It was already evening, the sun was setting, and the smoke was curling in the distance, but no one was in the mood to enjoy the scenery at this time, and the only way to ensure safety was to rush to the town controlled by the government forces as soon as possible.

Chen Zikun rescued five female dependents from the bandit cave, except for Jianbing, the others are Westerners, two of them are Americans, one French, one British, there are no shoes on their feet, the mountain roads in Lunan are no more than smooth and tidy golf courses, all the way down, their bare feet are covered with scars, blood, but no one is crying out for pain, deep fear has made them forget the pain.

"Ladies, work hard, it's Lincheng ahead." Chen Zikun urged, but these wives couldn't move, and for three whole days, they were frightened, they barely closed their eyes, they didn't eat, and they walked so many mountain roads, they were really exhausted.

Ladies, I have to warn you that this is a place where bandits are rampant, and at any moment another group of bandits will rush out and take us away. As a last resort, Chen Zikun had no choice but to speak out to intimidate them, what he said was half-true, the area around Lincheng was indeed a serious problem, but after Sun Meiyao and they did such a big deal, the officers and soldiers gathered in Lincheng, and other bandits did not dare to come out to rob the road for the time being.

Hearing him say this, the ladies beat their spirits, supported each other and continued to embark on the journey, Chen Zikun saw that one of the French ladies was really tired, so he stepped forward to carry her like flying, walked a few hundred meters and returned to carry the other one, the wives were moved to tears, and kept saying words of thanks.

It was getting dark, and suddenly a group of black shadows appeared in front of him, followed by the sound of pulling the bolt and the Lunan accent asking: "Password!" ”

The wives suddenly trembled with fright and curled up in a ball, thinking that Chen Zikun's words had come true, so they went out of the tiger's mouth and into the wolf's den.

Chen Zikun calmly replied: "Don't shoot, I am Chen Zikun, a special commissioner of the War Department, and I saved five hostages and came back." ”

The other party responded: "Slap over here." ”

Chen Zikun did so, clapped his face and walked over, the other party was indeed an officer and soldier of the Sixth Mixed Brigade, about the number of a squad, equipped with Hanyang-made rifles, the squad leader lifted the lantern and looked at Chen Zikun, no matter how he looked at it, he didn't look like an officer of the War Department, but like a bandit's spy.

"Take it!" As soon as the squad leader gave an order, seven or eight rifles immediately aimed at Chen Zikun, and in desperation, he had no choice but to raise his hands, smash the butt of a rifle on his back, lie down on the spot, and be tied up by the officers and soldiers.

The wives saw Chen Zikun being put down from a distance, and screamed in fright, and the officers and soldiers rushed over to take a look, and sure enough, it was a few Western women, and immediately shouted: "Hurry up and report to the company commander, the hostages have been rescued." ”

When the company commander heard the report, he immediately transferred a carriage to take the hostages back, the Shandong Army belongs to a local army, the military appearance and discipline are extremely poor, the military uniforms are not uniform, and the night is hazy, it looks no different from the bandits, and the wives think that they have really been kidnapped by another group of bandits, how dare they speak.

……

In fact, this place is already very close to Lincheng, and the news quickly spread to the Zhongxing Hotel, and the county magistrate of Yi County and the brigade commander of the Sixth Mixed Brigade, who were hosting a banquet to entertain the distinguished guests, were pleasantly surprised, and hurriedly reported to the mission from Beijing.

When Wu Yulin heard that the five hostages had been rescued, he was overjoyed, and the diplomats and the hostages' families were also overjoyed.

When the hostages saw the faces of the Westerners, they really understood that they had been rescued, and they let out a loud cry of sorrow and weeping, and the scene was magnificent, and the soldiers who brought them back were complacent, and their waists were straight, as if the hostages were really rescued by them.

