After the great cold, Haizhou City felt the coldest moment of winter, and the city walls seemed to shrink in half. But after the cold winter comes spring, and where will spring be in Lianyungang? No one can see it at this time.

When it was a young year, it snowed again the night before, like a goddess scattering flowers. When I opened the door in the morning, there was a white expanse everywhere, and the whole world seemed to have become a multicolored ink painting, with no other colors except black, white, and gray.

Shizhu couldn't help but sigh: "Oh, what a lot of snow! There have been two heavy snowfalls in a row, and there will definitely be a good harvest after the beginning of the year! After sighing, Shi Zhu smelled a burst of fragrance wafting from the kitchen, it turned out that his little concubine Shen Yueyun specially instructed the kitchen to make mutton stewed radish in the morning to warm everyone's body.

However, since she got up in the morning, Shen Yueyun's right eye has been jumping, and she has tried several soil methods but nothing has worked. As the saying goes, "the right eye jumps into disaster", so she told Zhu Guanglian about it, "Da, my right eye has been jumping since I got up in the morning, shouldn't something happen today?" ”

"Maybe you didn't sleep well last night, woman's family, don't think about it!" Although Zhu Guanglian said this, he also muttered a little in his heart, because he always felt a little stuffy in his chest in the morning, and the magpies on the trees were upset, so he couldn't help but think about the bad side.

After a while, a few children who were still sleeping at this time of the day also got out of the bed, and they didn't want to miss the beautiful scenery: building snowmen, snowball fights, sledding, and laughter and slapstick filled the whole yard for a while. Zhu Guanglian's mood became better, as if he had followed a few children back to his childhood.

The horse-drawn cart was more difficult on a snowy day, and the stone pillar did not dare to slack off, so he specially took care of the guys to feed the horses more good food, and then set off.

After going to Xishu, Shi Zhu led the group to Laojuntang, which was relatively far, and in such a thick snow, the horses and people were a little tired enough, but they finally successfully unloaded the goods. When they returned to the firm, it was already afternoon.

Not long after leaving Laojuntang, the group saw a person walking in front of them, thin and thin, carrying a yellow baggage, wearing a gray cotton hat on his head, and his eyes looked slightly cunning, and even a little chilly.

"I've finally met someone! May I ask the little brother, how to go in the direction of Zhuyingou? The man came to the stone pillar, asked with a smile on his face, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Bamboo gutter? Where are you from? ”

"I'm from Ganyu, Shandong, I'm not familiar with this side, and it's snowing so hard today, and I don't know the direction!"

"You go all the way from here, and after passing the Laojun Hall in front of you, you will walk a few miles to the Great Nunnery, and the bamboo ditch is over there. When you go to the hermitage and ask the next person, you'll know when you ask. The stone pillar pointed to the road behind him and said to the man.

"Okay, okay, thank you!" The man nodded to the pillar in thanks, and then continued on his way.

After the heavy snowfall, the sun was particularly harsh, and today there was no northwest wind, and several people fell asleep in the carriage. After walking for a while, Shizhu suddenly shouted "stop", and when he was shouted like this, everyone immediately became alert and hurriedly asked what was the matter.

Shi Zhu looked at the mountain on the right, thought for a moment, and said, "The person who just passed by may be a spy!" In this way, old watch, you run fast, quickly go around the path from the mountainside to the shooting range to find Camp Commander Yan or Dai Dayan, and ask them to bring a few people over, the situation is urgent, and you can't take care of the forbidden area. Xu Wei, you leave a carriage and wait for us here for a while. Lao Lu, you can take everyone back to the business house first, and we can go back in a while! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Huaiqing said "Okay", and then immediately ran to the shooting range.

"If that person is really a spy, it will be too dangerous for you to go alone, let's go with you!" Lu Da said anxiously.

"Don't worry, it's still sure to deal with that person, if there are too many people, the target is too big, in case he sees it and runs away, it's not good. I quietly followed him alone and tied him up first. And don't you let my old cousin go to the mountainside to move reinforcements, they will arrive soon, and they won't get in the way! ”

Hearing what Shi Zhu said, everyone went their separate ways.

The stone pillar carried a rope and trotted back along the road from which he came. After running for two or three miles, Shizhu saw the man who had asked for directions before, and in order not to alarm the man, he stopped and strode forward instead, getting closer and closer. It is estimated that when Zhu Huaiqing was about to lead people down from the mountain, the stone pillar sped up and followed.

