After a warm dinner, after bathing, Gong Qian made tea and brought a brand-new accordion, An Yi took it on his back, and slowly played a few small songs with the hand that often held the gun during the activity.

It wasn't until he gradually moved his stiff knuckles and regained his long-lost sense of musicality that An Yi played a beautiful and light song "Jasmine", which made Wu's mother feel comfortable and praised again and again.

"Where did you learn this tune?" Gong Qian put on a tall and beautiful bun and asked happily.

An Yi said with a smile: "I remember it after listening to it a few times, but I haven't played it for a long time, and the fingering is still not in place, the accordion that Instructor Lyshenkov sent me to move to the old Nanchang, and the old way said that fighting a war is a fatal thing and did not bring it to me, but many officers and soldiers in the army carry flutes and erhus with them, and the officers and soldiers will entertain themselves for a while when they are leisure, and the atmosphere in the barracks is much more lively."

Sometimes it really makes people sigh that those soldiers can't read a single big word, let alone music, but playing the erhu and playing the flute can express their emotions very well, and many times I am very proud of myself for having such an optimistic and simple officer and soldier. ”

Gong Qian's bright eyes looked at An Yi's eyes, and the look flashed in his eyes: "Think about the front line, right?" ”

"Yes, I can't put it down! Always thinking about the brothers in the barracks and the ongoing battle, today, the Reading Division will attack Si County as planned, I don't know how the war is now, I hope that the party representative who commanded the battle with the acting division commander will not be stupid enough to attack the city, otherwise my old book will be gone. An Yi looked worried with a painful look in his eyes.

Wu's mother comforted An Yi a few words, saying that the Zhong family and his wife next door were going to take the train to Shanghai tomorrow morning, and they had to talk goodbye. Gong Qian had already heard that An Yi would entrust the Zhong family and his wife to be in charge of international student affairs at dinner, and hurriedly went into the house and took out two small accessories for Wu's mother to give to the two children of the Zhong family.

"Play one more song, I love listening to your songs." Gong Qian didn't want to see An Yi's melancholy, so she whispered a coquettish request.

Gong Qian's hand was holding her cheeks, quiet and moving, her white neck and the delicate and clear body like condensation under the white sleeveless silk robe still hesitated into An Yi's sight, making An Yi forget the front line for a while, forget his worries, his heart was beating faster, he quickly looked away, pretended to stare at the ceiling, and only after a while did he press the piano keys lightly and play a lingering lyrical tune.

Gong Qian was fascinated by it, her lips opened slightly, and her noble and beautiful face gradually flushed with red clouds, she had already heard An Yi's heart, and realized the longing, trust, nostalgia and love in An Yi's heart, so that the aftermath of the piano gradually faded away, and she was still full of excitement looking at An Yi's smiling beautiful mouth.

"Sister, does it sound good?"

An Yi smiled and asked in a low voice.

Gong Qian took a deep breath and slowly leaned back in the chair: "It's good, it's like a heavenly sound, thank you Xiao Yi...... What is this piece called? ”

"I just like you." An Yi said with a smile.

Gong Qian was stunned for a moment, then slapped An Yi on the shoulder in shame, bit her lip and scolded in a low voice: "Little scoundrel, if you talk nonsense, I won't clean you up!" Honestly, what's the name of this piece? ”

"I just like you!" An Yi answered truthfully.

Gong Qian was so angry that she stood up and pounced on An Yi and gave him a pink fist, and finally grabbed An Yi's ears and laughed loudly: "You dare to eat my sister's tofu...... I'm ripping your ears off! ”

"Ouch...... Let go, alas...... Sister, let go! What I'm saying is true, this is a Cantonese song, the name of the song is "I Like You", I didn't write it myself, it was originally there, and it was sung in Cantonese...... Let go, let go, or your ears will be asymmetrical......"

An Yi begged for mercy and hurriedly explained.

Gong Qian sneered, and gave An Yi another slap on the head, then straightened out her temples, smoothed her clothes and returned to her seat: "You little scoundrel, don't try to hide it from me, your sister can speak Cantonese, if it's really like you say, you can sing it to me!" Fast! ”

"I've lost my hearing now, another day." An Yi really didn't want to sing it.

"You want to be beaten, don't you?" Gong Qian stared at An Yi unrelentingly.

An Yi sighed heavily: "Okay, I have to go back after playing and singing, I have to early at half past five tomorrow morning, Lao Tzu...... I'm the head of the bullshit regiment to be there, and you know the strictness of my teacher, who can teach you three hours without repetition when he's late. ”

"Poof!"

Gong Qian couldn't help but smile again when she heard An Yi say the meticulous Zhang Zhizhong so vividly.

