Chapter 35: Forging Ahead 2

  In the cold weather of early winter in Qinling, even Wu An Guo, who was wearing a special down jacket and had a strong physique and endurance, couldn't help but shiver! He had just walked out of his tent and stepped on the freshly fallen snow, which made a crunching sound under his feet. Unprepared for the cold wind blowing into his collar, he felt an unprecedented "coolness" that was like his soul leaving his body!

  The journey was long and arduous, and the other soldiers were even more miserable! The temporary tent that had been crushed by the snow couldn't keep out the chill, the cotton-padded jacket couldn't keep out the cold, and the hot cornmeal porridge couldn't stop the runny nose. Hehe, if you didn't wipe it clean in time, it would freeze on your skin, causing a tearing pain! Especially on winter days when your skin was numb from the cold!

  They, who were forced to withdraw from the mountainous area, left behind four or five hundred corpses under the attack of soldiers led by Gao Quan. Only then did they manage to escape and rush into Shangnan County Town to warm up. Looking at the cheering Red Army soldiers, as well as their tattered clothes, Wu An'guo felt very uncomfortable and puzzled! Why could the Red Army soldiers still fight in the severe cold, while his soldiers had no motivation to act even with heavy rewards?

  The unexpected cold of early winter drove away the 60,000-strong army of Wu An Guo, and also allowed Gao Daquan and his soldiers to catch their breath. The lack of winter clothes made them lose many men due to the cold. If it weren't for everyone being from poor families, they would have worn similar clothes in the military on ordinary winter days, and there might have been even more frostbite. After hastily distributing over 500 sets of cotton-padded jackets stained with blood,

  Gao Quan and Wei Lao were also preparing to lead their troops back to the mountainous area of Su District in Shanyang, where they would spend the harsh winter. Along the way, they would prepare for the winter supplies and New Year's goods. Psychologically mature Gao Quan and Wei Lao looked at each other with a deep and proud gaze, as if looking at their own children, with a kind and benevolent expression. Their eyes shone with an unyielding pride! For they were the indomitable, iron-clad Red Army, who could not be defeated, worn down, scattered or killed!

  The Nationalist Party doesn't have such a good heart, Wu An Guo is the younger brother-in-law of the Chairman of Henan Province, so he can naturally return to rest after the "big victory", but the Shaanxi Garrison Brigade is his stepmother's child! Can't help but bring several county militia, bitterly wandering in the mountains.

  With Zhe Xiao's carrier pigeon, although sometimes due to the harsh weather in the mountainous area on a cold winter day, some letters using "Dream of Red Mansions" as a cipher were lost, but most of the letters still brought important intelligence to Gao Quan. Considering that today's winter day in Shanyang was also not going well due to the heavy siege by the Nationalist Party, he made slight adjustments and immediately led his troops westward. After all, the Nationalist soldiers and militia were still suffering from the cut-off roads and dense landmines!

  The news of the entire team's westward advance was quietly transmitted by the beggar through a telegraph machine in the broken temple! He had been hiding in the Soviet Union for so long and so deeply that he had not been discovered, which might be a miracle, or perhaps it was because his boss Dai Li gave them a high reward...

  Qingtong Pass, located in the southeast of Zhen'an County, is a strategic location within Shaanxi Province! It borders Qianyou River to the east and is adjacent to Wanjiayang. To the west lies Chongjia Mountain, while to the south lies Lijiashan's hazardous terrain! Moreover, Qingtong Pass is a must-pass location for the Red 74th Division heading west to Ningxia-Shaanxi. The mountain peaks are steep, the valley roads are narrow, and the terrain is treacherous, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack, earning the reputation of "one man holding the pass, ten thousand men unable to open". A main force battalion from the Nationalist 115th Brigade, led by Battalion Commander Shi Zusan, seized this strategic location first.

  Apart from fighting, Gao Quan has no other way out! Although this is the first time that the 74th Red Army Division has established a head-on confrontation with the enemy's main force since its establishment, and the enemy is in a defensive position with favorable terrain, with weapons and equipment morale are extremely backward and exhausted. The troops went up to attack the enemy on the mountain top, which was simply a disaster! However, if they don't leave quickly, the Shaanxi Security Brigade behind them won't be easy to deal with! The army composed of local people from Shaanxi is still very powerful in mountain warfare!

