Chapter 4: The Flag is Fluttering (6 Down)

In the next few days, under the guidance of Shi Liangcai, Zhang Songling worked hard to practice the three magic weapons that the spy group relied on to establish his life. It's a pity that his shooting talent is really limited, although he has the Master to guide the way, he can only do it within a hundred paces without missing the target, according to Shi Liangcai's requirements of "raise your hand and shoot, where to shoot". It's a big blade, because his physical fitness is much better than his peers, and he dances vigorously. After only a few afternoons of practice, it already looks like it, and at first glance, it can blind a lot of laymen.

At night, the role of master and apprentice of the two fell again. It was his turn to be a teacher and instruct Shi Liangcai to read and settle accounts. Shi Liangcai is an orphan and has never gone to school for a day. Completely on his own, he has now completed the first year of junior high school. I'm spending a lot of effort on the Chinese and arithmetic textbooks in the second year of junior high school. According to his own words, the purpose of studying is to go out and be independent in the future. Because the old battalion commander was good at reading, he became one of the thirteen Taibao under the command of Feng Yuxiang and became one of the thirteen Taibao under the latter. Since he was raised by the 26th Route Army, he naturally took the old battalion commander as a model.

The old battalion commander refers to Sun Lianzhong, the commander of the 26th Route Army. Through intensive tutoring in recent days, Zhang Songling has learned the specific origin of this nickname. However, he had an attitude of listening to Shi Liangcai's explanation. Because several times he woke up in the middle of the night and saw Shi Liangcai still sitting under the lamp and reading hard. It's just that it's no longer the junior high school textbook he once asked him for, but another big book with thick kraft paper wrapped in it.

Whenever this happens, Shi Liangcai always smiles apologetically at him, and then turns off the lights and goes to sleep. Never explain what you're reading! Zhang Songling never asked much, because in their home, there was also the same big thick book. In addition to the father and eldest brother who are qualified to look through it, the rest of the idle people, including the stepmother and the big guys in the shop, can't find where the book is hidden. By pushing himself and others, he can suppress the curiosity in his heart, so that he does not ask at the time and forgets later. After all, he himself had only been in the camp for a few days, and it was normal for him to not be able to access some of the core secrets of the secret service. It's really dangerous to be able to get the secret service group out of the inside out in no time.

When you wake up in the morning, it's a stressful and busy day. According to Shi Liangcai's tailor-made training plan for him, Zhang Songling first had to run circles around the barracks with the other soldiers in the guard squad. When I ran through my body and sweated like pulp, I came back to fetch water and wash my face, and then went to the room with my lunch box to get breakfast. After breakfast, the next step is to tidy up the housekeeping and clean the yard. When breakfast was almost digested in my stomach, I went to the playground to practice my knife skills. After practicing knife skills, I went to the shooting range to practice shooting. First, the spear was aimed at a long distance and fired slowly, and then the box gun fired six rounds of two-handed fire at close range. Then there is bayonet fighting, broadsword bayonet sparring. After the whole set of projects is practiced in turn, it is time for lunch. The two went back to their house with their companions, fetched water again, washed their hands and faces, and then brought back their lunch and the lunch of their boss Lao Gou to enjoy together.

Most of the time, Officer Lao Gou's lunch was divided between Shi Liangcai and Zhang Songling. As the battalion commander of the first battalion of the special service regiment, this person is busy every day. There is little leisure to rest in your room during the day, and even if you occasionally take a nap to catch up on it, it is limited to an hour. When it comes to the time limit, you either wake up by yourself or be woken up by Shi Liangcai. Then get dressed and go out to check the progress of the training of the whole battalion of soldiers or go to the division headquarters for a meeting.

For these two jobs, he didn't need to bring guards. Therefore, Shi Liangcai took the initiative to stay in the room and seized every opportunity to ask Zhang Songling about the problems encountered in teaching. His talent in reading is very close to Zhang Songling's talent in shooting. After reaching a certain critical point, no matter how hard you try, no matter how clever the Master is, there is little progress.

