Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang woke up to the first light of dawn. Zhao Changgui and Zhao Changming were by his side. Yang Jiefang sat up abruptly and asked, "What's the situation now?" Zhao Changgui replied, "Nothing's wrong. Sun Zhiyong and the others are back. Look, it's almost daylight. Do we still need to cause trouble? Speaking of which, it's our turn." Yang Jiefang asked, "Where's Sun Zhiyong?" Just then, Sun Zhiyong and Hou Fei approached. Hou Fei laughed, "Those soldiers are really cowards; they don't dare show their faces. This battle wasn't very exciting!" Sun Zhiyong interjected, "The villagers have been guarding their doors. If they spot us, they break metal plates or bamboo tubes to signal the alarm. We only fired a couple of shots to scare them; no one was hurt." Yang Jiefang nodded and said, "That's good. Go find the other team leaders for me, and we can discuss the next move." Hou Fei agreed, "I'll go."

Soon, Hou Fei gathered Bai Lang, Liu Heizi, Yan Donglai, and others, and Tian Dan and Zheng Sandao also arrived. Yang Jiefang asked first, "Brother Liu, how is Brother Zhang's injury?" Liu Heizi replied, "He just woke up for a while, but he's a bit weak, and now he's asleep again." Yang Jiefang was slightly relieved and then asked, "Let's calculate how many soldiers these government troops have lost in the past day and night?" "We already calculated it, at least fifty or sixty, right?" Hou Fei happily interjected. Tian Dan added, "So, the government troops still have over a hundred men." Yang Jiefang said, "If this were a fresh force, over a hundred men would indeed be stronger than us. But after losing a third of them, do you think the remaining hundred or so men still have the courage to attack Yang'er Mountain?" Hou Fei chimed in, "Those cowards, they don't even dare to leave their villages, how dare they go to Yang'er Mountain?" Tian Dan immediately beamed with joy and said, "So, Yang'er Mountain is saved!"

Yang Jiefang turned to his brother and said, “Brothers, you’ve all had a long and tiring day and night. I reckon the government troops won’t go to Yang’er Mountain again and will definitely retreat back to Laiyang County. I wonder if any of you brothers are interested in giving them another go?” “Yes!” everyone shouted in unison, completely disregarding the hundred-odd government troops. Yang Jiefang nodded and said, “Alright, then let’s completely crush these government troops and make them tremble at the sight of us from now on. Yesterday, we set up an ambush at Qinglong River Bridge, but we didn’t do well. As the saying goes, you get up where you fall. Let’s set up an ambush there again today and give them another go. Does everyone have the confidence to win this battle?” Liu Heizi immediately volunteered, saying, “Brother Yang, don’t worry! Yesterday, my men were too cowardly. I guarantee there won’t be any more trouble today. You tell us how to fight, and we’ll fight exactly as you say.” His enthusiastic response made Bai Lang slightly unhappy, but he didn’t show it and said, “You’ll be in command today. I’ll listen to you.”

Yang Jiefang was quite satisfied with their attitude and said, "Zhao Changming, you weren't called upon last night, so now it's your turn to lead the charge. Use the same tactics as yesterday: the 'leading the ox' tactic. However, today might be a little different; the soldiers might not follow you. They'll most likely retreat towards the city, and you'll follow behind them. Don't chase too closely; just keep them in check, put some pressure on them, and make them run faster. If they counterattack, then lead them by the nose in circles in the mountains." Zhao Changming understood and said, "I understand, leave it to me! I can handle this." Yang Jiefang reminded him, "You must be careful of the dikes; don't let the enemy ambush you!" Zhao Changming solemnly agreed.

Yang Jiefang then said, "Brother Zhang Heizi is currently unable to move around easily, so let Chu Shiwu and Zhao Yuanbao stay and take care of him. Brother Zheng Sandao, could you please fill in for him and temporarily assign him to Captain Liu's team? What do you think?" Zheng Sandao readily agreed, "Why not? From now on, I'll follow Brother Liu's arrangements." Liu Heizi was quite satisfied with Zheng Sandao and said, "Then we'll have to trouble Brother Zheng for now."

