In the west wing of the Pan family compound in Mengyuan, Feng Jieyun was lying on the bookcase in front of the window, staring blankly at the fine rain outside the window, looking at the Beigu Mountain looming in the rain and mist in the distance, only to feel that his mood at this time was as gloomy and empty as the whole world.

Zhou Ruoting, who was sitting on the left side of the bookcase, put down the books in her hand again, walked back and forth a few times nervously, and leaned on Feng Jieyun's crisp shoulder and asked in a low voice:

"Do you really want to see General An later? I'm worried that he went out early in the morning to patrol the camp and didn't come back, their camps are all around Zhenjiang City, and it will take a day to walk around, not to mention that General An is busy with affairs, and it is estimated that he will have to stay for a long time everywhere, not to mention that it has rained for so long, I am really worried that it will be difficult for him to return to the camp in the city tonight. ”

Feng Jieyun straightened up her weak willow-like waist, raised her hand and gently patted Zhou Ruoting's arm, opened her clear and bright apricot eyes, and said softly:

"I think General An will go back to the city, in the morning I heard the little soldiers who received us say that every three nights, General An will give lectures to the newly recruited student soldiers, including the only female soldier company of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and all of them will listen to the class, tonight is General An's teaching time, he will not come back, we must seize this opportunity to ask General An in person, as long as he agrees, no one can stop him......"

There was a noisy voice from the front hall, Feng Jieyun and Zhou Ruoting clearly heard the words "army evacuation", and in surprise, they both ran out of the door and came to the front hall.

Pan Henian and his wife sat on the Taishi chair, their faces were also full of surprise, and they kept asking what was going on with the two family members who came to report? Pan Henian saw Feng Jieyun and the two anxious looks, smiled reluctantly, pointed to the chair next to the pillar and motioned for the two to sit down, turned to the two wet family members in the hall and told them to speak in detail.

The young man kept wiping the rain from his hair and face, and answered Pan Henian's question with great certainty:

"It's true, sir, the little one collected the accounts at the Ximen Bridge Pharmacy, and saw that the hundreds of people and horses living in Jinshan Temple had withdrawn, and a group of masters in the temple were sent to the Ximen Bridge under the guidance of the master supervisor, and many neighbors asked why the revolutionary army that was marching south suddenly left?

Under the repeated questioning of everyone, a bearded officer dismounted and told Uncle Qin, who was selling cigarettes at the opposite door, that they had been ordered to drive westward and could not delay for a minute, and before leaving, they kept thanking the people of Zhenjiang for taking care of them for such a long time.

The neighbors were reluctant, and many people ran home to take out boiled eggs and sugar cakes to give away, but none of the officers and soldiers accepted them, and they all politely refused. The little one remembered the master's advice and didn't dare to delay, so he immediately ran back to report to the master, ran to the north street, and saw a cannon pulled by three mules, not entering the east camp but driving directly to the south, followed by more than 100 pack horses all loaded, it seems that it is the same as those military masters in the direction of Jinshan Temple, and evacuated our Zhenjiang overnight. ”

Another family member who is about forty years old also reported loudly: "The little one only understood when he saw the military master surnamed Han who was in charge of purchasing in the big camp, he hurried to Beishi with a few subordinates, settled the rice grain and meat money purchased yesterday door to door, and also gave Qi Lao Wu two packs of cigarettes to kill pigs, and the shopkeepers of various shops surrounded him and asked why he left suddenly, why didn't he say it earlier to prepare some gifts to send him off, that Han Junye first didn't want to reveal anything, and then he couldn't resist everyone's incessant inquiries, so he secretly told us, They were going to Longtan in the west, and they pointed to the north and confidently said that he would go to Bengbu in two days to buy supplies. After he left, everyone checked it, and they knew that the Northern Expeditionary Army should be going to cross the river and go north, and I heard that the army on the Wuhan side had already driven to the border of Henan and Hubei, and it seemed that the war was about to start again. ”

Pan Henian praised the two loyal family members, waved his hand and asked the two to go back to the shop to take a good look, stood up and whispered to his wife: "I have to go to the camp in the east to see, the Northern Expeditionary Army is about to be pulled, and I, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, can't help but send ...... Xiaojuan, go get me ready. ”

"Yes, sir."

The plump little maid strode to the inner room.

Feng Jieyun and Zhou Ruoting were anxious and asked Pan Henian to take him with him, Pan Henian agreed very happily, and said kindly that it would be good to send it together, after all, everyone has a relationship and is a friend.

