February 2, 1932 is the 25th day of the lunar month.

On the frozen surface of the Songhua River, the miserable northwest wind raised gusts of snow and mist.

As soon as the sky was bright, Dai Hongbin and Bai Yuxiang drove a pair of two-horse climbing plows to the Jiangwan Wharf in Tonghe County. More than a dozen wooden boats were crooked by the river, most of them buried by the snow.

The tall and beautiful Ruby said, "Huzi, it's here." ”

"It's here. It's early, it's only six o'clock, and Uncle Jin Lu and they have to arrive at nine o'clock. Let's go to the mountains and rest. Tian Shanhu, who was already 22 years old, was even more handsome, he looked at his pocket watch and pointed to the south bank opposite the pier with a horsewhip.

Hongyu complained, "Uh-huh. After two hours of walking, my legs were numb. Originally, he said that he would take me to Harbin, but it has been three years, and our son is about to be able to speak, but he hasn't gone yet, so he came here. ”

Huzi smiled: "See the sky and bury me with this." The proprietor said that Uncle Jin Lu asked me to pick him up by name, what should I do? I'm sorry, I'll go at the beginning of spring. ”

The silent river, the silent sky and the earth, the weather is too cold, it just snowed a few days ago, and there is no one in sight.

Both wore knee-length bare-covered sheepskin coats, marmot lint hats with black serp cloth on their heads, woolen scarves around their necks, woolen felt boots on their feet, and thick cotton mats underneath their buttocks. ran all night on the frozen Songhua River; Both of them had thick frost flowers on their hats and necks.

The day before yesterday, Liu Jinzeng received a telegram from his cousin Liu Jinlu in Harbin, which said: His family came home on a horse and a plow. At nine o'clock in the morning on February 1, be sure to pick up people at Jiangwan Wharf in Tonghe Town, Tonghe County.

At the beginning of last year, there was a telegraph office in Tangyuan County, and the telegram from Harbin delivered the latest news in a timely manner. In the summer, the shopkeeper of the Liu family's "Fenglong Warehouse" in the county town fell ill and went home, and no one could replace him. Ordinary people do not dare to take on this heavy responsibility, because, when the shopkeeper of the warehouse in Tangyuan County, he must not only accurately grasp the variety and quality of the purchase and shipment of goods throughout the year, but more importantly, he must be able to observe words and expressions and dare to make decisions.

Liu Jinzeng suddenly thought that the business of the barracks and the warehouse was brought by Huzi, so it was better to let Huzi save him temporarily. The old grandson also thought that this idea was good, and when discussing it with Huzi, Huzi was still a little hesitant, the child had just been born, and the family could not do without people, but Zhu Hongyu was very excited and urged Huzi to agree.

Who would have thought that after arriving in the county seat, the customers recognized Huzi, the business of the warehouse doubled, and the relationship between the military camps, which had been cut off, was renewed.

Hongyu arrived at the county seat after the full moon, and Huzi also felt more and more that it was different in the county, understood a lot of truths, gained knowledge, and knew a lot of news in time.

Last year, September 1931: The Japanese occupied most of Liaoning.

September 27: Xi Qia, chief of staff of the Office of the Deputy Commander of the Northeast Frontier Army in Jilin Province, led his troops to surrender to the Japanese.

October 2: Zhang Haipeng, the commander of Taonan Town, led his troops to surrender to the Japanese army.

People who go to the warehouse can't help but talk about it:

"What is this Northeast Army doing to eat, just let Little Japan be so cross?"

"Zhang Xueliang took more than 100,000 Northeast troops to help Lao Jiang and others in the war. He doesn't even want a home himself, so what do others care? ”

"These big officials are fucking white-eyed wolves!"

"Look at these bandit-born people, if they have milk, they are mothers, and there is no national righteousness in their hearts at all."

A barrage of bad news has provoked people with anger.

