Chapter 42 Election Storm

  In early April 1938, the signal of spring had accurately reached Anhui Chuzhou under the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders, and farmers began to sow seeds in their own soil. The main force of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army was still concentrated along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway and the Fifth War Zone of the National Army, while the Japanese army at Taierzhuang was on the verge of collapse.

  The Chinese "Divine Eagle" in the Xiaowangzhuang area also established an anti-Japanese democratic government in more than a dozen villages where they were stationed, although this government is similar to today's village committee, but it is enough to guarantee the soldiers and food sources of the "Divine Eagle".

  But in Zhulong Town's Zhangjiachuan and Daguantang, they encountered troubles that left Chen Jifan and others at a loss.

  Neither bandit nor traitor.

  It was met with a New Fourth Army special envoy who was also carrying out mass work there.

  Since the "Divine Eagle" raided Zhulóng Town, Chen Jifang has not dispatched troops to operate in the surrounding areas in order to avoid implicating local civilians. However, this area had long been devoid of devils, and the "Divine Eagle" had already considered these places as part of its own defensive zone. In fact, it was necessary to do so, because these places were the outer defense line of Xiao Wangzhuang. From any aspect, a stable and reliable regime must be established here.

  However, there are already Communist Party branch activities here. To the east of Chuxian County is the Tianjin-Pukou Railway line, where the devils have stationed heavy troops along the line. The south is the county seat, and the devils are also heavily guarded. As for the west and north sides, they are the territory of the "Shenying", only in the middle of Zhulong Town, the devils haven't come, and the "Shenying" hasn't gone either.

  The special branch dispatched by the CPC Anhui Provincial Committee began its mobilization work behind enemy lines here. The secretary of the CPC organization stationed in Chuzhou was named Zhou Ming, and the deputy secretary was named Li Haiyun. The two were originally ambitious and brought a working group to open up the anti-Japanese situation in Chuzhou as quickly as possible and develop guerrilla forces.

  But they soon found that they encountered unprecedented difficulties here, neither because the people here were not enthusiastic about resisting Japan, nor because the devils did not have a strong army. But because the local people simply didn't buy their account.

  The reason for not buying an account is that there is an armed force operating here, an armed force called the Chinese "Divine Eagle" Anti-Japanese Special Operations Team.

  Before they came, the Anhui Provincial Committee had given them all the information about this mysterious militia. The data showed that this militia was extremely powerful and had been in existence for only a few months, but had already clashed with the devils many times, killing nearly a thousand enemies! And every time it was a complete annihilation!

  Zhou Ming and Li Haiyun began to feel extremely unbelievable, because before this, the largest achievement of the guerrilla warfare organized by the organization in other parts of Anhui was only ambushing a Japanese army transportation convoy, destroying two cars, annihilating 29 people, and capturing 29 guns.

  However, the worst of them was also a small team that annihilated the entire KMT field army. The gap was too big. After thinking about it, they really couldn't think of which troops would have such strong combat effectiveness. According to the news from the newspaper, these people were some rear guards of the National Army who formed a troop. But both of them basically vetoed this statement. First, from the intelligence they had grasped, the KMT didn't have any rear guards at all. Secondly, even if there were, it would not be possible for them to be so proficient in guerrilla warfare, otherwise they would not have been defeated repeatedly in Jiangxi. Both of them were old Red Army men from Jiangxi and still knew a little about the combat level of the KMT army.

  What kind of troops is this?

  At the time when the two were in a state of bewilderment, reports from below said that two villages near Zhulang Town were doing something called "Anti-Japanese Democratic Government". The two were shocked and amazed. If it was not surprising to say that the strong fighting force was nothing, then establishing an anti-Japanese democratic government was enough to be shocking. This shows that this army is extremely mature politically, far beyond those bandits who gather in the mountains, and even from a certain point of view, the warlords in those places will not catch up with this team in the future.

  "Secretary Zhou, regarding the complex situation in Chuzhou area, we should take measures, otherwise our work will be quite passive later." Li Haiyun anxiously suggested to Zhou Ming.

  "What measures can be taken? We have no troops, nor a solid mass foundation, and more importantly, it is unclear whether this army is friendly or enemy. I think we should go down personally to take a look, first clarify the situation before talking." Zhou Ming was relatively cautious.

  Da Guan Tang is a small village on the south side of Zhu Long Town, with over 100 households. The drying field at the east end of the village was bustling with people, and all the old and young villagers had gathered together. What was about to happen here was something that their ancestors had never seen before - the election of the village leader by the villagers themselves.

  A battalion of the "Divine Eagle" was stationed nearby, and Battalion Commander Shang Changfu personally led a guard squad to supervise the election. In fact, it was not an election at all. The candidates included a landlord from the village and several influential villagers. Since most villagers were illiterate, they adopted a show-of-hands approach to voting.

  Although Shang Changfu found it somewhat ridiculous, he still led the guard platoon in the village to fulfill their duties. The villagers had chosen their own leaders and hadn't even thought about it, but the battalion commanders really dared to do so.

  The election was presided over by several students brought from Wuhan by the battalion commander, who were now explaining the voting procedure to the villagers in an orderly and clear manner.

  The villagers initially watched, and then a few brave young people shouted out some names, and everyone surprisingly followed suit with applause. Suddenly, countless hands were raised and lowered on the sun-dried rice field, and then students were seen writing something on a blackboard.

