The Japanese changed their strategies and occupied Xiaolouzhuang and Kangjiazhai in one day, stationed by Yue Peikun and Wang Shangrong's troops respectively. The next day, under the command of Kato, the enemies of the two villages were dispatched to search everywhere. In addition to searching for the hiding people, the enemies also dug out things that the masses "stand down" and destroyed the suspicious tunnel entrance.

The enemy swung shovels and pickaxes, dug all the cow pens, sheep pens and toilets in the village, and digged holes in the house and dug holes in the yard. Some things hidden by ordinary people were found, and a hole with some public grain was found in a small ditch outside Xiaolou Village. Although no ordinary people were caught, and although some people were killed and injured by landmines, Kato still felt some comfort and decided to continue to expand the search scope and catch the people who ran away.

…………

Meng Youtian stood at the entrance of the village and directed the villagers to move to the mountains. People who had been trained by the war already knew how to act. They automatically formed a group, you carried it for me, and I took it for you. In addition, there were animal transports, and walked towards the mountains in an orderly manner. Even young children were no longer naughty and followed the adults obediently.

As soon as his family appeared, Meng Youtian greeted him. He separated a lot, but every time he separated, he was still so hard to part with and was worried.

After giving instructions to each other for a while, Meng Youtian turned his eyes to the sleeping child in his wife's arms, and approached him and wanted to kiss him. A smell of milk rushed up. He suddenly felt so spicy in his heart. The child was probably having a sweet dream, but she didn't know the coming of danger and the sadness of leaving home. This is war. He fought himself, and it was also for her happiness.

"Be careful-" A Xiu whispered: "Don't worry about us. And, Xiao Man's side--"

"I understand. Don't worry!" Meng Youtian reached out and pulled a strand of hair on his wife's forehead, gently touched her face, and said with a forced smile: "I will take good care of Xiao Man, you must pay more attention in the mountains. Okay, let's go!"

A Xiu nodded gently and got into the car. The animal slowly started, and her eyes were always looking at her husband, far away.

Meng Youtian turned around and looked at the village. He was almost empty and silent. He let out a long breath, as if he had removed a burden on his body and turned around and walked towards the basic militia who had already gathered.

The enemy's sweeps changed ways, occupying two villages without advancing or retreating, which seemed to have the intention of being stationed for a long time. The guerrillas wanted to repel the enemy, but their strength was not good, so they asked for support from the militia. So, the militias in each village were divided into two parts, and some formed basic teams to support; some formed village protection teams, waiting for the enemy in the village.

After the order was issued, Meng Youtian thought about it. He wanted to figure out the enemy's true intentions, to understand the difference between this sweep and the past, and how to deal with it. Obviously, the enemy is not a fool. After several sweep failures, they were also learning lessons and changing their strategies. This sounded the alarm for Meng Youtian, and he had to think about whether the enemy had other tricks. How to prepare for the future and make arrangements in advance.

In the sky, gray clouds are floating, the wild scenery is constantly changing, and objects on the earth move lightly and darkly.

It is indeed a bit difficult for the enemy to stay in garrison, but without the common people, they cannot persist for a long time by relying on the maintenance of transporting materials. In other words, the key now is the common people in the occupied villages. As long as they can not be caught and persist in the wild mountains and forests for a long time, the enemy will retreat without fighting.

The enemy's new tricks also reminded Meng Youtian. If you go the other way, you can organize the migration of all the people in the villages and towns where the stronghold is located, so that the enemy's stronghold can become lonely graves, and it can also be used as a trick to siege and squeeze out the enemy's stronghold. Of course, this will be difficult to implement, but there are also hopes and possibilities for success.

"Look, it seems to be raining this day!" Xiao Man sat in the cart and chatted with a female militiaman named Yushan from the same village.

"What's wrong with it raining?" Yushan fiddled with her braids and said with a smile: "It rains, the crops grow well; it rains, the roads are muddy, and it's not easy for the Japanese to walk."

Yes, it's really good to rain. Meng Youtian smiled slightly, but his face immediately became darker. Yushan's words flashed in his mind, and he suddenly felt that things were not that simple. After pondering for a long time, Meng Youtian finally figured it out and his brows frowned.

When Meng Youtian brought twenty basic militias to Shili Village, he was slightly surprised. The people in Tumen Village had all moved, but most of the families in Shili Village had not taken action yet. Although the enemy was still far away, this phenomenon was abnormal, at least Meng Youtian thought so.

"What's going on? Why haven't the people in the village moved yet?" After seeing Qin Lianfang, Meng Youtian couldn't help but ask.

Qin Lianfang was stunned for a moment, swallowed back what she was going to say, and explained: "The enemy is still far away. We have mines to block it. The enemy cannot take a car in the ditch. We also sent a lot of sentries. Once the enemy moves, we can know. The people don't want to hide in the mountains too early, and I think it's time to go."

"It's not like this." Meng Youtian shook his head and said, "The people of Tumen Village have already moved. It's best not to walk too hasty if you are with your family. And I remembered something on the way, and I think I must be careful."

"What's the matter?" Qin Lianfang asked curiously.

