Chapter 6: Drawing wages at the bottom of the kettle to fight Poyang Lake

Xiao Xiong and his entourage went down the Yijia River, and the wooden row first walked in the turbulent river in the valley, and they were intoxicated by the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Xiu River along the way.

It's the middle of March, and the mountains on both sides of the river are verdant and full of all kinds of wildflowers, especially the bright and dazzling peach blossoms that are interspersed with the verdant. However, what attracts everyone the most is a large patch of freshly blooming mountain red, under the illumination of the sun, the red is like a piece of burning flame, bringing people infinite enthusiasm.

After a day of hard work, early the next morning, the wooden platoon team came to the upstream of the Tujiabu Railway Bridge. They wanted to continue down the river, but were stopped by a devil's patrol boat. The devil ordered them to dock immediately and not to go downstream.

Xiao Xiong was very surprised, the area around the Wuyong Highway was all occupied by the devils soon after the Battle of Wanjialing, most of the Nanxun Railway had been controlled by them, and the lower reaches of the Xiuhe River were basically controlled by them, so why not let yourself go?

With doubts, Xiao Xiong and his entourage had to dock the wooden raft upstream of the dock. Xiao Xiong looked at the dock, and then he found that the dock was already under martial law, with three steps and one post, and five steps and one sentry. There are quite a few trucks and large trucks parked on the wharf, and a large number of devils and military supplies are being loaded onto the ship, and from time to time wooden boats and small steamers full of devils or military supplies leave the wharf and drive downstream.

There must be a battle or a battle going to take place somewhere! Xiao Xiong thought: It must be [***] and the devil are doing a big fight. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but boil his blood, and he couldn't wait to rush back to the army immediately to fight the enemy. He looked back at Zhang Shan and them, and everyone secretly clenched their fists and nodded at him. He waved his hand, turned around and entered the shack where the wooden raft lived, Zhang Shan whispered to one of them, the team member was outside to tidy up things, and the others followed in.

Their shacks were built more than one person high, more than ten meters long and four or five meters wide, and the inside was not very crowded. Xiao Xiong said to everyone: "Brothers, it seems that the devils may be fighting not far from our team, we have to find a way to help our troops fight the devils, we can't wait!" ”

"Yes! Gotta figure figure it out! I don't know where the war will be. Everyone was shouting.

"Don't worry, Zhang Shan and I will go ashore immediately and inquire."

Xiao Xiong and Zhang Shan cleaned up and dressed themselves up like boatmen. I saw that they were both barefoot, rolled up their pants, with a yellowed white towel around their necks, and a broken straw hat in their hands. While smoking the dry cigarette gun in his hand, he got off the wooden raft and walked out into the street.

Although Tujiabu is not the county seat of Yongxiu County, it is located in the middle section of the Nanxun Railway, at the confluence of the Xiuhe River and the Luhe River, and the ships from the upstream counties such as Wuning, Xiushui, Tonggu, Anyi, Jing'an, etc., have to pass through here to go to Poyang Lake, the Yangtze River, etc., or transfer to the railway freight station not far from the wharf, where they are loaded on the train and then transported away. In addition, it is very close to the provincial capital Nanchang, so the geographical location is very important, with a population of tens of thousands of people, several times more than the county seat, so the market is very prosperous.

Along the Xiuhe River is an old street paved with bluestone slabs several miles long, and the river is paved with stone slopes. The river is a row of wooden railings, and against the railing is a one-meter-wide walkway. The old street is not very wide, only about five or six meters, and it faces south and north. The streets are all built with wooden buildings on stilts. The corridor under the hanging tower provides shade from the sun and rain. The river floods almost every year, and when the water rises, the river floods the wharf and rises all the way to the streets. Then the larger ships tied their bows to the many wooden posts along the river, and then lowered their iron anchors. Then I rowed a small boat to the bottom of the shop that had been moved to the second floor, and shouted up to this shop to buy something. When the water level is high, you can do business directly with the store, and when the water level is low, the store can use a bamboo basket to pull the goods and money up and down. At that time, those who sold vegetables, rice, meat and fish all rowed small boats to do business. Some restaurants simply put a ladder outside the railing on the upper floor, and guests can go up and down the ladder. Although this is the season of high water, everyone does not delay business, and many times business is better than usual, because many ships cannot leave, the docks cannot open, and the workers have nothing to do. Usually, the flood will recede in more than ten days, and if the Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River rise at the same time, the river water will pour up, and the rising water may take more than a month. Although the devils have occupied this place, because there is another war, there are a lot of people on the street, bustling and lively.

