Chapter 432: Reunion of brotherhood after a long absence
At six o'clock in the afternoon on April 30, a special train loaded with soldiers from three regiments and one battalion of the Independent Division slowly stopped at Tai'an Station. More than 500 officers and soldiers at the logistics stations of each division of the First Army had already prepared food on the platform.
, the heavy doors in the middle of more than a dozen stuffy tank wagons opened one after another, and more than 6,000 independent division officers and soldiers wearing old-fashioned gray uniforms quickly jumped out of the wagons and gathered urgently. The chief officers of each battalion and regiment stepped forward to talk to the logistics department of the First Army.
The chief officers thanked them and then led the soldiers to receive food in an orderly manner, eat and rest.
A captain wearing black-rimmed round myopia glasses excitedly passed the groups of officers and soldiers, came to the front of the only passenger car in the middle of the train, saluted An Yi, who was talking to the chief officer of the First Army Logistics Department on the platform, and reported:
"Luo Shaodong, captain and staff officer of the Munitions Section of the 22nd Division of the First Army, pays tribute to General An!"
"Dongzi..."
"elder brother……"
An Yi stepped forward and hugged his younger brother, who was half shorter than himself, and spun him around three times. He stopped and let go of his hand, took a step back, and looked up and down: "Not bad! Not bad! He is stronger now, and he is much darker. He is no longer weak.
The pretty boy looks more like a man than he did at home!"
The generals who were lingering around An Yi smiled knowingly. Major General Huang Shang, the representative of the First Army Party, asked An Yi in surprise: "Chief of Staff An, is this your brother?"
"Closer than real brothers! My younger brother's name is Luo Shaodong. He graduated from the fifth phase of Huangpu's managerial department. Under the command of senior brother Hu Zongnan, he led the engineering company to leave Guangzhou until now. This is the first time we have met. During the Spring Festival, I
I thought he could return to old Nanchang, but he couldn’t come back at the moment, which made me anxious at the time!”
An Yi introduced Dongzi to Huang Shang, Hu Jialin, Gu Changfeng and Cheng Chengguang, who had only heard of Dongzi but had never seen them before, and they all came forward to say hello.
Huang Shang and others chatted with the generals of the independent division for a while. Seeing that nothing happened, it was hard to ask An Yi where his troops were going, so they politely bid farewell to An Yi and several generals. An Yi walked more than ten meters and thanked him repeatedly before returning to the brothers.
middle.
Dongzi was talking to Gu Changfeng and said in surprise: Brother Gu, how can you look like a gang leader when you are so handsome? Everyone was amused immediately.
An Yi took the big steamed bun from the guard and asked while eating: "Dongzi, who asked you to deliver the broth and steamed buns to the platform for us?"
"This is what Deputy Commander Jiang sent a telegram from the front line to explain. Chief Hu specially asked me to send you twenty boxes of 'Hardman' cigarettes. They have been loaded into the last supply carriage...Brother, what happened to your military uniforms?"
What's the matter? We all wear new combat uniforms and are issued with new helmets, shoes and hats, but your independent division still wears the old-fashioned ones?" Dongzi asked strangely.
Gu Changfeng explained to him: "We want to cross the Yellow River and don't want the enemy to know that the First Army is coming, so we randomly collected some old military uniforms and put them on."
Luo Shaodong suddenly realized: "I understand... Four days ago, when my younger brother went to Xuzhou to pick up supplies, he accidentally met his elder brother Jinan. At that time, his elder brother Jinan was collecting clothing from the military supplies warehouse at the headquarters. My younger brother almost didn't dare to recognize him.
Brother Jinan was half a fist taller than before, had a beautiful mustache, and was wearing a general uniform. He was very powerful. Brother Jinan was very happy to see his younger brother, and even invited him and a dozen brothers from the division to a restaurant.
Sigh... I didn’t expect that two years would pass in the blink of an eye, and all my elder brothers would become generals. The meeting with my younger brother just now felt like a dream.”
Everyone burst into laughter. Hu Jialin swallowed a mouthful of steamed buns and pointed to the nameplate on Dongzi's chest: "You're not bad either. After graduating from the fifth class, you became a captain in less than a year. I'm afraid it's still a white card for others, right?
Did your Mr. Hu take special care of you?"
