Chapter 4 Don't Kill Me

  Along the Das River, everywhere was a team of Ding rushing to escape. They galloped wildly on horseback, looking for possible gaps, hoping to rely on the speed and control of the horse to escape this deadly trap.

  But they were disappointed, for as soon as the cavalry charged forward, several Red Army soldiers immediately came up with bayonets, spears and big knives to meet them. Everywhere was fleeing cavalry and pursuing intercepting Red Army.

  Cries and wails rose and fell in waves. The number of galloping horses gradually decreased.

  Han Zhongliang watched as Chen Haisong unleashed his divine wrath, slaughtering his subordinates like a god descending from the heavens. The clothes splattered with fresh blood were so eye-catching.

  Only forty or fifty dispirited farmers were left around him, and they didn't even have the courage to pick up their knives and guns. They just wandered aimlessly with the horses, crowding in all directions.

  Their cruelty and ferocity had been thoroughly shattered by the even more brutal momentum of that killing god.

  Chen Haisong took the lead, and the Red Army soldiers rushed up from all sides.

  Han Zhongliang saw the murderous god's cold and stern face, unexpectedly so young, the reason for using force in the slaughter, pulled open the wound on his head, a strand of fresh blood flowed down from his left forehead, making him look even more murderous.

  Seems to have found the target of attack, icy gaze locked onto him, knife raised, horse rushed over...

  Han Zhongliang, at the critical moment of life and death, suddenly threw away the knife in his hand, shouting loudly: "Don't kill me, I surrender..." Before he had even finished speaking, he rolled off his horse and knelt down in front of Chen Haisong's horse, wailing and crying loudly.

  The other guards also hastily dismounted and knelt beside him.

  Chen Haisong coldly scanned these enemies who had lost their blood and will to resist, and ordered: "Clean up the battlefield, guard company one to be on guard in the rear, guard company two to take care of the prisoners, the rest of the personnel to strip the cotton clothes, fur coats and shoes from the corpses and put them on, send the extra ones to Zhang Yinglong, cut off the legs of the dead horses and bring them along, collect food, and replenish their strength."

  At this moment, Chen Haisong was sitting on the felt cushion where Han Zhongliang had just sat. A soldier was giving him a simple bandage for his head, and another soldier handed over a small bag of dried beef, which had just been found in the horse's saddle pocket.

  Chen Haisong glanced around, the warriors were all stuffing their mouths with dried meat, dry cakes and fried noodles. He nodded, took over the cloth bag, reached in and pulled out a piece, put it in his mouth, it was really dry, really smelly, hadn't been processed much, just salted, boiled and dried.

  Before long, Han Zhongliang was brought before Chen Haisong. Chen looked at him and asked, "Name." Seeing his hesitation, he remembered that he spoke the Hubei dialect.

  He asked in Linxia dialect: "What's your name?"

  The other party exclaimed with surprise: "Han Zhongliang." Thinking that he was saved now, having run into a fellow countryman.

  He didn't know that in the later Lanzhou Military Region, each unit had many Linxia soldiers. Their language was very distinctive and humorous, so comrades often imitated each other. Chen Hai learned to speak Linxia dialect after 13 years of military service and could also sing many Linxia folk songs.

  "What kind of official are you, you coward?"

  "Qinghai Luohua, commander of the 4th Workers' Regiment in Luohua, returned to Ma Yuanhai's command."

  "How many of you are stationed in Ada?"

  "Just five miles away at Dongchuan Kou. Commander Ma ordered us to hold down Dongchuan Kou, prevent the bandits from breaking through, ah, it's your army. This morning, we found that the Gui Army in Linze County had broken out and chased after them, didn't expect to run into your army, there are still over a hundred people in the camp, some injured, some sick, taking care of horses and cooking."

  "What new orders does Ma Yuanhai have?"

  "General Ma heard that there were only 500 or 600 Red Bandits here, and they were still in the wilderness, so he let us quickly resolve it. He took other troops to Shahe Town and Nijiaoying. Later, another messenger came and told us to meet him tomorrow."

  "Then I'll stay at your place tonight, okay?"

  "Go, go."

  At dusk, a team of 600 or 700 people appeared in front of the gate of Dongchuan Village.

  The sentry on the stockade wall saw from a distance his own militia commander riding a horse and talking to two people beside him, with three or four hundred cavalrymen swaying in their saddles behind them, and another two or three hundred infantrymen following on foot.

  There were still many stretchers being carried, it seemed that this battle was very miserable. When they went out, there were 1,200 people, but only half of them returned, and the horses were left with only three or four hundred.

  Thank goodness, fortunately I was sick and didn't go with them, or else who knows what the village kids would be like now. As he thought about it, he shouted down below: "The commander is back, quickly open the gate."

  The team entered the village, and the sentry at the gate had been replaced without anyone noticing. The guards who stayed behind came out to watch the commotion, but they didn't see the usual boastful voices claiming to have beheaded several people and robbed a lot of money, nor did they hear the warm greetings. There were only a few familiar faces in the team.

