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

People outside the south gate of Ping'an County are carrying bedding out of their cave dwellings.

It was still cold, and the breath they exhaled was white. Half of the cave dwellings shared by several families had collapsed due to the shelling, but the remaining half was still habitable. The quilts were rolled into bundles, tied with ropes, carried on their shoulders or shoulder poles, and moved to a sheltered mountain valley outside the city.

The soldiers of the Independent Regiment are helping them.

Two soldiers were carrying a door panel. The door panel had been cracked in two by a shell. They carried it to the side of the road and put it down, but the cracked half slipped from their hands and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

An old woman peeked out of the cave dwelling, saw the soldiers carrying away the door planks, and remained silent.

She shrank back inside.

Zhao Weiguo watched from the south gate city wall.

The breach in the city wall was on the north side, which he blasted open himself with a Type 92 infantry gun. A single shell hit the outer wall, knocking off a large section of blue bricks. The breach was more than ten feet wide.

Sandbags are piled up in front of the breach. The sandbags are straw bags filled with soil, stacked three layers high. The engineers of the Independent Regiment are patching up the wall. Patchling up the wall doesn't mean putting the blue bricks back together. The blue bricks have long since broken into fist-sized pieces, and can't be pieced back together at all. Patchling up the wall means picking out those broken bricks and stacking them inside the newly built adobe wall.

The engineering company commander squatted by the breach. He tapped the newly built adobe bricks with his fingers.

"Commander."

Zhao Weiguo turned around.

"People can leave in two more days. Vehicles can be moved in a month."

"OK."

Zhao Weiguo squatted down and tapped the newly built adobe bricks with his hand. The surface of the adobe bricks was not yet completely dry, and his finger pressed down to make a shallow indentation.

He withdrew his hand.

He stood up.

"I'm going to the county government office. It's a meeting of the Fourth Regiment's defense zone."

The engineering company commander responded.

Zhao Weiguo came down from the south gate city wall and crossed the main street.

The craters on the main street have been filled in. They're filled with broken bricks and yellow earth. They crunch underfoot. Half of the houses on both sides of the road were destroyed, and the remaining half still bears wooden signs that read "The Imperial Army's Benevolent Governance." The signs haven't been taken down yet.

He walked into the county government office.

The main hall of the county government office had been converted into a conference room. Four long tables were pushed together, and a large map was spread out on the tabletop. Zhao Gang had found the map in the county government office warehouse the day before yesterday; it was even larger than the Japanese army's battle map.

Li Yunlong sat at the north side of the table.

He had one foot on the bench, chewing on a biscuit, the same kind Zhao Weiguo had eaten the day before yesterday. It made a crunching sound as he chewed.

"They've arrived."

"Um."

Ding Wei was sitting on the west side. He wasn't chewing anything. He was looking at a map.

Kong Jie sat on the east side. He was the last to arrive. His left shoulder was still a little stiff, and he used his hand to support himself on the bench when he sat down.

The old brigade commander sat in the center. The map spread out on the table was his.

"sit."

Zhao Weiguo sat down to the right of the old brigade commander.

The old brigade commander didn't exchange pleasantries.

"Fourth Regiment. Redraw the defense zones."

He drew four circles on the map with his finger.

"The Independent Regiment is stationed in Ping'an County and its surrounding area."

The first circle is drawn in the center of the map. The edge of the circle extends eastward to Baimaling and southward to Shibalipu.

"The new regiment is stationed on the northern front, towards Yangquan."

The second circle is drawn on the north side of the map. The circle covers Xing Shu Ping and Lao Hu Kou.

"The New Third Regiment is stationed on the western front, towards Taiyuan."

The third circle is drawn on the west side of the map. The circle covers Hankou and Heiyunling.

"New Second Regiment. Rest and reorganization. Recruit new soldiers."

The fourth circle is drawn in the northeast of the map.

"Each unit shall report its key garrison locations. A summary shall be compiled within three days."

Li Yunlong swallowed the biscuit in his mouth.

"Old brigade commander, this defense zone is a bit too far north."

"There's a way of playing in the north."

Ding Wei looked at his circle.

"Taiyuan direction. High pressure."

"There is pressure."

The old brigade commander pulled his hand back.

"Springtime won't be peaceful. But we've just finished attacking Ping'an County, and the enemy is about to regroup. This period presents a window of opportunity."

He didn't say anything more.

Meeting adjourned.

The meeting is over.

People walked quickly. Li Yunlong went out first. Ding Wei followed behind. Kong Jie walked the slowest; his left shoulder wasn't fully healed yet.

Zhao Weiguo stood up.

"Old brigade commander."

The old brigade commander didn't leave.

"Stay a moment."

Li Yunlong and Ding Wei had already left. Kong Jie's figure was still standing at the door. The curtain closed.

The old brigade commander took a document out of his jacket pocket.

The document was printed vertically in lead type. A red stamp was affixed to the cover.

He handed it to Zhao Weiguo.

"have a look."

Zhao Weiguo took it.

The document's heading reads "Order of the 386th Brigade of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army".

"Number 271 of the 'Travel' series."

The content is very brief.

"By order: The Independent Regiment is upgraded to a Main Force Regiment."

"It is hereby ordered that Zhao Weiguo, commander of the Independent Regiment, be granted the rank of a regular regimental commander."

"It is hereby ordered that Zhao Gang, the political commissar of the Independent Regiment, be granted the rank of political commissar at the regimental level."

