March 1935, Wangting Town, Suzhou

Since the Red Tenth Army crossed the Taihu Lake and landed in Suzhou last December, it has been at the forefront of the confrontation between the Red and White regimes.

Obviously, the Red Army's furious advance towards Shanghai would inevitably lead to a frenzied counterattack by the Kuomintang troops, and they did exactly that.

However, after the first few brief engagements, the Kuomintang army collapsed on its own because of the paper money craze, and then fell into fierce high-level infighting - if He Yingqin wanted to purge Chiang Kai-shek's influence from the army, he had to kill a number of high-ranking officials and dignitaries, but Chiang Kai-shek's descendants would not be slaughtered by others - and the Shanghai Red Army aimed its main attack on the enemy's weak Zhejiang Province, not the area west of Suzhou, so it did not attack Wangting Town for the time being. swept the line of Wuxi, Zhenjiang, and Changzhou, and even planned to go straight to Nanjing.

As a result, since the calendar turned to 1935, the front line of Wangting Town in Suzhou has been mired in a strange sit-down war. From January to the beginning of March, the blue sky and white sun flags and sickle and hammer flags only fluttered quietly on both sides of the battle line, and there were hardly any gunshots.

At this moment, Dong Xiaoshan, who had just been promoted to company commander not long ago, was walking slowly on the narrow streets of Wangting Town.

Spring in the south of the Yangtze River has always come earlier than in the north, and it has just arrived in early spring and March, and there is no longer much chill in the air. And the small trees on the side of the street have also pulled out new shoots. The old streets of Wangting Town, which were paved with bluestone slabs, are now wet. There was water in many of the potholes - it was annoying that the spring rain had been pouring since last night and that it was still drifting during the day today.

Despite the bad weather. But there was no shortage of pedestrians in the streets—farmers with hoes on their backs hurried out of the city to work, workers in the workshops set up their jiashi to work, steamed bun shops filled the air with steam, tofu shop aunts squeaked and shook their hands grinding, and a series of tinkling notes came from the blazing blacksmith shop. From time to time, there was a crisp laugh or two on the street, and then there were smart Jiangnan girls passing by, or going to the small vegetable market to bargain. Or go to the creek to wash your clothes.

And the grocery store guys are also shouting and selling all kinds of "new foreign goods" they get from Suzhou or Shanghai, such as mini alarm clocks, plastic lighters, ballpoint pens, thermos cups, filter cigarettes, chemical fiber cloth clothes, Jiefang brand rubber shoes, folding umbrellas, and even small radios. It looks a lot like a Chinese commodity market in the 80s, or a Chinese merchant market in black Africa in the 21st century.

-- Since Shanghai was occupied by the Red Army, these shops were still worried that these red-brained people would drive away the foreigners on the beach, and they would have nowhere to buy foreign goods...... Who knew that after the red flag was planted on the bank of the Huangpu River. There are more foreign goods on the market in Shanghai!

Even though they're all brands I've never heard of. But I can't stand these things, it's cheap and good! In particular, the lighters, which used to look very foreign, are now sold cheaper than a carp, and the price of the watch has fallen to half of the original price, which really surprised the shopkeepers.

Therefore, since the beginning of this year, many people in the town have begun to replace rustic matches with foreign lighters, and backward cigarettes have been replaced with advanced filter cigarettes. Wearing brightly colored chemical fiber cloth clothes, he looks like he thinks he is very decent.

And some young people who have nothing to live on. Even many big girls were encouraged by propaganda to join the Red Army. Every time I saw those female Red Army soldiers and cadres showing up on the streets, there were always some old pedants muttering sour things like "bad morals."

As for the various "red tickets" and "red horns" introduced by the Red Army, after being boycotted for a period of time, some people gradually became willing to use them -- there was a shop on the street corner that was originally run by underground party members, and it also hung up the sign of "Soviet currency exchange office", and the store was piled up with boxes and baskets of refined salt, which were specially responsible for recovering the currency and exchanging salt for those who lacked trust in the "red tickets" of the Soviet government...... It is said that there are several dead-eyed old ladies in the town who have exchanged all the "red tickets" they have gotten in their hands, and as a result, the salt at home is piled up so that they can't even eat it for the next life.