Dongzi shook his head and explained: "How could it be? I got promoted through my merits! I caught up with him in the Longtan Battle at the end of August last year. The fight was really miserable. One-third of the entire division was killed in one afternoon. At night, the enemy suddenly strengthened."
During the attack, all members of our logistics department went up with guns. The younger brother followed the brothers and rushed forward in a daze. It was not until dawn the next day that he discovered that there were only 17 people left in the entire position of more than 100 people.
, out of more than 200 logistics brothers, only eleven survived, but we withstood it and persisted until a regiment of General Li Mingrui of the Seventh Army reached the Wulongshan position before withdrawing. After the war, I rested and my younger brother was lying in the hospital. Sir Hu
I personally took the new nameplate to the hospital and gave it to my younger brother. Only then did my younger brother know that he had bid farewell to the white badge of the trainee officer and was promoted to lieutenant. When I returned to the army in March, I happened to catch a nap and made another meritorious service. At that time..."
"Stop! No wonder I regretted going home during the Spring Festival. It turned out that I was lying in the hospital and couldn't go back, right? Quickly, tell me where you were injured?" An Yi took a step forward and looked up and down Dongzi's body.
But found nothing.
Dongzi pointed to her right chest with some embarrassment: "My right lung was pierced by shrapnel. It was supposed to be cured at the end of November last year, but the lung lobe became inflamed again and there was water accumulation. I couldn't breathe and was sent to the Army General Hospital. Hu
The commander knows the colonel and chief military surgeon who returned from studying in the United States. He personally removed the two small pieces of shrapnel left inside, so he couldn't go back."
An Yi opened Dongzi's front and saw a slanted scar on the left chest that was twenty centimeters long. He shook his head and scolded in a low voice: "You should tell me honestly. The medical conditions in our old Nanchang are much better.
Such a serious injury may lead to death. I'm afraid these ribs will be broken two or three times... It's so hard for you to hide it from your family. Everyone thinks you are too busy. If you do this again in the future, be careful and I will take care of you.
you!"
"At that time, I had just arrived in Nanjing to hold the graduation ceremony and was dragged to Changzhou. Later I found out about the grievances suffered by you and the Independent Division brothers. At that time, all the brothers in the division were very angry. If Sun Chuanfang's army hadn't fought across the river, maybe I would have secretly
I ran home to see you, my little brother’s injury is nothing compared to all the big brothers!” Dongzi said nonchalantly.
Gu Changfeng patted Dongzi hard on the shoulder: "You have the guts! You are worthy of being our little brother."
The whistle for boarding suddenly sounded. Regardless of whether they were full or not, the officers and soldiers of the independent division dropped everything and lined up quickly. They did not need the commander's command at all. In less than two minutes, they lined up and boarded the train silently. In the blink of an eye, there was no one on the platform.
The officers and soldiers of the Independent Division stunned hundreds of officers and soldiers on the platform with a simple action.
Dongzi sighed with envy: "Military discipline is so good, no wonder the independent division fought so hard..."
When the whistle blew, An Yi patted Dongzi on the shoulder and solemnly warned: "Write letters to Uncle Dao more often, especially Ermao. The whole family misses you. Second Aunt has been saying that she wants to marry you a daughter-in-law all day long. I guess this time
You all have to drive back after the war. If you have time, take a leave and go home."
"Remember...brother, take care of yourself!"
"The same goes for you. With your small body, don't try to imitate others and go to the front line. I'm worried!"
"Brother, what are you talking about? You look down on people and you still do this after all these years..."
An Yi shook his head, smiled, jumped on the slowly moving train, and got into the carriage without looking back.
Dongzi stood silently on the platform, watching the train roar north, and suddenly felt empty in her heart. In this war-torn era, the two brothers each encountered their own life-and-death tests of blood and fire, and they were almost separated from each other.
Although the love between brothers is getting stronger and closer, they can't spend more time together and say a few words at a time. My heart is full of melancholy and loss, which is very uncomfortable.
Before Dongzi turned around, a group of officers and soldiers had gathered around to ask questions. They were envious that Dongzi knew such powerful military generals as An Yi, Gu Changfeng, Hu Jialin and Cheng Chengguang.
