There were nearly a hundred men, women, old and children in the village, and they were driven to the front of the village hall by the soldiers from the garrison.
There were eight corpses of Japanese soldiers placed in a row on the ground. Especially the five people who were killed in the bombing had their faces covered in blood and their faces were hideous, which looked shocking.
Hattori Hikoo bowed three times to the corpse respectfully, and then said to all the villagers in front of him: "The Communist Party attacked the imperial army in Yangcun. It is hard to believe that you all have no knowledge of it. Now, I want you to say
Come out, where is the Communist Party hiding!"
Tian Junsheng shouted from the side: "Folks, if anyone knows, please tell the imperial army immediately, so as not to drag down the whole village!"
The villagers were silent, except for the occasional cry of a child.
Hattori Hikoo ordered: "Come here, bring the village chief here!"
Two military policemen pulled out a man wearing a melon-skin hat from the crowd. It looked like he was in his forties. His face was pale with fear. He came to Hattori Hikoo and saluted him repeatedly.
Hattori Hikoo looked him over and said, "Do you know that the Communist Party has done so many things in the village?"
The village chief stuttered and said: "Taijun, I really don't know. I thought he was from a nearby village..."
Hattori Hikoo pointed to the eight corpses of Japanese soldiers on the ground and said: "The imperial army cannot die in vain. As the village chief, you must have an explanation!"
"What, what do you mean?"
"life for a life!"
"boom!"
Hattori Hikoo raised his hand without warning and fired a shot. The village chief stared at him and fell to the ground on his back. The bullet made a hole in his head.
"Dad!" A boy of seventeen or eighteen years old broke away from the crowd and rushed out, kneeling beside the village chief's body and crying bitterly.
Hattori Hikoo looked at him and said, "Do you know where the Communist Party is hiding?"
The young man raised his head, glared at Hattori Hikoo angrily, and shouted: "Why did you kill my father!"
"I ask you again, do you know where the Communist Party is hiding?"
"I won't tell you even if I know!" A young man is not afraid of tigers when he is born, let alone this Japanese officer who killed his own father.
"puff!"
Jiro Sakai grabbed a soldier's rifle, strode over, and stabbed the boy's chest with his sharp bayonet. The villagers were so frightened that they fell into silence, and the women covered their children's eyes.
The boy was lying next to his father's body, staring at the sky with wide eyes. His body was still twitching slightly, and a large pool of blood flowed out from under him.
Hattori Hikoo waved to the interpreter Jin and whispered a few words.
After a while, Interpreter Jin made a loudspeaker out of thin iron sheet, stood in front of the crowd and said loudly: "Taijun said, as long as you tell the whereabouts of the Communist Party member Xu Haichuan, everything will be fine. Otherwise, regardless of gender, age or child, you will be fine."
, everyone must die! Every ten minutes, shoot someone!"
…………
At the same time, in the woods not far away, the guerrillas were doing repairs.
Cao Yunfei said to Xu Haichuan: "Leader Xu, I am completely convinced that you fell into the hands of the Japanese and you were able to make a rescue plan and turn them around."
Xu Haichuan smiled and said: "I don't have this ability. The rescue plan was thought up by other comrades."
Cao Yunfei said in surprise: "Other comrade? Who is it? I have to get to know him if I have a chance. He is an expert!"
Xu Haichuan did not answer his words, stood up and said: "Captain Cao, everyone is almost rested, let's evacuate quickly!"
"Brothers, pack up everything and prepare to retreat!" Cao Yunfei ordered loudly.
At this moment, gunshots were heard in the distance.
Cao Yunfei listened attentively for a while and said firmly: "It's in the direction of Yangcun!"
Xu Haichuan: "Have our people withdrawn yet?"
"They've all been evacuated."
"Then why are you still shooting?"
Cao Yunfei scratched his head and said, "That's right..."
"Master, it's not good, it's not good!" A team member responsible for detecting the enemy's situation ran back panting.
Cao Yunfei handed over the kettle in his hand and said, "Monkey, why are you panicking? Speak slowly!"
The monkey took two sips from the kettle and gasped: "The Japs are crazy. They say that if they can't catch Leader Xu, they will kill one person every ten minutes and kill all the people in the village!"
Cao Yunfei said in surprise: "Kill all the people in the village?"
"Before I came back, the Japs had already killed two of them. I saw it with my own eyes!" The monkey was on a big poplar tree at the time. He was agile and especially good at climbing trees, so he got such a nickname.
A team member who lives in Yangcun came over and asked anxiously: "Haozi, have you seen my father?"
Haozi shook his head and said: "The whole village was rushed to the entrance of the village hall. There were hundreds of people there. Where can I see your father..."
"You won't come any closer!" The team member blurted out in a hurry.
"If you get closer, if the Japanese show up, I can still come back!" Haozi said dissatisfied.
"Bang!" Another gunshot came from the direction of Yangcun.
Cao Yunfei jumped up and said: "I'm going to fight with the little devil! Brothers, the copycats, come back with me!"
"Let's go! Do it with the little devil!"
"This group of beasts can do harm to the common people!"
"Fuck them!"
The team members were excited and clamoring to go back.
Xu Haichuan shouted: "Everyone, stop! Are you going to die?"
Cao Yunfei said unconvinced: "Leader Xu, with so many of us and the help of comrades from the county brigade, if we sneak attack the Japanese one more time, even if we can't eliminate them, we won't be eaten by them, right?"
Xu Haichuan frowned and said: "Captain Cao, you are a guerrilla captain, not a mountain king. How did I tell you about the last attack on the gendarmerie? Why don't you have a long memory at all?"
Cao Yunfei looked embarrassed and said: "Leader Xu, didn't I admit my mistake last time? This time is different and we are not in the city. What are we afraid of?"
Xu Haichuan sighed and said: "When we rescued me, there were only sixty enemies without any heavy weapons. There were hundreds of us, and we still fought in an ambush. What was the result?"
"The result...it's a tie..."
"Okay, it's barely a tie. Enemy reinforcements must have arrived now. I estimate there are at least two integrated squads. We have machine guns and grenades. What are we going to do with them? What are we going to do if we're not going to die!"
Cao Yunfei was speechless, and after a long while he said: "Then... we just watch the Japs kill everyone in Yang Village?"
Xu Haichuan was silent for a while and said: "Since the Japanese want me, then I will help them!"
Cao Yunfei didn't understand for a moment and said, "What do you mean?"
"I'll go back and exchange myself for everyone in Yang Village!"
Cao Yunfei was stunned for a few seconds and immediately said loudly: "No! We have made such a big sacrifice and worked so hard to rescue you, and you just want to go back? Are you kidding me?"
Xu Haichuan patted Cao Yunfei on the shoulder and said: "Captain Cao, I understand your mood, but have you ever thought about why we are resisting Japan? Isn't it just to save the working people? Now, as long as I save my life, I will
If I can save the lives of hundreds of people, why wouldn’t I do it?”
Cao Yunfei pulled Xu Haichuan to the side and whispered: "Leader Xu, the Japanese will hate you to death. Your return this time is different from the last time you were arrested. You will die if you return!"
Xu Haichuan smiled and said: "Everyone has to die, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather! I think that dying like this today is heavier than Mount Tai!"
Cao Yunfei grinned and said, "I don't understand a word you said..."
"To put it simply, I can't let hundreds of people die for me. I can't bear this burden!" Xu Haichuan said lightly.