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

At 3:40 a.m., the phone to the east was disconnected once.

The receiver at the main control room was filled with static. The communications soldier cranked the magneto twice, but only half a sentence came back from the other end before the sound stopped.

Zhao Weiguo did not urge anyone to reconnect.

"Check for the break point. Don't use the backup line yet."

Ten minutes later, Dongxiang reported back using flag signals: the forward communications team had reached outside the railway bridge and had proactively cut the enemy's telephone line; their own field line had been loosened by a mule cart and they were reconnecting it.

Zhao Gang wrote two separate lines in the record.

The enemy's supply line has been cut off.

My line is faulty and needs repair.

Both events seem like a disconnect, but the consequences are completely different. If you lump them together, it becomes unclear whether further action should be taken.

At 4:00 AM sharp, the first day of operations at Chiyabao began.

The enemy force numbered approximately nine thousand, scattered across six strongholds, three supply lines, and near two bridges. No single location could represent the full extent of the enemy situation. Gunfire in the east did not necessarily mean that the enemy had engaged in combat in the west; the sight of vehicle lights at the northern pass did not confirm the location of the convoy on the southern front.

Zhao Weiguo remained in front of the master map, with four telephones positioned on either side. Old Zhou was to the west, the artillery chief guarded the artillery group's coordinates, Duan Peng accompanied the engineers to the east, and the reconnaissance group led by Monk and Zhizi was positioned on the southern perimeter. The four directions were separated by ten to thirty kilometers, and no one could give commands to the other side while looking at the map.

Nine thousand five hundred people moved first, heading east.

There was a small bunker at each end of the railway bridge, and three layers of barbed wire covered the bridgehead. Duan Peng did not allow the 600 advance troops to crowd onto the bridge. He first sent the signalmen to find the telephone poles, and then sent the engineers along the drainage ditch to approach the bridge foundation. Only after the first telephone line was cut did the Japanese troops open fire from the bunkers.

The hill gun fired six shots in the first round.

The third shot landed on the earthen slope at the bridgehead, the uplifted soil covering half of the barbed wire. The sappers lay prone on the ground, waiting for the loose stones to fall, then dragged their wire cutters forward. One soldier's cotton-padded coat got caught on barbs; instead of tearing it off for him, the men behind him used the pliers to cut it open piece by piece. Three long gashes were left in his coat, but they didn't stop.

The infantry guns fired the first four of the eleven rounds, targeting the firing ports of the bunkers. The East Battalion waited until the two machine guns at the bridgehead fell silent before crossing the line from the ditches on both sides.

As the Japanese troops retreated west of the bridge, a group of people ran along the railway tracks. Duan Peng's men chased them for less than 300 meters before stopping. The bridge hadn't been inspected yet, and the telephone lines weren't properly connected. If they chased them any further, they would lose the bridge behind them, and all their efforts would be in vain.

At 7:00 AM, the eastern side took control of both ends of the railway bridge. There were two bomb craters on the bridge surface, and one crossbeam was damaged. Engineers only allowed infantry to pass; heavy vehicles remained on the east side. A circuit map was found on two Japanese prisoners, marking telephone disconnections and spare junction boxes. The prisoners and the map were sent to the headquarters.

After receiving the drawing, Zhao Weiguo only asked, "Has the fracture surface been checked?"

"Still in the nuclear stage."

"Put the white paper clips in first."

The route map is real, but which routes on the map are still usable needs to be confirmed segment by segment by the communications officer.

The troubles faced by the 8,500 people heading west are even more severe.

Two heavy machine guns were positioned on high ground at the entrance to the highway bridge, and landmines were hidden in the barbed wire fence in front of the bridge. Old Zhou lay behind the observation hole for a long time, his nose filled with the smell of damp earth. The artillery chief reported the coordinates by phone, but he didn't nod immediately after hearing them.

Are there any residents living in that house on the left side of the bridge?

The scouts said there were shadowy figures last night, but they didn't see them again after dawn.

Old Zhou ordered his men to change their observation angle. After waiting for more than ten minutes, an old woman crawled out of a hole in the back wall, carrying a quilt in her arms, followed by two children. The medical team took her away, and only then did the artillery receive the order to fire.

Twenty-six rounds were fired from the mountain guns to the west, half of which landed on the two machine gun hills. Nine rounds from the infantry guns hit the bridgehead bunkers. The engineers cleared a narrow path from the road ditch. When the mine-clearing pole hit the third mine, the man at the front had sweaty palms and the wooden handle slipped. The man behind him immediately handed him a rope loop.

