Chapter 41: A Cunning Plan

  "Think about it, this time the Japanese have gathered nearly 200,000 troops in the Northeast, is it just for a small Shenyang? Attacking Shenyang might just be their cover!" Zhao Xiao Feng sighed and continued: "The coming situation doesn't look good!"

  "We don't need to stay in Fengtian anymore!" said the mountain cat.

  "No way!" Zhao Xiao Feng shook his head and said, "At the very least, Shenyang can attract tens of thousands of Japanese troops. They will definitely surround the city first and then start attacking in all directions. After they finish cleaning up the surrounding cities, it will be our turn!"

  "According to what you said, will the Japanese attack Mukden in two or three months?" asked Shi Li.

  "Probably!" Zhao Xiao Feng sighed and said: "No one can guess what they will do next! But there is one thing, Fengtian must not be easily lost to the enemy!"

  "Yes!" Shi Li said with emotion: "Our troops have been in Fengtian for more than half a year, and it's really not easy to give it up!"

  "Alright!" Zhao Xiao Feng said: "I've thought of a plan now! Let's discuss it together!"

  "Yes! Commander is wise!" Shi Li immediately followed up with a flattering remark.

  "We now need a batch of desperate troops! About five hundred people, these people may be buried in this Fengtian City forever!" Zhao Xiaofeng said.

  "No problem!" Shi Li shouted: "None of our soldiers are afraid of death!"

  "No!" Zhao Xiao Feng thought for a moment and immediately shook his head: "I know our soldiers are not afraid of death! But..."

  Suddenly, Zhao Xiaofeng burst out laughing and said: "Our soldiers may not be afraid of death, but I am! The soldiers we have now are all elite who have been through a thousand hardships. Not one of them can stay in Fengtian, I still have more important things to entrust to them!"

  "Ah!" The crowd exclaimed in unison. Shi Li said: "Do we still need to call others to garrison Fengtian City?"

  "Right!" Zhao Xiao Feng sneered, "They are not benevolent, so I will not be righteous! Call the Communist Party to guard Fengtian!" In fact, Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi and Xiao Lei were sent to Northeast China to monitor their own affairs. Zhao Xiao Feng had already learned about it through the Kuomintang's intelligence, and he was very angry at that time, wanting to question the Communist Party, but he couldn't make up his mind. Today, he just used them!

  "Can the Communist Party's people do it?" Shi Li asked.

  "Go! Definitely go!" Zhao Xiao Feng laughed and said: "They have long been active in the Northeast, now they have not only three or four thousand horses in their hands. If we call them to garrison Shenyang, they will be overjoyed!"

  "Why?" the mountain cat asked curiously.

  "Our Northeast Anti-Japanese Army of several thousand people killed nearly 5,000 Japanese soldiers in Shenyang and blocked the Japanese army's advance. Now our reputation has spread all over the world. It just so happens that the Communist Party is now led by Bo Gu, who loves fame and fortune. When he hears the news that we are going to withdraw from Shenyang, he will definitely send his special envoy to garrison Shenyang!"

  "Really?" Shi Li asked with curiosity.

  "Of course!" Zhao Xiaofeng laughed: "Send a telegram to the Communist Party immediately!"

  "Yes!" The telegraph operator immediately began transmitting according to Zhao Xiaofeng's oral statement.

  "CCP Central Committee! Our Northeast Anti-Japanese Army is now having a hard time resisting the Japanese army's attack in Shenyang, please quickly dispatch someone to take over the city of Shenyang!"

  "Alright! Now let's think about how we can sneak out of Fengtian City without being detected!" Zhao Xiao Feng said.

  "Strike!" Shi Li said resolutely: "We must first send soldiers to strike at them, mobilize all the Japanese outside Fengtian City, and then we will withdraw in batches!"

  "That's a good idea! Not bad!" Zhao Xiaofeng nodded and said: "We should go to harass them several times, after the harassment is over, immediately withdraw from the city and disperse to the vicinity of the three rooms near Heilongjiang!"

  "Why are we moving to the third house?" Shi Li asked in confusion: "Why don't we return to our base?"

  "The Japanese want to seize the Northeast, their first goal will not be Shenyang, but South Manchuria and North Manchuria! So, I must give them a good beating around Sanjiafang!" Zhao Xiaofeng said fiercely.

  Zhao Xiaofeng had already made up his mind. The front base on the slope was, after all, too close to Fengtian and at the core of the entire Northeast region. Before long, it would be surrounded by the Japanese, which was not a long-term plan. As for Heilongjiang Province, there was only one passageway in front, controlled by Jiangqiao Bridge. If he could defeat the Japanese army here, he could occupy and guard Heilongjiang. When the time came, he could advance to capture Harbin, Fengtian, and even Jilin; or retreat to rely on the natural barriers of Jiangqiao, Sanjiefang, and Qiqihar to block the Japanese army.

  "Good! The commander is wise!" Shi Li said with a smile.

  "From tomorrow midnight, I command our anti-Japanese army to attack the Japanese positions with battalion as a unit! However, I require everyone to try their best to preserve their own strength, not even one soldier is allowed to die! Fight for a while and then retreat, even if it's just to create chaos for the Japanese!"

  "Yes!"

