144 Blood Red, Snow White (5)

Dandong, the most important city on the China-Korea border, was still called Andong at this time. It faced Sinuiju of Korea across the river to the east, bordered the Yellow Sea to the south, Anshan to the west, Dalian to the southwest, and Benxi to the north. It was an important city integrating sea, land, and river lines in one place.

When Japan invaded the Northeast in 1915, the first place it seized was Andong. By early 1916, Japan still occupied this beautiful small city. Because it was adjacent to the river and sea, the heavy snow filling the sky in other parts of the Northeast became much gentler in Andong. The snow wasn't very deep either, just about covering the insteps. Such a fresh and comfortable winter should be very suitable for residents to come out for a walk, but every household in Andong had its doors tightly closed, and the entire city had no vitality at all.

Not only was there no vitality, but the streets of Andong were now full of murderous intent. Japanese soldiers in black uniforms were all over the streets, everyone looking solemn. Two months ago, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cavalry blew up the Yalu River Bridge. Needless to say about the Japanese bridge-guarding troops, the commander was immediately dismissed and sent to a military court for severe punishment. The troops near the Yalu River Bridge were also severely reprimanded by association.

If it were just reprimands, it wouldn't have really affected the Japanese garrison much. Being scolded by superiors was simply a commonplace meal in the Japanese army. Anyway, as long as they weren't punished, a few scoldings from the superior were just scoldings. However, although the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army existing as an enemy didn't scold people, they were really taking lives. From the time the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army blew up the Yalu River Bridge until the snow fell, because the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cut the telegraph lines, the Japanese army could only rely on traditional manpower to deliver intelligence. Initially, the intelligence coming and going in Andong every day was all kinds of pleas for help. As time went on, the pleas for help became fewer and fewer. It wasn't that the Japanese army beat back the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, but that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army slaughtered all Japanese forces in all areas they could reach. After the snow fell, even the intelligence for help was completely interrupted.

The Japanese army was a proper army after all. What the silence of information made them feel was not peace, but danger. Before the People's Party entered the Northeast, Japan relied on Mantetsu and the Garrison Treaty in China, relied on Mantetsu and the garrison in the Liaodong Peninsula, to effectively implement control over the Northeast. Now the Japanese army huddled in a few limited large strongholds like Andong, Fengtian, and Anshan. Between various strongholds was vast Chinese land. Those days when Japanese network nodes were everywhere were gone forever.

High observation watchtowers were erected in Andong. Andong's "warmth" was also relative; a temperature of around minus ten degrees would make people stomp their feet from cold no matter what. The Japanese soldiers on the watchtower were frozen stiff all over, noses red. But with a mission on hand, the Japanese soldiers still tried hard to observe while shivering. On the winter Northeast plain wrapped in silver, a line of thin small black dots appeared from the direction of Fengtian. This immediately attracted the sentry's attention. He hurriedly picked up his binoculars. That was a column of Japanese soldiers wearing black military uniforms. At least looking at the military uniforms, they were Japanese military uniforms. The sentry immediately sent out an alert message. Last time, the group that raided the Yalu River Bridge was a group of Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers wearing Japanese military uniforms. Japan paid great attention to this. The Japanese soldiers below immediately became alert; while assembling, they dispatched a squad of cavalry to check.

Facts proved this was a false alarm. The newly arrived Japanese troops were a team transporting wounded soldiers. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army sent the wounded personnel of the 20th Division to Fengtian, and then began to fiercely attack Mantetsu strongholds. The Japanese army in Fengtian was afraid that transporting wounded soldiers would be intercepted halfway, and secondly, many wounded soldiers also needed continued treatment. So the work of transporting wounded soldiers back to the country only truly unfolded now.

This batch transported a total of about five hundred "lightly wounded" personnel. The carts were full of people lying down. Once they arrived in Andong, whether wounded or the escort team, their faces lit up. As long as they crossed the Yalu River, these people would be considered back home.

"How is Fengtian?" Stationed in Andong was the Japanese Takahashi Regiment. Regiment Commander Takahashi Yoichi asked about the situation in Fengtian.

The squad leader of the escort team shook his head slightly. "The situation is not good."