It was past noon when the bridgehead was taken over.

There was still Japanese fire behind the bridge, and the hills to the west hadn't been cleared either. Old Zhou didn't say the bridge had been captured, only replying with six words: "Bridgehead blocked, haven't crossed the bridge."

The artillery chief wanted to fire another round of the remaining shells, but Lao Zhou refused.

"Leave it until you can't see the bridge clearly. The Japanese will counterattack tonight; empty cannon boxes won't scare anyone."

The fewest gunshots were heard from the nine thousand men heading north.

The two outposts guarded the mule track and the well. The Japanese first occupied the high ground to the north, dug a ditch at the crossroads, and removed two sections of the road that large carts could pass through. The Japanese sent a small squad out of the outpost to probe, but when they reached the halfway point and saw the figures behind the ditch, they retreated.

They did not pursue northwards, nor did they launch a strong attack on the city gates.

Of the three wells, one was within the enemy stronghold's firing range and could not be touched for the time being; another was guarded by local troops, and the buckets, ropes, and number of people drawing water were recorded item by item; the last well was blocked off from the road, and the well water was left for nearby villagers, while the army transported water from behind the mountain.

Only fourteen mortar rounds were fired. After the two intersections were blocked, the shells were reloaded onto the trucks heading north. The mission was to prevent the grain wagons inside the stronghold from getting out and to prevent grain from outside from getting in.

The convoy of 7,000 people heading south wasn't confirmed until 9 a.m.

Nineteen trucks and four sidecar motorcycles escorted about three hundred infantrymen. The convoy turned from the Yuci Highway onto a dirt road outside Nancun. The first two trucks were covered with tarpaulins, while the following trucks were loaded with oil drums. Whether there were artillery pieces or what was under the tarpaulins was unclear from a distance.

The monk lay prone at the edge of the sorghum field, counting for the third time; there were still nineteen vehicles. The scout beside him asked if he wanted to get closer.

"Don't chase the car. First, find out where it'll be parked for the night."

What if we drive into the village?

"Keep an eye on the village entrance. Remember the face of anyone who breaks into a house and steals. Do the same with Commander Chu's men."

Fourteen mortar rounds from the south hit the intersection behind the convoy, collapsing a section of embankment. The convoy did not stop, splitting into two groups and disappearing into the village and woodland. The escorting infantry turned back and fired, but the southern lead did not follow into the village.

In the afternoon, a liaison officer from Chu Yunfei's unit delivered a receipt. Three oil drums and a damaged radio were left at the village entrance; the whereabouts of the rest of the convoy were unknown. The 358th Regiment questioned the villagers and prisoners separately, without searching the houses for food. The oil drums were sealed, the radio was removed, and the handover was signed by the person in charge.

Zhao Gang saw the words "the convoy is moving east" and crossed them out with a pen.

"Who saw it heading east?"

The liaison officer said, "Some villagers heard the sound of a car coming from the east."

"The villagers' account is being recorded. The convoy's destination markers are pending verification."

The liaison officer took the paper back and copied it again.

The first batch of wounded were sent to the second medical station before noon.

After the West Bridge was blocked, the original straight road was impassable, and stretchers had to detour four kilometers along the side ditch. The medical team divided the road into a heavy-duty lane and a stretcher lane. Shells, oil drums, and bridge materials used the heavy-duty lane, while the stretcher lane was only for people and livestock. One driver, trying to save time, drove his empty cart into the stretcher lane, but after only a dozen steps, he was stopped by the police sent by Zhao Gang.

The driver said there was no cargo on the cart.

The inspector pointed to the stretcher behind him.

"Even an empty car is blocking the road. Back it up."

The wheel wobbled in the narrow ditch for a while, rubbing off a piece of the wooden sign. The sappers nailed the sign back on and filled the ditch back in.

The wounded were divided into groups according to the severity of their injuries.

Those with penetrating leg wounds, chest and abdominal injuries, or severe blood loss should be sent directly to the rear of the stone kiln.

Those who can walk should stay at the second medical station and their destination will be determined after their dressings are changed.

Abrasions, minor injuries, and stun gunfire must be registered first; no one is allowed to return to the company with a simple "I'm fine."

The first sapper, shot in the leg, was carried out from the west bridge. Three miles later, one of the stretcher poles broke. The medic removed a bolt from a broken door and secured it with bandages. The wounded soldier, sweating profusely from the pain, asked if he had brought the wire cutters with him.

