The morning sun rose slowly, and the smoke rose from the homes of some people in Xingtang County, and some men who got up early and went out to work in the dark also returned home for breakfast.

At the temporary headquarters of the Reading Army, Zhang Mingyu got up and finished washing, and at this time, the leader of the cooking squad had already walked in with a big bowl of porridge and a roasted potato.

A bowl of porridge and a roasted potato is Zhang Mingyu's breakfast every day, Zhang Mingyu sat on the table and picked up the porridge, and was just about to take two sips, when hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Zhang Mingyu looked up, and saw Colonel Fang Jun, a communications staff officer, striding in, Fang Jun strode up to Zhang Mingyu, and said uprightly: "Military seat, the military commission is calling!" ”

"Oh? Read! Zhang Mingyu stretched out his hand while drinking porridge.

"Yes!" Fang Jun opened the telegram in his hand and read: "The Military Commission has sent a telegram agreeing to the expansion of our department into a group army, and the expansion of our department into the 42nd Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and at the same time posthumously presenting Colonel Li Gang as a major general of the National Revolutionary Army and the title of martyr. The specific personnel establishment of each division and brigade shall be submitted to the Central Military Commission for approval and decision after consultation by your department. With that, Fang Jun snapped the text of the call.

Zhang Mingyu raised his head and drank the porridge in the bowl, then stood up and said to Fang Jun: "Staff Officer Fang, you now go and notify the military commanders of all divisions and regiments to come to the military headquarters for a meeting!" ”

"Yes!" Fang Jun stood upright, then turned around and walked away.

Soon, the personnel above the regimental level of the first division and the second division were ordered to rush over, and the entire military headquarters suddenly became extremely crowded, Zhang Mingyu cleared his throat and said: "Brothers, the Military Commission has sent a telegram to expand our Reading Force Army into the 42nd Group, and now I announce that the infantry regiments under the jurisdiction of each division will be immediately expanded into infantry brigades, the temporary Reading Force Brigade will be expanded into Reading Divisions, the armored division and the Flying Eagle Division will remain unchanged, and the original guard battalion will be reorganized and expanded into a guard regiment. ”

Zhang Biao and Ling Tianbao's expressions did not change very much, the two of them were originally division commanders, and Chairman Jiang only gave the establishment, but did not give the rank, Zhang Mingyu still had the rank of lieutenant general, which shows Chairman Jiang's intentions.

Zhang Biao said dissatisfiedly: "Military seat, since the chairman of the committee has expanded our reading force army into a group army, then you must at least have the rank of general, why is it still the rank of lieutenant general?" ”

"That's right! Our military seat should have been a general a long time ago! Everyone was dissatisfied.

"It's all a false title, it's not important, the important thing is to be able to fight devils!" Zhang Mingyu reassured everyone: "Brothers, don't be too concerned about these false titles, as a Chinese, when the nation is in danger and the land is invaded, as long as you can stand up, have the money to contribute, and make a strong contribution. ”

After the expansion, the 42nd Group Army had five infantry divisions, one guard regiment, one air force division, and three flying regiments. One armored division, three armored tank regiments, one heavy artillery brigade, and six air defense regiments were stationed in various places.

After the meeting ended, Zhang Mingyu carried the two bottles of Yuben Shochu seized and went to Wangdu Mountain.

Taking the jeep, the speed was very fast, and it didn't take long for the jeep to come to the foot of Wangdu Mountain, Zhang Mingyu got out of the car by himself with two pots of soju, and said to the guards behind him: "You just wait for me here, you don't have to follow up." With that, he turned and walked up the hill.

The bodies of Li Gang and more than 2,000 soldiers of the guard battalion were buried on the top of Wangdu Mountain, and Zhang Mingyu came this time to pay respects to Li Gang, his brother.

Zhang Mingyu slowly went up the mountain, only to feel that his steps were becoming more and more heavy, thinking about those familiar faces over the years, following his birth to death, but in the end he died like this, although they did not die in a nest, played the dignity of the Chinese [***] people, and sacrificed their precious young lives in order to resist the great plan.

However, as brothers, robes, and commanders, their deaths are inseparable from themselves, and they did not take good care of them.

In a blink of an eye, Zhang Mingyu came to the top of the mountain, only to see the round mounds in sight, the grave soil is still damp, there is no stone tablet in front of the grave, only a tombstone made of wooden planks temporarily, the familiar names on it are vivid, the commander of the guard battalion: Li Gang, deputy battalion commander Tie Niu concurrently serves as the commander of the first company, Wang Hanshan, the commander of the second company, and Ma Fugui, the commander of the third company....

Zhang Mingyu walked to Li Gang's grave, sat down, opened the two bottles of soju, and said, "Brother, the eldest brother has come to see you, come and I will accompany you to have a few drinks." With that, he picked up the bottle and poured it down in front of the grave.

Then he raised his head and drank violently, and said, "I don't know when my eldest brother will have the opportunity to come over and drink with you in the future, and after this while, I will definitely take the 14th Division to avenge you and the brothers in the guard battalion!" ”

"By the way, this is a commendation order from the Military Commission, and your kid is also a general now." Zhang Mingyu couldn't help but burst into tears as he spoke. If he doesn't die, with his great exploits, at least that should be a sure thing.

