Chapter Twenty-Four: Battlefield Rank Infiltrate

Shuihe Village. In the kitchen of the village office, Qiu Yun and several women were cooking. Dabao and Shi hurriedly walked in, Dabao pulled Qiuyun to a corner outside the kitchen, turned his head left and right to see that there was no one, and whispered in Qiuyun's ear:

"Sister Qiuyun, the Eighth Route Army Supplementary Regiment is recruiting soldiers in the village, I want to sign up, so that I can know more about the internal situation in the future, so that we can act at the opportunity, and I will slip away when I am done." Do you think it's okay? ”

Qiuyun looked around vigilantly, thought about it, and whispered in Dabao's ear:

"Of course, it's good, you go and sign up for the army, it's best to try to get into the regiment headquarters. Stone, you immediately go to our related household in Shuihe Village to borrow a horse, secretly go out of the village after dark to find the third master and the young master, tell them the situation here, as far as possible to rush back before dawn the day after tomorrow, take the short guy, be careful on the way, if you meet devils and puppet soldiers, you will bypass them, and you must not meet them. You two go. ”

The sun is in the west. A residential compound in Shuihe Village, where the health team of the Eighth Route Army Supplementary Regiment is stationed. Inside the north room in the backyard. The political commissar was talking with the commander of the second battalion of the supplementary regiment, Du, who was wounded and recuperating, and Huang Zhongde was sitting next to him to take notes. The atmosphere in the house was somewhat dull and unpleasant.

The political commissar asked solemnly: "Battalion Commander Du, how did Fang Jiren join the army?" How did you consistently behave in your second battalion? As for his resume, you have to explain it to the organization in detail and truthfully, and you all know what kind of situation we are in now, which is related to the safety of our supplementary regiment, the county party committee, and the county government, as well as the future military operations, and it is also very important for Francis to stay and use it in the future. ”

Half-lying and half-sitting on the earthen kang, the weak Battalion Commander Du looked at the political commissar and thought about it and said:

"Commissar, please believe me, I will not hide or reserve anything about the organization, I know the importance of this matter. Well, I remember, it was not long after the May Day Sweep began, in a battle I led the second battalion and six companies to block the attack, covering the transfer of large troops, and when the battle reached the most fierce and cruel, the devil reinforced a small team, and my sixth company suffered more and more casualties at this time, and there were less than 70 soldiers who could participate in the battle. No matter how we fight, no matter how we attack, we can't get rid of it, and we can't support it now. I was in the Hidden Department holding a telescope to observe the battle, wondering how to fight off the devils. How to break out? Just when we were about to be surrounded by devils, a young man dressed as a peasant, Fang Jiren, came out of nowhere, carrying a wrist-thick, two-meter-long stick from behind the devils......"

Sunset. The wilderness of the countryside. The Eighth Route Army supplemented the position of the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment, and the commander of the Du battalion led the soldiers to stubbornly block the enemy, and the Japanese army swarmed and attacked frantically. The gunfire was intense, the artillery fire was continuous, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, and the battle was fierce. Four or five hundred meters behind the Japanese attacking troops, more than a dozen Japanese devils tightly surrounded Fang Jiren with bayonets and fought hard. Fang Jiren was fearless and fought alone, dancing a stick and flying up and down, rain and rain, and a dozen devils could not get close. Fang Jiren tossed and turned, advanced and backward, smashed left and right, made fierce moves, and constantly knocked the devil to the ground. He quickly picked up his rifle and fought the devil with a bayonet. It didn't take long for more than a dozen devils to be assassinated by him. Fang Jiren carried two rifles on his back, took off the cartridge box and grenade from the corpse of the devil, and lifted a crooked machine gun to chase the Japanese from behind. Francis jumped into a crater and picked up his rifle to shoot at the devil more than 100 meters away. Suddenly attacked from behind, dozens of Japanese devils turned around and rushed towards Fang Jiren. At a distance of seventy or eighty meters, he opened fire with a machine gun; At a distance of forty or fifty meters, he threw a grenade. Fang Jiren killed the enemy bravely with one as ten, and the devil lost his armor and suffered heavy casualties. When the trumpet sounded, the soldiers of the 6th Company led by the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Eighth Route Army Supplementary Regiment jumped out of the trenches to launch a counterattack, rushed into the enemy group to fight bayonets and hand-to-hand combat, shouting that the killing shook the sky, which was tragic and tragic. The Japanese were in disarray and retreated, but were intercepted by Francis's machine guns. The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties and fled in disarray.