  Just as I was in a state of confusion, I heard Commander Han shouting loudly: "All the lazybones have gone to Adah, hurry up and gather!"

  Some people came out of the house and stood in front of Han Zhongliang in a scattered manner.

  The guards dispersed and entered the camp for inspection.

  Han Zhongliang and others have all arrived, nodding at Chen Haisong.

  Chen Haisong stepped forward with a horse rein and said to the crowd: "Everyone, don't be surprised. We are the Red Army. The fourth workers' militia of Longhua has been defeated, and you have all been captured."

  The squad members suddenly exploded in a pot, with tense and panicked faces all over. The guards of the second and third companies had completed the encirclement, aiming their guns at the crowd, before the squad members calmed down.

  "Don't worry, everyone. The Red Army doesn't kill prisoners of war or rob your money. We'll stay here for the night and leave tomorrow. Just please put down your weapons on the ground, don't move around randomly, and especially don't try to escape."

  Looking at the dark and ominous gun barrels, these wounded and sick soldiers resignedly took out their knives and placed them on the ground.

  The disarmed Tang regiment was locked in several large houses. The first company of guards was responsible for guarding, and the other companies counted the materials in the camp, arranged the wounded and troops to settle down, cleaned the wounds with salt water and hot water, and re-bandaged them with clean bandages.

  The cooking team hastened to cook. Slaughtered a few sheep in the camp, stewed them in a large pot, and another large pot stewed horse legs, with two more pots boiling water for making noodles.

  Chen Haisong looked around and then went to talk with the captives, comforting them a few words. The guard battalion was arranged very thoroughly, and he entered the militia department, flipping through the enemy's public documents on the table.

  The overall battlefield situation is gradually becoming clear, and the enemy's troop distribution is also basically clear.

  The Gaotai troops have been annihilated, and the Western Route Army's logistics department and the remaining forces of the Fifth Army in Linze County have also been damaged and broken through. The town of Shahe (now Linze County), where the Ninth Army is stationed, has also suffered a heavy siege and is estimated to have withdrawn by this time.

  According to later records, this breakout force was unable to break through the outer encirclement of Nijiaying and abandoned its plan to reunite with the main force. Instead, it crossed the Hei River and marched towards Zhangye and points south, where it was pursued by cavalry and annihilated.

  The enemy was ultimately strong in military strength, with 700,000 to 800,000 supplies and high morale, mobility and cruelty, rushing towards the direction of Xijia Camp in the west. How could the main force of more than 10,000 people on the Western Road respond?

  In addition, the central government was indecisive about whether to establish a base in the original location, advance westward into Xinjiang, or return to Hedong, and orders were constantly changing. Commissar Chen was also hesitant, and the brave Western Route Army was sliding into an abyss.

  The door creaked open, and a gust of cold wind blew in, making Chen Haisong shiver. Zhang Zhenyu and several company commanders walked in with two large ceramic basins, chatting and laughing.

  Wang Dàyǒng put the basin on the table, and a wave of meat fragrance wafted up.

  "Commissar, it's been a long time since we've had such a good time. We won the battle, put on our padded jackets and have meat to eat. Come quickly and eat while it's hot."

  "Have the warriors eaten?" Everyone knew that Chen Haisong was most concerned about the warriors and hastily said they had eaten.

  "Have the captives eaten? Are their emotions stable?"

  They caught two sheep for the captives and let them slaughter and cook them themselves. Han Zhongliang told them about the situation on the battlefield, and they all became honest.

  "Huang Shiying asked, 'Commissar, your marksmanship and swordsmanship are really formidable. We were all stunned on the other side of the river. How did you practice?'"

  Wang Dàyǒng proudly said: "We all know in the 9th Army, when Commissar Chen was a political commissar at the age of 18 in the 25th Division's 34th Regiment, the regiment commander was Xu Dàhéshàng. At 19 years old, when he was a political commissar in the 25th Division, the division commander was also Xu Dàhéshàng. What? You don't know Xu Dàhéshàng? He's the commander of the 31st Army, Xu Shìyǒu, who didn't come with us this time."

  "That's a martial monk from the Shaolin Temple, who can insert his hand into the enemy's abdomen with ease. Heh heh, Commissar also learned knife and fist techniques."

  Sun Fei continued, "In those years in Sichuan, our political commissar was 18 years old and became the regimental political commissar. He was dismissed during the rectification campaign, but to counter the three routes' encirclement, he was appointed as deputy regiment commander, leading two companies, stubbornly holding off five regiments of enemy troops for three days and nights without losing an inch of ground, and annihilating over 2,500 enemies."

  Yearning for Zhang Zhenyu and Huang Shiying endlessly.

  Shi Junfu put down the bowl in his hand, scooped a bowl of noodles and handed it to Chen Haisong. Chen Haisong took it over and invited everyone to come and eat together.

  The hungry crowd quickly swept away everything without any courtesy, overturning two large ceramic basins.

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