Zhao Weiguo finished reading the document.

He had no expression.

He folded the document and put it in his jacket pocket.

"Old brigade commander."

"Um."

"When I was the regimental commander, there were seven hundred men."

The old brigade commander looked at him.

"Five thousand now."

"Um."

"I was the regimental commander when there were seven hundred men."

The old brigade commander smiled.

"You little brat."

He didn't reply.

He stood up and took his military cap from behind the bench.

"Keep the document safe. Show it to Zhao Gang when you get back."

Zhao Weiguo placed his military cap in the old brigade commander's hands.

"Old brigade commander, there's one more thing."

"explain."

"The city walls of Ping'an County. I bombed them myself. I repaired them myself."

The old brigade commander looked at him for a while.

"Let's fix it then."

He went out the door.

The main hall of the county government office was empty.

Zhao Weiguo stood alone in the main hall.

He stood there for a while.

He reached into his jacket pocket and touched the document. The edges of the paper were slightly softened by his body heat.

He pulled his hand back.

He went out.

The craters in the street have been mostly filled in. Broken bricks and yellow soil are mixed together, crunching underfoot. The wooden signs reading "Imperial Army's Benevolent Governance" on both sides of the road have not yet been removed.

He didn't pick it.

He headed south.

three days later.

Yang Xiuqin's bandages have been removed.

The wound on her waist had scabbed over. The scab was dark red with slightly raised edges.

She can walk now. She walks slowly, and her steps are small. But she can walk.

When she found Zhao Weiguo, he was looking at blueprints for the restoration of the city wall in the renovation office in the west wing of the county government.

The repair office was a temporary setup. It consisted of a long table and a chair. On the table were the construction drawings for repairing the breach in the city wall. The drawings were roughly drawn by the engineering company commander, but the location of each adobe brick was marked.

Zhao Weiguo heard the door open.

Yang Xiuqin stood at the door.

She was carrying the medicine box in her left hand.

"Commander."

"Come in."

Yang Xiuqin walked in. Her steps were more steady than they had been three days ago.

She placed the medicine box on the side of the long table.

"It's been found."

"Um."

"Three rolls of gauze and a box of sulfonamides are missing."

Zhao Weiguo did not look up.

"Record it in the public accounts."

Yang Xiuqin's finger paused on the lid of the medicine box for a moment.

"Commander."

"Um."

"that."

She didn't finish speaking.

She closed the lid of the medicine box. The closing motion was slower than the opening motion.

"Okay. I'll head back now."

She went out carrying her medicine kit.

She paused at the doorway.

"Commander."

"Um."

"Thanks."

Zhao Weiguo did not look up.

Yang Xiuqin went out.

The renovation office is empty again.

Zhao Weiguo rolled up the construction drawings.

He leaned the construction drawings against the wall.

He went over the contents of the medicine box in his mind again. Three rolls of gauze. A box of sulfonamides.

It will be in the public accounts.

in the afternoon.

Li Yunlong came to visit Zhao Weiguo.

There was a noodle stall in front of the county government office. The stall was run by an elderly couple; the stove was a makeshift one, and the noodles were handmade.

Zhao Weiguo and Li Yunlong each held a bowl of noodles.

The noodles are made with cabbage and minced meat. There's not much meat, but a lot of cabbage stalks. The noodles are handmade and chewy.

Li Yunlong slurped up a mouthful of noodles.

"Brother."

"Um."

"You've captured Ping'an County."

"Um."

"It's like they vented my anger."

Zhao Weiguo picked up a piece of noodles with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

"It wasn't paid for you."

Li Yunlong looked up.

"Um?"

"It was for myself."

Li Yunlong looked at him.

He slurped up a mouthful of noodles.

"OK."

He didn't say anything more.

The two people sat at a noodle stall eating noodles.

Steam rose from the bowl of noodles, mingling with the still chilly air of early spring.

Li Yunlong finished eating the noodles.

He placed the bowl of noodles on the table.

"I'm heading back now. I still need to check on the northern route."

"Um."

Li Yunlong is gone.

Zhao Weiguo sat alone at the noodle stall.

He picked up the bowl of noodles and drank the last mouthful of soup.

The noodle soup was hot.

He finished his noodle soup and put the bowl aside.

On the city wall of Ping'an County.

Zhao Weiguo stood on the city wall.

The mountains outside the city were still gray. But color was beginning to appear on the gray ridgelines. There was a touch of green on the distant field ridges.

The ice and snow began to melt. The sound of flowing water could be heard in the ditch at the foot of the city wall. The sound was faint, but audible.

Zhao Gang walked over to his side.

He was holding a document in his hand.

"Transferred from the brigade headquarters."

He handed it to Zhao Weiguo.

Zhao Weiguo took it.

The document was titled "North China Area Army Enemy Situation Report".

The content is very brief.

"The Japanese Independent Mixed Brigade No. 4 stationed in Yangquan has assembled a force of approximately 2,000."

"The 9th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army stationed in Taiyuan has assembled a force of approximately 1,800."

"Both units were deployed simultaneously on February 25th. They are expected to reach the edge of our base area by early March."

Judgment: Japanese spring sweep.

Zhao Weiguo folded the document.

Early March.

Zhao Gang looked at him.

"Twenty days left."

Zhao Weiguo put the document into his jacket pocket. He glanced at the distant mountains, then turned and walked down the city wall.