One thing the stone pillar guessed correctly, the thin man in front of him was indeed a spy, but these people were specially trained, extraordinary, and the vigilance was also very strong, from the time the stone pillar appeared in his sight behind, that person had already noticed, and then the stone pillar had been following closely, and the person looked at the slow walking of the stone pillar, and knew that the person who followed was not good. Seeing that the stone pillar was already close to him, the man's hand was close to the dagger on his waist in front of him, ready to strike first.

At this moment, Shi Zhu was also a little nervous in his heart, but when he arrived, he reached out and patted the man's shoulder, and deliberately said, "Hey, this brother, meet again!" ”

Who knew that the man didn't say a word, he directly pulled out the dagger, turned around suddenly, and quickly wiped it towards the neck of the stone pillar, with a smile on his face, it was really a picture of a knife hidden in a smile. Since Shi Zhu dared to step forward, he was also ready, his body flashed back slightly, the dagger slashed against his neck, Shi Zhu could clearly feel the cool breeze and the flash of dagger in front of his neck, only half a hair's distance was about to reach his neck.

"If you want to kill with a move, it's ruthless enough!" Before the stone pillar had time to think about it, the man made another backhand move, and the dagger slashed straight at the stone pillar's cheek. The stone pillar dodged slightly to the right back, and with his left hand he wanted to grab the man's right hand swinging the dagger, and his right foot kicked it according to the gap exposed in the middle of the man's abdomen, but the man dodged it.

When the man saw that the stone pillar really had some effort, he did not force the attack again, but replaced the dagger he was holding with a reverse grip, and the tip of the dagger kept gesturing at the stone pillar, intending to find an opportunity to stab again. The air was filled with the smell of blood, which could be smelled from a distance of tens of millions of microns.

After the two confronted each other like this for more than ten seconds, Shi Zhu deliberately stepped forward half a step forward and sold a flaw to the other party, and the man saw the opportunity to stab Shi Zhu in the heart. The stone pillar flashed slightly to his right side, dodged the dagger, took a big step forward with his right foot, just stepped on the opponent's left foot, his body was close to the opponent, and his left hand grabbed the right hand of the person holding the dagger, and then used his right hand to push the back of the opponent's elbow with lightning speed, the man screamed in pain, and the dagger fell to the ground.

Immediately after that, Shi Zhu used a close-quarters melee method, took advantage of the situation to change the direction of his right arm, and struck the man in the chest with a sharp elbow blow. The other party was a little stunned by this combo, and his left hand subconsciously covered his chest, probably because the cotton clothes he was wearing were a little thick, and the force of the blow was not too great, and the person only showed a slight expression of pain on his face. But after being elbowed by the stone pillar, he still took a small step back.

Shizhu continued to take advantage of the victory, taking advantage of the opportunity of his opponent to take half a step back and open a little space between the two, and kicked his right foot again, this time kicking the man on his back and falling into the snow.

"Bang Ga-" The man was kicked to the ground by the stone pillar, and he actually came up with such a sentence in annoyance and anger.

"I'm a traitor, but I'm a Japanese!" Shi Zhu heard the man's scolding, and probably knew the identity of the other party.

The man got up from the ground, and before he could pat off the snow off his body, he said to the stone pillar, "Since you already know, you must die here today!" With that, he took out a small pistol from his cotton coat and pulled the trigger with a "snap".

Looking at Zhu Huaiqing's side again, after receiving the instructions of the stone pillar, he ran from the mountain path to the shooting range at the fastest speed. Although the shooting range was easy to find, the people standing guard did not know him, and after the two sides were entangled for a while, he found Dai Dayan. After hearing about the situation, Dai Dayan and Zhang Gouyu hurriedly took two small soldiers down the mountain, but their departure time was still a little later than Shizhu expected.

When Zhu Huaiqing and his entourage of five people first arrived at the bottom of the mountain, they suddenly heard a "bang" of a rapid gunshot, and after the gunshot, the echo of the crackling echo trembled in the valley, and everyone's hearts were pinched when they heard it.

"It's broken, Brother Shizhu is afraid that something has happened!" After hearing the gunshots and stopping to determine the location, Dai Dayan immediately flew in the direction of the stone pillar.

At this time, Zhu Huaiqing was also very anxious, his heart was about to rise to his throat, this gunshot was obviously not fired by the stone pillar, the biggest possibility was that the stone pillar was attacked by the person who asked for directions before, and he was afraid that the murder would be more auspicious.

