At 5:30 p.m., the Belgian merchant ship slowly approached the Changbei wharf under the guidance of the garrison steamboat.

In fact, the brothers on the ship had already been alarmed by the noisy sound of gongs and drums, and they had already poured onto the deck from a mile away from the wharf, looking at the Changbei Wharf with colorful flags and thunderous cheers, and tens of thousands of welcoming crowds crowded from the wharf to the foot of the city wall.

As the big ship got closer and closer, the officers and men of the Third Army and the Ninth Army, which were neatly arranged on the dock, shouted the heaven-shattering password, the military band played a triumphal song, and a square formation of more than 1,000 unarmed revolutionary troops on the left made the brothers on the ship choke their throats and burst into tears.

Hans and Raute saw such a spectacular scene, full of emotion, until this time, they did not know that An Yi's influence was so great, only to suddenly realize that although they have admired An Yi's personality and admired An Yi's talent for so long, they have not realized that An Yi has such a deep political foundation and can win the respect and welcome of so many people, and the captain on the side said with emotion that there are many Chinese, but it is the first time to gather so many at once.

An Yi, accompanied by Zhu Peide and the generals, held back tears and waved frequently to the thousands of people who called for "General An" and "Model Battalion", his face was full of gratitude.

After walking in front of the military band and the honor guard of the Third Army, An Yi, Zhan Huanqi, Xia Jian, Gu Changfeng, Ding Zhicheng and more than a dozen other generals who could walk came to the front of the veteran team with excitement.

Lieutenant Colonel Chang Baofang, director of base logistics among the dozen lieutenants in the front of the team, strode up to An Yi, saluted with his legs, and said loudly with tears:

"Report to the division, 385 officers and soldiers of the recruitment office, 138 officers and soldiers of the base, and 752 retired brothers greet the division! Read to me more than 11,200 brothers...... Compliments! ”

Under the watchful eye, An Yi took a deep breath and replied in a low voice: "Take a break!" Brethren have worked hard! ”

"Master—"

Chang Baofang could no longer control his emotions, rushed up and hugged An Yi tightly, crying loudly, more than a thousand brothers behind him all rushed up, hugged his superiors and brothers, and the crying was earth-shattering, making tens of thousands of cheering people sigh.

These sincere brethren quickly rushed aboard the ship, met the wounded and surviving brothers, closed their mouths and put away their cries under the loud reprimand of the officials at all levels, carefully carried the stretchers one by one, and helped the brothers off the boat.

Lao Dao quietly wiped away his tears and whispered to Zhu Peide, who had red eyes beside him:

"Yizhi, the welcome banquet will be waived for the time being, the children can't eat like this, you explain to the representatives of the people from all walks of life and the brothers in the army, it seems that we have to return to Lao Nanchang immediately, otherwise tens of thousands of villagers and families of soldiers who came from Lao Nanchang will cry, and I am afraid that the whole Nanchang City will not be happy."

"Good! The younger brother will do it, and tonight the younger brother will accompany the representatives of all walks of life in Nanchang City to talk to the virtuous people, and it is not too late for Xiaoyi to settle down and then enter the city, and then the younger brother and his nephew will set up a banquet together to thank all walks of life.

In the past few days, Nanchang's newspapers have published Xiao Yi's tragic deeds all over, and all walks of life are hotly discussed, and I believe everyone can understand it. ”

Zhu Peide agreed, and instructed the adjutant to prepare some gifts for the captain and first mate of the Belgian merchant ship, and to send some eggs and fruits to express his gratitude.

The adjutant left quickly, and the attentive Zhu Peide walked up to Hans and Lauter, who were standing aside, apologized, and asked the two to go to the city with him for the banquet.

Hans, who was deeply moved, shook his head again and again, pointed to Dr. Kreuzer and others who had left with the wounded, and said that he would also go to Lao Nanchang immediately to see what he could do for the respected disabled soldiers.

Zhu Peide did not deliberately keep him, but ordered his chief of guard to send Hans and Raute to the old Nanchang non-commissioned officer base in a special car, where the conditions were very good, and they were not worse than the Jiangxi Hotel.

The sun slowly set, and a convoy of hundreds of military trucks, cars, and operating shuttles drove into the northern suburbs of Laonan.

Tens of thousands of people had already gathered on both sides of the road and street, looking forward to it, and the convoy passed through the cheering crowd and slowly drove into the non-commissioned officer base and the hospital next to it, which had not yet officially opened, and more than 100 hospital cadets and left-behind officers and soldiers all rushed up to carry the wounded out of the car and into one ward after another.

Kreuzer and more than 20 other doctors warmly greeted the 15 volunteer doctors from Europe and the United States who came forward, and after a little greeting, they immediately turned all their energies to the problem of the wounded soldiers, and soon followed the groups of wounded into the wards and became nervously busy.

More than an hour passed, all the brothers with families returned home, most of the brothers without families lived in the recruitment office and the non-commissioned officer school, and the chambers of commerce and villagers in old Nanchang had already prepared steaming and hearty food. After An Yi settled Hans and Raute, he took Gu Changfeng, Ding Zhicheng, Sun Xiaowang and more than a dozen captains and Cui'er sisters and brothers who had not started a family, and returned to Lao Dao's home together.

The second aunt leaned against the door with a big belly, looking at each other from afar, Ermao saw An Yi, and ran into An Yi's arms as if flying, An Yi hugged Ermao tightly, kissed him fiercely, put him down and took a step back, and looked up and down: "Yes, it's long." ”

"Uncle, why don't you ask the second uncle to come back with you?" Ermao stepped forward and held An Yi's hand tightly and asked loudly.

