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

In late April 1945, the first lights to illuminate the outskirts of Beiping were those at the bridgeheads.

The vanguard of the northward-moving group, numbering approximately 42,000, has entered the deployment area, with another 10,000 still en route. The main artillery force, local transport and medical personnel, and rear guard units are all positioned at varying distances; none of the arrival lists indicate that all 52,000 are in position.

The distance is approximately 90 kilometers in all four directions.

Eastward to Tongxian County.

Southward to Gu'an.

Westward towards Mentougou.

Heading north to Shunyi.

Each direction is tens of kilometers apart, with bridges, highways, telephone lines, villages, and water sources. Zhao Weiguo stayed at the temporary headquarters and couldn't possibly stand at all four bridgeheads on the same day.

The four routes—east, south, west, and north—each had approximately 8,500 to 12,000 men, with artillery and transport personnel listed separately. Those arriving earlier carried an extra section of the road, while those arriving later were given water and reorganized. No route included the sick, cart drivers, and artillerymen in the advance line simply to appear more orderly on the map.

The four orders were also different. Tongxian was to prioritize securing the bridges, Gu'an to prioritize securing the water, Mentougou to prioritize opening the mountain roads, and Shunyi to keep an eye on the railway and southbound vehicles. Each route only knew its adjacent contact points, and if it went beyond the boundary, it was to report to headquarters first. It was forbidden to rush into the city just because it heard gunfire elsewhere.

The outer perimeter defenses, traffic control, and mobile units numbered approximately 18,000. Inside Beiping city, Okamura and the garrison numbered another 22,000. Damage to key points outside the city did not mean that the 22,000 troops inside had been surrounded and annihilated.

The first order only lists four things.

Occupy the bridge.

Highway closed.

Control the radio station.

Check the ferry.

The artillery waited for the coordinates, and the infantry did not conduct covering fire on the city.

Heading east, first arrive at Tongxian Bridge.

Two wooden beams beneath the bridge planks were cracked, and a Japanese guard was stationed at a small fort on the east bank. The engineers didn't rush to cross the bridge; instead, they searched for an old ferry downstream. The guard assumed the other side was going to build a bridge and sent men downstream, which is why Old Zhou allowed the First Battalion to approach from the upstream embankment.

The mortars fired a short volley, then ceased fire at the small fort's firing port. Infantry occupied the east bank, while engineers dismantled the bridge planks for inspection. Two wooden beams needed to be replaced; the heavy vehicles remained behind, and the infantry crossed first.

A platoon leader asked, "Should we pursue those who retreated?"

"Let's nail the bridge in place first," Old Zhou said. "I don't want to have to go back and rob it again."

Light vehicles were only allowed to pass over the Tongxian Bridge at noon. The receipt for controlling the bridge was signed by the engineers, infantrymen, and liaison officers.

Two sappers lay dead by the bridge; one could still speak, the other's chest was motionless. The surviving one grabbed his squad leader's sleeve and asked only one question: "Can the bridge planks cross the stretcher?" The squad leader glanced at the newly nailed wooden beams and said yes.

He finally let go. When the medic cut open his clothes, he found half a bridge draft tucked into his pocket, the pencil lines soaked with sweat and blood. The draft was delivered to the engineering platoon, and his name was added to the wounded roster. Dong Xiang did not report the victory ahead of schedule, but only postponed the light vehicle passage time by half an hour.

The first thing encountered in Gu'an, heading south, is water.

Coal ash was scattered into the well beside the road, and rags and dead rats were found at the wellhead. After the medic took a sample, the well was sealed, and the troops had to detour eight kilometers to fetch water from outside the village. The local transport team did not use the villagers' water tanks directly; they first checked with the village representatives to determine the amount that could be supplied before issuing food coupons and receipts.

A villager said that a large number of Japanese convoys had headed north the previous night. The scouts pressed for details about the headlights, sounds, and the duration of the convoy's journey, but could only confirm the presence of vehicles, not their exact number. The information was sent to the White Paper (a local news agency), but did not become artillery coordinates.

The first section of the Gu'an Highway was brought under control in the afternoon. Machine guns were still present at the intersections on the second section. To the south, only water sources and intersections were held; no pursuit was made towards Beiping City.

The slowest direction is westward to Mentougou.

Rocks had fallen down the mountain road, and engineers cleared a narrow path just wide enough for mules and horses. Neighboring units held two high points, while the monk's reconnaissance team followed telephone poles to a small exchange.

There was still a duty officer in the exchange, inquiring about the presence of artillery fire on the west side of the city. The monk didn't grab the headset; he let the communications team connect first. The other side asked three times in a row, indicating that Beiping was determining the main attack direction.