Feng Jieyun and Zhou Ruoting thanked them gratefully and hurriedly went back to the room to change their clothes, Mrs. Pan scolded her husband unhappily for not taking the two girls, Pan Henian explained happily: That is, to meet and say goodbye, General An's troops are urgently mobilized, where do you still have the heart to recruit any female soldiers? This time you can stop the idea of the two girls, let's explain to the eldest brother and sister-in-law and the old man, if you don't let them say goodbye, maybe they sneak out but it's not good, it's better for me to come and see it safely, and wait for the eldest brother and sister-in-law and the old man of the Zhou family to arrive tomorrow.

After a while, Pan Henian, Feng Jieyun, and Zhou Ruoting walked out of the Pan family's compound with a big oil umbrella under the waiter of the family maid, Pan Henian looked at the gray sky, took out a pure gold pocket watch to look at the time, sighed and walked forward, Feng Jieyun and Zhou Ruoting held an umbrella together and followed closely.

Walking more than 70 meters to the north, he saw a group of heavily armed officers and soldiers marching towards the west of the city in the rain.

When they came to the street, Pan Henian and the others could only stop and wait for the team to pass, he looked up at the gate of the camp in the east, and happened to meet Yin Jinan, who came by horseback.

The polite Yin Jinan looked quite surprised when he saw Pan Henian, Feng Jieyun and others, turned over and dismounted and stepped forward politely to salute: "President Pan, it's raining, it's getting dark, you are ......"

Pan Henian immediately gave up his hand and said with regret on his face: "Oops...... I also heard people say that the army is about to be pulled, so I hurriedly came to say goodbye, and in the afternoon we came to the camp to sacrifice the army and hold a meeting, who knew that you were about to pull out in a blink of an eye, we were not prepared at all, not a respect...... Where are you going, Sir Yin? Why don't you notify us, so that the representatives from all walks of life in the city can say goodbye. ”

"Thank you, President Pan! For such a long time, my reading group has received too much support from all walks of life and people in the city, and I wanted to visit President Pan with General An to thank and say goodbye to President Pan before the final evacuation tomorrow morning, but I didn't expect you to come out in the rain. The first battalion on Jinshan has been evacuated, and after nearly 1,000 brothers have eaten at the Runzhou camp in the south of the city, we will have to join the third battalion and go to the west first, and our artillery battalion will also go to the second battalion in the southeast of the city to assemble, and we will also rush to the west with the first and third battalions overnight to report to the commander of the theater that I will lead the model battalion to the old camp at Ximen Bridge to garrison, and when the second-line friendly troops coming from the south tomorrow morning are finished, we will all have to leave Zhenjiang...... There will be a period later! Yin Jinan saluted and was about to get on the horse.

Pan Henian hurriedly stepped forward and called Yin Jinan: "Chief Yin, please wait a moment, I wonder if General An has come back from his patrol camp?" The contemptible people hope to see each other and say goodbye, these two girls in the family have a relationship with General An and get along very happily, and they also want to do the courtesy between friends! ”

Yin Jinan glanced at Feng Jieyun and Zhou Ruoting, who were anxiously looking forward to it, hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice: "I can't accompany me in military affairs, so I ask President Pan to go to Yuanmen to ask the star officer on duty to report, General An just returned from a meeting at the former enemy headquarters in Longtan an hour ago, and he is presiding over a small meeting at this time, if he knew that President Pan would come to the door in person, he would definitely take the initiative to come out to greet him, and there is President Lao Pan!" ”

"Thank you so much!"

Pan Henian politely bowed his hand, thanked him repeatedly, and watched Yin Jinan turn over his horse and leave quickly surrounded by a group of guards, he exhaled heavily, strode towards the east gate, and forgot to take care of the two delicate girls for a while.

Feng Jieyun and Zhou Ruoting didn't care so much, they quickly caught up with each other, and they didn't feel anything when they stepped into a small puddle that didn't reach their ankles.

At ten o'clock in the evening, the official residence of the General Headquarters of Nanjing Xiyuan.

