"Stand upright—salute—"

"Report to the commander-in-chief, the Reading Division of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army has 11,200 officers and soldiers, four regiments are stationed in the four towns of Tashan, Nianzhuang, Danji and Damiao, and 2,200 officers and soldiers of the division's subordinate departments are stationed here.

Yin Jinan, who was wearing a major general's dress, held his head high and reported loudly that Major General Yang Bin, chief of staff of the division, and Major General Liu Shoujiang, a party representative, stood two meters behind him, raising their hands in high spirits and saluting.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang returned the salute, glanced at the 2,200 officers and soldiers lined up neatly on the open platform, nodded slightly, and asked kindly:

"Yin Jinan, the more than 2,000 officers and soldiers standing here are all from the units directly under the division headquarters, right?"

"Yes! Please forgive me for the fact that the officers and men of other regiments of our division were unable to gather here to greet the commander-in-chief and the commanders because they were responsible for the task of garrisoning the defense area and defending the work along the way. Yin Jinan replied with trepidation.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang didn't think so, and General Li Zongren and General Bai Chongxi could also understand the performance of the readers, and the 11,200-strong readers needed to guard the defense area within a radius of 50 miles, and also undertook the security work along the way, and it was good to be able to gather more than 2,000 people to line up to greet them, although the whole greeting team seemed to be thin, there was no military band with noisy drums, and there were no banners and slogans, but the neat formation, sophisticated equipment, and mental outlook of the officers and men were refreshing. At a glance, you can see that this is a brave and good soldier.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang waved his hand with satisfaction, and then began the troop review with dozens of generals and party officials.

"Teach all the officers and men of the brigade to salute the commander!"

"All the officers and men of the divisional artillery battalion salute the commander!"

"All the officers and men of the Logistics Quartermaster Section salute the commander!"

"All the officers and men of the communications company directly under them salute the commander!"

…… After the review, Commander-in-Chief Chiang stood on a temporary high platform and addressed all the officers and men; Bai Chongxi also gave a speech of encouragement on behalf of the General Headquarters of the Second Route Army; and Chen Guofu, acting director of the Central Party Department, thanked the officers and men and distributed a prize flag and 10,000 yuan of condolence money.

An Yi, who was standing behind the commander-in-chief, did not move at all, looking very calm, but his sparkling eyes were restless, scanning every commanding height and important position around the station from time to time, and his beard was much more relaxed, and from time to time he whispered with Wang Shihe about the security situation. The 300 elite soldiers led by Ding Zhicheng and Dou Fang who carried out the vigilance task were scattered in the form of small detachments, each performing their own duties, and dozens of reporters shuttled between them, interviewing or taking pictures, and they were busy without stopping.

"An Yi, the officials of the party department and the generals of the headquarters want to take a look in your barracks, the sun is very good today, let everyone take a walk and drive away the moisture on your body, you can arrange it." Commander-in-Chief Jiang turned his head and beckoned to An Yi and commanded in a low voice.

"Yes!"

A few minutes later, under the guidance of Yin Jinan, Yang Bin, and Liu Shoujiang, party officials and generals of the headquarters began to inspect the barracks, while Commander-in-Chief Chiang, together with Generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, went directly to An Yi's division headquarters.

General Li Zongren and General Bai Chongxi did not sit down immediately, but looked around for a moment, General Li Zongren smiled and pointed to a wall, and asked softly if there was a map hanging behind the blue curtain?

An Yi did not dare to slack off, and immediately replied respectfully "yes", and then at the request of General Li Zongren, he opened the heavy wide curtain, and a pair of "Military Map of the East Road of the Longhai Line" with a length of four meters and a width of two meters and a half meters quickly appeared in front of everyone.

Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi glanced at each other, and nodded tacitly. After looking at it for a while, I found that in addition to the dense lines of communication, rivers and lakes and highland plains on the map, there were many small red and blue flags and some unknown tricolor symbols.

