"Sir, I am just a beggar. I will work for whoever gives me food! "
One day in September 1941, near Beiloushan Village in Baoding County, Hebei Province, a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers wearing gray cloth uniforms were surrounding He walked in a circle and looked at the nearby mountain road warily. Inside the circle, there is a smaller circle, filled with ordinary people carrying baggage. These people were pointing at a person kneeling on the ground in the small circle and kept cursing. Opposite that man stood a majestic Eighth Route Army general.
This Eighth Route Army general is not tall, has a round face, and does not have the malevolence of a soldier in his eyebrows. If it weren't for the sweat and mud on his face, you could even feel that he was kind-hearted. But now, this man was looking at the kneeling man sternly, with a look of helplessness in his eyes. This general is none other than Yang Dezhi, commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region!
" You put so many villagers and the Eighth Route Army who have helped you in danger just for these few kilograms of grain. Who are you doing this to deserve? If the country perishes and the nation is gone, what can you do with these few kilograms Xiaomi How many days will it take? Once the Eighth Route Army is wiped out, can the Japanese still give you food? " Commander Yang Dezhi was obviously very angry and said loudly to the man in front of him.
" Sir, I'm still saying the same thing, I'm just a beggar. I don't understand the big principles you said. I just know that I will sacrifice my life for whoever gives me food. This is the only right thing to do! " That kneel down At this time, the sitting person spoke louder and louder, as if he had been greatly wronged.
So, why did this happen? How will things end?
time goes back to a year ago.
In the summer of 1940, the world's anti-fascist war was in a stalemate. In the European battlefield, the German armored clusters advanced by leaps and bounds, defeating Poland, Poland, and France at lightning speed, forcing hundreds of thousands of French troops to retreat to the United Kingdom. The United States, on the other hand, is still dreaming of getting rich on both sides and watching the war from across the border, and refuses to participate in the war. They neither want to nor can control the affairs of the East.
The Japanese army was unable to expand their results in China at this time, but they had new ideas for the land they had already occupied. Although the big cities in Jiangnan, , northern Jiangsu, , North China, and Shandong are all under their control. However, in the vast mountainous areas and rural areas, the anti-Japanese beacon fire was always ignited. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party were extremely active on the battlefield behind enemy lines, often cutting off the Japanese supply lines and attacking their lone troops. A little adds up to a lot, and the results are many. So the Japanese army decided to first implement the " cage policy" in North China to cut off the connection between the Eighth Route Army and the base areas and trap the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians to death!
In order to break the enemy's prison, Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, mobilized heavy troops in late July 1940 and launched a "breaking attack" along the enemy's railway line! Originally, the scale of the battle was planned to be controlled at around 22 regiments. But later, with the continuous addition of troops from all aspects, the total number of participants in the war reached more than 270,000, a total of 105 regiments! This battle killed and injured more than 20,000 Japanese troops and more than 5,000 puppet troops; captured more than 280 Japanese troops and more than 18,000 puppet troops; destroyed more than 900 miles of railways and more than 3,000 miles of highways; and destroyed 258 bridges and stations. ;At the same time, a large number of weapons and military supplies were seized! This is the famous " hundred regiments vs. " in history!
The significance and results of the Hundred Regiment War are extraordinary. The blow against the invaders really hit the sore spot. Therefore, starting from October 1940, the Japanese army carried out retaliatory raids on our anti-Japanese base areas! They continued to draw troops from other theaters and intensified their operations in North China. Suddenly, the pressure on the base doubled!
With the strength of the Eighth Route Army at that time, it did not have the capital to fight head-on with the Japanese army. Therefore, the superiors implemented small-scale maneuvers to avoid the enemy's edge based on the principle of "the enemy advances and we retreat". At that time, there was a very developed investigation system in the areas most vulnerable to harassment in the base area.Once the enemy is discovered to be out in force, the Eighth Route Army will organize the common people to clear the country and retreat collectively to the mountains for shelter. Wait until the enemy is gone and then come back to live. In this way, although the safety of people's property and lives cannot be guaranteed 100%, it can still protect a large number of people.
