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

On December 3, the frozen mud that Duan Peng brought back melted in a puddle at the entrance of the regiment's office.

He didn't even have time to stomp his feet when he entered the house; he first pulled out a piece of paper folded four times from his cotton-padded coat. The corners of the paper were soaked with sweat and snow water, and there were three marks drawn on it.

Heisonggou. Liujiapo. Shibalipu.

Zhi Zi placed another intelligence report aside. The elite Japanese 1st Regiment actually numbered about 3,600 to 3,800 men, consisting of three infantry battalions, with artillery, engineers, supply troops, and communications personnel attached. Six Type 92 infantry guns followed behind the 2nd Battalion, with few vehicles but a long mule and horse caravan.

The three intelligence reports were taken at different times. One came from along the railway line, where the advance infantry had been seen disembarking two days prior; another came from a caravan, where artillery pieces had been counted yesterday afternoon; and the last was a short report intercepted at night, confirming only that the regimental headquarters continued westward. Zhi Zi circled the matching information and left the mismatched pieces, not forcing the three documents together into a single marching schedule.

"Three thousand six or three thousand eight?" Zhao Gang asked.

"We can only report this range for now. We haven't seen whether there are any players who have fallen behind, are injured, or stayed behind."

Zhao Weiguo instructed the operations section to write 3,800 in the "enemy situation upper limit" column. The deployment was carried out according to the upper limit, but the battle results could only be recalculated based on the number of corpses, prisoners, and escapees after the battle.

"Where's the plane?" Zhao Weiguo asked.

There's an event at the airport. Whether they'll come is uncertain.

"Then we'll prepare accordingly."

Duan Peng took off his shoes and emptied out a small piece of ice. He had led four groups of people for two days, and their heels were blistered and their socks were frozen stiff.

"The vanguard has very tight surveillance, with a group every 500 meters or so. The rearguard is held back by the road. Vehicles pass slowly through Heisonggou, and the artillery will be at least half an hour late after the vanguard has passed. The slope at Liujiapo is even more difficult to traverse, and the mules and infantry will be separated."

Old Zhou lit Liujiapo with his pipe.

"The artillery only has a chance if they're packed together like a string."

"What about the abandoned mine ditch?" Old Zhou asked again.

"The enemy didn't investigate much. It's collapsed inside; vehicles can't get in, but people can climb up."

"Telephone line?"

"Walk along the side of Heisonggou Road. There's a junction box at the bridgehead."

Duan Peng then took out four more small pieces of paper. Each group of scouts wrote their own notes, without first agreeing on a story. The first group noted an enemy outpost about 500 meters away; the second group noted that someone got off the artillery vehicle to push its wheels uphill; the third group reached the bridge and found that the bridge piers were not buried with explosives; the fourth group saw newly broken dead branches in the abandoned mine ditch, indicating that Japanese soldiers occasionally went in.

"They do check, not completely," Duan Peng said, "but they check less. We can only exploit these loopholes; we can't treat the abandoned mine ditch as our back door."

Zhao Weiguo placed three red pieces.

The supply lines at Heisonggou were cut off. Artillery fire was cut off at Liujiapo. The main infantry force was trapped at Shibalipu.

The three locations were more than ten miles apart, and no one could see the other one. Telephone lines could only be laid to the concealed command post; further ahead, cavalry and messengers were needed. The starting time, the backup time after losing contact, and the order to withdraw if any route failed to make contact were all written into the orders.

A staff officer stared at the enemy's numbers.

"We can mobilize 40,000 troops, why don't we just surround them and kill them?"

Zhao Weiguo picked up the enamel mug on the table; the bottom of the mug was already cold.

"Where do you plan to cramm 40,000 people?"

The staff officer looked at the map but remained silent.

At its narrowest point, Heisonggou could only accommodate one vehicle. The uphill road was flanked by ridges on both sides of Liujiapo. The open area in front of Shibalipu allowed for the deployment of troops, but also provided an opportunity for enemy artillery to fire in layers. The denser the troops were packed, the less ammunition the six infantry guns would need.

"This is a complete regiment," Zhao Weiguo said. "It has orders, artillery, and supply wagons. Let's dismantle it first."

Duan Peng picked up the straw.

"It's been taken apart, and then what?"

"If it's broken up, it's no longer a single unit." Zhao Weiguo pushed the red piece an inch into the Black Pine Gully. "It's a three-section unit. Each section fights its own battle; the cannons can't support the infantry, and the infantry can't support the supply wagons."

"What if it's put back together?"

"We can't get back together." Zhao Weiguo put down his pencil. "With the telephone line cut, we can only rely on messengers. A messenger takes half an hour to make a trip. Half an hour is enough time for us to finish a section and retreat."

