On the evening of August 4, 1930. It was late at night, and the light rain stopped. From the crisscrossing fields and ditches, beside the dark and unpredictable sorghum fields, a silent team was advancing rapidly in the muddy and cold wind and rain. There was no torch lighting.
The road can only be seen by the lightning that occasionally collides with the dark clouds overhead.
Raindrops slowly slid down the brim of Zhou Wen's hat, crawled over his thin black eyebrows, and joined the sweat on his delicate and determined cheeks.
This is the fifth day that Zhou Wen led the transportation team to set off from Liuhe. Since the headquarters agreed to Chief Qian’s plan to go south, Chief Gu’s Second Division and Chief Zhang’s Second Teaching Division were mobilized from the eastern front to form a southbound detachment.
.Chief Qian personally served as the commander-in-chief of the southbound detachment.
The whole plan is for the southward detachment to take advantage of the vast battlefield gap between Liuhe and Yanling County, travel day and night, and suddenly capture Yanling County without anyone noticing, opening up a channel for attacking Xuchang.
Zhou Wen's transportation team became the vanguard of the southbound detachment. Along the way, they scouted the enemy's situation, surveyed the terrain, and planned a suitable concealed march route for the subsequent army. Ten miles away from the transportation team, a regiment from the second division followed closely and was ready to support at any time.
From departure to today, everything went smoothly. On the enemy's defense line of nearly 200 kilometers, there were troops of different types such as the Northwest Army, the Jin Army, and Shi Yousan's remaining troops. The defense had quite a lot of loopholes.
In addition, this route happened to be the route that Zhou Wen and others took when they followed Zhao Changshu's Sixth Traveling Army of the Jin Army. Drawing terrain maps along the way was one of the transportation team training projects formulated by Zhou Wen at that time. Therefore, the transportation team can be said to be familiar with the journey.
.
If it weren't for the need to take care of the marching speed of the following army, relying on the transport team's ability to carry heavy loads, they would have reached Xuchang City long ago.
In the dark night, the rain gradually became heavier. A black figure trotted over in front, and a lightning in the far sky illuminated his rain-stained face. It was Zhang Xiaoping who was investigating at the front of the team.
"Brother, there is the Jialu River ahead. The water is a bit strong. It is dangerous to swim directly across it." Zhang Xiaoping wiped the rain on his face with his hand and said.
Zhou Wen said: "Let's go and have a look first. If it doesn't work, just go north along the river. I remember there is a village near the river nearby. When I passed by last time, I saw a few small wooden boats on the river." After that, he went with Zhang Xiaoping.
Run to the river.
The Jialu River, also known as the Little Yellow River, flows very fast during the rainy season and even floods from time to time.
When Zhou Wen came to the river, he knew that swimming was impossible. Although the river was not very wide, only about 30 meters, the current was very fast and the yellow sand was rolling. Can people get in?
There are two reasons for floating. Moreover, the transport team not only crosses the river by itself, but also considers the crossing of the river by the large forces behind it.
So Zhou Wen decided to go north along the river to visit the village in his memory...
There are only about twenty households in Dahe Village by the Jialu River, and several of them have fled the war and fled to relatives in other places. The ones left behind are poor families who have no place to hide and have to resign themselves to their fate.
The thunderstorm was particularly heavy tonight, and villager Liu Changgong was awakened by the sound of thunder and the growl of his hungry stomach. He listened to the pouring rain outside, and at the same time he heard the sound of water dripping and leaking from the corner of his mud house.
He turned over and lifted off the patched quilt that exuded a musty smell. He put on his short coat and got off the bed. In the dark, he put a pot in the corner to catch the leaking rain. He thought to himself that he would have to wait until the weather cleared.
Get some more mud grass and repair the roof.
I went to the water tank and scooped out a bowl of water and drank it, which temporarily stopped the growling of my stomach. In the darkness, I looked back at my mother-in-law and my six-year-old daughter who were sleeping on the kang, and slowly squatted down along the foot of the bed.
on the ground.
Yesterday, the whole family only had water to boil a few wild vegetables for a meal. The earthen jars used to store grains had long been scraped so that light could shine through in the darkness. How will we live in the future? This man who is less than thirty is thinking.
A moment of misery and despair.
Liu Changgong, who was in a state of sadness and confusion, was woken up by a gentle knock on the door. Who was knocking on the door in the middle of the night when it was pouring rain and thundering? The continuous thumping sound made Liu Changgong knock.
My heart was beating wildly.
Liu Changgong's mother-in-law also sat up, gently covered her daughter's ears, and looked at Liu Changgong in horror.
Liu Changgong boldly asked outside the door: "Who is it?"
"Fellow, don't be afraid. We are a passing team. We want to ask you something. We won't hurt you, and we won't enter your home. Let your boss come out and ask."
"It's broken, it's a soldier." Liu Changgong broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly signaled his mother-in-law to hold her sleeping daughter and hide in the firewood pile in the corner of the house. He said with luck in his heart: "This
Master Jun, we are all from poor families and we don’t know what we are, so please go to other places and ask.”
This is the rhythm of a dead Taoist friend but not a poor Taoist.
"If you want to ask other people, please open the door." The voice outside was very young and firm.
Liu Changgong felt despair in his heart. He looked back at his mother-in-law who was frightened and crying in the dark. He gritted his teeth and pulled open the door bolt...
I saw a few figures standing in the heavy rain outside the door, carrying guns and wearing raincoats. Looking at Liu Changgong, who was trembling with nervousness, the one in front of him said softly: "Fellow, don't be nervous, we are just here to inquire about some information, and we won't let you in."
Home, don’t be afraid.”
At this time, a bolt of lightning illuminated the face of the person in front of him. He had a pair of bright big eyes and a baby face. He looked like a handsome young man. Liu Changgong's nervousness subsided a little and asked: "What does this little brother want to ask? As long as
I’ll tell you everything you know.”
It turned out that the village with boats in Zhou Wen's memory was Dahe Village. However, there was no boat on the river. Due to time constraints, Zhou Wen did not care about disturbing the people. He directly led the transportation team into the village and went to each house to inquire about the situation.
The people who came to Liu Changgong's house were Zhang Xiaoping and Ti Jing. After Zhang Xiaoping asked about the situation, he did not enter Liu Changgong's house. He thanked him politely and left.
Zhang Changgong turned around and entered the house, leaning against the door and letting out a long sigh of relief.
Zhang Xiaoping and the others returned to the entrance of the village and saw that the team members had set up five tents on a high ground at the entrance of the village. Zhang Xiaoping entered the middle tent and saw that everyone who had inquired about the situation had returned. As soon as everyone summarized the situation, Zhou Wen frowned
Got up.
The situation was not optimistic. An unknown number of enemies were stationed on the other side of the river. They also dragged several boats from the village to the other side.
Within dozens of miles around, only Dahe Village has boats, because the river near Dahe Village is wider than other places. The water flow is relatively gentle, making it suitable for ferrying.
In the past, the villagers of Dahe Village relied on a few ferries and a small amount of land to make a basic living. Now that the land is abandoned and the ferries have been taken away, one can imagine how difficult the villagers' lives are.