Tian Dan chimed in, "Brother Yang, give me a task too!" Yang Jiefang laughed, "Brother Tian, ​​you'll be sure to do it. First, could you please lead the way to the Qinglong River Bridge? It's best if there are no villages along the way, so we don't get discovered. Can you manage that?" Tian Dan thought for a moment and said, "That's easy, it'll just be a bit of a detour." Yang Jiefang said, "A detour is fine, as long as we reach the Qinglong River Bridge before the soldiers. The key is secrecy." Tian Dan didn't want to let these soldiers off the hook, so he immediately agreed.

So, the group split up. Zhao Changming and Zhao Changgui led a small squad to monitor the soldiers in the village. Just as dawn broke, the village became noisy as a squad of soldiers emerged, searching the area. Zhao Changming ordered Zhao Changgui to lead a small group to meet them. Before Zhao Changgui and his men could even get close, they were spotted. The soldiers didn't rush in, but instead opened fire from a distance as if facing a formidable enemy. Zhao Changgui dared not get too close, quickly finding cover and returning fire. There were more than ten soldiers, and a firefight ensued between Zhao Changgui and his two companions. The two sides were four or five hundred meters apart, neither able to hit the other; it was a pure waste of bullets.

Zhao Changming found this strange. After a moment's thought, he led the remaining men, some crawling forward and others using cover to sneak around to the flank of the soldiers. They opened fire from a distance of about 300 meters. The soldiers immediately retreated 100-200 meters, creating distance between themselves and Zhao Changming's group. Zhao Changming didn't dare pursue too closely, and the situation remained tense. Soon, another group of soldiers emerged from the village, but they weren't heading towards Zhao Changming's group. Instead, they left the village from the west end, heading west. Zhao Changming wondered if the soldiers would flank them. Then, another group of soldiers followed them out of the village, carrying stretchers with people lying on them. Zhao Changming understood now: the soldiers were trying to escape and had no intention of fighting. Therefore, Zhao Changming immediately increased his firing rate to suppress the opposing soldiers; he then sent Zhao Changgen with a small group to attempt a forward assault. Zhao Changgen only advanced about fifty meters before the soldiers felt immense pressure, concentrating all their firepower on Zhao Changgen and his two companions. The three had no choice but to lie flat on the ground, afraid to even raise their heads. Taking advantage of this, Zhao Changgui advanced further, forcing the soldiers to divert some of their firepower and relieving pressure on Zhao Changgen's side.

Zhao Changming focused his attention on the soldiers leaving the village from the west, carefully counting their numbers. Once the hundred-plus soldiers had mostly withdrawn from the village, the small group that had been locked in a standoff with them also retreated. Zhao Changming praised, "Little Yang was right after all."

Yang Jiefang sent Tian Dan, Bao Ziqiang, and Mantou ahead to scout the way, while he led the rest of the group behind. After walking for over two hours, they arrived at the Qinglong River Bridge. This was despite taking a detour; the straight-line distance wasn't actually that far. Yang Jiefang immediately assigned ambush positions to each team and set up sentries. If anyone appeared near the bridge, everyone was to rush to the north side. In the dead of winter, there were few pedestrians on the road. As ordinary citizens, seeing someone standing on the road with a gun from afar would immediately turn and run; who would dare approach?

After Yang Jiefang and his men finished their preparations, they soon heard sporadic gunfire in the distance. Soon, a small squad of soldiers came into view. The soldiers were marching much faster than yesterday, rushing about in a flustered manner. They carried their guns, cautiously scanning their surroundings, but failed to conduct thorough reconnaissance or discover Yang Jiefang's ambush. Behind this squad was a stretcher team of thirteen, clearly carrying seriously wounded or fallen soldiers. Behind the stretcher team was another group of wounded soldiers, most with minor injuries and able to walk on their own, while some required assistance. Yang Jiefang carefully counted the number; over a hundred men had already gone. Yang Jiefang didn't move them, letting them pass through the ambush area and onto the stone bridge. Then came another squad of heavily armed soldiers, forty or fifty men. These soldiers hurried along, occasionally glancing back. Yang Jiefang knew they were worried about being overtaken and had no idea that Yang Jiefang had set up an ambush beforehand, especially in a place he had already ambushed the day before. Yang Jiefang was exploiting this very psychology, and his target was this group of soldiers. Once the group of soldiers entered their ambush position, Yang Jiefang immediately ordered an attack, and even directed Sun Zhiyong to fire on a man who appeared to be an officer.

