Xu Dalong's biggest worry was that this kind of camp bombing would happen. If any prisoners of war did not listen to the instructions and fled rashly when the conditions were not mature, it would inevitably alarm the surrounding Japanese and puppet troops, which would harm everyone.
Therefore, when the special forces members sent the three officers into the prisoner of war camp, they locked the outside door.
This almost caused misunderstanding among the prisoners of war. Fortunately, the officers patiently explained the reason and everyone calmed down.
Xu Dalong and others did not bring much dry food, so they made a fire all night to cook. Fortunately, a large amount of daily necessities were stored in it, and soon they had hot meals ready and several large pots of egg drop soup.
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The prisoners of war had not eaten such delicious food for a long time, and they devoured it one by one. Some of them were holding their stomachs and rolling in pain because they ate so fast.
So far, the situation in the mining area is quite normal. The living materials in the mining area can be maintained for a few days without any problem. Now they need time to recover their strength and transport a batch of weapons and ammunition they seized from Tianhe County to arm them.
These prisoners of war.
Xu Dalong trusted the three officers very much and asked them to select a group of trusted soldiers and distributed to them the weapons and ammunition of the Japanese and puppet troops and the mine protection team seized from the coal mine, thus increasing the number of combat backbones and guerrillas.
The ability to resist risks is partially increased.
Lin Xueying is a very careful person and has experience in secret service, so Xu Dalong gave her the task of dealing with external situations.
At dawn, businesses near the mining area called to tell them that they had prepared food and other daily necessities for them, and asked them when the vehicles responsible for purchasing them would arrive.
Lin Xueying arranged for the person in charge of material procurement among the prisoners captured from the mine to answer the phone and told them that there was something going on at the mine today and that the purchase of materials would have to be postponed until tomorrow morning. The people on the phone were all acquaintances, so there was no arousal to the other party.
any doubt.
This day was relatively calm. Only a few calls came in from outside. Under Lin Xueying's supervision, the relevant personnel responded normally without any problems.
This day passed peacefully. Don’t underestimate this short day. Most of the prisoners of war were young and strong men. They had eaten well and slept well. The sick people had taken medicine and their physical strength had recovered.
Soon, my mental outlook was completely different.
Seeing this gratifying change, Xu Dalong believed that as long as there were two more days, although these people would not be able to return to their previous physical strength, they would be fully capable of marching and fighting.
On the morning of the second day after entering the mining area, in order to safely transport the weapons into the mining area, Xu Dalong escorted the people in charge of procurement in the mining area into two material transport vehicles and drove out of the mining area to Celadon Town.
After the vehicle left the mining area, it was driving on a mountain road. When it was about to leave the mountainous area, a Japanese army checkpoint appeared in front of it. The Japanese army's inspection was very strict. They not only checked everyone's documents, but also sent people on the vehicle to check if there were any workers.
Or prisoners of war.
Seeing this situation, Xu Dalong felt a little depressed. He originally hoped to take the opportunity to pull out supplies and then bring weapons in. It seems that this road may be difficult.
Xu Dalong and others arrived at Qingciyao Town. While loading supplies, they walked around the town to familiarize themselves with the terrain, and then returned to the mining area with the vehicles purchasing supplies.
On the way back, the inspection by the Japanese soldiers was still so strict. They did not simply lift the carriage board and look inside, but someone actually came up to inspect it. This completely cut off Xu Dalong's plan to use the material vehicle.
Thoughts on transporting weapons and ammunition.
Xu Dalong had just returned to the mining area, and Lin Xueying said: "Captain, you came back just in time. During the period after you left, there were about nine calls from outside. Eight of them were not of any importance, and they were all dealt with.
There was just one thing that was more difficult to handle. Ten minutes ago, a man named Saburo Shiromoto from the Datong Military Police Headquarters of the Japanese Army wanted to find the Japanese mine manager. I made an excuse and said that the mine manager was out. Saburo Shiromoto said he would take him with him.