In the carriage, the commanders and deputy commanders of each regiment gathered around the map and listened carefully to Chief of Staff Cheng Chengguang's introduction:
"Since we jumped 125 kilometers north at once, we were not familiar with the situation on the front line, especially the situation on the other side of the Yellow River. We only knew that a legion led by the Fengtian general He Linfeng launched an attack on the Second Army
They voluntarily evacuated Liaocheng two days before the attack, and there was no news about the three divisions of Zhang Zongchang's Zhilu Army originally stationed on the line from Dong'a to Qihe. In other words, there are still many troops on the other side of the Yellow River where we are about to go.
Unknown situation.
After study and decision by the division headquarters, we will get off at Gushan Station, 25 kilometers southwest of Jinan City, instead of Yangjiazhuang, the original location of the Fourth Army Corps, to avoid premature exposure of our division's whereabouts.
Counting from now, it will take another two hours to reach Gushan. After getting off the bus, the special brigade immediately launched a routine reconnaissance to the west and south. Cooperating with the first and second regiments, they will station and blockade Changchun before midnight tonight.
In Qing County, only entry and exit are allowed before dawn. The blockade can only be lifted when it is safe.
None of our regiments have entered Changqing County. We only learned from sporadic intelligence that the defenders of a regiment of the Zhilu Army had fled to the other side. Therefore, we must not be careless. The third regiment followed the division headquarters. Do you understand?
?”
"clear!"
All the brothers answered in unison.
Lu Guang nodded and continued to point to the map: "Old Li——"
"arrive!"
Li Fuqiang came to Li Guang's side.
"From Wudu, ten kilometers southwest of Changqing County, to Yuqing Lake, ten kilometers due north, the reconnaissance and warning tasks for the twenty-kilometer area along the bank of the Yellow River are all handed over to you. The remaining areas are left to the reconnaissance detachments of each regiment on their own.
Responsible."
"As you command!"
After finishing speaking, Li Guang asked An Yi what his opinion was. Seeing An Yi shake his head, he announced to rest where he was. The brothers gathered together in twos and threes to chat. The leader of the third regiment, Lu Yixuan, came to sit down opposite An Yi and took the gift from Huzi.
He lit his cigarette and asked in a low voice:
"Junior brother, why didn't you bring the teaching team to join the war this time? Fortunately, Xiangyun (Zhao Rui) had brought his family to Lao Nanchang before, otherwise he would have been anxious."
An Yi smiled bitterly and explained: "If my estimate is correct, after Jinan is captured, all of our First Army will retreat, leaving only Uncle De's 7th Division to defend the former enemy headquarters and continue to command other armies to move north.
After our army successfully crosses the river, there will be no more big battles to fight, and our artillery regiment will return to the camp in the north of Xuzhou City."
All the brothers around looked at An Yi in surprise, and An Yi explained in detail: "A Japanese Marine Corps of 3,000 people has left Japan and will land in Shanghai in three days. This will seriously threaten our East China region. If Jinan is attacked
If we do, the consequences are unpredictable. The General Headquarters is very wary of the Japanese taking advantage of the emptiness in our rear to open up a second battlefield. Therefore, no matter what the situation in Jinan is, our First Army will withdraw south just in case.
Secondly, if there is no major conflict in the direction of Jinan, the other three legions of our First Army, with a total of 170,000 officers and soldiers, are enough to deal with Zhang Zongchang's Zhilu Army, which has only 70,000 troops left, and cross the Yellow River to attack the Beijing-Tianjin area without any problems.
, plus the suffocating General Yan Baichuan's Third Group Army and General Feng Huanzhang's Second Group Army, a total of more than 600,000 soldiers marched into Zhili to fight the enemy together. How could the Fengjun army be able to withstand it without the assistance of the Japanese army?
?
Last night, the envoy secretly sent by Fengjun Marshal Zhang Xueliang to make peace had left. The principal said that he would never stop advancing, but promised that as long as they supported the leadership of the Nanjing central government, surrendered to the revolution, and changed the flag, they would never again attack Fengjun.
Take any military action. Therefore, there is no need for the artillery regiment and teaching regiment to continue going north."
Only then did the brothers realize that the situation was so favorable, and all worries in their hearts were swept away. However, An Yi was not so comfortable. His heart was always concerned about Jinan.