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

At dawn on September 19th, rain fell from outside Heshun City all the way to the Zhengtai Line.

The Independent Regiment had a formal strength of 10,000 men, with 8,000 deployed to the four fronts, and another 2,000 in reserve and support. The battlefields stretched for about 110 kilometers across the four fronts, and if any telephone line was cut, the command post would only see half a map.

The six mountain guns are also laid out on this map. There are two each at Xigou, Sandaoliang, and the outer perimeter of Yangquan, but none at Sanglin'ao. The three gun positions are too far apart, so whoever hears urgent gunfire from elsewhere can only guard their own ammunition tent first.

Each ammunition box is marked with its own line number; if one is delivered to the wrong car, the other car will have to wait all night.

As dawn broke, three red signal flares were launched into the sky one after another. The first was launched from Xigou, the second from Sandaoliang, and the third from the outskirts of Yangquan.

There is no signal in Sanglin'ao.

The 1,600 people there are still lying in the woods.

The three telephones in the underground command post rang almost simultaneously. Xigou reported that the Japanese army numbered about two battalions and their artillery was being deployed; Sandaoliang spotted the eastern vanguard, numbering at least three thousand men; and the northern convoy, consisting of more than forty vehicles, was seen leaving the station outside Yangquan.

Zhao Gang clipped the three pieces of paper onto the wooden board in order.

"Sanglin'ao?"

No report.

Zhao Weiguo planted three red flags on the sand table.

"Let it go unreported."

Xigou was the first to be hit by artillery fire.

The old factory's chimney was only partially visible in the rain, the water turbines were still spinning, and the factory buildings still had lights on. When the Japanese advance team saw these things, they thought they had found an arsenal, so they did not immediately enter the ravine but waited for the mountain artillery to advance.

The first salvo landed on the water turbine building, blowing away the damaged shaft; the second salvo collapsed the chimney, sending bricks and wet coal tumbling into the yard.

The garrison had retreated to the first slope before the shelling began, without returning fire, and only kept an eye on where the enemy engineers and search teams were going. The Japanese surrounded the empty factory, searched through the spent shell casings and wooden crates, and then divided their forces to check the three ditches. It wasn't until noon that they confirmed the mother machine was not there.

The correspondent reported that Xigou had been held up for half a day, and the first slope had not yet been exposed.

"Keep waiting," Zhao Weiguo said. "Wait until the engineers leave the main force."

After the two search teams entered the ravine, the defenders of Xigou opened fire from both sides. After twenty minutes of engagement, the defenders withdrew according to the established plan, preventing the enemy's main force from engaging them. When the Japanese army caught up to the first slope, only three false bunkers and two cut telephone lines remained.

There was never such a gap in Sandaoliang from the beginning.

At dawn, the Japanese troops on the eastern route bombarded the first layer of positions with mountain guns. The rainwater soaked the trenches into muddy ditches, and the soldiers lay prone in knee-deep water. Old Zhou waited until the enemy infantry moved from 800 paces to 600 paces, and then crawled from 600 paces to nearly 400 paces before he allowed the two mountain guns to fire.

The shells landed at the bend in the slope, but the people behind continued to push forward, quickly creating a bottleneck. The three infantry guns then fired horizontally, driving the first wave of attackers back down the ridge.

The Japanese troops moved to the left-hand ditch, intending to circle around from there. Old Zhou didn't move the entire position; he only assigned a platoon to guard the ditch entrance.

"They waited for me to move everyone over there."

The artillery observer asked, "What if the left side is really breached?"

"Break through one platoon's opening, then block the entire company. You can't have one place shouting and the whole floor running after you."

Before noon, the casualties on the first floor exceeded one hundred. The telephone line was severed three times by bombs, and the communications soldiers reconnected it three times along the reverse slope; after the fourth line was severed, Lao Zhou did not send anyone forward, but directly withdrew from the first floor according to the pre-battle plan.

The two mountain guns were first disassembled, then harnessed to the mule train. One gun carriage got stuck in the mud, and more than twenty people couldn't push it. The enemy was already approaching from the ditch, but the gunner was still holding on to the wheels and refused to let go.

Old Zhou took the hammer, smashed the sights, and then ordered someone to remove the firing pin.

