The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

After listening to Cao Wenting's inspiring speech, the cadres in the meeting room applauded enthusiastically.

"Comrades, after the meeting, you should brainstorm and come up with ideas. You can offer suggestions on the future direction of the troops, as well as strategic and tactical issues. We will summarize everyone's opinions and strive to find the best course of action!"

After the meeting, the 28th Red Army received a strong boost from the local armed forces in western Anhui, and with the addition of part of the Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment that was reinforced during the westward march, the total number of troops reached 1400.

A few days later, the 28th Red Army moved to Qichun, Susong, Taihu, Qianshan, Huoshan, Tongcheng and other counties, looking for opportunities to annihilate the enemy. They successively eliminated more than 500 enemy regular troops and militia members.

Just as the 28th Red Army was fighting in western Anhui, the White Army, seeing that the Northeast Army's "suppression" plan had failed, transferred most of its troops away from the Hubei-Henan-Anhui region. Chiang Kai-shek then appointed Liang Guanying as the commander-in-chief of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui anti-communist campaign and immediately redeployed the anti-communist plan. After taking office, Liang Guanying immediately reorganized the 94th, 95th, and 96th brigades of the 32nd Division into three detachments, specifically to pursue and suppress the main force of the Red Army on the Hubei-Henan-Anhui border. The Independent 5th Brigade built fortifications in the border passes and towns of Hubei and Henan and established a tight blockade line, implementing an iron-clad encirclement of the 28th Red Army.

Under such circumstances, it was no longer possible for the 28th Red Army to carry out concentrated operations. Every operation was severely hampered by the enemy, and the 28th Red Army had fallen into an extremely passive situation.

Cao Wenting consulted with Fang Shuihua to discuss countermeasures, and they decided to divide the troops into three detachments:

A group led by Cao Wenting, primarily operating in the Qichun area of ​​Hubei;

A unit led by Fang Shuihua fought in the Luotian and Macheng areas of Hubei.

One of them, led by Xiong, fought in the Huoshan area of ​​Anhui.

However, after the three units were separated, they were intercepted by the enemy one after another, and all suffered casualties to varying degrees.

再说，红28军主力82师284团转战至潜山妙道山一带之时，突然遭到国民党军32师95旅的袭击。

The situation was extremely critical. Lin Weixian, the battalion commander of the military special service battalion who was on sick leave, volunteered to the regimental commander:

"Commander, you lead the main force to break through the encirclement! I'll lead the Sixth Company to cover the rear. Machine gun squad, charge!"

Lin Weixian led more than 60 soldiers of the Sixth Company to line up in a row on the mountainside. Several machine guns were set up on the cliff. Lin Weixian stood guard next to the machine gunner, silently watching the enemy's movements.

A dark mass of enemies rushed down the opposite hillside, approaching step by step. They were all crouching low, sneaking along the bottom of the gully towards this hillside.

The enemy commander used his pistol to force his soldiers to charge forward desperately, while he himself kept shouting.

After a burst of intense artillery fire, the battlefield was immediately filled with smoke and dust.

Seeing that the enemy at the forefront was about to reach the hilltop position, Lin Weixian gave the order:

"beat!"

The soldiers on the mountain used piles of stones and rocks as cover and fired fiercely at the enemy. Three machine guns spat out three tongues of fire, shooting straight at the enemy. Instantly, a large number of the enemy who charged ahead fell down.

"Come on!"

"Brothers, charge! There's a reward for capturing a Communist soldier, and ten silver dollars for killing one!"

The enemy officer shouted and kept urging the soldiers to charge forward.

Rows of enemies then charged forward.

"Da da da!"

Another burst of rapid machine gun fire erupted, and the soldiers opened fire on the enemy with their rifles and pistols. Instantly, the hillside was littered with enemy corpses; the battle was extremely fierce.

The enemy launched more than ten attacks in succession, but all of them were repelled by the soldiers of the Sixth Company!

At dusk, the Sixth Company began to retreat. Lin Weixian let the First and Third Platoons retreat first, while he himself led more than 20 soldiers from the Second Platoon to cover the rear. They fought and retreated at the same time.

The twilight glow shone on the hilltop positions, and smoke and dust filled the air. The soldiers' faces and bodies were covered in mud and sweat, their faces so black that they were impossible to recognize each other.

At this moment, the third platoon leader loudly said to Lin Weixian:

"Battalion Commander, we're almost out of bullets, what should we do?"

"Get out! Get out!"

Lin Weixian quickly spoke to the soldiers.

The soldiers retreated to the hilltop, but it was too late; swarms of enemies had already surrounded them from both sides.

The soldiers had no choice but to fight and retreat, eventually being forced to the edge of a cliff. By then, the entire platoon had run out of bullets, so they had to link arms and retreat to the edge of the cliff.

Seeing that the Red Army soldiers' bullets were approaching and that there was no way to retreat, the enemy officer waved to his soldiers and shouted loudly:

"Brothers, the Communists are out of bullets! Charge! Capture them alive! Twenty silver dollars for each one you catch!"

The enemy is closing in step by step.

Lin Weixian said to the soldiers:

"Comrades, we will never surrender, we will never be taken prisoner. Even if we die, we should die together!"

So Lin Weixian turned around, looked at the cliff behind him, and said loudly:

"Everyone, listen to my command, jump!"

So, more than 20 soldiers joined hands and jumped off the cliff together.

The enemy who rushed up was stunned by the sight. They stood silently on the edge of the cliff, unable to recover for a long time.

The enemy officer, his face also deathly pale, stood frozen for a long moment. For reasons unknown, he drew his pistol and fired three shots into the air. The other soldiers followed suit, raising their rifles and firing in unison. The gunfire echoed throughout the valley. A flock of birds that had just landed in the jungle were startled by the gunfire; they fluttered up from the trees, emitting heart-wrenching cries as they flew…

That night, after learning that the Red Army had jumped off the cliff, the local guerrillas rushed to the bottom of the cliff to search for the martyrs' remains. They were surprised to find that Lin Weixian and more than ten other soldiers were still alive. They immediately buried the fallen soldiers on the spot and then carried Lin Weixian and the others to the homes of nearby villagers to hide them.

Thanks to the villagers' meticulous care, the dozen or so soldiers and Lin Weixian have all recovered and returned to their unit safely.

At that time, Cao Wenting was fighting as a guerrilla in the Huangguang area, using the alias Lao Hong. His situation was extremely difficult.

Liang Guanyin, the commander-in-chief of the White Army's suppression of the Communists in Hubei, Henan and Anhui, was leading the 108th Division and the 387th and 379th Regiments of the 11th Route Army in a campaign to suppress the Red Army in western Anhui; Liu Maoen, the commander-in-chief of the enemy's 11th Route Army, was pursuing and suppressing the Red Army on the border of Hubei and Anhui.

Under these circumstances, Cao Wenting led his troops to fight against the enemy in the Yingshan and Qichun areas. Due to long-term fatigue and travel, coupled with the hot and humid weather, he caught a cold and could no longer join the army.

Upon learning of this news, Fang Shuihua, deputy political commissar of the 28th Red Army, and Xu Hongji, a high-ranking official in western Anhui, quickly dispatched a battalion to protect Cao Wenting as he waged guerrilla warfare in the mountains of Luotian, Yingshan, and Qianshan. They themselves led the main force of the 28th Red Army northward to the areas of Huoshan, Shucheng, and Lu'an to contain the enemy. They encountered the enemy at Longshan and Shengoupu in Huoshan, annihilating several hundred enemy soldiers.