Yue Zhenchuan didn't brag at all, and the journey from Suzhou was unimpeded.

In these occupied areas, the control of the Japanese army was very weak, and it was mainly handed over to the puppet army and the puppet police, and most of these people were messed up.

Especially in the Jiangnan area, life is relatively comfortable, and when you are a puppet army, some are forced, and some are just just eating with your mouth.

For example, Wuxi's "Self-Defense Regiment", the commander of the regiment is called Yuan Bowang, who mixed in the army in his early years, and later the Japanese army occupied Wuxi and was forced to become the commander-in-chief of the Wuxi Self-Defense Regiment.

This commander-in-chief is also bitter, including Wuxi County, Meicun, and so on, claiming to have 2,000 soldiers, but in fact, he is apportioned according to the number of people in each village, and he fools around on the roster.

In peacetime, the main role is to collect security fees.

All the weapons were eliminated by the Japanese army, a machine gun that lacked parts and could not be fired, 38 old rifles, and most of them were not even rifled. There are 103 firearms, and the rest are broadsword and spears.

What's more, there is not even a broadsword or spear.

During the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, the Sichuan army was poorly equipped, but compared with these self-defense regiments, the Sichuan army was simply an elite division.

Yuan Bowang, the commander-in-chief of the Wuxi Self-Defense Regiment, usually looks like a "commander-in-chief" when he sees someone he is familiar with, but like a submissive little daughter-in-law, who bows down when he meets people:

"It's all from the villagers, you also know me as a person, I really can't be forced, I don't really want to be a traitor, if the hoe gang finds me in the future, you must help me testify."

Such "puppet armies" abound throughout the country.

The "grand plan" of the Japanese was to establish a self-defense group in each village, but no weapons were distributed. In fact, all the men aged 15-45 in the village are counted as members of the Self-Defense Regiment, and they are armed with their own weapons.

Such commanders, such troops, how do you make them willingly die for the Japanese?

Guerrilla commanders such as Yue Zhenchuan would usually meet with these puppet troops, threaten and lure them, and force them to cooperate with the guerrillas.

Chief among them is the threat.

Most of the puppet army are native people, and their families are here, you are willing to be a traitor and are not afraid of death, are your family not afraid of death?

The wife makes trouble, the child cries, even if you are really a dog, you can only swallow your anger and be a dog that does not bark.

Wuxi and Taizhou on this route are probably the same.

In particular, the commander of the Second Self-Defense Battalion of the Taizhou Self-Defense Regiment, on the orders of their commander-in-chief, also sent Meng Shaoyuan and his entourage all the way to Nantong respectfully.

The situation in Nantong is a little different.

"The puppet army in Nantong is not called the self-defense group, it is called the teaching team, and the captain is called Weng Chuanjia, who is a hardcore traitor." Yue Zhenchuan, who escorted them all the way to Nantong, said: "Our guerrillas sent someone to contact him, but this person was very arrogant, saying that he was a Japanese dog in life and a loyal dog in death and would never betray the Japanese.

Last month, one of our deputy detachment leaders fell into his hands, you know how this guy did it? First of all, he stripped all the clothes off his body, flattened his arms, and used a big iron nail as thick as his finger to penetrate his palm and nail it to the city wall. The two legs were tied with wire and nailed to the wall; Two collarbones, pierced with wire and twisted into a clasp, hung on the city walls; On the inside of the two thighs and under the armpits, four large candles were tied, and they were lit, and they burned so much that oil flowed down the person's body, and finally the man was burned alive. ”

Meng Shaoyuan's face began to look ugly.

"This person is not only cruel, but also meticulous in carrying out the things that the Japanese have confessed." Yue Zhenchuan sneered a few times: "He goes to the village every two days to collect various fees, and if he can't pay the money and food, he directly arrests people and sets fire to the house. ”

Meng Shaoyuan's brows furrowed: "What about our people?" ”

"We have a brigade in Nantong, sixty-three people, and the captain Qin Dongcheng is nominally under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Brigade of Nantong Security."

"Why are you so many?"

"Nantong is the most difficult area for us to carry out work behind enemy lines, and at its peak, there were nearly 500 people. On March 17, Nantong fell, and the brigade fought a battle with the Japanese in Xingang and suffered heavy losses. When they were withdrawn, they were four hundred people together with the wounded, but they were ...... Just ......"

"Say." Meng Shaoyuan's tone was a little unkind.

"Yes." Yue Zhenchuan hurriedly said: "Unlike Su Xichang and other places, the Japanese army still has a certain strength in Nantong. From March 17 to this month, the Japanese army continued to sweep around Nantong. On the 4th of this month, the Japanese army used incendiary bombs to burn from the nursery near Yuzhigang in the east of the Tangzha River, and burned all the way to Mao'er Bridge on the outskirts of Nantong, along the Tongyang Canal for more than ten miles, more than 300 households and more than 4,000 houses were reduced to ashes, and 16 babies and two sick girls in the nursery were burned alive.

On May 8, the Japanese army set out from Yijiaqiao in Nantong City to go to the countryside to "sweep", to the hemp shrimp squeezing, burning the house when they saw it, killing everyone they wanted, and burning the hemp shrimp village where more than 10 families lived.

