After Wu Cunxiao, squad leader of the reconnaissance unit, and three comrades rushed back to the unit's station, they reported the information they had collected to the unit's intelligence department. It was not just their four-person detachment that was reporting, but as the distance between the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and the Hubei New Army became closer and closer, the reconnaissance unit probed for intelligence in formations of four or two, and determined the route on which it could march.

Completing their mission, the scouts rushed back to their station, munching on compressed biscuits and salted duck eggs while pointing at the map and telling the agents about the information they had gathered. Some soldiers ran hundreds of miles of mountain roads in a day, and their bodies were already very tired, so they simply wrapped themselves in quilts and lay down to sleep.

After Wu Cunxiao finished reporting his work, he was about to get up to receive the next task, and the soldier Li Chengdong who was standing next to him hurriedly grabbed Wu Cunxiao, and Li Chengdong said in a low voice: "Squad leader, I think let's take a rest first." ”

"What? Can't stand it? Wu Cunxiao asked.

"We want to be part of the next battle." Li Chengdong said excitedly. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was to attack an enemy twice as large as itself, and it would be a fierce battle. Judging from the current situation, when the battle begins, it will be impossible for the reconnaissance units to have the physical strength to participate in the battle. There was no such thing as a "one-time expendable" in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, and when it was time to rest, the troops not only did not force everyone to go into battle, but also forced them to rest.

The other two fighters also nodded their heads in support of Li Chengdong's idea. When selecting and promoting personnel for reconnaissance units, the most important thing is to be determined and have a serious attitude. One of the basic functions of the reconnaissance unit is to explore the road, and they not only have to take the big road, but more often they have to take the small road, and a large part of the time they even have to take the wrong road. The reconnaissance troops have taken the wrong road, and the troops can take less wrong roads when they march and fight. If you don't have strong willpower, you won't be able to accept this kind of hard work in the first place. If the scouts were talking nonsense, the impact on the battle would be terrible. Therefore, the quality requirements for scouts are even higher than physical fitness.

Since the Scouts are such good warriors, they naturally don't want to miss the battle. In particular, the encirclement and annihilation of the 31st Standard of the Hubei New Army was a crucial battle. The mobilization slogan of the troops this time is "Annihilate the 31 standards, and there will be no big war in Anqing." "The analysis of the war has reached every fighter, and everyone knows what it means to fight. So no one wants to miss this battle.

Resisting the urge to fight in his heart, Wu Cunxiao persuaded him: "Comrades, if we can't fight, it must be because we have done a good job in reconnaissance work, and we have run all the way we should run. Let's think about it, after we have run so many roads, we are tired like dead dogs, and it is irresponsible for everyone to go to the battlefield. Comrades, we can't just think about being a red flower, someone has to be a green leaf, and someone has to be cow dung. You said that after a battle, that link can be missing? Since we are a reconnaissance unit, we must first do our own work well. Chairman Chen repeatedly stressed that in order to be the screws of the revolution, we should not think so much and concentrate on doing our work well. ”

Chairman Chen Ke's words were all brought out, and it was naturally impossible for the soldiers of the reconnaissance unit to oppose Chairman Chen Ke's teachings. But everyone's eagerness to fight was on their faces.

Wu Cunxiao tilted his head and asked, "Comrades, don't you think that exploring the road is too boring and tiring?" ”

"Squad leader, I'm afraid you think so." Li Chengdong hurriedly explained, "Which of our reconnaissance troops has not fought more than a dozen battles, large and small, but now such a critical battle cannot be fought, and I feel panicked." ”

"Yes, just explore the way, don't fight, and our hearts are not steady." The soldier next to him hurriedly said.

"Why can't you be unsure?" Someone next to him asked loudly in a clear voice. Everyone turned their heads to look, but it was Lu Zhengping, the political commissar of the army.

"Commissar!" The soldiers hurriedly saluted, "This time we did all the work ourselves, so we didn't feel at ease." ”

Lu Zhengping did not speak immediately after returning the salute, not only the soldiers were not down-to-earth, but also the party committees, including Lu Zhengping. After all, this battle was not an order given by Chen Ke himself, and without Chairman Chen Ke's order, the comrades always felt that something was missing.