The communications team recorded the frequency and time, then cut off the external line while maintaining the local line. The exchange became a radio communication node for this operation.

A convoy of vehicles was testing the waters on the northbound Shunyi Highway.

A dozen trucks escorted the infantry southward. Upon encountering the roadblock, they did not immediately charge but instead sent men to inspect the fields on both sides. The cavalry observation team followed from the north until the convoy entered the open space between two villages, at which point the engineers laid down wooden stakes behind them.

The vehicles in front reversed, blocking the way behind. Infantry heading north opened fire from both sides of the road, targeting only the escort convoy and the tires of the vehicles, without firing directly at the village houses.

After the battle, drivable vehicles, broken-down vehicles, oil drums, and wounded personnel were registered. Two trucks caught fire, and the fire department first towed away the nearby oil drums. The second bridge and two sections of highway were secured to the north.

The battles on all sides did not begin at the same time, nor did they end with a single phone call.

Zhao Gang retrieved the control sheet at the main station according to the direction. The Tongxian Bridge, Shunyi Bridge, the two sections of highway in Gu'an, the Mentougou mountain road, and the section of highway in Shunyi were mapped item by item. The total number of control nodes included one radio station, two bridges, and three sections of highway.

On the first day, the enemy was confirmed dead at approximately 320, captured at 110, and scattered at approximately 180.

Our side suffered 22 dead and 67 wounded.

Casualties are listed separately by east, south, west, and north, with neighboring and local support personnel listed separately. For those who fled, only their direction is recorded; they are not listed as annihilated.

The names of the twenty-two fallen soldiers were read out in order of direction. No one answered at the control room; the phone was still ringing, and the pencil was still moving across the map. When the name of the engineer from Tongxian was read, the staff officer in charge of marking the bridge paused and re-blackened the small circle next to the bridge.

Of the sixty-seven wounded, some had gunshot wounds, some had shrapnel wounds, and some had broken legs while fighting for the bridge. Medical vehicles were dispatched according to road conditions; the seriously wounded went first to the Seventh Military Station, while the lightly wounded were kept at the local medical station. As the stretchers passed the village entrance, the people registering grain purchases voluntarily made way for them. An old man who had just handed over two bags of millet saw blood dripping on the ground, went back to his yard, brought back a basin of wood ash, poured it onto the ruts to absorb the blood, and asked no questions.

Zhao Gang separated the categories of dead, injured, and still in critical condition into three columns. The numbers won't lighten just because the encirclement is complete, nor can they be covered up with a simple "not many casualties."

When a Tongxian engineer was killed in action, he was still holding a bridge sledgehammer. The tool was handed over to the engineer platoon, and his body and name were sent to the rear. The bridge sledgehammer was neither captured nor removed from the wear and tear list even if a replacement tool was found.

There were still more than 10,000 enemy troops on the outer perimeter, and the 22,000 inside the city had not moved. The operations chief wrote "The encirclement of Beiping is complete," but Zhao Weiguo told him to change it to "The four-way encirclement line has been formed."

"Where is the problem?" the operations chief asked.

"Another 10,000 men haven't arrived yet, and the road to the south remains open. There's been no fighting inside the city."

The southern guide passage was about twelve kilometers wide, connecting two villages and an old road. It appeared to be the thinnest point on the outer perimeter, but the actual artillery positions were three kilometers away behind a embankment. The cavalry only observed the wheel tracks, while the engineers prepared obstacles that could be closed at any time.

Zhao Gang asked, "Should we seal it off now?"

"Keep it for now."

"Okamura will see through it."

"If you can tell, you won't leave. Only if you can't tell will you send the car and people onto this road."

The designated passageways must not obstruct the passage of civilians. The takeover team set up registration points at the village entrances, separating the purchase of grain from intelligence gathering. Troops were not allowed to enter villages to requisition grain, and artillery positions were to be kept away from houses and wells.

In the afternoon, follow-up troops arrived at the Seventh Supply Station.

That's still not all.

The rearguard of the 1st Battalion was 60 kilometers away, the main artillery force was 40 kilometers away, and local medical supplies had only reached about 80%. Zhao Weiguo did not include the missing troops in the troop numbers for the four directions just to make the map look better.

None of the four roads were completely smooth.

The Tongxian Bridge took three hours to repair, and two wooden beams were replaced.

The Gu'an well was out of service, forcing transport teams to take an extra eight kilometers.

The mountain roads in Mentougou are only accessible to mules and horses.

The roadblocks in Shunyi were washed away twice by the rain, and the cavalrymen re-erected them.