Until before the snow fell, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had been attacking Mantetsu strongholds everywhere. With the experience of being besieged last time, the Japanese Fengtian garrison with insufficient troops could only use small units to rescue. As a result, they were ambushed several times and lost quite a few troops. With no other choice, Japan could only withdraw the surviving Mantetsu stronghold personnel from various places back to Fengtian and Anshan.

Learning that Fengtian's situation was about the same as Andong's, Regiment Commander Takahashi's expression also became dim. He heard many times that the homeland prepared to increase troops in the Northeast, but currently, both the Northeast and Korea had entered winter, making it very difficult to increase troops. Because Mantetsu strongholds were destroyed, the entire Liaodong Railway had basically stopped running. Maneuvering on two legs in the snowy winter days was a bit too ridiculous.

"Oh? The Japanese wounded transport team has already entered Andong?" In the snow more than ten kilometers away from Andong, some comrades wearing white cloaks and snow camouflage uniforms were struggling to translate the intelligence just dropped by the plane.

Japanese communications were interrupted, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's were not much better. The only advantage was just the airdropped intelligence delivery implemented by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army Air Force.

"Captain, should we try to harass them?" Although the team members knew the purpose of this trip was not to fight, everyone still couldn't help but itch for a fight.

"Cut the crap, hurry up and do the work against the map. Next time we fight, we'll have to be guides. This big snowy field is white all over; identify it well. Walk through every place, see if there are places like big pits." The captain said grumpily.

Pre-war work was just this boring. The name of the assault team was loud and majestic, but the actual work was to personally walk through the roads, water sources, and various places where action might be taken in a dragnet style. The closer to the enemy area, the more careful one had to be. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could play ambush warfare, and the Japanese were not fools either; they had to check carefully near their strongholds. Transportation was inconvenient after the snow, and the Japanese army rarely came out, which gave the opportunity to conduct reconnaissance very close to the Japanese army.

The captain's idea was correct. The day after the assault team began reconnaissance, the Japanese routine patrol team found something wrong. A large number of traces left by humans walking and sleds sliding suddenly appeared in the snow. This news was immediately transmitted back to the Andong stronghold. Regiment Commander Takahashi listened to the report of the reconnaissance troops with a tight frown, looking at the map without speaking for a long time.

"Should we send people to chase?" The staff officer suggested.

"Definitely must send people, but how many people?" Takahashi Yoichi asked. The reply from the Japanese reconnaissance team just now was very clear; the range where enemy traces appeared was very wide. Roughly estimating, the enemy must be three or four hundred people. Ordinary common people couldn't possibly move in such a large place; this must be the vanguard of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.

"Are they preparing to fight us in winter?" Takahashi Yoichi couldn't help but ask. In fact, the fact that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could run hundreds of li across the snow from Panjin to Andong in the dead of winter already made Takahashi Yoichi feel extremely surprised.

"Shall we expand the reconnaissance range too?" The Japanese staff officer suggested. After all, backed by the Yalu River, and the Japanese army had also dispatched three divisions to Korea, one of which was stationed in Sinuiju opposite the Yalu River. Relying on railway transportation, this unit's logistical supply was quite good, and it could cross the Yalu River to fight at any time. If fighting broke out in Andong, the Japanese army believed they had the assurance of victory.

"Okay. Starting tomorrow, expand the reconnaissance range. No, send a battalion to move with the reconnaissance team." Takahashi Yoichi finally decided to prioritize safety. Under the current tense situation, if ambushed, Takahashi Yoichi would definitely be punished.

But the Japanese army's luck wasn't too good. Just after this decision was issued, another snow fell in the Northeast. The heavy snow filling the sky covered all traces on the ground and turned the earth into a pure white world again.

The comrades of the 18th Corps welcomed the snow very much now. After all, the Northeast was not the legendary North Pole with boundless ice and snow to draw from. Building ice and snow houses last time basically exhausted the collectible ice and snow. Now that the sky provided building materials again, it was really the best thing.

