"According to the letter left by Yu Mei, more than 9,000 troops from the New Fourth Army headquarters were ordered to move northward on the 4th of this month, starting from the Yunling station and heading north of the Yangtze River in a detour. But only two days later, that is,
On the 6th, when I was traveling to the Maolin area of Jing County in southern Anhui Province, I suddenly lost contact with the organization..."
Hearing this, Li Qiang couldn't help but frown, "Southern Anhui? Isn't that the area under the jurisdiction of the National Army's Third War Zone?"
"Yeah, I'm also very puzzled. The Japanese can't go deep into the war zone to ambush us, right?"
"You mean...we encountered an ambush by our own people?"
"I'm afraid so. The letter also said that Chongqing has been publicly publicizing in newspapers and radio for some time that the New Fourth Army's southern Anhui troops will move north. This is tantamount to informing the Japanese and puppets to strengthen the blockade of the Yangtze River. In this way, it is equivalent to southern Anhui.
The troops' routes to directly cross from Tongling and Fanchang to the north and to march eastward to southern Jiangsu and then cross north have been blocked, exacerbating the difficulties of the troops moving north and forcing the troops in southern Anhui to take a "detour" route southward, eventually falling into the trap they had long ago
Ready for the encirclement."
"That makes sense." Li Qiang nodded in agreement after hearing this. "Originally, I naively thought that last year's Battle of Huangqiao had completely defeated the 'return to zero' plan conspired by Japan and Chiang Kai-shek. Could it be that this time it was against the New Fourth Army?
Is the military’s ambush the real ‘Plan Zero’?”
However, Acheng still holds a negative attitude towards this, "I don't think so. If this is the real 'return to zero plan', then there is no need for Chongqing to use newspapers and radio to remind the Japanese army of blocking our North
The route has been moved.”
"I hope! By the way, I heard that Yu Mei's fiancé is the commander of a certain unit of the New Fourth Army. Could she be..."
"No, not to mention that the Southern Jiangsu Independent Regiment where Commander Fang sits is mainly active in the Southern Jiangsu region and is not among the teams moving north. Even if it were in the South, I believe Yu Mei would not do such a stupid thing.
I heard from Shitou that she took a radio with her when she left, and I think most likely she planned to find the missing New Fourth Army headquarters and restore contact with the organization as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Li Qiang breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, that would be the best, but just now, I heard from Haitang that Qian Huyi has ordered martial law in the entire city from tomorrow, and even in surrounding counties.
Personnel coming from the southern Anhui area are under strict investigation. You should immediately report to the organization, explain the situation, and request further instructions."
"Okay!" Acheng nodded quickly and immediately ran away.
However, after the secret message was sent, the two did not wait too long. That night, they received a call back from the organization.
But the content of the telegram made Acheng very puzzled, "Remain silent? Does it mean that we just stand by and watch without asking anything?"
"A-Cheng, don't worry. I think the organization must have deeper considerations for this arrangement. The situation is still unclear. Taking action blindly is likely to be counterproductive. Instead of doing that, it is better to calm down a little and wait until the situation becomes clear.
What do you think of making further plans?"
"That's true, but we can't just watch like this!" Acheng said anxiously.
After Li Qiang pondered for a moment, he said to him: "Well...that's good. You go and find a way to release the news that the New Fourth Army headquarters was ambushed and lost contact. First, take a look at the Suppression Headquarters and the Japanese."
react, and then make next steps.”
"Releasing the news? What's the use of it?"
"Why is it useless? Think about it, we lost contact with the New Fourth Army on the 6th, right? But until now, there have been no reports in major newspapers. What does it mean?"
"Are you saying that Chongqing has blocked information about this matter?"
"I don't think it's just Chongqing. The Japanese may have done the same thing. That's why I want you to find a way to spread the news."
Hearing this, Acheng nodded quickly, "Okay, then I'll go now."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
The day after Chiang Kai-shek turned around, the newspapers in Shanghai, Ningxia and Hangzhou almost simultaneously reported the incident of "the New Fourth Army was ambushed as they moved north and their whereabouts are still unknown". This incident immediately caused an uproar at home and abroad.
Uproar.
In this regard, the attitude of the Japanese is worth pondering. They did not immediately control the media and newspaper offices as usual to prevent the situation from further escalating, nor did they publicly express any attitude, which is very strange.
