Dahu Town Station is located seven kilometers east of Xuzhou City. It is an important railway marshalling station on the Longhai Line. It has a large cargo yard and relatively complete warehouses and other facilities. The Second Division of the Seventh Army is stationed at this transportation hub.
Hu Zongduo and two deputies accompanied An Yi, Hu Jialin and the second regiment leader Chen Zhibiao as they walked around the cargo yard of Nuo Da. Every time they passed a training company, they introduced to An Yi its composition and origin, as well as its military exploits in a certain battle.
, and asked An Yi and others to give guidance on the ongoing drills of the officers and soldiers in the field.
An Yi smiled brightly and said that such an elite soldier would not need guidance from his younger brother. You can feel the murderous intent from the eyes and obedience of the officers and soldiers.
After hearing An Yi's words, Hu Zongduo laughed and felt very proud. He quietly told An Yi that his teaching regiment, the third regiment and the fourth regiment were all Hubei soldiers led by him, and they were all composed of Guangxi Bagui disciples.
Compared with the 4,800 brothers in the First Regiment and the Second Regiment, they are not inferior.
Hu Jialin was as unsmiling as ever, with a pair of falcon-like eyes that would not miss every detail such as the morale of the friendly forces, equipment, training intensity, etc. He could feel the Gui Army from the looks and voices of the regimental commanders and battalion commanders reporting to Hu Zongduo
The obvious difference from the Hubei Army is that the officers and soldiers from different provinces are very different from each other, and there is no close comradeship and tacit understanding like the regiments of our own independent division.
Chen Zhibiao had been following An Yi, walking side by side with Hu Jialin, with a smile on his face and a respectful attitude. Hu Zongduo stopped talking several times and seemed to smile at Chen Zhibiao intentionally or unintentionally. This surprised Hu Jialin, and then he thought
I thought that it was normal for Chen Zhibiao and his troops to be stationed at Damiao Town Station, eight kilometers east of the station. He and Hu Zongduo, who was neighboring Hu Zongduo, met from time to time and respected each other, so I didn't think much about it.
After a round of inspection, the guests and hosts returned to the spacious division headquarters. A sumptuous banquet was set under a big tree between the two railway lines. Hu Zongduo and his four generals warmly invited everyone to sit down and said a few words according to the rules.
With a witty opening remark, he raised his glass.
After three drinks, Hu Zongduo pointed to the Lieutenant Colonel of the Independent Division who was standing 20 meters away, smoking against a big tree, and asked An Yi: "Brother An, why doesn't your Adjutant Shen not want to have a drink with us?"
An Yi glanced at Shen Fengdao, turned around and said with a smile: "Old Shen has never drank alcohol, and his smoking habit was led to him by his younger brother not long ago. He is introverted and taciturn. It is rare for brothers to say a few words to him. Everyone knows him.
Just let him have his own temper, don't mind, Brother Hu."
"Sir Hu, you don't know that our Adjutant Shen is a top-notch expert. No brother in the entire division dares to challenge him. I heard from the brothers in the division that Adjutant Shen is also from Hubei, haha!"
Chen Zhibiao interrupted proudly, not noticing the flash of unhappiness in Hu Jialin's eyes. After Chen Zhibiao finished speaking, he saw that An Yi kept smiling. He thought that An Yi was quite proud, so he smiled even more easily. Who knew that An Yi heard that
After saying this, I felt very unhappy.
Hu Zongduo smiled happily and said: "Brother An really has hidden dragons and crouching tigers under his command, haha! According to Brother Zhibiao's introduction, brothers from various departments of the independent division come from all over the world, but they can get along well with each other. Even if the organizational structure of each battalion and company is disrupted, the chief officers of each department can be like
Brother Yu is envious of you for calmly commanding and responding to battles and cooperating skillfully during training!"
An Yi shook his head and smiled, and raised his glass in reply to Hu Zongduo and several other deputies, as if he did not remember the topic just now, but humbly recalled several famous battles of the Seventh Army soldiers in the Northern Expedition, and sighed with great emotion:
"...So far, our independent division has not fought a real critical battle head-on. Compared with the soldiers of the Iron Army's Seventh Army, the gap is still very big.