Subsequently, he went to the old garden of the Ge family and killed 25 people. The elderly, women, and children in the vicinity, who had no time to hide, were forced to hide in the reeds by the Chuanmaoertan River, and after the Japanese army fired indiscriminately at the reeds with machine guns, they were afraid that they still had the rest of their lives, so they frantically poked their bayonets along the pile of corpses. In this way, 108 people were slaughtered, and blood stained the river beach red. ”

Speaking of this, Yue Zhenchuan's eyes were a little red: "Qin Dongcheng is an iron-blooded man, but he is a reckless man, he always likes to fight to the death with the Japanese, and on May 4 and 8, there were encounters with the Japanese army, and more than 50 people were lost before and after. But this is not the reason for his rapid attrition, the key is that the situation in Nantong is too complicated.

There are more than 30,000 local armed and miscellaneous troops in various parts of Nantong, and no one is convinced, busy grabbing people and turf, and Qin Dongcheng's people have been pulled over by them. As I said, Qin Dongcheng is a reckless man, and he is not ambiguous in commanding the war, but how to lead the troops and expand his strength is difficult for him. ”

"This Qin Dongcheng is our man?"

"It's not under the jurisdiction of the Special Office, or I would have suggested that you be replaced." Yue Zhenchuan muttered: "That time you got married in Shanghai, I also discussed with Zhu Yanni and Wei Yunzhe whether to enter Nantong, but the situation in Nantong is so complicated, and I heard that even the Fourth Route Army has set up an advance detachment, and the two battalions of the guard regiment have been transferred, so we thought about not joining in." ”

The advance detachment of the Fourth Route Army and the two battalions of the guard regiment are not the predecessors of the future "Anti-United Nations"?

Meng Shaoyuan thought for a long time: "Then we have to pass through Nantong, have difficulties?" ”

"How else I'm going to escort you all the way here?"

"Are there any troops that can cooperate?"

"Yes, a battalion of the Eighth Security Brigade is nearby."

"Who is the commander and what are the combat capabilities?"

"The battalion commander's name is Wei Yong, if you fight, you will definitely not be able to beat the Japanese, and it is more than enough to fight the puppet army. Wei Yong had a battle with the Fourth Brigade of the Puppet Army Teaching Team, the Fourth Brigade had more than 100 puppet troops, four devils, only a dozen guns, the puppet army's 'boom' was all messed up, no matter how the devils screamed, as a result, all four devils were killed, and none of the puppet soldiers ran away, all of them were captured. Wei Yong stripped all the puppet soldiers of their clothes and drove them home. ”

Meng Shaoyuan's face finally showed a smile: "This Wei Yong is a little interesting." ”

"He's actually a military commander."

"Oh?" This was something that Meng Shaoyuan didn't expect.

"In February, he went to Suzhou and asked me to borrow a batch of bullets." Yue Zhenchuan smiled and said: "The security brigade is seriously in arrears, and there is a serious shortage of weapons and ammunition. It was he himself who told me that he was a member of the military command and was under the direct command of the Yancheng station. ”

"Nacheng, you can find a way to help me make an appointment with him, the sooner we meet, the better."

"Yes, I'll go now."

The situation in Nantong was something that Meng Shao had not thought of before.

This is tantamount to planting a nail in the traffic arteries of southern and northern Jiangsu.

If this nail is not removed, the line of communication cannot be said to have been truly opened.

And the point to pull out this nail is the Weng Chuan family!

In Nantong, fight a battle!

Meng Shaoyuan made this decision almost instantaneously.

The Japanese, for the time being, are not a big deal, but in terms of the combat effectiveness of the puppet army, they can still fight this battle.

"Director Meng, Lao Jiuchang Chizhou is back!"

Just thinking there, Chang Chizhou, who was sent out to contact Xiao Fugen, the "Hengjiang Dragon", appeared in front of him: "Boss Meng, I'm back." ”

"Well, don't say polite words, report the situation!"

"Yes, I got in touch with Xiao Fugen, as soon as he heard that the little master was coming to northern Jiangsu, he immediately said that he was coming to meet you, I said that the big move, the goal is too big, it is easy to attract the attention of the Japanese, or after Nantong, I will see you when I arrive in Yancheng. Xiao Fugen agreed when he heard this, he is now preparing in Yancheng, and he is waiting for the little master to pass. ”

"Good!" Meng Shaoyuan nodded: "I'm just going to do something in Nantong." ”

"One more thing." Chang Chizhou immediately said: "When I was about to leave, it happened that there was a political commissar of the Fourth Route Army who also found Xiao Fugen. ”

"Oh, what?" Meng Shaoyuan suddenly froze in his mind.

Chang Chizhou didn't understand why the little lady was so nervous: "It seems that they have a group of people who want to reach southern Jiangsu through northern Jiangsu and through Nantong." So they looked to Xiao Fugen to find a way. ”

"How many?"

"Fifty-five."

Meng Shaoyuan found that his head hurt again: "What does Xiao Fugen mean?" ”

"Xiao Fugen is going to send someone to send them out of Yancheng, and he dares to ask the little master to pick them up in Nantong."

"Courage?"

Meng Shaoyuan didn't want to say anything.

This is the case with many things in this world:

The more you are afraid of something, the more he will come!