Major Stilwell, assistant to the American military attaché, was a little puzzled, why only five hostages were released, where were the other hostages, whether these people were deliberately released by the bandits, or whether they escaped by themselves, or were rescued by others, all of this needs to be sorted out, just as he was about to question the hostages, he suddenly heard a woman shouting: "Let my husband go, he rescued us from the bandits' den." ”

The scene suddenly fell silent, and Wu Yulin, the highest-ranking director of the Ministry of Communications, asked with a pleasant face: "This wife, where is your husband now?" ”

"They caught me." Jian Bing pointed to the officers and soldiers.

Chief Wu stretched his face: "What's the matter?" ”

He Fengyu, the brigade commander of the Sixth Mixed Brigade of the Shandong Army, also shouted: "What's the matter? ”

The company commander panicked and hurriedly explained: "Report to the brigade commander, the brothers have caught a bandit." ”

"Bring it here." He Fengyu ordered.

So, Chen Zikun, who was tied up with five flowers, was escorted over, his face was bruised and swollen, and there was blood in his nose, Jian Bing immediately pounced, hugged his neck and cried, the four Western women also went up and cried, and the five women grabbed snot and tears, this matter couldn't be clearer, Chen Zikun was the hero who saved them.

"What's going on?" Wu Yulin's face was longer, although he didn't know Chen Zikun, but this face was always a little familiar, it was clear that he was one of the members of the mission, how did he become a bandit.

He Fengyu knew that his subordinates were full of wine bags and rice bags, and there were more than enough successes and failures, and this was not the time to protect the calves, so he also shouted: "What's the matter!" ”

The company commander scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, he didn't know what was going on, he only knew that his subordinates said that he had caught a bandit, so he led his troops over, and beat up the "bandit".

He stammered and couldn't speak, He Fengyu was even more annoyed, and scolded: "A bunch of rice buckets, pull them out for me and kill them." ”

At the critical moment, Chen Zikun helped the poor company commander to relieve the siege: "It's just a misunderstanding, the brothers of the Sixth Brigade haven't closed their eyes for three days and three nights, and they are too nervous, don't blame them, they all blame me for dressing too much like a bandit." ”

This is said beautifully, everyone has a step down, He Fengyu didn't plan to shoot his subordinates, but when he heard Chen Zikun's intercession, he got off the donkey and said, "Spare your dog's life for the time being." ”

As soon as the mission arrived, the five hostages returned safely, Wu Yulin felt that his face was very bright, his face was cloudy and clear, and he was about to say two beautiful words, when Stilwell had already rushed up, hugged Chen Zikun and said: "Chen, you are a warrior and a hero!" Then he turned and announced loudly in English: "This is my friend, Lieutenant Chan Tze Kun of the War Department, who rescued five hostages!" ”

The foreigners immediately applauded, and although the Chinese could not understand English, they could also hear that the foreigners were in a good mood, so they also applauded together to make a scene.

With a "poof", the magnesium light shone, and Ruan Mingchuan froze this moment in the camera.

……

Although only five hostages returned, they managed to open a breakthrough, at least to learn the details of the bandits and hostages, and halfway through the banquet, the hostages were arranged in the VIP suite of the Zhongxing Coal Mine Hotel, where bath water, hot soup and hot meals, and warm and comfortable quilts were waiting for them, while Chen Zikun was invited into the conference room.

At this time, Chen Zikun had changed back into his lieutenant uniform, and walked into the conference room majestically, and the officers saluted the junior officer in unison, and he also returned an American-style military salute neatly, and sat down at the end of the long table.

If you talk about military ranks and positions, it will never be Chen Zikun's turn to sit in this position, at this time, the Zaozhuang area has gathered tens of thousands of troops in the Shandong Army, and there are several generals on their shoulders, and the colonel and lieutenant colonel are all over the street, even if he is from the Ministry of the Army, there is absolutely no reason to let a small lieutenant preside over the overall situation.

Chinese pay attention to seniority and seniority, but foreign adults do not care about this, since the Boxer Rebellion, in this land of China, there has not been such a large-scale attack on Westerners for more than 20 years, the kidnapped hostages from Britain, the United States, France, Belgium, Italy and Mexico, and there are many characters with status and status, these days Dongjiaomin Alley has been blown up, if it were not for the pressure of the ministers, the US Marines might have killed them.

