The army that wanted to go to the slave was gone, and the army that didn't want to go to the slave was obeyed!

Speaking of joining the army, as early as the year of the Lugouqiao Incident, that is, when Shi Zhu graduated from middle school at the age of seventeen, he wanted to join the army like other classmates to protect his family and defend the country and kill devils, but at that time he gave up because his grandmother Shi Yu was strongly opposed.

Now that ten years have passed, the devil has long been driven out of China, and Shizhu has no desire to join the army, but at this time he was arrested by the national army to serve as a soldier, and it is still Chinese who want to fight, he naturally does not want to, even if he wants to join the army, he would rather quietly join the People's Liberation Army like a few young people in the village. All he hopes is that this war will end as soon as possible and that the people can truly live a good life for themselves.

After Shi Zhu and the other eight people in the village were arrested, his hands were tied behind his back at first, and he said to the soldiers: "Sir, you see, we are going to be soldiers, and being tied like this is like escorting us to the execution ground, which is unlucky!" Sir, let's untie the rope, you have so many guns in your hands, I'm afraid we won't be able to escape! ”

The soldiers knew that this was indeed unlucky, but before dawn they feared that if someone ran away again, they would be punished from above, so they came up with a trick - tearing off the belts of their trousers and letting them go forward with their pants in their hands.

Subsequently, several people were escorted to Zhongji Street, and people from other villages were also escorted away from time to time on the way. When they arrived at Zhongji, they were taken to a large warehouse, and the belts were returned to them. The stone pillars looked around, and the warehouse was pitch black, with only a glimmer of light streaming in through the windows. At this time, many people have been caught here, and people have been sent in one after another, and there are many people, and the warehouse gradually feels warmer.

When the day dawned, it was estimated that all the people who should be arrested had been arrested, and then someone completely opened the door of the warehouse, and a cool breeze blew in.

"Everyone, pay attention, all go outside, line up, and each person will receive two meat buns!"

The crowd suddenly stirred up and crowded out, but when they got outside, they all shrank their heads again. Fortunately, when the stone pillar left, Ji Shi took a thick cotton jacket to him, and he was not frozen at this time. Those who wore less were sinned, shivering from the cold, and it took them to warm up after eating steamed buns and drinking some hot soup.

Once the sun was fully visible, hundreds of men were stuffed into several covered green pickup trucks, each with two heavily armed soldiers at the back of the truck to prevent anyone from escaping. Shizhu thought they would be taken to Yishan, but instead of heading south, the truck headed north. Later, he learned that on the night he was arrested, the Guanyun Liberated Area and County Corps, in cooperation with the district team and the militia, launched an attack on the 1st Battalion of the 448th Regiment of the National Army in Dayi Mountain, and had already controlled Dayi Mountain, so the National Army could only send these recruits to Banpu or Xinpu in the north.

The road was slippery in snow, and the truck walked very slowly, shaking for a long time to reach the side of the Shanhou River - this place was originally called the Daxin River, but after dredging, it was just changed to the Shanhou River, which crosses the Salt River to the west and flows into the Yellow Sea to the east. Shizhu is no stranger to this road and this river, he often passes by here when he works in the vinegar factory, he looks at the vast river, but he did not expect that when he came here again two years later, he would change to another identity.

When he arrived here, Shi Zhu naturally remembered another person - I don't know how Shen Lin'er is now! Perhaps, when he arrives in Banpo, he will still have a chance to take a look.

However, it was not as Shizhu thought, and the strong men did not gather in Banpu, the county seat, and the truck did not mean to stop after crossing the Shanhou River, and continued to wander all the way north, passing through Ninghai and Nancheng, and entering Xinpu.

After the snow, the weather became unusually cold, and the men who had been captured to serve as soldiers sat in their cars, shivering with cold along the way. Shi Zhu wrapped himself tightly in his cotton clothes, closed his eyes, and squinted in the car for a while, and when he was woken up by a noise, the car had stopped, and everyone jumped out of the car to stretch and relax.