As he spoke, Zhang Mingyu raised the wine bottle and said to the iron bull next to him: "Tie Niu, you have saved me so many times, and you have blocked so many bullets for me on the battlefield, now that you are gone, who will be able to protect me in the future, and who will be qualified to be my guard." Don't you kid like to drink my wine secretly, I'm here with wine today, come and have a good drink with our brothers. With that, he picked up the bottle and poured it into himself.

As the sun set, unconsciously, Zhang Mingyu had been sitting on the top of the mountain for several hours, the two bottles of soju had already been drunk, and the two empty wine bottles were neatly placed in front of Li Gang's grave by Zhang Mingyu.

In front of the graves of Tie Niu and Li Gang, there were rows of cigarettes inserted respectively, Zhang Mingyu lit one for himself, sat down, and said with a wry smile: "This is an American brand cigarette that I have smoked for a long time, don't you always say that it is strong and enjoyable to smoke, you will try to smoke it today, and we will have it after smoking..."

When the smoke cleared, Zhang Mingyu suddenly got up, took off the steel helmet on his head, his eyes instantly became firm, looked at more than two thousand graves, and said awe-inspiringly: "Brothers, you have a good rest here, and when I take Pingjin and capture Okamura Ningji alive, I will come back to erect a monument for you, and then I will hold a memorial service for you!" After speaking, he saluted more than 2,000 heroic spirits, and turned around and left without looking back.

After going down the mountain, before Zhang Mingyu got into the car, he glanced back, and then resolutely got into the car.

At the beginning of July of the 40th year of the Republic of China.

Zhang Mingyu left the first division to stay in Qingdu, Shimen and other places, and he returned to Shanxi with the second division from Jingcheng Pass and returned to Taiyuan.

As soon as I arrived outside the city of Taiyuan, I saw the crowd of people outside Taiyuan from a distance, so it was not lively, the original people of Taiyuan knew that Zhang Mingyu led the army back, and they spontaneously organized up to organize a welcome ceremony outside the city, only to see the north gate of Taiyuan hanging high "Welcome the triumphant return of the heroic division!" "Ten big words.

Under the cheers of the people, Zhang Mingyu led the troops into the city, which also made the officers and soldiers feel a sense of glory respected by the people.

Three days later, the headquarters of the 42 nd Group Army was formally announced, with Zhang Mingyu as commander-in-chief of the group army and Liu Chengren as chief of staff of the group army, and began to set up the general staff of the group army.

The 42nd Army has five infantry divisions, one air division, one armored division, one cavalry division, one heavy artillery brigade, and one air defense division.

The Guard Regiment is in the process of being reorganized, and the losses suffered by the 2nd and 1st Divisions in the last battle have also been replenished, and the soldiers are all from military schools and civilians who have voluntarily joined the army.

At this time, the total strength of the Reading Force had reached 180,000, of which the first division had the largest number, with three infantry brigades and nine infantry regiments, plus more than 32,000 troops directly under the divisions, and the second division also had three infantry brigades and nine infantry regiments, but the strength was only more than 26,000.

The strength of the Third Division was the same as that of the Second Division, the Fourth Division had only 20,000 men, and the provisional number of Reading Divisions was only more than 15,000.

The rest of the troops are distributed among the troops of other arms, and with the addition of logistical personnel, the total number of the 42nd Group Army has reached an astonishing 200,000.

… In an empty field in Taiyuan's Xishan, Zhang Mingyu, Liu Cheng, and others stood on a high platform and looked at the 3,000 "new army" under the stage with grim expressions.

The children of the poor are in charge of the family at an early age, and these children who have lost their relatives and parents at an early age are obviously much more mature and strong than children of the same age, and they receive the same hard training as the regular army in military schools, in order to one day be able to pick up a gun and go to the battlefield to fight devils. Every one of them is because of the devil, and their family is ruined.

The originally beautiful and happy family was destroyed because of the war of aggression launched by Yue, and the scene of the tragic death of relatives appeared in their minds all the time, and the hatred for Yue's own person has penetrated into their bone marrow, and they can't wait to drink their own blood and eat their flesh, which is not enough to vent the monstrous hatred in their hearts.

Standing in the front row was the only infantry platoon of the guard battalion, Xu Wen's fourth platoon.

Those veterans stood there, and a monstrous killing intent was inadvertently revealed with them, which was not possessed by those student soldiers who had never been on the battlefield.

But those student soldiers were not willing to lag behind in the slightest in terms of momentum, and they could see from the unwavering gaze on each of their faces, facing Zhang Mingyu's cold gaze, they were not afraid, raised their heads and puffed up their chests to meet the gaze of the commander without fear.

Zhang Mingyu nodded with satisfaction, and then signaled, Liu Cheng announced the appointment list, Liu Cheng understood, took two steps forward, and then said loudly: "Fellow students, welcome to join the 42nd Group Army, from now on you are a member of [***], that is, our brothers of the 42nd Group, you are honored to be selected into the guard regiment, you must continue to pass on the glorious tradition of this army, the glory of this army will be continued by you, the predecessor of the guard regiment - the guard battalion is the fist of my reading force." , is the trump card unit around the head seat, and you are about to assume the trump card title, so students, the burden on your shoulders is not light. ”

"Please rest assured! Use me in the first battle! Use me to win! These student soldiers shouted out loudly and loudly during the usual training!

(To be continued)