Xiao Xiong and Zhang Shan went up to the street and entered a larger restaurant, and the two of them ordered a stack of braised pig ears, a plate of peanuts, and half a catty of rice wine. The shopkeeper enthusiastically handed a small plate of dried salted radish and asked, "The two eldest brothers are not local, right?" ”

"Huang Laomen's. Our boss transported a few wooden rafts from above to prepare to go to Jiujiang, but now he can't go. What bad luck! My wife is about to give birth at home. Alas. Xiao Xiong took a sip of wine, pursed his lips, and replied with a sad face. Boss, what the hell is going on? Why is it blocked? ”

"You don't know yet, do you?" The shopkeeper looked around, leaned his head close to Xiao Xiong and the others, and said in a low voice: "[***] and I have a fight in Wucheng. It is said that a lot of devils died, but they transferred a lot of people and military quartermasters from the surrounding area to reinforce the devils in Wucheng. ”

"Boss, please take a seat, you can have a drink too." Zhang Shan took a wine glass from the counter and poured a glass of wine for the boss, who took the glass and thanked him repeatedly.

"I don't know at all. So who is fighting the devil in Wucheng? Xiao Xiong asked with a pretended nonchalant look.

"It is said to be the head of Zhang Zunguang, a subordinate of Luo Zhuoying's command."

"What day did the fight start?"

"Just yesterday. The common people who fled from the vicinity of Wucheng last night said that during the day, the planes, artillery, and warships of the devils kept bombing Wucheng, and that there was a fire that soared into the sky. It's so miserable, there must have been a lot of deaths. Seeing that another guest came in, the boss quickly stood up and beckoned the other guests to go.

Yesterday? Xiao Xiong wrote "March 17th" on the table with wine, and Zhang Shan nodded knowingly. After drinking the wine in the pot, the two bought some food and drink for the brothers on the wooden raft, left the hotel, and returned to the wooden raft.

Xiao Xiong told everyone the news he heard in the hotel on the street, and everyone was excited at once, especially the officers and soldiers of Luo Zhuoying's 19th Group Army. Everyone asked to go to Wucheng to participate in the war.

Xiao Xiong told everyone the news that the devils were tightly sealed in this area, and everyone suddenly became silent.

"It's not okay to break in. Don't worry, let's think about what we can do together. "But until the time of the lantern, it was still at a loss.

When everyone was distressed, suddenly a shout came from the shore: "Is the boss there?" Xiao Xiong heard the voice a little familiar, came out to see, under the light of a horse lamp, I saw that the owner of the small hotel was shouting and waving here.

"Yes, yes." Xiao Xiong hurriedly got off the wooden raft and walked towards the shore. When I got closer, I saw that there was a person behind the little boss. I saw that this person was wearing a suit and a pair of shiny leather shoes on his feet. He is in his 40s.

"This gentleman is ......," Xiao Xiong hurriedly asked the little boss.

"Oh, let me introduce you, this is Mr. Guan, the interpreter of the army headquarters in this county."

"Disrespectful, disrespectful." Xiao Xiong hurriedly said. "I wonder what your Excellency is looking for me?"

"Boss Xiao, I heard that your wooden raft is going to be transported to Jiujiang?"

"Yes, yes. But I wonder why the Imperial Army didn't let us go? Xiao Xiong hurriedly asked.

"There was a war ahead, and now the river is closed. You must be in a hurry to stay here, though. Well, I'll let you go tomorrow and get out of here, okay? The translator said to Xiao Xiong with a smile.

"Oh, Mr. Guan is really a living bodhisattva, then we all thank you. I'm going to ask you for a drink tonight. Xiao Xiong kept saying thank you.

"However, you will all be at my disposal tomorrow. Otherwise, not only will the wooden raft not be able to walk, but even the head will not be able to be protected. ”

"Don't worry, everything is up to you, listen to your arrangement." Xiao Xiong hurriedly nodded non-stop, sent the two all the way to the street, and stuffed a stack of banknotes into the hand of the translator before parting.

When everyone heard that they were going to leave here tomorrow and go to Jiujiang, they were all overjoyed, because they would definitely pass through Wucheng to go to Jiujiang. At this time, everyone's mood is very high, as if they can return to the army tomorrow to fight the little devils.

Everyone really has a kind of long-term drought and rain, according to the local saying it is called "drowsiness meets pillow".