Subsequently, everyone was placed in a large courtyard called the "Haizhou Recruit Guest House". The stone pillar felt that the name "guest house" sounded very atmospheric, as if it were entertaining them, but in fact, it was more like a prison. As soon as they arrived at the "guest house", they were assigned to various barracks, which were all bunks, and each barracks was actually crowded with forty people, and they were only allowed to go out during the day when they were eating and going to the thatched house, and there were veterans outside to take care of them, and the rest of the time they all stayed in the house. At night, the doors of each barracks will be locked, and two large wooden barrels will be placed in them, and the urine and urine will be solved in the room, so that the whole room will be filled with a foul smell, and if you are not really sleepy, you will not be able to stay for a minute.

Each bed was very close to each other, and the bed was covered with only a sleek and dilapidated mat, with a little straw under the mat, and only a pillow and a thin yellow military quilt on the top of the mat. In such a season, not to mention going to sleep, even looking at it makes people feel chills.

"Day fuck! Lao Tzu is here to be a soldier, so why don't you sleep on this? Isn't this freezing to death? The man who spoke was a young man in his early twenties, a little taller than the stone pillar, and his figure looked relatively strong, and he was ruffian, and as soon as he entered the room, he began to curse and pinch in the language of Guanyun.

Before the scolding fell, a few people ran to him, and said with a smile: "Big brother, you will just order, you will be arrested to be this soldier, you will be punished!" Why don't you cover yourself with some quilts at night if it's cold at night? ”

"That's not right! We have worshiped Master Guan, we have blessings and hardships, how can I cover you with your quilt! ”

Listening to the young man's words, Shi Zhu felt that this person was still a little righteous.

The first day everyone spent in this turmoil, and it was useless to complain, the bed was still the same bed, the weather was still this weather, but the big guys were in a very lost mood, after all, it was the New Year.

The next day was the Chinese New Year's Eve, which was supposed to be a day of family reunion, but everyone was trapped in this "prison", unable to get out, and no one paid attention to them, so many people took the opportunity of lunch to shout: "What's the matter with keeping us here?" We are here to be soldiers, why don't we be given military uniforms and guns? If no one pays attention, we will let us go home for the New Year! ”

"Yes, yes! Give us home for the New Year! "Everyone in the courtyard waved their hands and shouted, and if it weren't for the guns pointed at them at the door, everyone would have run out.

After a long time, Fang saw a chief surnamed Li come in, with a mustache and a mouth full of wine. As soon as he entered, he shouted at the crowd, "What a noise! Don't make any noise! During the Chinese New Year, would you rather walk against the northwest wind, or would you like to stay in this 'guest house' to rest? We are thinking about everyone, so we are not in a hurry to let you go to the barracks. However, since you have come to be a soldier, you must have the rules of being a soldier, and it is impossible for you to go home now! ”

"Then why don't you send us the uniform?"

"What kind of 'guest house' is this? Staying here is like going to jail! ”...... From time to time, some bold people shouted, and as soon as they finished shouting, many people raised their fists in agreement.

"Your military uniforms can only be issued when you get the troops, and we are only responsible for reception. Your departure time is the second day of the Lunar New Year," surnamed Li pointed in the direction of the kitchen, and continued: "I have instructed the guys, today and tomorrow, to add food to everyone, and eat better for the New Year!" Then, the surnamed Li said: "Now, everyone, all go back to the barracks!" Violators, shot! With that, with a wave of his hand, the soldiers standing guard at the gate and in the courtyard pointed their guns at the people, and walked forward step by step, forcing everyone back to the barracks.

These people who were arrested as soldiers were bare-handed, so naturally they didn't dare to fight against real swords and guns, so they had to go back to the barn honestly.

Soon after, I saw a few soldiers each handed out two sets of fighting cards, a few small cards and a game of Go and chess to the barracks, saying that it was the New Year, and the commander specially gave some chess cards for everyone to entertain. Most of these people who were arrested as soldiers were people who farmed the land, and they had seen very little of the world, and they had played any poker, Go, chess, etc., only a few older people brought small cards and played together, and more were onlookers.

Then, when one of the men who lived in the back room had just gotten up after taking a nap, and when he saw a chess game, he took it around and asked who could play, when a young man said, "I can go, but I can't do it!" ”

"What water is not level! Let's just have fun, anyway, sitting here is also sitting, so let's pass the time! The two immediately set up a chess game, which immediately attracted many people to come and watch the excitement, and chess was indeed a rarity for them.

