Chapter 45: A Comfortable Life

  Just as the liaison officer sent by Shaanbei was making his way through the layers of Nationalist checkpoints with great difficulty and caution, Gao Guangquan had already led his troops out of the Taibai area in Foping, passing quickly through Meixian, Wugong, and Hu County before disappearing into the distance. The troops that were originally dispatched to Shanxi and the Yellow River due to the Red Army's eastern campaign now came pouring towards Zishui County, which the Red Army had just captured, with overwhelming force.

  After a brief rest in the town of Zuishui for several days, Gao Quan immediately left the county seat to the passionate and fiery Nationalist troops, and quickly entered the base area of Zhen'an County. He began to lead the enemy on a wild goose chase through the mountains, with landmines, cut-off roads, scattered ambushes, and dense traps everywhere; the commander of the division soon found himself trapped in the quagmire of people's war.

  By the end of April, the Northwestern Army's logistics line was on the verge of collapse due to the constant harassment by guerrilla forces, repeated roadblocks and hundreds of landmines.

  Looking at the increasingly scarce yellow beans in the bowl, and with only two meals a day, the soldiers were struggling to survive. Even going to the village to forage, but it was desolate and uninhabited, the overgrown village was also difficult to find anything to eat.

  As the Qinling Mountains gradually warmed up and flowers bloomed, the Nationalist soldiers began to forage for wild vegetables all over the mountains. The peasant-turned-soldiers vaguely recalled their past rural life, where they struggled to make ends meet, and remembered the autumn days when the crops were not yet ripe.

  The scattered main force troops, under the leadership of the guerrilla team, relied on their familiarity with the terrain to turn the mountains and wild fields into a nightmare for the Nationalist soldiers. Not a single battalion could even leave the camp gate! Looking at the low morale, due to hunger and despair, carrying rifles standing guard, that exhausted figure, dazed eyes made the 49th Division Commander Li Wen also helpless, because he himself was a Major General Division Commander, now eating only one meal of cornmeal mush, one meal of white buns.

  According to the logistics department's statistics, the food and fodder collected from Xi'an and along the way can only be transported to the front line at a rate of two or three out of ten, barely meeting the needs of nearly 20,000 troops. Li Wen sat in silence for a long time, looking at the logistics director's eyes that were both desolate and bewildered, with deep hollows at the corners and an expression of helpless love. He slammed his fist heavily on the newly received logistics transportation plan.

  Invisible dust under the impact, slowly floats in the air, under the sparse direct sunlight, dancing with elegant steps. The inexplicable oppression and heaviness that is hard to put into words spreads over people's heads, a vast expanse of glittering stars, shining the humble house with golden light.

  The village, which was once a thriving community with closely connected fields and homes where the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard, now lies in ruins. The once-winding mountain paths are now hidden beneath overgrown weeds.

  The lack of food made even the retreating soldiers unable to muster up any enthusiasm, their footsteps light and floating, gazing out at the heavy and long road ahead, the yellow dust and haze filling the air, the chaotic sound of footsteps, a hint of helplessness, a hint of desolation. Even Li Wen riding that skinny horse, waving his whip, trying to urge the soldiers to quicken their pace and escape this damned mountainous region. But how could he alone drive this long procession?

  Looking at the long queue slowly advancing in the mountainous area, Gaoquan is simply drooling! The eyes in the binoculars are simply dizzying! Whether it's a mountain cannon, a heavy machine gun, or a Czech-made, Madson machine gun, they're all what Gaoquan has been eagerly awaiting after a series of arduous battles and severe equipment losses!

  The enemy has a force of nearly 20,000 people, while we currently have only 2,700 to 2,800 combat troops! It's even hard to take down the enemy's tail. If Li Wen, the commander of the 49th Division, is stubborn, we'll be stuck with this large number of enemies and it will be very difficult to shake them off!

  The guard, Shi Shenjie, looked at the swaying in the grass and the vague figures, and couldn't help but nudge Gao Quan, who was still drooling, and whispered in his ear: "Commander, the enemy's reconnaissance team is approaching us! Should we retreat?" Then he slightly raised his head, covered with a straw hat, and intently watched the 49th Division's reconnaissance team searching every suspicious place with their rifles. With hatred, he looked at the crouching enemy advancing cautiously and muttered: "A bunch of old slippery devils!"

  Slowly moving back along the way I came, the gently swaying green grass in the breeze-swayed grass thicket, appears to be so faint and subtle, like a misty veil.

  Along the road, the prepared mechanism traps buried many Nationalist soldiers' lives. The soldiers fell into a dilemma: on the highway were densely packed landmines - whether it was stepping on them, pressing down on them, or triggering them with tripwires; on both sides of the highway were tiger pits and other deadly obstacles. Every time Li Wen saw his comrades blown to pieces in explosions, or struggling in agony with their feet pierced by spikes or caught in tiger traps, his heart ached! Was this really guerrilla warfare? Was this really the most vicious and inhumane tactic in history?

  "If there is any record of history later on, then the guerrilla warfare executed by Gao Quan in southern Shaanxi will be the most vicious and shameful tactic that makes Chinese people feel ashamed." Li Wen said to himself.

  He was deeply puzzled by Commander Zhang's order! Obviously, the enemy had been trapped in a poor mountain valley, and as long as more troops were sent to the logistics line, the enemy could be completely trapped alive in the mountains! Was it really necessary to wait until the next time the enemy grew stronger, and then gain a meager victory at the cost of heavy losses?

  Actually, Li Wen didn't know that Gao Quan was leading a small part of the troops in circles in the mountains. Relying on the secret camps established earlier for supplies, the more than 800 people led by Gao Quan did not have any ammunition or food shortages. As for the two regiments that jumped to the outside line, they continuously launched active attacks on the enemy's militia and security teams, which were only able to maintain law and order, and expanded their own strength through continuous attacks on the enemy's weak forces.

  If Li Wen knew that in this more than a month, over a thousand people were eliminated or weakened, and the militia of seven counties was destroyed. More and more landlords and gentry swept away their valuables and fled to Xi'an City in disarray, or temporarily took refuge with relatives in neighboring provinces. The results of the struggle against the landlords suddenly decreased sharply, and the countryside relying on the Baojia system also fell into chaos.

  These past few days have been too busy, my mind is a mess, I'm really sorry for the late update, but I'll try to get back on track, sorry.