On the morning of 10 February, more than 3,600 soldiers and men of the instructor sang the new version of "I Am a Soldier" in unison and marched eastward under the farewell of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the base area.

I am a soldier, from the common people, to defeat the invaders and eliminate the Jiang bandit army......

After a seven-hour continuous march, the instructor crossed three narrow and difficult winding mountain roads and successfully arrived at Qiaotou Town, 32 kilometers northeast, where they camped and rested. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Qiaotou Town, located in the mountains, has only more than 600 households, because of its remote location and barren land, there are only three large households in the town that can be regarded as landlords covering an area of 100 acres, and the mayor of the town is also served by three landlords in turn, and has been living a relatively closed life for a hundred years.

The 300 elites of the 3rd and 4th Companies of the Guard Battalion, who arrived ahead of schedule, had already disarmed all the more than 100 families raised by the three landlords, and the three main regiments were directly stationed in the homes of the three landlords, and Zheng Yi's division headquarters was set up in the Zhangjia Ancestral Hall in the east of the town.

All the soldiers strictly followed Zheng Yi's orders, did not beat the local tyrants to share the floating wealth, did not threaten and scolded a few landlords, and there were no incidents of taking the opportunity to loot and disturb the people.

The two grocery stores that had been knocked on the door did not lose anything, and basically sold out the sauces and pickles in stock, and the officers and men who spoke kindly paid on the spot, and the whole team was very quiet, except for the fact that there was a louder movement of lighting a fire to cook and boiling water to soak their feet after a meal.

In the afternoon of the next day, the 3,600 soldiers who had rested for a day set out again, and before leaving, they left the three landlords with a sea of grain, meat, and vegetables, which shocked several landlords who were afraid and hated, and it was not until the team left the town and headed east that the landlords came to their senses, and from then on they had no intention of forming a militia to protect themselves.

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As night fell, the marching party bypassed the country road five kilometers south of Heshi Town, turned to the south, and arrived at Yanjia Mountain, 18 kilometers south of Taihe County, at midnight, took a short rest, crossed the Gan River overnight, and entered the village of Yaoqian on the east bank to bury pots and make rice.

It didn't take long for the whole team to erect the blue sky and white flag, and the soldiers also had a blue sky and white emblem on their big caps, so that after dawn, the local people thought that this army was a Kuomintang army from Taihe County or Ji'an City, and the only thing that was strange was that this army did not disturb the people, did not loot, and did not force the village to offer food and military salaries.

Just after noon, Zheng Yi, who had slept for three hours, woke up, read the telegram sent by the operational staff officer, sorted it out a little, and sent people to call Duan Xuan, Li Lianshan, Zhao Jingting, and several deputy regiment commanders, opened the map, and pointed to the old camp 30 kilometers north of Xingguo County:

"The special service company and the fourth guard company led by Tian Antai have arrived five kilometers north of Laoyingpan, planning to launch an attack before dark and take this only pass leading to Xingguo."

"How many troops are stationed at this pass?" Duan Xuan asked.

Zheng Yi said with a smile: "There are less than 100 people, all of them are local militias, I guess Tian Antai wants to catch them all and not let anyone escape to Xingguo County in the south to report the news, so he didn't do it as soon as he got there, otherwise with the ability of the spy company and the fourth company, he only needs to send a sniper detachment and an assault detachment, and he can take it within ten minutes." ”

Everyone laughed, who knew that Li Zhao, the political commissar of the division who was sleeping peacefully in the broken temple, was woken up, and hurriedly got up and dressed and put on shoes.

Zhao Jingting suggested: "From here to Laoyingpan is an official road, the weather is also good, we just need to hurry, we can rush to Laoyingpan at dawn tomorrow, there is no city wall in Xingguo County in the south, and the Jingwei Regiment formed by local heroes is at most 300 people, we simply don't rest, and go directly to Xingguo County." ”

Zheng Yi shook his head: "There is still fifty-two kilometers from here to Laoyingpan, and there is still thirty kilometers to walk from Laoyingpan to Xingguo County, although we have brought a lot of horses, but the amount of materials and ammunition we carry is even more, plus most of Duan Xuan's three regiments are recruits who have not yet completed their training, and after a continuous march of eighty-two kilometers, it is estimated that there is no combat effectiveness......

"I think it's better to rest in the old camp for a day, and stay vigilant enough at all times to prevent emergencies from happening."

"Yes! The end of the strong crossbow is not enough to wear the thread, which is the case. Li Zhao tightened his belt and walked over.

Everyone hurriedly gave Li Zhaoteng a position, and Li Lianshan pointed to the map: "Xingguo County is absolutely impossible to run, just carry the banner of the Kuomintang army, drive directly in and take it, and I am now worried about Ningdu ...... in the west."

"The city wall of Ningdu is intact, the moat is very wide, and there are two regiments of the Yang Chisheng Department of the Dian Army stationed for a long time, so it's not easy to fight!"

Seeing that everyone nodded one after another, they thought that it would be difficult to occupy Ningdu like the occupation of Youxian in Hunan Province, and the Yunnan army with two regiments in Ningdu County was guarded all the year round, and the losses would be great if they launched a siege war, and if they could not be defeated within a day, Yang Chisheng, who was stationed in the capital, would soon lead the main force to help.

Zheng Yi thought for a while and reminded: "Xingguo is located in a remote area, surrounded by mountains, the land is barren, the property is limited, and it is not on the main road of water and land transportation, the loss of Xingguo will not make the warlords from all walks of life feel too much heartache, and it is very beneficial to us......"

"The complex geographical environment of rejuvenating the country provides us with superior conditions for attacking and retreating, and can be used as a place where our army can be stationed for a long time and mobilize the masses to rise up to make a revolution.

"However, if you want to get enough soldiers to replenish and get more than half a year's food and material supplies, you can't rely on just one Xingguo County, you have to conquer Ningdu in the east!"

"As for how to fight, let's go back and talk about it, let's take Xingguo first and then discuss it, but there is one thing that must be done in advance, that is, while occupying Xingguo, quickly occupy Ma'anshan, which is fifteen kilometers east of Xingguo County!"

"Ma'anshan is the only way to Ningdu, we must not let the news of our army's occupation of Xingguo reach Ningdu, even if it takes a day, it is good, this task I want to hand over to Lao Zhao's second regiment."

After Zhao Jingting was stunned, his face was full of joy: "Please rest assured, the second regiment will resolutely complete the task!" ”

Everyone immediately understood that only Zhao Jingting's second regiment of the three regiments of the division had the most neat personnel and the most advanced equipment, but the second regiment had experience in siege warfare, and the division commander asked Zhao Jingting to lead the second regiment to seize Ma'anshan, the only way to Ningdu, which seemed to be preparing for the next attack on Ningdu.

Xingguo is about 90 kilometers from Ningdu in the east, and at the normal pace of marching, it can be reached in two days, and as long as the movement is fast enough, it is entirely possible to concentrate two or three regiments of troops and suddenly launch a siege battle when the enemy is defenseless.

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At four o'clock in the morning of the next day, more than 3,600 soldiers of the instructor smoothly drove into the old camp, and the brothers of the special agent company and the fourth company of the guard battalion who occupied the old camp in advance did a very good job, not allowing a single defender to escape, and also detaining two groups of merchants and more than 10 local people who traveled between the north and the south. (To be continued.) )