When they reached the stone pillar, they saw only a small patch of snow stained red with blood, and the stone pillar was sleeping in the snow, and the clothes on his left shoulder were also stained red with blood, only the big eyes were still blinking. The man next to him was tied up like a bastard, struggling incessantly, his mouth covered with blood, and the spear and dagger fell not far from them.

"What's wrong with you, old man? Which side was hurt? Zhu Huaiqing hurriedly stepped forward and asked while leaning on the stone pillar.

Shizhu sat up, covered his left shoulder with his hand, and said with a smack in his mouth: "Old watch, I can't die for the time being, but I was shot in the arm and died of pain!" After saying that, a few people breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Gouyu hurriedly went up to look at the wound on Shi Zhu's shoulder, and said after a while: "Brother Shizhu, your life is really big, you only hurt your shoulder, and the wound is not deep." I have an ancestral gold medicine here, and I change the medicine twice a day, and it is estimated that it will be fine in two or three days. After speaking, he took out a vial from his bosom and handed it to Shizhu.

Shi Zhu took the bottle and said, "Brother Dog, thank you!" I'll pay you back when I'm healed! ”

Then, he pointed to the Japanese man and said, "This son of a bitch has a Japanese person." Luckily, I brought a rope with me and shook off his arm before he could shoot, so I missed, otherwise I would have really gone to see Lord Hades! I hit him in the face a few more times with a rope and kicked him to the ground, and it was with great difficulty that I tied him up! Although Shi Zhu seemed more relaxed when he said this, in fact, he still felt a little scared when he thought about it now, the shot he had just received was too painful, and he had just been lying in the snow in addition to relieving his breath, but he was actually lying down in pain.

"It's a little Japan! Brothers, get the gun and the gun, and go back and let the battalion commander have a good trial! After Dai Dayan finished speaking, the two soldiers who came with him immediately picked up the dagger and gun, and escorted the Japanese to prepare to go back.

The Japanese was still struggling, and from time to time he said, "Bangga-let me go quickly, or I will kill you all!" ”

Dai Daiyan stepped forward and grabbed the Japanese by the collar and said, "Hey, you can learn Chinese well!" But no matter how good it is, you're still a brute, it's all like this, and you're still hard-mouthed! He then asked Shi Zhu, "By the way, Brother Zhuzi, how do you know that this man is a spy?" ”

"At first, I didn't know, but then I saw that there were only the marks in the snow in front of us that had been pressed by our carriage when it came, and there were a row of footprints coming down the mountain, which was a bit strange. Later, I thought about it again, and I felt that the person's accent didn't look like a Ganyu person, and it was almost the New Year, what were you doing in Zhuyingou? There were no people living there. I feel that there is something wrong with this person, and I would rather think wrong than watch him scurry around under our noses! ”

"It's still a thoughtful reader! Time was pressing, so we immediately escorted little Japan back for trial. Brother Zhuzi, you are injured, hurry up and go back to rest! What's the situation, let's talk about it next time. With that, they went straight back to the camp with big eyes.

After saying goodbye, Shi Zhu and Zhu Huaiqing also began to rush back. After walking not too far, they saw Xu Wei driving away the carriage. When they arrived at the two of them, Xu Wei said, "Young Master Shi, I saw that you haven't come back for a while, so I'll come over first to see what the situation is!" ”

Shi Zhu said: "It's just right, it's not early, let's go back early!" ”

Today is a small year, according to the custom, every household has to sweep the dust, send the stove, although this is not an official festival, but the ordinary people attach great importance to it, I hope that the stove master can go to the sky to report the virtue of each family for a year, bless every household is safe and sound. Just as Shen Yueyun led the family to clean up the cobwebs and dust inside and out, and pasted the couplet "Heaven says good things, and the lower world keeps peace" on the stove, Lu Da and his party returned to the firm.

After hearing Lu Da's explanation of the situation, Zhu Guanglian was very anxious and uneasy, could it be that his eyelids jumped badly in the morning, and something was really going to happen today? It wasn't until a while later, when they saw three figures in the carriage in the twilight, that they were a little relieved - three people, one no less is good! But when they got closer and saw that the stone pillar's arms were stained with blood, their hearts immediately hung again, and their faces showed nervous expressions again.

Seeing this, Shi Zhu hurriedly said: "My uncle, my little concubine, don't worry, I wiped some skin, the wound is not deep, just take some medicine!" ”

"I don't know how much blood is dripping here, and you still say it's not in the way? Hurry, hurry, hurry, everyone help deal with it. Get the doctor again! Zhu Guanglian said anxiously. After the doctor read it, he confirmed that there was no major problem, and everyone was really relieved.