While ordering the expansion of the camp, Mu Husan ordered troops to repair Mantetsu strongholds near the Beijing-Harbin line and build new garrison sites. The Staff Department immediately felt the smell of gunpowder before a big battle. Food and fodder go before troops and horses move. If not for fighting, the materials currently reserved by the 18th Corps could probably survive this winter.

"If we fight now, what is the campaign goal? Relying on winter operations, I'm afraid we can't complete the initial campaign concept." The Chief of Staff suggested.

"If we aren't enough, pull the 14th Corps in too." Mu Husan laughed. "Anyway, the comrades of the 14th Corps have also come to us recently to get a lot of experience. There is a big gap between having experience and practice."

The Chief of Staff obviously didn't have such a good mood. "Corps Commander, we lack heavy artillery; I'm afraid we can't take Shenyang City."

"Why do we have to take Shenyang City? Why not let the enemies in Shenyang City come out and fight us?" Mu Husan asked back.

"Eh?" The Chief of Staff was somewhat surprised.

"The Japanese gave us a surprise, playing a game of 'the reverse guest becomes the host.' Now we can just return the favor once." Mu Husan explained.

"But logistical supply..." Just as the Chief of Staff finished speaking, he didn't continue. Mu Husan's initial arrangement was to maximize the reserve of materials and improve logistical supply capacity.

"When will the assault team going to Anshan return?" Mu Husan asked.

Anshan was rich in resources. Having just iron and coal allowed this area to have the foundation to become an important industrial zone. Japan had been fully managing Anshan's mineral products and industry since the Russo-Japanese War.

The assault team dispatched by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to Anshan encountered problems in this aspect. The winter Northeast should have had few pedestrians, especially in the days after snow; as long as one didn't enter villages, one shouldn't encounter people at all. As a result, the Anshan area was obviously not the case. Not only were there people in the mining area, but there were also many Japanese guards in the mining area. These days, the Japanese were scared quite a bit by various news, so the number of mining area guards increased quite a bit instead.

With no other choice, the assault team could only avoid these areas as much as possible and start operations around the outside of the mining area.

"Woof! Woof woof woof!" The sled dog suddenly deviated from the target and barked towards a place nearby. The scout sighed, pulled out a long pole from the sled, and poked at that place a few times. Sure enough, as expected, the end of the long pole vibrated violently, and the sound of metal biting came from under the snow. That was a beast trap.

If it were a normal operation, they would naturally take the main road. And hunters wouldn't set beast traps on the main road. But the assault team's route of not taking the usual path greatly increased the possibility of encountering various dangers. Although comrades in the logistics department had long considered this problem, and assault team members all had two or three pairs of boots, one of which had many protective measures, two comrades still injured their feet and now had to ride on sleds to move with the assault team.

Releasing the beast trap from the end of the long pole, the troops continued to advance. Just after walking for not long, a gunshot was suddenly heard. That was the sound of a local musket. A muzzle-loader, loaded with iron sand and gunpowder, a very old-fashioned weapon. Close-range hunting effect was not bad; long-range combat could only be described as "cute."

The person shooting obviously didn't intend to hurt anyone either, but the comrades of the assault team still became tense. Everyone prepared for battle one after another, and the dog handler also forbade the sled dogs from barking randomly.

The place where the gun was fired was a sparse forest. Local dialect came from the opposite side, but there was quite a lot of Shandong accent in it. "What exactly are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" The Shandong comrade in the assault team immediately responded.

The person behind the tree paused for a while before continuing to shout: "Did you break quite a few of my clips?"

The assault team members breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the person opposite was a local hunter.

"We passed through here and accidentally broke fellow villager's things. We apologize to you. But we didn't do it on purpose." The assault team member shouted.

The hunter opposite was silent for another while, then shouted: "Are you the People's Party that kills Japanese?"

These words immediately made the troops vigilant. Although the People's Party was considered famous outside, being shouted out by a hunter felt wrong no matter what.

"What do you do?" Comrades prepared for battle while continuing to deal with the person opposite.

"Are you the People's Party? If you are the People's Party, I'll come out!" The person opposite continued to shout.

The reconnaissance captain became more alert. While ordering troops sent from both flanks to outflank, and letting comrades be best prepared for battle at any time, he stood up and continued to shout: "We are the People's Party. Fellow villager, come out."

