The winter sun shines through the window to warm people's hearts, and it seems that today is a rare good weather in the Sichuan Basin.

Liu Yimin got up and stood in front of the window, lit a cigarette, squinted his eyes and looked out of the window, the street was still bustling, it seemed that the people of Chengdu did not realize that the Sichuan soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the garrison headquarters were no longer the original Sichuan army, and they were still shopping, drinking tea, playing mahjong, listening to plays, and setting up dragon gate formations as always, as if today was the same as yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before yesterday.

Liu Yimin turned around, looked at the party committee members in the conference room who were waiting for him to answer Cai Zhong's question, and said in a low and powerful voice: "Chief of Staff, send a report to the headquarters that our division has occupied Chengdu at noon on the 5th, and now we continue to disguise the Sichuan army to enter the rest. From tomorrow, the red flag was raised and the Red Army entered the city. Now Liu Xiang is judging what kind of action our army will take when it enters Sichuan. It is advisable to withdraw the troops behind the palace to avoid losses. I am looking forward to the headquarters arriving in Chengdu quickly. ”

Liu Jianli went to send a report, and Liu Yimin smoked a cigarette again and didn't say a word.

Cai Zhong said: "Division commander, just now I asked you how to reorganize the troops, but you haven't answered. ”

Liu Yimin didn't raise his head: "Don't worry, wait." When the headquarters arrives in Chengdu, we will talk about it after asking for instructions. ”

Cai Zhong was unwilling, thought for a while and said: "We captured two regiments of Sichuan troops and one security regiment in Leshan, and four regiments of Sichuan troops in Chengdu. In addition, we also captured the Yibin Security Regiment and the Chengdu Security Regiment, if our army does not want it, let them flow into the society, but it will be troublesome. ”

Liu Jianli said: "I suggest that a few more regiments be formed, because the Chengdu Plain has sufficient troops, and there are more people who want to join the Red Army, so there is no problem in pulling eight or nine more regiments." ”

Liu Yimin thought to himself, what he said was so simple, without the consent of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, casually expanding the number of troops, at least in the small sense that there is no concept of organization and discipline, in the big way, it is to pull the mountain. In the past, the army was expanded in the passage and Zhenyuan, because he served as a rearguard and had the power to read and fight, and he didn't know if he could come back alive, so he expanded, anyway, the Red Army was in adversity, and the leaders hoped that the team would expand! But what's going on now? After the Zunyi Conference, [***] officially came to power, and the troops were no longer the dilapidated 18th Regiment, but the elite of the Central Red Army. Besides, Chengdu has been occupied, and it is about to converge with the central government, and there must be an order for such a big thing as the expansion of the army. Otherwise, after a few years, if someone with ulterior motives talks nonsense, won't he have to talk about it for a long time? Of course, Liu Yimin is not afraid of the later Kang Sheng and his ilk making trouble, since he has crossed over, he has no intention of giving those people a chance to exist and develop.

It's also strange that with the strength of the guard division, it should have been upgraded to a corps a long time ago, [***], Vice Chairman Zhou, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu would not be invisible, why didn't they give the order to upgrade it? Is it still a matter of seniority?

You have to calm down, and you must wait for the central government to call back.

Liu Yimin threw away his cigarette butt and said: "What the political commissar and chief of staff said is reasonable, but the problem is what about the cadres? The regiment commander is easy to do, and now there are several who can serve as the regiment commander, but the question is what about the battalion commander, company commander, platoon commander, and squad leader? In particular, squad and platoon commanders, without a time-tested squad and platoon commander, it is impossible for the combat effectiveness of the contingent to go up. Don't discuss this matter anymore, wait for the headquarters to call back. As for the surplus prisoners, each regiment was allowed to add a supplementary battalion, and the others were placed in the fire support battalions of the regiments and the divisional artillery regiments, engineer regiments, and baggage regiments for education and training. It is necessary to resolutely suppress those reactionary officers who have a lot of blood debts. Career officers who are not very angry with the people can be converted into the Red Army at best, and those who cannot be converted are handled according to the prisoner policy. ”

Li Qing said: "Report to the division commander, I suggest that the training team be rebuilt, and the target should be those old Red Army soldiers who have not yet served as squad and platoon commanders, and strive to train them in rotation as soon as possible, so that they can be qualified for the work of company commanders, platoon commanders, and squad leaders." ”

Huang Su said: "I want to ask, the commander and political commissar of the new corps have been withdrawn, what should the new corps do?"

