The noisy explosions and gunshots stopped, and calm returned to Ruichang County. The frightened people hiding in their homes carefully observed the streets through door cracks and window paper.
Except for the corpses of the Japanese with big pools of black blood flowing down their bodies, there was no movement on the streets filled with smelly water. They didn't know who had won the battle, and they were speculating in their hearts.
"All the Japs have been beaten to death! You guys don't need to hide, you can come out now!"
While the people were hiding under the windows and carefully observing the situation outside, there were soldiers dressed as security battalion soldiers holding gongs in their hands, shouting and running towards the bumpy streets.
"The Japanese have really been wiped out?!" The people hiding at home heard the shouting outside and asked doubtfully.
They had seen those burly and muscular Japanese soldiers. Their resolute and cold faces and sharp bayonets made them look like powerful characters. Did those sallow-looking National Revolutionary Army soldiers really eliminate those powerful Japanese soldiers?
"Didn't you hear the shouting from outside? All the Japanese were beaten to death." Some people's faces were full of excitement.
Although the Japanese did not carry out massacres like they did in Nanjing after they captured Ruichang County, the people living in Ruichang still lived in trepidation when they saw the cold-looking Japanese.
Now that they heard that these Japanese soldiers had been eliminated by their own troops and Ruichang was back in the hands of the Chinese again, the people were happy from the bottom of their hearts.
Some brave people opened their doors and walked onto the streets. They saw that the Japanese Sun Flag hanging on the roof of the county house was gone, replaced by the long-lost Blue Sky and White Sun Flag. Some people couldn't help but get wet in their eyes.
"Come out, guys, the Japanese have really been beaten away!" Someone shouted excitedly on the street, as happy as if they were celebrating a festival.
Their days under the Japanese rule were really uneasy, and now that they saw that their troops had really recaptured Ruichang, their faces turned red with excitement.
More and more people walked out of their homes and onto the streets. They saw that except for the corpses of the Japanese, there was no living Japanese. They felt as if they were in another world.
Many people shouted excitedly, and some cried with joy. The feeling of living under the butcher's knife these days made these people truly understand what it was like to be a slave to the subjugation of the country.
They used to think that the National Revolutionary Army had poor military discipline and poor combat effectiveness, and had a thousand reasons to dislike them. Now they suddenly feel that the National Revolutionary Army they once hated is so lovable.
The explosion of the Japanese ammunition depot razed the entire street to the ground, and the spreading fire was still burning. Thick smoke billowed over the city, and the air was filled with burning black.
"Everyone, go put out the fire, put out the fire." Someone saw the raging flames in the Xu family compound and then reacted from the excitement.
The Chinese tradition that has existed for thousands of years has been that neighbors watch and help each other. At this moment, the Japanese were driven away by Yang Ling and others. When they saw the burning fire, they subconsciously put out the fire.
Kind-hearted people took wooden basins and buckets and rushed to the streets where the fire was spreading to put out the fire. But when they arrived, they were stunned.
Because here, hundreds of shirtless Chinese officers and soldiers, their whole bodies hot and their faces flushed by the fire, are struggling to put out the fire.
Seeing these Chinese officers and soldiers being smoked as black as coke in the fire, the sisters-in-law and the wives laughed, but they were more moved. Of course, if they knew that Yang Ling started the fire himself,
It's a different matter if you're wearing it.
"Everyone, stop standing there and go help."
I don't know who shouted, and hundreds of people came to their senses from the emotion, and all carried buckets and went to help.
In Ruichang County, where the fire spread and burned, thousands of local residents and Yang Ling and other once-unpopular officers and soldiers worked together to put out the fire, creating a drama between the military and civilians.
Although this roaring fire completely burned down the entire street and turned many houses into ashes, no one cried. Everyone was immersed in the joy of destroying the Japanese.
"Come, drink a bowl of water and take a rest."
The gray-haired old lady carried a kettle and poured water for the tired and hungry brothers one by one. In the past, they hated this army for its failure to live up to expectations and always lost battles, so they treated them coldly.
Now that their troops have fought back, recaptured Ruichang, and helped put out the fire, the attitude of these kind-hearted people towards them has suddenly changed.
In fact, these people's demands are not high. They just hope that their troops can win the battle and protect their homes from the ravages of war. However, the troops have been disappointed again and again, and even abandoned them to the Japanese.
"Auntie, you should have a rest too." The brothers couldn't bear to say it when they saw the auntie pouring water for them one by one while walking tremblingly.
"Aren't you tired, ma'am? There's still more here after you finish your drink."
Looking at these officers and soldiers with sallow faces and thin muscles but scarred bodies, the aunt's face was full of distress.
Although the Chinese army lost most of China and suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties, they never stopped fighting. They never surrendered to the little devils. Politicians are cold-hearted, but soldiers are hot-blooded.
These illiterate soldiers only know how to fight and fight with their lives against the Japanese on every battlefield. However, there are too many factors that determine the outcome of a war. Most of the time, soldiers cannot win without fear of death.
Ruichang County has returned to the control of the Chinese army. This is the first county town that the Chinese army has regained from the Japanese since the war between China and Japan.
Although Yang Ling knew very well that with their strength, their control over this place was only short-lived, they also told the people of the country with practical actions and gave them hope that as long as the fighting continues, countless cities will be destroyed in the future.
They recovered.
The people of Ruichang County are enthusiastically preparing the best meals at home to entertain these brothers who have traveled hundreds of miles to retake Ruichang.
The brothers were really hungry. When we were on the front battlefield in Minshan, we often fought fiercely with the Japanese on an empty stomach. After sneaking into the enemy's rear and fighting for so long, we were already starving.
Facing the fragrant white rice, they grabbed it like hungry wolves and put it into their stomachs. Even the officers didn't care about their own image. They were really too hungry.
The look of devouring food made some of the people watching want to laugh, but they couldn't. They kept giving them more food, because they knew that it was just such a group of hungry officers and soldiers who had recaptured their city.
While the brothers were having a hearty meal, Yang Ling was doing a more important thing in Ruichang County, which was preparing to spread the news of Ruichang's recovery.
After the Japs captured Ruichang County, the county government became the temporary headquarters of the Japs stationed in Ruichang. After wiping out the Japs in the city, Yang Ling and the others seized a radio station here that the Japs had no time to destroy.