  Shang Changfu narrowed his eyes and gazed at the sun-drenched training ground, eager to finish the selection quickly and lead the troops back for training, striving to achieve good results in the unified assessment of the battalion. The other companies were not pushovers either; the first and second companies had fought fiercely against the enemy, and their soldiers were tough as nails. As for the fourth company, they had also made notable achievements in the past, and no matter what, they couldn't be outdone by others.

  The other side of the drying field suddenly became quiet, and this abnormal situation immediately stopped Shang Changfu's wandering thoughts.

  "What's going on?" he asked a soldier beside him.

  "Report to the company commander, I don't know!" The soldier replied succinctly.

  "Take a look back!" Shang Changfu gave a simple order and led his men rushing over.

  It wasn't until half a day later that Chang Fu quietly took people away and figured out that one of the village committee members elected was actually the landlord of this village, so everyone refused to do anything. Two men in their thirties were questioning the students who presided over the election.

  "How can this election represent the poor brothers? No matter how you vote, it's still the landlords who are high above, and the vast number of poor people are exploited. Your approach is naive at best and deceptive at worst, so we strongly oppose this so-called election on behalf of the masses."

  Many people followed and shouted: "It doesn't count, let's start again!"

  The two interrogators were Zhou Ming and Li Haiyun, who had originally come to observe the "Divine Eagle" but found the election results unacceptable, prompting Li Haiyun to ask questions.

  Several students were left speechless by a few words, and some girls' eyes were still red.

  Shang Changfu took a look and found that the troublemaker had arrived, so he immediately dispersed the crowd and came to the front of the two men. After sizing them up from head to toe, he coldly asked: "Who are you? What brings you here? What kind of trouble are you stirring up?"

  "'The Chinese,' he replied, 'have come here of course to supervise the election, so that no one can cheat the masses under the pretext of an election.'"

  "This is the defense zone of China's 'Divine Eagle' anti-Japanese special operations team. Elections are our own business, no need for you to come and stir up trouble. Please leave quickly." Shang Changfu did not want to discuss anything about elections with him, he didn't understand.

  "Elections are a matter of the people's interests!" Li Haiyun immediately retorted, "We can't tolerate this naked deception! We must take action to right the wrongs we see on the road!"

  Shang Changfu didn't have much culture, and during his time in the "Divine Eagle" unit, he never felt that there was anything wrong with the way the troops were run. The battalion commander had given him orders to maintain order in the election within his own garrison. So the words of the person opposite him were just causing trouble. Since it was causing trouble, then he couldn't be polite.

  Shang Changfu waved his hand back and forth, and the four soldiers behind him immediately surrounded him.

  Zhou Ming stood beside him, not speaking a word. He wanted to take a good look at this legendary unit in the mouths of the people. After more than a dozen people surrounded them, Zhou Ming finally saw the soldiers of the legendary "Divine Eagle".

  It's clear that this is a well-trained unit, evident from their neat uniforms, although Zhou Ming didn't understand why the uniforms were dyed in such bright colors. If one says that clothing is superficial, then the soldiers' gun-holding and standing positions are enough to show that they have received regular training, and are not just some people who picked up a few guns and claimed to be something.

  Zhou Ming decided to take another look and see what these people would do, in front of so many people, they shouldn't be too outrageous. Thinking of this, he used his eyes to signal Li Haiyun not to get excited.

  "What have we done wrong, old chief? What does it mean to point guns at our own people? Are your guns only used to point at compatriots?" Zhou Ming asked with a smile.

  Shang Changfu was taken aback by these words, but the battalion commander had indeed said them before - the troops' guns were for fighting the enemy. So Shang Changfu ordered the withdrawal of the guns.

  "We may be rough men, but we also understand some principles. Since everyone has already chosen their leader, why do you come out and interfere? You're the ones causing trouble, aren't you?" Shang Changfu shouted loudly.

  "The ones elected are the landlords, and they normally exploit the poor, now they're being elected again, isn't this obviously bullying the poor people?" Li Haiyun continued to argue.

  Chang Fu, with a straight face and a loud voice, replied: "Our superiors have said that since the great enemy is before us, all Chinese people should unite, put aside past grievances and grudges, and join forces to fight against the devils. In our 'Divine Eagle' unit, landlords and peasants are treated equally; as long as you don't collaborate with the enemy and behave honestly, we will protect you. Now, what kind of people are you? You don't seem to be from around here. Report your origins, or else you'll be considered spies!"

  "We are the New Fourth Army," Zhou Ming replied, "sent by our superiors to mobilize the masses in Chuzhou area to resist Japan."

  "New Fourth Army?" Shang Changfu had never heard of this unit. A soldier next to him came up and whispered, "It's the Red Army that we've been fighting for ten years, but they were reorganized and are now called the New Fourth Army."

  "Communist bandit?" As soon as Shang Changfu spoke, he regretted it, because the battalion commander had previously educated them not to use this kind of term.

  "Now that the KMT and the Communist Party are cooperating, it's best not to mention this officer's words again." Zhou Ming was very worried, as the officer in front of him was obviously a die-hard KMT supporter.

  Li Haiyun did not have such a good temper, he continued to accuse: "No matter who it is, if they infringe on the interests of workers and peasants, we will deal with them. We Communists are resolute in upholding the interests of workers and peasants..."

  Li Haiyun had not finished speaking when a voice came from afar: "Is this the kind of awareness you Communists have?"