Viet Lan, Hanoi, railway station.

Zhang Linghu, commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Special Operations Division, led a group of staff officers and generals to the platform, the doors of the long train carriages were wide open, and the soldiers had already begun to get on the train in an orderly manner.

After completing the task of blocking Vientiane, they immediately received the order of Chiang Haoran to retreat back to China, and the French arranged a large number of transport vehicles to help them retreat, so they were able to reach Hanoi in just a few days.

In front of them is the famous Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, which runs directly from Viet Lan Haiphong to Kunming.

From the beginning of the 19th century, British and French colonists invaded Southeast Asia and Yunnan, China, and competed with each other. Since the invasion, France has been pressing step by step, intending to control Yunnan and turn Yunnan into its colony. In the 11th year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, France concluded the Sino-French Treaty of Vietnam with the Qing government through the Sino-French War, and obtained the "right to protect" Vietnam and the right to trade and build railways in the southwestern provinces of China. In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895 AD), France forced the Qing government to sign the "Sino-French Renewal of Boundary Affairs and Commerce" under the pretext of "Three Kingdoms Intervention and Returning Liao" (did not know Baidu), and obtained the right to extend the construction of the Vietnamese railway into China. Immediately, France sent people to survey the route, draw a blueprint, and formally established the French company of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway.

The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway is one of the earliest railways built in China, and it is also the longest narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 1 meter in China.

The Yunnan-Vietnam railway has a track gauge of 1 meter and a total length of 855 kilometers, of which the Vietnamese section is 394 kilometers long and the Yunnan section is 465 kilometers long, and the construction cost of the whole line is nearly 159 million francs.

During the construction of the railway, the French colonists carried out extremely barbaric enslavement and oppression of Chinese road construction workers. In the course of the construction of the Yunnan section alone, in addition to serving the people of all ethnic groups in Yunnan, a large number of migrant workers were also recruited from Hebei, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Zhejiang, and other provinces, and in the seven years before and after, the total number was no less than 230,000, and nearly 80,000 were tortured to death.

Some people left poems to witness this sad history of blood and tears: "Blood stains the Nanxi River, corpses pave the road of Yunnan, thousands of mountains are full of white bones, and thousands of ravines are full of blood and tears", which can be seen to be mottled.

However, the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, built by the Chinese and civilians, became a plundering tool of the French colonizers, bringing disaster to the people of Yunnan. With this railway, the French colonists controlled the transportation of Yunnan, controlled the fate of tin merchants, manipulated Yunnan's finance, dominated Yunnan's postal and telecommunications, and became a big sucking vessel inserted by the French colonists in Yunnan, sucking the blood of the people of Yunnan.

Of course, in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, before the island army entered Southeast Asia, this railway has always been the main transportation artery in southern China, and most of the Soviet Union's aid materials to China entered China from here, so its existence still has extraordinary value in China's Anti-Japanese War.

Especially now, with the opening of the Great Northwest Transportation Line, a large number of materials will pour into China, and if China can fully control this railway, it can greatly relieve the pressure on the Yunnan-Burma Railway and Yunnan-Burma kilometers, and lift the most difficult bottleneck in transportation, which is also the fundamental reason why Jiang Haoran wants to ensure the safety of Hanoi.

To get back to the point, just as Zhang Linghu and his entourage were about to get on the train, a telegraph soldier hurriedly arrived and reported to him that Commander Tang of the Far Fifth Group Army had sent an urgent telegram.

"Commander Tang is in a hurry?" Zhang Linghu immediately frowned, took the telegram from the telecommunications soldier's hand, and immediately changed his face after hurriedly browsing it.

"What's going on?" Tang Shihao, the chief of staff on the side, shouted.

Zhang Linghu, who looked serious, silently handed the telegram in his hand to Tang Shihao, Tang Shihao only glanced at it twice, and immediately became nervous, and shouted miserably: "Brigade, we can't interfere in this matter, the order of the head seat is to return to the base immediately, the temper of the head seat you know, this matter is too ......."

"Map!" Zhang Linghu didn't pay attention to Tang Shihao at all, and howled at the soldiers beside him.

Looking at Zhang Linghu, who was focused on the map, Tang Shihao kept swallowing his saliva, looking nervous and a little at a loss.

Tang Enbo's telegram detailed their current situation and the next plan of action, although it did not explicitly say that Zhang Linghu was to be rescued, but a fool could see that this was what he meant.

And what Tang Shihao was worried about was that Zhang Linghu would not hesitate to disobey the military order to go to the rescue, because he knew that the relationship between Zhang Linghu and Tang Enbo was weak.

As early as the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Linghu was only a regiment commander under Tang Enbo, because he suspected his wife of misconduct, Zhang Linghu shot him to death.

It is said that this matter is not a big deal in troubled times, but it coincides with the critical moment when the chairman and his wife advocate a new life movement and transform social morality and national spirit.

During this period, Tang Enbo did not hesitate to use all funds and resources to rescue him, which led to today's Zhang Linghu.

"Guard company, immediately stop all the cars that the French sent us over." Zhang Linghu looked at the map and immediately howled.

"Brigade, calm down first, don't be impulsive, the general seat must have a reason for doing this!" This posture seems to be about to prepare to disobey the military order, Tang Shihao's face turned white with fright, Jiang Haoran's military order is not so easy to disobey, it will be shot directly if it is light, and Zhang Linghu's initiative is enough to shoot a few times.

"I'll calm down, I'm a fart, the First Army has already driven to Hanoi, and the three divisions in front have also retreated to Chongzuo, if Commander Tang hadn't been in a desperate situation, he would never have sent me this message, you tell me, how can I calm down?" Zhang Linghu roared, very emotional.

Tang Shihao was speechless immediately, he knew Zhang Linghu's character, and at this time, I was afraid that nothing could change his decision, and after hesitating for a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, then let's go together, if you want to eat the gun of the main seat, let's eat together!" ”

"Good brother!" Zhang Linghu patted Tang Shihao's shoulder, his expression was more apologetic and grateful, but he immediately changed his words and said: "Don't go, leave me a company, and go back with the troops, this is my personal matter, I can't affect you." ”

Tang Shihao's face changed drastically, and he said: "What are you talking about, you can be shot for your brother, I can't do it?" If you want to go, you will go together, and if you want to die, you will die together! ”