When people came to the mine, I was asked to inform the mine manager to prepare for the reception. I asked at the time and there were four of them. As for the specific purpose of their visit, he did not say. He just said that he would see the mine manager and interview him."
Xu Dalong looked at his watch. It was only about 20 kilometers away from Datong. Since the mining area is directly connected by highway, it would not take long to get there by car from Datong. How to deal with these Japs was a troublesome matter.
Now that the mine manager and deputy mine manager are dead, they will definitely be able to find the problem. Hu Lane cannot be reached by Hu, so they can only be detained by force. I just don’t know who these guys greeted when they came. If
What will be the consequences of not going back within a short period of time? Will it arouse other people's suspicion?
Things have reached this point, so we can only bite the bullet and act as the situation arises.
Xu Dalong said: "It seems that there is really no other way. Let's detain them first. If someone comes to find them, just say that they drank with the mine manager and deputy mine manager and drank too much. Tonight
Just live here.”
Lin Xueying said: "I understand."
Monk Wei said: "Master Long, there is something I want to tell you alone."
Xu Dalong said: "Okay, I'm going to meet those prisoners of war. Let's talk while walking."
The two of them came outside and walked towards the work shed where the prisoners of war lived.
Monk Wei said: "Captain, I went to see the workers who were imprisoned by the Japanese. They are really miserable. Should we just save these prisoners of war and ignore them?"
Xu Dalong said: "Do you want to rescue them too?"
Monk Wei said: "Yes, those workers have been tortured by the Japanese until they are no longer human. If this continues, they will die here sooner or later."
In later generations, Xu Dalong visited mass graves in the area of Mine 13. Most of the bones inside were laborers who had been tortured to death by the Japanese. It was truly horrific.
He couldn't bear to let the miners die here in vain, but the task assigned to him by his superiors was to rescue these prisoners of war. Now it is already very difficult to rescue these prisoners of war. If we add more than 8,000 unarmed people,
It is almost impossible to take workers who are injured and injured out.
Once they are intercepted by the Japanese and puppets, these workers lack organization and will definitely be in chaos and will flee in all directions. They will only die if they are captured by the Japanese. At the same time, they will also implicate the guerrillas and the prisoners of war, and no one will be able to leave by then.
Thinking of this, Xu Dalong sighed and said: "Monk, my thoughts are the same as yours. But you also know that I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to take them out together. Also, there are enemy-occupied areas around here, so even if we
It is possible to rescue all 8,000 workers, but it is impossible to bring them back to our base area. Captain Ma and the others do not have a fixed base area. How will these people be resettled after they leave? If they are released, they will probably die."
Monk Wei knew that what Xu Dalong said made sense, but he really couldn't bear to see the miners stay here and be tortured by the Japanese.
He insisted: "Master Long, I know things are difficult, but you are Master Long, you must have a way."
Xu Dalong understood Monk Wei's mood and asked: "What do the brothers in the special team think?"
Monk Wei said: "Everyone has the same idea as me. I hope you can find a way to rescue them all."
Xu Dalong thought for a while and said, "Let's do this. Send someone to call these labor representatives over, and let's ask about the situation."
Monk Wei heard that Xu Dalong's tone was a little loose, and said quickly: "Okay, Master Long, I will send someone to handle it right away."
With this new situation, Xu Dalong decided not to meet the prisoners of war for the time being, and first figured out what the miners were thinking.
Soon after, Xu Dalong and Monk Wei met the representatives of the laborers. There were six representatives in total, and they were also foremen appointed by the Japanese and puppet authorities. These people had high prestige among the laborers, and they respectively represented fellow villagers or people with other interests.
Different groups, the Japanese and puppets took advantage of this to let them restrain the miners.
At this time, Xu Dalong had not made up his mind whether to rescue these workers. He knew that this matter was too complicated. He also understood the thoughts of the special forces team members, so when he met with the labor representatives this time, he specially explained the points
The captains also called over and asked them to listen to the complexity of this.