Brother Hu also knows that his younger brother is an engineer, and he is only proud of the construction of fortifications and bridges. However, the last battle in Si County crippled his engineer battalion, and it has not recovered yet, so he has no choice but to
The surviving more than a hundred engineer brothers were assigned to the engineer companies of each regiment to replenish consumption. During this period, the number of soldiers was finally replenished to 9,000, but nearly half of them were new recruits. They were completely incomparable with the elite second division under Brother Hu. There were no more than three or five soldiers.
After months of training and actual combat, self-protection has become a problem, let alone making a difference!"
"The day before yesterday, Brother Yu and several others rushed to the city's military headquarters for a meeting. At the meeting, Mr. Degong specially praised your independent division. He believed that the independent division's vigorous and resolute anti-bandit operations in the past few days have achieved great results, and Mr. Degong appreciated the independence very much.
The division conducted actual combat training by suppressing bandits, and asserted that the combat effectiveness of Brother An's independent division would soon be restored to its original level. He also specifically told Brother Yu to communicate more with Brother An and the various departments of the independent division, and learn with an open mind. Brother An would not
You're welcome, haha! Come, have a drink and eat some food, and chat while eating. Brother Hu, please, we were a family five hundred years ago..."
Hu Zongduo raised his glass boldly and touched it with Hu Jialin. Several deputies also stood up and toasted to Hu Jialin and Chen Zhibiao.
The luncheon lasted for more than three hours and ended with everyone talking freely and laughing. When exchanging military training and views on the current situation, An Yi was very cheerful and praised the commanding talents of Guangxi generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi.
In addition, he also expressed his concerns about the current situation. He got along well with Hu Zongduo and his deputy generals without any pretense, and quickly won everyone's favor. In addition, Hu Jialin and Chen Zhibiao had a good drinking capacity, and the three guests
He was not drunk, but Hu Zongduo's adjutant and deputy division commander were drunk.
With a smile on his face, Hu Zongduo greeted An Yi and the three of them to move to the front hall to drink tea. They continued chatting. The conversation got more exciting. Hu Zongduo invited An Yi to go out for a walk and get some fresh air. The two deputies who had not drank yet also greeted Hu Jialin and Chen Zhibiao attentively.
Looking at the training of the new regiment, the distance between everyone was already wide when they came out of the division headquarters.
Hu Zongduo and An Yi walked side by side, talking as they walked. After walking more than a hundred meters, Hu Jialin, who was eighty percent drunk, burped and stopped on the high cargo platform. He looked at the officers and soldiers who were practicing on the wide field and sighed slightly.
:
"I remember the first time I met Brother An, Brother Yu was preparing to attack the city at the foot of Wuchang City. At that time, the more than 4,000 brothers in the two regiments under his command were basically veterans from Hubei. Dozens of the battalion company commanders were confidants who had followed Brother Yu for many years.
Brother, I rushed from Hubei to Guangxi to fight with Brother Jiansheng and Brother Ji Kuan for two years. A few days after unifying Guangxi, I started the Northern Expedition again. Basically, I didn’t have a few days to live in peace. Many brothers didn’t even have a chance to touch a woman. I originally thought that we would win the battle.
After Wuchang, we can return home in glory. Unexpectedly, almost everyone died in the battle in Wuchang. After several fierce battles in Jiangxi, there are only six old brothers left by Brother Yu. Thinking about this makes me feel uncomfortable..." An
Yi saw Hu Zongduo sighing and his eyes full of sadness, and couldn't bear it: "I can understand how Brother Hu feels. Since the Northern Expedition, who hasn't been heartbroken to see brothers fall one after another? I also stepped on the corpses of my brothers to ascend to this place.
He holds the position of division commander, and he doesn’t feel the slightest bit of pride in his heart. Just now at the wine table, several elder brothers kept praising his younger brother for being the youngest division commander in the history of the Revolutionary Army. The younger brother was embarrassed to tell the difference, but in fact, he and his elder brother were at the same moment.
It’s the same, it doesn’t feel good!”
Hu Zongduo raised his hand and patted An Yi's shoulder affectionately: "Brother An is a very affectionate person. There are not many people like you these days. This is why so many big guys are attracted to me.
