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

At 3 a.m. the next day, there were no gunshots outside Chiyabao.

The waterwheel and ammunition truck were the first to move.

Only one round of shells remained for the west last night; the ammunition replenished from the south station had just crossed the first bridge. Two mule carts led the way, their wheels wrapped in burlap, the wooden axles still creaking. The medicines originally scheduled to be delivered to the northern route were half an hour late, so the medical team sent men to guard the crossroads, questioning each cart they saw.

"The shells have arrived, but where's the ammunition?"

The driver dared not stop: "The car behind! The car behind!"

By the time the medicine box arrived, the sky was already turning white. After the medic checked the seal, he distributed the hemostatic powder and bandages to the three forward delivery points, and also recorded the empty box as part of the handover. A section of the stretcher path had been damaged by a vehicle yesterday, so the engineers laid gravel under cover of darkness, and the wooden sign was nailed back to the ditch entrance.

From the main station, two armored vehicles drove out from behind the north slope.

The steel plates were pieced together from old boiler plates and trial armor plates, with rivets arranged in alternating rows. The third vehicle is still in the repair shed; the clutch has been disassembled and laid out on a tarpaulin, and it cannot be driven today.

The 480 men of the 1st Heavy Armored Battalion were divided into three groups. Each of the two vehicles was accompanied by a group of infantry, machine gunners, and maintenance personnel, while the remaining group guarded the ammunition car, tow ropes, and repair parts.

Zhao Gang tapped on the car door with his knuckles.

"Can it stop close-range rifle bullets?"

Zhao Tieshan squatted down next to the front wheel to check the nuts.

"A good angle can block it, but a close-range head-on shot is unpredictable. It's not an ironclad tortoise; don't let people crowd together behind it."

Where's the water tank?

"It's full. The spare water will follow the truck behind."

North Pass is less than two kilometers from the outer perimeter of the core area. A black line is drawn on the map, and in reality, there are three layers of barbed wire, two shallow trenches, and a stone machine gun emplacement. Rainwater has washed away the minefield markings, and the muddy ground makes it impossible to tell whether there are old or new footprints.

On the second day, approximately 5,200 men from the independent regiment were deployed, along with about 2,600 men from neighboring units and about 400 local transportation, sanitation, and road repair personnel. The total number of tents along the four directions remained at 38,000, with the remaining 4,000 not fully deployed into the mountain pass.

Only three mountain guns were used at the North Pass. Eighteen short-charge shells, twelve destroyer shells, and thirty-six mortar shells were used. A new batch of shells had just been replenished for the westward direction, and they could not be emptied from the bridgehead.

Zhao Weiguo asked the artillery chief, "How long can we hold out?"

"Two rounds. Then we'll see how the engineers progress."

"Then don't pave the road with artillery shells."

At 4:17, the first shell landed to the left of the machine gun emplacement.

Stone chips flew across the trench, but the engineers didn't get up. The second shot hit the observation hole, the third hit the mound of earth behind the barbed wire. Only when the shelling stopped did they drag their probes and wire cutters forward.

The soldier at the front knelt in the mud, probing the ground inch by inch. When the probe hit something hard, he first used his fingers to dig through the mud and found a section of fuse.

"There's a mine here."

The deputy planted the white cloth. The rear guard circled around from the other side, and no one stepped over the mud.

Japanese machine guns swept along the edge of the trench, dirt falling into the soldiers' collars. The artillery observer fired a short salvo, and a mountain gun shell landed beside the stone platform. The firing port was half blocked by rubble, and the engineers took the opportunity to move to the front of the first layer of barbed wire.

The wire was stretched too tight; the moment the clamps closed, the severed end snapped off onto the cotton sleeve. Two men covered the wire with a blanket, and a third man cut it. The gap was only wide enough for one person; the infantrymen lay prone behind, not stepping on the engineers to rush forward.

As dawn broke, the first layer of netting opened.

Japanese mountain artillery returned fire from the core direction. A shell landed next to a water truck, causing it to overturn into a ditch. Two water buckets rolled out, their hoops breaking off. The transport worker suffered a cut on his calf from shrapnel, and while getting his wound bandaged, he was still touching the tent tag at his waist.

"The license plate is under the car."

