Returning from the airport, Bai Fei had a lively time with the brothers he hadn't seen for a long time, and then led the officers above the battalion level to a restaurant on the street for a meal.

Everyone was talking at the dinner table and seemed very happy. As we chatted, the topic naturally returned to the current war between the Japanese on the same day. Previously, although the regiment directly under the military police had blocked tens of thousands of Japanese troops in Qianshan and other places in Anqing for more than a month, it could be described as a brilliant achievement. But even so, it still has little change from the overall situation, because after the direct regiment withdrew from the battle, the Japanese army continued to advance westward along both sides of the Yangtze River, and in the subsequent battle, the breakthrough speed was very rapid, and nearly 150,000 national army troops were repelled in a short time, and even with the loss of the Tianjiazhen fortress, now the forward troops of the Japanese 11th Army have approached the Huangshi area.

When the topic was talked about here, everyone sighed, shook their heads, and there was a lot of pity in their words.

But I heard Wu Dazhong, the commander of the artillery battalion, say: "Tuanzao, what is our plan next, do you want to take your brothers out and do another thing with the devil?" ”

Bai Fei took a sip of the water cup and said, "I was about to talk about this." I have just received a notice that our regiment directly under the gendarmerie is going to Changsha for rest, and this is an order personally issued by the commissioner. ”

Wu Dazhong was stunned for a moment and said, "Why, seeing that the devil is about to fight, why did you send us to rest?" Although we lost some men in the last few battles, we are far from the point where we need to rest..."

Bai Fei sighed and said, "When Chen Cheng told me about this at the airport before, I was very confused at first, but I only understood after he explained. ”

Li Shuyang said: "Is it related to our close contact with the New Fourth Army?" ”

Bai Fei nodded and said: "Not only that, a few days ago in Lu'an, when I was negotiating with the Japanese, I rescued many Communist Party members who were arrested behind enemy lines, and I think this is the fundamental reason for angering the commissioner." ”

Wu Dazhong slapped the table and said, "It's wrong to save people?" Chiang Kai-shek's eyes are too small, so this will leave us idle, it is simply unreasonable..."

Xu Changsheng, who was sitting next to him, covered his mouth and made a silent gesture, then quickly walked out of the box, observed around, and found that there was no abnormal situation, so he turned back and said: "Wu Cannon, can you control this mouth, you must know that the wall has ears, what if this word spreads, consider the consequences!" ”

Although Wu Dazhong was not convinced, he was not stunned, and his voice was really lowered a lot when he spoke again. He said: "I am not wrong, whether it is the Communist Party or the Kuomintang, as long as it is dedicated to resisting Japan, it is all good." Besides, isn't it now that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are cooperating with the outside world, and the group has rescued a few people instead of rescuing the problem. ”

Bai Fei didn't expect Wu Dazhong to have such an awareness, and he was slightly moved in his heart, but he still said: "Okay, what Camp Chief Xu said makes sense, it's better to say less like this in the future." Since the order has been issued from above, let's follow it. ”

In order to avoid a dull atmosphere, Bai Fei changed the topic and asked, "By the way, do you know what happened to the war on the other side of Lu'an Dabie Mountain?" ”

Li Shuyang said: "Since the day after you left Lu'an, the Japanese army has invaded Lu'an on a large scale, and Song Xilian's 71st Army has resisted for half a day and then retreated to the mountains. After the Japanese army captured Lu'an, it occupied Huoshan again, and then the Japanese Second Army was divided into two routes, the 13th and 16th divisions on the left road, one in front and one behind, ready to cross the northern foot of Dabie Mountain and approach Wuhan, but when it just approached the vicinity of Yejiaji, it encountered the stubborn resistance of the defenders of Fujin Mountain. ”

Bai Fei asked, "Who is guarding Fujin Mountain?" ”

Wang Weiguo said: "It seems to be Song Xilian's 71st Army, and there seems to be a 114th Division of the 51st Division of the former Northeast Army that is also commanded by him..."

"What was the result?"

Li Shuyang said: "Song Xilian's 36th Division is still very good, the Japanese 13th Division attacked several times and did not get any bargain, but later the reinforcements of the Japanese 16th Division also arrived, Song Xilian led the army to fight with the Japanese army near Fujin Mountain for 9 days and nights, it is said that the 36th Division suffered heavy losses, only more than 800 people remained, and in desperation, the troops had to withdraw from their positions and move to the area of Shawo and Xiaojieling. ”

At this time, Li Hu spread out a map, Bai Fei looked at the map carefully, and said: "Xiaojieling is already the last line of defense at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain, if it is broken through, the Japanese army will cross Dabie Mountain and advance unimpeded all the way." ”

Li Shuyang said: "That's right. I heard that Li Zongren had personally ordered Sun Lianzhong, one of the thirteen Taibao of Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, to take charge of the command. Moreover, the troops under its jurisdiction include Song Xilian's 71st Army, the 2nd Group Army's 30th Army of Tian Zhennan, Feng Anbang's 42nd Army, etc., with a total strength of 7 divisions and 1 brigade, totaling more than 100,000 people. Presumably, it is not easy for the little devil to break through the defense line in the short term. ”

Bai Fei nodded and asked, "What about the devil's right army?" ”

"The right army of the little devil is mainly composed of the 3rd and 10th divisions, they attacked from the north of Dabie Mountain, all the way west along Gushi to Huangchuan and other places, intending to attack Xinyang along this line and take the Pinghan Road. Now the Japanese army has captured the fortified and is engaged in battle with the defenders of Huangchuan, Zhang Zizhong. ”

Bai Fei nodded and said: "Zhang Zizhong is a generation of famous generals, and it is not good to come to the Japanese army, since this is the case, I won't worry about this mess." I will go here today, and after I go back, I will tell my brothers to have a good rest, and the brothers who were killed and injured in the first few battles must also be counted as soon as possible. ”

In the following days, Bai Fei was dealing with the issue of the bereavement of the fallen soldiers, while anxiously waiting for the "customer" to come to the door. What customers do you ask? Of course, it's someone who is interested in buying penicillin. At the airport that day, Chen Cheng told him that many people would come to buy penicillin from him, and Bai Fei took it seriously, but the truth was not as Chen Cheng expected.

Bai Fei waited in Wuhan for several days, and when he had finished all the things that needed to be handled, he didn't even wait for half of the buyers who came to buy penicillin.

Bai Fei couldn't help but feel a little depressed in his heart, and he was angry, so he directly took a cadre of the military police regiment directly on the train, and went all the way to Changsha through Xianning Yueyang.

Zhang Zhizhong, who served as the military and political chief of Hunan, learned that Bai Fei was coming, and specially sent his adjutant to the station to pick him up, and when Bai Fei arrived in Changsha, he not only arranged his troops in the city, but also took Bai Fei to his mansion in Changsha by car.

Bai Fei was flattered, although he had never met Zhang Zhizhong before, but Zhang Zhizhong's name had already been heard by him. Bai Fei still has a very good impression of this "peace general" who actively promoted the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and never fought a civil war.