On the afternoon of 6 November, a piece of good news finally came out from the telegraph room, and Huzi also said to everyone: Ma Zhanshan fought the Japanese army at the Nenjiang Iron Bridge.

"Finally someone is fighting little Japan!"

"I've heard that the county is calling on big businesses to donate money."

"The Seventh Provincial Public Security Brigade stationed in the county is also ready to be deployed."

"Ma Zhanshan's horse team can stand up to the scorpion tiger. I'm afraid that the little Japanese son is going to choke enough! ”

There was a hint of joy on people's faces.

November 21: Ma Zhanshan is defeated. Qiqihar, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, was occupied by the Japanese army

January 4, 1932: Jinzhou was lost. The Northeast Army retreated into the pass.

"The Northeast Army can't count on these vegetables. The three eastern provinces are under the control of the Japanese. ”

"Whoever comes, we have to eat, what do you like!"

"Zhang Xueliang, a loser, has ruined such a big family business in a few months, and he is incompetent!"

The tiger hurried the plough into the raving and stopped at the foot of the hill on the west side. He tore through half a meter of snow and made a two-meter-diameter pit in the snow. Then he cut off some bush branches with an axe, built a tripod in the snow pit with three thick branches, hung a tin bucket full of snow on the tripod, and lit a bonfire under the tripod. He learned these skills from Zhu Yonghe.

Zhu Hongyu kept moving her arms and legs on the side, and then sat cross-legged in the snow pit.

Huzi put the feed bags under the mouths of the two horses, and took out white flour pancakes, beef jerky, water bladders, and a tin pot with liquor from the close-fitting package. The two of them had a full meal.

Ruby's dog, Tiger, also followed. She gave the "tiger" a piece of pancake, and when she had finished eating, she wagged her tail and fed him a large piece of beef jerky.

The tiger drank the horse with the snow that had melted in the tin bucket, and let the tiger drink again, when suddenly the "tiger" stood up with his ears bent, and after listening for a while, he scratched Ruby's thigh with his paws, and he let out a low roar in the southwest direction.

"Arrived so soon? Don't you say it's nine o'clock? Huzi asked suspiciously.

Ruby stood up and pointed with her hand in the southwest direction; "From over there!"

"Put out the fire and prepare your gun. I'll go up to the top of the hill and have a look. With that, he took his axe and climbed to the top of the mountain.

The hill is more than 30 meters high. The slopes are gentle, but the shrubs are dense and the snow is thick. The tiger climbed while chopping, and it took more than 20 minutes to reach the top of the post. Then, he took the binoculars out of his leather case and looked at them carefully.

At the foot of the hill, a narrow ravine zigzags to the southwest. The ridges on both sides of the ditch are undulating and undulating, standing on the hill, the scenery of four or five miles in a radius is unobstructed. At the bottom of the ditch is a thick layer of snow, without any trees. The ditches on both sides of the ditch are steep, and only sparse grass grows. It seems that there is a small river in this ravine.

It didn't take much time, and in the faint morning light, three people appeared in the ravine five miles away. They were all dressed in white capes with hats, spears, and lined up, with each person about three meters apart. The man in front of him was carrying a machine gun, the man in the middle was holding a rifle with a telescope around his neck, and the third man was holding a rifle.

These people were still looking around as they walked, pondering in their hearts, and some people in the same clothes turned into the ravine one after another.

"Is it a beard? Impossible! How can a beard have such a good weapon. ”

While observing with a telescope, Huzi silently counted in his heart: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, horse, 7, horse, 8, horse, 9, 10." ”

The man with the head carries a rifle in his right hand and a telescope on his chest; The second man carried a light machine gun on his right shoulder; The third man was carrying a Bergman machine gun; The fourth man was empty-handed; The fifth man was carrying a rifle; Sixth, seventh, and eighth men carried rifles on their backs and led their horses. The ninth and tenth men were carrying rifles.

Oh my God, this is an army! Huzi understood.