General generals such as Ge Jingen and Yin Zusheng, chief of staff of the headquarters, knew that An Yi's maps and sand table deductions had always been of high quality, and they also knew that An Yi and his generals often conducted war discussions, so they also walked to the front of the map to check carefully.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang, who was born as a staff officer, stood in front of the map, and when he heard the whispered discussions of the generals beside him, coupled with his own understanding of the map, he felt full of interest for a while, so he ordered An Yi to explain the strategic situation of the entire Northern Expedition on this map, and asked An Yi to talk about his understanding.

An Yi's heart sank, and he was very reluctant to get an axe in front of so many battle-hardened generals, but Commander-in-Chief Jiang had already given the order, so he had to step forward to explain. After a little thought, he started with the current position of the friendly forces on the Eastern Front and the opponents they were facing, and finished talking in a few words about the current situation of the Third Route Army and the number of the enemy it was facing, and then said very humbly that this information came from the army's circulars and public information collation, and there were still many errors and incompleteness.

Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren glanced at each other again, and they both felt shock in each other's eyes. From the dense arrows and thick virtual and solid lines around Weishan Lake on the map, the two saw that An Yi had at least two different sets of offensive methods for the current battle situation, which marked the direction of the arrows of the second and third route armies, and there was a surprising consistency with the Lunan battle plan just agreed by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, but the unknown thing was that a few of the black five-pointed star symbols with thin tails did not know what they represented.

Li Zongren and the two were as cunning as foxes, and did not continue to ask An Yi about this question, but looked at An Yi who was standing quietly on the left side of the map with Jun with a red face and answering the questions of Ge Jingen and Yin Zusheng, and their understanding of this young man with amazing military talent was further improved.

As lunch time came, nearly 100 high-ranking officers and dozens of reporters gathered in the backyard of the division headquarters, sat around more than 30 makeshift tables, ate four dishes and one soup exactly the same as those of the officers and men, and talked with great interest about the clean and tidy internal affairs, high spirits, and strict military discipline of An Yi's troops.

Many reporters lamented that they had never seen such a neat and uniform standard of internal affairs of the troops, and even the quilts were folded squarely and angular, like tofu blocks; although the officers and men were covered in sweat and their clothes were of different old and new shapes, they could not see the slightest trace of dust on their guns and equipment, and such strict requirements and good mental outlook were far above those of the various armies they had seen, and they deserved the title of model battalion.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang was very satisfied, and while eating with vegetables, he whispered to Li Zongren and other generals at the same table, and was in an extremely happy mood, obviously proud of the excellent performance of his students.

The back table is the dining table of An Yi and the Huangpu brothers, and the brothers rarely meet each other and talk very happily.

Yu Jishi quietly told An Yi that the principal had a great appetite today, and actually made an exception to eat an extra bowl of rice, Zheng Dongguo, who was sitting on the other side, smiled and said that such delicious steamed sea bass and braised carp are much stronger than the fish in the restaurant, and the portion is enough, and asked An Yi where he got it back?

An Yi honestly replied that he didn't do anything deliberately, but when the three regiments were training at the mouth of Luoma Lake early this morning, the regiment commander Gu Changfeng ordered the recruits to throw out more than a dozen grenades, and then a company of recruit brothers stripped naked and went into the water to catch fish, and after that, he sent a fast horse to send more than 500 catties of fish to the division headquarters, and now they are all on the table.

The senior brothers at the table were stunned for a long time, and then they all couldn't help laughing, and when they saw the general at the table in front of them looking over, they hurriedly lowered their voices, and many people quietly gave An Yi a thumbs up.

After eating and drinking, the happy bigwigs boarded the bus and returned to Xuzhou under the congratulations of more than 2,000 officers and soldiers, An Yi originally wanted to take the time to ask Zhang Jingjiang about Shanghai's industrial and commercial layout and the existing scientific and technological level, but he was stopped by Yu Jishi before he got on the bus, and had to follow Yu Jishi to the wide box of Commander-in-Chief Jiang's No. 3 carriage.

