Zhu Shiqing was a young man as well; swept up in such an atmosphere, he too felt the urge to draw a blade and charge into battle against the devils this very second.
When artillery struck Wanping, most of the villagers in Zhaojiazhuang had already been shaken awake. With rumbling echoing outside, they stayed shut inside their homes, afraid to step out. As a psychological defense, many shut and barred their doors and windows.
Yet upon hearing the commotion from Sun's regiment, many villagers emerged from their houses. Watching the officers and men of Sun's regiment mobilize together and assemble urgently in the rain, some of the villagers who lived alongside them day and night even had tears in their eyes.
They were ordinary commoners who understood nothing of military affairs and even less of the overarching campaign, but they all knew this artillery came from the devils.
For Sun's regiment to muster in the middle of the night could only mean they were heading to the front line to fight the devils. The villagers could not grasp the grand strategy; all they knew was that every time the troops returned from battle, some soldiers were missing and others were wounded.
The 219th Regiment was about to march out, and their direction was north.
Before departure, the village head of Zhaojiazhuang hobbled on a walking stick and blocked the entrance to the village, limping along quickly enough to catch up with Sun Yi at the front of the column.
"Regimental Commander Sun! Commander Sun!"
The hoarse voice called from behind. If the firelight had not illuminated half of the village head's face, Sun Yi would have thought he was seeing a ghost in the dark. The drizzle had not let up, making the ground slick. Sun Yi quickly reached out to steady the old village head, his tone mildly reproachful: "Old Village Head, what are you doing? In the middle of the night, stay safe at home! Why are you chasing after me?"
The old village head was skinny and frail in build, but his grip was surprisingly strong. Clamping onto Sun Yi's forearm, his voice trembling slightly, he said, "Commander Sun, the villagers gathered some provisions. Have the soldiers take them along."
Sun Yi did not know whether to laugh or cry. He replied, "Village Head, it's not like I, Sun Yi, won't be coming back. When it's time to eat, won't we still have to rely on you all? Why go through all this in the dead of night..."
Yet having said that, Sun Yi immediately regretted his words. Glancing out of the corner of his eye toward Zhaojiazhuang in the darkness, an uneasy feeling welled in his heart.
Would they really come back?
Zhu Shiqing seemed to see through Sun Yi's subtle expression. While Sun Yi stood lost in thought, Zhu Shiqing stepped forward and took the old village head by the arm, smiling warmly. "Village Head, I know this comes straight from the villagers' hearts. Today I'll make the decision on the commander's behalf. But you must tell everyone to give only a little, or else we won't accept any of it."
"Right, right, you got it!"
The old village head was as delighted as a child. Leaning on his stick, he hobbled with brisk vigor, calling back repeatedly, "Just wait a moment, just a moment! We won't hold you up long!"
Sun Yi sighed. Given how suddenly things had developed tonight, he really had not had the men prepare rations. The old village head's gesture had actually served as a timely reminder.
"Shiqing, can we really make it back to Zhaojiazhuang?" Sun Yi turned his face away, yet asked the question anyway.
Zhu Shiqing answered candidly, "Commander, to tell you the truth, we won't be coming back. Once we head to Fengtai tonight, even if we kill only a single devil, Fengtai will become a second main battlefield by tomorrow morning. At that point, there are only two possible outcomes."
"Which two?"
"Either hold Fengtai to the death and wait for higher headquarters to dispatch reinforcements, or fall back to Wanping and rendezvous with the division commander," Zhu Shiqing stated, word by word.
Sun Yi offered a wry smile. In his impression, Zhu Shiqing's answers were always so rational, as if he had never once spoken merely to humor Sun Yi. Yet precisely because of this professional rationality, the 219th Regiment had avoided many missteps.
In merely half the time it took an incense stick to burn, every household in Zhaojiazhuang—whether native residents or fleeing refugees—carried candles and came in clusters of three and five. Some held eggs, some carried cloth shoes, and some brought bran cakes kneaded with flour, stuffing them directly into the soldiers' pouches.
This embarrassed many of the soldiers, who tried to shove the gifts back into the villagers' hands.
Amid the bustle, Fang Wenjian darted out from the side of the village's northern entrance like a monkey.