"Sit down first," the medic said, pressing him down. "Whoever takes over the water cart, write down their name."

Replacement vehicles were brought in from the rear, and the water loss and vehicle condition were recorded separately. No one omitted a water truck from the battle report just because it was the only one that was damaged.

The first armored vehicle began to advance.

The tires got stuck in a shallow ditch, the engine grumbled, and the car veered to the left. The mechanic lay down by the ditch to check the steering linkage, and only after confirming it was still drivable did he use stones to prop up the wheels. The second car stayed thirty meters away, watching the right side of the pass, and didn't follow into the same gap.

The armored vehicle advanced ten meters, and the infantry cleared ten meters of trench. Ammunition boxes were passed along another route, while the stretcher team remained behind the earthen slope. The machine guns on the vehicles only fired at the observation ports and sandbags, not at the figures running around in the mountain pass.

Forty minutes later, the second layer of barbed wire exploded.

As soon as the company entered, the handgun fire from behind the stone wall suddenly erupted. Two men in the front row fell, and the rest retreated back to the earthen embankment. The mortar observer changed his angle, firing four shells in succession, the last one blasting open the top cover of the ammunition depot.

The machine gun stopped.

The infantry entered the trench from both sides of the breach, first searching the corners, then pulling out the broken wooden stakes to make way for the stretcher. A platoon leader wanted to chase after them into the mountain pass, but was stopped by the engineers.

"The third layer of the network hasn't been tested yet."

The platoon leader saw the thunder helmet sticking out of the mud and retreated.

At 8:00 AM, the first line of defense at Beishankou was captured. The first battalion facing east suffered 18 dead and 57 wounded. The seriously wounded were sent to Shiyao, the lightly wounded remained at the second medical station, and those temporarily unable to hear due to artillery stun were also registered.

A soldier shot in the chest grabbed the medic's sleeve.

"Has Yamaguchi been captured?"

"I took half."

"Lift the ones in front first."

The medic tucked his hand back under the blanket.

"With air leaking from your chest, who are you going to line up with?"

As the stretcher was lifted, gunshots rang out again from deep within the mountain pass.

They were simultaneously vying for grain routes to the west.

After neighboring units secured the bridgehead, reconnaissance teams were dispatched along the riverbank. The cavalry did not pursue the stragglers; engineers laid planks to allow the infantry guns to cross the ditch. The gun wheels got stuck in the mud, so ten men unloaded the ammunition boxes and used ropes to pull the gun mounts. The right outrigger hit a rock while getting ashore, bending at one end.

The gunner lay down and observed for a long time.

"We can still fire three more shots."

What happens after the third shot?

"Discontinue use, replace the leg."

The first shot hit the eastern entrance of the supply route; the second shot broke the axle of a mule cart; and the third shot landed in front of the retreating column. The artillery crew immediately removed the breechblock and hung a "Not in Use" sign on the gun carriage. There was no fourth shot.

Only six bags of dry rations were salvaged from the grain cart; the rest were soaked in rainwater. The cooks opened the bags to inspect them, spreading out those that could be dried and separating the sour ones; the entire cart was not allowed to be counted as spoils.

At noon, a reinforcement team was dispatched from the core stronghold.

The enemy garrison and reinforcements totaled approximately 6,200 men, advancing in two directions: one towards the northern mountain pass, and the other towards the western supply route. Zhao Weiguo detached 1,200 men from the general reserve and assigned them to the two junctions. The remaining reserves continued to guard the railway, supply depots, and rear supply lines.

Zhao Gang asked, "If we add another batch, can we push all the way to the bottom of Beishankou?"

"Adding people in won't increase the amount of shells and water. If the supply line breaks again, the people inside the pass won't be able to get out."

The headquarters designated the North Pass as the No. 1 passage. Engineers guarded the road surface, communications soldiers connected the lines along the gaps, and medical teams set up a transfer point behind the mountain. First, secure the two kilometers of road, then discuss the core issues.

In the afternoon, the first armored vehicle's water tank was hit.

Shrapnel tore a hole in the side, and hot water sprayed out from the gap in the front of the vehicle. The driver was too slow to shut off the engine, and the back of his hand was scalded red. The mechanic tried to plug the leak with rubber sheets and iron clamps, but water continued to seep out after he tried filling the hole.