The communications unit first conducted a drill simulating a lost-line situation. If the phone line at Heisonggou was lost, the cavalry could be dispatched to Liujiapo in as little as 28 minutes; if the snow was heavy, the time would be delayed. Therefore, the forward battalion's orders only covered their assigned tasks, and they were not allowed to approach without authorization upon hearing gunfire elsewhere. Who would guard the bridge, who would block the slope, and who would cover the retreat were all written on their respective slips of paper.

The first round used only six battalions.

One battalion and engineers went to Heisonggou. Old Zhou led artillery and two battalions to keep watch on Liujiapo. Duan Peng led the mobile force to bypass the supply train. The other two battalions blocked sections of the perimeter of Shibalipu. Local armed forces blocked the small roads, watched over prisoners, and guarded the outposts, avoiding pushing forward.

A total of 6,000 men were reserved to remain between the mining area and the military industrial area.

"The enemy artillery hasn't cut through, so the reserves aren't moving," Zhao Weiguo said.

Zhao Gang asked, "Is the second regiment really coming?"

"The reserve team is meant for it."

Old Zhou drew six enemy cannons on the slope.

"If we engage it in a firefight, both our artillery and our men will suffer losses."

"Sappers should block the road first. Mortars should target the artillery crews and ammunition trucks, while mountain guns should block the retreat route. Don't try to outshoot them."

Each of the six mountain guns is equipped with a maximum of forty rounds. Mortar shells are prioritized for Liujiapo. The six main assault battalions carry two days' worth of personal rations, with the third day's supply provided by three concealed outposts. The three wounded evacuation lines are intersected, allowing for alternative routes if any line is cut off.

In winter, shoes and mules are even harder to calculate.

The logistics team checked every pair of shoes from all six battalions, taking those with torn soles to be repaired, and tying straw sandals to the outside of backpacks. Mules and horses were lightly loaded; it was better to make an extra trip than to die on an uphill climb. Telephone lines had only a fixed number of reels; if any section was broken by artillery fire, the communications soldier had to carry the line to reconnect it.

The medical team traversed each of the three evacuation routes. The first was the shortest, but involved crossing an exposed slope; the second was a longer route, passable only by mule carts; the third was only wide enough for stretchers. The medical personnel nailed wooden signs at the forks in the road, facing their own route, to prevent enemy scouting. The stretcher team also tried carrying sandbags through a frozen ditch; on the return trip, two of the binding ropes wore out, and they replaced them with new hemp ropes overnight.

The three supply depots were not fully stocked with grain. Each depot only held enough for one day, with salt, dry rations, and ammunition buried separately. If one depot was exposed, the other two could still provide enough for a third day. The local officers in charge of the supply depots received only the seals and the quantities to be issued, not the complete operational map.

Zhao Gang wrote on the paper for three days.

For the first three days, they dismantled artillery, cut off telephone lines, and burned grain carts. On the fourth day, the enemy troops had not yet dispersed, so the main force withdrew and local armed forces and neighboring units were put in charge. The independent regiment could not withstand ten days or half a month of attrition, and the elite detachment could not be intimidated by the mere mention of "more people."

By the time the battle ended, it was already dark.

The furnaces at the military production site had just been lit.

This time, the furnace charge was over 200 jin (approximately 100 catties), and the coking coal used was the first batch of screened material sent from the empty mine area. Nickel and molybdenum were still insufficient, so Zhao Tieshan could only try a lower alloy scheme. The goal was written on the blackboard: continuous steel billets, fewer porosities, suitable for subsequent heat treatment.

The words "gun barrel" were not written on the blackboard.

Chen An reported the furnace number, raw material batch, and the time of heating, stirring, and deoxidation item by item. The measuring instruments issued from the reference room were signed by two people, and no one crossed the lime line at the furnace edge. If the alarm sounded, the furnace was stopped to a safe stop before evacuating.

When Zhao Weiguo arrived, a ring of slag had already formed around the edge of the crucible.

"Will it work?"

Zhao Tieshan stared at the furnace opening.

"You asked too early."

"The fighting on the front lines is about to begin."

"The front lines are pressing hard, but the furnace temperature won't rise an extra degree for you. What comes out is just a billet. Low magnification, forging, normalizing, quenching, tempering, hardening, impact testing—none of that has been done."

"Follow the procedures."

"Do you really want the barrel?"

"I don't want it to explode."

Zhao Tieshan didn't reply.

Duan Peng poked half his body in from the doorway.

"Old Zhao, I heard you're working in steelmaking?"

Zhao Tieshan didn't even turn his head.

Who told you that?

"It's all over the place. They're saying the Independent Regiment is going to make its own gun barrels, so they won't have to rely on others anymore."

Zhao Tieshan leaned the fire tongs against the stove.

"Which good-for-nothing spread this rumor? I haven't even finished inspecting the steel billets, how can I be making gun barrels?"

Duan Peng scratched his head.

"I only heard about it from others."