Xiao Xiong thought silently for a long time, and couldn't guess what tricks the devil was playing. He consulted with everyone and acted tomorrow when the opportunity came, not to be reckless, and to obey his orders. They told everyone the code for tomorrow one by one, and everyone kept the code firmly in their hearts.

Early the next morning, the interpreter came to the shore, and he instructed Xiao Xiong to put the wooden raft downstream for a while and dock it on the dock.

As soon as they stopped the wooden rafts, they saw a small group of devils with bayonets immediately come up. As soon as they came up, they drove everyone out of the wooden rafts, and asked them to spread a few pieces of linoleum cloth on the middle two of the four wooden rafts. Then they were asked to load the wooden boxes and other supplies piled on the dock onto wooden rafts and stack them on linoleum cloth. Everyone doesn't care about thirty-seven twenty-one, put things away first. Xiao Xiong and Zhang Shan also moved a few boxes, and they immediately knew that they contained munitions.

After a while, the things were packed and bundled, and they were covered with linoleum cloth again. The devils stood guard around the hill-like piles of supplies, and did not let people approach. At this time, a devil's ship came, and it seemed that the horsepower of the ship was still large. The steamer was docked underneath the rafts, and the men on them descended from the steamer to a towed wooden boat, and threw down the steel cables to tie the rafts.

Oh, it turned out that our wooden raft was used as a large cargo ship. Xiao Xiong thought secretly.

The interpreter was sitting on the steamer, and he shouted to Xiao Xiong:

"Boss Xiao, let your people stand on both sides of the wooden raft and protect the wooden raft. I'll take you to Wucheng.

"Woo-" whistled, and the ship started. Xiao Xiong and his team members propped up the wooden raft to the middle of the Xiu River, and the steamer pulled the wooden raft downstream.

It is about sixty miles of waterway from Xiuhe to Wucheng. The Xiuhe River in March is still in the dry period, this section from Tujiabu to Wucheng belongs to the downstream, the river is very wide, so the water flow is more slow, and the river is a large sandy beach, the river is not deep, only the narrow river near the middle of the river can be sailed. In this way, the speed of moving forward is not fast, and it is estimated that it will take seven or eight hours to reach Wucheng.

"Everyone, keep a tight grip, hold the penny tightly in your hands, don't let the raft run aground. Or you'll have to eat dinner on the row. Xiao Xiong commanded loudly. As everyone knows, Xiao Xiong asked the team members to be cautious and not careless, so as not to delay major events.

Along the way, I saw that on the embankment on both sides of the Xiu River, people with bags and luggage, leading cattle and pigs to flee rushed upstream one by one. The children shouted the girl, the cow barked and the dog barked, and there was a busy and panicked scene. From time to time, boats came from the lower reaches of the river, and there were many wounded soldiers on board.

It was about five or six miles away from Wucheng, and I faintly heard the rumbling sound of cannons and explosions. It may be that the plane coming from the direction of Jiujiang also whistled overhead in the direction of Wucheng from time to time.

Ahead is Wu Cheng.

Wucheng is located at the confluence of Poyang Lake, Ganjiang River and Xiuhe River, and has been the radiation place of Jiangxi water transportation and trade distribution since ancient times. It is also an ancient town with a long history, which has a history of more than 2,000 years. It began in the Qin and Han dynasties, flourished in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a maximum permanent population of 70,000. As early as the Three Kingdoms period, Zhou Yu was the governor of the Wu State Naval Army, and he trained the naval army in Poyang Lake, and built a point general platform here. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang fought with Chen Youliang for the throne in Poyang Lake for 18 years, and Chen Youliang set up a large camp here. It is not only a commercial port with thriving trade and prosperous economy, but also a water transport hub and commodity trade distribution center in Jiangxi. Known as "the inexhaustible Wucheng, the inexhaustible Hankou" reputation, once together with Zhangshu, Jingdezhen, Hekou as the four famous towns in Jiangxi.

The closer Xiao Xiong and the others got to Wu Cheng, the more they felt the fierceness of the gunfire, and they could imagine the fierceness of the battle. They were eager to kill the devils on the ships and wooden rafts immediately, and rush to the battlefield to kill the enemy with their comrades.

The boat and the wooden raft continued along the outskirts of Wucheng until it was almost dark and stopped at an island in the middle of Poyang Lake called Songmen Mountain. Looking at the island from the wooden raft, the island is full of devils' tents. There are devils everywhere, and there are many small steamers and wooden boats parked on the shore.

"It turns out that the devil used this as an advance position to attack Wucheng. The things on our wooden platoon are the guns, ammunition and supplies that we gave them. "Xiao Xiong understood." The devils can't get their hands on these supplies. He made up his mind.