An Yi sat upright, stabilized his breathing, opened the door for a while, and sang in Cantonese in a beautiful and slightly sad accompaniment:

"The sorrow can't linger and the depression can't be dispersed, why is my heart empty...... Why do I like you......"

The sound of the song passed away, Gong Qian slowly raised her head and sighed in a low voice: "It seems that you didn't lie to my sister, but the lyrics are far from being as beautiful as the rhyme, but they are also very rare, and it is a little sad to listen to it, but ...... When you played it for the first time, how did you not feel this sadness? ”

"I don't know, I played it in a daze, and when I sang it, my mood was different from when I played, I can't tell you the specifics, is it good, sister?" An Yi asked.

Gong Qian nodded, and when she saw An Yi standing up and walking into the study with the piano, she felt a sudden sense of loss for no reason, as if An Yi would also take away her happiness when she left.

An Yi still said goodbye and left, grinned at Gong Qian who was leaning on the doorpost, and strode towards the street, only to feel that Gong Qian Rulan's body fragrance was still left in his nose, and he felt that his back was imprinted with the scorching heat sent by the beautiful pair of slightly faint resentful eyes.

Turning out of the street, An Yi stopped, looked up at the dark sky, and said to himself: Lao Tzu is in the gentle township, and the brothers on the front line don't know what happened...... The front line, the headquarters of the Reading Division in Willow Lane Town.

Chiang Kai-shek, commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, looked at Yin Jinan, the acting division commander and deputy division commander of the Reading Division, who were standing in front of him, and did not say a word for a long time.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang deliberately led all the civil and military forces from Bengbu to Liuxiang Town, in order to see the invincible reading force division beautifully conquer Si County, but now, after five sieges of the city that lasted for eleven hours, the small Sihong County is still in the hands of the Zhilu coalition army, which has only one brigade of defenders.

The invincible reading division, which has always made him proud, returned at the cost of more than 700 killed and more than 1,200 wounded, not only three regiment-level officers hung colors, but the deputy division commander Hu Jialin, who was in charge of the front line, was seriously injured by the enemy's artillery fire, and more than 3,000 prisoners who had just been incorporated into the regiments fled, but another mixed brigade of the enemy came at this time to reinforce them, and the enemy in the city suddenly surged out of the city to launch a counterattack, driving the morale-free reading division soldiers to the south bank of the Huai River in one fell swoop, if it were not for Yin Jinan's good command, After leading the Reading Regiment and the Model Battalion to break tenaciously, the brothers of the artillery battalion, who were unable to participate in the battle because they could not push the artillery, mobilized the villagers to row more than 200 receiving boats in advance.

Such a sloppy battle reminded Commander-in-Chief Jiang of the shame of the defeat of Nanchang, and made him feel that he had lost face in front of a group of civil and military personnel.

Liu Shoujiang, the acting division commander with a high degree of education but little actual combat experience, stood in the middle of the middle hall with his head down, beads of sweat rolling down the damp ground like soybeans, he really couldn't imagine that the first battle he commanded would be such a result. Before the war, he already knew that the morale of the Reader soldiers was full of righteous indignation because An Yi was removed and transferred, but he never expected that the tiger wolf-like Reader would be reduced in combat power, and there was unprecedented panic and uneasiness, even Li Zhengming and others, who had become his henchmen, also showed a panic that they had never seen before in times of crisis, although the second regiment commander Chen Zhibiao was the first to stand up and euphemistically express his support after he was appointed as the acting division commander, and he also showed courage and tenacity in today's battle, The other three regiments did not contribute to the work, but the small Si County had a high solid city wall and a ring river more than five meters wide and two meters deep, and fought bravely and strategically, almost destroying the engineer battalion he sent out, and the last brave and tenacious engineer battalion with fine traditions and fighting style, only one-third of the officers and soldiers fled back, and more than half of the one-third of the survivors were wounded.

In the face of such a tragic ending, Liu Shoujiang did not know how to face the ardent hope of Commander-in-Chief Chiang, and remembered the promises he made to Commander-in-Chief Chiang and dozens of generals at noon, Liu Shoujiang only felt that he was embarrassed, and his heartbeat almost stopped. At this time, he regretted very much that he had let go of Chief of Staff Yang Bin, who had a high fever due to an arm injury, the day before yesterday, and returned to Nanjing for treatment, regretted not listening to the opposition of Gu Changfeng and Xia Jian and other regimental battalion commanders, and regarded these opinions as prejudices and opposition to him Liu Shoujiang.

However, there is no regret medicine in this world, and Liu Shoujiang has clearly felt the disappointment of Commander-in-Chief Jiang towards him, the contempt and prejudice of the generals of the General Headquarters, and the resentment and contempt from the top and bottom of the Reading Division. He was too impatient, he believed in his abilities too much, and he was too confident.