A little inside, a few people drew a few bars on the ground with stones, and continued to bet on cigarettes. The gambler was the young man who scolded and pinched as soon as he entered the barracks, and the gambling game was set up, and the entire barracks was shrouded in misty smoke.

When Shi Zhu saw the flutter card, he took a deck. Peng Xiaosi from the village also lives in this barracks, and when he saw Shi Zhu taking a pounce card, he said: "Brother Shi, will you play this pounce card?" ”

"You don't have to play poker, it's not bad to see!" Shi Zhu said with a smile.

On the outer shell of the flutter card is a modern girl, sitting on a small boat with a parasol, graceful and scantily dressed, only a bra that is about to fall off and a pair of translucent shorts, which makes Peng Xiaosi's eyes straight. After opening it, the two sat on the bed and looked at it, the back of each card is the head of Chairman Jiang, and the front is printed with the beautiful scenery of famous mountains and rivers all over the country, so that the two of them are addicted to it, and they are happier than playing cards.

Everyone in the barracks seemed to be entertaining, but one man had been sleeping in bed since lunch, and did not get up until evening.

At dinnertime, as the alcoholic chief surnamed Li said, the room made braised pork and chicken legs, and each person also had a big meat lump, which was considered a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. This can make everyone happy, and the average family can't eat it at all. It's just that there are rules above that you are not allowed to drink, so that those who are hungry always feel a little empty.

But in any case, it finally has a little bit of a New Year's flavor.

Today is the Chinese New Year's Eve, and these arrested people have not yet officially put on military uniforms, so they make an exception and wait until after midnight to turn off the lights and go to bed, and the people in the various barracks are entertaining again.

Shi Zhu noticed that the person who had slept all afternoon fell asleep again.

About two hours later, when Shi Zhu and Peng Xiaosi were having fun watching the cards and chatting about things in the village, two people suddenly came over to him and said, "Brother, my eldest brother asked you to come over!" "One of these two people is called Fu Daniu and the other is Xu Shihuan.

"Your eldest brother, who?" Shi Zhu squinted at the two men. The two turned their heads slightly and motioned to the stone pillar: "Ah, that's our eldest brother!" Shi Zhu looked in the direction of the two people's eyes, it turned out that their eldest brother was the one who took the lead in playing betting, he didn't want to pay attention to these people, so he said, "What's the matter with me?" Let him come by himself! ”

"Hey, I said you guy, don't toast and don't eat and drink! To tell you the truth, my eldest brother has taken a fancy to your padded jacket and wants you to take it off and wear it for him for a few days! After Fu Daniu finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to pull the stone pillar away.

How can such a person be bullied by such a person, before Fu Da Niu's hand approached, he took the first step, instantly pinned Fu Da Niu's hand to his back, pressed it on the bunk, and screamed in pain. Seeing this, Xu Shihuan raised his fist and rushed up to help Fu Daniu relieve the siege, but the stone pillar raised his right foot and kicked him directly to the edge of the bed opposite. When Xu Shihuan got up again and wanted to continue to punch Shi Zhu, Shi Zhu pinned his hand behind him, and then pushed his two hands to the middle, and Fu and Xu collided together, and Shi Zhu let go of his hand.

When the "eldest brother" who was gambling saw that his brother had been beaten, he threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and rushed over viciously with a few people. Subsequently, the people around who were watching the excitement also slowly gathered around, happily waiting to watch a good show.

Peng Xiaosi saw a wave of people surrounding him, and also stepped forward to help Shizhu, but Shizhu stopped him, and said with a smile: "Brother, I understand your kindness, just these few people, I don't care about it yet, just sit over there and watch the excitement!" ”

The two sides put on a posture, and a big war seemed to be on the verge of breaking out.

At this moment, the man who had been sleeping with his head covered suddenly sat up, presumably awakened by the sound of a fight. As soon as he opened his eyes, the man exclaimed, "Who? Why is it so noisy! As soon as the words fell, everyone's eyes turned to him.

