Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

Wang Maixiang, carrying a small cart and some silver coins, found Xia Weiwei.

"Sister Weiwei, thank you so much!"

Wang Maixiang said with a smile, "Here, take this cart. And here's some money too!"

As she spoke, she gave all the silver coins in her hand to Xia Weiwei.

This money was the silver dollars that were distributed to the Wang family when they were confiscating the wealth of the local tyrants.

Because they didn't want Xia Weiwei to suffer too much loss, they planned to give all the money to her as compensation.

"How could I possibly accept this money!"

Xia Weiwei directly refused.

These mountain people don't have much money to begin with. If she asks them for money too, what would that make her?

Moreover, the money we exchanged for that silver coin they gave us last time hasn't even been used up yet!

"That won't do!"

Wang Maixiang said, "Sister Weiwei, you've brought in so much milk powder and so much refined flour, you absolutely have to pay for this!"

"I don't want to!"

"Absolutely!"

The two started arguing.

"What are you doing?"

Just then, Commander Liu walked over from a distance, his hands behind his back.

"Commander!"

Upon seeing the visitor, Xia Weiwei quickly bowed.

Wang Maixiang quickly stopped what she was doing and began to salute Commander Liu.

Xia Weiwei spoke first: "Commander, you were looking for me? Let's go then!"

As she spoke, she picked up the small cart and followed Commander Liu into the courtyard.

"Sister Vivi!"

Wang Maixiang tried to step forward, but was stopped by the guard.

"you……"

Wang Maixiang stomped her foot, clearly dissatisfied.

inside the house.

Commander Liu said, "Comrade Xia, I have already sent a telegram to the Eighth Route Army headquarters to propose the construction of the Huangyadong Arsenal to the two commanders. The two commanders have agreed and decided to personally go to the site for inspection."

"In addition, I have also called the Central Soviet Area and asked them to move the arsenal here as soon as possible."

"That's wonderful!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Weiwei immediately became excited.

Once the arsenal in Huangyadong is built, the Eighth Route Army can rapidly grow stronger.

After a conversation, Xia Weiwei saw Commander Liu out of the courtyard.

She saw a small number of Eighth Route Army soldiers and a large number of peasant Red Guards transporting rice and canned goods.

Xia Weiwei was no stranger to these peasant Red Guards.

The reason those students were able to safely reach northern Shaanxi was because of the escort and protection provided by these Red Guards.

Along the way, they stayed in the homes of the Red Guards, who offered their beds to the students.

Just as there were local militias and baojia systems in the Japanese-occupied areas and the areas controlled by the Kuomintang, the Eighth Route Army also organized many peasant Red Guards in the Soviet areas and revolutionary base areas.

Those local militias and baojia (a system of mutual responsibility among local officials) belonged to landlords, gentry, and warlords and bureaucrats, while the Red Guards were organizations of the peasants themselves.

They mainly engaged in farming and manual labor, taking turns standing guard, checking pedestrians, passing on intelligence, and protecting the Soviet area and base.

If needed, they would also cooperate in combat, clean up the battlefield, guard prisoners, transport food and ammunition, and transport the wounded.

Even before Xia Weiwei returned, Commander Liu had ordered the brigades under his command to transport grain to the division headquarters.

Because space is limited at the division headquarters, it is necessary to make room for Xia Weiwei to store new supplies.

Organizing these peasant Red Guards to help would allow the Eighth Route Army soldiers to concentrate on fighting the enemy without being distracted.

Moreover, most of these people were illiterate, knowing fewer characters than the Eighth Route Army soldiers, and were not afraid of the information on the canned goods and woven bags being leaked.

The mountain road was rugged, and they had no other tools, so they could only carry things on a shoulder pole.

Xia Weiwei thought to herself, "Only the people's army can earn the people's heartfelt help!"

……

After two days of traversing mountains and valleys, the peasant Red Guards finally transported the rice and canned goods to the 385th and 386th Brigades and their two subordinate regimental headquarters.

On that day, Brigade Commander Chen happened to be inspecting the 771st Regiment.

Watching the peasant Red Guards return with the grain they had transported.

Brigade Commander Chen chuckled and said, "Regimental Commander Xu, you fought quite well in the previous battle. The division headquarters specially arranged a batch of rice and canned meat for us!"

"Commander, do you really have rice and canned meat?"

Upon hearing this, Deputy Regiment Commander Han's eyes lit up and widened in surprise.

Brigade Commander Chen glanced at the other person and said, "This was personally told to me by Deputy Division Commander Xu via walkie-talkie. How could it be false?"

"If Deputy Division Commander Xu said so, then it must be true!"

Deputy Regiment Commander Han smacked his lips and said, "Speaking of which, it's been ages since I've had rice!"

"There's plenty of rice; eat as much as you want today!"

Brigade Commander Chen said, "Those canned goods can be divided among two people, so now you should distribute them and let the soldiers have a good meal!"

"Yes, Commander!"

Commander Xu responded and was about to leave.

"return!"

Brigade Commander Chen continued, "Those Red Guard comrades have worked so hard for so long, let's treat them to a good meal today. I'm telling you, there will definitely be plenty of good food for them in the future!"

"yes!"

Commander Xu nodded and immediately began making arrangements.

He first summoned his guard and asked him to notify the cooking squads at the battalion and company levels to come and collect the supplies.

They don't have a unified canteen here; everyone cooks their own meals and receives supplies from the camp.

Soon, all 15 cooking squads in the regiment started cooking, steaming rice, heating canned food, and stir-frying vegetables.

"I think I smell meat! We actually had some meat today!"

"It smells so good! This meat is amazing!"

"I have great news for you all! Today we're not only having meat, but also rice!"

"What? We're having rice today? You're kidding, right?"

"Why are we being fed rice when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?"

"Could it be that the Japanese have launched another offensive, and we'll have to fight tooth and nail?"

"Let's fight! Who's afraid of who? We all only have one head and two legs; it's not like we can't kill them!"

"That's right! We're not afraid of the Japanese devils. As long as we can eat rice and meat, it would be worth it even if we had to die together with them tomorrow."

After the meal was prepared, the whole group was in a lively atmosphere.

The cook in charge of cooking said, "Everyone, line up properly. Don't push or shove. Everyone will get half a jin of rice, before it's fully cooked. Also, every two people can get a can of braised pork!"

"My goodness, each person gets half a pound of rice, so two people can get a can of meat?"

When the Eighth Route Army soldiers heard this, they were all stunned.

You should know that they usually don't even eat half a pound of millet; they have to eat black beans, sorghum, sweet potatoes, and the like.

From a distance, they could see plate after plate of rice, all perfectly white and without a trace of impurity.

This is the kind of fine rice that only the rich in the city can afford!

Today, each of them can eat half a pound of food, without any mixed grains.

The thought of being able to eat such good food made each of the Eighth Route Army soldiers feel that it would be worth dying on the battlefield.