At the entrance of the temporary headquarters of the Northern Jiangsu Corps, a large, dark area was filled with people who had been instigated and gathered together. They were skinny, with pale faces, and their thin bodies were shivering in the cold wind.
When they confirmed that the person standing on the steps talking to them was Yang Ling, the captain of North Jiangsu Province, they were a little surprised, because Yang Ling did not fit their image of a fat-bellied, oily-faced, greedy and fearful senior officer.
Yang Ling's straight body and resolute face made all the people subconsciously feel that he was a real soldier. This was their most intuitive feeling, because the unique temperament of a soldier could not be faked.
When meeting strangers for the first time, many people like to judge people by their appearance. There is no doubt that Yang Ling's current image has won a little favor from the public.
They pointed at Yang Ling and whispered to each other, and the heated scene calmed down for a while.
Although most people in China live in poverty and hardship, they have inherited the fine traditions of simplicity and kindness of the Chinese nation.
When they discovered that Yang Ling was not as ugly as they imagined, but seemed to be upright, they began to wonder if they had misunderstood Yang Ling.
Seeing that the people were no longer excited, the traitors mixed in the crowd began to worry. If they were suppressed like this, they would not be able to implement their plan.
"I don't care if you are Yang Ling or not, we don't want to starve or freeze, we want to eat, we want to go home..." The traitor hiding in the crowd began to make noise again.
"Yes, we want to go home and we want food!"
...
Living in the open air, and encountering robbery and extortion on the way, the hungry and cold people who were already suppressing their emotions were stirred up and started shouting again.
"Fathers and fellow countrymen, I, Yang Ling, did not consider it well to eat and sleep in the cold and freezing weather. However, the national situation is difficult. Please keep walking for a while. In Huaiyin, I have ordered that houses be vacated for everyone and are ready.
For food, as long as you walk to Huaiyin, you can have a good meal and sleep comfortably!"
Hearing that Yang Ling had prepared accommodation and food for them in Huaiyin was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the hungry and cold people, making them feel at ease.
After all, it can't be too long to go to Huaiyin from here. After Baoying, it's not far ahead. Since Yang Ling has arranged everything for them, there is no point in them making trouble anymore.
For these poor people, in these turbulent years, they just prayed for a place to live and food, and they didn't have too high requirements.
Those hidden traitors used the people's most basic demands to incite them to cause trouble. With Yang Ling's promise, the agitated people were calmed down.
"You officials will lie to people. What if there is no place to live or food to eat? Let's drink from the northwest wind!" Seeing that the people's mood had stabilized, the traitors shouted again.
"Don't be fooled by this guy named Yang. We need a place to live now, and we need food now. Otherwise, let go of Luka and let us go home!"
People are very obedient. When the traitors reminded them, the people who had just been calmed down started shouting again, making Yang Ling's teeth itch with anger.
The guard company commander and five or six staff officers also had pale faces, and their eyes kept wandering among the crowd, trying to find the traitors who were inciting them.
It's a pity that these traitors are well hidden. They always hide in the crowd and stop making a sound after shouting. They also cooperate with each other. It is difficult to accurately locate them in such a large crowd.
"Now the Japs have captured Gaoyou and are heading north. If you go home now, it will be like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. I asked the big guys to retreat north for the sake of everyone's safety..."
"You are guerrillas, why don't you fight the Japanese? You are greedy for life and afraid of death. You are a bunch of trash, useless, deserters who are afraid of life and death..."
"Fellows and fellows, tell me, we donate money and food, why are we raising such a useless army? Let them be disbanded as soon as possible!"
"Yes, disband the guerrillas, give us guns, and we will fight home ourselves!"
...
Under the guidance of the traitors, the people's initial demands for food and housing evolved into an attack on the guerrilla forces. Faced with the surging public sentiment, staff officer Lei Xiong wanted to take out his gun and suppress it directly, but Yang Ling stopped him.
The brothers were all filled with righteous indignation. They fought bloody battles against the Japs on the front line, but now they were slandered as deserters. They gritted their teeth in their hearts and their faces were full of anger.
Yang Ling knew that all explanations now were in vain, because once one problem was solved, the traitors would use other methods to create difficulties.
Yang Ling directly tore off his military uniform, revealing his upper body covered with scars in the biting cold wind, and displayed it in front of the gathered crowd.
Huzi and the other guards also understood what Yang Ling meant, and they tore off their clothes one after another, revealing their bodies covered with stab wounds and gunshot wounds, standing upright.
Yang Ling raised the tin trumpet: "Some people say that we are deserters, cowards, and that we do not fight Japanese invaders. Now I ask you to open your eyes and see what these scars are!"
"In Shanghai, we fought bloody battles with the Japs for three months, and no one backed down. I crawled out from among the dead,"
"In Nanjing, more than ten generals were killed, more than 80,000 brothers died for the country, and we fought bloody battles with the Japs until the last moment!"
"In Lanfeng, we blocked the Japanese Dofeiyuan division and fought for several days and nights, turning the battlefield into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. In Wanjialing, although we killed one Japanese division, our dead brothers piled up in mountains.
.....”
"These brothers of mine all crawled out of the sea of blood from the mountains of corpses with me. Look at the scars on their bodies. Are they just poking at them for fun?!"
"No! This is what the little devils left behind. Did they back down? No!"
Yang Ling's angry voice echoed in the cold wind, and the people who were agitated fell silent. Seeing is believing. When they saw the scarred body like a withered wooden stake, they bowed in shame for the first time.
head.
"We fought bloody battles on the front line, and every battle was a life-and-death struggle. However, some people slandered us for not resisting the war and slandered us as deserters."
"There are brothers standing here, both old and young. Many brothers have never been home since they put on military uniforms. Their families thought they were dead. Why are brothers working so hard! It's not so that our fathers and fellow villagers can live in peace.
Live peacefully, and for the sake of our descendants, we should not be slaves to the subjugation of our country!"
"I don't know why you misunderstood us, our soldiers who are fighting to protect you, and I don't know if you were instigated by traitors or spies!"
Yang Ling almost shouted: "But what I want to tell you is that if you want food, I will give it! If you want to go home, well, I won't stop you. I will lead my brothers and walk in front of you, because we
We are soldiers, unless we are dead, the little devils will never harm my father and fellow countrymen, nor will they ever think of destroying our country!"
"Fight to the end, don't be slaves to the country's subjugation!" In the atmosphere exaggerated by Yang Ling, some intellectuals among the common people finally woke up and raised their arms and shouted.
"Drive out the Japanese invaders! Give us back our mountains and rivers!"
The crowd also started shouting, and their previous emotions and dissatisfaction with the guerrillas were completely transferred to the little devils, because the blame for all this was not on the guerrillas, but on the invading troops.
Seeing that the people who had finally been agitated were told by Yang Ling to turn their attack targets to the Japanese with just a few words, the traitors who were hiding were gnashing their teeth with hatred.
The traitors and traitors looked at each other, and while everyone was raising their arms and shouting, they secretly took out the hidden short guns.