At four o'clock in the morning, four steamboats with a speed of 17 kilometers per hour left Changsha Dongshan Wharf, keeping a distance of about 30 meters and going upstream. After five hours of driving, it arrived in Liuyang County at 9 a.m., briefly docked at the wharf for replenishment, and sailed upstream again into the upper reaches of the Liuyang River.

The four ships were all new passenger and cargo transport ships requisitioned by the commander-in-chief for the actions of the Second Division, and these new ships that could carry as many as 300 people were in the hands of the Second Division.

An Yi on the second steamboat has been enjoying the scenery of this clear river since the sky is bright, and An Yi is fascinated by the beautiful scenery on both sides of the green screen under the golden sun.

After Liuyang County belongs to the upper reaches of the Liuhe River, the river channel gradually narrows, enters the northeast of Hunan Province with thousands of ravines, the tributaries of the dense mountains on both sides of the river are endless, some fall from the height like a waterfall bead curtain, and some are demure and transparent and tranquil and intersect like a graceful woman. At this time, the white dew has passed the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and the lush greenery of northeast Hunan located at the western foot of the Jiuling Mountains gradually recedes, showing the remnants of the red mountains, and the clear river water is white mist from time to time due to the increase in the temperature difference between day and night.

Except for the brothers in the police platoon on the first ship led by Hu Zi, and the brothers in the cannon platoon on the last ship as guards, almost all the brothers were sleeping, and it was already ten o'clock in the morning when the autumn sun was shining, and the brothers woke up one after another, looking at the villages and shepherd boys that appeared from time to time on both sides of the strait and talked to each other.

Chen Kan, the commander of the first company, saw the commander waving the command flag on the first ship, and hurriedly took out the beautiful binoculars that he hung on his chest last night to observe the front of the left bank, and saw dozens of people waving red flags and beating gongs and drums on the shore walking quickly, and hurriedly turned to An Yi's back:

"Battalion commander, it's almost time to Gugang Town, and the people on the shore are estimated to be members of the local peasant association and women's association, so it seems that they have rushed to the town to greet us."

An Yi couldn't enjoy the beautiful scenery on the right bank, and motioned to Dong Yanzi to take the binoculars, and raised it with one hand to look at it:

"The revolutionary work of the local party organizations in Hunan has done a good job! The villagers in all villages and towns have been armed, but unfortunately the weapons and equipment are almost there, and those young and strong people are almost all holding shuttle darts in their hands, and even big knives are rare, and it is estimated that the people who carry big knives are captains and other officials. ”

Chen Kan smiled: "Battalion commander, if we recruit troops, it is estimated that the harvest will be not small." ”

"No way!"

An Yi did not hesitate to deny.

"Why? Battalion commander, those on the shore are all hard-working and good soldiers! Everyone supports our revolutionary army. ”

Chen Kan was very puzzled, when he stopped at the dock in Liuyang County, many Red Guards asked to be soldiers, but they were rejected by the battalion commander at that time, and such a good thing was undesirable for other troops. In addition, before leaving, Instructor Yin brought back 2,000 sets of new military uniforms, shoes and hats, and each brother brought two more sets of old military uniforms in addition to his own two sets of clothing.

When An Yi heard this, he immediately became vigilant, handed the telescope to the happy Dong Yanzi, and then thought about it and stood up and turned to the confused Chen Kan:

"Your kid is almost two hundred people in a row, isn't that enough? Our battalion is the top battalion of the whole division, not only walking in front to build bridges and roads, but also ready to fight at any time, where can we do anything else? Even if we really want to recruit people to expand our strength, we have to recruit them on the battlefield, otherwise where will you have the time to teach these people who have never touched a gun all the way to the war? Not only will there be no combat effectiveness at that time, but the brothers will also devote their energy to taking care of these recruits, is your combat company commander really willing? It is better to leave it to the follow-up troops with a large number of people. ”

Chen Kan thought about it, and his doubts disappeared, and he smiled embarrassedly.

At this time, there were bursts of bright and beautiful country songs from the shore, singing about sending his lover brother to serve as a soldier, showing that the mobilization work of the women's union was indeed very good.

The brothers on the boat couldn't sit still when they heard the singing, and they all knew that these hot girls from eastern and northern Hunan were all good-looking, and their surnames were very good and could sing, so they stood up and looked at the shore, and even the sleepy-eyed brothers hurriedly got up, and looked at the women on the shore one by one, and their eyes were about to fly across the river.