Chiang Kai-shek smiled, waved his hand to signal An Yi to sit down, praised his troops for their good performance, and after a few words of encouragement, the topic changed, and his expression became serious:

"In your war room before lunch, I saw Li Delin and Bai Jiansheng staring at the area of Weishan Lake for a long time, looking quite nervous and emotional, did your deduction on the map surprise them?"

"Report to the principal, and the students have noticed. To be honest, I was quite afraid of the two generals asking questions at that time, because the deduction on the map was completely the improvisation of the commander of my division, and it was purely on paper, and due to the lack of sufficient information to corroborate it, there were still many uncertainties, and it was impossible for the students to explain why. ”

After saying that, An Yi touched his head a little embarrassed, and then looked at Chiang Kai-shek solemnly.

Chiang Kai-shek smiled slightly: "Don't be humble, in fact, you have done it very carefully." I looked at the situation of the enemy and the enemy in the second theater on the map, and it is very accurate, which proves that you are not wasting your time, but always thinking about the upcoming battle, which is very good! I'm so happy with you!

I have called you here today to hear your views on the current situation, including political views. Don't be inhibited, I need you to be outspoken, not just to be hidden. ”

Chiang Kai-shek then gave An Yi a detailed description of the meaning and purpose of the upcoming meeting with Feng Yuxiang, the commander of the Northwest Army, the secret negotiations being carried out with Yan Xishan, and the sudden civil strife in Wuhan, and then asked An Yi to think calmly, under such circumstances, can the Northern Expedition still be continued?

An Yi had already heard it sweating profusely and was frightened, and as soon as Chiang Kai-shek's inquiry fell, An Yi's big truth blurted out: "No!" Can't go north! Can't go north! ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded calmly: "Tell me the reason you analyzed." ”

"The situation is critical! After General Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army occupied Henan, he even privately negotiated with Feng's army, on the one hand accepting the appointment of Wuhan, and on the other hand, sending his henchman General Li Mingzhong to contact the principal. General Yan Xishan is inclined to our Nanjing political axe, but he still will not tear his face with the Feng army, otherwise in such a good situation, why not attack Hebei with the heavy troops hoarded on the line from Datong to Niangzi Pass?

Obviously, the two largest military forces in the north have seen the possible infighting in our revolutionary army, and in this case, most of them will choose to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and only after seeing which side has the initiative will take the initiative, and they have handled it in this way from before the Northern Expedition was launched to the present. ”

An Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said excitedly: "Again, if General Li Zongren's secret operation of secretly sending representatives to contact the armies in Wuhan and General Zhu Peide is true, there is no need for him to fight back at all, as long as the troops do not move, our army will fall into the predicament of being attacked by the enemy in front and behind."

Once Feng Yuxiang's hundreds of thousands of troops are entrenched in the Central Plains and are left and right, Zhang Zuolin will be able to draw troops and vigorously support Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang's troops, plus a wing of the army has already left for Jinan, clearly telling us that the Northern Expeditionary Army should not surpass the Jinan line, but Zhang Zuolin, Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang's troops can continue to move south from Jinan and Hebei, and concentrate on Lunan to start a decisive battle with our First Route Army. ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction: "So, do you think the Wuhan army has the ability to attack my Nanjing?" ”

An Yi nodded heavily: "It is very likely that now the Sichuan army has been beaten back to eastern Sichuan by the second and sixth armies in Wuhan, Yang Sen and Liu Xiang have suffered this setback, and their strength has been seriously damaged, and other warlords in Sichuan have seen the opportunity to start a fierce battle between each other again, at this time, the second and sixth armies can completely draw out most of their forces and go straight down the Yangtze River to Nanjing, unless the various factions in Wuhan suddenly break up, they will unite to attack us, and then the internal contradictions will be resolved."

In this case, General Li Zongren's position will play a vital role, although the Seventh Army is only the number of an army, but it has the strength of more than 80,000 people in three armies, and the second division of General Hu Zongduo alone is as high as more than 23,000 officers and soldiers, although he said to the students that there are only 18,000 people, but the students know that he has concealed 5,000 people, that is, he has concealed a brigade stationed in the east of Anqing City, so it is known that the three divisions of the Seventh Army are actually equivalent to three armies, and this does not include their presence in Hankou, Huangmei, Garrisons in Wuhu and other places.

