At dusk, An Yi sat on the high platform in front of the General's Temple, staring blankly at the four-meter-long and three-meter-wide sand table in front of him and his subordinates who were fighting fiercely, looking like he was nervously watching the deduced battle situation and progress of the offensive and defensive sides of his subordinates, but in fact, he was silently thinking about his own thoughts.

In just three days, great changes took place in the Second Division; because Commander-in-Chief Chiang deeply felt that the strength of the staff group was insufficient, and that the 22 nd Division, which was being formed, was in urgent need of experienced leading generals, Hui Dong, commander of the 6th Regiment, was promoted to the post of major general and staff officer of the General Headquarters, the commander of the 4th Regiment was promoted to the deputy commander of the newly formed 22nd Division, Zhang Hanzhang, deputy of the 6th Regiment, was promoted to colonel, and Liang Zihou, deputy of the 4th Regiment, was promoted to colonel and commander, and officers at all levels of the two regiments were promoted.

As a result, the commanders of the three main regiments of the Second Division, Liang Zihou, Wen Zhiwen, and Zhang Hanzhang, were all graduates of Whampoa, and even the model battalion directly under the division headquarters was played by him, An Yi, a Whampoa student, and the entire Second Division became a Whampoa descendant in the true sense of the word.

After thinking deeply, An Yi clearly realized the reason, it was the fiasco of the first division that better brought out the excellence of the second division, and through this large-scale adjustment of Principal Jiang, he realized that the weight of the second division in the principal's mind became heavier and heavier, and he also saw the principal's intention to rapidly expand the army and the sense of urgency that followed.

An Yi clearly knows that after the division expansion is completed, the next expansion object will be his model battalion, so he attaches great importance to the upcoming battle of Nanchang, after intense calculations and weighing, An Yi secretly made up his mind that this battle only needs to behave in a decent manner, and must not do a similar struggle in the Fengxin War, as long as this battle is passed smoothly and steadily, his model battalion will climb to a new level, and in the subsequent Northern Expedition, it will meet the cruel tests and development opportunities one after another with a new look.

"Report to the battalion commander, the principal, Deputy General Bai and other headquarters commanders are on the way to our battalion, about 800 meters away from the camp gate, and there are more than 30 members." The star officer Mu recalled and said loudly.

An Yi was taken aback, stood up and ordered loudly: "Brothers, put aside all the things at hand for the time being, and the commanders of each company and platoon will immediately rush back to each company, and only need to gather in place facing the high platform, this place is too small to show." Heralds, trumpets assemble, line up to greet! ”

"Yes!"

The loud assembly call suddenly sounded, lingering in the mountains, and Commander-in-Chief Chiang and General Bai Chongxi, surrounded by more than 30 guards, rode horses and came slowly.

The two heard the assembly horn, looked at each other and smiled, Bai Chongxi put down the binoculars, pointed to the observation post on the General's Ridge with a horsewhip and whispered, Commander-in-Chief Jiang took the telescope handed by Wang Shihe and observed carefully, looked at it for a while before finding that the observation post on the top of the mountain was well hidden, and said with a smile No wonder An Yi this kid blew the assembly number, it is estimated that we were discovered by his sentry as soon as we left the north of the city.

When the commander-in-chief and his entourage came to the camp gate, An Yi had already led the beard and Yin Jinan to line up neatly at the wide camp gate, raised his chest and raised his head, reported to the commander-in-chief as usual, and then turned to General Bai Chongxi, who was half a horse's head behind the commander-in-chief, and saluted solemnly, and greeted loudly: "Welcome to the guidance of Chief Bai!" ”

Bai Chongxi returned the salute with a faint smile, dismounted with the commander-in-chief, and walked into the camp under the greeting of An Yi and his party.

The brothers of the guard company and the companies directly under the battalion headquarters were already lined up on both sides of the road, one by one with their heads held high and in good spirits, waiting for the review, which made Principal Jiang and Vice President Bai very satisfied.