"Did everyone come according to the plan, according to the training on weekdays, and the experience accumulated in the battle?" Lu Zhengping asked.

"It's all done." The soldiers looked directly at Lu Zhengping and replied firmly.

Seeing that the comrades were so serious, Lu Zhengping smiled and said: "That's okay, comrades, these are all taught to us by Chairman Chen, and Chairman Chen also fights like this." According to Chairman Chen, it is absolutely true. ”

"Political Commissar Lu, after all, we have a small number of people, and we did our best, but if something happens, how can I be worthy of my comrades." A scout said. Many scouts also feel the same way, the more prepared they are, the more suspicious places they will find, but the soldiers of the reconnaissance unit are also people, and in this unfamiliar area, it is impossible for everyone to finish every trail on the mountain road, and they have done their best.

"Comrades, do you believe in our comrades-in-arms?" Lu Zhengping asked. This question, which seemed to have nothing to do with what the scouts feared, stunned the comrades.

Lu Zhengping continued: "The comrades of the army absolutely believe in everyone, and where you say that there is a road, everyone believes that there will definitely be a road. It is true that we will encounter all kinds of problems in the course of fighting, but I hope that you will lay down your burdens and believe that the comrades of the army will be able to overcome all difficulties and annihilate the 31st standard. So, everyone now concentrates on their work, gathers the intelligence, and then quickly rests. Rest assured, when you need to fight, I will never let my comrades be left behind. When we are victorious, we will ask the comrades of our reconnaissance unit to rush back immediately to report the good news to Chairman Chen, and Chairman Chen will definitely be happy. ”

Lu Zhengping's words have untied the knot in the hearts of many comrades, and this battle is completely different from previous battles. Not only is the supreme commander no longer Chairman Chen, who convinces the comrades, but the initiation of this battle was also decided by Zhang Yu and Lu Zhengping. Although Chen Ke allowed the Anqing troops to make their own choices, the psychological impact of different commanders could not be ignored. Chen Ke's status is recognized by all cadres and fighters, but the status of Zhang Yu and Lu Zhengping is given by Chen Ke. After all, the base area has only been built for more than a year, and the so-called "qualifications" have not formed a deep-rooted idea at all. Especially Lu Zhengping, there are many people in the reconnaissance unit who joined the army at the same time as him.

When Lu Zhengping assured everyone that the members of the reconnaissance unit would "report the good news" to Chairman Chen, the comrades felt relieved. With so many people in the reconnaissance unit, it is naturally impossible for them all to go back to "report the good news" to Chairman Chen. What the comrades are concerned about is that the work of the reconnaissance unit itself will be praised by Chairman Chen, and whether it is their turn to go back and report in person is not so important.

After solving the psychological fluctuations of the reconnaissance troops before the war, Lu Zhengping returned to the headquarters with the map that had been preliminarily drawn. Zhang Yu hadn't slept much for two days, and he was surrounded by the map with his comrades in the combat section with red eyes. The landform of Yingshan County is known as "three mountains and two rivers", and the whole territory is dominated by middle and low mountains, and there are many rivers. This also means that there are also many possible combinations of roads.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, which was absolutely inferior in numbers, was not ready for a simple frontal battle with the Hubei New Army, but wanted to achieve victory in the form of a war of encirclement and annihilation. This requires the most comprehensive knowledge of the terrain and, on that basis, overwhelming efficiency in the use of firepower. All of this needs to be supported by a detailed map.

Looking at the dense road signs, Zhang Yu felt a pang of irritability in his heart. Intelligence has become a burden at this time, and it is not easy to choose what to do. Zhang Yu closed his eyes, and recalled Chen Ke's command for the first time in his heart. Chen Ke's command is not complicated, Zhang Yu feels that Chen Ke always seems to have picked a line at random, and then followed this route to the end. For Chen, it all seemed like a no-brainer. There was neither restlessness nor anxiety. At least Zhang Yu had never seen Chen Ke show uneasiness and anxiety.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu opened his eyes. He tried to get rid of all his other thoughts, and his mind only thought of finding the most effective and reasonable route to march. I don't know if this mindless attitude played a role, or if the accumulated experience played a role, anyway, Zhang Yu finally determined the five siege routes. The Operations Section analyzed the five routes and found that there was no problem. There is no special basis for this kind of analysis, unless the large army has personally tried it one by one, otherwise evaluating the map, each route has its own rationality, and it will definitely be able to find a bunch of faults.