  Originally, according to Deputy Commander Chen's opinion, it was to send out a small detachment, under the circumstances that the enemy did not know our main force had arrived, to lure and annihilate this battalion of the 115th Regiment, which had deep grievances with our army, by having them come down the mountain for revenge. At that time, it seemed like this method was the best.

  Puffing sullenly on the cigarette he had snatched from Wei Lao, Gao Daquan, who didn't respect his elders or care for the young, had a fleeting gaze as if thinking of something. Sometimes he was gentle and calm, but other times he hid a killer's intent. After a shocking smile, Gao Daquan used his powerful fist to punch Vice-Commander Chen once, watching as Chen stumbled and fell to the ground. Only then did he seem to come to his senses and prepare to help him up. But unexpectedly, Chen's cunning eyes flashed, and he tripped Gao Daquan. The two young men were laughing and fighting at the entrance of the division headquarters, kicking up clouds of dust...

  In the mountains where it had just snowed, pair after pair of dark eyes kept popping out from the grassy fortifications, their bodies buried, with rapid and tense breathing, wisps of vapor constantly emerging from their mouths and nostrils. As the commander of the 228th Regiment's First Battalion, Huang Chu slightly raised his shotgun, while his numb and frozen hands were slightly stiff. The icy cold air kept seeping through his thin cotton-padded jacket, continuously conducting to his body on the ground.

  A faint sense of regret in his mind, wondering why he had been so bold the day before to learn from his superiors and give those cotton-padded jackets to the wounded and machine gunners, the special duty soldiers. His mouth slowly stirred the dry, spicy chili peppers, the faint flame slowly spreading along with the snow that had just been stuffed into his mouth, in the strange feeling between ice and fire, he gulped it down his throat, going to fill up that already burning stomach. The pain on his face was like a thread, with dense sweat beads on his forehead, unsure if it was the pain or the spiciness of the chili peppers...

  He took a glance at the young deputy commander beside him, whose beard had not yet grown fully. He felt an inexplicable sense of comfort and warmth in his heart. If the commander was like a raging fire, then the deputy commander was like the warm sun on a winter's day. He looked up at the horizon, where he saw the enemy army approaching with rolling clouds of dust, amidst the cold and gloomy grey sky. "It seems it's going to snow heavily again!"

  Gaoquan, who was hiding outside the ditch, undertook the most arduous task this time. He personally led the special agent company and the handgun squad members from various departments, as well as soldiers with strong close combat capabilities such as big knife hands, to hide in a low-lying area outside the mountain ditch. The warm hut built with ice and snow, like an Eskimo's, not only made the soldiers feel extremely surprised but also provided them with a hiding place. Only Gaoquan was worried, constantly holding binoculars and watching the distant hillside where a good show was being performed.

  The four hundred or more men led by Fang Zanmou, were constantly making a feint attack on the enemy's position at the top of the mountain. The loud "boom" and dense "gunfire" rolled up thick smoke, as if an intense battle was about to begin! Although at first, using Jiuzhe's leadership of more than a dozen soldiers, they lured down two companies of the enemy, the densely formed enemy troops were met with devastating losses in front of the dense hail of bullets and iron sand.

  So at this moment, the enemy on the mountain top is left with only one company of over a hundred people! Although relying on the rugged terrain and fortifications, as well as a large number of guns and ammunition, they are still holding out. But Fang Zongliang doesn't believe that these enemies will persist until when! Some mischievous ones lit up the firecrackers hung in the sheepskin bucket, and the "exploding beans" like gunfire, as well as the smoke from artillery fire covered almost all of the 400 or so people, indeed a powerful force!

  The enemy on the mountain top, but not daring to slack off, just now, the mountain top was filtered through by several pentagonal shells! The small mountain top position was bombed to pieces. The artillery's big guns were heart-wrenching, if it weren't for the division commander saying to make a show of it, he really wouldn't have spared any effort to give the "brand new" explosive shells to the enemy to eat.

  Looking at the distant enemy troops approaching rapidly, Da Cannon's heart was also filled with relief. The hard work of last night had indeed brought an unexpected surprise to the enemy!

  Two chapters!!!! Tomorrow continues!!!!