In just five days, Ma Yongkui expanded his force to 400 men.

The reason why the recruitment of volunteers went so smoothly was because the people of Gansu were so poor, and there was not much difference between joining the army and going out to work.

It's funny to say, the government's recruitment agency came to recruit strong men, and the common people hid one by one, because the whole process from conscription to enlistment was very terrifying. And Ma Yongkui, a bandit, recruited righteousness and bravery, and the people nearby were very enthusiastic, mainly because they trusted Ma Yongkui, at least they could eat enough before entering the barracks.

On the day of departure, Zhou Hexuan looked at the ragged volunteers and said to Ma Yongkui: "It seems that your cavalry battalion commander can't be done." ”

"The company commander always has it." Ma Yongkui pouted helplessly.

400 people are barely enough for the battalion scale, but there are only more than 100 horses, and Ma Yongkui can only be a company commander if he wants to join the cavalry division.

Zhou Hexuan sat in the cab of the truck and shouted to Ma Yongkui: "Let's go, since I recommended you to join the army, why should I give you a battalion-level establishment." ”

"Haha, General Zhou is bold enough!"

Ma Yongkui was overjoyed, turned over and shouted: "Go!" ”

Among the more than 150 bandits, about 20 or so were unwilling to join the army, and they were all dismissed by Ma Yongkui for distributing money and food. Master Pang You also didn't want to be a soldier, so he quietly asked Zhou Hexuan one night to please, and Zhou Hexuan promised to help him find a civil servant position in the provincial capital.

The team of more than 400 people dragged forward, set off in the morning, and arrived in Yongdeng County in the evening.

Hearing that a horse team of more than 100 people was attacking, followed by more than 200 "homeless people", the local security captain (the county magistrate also served as the county magistrate) hurriedly reorganized the army to defend against the bandits, and the only old machine gun in the county was set up.

Zhou Hexuan asked Ma Yongkui's people to stop, drove over by himself, and shouted at the security team: "Who are you in charge here?" ”

Hua Zongfu, the county magistrate, was a little puzzled, the team looked like bandits, but he had never heard of any bandits and trucks. He beckoned to the security guards and said, "Don't shoot yet, let's see what happens." ”

Zhou Hexuan took out his general certificate and shouted from afar: "I'm Zhou Hexuan, who of you are in charge here?" ”

"But Mr. Zhou Mingcheng?" Hua Zongfu finally has some insight.

"It's me." Zhou Hexuan said.

Hua Zongfu hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, shook hands and said, "Hua Zongfu, the contemptible magistrate of Yongdeng County, has long admired Mr. Zhou's name." ”

Zhou Hexuan pointed to the bandit team behind him and said: "When I came back from a business trip to Dunhuang, I passed through the border of this county and met hundreds of righteous people who wanted to join the army to kill the enemy. ”

"I see." Hua Zongfu didn't debunk it on the spot, he had already seen that these people were bandits, how could there be righteous people on horseback with guns?

Zhou Hexuan said: "County Magistrate Hua doesn't have to be embarrassed, we will rest outside the city, and we also bring our own food, I just hope that your county can provide some drinking water." ”

Hua Zongfu's mind was a little confused, and he couldn't figure out what kind of path this was. The righteous people's army is either organized by the county government or the local regiment is in charge, but it must be handled with the assistance of the county government, and the current situation seems to be without him worrying.

Hua Zongfu asked: "Mr. Zhou wants to send these righteous people to the regimental management area?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "I will take them directly to the Lanzhou Military District." ”

"Oh, that's good, that's good." Hua Zongfu finally had a bottom in his heart, and secretly sighed that Zhou Hexuan was a big card.

That night, Hua Zongfu sent someone to bring clear water, and asked Zhou Hexuan to go into the city to rest. After being politely rejected by Zhou Hexuan, the next day he organized the people of the county to come dressed in red and green, beating gongs and drums and saying that he was coming to practice for the strong men.

When Zhou Hexuan left the county with the bandits, he also had a pennant with him that "killed the enemy and served the country loyally". Those eight characters were embroidered crookedly, and they were obviously made overnight.

In this way, Zhou Hexuan and the others scared the towns and villages along the way, and finally came to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province.

"You wait where you are, I'll go to the theater command." Zhou Hexuan told Ma Yongkui.

Lanzhou has just been established as a city this year, and it used to be at the county level, just like Zigong because of the salt city, which belongs to the impact of the Anti-Japanese War. Lanzhou, as a necessary route for Soviet aid, coupled with the development of industry and commerce in the west, finally ushered in the city's near-modernization process in the 40s.

Just like the treatment in Yongdeng County, it was the Lanzhou Security Corps that greeted Zhou Hexuan, and set up guns at the city gate to surround Zhou Hexuan's truck.

Zhou Hexuan showed his official certificate and said: "The central commissioner is on a business trip and will take me to the Eighth Theater Command. ”

"Ah...... Be! General Zhou, please come with me. The little head of the security group hurriedly said.

In order to solve the problem of military logistics and transportation, the road on the west side of Lanzhou was widened to about 8 meters, and the streets in the city were also repaired. Not long ago, there was even a bus, which was converted from an old car and could take more than 30 people.

These buses run only a few miles and often break down, so it's better to walk faster. At that time, the people of Lanzhou made up a slip for this: "Go two or three miles, stop four or five times." Anchored six or seven times, and eighty or ninety people pushed. ”

After entering the city, Zhou Hexuan experienced the "prosperity" of Lanzhou, with merchants coming and going from east to west, horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, mule carts, and camels crowded and mixed, and buses constantly honking their horns in the crowd. From time to time, you can still see a few bomb craters on the side of the road that are not completely filled, all of which were blown up by Japanese planes - in the great northwest during the Anti-Japanese War, the attention of Japanese planes to Lanzhou was second only to Xi'an.

By this time, Lanzhou had completely become a large construction site, and the seven main streets in the city center would be expanded to 15 to 30 meters wide gravel roadsides, and the sidewalks on both sides of the road alone were 3 meters wide. Since there were no road rollers, dozens of people could only pull the big iron poles, and this kind of urban construction continued until the end of the Anti-Japanese War.

In the last five years of the Anti-Japanese War, Lanzhou developed rapidly, and people worked hard to build under the bombardment of the Japanese invaders. In five years, the size of Lanzhou's urban area has expanded nearly 10 times, and the number of residents has doubled. As a result, when Japan surrendered, Lanzhou's urban construction came to a standstill, industry and commerce were in a general depression, and more than 200 new factories went bankrupt one after another.

Zhou Hexuan only drove for a few minutes, and he couldn't help but abandon the car and walk, because the speed of driving was too slow.

The city was full of dust, and even the signboards of the shops were covered with a layer of dust, and Zhou Hexuan could only walk with his hands covering his nose. The theater headquarters was outside the city, and Zhou Hexuan needed to walk through the city, about 40 minutes on foot, and he finally came to his destination, handed his official card to the guards and said, "I'm looking for you Commander Zhu, please report." ”

Not long after, Zhou Hexuan was invited into the lounge of the headquarters, and Zhu Shaoliang, who was dressed in military uniform, came to greet him in person. This gentleman laughed when he entered the door, and said enthusiastically: "Oh, it is the arrival of Ming Gong, there is a loss of welcome, there is a loss of welcome!" ”