The battle plan for the five-way siege was finally finalized.

The 31st Standard of the Hubei New Army did not know that their fate had been decided on paper, and at this time they slept soundly, and the long-distance march on the mountain road was very physically exhausting, especially energy. The 31st Standard had no experience in mountain marching, let alone mountain warfare. They are still in the border of Hubei, and with their imagination, they would never have imagined that the "bandit army" would actually besiege the official army in Hubei. The mountain wind was very cold, and a third of the soldiers contracted the wind chill for various reasons. It's either a cold or fever or sore legs and feet. This is also the reason why they march extremely slowly.

After dawn, the 31st Standard did not continue to set off, but continued to camp in the same place. Mountain marches lacked a reliable source of water, and the higher the altitude, the more inconvenient it became, and it took a lot of effort to collect water just for people to drink from horses. The officers and soldiers must also have the "grandeur" of the officers and soldiers, and if they do not get enough water, it means that the marching "preparation" is insufficient, and the commanders of the 31st standard are still unwilling to pull out. The officers also have their own difficulties, and the reward given for this dispatch will not be enough, and if they "coerce too much," God knows what will happen.

By the time the people and low-ranking soldiers brought enough water, it was almost noon. After drinking the water and filling the bamboo tube with water, the huge team of 31 standards slowly tossed on the mountain road for a long time before finally continuing to move towards Yingshan County.

Zhang Yu looked at the actions of the 31 targets in the telescope, and he suddenly understood why Chen Ke could always easily make up his mind to fight, and he could get the planned victory every time. How can you not win a war with such waste? The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army set out at four o'clock in the morning, and the troops advanced lightly, spending five hours walking more than 40 miles of mountain roads. Originally, everyone was determined to have a stormy sports war. As a result, after all the units entered the predetermined positions, the 31st standard had not yet set off. Now they are four miles from the "pocket", and at their speed, God knows how long it will take to get into the pocket.

Zhang Yu decided not to waste time with this group of Manchu waste, and he gave an order to the Operations Section, "The whole army rests." ”

The comrades of the combat section did not raise any objections at all, after running on the mountain road for so long, everyone was really tired. Soon, in addition to the vigilantes, the officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolution, including Zhang Yu, all lay down and slept at the ambush site. Today, the sky was clear, and in a relaxed and tranquil situation, there was no murderous aura on both the ambusher and the ambushed. The distance between them is decreasing very slowly.

Zhang Yu didn't sleep very deeply, he woke up a few times intermittently, and every time he woke up, Zhang Yu thought that he was about to hear the voice of the combat section personnel waking him up. But he didn't hear it, and fatigue soon conquered the youth. Until the last time he woke up, because of the recovery of energy, Zhang Yu suddenly had a great panic in his heart, did the combat department oversleep? Isn't it already a place where the enemy has been spared? Fear drove away the little sleepiness left, Zhang Yu jumped up from the ground, he hurriedly ran to the observation point and looked down with a telescope, only to see that the Manchu troops were still acting in such a hurry, most of the team had entered the encirclement, and less than one-fifth of the troops were still outside the attack range.

"Didn't I sleep at all?" Such a thought suddenly came to Zhang Yu's mind. I woke up repeatedly just because I accidentally took a nap. Thinking of this, Zhang Yu took out his pocket watch, and the pointer moved at a large angle from Zhang Yu's last look. Zhang Yu rubbed his eyes, and then he was sure that it took Manqing a full three hours to walk less than four miles. And judging from the present, the troops of the 31st Target actually have plans to bury the pot and make rice. No wonder the comrades in the combat section haven't woken themselves up until now, Zhang Yu completely understands what is going on.

"As soon as they stop, let's fight." Zhang Yu ordered.