The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

The soldiers watched as Xu Wenqing easily climbed the more than three-meter-high wall, taking only one step on the wall before hanging steadily on it.

Clinging to the edge of the wall, Xu Wenqing cautiously peeked inside, finding the prison eerily quiet. He immediately sat on the wall, signaling the other soldiers to form a human chain, and the group quickly made their way over the wall to the back of what appeared to be a converted elementary school prison.

Having already familiarized himself with the prison layout during the day, Xu Wenqing walked at the head of the group. He observed that two sentries guarding the entrance to the prison cells were dozing off, their rifles in their hands. Xu Wenqing signaled to the soldiers behind him to halt, then drew two throwing knives from his waist, took a deep breath, and swiftly threw them.

As two throwing knives flew and pierced the sentries' foreheads and throats, before the two sentries could even cry out in pain, the reconnaissance platoon of the special operations company rushed forward. Some covered the mouths of the two slowly collapsing sentries and helped them up, while others caught their rifles, which were about to fall to the ground. Then, when the Red Army soldiers arrived to provide backup, the entire operation was carried out silently.

Xu Wenqing ordered two Red Army soldiers from the guard platoon to replace the two sentries, and also dispatched a squad from the guard platoon as covert sentries. Their aim was to prevent any outsiders from entering after they had gone in.

Xu Wenqing was the first to slip into the prison. Without a second thought, he gagged and tied up all eight White Army guards who had been patrolling the prison during the day but were now sleeping in the guard room.

Having eliminated the potential threat in the prison, Xu Wenqing quickly retrieved the cell key from the duty room and carefully opened the prison gate. He soon saw many Red Army soldiers still awake, staring at him with surprised expressions as he entered.

After raising a finger to his lips to signal the bewildered Red Army soldiers to be quiet, some of the soldiers who were still sitting on the ground suddenly stood up, walked quickly and quietly to the cell door, and said in a tone of almost disbelief and excitement as they watched Xu Wenqing and the others enter one after another:

"Comrades, who are you?"

Facing the Red Army soldiers whose eyes were filled with expectation, He Zhengdao, who was opening the door for them, smiled slightly and said:

"We are from the 55th Regiment of the 19th Division. Comrade, please wake up the other comrades in a low voice."

We entered from the rear without alerting the guards in front.

Therefore, everyone must keep their voices down, otherwise we'll be in trouble if we alert the guards.

"Yes, yes, I know, I understand, please rest assured, sir."

Upon learning that Xu Wenqing and his men had indeed come to rescue their comrades, these Red Army soldiers, who had previously thought escape was hopeless, were overjoyed. They quietly woke their sleeping comrades in the same cell, suppressing their excitement, and said to them:

"Comrades, wake up! Our comrades from the 19th Division are here to rescue us!"

These words instantly dispelled the sleepiness of the Red Army soldiers who had just woken up. When all the cell doors in the prison were opened, they saw nearly two hundred Red Army soldiers crammed into the corridor, all looking at them with expectant eyes.

Knowing that every minute was crucial to them, Xu Wenqing looked solemnly at the Red Army soldiers whose spirits had suddenly been revitalized and said:

"Comrades, time is of the essence, so I'll get straight to the point. There's a company of White Army soldiers guarding outside the cell, and the rest of our regiment is outside providing cover and sniping enemy reinforcements. I've only brought one special operations company with me."

Therefore, in order to strengthen our forces, we urgently need to reorganize you. I now urgently need to select appropriate commanders from among you to take on combat missions. Comrades who have served as officers, please raise your hands and state your previous positions and unit numbers.

As we just learned from the introduction, Xu Wenqing is a regimental-level officer and also a key leader in this outside force. Soon, several older veterans of the Red Army stepped forward from the ranks and reported their previous positions and unit numbers to He Zhengdao.

Upon learning that among these people was Wang Tielin, who had served as the commander of the 58th Battalion of the 20th Division of the Red Army, along with several other junior officers who had also served as company or platoon leaders, Xu Wenqing quickly reorganized the rescued Red Army soldiers into two temporary companies, designated the Fourth and Fifth Companies, based on their previous unit numbers. These soldiers were then quickly formed into two companies that resembled regular military units.

Furthermore, Wang Tielin and Jiang Shan, a former company commander from the 57th Regiment of the 19th Red Army Division, were temporarily appointed as the company commanders of the 4th and 5th companies, respectively. These two company commanders were then instructed to quickly reorganize their companies' soldiers and, based on their reported ages and ranks, to rapidly appoint squad and platoon leaders.

All of this was arranged in less than ten minutes. Xu Wenqing handed over the ten rifles and bullets confiscated from the cell to the officers of the two temporary companies, the fourth and fifth. After instructing them to wait at the door, Xu Wenqing quickly slipped out of the cell and went to the defensive position not far from the cell to conduct reconnaissance.

On this defensive position, a heavy machine gun was set up on each side. Inside the machine gun emplacements made of sandbags, four White Army soldiers were huddled together, sleeping to keep warm. In the barracks next to the prison, not a sound could be heard from anyone moving around.

The prison was quiet; apart from the soldiers who had been on duty, the rest of the guards were resting. They had no idea that the Red Army soldiers in the cells had been rescued.

Knowing this was a rare opportunity, Xu Wenqing immediately signaled to the soldiers watching his commands that they could leave. Guided by the soldiers brought in by the special operations company, the rescued Red Army soldiers carefully formed a single file. They quickly formed a human wall along the wall they had just climbed over, and swiftly scaled the prison wall.

Once the last rescued soldier successfully escaped from the prison, Heavy Weapon knew that he wouldn't have much time left. Now he had to race against time to take over the Yansi Town armory, which was also guarded by White Army soldiers, and arm these Red Army soldiers who were still severely lacking in weapons and equipment.

Seeing that everyone had been rescued, Xu Wenqing was the last to climb over the wall. He then led the Special Service Company and the Fourth and Fifth Companies of the Red Army to successfully make contact with Liu Youcai and his men. To prevent the prison guards from discovering that the prison was empty, Xu Wenqing arranged for four skilled marksmen to stand in front of the guards' positions.