Yin Zusheng, deputy director of the General Staff Office, took the telegram handed by the intelligence staff officer at the door, nodded, closed the door, glanced at it hurriedly, and strode to the front of the map, Commander-in-Chief Jiang and Ge Jingen and other nine headquarters generals:

"An Yi called: The raid detachment has successfully crossed the river and sneaked to the predetermined position, and Xia Jian's 1st battalion has successfully assembled on the front line of the Seventh Ferry Willow Forest. In addition, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, Chief He, sent a telegram that the divisions of the First Army and the two divisions of the 26th Army were to march towards Jiangyin one after another according to the order, and General Liu Zhi led the Second Division to arrive at Jiangyin Fortress first. ”

Commander-in-Chief Jiang nodded with satisfaction: "Half the success." ”

Ge Jingen used a blue marker pen to draw an arrow on Liangjiawan, eighteen kilometers southwest of Yangzhou on the map, turned around and praised with a smile:

"Commander-in-chief, An Yi's ability to act is really amazing, and he actually carried a 38-kilogram radio station to carry out operations, this kind of combat method of infiltrating surprise attacks by small-scale troops directly commanded by the division headquarters is the first time that his subordinates have seen it, this is an unprecedented precedent in my [***] team, including this army, if it weren't for the commander-in-chief who just told An Yi's special operations thinking in detail, his subordinates would never have imagined that An Yi would have such a precise and efficient combat method, this tiger general is amazing!"

Commander-in-Chief Chiang returned to the sofa in front of the large map and sat down, took a glass and drank boiled water, and said to the generals with emotion something that had nothing to do with this battle:

When other students asked me for cars, trucks and heavy weapons, An Yi only asked me for radio stations, mortars and automatic light weapons, he never made any unwarranted requests, nor did he ask me for money, but instead submitted his excellent military reports to me, and contributed dozens of cannons, light and heavy machine guns, thousands of prisoners and a large number of horses captured in repeated battles, and let the superiors distribute them without complaint. has never been proud of this and stretched out his hand to be an official.

When others went to the prosperous cities of Nanchang, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, they indulged in their sensuality and enjoyment, but he and his officers did not slack off in their training in a down-to-earth manner, and all the heavy weapons of his reading regiment were captured by themselves, and they also contributed more than 3.5 million yuan worth of equipment to our army in all previous battles.

It is precisely with this kind of open-mindedness that he fought very beautifully and skillfully in every battle, and even Li Delin (Li Zongren), Li Renchao (Li Jishen), Zhu Yizhi (Zhu Peide), Bai Jiansheng (Bai Chongxi), the famous military commanders who shocked the whole country, also looked at him with admiration and admiration. ”

The generals stood silently, realizing that Commander-in-Chief Chiang had taken this opportunity to make a meaningful speech, so no one wanted to miss a word.

Commander-in-Chief Jiang glanced around and continued: "However, some people have made small reports to me, saying that An Yi is greedy for money and is doing everything he can to loot, saying that every time An Yi's troops win a battle, they will make a fortune from the dead, and they also say that An Yi has [***] style of acting.

These people who made small reports didn't see what An Yi was doing with the money, they didn't see that An Yi's troops were the best treatment and welfare units in the whole army, they didn't see An Yi build factories in old Nanchang to house his subordinates and military families who were disabled in the war, and they didn't see the huge amount of money An Yi spent to improve his combat effectiveness.

Today I would like to express my stance and clarify this issue, because if we do not make such a problem clear, it will seriously affect the building and growth of our party and our army, and it is very wrong to push batch after batch of very outstanding young generals with great prospects into the camp of our opponents. ”

General Zhu Shaoliang, director of the Military and Political Department, stepped forward half a step: "The commander-in-chief is right, the extraordinary period is the time to employ personnel, and we must not allow the signs of infighting in the army. The subordinates thought that no matter according to military merits or qualifications, An Yi already had the ability to take charge of himself, and if it was implemented according to the promotion practice since the Northern Expedition of our army, An Yi should now be a lieutenant general and division commander.

This time, in order to boost morale and win the hearts of the army, the Wuhan side promoted a number of educated middle-level commanders of various armies and commanders from the first, second, and third phases of Huangpu to the first rank, and the number of people who became lieutenant generals and major generals in their twenties increased by 17. In this way, people can better use their talents to stimulate morale. ”

"Report!"

Yin Zusheng, who received the urgent telegram, had to interrupt the conversation of several bosses: "Commander He Yingqin has called, the large-scale feints of the divisions of the First Army have triggered a strong reaction from the enemy troops on the north bank, and the enemy on the opposite side of Jiangyin has carried out a blind shelling of the Jiangyin fortress on the south bank for fifteen minutes. ”

Ge Jingen said happily: "The enemy has been mobilized, which proves that An Yi's plan has achieved very good results, and the An Yi Department has implemented the deceptive strategy of feigning to withdraw from Zhenjiang and go to Longtan to assemble from four o'clock in the afternoon, it is foreseeable that there will be a large-scale transfer of troops by the enemy, and the enemy in Yangzhou will lose the opportunity to get reinforcements."