The embarrassing silence was finally broken by the kind-hearted Director Ge Jingen, who objectively analyzed the favorable conditions for the enemy to occupy Sixian County, and made a tactful criticism of the reader's blind siege method, and finally kindly suggested to Commander-in-Chief Chiang:

"The current situation of the Reading Division can no longer persist in fighting, after losing nearly half of the continuous hard fighting, it is even more difficult to launch an attack on the enemy of the two mixed brigades, and the subordinates suggest that the Reading Division should be stationed in place while seizing the time to rest and recuperate, and mobilize new recruits as soon as possible to replenish the combat strength, otherwise it will be difficult to withstand more difficult battles in the next battle.

At present, General Li Delin's Third Route Army is encroaching on the outlying towns of Xuzhou one by one in order to concentrate on the Battle of Xuzhou, so as long as we seize the ten days or so to rest and replenish, we will be able to slowly recover our vitality and undertake the next combat mission. ”

Commander-in-Chief Jiang slowly exhaled turbid air, waved his hand to Liu Shoujiang and Yin Jinan, and said coldly: "Go down!" ”

"Yes!"

The two saluted and exited the lobby gloomily, walked out of the door, Liu Shoujiang took off his hat, wiped the sweat off his face, and Yin Jinan walked straight to the wounded barracks without looking back.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang stood up and kept pacing, suddenly stopped and asked loudly, "Everyone, what do you think of the battle plan formulated by the Reading Division before the war?" ”

Everyone looked at each other, but Ge Jingen replied steadily: "From the point of view of the plan, it seems to be in order, and the intelligence work before the war is also very good, and the subordinates feel that the biggest mistake is that the commander is too light on the enemy, and he has made a mistake that should not be made in the use of the engineer battalion......

"Brother Zhanhou is too polite, it's not that he shouldn't, but he shouldn't have such a low-level mistake!"

Deputy Director Yin Zusheng said annoyedly: "We have all summarized and analyzed the previous battles commanded by An Yi, including the Fengxin Siege that made An Yi famous in one fell swoop, and we all know that An Yi never uses such a single offensive means to attack the enemy's fortified cities and fortifications, and often adopts three or even four offensive methods at the same time, so An Yi leads his troops to fight, and he can always seek the greatest results with the lowest consumption."

But now...... At noon, more than 30 of us went to the front line to watch the battle, and the officers and men of all regiments and battalions also went all out, but after several defeats, their morale was greatly damaged, and many officers and men who had been withdrawn from the battlefield even scolded General Liu Shoujiang, the acting division commander. In the wounded barracks, hundreds of officers and soldiers called for their commander An Yi, and I couldn't bear to say more...... The battle is like this, where is the shadow of the model battalion of the invincible reader? It's heart-wrenching! ”

Yin Zusheng's words were immediately echoed by most of the generals, and Yu Jishi even reprimanded Liu Shoujiang for his ignorance and stubbornness with great annoyance, accusing him of not even mastering the minimum offensive rhythm, no matter how Yin Jinan and other generals admonished, he would not listen, otherwise where would there be such heavy losses?

In the face of the sighs and discussions of the generals, Commander-in-Chief Jiang suddenly found that he did not need An Yi as much as he did now, although he just wanted to take this opportunity to let An Yi have a lesson and defeat An Yi's nonsense and arrogance, but he never thought that Liu Shoujiang, a young handsome man who was highly valued by him and many members of the Central Committee, would be so incompetent that he paid such a big price to discredit his extremely proud ace troops, and he felt very remorseful and sad. regretted that he had appointed Liu Shoujiang as the acting division commander so rashly, if he had been replaced by any of Hu Jialin, Yin Jinan, and Yang Bin, such an outcome would not have occurred; He was saddened that he did not protect the young An Yi enough, and was too demanding, so that his talented love would not be used for the sake of a mere compromise.

Chiang Kai-shek sighed, silently walked out of the lobby to the wounded barracks, and before he reached the gate, he heard a heart-rending cry:

“…… Deputy Division Commander Yin, why is this? Our engineer battalion has never suffered such a big loss from the Northern Expedition in Guangzhou until yesterday!

The battalion commander died, the deputy battalion commander died, and seven of our nine company commanders and company deputies died, and our engineer battalion has fought from the first 200 people to the present, and the only remaining old brothers are almost dead, which is a fiasco that has never been seen before...... Deputy Master Yin, tell our brothers, tell us, where is our Master An? Tell us, without Master An, the brothers are like being drawn from the backbone......"

(To be continued)