"I think we had not thought about it carefully before and estimated the role of landmines is high." Meng Youtian said solemnly: "We ignore the weakness of landmines, which is the quality issue. If used in normal weather, this problem almost does not exist, but on rainy days, the possibility of the landmines we created is very high. This has happened before, but it did not attract our attention."

If the landmines are regular military products, they will naturally not easily fail to tide. However, the landmines used in the base areas are many different, but most of them are made of local products themselves. In terms of sealing and lethality, they do not meet the high standards. As for Meng Youtian's concerns are not groundless. On a whim.

Qin Lianfang frowned, raised her face and looked at the sky. She said, "Will the Japanese go out on rainy days?"

"The tactics of the Japanese are changing. Don't regard them as fools. You should see that they are constantly learning and improving." Meng Youtian said: "For example, this sweep is different from the past. In the future, they may use more tricks. Guerrilla warfare is not omnipotent or invincible. The enemy may be learning to use guerrilla warfare against guerrilla warfare."

"Brother Meng, now it's just your guess. There is no definite evidence." Qin Lianfang blinked and said, "Of course, what you said makes sense."

"If we have to pay the price of blood, we will be aware and make improvements. That would be too late." Meng Youtian said with some displeasure: "If we think more and work harder, we may save many lives and may cause the people to suffer less losses. Of course, you are an official, and I am a civilian. It is up to me to say or not, and whether you listen or not."

Qin Lianfang smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Meng, when will I not listen to you? Okay. I will tell the village cadres immediately, hoping that they will realize the seriousness of the situation and speed up the transfer of the masses."

Meng Youtian realized that Qin Lianfang was in charge of the militia. He smiled a little apologetically and said, "I forgot that you have changed your position. That, I'm just a little anxious, not targeting you."

Qin Lianfang shrugged her shoulders indifferently, and she looked quite cute. Then, her expression became serious and she said, "Brother Meng, the enemy has occupied two villages. Is there any way to drive them away?"

"No." Meng Youtian answered very simply, pondered for a moment, and said, "According to our strength, it is unlikely to drive the enemy away with force, but we are not completely helpless. The enemy has occupied two villages. If they want to stay for a long time, they must obtain supplies and provide support to the people. From this aspect, we must also change some strategies."

"What kind of strategy?" Qin Lianfang's cat's eyes showed a light of hope.

"In the past, when the people were transferred, we only sent a small number of personnel to protect them. When we encountered unexpected situations, it was not enough to ensure the safety of the people." Meng Youtian's thinking was smooth and he talked freely: "Now, the enemy is obviously continuing to search, first, to capture the people, and second, to find the materials that are strong. Then should our work focus be on the people? As long as the people are not caught by the enemy, most of the materials that are strong are safe. The enemy has no one to drive, and no ready-made materials can be consumed. How long can it last if the village is occupied?"

Qin Lianfang pondered for a while and said hesitantly: "Brother Meng, you are right, but this is somewhat inconsistent with the plan passed by the previous meeting. Strengthening the protection of the masses will inevitably weaken the power of fighting against the enemy. Of course, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with protecting the masses."

Meng Youtian was silent, paused for a while before speaking, "If the masses are captured by the enemy, how can we fight effectively against the enemy? Especially if the relatives of the guerrillas or militia fall into the hands of the enemy, rescue them, don't have the strength; if you don't save them, dissatisfaction and complaints will inevitably weaken the combat effectiveness. If a few more cords are released, those resistance members will become hostages in the hands of the enemy. Well, what I should have said has been said, and as for how you do it, I don't care. Anyway, the masses in Tumen Village hide very well in the mountains, so we have no worries."

Qin Lianfang looked at Meng Youtian without saying anything. After a while, she seemed to have made up her mind and said, "I'll go find Secretary Gu, tell him all this, and strive to re-formulate a plan for anti-sweeping."

Meng Youtian nodded in admiration and said, "Then I'll leave first, and I have to arrange the basic militia in our village!"

…………

State the reasons, convene a meeting, change the plan, issue execution... Although Meng Youtian thought that the goal of the Japanese to sweep the raid was to hit more ordinary people, and he also raised it, it was obviously not so fast to implement it.

Transferring the masses is one of the anti-sweeping measures, but as Meng Youtian said, there are very few armed personnel who follow and protect the people. When they encounter enemies, the role they play is extremely limited. Moreover, people's inertial thinking is deeply rooted, and it is also a kind of laziness and luck. In the past few sweeps, the Japanese had clear targets of attack and would not stay in an empty village for a long time, nor would they aim to hunt down the people as the main purpose. The people came to the conclusion that as long as they were not in the village and found a slightly remote place to hide for three or five days, the enemy would leave.

The price is inevitably paid. No one can predict everything, just as cautious as Meng Youtian. There are still too few people who arrange the villagers foolishly.

The sun poked its head out of the gaps in the clouds, illuminating countless peaks and villages. The enemies who occupied Xiaolouzhuang and Kangjiazhai continued to search for the fleeing people. Kato personally led more than a dozen Japanese devils and led a large number of imperial army to march towards the mountainous areas, hoping to capture a group of Chinese people with their own hands.

