Chapter 33: The Battle of Xikou (Part 2)

  The commander of the 18th Red Cavalry Regiment, Hu Lao Hu, now has a sense of being a cavalry regiment commander.

  After the battle of Little Water, Hu Lao Hu finally gathered 50 war horses. Although there were no professional cavalry guns, they had plenty of submachine guns, light machine guns, and rifles to choose from. They also found dozens of sabers, and the number of soldiers increased to nearly 90.

  Originally, Old Hu could have gotten a few more horses, but the artillery battalion commander Li Chang and the logistics battalion's Wu Zheng were not easy to talk to. Li Chang said his mountain guns needed mules, and it was impossible to always disassemble the cannons and let the soldiers carry them on their shoulders. Wu Zheng didn't say a word, but he was after all a team leader, and Old Hu was an old Red Army soldier who knew what superior-subordinate leadership relationships were like. Seeing that Wu Zheng had no intention of giving him horses, Old Hu didn't dare to pester him either. Fortunately, his cavalry company originally had few people, with only around 20 soldiers during the reorganization in Tongdao County Town. After the battle at Xiaoshui, they added 40 more, plus cadres, making a total of around 80 people. Old Hu selected 10 people from the new recruits who joined after Xiaoshui, adding them to the cadres and old soldiers, forming a small company of 50 people. The remaining new recruits had no choice but to follow the infantry for now.

  Since Liu Yimin gave a lesson on cavalry education in the corridor, teaching that cavalrymen should be gods of guns, cannons and grenade launchers on horseback, this old Red Army soldier who had studied cavalry tactics in the Soviet Union was greatly enlightened. He had always admired the charging cavalry of Budyonny's division, which shone like a knife in the sun, and longed to lead an entire regiment or division of cavalry in a thunderous charge against the enemy, forcing them to surrender under his waves of steel. Now it seems that in the face of powerful firepower, a cavalry charge is simply suicidal. Not to mention even more powerful firepower, but just the machine gun fire that annihilated the 16th Division of Hunan during the 18th Army's elimination was enough to make a cavalry charge and suicide almost indistinguishable. It seems that the regiment commander's thinking is clear, and the Soviet cavalry tactics are somewhat outdated from a strategic perspective.

  Now, Hu Lao Hu is leading his cavalry regiment, wearing the uniform of Xiang 16th Division, marching on the mountain road between Xiaoshui and Xikou.

  The battalion commander gave him a clear task, disguised as the 16th Division of Xiang, to fight and be vigilant in the direction of Xikou. If encountered with small search teams of enemy's 62nd division, they can be eliminated, but try not to open fire; if encountered with large troops of enemy's 62nd division, hide and monitor, do not attack before the main force arrives, so as not to alarm the enemy.

  Old Hu was uneasy, and before setting out, he specifically ran to ask the regimental commander what to do if the enemy's 62nd Division main force attacked and advanced towards Xiaoshui in our army's direction. The regimental commander clearly told him that the cavalry company would quickly return along the original route and not engage in a melee with the enemy.

  Old Hu knew that the battalion commander was afraid of exposing the main force's intentions and also feared that if the cavalry company launched an attack on the enemy's main forces, it would suffer heavy casualties.

  The mountain road was difficult to walk, and most of the time they were leading their horses, which made Hu Lao Hu very unhappy. They had just gotten warhorses, but couldn't gallop freely, it was a bit too much to ask for cavalrymen who yearned for that kind of speed like the wind. In his heart, Hu Lao Hu kept praying: Faster, faster, hurry up and get out of this damned mountain road, onto the highway.

  After turning a bend, there was a mountain village in front of them, standing quietly among the mountains. Hu Lao Hu originally wanted to gallop past it, but thinking that his mission was combat vigilance, he couldn't let go of any corner that could hide danger, so with a whistle, he led the cavalry regiment towards the village.

  The village was already bustling with people at this time.

  Outside the courtyard wall of a house on the edge of the village, Little Red Army soldier Pan Mingliang crouched against the wall, surrounded by twenty or thirty onlookers from the village.

  Pan Mingliang is a Ruijin native, who joined the army when the Soviet area expanded before the Long March. He was a soldier of the 1st Corps' International Division. His parents were both Red Army cadres and stayed in the Soviet area to continue the struggle.

  After the Long March began, Pan Mingliang followed the troops from Yudu River and passed through four layers of enemy blockade lines. The day before yesterday, when the First Army Corps was transferring from Chang'an Camp to Lin Kou, he was assigned to the reconnaissance team to scout out enemy intelligence in the direction of Xiao Shui. After all, he was just a 14-year-old kid, got lost and fell behind.