, you are not only talented, but also have such a generous and honest character, which is really rare!
In fact, all of us in the Seventh Army know that I have been marginalized for a long time. Otherwise, with my military exploits and talents, I would have been promoted long ago. Brother Yu also sees it this way. I must be unwilling to accept it, right?"
"That's not true. I once felt that there were many injustices in the army, but considering the current situation of the Chinese army, I have no temper. Our revolutionary army is much better. Although it still forms cliques, favors nepotism, and still pays attention to family background,
In terms of seniority, there has been a lot of progress compared to a year ago, otherwise I would not be able to be this division commander. Looking at all the military units, which team does not have such and such problems? Don't be anxious!
In contrast, I think the Seventh Army is a model in this regard. For example, Brother Hu, you are from Hubei but you can gain the trust of Duke De. This is very rare in other local armies. I believe that with Brother Hu’s illustrious military exploits and
Your military talent will be improved soon." An Yi truthfully said what he was thinking.
Hu Zongduo shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You think too highly of Brother Yu, and you think too highly of the Seventh Army! The problems that other armies have are the same as those of our Seventh Army, even worse, and not even as good as Tang Mengxiao's.
The Hunan Army under his command.
I wonder if you have noticed that three of the five army commanders under Tang Mengxiao are from Guangxi. Li Pinxian, Liao Lei, Ye Qi and other Guangxi generals have always gained the trust of Tang Mengxiao. They have long been in the army under the Wuhan government.
On his own, he has firmly occupied a place, but in the Gui army, brothers like Yu brother, Ziqin (Tao Jun), who is also from Hubei, and more than ten battalion commanders under his command, have followed Brother Jiansheng and Degong to unify Guangxi until now.
, He worked hard and achieved great results, but he was still ostracized by his colleagues from Guizhou in the army.
In the just-completed army expansion plan, there is no place for generals like us from other provinces. The commanders and deputy commanders of the three armies are all designated as generals from Guangxi, which is really chilling!"
"No way? With De Gong's foresight and Commander Bai's wisdom, how could such a thing happen? It's not conducive to the development of the army!" An Yi looked at Hu Zongduo in surprise.
Hu Zongduo let out a long sigh: "Brother, to be honest, Duke De was full of praise for my talent in front of us teachers at the Xuzhou Battle Meeting some time ago, and he told us personally about his ability.
He is qualified enough to serve as deputy commander or chief of staff of our Seventh Army. With a little training, his future is limitless.
Brother Yu invites you to have a drink this time, not only to reminisce about old times, but also because Brother Jiansheng admires and cares about me very much. Brother Jiansheng himself also wants to build a powerful army, and there are not many people who can catch his eye.
, and I am one of the few people whom Brother Jiansheng can trust, and Brother Yu also thinks that I am still a teacher who has failed!"
An Yi was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Hu is joking, how can I have such ability? Now I am worried about leading a division, how can I dare to command an army?"
Another thing is that Brother Hu’s achievements and reputation are far above that of my younger brother, and he has not made any further progress yet, let alone such an ignorant junior like me? Haha! Brother Hu is not allowed to say that in the future, I will be ashamed.”
Hu Zongduo smiled: "Brother, you are such an interesting person! Brother Yu admires your peaceful and optimistic attitude, haha... No more, no more, but Brother Yu wants to say something to you. If our two masters work together,
Advance and fight side by side, and you are not allowed to hide your secrets in front of Brother Yu."
"Of course, I still have fresh memories of getting along with Brother Hu at the gates of Wuchang. I finally got the opportunity to fight together this time. How could I not do my best?
In the Northern Expedition, who doesn’t know the bravery and flexibility of Brother Hu’s troops in attacking fortresses and mobile warfare? I still want to ask for as much advice as possible. Let’s not say any polite words today. As long as we have the opportunity, we will do our best.
Fighting with Brother Hu." An Yi stated proudly.
Hu Zongduo laughed happily, took An Yi's hand and walked towards the new regiment he had just recruited from his hometown in eastern Hubei, letting An Yi see the excellent physical fitness and latest equipment of his soldiers.