An Yi, Yin Jinan, and Hu Jialin followed Shen Fengdao to the backyard of the division headquarters, and from a distance, they saw Li Meisheng kneeling in Xiaolangzhong and crying bitterly in front of the small incense case that was temporarily set up, on the incense case there was a tablet that seemed to have just been written, three plates of fruit and three small wine glasses were neatly arranged in front of a sandalwood square box, and a pair of white candles were swaying in the wind.

The brothers looked at each other for a moment, and gently came to the back of Xiao Langzhong, An Yi saw the content of the writing on the tablet clearly, and knew that Xiao Langzhong was paying tribute to his father, so he stepped forward and took out nine pillars of incense and lit it close to the flame.

Xiao Langzhong, who had a white cloth wrapped around his head, saw that it was An Yi, and hurriedly knelt to the left side, knelt straight and bowed down deeply to salute.

An Yi, Yin Jinan, and Hu Jialin lit incense, knelt down on one leg, and respectfully kowtowed to the tablet three and then inserted incense.

Xiao Langzhong nodded, and saw that Shen Fengdao was the last to incense his father, so he hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down:

"The disciple is grateful for the great kindness of the master, and he will definitely follow the master in this life to repay the master's kindness!"

Shen Fengdao hesitated for a moment, calmly inserted the nine-pillar incense, slowly turned to Xiao Langzhong and gently helped him up: "Mei Sheng, it's not appropriate for you to call me master, let's just learn from each other in terms of medical skills, you don't need to call any master, let alone follow you for life, I and you are like brothers, I was seriously injured at the beginning, didn't I also thank you for taking care of and healing?" Don't be so outlooked. ”

"Nope! If it weren't for the master who traveled thousands of miles and took the head of the enemy, the disciple would not know how to avenge the killing of his father in this life, and the disciple would be a cow and a horse for the rest of his life, and he would not be able to repay the kindness of the master, so I implore the master to accept the disciple! Xiao Langzhong struggled to kneel down again.

An Yi on the side shook his head, and the beard stepped forward to open the sandalwood box, and saw a huge head placed upright in the box, the whole head was cushioned by a thick layer of embalmed lime and an unknown dry herb, his eyes were still staring, and his face had not yet changed color, and he couldn't help but deeply admire Shen Fengdao's means of bringing this head here from Changde, Hunan Province after cutting off this head.

An Yi did not express his opinion on Xiaolangzhong's apprenticeship and Shen Fengdao's refusal, but walked to the incense case and glanced at the fat head in the box, then squatted down, picked up a stack of paper money, slowly spread it out, and burned it one by one.

Yin Jinan added wine to the three small cups of the memorial service, and also squatted beside An Yi to send paper money together, and Hu Zi soon joined in, and no one interfered with the affairs of Shen Fengdao and Xiao Langzhong.

In the end, it was Shen Fengdao who couldn't resist the stubborn Xiao Langzhong, and finally agreed to accept this disciple who already had a considerable level of traditional Chinese medicine, but Shen Fengdao told Xiao Langzhong very clearly: It is okay to teach medical skills, but he will never teach him martial arts. Who knew that Xiao Langzhong immediately knelt down, bowed three times and bowed nine times in front of his father's tablet and finished the apprenticeship ceremony, and respectfully shouted to the master, not caring if Shen Fengdao taught him martial arts.

After burying the head, removing the incense case, even if the ceremony is over, Xiao Langzhong's pale face finally has a relieved look, more than a year of hatred seems to be drifting away, after the big hatred snow, he no longer has a heavy psychological burden, and has a strong master, which is equivalent to the wandering prodigal son has a relative, no longer depressed and lonely.

Xiao Langzhong thanked Shen Fengdao, An Yi, Yin Jinan and Hu Zi, who had deep affection and trust in him, so from the moment he lit the incense candles, Li Meisheng, who knew how to repay his kindness and was full of loyalty, filial piety, courtesy, and righteousness, made an important decision in his life - to live with these teachers and brothers in this life, follow them for life, and never abandon them!

An Yi and Hu Zi walked and chatted back to the division headquarters, and Chen Zhibiao, the commander of the second regiment who had just returned to the station in the morning, sat in the hall and chatted with Zhan Huanqi and others easily. An Yi knew that there must be something wrong with him coming, so he walked up to him and sat down and looked at the commander of the regiment who didn't talk much but was very brave.

Chen Zhibiao hurriedly stood up and saluted, took out an invitation card from his pocket, and handed it to An Yi with both hands: "Division, this is the division seat, this is the second division of the Seventh Army stationed next to us, Commander Hu Zongduo personally asked his subordinates to hand it over. ”

"Oh? Chief Hu actually has such a Yaxing, he personally rushed to your regiment headquarters to deliver a letter? An Yi asked with a smile after reading the invitation.