Well, in spite of all the unsatisfactory points, in any case, with the gradual consolidation of the Soviet government in Shanghai, the common people in the base areas gradually accepted the rule of this red revolutionary regime -- there is no way, in such an era of purgatory with infinite sorrow and life is worse than death, is there any other way out without revolution? Anyway, it's all dead, and there is still a glimmer of life in the revolution. Even if you want to live, you have to make a revolution! Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, not only the poor have to rise up to revolution, but even the rich have also revolutionized. Then the revolutionaries became counter-revolutionaries and were overthrown by the new revolutionaries...... And so on and so forth. Therefore, since the founding of the Republic of China for so many years, the common people of the whole world have long been accustomed to this turbulent and chaotic era when the "city head changes the king's flag" every year, and the government collapses and changes people in three days, and they have long been accustomed to rebellion and revolution.

Of course, under the seemingly calm water, there are still many people with vested interests such as landlords and old wealth who have been defeated, nagging all day long about "the poor mud legs with red brains can't turn the sky upside down, and the soldiers of foreign lords from all over the world will soon slaughter them"...... However, before the Western soldiers and horses really attacked, they did not seem to have the ability and courage to jump out to expose the rebellion, or run to the side of the front to be the leading party.

All in all, there is no fighting on the Western Front now, and the front line of confrontation between the two armies is a peaceful and peaceful scene.

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But in this bustling daily street scene, Company Commander Dong Xiaoshan was not happy, to be precise, he was quite depressed and very frustrated.

-- Ever since the gunboats and gunboats of the imperialist powers began to attack the revolutionary base areas in Shanghai, the Red Army immediately began to arrange defensive warfare in the base areas in order to cope with the imminent siege by the reactionaries at home and abroad. After Dong Xiaoshan was promoted to company commander, he was urgently transferred to Wangting Town, which was most likely to break out into fierce battles. Danzi, a recruit with his company, was training and digging fortifications, preparing to meet a new round of counterattack by the Kuomintang army.

Who knew that the white dogs on the other side of the battle line were even more pustus than expected, after finding that all their military salary savings had become waste paper. All of them lost their strength in fighting hard for the Red Army's defensive line, but were full of strong interest in gathering crowds to make trouble and robbing houses and houses -- so that the chickens and dogs in Wuxi and Jiangyin jumped, while the front line of confrontation in Wangting Town was quiet, and even some ordinary people who were unwilling to be poisoned fled from the west.

Later, the Chiang Kai-shek government collapsed due to internal strife, and the Japanese army crossed the Yangtze River to the south, and the situation in Nanjing was chaotic and chaotic. The Kuomintang troops gathered on the front lines in Wuxi and Jiangyin were also in turmoil, and a fierce battle broke out at both ends in three days, and some people dragged the team to leave without saying goodbye. Naturally, they had no intention of fighting the Red Army.

On the other hand, although the Kuomintang could not fight, the Red Army also did not want to fight out - not to mention that the focus of the Red Tenth Army during this period was in Zhejiang in the south. Just in terms of strength comparison. Now the Red Army has only two discontented divisions in Suzhou. About 16,000 troops. Leaving aside the Kuomintang troops on the other side of the battle line for the time being, the Japanese army invading China in Jiangyin alone had a division and regiment, a full 30,000 Japanese soldiers!

Although the revolutionary fighters of the Red Army have never been afraid of sacrifice, it is better to do less if there is no need for such an egg to touch a stone.

The problem is that for grassroots commanders and fighters like Company Commander Dong Xiaoshan, they stay from morning to night on this quiet front line where they can't hear gunshots or smell gunsmoke all day long, looking at the blue sky and white sun flags fluttering in the distance. At the same time, I listened to the other comrades-in-arms fighting on the southern front, one good news after another...... It was so hard! "No war on the Western Front" on this dog day!