When the man looked closely, he knew what was happening, so he walked between the pillar and the ronin, and said, "What is this for?" Are you all full? We're here to be soldiers, everyone is a grasshopper tied to a rope, and when we go to the battlefield, we don't know who can help whom, and now we will start fighting in the nest? Let's go our own way! ”

Hearing this, the people around me complained a little, and finally saw a lively, and they actually came out halfway to bite the gold to stir up the situation! However, they were convinced that a few words from this man alone could not change the situation at all. But to everyone's surprise, the "big brother" looked at Cheng Yanjin, who came out halfway, and actually waved his hands and happily agreed: "Okay!" Today, I'll give you this face! With that, he beckoned the brothers to continue to play betting.

There was no excitement to see, and everyone immediately lost their own entertainment.

At this time, Shi Zhu said to the "Cheng Biting Jin" next to him: "Thank you for your help!" My name is Shi Zhu, he is Peng Xiaosi, and the two of them are from Guwei Village, so I haven't asked this brother what to call him? ”

"My name is Wei Wusi and I live on Getting Off Street." Wei Wusi wrapped his clothes, "Brother Shi, you're polite, I just said a few words!" ”

Shi Zhu knew that there were not many people surnamed Wei who got off the bus, so he asked: "Brother Tai, your surname is Wei, who is the deputy health bureau of the Banpu Education Bureau?" ”

"That's not a young man! Why, Brother Shi, do you know him? ”

"I've been in Banpo for a few years, and I know that the deputy of the health bureau is the one who got off the bus, but I've only met a few times and haven't dealt with him, so I guess he may not recognize me." Shi Zhu smiled, and then asked, "Who were those just now?" Presumably Brother Tai knows them! ”

"Oh, those young people just now turned out to be barefoot gangs, from the village of getting on the bus, and the one in the lead is called Bian Guanxing, all of them are idle gangsters, who often come to the street to get off. I've met with them a few times, but I don't know them well. The reason why he sold me face just now was because I had saved his father's life during the Anti-Japanese War! ”

"I see!" Shi Zhu paused for a moment, "However, Brother Weitai, there is something I don't know whether to ask or not?" ”

"Just ask!" That Wei Wusi is also refreshing.

"Look, your master is the deputy director of the Banpu Education Bureau, and I know a lot of officials, why, you were still arrested to be a soldier? If you don't have some connections, won't you be able to go back, why risk becoming a soldier? ”

Mentioning this, Wei Wusi sighed and said: "Brother, this matter, I mentioned it, and I will be angry when I mention it!" Well, the young master is dedicated to serving the Kuomintang. I have participated in the national army before, I have fought devils, I want to stay at home after the little devil surrendered, this time I came here, or thanks to the little master, he specially asked someone to bring me, what to say that I want to contribute to the party and the state...... Alas! ”

Between the words, it was twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, it was the time to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, and the sound of firecrackers sounded one after another in Haizhou City.

The stone pillar lay on the bunk and tossed over and over and couldn't sleep, not only because the sound of firecrackers disturbed him, but also because he "thinks of his relatives every festival" - he has grown so big, he still hasn't been at home for the New Year for the first time, and he is a family member when he opens and closes his eyes, and he doesn't know what happened to them at the moment. It wasn't until dawn that the stone pillar squinted in a daze, and just dreamed that the family was getting together, and was awakened by the sound of firecrackers in the early morning.

The morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year is particularly lively, even if you are still sleepy, even if you don't have to send anyone to greet the New Year, everyone still gets up early and goes to the yard for a stroll - today is unusual, everyone can move freely in the yard. But the huge guest house did not see a pair of Spring Festival couplets, and even the word "Fu" was not pasted, and there was a lot less New Year's atmosphere.

It's rare to be able to move in the yard today, and I encountered good weather, Shizhu, Peng Xiaosiben and Qu Dahu, Yang Jin, Dai Changhe, Tan Sanmin, Liu Fu, Jiang Litong, Xia Dongzhi and several people from the same village gathered together to chirp and bask in the sun.

