Chapter Sixteen: Besieging the Thoroughfare (Part One)

  The Tongdao is located in the south of Xiangxi, Hunan Province, at the junction of six counties in three provinces: Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou. It borders Xiangxi to the north, Xiangzhong to the northeast, Guangdong to the south, and Yunnan to the west. The strategic location is very important, and it is an important passage from Hunan to Guilin and Liuzhou in Guangxi Province. Historically, most of the economic and cultural exchanges between Guangxi and Hunan provinces were conducted through Tongdao County. Tongdao is also a multi-ethnic inhabited area, known as the "Dong Nationality Village". The Dong people's grand songs, Dong cuisine, and Dong wedding customs are one of the hotspots for folk culture research in later generations. The beautiful scenery with green mountains and clear waters makes it seem like a paradise on earth, earning it the nickname "Shangri-La of Hunan" among tourists. Unfortunately, when Liu Yimin and the soldiers of the 18th Red Army arrived on December 9, the weather had already turned cold, and the mountains were barren and withered, with only the trees still lush and green.

  With the understanding of the Long March history by later generations, Liu Yimin knew that at this time, the enemy forces in the Tongdao area were weak, and the rural areas outside the county seat could be said to have no defensive power. Therefore, after the Red 18th Regiment left the mountains, under the leadership of the guide found by the reconnaissance team, they directly got on the highway connecting Xianggui, and openly marched along the main road towards Tongdao County.

  On the evening of the 9th, Liu Yimin led the 18th Regiment to arrive near Xixi, Tongdao County.

  Reconnaissance team report: The county town only has one security battalion with about 600 people. Since they didn't expect the Red 18th Regiment to rush in, the enemy did not make any combat deployments and only maintained normal sentry patrols.

  Liu Yimin considered that if he launched a surprise attack with the reconnaissance company and the first battalion, he could achieve the effect of catching the enemy off guard. However, if he launched a direct attack, casualties might be heavy. He couldn't remember whether Comrade Xiaoping had led the Red Seventh Army to attack a small county town in western Hunan or northern Guangxi, which was also defended by local security troops. After five days of attacking, they failed to capture the town and suffered over 200 casualties, forcing them to retreat. Thinking of this, Liu Yimin ordered the communication team to instruct the third battalion to quickly follow up and take defensive positions on the spot. The vanguard first battalion followed him in disguise as a Hunan army to launch a surprise attack. The second battalion made combat preparations and advanced behind the vanguard first battalion. After the vanguard's surprise attack succeeded, they quickly occupied the county town and imposed martial law.

  Ma Zi Bao is a veteran of the security team at the pass. He thinks being a small squad leader in the security team is great, even though the military pay isn't high, but there are many opportunities to make extra money. When he's on duty and standing guard, all the merchants passing by have to show respect, especially the local big shots who have powerful backing that can't be trifled with. Small merchants and out-of-town traders who don't give him and his brothers some "honorarium" when they pass through the county town are absolutely not allowed to do so. If any of those bastards don't open their eyes, Ma Zi Bao's brothers will make them behave by pointing two gun barrels at them. With money, life is pretty good - he can drink a little wine, spend some small change, and even visit the White Widow's house for a chat. This kind of life, even if it were offered to him by a god, he wouldn't give up. Recently, things have been a bit off. The National Army has been chasing after the Red Bandits, and according to passing merchants, the National Army and the Red Bandits had a fierce battle on the banks of the Xiang River, with many people killed, and the water in the Xiang River was dyed red by the blood of the Red Bandits. The people downstream were so scared that they didn't dare drink from the Xiang River or eat fish from it. Ma Zi Bao couldn't understand - weren't they all Chinese? What's the point of fighting each other? Chiang Kai-shek must be out of his mind, just like how he himself would get upset if he didn't have some small money to spend, some wine to drink, and a good time with the White Widow. Maybe it was because Chiang Kai-shek's wife wasn't as beautiful or charming as the White Widow, so he wasn't comfortable, and when he wasn't comfortable, he wanted to fight people - just like how Ma Zi Bao would get upset if someone didn't give him money, and then he'd want to use his gun barrel to beat them up. But Chiang Kai-shek's discomfort was different from his own! This time, the old man had started a war that had scared away all the merchants on the trade route - not even a ghostly shadow could be seen. Where would Ma Zi Bao get his small change now? Damn it to hell!

  "Company commander, look! Someone's coming!" A sentry's shout awakened Ma Zi Bao, who was secretly grumbling in his heart. Ma Zi Bao raised his head and saw that indeed someone had come, and not just a few people either. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the Xiang Army, with at least one company. Ma Zi Bao hastily shouted: "Brothers, straighten up! Don't let these regular army rascals look down on our security team!"

  A team of security guards at the city gate shouted in unison: "Yes!"

  As the Xiang army troops approached their own sentry posts, Mazi Pang signaled slightly, and a small soldier immediately held up his gun and shouted: "Halt, who goes there?"

  A soldier who appeared to be a communication officer walked out of the Xiang army and said, "Our superiors have come to inspect military affairs on the orders of Commander Liu Jianxu. Don't you hurry up and make way."

  Ma Zi Bao heard that it was Commander Liu Jianxu's inspection team. Looking again, the equipment was all 79-style rifles, flower machine guns, recoilless guns, and Czech-style light machine guns. No need to ask for passwords, just looking at the equipment knew they were the elite of the elite, must be Commander Liu's guard, guarding a high-ranking official. Ma Zi Bao hastily ordered the security team soldiers to remove the roadblock, ran to the front of the troops and said: "I didn't know the officers had arrived, I'm deeply sorry, please proceed."

  The Xiang Army troops completely ignored Mazi Pong and marched through the sentry post in an extremely orderly manner, entering the city gate.