Liu Yimin felt that there was still a lack of cadres, so he had no choice but to let the division leader work part-time. said: "For the time being, this is arranged, with Division Commander Feng concurrently serving as the teaching captain, Wu Zheng concurrently serving as the political commissar of the recruit corps, and Zhang Yicheng concurrently serving as the regiment commander." Political Commissar, Master Feng, Political Commissar Huang, what do you think? ”

Without waiting for Cai Zhong and Huang Su to answer, Feng Dafei asked, "What about the instructors of the teaching team?" ”

Liu Yimin said directly: "Don't bother me about these things, you can discuss it with the political commissar." ”

After speaking, Liu Yimin stopped talking and smoked alone.

A few people sat bored, wanted to go, and did not adjourn. If you don't go, the division commander and the political commissar won't speak.

Wu Zheng said: "Report to the division commander and political commissar, or I will go to work first, and just notify me directly of anything." ”

Liu Yimin then remembered that this was a party committee meeting, and he didn't say that the meeting would be dismissed, and everyone couldn't leave. Dizzy, my brain is running away again. Busy said: "The meeting is over, everyone hurry up and rest." Division Commander Feng arranged for the whole city to be on guard, and he had to sleep with his eyes in mind, so as not to let the enemy take advantage of the loophole. ”

Feng Dafei said: "Please rest assured, I will arrange it carefully." ”

After the meeting was adjourned, the cadres were busy, resting and resting, and there was not a single person left. Liu Yimin walked to the lounge next to the office of Li Hongkun, commander of the Sichuan garrison, and fell asleep, dreaming.

I slept until 8 o'clock in the evening, and when I woke up, the whole city of Chengdu was already wrapped in sporadic lights.

After washing his face, he was about to call Li Chengyi to dinner, when he saw Cai Zhong, Liu Jianjian, and Li Qing walking in with two telegrams and a happy face.

As soon as Liu Yimin saw the expressions of the three of them, he knew that the good thing he was looking forward to was coming. Sure enough, without waiting for him to speak, Cai Zhong said: "You kid, you have been promoted again." Congratulations, Commander Liu and Commander Liu! ”

Liu Yimin said: "What nonsense? What Commander Liu, Commander Liu, dizzy! ”

Cai Zhong said: "The Central Revolutionary Military Commission telegraphed, appointing you as the commander of the Chengdu garrison, and at the same time rebuilding the Red Seventh Army Corps based on the guard division, you are the commander of the corps!" ”

Liu Yimin said in his heart, I'm waiting!

But when the order really came, it felt a little fast and sudden, and I felt a little uneasy.

When I took the telegram, it was written that Liu Bocheng was appointed mayor of Chengdu and Liu Yimin was appointed commander of the Chengdu garrison. Look at the other letter, it is written that the Red Seventh Army will be rebuilt on the basis of the Central Guard Division, with jurisdiction over the Red 11th Division, the Red 12th Division, and the Red 13th Division. Liu Yimin served as the commander of the corps and acting political commissar, Cai Zhong served as the director of the Political Department, and Feng Dafei served as the chief of staff. The list of cadres of each division was studied and submitted to the General Political Department of the Red Army.

After Liu Yimin read the telegram, he felt a little strange, why didn't he send a political commissar? Doesn't that make your burden heavier? The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I seemed to be missing a helper, and I was a little depressed.

Cai Zhong reached out and touched Liu Yimin's forehead, he didn't have a fever, so what did he do to the army commander, but he was unhappy?

As soon as Cai Zhong's hand touched Liu Yimin's forehead, Liu Yimin sobered up, damn, he was stupid again, fortunately it was a few of his old buddies, if he changed someone else, it would be a big shame.

"Political commissar, this order of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission has reduced the number of leadership positions in the army so much at once, what can I do?"

Cai Zhong said: "What should I do? To tell the truth, a few of us have little seniority and limited ability, and we can't reach the command position at the corps level. The Central Committee asked me to be the director of the political department of this corps, probably because I think that I have always been with you and am relatively familiar with it. However, Comrade Huang Su turned out to be the political commissar of the Eighth Army Corps, and this time the Central Revolutionary Military Commission did not know why he was not appointed as political commissar or director of the political department. Personally, I think that I am more qualified for the division-level post and the regiment level, which is a bit reluctant. ”

Liu Yimin smiled and said: "Compared with me, you are an old revolutionary, if your qualifications are shallow, I will be ashamed." ”

Cai Zhong shook his head: "It's different." The guard division can leave anyone, but it can't leave you. After the fiasco of our Red Army in Xiangjiang, we can have today's situation, and everyone will remember your merits. Strictly speaking, you're also a lifesaver for a few of us. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have revolutionized to the end in Xinwei. ”