This time, Zhu Huaiqing saw that the stone pillar was hung up, so he didn't say anything, and let the stone pillar rest first. He thought that the stone pillar would take a few days to get better, but he didn't think about the golden medicine that Zhang Gou left, and the wound of the stone pillar healed early on the third day.

"What a miracle drug!" Zhu Guanglian couldn't help but sigh. He wanted Shizhu to rest for a few more days, but Shizhu said that there were still a few days left for the New Year, there were many things, and he couldn't be delayed, and his injuries were healed, so he didn't need to rest, so Zhu Guanglian agreed that Shizhu would continue to do things.

On this day, it was time for Laojun Hall to deliver supplies, and Camp Commander Yan had pinched the time and was already waiting for him here. When he saw the stone pillar coming, he greeted him and said, "Pillar, how is the injury?" You've done a lot of credit this time! ”

"Battalion Commander Yan, my injuries are all healed. How's it going? Shi Zhu also asked.

"That Japanese spy seems to have been specially trained, and the day before yesterday, after Dai Dayan brought him in, he didn't say anything at first, and almost let him swallow the poison pill when he had the opportunity, but fortunately, we were sharp-eyed and snatched the pill first. Later, he was given an injection, and it all came out. It turned out that these people were all from the Japanese reconnaissance platoon, and they had to come to reconnoiter the terrain and army deployment around the port. Unfortunately, the day before yesterday it was snowing heavily, and the Japanese soldier got lost, and he saw you coming from a distance in the mountains, so he came down to ask for directions. Later, according to the meeting place he said, we immediately sent a team of people to quietly touch over, and sure enough, there was a makeshift small grass hut there, and we killed two of them, and the rest of the people ran as fast as they could, and it was dark and did not catch up. However, we found several sketches in the hut, and if the Japanese devils had obtained them, it was estimated that our brothers would have to suffer more casualties. What a credit you have made this time! ”

Shi Zhu said with a smile: "Camp Commander Yan, I also happened to meet it, where is the credit!" ”

At this time, Battalion Commander Yan took out a small pistol and said: "Pillar, this is the Browning pistol used by the Japanese soldiers, it is small and easy to carry on your body, I have asked the division headquarters for instructions, and I will give it to you, and it should be a reward for you!" It's just that all the bullets inside have been fired by us. Although Shi Zhu knew that Browning was a good thing, how dare he ask for this gun, but Camp Commander Yan gave it again and again, and he really couldn't refuse, so he had to accept it first.

Battalion Commander Yan said: "Although the devil's operation was sabotaged by us this time, since they sent people to investigate, they must have made a plan to attack Lianyungang, I am afraid that they will take action in a short time, and it is estimated that we will have a good time this year!" ”

"Isn't Little Japan a New Year?" Shizhu didn't want to care about these things, just a little curious.

"The Japanese don't celebrate the Chinese New Year, they only celebrate the solar year. Besides, how can the Oriental Japanese people be qualified to celebrate our Chinese New Year! Camp Commander Yan said.

"Alas, it's a pity that we don't have planes, otherwise we would have blown up these bastards' boats first, and see how they get ashore to beat us!" Although Shi Zhu said this, he also understood that with such national strength, even if the Japanese ship was blown up, it would probably be difficult to resist the Japanese land attack.

Battalion Commander Yan wanted to talk to Shi Zhu again, but a soldier came to look for him, so he went to deal with official business first.

The next day, Shi Zhu went to Sunjiashan to deliver supplies, and presumably someone in the special operations platoon also heard about Shi Zhu's arrest of Japanese spies. As soon as he got there, Zhao Yishui said to Shizhu: "Okay, Brother Zhuzi, before I waited for the traitor to hoe, I caught a Japanese spy first, not bad, not bad!" ”

Shi Zhu was a little embarrassed, and said, "Where, it's all luck!" But I'm thinking, little Japan is so strong, why would it take this risk to send people to spy on intelligence? ”

Zhao Yishui said: "Brother Shizhu, in fact, the reason is very simple, in a war, everyone wants to have as few casualties as possible. No matter how strong the Japanese devils are, they also know that the lives of soldiers are precious. After getting our defenses, their next step is to bomb and shell our key defense areas, so that they can reduce their losses if they attack ashore again. In fact, we are the same, in the past, I used to take my brothers to scout for information! ”

Shi Zhu said: "Fortunately, it snowed, otherwise I might not have met that Japanese spy!" ”

"That's because you're thoughtful, and you have to be like you to engage in special combat missions!" After speaking, Zhao Yishui patted Shi Zhu's shoulder.