  Ma Zi felt very bored, damn it, weren't they just a group of fighting thugs? So annoying. He had just been scolding in his heart when the last squad of Xiang Army soldiers walked over, one of whom appeared to be the squad leader and said to him, "The officer wants to see their county magistrate and battalion commander, and he wants you and your brothers to escort them."

  Ma Zi Bao thought to himself, "Can't do without us old guys, huh?" But he said out loud that he was willing to serve the officials. Then he took off on his own and ran to the front of the Xiang Army troops, leading the way straight to the Ba An Brigade headquarters. As for the problem of standing guard at the city gate, Ma Zi Bao didn't think about it. Ma Zi Bao was an old soldier, after all, and he knew that even if you stood a good watch, it was all for nothing if you didn't curry favor with the officials. If he had turned his head to look back, he would have seen two more battalions of Guangxi troops arriving at the city gate, led by his comrades, who quickly rushed off towards key points such as the police station, post office, and county government.

  Unfortunately, Mazi Bao will never look back.

  The courtyard of the security team's headquarters is bustling with activity. It was originally dinner time, and the team members were all gathered in the courtyard waiting for dinner. Tonight, the team leader invited the county magistrate, the secretary of the county party committee, the police chief, the tax bureau chief, and the chamber of commerce president to dinner to discuss raising military funds to resist the red bandits. The orderly was busy serving dishes in the team leader's reception room, with plate after plate of sumptuous food making the security team soldiers swallow their saliva in envy.

  Ma Zi Bao brought Liu Yi Min and the others in, but except for the two sentries at the gate, no one else noticed. Ma Zi Bao thought to himself, "These fools only know how to eat all day, watch me, today I've hit the jackpot! Earlier an officer saw that I was clever and said he would promote me to platoon leader, if this guy gets lucky, even gods can't stop him." As Ma Zi Bao thought about his good fortune, his feet moved quickly, bringing Liu Yi Min and the others with him. In a short while, they passed through the courtyard and arrived at the entrance of the regiment headquarters. Just as he was about to shout "report", he was suddenly lifted up by a large hand. As he was lifted up, Ma Zi Bao's head finally turned around, and when he opened his eyes, oh no! The officer's soldiers were surrounding all the brothers in the courtyard with guns!

  Mazi's eyes turned black and he fainted.

  At the entrance of the police station, two policemen who had just changed shifts were leaning against their guns, looking bored at the empty street. After a while, the street was still deserted. Sentinel A said: "Brother, don't you think it's a bit strange today? As soon as it gets dark, there's no one on the street, is that normal?"

  Sentinel B replied, "Haven't you been on duty for some days? Now is not a good time, the National Army is fighting against the Red Bandits from Jiangxi, it's not peaceful. As soon as night falls, people in the city lock their doors early, and there isn't even a ghostly figure on the streets. This sentry post is really meaningless, you can't even see a woman's butt, let alone get any benefits."

  "Hey, little brother, don't just think about getting rich quick, in this day and age you still want to make a profit? Not only will you not succeed, even if you do, you'll have to hand it over to the director and team leader! Look at how fat the director's waist is, several women can't even wrap their arms around him!"

  The sentinel hawked up a mouthful of spittle and swallowed it with a gulp, then after half a day's silence, he suddenly blurted out: "Son of a turtle!"

  It seems there are footsteps from the end of the street. Sentry A pricked up his ears, yes, it's really footsteps. Good heavens, someone is finally coming, business is about to start. Sentry A hurriedly poked Sentry B: "Brother, cheer up, someone is here."

  Sentinel Yi listened carefully and said, "No way, how come it's a group of people?"

  A group of people came from the end of the street. Two sentries stared with their eyes wide open for a long time, but couldn't see clearly what kind of troops they were. It wasn't until the troops approached that they found out it was a security team led by a soldier leading a very neat and tidy Gui army unit. Sentry A shouted in a stern manner: "Halt, who are you?"

  The leading soldier of the security team shouted loudly: "Don't you have eyes? This is General Li Zongren's troops, they are here to help us fight against the red bandits. Tell the police bureau people to gather, the general wants to give a speech."

  Sentinel B turned around and was about to run back to shout for someone, but didn't want to be pulled back by Sentinel A. All he heard Sentinel A say was: "The officers have come from afar and must be tired. However, this is a police station, responsible for maintaining law and order. Our director has gone to the Security Regiment for a meeting, we don't understand military matters, so please ask the officers to go to the Security Regiment instead."

  Before he could finish speaking, a soldier emerged from the national army's ranks, snatched the rifle from Sentry A, and kicked him to the ground.

  Unexpectedly, this sentinel was a slippery fellow from a humble background, the kind that wouldn't be afraid of boiling water even if he were dead. As he lay on the ground, he still shouted loudly: "Come quickly, the National Army is beating people!" Sentinel B panicked and with a clatter opened the gun bolt. Before he could take aim, several National Army soldiers rushed forward and pressed him to the ground. The nearby security team soldier was still speaking loudly and excitedly: "Son of a turtle, are you trying to be tough? Dare to challenge the regular army?"

  A group of people swarmed in, entering the police station's courtyard, and quickly tied up dozens of policemen who were eating their meals. A security team soldier looked at the National Army's actions with some misgiving, just thinking about running away, when a soldier came over with a rope, smiling and saying: "It's your turn, brother." The security team soldier asked in alarm: "Who are you?" The Red Army soldier still smiled and said: "Remember, we are the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army." The security team soldier looked at the ropes tied around his wrists and muttered: "I didn't expect it, they really are divine soldiers and heavenly generals."

  Similar things were performed simultaneously at several city gates and key points in the county town, and soon, the Red 18th Regiment controlled the pass county town without firing a single shot.