Chapter 99: My team is about to open

Smoke from the cooking pots curled up from the large sun terrace in Shuanggang Village, and there were bursts of cheers.

The kind and enthusiastic villagers set up large pots to steam rice and cook meat. Every household took out tables and benches and set them up on the sunbathing terrace for dozens of tables. The children were no longer afraid of the soldiers wearing military uniforms and carrying weapons.

Laughing and having fun around Shaping, this scene is better than any other festive occasion.

The landlord Lao Zeng from Qingxi and the village elders from Shuanggang gathered together contentedly and chatted with An Yi as if they were one family.

Lao Zeng heard that the villagers from Qingxi were about to enter the village carrying bacon, fish and other local specialties. He quickly ordered the two sons-in-law behind him to quickly bring them in and hand them over to Dong Yazi, the accountant of the revolutionary army, while they waited for the head of his own family and An.

As soon as Yi stopped speaking, he lost no time in inserting a sentence:

"My dear nephew, why did your subordinates re-divide the captive soldiers into teams? Your adjutant Huzi seems to have led people out of the captive soldiers many times, and he was very relieved to let those prisoners join your revolutionary army. There is something in this

Why does it matter?"

An Yi laughed: "Uncle Zeng, you are so attentive! These captive brothers are also children from poor families. Even though they all wear the same clothes, they are carefully separated into different arms. There are soldiers who specialize in shooting machine guns, and there are soldiers who specialize in gunnery.

There are also some soldiers who have their own abilities. We have to select these soldiers and reorganize them.

For example, the thirty-odd veterans who walked in front of us just now, these veterans are extraordinary. They did not originally belong to Lu Ronggao's Seventh Regiment, but were selected from the direct troops and sent to General Wu Peifu. Hubei Governor Chen Jiamo was in Wuhan

The artillery school opened specifically provides training for half a year before becoming an army.

It was originally an artillery battery of more than a hundred people. It was urgently supplied to Lu Ronggao's regiment before the war with our revolutionary army started. However, as soon as they met, they were beaten by our revolutionary army and lost their armor. They dropped their artillery and fled without their lives. After several battles, there were casualties.

They were injured and fled here and there, and only these thirty or so escaped to my nephew, haha!"

All the squires sighed greatly. One praised An Yi for being able to accommodate people, and the other praised An Yi for being wise and martial and having a bright future. An Yi thought about it and stood up happily and said affectionately:

"Thank you, uncles! My nephew, I have to thank you. The thirty-two brothers you sent to my nephew's team are all good prospects for the army. Twelve of them have studied the Four Books.

They can write the Five Classics and do calculations. My nephew plans to train them well. Once they settle down a little, he will send them to the Whampoa Military Academy where our Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek is the principal for further training. When they come out, they will lead the troops. Haha! My nephew was also homeless two years ago.

You poor fellow, it was just after graduating from Whampoa Military Academy that I became the official I am today. I have nearly a thousand brothers under my command, haha! To be honest with you, uncles, several of my nephew’s senior brothers have already become generals, so

My nephew is very optimistic about these young men in the village. Nowadays, in troubled times, soldiers are highly valued. Who can guarantee that one or two generals will not be born among these thirty-two brothers? Haha... uncles, please sit down. My nephew, go over there.

Come and have a look.”

As soon as An Yi left, several squires gathered together to discuss urgently. The thirty-two young village leaders they gave to An Yi were all poor children from nearby families who volunteered to join the army. Although they had attended private schools in the village, they all

He is not his biological nephew. He has not been welcomed by himself and others since he was a child. If An Yi's words are followed in a few years, there will be a general, and he may return to his hometown in fine clothes. Everyone's old face will not look good! Not to mention these villagers.

The disciples are now following An Yi, the best among men. In the past half day, they have heard many legendary stories about this young general. Moreover, he is also the favorite disciple of Commander-in-Chief Chiang, who has hundreds of thousands of troops. What he said just now is not a joke!

In desperation, Lao Zeng stared at his in-law Lao Yao and asked Lao Yao to immediately kill ten large pigs in the backyard, pickle them with salt, and give them to the thirty-two children in the village after lunch.

.Old Yao felt sorry for Yiyi, but he was not sure. Old Zeng was so angry that he promised to deliver five big pigs before the end of the year, and he would pay half of it. Only then did Old Yao grit his teeth and agree, and trotted back to ask someone to kill the pigs.

. Several other wealthy squires could not sit still, and returned home one after another to ask their servants to quickly put the strings of bacon and fish hanging in the kitchen into baskets, write their names on big red paper, and send them to the revolutionary army.