  When they reached this small mountain village, Little Red Soldier Pan Mingliang had not closed his eyes for two days and two nights, nor had he eaten a single bite of food. He was exhausted. All he wanted to do was find a place to rest and something to eat.

  The villagers surrounded him, looking at the little Red Army soldier leaning against the wall, and began to discuss in a loud and disorderly manner: some said throw him off the cliff to feed the wolves. Some said it's safer to beat him to death and bury him, neither the Red Army nor the National Army would know, no trouble. Some also said that it's better to hand him over to the National Army for a reward, after all, a Red Army soldier's head is worth two big oceans. Some also said forget it, after all, he's just a kid, doesn't understand anything, poor thing, let him escape on his own. But not one person went to get some food for the little Red Army soldier, not even a bowl of water. A few mischievous kids surrounded Pan Mingliang like they were watching a rare animal in the mountains, laughing and playing, competing to see who could hit this dirty little red bandit with small stones.

  There was an old man who muttered to himself, saying that he had no children and felt sorry for the child. He suggested taking him home and raising him to take care of him in his old age. Immediately, a wave of opposition arose, with everyone saying that they could adopt anyone, but not a red bandit's child. They were afraid that if the Self-Defense Corps found out, the whole village would be punished.

  Pan Mingliang did not know that at this time, in Hunan Province, under He Jian's policy of preventing and banning communism, everyone was terrified of being associated with communism. Because He Jian implemented the law of collective punishment, if one person was found to be a communist, the whole family would suffer; if one household was found to be communist, the whole village would suffer. Therefore, unless the Red Army occupied this place in large numbers, under normal circumstances, no one dared to give him food or drink.

  How I miss the red Ruijin! The folks there treated the Red Army as their own, when thirsty they had water, when hungry they had red rice and pumpkin porridge. When the Red Army soldiers were idle, they helped the villagers with farming and harvesting, when fighting, the villagers helped the Red Army transport ammunition, carry the wounded, and escort prisoners. The Red Army and the villagers, they were one family! Why are the folks here so different? Don't they know that the Red Army is the team of workers and peasants?

  I don't know how my parents who stayed in the Soviet zone to fight as guerrillas are doing now, do they know that their Liangzi can no longer move? Liangzi wants to drink water, Liangzi wants to eat, Liangzi wants to sleep beautifully by their side.

  Slowly, Pan Mingliang seemed to see his parents, dressed in Red Army uniforms, walking towards him, calling out "Liangzi". Pan Mingliang's tired eyes slowly closed.

  When Hu Lao Hu led the cavalry company into the village, Pan Mingliang's body was already covered with stones and mud, only a faintly visible red scarf could identify him as a Red Army soldier.

  Seeing the national army arrive, several villagers who were eager for rewards rushed forward to report the discovery of Hong's whereabouts, with some quick-witted ones already claiming that they had captured him in the mountains.

  Old Hu pulled Pan Mingliang up, and upon seeing him couldn't help but want to shed tears: his military uniform was tattered, his grass shoes had only one left, the sole was gone, with only a few strands of grass rope still tied around his ankle, his feet were covered in bloodstains, his left leg was swollen as thick as a bowl. Old Hu knew that this little Red Army must be a red devil from the First Regiment.

  Hu Lao Hu didn't say another word and picked up Pan Mingliang, putting him on the war horse.

  Several villagers saw the national army taking away the red bandit's child, and they blocked Hu Lao Hu to offer money. Hu Lao Hu raised his whip and gave a few lashes: "You son of a turtle, dare to ask the national army for a reward? Do you want me to beat you up?"

  The villagers only then realized that the National Army's reward was just a whip, and they didn't bother to correct Hu Lao Hu's mispronunciation of "wang ba gai zi di", and they dispersed in an uproar.

  After leaving the village, Hu Lao Hu took out a water bottle and gave Pan Mingliang some water first. When he woke up, he let him eat some dry food, then took out a pair of cloth shoes that had just been stripped from the body of the Xiang Army in the Battle of Xiao Shui, and let him change into them. The shoes were too big, so Hu Lao Hu untied the grass rope on Pan Mingliang's rotten grass shoes, rubbed it fine, made it into shoelaces, and barely managed to wear them. It wasn't until then that Pan Mingliang believed he had really met a comrade disguised as an enemy, and reported his situation to Hu Lao Hu.