After a while, Wei Wusi happened to walk by, and Shi Zhu beckoned, "Brother Wei, why didn't you sleep today?" Come on, just right, a pile of chirp! ”

"Brother Shi, I'm smiling at you! I slept all day yesterday, and I still had a problem when I was fighting devils. One year, when I was fighting with a little devil, I was bitten by a bullet in the arm, and I passed out in pain, but fortunately it rained heavily and woke me up, but I also had a high fever. After that, as soon as it rained on a cloudy day, I was tired and sleepy! Wei Wusi said as he pulled down the collar of his shirt to show everyone the gunshot wound on his shoulder. After buttoning the buttons, Wei Wusi asked Shi Zhu, "Brother Shi, are they from the same village as you?" There were a lot of people here this time! ”

"Hey, don't mention it! Who wants to be a soldier of this bird Kuomintang, he wasn't caught by those dogs in the middle of the night! We hope to get out of here now! ”

Wei Wusi also felt the same way, and sighed: "Which one said no!" If you go to fight the little devils, I won't say a word, but now that the national army is provoking a civil war and wants to fight its own people, who wants to come! ”

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, but they were helpless, they knew that they would go to the barracks tomorrow, and life and death would be unpredictable from then on.

Before dawn the next day, hundreds of people were woken up and gathered in the courtyard, where they would march to the Binhai Administration of Shandong Province, and the barracks were in Dunshang Town, Ganyu County, under the jurisdiction of the Administration.

The commander surnamed Li got up quite early today, and said to everyone with a straight face: "Today you are going to Shandong, and when you arrive at the army, I hope you can all add glory to the party and the state." This time, Company Commander Feng is responsible for taking you over, and you have to listen to him on the way! ”

Then, Company Commander Feng walked up to everyone, he clenched the submachine gun hanging on his chest with both hands, and spoke sonorously and forcefully, not dragging mud and water, "Brothers, the military camp is more than forty miles away from here, you must arrive before the afternoon, anyone who violates the order will be severely punished, and those who escape will be shot on the spot!" Now you're ready to go, and you'll be on your way in twenty minutes! ”

At this time, a bold person shouted: "Chief Feng, where are we going to the barracks in Shandong?" ”

"Just follow me, and you'll know when you arrive. Disband! As soon as the words fell, hundreds of people scattered in a hurry and packed up.

Before leaving, Company Commander Feng ordered the team to march in four columns, and in order to prevent anyone from escaping, the two rows of people on the side were to be caught on a long rope, but anyone who went outside the rope was to be treated as deserters - rather than tying them up with ropes or letting them walk with their trousers, this was already the most benevolent and duty-bound.

Company Commander Feng and two guards rode tall horses to open the way in front, escorted by twelve soldiers on each side of the team, and at the end there were two soldiers behind the palace, all of whom were armed with submachine guns, and looked at hundreds of strong men to death.

This is in stark contrast to the scene when the common people joined the ranks of the Communist Party, where the original farewell was turned into a heavily armed escort by the Nationalist army - but it is not surprising that in many places, many of the strong men captured by the Nationalist army fled as they went to the barracks and even on the march.

The team stopped and stopped, everyone was tired enough, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, they finally arrived at the Dunshang barracks, and the team immediately became noisy again. At this time, I don't know who said: "Isn't this Zhuting County, Shandong?" It's next to us Haizhou! ”

Although the voice was not loud, it was still heard by Company Commander Feng in front, and he immediately jumped off the horse and said to everyone: "Brothers, this is Ganyu County, Shandong, and someone just said that it is 'Zhuting County' in Shandong, which is the name of the communist bandits. ”

The hundreds of strong men captured from Guanyun in Haizhou were organized into a reinforced battalion, and the battalion commander's surname was Li, and the training was based on platoons. Coincidentally, Shi Zhu, Wei Wusi and Bian Guanxing were in the same three shifts.

As soon as he changed into a military uniform, Battalion Commander Li stipulated that all belongings of all persons except daily necessities and personal belongings should be confiscated. The thick cotton jacket worn by the stone pillar naturally could not escape the fate of being confiscated, but fortunately, the jade pendant hanging around his neck could be kept.

"If you don't give me clothes, I'll take it away now! Deserve! Bian Guanxing said to Shizhu with some schadenfreude, the corners of his mouth full of smiles. Shi Zhu disdains to pay attention to such people, what he cares about and hopes most now is how to get out of here alive.