Additional logistical losses: five mules injured, two vehicles broken down, eleven sets of batteries damp, and three boxes of rifle ammunition with broken clay seals. Each item has a location and the person responsible for handling it, but no mention of "loss-free advancement."

The damp batteries were laid out in an empty mill in Mentougou. The communications soldier used charcoal fire to dry them over an iron plate; too much fire would damage them, and too little fire would delay nighttime communications. Three boxes of rifle ammunition were wiped clean of mud, and usable ones were resealed with oil paper, while those with damaged primers were stored separately. A water hose was removed from one of the two broken-down vehicles to revive the other, and the remaining vehicle bodies were pushed out of the ditch to avoid blocking the wounded vehicle.

Of the five injured mules, two could still be led, while the other three were left with the local veterinarian. The driver, having received the handover slip, was reluctant to leave and looked back several times. The walls of Beiping were still not clearly visible, but the cost of the siege was already evident in the bridge planks, mud seals, and the legs of the livestock.

In Beiping, Okamura received conflicting information.

Taiyuan Public Radio is still broadcasting during a break.

Chu Yunfei's defense zone only has designated passage receipts.

Meanwhile, conflicts simultaneously broke out at bridgeheads, telephone booths, and highways on the outskirts of Beiping.

All he got were tire tracks, missing phone numbers, and several guard teams that hadn't returned; he couldn't find the complete route of 52,000 people in a single report.

Okamura spread out the telegrams, first arranging them by time, then by location. The rest broadcasts from Taiyuan continued, and Chu Yunfei only left official records of the three routes, while the reports from the outposts along the lines were all about small groups of people, the sound of vehicles at night, and broken telephone lines. Looking at any one telegram was not enough; once Tongxian, Gu'an, Mentougou, and Shunyi were connected, a circle appeared on the paper.

The staff officer asked whether they should recall all the mobile units outside the city.

Okamura stared at the empty space to the south, offering no answer. If he withdrew, the outer nodes would continue to fall; if he let go, the seemingly most vulnerable path to the south would appear like an open mouth. The tea on the table had long since gone cold, a ring of black stains clinging to the rim of the cup. He didn't smash it, but simply pushed the cup off the map, making room to continue setting up his pieces.

Twenty-two thousand people remained in the city, guarding warehouses, hospitals, and telephone exchanges. Outside the city, the eighteen thousand key troops could no longer hear each other's gunfire, and telephone calls were cut off. The three-month rest and reorganization order from Taiyuan revealed its most ruthless aspect: it didn't leave Beiping unprepared, but rather made each defensive effort a step too late.

Two mobile teams were dispatched from within the city. One went south to probe, and the other went to the eastern suburbs to seize the bridge. Zhao Weiguo did not block it in advance, but first had the radio monitored and the cavalry observe.

To the south, only lights were on; reconnaissance teams were not pursued. To the east, the bridge was guarded; the engineers' inspection line was not crossed. On the western front, false tire tracks and empty ammunition boxes were deliberately left, while the actual artillery was moved to the northern slope.

A phone call came through Mentougou inquiring about the artillery group on the west side.

"They're guessing which team will attack first," Zhao Gang said.

"Let him keep guessing."

At night, the first batch of artillery arrived at the north slope. The gun wheels were paved, the firing arc was remeasured, and the ammunition boxes remained sealed. Observers marked the bridge, road, telephone station, and residential area separately. If the enemy entered the southern passage, the artillery would fire at the intersection, not the village.

The four-way traffic lights returned one after another.

Two long and one short facing east.

Three short sections facing south.

It stretches westward.

No lamps were needed for those heading north; the return receipts were delivered by cavalry.

Zhao Weiguo checks the line every hour, without requiring simultaneous reports from all locations. If a line is broken, the last receipt is processed first, and only after that time is sent to check the line.

The four-way encirclement has taken shape.

The road to the south is still there.

From the direction of the railway to the north, another train number came in.

The monitor recorded the rhythm of the train wheels three times. The first was short, the second was heavier, and the third was still stopped towards the outside of the pass. The existing records only indicated that reinforcements were approaching along the railway, but the number of troops and their equipment had not been verified.

Zhao Weiguo did not include it in the first day's results, but only ordered the northward observation group to change shifts, and added a group of messengers to both the railway slope and the old post road.

"The city gates haven't even opened yet, but people are already knocking on the door," Zhao Gang said.

Zhao Weiguo left the 12-kilometer passage to the south on the map and moved his finger toward the railway to the north.

"First, make sure you know who it is."

The monitor handed over a new log: the third train had moved outside the pass. Zhao Weiguo took the paper and drew a circle around the location of the railway slope.

The soldiers outside the pass are marching into the pass. The Baima Valley pass is their only route into Beiping.