Chapter 55: The Exiled County Magistrate

  The landlords and businessmen who donated money and grain were quite generous, the "Divine Eagle" Anti-Japanese Independent Regiment was well-equipped with sufficient food and grass, and the regiment headquarters was intensifying its collection of intelligence on the Japanese army and conducting all-weather monitoring of Japanese military radio signals.

  Breaking the code has become virtually impossible and Colonel Huanjie Gao, head of the Intelligence Bureau, has now shifted his focus to training telegraph operators.

  All intelligence indicates that the Japanese military will launch a large-scale military operation in the near future!

  This intelligence is not very meaningful for the four people, Chen Jifan, Zhong Dingcheng, Hu Yunfeng and Gao Huanjie, because historically the Japanese army occupied Hefei from the north along Chaohu Lake, so the devil's goal must be Hefei!

  Chen Jifang ordered Luo Yuguang's 2nd Regiment to garrison Guhe Town at the junction of Quanjiao and Chaohu to monitor the Japanese army's movements. Other troops were still in intense training.

  What is currently the most troublesome for the troops is the placement of more than 1,700 people who have recently been recruited from the security team. There are no good officers (the original officers are not there), and there are no surplus personnel. For now, Chen Jifang temporarily calls them three supplementary battalions, assigning special personnel to train these soldiers, in order to let these troops integrate into the "Divine Eagle" family as soon as possible, Chen Jifang and Zhong Dingcheng have also visited this unit many times.

  The county seat of Huan Shan has fallen! This was the intelligence brought by the scouts on May 1, 1938. If this intelligence had little value to Chen Jifang, a soldier from the future who knew a bit about the history of his hometown Anhui, then the next piece of intelligence would make him extremely surprised and overjoyed.

  The intelligence was very detailed, stating that the National Government's Huanshan County Magistrate Qiu Ruiquan led a self-organized People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps to bravely resist and inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese invaders multiple times. In the end, due to being outnumbered, they were forced to abandon the county seat and was later removed from his position as Huanshan County Magistrate.

  Appendix: Qiu Ruiquan's profile. Qiu Ruiquan, a native of Laiyang, Shandong Province, graduated from Jinling University in Nanjing at the age of 32. While in office, he actively advocated for resistance against Japan. He successively incorporated over 60 scattered National Army soldiers, organized and trained local militiamen, and established the Hanshan County People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps' standing army, with a troop strength that once exceeded 300 people.

  Good boy! Chen Jifan excitedly handed this intelligence over for others in the regimental headquarters to see.

  "I wonder how the magistrate of Qiu County is doing now?" Zhong Dingcheng said, "If he loses the county seat, he will be dismissed from office. The Nationalist Party's law enforcement is very strict!"

  "We must immediately send someone to contact this Qiu County Magistrate, and if possible, directly invite him to Quzhou. I really want to meet this anti-Japanese hero, who is both literary and martially talented!" Chen Jifan sighed.

  "No need," Chief of Staff Hu Yunfeng walked in from outside with a pleased expression, "The Second Battalion of Guhe Town just sent word that the Nationalist troops who escaped from Hanshan County want to see us. I reckon Qiu Ruiquan is among them."

  "Good!" Chen Jifang said, "If Qiu Ruiquan is willing to join, I'll hand over the security team to him and apply to the Military Commission for a regimental establishment, letting him be the regiment commander."

  County Magistrate Qiu Ruiquan of Hanyuan County is indeed on his way to Laiyang now, because he wants to fight back. In his view, the devils are not that scary, didn't his temporarily organized 300-strong anti-Japanese self-defense team resist the devils' attack?

  Originally, if the surrounding Anhui Province's 4th, 7th and 8th battalions could have quickly come to reinforce, there was still hope to retake Hanshan. Unfortunately, they all harbored fear in their hearts and wanted to preserve their strength, each making various excuses for passive marching.

