Facing Lao Jiang's eager questioning, Chen Bui pondered for a while, and then said, "The price!" The price we will have to pay for this war! "He said this very slowly, and it is impossible to exaggerate to describe it word by word." Don't look at the fact that Anan has not many troops at his disposal, but if we want to win, we will definitely have to pay a lot of price. I'm wondering, if Yumin excludes the elite of the two central armies, is he determined to meet the enemy to the death! ”

"What you mean is that Yumin is not sure of winning this battle, and the reason why he formulated this tactic of retreating and decisive battle is to use the consumption of other departments, and finally fight with all his strength in order to achieve victory."

"I'm afraid that's exactly what happened! And this attrition may be a huge loss, he may not want to see the two elites of the 74th Army and the Fourth Army being involved in this war of attrition, or he may not dare to drag the two central armies of the descendants into it, so he will deliberately omit. After thinking about it for a long time, he decided to take the sword and use the method of speculating on his mind to let Lao Jiang solve this little "mystery" step by step, so that Lao Jiang could "understand" and trust Sun Yumin more.

"Yan Ji, then according to your estimate, this battle ......" Lao Jiang is a superstitious person, he originally wanted to say "whether this battle is more auspicious or less", but he didn't want his "crow's mouth" to be unfortunate in his words, so he had to stop it stiffly.

"Don't worry too much about this, with Yumin here, this battle will at least be a crushing victory even if we can't win it all." Chen Bui paused for a moment, and then said: "What I'm worried about is that Yumin will be afraid that you will blame him for filling so many troops in northern Xiangbei, so he will fight the devil to the death and put the entire 12th Army under Changsha City." ”

"Will he do that?"

"From what I know about him, nine times out of ten, the battle of Lanfeng is the best example."

"Yes, his name as the god of war was launched on the battlefield of Lanfeng, and the Tufeiyuan Division, together with the Tufeiyuan people, almost disappeared on the Chinese battlefield after this battle." Lao Jiang sighed, nodded and said, "If it is as you estimated, then how to solve this problem?" ”

The reason why Lao Jiang said this is because compared to Sun Yumin and the Twelfth Army, he cares more about the victory of the war, followed by this person and the troops he is in charge of, although the Ninth War Zone is now concentrated in the thirty-seven divisions of the National Army, but even if this battle is exhausted, as long as the living force of the Devil's Eleventh Army can be eliminated, for him, who has two hundred and five national army divisions, it is actually not a painful thing.

Chen Bui has been by Lao Jiang's side for more than ten years, how can he not know his personality, how can he not know his thoughts. But even if he knew him so well, Chen Bui was still sure that he would have a way out from Lao Jiang.

"President, it's not difficult to solve this problem, as long as you send a telegram to Yumin and appease him a little, I believe that the things we are worried about will not happen."

Chen Bui knows Lao Jiang, and Lao Jiang doesn't know Chen Bui, as soon as these words came out, he understood that it was not that this battle could not be won, but that this staff member who had followed him for many years was asking for a "talisman" for his son-in-law.

The reason why Lao Jiang trusts Sun Yumin so much, most of the reason is that Chen Bui is a person, he is based on his absolute trust in Chen Bui, so he will favor Sun Yumin, otherwise even if you can fight again, you are neither a descendant of Huangpu nor a fellow villager in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, how can you let him appreciate and reuse.

"Okay, according to what you said, send a private message to Sun Yumin in my name to encourage him to fight this battle."

"Yes, President!"

Lao Jiang's happy promise made Chen Bui very happy, and a rare smile appeared on his rigid face, asking for a "talisman" like Lao Jiang's handwritten message for Sun Yumin was something he had been planning and looking forward to these days, and now he got his wish, how unhappy was he not. In fact, he also knew that Lao Jiang would agree so easily and happily, on the one hand, it had a lot to do with Sun Yumin, who was really a general, but more importantly, it was the gift that Lao Jiang Nian had given him in his "master-servant relationship" for many years.

It was precisely because of this that when he was about to walk out of Lao Jiang's office, Chen Bui stopped, and after hesitating for a moment, he finally turned around and said to Lao Jiang: "Thank you!" After a deep 90-degree bow, he strode out.