A few days later, Chongqing made a very strong statement, falsely accusing the New Fourth Army of "rebellion", and then announced that the New Fourth Army's designation would be immediately cancelled, and claimed that General Ye Ting would be handed over to a military court for trial.
At the same time, Yan'an also adopted a resolute struggle policy. It not only severely condemned the criminal conspiracy of the Kuomintang die-hards, but also solemnly announced the reconstruction of the New Fourth Army.
This news was also cleverly revealed by Cheng through Japanese newspapers.
For a time, people across the country, both in the Kuomintang-controlled areas and in the enemy-occupied areas, unanimously denounced the Kuomintang's heinous crime of creating the "Southern Anhui Incident" and exposed the conspiracy of the Kuomintang and the pro-Japanese faction. They asked the Kuomintang to rein in the situation and walked out of their homes to protest and resolutely
It requires the Chongqing government to cancel the reactionary orders previously announced by Chiang Kai-shek, stop provocations, punish the culprits of the "Southern Anhui Incident", restore Ye Ting's freedom, return all the guns of the New Fourth Army, abolish the one-party dictatorship, arrest the leaders of the pro-Japanese faction, and other twelve articles to resolve the current situation.
Method.
At this time, the Japanese finally couldn't sit still and hurriedly ordered an emergency information control. However, it was already too late and they could only watch as the situation spiraled out of control in the opposite direction to their expectations.
At this time, although Li Qiang and Acheng had just received the organization's commendation telegram, there was no joy at all on their faces, because just a few minutes ago, the two finally arrived and had lost contact.
Long time news about Yu Mei.
"Miss Yu? Which Miss Yu?" In the living room, although Li Qiang knew that the somewhat undressed young man calling himself Xiao Wang was probably actually entrusted by Yu Mei to deliver the news, he was still very worried.
asked cautiously.
However, Xiao Wang was not angry after hearing this. Instead, as if he had expected that Li Qiang would ask this question, he took out a crumpled piece of paper and a ring engraved with a teacup pattern and handed it to Li Qiang.
before.
It was only then that Li Qiang finally believed what Xiao Wang said before, and immediately lowered his voice and asked urgently: "Where is she now? Why should you be the one to deliver the news?"
Xiao Wang sorted out his thoughts for a while, and then said: "I am a confidential officer of the military department. During the transfer process, our troops were ambushed by the Kuomintang's stubborn troops. On the seventh day of the ambush, Commander Ye
I was ordered to disperse and break out. I was ordered to completely smash the radio equipment and destroy all the code books. Then I followed Director Li from the Military Law Department and others to break out. However, as we fought, he and I were the only two people left around.
For safety reasons, we hid under thatch bushes in a forest for several days, and finally escaped the enemy's search, and met Miss Yu in a small village."
However, before he finished speaking, Acheng on the side couldn't help but asked incomprehensibly: "That's not right! Yu Mei took a radio with her when she left. Why didn't you use the radio to contact us? Instead, you took such a big risk?"
How about taking the risk of crossing the Japanese and puppet blockades to deliver a message to us?"
"I heard from Miss Yu that the radio she was wearing was damaged when she was dodging shells on the way, and she was almost injured. Originally, Miss Yu planned to take us back to Hangzhou, but the Japanese and puppet forces have suddenly increased their numbers in the past few days.
The intensity of the raids and inspections was too intense for three people, so we decided to bypass the enemy-occupied area and go all the way south to Hong Kong, and asked me to deliver the message alone."
Hearing this, Li Qiang breathed a long sigh of relief, but at the same time he felt a vague uneasiness in his heart. But even so, he still took a deep breath and focused on the note.
above.
Ming Jing is in danger and his whereabouts are unknown!
Although there were only eight short words, Li Qiang and Acheng were shocked almost at the same time. They never expected that Ming Jing would also be surrounded by the stubborn Kuomintang troops.
what to do?
Li Qiang quickly looked at Acheng, and then said to Xiao Wang in a calm tone: "Thank you, Comrade Xiao Wang, you sent this information in a timely manner. Let Acheng take you there first."
have a rest!"
After settling the little king, Li Qiang and Acheng came to the study and discussed countermeasures.