"Yes, as soon as the subordinates returned to the regimental headquarters at the station after the meeting, they saw Chief Hu waiting on the platform, our division went to Xuzhou to purchase materials and transport the captured materials into Xuzhou, and both land and water lines had to pass through Chief Hu's defense area. Chen Zhibiao replied.

An Yi thought about it and nodded vigorously: "Okay!" Zhibiao, tomorrow you accompany me to the banquet, Chief Hu is also our old acquaintance, when he attacked Wuchang, we also made him a siege ladder, it seems that he is very nostalgic, and the legend in the army is that among the generals of the Gui Army, Chief Hu Zongduo's military talent is very prominent, only the fierce general of the Gui Army, General Li Mingrui, can compare with him, let's go to ask for advice together. ”

Chen Zhibiao happily agreed: "Division, the subordinates will leave if they have nothing to do, and they have to hold a meeting to implement the spirit of the division meeting when they go back." ”

"Okay, you go back, I'll arrive at your regimental headquarters on time at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

An Yi stood up and sent Chen Zhibiao out of the door, came back and sat down and whispered to the smoking beard: "Beard, why did you say that Commander Hu of the Seventh Army invited me to drink?" ”

Hu Jialin put down the document in his hand: "It's hard to say, but the two armies have been adjacent to each other for almost ten days, and it's normal for them to interact with each other, but I can't figure it out a little bit, why didn't the two divisions of the Seventh Army, which had strong combat strength, go north to Lunan?" Didn't General Wang Tianpei's two divisions rest inside and outside Xuzhou? On the defense side, it should be said that there is absolutely no problem, what are they waiting for? ”

An Yi walked to the front of the map and carefully checked the progress of the divisions of the Third Route Army, Hu Jialin also followed, the two exchanged for a moment, An Yi suddenly asked loudly: "Huanqi, what has happened in the Third Route Army in the past two days?" ”

"General Bai Wenwei's 33rd Army and General Ma Xiangbin's provisional 11th Army are still on the front line of Peixian and Fengxian, and have not yet launched an attack on Yutai and Jinxiang.

After Zhan Huanqi finished speaking, he saw An Yi turning to the map and added: "The radio received a telegram from General Feng Yuxiang to the whole country an hour ago, and he called on Wuhan and Nanjing to unite sincerely and continue to complete the great cause of the Northern Expedition. ”

An Yi raised half of his hand and stopped in the air, slowly turned around, and nodded slightly: "It seems that Wang Jingwei and Tang Shengzhi failed to persuade Feng Yuxiang to form an alliance with them, and Wang Jingwei and the others are likely to have left Zhengzhou and returned to Wuhan, otherwise, General Feng Yuxiang would definitely not have sent such a high-profile telegram to the whole country at this time." He did this for two reasons: first, to tell the world that he was a revolutionary who advocated unity and was determined to go on the Northern Expedition, and second, it was likely that General Feng Yuxiang openly conveyed a message to the Nanjing political axe, that is, he did not form an alliance with Wuhan.

This news is very important and is likely to signal a series of changes to be made in Wuhan...... Huan Qi sent a telegram to the old Nanchang base, asking them to collect a large amount of news from Wuhan from now on, especially declarations, announcements, and publicly released news and news, and send us the situation at any time. ”

"Yes!" Zhan Huanqi nodded and walked to the confidential room.

Hu Jialin asked: "Are you worried that Wuhan will give up the Northern Expedition and return to Wuhan?" ”

"Most likely, otherwise General Feng Yuxiang would not need to call for the continuation of the Northern Expedition, you see......"

An Yi turned to the map and raised his baton to elaborate on his judgment: "Our First Route Army is advancing rapidly under the command of Commander He, and after the five divisions have cleared the remnants of the enemy in northern Jiangsu, they immediately pressed to the area from Zhuzhuxi in the east to the south of Taierzhuang, and are engaged in battles with the combined forces of Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang in three sections of the eastern front; Two armies and one division of the Second Route Army commanded by General Bai Chongxi marched north along the two roads south and southwest of Taierzhuang, forcing Zhang Zongchang to retreat in great strides; Commander Li Zongren's Third Route Army was steadily advancing along the east and west banks of Weishan Lake, and it was stagnant for the past two days, and it was very likely that it was quietly watching the movements of the Henan side.

It can be said that our three route armies marched hand in hand, and the strong pressure formed by the entire front forced me to be anxious, and there was no indication or reason to think that our army on the Nanjing side would no longer go on the Northern Expedition, or that it would stop the Northern Expedition.

If the troops stationed in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng in Wuhan continue to force into the north bank of the Yellow River, do you think Feng Yuxiang will be so stupid as to watch the Northern Expedition of the two armies, and he still calls for the continuation of the Northern Expedition? ”

Hu Jialin nodded relievedly: "It makes sense, it makes sense...... However, do you think Wuhan is willing to give up a large area of Henan territory that it has worked so hard to build to Feng Yuxiang? ”

"This is also where I find it confusing, it stands to reason that no one wants to do such a stupid thing, but there are two situations that have to be taken seriously.