After nearly a thousand soldiers and civilians finished a grand lunch, they wiped their beards and blew their muster whistles. More than 500 officers and soldiers who had initially become harmonious quickly gathered together, consisting of more than thirty artillerymen without guns and a dozen machine gunners.

The "Machine Gun Squadron" was a group of four, lifting twelve heavy Maxim water-cooled heavy machine guns, standing majestically in the middle of the team. Machine gunners from the other three platoons of the company also captured thirty-four of them in the morning.

With their light machine guns on their shoulders, they stood tall and majestic. Hundreds of captive brothers with red scarves tied around their necks also mixed in among the neat teams with solemn faces. They looked at the hundreds of village girls and wives watching in front of them with great pride.

Everyone worked hard to show their most heroic side.

Accompanied by Huzi, An Yi walked to the front of the team with standard military steps. He glanced at his more than 700 new and old brothers with satisfaction, and when he spoke he was surprised:

"Thirty-two brothers from Qingxi Village and Shuanggang Village come out...stand at attention! Salute your relatives and the fellow villagers who care about you——"

Thirty-two newly enlisted brothers wearing revolutionary army uniforms and carrying spears on their backs saluted in unison. They saw their parents wiping away tears accompanied by the village elders, brothers and sisters, and the faces of the villagers were full of reluctance and hope.

Looking forward to it, the eyes of the thirty-two brothers suddenly became hot and blurred with tears, and a few of the younger ones couldn't help crying.

An Yi's loud voice rang out again: "All of you! Salute to the virtuous gentry in the village, to the brothers and sisters, fellow villagers -"

The five or six hundred villagers who were bidding farewell were all moved to tears. After Lao Zeng, five or six squires and An Yi, Huzi finished speaking, Lao Zeng, with tears streaming down his face, walked towards the thirty-two villagers standing in a row and wiped his hands.

With tears streaming down her face, she earnestly warned her nephews and nephews that they would be able to join the army and make great achievements, and that their family members in the village would always take care of them, so that they would not have to worry about food and clothing.

Thirty-two simple and honest young men burst into tears, calling this uncle and that master a thousand thanks.

Hu Hu and An Yi nodded to each other and waved back. Ten brothers from the second company quickly stepped forward and placed ten semi-new and old "Hanyang Made" rifles and a box of bullets in front of the squires.

The squires and the surrounding villagers saw this unexpected gift and slowly put away their cries. However, An Yi and Huzi solemnly saluted the squires and the surrounding villagers at this moment, turned around and led the team to set off in sequence.

, leaving a group of squires and hundreds of villagers sighing and waving in tears.

"Parrot, let the brothers sing!"

When An Yi walked out of the village, he saw the atmosphere in the entire team was depressed, so he shouted an order to Huang Yingwu, the instructor in the middle of the team.

Huang Yingwu thought for a while and thought that the brothers could only sing two songs in total, so he loudly asked for instructions: "Deputy battalion commander, should you sing our company's song or "Xiao Fang"?"

"Just sing "Xiao Fang"."

"yes!"

Huang Yingwu ran out of the team and climbed onto the high hill on the roadside: "Brothers, those who can sing should all roar, and those who can't sing should listen. After listening to it a few times, you will get it. Get ready - there is a girl named Xiaofang in the village - sing!

"

"There is a girl named Xiaofang in the village. She is good-looking and kind..."

The veterans all started to sing. After singing once, all the sadness in their hearts disappeared. The more they sang, the more energetic and proud they became. The newly joined brothers were very surprised to hear such a smooth and interesting song.

He opened his mouth and hummed along with the constant agitation. After humming several times, he gradually became more proficient. The singing then became louder and louder, more and more uniform, and the heroic and humorous singing echoed everywhere in the mountains.

After walking seven or eight miles to the north, the brothers were tired of singing. The rugged mountain road did not allow the brothers to be distracted, and the long queue gradually slowed down.

An Yi, who was walking in the middle of the team, was still in high spirits and kept humming a tune similar to Peking Opera. Except for the line "I'm about to open my team," the rest of the tunes were all "hum".

Humph" past.

Dong Yazi, who was walking next to An Yi, listened to it several times and asked curiously: "Brother, why do you hum this song except for one line of lyrics?"

An Yi sighed and explained: "This is a new Peking Opera piece. It seems to be a story about a warlord named Diao Deyi who raised the troops. I didn't remember all the lyrics and could only hum the tune... I used to sing it in karaoke, but now I can't

I remember a few sentences."

Dong Yazi asked: "Brother, what is karaoke?"

An Yi was stunned and then said nonsense: "It's just a bunch of people who have had enough to eat and have nothing to do. They find a place to gather around and yell blindly... Okay, Dong Yazi, go to the front and ask the beard and see what's going on in front of you.