However. As a small grassroots commander, he had no way to take his company to the south to fight, let alone change the combat jihua above, so he could only silently work hard and recuperate, waiting for the next opportunity to perform meritorious service on the battlefield.

In this way, Company Commander Dong Xiaoshan slowly walked out of Wangting Town with some listlessness, stepped on the muddy path in the early spring of the south of the Yangtze River, walked through patches of green fields, and walked for more than two hours before he came to the front line where the smoke curled and the red flag fluttered.

Then, before he could enter his apartment, he was intercepted by a tall, thin clerk who had been recruited in Shanghai last month.

“…… Comrade company commander, what did you talk about at this meeting at the division headquarters in the town? Can you tell us about it? ”

The clerk wearing round glasses asked inquiringly--As a rookie who had just joined the Red Army, he was very self-motivated, and he was always looking for opportunities to perform meritorious service, but now that there was no war on the Western Front, no matter how much he wanted to make meritorious service, there was nowhere to show it for the time being.

“…… It's not a big deal, it's to celebrate the upgrade of the Red Tenth Army to the Red Fifth Front Army, and all officers and soldiers will each receive a commemorative coin! ”

Dong Xiaoshan pursed his lips, took out a bulging cloth belt from his waist, and stuffed it into the hand of the clerk, "...... Take your share! ”

Hearing that it was such a trivial matter, the paperwork became more and more excited, and he casually took out a coin and looked at it in the sun. I saw that this coin is still not gold, wood, or ceramic, but made of the kind of "plastic" that came from nowhere, but it is not a bright red like other coins, but a light purple that looks quite luxurious. On the front is a large Arabic numeral "5" and a line of small characters "Commemoration of the Founding of the Fifth Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army", and on the back is the sickle and hammer party emblem decorated with wheat ears, as well as two quite eye-catching Chinese characters: "Wumao".

“…… It's only five cents, and it's really stingy...... How can there be such a small reward......" he smacked his lips a little dissatisfied.

-- According to the exchange standards of the Shanghai Soviet Government, a silver dollar can be exchanged for 30 yuan of plastic "Shanghai bills," and one yuan of Shanghai bills is worth one pound of refined salt, so the gold content of a mere five cents is naturally conceivable, and it is no wonder that this newly enlisted Shanghai comrade is dissatisfied.

“…… Come on, comrade! As the so-called reactive is not punished, we have been here for two months, every day is good food, drink and clothing, but we haven't fought a battle, are you embarrassed to ask for more pocket money! Dong Xiaoshan glanced at him a little unhappily, feeling that the people in this city were really calculating, "...... Lunch should have been held in the army by now! What are you eating at noon today? ”

-- In order to be able to catch up with the meeting at seven o'clock, Dong Xiaoshan got up at five o'clock this morning before dawn and went on his way. I only had time to nibble on a compressed biscuit with water. Now that I was back at the front, it was time for lunch, so I was already hungry.

“…… Nothing special. It's white rice and pickles stewed ham sausage......" The clerk pursed his lips, and the corners of Dong Xiaoshan's mouth twitched.

-- For the Red Army in Shanghai at this time, ham sausage was almost the same as Spam luncheon meat in the American army in World War II.

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Due to the need to spend money to bear the logistics supply of tens of thousands of Red Army, in order to reduce the actual cost, the lacked traversers have been trying to turn the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in this time and space into garbage cans for handling all kinds of unsalable and expired food in modern Shijie, regardless of whether their stomachs can withstand it...... Thereupon. In the past few months, Comrade Dong Xiaoshan has eaten a lot of strange things that he has never heard of, such as cookies and candies that children like to eat. Western dim sum and Chinese pastries with quirky names, as well as a variety of soft drinks, canned food and instant noodles......