Battalion Commander Du clenched his fists and was emotional, his eyes lit up, and he said with excitement and sighing:

"Francis played very bravely and wittily, and he really took one as ten and worked hard. Without him, I don't know what the outcome of that battle would have been. ”

The commissar asked, "And what happened later?" ”

Battalion Commander Du continued: "After the battle, we cleaned up the battlefield, we captured three machine guns, more than 70 rifles, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, sacrificed more than 30 people, wounded more than 20 people, and completely lost contact with the large army. I asked Fang Jiren if he would like to join the Eighth Route Army? He said that as long as he fights devils, he is willing. In this way, Fang Jiren joined our Eighth Route Army and stayed in the Sixth Company. He is very familiar with the terrain in this area, and he has relatives or acquaintances in almost every village, and I and the commander of the sixth company were wounded, so I asked him to lead the troops in this area in my place to constantly move and hide, and cleverly deal with the devils. When you encounter a devil, you will fight if you win, and if you can't win, you will leave, and you will never be entangled with the devil. After getting rid of the devils, Fang Jiren led the team to camp nearby, he knew the way of medicine, and went door to door to find herbs to treat the wounded. More than a dozen young students were also mobilized to join the army, and the villagers were mobilized to send food, shoes and socks, so that the troops were fully rested, the wounded received timely and effective treatment, the soldiers quickly regained their combat effectiveness, and the soldiers who were scattered in the battle were also found one after another. When I returned to the regiment with the Sixth Company, the Sixth Company was not only full, but also exceeded a dozen people. In the following battles, I gradually discovered that Francis was both civil and military, wise and brave, strong in martial arts, and proficient in medicine. When it comes to his combat skills, tactical literacy and strategy, organizational and management skills, and military training methods, they are not what a young peasant can possess, and in many places even I, the battalion commander, are inferior to him. I wanted to keep him at the battalion headquarters several times to be my helper, but he just didn't do it, and if he had to stay in the sixth company, I appointed him as the squad leader of a platoon and a squad. I don't think he is an ordinary person, I have asked several times, he only said that he is a hunter in Yufeng Mountain, said that people in the mountains can martial arts, guns, know a little Chinese herbal medicine, since he was a child with his family hunting, he also caught wild boars and wolves with his bare hands. In a battle before the transfer of our regiment to the village of Morikura, I was seriously wounded, his company commander was killed, and two other company commanders were also wounded. Fang Jiren used a bayonet to cut me out, took out two bullets in the chest, sewed the wound with a needle and thread for sewing clothes, and used herbs he didn't know where he found to mash and put it on my wound. I was wounded again in the breakout of Shengcang Village this time, and thanks to Fang Jiren's timely rescue, I was not honored. So, until now, I haven't found anything wrong with Fang Jiren, I just think that his background and experience are a bit mysterious and complicated, but he is definitely a good soldier, and we like him from top to bottom in the second battalion. ”

The commissar said half-incredulously: "Oh? Is Francis as divine as you say? ”

Battalion Commander Du said sincerely: "Political commissar, you know that our army has poor equipment, backward weapons, insufficient ammunition, and lack of heavy weapons, and the soldiers' military quality and combat skills are inferior to the Japanese army. In addition to being stubborn and not afraid of sacrifice, our army was able to win mainly by surprise attacks, guerrilla warfare, sports warfare, night warfare, and hand-to-hand combat with bayonets and hand-to-hand combat. Fang Jiren's stabbing and knife skills are super skilled, and he has to cut down dozens of devil soldiers in every battle, while he himself can be unscathed. I don't know if Francis is God or not? How godly are there? I only know that since he joined the army, especially since he served as a platoon commander, whether it was a small battle, a big battle, a hard battle, or a vicious battle, before each battle, Francis would personally go to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, carefully survey the terrain, study all kinds of intelligence, analyze the comparison of forces between the enemy and us, and then skillfully formulate tactical tactics and rational deployment of troops according to the purpose of the battle, the terrain and features, and make a battle prediction. In battle, he will make timely adjustments, redeployments, mobilize troops, and allocate firepower according to the battlefield situation, various changes, and combat trends. Commissar, let me tell you this, since the establishment of Francis, every time we fight, my soldiers and I not only have high morale and high morale, but also feel that we have the bottom in our hearts, fight easily, and kill happily. Commissar, have you ever seen with your own eyes on the battlefield how Francis killed devils? When fighting with the devil with a bayonet, he was an angry hero, a mighty tiger, screaming and roaring and killing red eyes, as if crazy, that scene, I and the soldiers were scared when they saw it. But he was very calm and calm. Commissar, if you see it, you will believe that he is a good soldier who is strong-willed, brave and good at fighting, loves the soldiers and the people, and is loyal and reliable. After each battle, he was much busier than me, the battalion commander, treating the wounded and repairing the wounded soldiers and repairing damaged firearms. In the evening, he and I discussed the gains and losses of the battle, summed up the experience, studied specific tactics and tactics, and also sewed military uniforms for the soldiers. Twice a day, late at night, they patrol the village and outside the village. Francis also changed our previous way of guarding the troops, no matter where they camped, he had to set up three cordons around the troops' stations, and adopted three ways of combining open posts, secret posts, and mobile posts. Since then, our second battalion has never been attacked or attacked at night by devils and detectives. In peacetime, he helped the fighters practice assassination, shooting, and taught swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. Let's put it this way, since he joined the army and came to the second battalion, the combat effectiveness of our second battalion has increased a lot, and the casualties and attrition have been much less, which cannot but be said to be that Fang Jiren has played a great role. In every battle of the 2nd Battalion or 6th Company, he led the way with a platoon. Political commissar, in the 22nd year of the Republic of China, I joined the Red Army when I was 16 years old, and after the Long March, fighting the Kuomintang, fighting bandits, and fighting devils for ten years, I have experienced more than 100 battles, big and small, hard battles, and vicious battles, but it is the first time I have encountered such a comprehensive and good soldier as Fang Jiren, and he is the treasure of our second battalion. ”