Liu Jianli continued: "The political commissar is right. Think about it, I was almost shot in the defense of the Soviet area, and when I began to transfer, I and Li Qing, Gao Yuan, Zhang Hongtao, Chen Dayong, Hong Chaoyuan, Zhao Shan, Wang Nanhu, Li Deguang, and Chen Dazhong were all escorted away as criminals. After breaking through the blockade line three times, we were temporarily released from detention because the combat tasks of the troops were too tight. You may not believe it, but several of us are crawling and rolling to catch up with the troops. Who would have thought that I would meet you by the Xiangjiang River, and I followed you to fight these beautiful battles. With this experience and achievements, I feel honored to die now. What kind of job is not a job? ”

Liu Yimin knew that Cai Zhong and Liu Jianli would be wrong, and understood his worry about not being lazy as being afraid of the cadres' ideological fluctuations. But that's good, at least you can know what a few old guys are thinking. It seems that I still underestimated the consciousness of these Red Army soldiers in that era! You can't just use the psychology of the officialdom of later generations to guess them, that is an insult to them.

Liu Yimin immediately smiled: "Let's go, let's go eat, call Lao Feng, Lao Huang, Wu Zheng and a few of them, take Moutai wine, and celebrate!" ”

Cai Zhong said: "At the party committee at noon, you just emphasized that you must resist corrosion and never get wet, and now you are leading us to drink, it's not appropriate." ”

Li Qing said: "I think it is appropriate, it is a joy to take Chengdu, it is a joy to upgrade the guard division to a corps, and it is a joy to be promoted to the division commander. ”

Liu Yimin said to Li Qing: "Drinking is drinking, you have to quickly find the newspaper to print the news that Chief of Staff Liu is the mayor, this cannot be delayed." ”

Cai Zhong smiled and said: "You are an afterthought, the telegram from the headquarters will arrive in the afternoon, seeing that you are asleep, a few of us discussed it, and then we found the newspaper to publish it." You know what? The president and editor of the newspaper were paralyzed. It was the fighters of the guard battalion who lifted them up. ”

Liu Yimin laughed happily when he thought of the shocked appearance of the newspaper editors, and even said, "Okay, okay, let's go drink." ”

Early the next morning, the citizens of Chengdu who got up early found that something was wrong, why were red flags flying on the city gates, municipal axes, and garrison headquarters? The Sichuan army standing guard didn't know where to go, and changed into Red Army soldiers with gray uniforms, red hat badges, and red collar badges. Damn, the Red Army has entered Chengdu! It's been a change!

The citizens rushed to tell each other, and for a while, the citizens of Chengdu poured into the streets to watch the Red Army soldiers.

After the morning newspaper came out, the literate people also knew the news of the Red Army's occupation of Chengdu, and the teachers and students of the school, and the doctors and nurses of the hospital all ran into the streets.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the Central Guard Division held an entry ceremony at the south gate.

Feng Dafei didn't know where to find a military band, standing on the city gate and knocking on it.

The entrance ceremony began, and the first to go was Hu Laohu's cavalry battalion, and the chess players controlled the speed of their horses, riding in a row of three, neatly passing through the city gate and advancing along the main road.

Then came the ranks of the artillery regiment. The artillery of the two artillery battalions and the regiments of the division were all concentrated, and the soldiers carried mortars through the city gate majestically.

Then there was the heavy machine gun regiment, four people carried a heavy machine gun, a full 162 heavy machine guns, and the audience who watched the soldiers jumped in their hearts: "I said that the Sichuan army is gone, such a powerful firepower equipment, if you don't run, you can only do it." ”

It was the turn of the infantry regiment, with the battle flags of the first regiment in front, followed by the battle flags of the second and third regiments, guiding the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh regiments, as well as the engineer regiment and the baggage regiment, to step into the city gate with neat and majestic steps. Feng Dafei waved his hand, and the song of "Three Disciplines and Eight Attentions" flew out of the team, and one company after another sang it until it entered the center of Chengdu.

When have the people of Chengdu seen such a majestic and civilized army, so almost the whole city was dispatched, watching, chasing, and discussing while watching. There were also those citizens who could not find their relatives who were on errands in the garrison, security regiment, police station, finance bureau, and tax bureau, and pulled the Red Army sentries on duty along the road, and kept inquiring about the news, until they heard that the Red Army had captured Chengdu and did not kill a single person.

