In the early morning of 9 July, the advance battalion of the 1st Division of the 1st Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the direct engineer battalions of the 1st and 2nd Divisions gathered in the northern suburbs and set off ahead of schedule as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition.

The task of the engineer battalion directly under the Second Division is to widen the mountain roads and strengthen the bridges in the border area between Shaoguan and Chenzhou, so as to facilitate the smooth northward movement of the baggage convoys of all units of the whole army. The Anyi Third Company, which has repeatedly performed miraculous feats, is naturally regarded as the main force in road construction.

"These two horses are okay, go quickly, I'll take the team."

Hu Zi led two sparkled maroon pack horses to An Yi and Yin Jinan, and Yin Jinan, who was wearing a straight military uniform, hurriedly took the reins.

An Yi looked at the long queue of people going north in front and behind: "Huzi, wait a while, you can find an opportunity to find Lao He, and ask him to give us a few more pack horses, we even have so many things to equip ourselves, only twelve horses are not enough, the brothers will be very hard, and the marching speed will be slower and slower, how can we do this?" ”

"Okay, I'll go to him, the quartermaster department has collected a thousand oceans from us up and down, and they won't give us this face. You two go quickly, it's too late later. ”

Hu Zi looked at his watch and urged An Yi and the two to go to the East Campus to attend the graduation ceremony and the Northern Expedition Pledge Conference.

An Yi nodded, took the reins handed by Yin Jinan, turned over and got on the horse at the same time as Yin Jinan, and the two of them swept away with a light whip between their legs.

The historic Northern Expedition swearing-in meeting will be held today, and the graduation ceremony of the fourth phase of Whampoa will be held before the swearing-in parade, and more than 2,000 graduates who have been assigned to various armies will return to the East Campus to participate in the grand military parade with the original companies and brigades as units.

An Yi and Yin Jinan, as well as 13 other outstanding graduates of the fourth phase, were selected as the student representatives of the current batch to take the oath and receive the saber presented by the president Chiang Kai-shek.

Colorful flags flew inside and outside the East School Field, and the trumpets sounded, An Yi and Yin Jinan had to dismount more than 50 meters outside the West Gate through two heavily guarded sentry posts, and handed over the reins to the two cadets who were on guard duty, and before they could thank them, the two students saluted An Yi and Yin Jinan: "Seniors work hard!" ”

An Yi took a closer look and laughed happily: "Li Hong, Tang Shouzhi!" Ha ha...... By the way, aren't you also going to go on the Northern Expedition with the military headquarters? ”

Li Hong, an engineer scientist who is old, replied: "We may have to leave a few days late, and we will definitely be able to meet with the two seniors at that time. ”

Yin Jinan and An Yi both like this single-eyelid friend from Xiangyin, Hunan very much, and everyone met a lot when they were in school, and Li Hong was two years older than An Yi and Yin Jinan, so there was no distance at all when they spoke.

Yin Jinan happily replied: "I can't ask for it, let's even serve as a trainee platoon commander, your knowledge and ability are not worse than ours at all." ”

Li Hong waved his hand humbly, and when he heard the unique assembly horn of the military academy, he hurriedly called the two seniors to go in quickly. Tang Shouzhi, a step scientist on the side, looked at An Yi's backs with envy, and gently gave Li Hong a punch: "The two seniors are both capable people in the fourth phase, and the comprehensive training method summarized has been introduced into our school training, and they have been awarded the title before they graduate, which is hard to match!" Brother Zhizhen, you are really blessed, you have met such a good senior, and you will definitely be able to lead the troops as you wish this time. Alas, I'm in trouble, there are too many of us in the Buke, and I'm afraid we can't get to the first line if we fight for our heads. ”

"I also believe that this time I can get my wish, although Senior An Yi is informal, but in principle, he never does things, and he will definitely be able to do it; Senior Yin Jinan really never jokes, which is well-known among our teachers and students in the engineering department. Li Hong smiled confidently.

An Yi and Yin Jinan showed their documents to enter the West Gate, found the flag of the military academy in the military flags in the sky, the two ran to the front of the team through a square team, and before they had time to say hello to many comrades who had been reunited for a long time, they were driven by the instructor to the front of the square team of the engineer brigade, according to the original habit when they were in school, An Yi and Zhang Tianyi were still the main and deputy leaders of the second district team, and Yin Jinan ran into the team, showing his usual modest smile in the envious congratulations of a group of classmates.

"Lizheng--Music-"

The audience immediately fell silent as the password sounded, the military band played a triumphal song and a military song, followed by the speeches of the ministers one after another, and after standing for an hour, President Jiang Shanshan walked to the microphone and delivered the famous Northern Expedition speech. His speech seemed calm, but between the lines there was an indomitable and impassioned fighting spirit.

At the end of the principal's speech, the audience applauded thunderously, and the slogans were noisy, boiling for more than three minutes.

Vice President Li Jishen walked to the microphone and loudly announced the start of the fourth phase of the Huangpu graduation ceremony, the majestic Huangpu Military Academy anthem was played, and more than 2,000 ambitious and extremely proud Huangpu students sang in unison: "The angry tide is surging, the party flag is flying, this is the revolutionary Huangpu ......"

The singing stopped and the applause thundered, and the more than 2,000 Huangpu fourth-term students located in front of the rostrum marched forward in unison under the majestic command of Vice President General Li Jishen.

Under the leadership of the chief of education of the military academy and the political department, 15 representatives of the outstanding cadets of the fourth phase, including An Yi, Yin Jinan, Li Mi, Zhang Lingfu, Yang Jie, Wen Qiang, and Liu Yuzhang, ascended the rostrum in high spirits and lined up neatly in the eyes of the crowd, waiting for the principal to personally award the soldiers with the coveted sword that symbolizes status and glory.