  Qiu Ruiquan seemed to have seen through it, the National Army was not in a state where they couldn't fight against the Japanese army, but rather they were afraid of battle! Demoting him from his position didn't matter, as long as he could retake Huan Shan, he would be willing to do whatever. One of his subordinates suggested going to Quanjiao to test their luck, saying that the troops stationed there were the Military Commission's newly reorganized "Divine Eagle" enemy rear independent regiment, who had a good track record of fighting against the devils and had remained undefeated in multiple battles so far!

  Victory! What troops are these? Qiu Ruiquan began to regret his own ignorance.

  Qiu Ruiquan led his fewer than 100 armed men to the ancient river town at the junction of two counties, where the second battalion commander Luo Yugang was both admiring and delighted after hearing about their journey. He immediately treated them with good food and drink, and also took out medicine from the battalion to treat a seriously injured officer. The news that an anti-Japanese hero had come to join them couldn't be kept from the regimental headquarters.

  The telegram was soon sent to the headquarters.

  Qiu Ruiquan and others stayed in Guhe Town for only one day before hurrying to the county town to meet the "Divine Eagle" Anti-Japanese Independent Regiment. Because in just one day in Guhe Town, he saw hope for resisting Japan from the Second Battalion. This team was strictly disciplined, rigorously trained, and every soldier had a kind of murderous aura on them, which only those who have come down from the battlefield would have! This is exactly what the Chinese army needs most.

  "Comrades, I've come to borrow troops. Considering we're all serving the same party and country, please lend me some troops to retake Hamshan." Qiu Ruiquan went straight to the point as soon as he arrived at the battalion headquarters.

  Chen Jifan looked the man up and down, still wearing the light yellow uniform of a Nationalist local army, but it was tattered in many places.

  Chen Jifan invited him to sit down and handed him a glass of water, saying: "As far as we know, after Hanshan fell, weren't three provincial security regiments ordered to retake it? Why did Qi County Magistrate come to us to borrow troops?"

  Qiu Ruiquan's face revealed a hint of bitter smile, saying: "It seems that the superior still doesn't understand some of the internal problems in our military. With national crisis looming, these local security teams are thinking about how to protect themselves, fundamentally adopting a passive approach to warfare, and some even retreat before the battle begins. I, Qiu, was dismissed by the Administrative Commissioner's Office for losing the county town, but I couldn't swallow this injustice. No matter what, Huan Shan was lost under my watch, so I must personally retake it to apologize to the nation. Hearing that your department is now strong and powerful, with a reputation for bravely resisting Japan, I had no choice but to muster up the courage to ask the team leaders for help."

  Chen Jifan did not immediately respond after hearing County Magistrate Qiu's words, but instead cast a pleading glance at Zhong Dingcheng.

  Zhong Dingcheng nodded and said: "County Magistrate Qiu, I have something to say, but I don't know if it's suitable to say."

  "But it doesn't matter!" Qiu Ruijuan said with a calm face.

  "After you borrow troops to recover Hanshan, what should you do next? You must know that Hanshan is an important passage for the Japanese devils to attack Wuhu and Hefei. The devils will not let it fall into the hands of our army, so after you recover the county seat of Hanshan, the next step is to repeatedly tug-of-war with the devils. However, the devils have absolute advantages in both military strength and firepower, so Hanshan will eventually be lost again in your hands." Zhong Dingcheng said slowly.

  Qiu Ruijuan didn't say a word. Everything Zhong Dingcheng said was true, and she had no way to refute it.

  "Beating the devils is a long-term, arduous and collective effort that requires us to unite and work together. Only by combining your goals with ours can we possibly eliminate more enemies at the most favorable cost."

  "Can Captain Zhong be more specific?" Qiu Ruiquan had already keenly sensed that the other party might want to express something but didn't dare to say it directly.

  "It's actually quite simple, from the fact that County Chief Qiu is actively training local self-defense troops in Huan Shan to resist the enemy's attack, we have determined that County Chief Qiu is the talent our 'Divine Eagle' needs most. At the same time, County Chief Qiu's wish to kill enemies and recover national territory can currently only be smoothly realized by relying on us, so..."