After several major raids failed, the Japanese army began to use new methods. They began to bribe traitors on a large scale and let these people hang around the base area to provide them with intelligence. In addition to many born " rickets ", there are also a large number of lazy people and extremely poor people who have become the so-called "liaison officers" of the Japanese army, guiding them on the whereabouts of the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians.
In August 1941, the Japanese army launched another large-scale raid, targeting the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army's command center - Fuping ! In this sweep, the enemy gathered a total of 130,000 people in an attempt to carry out an "iron wall encirclement" of the base area! The ferocity of its momentum can be said to be unprecedented.
However, the Eighth Route Army's methods of dealing with the enemy are still effective. As long as the enemy's movements are detected, personnel will be organized to evacuate in advance. As the commander, Yang Dezhi thought so at first. He organized the people, escorted by the army, and slowly moved deep into the Taihang Mountains. This move has worked well before, but this time, the enemy's situation is very different. No matter how the Eighth Route Army moves, the enemy will always stick to it like maggots on the tarsus. At this time, the Eighth Route Army and the masses could only be forced to move again.
High-intensity marching was nothing to the Eighth Route Army, but to the common people, it was really a hard job. Among these people were old, young, and even pregnant women. If you can't get rid of your enemies, their bodies may be overwhelmed. And if the Eighth Route Army fights head-on with the enemy in order to protect the people, the losses will be huge!
As the commander, General Yang Dezhi certainly understands the reason for this. There must be some enemy spies in this team of my own! They will leave specific marks every time they move to guide the enemy to pursue them. Although they are marching at this time, it is not difficult to investigate who is the spy, because the spy must have property given by the enemy! Just search and everything will be clear! However, I am facing ordinary people who live with me day and night, and I really can’t open my mouth if I want to search them!
However, the situation is indeed getting more and more critical, and there is no room for him to have any doubts. Yang Dezhi called his commanders together and asked them to notify the soldiers and civilians to conduct searches in batches! Afterwards, it was proved that most of the people understood that this was to ensure everyone's safety, and they all cooperated very well, and no one made trouble.
When the troops moved into a mountain col, the soldiers began to search another group of people. This time, a new situation suddenly occurred. A beggar who usually hangs around the village was also retreating with the team. When the soldiers wanted to search him, the beggar suddenly became very manic and shouted: "The Eighth Route Army is beating someone!" and then refused to search. A reconnaissance platoon leader at that time felt that there must be something wrong with this person, so he asked the soldiers to search him forcibly. As a result, a bag of yellow millet was found on his body!
Millet is very common in northern China, but it is unusual to find so much millet on a person who has always been poor and relies on villagers for food. The people at that time were not wealthy. How could anyone give so much millet to a beggar? And even if someone gives charity, the food given to him must be of various kinds, and it cannot be millet with such high purity.
Under the interrogation of the Eighth Route Army soldiers, the beggar soon confessed everything. It turned out that not long ago, he met an evil gentry near the village. This person not only gave the beggar food, but also occasionally gave him some money. The beggar was very grateful, so he agreed to help the evil gentry and revealed the whereabouts of the Eighth Route Army. Before retreating this time, the two of them had agreed on markings on the road. The reason why the Japanese army was able to catch up quickly was because of the guidance of these marks.
Hearing that the search had yielded results, Commander Yang Dezhi decided to meet the spy in person. He also gathered the common people who accompanied the team together and asked them to conduct a "public trial" of the spies. Who would have known that this beggar was very convincing and always emphasized that "he who gives food will be served." He didn't think he had done anything wrong, which made Yang Dezhi very helpless. This is the scene where this article begins. At the end, Commander Yang could only sigh: " This person is really stubborn! " and then ordered the soldiers to execute this person on the spot!
It turns out that this beggar is indeed a spy. After getting rid of him, the Japanese could no longer find the Eighth Route Army's path. The safety of institutions and people has also been guaranteed.