"Go and dispel the rumors you've heard," Zhao Tieshan said, pointing to the blackboard. "See that? Continuous steel billet, few air holes. Where are the words 'gun barrel'?"

Duan Peng glanced at the blackboard.

"It wasn't written."

"If it's not written down, it doesn't exist." Zhao Tieshan picked up the tongs again. "Go out and tell people that the Independent Regiment is smelting experimental steel, don't spread rumors that they're making gun barrels."

Duan Peng pulled his head back and muttered something under his breath.

"Alright, alright, let's make experimental steel. I'll go refute the rumors."

At night, the molten steel was brought out of the furnace. The color was more uniform than the previous two times, and slag was still trapped at the mouth of the crucible. The workers used long-handled clamps to pour the molten steel into the mold, one person watching the retreat and another keeping track of the time. When the billet cooled to a temperature suitable for being moved onto the rack, there were no large cracks on the surface.

You can only see the surface.

Zhao Tieshan hung up the wooden sign indicating it was pending inspection.

"Tomorrow we'll cut samples for low-magnification analysis. There are no large air pockets; we'll forge the test strips again."

Someone tried to write "gun barrel steel" on the furnace order list, but he hit the back of his hand with the pen.

"Write about the experimental steel billet. Enlarging the font won't improve the quality of the work."

At the regimental headquarters, the three red pieces were already firmly in place.

Sixty li away in Heisonggou, the railway was still delivering grain and ammunition. At Liujiapo, the artillery convoy had just set up camp, white steam rising from the nostrils of the mules and horses. In front of Shibalipu, the enemy's vanguard was digging fortifications.

That night, a reconnaissance team was retreating from an abandoned mine ditch when they were spotted by Japanese sentries. The two sides exchanged several shots across the ditch; two scouts were grazed by gravel, and one twisted his ankle while landing. All four returned, bringing with them the campsite map.

The man with the sprain was carried back by his companion. Even after arriving at the medical station, he still clutched the diagram, refusing to let go. The medics cut open his frozen leg wrap; his ankle was so swollen he couldn't fit into his shoe. The two men with abrasions had small stones removed from their wounds, and they were unable to join the group the next day.

Zhao Gang recorded the injuries of the three men in the reconnaissance injury and illness report.

Duan Peng added a withdrawal line to the map.

"The sentry post must remain vigilant. The only gap for the shift change is this section of the abandoned mine ditch; we can't return via the same route."

Zhao Weiguo pushed the red piece an inch into the Black Pine Gully.

"The order remains unchanged. Add another route for withdrawal."

No one died.

But the three pairs of cut socks, the two abrasions, and the swollen ankle were the first to send a message to the elite regiment.

This bone is hard to gnaw on.

Zhao Weiguo poured out the cold tea from the enamel mug and refilled it with hot tea. Outside the window, the fires from the fortified workshops illuminated half the sky, while the area towards Heisonggou remained pitch black.

He stood at the doorway, holding the jar, and stared at the darkness for a long time.

The first regiment that Okamura Yasuji sent to North China has arrived at its doorstep.

Zhao Weiguo poured the remaining chilled tea from the bottom of the jar into the snow, then turned and went back into the house. The three red chess pieces on the table were still nailed to the bases of Heisonggou, Liujiapo, and Shibalipu, untouched.

Duan Peng followed in and picked up the straw.

"Three thousand eight hundred men," he said. "Six infantry guns. Cars, mules, supplies, communications—the whole package."

"Um."

"We have six battalions, six mountain guns, each with forty rounds of ammunition."

"Um."

How do we fight this battle?

Zhao Weiguo placed the enamel mug on the table, the bottom of the mug hitting the table with a crisp sound.

"Break it apart," he said. "Three thousand eight hundred people are a snake. The snake's head is in Black Pine Gully, its waist is in Liu Family Slope, and its tail is in Eighteen Mile Shop. First, cut off the snake's head, then cut its waist, and finally tie up its tail. Once the snake is broken, it's no longer a snake, but three pieces of flesh."

Duan Peng thought for a moment and then spat out the straw.

"What if the snake hadn't broken off?"

Zhao Weiguo glanced at him.

"Then let it bite," he said. "After it's done biting, then hit it."

Duan Peng cursed, picked up the straw again, and turned to leave.

He turned back at the door and said, "Then I'll go chop off the snake's head first."

"Go ahead," Zhao Weiguo said. "After you're done chopping, wipe the knife clean."

Duan Peng is really gone this time.

The courtyard fell silent. The furnaces at the military fort were still burning, and the area towards Black Pine Gully remained dark. Zhao Weiguo stood at the door, holding an enamel mug, gazing at the darkness.

A 3,800-strong elite regiment was crawling towards them in the darkness. Little did they know, someone was already waiting at the bridgehead of Black Pine Gully.

What awaited them were six mountain guns, each with forty shells.

Forty shells are enough to cut a snake into three sections.