What news did the investigating brothers bring back?"

In the evening, the team trudged over a 16-kilometer winding trail, passed through Aobeiwan Village with only a few dozen poor households, and then walked a 7-kilometer winding mountain trail over Beacon Mountain before arriving at a small mountain village called Hengxi to set up camp.

Since the brothers who went out to investigate learned from the villagers about the gunshots heard in the nearby mountains, An Yi and Hu Zi did not dare to neglect. They concentrated the baggage company in the center of the village and sent four platoons of brothers from the first company and the second company to lurk in the village.

On the surrounding high ground, light and heavy machine guns were set up for strict security.

More than a hundred veterans who had no weapons and were responsible for carrying supplies naturally took on the task of cooking soldiers. Together with dozens of sallow and skinny folks in the village, they set up large pots and started cooking.

Just when the rice was done and the pork was cooked, two gunshots were heard about two kilometers southeast of the village. An Yi loudly ordered several company deputy platoon leaders and the backbone of the captive soldiers to take up the task of guarding the village, grabbed their rifles and caught up with the leader.

Huzi, who was rushing for reinforcements, quickly arrived at the shooting location. When he got there, everyone was stunned:

More than fifty ragged and dirty bandits were surrounded by Su Tieming and more than forty brothers. Two light machine guns were set up on the cornfields on both sides of the mountains. The more than forty bandits who all put down their weapons were horrified.

Looking at the revolutionary troops around them, the wild boar among the bandits who had been shot several times was still struggling.

An Yi walked to the stone hillock, stared at the prisoners in the depression below, pointed to the big boss-looking man in the middle and asked: "You, tell me which department you are in?"

"Sir, we are from the Fourth Regiment of the 7th Mixed Brigade. We fled all the way from Tongcheng to here...Sir, we did not intend to attack you. We did not find you ambushing here at all...Our brothers are chasing this wild boar.

Those who came here didn’t know that the commander’s army is stationed here…”

The big man pointed in panic at the mountains to the east and at the dying wild boar on the ground. He was worried that An Yi and Huzi might not believe it, so he quickly added:

"Sir, what I said is true. If you don't believe me, ask your brothers. We have been chasing this beast in the mountains for a long time, and we only caught it here after chasing it. Brothers, we have been eating from the mountains for several days.

The wild fruits survived, and there are more than two hundred brothers from various departments on the other side of the mountain. Everyone can hardly hold on..."

An Yi and Hu Hui looked at each other, turned to the little leader and asked loudly: "Over there is the Longyuan, Longtan and Shimen lines of the occupied areas of our friendly Seventh Army. Why don't you surrender to them? There is plenty of food and whatnot there.

Is it worth it for you to flee into the mountains and not want to come out?"

The little leader didn't answer, but a veteran ruffian behind him spoke: "Sir, you don't know, our brothers surrendered long ago, but the Gui Army couldn't stay there anymore, so they escaped again, and now they are annoyed.

Now, whenever we see people wearing Beijun uniforms, we will shoot them. How dare we brothers provoke those Southern barbarians who dare to charge at machine guns in the war?"

An Yi looked at these unlucky people in surprise: "You surrendered and ran out again? Tell me clearly what happened? But there is a lie that I will never forgive you lightly!"

"Sir, what Dajin said is true."

The little leader took two steps forward and spoke with a look of grievance: "More than 500 brothers from our direct ministries surrendered to the Gui army in Tongcheng, and were coerced by them all the way to Dagang Town. They drank a bowl of gruel and sat down in a daze.

We waited anxiously in the camp for two days. First, a group of officers from the Guangxi Army came to ask questions. We couldn’t understand a word they said, and they couldn’t understand anything we said. Our more than 500 brothers only knew their brigade commander.

His name is Zhong Zupei, but none of the more than 2,000 other people know him. Being among them makes us feel like we are in a foreign country. Even small things like asking for some rice and cooking have to be done through many gestures. It’s so hard!

The brothers really couldn't survive. No one could bear to drink porridge every day. Most of us are from the Central Plains and are used to eating pasta... We had no choice but to sneak out after discussing it. As a result, the Guangxi officers and soldiers became angry and chased them.

Our brothers were beaten back for more than ten miles, and almost half of us were beaten to death. Only when we saw that we could not catch up, we turned back. The remaining nearly 300 of us hid in the mountains every day. We didn’t know the road and couldn’t tell the direction.

I've been wandering around in this mountain for three days. If I keep going like this for a few more days, I'm afraid not many people will be able to get out alive."

After the little boss finished speaking, the companions around him also complained repeatedly. Several of them simply sat on the ground and could not get up. They were obviously tired and hungry and could no longer support themselves.
To be continued...