The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

Just then, a carriage suddenly appeared in front of the checkpoint. The militia captain, dressed in a yellow military uniform, jumped off the carriage, followed closely by two fully armed guards. He looked smugly at the deserted bridgehead checkpoint, then stomped his feet and roared in fury.

"Damn it! Where did everyone on the card go?"

Upon hearing the captain's shouts and curses, several militiamen hurriedly scrambled out from behind the barricades, lined up in front of him, and saluted respectfully.

"Reporting, Captain!"

"If you let the Red Army escape, I'll have you all shot!"

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Captain!"

The militiamen saluted and retreated in fear.

Two guards had already set out chairs for the captain. He had barely sat down when he spotted the earlier-arriving covered wagon. He casually asked with admiration:

"Whose covered wagon is this? It's beautifully decorated!"

Upon hearing the captain's question, the militia leader immediately chimed in, "This is the young master's."

The militia captain turned his head and stared blankly at the young man drinking tea at the next table. He saw Xu Wenqing pull out a loaded Mauser pistol from under his white silk robe, pointing it in his direction. The captain was so frightened that he took two steps back. Several figures were already closing in, and there was no way to retreat.

He knew that if the young man moved his hand even slightly, a bullet would pierce his head. He looked around and saw only the other side's men. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, and he forced a smile while his hands and feet trembled.

The old man panicked and hesitated. He knew that although the Red Army had left, he now only had a few men while the other side had dozens. How could he dare to lay a hand on them? Cold sweat dripped down his back, and he was so flustered that even his voice trembled:

"This, this... it's, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."

The old man was sweating profusely, his lips were blue, and he dared not utter a single word.

Several soldiers dressed as peasants calmly disarmed the militia captain, who had already handed over all his guns and ammunition.

What are you doing here?

Xu Wenqing asked.

"Reporting to the Red Army commander, the First Supplementary Brigade has captured fifty wounded and sick soldiers of your army at Tanjiaqiao. They need to be escorted to Yansi Town. The higher command has arranged for us to escort and meet them along the way."

"take away!"

Xu Wenqing shouted, and Zhong Tian led his men, including the militia captain and a group of local militiamen, into the back room of the shop. Li Youcai and the others followed. After a while, the special operations company soldiers, dressed in militia uniforms, came out. Xu Wenqing remained seated, drinking tea, watching Li Youcai and his men walk towards the Dashiqiao outpost to begin their duty…

Suddenly, a loud mountain song rang out from the mountains, a pre-arranged signal that the enemy was coming.

After a while, the faint sounds of shouts and neighing horses approached from afar. A long column of soldiers, about a platoon of the 1st Supplementary Brigade of White Army, was seen walking along the mountain road, escorting dozens of wounded Red Army soldiers who were staggering as they walked. They slowly reached the bridgehead. At this moment, soldiers disguised as local militiamen calmly walked to the roadside and stood beside the White Army soldiers.

Li Youcai led his men to line up in the middle of the highway, blocking the mountain road, and loudly ordered:

"Stop, check!"

The column was forced to stop, and a White Army officer from the 1st Supplementary Regiment rode out from behind, arrogantly saying:

"We are a supplementary brigade team, who dares to inspect us?"

"No, orders from above are there; we must investigate!"

The soldiers cocked their guns and loaded the bullets.

"Damn it!"

The White Army officer jumped off his horse and cursed loudly:

"Bastards, are you blind?!"

"You're the one who's blind!"

Li Youcai immediately disarmed the White Army officers, and the soldiers scattered in the fields rushed out and surrounded the White Army soldiers around them with guns. Then, the rescue team members threw off their military caps, tore open their militia uniforms, revealing the Red Army uniforms they were wearing.

"Look who I am!"

Surrounded by Red Army guns, a group of White Army soldiers had no choice but to surrender their brand-new weapons. Suddenly, one of the White Army soldiers, seeing the situation was dire, immediately darted out from the crowd and rushed towards the bridgehead, intending to jump into the river to escape.

"stop!"

Zhong Tian shouted and was about to fire when Lao Dao rushed up behind the fleeing man, grabbed his disheveled long hair, and dragged him back.

Xu Wenqing saw the man who had been captured; his face was ashen, and he was dressed in a suit, clearly not a good person. After questioning him, he learned that this simpleton was a political instructor from the Political Training Department of the First Supplementary Brigade. He was ordered to escort wounded Red Army soldiers to Yansi Town for assembly, preparing to concentrate them in the city for centralized custody.

Upon returning to Wantang, everyone rushed to treat the wounded who had just been rescued. The limited supply of first-aid medications and the complete lack of surgical instruments greatly hampered the rescue efforts.

Xu Wenqing sat on the stool, just about to organize his thoughts. Lan Hua rushed in; this young girl now completely identified herself as a Red Army soldier.

"Commander, we're running low on medicine. Sister Hu Li said there's another comrade who needs surgery, otherwise it will be very dangerous!"

Several comrades then came in one after another, all reporting a shortage of medicines.

"The only solution right now is to find a way to send people into the city to buy medicine, but everyone is unfamiliar with Huizhou Prefecture and its county seat. What should we do?"

Li Youcai, who had just returned, volunteered:

"Commander, I'll go buy the medicine. I've been to Xiuning, Jixi and Huizhou counties several times in the past few years, so I'm quite familiar with the situation."

Xu Wenqing considered that no one was more familiar with the local situation than Li Youcai, and that the dispersal and concealment of the wounded would require him to contact the mountain people, so he shook his head repeatedly to express his disagreement.

Xu Wenqing shook his head and said:

"The most urgent task now is to rescue the Red Army soldiers who are being held in Yansi Primary School."

In Xu Wenqing's memory, Yansi should have become a well-developed urban district in later generations, but that is not the case now.

As a small town with a very important strategic location in southern Anhui, a battalion of security troops is stationed here.

Moreover, as the Red Army entered southern Anhui and operated in the Anhui-Zhejiang-Jiangxi area, Yansi Town was used as a rear base and a military stronghold for storing supplies and imprisoning Red Army prisoners.

Using the name of a search team from Huizhou City that had been wiped out by Xu Wenqing, and escorting fifteen Red Army soldiers posing as prisoners, the group of forty-eight people were easily sneaked into the city after their documents were checked by the sentries of the security regiment outside the town.

Led by an officer from the White Army Security Regiment in charge of receiving Red Army prisoners, Xu Wenqing, as the platoon leader, successfully conducted a thorough reconnaissance of Yansi Primary School, the temporary prison where Red Army prisoners were held.

After sending fifteen skilled Red Army soldiers to act as spies among the Red Army prisoners, Xu Wenqing gave them a reassuring look. Then, he accompanied the security regiment officer, whom he had completely manipulated, out of the prison where many Red Army soldiers, who appeared somewhat listless and dispirited, were held.