…………

The winter of 1941 was earlier than usual. Although Hunan is located south of the Yangtze River, it has already felt the cold, and the cold north wind is constantly raging, just like a small knife, cutting on a person's face, which is both harmful and painful.

On the temporary playground of the first regiment of the new 34th Division, more than 2,000 officers and men stood densely, and although they were all wearing cotton uniforms, their faces were still red from the biting cold wind, especially the officers and soldiers who stood outside in two circles.

However, despite the unusually cold weather, the soldiers on the playground stood upright one by one, and although there were so many people, they could no longer hear anything other than the howling of the north wind.

A small platform was temporarily erected in the direction facing the soldiers, and a banner that was originally pulled by two thick logs was blown off the rope and was flying in the wind, and it was vaguely visible that the four big black characters on the white background "Oath Conference" were pasted on the banner.

Today is 13 December, and three or four days have passed since the Nationalist Government declared war on Japan.

The reason why Sun Yumin chose to hold this oath-taking meeting today is because this day in later generations is the national memorial day, and he obviously wants to use the defense of Nanjing and the battle of Guanghuamen to awaken and stimulate the fighting spirit of the officers and men of the 12th Army, but in fact he wants to pay tribute to those brothers and soldiers who sacrificed by his side.

There was an old table on the small platform, on which were placed a wine jar and three wine bowls, and four soldiers with submachine guns stood in the four corners of the small platform, facing the more than 2,000 soldiers under the stage.

At the front of the queue, more than a dozen red flags were full of blue sky and white sky, and like banners, they were blown by the wind, and the shocking red was the only bright color in this winter.

The sky is gloomy and gloomy, looking up is a foggy patch, not even a single dark cloud can be seen, the air is moist with a wet match, as if you can squeeze out the water at will, if the temperature is a little lower, the humidity in the air will probably turn into white and flawless snow flying, or turn into winter cold rain and pour it coldly.

The voice of a person came from the direction of the barracks of the garrison, although it was not very noisy, but it still clearly reached the playground, to the ears of the soldiers standing in the cold wind, and the soldiers who were already standing straight stood even more upright. From these soldiers, one can feel that they have a kind of pride from the heart.

Yes, they all have a kind of pride that is rarely found in other troops, because their commander told them that the new 34th Division was a unit formed by the army commander himself, and it came out of Huoshan with the army commander, and it was the most important descendant of the army commander, and it was completely incomparable with the other divisions. As the main force of the new 34 th Division, the 1st Regiment is even more so, whether it is fighting or training, it must be far superior to other units, and everyone in the 1st Regiment has the responsibility and obligation to strive for this goal, to give the face of the new 34 th Division commander, and to bring glory to the army commander.

It is precisely because of this belief that the soldiers of the regiment will still stand like tall green pines in this cold wind.

Dozens or hundreds of officers marched to the playground in a three-way column and stopped in the middle of a regiment of soldiers and a platform. Although their military posture and procession were not as standard and neat as those of a regiment of soldiers, the golden triangular stars shining on their officer uniforms and collar badges set off their spirits.

These officers were not from the same regiment, they were from the other two regiments of the new 34th Division, representatives from several other divisions of the 12th Army.

Although the officers and men at the grassroots level did not know what the purpose of the meeting was, they all understood that after this meeting, what awaited them would be a bloody and bloody war of life and death.

Sun Yumin was surrounded by Deng Dongping, Zhang Xiaohu and a dozen people, walked towards the playground, and slowly climbed onto this temporary platform.

Stand in front of the stage. Looking at the dumb officers and soldiers below, Sun Yumin did not have the excitement before the war, he only had guilt and sadness in his heart.

He took off the pair of white and flawless gloves on his hand, picked up the wine bowl that had already been poured, held it high, and shouted to the soldiers below: "Four years ago today, the ferocious devils launched an attack on the city of Nanjing, and my division commander Li and I survived from that hellish battlefield. Although we survived, the more than 10,000 brothers who followed us to resist the Japanese army on the Guanghuamen position were buried in that blood-soaked land. Today, at our pledge meeting, we will first give them this first bowl of wine. ”

When he had finished speaking, he bent down and spilled the full bowl of wine on the table.

