They entered the village from the north. On the high western slope there are three low earthen houses, surrounded by straw. If you don't look closely, you won't know that there are people here. Song Jiliu was very familiar with the two straw bundles, according to the gable, and struck according to the code.

When Jiliu knocked it for the third time, he heard a gentle cough from someone. In a short time, the door opened, and a woman with unkempt hair and covered her arms let them in. Captain Song led the way to the inside, and when he arrived at the house, as if he was in his own home, he reached out and took out a match, lit a soybean oil lamp, looked at the child who was sleeping sweetly on the bed, and then swept the kang, pulled down a quilt, and asked Political Commissar Hu to go up to rest, and helped others to lay wheat straw inside and outside the house.

Political Commissar Hu and the other three were indeed tired, and as soon as they lay down, they couldn't open their eyes. In the dimness, I heard a voice talking outside, and the voice was low and hoarse. He tried to sharpen his ears and hear the following conversation: "I'm going to have a day off at home, okay?" The tone of his speech was like that of an elementary school student asking for leave from a teacher.

"No! Political Commissar Fu specially transferred you, the squadron leader, to protect Chief Hu, and then go home to rest when you complete your mission......"

"Okay."

This political commissar Hu is a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary of the Central China District Bureau, and a political commissar of the New Fourth Army.

In the first battle of Qingkou, the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the Shandong Column became famous. After a short rest, the troops began to carry out new tasks, and in addition to carrying out sorties to carry out the "public order strengthening campaign" and "sweeping" and "devouring" respectively, they also correspondingly intensified guerrilla activities in the marginal areas around Ganyu in order to contain and strike at the enemy and ensure the wheat harvest.

Our Eighth Route Army only left some troops in the western and northern areas of Jiangxi and Yu, and on the one hand helped the masses to rush to harvest and grab seeds, and on the other hand, it strengthened local public order, and through the activities of defending the wheat harvest, it further mobilized and organized the masses to rectify and improve all kinds of anti-Japanese mass organizations and mass self-defense forces.

However, the Eighth Route Army has to do much more than that, and it is following the instructions of the Party Central Committee to brew a plan for the construction of base areas. Today's enlarged meeting of the party committee held at the headquarters of the 115th Division was hotly discussing this important matter.

The enlarged meeting of the division's party committee was held in the back hall, and Political Commissar Hu and Luo Ronghuan presided over this important meeting. The hall was full of people, and most of the responsible cadres of the 115th Division and several brigades of the Mountain Column were present, and Zhu Rui, Li Yu, Chen Shiyu, Xiao Hua, Fu Zhuting, Zeng Guohua, Gu Muding, Meng Sun, Zhu Mingyuan, and Song Jiliu also attended the meeting.

The meeting was listening to Xiao Hua's report on inspecting the work of party organizations in various localities in the border region. Over the past two months or so, Xiao Hua inspected the work of party organizations in Jiaoxian, Zhucheng, Juxian, Rizhao, Ganyu, Donghai, Linshu, and Zangma counties; in accordance with the instructions of the higher-level party committees and in light of the spirit of the meetings of party activists in the border areas, he inspected and made arrangements for the work of consolidating and developing the party's organizations, mobilizing the masses, cooperating with the main forces, opening up anti-Japanese base areas, and establishing an anti-Japanese democratic regime.

Xiao Hua stood close to the center of a pile of wheat, continuing his speech. He had the habit of sitting lazily and speaking slowly at meetings and assemblies, always standing and talking, and constantly borrowing gestures to emphasize a certain content and help express his thoughts and feelings. One stop lasted an hour or two, and he spoke hoarsely and without tiredness.