Xiao Xiong shouted to the interpreter Guan on the ship, "Mr. Guan, shouldn't we also eat?" ”

The ship's interpreter said a few words to the wheelhouse, and then turned back to Xiao Xiong and shouted, "Boss Xiao, all of you people have come into your shack to stay, don't come out." Tomorrow I will help the Imperial Army unload. ”

"Okay. Everyone went back to the shed. Zhang Shan, take someone to cook. Xiao Xiong and the others returned to the shack one after another.

Entering the shed, Xiao Xiong, Zhang Shan and several team leaders began to discuss, and everyone agreed that the devil would never be allowed to get this batch of materials! Even if you sacrifice it all, you have to destroy it.

But the devils are very tightly guarded, after the change of guard just now, they also added a lot of people to guard, plus the wooden platoon is against the shore, it is definitely not possible to work hard.

Suddenly, Xiao Xiong saw the cooking team members, who were washing rice and vegetables in the hole left in the shed. His eyes lit up and he said, "There's a way." Let's make a fuss from this hole. ”

Originally, the wooden rafts in Xiajiang all wanted to leave a hole in the center of each wooden raft when tying wooden rafts, so as to facilitate cooking, washing, and relieving hands. No, the cooking team is washing rice and vegetables there.

Xiao Xiong happily told everyone his thoughts. After hearing this, everyone applauded again and again.

"Now, I order: Ren Jie, the leader of the first squad, led five members with good water surnames to swim from this hole to the bottom of the wooden platoon loaded with ammunition in two groups, take out and place the explosives, and install the fuses that can burn for at least half an hour; Ouyang Cunfeng of the second squad led three members with good surnames to follow the first squad to get explosives and grenades, and placed explosives at the bottom of the ship, used the grenades as explosives primers, and connected the ship with the wooden platoon with a line; After completing the mission, the first and second teams swam directly to the wooden boat. Wang Xiaofei of the third team led the three team members to try their best to seize the devil's wooden boat first, and took the other team members to get on the boat and leave. All actions must be completed within half an hour. The operation must be successful tonight, and we must strive to leave safely. If it fails, all of us will do everything we can to blow up the devil's munitions, and we must not let it go ashore to fight our brothers. "Xiao Xiong issued the order very seriously.

12 midnight. Xiao Xiong waved his hand, and the three squad leaders led the team members into the water silently and dived into the water.

Late at night, it was dark everywhere. Only the searchlights of the devils on the shore shine on a few pillars of light in the night sky. Ren Jie, the leader of the first team, led the team members to dive under the wooden platoon where the military supplies were kept, and peeked out of the hole. They cut through the linoleum cloth with sharp daggers, gently pried open the ammunition box, removed the explosives, and set the fuse. At the same time, Ouyang Cunfeng and several members of the second squad took the explosives and grenades and quietly left.

The wooden boat was about four or five meters away from the devil's big steamer. Wang Xiaofei and his three team members quietly sneaked to both sides of the devil's wooden boat. They stealthily stuck their heads out of the water and listened to the movement. Several of the devils guarding the wooden boat had already fallen asleep, and two of them were snoring sweetly. Wang Xiaofei and the other team members climbed onto the wooden boat at the same time like several slippery loaches, only to feel that the wooden boat sank slightly, and quickly returned to calm. After they got on the boat, they raised their knives and fell, as if they were cutting watermelons, and in a moment, about a class of devils on the boat immediately went to see their gods.

Wang Xiaofei put down the plaster flag of the devil planted in the bow of the boat and raised it again, and did it three times. The team tied the body of the devil to a heavy object, quietly lowered the boat, and the body immediately sank into the water and disappeared. When Xiao Xiong saw the signal, he immediately ordered the rest of the team to dive into the water and swim to the wooden boat.

After a while, most of the team members got on the wooden boat. The three teams in the water still insisted on quietly moving the wooden boat into the lake, until they were out of the sight of the devil, and they received Xiao Xiong's order to get up from the water to the wooden boat. Xiao Xiong ordered the rest of the team to hurry up and find everything that could row the boat, and quickly rowed the boat in the direction of Xingzi.

After about forty minutes, a loud bang came from the direction of Songmen Mountain, and a red light lit up the night sky. Soon there was another loud bang. "Commander Xiao, it must be the devil's ship that exploded." Everyone immediately cheered.

The wooden boat quickly headed in the direction of Xingzi.

It was almost dawn, and a dark land was coming at them......