The first thousand two hundred and fifty-six chapters of troops converge
Late at night, the outpost camp at Heifengkou was brightly lit. Under the blazing flames, large pots were steaming, and the aroma of rice filled the air.
The ragged officers and soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps were holding rice bowls and surrounding the big pots of food. Their eyes were glowing green. They were very hungry.
"Monitor, is the rice ready?"
Seeing the leader of the cooking class stirring the large pot of wild vegetable porridge with a big shovel, some brothers swallowed their saliva and couldn't help but ask.
"It'll be fine soon, it'll be fine soon."
The cooking squad leader said that he did not forget to add a handful of firewood to the bottom of the big pot to make the fire burn brighter.
Not long after, as the cooking team leader shouted that the meal was ready, the brothers holding bowls rushed to the big pot one after another, scrambling to scoop out the rice.
"Slow down, don't burn it..."
Seeing many brothers putting hot porridge with wild vegetables in their mouths, the cooking squad leader hurriedly reminded them.
These ragged brothers were obviously very hungry. Although the wild vegetable porridge in their bowls was so hot that they grinned, they still kept feeding it to their mouths.
And while the officers and soldiers were devouring their meals around the big pot, the image of the officers in the tent was not much better.
"Damn, I finally had a full meal."
Liu Zhi, commander of the fifth battalion of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps, took a cooked potato to his mouth in one hand and a bowl of gruel in the other, sweating profusely as he ate.
"The feeling of being hungry is really unpleasant. You bastard little devils, let them starve again!" Deputy Battalion Commander Daozi also devoured the food, cursing indistinctly.
"Everyone eats, but you have been hungry for a long time. Don't starve yourself to death. I tell you to go down and all the brothers can only drink two bowls of gruel tonight."
Yang Ling looked at these brothers eating like a storm and reminded them kindly.
When retreating from Huaiyin that day, Yang Ling led more than 700 officers and soldiers along the road to divert the Japanese and cover Zhang Liechen and others as they retreated into the mountains.
Since they had to face the Japs' pursuit and fight, Yang Ling and the others did not carry much logistical food, and they almost always supplied supplies wherever they went.
But later, they were chased by the Japanese in a hurry and had to move into the wilderness and left the town. As a pure combat force, they faced a shortage of food.
Although we fought several battles with the Japs and captured some food, the physical exertion of fighting and marching was already great, and the little food captured was not enough to eat.
Fortunately, they got rid of the Japanese pursuers in time and entered the mountainous area of southern Luna. After many inquiries, they headed towards Xiaoqingshan.
Yang Ling and others who had run out of food met Wang Dongming and others who were stationed here at Heifengkou, and then they got food supplies.
If they can't find a team to retreat into the mountains first, I'm afraid Yang Ling and the others will really have to go hungry and dig wild vegetables in the mountains to eat.
The two teams, which had been separated for almost half a month, reunited again, which made the deputy battalion commander Wang Dongming, who had been worried, feel relieved.
Although they entered the mountains first, most of them were civilians and logistics units, and their troops were stretched thin, so they had to temporarily bow their heads to the bandits.
But now Yang Ling and the others are back. These are the elite combat troops who broke out from Huaiyin. Even the little devils can't be cured in their hands, let alone the mere bandits.
Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming also gave Yang Ling a brief report on a series of things that happened after they separated while Yang Ling and the others were eating.
He was also very pleased to hear that Zhang Liechen and his gang had eliminated the bandits in Black Wolf Village and had established a foothold in Xiaoqingshan, where Black Wolf Village is located.
This also means that they have a foothold in the mountains. Although they encountered heavy attacks by the Japs in the plains, they suffered heavy losses.
But in the Lunan Mountains, it would not be that easy for the Japs to eliminate them. He was confident enough to resurrect the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps and become an elite force that would scare the Japs.
Although the separation between the two parties did not last long, both parties encountered various dangers, and they were both lamenting when talking about it at the dinner table.
However, the confluence of the two armies boosted the morale of the brothers. Yang Ling and the others no longer had to worry about food, and the logistics units that retreated into the mountains no longer had to worry about bandits.
When Yang Ling and others met with Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming and others at Heifengkou and stopped here to rest, the messenger sent by Zhang Liechen also arrived.
The messenger hurried to the outpost camp at Heifengkou, mainly to bring Zhang Liechen's order to ask deputy battalion commander Wang Dongming to lead the officers and soldiers of this company to return for reinforcements.
But who knew that when they saw Yang Ling and the others entering the mountain here, they were immediately overjoyed and told them about their current situation, making Yang Ling realize that the current situation of Zhang Liechen and the others was not very good.
"Order the troops to assemble and go to Xiaoqingshan."
After Yang Ling heard the situation described by the messenger, he temporarily changed his idea of resting at Heifengkou for a night before heading to Xiaoqingshan to join Zhang Liechen and the others. Instead, he decided to rush there overnight.
"Sir, the brothers are all tired. Why don't I take the people back first?"
Deputy battalion commander Wang Dongming looked at Yang Ling and the others and took the initiative to offer suggestions.
"It doesn't matter, brothers have had a good meal, they have to digest it." Yang Ling smiled and rejected the suggestion of deputy battalion commander Wang Dongming.
Yang Ling ordered: "This is a dangerous pass leading to Xiaoqingshan. I will leave you with another company of brothers. You must guard this place well."
"Sir, don't worry, we are here!" Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming assured, patting his chest.
Yang Ling did not stay too long. After leaving a company of troops to assist deputy battalion commander Wang Dongming in guarding this dangerous black wind outlet, Yang Ling immediately led the rest of the troops and headed straight for Xiaoqingshan under the leadership of the messenger.
The brothers had a meal and after a short rest, their spirits improved a lot. They talked and laughed along the way and seemed particularly relaxed.
When they had just crossed the pass of a mountain, a brother suddenly pointed at the darkness in the distance and shouted: "What is over there? Why is it on fire?"
Yang Ling and the others stopped and looked into the distance, and saw something burning in the mountains, and there were faint gunshots.
"Oops, the bandits must be attacking Xiao Qingshan." When the messenger saw the direction of the fire, his expression suddenly changed.
"Command the troops to speed up the march!"
Yang Ling did not expect that Xiao Qingshan was really attacked by bandits, so he immediately did not dare to delay and ordered the troops to speed up their march.
The troops climbed over the pass and went down the winding mountain road, heading straight towards the direction of the fire. As they got closer, the sounds of gunfire and explosions became clearer.
"Sir, there seems to be an ambush in the woods ahead!"
When Yang Ling and the others were about to pass through a forest, a brother from the reconnaissance team in front hurried back to report.
"blacksmith!"
"have!"
A battalion commander, the blacksmith, came out in response.
"Take someone and kill them from behind! I'll give you ten minutes to resolve the battle!"
"yes!"
"Brothers from the first battalion, follow me!"
Soon, the officers and soldiers of the first battalion carrying guns and artillery left the mountain road and, led by the battalion commander blacksmith, walked through the woods from behind.