Secondly, most of the three armies currently subordinate to the Third Route Army will be attached to the banner of General Li Delin, or be restrained by him, only General Ye Kaixin's 44th Army, which was transferred to the junction of the Second Route Army and the First Route Army, will not be subject to him. ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded appreciatively: "The analysis is good, and I have a sense of distress, but what I want to tell you is: no matter what, we still have to unswervingly carry out the Northern Expedition and continue to advance north!"

Only the Northern Expedition can make all the armies holding high the banner of Sanming Cooking Righteousness work together and advance towards the same goal, including Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and General Bai Chongxi, no one dares to abandon the legacy of Mr. Sun Yat-sen and give up the revolutionary position, although the situation will become more and more difficult and dangerous, and it will be more and more difficult to grasp, but as long as we have firm confidence and go all out, we can turn disadvantages into advantages, turn passivity into initiative, as long as we are down-to-earth and step by step, we can better avoid possible crises, do you understand? ”

An Yi looked at Chiang Kai-shek in surprise, his mind was spinning rapidly, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, and suddenly felt that in such an unpredictable and dangerous situation, Commander-in-Chief Chiang still firmly insisted that the Northern Expedition was undoubtedly a risky move, but An Yi immediately realized that Commander-in-Chief Chiang must have taken good precautions to dare to take such a risk, otherwise it would not work at all to influence and restrain the already divided ideology only from the aspect of morality and doctrine.

An Yi was thinking so nervously, his limited political experience made him feel that he was unsure of everything, and his mind was thinking very hard, and after a while, he faintly realized the good intentions of Commander-in-Chief Chiang, and sincerely admired:

"Students get it! As long as the Northern Expedition continues, General Li Zongren and General Feng Yuxiang will not act rashly, whether they want to or not, they will have to go hand in hand with our First Route Army, and the Wuhan side will not dare to take the risk of violating the will of Mr. Zhongshan and march east to Nanjing during the Northern Expedition of our army...... What should the principal tell the student to do next? ”

"Clever! Clever! ”

Chiang Kai-shek stood up with relief, took two steps and expressed his earnest hope: "I need you to make full use of the tremendous influence of you and your troops in the eyes of the whole [***] people in these two days, and speak out for the Northern Expedition to defend Sanming Cooking, and the Organization Department and Propaganda Department of the Central Party Department will cooperate with you."

Again, I heard that you seem to have prejudices against General Feng Yuxiang, which is very bad, because the general should be able to bend and stretch, joy and anger are invisible, and you can't show your true thoughts on your face because of too clear love and hatred, you still need to strengthen your cultivation in this area!

Tomorrow, I will take you to meet General Feng Yuxiang, it is estimated that he is also very willing to meet you, a rising star, you have to grasp this opportunity, it can be regarded as an experience for you, is it clear? ”

"The students are taught!" An Yi lowered his head in embarrassment, extremely embarrassed.

Chiang Kai-shek nodded and returned to his seat: "Very good!" Originally, I wanted to transfer you to the First Route Army under General He Jingzhi, but General Bai Jiansheng refused to agree, saying that the next combat mission of the Second Route Army was extremely arduous, and you were very much in need of your reader, and your extraordinary reaction speed and interspersed ability were an indispensable and important part of his plan.

After weighing the pros and cons and thinking about it again, I still agreed to his request, let you stay in the Second Route Army for the time being, and will greet your instructor Gu Mosan, so that his Third Division will always respond to your department, as long as you fight well, the progress of the Second Route Army will be accelerated, and General Li Delin's Third Route Army will have no reason to fall behind, I hope you have full understanding and ideological preparation for this. ”

"Students obey!"

Although An Yi was a hundred unwilling in his heart, the matter had come to this point, and he couldn't help anything.

"Okay, it's almost time to get there, you go back first, you have to attend tonight's combat meeting."

"Yes!"

(To be continued)