The military horn sounded loudly, the military band played a military song, President Jiang and Vice President Li Jishen walked towards their students surrounded by a group of senior officers and officials of the military academy, starting from Gao Kuiyuan, the first on the right, solemnly and hopefully handed the sword slowly to his students, and every time he sent a sword, Principal Jiang had to whisper a few words to his students, calling out the names of his students, and cordially greeting how they are doing in today's army? Many students were so excited that they burst into tears, and when they saluted and shook hands with the vice principal and the teachers behind them, they were already speechless.

An Yi was the first to come to power, but he was the last to receive the sword.

Principal Jiang led a group of school officials and teachers to An Yi, who was standing tall, nodded with satisfaction, and asked kindly, "Where is your company?" ”

"Report to the principal, the third company of the engineer battalion of the second division of the first army set off at five o'clock in the morning, and the students were located four kilometers in the northern suburbs when they left, and they should arrive at the Tongde Village Railway Station at this moment and wait for the bus to Shaoguan." An Yi replied loudly.

Principal Jiang smiled slightly when he heard such a detailed report: "Very good, I am very satisfied." An Yi, you are an outstanding student of our Huangpu Phase IV, the school teacher is proud of you, and I am also very proud as the principal, I hope you will make persistent efforts, make further progress, and move forward with determination, and strive for greater honor and merit for the military school, for the revolutionary army, and for the division commanders! ”

"Students remember the principal's teachings!"

An Yi's voice replied even louder, making the photojournalists on the side tremble, and the smoky flash in his hand almost fell to the ground, attracting a sideways glance from the officials.

Principal Jiang couldn't help but smile when he saw it, took the sword given by the adjutant, slowly handed it to An Yi, and whispered a surprising sentence:

"An Yi, you are enterprising, capable of writing and martial arts, funny and witty without losing principles, it can be said that you are proficient in all eighteen kinds of martial arts, and your whole body is a knife when your edge flashes!"

An Yi excitedly took the sword with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and whispered respectfully to the principal who was staring at him with a smile: "Headmaster, the student is stupid and doesn't know how to restrain, and he knows that he is wrong!" Seriously, students are like a panacea that can be wiped with any disease, and there is no sharp knife all over the body, only the sword given by the principal today is the sharpest knife on the student's body! ”

Principal Jiang was overjoyed when he heard this: "Good! Good! Worthy of being my student...... An Yi, keep your surname, don't change it, if you do, it won't be you, haha......"

The officials listened to it funny and laughed, Li Jishen waited for Principal Jiang to turn around and leave, came to An Yi to return the salute, quietly looked at the student in front of him who made him very important, remembering what he had just said to Principal Jiang, Li Jishen knew that he couldn't get this genius, and he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

Who knew that An Yi suddenly whispered something, which moved Li Jishen so much that he almost lost control: "Uncle Li, I don't know when the younger generation will see you again, you ...... Take care of your body, you may wish to go to the British hospital in Shamian for your old waist injury, where there is a set of treatment for back injuries. ”

Li Jishen nodded slowly with great relief, stretched out his hand and patted An Yi's shoulder: "I heard it...... Xiao Yi, I know you are brave, but you have to judge the situation and plan before acting, you are still young, you must guard against arrogance and rashness, and be good at summarizing, understand? ”

"Younger generations keep it in mind!"

An Yi solemnly gave a military salute, watched Li Jishen turn around and leave, and respectfully met with the later school teachers one by one to receive blessings and teachings.

Then he and more than a dozen proud sons who carried the honor and hope of all the comrades of the fourth phase turned to the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the audience, raised their hands and solemnly saluted the military, and walked off the rostrum amid thunderous applause.

After the enthusiastic oath was taken, with the command of the master of ceremonies, the grand military parade began, and the second district team was arranged as the advanced pacesetter district team of the fourth phase in the first position of more than a dozen graduate teams. The flag-bearers served by three outstanding instructors of the military academy took the lead in setting off under the escort of the flag guard, the honor guard phalanx composed of students and soldiers followed closely behind, and An Yi, who was in front of the phalanx of the second district team, gave a loud order, led his own team to follow behind the honor guard of the military academy, walked to the rostrum with firm steps, and accepted the review of nearly 100 lieutenant generals and party leaders on the stage.

Subsequently, representatives of the elite troops of each army all appeared on the stage, pushing the swearing-in parade ceremony one after another.

The ceremony ended at noon, and An Yi took Yin Jinan to wander around the crowded camp, shaking hands with his classmates in the fourth phase and talking goodbye to jokes.

At this time, An Yi returned to his usual open-mouthed and witty style, fighting with the brothers everywhere, and causing bursts of uninhibited laughter everywhere.

Seeing that time was flying, An Yi and Yin Jinan said goodbye to their classmates and rode on horses to chase their company, and the swords hanging on the belts of the two officers were very conspicuous, swaying up and down with the gallop of their mounts.

Yin Jinan slapped his horse to catch up with An Yi and asked loudly: "Big brother, what did you say to the principal on the stage just now to make the principal laugh so happily?" ”

An Yi laughed: "You want to know?" ”

"Yes, I'm the closest to you, but your voice is so small that I can't hear clearly."

"Haha! It doesn't hurt to tell you about it, I told the headmaster that the hilt of this sword is too ugly, and that when I get rich one day, I will definitely redecorate it with white gold and precious stones, haha......"