The sunset is gorgeous, the air is fresh, the bamboo trees of the General Ridge bathed in the afterglow of the sunset are verdant, the maple leaves are splendid, the small river under the mountain is clear, the flowing water is murmuring, the commander-in-chief is in a good mood, and he can't help but praise An Yi for picking a place to camp, An Yi said that when he first came, he was full of desolation, and it was estimated that no one could look down on him, so he was a cheap student. The commander-in-chief smiled slightly, and said that this is your blessing, your surname is honest and hardworking, so you don't need to force anything, everything will come naturally.

An Yi didn't have time to savor the deep meaning of Principal Jiang's words, and saw General Bai Chongxi looking around leisurely, looking full of interest, and hurriedly signaled Yin Jinan to accompany the principal, and leaned slightly to Bai Chongxi and whispered hello:

"My subordinates went to the headquarters several times, and I heard that the general had not returned from inspecting the Wuhan battlefield. Whampoa saw it as if it was yesterday, the general's voice and smile were deep in the minds of his subordinates, but unfortunately all the seniors who were fortunate enough to hear the general's lectures were all seniors in the previous term, and his subordinates did not have the opportunity to listen to the general's guidance and teachings, and they have always felt deeply regretful in their hearts. ”

Bai Chongxi looked at An Yi in surprise, and smiled himself when he saw the sincere smile on An Yi's face: "You have done a good job since the Northern Expedition, and your achievements are obvious to all." The choice of your camp and the construction of the camp are quite good, the arrangement of light and dark posts and firing points is accurate and rigorous, the appearance looks peaceful and upright, but in fact it is heavily guarded, and you are familiar with all elements of the art of war, and it can be seen that your foundation is quite solid, and in many aspects it is far beyond the level of many friendly generals. ”

"The general has won the award, please ......"

An Yi politely turned sideways and gave way to the stone steps to ascend the high platform, and returned to Principal Jiang to follow Wang Shihe side by side as he ascended the steps.

Wang Shihe approached An Yi and whispered: "Vice President Bai thinks very highly of you, he never says so much to the chief officials of various ministries when he usually goes down to inspect, he has never said anything and left after speaking, he has never commented in detail like today, and you have done a really good job." ”

An Yi said in a low voice: "Brother Wang, don't you know how many catties the little brother has?" Don't praise the little brother, before the Northern Expedition left, my old man said bitterly to the little brother, who has nothing to praise you, you have to be careful, at least you have to hold your purse tightly and be careful of money. ”

Wang Shihe, who is usually serious and self-disciplined and meticulous, couldn't help laughing, Principal Jiang and Vice President Bai, who were on the high platform, turned their heads when they heard the laughter, Wang Shihe closed his mouth in embarrassment, but An Yi grinned without any scruples, which amused President Jiang and Vice President Bai.

Both of them knew An Yi's easy-going and witty surname, so it was not surprising, but the huge sand table under the tree on the side of Gaotai University immediately attracted President Jiang and Vice President Bai, the two looked at each other and smiled, walked side by side to the sand table, and saw that the deduction was halfway up above, President Jiang nodded and asked An Yi which side of the hope is greater? An Yi honestly replied that it was a fierce fight, and the intensity was comparable to that of Wuchang City.

Principal Jiang smiled and thought it was true, he knew that tomorrow's siege battle was really not easy to fight, if it wasn't for the situation, he would never use the tragic siege methods again, so he not only did not blame An Yi for the recklessness in his reply, but thought that An Yi could see the hardships of this battle and still speak out, which was enough to prove that he had a good surname of true talent and honesty.

Bai Chongxi saw that the sand table was made so accurately, vividly, all kinds of signs were clear and clear, the wooden Nanchang city wall was reasonably proportioned and the orientation was accurate, the main streets in the city were all reflected one by one, the lakes and waterholes, the village houses and the large and small wharves on both sides of the Ganjiang River were all there, the road mileage and the width of the water surface of the Gan River within five kilometers outside the city were accurate to the measurement degree of meters, and even more than ten large and small sandbanks in the river were also displayed one by one, ten times more accurate and detailed than the map of the headquarters, and a group of onlookers from the General Headquarters were all moved.