"We don't need the gun mount anymore."

"We can still stall!"

"If you delay any longer, we're done with them."

The mountain gun was left in the ditch, and all the Japanese army managed to seize was an unusable gun barrel.

The area surrounding Yangquan is occupied by vehicles and warehouses.

Li Dazhu's 1,800 men let the vanguard of the northern infantry pass, keeping an eye on the more than 40 vehicles behind them. Just as the vehicles in front crossed the narrow bridge and the vehicles behind were still down the slope, the engineers detonated the explosives. Half of the bridge abutment collapsed, blocking the first 15 vehicles to the north and the vehicles behind to the south.

Two mountain guns opened fire from the side slope, the first shot hitting the oil truck. The fire spread along the roadside with the rainwater, and three vehicles caught fire one after another. By the time the Japanese infantry in front turned back to reinforce, Li Dazhu had already led his men to the second transit warehouse.

The warehouse was piled with grain, horse feed, and artillery shells, and the garrison numbered about a company. The Independent Regiment did not attempt to force its way through the warehouse doors; instead, engineers dug a hole in the back wall and inserted forty kilograms of explosives. The explosion ripped open the warehouse roof, and grain sacks and wooden crates flew into the rain.

Li Dazhu made two marks on the task list.

"One bridge, one warehouse. Withdraw."

Someone nearby was still thinking about the twenty-odd cars on the highway.

That's the third item.

"It can be eaten."

"After they finish eating the vehicles, the northern infantry will come and eat us."

The area outside Yangquan then turned onto a second mountain road. When the Japanese troops on the northern route caught up, they only saw a broken bridge and a warehouse that was still burning.

There was still no gunfire at Sanglin'ao.

The monk lay prone in the damp leaves, while in the distance, the cannon fire from Sandaoliang grew increasingly rapid. Someone nearby couldn't help but ask if the beams were about to give way.

"Even if it's urgent, it's not our responsibility."

"Is it really broken?"

The monk's hand rested on the gun bolt.

"The regimental headquarters didn't fire any red flares, so we'll stay put even if we die."

A search party of over a hundred men from the west passed through the pass, coming within fifty paces of each other at its closest point. The special operations team could see rain dripping from the edges of the Japanese soldiers' helmets, yet not a single one of them cocked their rifles.

Only after the group had walked far away did the monk release his grip.

"Not this group."

The command post redraws the situation every two hours.

At 8:00 a.m., the three red flags had just been connected to the fourth line; at noon, Xigou moved one step south, Sandaoliang moved to the second level, and the outer perimeter of Yangquan moved eastward; at 4:00 p.m., the main force of the eastern route was still holding onto Sandaoliang, a part of the western route entered the old factory, and the northern route began to build a bridge.

Zhao Gang placed the casualty and ammunition table next to the sand table.

At Sandaoliang, 41 were killed and 107 wounded, with 60% of their shells remaining; at Xigou, 11 were killed and 28 wounded, with 80% of their ammunition remaining; and at the outskirts of Yangquan, 15 were killed and 46 wounded, with both the objectives of breaking the bridge and destroying the warehouse completed.

A total of 67 were killed and 181 were wounded.

Approximately 430 enemy soldiers were killed.

Duan Peng stood to the side, his eyes fixed on the three beams.

"That's the most urgent place."

"The mobile battalion remains stationary."

"There are only a little over two thousand people on the second floor."

Zhao Weiguo pointed to the rear of the eastern route. Of the enemy's subsequent 10,000 troops, 6,000 had not yet advanced.

"Wait until they're all up?"

"Let them decide first whether Sandaoliang is the main target."

Zhao Gang then pushed the report from the western route over. After discovering the empty factory, the Japanese army split into two groups: one pursuing Nangou, and the other possibly turning towards Sanglin'ao; the northern route was still building a bridge, and it wouldn't be until the next morning at the earliest.

The reserve team was then given three ridges, and after turning west, no one was left to seal the trap at Sanglin'ao.

At 10 p.m., Sandaoliang requested reinforcements of one battalion.

Zhao Gang didn't immediately hand the paper to Zhao Weiguo; he first inquired about ammunition, the position, and the reserve company. There were 45% of shells left, the third layer hadn't engaged the enemy, and the reserve company had only used one platoon.