After more than a month of running and hard work, Xiao Hua has become thinner, with a dull complexion, protruding cheekbones, chapped lips, and a faint bloodshot in his eyes, but he is refreshed and energetic: his report is nearing the end, and he quickly flipped through the last pages of the notebook, closed the notebook vigorously, and ended his long speech with a summary conclusion:

"All in all, the current situation is good and optimistic. The old regimes at all levels behind enemy lines have completely disintegrated, the masses' anti-Japanese enthusiasm to save the country has risen unprecedentedly, and party organizations in various localities are propagandizing and mobilizing the masses from all quarters to accumulate strength to prepare for the expansion of anti-Japanese base areas, and the revolutionary situation in the border areas has embarked on a new stage, proving that the party committee's analysis and estimation of the current situation in the border areas is correct. ”

"The tasks put forward by the party committee to gradually reduce rents and interest rates, increase wages, further mobilize the masses, expand the anti-Japanese armed forces, consolidate and expand the anti-Japanese base areas, and correspondingly establish an anti-Japanese democratic regime behind enemy lines based on the western and northwestern regions of Jiangxi and Yuxi are timely and correct. More than two months of field trips have made me even more convinced. Political Commissar Hu said.

After Xiao Hua listened to Political Commissar Hu's speech, he sat down, took a glass of warm boiled water and drank it in a big gulp, his chest rose and fell, although he tried his best to stay calm, he still couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart. No wonder, a veteran who has been fighting for decades under the extremely cruel White Terror reign, finally saw with his own eyes such a good situation, how can he not feel excited from the bottom of his heart!

Everyone was encouraged by this excellent revolutionary situation, and was infected by the excitement of Fang Xiaohua and ***, and they were overjoyed, and there were many discussions, and the venue suddenly became active.

Luo Ronghuan was also encouraged by this new revolution, and couldn't bear to immediately stop everyone's heated discussion, so as not to interrupt everyone's interest. After a moment, he gently tapped the edge of the table a few times, and said calmly: "Director Xiao, Political Commissar Hu has reported in detail on the actual situation in various places, which has provided us with a lot of factual basis for analyzing the situation and determining tasks. Now, I would like to invite comrades to express their specific views on the plan for the construction and expansion of the base areas put forward by the party committee. ”

There was a solemn and solemn atmosphere in the room, everyone fell silent, no one spoke immediately, and after the extreme excitement, it took some time to think calmly. In the face of the new revolution, people are deeply aware of their responsibility for the revolution and can appreciate the weight of their words and deeds.

There was silence again.

Just when the main cadres of the Eighth Route Army were meeting, Xiong Laoqi, a big landlord in Dashu Village, asked Zhang Xiaoer, a dog-legged man, to find the mother of Xiong Fangwen, a poor man in the village, to his house to "do homework".

People have been slaughtered by Japanese criminals and bandits, and their lives are not guaranteed, and the fruits of their labor in the past six months have not yet fallen into whose hands? It was the rent and interest reduction movement launched by the Eighth Route Army that made it possible for Aunt Xiong of Dashu Village to pay off her debts. Since Mrs. Xiong's family can repay the unjust debt, why can't all the tenant farmers and debtors in Dashu Village think like this! But this is obviously ripping the heart of the big landlord Xiong Laoqi to make soup for Xiong Laoqi to drink.

There was a burst of annoyance, and the cheeks couldn't help but tremble. Xiong Laoqi trembled slightly, pressed a bag of cigarettes with both hands, took a few puffs, barely suppressed the almost explosive impulse, coughed dryly, pretended to be indifferent, and said: "Yes, this year's wheat harvest is good, everyone should really take a breath." I heard that the Eighth Route Army is going to implement rent and interest reductions. Auntie, you know this, right? ”

Unexpected invitations, all kinds of false compassion, tentative questioning. From the change in Xiong Laoqi's expression just now, Aunt Xiong finally understood Xiong Laoqi's true intentions.

In the past few days, the village has been publicizing rent reduction and interest reduction with great fanfare, and Aunt Xiong has attended several meetings, and Hu Fu Political Commissar, Luo Ronghuan, Chen Guang, Zhu Rui, Xiao Hua, Fu Zhuting, Zeng Guohua, Gu Mu, Qiu Yemin, and Zhu Mingyuan have all talked to her, and she understands some truths in this regard. But when Xiong Laoqi inquired with ulterior motives, she was unwilling to reveal her true opinion, so she replied indifferently: "The lining has been talking about this matter everywhere in the past few days, and the seventh master won't be unaware, right?" ”