The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

A few days after the supplementary company started training, the old brigade commander arrived.

It was almost noon when he arrived. He didn't give any advance notice or send anyone to deliver a message. He only brought his guard, a communications soldier, and a staff officer, and rode his gray donkey to the entrance of the Baimaling Regiment.

Zhao Weiguo was looking at a map in the cave dwelling when a communications soldier ran in to report that the brigade commander had arrived. When he put down his pencil and went out, the old brigade commander had already dismounted from the donkey.

"brigadier."

The old brigade commander nodded, didn't look at the banner, didn't go into the cave dwelling, and immediately asked a question.

"Is Black Cloud Ridge completely cleared out?"

"Both the main and secondary villages have been cleared. The supplementary company is training."

Does it have a tail?

"There are three more small outposts down the mountain: Bailonggou, Heishipo, and Qingyangya. We're preparing to sweep them."

The old brigade commander stood in the open space in front of the regimental headquarters, looking at Zhao Weiguo.

"Walk."

Where to?

"Those three small outposts you mentioned. I'll go with you to see them."

Zhao Weiguo glanced over, didn't ask any questions, and turned around to call out "Old Zhou".

The old brigade commander insisted on going along. He said, "I won't feel at ease until I see the whole thing," so Zhao Weiguo didn't try to dissuade him any further.

The monk led the way. He had traversed these mountains and knew which paths were shortest and which were more hidden.

Old Zhou led a battalion of soldiers, divided into three groups.

The first route is to attack Bailonggou.

The stronghold at Bailonggou was located at the mouth of the gully, consisting of five or six stone houses surrounding a courtyard, with homemade guns mounted on the walls. The stronghold was on the outskirts of Heiyunzhai. Xie Baoqing used this place to collect tolls.

Old Zhou didn't charge directly. He sent one squad to approach from the front, shouting warnings as they got close, while another group circled around to the back of the courtyard from the side of the hillside.

During the initial firefight, the homemade guns opened fire. Old Zhou waited on the flank for a while, determined the location by the sound of the guns, and then led his men to scale the back wall. The men in the stronghold were caught in a pincer movement, fired a few shots, and then laid down their weapons.

They captured an old light machine gun; it didn't have much ammunition, but it was still usable.

The old brigade commander watched the whole thing from a distance without saying a word.

The second route is to attack Heishi Slope.

The monk led the way. He was a local and had roamed this area six years ago. He knew exactly which ditch was passable and which rock was easy to climb over without even looking at a map. When he reached the sentry post, the bandits were dozing in the guard post. The sentry only opened his eyes when he got close. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a knife held to his neck.

After the sentry was taken out, Lao Zhou's men surrounded them from two directions. The stronghold at Black Stone Slope was a bit larger than that at White Dragon Gully, but one of the bandits ran out, saw the sentry had fallen, and turned back to shout that he was surrendering.

The entire exchange of fire lasted less than half an hour.

The third route is to attack Qingyang Cliff.

The stronghold at Qingyang Cliff heard the gunshots from the first two locations. When Lao Zhou arrived with his men, they saw a man standing at the entrance of the stronghold, holding a wooden stick with a white cloth tied to the top.

"No need to fight anymore, we surrender."

Old Zhou glanced at the man, then looked behind him. The men in the stronghold were squatting in a row, their guns neatly stacked on the ground.

It was already evening when we returned to Baimaling.

The old brigade commander rode on his donkey, barely speaking the entire way. It wasn't until they entered the regimental headquarters' cave dwelling, where he sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), took a sip of water from the enamel mug Zhao Gang offered, and then spoke.

"That old machine gun in Bailonggou was worth the loss."

Zhao Weiguo sat opposite him.

"A light machine gun. If we can find the ammunition, it'll be usable."

The old brigade commander put down the enamel mug.

"Old Zhou knows how to fight. That monk knows how to lead the way. And you know how to use people."

Zhao Weiguo did not respond.

The old brigade commander glanced at his face out of the corner of his eye.

"Three small outposts, taken in half a day, no casualties. The Independent Regiment is now showing promise in battle. They can fight big battles, and they're just as capable in small ones."

Zhao Weiguo then said something.

"They've been practicing for a while now."

The old brigade commander grunted in response, stood up, and dusted off his knees.

"Go check on your supplementary company."

The replenishment company is finishing its morning exercises.

After a day of training, the formation was much neater than in the morning. Although some people still had off-standard movements, no one was standing crooked anymore. Old Zhou shouted "Dismissed!" and the replenishment company members dispersed. Some went to fetch water to wash their faces, while others squatted in the corner smoking.

The old brigade commander stood by the drill ground and watched for a long time.

"They don't listen to what they hear, they only look at who's standing. They're standing like soldiers."

Zhao Weiguo stood beside him without saying a word.

The old brigade commander looked around the drill ground again. The training equipment was being packed up, and Duan Peng squatted on the ground, neatly stacking up several wooden blocks that hadn't been properly arranged.

"Who is that kid?"

"Duan Peng. He came from Black Cloud Stronghold. He's a good fighter, and he can hold his nerve."

How big?

"Twenty-four."

The old brigade commander nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

In the afternoon, Zhao Weiguo took the old brigade commander to the arsenal.

The arsenal was located in a stone kiln on the back mountain of Baimaling. Several bundles of scrap iron were piled up at the entrance of the kiln, and the inside was divided into several workstations. Some people were reloading bullets, some were repairing firearms, and some were making parts on lathes.

