The Japanese artillery fire stopped, and mortar shells hit civilian houses and caught fire.
The county town was in chaos, but at this moment the sound of volley gunfire was heard at the scene, and a row of kneeling people were shot and fell down.
Those people were spies captured by the regiment's peripheral troops.
It is not entirely accurate to say that these people were spies. They were just puppet soldiers serving as the vanguard of the Japanese army.
The Japanese army also played tricks and successfully used the puppet army to attract the attention of the Northeast Army in the city. Then, in a surprise attack, they captured the guard troops outside the county city.
The raid outside the city and the shelling of the county town were carried out simultaneously. The Japanese army's combat effectiveness was so fast and powerful that the company outside the city could not organize any effective resistance and was "encircled and destroyed".
Faced with a powerful enemy, Captain Liu did not expect the Japanese army to attack as soon as they said so. He had just given a superficial trial of the case in which Xiao Boji testified that Lao Huotou was a spy, and then the Japanese army attacked.
In this case, he would no longer have the energy to judge who is a spy and who is not.
Because of this, he gave an order to kill all these spies!
At the execution site, more than a dozen soldiers were staring in amazement at the spies who were beaten to death. Four of the spectators were covered in dust and their faces were pitch black. These four people were Shang Zhen, Hou Kanshan, Qian Chuaner and Chen Hanwen.
Hou Kanshan and Qian Chuan'er's fight happened at a really inopportune time. They never expected that the kang would actually collapse!
So why did the kang collapse? It was because it was built with the Mantanghong technique.
There are generally two ways to build a folk kang in Northeast China. One is called a flower hole kang, which is to build a flue for smoke to escape, and then light a fire from the stove pit, and the smoke enters the chimney through the flue.
The other is the so-called Mantanghong.
The kang surface is made by placing four flat bricks on top of each upright brick.
The advantage of a Huadong kang is that it retains heat for a long time, but it heats up slowly. The advantage of a Mantanghong kang is that it heats up immediately when the fire is lit, but because there are gaps between the bricks underneath, the heat inside is quickly drawn away by the outside wind, and it cools down quickly.
As for the red kang in the hall, there was only a thin layer of bricks and then a layer of yellow mud.
After all, the kang is a place for people to lie down, and it will not collapse easily. Even a newly married couple has never heard of their kang collapsing due to a fall. However, the kang is not a place where two people can fall down after fighting.
Hou Kanshan was running on the kang to play with money. He jumped and did some push-ups. It would be strange if the kang didn't collapse!
Everything happened at once. When the kang collapsed, Japanese mortar shells were fired into the scene. At this time, Shang Huozhen and his friends had no time to wash their faces, so they naturally ran to the yard.
Does that mean that if they hid in the yard, the Japanese mortar shells wouldn't kill them?
That's not the case, auntie!
They hid in the yard and had to accept their fate if a mortar shell exploded in their midst.
But if the mortar shell hit the house, they might be crushed by the collapsed roof frame.
After weighing the two options, they decided to hide outside, but then the leader sent someone to call them all in.
When they arrived, they happened to see Captain Liu shooting the spy.
"I won't let Old Huo and Erhanzi..." Hou Kanshan stretched his neck and looked at the people lying on the ground.
Although he didn't finish his words, everyone could guess what he meant. Everything had happened at this point, and he no longer had the mood to fight.
"No, are you blind? Don't you see they are all there?" Chen Hanwen continued.
Chen Hanwen was also irritated by Hou Kanshan, and he didn't say anything nice anymore. His shoulder was hit by Hou Kanshan's gun and it still hurts!
As expected, as Chen Hanwen said, Shang Zhen and the others saw that Xiao Boji, Erhanzi, Lao Huotou and Wang Laomao were all standing by.
But at this moment, another voice was heard. It was Xiao Boji speaking again: "Er Hanzi is a good man, and this old bastard is a spy. If you want to kill me, kill me and this old bastard together!"
The old bastard that Xiao Boji was referring to was naturally Old Huotou.
If we were to ask who the people of the already aggrieved and dead Smiling Tiger hated the most, it would be Old Huotou.
The old Huotou who always had his eyes squinting was once a bearded man and also a sly old scoundrel. He successfully plotted against Smiling Tiger and even used the Japanese army's knives to kill Smiling Tiger and his men.
How could Xiao Duji, a subordinate of Smiling Tiger, not know this? So he insisted that killing Tiger Head was a spy.
Perhaps it was because Xiao Boji knew that it would be difficult to avenge Smiling Tiger with his own abilities. Since Old Huotou could use the Japanese knife to kill Smiling Tiger, then he could only use the Northeast Army's knife to kill Old Huotou.
Hearing what Xiao Boji said, Old Huo naturally became anxious again.
How long had it been since someone had scolded him? When he was a bandit, he was a man of some influence, and after joining the Northeast Army, he was already a veteran. But today, Xiao Boji pointed at him twice and called him an old bastard. How could he not be angry?
Seeing that another quarrel was about to break out, Captain Liu was already getting anxious.
"I don't have time to deal with your stupid business!" Captain Liu said angrily, "Zhang Xiancai, take your company and these people to the south of the city.
"Secure the road back for me, and let all of them—" He pointed at Shang Zhen and the others, "rush forward! Our regiment needs support, and I'm going to lead the battle!"
"Yes!" An officer of the Northeast Army walked over from the side. He was the company commander named Zhang Xiancai that Captain Liu mentioned.
After giving the order, Captain Liu waved his hand and ran out. He was going to the front line to organize resistance. He really didn't have the mind to take care of this mess anymore.
"Give them all their weapons and follow me!" the company commander named Zhang Xiancai gave the direct order.
Everything happened so fast, it was really like galloping into a field of flowers, making one dizzy.
But Shang Zhen and the others were very fortunate. One thing was certain, that is, whether it was Xiao Boji or Lao Huotou and Erhanzi, everyone was fine. At least their lives were saved for now.
The box guns that were confiscated from Shang Zhen and his men were returned. They ran back to their original house, took their rifles and submachine guns, and followed Zhang Xiancai's company.
During this process, Shang Zhen also asked Lao Huotou and Er Hanzi Wang Laomao about the general situation, and he finally figured out the general outline of the matter.
That's not what Xiao Boji said: Old Huotou is a spy. Old Huotou has a mouth, so he will naturally defend himself.
In the very short time before the Japanese army bombarded the county town, Old Huo explained to Captain Liu how he used a knife to kill the Smiling Tiger gang, thus proving that Xiao Boji was making a false accusation and slandering him.
Old Huo was just defending himself. Was what he said true or false? Captain Liu didn't have the time to verify it.
Erhanzi said that there was a misunderstanding between Xiaoboji and Lao Huotou, and they were both good people!
It just so happened that the Japanese army started to attack at this time. Just as Captain Liu said, he didn't have the energy to care about this mess anymore, so he directly assigned them a task and told you guys to go back and do it yourself!