Chapter 19: The Tiger Emerges from Its Cage (Part 1)

  Li Xinmin, who accepted the task, did not rush to set off immediately. He asked his superior to brief him on the details of Zhang Shaodong's betrayal.

  "Director Li, you tell Colonel Li about the specific situation of the traitor Zhang Shaodong!", the old commander ordered.

  "Alright!", replied Li Canmou. "Then I'll tell you about his detailed information!" Li Canmou said, and then he left the command center with Li Xinmin, coming to a nearby empty room. Li Canmou took out all the traitor's materials and handed them over to Li Xinmin.

  "This guy's information is quite extensive! How did he suddenly think of becoming a traitor?" Li Xinmin said while looking at the traitor's information.

  "This kid has a problematic lifestyle. When the superior officer found out, he would have to discipline his team, so he took advantage of the situation and escaped with others." Li Canmou introduced.

  "Oh! So that's how it is!", Li Xinmin replied while looking at the materials.

  "What about the assassinations in the previous few times?" Li Xinmin asked.

  "At first, the department knew that he had defected to the enemy and wanted to clean up their own door, so they sent out a few good hands to assassinate him. But this Zhang was too cunning and actually let him escape. Later, they sent another group of people to assassinate him, but unexpectedly, before they could act, they were caught by the Japanese soldiers, some were killed and others were captured." Li Canmou continued to say.

  "Oh? What's the specific situation?" Li Xinmin's interest was piqued as soon as he heard it, and he hastily asked.

  "I'm not entirely clear about this specific situation either!" said Li Canmo with a bitter smile.

  "It was the last assassination attempt that almost succeeded, but unfortunately, the brother who carried out the task only hit his left shoulder and was killed by the devils and traitors." Li Canmou continued.

  "Was it the last time? Was it also done by someone from the Travel Department?" Li Xinmin seemed to have some doubts. "No! The last time was when the headquarters sent people, the headquarters in 385 troops 770 team near Liao County dispatched people to carry out the assassination task but similarly failed, this time the leader is really angry, repeatedly ordering that this person must be eliminated."

  "Hmm! This traitor is indeed a great harm to us! He must be eliminated." Li Xinmin also felt that this operation was very tricky after hearing the staff officer's introduction, and at this moment, he had made up his mind that in order to ensure the safety of the base, this person must be eliminated as soon as possible.

  "Alright! I've got a clear understanding of the situation now, thank you, sir! I'll head back and study the next step in our plan. We will definitely resolve this traitor as soon as possible."

  "That's good! We must get rid of this person as soon as possible! Otherwise, we will be restless in our daily lives!" Li Canmou said and left with the materials. Li Xinmin also left the headquarters and returned to his own camp.

  "The battalion commander is back!", the sentries at the battalion headquarters greeted Li Xinmin as soon as he returned, and Li Xinmin replied softly with a heavy heart. Li Xinmin did not gather all his subordinates, but instead returned to his residence alone.

  At this moment, Li Xinmin's mind was all about the traitor Zhang Shaodong. A person lay on the kang and slowly recalled the details of the traitor.

  The situation of this traitor is indeed very complicated. Originally, he was a regimental commander in the Eighth Route Army and had joined the Red Army as early as 1930. Four years later, he joined the party. He had served as company commander, battalion commander, and regimental commander of the Twenty-fifth Army, and participated in the anti-encirclement struggles in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui and Hubei-Henan-Shaanxi Soviet areas, as well as the Long March of the Twenty-fifth Army. After arriving in northern Shaanxi, he served as division commander of the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-third Divisions of the Fifteenth Army, participating in battles at Mount Laoshan, Zhiluo Town, Eastern Expedition, and Western Expedition. When the Anti-Japanese War began, he was appointed regimental commander of the 687th Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

  "This guy really has a deep background!", Li Xinmin couldn't help but sigh for this traitor, after all, he was someone who came from modern times and knew the final outcome. This was also an important reason why he could withstand the setbacks every time, because he knew his direction and goal. He insisted on his own truth, never forgetting his responsibility and duty as a Communist Party member.

  Li Xinmin's mind kept recalling the information about Zhang Shaodong he saw today. Zhang Shaodong led his troops to fight nine battles in succession after the Pingxingguan campaign, and later moved to Pingshan for rest and reorganization. During this period, he often complained about the Party with Lan Guoqing, the chief of staff of the regiment, and they also arbitrarily violated the Central Committee's policy on the anti-Japanese national united front by launching a "campaign against local tyrants" in the area where the troops were stationed. Moreover, they profited from it and he even had an affair with the eldest daughter of a landlord. In the end, the truth came to light, and the division decided to rectify the troops.

  At this time, the 344th Brigade was ordered to cooperate with the 129th Division to counterattack the enemy's siege on the nine roads. The first echelon of the 344th Brigade, the 688th and 689th Regiments, entered the area near Xiyang, while the second echelon, the 687th Regiment, was stationed in Dongzhi Town, west of Gaoluo Town. At this time, Zhang Shaodong and Lan Guoqing had already known that their actions had been exposed, and the brigade would not tolerate them. Therefore, they conspired with the chief of staff, Lan Guoqing, to leave the military camp quietly under the pretext of inspecting the terrain, bringing some battalion commanders and team members from the first and third battalions, as well as some regimental personnel carrying firearms. On the way, Zhang Shaodong revealed his plan to them, forcing these people to defect together. Some of them did not want to join him and left, while a small number of people escaped with Zhang Shaodong and Lan Guoqing under their threat. Most of the people quietly left the team and returned to the military camp to report to their superiors when they went down the mountain. However, Zhang Shaodong and Lan Guoqing shamelessly defected to the enemy, who were fighting fiercely with the 129th Division at that time. The enemy was very happy to see them and directly appointed Zhang Shaodong and Lan Guoqing as the commander and chief of staff of the "Security Regiment". This Security Regiment had two battalions under its command, all of whose battalion commanders were those who had defected with him, while the soldiers were some local rascals trained by the enemy. Thanks to timely intelligence, the 129th Division made timely adjustments to their combat plan, otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous.

  After Zhang Shaodong defected to the enemy, in order to gain merit, he leaked some intelligence about the base area to the enemy. In several operations, he and Lan Guoqing actively played the role of vanguard, leading their troops to follow the enemy in a big killing and looting spree in our base area, burning whatever they couldn't take away, committing unforgivable crimes. His troops were stationed in the county seat of Liaoyang County, and because he was afraid of being assassinated, he added several layers of security outside his command post. The enemy was also worried that he would be assassinated and set up two patrol teams outside his command post.

  In the past, several groups of 344 Brigade's men tried to rush into his command center to take him out, but they were all shot down before they could even enter the backyard. The last group found out that he often went to a teahouse and planned to make their move there, but during the operation, he managed to slip away again, only injuring his left arm, while the cost was the sacrifice of everyone else. Many of our soldiers have already been sacrificed in battles against him.

  Thank you for your support, I will double my efforts to improve my work. Wishing everyone good health and smooth work!!!