He wrote three lines of numbers after the request and returned it.

Ten minutes later, Lao Zhou came to speak in person.

"The second battalion commander is in a panic. We don't need reinforcements, we need more artillery shells."

"How many?"

"One and a half percent."

"Why didn't you report 20%?"

"If the mule team brings in half a percent more, Xigou will bring in half a percent less."

Zhao Gang then signed the document.

Four casualty curves hang next to the sand table. If any curve suddenly rises, first check if the position has passed the evacuation mark, then check the ammunition and reserve company. You can't just fill the position with people based on the excuse that "they can't hold out."

At night, the mule teams took advantage of the lull in the artillery fire to resupply along different routes. At Sandaoliang, they resupplyed with mortar shells first; at Xigou, only rifle shells; and outside Yangquan, no heavy ammunition was resupplyed, in preparation for their continued movement.

All six aid stations were put into operation. The Sandaoliang area had the most seriously injured, but there weren't enough stretchers, so two village door panels were removed. The wounded from Xigou encountered a search team while being transported along the Nangou ditch, forcing them to change their route to Huishiling, adding 15 li to the journey.

At dawn on September 20th, the rain fell even harder.

The first two lines of defense at Xigou were abandoned. The phone calls were intermittent; the last time one connected, only half a sentence was heard.

"The enemy is moving south..."

Then there was no more sound.

The battle on all four fronts dragged on from dawn till afternoon. Xigou continued to advance towards the mountain pass according to the plan; Sandaoliang held the second layer, with engineers reinforcing shallow trenches behind the narrow ridge; the outer perimeter of Yangquan continued to target only vehicles and radios, not pursuing stragglers; and the gun barrels at Sanglin'ao remained hidden under the grass.

The first batch of 43 seriously wounded soldiers were sent to Beishan Road, while the second batch retreated along the Heshun Line. Two pack animals were shot, and the medical kits were distributed to the soldiers to carry away; no one left the wounded by the roadside to wait for a vehicle.

The two mountain guns in Xigou ceased firing after their 27th round. The guns were not damaged. The observation post discovered that the Japanese were using empty vehicles and skirmishers to bait the guns, so the gunners put the remaining ammunition back into the bunker and only used mortars to deal with the nearby grenade launchers.

The two mountain guns at Sandaoliang had already opened fire on the first day. One of them was damaged by getting stuck in the mud, and the remaining one was moved with the second layer. The six mortars rotated positions every two slopes, and the enemy could never figure out which ditch the close-in mortars were hidden in.

After blowing up a makeshift bridge on the outskirts of Yangquan, the 1,800 men dispersed to both sides, allowing infantry to cross and block the bridge-building engineers, oil trucks, and ammunition trucks on the riverbank. The northern vanguard continued to advance, but the supply train behind them grew longer and longer.

The battle reports Zhao Gang received were still incomplete. Some only reported deaths, while others included missing persons as deaths. He broke the numbers into three columns: confirmed, wounded, and missing, to prevent the staff officers from piecing together an impressive total.

Xigou suffered the heaviest blows because the enemy still believed the arsenal was there. Every hour the old factory could hold out, the new factory's machine tools, gauges, and loading lines became safer.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the cavalry from the outskirts of Yangquan returned with the sketches. The supply train on the northern route was blocked at the bridgehead; the lead train had been bombed, and the following trains dared not cross. Zhao Weiguo did not order the siege of Sanglin'ao to be closed prematurely, but only ordered the cavalry to continue keeping watch.

"My pockets aren't full yet."

On the night of September 20th, the blue flag of Xigou was moved back one space on the sand table, the second layer of Sandaoliang was still there, the northern supply train was parked overnight on the outskirts of Yangquan, and no fire was fired at Sanglin'ao.

The 1,000-strong mobile battalion and 300 cavalry have not yet been officially deployed.

Zhao Weiguo replanted the four flags securely.

"I still have the four lines."

He pointed to Xigou.

"This is the tightest point."

The finger then landed on Sanglin'ao, where the flag hadn't been moved since the start of the war.

"Next, we'll see which path breaks first."