"How could this happen? How could the eldest sister be in danger? Didn't the telegram say that the non-combatants had moved to northern Jiangsu before the troops? How could this happen? Did Yu Mei make a mistake?" Acheng frowned.
Pacing back and forth, he kept mumbling in his mouth, as if this was the only way to alleviate some of his inner anxiety.
Li Qiang on the side calmed down a little, "A Cheng, don't worry. You just heard from that little king that they lost contact with the main force on the seventh day after the ambush. The information they have
It won't be that accurate, and the eldest sister is a non-combatant. No matter how badass the Kuomintang die-hards are, they won't dare to attack them easily. In my opinion, the top priority is to confirm the authenticity of the news first, and then make the next step.
.Okay, I'll find a reason to send you back to Shanghai tomorrow to inform my brother about this and see if I can get any clues from the top officials of the puppet government."
Acheng sighed heavily, "Oh, that's all it has to be now. Big sister, big sister, you must not let anything happen to you!"
After a night of silence, Li Qiang sent Acheng back to Shanghai the next day on the pretext of purchasing imported boilers.
However, Cheng couldn't come back, and after waiting for three full days, Cheng finally came back from Shanghai with a brand new imported boiler covered in dust.
"Why have you been here for so long without even a phone call?" Li Qiang said with a hint of complaint.
Cheng shrugged, "I can't help it. Yokota from the extra-high school class is still staring at my eldest brother. His spies are everywhere outside the mansion, so I have to be extra careful and don't be careless in every move I make!"
"Well, that's right. But I didn't expect that Yokota would be so difficult to deal with. It should be a headache for the elder brother, right?"
"It's a little bit, but it can be dealt with. After all, the Ming family is responsible for the military's success in containing the Black Dragon Society. Unless there is conclusive evidence, Yokota can't do anything to his eldest brother."
"What about the disappearance of eldest sister? What did eldest brother say?"
"Actually, my eldest brother has received this news as early as a week ago. Yu Manli told him through the emergency contact channel that although the transfer team encountered an ambush by the Kuomintang's stubborn troops, more than 2,000 people still successfully broke through.
But unfortunately, there was no eldest sister among them, so Uncle Li immediately led people to look for her."
"What's the result? Has anyone been found?" Li Qiang asked again.
"How should I say?" Acheng scratched his head in embarrassment and thought for a long time before finally saying, "I found it, but not completely."
"What's this?" Li Qiang became even more confused after hearing this. "If you find it, you find it. If you don't find it, you don't find it. What do you mean by 'found it, but not completely found it'?"
"According to the recollections of those who successfully broke through, Uncle Li led his people through many Japanese and puppet peripheral blockades. When they arrived at Shuangjiazhou, they found a man named Xing who was shaken halfway and had to stay at a fellow villager's home to recuperate.
According to Yuan's political commissar, he had already led his team to successfully break through the encirclement of the stubborn army. However, due to the Japanese and puppet intensification of the blockade of surrounding roads and his sudden illness, he had to retreat here to recuperate.
People had to disperse and hide in the surrounding mountains and woods, and my eldest sister was one of them."
Hearing this, Li Qiang finally breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good to have news, but Uncle Li probably hasn't met Eldest Sister yet, right?"
"Well, that's why I said that I haven't found it completely yet. However, the stubborn soldiers in this village have been here three times. It is relatively safe for the time being. Moreover, members of the Children's League go to the mountains every day to confirm the number and safety of the scattered and hidden people. There is also Uncle Li.
If they stay there to protect us secretly, there shouldn't be any big problems."
Only then did Li Qiang feel relieved, and then he said as if he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, where is Mingtai? Have you received the news?"
"Don't worry, the night I received the news from Uncle Li, my eldest brother used the emergency contact channel to tell him the news that my eldest sister is safe. You also know his stubborn temper. If he doesn't receive any more news from his eldest sister after so many days, I'm afraid
He no longer wants to stay in Yan'an."
"Yes, with his temperament, he has made great progress by being able to wait patiently for so many days. If it had been before, he would have rushed into the encirclement of the enemy and puppets single-handedly."
However, Acheng curled his lips after hearing this and joked: "You still have the nerve to talk about him? You really think I can't tell? If I don't come back with news this time, I'm afraid you will try your best to rush in and find someone."
