Songhu: Never Give Up

The Liu family had become a living hell. Although the Liu family was not popular, the eyes of the soldiers and civilians who went in to collect their bodies were full of hatred;
After witnessing the brutality of the Japs with their own eyes, they no longer had any illusions about them.

“Fellow villagers, this is a cruel ghost!

We had tried our best to persuade the Liu family to evacuate, but they did not believe us. Instead, they believed that the Japanese would not do anything to them.

We seized boxes of gold and silver dollars, as well as a large amount of grain, from the Japanese. This shows that the Liu family gave the Japanese enough benefits, but what was the result?
The jackals can never be fed!
When friends come, we have wine; when wolves come, we have guns; when we deal with the devils, we have to use swords and guns;
Fight violence with violence, tooth for tooth!"

The militia company commander of Songling Village spoke from his own experience. After listening to him, the soldiers and civilians present shouted in indignation, "Down with the Japanese devils!" Their voices resounded through the sky.

Nothing is more convincing than witnessing the tragedy with one's own eyes. The Liu family entertained the Japanese with gold, silver, treasures, fine wine and delicious food, but in the end, their family was destroyed and their clan was exterminated.

Other people followed the guerrillas to fight the Japanese and eliminated all the vicious and brutal Japanese. Although it cost a lot, they killed the Japanese and protected their families. This is a bloody lesson.

The militiamen from various villages who came to support the battle in Songling Village felt the same way. From then on, they believed more firmly in the words of the guerrilla column and were determined to fight the Japanese even if it meant death.

After the militias and the main force left, Songling Village regained its peace. In order to commend the militia company for their heroic performance in the battle, the main force allowed them to keep some of the captured equipment, including more than 200 grenades, 1 Czech machine gun and 20 rifles (from the Liu family guards).

At the same time, 2 yuan was taken out of the seized gold and silver to provide pensions to the dead and wounded militiamen and to repair the burned houses. The rest was all handed over to the military sub-district, and all the seized gold and silver were turned over to the public.

Lin Tianqi originally thought that the Liu family had no one left and was considering the aftermath of the Liu family, especially the land;
As a result, a girl who claimed to be the third daughter of the Liu family found him. After listening to Liu Yan's statement, she learned that the Liu family also had a second son, Liu Xiaoyi, and Liu Yan, who survived the disaster, in Tianjia Town.

Lin Tianqi comforted Liu Yan and said:
"Miss Liu, the devils that harmed the Liu family have all been eliminated. This can be considered as revenge for the Liu family. Please accept my condolences.

Our anti-Japanese government respects everyone's private property. The Liu family's property and land are still yours, and the villagers will still pay rent every year according to the agreement between the two parties.

As for the money and weapons that were taken by the devils, they can only be regarded as spoils of war now. More than 30 militiamen were killed or injured in their efforts to eliminate them. The spoils of war should belong to us. You should understand this, right? "

Liu Yan attended a women's normal school in the provincial capital and returned home after the war began, so she was considered to have some experience;

If her father had not hidden her, she would have faced endless humiliation and been killed by the Japanese, just like her family.

When she thought of the tragic scene of her 5-year-old brother being chopped in half by the Japanese, the fire of hatred in her eyes was about to burst out, and she gnashed her teeth and said:

"Sir, I am not here to ask for the things that were taken away by the devils, but to express my gratitude to you.

Thank you for avenging the Liu family, but this is far from enough. They owe our Liu family too many lives. I will personally seek retribution from them!"

Then Liu Yan expressed her idea. She wanted to donate all her property to the government to fight the Japanese invaders, and she hoped to join the guerrillas. Now it was Lin Tianqi's turn to have a headache, and he said to her with a serious face:
"Ms. Liu, donating to fight the Japanese is not a trivial matter. Don't you have a brother in Luojia Town? Do you want to ask for his opinion first?"

Liu Yan said without thinking:
"My second brother would definitely agree with my decision if he knew about this. The money in the secret room was left by the Liu family from generation to generation, and most of it was saved by my father.

This also includes the town’s industries. Now the Japanese have massacred dozens of our family members. The Liu family will never forgive them!
My father's money can only be used to fight the Japanese. If my second brother disagrees, he is not a member of the Liu family."

Lin Tianqi thought for a moment and said:
"Miss Liu, I fully agree with your righteous act. The cause of fighting the Japanese invaders also requires a lot of financial support.

But a gentleman loves money but he gets it in a proper way. Since you have a second elder brother in your family, I still hope that you brothers and sisters will discuss it before coming.

As for your request to join the army to fight the Japanese, we welcome it. We will discuss it after you have dealt with your family affairs."

Liu Li was persuaded by Lin Tianqi, which further strengthened her determination. She decided to go to Tianjia Town. At this time, her second brother did not know the miserable situation of the Liu family.
Thinking of this, she turned and left the company. Lin Tianqi just shook his head with a wry smile and dealt with the matter like that.

According to Chinese tradition, Liu Xiaoyi should inherit the Liu family business, Liu Li would not have much say, and the guerrillas would not take advantage of the situation to covet the Liu family's property. At the military sub-district headquarters, as the remnants of the Japanese were annihilated, Liao Jianping's heart was finally put at ease;
The results of this anti-mopping-up operation were all counted, and there were many lessons to be summarized, so he called together several team leaders to hold a battle summary meeting.