Every time Zhang Songling explained an uncomplicated algebraic operation to Shi Liangcai's final understanding, both of them were exhausted. At this time, it is basically time to hold the lamp. There is a good chance that the officer Lao Gou will rush back from the headquarters of the 27th Division or the military headquarters of the 26th Route Army, drinking tea concocted by Shi Liangcai from the leaves of the jujube tree, while scolding the street in a low voice: "His grandmother's, the bastards of the 29th Army, are all a group of bastards who have been frightened by the Japanese devils. said that he would hold on for three days, but he didn't hold on for even an hour, and he lost his position! ”

After scolding Song Zheyuan's 29th Army, he began to scold Guan Linzheng's 52nd Army again, "What kind of country's dry city, what reincarnation Guan Yu, bullshit." I don't know how to fight at all! If he was asked to defend the Eastern Front, he really pouted and defended it. I don't even know how to move forward, and I will save the enemy, but it's a pity that there are so many cannons and small cannons given by the Germans! ”

Even for the central government, the officer Lao Gou was also angry, "The field artillery and heavy machine guns promised to be given have been said to be fast since last winter, and they are fast, and there is no shadow of them until now." Every time the old battalion commander called to beg, he either said that the central government did not have the money to pay the Germans, or that the steamer had been hit by a typhoon at sea. Bullshit, there are no artillery and machine guns for our 27th Division, but it will never be too late for the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 14th Divisions. When he was desperate with the little devil, his old Jiang's descendants shrank back, and instead urged our 26th Route Army to rush to the front line and fight the Japanese tanks with big blades! (Note 1)

But no matter how angry and angry he was when he scolded the street, every time he finished venting, the officer Lao Gou would never forget to add loudly, "Fuck it, what others do, we basically can't control it." But we can always manage ourselves well! This sentence is not so much a footnote to his own behavior as it is a self-comforting statement. As if he didn't add to it like this, he would go crazy because he was too angry, or he would become a big smoker like Camp Commander Li of the medical battalion.

When Lao Gou scolded the street, Zhang Songling usually listened quietly on the side, neither interjecting nor whispering. Compared with the "good news" broadcast every day on the radio in the barracks, he felt that Lao Gou's scolding words were much more real and vivid, and they were also more helpful for him to understand the movements of the front line. Through Lao Gou's scolding, he concluded that the current battle situation is not very good, at least not as said on the radio, the situation is bright. The 29th Army, which once cut off the heads of countless devils on the Great Wall, has been depressed in morale after suffering the double blow of traitor betrayal and the heroic martyrdom of Deputy Commander Zhao Dengyu. Even if Song Zheyuan personally went down to the front line to supervise the battle and vowed to live and die with the position, he could not recover the decline. At present, Beiping, Tianjin, Jinghe, and Machang have been discarded one after another, and the main force has been "transferred" to the rear of the 52nd Army, and there is still a momentum of continuing to "turn in" to the south.

The 52nd Central Army under the command of Guan Linzheng was also unfamiliar with the battlefield and the enemy situation because it had just arrived, and was in a situation of being completely passively beaten. The Japanese devils, with the help of traitors, sent countless small units to infiltrate the flank and rear of the 52nd Army. Everywhere he went, he either killed people and set fire to create chaos, or gathered into a squadron or above, leading the bandits and traitors who had been collected along the way to attack the warehouses and supply lines of the 52nd Army. As a result, the 52nd Army kept sending manpower from the front to repair holes and put out fires, but it had no power to fight back at all.

