At five o'clock in the morning, it was still dark, and a garrison position outside Huaiyin was still shrouded in the darkest night before dawn. Everything was no different from usual.
With Jieshou and Baoying once again falling into the hands of the Japs, Huaiyin has become the only remaining county town in the area controlled by the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps.
Some important facilities such as the clothing factory and weapons workshop of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps are all in Huaiyin. Compared with the Jieshou front line, which has always been in confrontation with the Japanese, this place can be regarded as a large rear area.
Moreover, there are troops from the 8th Security Brigade on the flanks here, and further north is the Lunan Mountain Area, which is where the theater headquarters is located.
After the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps took control of Huaiyin, the front continued to expand outwards. The smell of gunpowder smoke has not been smelled here for several days.
People who fled to Huaiyin from all over the country one after another also settled here, making this important Jianghuai town prosperous again.
Zhang Liechen, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps, is like a big steward, always sitting in Huaiyin and stabilizing the rear of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps.
Now that Baoying Jieshou has been lost, the atmosphere in Huaiyin has become tense. In particular, many of the troops that retreated from Baoying are scarred and in a state of embarrassment, which has caused panic to a certain extent.
Fortunately, Zhang Liechen and the others refuted the rumors in time and finally stabilized the situation. However, in the face of the increasingly tense situation, everyone was filled with dark clouds.
Everyone understands that once the Japanese gain a foothold in Baoying, their next target of attack will definitely be Huaiyin, which is very close at hand.
Therefore, the defenders of Huaiyin are also actively preparing for war, especially with the withdrawal of many troops from Baoying, which greatly strengthens Huaiyin's defense.
However, the troops who had been withdrawn from the front line had fought bloody battles with the Japanese and were in urgent need of rest and repair. Therefore, the outer defense line was currently in charge of the "Patriot Battalion" led by Major and Battalion Commander Zheng Gang.
The "Patriot Battalion" was all formed from previously captured puppet soldiers. After training, it has now become an anti-Japanese team.
It's just that they have been responsible for guarding Huaiyin in the rear. They are not constantly fighting against the Japs like the rest of the battalion, so their combat effectiveness is open to question, but they are still capable of general garrison tasks.
News of the Japanese attack has spread all over the world, and the troops guarding the front line have also been strengthened.
Previously, there was only one squad guarding the outer front-line security position, but now it has been strengthened to a platoon.
Once there is any disturbance, they can promptly warn the secondary defense position.
In a trench, two guerrilla sentries were walking one behind the other. They were mobile sentries, patrolling back and forth along a fixed route.
"Take a break and smoke a cigarette."
Everyone fell into a deep sleep, and everything was quiet. Two swimming sentries walked to a leeward trench, and the leading sentry stopped, preparing to be lazy for a while.
The other sentry was much timid. He glanced at the sentry standing guard in the distance with his back to them and said, "There won't be any officers patrolling, right?"
The military discipline of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps is still very strict. Once military discipline is violated while performing tasks, you will have to go to the Supervisory Office to accept military punishment, which can range from being put in solitary confinement to being slapped with a military stick.
"Don't worry, the commander is sleeping. He just smokes a cigarette to warm himself up. It's okay." Another sentry said, taking out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, putting one in his mouth, and lighting it with a match.
Already.
"Give me one." Another sentry also sat down against the trench with his gun in his arms, looking longingly at the smoking sentry.
"Here--" The sentry was quite generous and threw one out and said with a smile: "This is a serious Hardman, I got it from the black market."
In such war years, due to the blockade of the Japs, there was a shortage of supplies in the guerrilla areas. Although the frontline troops were able to seize some good things from the Japs, life was much more miserable for the garrison troops who stayed behind.
Fortunately, they all have military pay, so they can still buy some of their favorite gadgets through the black market, such as Hardman's cigarettes.
"This smells really good." The brother lit the cigarette and took a deep puff, with an intoxicated expression on his face.
"Enjoy it now if you can. Who knows when this hundred and ten kilograms of meat will be put away." Seeing this brother smoking intoxicatedly, the brother who smoked said with some melancholy.
"You are such a good person, why do you suddenly say such depressing words?" the sentry leaning against the trench asked in confusion.
"I'm afraid our peaceful days will not last long. I heard that the Japs have already captured Baoying. I guess the next target will be our Huaiyin." said the sentry with a dejected face.
"Who did you listen to?" The sentry leaning against the trench asked hurriedly after being stunned.
After all, a large number of refugees and scarred troops had withdrawn in the past few days, and he felt very uneasy.
Once the little Japs really attack Huaiyin, the good days will really come to an end. Thinking of the rivers of blood and bullets, this brother couldn't help but feel palpitations.
"Who needs to say this? It's obvious that the little devils who are fighting all the way north this time are just targeting us."
"Our northern Jiangsu Corps has strong troops. Even if the Japs come, we are not afraid." The sentry, leaning against the trench, comforted himself.
"Jieshou and Baoying are both gone, and I think Huaiyin is also missing." The sentry took a long drag on his cigarette and shook his head.
"It's not like the Japs haven't fought yet. Even if they do, with Chief Yang here, I don't think the Japs can do anything to please him." The sentry leaning against the trench seemed very optimistic and full of confidence in Yang Ling.
"Maybe, since our Huaiyin is so close to Baoying, the Japanese can arrive in a blink of an eye, and they might hit us at any time."
"Mom, don't say such depressing words. Let the superiors listen and charge you with disturbing the morale of the army. No one can save you..." the sentry leaning against the trench reminded kindly.
"Shh-"
Before the sentry leaning against the trench finished speaking, he suddenly saw the sentry sitting opposite and suddenly gave him a hissing gesture.
"What's wrong?" the sentry asked in confusion.
"Stop talking, devil!"
The sentry hurriedly pressed the cigarette butt in his hand into the soil, covered the mouth of the sentry who was speaking with one hand, and stared into the distance.
The brother turned around and saw that two men wearing steel helmets were covering the mouth of their sentry who was standing far away, and then stabbed him repeatedly with bayonets.
When they saw this scene, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale. Unexpectedly, as soon as they said "Japanese", the Japs touched them.
"Go, go quickly."
The sentry who discovered the Japs saw more than a dozen Japs on the left with bayonets in their hands jumping into the trench, and dragged the brother and hurriedly climbed back along the traffic trench.
The sudden turn of events caused the two sentries to panic and almost crawl back to the place where they slept.
"Get up, get up, the devil is coming."
After they rushed into the sleeping bunker, they slapped the sleeping brothers awake one by one with panic on their faces.
PS: The recommendation of "Returning Our Country during the Anti-Japanese War" has already reached one million words. It is already fat and can be slaughtered.