Li Tietang is a rough man, but he is a person who attaches great importance to righteousness, among all the people present, except for Zhang Xiaohu, he is the only one who has personally experienced the bloody battle, and he has the deepest feeling for what Sun Yumin just said. So when Sun Yumin got up, he took the empty bowl two steps first, and poured the wine bowl full of wine by the way.

Sun Yumin was not surprised that Li Tie was boldly moving forward, he patted him on the shoulder, and said softly: "Among the old brothers, there are few people left, you and Huzi are my greatest gratification." ”

"...... the military seat" Silly Bear's voice was a little choked, and he was so moved by this short sentence that he almost shed tears.

Sun Yumin lightly punched the stupid bear again, smiled at him, and then picked up the second bowl of wine and shouted: "This second bowl of wine, I want to pay tribute to the people of the whole world, to these relatives who raised us and supported us." The iron hooves of the Japanese invaders have already caused them eternal pain, but for the sake of the country, for the victory of the war, and in order to expel the enemy from our land, they still endured their grief and resolutely sent their relatives into us. Therefore, I want to pay tribute to them in this second bowl of wine, to these simple villagers, and to these kind relatives who are willing to give everything and do everything for us. ”

When Sun Yumin sprinkled this second bowl of wine on the ground, Dai Cunxiang walked out, he only followed Sun Yumin from the twentieth division, but this did not prevent him from winning Sun Yumin's trust, after the Lanfeng war, the garden mouth burst the embankment, and the poplar tree opened a factory to give porridge, he really felt the suffering and sacrifice of the people, he followed Sun Yumin with all his heart, a considerable part of the reason is because of Sun Yumin's love and respect for the people, and even the people as relatives.

The third bowl of wine was lifted by Sun Yumin, and as before, he shouted: "This third bowl of wine is to you, to the brothers of the new 34th Division, to the brothers of the 20th Division, the 81st Division, and the 139th Division, whether it is the brothers who have sacrificed their lives, or the brothers who are still standing here, whether it is the veterans of the 12th Army, or the new soldiers who have joined us, please accept my bowl of thin wine full of gratitude!" It is your sacrifice and dedication that has led to the famous iron-blooded Twelfth Army, without your supporters, without your successive and bloody battles, there would be no many military exploits of the Twelfth Army, and there would be no unworthy nickname of my grandson. ”

The bowl of wine was not spilled, but was drunk by Sun Yumin with both hands, and he held the empty bowl and shouted again: "Brothers, we failed to defeat all the devils in Liuyang a few months ago, and now they are coming back again." The last time I let the devil run, it was because we had been marching for a long time, and we had just arrived, and we were not ready for a big battle. Now, we have plenty of time, and naturally we can't give them the same time as last time. ”

"That's why we have today's oath, and we will bring the big guys together for mobilization. It is inevitable that people will die in battle, especially if the opponent is still a devil who is extremely vicious and armed to the teeth. We can't stop fighting this battle just because we're going to die, because our opponents are strong. ”

"We Chinese will never give in at any time from ancient times to the present! I won't give up at any time! This iron backbone, our 12th Army is the most able to represent, and you are the most representable, so as long as the devil dares to come, we will call him to come and go. Since the July 7 Incident, the devils have run rampant on our Chinese soil, doing evil as they please, and have never put our Chinese soldiers in their eyes, relying on aircraft and artillery, arbitrarily wreaking havoc and insulting our brothers, although we have given them a harsh lesson, but for the sins they have created, it is far from enough. ”

"This time, I want to completely let the devils remember it for a long time, I want to make them tremble when they hear the name of the Twelfth Army, and I want to make them afraid when they see the battle flag of the Twelfth Army! Therefore, the upcoming big battle will definitely be difficult, and the casualties will not be small, but even if I and the division commanders on the stage are all filled, this battle must be fought, and it must be won, and it must be a big victory. ”

In Zhang Xiaohu's memory, Sun Yumin rarely organized such a pledge meeting, and the most recent one should have been in Nanjing, at a dinner party for the brothers of the second battalion.