Zhao Tieshan was disassembling a broken Type 38 rifle, taking out the bolt and soaking it in kerosene.

Seeing Zhao Weiguo come in, he wiped his hands on his apron.

"Commander."

"This is the old brigade commander."

Zhao Tieshan stood at attention. The old brigade commander glanced at him, walked around his workstation, and looked at the parts being machined on the lathe.

"What is this?"

"The mortar base ring," Zhao Tieshan said. "The original base ring was too thin; it would deform after firing just a few rounds. I thickened it by three millimeters, making it more durable."

The old brigade commander picked up the iron ring, weighed it in his hand, and then put it back.

How much can you do?

"We now reload 800 rounds of ammunition a day, repair over a dozen firearms, and manufacture more than a hundred grenade pull rings."

Is that enough?

Zhao Tieshan glanced at Zhao Weiguo.

Zhao Weiguo answered for him.

"It's not enough. If we're going to fight a major operation, our current production capacity is far from sufficient. The biggest shortage is in explosives. We can modify old cartridge cases for reloaded ammunition, but we have no source of explosives. At most, we can blow up ten sections of railway tracks."

The old brigade commander paused for a moment on the lathe.

The words "major battle" reached his ears, but he didn't respond.

The old brigade commander didn't answer the question, he just said something.

"Keep going."

As we left the arsenal, it was already getting dark.

Zhao Weiguo walked beside the old brigade commander, and the two of them walked along the ridge of Baimaling for a while.

The setting sun burned red in the west, gilding the mountain ridges and treetops with a golden edge.

In the distance, the blurry mountain shadows stretched out in layers, the farthest point almost indistinguishable from the sky.

The old brigade commander stood on the ridge and watched the sunset for a long time.

"Come to the brigade headquarters for a meeting after this month."

Zhao Weiguo stood beside him, waiting.

"Its scale is larger than that of Baimaling and Zhaojiayu."

Zhao Weiguo didn't press the matter. He looked at the setting sun in the distance, his heart beating a little faster than usual.

"When exactly?"

"End of month. Waiting for further notice."

Which units participated?

The old brigade commander glanced at him sideways.

"It's not just the 386th Brigade. Troops from the Taihang, Taiyue, and southern Hebei regions will also be mobilized."

Zhao Weiguo's fingers tightened on the seam of his trousers.

What should we prepare in advance?

The old brigade commander seemed to have anticipated that he would ask this question.

"Stockpile ammunition. Train engineers more. Build more sabotage equipment for the railway."

Zhao Weiguo went over these words in his mind.

"There's a huge shortage of explosives. The current stock is only enough to blow up ten sections of railway track at most."

The old brigade commander thought for a moment.

"The brigade headquarters has a batch of explosives; a portion will be distributed to you before the end of the month. It's not much, but enough to get you started."

"That's enough."

The old brigade commander didn't say anything more. He turned and walked back.

"I'll have dinner here tonight before I leave."

Zhao Weiguo followed behind him, and as they descended the ridge, he glanced back at the distant horizon. Darkness had fallen, and the line between the mountains and the sky had blurred.

The railway is on the other side of the mountain.

In the evening, after the old brigade commander left, Zhao Weiguo returned to the regimental headquarters cave dwelling.

Zhao Gang was organizing materials under the oil lamp.

"Did the brigade commander say anything?"

"I said so. We'll have a meeting at the brigade headquarters after this month."

Zhao Gang waited.

"It's even bigger than Baimaling. The Taihang, Taiyue, and southern Hebei regions will all be affected."

Zhao Gang's pen stopped on the paper. He flipped through a few pages of the materials in his hand, revealing the newly written mobilization draft, with a line of text under the title: "Why Sabotage the Transportation Lines?"

"Then my research direction on materials is correct."

"Yes. Keep writing. You'll need it later."

Gardenia also walked over from the side.

What about me?

Zhao Weiguo looked at her.

"The special operations company conducted advance reconnaissance along the railway line, identifying supply depots, strongholds, and troop strength along the Taiyuan-Shijiazhuang section, in preparation for subsequent sabotage operations."

Gardenia hummed in agreement.

When are we leaving?

"Three days from now. Make preparations."

Gardenia turned and left.

Zhao Weiguo sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and took out his notebook. He wrote a few lines in the notebook.

Ammunition. Engineers. Sabotage tools. Intelligence base map.

Four words, written in black and white.

He looked at it for a while, then added numbers after each word.

Ammunition: 50,000 rounds guaranteed. Engineers: Basic demolition training to be completed within two weeks. Sabotage tools: 100 shovels, pickaxes, and crowbars each. Intelligence map: Zhi Zi will depart in three days, first scouting the section from Niangziguan to Yangquan.

After finishing writing, he closed the notebook.

Zhao Gang remained silent. He memorized those numbers.

Zhao Weiguo stood up, walked to the entrance of the cave dwelling, and looked at the night outside. After standing there for a while, he returned to the table, picked up a pencil, and drew a circle on the map of the North China transportation lines: the Zhengtai Railway, from Niangziguan to Yangquan.

Zhao Gang stared at the circle but didn't ask anything.

Zhao Weiguo put down his pencil. The sound of the pencil hitting the table was clearly audible in the quiet cave dwelling.

He looked at the circle on the map and wrote a word next to it with a pencil: "Fight".