Seeing the appearance of the brothers, An Yi joked loudly: "All the saliva is about to flow to the tips of the shoes, haha!" Brothers, it's not that Lao Tzu has hit your faith, but that your grandsons are not good at finding wives, and none of you can compare to Xia Jian's kids. Look at Xia Jian, take aim and shoot the cannon without grinding, with a single ability, you can bring the beautiful girl back in two days, what about you? One by one, there are thieves but no thieves, Lao Tzu looks down on you grandsons, haha! ”

The brothers burst into laughter, and Huang Yingwu, the instructor in the middle, laughed loudly and asked, "Boss, why don't you show your hand to the brothers?" ”

When the brothers heard this, they all followed suit, and An Yi replied with a big grin: "Lao Tzu's mother-in-law is rushing to Hong Kong to study at St. John's University, and after learning well, she will help Lao Tzu as a housekeeper in the future, haha!" My mother-in-law brought the letter to Xia Jian yesterday, and wrote five pieces of paper, what exactly did Lao Tzu not tell you, I can only reveal one sentence, that is, my mother-in-law told me that she can't do without Lao Tzu in this life, haha! Lao Tzu only replied to her before leaving, how about it? It's red all eyes, haha......"

The brothers laughed and envied, and when they heard the song come again, they all turned their heads, and dozens of women on the left bank who were getting closer and closer were carrying red flags in the same direction, waving generously to the soldiers on the boat.

Huang Yingwu heard the woman on the shore singing the folk song over and over again, his heart moved, and he looked at An Yi who was looking at the left bank and said loudly:

"Boss, I usually listen to you humming beautiful songs, but I guess you can't sing country songs, boss, you listen...... Haha, kind! Let's have a song too, so that the mothers-in-law on the shore don't dare to underestimate our brothers, how about it? ”

The brethren immediately began to heckle and shouted to the battalion commander for a song.

An Yi already felt that the song on the shore was very good, and an inexplicable sense of intimacy surged in his heart, so Huang Yingwu was subtly stimulated at this moment, and then saw the brothers on the boat shouting to their heart's content, An Yi immediately raised his head:

"Huang Yingwu, who said the dog, thought I didn't know that you were squeezing Lao Tzu? But seeing that the brothers are so interested, I won't care about you, today Lao Tzu will sing a real folk song, just sing the river in front of you, let your soil bun have a long insight, and let the mother-in-law on the shore listen to it, and let the ladies know that there is nothing that our revolutionary army will not do! Listen ......"

An Yi approached the port side and stood tall, holding his injured left arm and letting go of his loud singing voice, and blurted out a song with a rich Hunan rhyme:

"Liuyang River, how many bends have you turned? Dozens of miles of waterway to the Xiangjiang River? What kind of county is there by the river? Someone's leading the people to liberation, babbling, babbling......"

An Yi's rich and moving singing echoed among the mountains and clear waters, and this beautiful song of question and answer style sang the girls and daughters-in-law on the shore with ripples in their hearts, and they couldn't help but stop, singing to the ship's workers sideways, all of them admired, and sang so that the brothers on the four boats were silent and longing.

An Yi, who was full of pride, sang devotedly, and his brain turned fast, and suddenly found that there was something wrong with singing this song at this time, and it seemed too advanced, so the last song of the first paragraph was still echoing in the mountains, and his second song came one after another, proudly telling the question of the previous paragraph to all the stunned listeners with his charming singing voice:

"Liuyang River, after nine bends, fifty miles of waterway to the Xiangjiang River, there is a Xiangtan County by the river, there is someone, I just don't tell you, ah, babble, babble......"

An Yi smiled after singing, returned to the chair and sat down and ordered the intoxicated Dong Yanzi to light a cigarette, which made nearly a thousand people in the river on the shore admire and be depressed, and he didn't say the most critical answer.

The stunned mother-in-law on the left bank chattered for some reason, and suddenly raised her legs and ran forward, provoking a burst of cheerful laughter from several boatloads of brethren.

The brothers saw hundreds of villagers on the wharf from a long distance, the crowd in front of the red flag waving, beating gongs and drums, two or three hundred peasant self-defense forces and women's associations shaking more than a dozen sickle-hammer flags and blue sky white flags, the welcoming formation was even bigger than that of the Liuyang County Peasant Association.

