Chapter 12

Dao County, also known as Daozhou, is elegantly referred to as "Lotus City." It is a county under the jurisdiction of Yongzhou in southern Hunan, located in the middle reaches of the Xiao River. To the east, it borders Ningyuan; to the south, it borders Jiangyong and Jianghua counties; to the west, it borders Quanzhou and Guanyang counties in western Guangxi; and to the north, it connects with Shuangpai. The county is 77 kilometers long from north to south and 62.6 kilometers wide from east to west. It is known as the "gateway to Guangdong and Guangxi, and the shield of Hunan."

As a county visited by the Red Army during the Long March, it was also an important supply station for the Xiang Army. Naturally, the number of troops stationed here was not small. Similar to the situation in Gongcheng, a security regiment of the Xiang Army was also stationed here. More puzzlingly, the commanders of the security regiment seemed to be enthusiastic about capturing Red Army prisoners near the Xiang River.

As a result, the actual number of troops in the city was less than two battalions. These conditions were very similar to those in Gongcheng. The official left in the city to defend it was the deputy commander of the security regiment, while the commander had gone to the Xiang River to capture Red Army prisoners and claim credit.

Pretending to be a Xiang Army unit from Jiangyong, He Zhengdao, who spoke with a western Guangxi accent, accompanied a company commander of the security regiment who spoke in a genuine southern Hunan accent, with a hint of the capital Changsha's flavor. This made the company commander, who found the task of receiving prisoners boring, quickly become friends with He Zhengdao after a few words.

Under He Zhengdao's deliberate flattery, the company commander did not notice and revealed all the details about the city's troop deployment and the prisoner camp, which was more formal than the one in Gongcheng. After the conversation, He Zhengdao quickly realized that the time to capture Dao County was ripe.

He clearly understood that compared to a direct attack during the day, capturing Dao County at night was the best strategy. He coordinated with the guard platoon that entered the city with him and decided to open the city gates at midnight to welcome the troops outside the city.

With their battalion's strength, capturing a force of less than two battalions, and with the advantage of being in the dark, if they still failed to capture Dao County, it would be a waste of their hurried journey.

When night fell on Dao County, the city defenses were quickly secured by the defending troops. The entire county was quiet except for a few routine patrols. At this moment, more than thirty pairs of eyes were hiding in the shadows, closely watching the movements of the Xiang Army in the city.

To ensure the successful capture of the city defenses, He Zhengdao personally led thirty-five carefully selected Red Army veterans. After the troops in their barracks fell asleep, they quietly got up and carefully avoided the patrols, reaching a street just a step away from the city gate.

Looking up at the city wall, only a few soldiers were seen patrolling under the torchlight. In the two heavy machine gun positions at the city gate, the Xiang Army soldiers were wrapped in their clothes, sound asleep. No one was visible from the base of the city wall to the top. This meant that to open the city gate and secretly welcome the troops from outside, they had to eliminate the guards on the city wall.

Looking at the second hand on his watch, He Zhengdao and the guard platoon had been waiting in the dark alley for nearly an hour. During this hour, the patrol team along the city wall had passed by twice.

Although they ignored the sleeping soldiers in the machine gun positions, it also proved that no one expected the Red Army, who were advancing forward, to dare to attack their base.

As the patrol team appeared for the third time in He Zhengdao's line of sight, he prepared ten soldiers skilled in surprise attacks and close combat. After eliminating the patrol team, they immediately launched an attack on the guards on the city wall.

The other twenty soldiers were tasked with providing cover to prevent the operation from being exposed, and to launch a strong attack to capture the machine gun positions and forcefully open the city gate, welcoming four infantry companies into the city to capture Dao County. After rescuing the imprisoned Red Army soldiers, they would quickly leave and advance into western Guangxi.

As the patrol team with rifles on their backs approached the turning alley where they were hiding, the Red Army soldiers who had been with He Zhengdao for a long time could understand his simple hand signals. They ensured that they moved in unison and silently eliminated the Xiang Army patrol team without making a sound.

