After a short rest in Luling Town, the large troops of the Tainan Military Region immediately set off northward.
Different from when I came here, I went back to Pu County this time.
Marching with the large army were nearly 3,000 prisoners of war, as well as a large amount of captured food and money.
When the troops arrived in Pu County, an officer from the New Eighth Army suddenly appeared in front of the troops.
"Detachment leader, Gao Shuxun invites you to a banquet in Pu County. This is the invitation!" Jing Dagang hurriedly reported.
Zhou Weihan glanced at the invitation and did not reply immediately.
"Will Gao Shuxun cause any trouble?"
"Hey, what are you thinking about? The relationship between our Eighth Route Army and the stubborn army is tense ahead. After the battle between the two sides, Gao Shuxun stayed on the sidelines. Now that the situation is stable, can he still take the initiative to make trouble?" Zhou Weihan said this, but he didn't think so in his heart.
Understand why Gao Shuxun is like this.
"In this case, you go back with the troops first, and I will go meet him!"
"yes!"
Zhou Weihan did not bring many troops with him on this trip. The only people accompanying him to the banquet were the monk and Tian Defu.
New Eighth Army Military Headquarters.
Gao Shuxun showed great sincerity. He expected Zhou Weihan to come back and arranged for people to wait outside early in the morning.
"Oh, brother Zhou, I really didn't expect that you would be able to come to the banquet despite your busy schedule. Brother, I am very honored!" Gao Shuxun said enthusiastically.
"Commander Gao warmly invited me, how could I not come!" At this time, the attitudes of both parties relaxed, and Zhou Weihan was no longer as aggressive as before.
"Come on, come on, take a seat inside!"
The two chatted for a while, but Gao Shuxun never revealed his purpose. Zhou Weihan couldn't help but curse the old fox secretly.
After a while, Comrade Adjutant's banquet was ready.
"Brother Zhou, I have a cook here who cooks Shandong cuisine. Shandong cuisine is one of the eight major cuisines. You haven't tasted it in Tainan before, right? Please!"
"By the way, Adjutant Li, treat these two little brothers well!" Gao Shuxun pointed at the two monks and said.
"yes!"
Zhou and Gao took their seats in the side hall. Zhou Weihan took a look and thought, "Oh, the place is really big."
There were a total of four dishes and one soup on the table. Although there were not many dishes, the styles were all exquisite. Zhou Weihan moved his index finger just by smelling the aroma.
"Brother Zhou, during a national crisis, it's really hard to be extravagant and wasteful. To be honest, when I'm alone, I only eat two dishes!"
"That's right, the nine-turn large intestine, sweet and sour carp, roasted sea cucumber with green onion, and this mullet egg soup are all classic dishes in Shandong cuisine!" Zhou Weihan pointed out the names of the dishes one by one.
"Young man, Brother Zhou is quite an expert. I forgot, considering Brother Zhou's family background, what kind of cuisine has he never tasted? Come on, be quick!"
The two of them didn't drink. They were both soldiers and didn't have many rules.
After a moment of confusion, Zhou Weihan burped, and then Gao Shuxun signaled for tea.
"Brother Zhou, I specially invited you here this time. It is indeed important. Sun Liangcheng surrendered to the enemy in Kaifeng!" Gao Shuxun had been observing Zhou Weihan's expression when he spoke.
"Why, Brother Zhou doesn't seem surprised by what happened to Sun Liangcheng!"
"When I learned that Sun Liangcheng was defeated by our army, I knew that he would not be able to survive in the national army and that he would most likely defect to the Japs. But now he is just a polished commander. How much influence can he have?"
After Zhou Weihan heard that Sun Liangcheng had defected to the Japs, he was still wondering if it was a joint performance between Gao and Sun.
"The polished commander is indeed nothing to fear, but Sun Liangcheng represents the National Government in Hebei, Shandong and Henan. His defection to the Japs will be a huge blow to the government's reputation and the morale of the troops!"
"Furthermore, the Japanese army gave him the designation of the Fourth Puppet Army, and ordered him to recruit troops in the Hebei, Shandong and Henan areas and contact his old troops. Fortunately, I intercepted all the officers under Sun in Pu County and did not follow him south, otherwise it would be really troublesome!
"Gao Shuxun said.
Previously in Luling Town, when Dong Jiang's reconnaissance company stopped Sun Liangcheng and his party who were heading south, they immediately reported to Zhou Weihan.
At that time, Zhou Weihan had already thought that Sun Liangcheng was alone on this trip, without soldiers and power.
Even if it was true, as he said, that he was going to the mountain city to plead guilty, any senior official of the National Government in the mountain city could crush him to death.
However, everything is unknown. Even though Zhou Weihan was absolutely sure that Sun would surrender to the enemy and become a traitor, no matter what happened, it would not be the Eighth Route Army's turn to handle this matter.
So he ordered that Sun Liangcheng and his party be released.
Originally, after listening to Gao Shuxun's persuasion, Sun Liangcheng sincerely went to the mountain city to smoothen the relationship. After all, you have to have capital to be a traitor. If you don't have soldiers, why would the little devil entrust you with a heavy responsibility? Sun Liangcheng understood this very clearly.
However, after experiencing the banditry incident in Luling Town, he felt deeply that he was being bullied by dogs. In addition, Sun Liangcheng felt that his official career within the National Government was dead and it was difficult to be reused.
With a sudden change of heart, he went directly to Kaifeng, contacted the Kaifeng Appeasement Office, and openly surrendered to the enemy.
In fact, after Sun Liangcheng surrendered, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Second Front Army, with jurisdiction over two armies and five divisions. He later served as the director of the Kaifeng and Northern Jiangsu Pacification Office.
It can be said that it has both military power and territory, and it has an unparalleled reputation for a while.
As for now, how big a team he can raise depends on his ability.
"Commander Gao, Sun Liangcheng will definitely contact the old ministry and some local powerful factions in Hebei, Shandong and Henan, but..."
Zhou Weihan's words stopped abruptly. Gao Shuxun understood that the larger recalcitrant armed forces in northwest Shandong, Zhinan, southwestern Shandong and other places had been almost wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. It would not be easy for Sun Liangcheng to recruit troops.
"Oh, brother Zhou, I see you are going back to Tainan?" Gao Shuxun asked tentatively.
Zhou Weihan grinned: "Hey, Commander Gao, you are wrong. We will be neighbors for a long time in the future. In the future, we will inevitably have to fight side by side!"
"That's it, that's it!" Gao Shuxun's face turned pale when he heard that Zhou Weihan had no intention of leading his troops to leave Hebei, Luyu.
But then I thought about it. Although the New Eighth Army was surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, in disguise, it was also under the protection of the Eighth Route Army.
Sure enough, when I changed my mind, my thoughts became much smoother.
"Haha, I didn't eat for free today. There are Brother Zhou's troops near my New Eighth Army. I feel relieved!"
After the banquet, Gao Shuxun personally sent Zhou Weihan and three others out of their residence.
"Chief, what good food are we eating at the banquet?" the monk asked.
Zhou Weihan looked at the monk's greedy expression and introduced it vividly: "There are eight cold dishes alone and at least fifteen or sixteen hot dishes. It's a pity that there are too many dishes and I can't remember the names of the dishes. Anyway, it's flying in the sky."
Yes, there are those who swim in the sea and those who run on the ground!"
"Aren't so many dishes wasted?" The monk wiped the corner of his mouth after hearing this: "You will be full after one bite of one dish!"