Yang Ling and his group walked in circles for a long time, first walking northeast, then turning northwest. After confirming that they had got rid of the Japanese and puppet troops, they turned due west again.
At dusk, they arrived at their chosen destination, Chenjiawan, which is located at the junction of Siyang and Huaiyin counties, not far from the canal.
Chenjiawan is located in this large area of rolling hills and mountains, and to the west is a large swamp and reed marsh with a radius of nearly a hundred miles that is connected to Hongze Lake.
Since the troops of the Lanfeng Battle blasted the Huayuankou of the Yellow River, causing the Yellow River to change its course, and the changed Yellow River flows into the sea through the Huaihe River, the water level in the swamp to the west of Chenjiawan has also risen, forming a criss-crossing network of rivers that can be passed by small boats.
A few months ago, the Japanese's large-scale raids and the main forces in the theater behind enemy lines smashed the entire northern Jiangsu area to pieces, and the Huaiyin area even fell into the hands of the enemy.
Now, in addition to the guerrilla columns under the guerrilla army remaining in this area, the main force of the regular army has moved north to the Lunan area, and the only regular army nearby is the 89th Army in the Dongtai area.
After Yang Ling and the others passed through a dense forest, they saw Chenjiawan located by a small stream. The Chenjiawan shrouded in the dusk was lifeless and silent.
The group of people soon reached the village, walking on the bumpy streets filled with sewage, looking at the dilapidated houses and doors and windows covered with spider webs on both sides, Yang Ling couldn't help but frowned.
"Why does it look like no one has lived here for a long time?" Yang Ling turned to ask the guerrilla leader Liang Xiaoshan.
At that time, Yang Ling wanted to find a more private place to stay in this area, so Liang Xiaoshan recommended Chenjiawan, which is dozens of miles away from Qinghe Town.
Yang Ling didn't ask in detail at that time. Anyway, the Japanese and puppet troops couldn't find it easily. Who would have thought that when he came here and took a look, he would see this dilapidated and deserted village. It was a completely abandoned village.
Liang Xiaoshan also answered honestly: "The water bandits looted this place a year ago and killed many people. Those who survived felt that this place was unlucky and moved to other places one after another...
..”
Hearing what Liang Xiaoshan said, Yang Ling was relieved. After all, Chinese people have been superstitious about Feng Shui since ancient times. So many people died here at one time, so it naturally became an ominous place.
"Group, how about we find another place to stay?"
Wang Huzi looked at the broken windows that were swaying in the wind, and heard that many people had been attacked by water bandits and died here. He suddenly felt the cold air rising up his back, and he couldn't help but shrink his neck.
Yang Ling didn't have so many scruples. Seeing that apart from the lack of people and the dilapidated houses, there were mountains and rivers here, and it was far away from the Japanese stronghold, so it was naturally a good place to stay.
"That's it. Let's tidy it up. This is the new home of our third guerrilla detachment."
Hearing Yang Ling's words, many people felt bitter in their hearts, especially the guerrilla officers and soldiers earlier.
They were previously stationed in the bustling and lively Qinghe Town, but now they are in such a shady place. This huge gap makes them really unhappy.
But what can be done, Qinghe Town is now in the hands of the Japanese, and it seems that they have nowhere else to go but here.
"Blacksmith, ask them to put down their things and tidy up all the rooms. We'll just stay the night and tidy up tomorrow."
"Dongming, take a platoon of brothers around and get a clear idea of the terrain."
"The brothers in the cooking class cleaned up and hurriedly cooked. The brothers were hungry after running around all day."
Just make peace with what you have come. Under Yang Ling's instructions, the brothers put down the rice, flour, oil and other things they had brought from Liu's house, and started cleaning up busily.
"Commander, what am I going to do?" Wang Huzi saw that he had not received the task, so he approached Yang Ling and asked.
Yang Ling pointed to the path covered with weeds when he came and said: "Take the brothers from two classes to set up guard posts outside the village. Make arrangements for open posts, hidden posts and mobile posts. Although there are no people around, you still have to be vigilant.
."
"yes!"
Wang Huzi responded loudly. After greeting the brothers in the two squads, he left the village and went to set up sentry posts.
The house in Liujiawan had not been inhabited for more than a year, and was very dilapidated due to wind and rain. The brothers also started cleaning and tidying up. Hundreds of people came in and out, shouting, and finally the place regained a bit of popularity.
.
The slogans "Fight to the End!" and "Give Me Back My Country!" painted on the walls of the village are blurry and can't be seen clearly, but they are enough to prove that the people in the village were patriotic.
But they encountered a misfortune and were robbed by water bandits. Now that Yang Ling and the others have settled here, they naturally want to take action.
"Do you know the situation of the water bandits who attacked Chenjiawan?" Yang Ling grabbed the local guerrilla Liang Xiaoshan and asked.
Liang Xiaoshan replied: "I know they are the Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Brigade entrenched in Xinzhuang."
"Huh? Didn't you mean water bandits? How did they become the Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Brigade?" Yang Ling was also confused.
Liang Xiaoshan explained: "They were indeed water bandits who robbed homes and houses before, but six months ago they suddenly transformed into an anti-Japanese and national salvation brigade. Now they are also an anti-Japanese team. There are hundreds of people. They belong to the same guerrilla column commander as us.
."
"Then have they beaten the little devil?" Yang Ling frowned and asked.
Hearing Yang Ling's question, Liang Xiaoshan said angrily: "After being beaten once, they were beaten to a pulp by the Japanese. Since then, they have learned to behave and just go around forcing the so-called anti-Japanese national salvation tax to bully the people.
I’ve never seen them fight the Japanese.”
When Liang Xiaoshan said this, Yang Ling finally understood a little bit about this so-called Anti-Japanese National Salvation Brigade. This was clearly to line their own pockets under the banner of resisting Japan. What was the difference between this and when they were bandits who robbed homes and homes?
They could act recklessly before, but now that they are here, if they dare to behave like this again, I will definitely punish them.
Although he must use all his strength to fight against the Japanese invading army, he, Yang Ling, would not be polite to some black sheep who pretended to be anti-Japanese but actually bullied the people.
But now that they have just arrived, the Third Guerrilla Detachment has suffered heavy losses in Qinghe Town. Their first priority now is to gain a foothold in this area, otherwise everything will be out of the question.
Hundreds of people worked together, and the dilapidated Chenjiawan was quickly cleaned up. Dozens of houses could not accommodate so many brothers, so they could only squeeze them in temporarily and wait until tomorrow to build some houses.
While Yang Ling and the others were busy at their new foothold in Chenjiawan, the puppet troops and Japanese soldiers who were chasing them could not find any trace of them, so they had to return in vain and return to Qinghe Town.
"Ask the detective team to patrol every village tomorrow, and ask the maintenance committee to assist. If there are any traces of the Chinese guerrillas, report them immediately."
Japanese Captain Kasai Sadao was naturally unwilling to let Yang Ling and the others run away, so he made active arrangements after returning to Qinghe Town.
"Hiyi!"
The Japanese second lieutenant himself had lost several soldiers during the day, and he was furious, so he immediately agreed with murderous intent.