The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

When the Jiangxi Army checkpoints along the way saw the Central Army convoy passing by, Xu Wenqing, sitting in the lead car, acted just like the Central Army driver he had beaten black and blue. He didn't get out of the car at all, but instead slowly drove straight up and approached without honking the horn.

Seeing such a long line of cars and the flags on them, it was clear at a glance that these Central Army soldiers were the formidable Jiangxi Army, so they didn't dare to inspect them and quickly let them pass.

As the last infantry battalion and artillery company passed by, these Jiangxi soldiers murmured enviously:

"Damn it, these Central Army soldiers are really arrogant."

Just one regiment, and they even have an artillery company and a guard company full of machine guns. Their equipment is almost comparable to our entire division. No wonder they're the bald guy's elite troops; their favored sons certainly get different treatment!

To the Jiangxi soldiers along the way, these Central Army soldiers, whose eyes seemed to be looking up at the sky as they walked, were somewhat disliked. But they also knew very well that in those days, the big bosses in power in the Presidential Palace in Nanjing were these guys.

Their Jiangxi army's commander-in-chief was merely a shopkeeper within the army. Therefore, those of them, the shop assistants, had to be careful in serving these big boss's confidants!

The commander of the Shangrao security regiment, who had long awaited the notification, knew the inspection team delivering money and carrying out the execution had arrived when he saw more than ten vehicles at the city gate. He hurriedly ordered the soldiers below the city to move the barriers and prepare to let the Central Army troops, who were traveling by vehicle, into the city.

But when he saw that this Central Army unit seemed very cautious, stubbornly leaving an infantry battalion and an artillery company outside the city and refusing to enter, he realized that these Central Army soldiers were afraid of death and were probably keeping some contingency plans in place, leaving them outside the city as a deterrent force.

In addition to successfully leading over a thousand healthy Red Army prisoners imprisoned in Shangrao, Xu Wenqing also took care of the wounded soldiers who were unable to move easily, having them all carried away by the prisoners.

Of course, what was said to the head of the Shangrao City security regiment was:

The Chairman once said that it is better to kill three thousand innocent people than to let one guilty person go free.

Commander Ma of the Shangrao City Security Corps firmly believed this.

As for the so-called 100,000 yuan reward that Xu Wenqing gave to Commander Ma, only the first two boxes contained money; the rest of the sealed boxes were filled with stones.

After watching the Central Army take the prisoners away, Commander Ma turned back into the city and ordered his men to carry the heavy 100,000 silver dollars to the Security Regiment's camp.

When they took out a package of silver dollars from two boxes that Xu Wenqing had specially ordered opened, and Commander Ma personally tore open the paper wrapping the silver dollars, seeing the gleaming silver dollars, all the security officers present immediately beamed with joy and cheered.

However, their smiles didn't last long. As the third box was opened, the stones inside froze the officers' expressions. Commander Ma, unwilling to give up, personally opened the remaining boxes one by one. The final result was that, apart from the first two boxes which contained real silver dollars, the remaining eighteen sealed boxes contained stones.

Commander Ma was furious, and after a long while, he finally shouted angrily:

"Damn it, these bastards even embezzled my hard-earned money. Brothers, quickly gather the brothers, let's go after those damn Central Army soldiers. I want to see just how black their hearts are, daring to steal even my money."

It was only after discovering that the money in the box had been switched that these soldiers of the security regiment belonging to the Jiangxi Army became so furious.

Half an hour later, a fully armed security battalion, along with their furious Commander Ma, stormed out of Shangrao City to chase after the Central Army soldiers who now understood why they had come and gone in such a hurry.

So they were afraid of being caught embezzling their money, so they made a hasty escape! The security troops of Shangrao City, realizing the situation too late, naturally didn't want to exchange the thousands of Red Army prisoners they had painstakingly captured for just a dozen boxes of stones.

You have to understand, they spent day and night roaming the countryside and mountains to finally catch so many people! Was it easy? And then, not only did they not give them the promised money, they even threw stones at them to disgust them. Isn't that deliberately humiliating them?

The Jiangxi soldiers, already harboring resentment towards the Central Army, were filled with righteous indignation upon learning of this. They grabbed their weapons, roared, and charged out of the city, ready to demand an explanation from the Central Army!

However, their argument was doomed to fail. Just a few miles outside of Shangrao City, the leading security officers were mowed down by a hail of machine gun fire.

Commander Ma, who was just standing arm-in-arm with Zhang Cheng, would have had no chance to dodge the machine gun fire that swept across the battlefield if he hadn't reacted quickly and jumped off his horse!

Well! They coveted their own money and then dared to kill their own people. Isn't that going too far?

But no one answered him; all he received was the pounding of mortar shells. Watching his security regiment soldiers being routed, Commander Ma knew that his own security regiment was no match for the Central Army.

The green hills are still there, so you don’t have to worry about running out of firewood!

Commander Ma, both straightforward and indignant, said:

"You sons of bitches, listen up! Not only did you steal my money, but you also dared to kill my men. I'm going to report this to Commander-in-Chief Lu and have him have a good talk with your bald-headed Chairman."

Is this how you treat our Jiangxi army? Brothers, retreat! These damned Central Army soldiers aren't getting away. Tell Commander-in-Chief Lu about this, and let our regular army brothers deal with them and settle the score with them properly.

Upon hearing this and seeing the hundreds of brothers killed or wounded, the security regiment soldiers who had come in a fit of rage could only retreat in despair and indignation. After they left, the special operations battalion responsible for covering the rear and the battalion's mortar platoon immediately emerged from the ambush site and quickly boarded several vehicles reserved for them, catching up with the main force.

When the special operations battalion arrived at the assembly point not far from Xianziling, they saw the Red Army soldiers, who had returned earlier from Shangrao City, embracing and cheering with the soldiers of the 55th Regiment. Earlier, when the Red Army prisoners were boarding the vehicles, some had recognized many of the Central Army soldiers carrying submachine guns as familiar faces—they were their former comrades-in-arms—but for safety reasons, they dared not utter a sound.

The Red Army prisoners, who knew what was going on, whispered to their comrades after boarding the vehicle:

"Don't panic, they're our people. That kid yelled at me just now because he was afraid I'd call out his name. These people must be the main force, sent to rescue us. So, don't make a sound, just sit still, we'll be safe once we're out of the city."