The first speaker was the second battalion leader Yang Junkai. He first reviewed his own lack of consideration when encircling and annihilating the main force of the Shijing regiment, allowing the remaining Japanese troops to enter the mountains, bringing great danger to the people in the base area.
If the follow-up had not been properly organized, the consequences would have been even more serious and the lesson would have been a painful one. I request punishment.

Then Zhao Kun and Li Jiaxun also reviewed their shortcomings in dealing with the Japanese raids and reflected on the problems exposed by the troops during the combat.

Finally, Liao Jianping said:
“Brothers, your understanding is very profound, but it is far from enough. When you go back, you must summarize from the bottom up and draw inferences from one example to another;

The Japanese will not give up after losing Linyi City, and this time they lost a garrison regiment in their base, which will definitely arouse the high vigilance of the Japanese high-level officials.

They will not let us develop. The next raid will surely be much larger in scale and the struggle will be even more brutal.
We are not afraid of problems being exposed, but we are afraid of problems not being corrected.

The lesson of the Japanese invaders sneaking into Songling Village this time reminds us that we should build more mines and dig more tunnels. In the future, it will become normal for our base to be occupied by the Japanese invaders. Each village must be able to protect itself..."

Jinan City, 12th Army Headquarters
Commander Odaka Kamezo was listening to Major General Kobayashi's report with a gloomy face. As a lieutenant general commander, he was trying his best to maintain his composure, otherwise he would have cursed.

“According to the intelligence we have, the deterioration of public security that has occurred in various places is not caused by idols. Linyi is just the most serious one;
There are now two main types of guerrilla forces active in the area: one is the Eighth Route Army, and the other is the guerrilla force left behind by the Chongqing government to fight guerrilla warfare. The total number of guerrillas is no less than 20,000.

The areas where they operated were mainly in mountainous areas and rural areas far from cities, and the imperial troops from various places did not dare to go to the countryside;
Now, there has been another vicious public security incident in Linyi, where a county town was captured and a garrison regiment was severely damaged. This is no longer a minor incident, but a threat to the rule of the imperial army in Shandong. It is time to strengthen the public security of the base area. "

The senior general nodded and said:
“The Imperial Army has just experienced a war of the century and has not yet fully recovered. The time is not yet ripe to organize a large-scale security war;

Since the situation in southeastern Shandong is the most serious this time, we should first concentrate our forces to solve the public security problems in southeastern Shandong.

I decided to mobilize one division and one brigade to launch a winter security war in the southeastern Shandong region. The main combat force was the 1th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 5th Division.

The 114th Division’s mission is to build a huge encirclement on the periphery to isolate southeastern Shandong from other areas, while the 5th Brigade will attack Linyi City directly…”

Following the order from General Wei Gao, the Japanese troops stationed in Jinan began to mobilize troops and gather supplies, preparing to launch a large-scale sweep of the Ludongnan Military Region;

Such a large-scale operation naturally could not be hidden from the eyes of the guerrilla column. All kinds of information flew to the column headquarters like snowflakes, and Yue Qianli's expression became serious.

"Old Yue, the Japs' target this time is obviously the Ludongnan Military Region. They captured Linyi City and slapped the Japs hard.
According to our latest intelligence, the Japanese have deployed more than 3 troops this time, while Lao Liao's main force only has 4. The difference in strength between the two sides is huge. Should we mobilize the main force of the Third Brigade to reinforce?"

Yue Qianli just nodded in response to the chief of staff's words, and then continued to stare at the map. It was obvious that he was also thinking that 3 Japanese devils were not so easy to deal with.

After a long while, Yue Qianli raised his head and said:
"The Japanese do not have the strength to launch a large-scale battle with 3 troops. The 12th Army is newly formed, and its three divisions have just returned from the southern battlefield. They do not have the supplies to support 3 troops.
So I think the devils are just bluffing, their target should be the southeastern Shandong area including Linyi, which means they will focus on sweeping it.”

Tian Yuanxi also interrupted and said:
"I agree with Lao Yue's judgment. Even though the Japanese are making a big move and seem to be planning to attack central and southern Shandong,
But their goal should still be to cut off the connection between Southeast Shandong and the outside world, and then send a force to sweep Southeast Shandong and recapture Linyi City!"

Yue Qianli looked at Lao Tian with admiration and said:
"The 12th Army does not have the capital to fight a big battle, and the foundation of our base is also very weak. It is not good for us to fight to the death with the devils at this time;

Therefore, the battlefield scope was controlled in southeastern Shandong, and other military regions only needed to send a force to harass and contain the main force of the Japanese.

Since the Japanese want Linyi, then give it back to them. If they still don't know what's good for them and continue to fight, then let Liao Jianping give them a beating. All units should be prepared to provide support at any time.

Let's fight first. If the general still can't see the situation clearly, don't blame me for leading the troops to Jinan to meet him."

Chen Zhongyuan and Tian Yuanxi immediately understood Yue Qianli's intention. Chen Zhongyuan said excitedly:
"Besiege Wei to save Zhao? Are we going to bluff?" (End of this chapter)