At about noon, the enemy came to a ravine more than ten miles from Xiaolouzhuang and began to search in a scattered manner. Only guns were heard everywhere in the ravine. Kato originally prohibited soldiers from firing randomly, but after being attacked by landmines and cold guns several times, he changed his order.

Kato walked to the middle of the ditch, sat on a bluestone, lit a cigarette, and sucked it slowly. He hated such wars. Because he could not use the power of the "Imperial Army" at all, he felt ashamed of the "Imperial Army" and could not make merits on the battlefield, but he wanted to capture the people in this poor valley. You must know that his dream was to lead the "Imperial Army" to attack Red Russia and march in Siberia in a mighty way!

As Kato thought about it, he threw the cigarette impatiently on the ground. Suddenly, he found some grains in the grass next to the cigarette butts. Kato immediately observed it carefully and found that there was a narrow stone trough behind the bluestone where he was sitting. It was very suspicious.

Kato immediately called out a few soldiers and lay down on the edge of the stone trough and shouted down: "People, it doesn't matter if you come out. Just throw the grenade, you'll die!"

After shouting for a while, there was no result. Kato sniffed, and a Japanese man threw a grenade into the stone trough. Before the smoke had dissipated, a sound came inside. A woman trembled and said, "Imperial Army, don't fight, don't fight, let's come out."

Kato seemed to have forgotten the anger he had just now and laughed haha.

Kato and the Japanese jumped out of the stone trough. When a Japanese jumped down, they stepped on something soft and smoke rose. The Japanese thought it was a landmine and stumbled down in surprise. Kato also lay on the ground in a mess, but there was no sound, and then he realized that he was just a pit of dust.

There was a hole in one corner of the stone trough, and a woman was coming out of the hole. When she saw the Japanese in front of her were lying on the ground. She didn't know what was going on, so she hurriedly knelt down and said, "Imperial Army, we are great good people."

When the Japanese saw that it was a woman, they all stood up, stretched out several bayonets and asked, "There are still people inside?"

"Yes, yes, the Imperial Army are all great good people."

Then Hu Fucai and his family crawled out one after another and knelt down one after another.

Kato glanced at him with his eyes slanted, walked to Hu Fucai, kicked him in the stomach with the tip of his leather boots, and asked, "Who has yours?"

Hu Fucai hurriedly kowtowed and said, "My Lord Imperial Army, my great good citizen."

"What a good person, the big guy from the Eighth Route Army." Kato glared.

"My Lord of the Imperial Army, we are really good people!" Hu Fucai said this, and his family kowtowed to beg for mercy, "We are good people, the Imperial Army." "The Eighth Route Army and the Nuo Bangzi have killed us!"

Kato sneered, pulled out the command knife and pressed it on Hu Fucai's shoulder. Looking at Hu Fucai's face was as scared as a piece of wax paper. He was trembling all over and couldn't speak. He rubbed the knife against his neck twice and asked, "Your good people, where are you hiding? Do you know?"

"I know, I know." In order to gain Kato's trust, Hu Fucai hurriedly pointed out the large and small stone caves hidden in the stone trough and narrow ditch.

Kato took back the knife and immediately summoned the troops to block the holes and threatened the people inside. But things were not as easy as before. After a long time, no one came out. Kato roared and asked the Japanese soldiers to make a pile of firewood, then threw the firewood into the hole, and let Hu Fucai and his family stand outside the hole and shout.

As a result, many people in the cave could not hold on. Some were because the cave was shallow, some were because they had no confidence, and some were just because they were afraid. People crawled out of caves like stoves and were forced to squat around the fire by the enemy.

However, the enemy encountered real resistance in front of a hole, and the firewood thrown into the hole was constantly thrown out. An imperial army tried to drill into the hole, and there was a dull sound inside. The guy was shot and screamed and couldn't move. The hole was very narrow and there was a tortuous inside. The enemy pulled out the body and shot it several times, which seemed to have no effect.

Such resistance was beyond Kato's expectations. The "Imperial Army" did not fight on the battlefield, but captured the unarmed people. Who knew that it took a long time to catch such a little man and such a place to resist desperately. How could he not get angry? He walked to the fire and asked people: "Tell me, who is in this cave? There are people from the Eighth Route Army?"

People all lowered their heads and didn't say a word. The low atmosphere made people unable to breathe. The wind blew a stream of smoke, choking people's throats, and no one coughed.

Kato walked in the middle of the crowd, staring at the fierce eyes and observing it. Finally, he felt that Hu Fucai and his family were more obedient. He pulled him up from the ground and asked viciously: "You said, who is in the cave? If you don't say it's dead, you'll die!"

Hu Fucai had already been scared and knelt on the ground, begging repeatedly: "My Lord of the Imperial Army, I said, I said." He looked back at everyone, suddenly he was a little timid and stuttered: "In the cave, in the cave, it is the village woman who rescues the women and the director of the Women's Rescue Association."

……………)

{Piaotian Literature www.PiaoTian.net Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!