The first steamboat had already docked, and the second steamboat where An Yi was also throwing out the cable, An Yi thought about it and gave an order to Chen Kan loudly: "Pass my order, go ashore to unload the materials and assemble them, and immediately sail to Zhangpan Village, which is eleven kilometers northeast." ”

"Yes!"

Chen Kan finished saluting and walked to the side of the boat, and waited for the boat to slowly approach the shore and jump down to inform Huzi. Hu Zi nodded and gave a few words to the two police platoon brothers beside him, and when he saw four or five peasant union leaders enthusiastically coming up, Hu Zi hurriedly stepped forward a few steps and saluted:

"The Engineer Battalion of the Second Division of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army was ordered to carry out its mission and disturbed the villagers."

"I saw it, I saw it, we have seen the banner of the 'Model Battalion' for a long time! I received a notice from our superiors the night before yesterday, and the peasant associations of our Gugang and the surrounding eight villages were looking forward to it, and we were worried that the comrades of the model battalion would be left behind by the county peasant association, haha! To introduce, my name is Yang Dedao, and I am the chairman of the peasant association in these ten miles and eight townships. This is Comrade Tan Zhenxian, the leader of the Red Guards, and this is Comrade Han Ying of the Women's Salvation Association. "The chairman of the Gugang Town Peasant Association is a tall man of thirty-seven or eighteen years old, with a dark face and sincerity.

When Hu Zi heard that the peasant meeting had received a notice from his troops the night before, he was secretly surprised, and he was not good at socializing, so he pointed to An Yi, who had just disembarked from the dock: "That's our battalion Lieutenant Colonel An Yi, if you have anything, please contact him, please forgive me for being busy." ”

"It's okay, it's okay! I'll leave after lunch! ”

Yang Dedao said goodbye to his beard and walked quickly to An Yi, and An Yile, who had been prepared, stepped forward and stretched out his intact right hand: "Trouble the villagers, haha!" I'm An Yi, the commander of the engineer battalion, may I ask ......?"

Yang Dedao hurriedly and enthusiastically introduced, and after finishing leading An Yi to the high place of the dock and chatting enthusiastically, more than 300 Red Guards stood straight with shuttle darts and sticks in their hands, as if waiting for the review of the commander of the revolutionary army. An Yi thought to himself that the landlords and old wealth of these ten miles and eight villages might have suffered, and the surging rural revolutionary movement had already formed a trend of burning the prairie in southwestern Jiangxi and eastern Hunan Province, and now even the name of the "peasant self-defense force" had become the "Red Guards", and it was obvious that the struggle had entered a white heat.

Several leaders of the peasant association were anxious when they saw the situation on the dock below, An Yi's team did not accept any gifts of tea, melons, fruits and grains, let alone leave for lunch, but quickly gathered and prepared to set off, and even An Yi's big dark horse let Dong Yanzi pull to the side.

Yang Dedao hurriedly took An Yi's hand and graciously retained: "Oh, Comrade Camp Commander An, stay for a while, have a meal to guide and guide the work of our peasant association before leaving, hundreds of us and the villagers in Shili and Eight Villages have been looking forward to it for several days!" ”

An Yi replied very apologetically: "Uncle, as well as Captain Tan and President Han, my junior brother has to hurry up while I am in military affairs!" From the conversation just now, I learned that you also knew in advance that our revolutionary army was going to go to Jiangxi to fight the warlords through here, and you can also see that our engineer battalion is to fight the front station, that is, to build bridges and pave the way for the large troops behind them, otherwise those artillery cars will not be able to pass, so we dare not stop, and urgently rush to Zhangpan Village, 20 miles away, to build a bridge. ”

"Yes, yes, it's true, the wooden bridge in Zhangpan Village is a mile ahead, and the wooden bridge of the dry river can't pass a heavy carriage. Ah! It turns out that you sappers are doing the same thing, so I don't dare to keep you...... But we will definitely help you, Comrade Camp Commander, etc.! Yang Dedao urgently discussed with the captain of the Red Guards beside him.

The captain of the Red Guards nodded, and immediately gathered his team of more than 300 people: "Comrades, the revolutionary army is going to Jiangxi to fight the warlords and local tyrants, and soon a lot of cars and cannons will come from the west side of the town, but the two bridges in Zhangpan Village can't stand the carts, I order everyone to quickly find hammers, axes, saws, and firewood knives, and the captains of each village send people to send all the carpenters from each village to Zhangpan Village, and we will act immediately." ”

In the blink of an eye, more than 300 Red Guards with shuttle darts in their hands ran away, An Yi discussed with Hu Zi and Yin Jinan, who came to his side, and whispered a few orders, and Hu Zi and Yin Jinan left one after another.