After listening to Battalion Commander Du's somewhat chaotic and lengthy narration, the political commissar said solemnly:

"Battalion Commander Du, I believe that what you said is the truth, I can see that you admire and appreciate Fang Jiren very much. But he was deceived, there are some things you don't know, Fang Jiren is not a hunter in the mountains at all, he is a young master born in a big landlord and a big capitalist exploiting class family, his family is one of the richest people in Lin'an County, and he is the object of our revolution. Fang Jiren has been to Japan many times, and a few years ago he was a major and reconnaissance staff officer in the Kuomintang army. A few years ago, when Fang Jiren was in Beiping, he had contacts with German Nazi majors and Japanese secret services. There is still a long time of unknowing, do you know all this? Why is he joining the Eighth Route Army now? Did he give an account to the Order? Could he be a high-ranking agent sent by the Kuomintang military commanders, the Japanese secret services, or the Wang puppet government in Nanjing to penetrate into our army? Of course, this is just my personal speculation at the moment. However, according to the analysis of the situation that I have learned from various investigations in the past few days, there are too many doubts about Fang Jiren, and his experience is very complex and dangerous. ”

"Huh?!" Battalion Commander Du was shocked, shocked, his expression changed suddenly, and he asked with wide eyes, "What?!" Has Francis been to Japan? Formerly a major in the Kuomintang army? Or maybe a high-ranking agent? How is this possible? No way? Political commissar, listen to me, in so many battles, all the officers and men of our second battalion have seen that Fang Jiren is absolutely a killer against Japanese devils, traitor spies, puppet soldiers, and Kuomintang diehards. He won't be a bad guy, and I dare vouch for him with my party membership and my life. I think he is a rare talent in our Eighth Route Army. Political commissar, you may not know that after I and the two company commanders were wounded, our second battalion was actually led and commanded by Fang Jiren, and now our entire supplementary regiment belongs to our second battalion with the least casualties and the strongest combat effectiveness, and the six companies he led are the strongest among the second battalions, all because of him. Hey? Why haven't you seen him come to see me these days? ”

"We are reviewing Fang Jiren in many ways, and the regiment has decided to let him leave the supplementary regiment for the time being." Huang Zhongde said.

"What? Let Francis go? Where did he go? How can you treat him like this? Wouldn't it be the same to keep him in the regiment that could be censored? He's gone, but it's the loss of our second battalion, I'll talk to the regiment commander. Camp Commander Du snorted angrily, put on his clothes and got off the kang to leave.

With a snap, the commissar slapped the table heavily and reprimanded severely:

"Battalion Commander Du, where have your revolutionary consciousness and vigilance gone?! Are you still a Communist?! Now is a period of harsh war, a period of national revolutionary war that has a bearing on the survival of the country, and we must not be negligent in the slightest. You should believe that the organization will investigate clearly, if there is no problem with Fang Jiren, then he is a valuable talent of our party and our army, and a treasure of our regiment, what if he really has a problem? We've suffered a lot in this regard! Battalion Commander Du, you are an old revolutionary who has been in the party for many years and participated in the Long March, don't you even understand this simple truth? We, the Eighth Route Army, are a revolutionary contingent that shoulders the historical responsibility of overthrowing the dark ruling society on behalf of hundreds of millions of people, so we must maintain the purity of our people's army. ”

Battalion Commander Du argued: "Political commissar, I understand all the truths you said. However, there are also many people in our Eighth Route Army who are from exploiting class families, including senior leading cadres, but they all betray their own class and family without hesitation and unswervingly participate in the revolution. ”

