Chapter 46: A Comfortable Life 2
After repelling the enemy's second siege, Bai Banlai sat on the bed, leaning against the mud wall, carefully wiping the rifle on the table. The yellow bullets were neatly arranged on the table, and the green leather bullet box was filled with seven or eight clips. A large gun case was casually placed in a corner of the small table. Although his hands were still deftly wiping the gun, his mind had long been wandering elsewhere due to the unbearable itch caused by the high collar.
Shi Shenjie carefully pushed open the creaky wooden door, a steaming hot foot bath in front of him, with a pure white towel draped over his shoulder. A faint mist of water vapor lightly shrouded the bronze washbasin above it, and even Shi Shenjie's small face seemed to be unaffected by the hot water. He gently put down the basin, preparing to invite Gao Quan to come and wash his face and feet. With a hint of amusement, he looked at Gao Quan, who was lost in thought, and muttered: "From dinner till now, all I've been doing is polishing my gun, five times already! Even the gun oil has been used up by half, and the gun is so shiny! And still, you want to polish it some more?"
"JJ, don't you think we should go out and do some activities? We've been stuck in the mountains for over half a month, and I'm really craving the roasted chicken from Shanyang and the mutton soup from Shangluo! Shouldn't we go out and improve our food situation? Get some medicine for the wounded?" Gao Quan leapt off the bed with great enthusiasm, excitedly waving his shotgun.
"Master? Are you going out to hunt for food again? How many times is this now?! The secretary and Commissar Li have already said it several times!" His face was filled with a mixture of fear and guilt, clearly because he had been criticized multiple times for not being able to withstand the loneliness and going out. However, the deep-seated longing in his eyes and the unintentionally left drool made Gaoquan suddenly understand that the bribes he brought had benefited many people in the division.
In just a few days, Gao Quan led his troops of over 2,000 men down the mountain, preparing to attack those weakly defended county towns and villages, sweep away the local tyrants and evil gentry, replenish their military supplies of grain, ammunition, medicine, and cloth, recruit new soldiers, and incidentally expand the influence of the Red Army. However, deep in Gao Quan's heart was a desire to tell Zhang Yang and others in Xi'an that he was an unyielding little strongman! A copper awl that couldn't be crushed, fried, or bent! He was the thorn in their eyes!
However, Zhang Guotao himself was not clear about it. He would overthrow many local governments of the Kuomintang in this action and give the Kuomintang a great shock!
After the main force led by Zhang Guotao left, the secretary and Li Zhengwei who stayed in the base immediately put the base into the highest state of alert! The base, which had entered the spring plowing season, had to cultivate in the fields while holding weapons and standing guard at various posts. Meanwhile, the main force of over 500 people, including the guard regiment, quickly cooperated with local armed forces to further cut off highways, build roads that could allow two ox carts to pass through from under the highway, such as the Red Army ditch, and of course, laying landmines was a basic task.
A tense base, constantly judging the enemy's movements based on underground party messages, even continuously attacking small enemy units to make the enemy misjudge that our main force is still in the base.
The heavy government work, as well as the problem of commanding troops in battle, had been troubling the two middle-aged party and government workers for a long time. As they grew older, with countless sleepless nights adding many white hairs to their temples, the two elderly men couldn't help but sigh deeply under the dim coal oil lamp, thinking about that "little devil" who gave them headaches, and a deep sense of nostalgia arose.
"Is Gaoduan out hunting again with his soldiers all over the mountains? And getting some exercise on the side?" Wei Lao slightly raised his head, gently lowered his eyes, and habitually asked. "Secretary, Commander Gao has already led the troops out of the mountain for several days!" The secretary next to him, who was organizing files, didn't even lift his head, and said with a hint of helplessness. Secretary Wei, feeling like something was missing in his heart, shook his stiff head, and smiled wryly without saying a word. "It seems that leaving this mischievous little devil's side is always so uncomfortable!"
The head of the security department hastily and rudely pushed open the door, then brought an unexpected surprise to Secretary Wei amidst his astonished expression!
Actually, the head of the security department was also very helpless in this performance. In the days when Gao Quan established the 74th Division, one victory after another made Gao Quan's body condense an unshakeable prestige! And the Security Department, which Gao Quan did not like, not only had the important right to manage military intelligence taken away by the Military Intelligence Department, but also because of Gao Quan's severe suppression, it was able to manage the internal enemy and special matters of the Soviet Red Army, and the full responsibility for arbitrary killing and arrest was firmly grasped in Gao Quan's hands!
Even someone as steady and calm as Lao was extremely excited, it turned out that Chen, the deputy commander of Fuping, Ningxia, had brought a messenger sent by the Central Committee, Cheng Fucai, the original platoon leader of the 25th Army's guard company!
As soon as he heard that it was someone from the Shaanbei faction, Lao couldn't sit still and immediately sent someone to inform Li Longgui, the political commissar of the 74th Division. At the same time, he hastily put on his coat and followed the head of the security department to meet this messenger sent by the Central Committee.
Although intermittent news from the captured newspapers could be obtained, even knowing that the Party Central Committee had arrived in Shaanbei, how could such brief news satisfy the deep longing in one's heart? It was like a child who had been away from home for many years and yearned to receive news and guidance from their parents. This persistent belief did not change even after the 74th Division's strength had increased many times over.
When the guides sent by Deputy Commander Chen and the underground party comrades who escorted along the way were arranged to rest and eat, Old He and Commissar Li welcomed this familiar little red devil in the conference room with great joy. Because he was also one of the powerful subordinates under Gao Quan's command back then! With Gao Quan's outgoing personality, Cheng Fucun was also well-known, so how could these two older men who often attended meetings at the military department not be familiar with each other?!
He spoke with an unusual excitement, but from his gentle eyes, one could also see a hint of concern. Even the old man personally poured a bowl of water for Cheng Fucun, and after getting used to being high-handed and not distinguishing between seniority, the old man unintentionally applied this habit to Cheng Fucun as well.
Looking at the "August 1 Declaration" and "Central Committee's Resolution on Current Political Situation and Party's Tasks" pulled out from the tightly sewn underwear, I was truly moved to tears!