"Seeing all the lights over here, I figured the regiment was getting ready to march," Fang Wenjian said, shaking off water droplets from his clothes. Just then, an elderly woman handed him two eggs. "Thank you, thank you, Auntie!"
"Weren't you trailing the puppet second regiment to Liuji? Why are you only getting back now?"
Zhu Shiqing stepped forward and, while talking, promptly snatched one of the eggs from Fang Wenjian's hand and slipped it into his own pouch.
"Brother, that auntie gave that to me!" Fang Wenjian protested, wanting to cry. But he quickly turned serious and answered, "I swung by Wanping to take a look. Without getting too close, I spotted roughly a company of devils heading toward Lugou Bridge. Right then, I felt something was wrong tonight. Just as I was rushing back toward the regiment, artillery went off behind me."
"If you had gotten back any later, this brother of yours would've already charged in to fight the devils with his life," Zhu Shiqing said, rolling his eyes.
Fang Wenjian glanced left and right, then asked, "We're hitting Fengtai?"
"You figured that out too?"
Fang Wenjian balled his right hand into a fist and tapped Zhu Shiqing's breast pocket. "You spend every free moment staring at maps of Fengtai. Where else would we strike?"
With that, both men exchanged a laugh. Ahead of them, Sun Yi's voice rang out:
"Brothers, accept the villagers' goodwill! Kill more devils, and do not let down their hopes! Move out!"
***
Only a few dim lanterns flickered along the flanks of Fengtai Station. When the main body of Sun's regiment reached Fengtai, it seemed past midnight. Artillery fire could no longer be heard from Wanping, yet Zhu Shiqing was unsure whether his senses were playing tricks on him—he seemed to hear gunfire coming from the northwest.
Yet the sound was faint, so faint that Fang Wenjian did not hear it at all.
Sun's regiment transitioned from a forced march to a silent advance. Under the shroud of night, the regiment moved into Fengtai and linked up with the men of the 3rd Battalion.
When asked how they should fight this battle, Zhu Shiqing cast his gaze toward Sun Yi's back—at the silver broadsword speckled with raindrops.
There was no need for Zhu Shiqing to say anything more about the tactics. The night, broadswords, and devils—all three elements were present, coming together in a single sentence: no shooting, lopping off heads is best!
Sun Yi called the battalion commanders to his side and laid out the plan concisely: "Old Tan, don't move a single one of your sentries. We must not give away the slightest flaw. Xiang Chengyu, Xia Qidong, each of you take a company and creep in from the left and right flanks. The devils' camp is less than a li from the station. Once you charge in, hack every last one of those bastards to pieces!"
Sun Yi's eyes shifted in the dark, his dark face flickering in the faint glow of the dying lanterns.
"Do you all understand?! As soon as the gunfire breaks out, Old Tan, lead your troops quickly to wipe out the devils on the platform! Seize the platform and build fortifications immediately—the devils won't give us much time!"
"Understood!"
With their orders given, the men dispersed. Zhu Shiqing and Fang Wenjian followed Xiang Chengyu's detachment, moving along the crescent-shaped line of cargo crates toward the tracks.
Crouching low and keeping his center of gravity down, Zhu Shiqing advanced rapidly alongside the soldiers of the 29th Army. Soon, their boots stepped onto the wet, soft earth on the north side of the tracks. Xiang Chengyu raised a hand, signaling everyone to tread softly.
If Zhu Shiqing had to describe the scene, the only phrase that came to mind was marching gagged in stealth. Before setting out, to avoid making unnecessary noise, the two companies assigned to the hacking assault had even left all their rifles behind at the camp!
After creeping forward for a short stretch, rows of Japanese military tents came into view. At several outer corners surrounding the camp, a few dark silhouettes shifted about—undoubtedly Japanese night sentries!
Zhu Shiqing stared fixedly at the scene before him. Raindrops drummed against the broadsword blades with soft patters, and the red tassels at the hilts were already sodden and clumped together.
"Brothers, kill!"
With a muffled roar, Xiang Chengyu sprang forward first. Covering thirty meters in an explosive sprint, he kicked the nearest patrolling Japanese soldier flat onto the ground, followed immediately by a horizontal slash that claimed the devil's life on the spot!
Chapter 49