  Thus, Little Red Soldier Pan Mingliang followed Hu Lao Hu's cavalry regiment in a search and advance, beginning his legendary military career in the 18th Regiment of the Red Army. Later literary figures excavated the legendary experiences of the two generals and performed this story as "Old Red Army Saves Little Red Devil" in plays, films, and television, causing quite a stir.

  At 3 pm, the Red 18 Cavalry Regiment led by Captain Hu Lao Tiger marched through the mountain road between Xiaoshui and Xikou, arriving at the main road from Shanzhuang Bridge to Xikou.

  The guide told Hu Lao Hu that this road is the nearest highway from Suining to Tongdao, and turning south along the road is Xiakou. The village on the north side of the road is called Beishan Village. Their location was exactly at the entrance to Xiaoshui from this road, which locals generally didn't know about.

  Old Hu arranged for the warriors to hide their war horses, occupy advantageous terrain, and then start taking turns resting while keeping watch on the movements on the highway.

  At 4:30, Luo Yan and the scouts who went to investigate in front of the creek mouth returned. After contacting Hu Lao Hu, they said that the situation was basically clear. The enemy's 62nd Division had entered the creek mouth at 1 o'clock, and at 2 o'clock, it advanced towards the line of Zhai Tou Bao and Jiang Zhou. The head of the creek was leading the old hundred names to kill pigs and cook food, saying that when the enemy's vanguard arrived at the creek mouth, they had brutally bullied the people. Soon, the main force of the 62nd Division would arrive, and they should hurry up to prepare to welcome them, lest the officers of the 62nd Division be dissatisfied and order the soldiers to plunder.

  Hú Lǎo Hǔ arranged for Luo Yan to lead the guide to report to the team leader, while he and the cavalry company continued to monitor the enemy.

  At this time, Liu Yimin led the Red 18th Regiment to rush along the mountain road where Hu Lao Hu had passed.

  The mountain road march was slow to begin with, and with Li Chang's artillery battalion, which included mountain guns, mules, and shells, the speed became even slower. Although two mountain gun companies were eager to fight and had disassembled the mountain guns to transport them on mules as much as possible, the speed still couldn't keep up. Liu Yimin wanted to leave three mountain guns behind with Li Chang and bury the remaining nine, but when he saw the bloodstains on Li Chang's shoulders and thought of the meritorious cannon that would be exhibited in a future military museum, which had been brought by the Red Second Front Army during the Long March to northern Shaanxi, Liu Yimin didn't say anything.

  Liu Yimin's heart was racing with anxiety, this was the critical moment to compete with the enemy for time. If they couldn't catch up with the 62nd Division, Tao Guang's Clock Rongren Brigade and Vanguard Wang Yuying Brigade would merge, occupying the central point of Tongdao County City. Once the enemy found out that the Xiang 16th Division had been eliminated, while the 18th Regiment was still in the Tongdao area, the two armies from the south, the six remaining divisions from the north and the seven divisions from the Central Army would swarm up, shrinking the encirclement circle. The survival space of the 18th Regiment would be greatly compressed. Sacrifice was a small matter, but the task of covering the main force of the Red Army to transfer troops to Guizhou might not be completed. In that case, the main force of the Red Army in Guizhou would soon be trapped again under the pressure of the enemy's heavy troops, exhausted from running around, and the Long March would inevitably leave behind tens of thousands of unyielding heroes on the snowy grasslands, just like history had before.

  This ending is something Liu Yimin absolutely does not want to see.

  Only by catching up and eliminating the entire 62nd Division of Xiang or one of its regiments, forcing the Xiang Army to withdraw from the front line, can we gain the initiative. Then, concentrate our forces to fight against the Central Army or the Guangxi Army, strive for time, and complete the task. Even if the Guangxi Army and the Central Army temporarily retreat, we can take advantage of this opportunity to let our troops rest and regroup before pursuing the main force.

  After a brief discussion with Cai Zhong and Liu Jianli, Liu Yimin decided to lead the sniper platoon, 6 combat battalions, heavy machine gun battalion, engineer battalion, artillery battalion and two mortar companies of the artillery battalion to advance at forced march speed. Cai Zhong led the two mountain artillery companies of the artillery battalion and the new recruit battalion to follow up afterwards.

  After the order was given, Li Chang, the commander of the artillery regiment, handed over the mountain artillery company to the instructor and led two mortar companies to follow the main force of the division to start a forced march.

  On the winding and hidden mountain road, the main force of Red 18 rushed towards the direction of Xigou.