On the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, Shi Zhu returned to his hometown in Guwei for the New Year, and in order not to worry his grandmother, he never told the old man about his injury.

The Chinese New Year is the most lively event of the year for ordinary people, but even the landlord's family was not very rich in that era. Shizhu's family is still good, peanuts, sunflowers, small fruits, a plate of green vegetable tofu, pork vermicelli, at most a chicken is slaughtered, and the year is over. And most of the people around eat dried potato porridge for the New Year, put some salt on the Chinese cabbage, or put some vermicelli; If it's a little better, you will grind some cornmeal and stick some small cakes on the side of the pot, which can be considered to be full. Compared with the people who have to go out to ask for food during the New Year, they are all lucky.

In the city, some families will hang two festive red lanterns in front of the door, children can also have a small whip and two kicks to play, and there will be bustling crowds and vendors on the street, and the sound of frolicking and shouting is endless. Except for the occasional few bombs dropped by the Japanese, which made the person concerned feel pain, as if nothing was happening outside about the city.

However, the reality outside is the same as what Camp Commander Yan said, their New Year has not stopped, but in the days before and after the Spring Festival, the Japanese have not yet attacked the Lianyungang area.

At that time, after the Japanese occupied Nanjing, they crossed the river from Wuhu, Nanjing, and Zhenjiang to the north, and went straight to Bengbu along the Jinpu Road, and then continued to gradually march north and fight, and were temporarily blocked by the national army on the south bank of the Huai River before the Spring Festival. In the northern battlefield, after forcibly occupying Qingdao, the Japanese crossed the Yellow River south and occupied Jinan, and then moved south along the Tianjin-Pudong Railway with the 10th Division, and the 5th Division attacked Linyi along Zhucheng and Juxian, in an attempt to join forces in the Zaozhuang area. The Japanese intended to attack from both sides, and finally occupy Xuzhou, open up the Tianjin-Pudong Railway, connect the northern and southern battlefields, and then expand the invasion.

Commander Zeng Xiqi, who was sitting in Lianyungang, knew that regardless of whether Xuzhou was defended or not, the Japanese army would attack Haizhou City, which was also on the Longhai line: if the Japanese attack on Xuzhou was blocked, it would definitely try to occupy Lianyungang by all means, so as to increase troops from the Longhai line to the west and attack Xuzhou on three sides; If Xuzhou falls, then the Japanese army will still advance east to occupy Haizhou, and the city of Haizhou will be attacked from all sides, and the result can be imagined.

The loss of a small city does not feel sorry for those who are high up, and even the common people in other places have never heard of it, but as the guardians of this city, the burden on them is extremely heavy, and they shoulder an unshirkable responsibility. If they don't want to be spurned by future generations, even if they see the final result, they must defend it desperately. During the Spring Festival, he still went to the front line, led the soldiers to build and strengthen fortifications day and night, and ordered the soldiers to strengthen training and actively prepare for war.

The front-line soldiers worked hard day and night, and the stone pillars naturally couldn't be idle for a few days. Just arrived on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhu Guanglian sent someone to inform the people who ran the goods, and the next day he would start transporting materials in advance. Shizhu and these people are not dry food, since they have taken on such a job, they have to do things well, so there are nine of them, one is not many, and the fourth day of the Lunar New Year will start as usual.

When delivering supplies to Xishu, Shi Zhu could occasionally see Zeng Xiqi coming down from the front line in the dust, with a scruffy beard, a tired face, bloodshot eyes, and often accompanied by a few blue-eyed, high-nosed, white-hatted foreigners. One time the stone pillar came closer and looked closer, and the people were talking in foreign languages. Shi Zhu didn't know that this person was Zeng Xiqi at first, but he felt that he had some background, he must be a big official, such a person can share the joys and hardships with ordinary soldiers on the front line, and he can be civil and martial, which is really admirable. Later, after Shi Zhu knew that this person was the commander of the local guard, he admired him even more.

"It would be nice if I could say a few words to these longnoses someday!" Seeing that Commander Zeng could communicate in a foreign language without barriers, Shi Zhu thought with envy.

It's just that he only learned some of the most basic things in middle school, even if he later met a large group of intellectuals in the 667th Regiment, so that his foreign language level has improved rapidly, but people's learning ability is always limited, and it is difficult for ordinary people like him to encounter opportunities to talk to foreigners, so Shizhu doesn't know how his level is.

"Anyway, I can't catch up with Commander Zeng!" He alone was sure of that.