This time, there were no surprises. All the soldiers from Qinglong Village obeyed the order and opened fire. A volley of bullets hit about ten men on the spot. The officers and soldiers immediately fell into chaos. Those in front rushed forward, trying to cross the bridge; those behind lay down or sought cover, failing to organize any effective counterattack. At this point, Yang Jiefang's command was no longer necessary. Everyone worked in small groups, searching for targets. Two more rounds of fire were fired, taking down several more men. Finally, the soldiers in front reached the Qinglong River Bridge and ran forward without looking back.

Since the soldiers had no intention of fighting, Yang Jiefang immediately ordered a charge to capture prisoners. The bandits, full of morale, shouted, "Catch the fat pigs!" and charged forward. The distance of about two hundred meters was covered in half a minute. Except for those who had reached or were about to reach the Qinglong River Bridge, the rest dared not resist and surrendered. The battlefield south of the bridge was quickly brought under control. Yang Jiefang said to Bai Lang, "Brother Bai, how about we race the soldiers? Let's see how many we can catch?" Bai Lang, understanding the situation, said, "Leave it to me." He turned and shouted, "Hei Zi, follow me! Don't let a single soldier escape!" Liu Hei Zi agreed and called his men to follow Bai Lang across the bridge, firing as they ran, scaring the soldiers so much that they dared not look back, let alone retaliate.

The soldiers left behind to cover the rear were now utterly desperate. They had been relentlessly pursued and attacked by Zhao Changming and his men, and had initially held onto a sliver of hope. Hearing gunfire ahead, they knew they had been ambushed. Those in front might escape, but they, the rearguard, certainly wouldn't. So, they gave up on fleeing and instead unfurled a white towel. Upon seeing this, Zhao Changming ordered everyone to cease fire. After Zhao Changming stopped firing, the soldiers waited a while before a man slowly emerged, carrying a stick and holding the white towel. When they had gone halfway, the man stopped and shouted, "Listen up, heroes over there! We know we can't escape. We're willing to surrender, we just beg you to spare our lives!" Zhao Changming agreed without hesitation, loudly replying, "Fine, as long as you surrender, we'll let you go back to the city and continue being your officials." The man replied, "We appreciate your kindness, we'll remember it. However, we have one condition: you can surrender your weapons, but you can't shoot our palms. Otherwise, we'll fight to the death." Zhao Changming understood the meaning of 'shoot our palms' after a moment's thought, and agreed without further ado. Whether or not you shoot our palms now was irrelevant, so he said, "As long as you lay down your weapons and hand over your money, we won't shoot your palms. But if any of you dare to hide anything, don't blame my bullets for being merciless."

The man was displeased and said, "We can lay down our weapons, but the money we have is something we've scraped together. We still need to eat when we get back to the city, don't we?" In short, the guns belong to the government, but the money is theirs; they can give up the government's things, but they can't give up their own. Zhao Changming coldly replied, "That money must have been squeezed from the teeth of ordinary people, right? Do you think we don't know what kind of people you are? I only have this one condition: leave your weapons and money, or leave your lives behind. You choose!" There was no choice left. After returning home, the man quickly agreed to Zhao Changming's conditions. The soldiers laid out the guns, ammunition, and money on the road and stood aside with their hands raised. Zhao Changming led his men cautiously over, first taking the man into custody, then counting the captured supplies. There were nine rifles, one pistol, and not many bullets. They had been fighting and retreating along the way, and their bullets were almost gone. The money wasn't much either, totaling only about ten silver dollars. Zhao Changming did not search them, but led the ten soldiers toward the Qinglong River Bridge.

When they reached the Qinglong River Bridge, Yang Jiefang had already finished cleaning up the battlefield. He glanced at Zhao Changming and the others, and seeing that they were all unharmed, he was completely relieved. Zhao Changming came to Yang Jiefang's side and whispered, "I promised these officers and soldiers who surrendered that I wouldn't beat them and would let them live." Yang Jiefang nodded and said, "I understand. You are responsible for guarding all the prisoners." Zhao Changming agreed and herded all the prisoners aside to guard them. Yang Jiefang then called Yan Donglai and instructed, "Brother Yan, take a team and chase after them. Tell Bai Lang and the others that we only want weapons, ammunition, and other supplies; we don't need prisoners. As long as the officers and soldiers are willing to hand over their weapons, we will let them live and won't beat them!" Yan Donglai agreed and led a small team across the river.