Principal Jiang praised and liked it repeatedly, Bai Chongxi was surprised and asked in a low voice, "Camp Commander An, how is this sand table made?" And on what basis? ”

"This is the subordinate company platoon commanders according to the division headquarters issued a detailed map of the Nanchang area, and then through the six groups of reconnaissance members brought back the hand-drawn drawings to make a sketch, after the sketch is drawn, please come to our battalion to be familiar with the Nanchang City inside and outside the brothers one by one to confirm one by one, and constantly supplement and improve. The production of this sand table benefited from the two enemy company-level officers captured by our battalion four days ago, who had been guarding Nanchang for four years and were very familiar with the military strongholds and important settings inside and outside the city. An Yi replied proudly.

Bai Chongxi sighed slightly: "From the sand table, it is enough to appreciate your professionalism, as well as your rigorous and realistic fighting style, compared with those generals and colonels at all levels in the revolutionary army who don't even know what's going on on the map and can't even write a battle plan, your performance can be described as down-to-earth and conscientious, which is commendable!" ”

Who knew that An Yi didn't care: "It's nothing, as long as my battalion is a platoon commander and above, it is required that he must be proficient in mapping, map operations and sand table production." Originally, there was a master in this area in our battalion, named Cai Guangqing, and after the battle of Fengxin, he and the more than 80 surviving officers and soldiers under his command were transferred to the Fourth Regiment as a whole. Company Commander Cai skillfully mastered the sapper blasting technology, drawing construction drawings such as sapper bridges and fortifications, and he had a talent beyond ordinary people in drawing and judging the direction and distance...... A few days ago, I also asked Commander Chen to reuse him, and now that Commander Chen has left the Second Division, I don't know if the newly appointed Lao Liang knows the goods, if he doesn't reuse it, I will snatch people back, this passage is a faint pain when I think of Guangqing, my heart aches, he is my old brother at the beginning of the establishment of the model battalion......"

Seeing An Yi's sad expression, everyone couldn't help laughing, but Principal Jiang and Vice President Bai did not laugh, these two leaders with extraordinary wisdom knew An Yi's pain and reluctance, as well as An Yi's natural deep friendship and frank nostalgia, and at the same time, they were also deeply surprised by the military quality of the grassroots commanders of the model battalion.

Vice President Bai did not know the unique education and learning methods of the model camp, but Principal Jiang learned about the mystery in An Yi's recent reports, and supported the model camp to set up a teaching team and hold training courses for sergeants and above. Today, just from this beautiful and accurate sand table, President Jiang intuitively saw the results of An Yi's report, and he was deeply gratified that he had such an excellent student.

Vice President Bai lifted the brim of his hat, quietly hiding the thoughts that flashed in his mind, his brows stretched, his deep eyes with a faint smile, and he didn't pay attention to the simulation of the attack and defense of Nanchang City at the critical moment on the sand table, but kindly asked An Yi about the location for the erection of the pontoon bridge and the construction and protection plans.

Where does An Yi know Vice President Bai's thoughts? Seeing the look of encouragement in Principal Jiang's eyes, he hurriedly picked up the baton and reported in detail the site selection, construction plan, estimated time limit, security measures, force distribution, fire guarantee and other elements of the model battalion.

In the end, An Yi explained loudly that this was the result of collecting the opinions of all company and platoon commanders and repeated discussions among all battalion-level commanders, and it was a collective decision, not a strategy unique to me or any one person.

A frank and honest remark made the listener think deeply, and the shrewd person knew that An Yi's final statement not only flattered Shangfeng but also praised his subordinates, and he was very clever and sleek, Principal Jiang and Vice President Bai secretly praised in their hearts, and they were deeply impressed by An Yi's young age but a large part of the city government.

