this chapter)