On the night of February 17, 1933, the first group of people who had retreated with the army left Domsk by special car, and via Vladivostok they changed to the steamer Zhizhi Unharmed and sailed to Tanggu, Tianjin, and then to Beiping. Five days later, on February 22, 40,000 volunteers left Domsk and traveled overland to Tacheng, Xinjiang, to return home. The arduous long march began.

Special cars can't carry too many people, and the ship Harmless can't carry a large number of people. The first group to go to Tianjin by boat were only one or two hundred officers and the families of the martyrs. The rest of the soldiers and their families had to follow the brigade to Xinjiang on foot.

The military flag was unfurled, the embroidered ribbon was fluttering, and a large army marched with difficulty in the snowy wilderness, which was the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army who wanted to return to China through the Soviet Union.

After leaving Domsk, for three days, the volunteers walked through the deserted wilderness. For three days in a row, I didn't even meet a single family on the road. The road back to China for the volunteers is a deserted road. A few hundred meters away from the main force of the Volunteers, there was a Soviet cavalry, always following the pace of the Volunteers. It is said to be an escort, but in fact it is surveillance.

The Volunteers retreated into the territory of the Soviet Union in early December and reached Domsk. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were stranded on the outskirts of the city for nearly three months because of negotiations between the Nanjing government and the Soviet authorities. The small city of Domsk is small in size and has a small population, and there is simply not much surplus food to feed these 40,000 soldiers and civilians. Even if the Volunteers took out the money, they couldn't buy enough food.

For more than two months, except for a few people who were able to buy food from the city, the volunteers basically lived on food brought from China. Compared with the lack of food and clothing of other troops, the Second Brigade of the National Salvation Army has a little more money, and with the five truckloads of flour that Hu Fei got from Ivanov, it can really last for a while to save food.

At this point, Zheng Runcheng naturally stopped talking to Hu Fei about reselling the big tobacco. Hu Fei exchanged the grain for the tobacco and soil, so that the second brigade had a large part of the food reserve than the other troops. At a time when all the troops' food was about to bottom out, with these five truckloads of food, Brigade Commander Zheng's waist was of course harder than others.

It is a short road from Domsk to Tacheng in Xinjiang, and it is initially estimated that this road will take at least two weeks. The rest of the food is only enough to last for five days at most, and what will happen for the next ten days? The leaders of the various volunteers met each other, and they all had a bitter face.

Eh, someone suddenly remembered that Zheng Runcheng had become! I heard that Brigadier Zheng got several truckloads of grain from the Soviets before he set off! Let's go and borrow food from Brigade Commander Zheng!

If you don't want people to know, you can't do it unless you don't know it. Hu Fei bought the truckload of flour from Ivanov, he thought he was doing it secretly, but in fact, all the leaders of the Volunteer Army basically knew about it. It's just that at that time, the big guys were not short of food, and no one cared. Now that food is scarce, I think of it.

Zheng Yuncheng didn't know what was going on. Hearing that the generals invited him to a meeting, Zheng Runcheng thought that the big guys had invited him to discuss the future of the march. In fact, he was right to think so, borrowing food was not inseparable from the march.

After arriving at the tent where the meeting was held, the generals waited for Brigade Commander Zheng to come in, greeting each other with a smile and grinning, and even those who usually didn't talk much came to the front and took the initiative to say hello to Brigade Commander Zheng. Zheng Runcheng sat down in the middle of the crowd in a daze.

The meeting officially began. At the beginning, I talked about what had happened in the army in the past three days like a formality, and then looked forward to the future. Then some generals began to complain, saying that their ranks had been cut off, and that some elderly people and children had not eaten since noon, and so on.

There are more and more people complaining, and the scene is a bit chaotic when they talk about it. This one said that there were old people and children in his army who were starving, and that one immediately retorted: You won't let the soldiers eat after the old people and children are full? This is the case with our troops, none of the old people and children are hungry, but the soldiers can now only eat half full at each meal.

Another simply stood up and said that he had started to limit the supply, drinking only one bowl of gruel per person per meal!

In the midst of the noise and shouting, Brigade Commander Zheng gradually heard the clues. Zheng Runcheng is not stupid, not only is he not stupid, but he is still smart! Seeing that the situation was not right, Brigade Commander Zheng stood up and was about to leave: There is still something in my team, let's get together another day!

He wanted to leave here, but the people over there blocked the door! You can't go, how can you go before the meeting is over? A few people came over and pulled Zheng Runcheng to the seat down. Zheng Runcheng's face sank down and he was a little angry, "Yang Yaojun, Ying Zhanbin, Liu Wankui, what are you going to do?" ”

Liu Wankui's nickname is Liu Kuaijiao, I think he was also the leader of a Hu bandit at the beginning, and he took refuge in the Volunteer Army in order to resist Japan, which can be regarded as the same background as Hu Fei.

Seeing this Liu Kuai-legged and smiling at Zheng Runcheng, he hugged his fist, "Brigade Commander Zheng, brother doesn't dare to be disrespectful to Brigade Commander Zheng, it's just that he wants to ask Brigade Commander Zheng for help with something." The more than 500 brothers under my brother will have nothing to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning, and I will let go of this face quickly, I beg you Brigade Commander Zheng, send kindness to those who stutter! ”

Liu Kuai's legs were really open, and after finishing speaking, seeing that Zheng Runcheng didn't say anything, he suddenly knelt in front of Zheng Runcheng with a bend of his knees, and knelt in front of Zheng Runcheng with a "poof", "Brigade Commander Zheng, Master Zheng, please save my five hundred brothers!" As he spoke, his eyes turned red, and he even cried. I don't know how he became the leader of the bandits in the first place?

Liu Kuaijiao took the lead, and others followed suit. There are those who kneel down with Liu Kuai's legs for Zheng Runcheng; There are those who really can't wipe their face, bend over and bow with their fists, and do whatever they do anyway. The main meaning is only one, that is, let Zheng Runcheng relieve food!

Ouch, this is a difficult time for Brigade Commander Zheng! Don't give it, right? These people are all volunteers, and they are all brothers who resist the Japanese. Give, right? I gave them my own food, and what did the 4,000 soldiers and civilians on my side eat? How to survive the remaining ten or so days?

At this time, Zheng Runcheng remembered that Hu Fei was here, if Hu Fei could buy a few more truckloads of grain from the Russians, how good would it be? He also knew that Hu Fei had actually made himself miserable in buying grain!

He Zheng Runcheng threatened the tobacco dealer Ivan at the beginning, saying that he would hand him over to Vasily, the commander of the Domsk Military District, but he scared Ivanov so much that he has never leaked his face since! If he hadn't intervened in this lever, Hu Fei would have bought a few more times of grain from Ivanov, and the current situation would not have been so sad! Zheng Runcheng regretted it and wanted to give himself a shot!

But the most helpless thing in the world is that you have done something wrong without selling regret medicine, and you can't get it back if you want to regret it! The wrong thing has been done, and there is no way to change it! Even if he apologized to Hu Fei, where would he go to find that Ivanov now?

"Ladies and gentlemen. You are all soldiers, please pay attention to the image of soldiers! You are persecuting Brigade Commander Zheng like this, but it is so unseemly! Please take your seats, brother has something to say! ”