This patrol team of eight, He Zhengdao could handle two, while the other six Xiang Army soldiers were handled by two each. If they failed, it would be a waste of He Zhengdao's effort in selecting them for the guard platoon.

While He Zhengdao watched the patrol team slowly approach, the other soldiers watched his open palm. As his hand suddenly clenched, two throwing knives shot out. The other ten soldiers, without giving the patrol team a chance to shout, quickly covered their mouths and killed them. They cleanly and swiftly eliminated the eight Xiang Army patrol soldiers in the alley near the city gate.

He Zhengdao ordered the other soldiers to drag the eight patrol soldiers to a dark corner and cover them. He then instructed seven soldiers to accompany him, holding torches, to approach the machine gun positions where the soldiers were still sound asleep. To avoid being discovered by the guards on the city wall, He Zhengdao instructed the soldiers to quickly eliminate the sleeping enemies.

Observing the intervals between the movements of the guards on the city wall, He Zhengdao deliberately slowed his pace. When he saw that the guards were focused on the outside, the seven soldiers he led had already reached the two machine gun positions. With a low command of "Attack!" from He Zhengdao, the seven soldiers quickly pounced on the sleeping soldiers, covering their mouths and following He Zhengdao's orders to avoid them shouting for help. They used short knives to slit their throats and then stabbed their hearts.

Each soldier was to slit the throat and stab the heart, aiming to complete the task within one minute. After the two cuts, they were to return to the team. This was the combat task He Zhengdao had instructed the soldiers to complete before the operation.

As the soldiers heard He Zhengdao's command, they quickly pounced on the guards in the machine gun positions. Following He Zhengdao's orders, they slit their throats to prevent them from shouting and then stabbed their hearts without hesitation.

Seeing that some soldiers had completed their task, the others quickly returned to the patrol team, not even bothering to wipe the blood from their hands and faces, and walked nonchalantly towards the base of the city wall. The remaining task was to eliminate the few guards on the city wall who were still awake and patrolling.

To silently eliminate these guards, He Zhengdao had made all the necessary preparations before leading the patrol team out. When they reached the base of the city wall, one of the soldiers loudly asked, "Sergeant, do you have any cigarettes? There's not a soul in this city, why are we patrolling?"

He Zhengdao quickly replied, "Cigarettes, cigarettes, all you want are my cigarettes. Have you ever bought me a pack? No, no!"

The soldier who spoke laughed loudly, "Sergeant, you're lying. We saw the cigarettes in your pocket! And we know the company commander gave you a pack of good cigarettes today. You can't keep them all for yourself. Let us have a taste!"

As the soldier's laughter echoed in the quiet night, the guards on the city wall were attracted and leaned over to look. They saw a group of soldiers asking their sergeant for cigarettes.

As soldiers, few could afford cigarettes. Hearing that it was a pack of good cigarettes given by the company commander, they were naturally eager.

As they watched to see if the sergeant would share the cigarettes, they heard him say, "Are you still my soldiers? You're a bunch of bandits, always taking my cigarettes. Fine, fine, don't tear my pants. I'll give them all to you. Hey, brothers upstairs, you've worked hard. Why don't you come down for a smoke? The company commander gave me a pack of Hardmen today. Since it's late, let's all have a smoke. After that, these rascals will be quiet."

Hearing the patrol sergeant's invitation, and thinking it was a peaceful night, the guards on the city wall, who were also heavy smokers, decided to go down for a smoke. They knew that Hardmen were expensive and that they, as poor soldiers, couldn't afford them.

The sergeant waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's all go down for a smoke, but be quick. If anything happens at the city gate, I'll skin you alive."

Seeing the strict sergeant agree, the soldiers on the city wall eagerly ran down. They thanked the young sergeant and took the cigarettes. What they didn't know was that as they took the cigarettes, death was already upon them!

---

End of the page

Start of the page

End of the page