  "So I'd better join you, is that it?" Qiu Ruiquan interrupted Zhong Dingcheng's words and interjected, "We both belong to the National Government, but you are the military, we are in charge of local administration, the two are completely unrelated, how can I join? Must Qiu lay down his pen and take up arms? To be honest, that is not Qiu's strong suit."

  Chen Jifan said, "However, when the devils first attacked Hanshan, you led several hundred self-defense troops to kill 50 or 60 devils, but none of your own were lost. This is enough to show that Magistrate Qiu is quite capable in battle."

  "That was just a few capable officers in the Self-Defense Forces, I just provided them with good logistics." Qiu Ruiquan's tone didn't sound like humility.

  "But you can gather them together in a short period of time, which is a remarkable feat in itself. Alright, let's not talk about this for now. To be honest with you, currently we have not only the main force within our ranks, but also over a thousand former security guards. These security guards are not only lacking suitable leaders, but also because we want to transform them into a solid rear guard security force. During wartime, they can take on tasks such as logistical defense and defending important strategic strongholds. In peacetime, they can maintain law and order, such as suppressing bandits and eliminating traitors. As for the task of fighting battles to recover lost territory, that will naturally be handled by the main forces." Chen Jifan stopped beating around the bush and gave Qiu Ruiquan the lowdown.

  "This person is the right one for us, we need you and you also need us."

  Qiu Ruiquan fell silent again. Chen Jifan and Zhong Dingcheng didn't say anything else, because from Qiu Ruiquan's expression they had already roughly guessed that they were not far from success.

  "I agreed to join you first, but the condition is that you must help me retake Huan City, otherwise I will have no face to show to the people of Huan Mountain." Qiu Ruijuan finally spoke up after a long silence.

  Chen Jifan said: "Regarding the issue of recovering Huncheng, the chief of staff is drafting a preliminary battle plan. With you as the county head, the plan will be more secure. Have you heard of us before, County Head Qiu?"

  "I'm ashamed to say, Qiu Mou has been living in seclusion on Mount Han, and knows very little about your esteemed army. It wasn't until I withdrew from Mount Han that someone reminded me, and I came here to trouble the two of you."

  "We are all Chinese, we are all fighting against the Japanese devils, it's not a trouble to talk about. We have been thinking, after recovering our country, how can we consolidate it, so that it can arouse the people's anti-Japanese passion and also take care of their practical interests. It can be said that this task is more arduous than fighting against the Japanese devils. Now we are slowly exploring in Quzhou and surrounding areas, and Qiu county magistrate's joining may be able to show us a way for the people who support the war effort behind enemy lines."

  "I dare not, I dare not. What virtue or ability does Qiu have? Fortunately, the two battalion commanders attach great importance to this. Alright! From today on, we are a family. Among those who retreated with me, there are several good fighters. The one recovering from injuries in the hospital is called Shi Zhengxiang, from the 19th Route Army, and he is very capable of leading troops. He is also the deputy commander of the Hanshan Self-Defense Corps. There are two others from the Northwestern Army, Zhang Qingkun and Zhou Yiping, who are brave in battle, especially skilled with the big knife. My intention is that if they can be allowed to serve in the army, it would be beneficial for both the army and themselves. I ask the two battalion commanders to consider my suggestion."

  Chen Jifan and Zhong Dingcheng thought that Qiu Ruiquan was arranging a way out for his subordinates who had gone through life and death with him. This shows that Qiu Ruiquan is a responsible and courageous person, and they admire him even more.

  Qiu Ruiquan's proposal was agreed upon by both of them. However, they suggested not to rush into announcing their own appointments and wait until the recovery of Hanyang before making any further decisions.

  In the following days, Qiu Ruiquan devoted himself to formulating a battle plan with the headquarters. Because he was very familiar with the terrain of Hanshan City, the battle plan became even more perfect than before.

  Another attack against the devils is unfolding gradually.