An Yi patted his head and said loudly: "I almost forgot, uncle, aunt, Ermao, Dongzi followed the last batch of graduates of the fifth phase of Huangpu to Nanjing on the 14th, and the brief graduation ceremony was held early the next morning, and he was immediately divided into the divisions of the First Army, Dongzi went to the first division of the First Army, and served as a trainee quartermaster under Senior Brother Hu Zongnan.

Hu Zongnan has all seen this person, it is the oldest short man who came to our house for dinner when he was in Guangzhou, he is now the deputy commander of the first division, stationed in Changzhou, Dongzi exercises under him, yes, don't worry. ”

"Did you see him in Nanjing this time?" Lao Dao asked.

An Yi shook his head: "I was unconscious when he arrived in Nanjing from Guangzhou, and later I heard that the commander's department strictly sealed the news of my reading division returning to Nanjing, and they were worried that the divisions and friends of the friendly army would come to visit and learn the truth, which would cause adverse effects, so they suddenly ordered the whole army to enter a state of special combat readiness, so many brothers in the First Army did not know about our reading division, and when I woke up, Dongzi and they immediately divided the divisions after holding a brief graduation ceremony, and Dongzi didn't have time to see me even if he knew." I discussed the assignment of Dongzi with Senior Brother Hu a few months ago, and if you can't lose him, you can rest assured. ”

The second aunt wiped away her tears and asked worriedly, "Uncle, why don't you bring Dongzi to you?" Your own brothers will have a good answer! ”

Lao Dao glanced at his wife unhappily: "Woman's opinion! It's because it's my younger brother that it's hard to keep it around, you know? Serve the food and drinks...... Come in together! ”

As soon as everyone sat down, Chang Baofang, Lao Han, Cao Fuming, Shi Lejun and other more than a dozen old brothers poured into the old building with their own wine and food.

An Yi smiled bitterly, got together with Gu Changfeng and Ding Zhicheng to smoke and chat, Cui'er had already walked into the kitchen to help the second aunt and the little nanny, and Ermao and the Zhuzi brothers played together.

Zong Xingzhen, the deputy of the special brigade, glanced around, didn't find Xia Jian's figure, turned to Lao Dao and asked, "Uncle Shi, does Xia Jian's family live in a small building on the left?" ”

Lao Dao nodded, and the second aunt came up and whispered: "Don't call him, and don't call them those brothers who have parents, so many people in the family can see through it, especially Xia Jian, the son has never seen his father since he was born, Xiaofang is too worried, he washes his face with tears all day long, and he cries until his milk is gone, you still don't let him stay with his wife and children for a while?" ”

The brothers sighed, Gu Changfeng sighed, and said loudly: "It's still not as good as the mother-in-law, stand up, lie down, and be free." ”

The brothers couldn't help but laugh, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

With the dishes on the tablet and the wine glass full, the old man who had been sitting stood up, strode to the incense case of the prince of heaven and earth, respectfully lit three incense sticks, and offered three cups of wine to the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth, and then poured a large bowl of wine, brought it to the front of his forehead, bowed three times to the tablet on the wall, recited words in his mouth, paused for a moment and took a few strange steps back to the incense, bent down and slowly poured a large bowl of wine on the ground, put down the bowl and shook his long sleeves, made a gesture with one hand, returned to the brothers and sat down, picked up the wine glass and said loudly:

"I have already brought wine to the brothers who will not come back, and they will not be hungry, so no one can mention anything unpleasant tonight, do it!"

"!"

The brothers didn't feel good in their hearts, they all poured one or two of the wine in the cup into their throats, An Yi was choked by the strong and fragrant wine, and Ermao, who was sitting in another seat with his mother and Cui'er sister and brother, hurriedly came up to beat An Yi's back, An Yi turned around and smiled, gave him a slap on the buttocks, and asked him to go back to eat, and then looked at Lao Dao and asked in surprise:

"This wine is strong, I think it has to be at least fifty-five degrees, and the taste seems to be very similar to Jinxian soju, who made it?"

"Brewed by subordinates, haha!"

After the old Han Tou finished speaking, he hurriedly got up and poured wine for An Yi and the brothers: "After the subordinates came back, Mr. Xi of the county seat was the matchmaker and married the girl of the Xie family, and the old man gave the wine boiling recipe and ten masters and apprentices as a dowry to his subordinates, so the subordinates took out a sum of money to buy a complete set of belongings for winemaking, and combined with the local method of Neijiang in his hometown, he made a higher number of wine, except for selling some in the lakeside restaurant under his subordinate, it was for his brothers to drink, not takeaway.

I heard that the master and the brothers returned to Nanjing, and dozens of men in the workshop began to work day and night three days ago, and only this afternoon did they get the best 200 catties of wine, and their subordinates sent it to Uncle Dao with the jar. ”

The brothers praised the old Han head loudly, An Yi snatched the small wine jar in the old Han head's hand, poured a full bowl into his big bowl, and dried three bowls in a row, only then put down the wine bowl in the stunned eyes of everyone, and shouted happily:

"Good wine! Good wine, old Hantou, make the workshop bigger, in the future, all the wine on our team will be supplied by you, you old Hantou is waiting to get rich, haha!

Drink, brethren...... It's home, we're finally home! How many times have I heard the brothers shouting in their dreams that my father and mother are thinking about my hometown, and my heart is ......"

"Whoa-la-"

Before An Yi finished speaking, he had already fallen backwards, Zhan Huanqi and Gu Changfeng beside him quickly helped An Yi up, An Yi burst into tears, and he was already drunk ......~~~~~~~~

(To be continued)