Wang Yuanhe was the original village chief of Dawangzhuang. His second son joined the garrison and is now the squad leader.
Because he was well-educated and had prestige, he was the first person Chen Dasheng dealt with after he took office.
In Chen Dasheng's own words, only by knocking him down can his prestige in Dawangzhuang be established.
In the end, the Wang family sent all their family savings and most of their food rations to the maintenance association so that Wang Yuanhe could save his life. However, he walked into the maintenance association, came out lying down, and was raised at home for nearly half a month before he could go to the fields.
"Bang bang bang..."
A knock on the door suddenly sounded, startling the Wang family.
As soon as the door was opened a crack, a figure flashed in: "Folks, don't be afraid, we are the Eighth Route Army, if you need anything, please contact Village Chief Wang!"
"Are you the Eighth Route Army?" Wang Yuanhe asked warily.
The Maintenance Committee and those spies were so rampant that they tried every means to frame everyone, and pretending to be the Eighth Route Army was their usual method. Wang Yuanhe himself had suffered losses before, and he would definitely not be fooled a second time.
The person who entered the room was the leader of the action team that assassinated Chen Dasheng a few days ago. He was very aware of Village Chief Wang's concerns and quickly answered.
"Don't worry, Village Chief Wang, I am indeed from the Eighth Route Army. I know that your son is the squad leader of the Third Company of the Second Battalion of the Garrison Regiment. You should trust me now!"
"In addition, Chen Dasheng, the traitor, has been executed by us."
"A few days ago, the Maintenance Council distributed food to you. This is what we forced them to do."
Wang Yuanhe became excited and immediately replied: "You are from the Eighth Route Army. I have not told anyone about the fact that my second son is the squad leader in the garrison. Only the Eighth Route Army itself knows about it."
"Comrade, are the main forces coming back?"
"Those spies and Ergouzi are so bastards that they don't regard the villagers as human beings. If you don't come back, the villagers will not be able to survive."
The team leader immediately replied: "Don't worry, Village Chief Wang, the troops will definitely come back."
"But it will take some time. The Japanese and puppet troops in the base area are now too powerful. They are building strongholds everywhere, building blockade trenches and blockade walls. The main force is not a match yet."
"We are waiting for the opportunity to deal a fatal blow to the Japanese and puppet troops at the critical moment, turn defeat into victory, and then fight back."
Seeing the fleeting expression of disappointment on Wang Yuanhe's face, the team leader continued.
"Village Chief Wang, don't worry. Although the main force cannot come back now, we will not leave once we come. We will always be lurking around everyone to protect everyone's safety."
"And more and more troops will come back in batches to protect everyone's safety and prepare for the main force's counterattack."
"I came here today because I need Village Chief Wang's help with something."
As long as the Eighth Route Army does not forget everyone, there will be hope for the future.
Wang Yuanhe's face looked much better and he immediately asked: "What is it? As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it."
"Our Eighth Route Army wants you, Village Chief Wang, to serve as the president of the Dawangzhuang Maintenance Association!" the team leader looked at Wang Yuanhe and said with sincerity.
"no!"
Wang Yuanhe's eyes immediately widened, and he objected without hesitation. He also had new doubts about the leader's Eighth Route Army identity.
"As a Chinese, I at least know how to be polite, righteous, and honest. I will never betray my ancestors and sacrifice my life for the Japanese!"
The team leader immediately explained: "Village Chief Wang, don't be angry, just listen to what I have to say."
"After coming here, we were fully capable of completely wiping out the Dawangzhuang Maintenance Association, but we did not do so."
"Because the Japanese will come here to form a new maintenance association, and the villagers will suffer another disaster."
"In the end, we decided to kill only the culprit and the president of the Maintenance Council."
"Kill to stop killing, so that the president of the maintenance committee sent by the little devils dare not take office, and force the little devils to choose the president of the maintenance committee from among the villagers. On the surface, they work for the Japanese, but in fact they protect the villagers. At least they can
Let the villagers suffer less."
"Tomorrow the vice president of the maintenance committee will convene a meeting with the villagers to elect the president of the maintenance committee."
"As long as Village Chief Wang takes the initiative to stand up, you will definitely be the president of the Maintenance Association."
"In addition, Village Chief Wang, you are not fighting alone. After becoming the president of the Maintenance Association, we will cooperate with you to kill the hardcore traitors in the Maintenance Association, and then replace them with one of our own."
"Several members of the guerrillas in Dawangzhuang are lurking in the nearby mountains. As long as the opportunity is right, they can go out of the mountains and act openly under the hat of the maintenance team to protect the safety of the villagers."
Wang Yuanhe frowned and fell into deep thought. After a minute, he suddenly asked: "What if the Japanese ask me to collect grain?"
"The little grain the villagers have is for life-saving purposes in the future. If I had listened to the Japanese orders, I would have been stabbed in the spine by the villagers, causing everyone to starve to death."
"If we don't do things for the Japanese, they will definitely send troops to the countryside to grab food, and the villagers will suffer."
The team leader thought for a moment and replied very firmly: "If you can delay it, just delay it. If you can't delay it, give them the food."
"Tell the villagers that these grains are temporarily borrowed by our Eighth Route Army, and they will definitely be snatched back by everyone. If something unexpected happens and they cannot be snatched back, our garrison will also get grain from other channels to compensate everyone."
"In addition, Village Chief Wang, after you become the president of the Maintenance Association, you can continue to organize the villagers to dig deep wells in the fields so that more fields can be planted with food after spring plowing."
"If you don't do it right, these lands will definitely be taken away by the Japanese and traitors, and then the villagers' life-saving food will be gone."
"I do!" Wang Yuanhe was persuaded and made a firm decision.
At Guanshan Town Stronghold, Captain Yoshida finally relaxed after frowning for several days.
After more than ten days, the problem of each village maintenance committee having no president was finally solved.
The list in hand is the candidate for the president of each village maintenance committee.
Battalion Commander Zhang stood in front of him and explained with a compliment.
"Sir, I have made some statistics: twenty-seven of these presidents are former village chiefs. Many of them must have a background in the Eighth Route Army."
"But after some analysis, we don't need to worry about this problem at all?"
"There are no main forces of the Eighth Route Army in the blockade area. Those stragglers cannot make a difference. Even if they are loyal to the Eighth Route Army, they will not be able to affect the imperial army's efforts to build this area into an occupied area."
"In addition, these presidents have considerable prestige in each village. With them, even if there is a severe drought in North China, each village can cultivate a lot of fields."
"After the autumn harvest, whether they like it or not, these grains will belong to the imperial army."
What Captain Yoshida believed in most was force. He stared at Battalion Commander Zhang and asked: "The vice president of the maintenance committee and the captain and deputy captain of the escort team are all our people, right?"
Battalion Commander Zhang quickly replied: "They are all our people."
"That's good!" Captain Yoshida said with satisfaction.
"The president of the Maintenance Association is just a name. To really control the people, we still have to rely on the army."
"As long as the troops are in our hands, those maintenance presidents can't make any big waves."
"Tell all the vice-presidents of the Maintenance Council that once they discover that the president of the Maintenance Council has second thoughts, secretly communicates with the Eighth Route Army, and betrays the Imperial Army, I will allow them to execute him on the spot and I will become the president of the Maintenance Council."
"If it is found that someone in the village is colluding with the Eighth Route Army and fighting against the imperial army, they can arrest the person directly without the consent of the chairman of the maintenance association."