"How far can it go?" Zhao Tieshan asked.

"Short-range movements are acceptable, but continuous forward movement is not."

After the broken-down vehicle retreated to the mountain pass, it was repurposed to transport ammunition and the wounded. A second vehicle then took its place. With one less vehicle capable of continuous movement, the engineers had to wait for an extra round of fire each time they opened a breach.

Armor plates can only provide cover for a few dozen meters at most dangerous points. They cannot help infantry search trenches, nor can they provide water or artillery shells for the rear.

In the evening, they advanced about two kilometers towards the core of the North Pass. The western grain route was cut in two, and convoys could not pass each other between the bridgehead and the mountain road. The eastern railway bridge remained under control, while the southern convoy continued to be checked for the previous day's convoy route.

The prisoners captured on the second day were not immediately herded to the rear.

The 210 men were first divided into groups outside the mountain pass. Those who could walk sat in the dry ditch, the wounded were moved behind white sheets, and the weapons found were placed on the other side. Each time a group was counted, the registrar wrote the number of people and their origin on a wooden sign. The North Mountain Pass, the West Grain Route, and the outer support team were separated to avoid mixing up the three locations when taking statements.

One prisoner had a penetrating wound in his leg, and his trousers were stiff. He couldn't walk and refused to have his trousers cut. The medic had the translator explain that the wound would fester if not cleaned, but the prisoner still clutched his belt. Finally, a guard held down the holster while the medic cut the fabric open from the side. Inside, there were no weapons, only a soaking wet meal ticket from the train station.

Meal tickets were also put into the evidence bag, and the wounds were recorded separately.

Prisoners' water was distributed from the front-line water tents. They couldn't be allowed to steal buckets from the wounded just because they were prisoners, nor could the seriously wounded be forced to wait for interrogation on empty stomachs. Those on the move were allowed to drink in batches, with the wounded getting priority. The transport route passed through the North Pass No. 1, which heavy vehicles couldn't yet cross. The first batch of prisoners remained behind the mountain until the stretchers and ammunition trucks had passed before setting off.

Local transport personnel tethered the captured mules separately from their own livestock. They wrote down who brought them, whether the saddles were intact, and whether any legs were injured on tags. One mule had a cracked hind hoof and could no longer pull cannons, so it was reassigned to carrying empty boxes. No one used it to supplement available transport capacity.

Before nightfall, the engineers measured the No. 1 passage again. The narrowest point could only accommodate one light vehicle, and someone had to watch the flags at the turns. The communications troops laid the new cable inside the slope, leaving the old cable as a backup. The medical team set up two stretcher stops within two kilometers, where stretchers could be moved to for a change of personnel; the wounded couldn't be left on the muddy ground to wait.

When the battle reports were put together, the enemy had been confirmed dead at approximately 620, captured at 210, and scattered at approximately 180. The core stronghold still had about 5,000 men, and remnants of reinforcements were still active on the outskirts.

Our side suffered 47 dead and 132 wounded. The 18 dead and 57 wounded of the Eastbound Battalion are included, and cannot be added together. The wounds of friendly and independent regiments will be recorded separately, and the wounds of local transport and medical personnel will be recorded separately.

An armored vehicle's water tank is in need of repair.

One infantry gun mount was damaged and it has been taken out of service.

The No. 1 passage at Beishankou is accessible for stretchers and light vehicles, but heavy vehicles still require reinforcement.

After checking the numbers, Zhao Gang asked, "Would the next day be considered a breach?"

"Yes," Zhao Weiguo said. "Just two kilometers."

At night, there were a few more car lights in the core direction.

The phone tapping only revealed fragmented passwords, making it impossible to confirm the number of reinforcements. Zhao Weiguo put the intelligence into a white folder without having the system complete it.

The North Pass has already opened.

The people inside are still being drawn towards the core.

Zhao Weiguo closed the white folder and placed it next to the map showing the two-kilometer-long No. 1 passage. The gap in the mountain pass was only two kilometers wide, but not a single light in the core stronghold of five thousand people went out.

He stared at the lights for a long time, then reached out and pushed the flag of the general preparations half an inch further north towards the mountain pass.