First, as a result of the economic blockade carried out by the European and American powers and our Nanking side for more than three months, and the military and political axes of Wuhan have been multiplied in these three months, they are already facing a very serious financial crisis, and we can see the effect of this economic blockade from the exponentially rising prices in Hubei and Hunan and the higher and higher prices of opium in the coastal areas. Second, the Sichuan warlord Yang Sen has just been beaten out of western Hubei by the Wuhan army, and it is difficult to ensure that the other Sichuan warlords and Guizhou warlords will not go down the east of the Yangtze River and continue to send troops to attack Wuhan and Hunan, because our commander-in-chief Jiang has money, as long as he is willing to give money, who do the warlords care who you fight?

And now the army in Wuhan is short of money, if the two lakes become a battlefield, they will not have a penny of taxes, how can they support as many as 250,000 troops? Even if they don't fight a day, they will have to pay more than 100,000 or 200,000 yuan a day to support so many troops and officials, if the two lakes are not guaranteed, where will they get the money? In this case, what should I do if I change you? ”

An Yi's thinking is getting clearer and clearer, and his vision is becoming broader.

Hu Jialin smiled convincingly and said: "After your reminder, I finally understood!" Having said that, General Li Zongren's defense area is on the edge of the Wuhan army, and it is very likely that he wants to release the changes in Wuhan in the past few days. ”

An Yi nodded: "I think so too, judging from the way General Li Zongren fought and commanded in the past, he is a very cautious person. However, judging from the current situation, Wuhan will not be stupid enough to take the initiative to attack General Li Zongren's team, all along, General Li Zongren has maintained a fairly good relationship with the various armies, before we left the Yangtze River and went north, General Li Zongren personally went to Jiujiang to persuade General Zhu Peide to adopt neutrality is an example, when Ninghan split, if it were not for General Li Zongren's resolute [***], he would definitely not be rejected by the Wuhan side, and General Li Zongren would not have invested in the side of Nanjing's political axe, so far, General Li Zongren is still swaying, Reluctance to take a stand.

The day before yesterday, after the meeting between Wang Jingwei and Feng Yuxiang, they jointly issued a statement restricting the activities of the Communist Party, which made it impossible for General Li Zongren and Wuhan to have no essential differences, and Wang Jingwei, Tang Shengzhi, Zhang Fakui and others were not representatives of the workers and peasants at all. Eventually, the contradictions between the two sides will inevitably be provoked, as can be clearly seen from the sudden change in the attitude of Wang Ching-wei, who has always regarded himself as a leftist and a thorough revolutionary.

In this way, they are no different from General Li Zongren, the enemy has become a friend in a blink of an eye, and a friend has become an enemy in a blink of an eye, and we have not seen such a thing since the Northern Expedition. ”

"It's scary to hear you say that, if the team around us is like this, it will be a headache!" Hu Jialin looked at An Yi with concern.

An Yi smiled: "It shouldn't be so soon, isn't the principal going to come to Xuzhou to inspect the day after tomorrow?" When the time comes, I'll ask him about it, and if there are any hidden dangers, let's take precautions in advance.

What I can't figure out now is, why did General Hu Zongduo invite me to drink at this time? Strictly speaking, I don't have anything to do with him, and the first time we met was when the two of us met him together in Wuchang City. ”

"Will it be like that Li Zhifan last time, who wants to pull you into General Li Zongren's camp?" Hu Jialin asked.

An Yi replied truthfully: "I don't know, but there is a possibility, of course, it is also possible that we are too careful, and it is not necessarily." Last time, Adjutant Li somehow let the principal know about it, but fortunately, I didn't have that mind at all, and the principal didn't pursue it.

To tell the truth, although General Li Zongren is a very outstanding handsome talent, he is far from reaching the height of the principal, at least in terms of political ability, and the management methods and training methods of the troops under his command are incompatible with us, even if he becomes the emperor, there will be no use of our force, and a military commander will send us away, but once he wants to be the king and hegemon, he will definitely make enemies everywhere, and with his experience, he will not be recognized by the Kuomintang at all, let alone have a bitter hatred with him. ”

Hu Jialin smiled: "It seems that you have already known it in your heart, okay!" Tomorrow, you go, go to find out the news, I heard that Hu Zongduo was the senior brother of Chief Bai when he was in the Baoding Military Academy, and when Chief Bai unified Guangxi, he and Tao Jun invited a few old classmates from Hubei to help, and it is estimated that he has also won the trust of Chief Li Zongren, and he must know more than others about something. ”

"Just a meal of wine, I'll come back after drinking, you and Jinan have to take care of it in the past two days, I'm worried that the principal will return to our defense area on a whim, and the security and defense area vigilance must be carried out in advance, and there must be no leaks." An Yi commanded.

"Understood! I'll do it myself. ”

(To be continued)