Political commissar: "Battalion Commander Du, you're right, I'm one of them." However, this requires a long and arduous test, even a life-and-death test, before you can truly become a strong-willed revolutionary. When it comes to whether Francis is such a person, I can say to you with certainty that he is not at this time, after all, he has been in the revolutionary ranks for too short a time. ”

Battalion Commander Du: "Yes, I know that, I think so too, and the current Francis is certainly not a staunch revolutionary. However, because of his family background and the fact that he had participated in the Kuomintang army, he should not be suspected of being a traitor or a hidden spy? People like him who have experience are also in the ranks of our Eighth Route Army. The viewpoints and propositions of our party and our army have always emphasized that it is impossible to choose one's background, but it is completely possible to choose what path one takes. ”

Commissar: "Yes. This viewpoint and proposition has not changed since the beginning of our party and our army to the present. However, we must not forget or relax our vigilance that there have been hidden traitors and spies who have been lurking for many years or even longer and have been lurking in our party and our army for many years or even longer. ”

"Alas!" Battalion Commander Du sighed heavily, "I hope Fang Jiren is not a spy, a traitor, or a spy suspected by the political commissar." ”

Commissar: "Humph! Battalion Commander Du, you think you know Francis very well. Actually, you don't know him, or you know his surface, but you don't see the essence of Francis. ”

Battalion Commander Du: "No, no, no. Political commissar, I still know Fang Jiren......"

Commissar: "You understand? Then I ask you, what is Francis's faith? And what are his political leanings? This is the foundation and foundation for the purity of our Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army. Battalion Commander Du, tell me clearly. ”

Battalion Commander Du: "Political Commissar, although Fang Jiren has only been in the Eighth Route Army for two months, all his performances on the battlefield are obvious to all the officers and soldiers of my Second Battalion, as well as his brotherhood towards the soldiers, which fully demonstrates his belief and political tendencies. ”

Huang Zhongde: "Battalion Commander Du, what you said is exactly what you know and understand about Fang Jiren. How do you explain Francis's dealings with German Nazi officers and Japanese secret services? He was a major officer of the Kuomintang Army, a reconnaissance staff officer, and had been to Japan many times. Battalion Commander Du, how do you explain these things? Well? ”

Battalion Commander Du: "This? This? Could it be that Francis was an agent of our army, ordered to penetrate the enemy's interior? Well, I think it's possible......"

"Battalion Commander Du, I also think that this is completely possible. However, could Francis be an agent of Japan, the military commander, and Wang Puppet, who was ordered to penetrate the interior of our Eighth Route Army? This kind of thing happened in Yan'an and in many anti-Japanese base areas. Battalion Commander Du, you don't know, right? Huang Zhongde said sternly.

Battalion Commander Du was dumbfounded by Huang Zhongde and lowered his head.

Commissar: "Humph! Interior. Battalion Commander Du, there is a simple truth, you should understand. A strong fortress is easiest to attack from within. At present, our supplementary regiment has a strong enemy on the outside and difficulties on the inside, and it is not a fortress at all, let alone a strong fortress. You say, don't you? ”

Battalion Commander Du blinked his eyes and thought about it, and stumbled and said:

"This? We, our supplementary regiment is in the current situation、This is the case. ”

Huang Zhongde had a serious face, stared at Camp Commander Du with sharp eyes, and said questioningly:

"Battalion Commander Du, according to what you just introduced and narrated, it should have been two months since Fang Jiren joined the army on the battlefield, but in these two months, why don't you take the time to investigate Fang Jiren's life experience and resume? Why don't you go through the formalities of joining the army? It was also not reported to the regimental leadership. Where are your organizational concepts and principles?! I don't believe it, in these two months, you can't even spare a day? ”

Battalion Commander Du blinked his eyes and looked at Huang Zhongde and said aggrievedly:

"Director Huang, how can you say that? Not to mention a day, I can't spare an hour. You don't know, do you? Starting from the big devil to sweep, our regiment marched and fought every day, and sometimes had to march and transfer for several days and nights in a row. When there are more things to do in between battles, there are more things to do, so where can I take care of them? I was seriously injured twice, and if it wasn't for Francis's timely rescue, I would have died twice......"

Huang Zhongde: "Battalion Commander Du, I and the leaders of the regiment know what you said. However, this is by no means a reason for you to be perfunctory and evade the substance. ”

"I, I, I didn't perfunctory, let alone evade, what I said was the truth and what I said from my heart. Political Commissar and Director Huang, please believe me. ”

Commissar: "Alas! Battalion Commander Du, you are also an old qualification and an old revolutionary, how can you be so careless? It's dangerous. ”

Battalion Commander Du wanted to say something more, but he was sad and silent. However, it can be seen that he is very unconvinced.