The subordinates suggested that after the successful attack of the An Yi Division, we should not retreat, but stick to it and wait for reinforcements, and we could completely transfer the third division of Gu Mosan, which cooperated with the feint, to Zhenjiang, and then transfer the two divisions of the Second Army stationed under Qixia Mountain to Zhenjiang to cross the river for reinforcements, occupy Yangzhou in one fell swoop and hold on to it, and completely tear through the enemy's defense line in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so as to achieve the goal of forcing the enemy to retreat on the whole line, expand the depth advantage of our army in the shortest possible time, and avoid the possible backwater battle when crossing the river on the whole line. ”

Commander-in-Chief Jiang stood up and walked a few steps lightly, looking up at Wu Jingheng and Liu Wendao, the chief and deputy directors of the Political Training Department: "Brother Zhihui and Brother Yongqing, can you hold a large-scale Northern Expedition oath meeting at 11 o'clock in the morning tomorrow?" ”

Wu Jingheng and Liu Wendao glanced at each other and nodded: "No problem, our ministry can send a notice to all ministries, major newspapers, foreign news agencies and major social organizations in Nanjing overnight, and there is no problem in holding a grand gathering of 100,000 people." ”

"Tomorrow is May Day, and the party headquarters already has a grand mass celebration to be held in the stadium, so it is only necessary to send a garrison unit and a division's headquarters guard unit, and then let the various armies stationed in Nanjing send some officers and men to hold a military parade holding high the banners of the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh armies, which is by no means inferior to the ceremony in Wuhan."

Liu Wendao, who was proficient in various organizations, confidently made a suggestion, since he saw through Tang Shengzhi's transfer to the camp of Commander-in-Chief Jiang, how could he let go of this opportunity to show his ability.

Commander-in-Chief Jiang nodded: "Okay, it can be decided, Brother Zhihui and Brother Yongqing can immediately send a telegram to General Li Delin in Wuhu and General Zhu Yizhi in Jiujiang in the name of the Political Department and myself, asking them to come as soon as possible to attend the swearing-in meeting, I think they will not miss it, the commanders of the Sixth Army and the Second Army are in Nanjing, I will personally call them to attend tomorrow morning." ”

"Understood!"

Wu Jingheng and Liu Wendao both left, and they will have to stay up all night tonight.

Only then did Commander-in-Chief Jiang turn to Ge Jingen: "Marquis Zhan, I agree with you, you can immediately send a secret telegram to Gu Mosan, ordering him to lead his troops to Zhenjiang before eight o'clock tomorrow morning, quickly cross the river to take over the right-wing combat mission of the An Yi Ministry, and work with the An Yi Ministry to directly lead Yangzhou City without stopping!" As for the Second Army, you can immediately call Dai Yue and ask him to come to see me immediately, and I will personally give him an order to lead his troops to Zhenjiang by special train to rush to the aid of An Yi, and after crossing the river, turn westward, cooperate with the Sixth Army, which is carrying out artillery bombardment in the south, and storm the enemy of Yizheng from the east and occupy it! ”

"Yes!"

Ge Jingen strode over to the telephone.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang finally turned to Zhu Shaoliang, the director of the Military Administration Department, motioned for him to sit down with him, personally brought the tea brought by the guards to Zhu Shaoliang, and whispered to this junior disciple who also graduated from the Zhenwu Military Academy and completed his studies at the Army Non-commissioned Officer School:

"Yimin, I was deeply touched by your proposal just now, the war is imminent, and it is indeed urgent to raise our spirits and set an example, so that our soldiers and the young generation of heroes can see a bright future.

I agree with your opinion just now, tomorrow I will commend An Yi's department, and upgrade the reading group to a reading division, which is still in the first army sequence. Rank...... Just stay still for the time being, so that they can motivate themselves and make persistent efforts in the subsequent Northern Expedition to make new contributions. Outstanding middle-level generals and colonels of other ministries will be uniformly assessed by your military and political departments and submitted to me, and I will approve them in the shortest possible time. ”

"Got it!"

Zhu Shaoliang nodded happily: "How to survey the compilation sequence of An Yishi?" ”

Commander-in-Chief Jiang smiled slightly: "Just let him report it himself, and then the Ministry of Military Affairs and the headquarters can confirm it, An Yi's combat style and methods are different from any army, we still don't want to give him too many constraints, however, we have to choose a party representative for him, and I will determine the candidate." An Yi is very smart, he will know how to do it well. ”

"Yes!"

(To be continued)