The temperature dropped sharply in the cold winter. Although it was daytime, the cold wind that continuously poured into the collars through the gaps still made the guerrilla officers and soldiers hiding ten kilometers outside Gaoyou shiver with cold.
The main force of the First Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps in Northern Jiangsu led by Yang Ling went south from Huaiyin in a day and night forced march, bypassing Baoying and reaching Gaoyou City outside Gaoyou City.
Brothers, we have traveled almost the entire distance of more than 100 kilometers. You must know that in this era of backward transportation, even the main roads are mud roads with potholes.
In order to cause unnecessary trouble along the way and to be discovered by the Japanese reconnaissance planes, Yang Ling and the others took all the narrow roads. These roads were desolate and inhabited and full of thorns, making them very difficult to navigate.
This is also the reason why the Japanese reconnaissance plane lost track of Yang Ling and the others after they discovered them, because Yang Ling and the others left the main road and took a side road.
Once they discovered the roar of the Japanese planes, they immediately hid in the weeds and woods. Fortunately, the areas in northern Jiangsu and central Jiangsu now have beautiful mountains and lush vegetation, which provided Yang Ling and the others with good cover.
Although the brothers were all hard-working farmers, they were exhausted from traveling continuously for more than a hundred miles, so after receiving the order to rest, they fell asleep one by one.
At this moment, in a large expanse of reeds and woods to the north of Gaoyou City, the guerrilla troops under Yang Ling's command were hiding and sleeping, preparing to regain their strength for the coming battle.
The puppet troops responsible for carrying out the search mission only wanted to go to nearby villages to rob and make money, and did not have much interest in these barren reeds and woods.
The Japanese troops hid in the city to rest and lick their wounds, while the puppet search troops conducted a perfunctory search. As a result, such a large force like Yang Ling was lurking under their noses, and they have not discovered it until now.
"Keep your eyes open, I will be rewarded heavily if you catch the guerrillas!"
The puppet troops were like wild dogs looking for food. As soon as one wave passed, another group appeared on the outskirts of the reed swamp where the guerrilla officers and soldiers were hiding, which made the guerrilla brothers feel excited.
This group of puppet soldiers only consisted of more than twenty people, not even a platoon. They looked at the undulating reeds in the wind, lowered their guns, and walked towards the reeds while talking and laughing.
In fact, the puppet army also knew that most of the dispersed guerrillas had fled further away. They were searching here because they did not want to go far and wanted to try their luck here.
When I met a few dead people.
But what they didn't know was that in the reed swamp three hundred meters in front of them, there were two infantry companies of guerrilla officers and soldiers hidden. They all belonged to Yangling's First Guerrilla Corps.
At the edge of the reed swamp, the guerrilla security platoon, covered with reed stalks and wild grass, also pointed its dark muzzle at the puppet troops who were getting closer and closer three hundred meters away.
The guerrilla officers and soldiers were well camouflaged. Both veterans and recruits looked like savages living here. Their bodies were covered with grass. Unless the puppet troops got closer, it would be difficult to spot them.
"Put it closer and use the bayonet to deal with it!"
Hua Gou, the veteran company commander, looked at the more than 20 puppet soldiers pulling out a skirmish line that was more than 30 meters wide. His eyes were full of coldness. They were too careless.
The order was passed down in a low voice, and the brothers took out the bayonets from the bayonet scabbards on their waists one after another. They were as calm as a mountain, with a murderous look on their cold faces.
The brothers of the Lieyan Special Forces Brigade, who were the first to enter the war zone near Gaoyou, encountered the puppet army in Wuming Village and killed a puppet army company. It was just an accident.
Although there was a fierce exchange of fire in that battle, it was relatively far away from Gaoyou City after all, and now the brothers of the guerrilla corps had lurked near Gaoyou City. Opening fire now would expose them and affect the effect of the raid.
The lazy puppet soldiers had already entered the shooting range of the guerrilla officers and soldiers. Several light machine guns in the reed swamps had their guns opened, and the bayonets of the brothers had been hung on the muzzles of the guns.
But before the puppet troops could go further, a puppet army messenger on horseback came galloping along the road in the distance. Looking at the puppet army search team leaving the road and heading towards the reed swamp, he shouted from a distance.
Got up.
"Sir, there is an order! Expand the search area and extend the search area to the periphery!"
"knew--"
The leading puppet platoon leader raised his neck and responded, then waved his hand, and the puppet soldiers who were walking towards the reed swamp turned around and returned to the main road.
What the puppet soldiers didn't know was that it was precisely because of the appearance of this messenger that they saved their lives. If they dared to enter the reed swamp, they would definitely not survive.
Not long after this group of puppet troops left, a group of Japanese search cavalry also rolled up smoke and dust and headed north. When the Japanese set their sights on the north, Yang Ling and the others had already set their sights on Gaoyou.
In a bamboo forest a little away from the main road, there were lurking security guards with guns and live ammunition all around. Yang Ling was gathering here with the chief officers of his troops to discuss the attack plan.
"The situation has been clearly understood. There are not many Japanese troops in Gaoyou City, only more than 400 people. They have just experienced a fierce battle and have not yet recovered. There are two battalions of puppet troops, but they have all dispersed. For a while
It won’t come back after a while.”
Wei Qing, captain of the Lieyan Special Warfare Brigade, dressed in coarse cotton clothes and pretended to be a commoner. He personally led several team members to the foot of Gaoyou City to investigate the enemy's situation and had just returned.
Hearing that the number of Japs in the city was so small, the faces of the officers who gathered in a circle showed joy. The Japs had fewer soldiers and they were more certain of victory.
"Have you figured out the fortifications and firepower points outside the Japanese city?"
Yang Ling didn't show any emotion or anger. He just nodded slightly and asked another question.
Wei Qing replied: "The Japs have set up warning positions in all directions, and the firepower points have been clearly identified, but a large number of young men are repairing trenches for the Japs outside the city, and some young men from nearby villages are being sent to the city.
, once we start fighting, we will inevitably accidentally injure these young men."
The Japanese and General Ma Yuren's first line of guerrilla troops fought a bloody battle in Gaoyou. Several villages near Gaoyou were reduced to rubble, and most of the Japanese fortifications and trenches were destroyed.
When General Ma Yuren and his troops were at their most violent, they once reached an area less than 200 meters away from the city wall.
But after all, there was no air cover, and the Japanese's firepower was too fierce, so in the end they failed. Instead, they were defeated by the Japanese and puppet troops.
Now that the Japanese are hiding in the city to rest and lick their wounds, they have not forgotten to recruit a large number of Chinese people to help them repair the fortifications and bunkers that were destroyed in the battle.
And if Yang Ling and the others arrived a few days later, these bombed fortifications would have been renovated, and then there would be another obstacle standing in front of them.
But now, although the Japanese fortifications have not been repaired yet, the people who repaired the fortifications have become troublesome. Once a fight breaks out, the casualties will be huge if the bullets don't have long eyes.
Yang Ling's brows furrowed into the Chinese character "Sichuan". They were originally here to fight the Japs. If they caused a large number of casualties to the people, that would not be their original intention, so they had to find a way to solve it.
The officers who gathered around the group also became sad-faced one by one. The presence of the people outside the city seemed to have put a tight spell on them, preventing them from letting go and doing something big. It was really worrying.