After the entrance ceremony, many citizens followed the troops to the stations and asked questions. The cadres of the Red Army seized the opportunity to publicize the policies of the Red Army, which opened the eyes of the citizens: It turned out that the Red Army was such a disciplined army, and they were not the red bandits propagandized by the Sichuan Army, but the ranks of the common people!

In the afternoon, the guard division held a meeting of cadres at and above the platoon level on the large field behind the garrison headquarters to announce the order for the reorganization of the troops.

The meeting was chaired by Feng Dafei, and Cai Zhong read out the order of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission to rebuild the Red Seventh Army Corps and the order on the appointment of the head of the corps. Then the announcement of the troop integration program began:

The Corps Headquarters consists of a staff office, a political department, a logistics office, a training office, an intelligence and information department, and a security department.

The units directly under the corps are the artillery regiment, the heavy machine gun regiment, the engineer regiment, the baggage regiment, the special operations brigade, the teaching team, the recruit regiment, the guard battalion, the reconnaissance company, the communications company, and the field hospital.

The Red 11th Division has three infantry regiments, the 31st Regiment, the 32nd Regiment, and the 33rd Regiment, with the division commander Gao Yuan, the political commissar Huang Su, the deputy division commander and chief of staff Hong Chaoyuan, and the director of the Political Department Yuan Guoping.

The Red 12th Division has jurisdiction over the Red 34th Regiment, 35th Regiment, and 36th Infantry Regiment, with division commander Liu Jianli, political commissar Zhang Hongtao, deputy division commander and chief of staff Zhao Shan, and director of the Political Department Fu Zhuting.

The Red 13th Division has jurisdiction over the 37th, 38th, and 39th infantry regiments of the Red Army, with division commander Li Qing, political commissar Chen Dayong, and deputy division commander and chief of staff Lei Ming.

The original First Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 31st Regiment, the Fourth Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 32nd Regiment, and the Seventh Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 33rd Regiment.

The original Second Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 34th Regiment, and the Fifth Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 35th Regiment, and one company was drawn from the Red 31st Regiment, 33rd Regiment, 34th Regiment, 35th Regiment, and Engineer Regiment to supplement new recruits and form the Red 36th Regiment, with Yang Guang as the head and Zhang Zili as the political commissar.

The original Third Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 37th Regiment, and the Sixth Guard Regiment was renamed the Red 38th Regiment, and one company was drawn from the Red 32nd Regiment, 37th Regiment, 38th Regiment, Legion Guard Battalion, and Baggage Regiment to supplement new recruits and form the Red 39th Regiment, with Zhou Yi as the regiment commander and Ku Zanda as the political commissar.

Each division has a supplementary regiment, an artillery battalion, a heavy machine gun battalion, an engineer battalion, a baggage battalion, a reconnaissance company, a guard company, and a communications platoon, and the regiment has three infantry battalions, a fire support battalion, an engineer company, a baggage company, a reconnaissance platoon, a guard platoon, and a communications squad.

After the order was read out, Liu Yimin, the new commander and acting political commissar of the Red Seventh Army Corps, delivered a brief speech to the cadres: "Comrades, just now Director Cai Zhong read out the order of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission to rebuild the Red Seventh Army Corps, which is the trust of the Central Committee in us. From the sharp platoon and sharp knife company of the 34th Red Division on the battlefield of Xinwei, to the 18th Red Regiment at Gulingtou and the Xiangjiang River, from the Central Guard Division to today's Red Seventh Army Corps, our unit has created an astonishing miracle in just over a month. The speed of development and the brilliance of the results have made leaders at all levels applaud; The Hunan army, the Gui army, the Central Army, and the Sichuan army were defeated under our command one after another. However, I would like to remind you that the transformation from a guard division to the Red Seventh Army is only the beginning. There is an even more ferocious enemy, that is, the devil is waiting for us to fight and destroy! Therefore, the whole regiment, including me, must firmly establish the idea that meritorious service is glorious and backwardness is shameful, work hard to improve the ability to kill the enemy, improve the level of technical warfare, and come to the battlefield to be invincible and completely drive the devils back to their hometowns. Next, we will carry out a competition in the whole army to compare ideological progress, work style and discipline, training results, and results in killing the enemy, and select meritorious troops and soldiers, and invite Vice Chairman Zhou, Vice Chairman Zhou, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu to present us with flags and awards. Do the comrades say it's good? ”

The cadres were already inexplicably excited, but now they heard that the corps commander was going to hold a competition, and he was going to invite [***], Vice Chairman Zhou, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu to present flags and awards to meritorious units and meritorious soldiers. Whether you can be called a hero in the ranks of the Red Army depends on the performance! The cadres are gearing up and eager to do it now. Hearing the commander of the legion asking if it was good, he immediately roared like thunder: "Good! ”

After the meeting, the commanders of the divisions of the Red Seventh Army Corps immediately took up their posts and began to organize and train their troops.