  "Report!" The communications officer handed Zhao Xiao Feng a telegram with a smile. "Commander's wise decision!"

  "Scram! You bunch of rabbits! This is my exclusive language, none of you are allowed to learn it!" Shi Li cursed with a smile.

  "How come? The Communist Party wouldn't respond so quickly, would they?" Zhao Xiaofeng asked with skepticism.

  "They've really agreed!" exclaimed the telegraph operator, waving the telegram triumphantly.

  "Ah! So soon?" Shi Li stared with his eyes wide open and snatched the telegram away, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't understand a thing because he was illiterate. He had to hand the telegram over to Zhao Xiao Feng and say: "Commander, you're well-educated, take a look at what they've written."

  "Hahaha!" Everyone burst out laughing together.

  "Good!" Zhao Xiaofeng took over the telegram and read it out: "Moved by your army's sincerity, we immediately dispatched Comrades Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi and Xiao Le to lead the guerrilla troops to take over Fengtian City. Please hold on for another five days! However, due to our current lack of weapons, please provide us with support in terms of weaponry!"

  In fact, after receiving Zhao Xiaofeng's telegram, the CPC side immediately launched a fierce discussion. Most of the generals hoped to send a telegram to the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army, asking them to withdraw from Shenyang as soon as possible to preserve their strength and fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese in the future.

  But Fu Gu, this "left" adventurer, immediately vetoed their proposal and ordered Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi and Xiao Lai, who had just established an armed organization in the Northeast, to go to Shenyang immediately. He shouted: "The several thousand men of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army can defend Shenyang for over a dozen days, we can do it too! And our Chinese Communist Party can take advantage of this battle to gain prestige and create a greater sensation among the people!"

  Comrade Mao Zedong immediately raised an objection: "Now our forces in the Northeast are insufficient, and it is fundamentally impossible for us to engage in a head-on confrontation with the Japanese. We can completely rely on the favorable geographical environment of the local area and the anti-Japanese sentiment of the people to develop and expand ourselves, and wait until we have gained some strength before dealing with the Japanese..."

  "Alright! No need to say more!" Fu Gu interrupted Mao Zedong's words and said: "When our troops grow strong, the entire Northeast will already be under Japanese control! Look at the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army, in just a few short days, they have won recognition from the whole world, and how many elite soldiers have all gone to join their army? We must also seize this opportunity, unite with a group of firm communist believers, and promote our line and policies!"

  Several leaders who supported Fu Gu immediately expressed their agreement, and Zhou Enlai immediately gave a signal to Mao Zedong, who was about to get angry, to stop his impulse.

  Fu Gu saw that no one else raised objections, and immediately sent telegrams to the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army and Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi and Xiao Leli respectively.

  "Good!" Everyone cheered together.

  "Commander is truly ingenious!" exclaimed Shi Li sincerely.

  Zhao Xiaofeng knew that this was not his own clever calculation, but rather he could just see the future. However, as soon as he thought about how history had already been altered by him and how its development direction might have changed, he couldn't help but sigh. The fact that the Japanese had transported 1.5 million troops to the Northeast region this year alone was enough to show that history had indeed changed!

  "Everyone go back and immediately order the soldiers to dig deep pits, set up more solid bunkers! Also, put all hand grenades on tripwires and reinforce them around the bunkers!" Zhao Xiao Feng ordered.

  "Commander!" Shi Li asked strangely: "Aren't we supposed to retreat? Why are we still setting up these things in Fengtian City?"

  "We are all in the same anti-Japanese vein!" Zhao Xiao Feng sighed, "Before we leave, we must create more traps for them to resist the Japanese charge, hoping they can hold on for a while longer and safely withdraw from Shenyang City!"

  "Yes!" Shi Li immediately took orders.

  The next evening, Zhao Xiao Feng arrived at the front line and gave a brief speech: "First battalion officers! Today our mission is to harass the Japanese, make them afraid of us! Make them not dare to sleep at night! But I want you to guarantee that you will all come back alive! Because there are even more intense battles waiting for you to complete!"

  "Yes!……" The 300 soldiers of the first battalion had already formed up. In addition to rifles, machine guns and mortars, every person, including the machine gunner, now wore a box-shaped pistol on their waist, in addition to sufficient ammunition for each person, plus five German-made wooden-handled hand grenades and five German-style pineapple-type hand grenades per person.

  "Our sole objective in this raid is to cause chaos for the Japanese! Everyone must remember! From a distance, use machine guns and grenades; up close, use box cannons. Remember, we don't take prisoners, not a single one!"

  "Are they? Don't take prisoners! Not a single one!" The soldiers shouted in unison.

  "Charge!" The battalion commander Wang Deqing issued the attack order. Four hundred soldiers of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army, quietly approached the enemy's position at the city gate in the dark night!

  The soldiers of the guard regiment are now moving towards the city gate with three captured 92 infantry guns, and they will support their own attacking troops at the right time.

  The tanks inside the city are now quietly moving out of the city. Because Zhao Xiao Feng did not want the tanks to participate in this sneak attack, but in order for them to withdraw from Fengtian City in a timely and safe manner, Zhao Xiao Feng still ordered them to be the first to retreat, so as to pave the way for his own army's withdrawal!