Before the training began, Battalion Commander Li gave a lecture to the recruit battalion, which was nothing more than asking the soldiers to train hard, obey the command, and if not, deal with them by military law. In the end, Battalion Commander Li said: "Everyone listens to the order, and there are people who have gone to school and are literate to stand here." Someone who has been a soldier, who can shoot, or who has two shots, stands on this side. Civil and military capital, stand on this side. ”

As soon as Camp Commander Li's words fell, some people stood at the place of his finger one after another.

Shi Zhu also wanted to step forward, but as soon as he raised his foot, he was quietly stopped by Wei Wusi next to him, and whispered to him: "Brother Shi, if you want to go home, don't step forward!" Shi Zhu didn't know why Wei Wusi wanted to stop him, but he knew that Wei Wusi had worked in the national army before and had beaten devils, but he didn't come forward at the moment, there must be a reason, so he took back the foot he raised.

When it was time to rest, Shi Zhu asked Wei Wusi why he stopped him.

"Brother Shi, do you know that these learned people may stay in the battalion headquarters as civilians in the future; Those who have some skills will be assigned to the platoon directly under the battalion headquarters. They all have to work under the nose of the chief, and it is difficult to have a chance to leave. If we want to escape, the best way is to go to the front line to fight, put a few guns indiscriminately, and surrender directly when the communist army comes. The communist army treats prisoners preferentially, and will also send us travel money home! ”

Shi Zhu heard this, but there was some truth.

"Also," Wei Wusi lowered his voice this time: "In the ranks of the national army, we have to pretend to be stupid and stunned, and we should not be the first bird, the more ordinary the better." Unless, you want to follow the national army with all your heart, or, when you become an official, you can take all your subordinates to join the People's Liberation Army......"

Shi Zhu had learned to shoot a long time ago, and Wei Wusi had been a soldier before, and both of them were very good at marksmanship, but they didn't want the commander to know, so they deliberately used themselves as recruits to practice guns.

In the barracks in Ganyu, they all thought that they would train here for three or five months before they would be allowed to go to the city or go to the front line, but only a dozen days later, they received an order: The new barracks would go north to Qingdao with the 150th Brigade of the 44th Division, and set off immediately.

After listening to Battalion Commander Li's order, Shi Zhu was a little puzzled, and said to Wei Wusi: "It's only been more than ten days of training, and you're going to let us go to the front line?" ”

Without waiting for Wei Wusi to speak, Bian Guanxing preemptively said: "It's not the same everywhere!" The sooner you finish your training, the sooner you don't have to suffer from this bird! Anyway, the practice is in vain, and when we go to the front line, we just shoot a few shots blindly, and it is important to save our lives, maybe we can go home early! ”

"Hey, you kid can still have this enlightenment? Not bad! Wei Wusi was a little surprised when he heard Bian Guanxing say such a thing. He said to Shi Zhu again: "Brother Shi, I still have some doubts, let us go to Qingdao at this time, I'm afraid it's not so simple......

"How so?"

"The 44th Division is subordinate to the Xuzhou 'Suppression General' and is stationed in the Ninth Appeasement Zone, and it has only been established for more than a month. It stands to reason that we should go north to Linyi, but now, let us go to Qingdao, I guess let us take a warship to the northeast from there, and it is possible to fly us over. At this time, the national army was very tight in the northeast and needed troops. ”

Hearing what Wei Wusi said, Bian Guanxing took the lead and said: "Linyi, Qingdao, Northeast, it's the same wherever you go!" It's just that the name of the '44th Division' is unlucky, dead, dead, dead corpses ......"

"Hahahaha......" Hearing this, everyone laughed unconsciously, and they haven't laughed so happily since they were caught.

Everything was just as Wei Wusi estimated, and the new battalion was ordered to move north, indeed intending to replenish these recruits to the northeast battlefield. The Nationalist army planned to send these recruits to Qingdao first, and then take American warships to Yingkou via the Bohai Sea.

But at this moment, the form of the battlefield has changed dramatically, and plans often do not change quickly.