Bai Chongxi spoke highly of An Yi's return, affirmed the plan of the model battalion, and only made suggestions on the location of the second pontoon bridge:

"Normally, as long as the gunfire rings out in the early hours of tomorrow morning, the pontoon bridge one kilometer north of the Shengmi Ferry will be blown up by the enemy himself, but the Second Army has its own engineering troops, so you can ignore the direction north of the Shengmi Ferry. The first pontoon bridge you built 4.5 kilometers south of the river section directly west of Nanchang City is very reasonable, and it is a very good choice to make use of the sandbar in the middle of the river and greatly shorten the difficulty and time of construction. However, I suggest that you consider moving the second pontoon bridge to a section of the river 2.3 kilometres south of the first pontoon...... Here, the narrowest area of the river, but the construction of the pontoon bridge is more difficult, I wonder if you can complete it in three hours like the construction of the first pontoon bridge? ”

An Yi pondered for a moment and replied: "Fortunately, it is autumn and winter, and the water level has dropped a lot. This section of the river is about 68 meters wide, and the current is relatively fast, and the enemy would not have thought that we would build a bridge in such a section, and the pressure on defense is relatively small. If it is not required to carry artillery to pass, the subordinates are sure that it will be built in two hours, strong enough to run a series of horses, and if it is required to be consistent with the first pontoon bridge that must be able to carry artillery through, the construction time will take at least four and a half hours, and it will only be after the reinforcement of a company of brothers who have completed the construction of the first pontoon bridge can make a guarantee of four and a half hours. ”

Bai Chongxi smiled with satisfaction: "Very good, the second pontoon bridge only needs to be able to allow twenty horses to pass through it at the same time, it is already very good to be able to meet this standard, but I want to ask how you plan to build it?" ”

"It's very simple, at nine o'clock tonight, the subordinate sent a combat company to the construction site first, and then sent an engineer company to urgently requisition the better 50 of the more than 200 fishing boats on the Jinjiang River near Gao'an City, and moved the 19 ready-made integrated connection modules that were originally used in training in the west of the city onto the ship, and will definitely be able to arrive at the construction site at about 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, using the big trees, rooting stones and fixed wooden piles knocked down on the river bank to pull and fix, and only need to build a section of strong approach bridges four meters wide and six meters long at the shallow water on both banks. Then, the module connection and reinforcement can be carried out directly on the fifty fishing boats. Since the one-piece module has already been formed, the coarse chain and standard steel parts have been prepared, and it can be completed in one and a half hours if it goes well. ”

"Great idea!"

Bai Chongxi couldn't help but praise him, and Principal Jiang and a group of adjutant guards also applauded loudly, which made An Yi feel embarrassed and could only smirk.

Principal Chiang, who was full of interest, inspected again, and was deeply satisfied with everything in the model camp, and when he walked to the camp gate, he encouraged him in a harmonious voice, politely declined the request of the first lieutenant of the model camp to invite him and everyone to stay for dinner, and led the entourage out of the general's temple camp with a happy mood.

Seeing off the principal and Vice President Bai and his entourage, An Yi hurriedly returned to the sand table, staring at the section of the river where the second pontoon bridge was erected, thinking intently, and carefully recalling the plan that Bai Chongxi had quietly told him.

The brothers knew about An Yi's habit, and they didn't ask him to eat, but sat around the long table and watched An Yi squatting there motionless.

Two hours later, An Yi, who suddenly came to his senses, finally stood up, wiped the beads of sweat from his head, rubbed his numb thighs and knees, and sighed to himself:

"Sure enough, it's Xiao Zhuge ! He knows the combat effectiveness of all armies and divisions well, and his judgment of the enemy's various possible actions is exquisite and thorough, not only does he see clearly Lao Tzu's mind of not seeking merit but seeking no fault, but he can also be comprehensive and steady step by step, this dense scheming, such a keen foresight, I don't know how many years Lao Tzu will have to learn to have it......"

(To be continued)