In particular, a large number of local small factories of inferior ham sausages have become the main meat or even the only side dish in some armies, but only a month. The Red Army soldiers went from initial surprise to habituality. And then it became bitter again - these guys, who couldn't even eat enough to eat a few days ago, have become more likely to eat only white rice with instant soup than to nibble on ham sausage to increase nutrition...... Some nimble warriors tried to sell tired ham sausages and other "foreign foods" to the market, exchanging eggs and fresh meat in the hands of the townspeople.

It's a pity that Wangting Town is just a very ordinary small place after all, and the water and land transportation in the west has been cut off by the war, and the living and eating standards of the common people are very bad in these years, and the daily diet is pickles and rice. You can only eat meat for one meal during the New Year's holidays, so the supply of all kinds of fresh meat, eggs, salted meat and salted fish on the market is very limited - there was no "vegetable basket project" in the Republic of China era. Farmers occasionally eat a good meal, and they all raise their own chickens, ducks and pigs, so in those small places where trade is not developed, there are often embarrassing things that cannot be bought with money.

As a result, nearly 10,000 officers and men of the Red Army gathered around the town, and after a long time, the supply of non-staple food could not be raised on the spot - the little salted fish and sauce meat that the common people had in their homes were soon exchanged for canned food and ham sausages by the soldiers. Then you can only buy some pickles and dried bamboo shoots...... So, in order to make their stomachs a little meaty, the Red Army soldiers could only continue to gnaw on the greasy ham sausage......

Fortunately, Comrade Zhang Xiaoxi, a former female beggar who was recently dispatched to the company and picked up from the ruined temple by company commander Dong Xiaoshan on the way to Shanghai, showed her miraculous skills at noon on this day. Snorting and pulling the hot soybean stew from their respective bowls.

In a joyful atmosphere, Company Commander Dong Xiaoshan finished eating his small bowl of soybean stew in two bites, smacked his lips with satisfaction, and then muttered suspiciously: "...... The meat tastes good, it's quite tender, it's just not like pork, it's not like chicken...... Is it rabbit meat? ”

“…… That's right, Miss Zhang, what kind of meat is this meat in the pot? It tastes so good! The other soldier asked in a heckling voice.

“…… Oh, yes! It's been a long time since I've eaten such fresh meat! I remember that during the Chinese New Year last month, Li Ergou's profiteer actually sent two plague pigs over, and when he found it, half of the meat had been made into dumplings and entered his stomach...... That's not to mention......"

“…… Of course the meat is fresh! Two hours ago, it was still alive! ”

Zhang Xiaoxi boasted triumphantly, "...... These are my own big voles, and each one of them is absolutely fat! ”

“…… What? You gave us food...... Rat meat? ”

When the new soldier recruited in Shanghai heard this, he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach and almost vomited the soybean stew in his mouth. Seeing this, the old Red Army from Jiangxi took the opportunity to snatch their jobs, and said with a smile: "...... Oh, it's that thing, I haven't eaten it for a long time, I've almost forgotten the smell. ”

In short, after happily drying up a large bowl of soybean stewed rat meat -- every mouse is absolutely fresh -- Company Commander Dong Xiaoshan continued to look melancholy at the enemy position in the northwest direction while burping and distributing the plastic commemorative coins he had received to the comrades of the whole company. Since he came to Wangting Town, the Kuomintang army on the opposite side has never moved, and as for the legendary Japanese devil with a short body and a fierce and fierce body, he can't even see a ghost shadow on this peaceful battlefield...... Huh? Something seems to have come out of the other side!

He blinked in disbelief, and then through the window again, he saw a small car with a white flag on the front and roof of the car, slowly emerging from the opposite position and driving towards him, occasionally honking his horn a few times, as if to attract the attention of the Red Army......

On March 5, 1935, the Japanese military envoy Yoshiko Kawashima and his attachés smoothly entered the Shanghai Soviet District with a secret mission from the General Staff Headquarters.

And Jin Qina, who used to be the "Mr. Qiong Yao" of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, ushered in a "hometown person" who had the same blood as her.

-- The days of "no war on the Western Front" of the Red Army in Shanghai will soon come to an end. (To be continued......)