Most of the workers are distinguished by their hometown. These workers are from Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Chahar, and even a small number are from AH.
Xu Dalong patiently held a discussion with them, and these people had different ideas. Most of the people from other places wanted to leave here and escape back to their hometown. Most of the local people wanted to stay, even though they had witnessed the Japanese devils with their own eyes.
They were cruel, but they were worried that their families would be harmed after they escaped. Some of them still had illusions, because they came in as workers, and the Japanese promised that they could go home after three years of hard labor. Although most of them did not survive
However, they will die violently in these three years, but they still hold on to the illusion that if the Japanese are true to their word and really let them go, they are not willing to take the risk.
The physical condition of the workers is really bad. Even though they now have enough to eat, there are still a considerable number of people who are unable to keep up with the army's actions and require a long period of recuperation.
However, there was simply no time, and these people came from different places. They were not united and had deep conflicts with each other. It was very difficult to get them together and take them out.
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Seeing that the guerrillas were interested in rescuing the workers, the labor representatives from other places were also very excited. They insisted that the guerrillas take them with them to escape from this magical cave.
Xu Dalong understood their mood and asked: "After you go out, we don't have the ability to escort you back to your hometown. If you want to go home, you have to travel through hundreds or even thousands of miles of enemy-occupied territory. You don't have the appropriate identity.
If you are interrogated by the Japanese and puppet troops, you will definitely be detained and sent back to the mine. Have you thought about the consequences of this?"
Xu Dalong's question made some representatives from other places hesitate.
The representative from Shandong was the first to say: "Sir, we Shandong people must escape. Even if we die on the road, it is better than staying here and waiting to die slowly."
Most of the representatives also had this opinion, and they all demanded that the guerrillas must rescue them.
Xu Dalong said: "Let's go back and count how many people are willing to follow you? Let's find out what everyone really thinks first."
After the labor representatives left, Monk Wei scratched his head and said, "Oh, I thought all these people were willing to leave, but I didn't expect that things here are really complicated."
Xu Dalong said: "The problem goes far beyond that. First of all, it's hard to say whether the superiors agree with our plan. Secondly, our original plan was just to rescue the prisoners of war. Now we have to take these people with us. It's hard to say whether the prisoners of war are willing. If
If they don't want to, it will be even more difficult to lead the team, and it will be very chaotic.
Also, even if we can successfully rescue all these people, there is no way to escort them back to their hometowns, and it is impossible to take them back to our base area.
The Daqingshan guerrillas simply cannot feed so many people, and they have no fixed base. The troops often move. If we bring these people with us, it will definitely drag down the guerrillas. I'm afraid it won't be long before even the guerrillas will be eaten by the Japanese.
The squadron commanders of the special operations squadron were full of enthusiasm out of sympathy for the miners. After Xu Dalong's analysis, they realized that it was not that the squadron commander did not want to save them, but that the problem was unexpectedly complicated.
.
Everyone looked at each other and expressed their obedience to the captain's decision.
Monk Wei still refused to give up and said, "Master Long, can we organize all these miners and join the guerrillas to fight against the Japs together?"
Xu Dalong said: "I have also considered this. First of all, most of these people may not be willing to join the guerrillas. They just want to escape back to their hometowns, and not many people can be left behind.
Secondly, there are too many of them. The Daqingshan guerrillas are not so large and cannot absorb so many people. At best, they can only absorb a few hundred people. Otherwise, the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas will be seriously weakened.
Even if a considerable number of them are willing to join the guerrillas, they must be given at least two to three months of rest and training time before they can keep up with the guerrillas' actions.
This is not our base area. This generation has poor land and poor people, and it is very difficult for the people to feed themselves. It is difficult for them to provide for so many people."
Hearing this, Monk Wei was also a little discouraged. He said, "It would be great if this place was closer to our base. Let's do whatever you want.
I still hope to rescue them, so why not tell them clearly in advance that if they want to get out, they must join the guerrillas. Since you have become a guerrilla, don't be afraid of death. Or you can just stay here and wait to die."