The two friendly armies were tossed by the Japanese devils and were too busy to take care of themselves, and the 26th Route Army, which was at the forefront, became the key target of the devils' next attack. From the moment the 29th Army withdrew from Beiping, the Japanese army concentrated all tanks, mountain artillery and field artillery and repeatedly bombarded the Liangxiang position where the 26th Route Army was stationed. The 26th Route Army, on the other hand, was a well-known unit called Hanako, with mountain artillery and field artillery, and even mortars, each battalion was equipped with four. When the German artillery promised by the central government was not in place, the brothers of the 30th and 31st Divisions used grenade beams and flesh and blood to block the Japanese artillery and tank bombardment in turn. And the devils of nearly two infantry brigades remained on the soil of China forever.

The tragic battle situation on the front line made Zhang Songling's heart burn. But every time he proposed that he also wanted to go to the front-line army to fight the devils, the officer Lao Gou always patted him on the shoulder, pouted and said: "What's the hurry, I'm afraid that you won't kill the devils?" Don't forget, we're a spy group, the old battalion commander's caretaker. Good steel must be used on the blade, when, it is our turn to go to the battlefield, either it is time to fight the devil, or our 26th Route Army is ready to fight to the death. You obediently learn to shoot with the stone, and when the time comes, don't embarrass our secret service group! ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Songling agreed and continued to practice the three magic weapons of the secret service group. Rifles, broadswords, box guns. Whether he continued to make progress or not, he himself did not know. But the bullet casings that were picked up and handed over to the Quartermaster Department could be filled in a small half pocket every day. The old money in charge of recruit training, every time he saw Zhang Songling use a bullet like a strong wind, he shook his head in distress. But as long as Shi Liangcai glared at him, he obediently handed over all the magazines on his body.

"His life was picked up by Lao Tzu from the pile of dead people, and if he dared to be stingy with Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu would shoot him!" Regarding the performance of old money, Shi Liangcai explained it this way. But when it comes to which battle, he is quite taboo. Once I was inadvertently asked by Zhang Songling, my face was flushed, and the scar between my eyes became more and more like a living centipede, "Why are you asking so much!" Anyway, Lao Tzu saved his life! In which battle? Lao Tzu has fought so many battles, how can he remember which one! Don't ask, practice your guns honestly. Lao Tzu doesn't believe it, there are so many bullets piled up, and there is not a sharpshooter! ”

Most of the sharpshooters are piled up with bullets, except for a handful of geniuses! The old money who is in charge of recruit training also holds the same view as Shi Liangcai. In order to repay Shi Liangcai for saving his life, within the scope of his authority, he opened the door to Zhang Songling as much as possible, hoping to cultivate another sharpshooter who can use box cannons with both hands. However, this plan was only a few days underway before it had to be suspended. One evening, an urgent order came from the headquarters: the special task force ended its training and started overnight. No one is allowed to inquire about the specific whereabouts!

Except for the three magic weapons and the rations and ammunition that could support the two days of fighting, the rest of the things, including a change of clothes and bedding, were left in the camp and no one was allowed to carry them. Before leaving, Shi Liangcai, the leader of the first battalion guard squad, solemnly stacked the hard-won second-grade junior high school textbooks and locked them in the cabinet facing the fire kang. Then he bent down again, dug out a small hardwood box with his hands from a very inconspicuous corner under the cabinet, opened it, looked at it, wrapped it in a package, and tied it to his back.

"This thing, in our camp, only the commander and I know that you are the third person. If I'm unfortunate enough to be hit by a bullet one day, leave me alone and unpack the box first. He looked at Zhang Songling, who was about to speak next to him, and whispered, as if he was saying something that was taken for granted, without any hesitation on his face.

"I....!" Zhang Songling first froze, and then nodded solemnly, "Okay!" ”。

Shi Liangcai laughed very happily, revealing a mouthful of white and neat teeth. Patting Zhang Songling on the shoulder, he led the latter out of the door and joined the team that was about to march.

Outside the window, the brothers had already begun to set off, their flags held high in the air, hunted by the night wind.

The flag is flying!

North, north, north!

Note 1: The 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 14th Divisions were all descendants of the Kuomintang central government, and they were the first to be equipped with German weapons and hired German advisers for guidance.