The stretcher bearers said it was on the tool cart in the back.

He shut his mouth, still clutching half a piece of wire in his hand.

The shells were delivered to the headquarters in the evening.

Eighteen rounds from the mountain guns facing east, and eleven rounds from the infantry guns.

Twenty-six rounds from the mountain guns facing west, and nine rounds from the infantry guns.

Fourteen mortar rounds were fired northward.

Fourteen mortars fired to the south.

The explosives used for breaching the bridge and cutting the nets are accounted for separately. The remaining detonators are put back into the wooden boxes one by one, and the length of the fuses is measured and recorded. The artillery chief flips through the cards and reports that there are still two short salvos to be fired in the east, but only one salvo to be fired in the west; the mortar shells are being transferred from the south station and will arrive at the earliest at 3 a.m. tomorrow.

Zhao Weiguo asked, "Which side should we repair first?"

"West side," Old Zhou answered first on the phone, "The bridge is still behind the Japanese lines."

Zhao Weiguo agreed.

The transport department dispatched two mule carts to haul shells westward. This delayed the delivery of medicines originally intended for the northern route by half an hour. The medical department, without waiting for the carts, distributed hemostatic powder and bandages to three forward delivery points, ensuring the northern route would be served with the existing medicines until the next batch arrived.

At 11 p.m., there was movement again in the east.

A small group of Japanese soldiers reached the broken telephone line and stepped on a light cable outside the ruins. Two signal flares were launched into the air. The East Battalion did not pursue them for more than 300 meters, but instead held the line and captured two prisoners. The circuit map carried by the prisoners differed from the one from that morning in two places. The headquarters put the two maps side by side into a white folder, waiting for the communications officer to verify them.

The two mobile armored vehicles did not attempt to cross the bridge all day, only making short transfers to the east and west rear. The third vehicle remained in the repair shed, its clutch not yet reinstalled. The 480 men of the 1st Heavy Armored Battalion were separated into repair, towing, and guard teams, without being assigned a new unit designation.

Late at night, the four battle reports were finally put together.

On the first day, the enemy deployed approximately 9,000 troops, scattered across six strongholds, three supply lines, and near two bridges.

Approximately 900 deaths have been confirmed.

One hundred and twenty were captured.

About three hundred people fled.

The rest retreated into strongholds or contracted towards the core. Those who scattered were not recorded as dead, and those who returned to strongholds were not counted as prisoners beforehand.

The Independent Regiment suffered 31 dead and 96 wounded.

Eight friendly forces were killed and twenty-one were wounded.

The two casualty registers were kept separately. After verifying the names, Zhao Gang called over the neighboring liaison officer and had him sign a copy.

"Whoever's people they are, they'll be held accountable. Even fighting together doesn't erase their unit designation."

The operations chief wrote "Encirclement complete," and Zhao Weiguo glanced at it.

What about the bridge on the east side?

"Railway bridge control."

"West side?"

"Only the bridgehead was sealed off; the entire area wasn't taken over."

"North?"

"The mule track is broken, but the outpost remains."

"The convoy from the south?"

The landing point is unknown.

The operations chief crossed out those four words and changed them to "first-level cutoff".

Based on the known roads and reports, the system's auxiliary interface lists only two risk points: the bridge on the east side may still be attacked, and the communication line to the west is prone to being broken again.

Zhao Weiguo did not ask Jiemian to divide his troops for him.

Of the 4,000 in reserve, 3,000 were to move to the east and west, with their exact positions to be determined based on the roads and the flow of wounded. The remaining 1,000 would guard the headquarters and the evacuation line. Those heading north would remain stationary and continue to hold out for the night; those heading south would only pursue intelligence on the convoys, not the vehicles.

Zhao Gang asked, "Where should we attack first tomorrow morning?"

"First, repair the west bridge, then watch for a counterattack from the east. Hold the road on the north front, and find the convoy's lodging location on the south front."

Zhao Weiguo folded the four-way receipt neatly, the small bronze star pressing against his fingertip through the collar insignia. He released his hand and didn't touch it again.

The lights at the six outposts of Chiyabao were still on.

On the first day, simply separate them.

Tomorrow, it will be time to tighten this net.

Zhao Weiguo looked at the lights of the six outposts on the general map one by one, then reached out and moved the small flag at the western end of the bridge half an inch towards the center of the bridge. The flag couldn't be planted on the other side before the bridge was crossed.

He blew out the extra lamp on the table, leaving only one on the main diagram.