An Yi politely thanked Yang Dedao and said that the villagers were not rich, and we didn't dare to accept the gifts, and we were very grateful to get the support of the Red Guards.

Under the enthusiastic farewell of Yang Dedao and a group of leaders of peasant associations and women's associations, An Yi, who was hanging a strap on his chest, whistled, and the little black horse fell to the ground obediently, waiting for An Yi to step up before standing up steadily, and nearly a thousand people around him were surprised and envious.

An Yi waved his hand and was about to urge the horse to leave, when a crisp female voice behind him stopped him: "Comrade riding a big black horse, please wait!" ”

An Yi turned the horse's head and looked at the beautiful short-haired girl in front of him in surprise: "This girl, is there something wrong?" ”

Han Ying, president of the Women's Association, hurriedly introduced: "This is Comrade Yang Suzhen, President of the Xijiang Village Women's Association, and they have just arrived...... Su Zhen, this is the battalion commander of the revolutionary army, and they are about to set off on an urgent task, and they are going to Zhangpan Village to build a bridge. ”

Yang Suzhen, who was fair-skinned and handsome in her early twenties, swept the bangs in front of her forehead, and asked An Yi loudly with a red face: "Comrade An, can you teach me the song you sang on the boat just now?" It's so good, it's a pity that you only sang it once, I was fascinated by it, how could you sing our Liuyang tune? ”

An Yi's head suddenly became bigger: "Hehe, why do you think I sang it?" There are so many people on board, you must be mistaken, right? ”

"That's right! I went to the ranks of the revolutionary army just now to look for it, and there was no one with a white cloth wrapped around his head and arm, only you, those enthusiastic revolutionary army brothers all said that it was sung by their battalion commander, you don't want to deceive people! ”

Yang Suzhen saw the smile on An Yijun's face, lowered her head embarrassedly, and raised it bravely again: "It's a pity that I forgot everything when I ran here, I only remember the nice tune at the end, and I can't remember it when I ask the sisters, and you didn't tell us the last sentence 'Someone', we all want to know." You can teach me, or I will follow you to Zhangpan Village, you teach me along the way, and I will come back when I learn. ”

An Yi laughed, scratched his head and looked at the departure team, and turned to Yang Suzhen: "This song is usually sung by Comrade Huang Yingwu, the instructor of our first company, a few days ago, he was washing clothes and humming this song, I learned a few words on the side and shouted blindly, I can't remember everything, I can only find Huang Yingwu." He is an excellent political instructor of our Second Division, let me let him meet you...... Parrot? ”

"To—"

Huang Yingwu, who looked like a dog and had a shell gun in his waist, ran quickly.

An Yi pointed at Yang Suzhen: "This comrade president of the women's association wants to learn singing with you, you teach her, and she is not allowed to come back, haha...... Goodbye guys. ”

Ten minutes later, Huang Yingwu was sweating profusely and caught up with An Yi on horseback: "Boss, I don't remember what kind of song you sang about someone!" Just remember the previous sentence and the last sentence, how to teach? You know, I always listen to any new song at least twice before I remember it......"

An Yi laughed, and suddenly saw Yang Suzhen leading a group of mothers-in-law behind the half-mile road to catch up, and left in shock, leaving the panting Huang Yingwu to deal with it by himself.

An Yi rode his horse to catch up with Yin Jinan, and the two discussed for a while, An Yi hit the horse forward, and the winter man with a shell gun on his waist and a machine gun on his back followed closely on a yellow horse.

Yin Jinan came to the middle of the second and third companies and ordered loudly: "The second company listens to the order, rushes to the second wooden bridge east of Zhangpan Village, and immediately begins to cut down and build the bridge after arriving; The third company, responsible for the first wooden bridge west of Zhangpan Village, demolished the old bridge immediately after arriving; The first company is responsible for the protection and vigilance of the construction operations of the second and third companies. Attention, all of you, run at a moderate pace—"

The whole team immediately picked up speed, and thanks to An Yi's maneuvering, each company now has twenty young and strong pack horses, and each company commander is also assigned a good horse to walk. The best equipped combat company was a company, and three company-level officers and three platoon commanders were assigned a war horse, so the marching speed of each company increased a lot.