Hearing these words, a person holding a weapon walked out from behind a tree. Just as the assault team captain wanted to speak, he saw two other people walk out from behind other trees. Unexpectedly, there were so many people opposite; several soldiers almost opened fire.

Fortunately, things didn't get to that point. Three hunters arrived at the assault team's location. The leader was tall and looked like a Shandong person by appearance. Perhaps because he hadn't been in the Northeast from Shandong for long, the Shandong flavor in his words was still very strong.

The leading hunter carried the musket on his back and first bowed to the assault team, then said excitedly: "We heard long ago that the People's Party fights the Japanese; now we've finally seen you."

Just as they were speaking, children's screams suddenly came from inside the forest. The outflanking comrades had already arrived in the woods, and now dragged two half-grown children out from the woods.

"Don't be rough!" The captain and the hunter shouted almost simultaneously.

Half an hour later, the crowd lit a bonfire and began to talk. The two children just now had recovered from the fright. First relying on their elders to look curiously at the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army assault team, their attention was soon attracted by the Eskimo dogs sitting steadily beside the breeder. These large-bodied dogs sat there very calmly. Except for their huge size, their eyes and movements were not scary.

"Don't make noise." The hunter saw through the children's thoughts at a glance, pulled them to his side, and then continued to talk with the assault team captain.

The hunters were a family, surnamed Zhu. Anshan locals. The leader said excitedly: "We have suffered in these years. Finally someone dares to come and fight the Japanese! Sir, do you want people to join?"

On August 27, 1904, the Japanese Second Army and Fourth Army fought with the Russian Siberian First Corps, Second Corps, and Fourth Corps on the line of Shangshiqiaozi, Xiashiqiaozi, Tanggangzi in today's Qianshan District and Sifangtai in today's Haicheng City. On August 28, the Japanese line went west from Liuerpu, Nanshahe, Panjialu, Shihuiyao, Xiangshanzi, Sifangtai, Xiaolingzi, Lizi Garden, Shizuizi to Yingshoupu.

This battle lasting 19 days brought deep disasters to the people of Anshan and Liaoyang. Wherever the Japanese and Russian aggressive armies passed, this gang of robber beasts burned houses on sight, killed people on sight, robbed things on sight, looted money on sight, and raped women on sight, doing all kinds of evil. Both Japan and Russia treated captured prisoners with generous hospitality and released them in time, but after capturing Chinese people, they tortured and killed them severely. In the Russo-Japanese Battle of Liaoyang, hundreds of rich villages were destroyed, trees were cut down, and pigs, chickens, cattle, and sheep were all robbed and killed.

No less than thirty thousand refugees from Liaoyang and Anshan were homeless and fled to Fengtian City in panic.

The Zhu family was originally Shandong immigrants who went outside the pass to Fengtian to make a living, and they had some land. Being tossed about like this, their family property was considered completely finished. When they returned to their hometown after the war ended, even the house was demolished. Just as the Zhu family was trying hard to restore the family business, Japanese mining personnel came again. First, they abducted Zhu family members to mine in the mountains, resulting in three deaths in the mine. Later, they forcibly bought a considerable piece of land from the Zhu family at a low price. The Zhu family had to rely on being hunters to subsidize the family livelihood. Although the Zhu family, which originally relied on farming, couldn't be said to be bankrupt now, life was not as good as before anyway.

The more Zhu Huaiji spoke, the more excited he became. Finally, he said loudly: "Sir, I heard you fight the Japanese! I am willing to fight the Japanese with you. Let the Japanese all get off their butts and get the hell out quickly."

Having the cooperation of local common people was naturally a good thing, not to mention that this Zhu Huaiji was a hunter. In this heavy snow, the most the assault team encountered in the wild was hunters. The assault team captain was similar to most elite commanders of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army; he had been a political commissar. Upon hearing it, he knew that Zhu Huaiji's hatred for Japan was very simple. The Japanese affected the Zhu family's life, plus there were lives lost between the two sides. So Zhu Huaiji wanted to drive the Japanese away. But how deep this hatred exactly was, might not be reliable when facing tests.