On this trip south to Luoyang, in addition to Zhou Weihan and his party, there were also Fan Hanjie, commander of the 27th Army, Pang Bingxun, commander of the 40th Army, and Sun Dianying, commander of the New Fifth Army.
Fan Hanjie even waited specifically in Changzhi, intending to go with Zhou Weihan and others.
After resting for one night in Licheng, they met Fan Hanjie in Changzhi the next day. They all went south, passing through Gaoping, Yangcheng, Jiyuan, Mengxian, and finally crossed the river at Mengjin.
On the afternoon of December 7, everyone traveled day and night, and it took them three full days to reach their destination, Luoyang.
During the past few days on the road, Fan Hanjie showed great kindness. When he opened his mouth, it was Brother Zhou who was very enthusiastic.
"Brother Zuo, brother Zhou, there is a Zhuangyuan Restaurant in Luoyang that has a famous carp baked noodles. Let's go try it?" Fan Hanjie said.
"Commander Fan, we have been on the road and our comrades are all tired. Besides, it is getting late, so we should rest first!" The deputy chief of staff declined Fan Hanjie's invitation.
"Okay, then we'll see you tomorrow!"
The national army generals had their own residences in Luoyang City, and Zhou Weihan and his party went to the Eighth Route Army's office in Luoyang.
Inside the Luoyang office.
The deputy chief of staff did not take time to rest and directly inquired about the situation in Luoyang from Director Yuan of the office.
"This morning, representatives of the National Government headed by Qian Dajun just arrived in Luoyang. According to the comrades observing at the city gate, there are many people accompanying them!"
"Moreover, in the past two days, generals from all the armies under the First War Zone have come to Luoyang. This time the National Government has made quite a stir!"
The deputy chief of staff nodded after hearing this: "It's normal. The national army in the first theater of war won a great victory and recovered a lot of lost ground. Of course the Nationalist government will do something special!"
"There's a special someone with us!"
"Who?"
"Wen Hao!"
"What? He's here too. Doesn't he serve in the military command?" The deputy chief of staff's voice suddenly turned cold.
"We still haven't figured out the purpose of the Nationalist government sending him here, so he probably didn't hold it in well!"
"Hey, when the soldiers come, they will cover up the water and the earth, and they will use it as soon as they see it!"
After speaking, the deputy chief of staff pointed to Zhou Weihan who had been silent for a long time: "Old Yuan, this is the Zhou Weihan you have been talking about, and I have brought it to you this time!"
"Hey, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Who else can such a young person be besides Comrade Zhou Weihan?" Director Yuan cordially stepped forward and shook hands.
Zhou Weihan then saluted with a military salute: "Director Yuan!"
"Hey, what's your name, Director Yuan? Comrade Weihan, don't think you're young, but I'm only six, seven, eighty or nine years older than you!"
Director Yuan's joke made everyone present laugh.
Early the next morning, a staff officer from the First Theater Command rushed to the office and informed Zhou Weihan and others to go to the Political Training Office of the Theater Command.
Zhou Weihan said in his heart that the meat show has finally come.
In the conference room of the Political Training Office.
Qian Dajun, director of the Attendance Office of Jiang's representative, Yu Mingguang, director of the Political Training Office of the First Theater Zone, and Wen Hao, the special commissioner of the military command.
Zhou Weihan and others were wearing the uniforms of the Eighth Route Army. Fortunately, there were people in front of them to guide them, so they were not in trouble.
As soon as he saw the deputy chief of staff pushing through the door, Qian Dajun was extremely enthusiastic: "Chief of staff, you've made it easy for us to wait. Hurry up and sit down!"
"This is the famous Zhou..."
When Zhou Weihan arrived, Qian Dajun was stuck for a while. This was also the current situation of the Eighth Route Army. Only a handful of generals in the Eighth Route Army had positions in the national army, and most of them were gangsters.
"Director Qian, just call me Zhou Weihan!" Zhou Weihan said proactively.
"Hey, starting from Mr. Zhuo Yuan, we are still equals. You two should sit down quickly!"
In the conference room, three people from the National Government sat on one side, while the deputy chief of staff and Zhou Weihan sat on the other side. The two sides were clearly separated.
The deputy chief of staff kept staring at the special commissioner of the military commander. Qian Dajun smiled when he saw this and took the initiative to introduce: "Chief of staff, this should be an old acquaintance of your Eighth Route Army. He is now serving as the military commander!"
There was so much disdain in his words that he didn't even mention his name.
The deputy chief of staff laughed: "We know each other. We were all revolutionary comrades in the past. How could we not know each other?"
Wen Qi, who had been sitting upright, behaved very calmly. He did not change his expression when faced with teasing, and then nodded to Zhou Weihan.
After some tit-for-tat politeness, Qian Dajun took the initiative to bring up the topic: "I don't know what your opinion is on the adaptation plan. We are extremely sincere this time. The principal also told me repeatedly before I came that we must do it."
Make this happen!”
"The Chairman of the Generalissimo can once again expand the establishment of one division to our Eighth Route Army. This is what we want, but we just don't know who will command the 94th Division?"
Everyone present is a human spirit, so it’s hard not to understand what it means.
Qian Dajun had long expected that the Eighth Route Army would not give up the command of the 94th Division easily, which was also the basis for negotiations between the two sides.
Then he said: "I have already said that we have great sincerity. After the 94th Division is reorganized, it will of course be under the command of the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army. But isn't the 18th Group Army also under the control of the Military Commission?
"
"This is natural!" The deputy chief of staff nodded in agreement.
Then the two sides discussed the military pay and supplies within the 94th Division.
As agreed before, the deputy chief of staff used Yang Han's 280th Regiment as an excuse to fight hard for military pay and supplies.
The two sides argued for more than half an hour, and finally decided that the 280th Regiment was still within the 94th Division. However, the Nationalist Government did not provide weapons and equipment, but could provide full military pay and daily supplies.
After gaining the initial initiative in the negotiation, the Deputy Chief of General Staff was very curious. He did not expect Qian Dajun to agree so "easily", considering that the military pay supplies for the three divisions of the Eighth Route Army had been stopped long ago.
The other two people present from the Nationalist Government also felt strange in their hearts as to why Jiang, who had always scoured the Eighth Route Army, was surprisingly generous this time.
Qian Dajun had some vague guesses in his heart. On the one hand, the Zhou family had considerable influence within the National Government, and Jiang relied heavily on it. On the other hand, every time Jiang mentioned Zhou Weihan, he would always mention Chen Geng, who would
Zhou Weihan compared with the brigade commander.
In fact, Jiang has always been obsessed with the brigade commander, but the brigade commander is destined to be the man that Jiang cannot have.
"Chief of Staff, after the troops of the 94th Division are formed, they do not need to change their uniforms. They can still wear the uniforms of the Eighth Route Army, but your political workers cannot be placed in the troops!"
"We are going to set up a political training office in the 94th Division. I wonder if you agree?" Qian Dajun finally offered his trump card after showing his good intentions.
After hearing this, the deputy general staff officer's face turned cold. Political cadres were the basis for the Eighth Route Army to control the troops, not to mention the establishment of a political training office within the troops.
"Haha, Director Qian is joking. In our Eighth Route Army, the existence of political cadres has always been a tradition. How can we cancel it so easily?"