Li Lingfeng and Wang Tongsheng found Liu Yimin and asked the corps commander to take time to guide the training of the special operations brigade. Liu Yimin calculated the time, and felt that it would not work in the past few days, a lot of things were waiting to be dealt with, and only when the central column arrived and took over the troublesome affairs of managing Chengdu could he free up time. I had to tell Li Lingfeng and Wang Tongsheng to hurry up and pick people from various units, expand the scale as much as possible, and organize training on their own.

As soon as Li Lingfeng and Wang Tongsheng left, Li Chengyi reported that a guest had asked to see Commander Liu, saying that he was the magistrate of Pixian County, and that he had been ordered to negotiate with the Red Army.

Liu Yimin finally came, so he asked Li Chengyi to bring that person in.

After a while, Li Chengyi brought in the guy who claimed to be the magistrate of Pixian County, and Liu Yimin looked at it, with a round face, chubby, wearing a robe and a top hat, and he looked like an old-style official.

When the guy saw Liu Yimin doing there, he hurriedly stepped forward and bent down to salute.

Liu Yimin didn't embarrass him, pointed to the chair in the room, and said, "Please sit down and tell me your intentions." ”

The guy hurriedly bowed again, sat down, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his face, and then said: "I am the magistrate of Pixian County, Sichuan Province, who is the head of Pixian County, Sichuan Province, and I heard that your army occupied Chengdu, and I came to negotiate with your army on the order of Commander-in-Chief Chengfu Gong Liu. I beg your pardon, Sir. ”

Liu Yimin remained silent, picked up the teacup given by Li Chengyi, and tasted it slowly.

Seeing that Liu Yimin didn't speak, the county magistrate of Pixian County was a little anxious, so he asked: "Can you ask your magistrate to tell me whether your army plans to live permanently in this dam in western Sichuan or is it passing by?" ”

Liu Yimin put down the teacup and said slowly: "How do you talk about permanent residence?" How do you say it when you pass by? ”

When the magistrate of Pixian County saw Liu Yimin speak, he had a door in his heart, so he said: "My official position is too small, and I don't know more things." However, Commander-in-Chief Liu Chengfu is waiting for the bus, and if your army wants to live here permanently, there is only a desperate battle. If you are passing through, your army can appoint a representative to negotiate with us if you need it. As long as the two sides are sincere, I believe that the results will be reached. ”

Liu Yimin laughed: "Fight to the death? Just by the Sichuan army? I tell you, do you know who I am? You go back and tell Liu Xiang that I am the new commander of the Seventh Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, Liu Yimin, the new commander of the Seventh Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, who killed two regiments of the Gui Army on the side of the Xiangjiang River in Guangxi with the strength of one regiment, and wiped out the three divisions of He Jian's three divisions in the Hunan Pass, and one division of the troops in Guizhou Zhenyuan. You let him remember clearly, I won Gulin County, I won Yibin, I won Leshan, and I won Chengdu. You let Liu Xiang be optimistic about Yucheng, don't make me unhappy, go and capture him. Did you hear me clearly? ”

The county magistrate of Pi County was so frightened that his face was sweating, and he nodded again and again: "Hear clearly, hear clearly!" ”

Liu Yimin said again: "You tell Liu Xiang that now I have a legion of troops, and I want to try which turtle son's neck is hard, if he wants to try, I will fulfill him!" Did you hear me clearly? ”

The magistrate of Pixian County took out a handkerchief and nodded while wiping his sweat: "Don't dare, don't dare, hear clearly, hear clearly." ”

Liu Yimin said sternly: "You told Liu Xiang that He Jian in Hunan and Bai Chongxi in Guangxi retreated 200 miles when they saw our army, and he was no exception. If he dares to approach within 200 miles of our army's rearguard, I will go to Yucheng to find him for tea and set up a dragon gate formation. Did you hear me clearly? ”

The head of the county magistrate of Pixian County was covered with sweat, and the handkerchief was soaked and couldn't be wiped clean, so he just nodded.

Liu Yimin took a sip of water, slowed his tone, and said: "Of course, the purpose of our army is to go north to resist, and to fight for the liberation of the whole nation and the freedom of reading. I believe that Liu Xiang is also a person with insight and deeds, and should support our Red Army. Guixian has been running all the way, and it has been hard, take a break, wipe your sweat, and drink a cup of tea. ”

(To be continued)