Therefore, on this major matter, there is no Chinese right to speak at all, and the foreign adults say that whoever they want to preside over must be let preside, and there is absolutely no room for bargaining.

Chen Zikun can speak English and French, and he graduated from West Point, and his behavior is no different from that of Westerners, not to mention that he went deep into the bandit cave to rescue five hostages, and he didn't need to let such a person go, do you use those fat-headed and big-eared middle ** valves?

The military meeting held in the middle of the night was of a very high standard, and the Shandong overseer Tian Zhongyu and the provincial governor Xiong Bingqi who had arrived from Jinan were all present, and the military attachés of the United States, Britain, France, and other countries in China also attended the meeting as observers.

In the face of the overseers, provincial governors, division commanders and brigade commanders present, Chen Zikun was not frightened at all, but he also did not trust himself, he knew his identity, a third-class section member of the War Department who was being locked up, in case Vice Minister Jin knew that he had run away to Shandong without permission and pretended to be a special commissioner of the War Department, he would not be able to bear this charge alone.

If you want to rejuvenate the salted fish, the only way is to take advantage of the opportunity in front of you to do things beautifully, so you must not offend these local snakes.

"Everyone, there is one thing to explain, in fact, the little brother is not a hero, just because the little brother's inner son is also on this trip, was taken hostage by bandits, so the little brother came in the starry night, risking his life to sneak into the bandit area to save people, if you didn't try your best to suppress it, I'm afraid I would have died in the mountains, here the little brother thanked everyone." As he spoke, Chen Zikun thanked everyone.

The words were neither humble nor arrogant, the true feelings were revealed, and they also put a high hat on the Shandong military by the way, and the generals present immediately felt comfortable, and they also felt much more pleasing to the eye when they looked at this little lieutenant of the War Department.

He Fengyu said: "Xiao Chen, don't be modest, talk about the experience of saving people." ”

When Chen Zikun told his experience and inventory in 1510, he didn't hide anything, and when he heard Sun Meiyao's name, He Fengyu slapped the table and said angrily: "I have long guessed that this guy is doing a good thing!" ”

It turned out that Sun Meiyao was a local habitual bandit, gathering thousands of people to roar in the mountains and forests, reporting the Shandong Jianguo Autonomous Army, his eldest brother Sun Meizhu was captured and beheaded by He Fengyu's Sixth Mixed Brigade, Sun Meiyao and He Fengyu are enemies who are not in the same sky, this robbery occurred in the defense area of the Sixth Brigade, I have to say that Sun Meiyao gave He Fengyu a "big gift." ”

Next, He Fengyu introduced to everyone the specific situation of Sun Meiyao's gang, this gang of bandits has about 5,000 guns, wandering in the mountainous areas around Zou County, Teng County, and Yi County, and the officers and soldiers have not achieved results in clearing and suppressing for many years, after the robbery, the Sixth Brigade tried its best to pursue and suppress it, but only a few thousand people and horses were scattered in the vast mountains, like looking for a needle in a haystack, and they were suppressed for two days, and even the exact location of the bandits could not be locked, which shows the insidious and cunning of the bandits.

"The three holes of the cunning rabbit are nothing more than this." Overseer Tanaka Yu knew the difficulty of suppressing bandits in Lunan, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"I know where the bandits are." Chen Zikun took He Fengyu's words, got up and walked to the military map hanging on the wall, pointed to a point on it, and said, "They should be here, hugging the calf and nesting the clouds." ”

He Fengyu said: "Are you familiar with the terrain of Shandong? ”

Chen Zikun shook his head: "I have never been to Shandong." ”

He Fengyu said: "According to what you said, the face is covered with black cloth when you go in and out, how do you know that the bandits' hiding place is holding calves?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "When I was in the bandit's cave, I used to measure the relative distance and height difference of several surrounding peaks, which can correspond to this location. As he spoke, he poked the military map marked with contour lines again.

He Fengyu said: "How did you measure it?" ”

Chen Zikun smiled, straightened his right arm, raised his thumb, opened his eyes and closed his eyes, and said: "This is a simple distance measurement method, I learned it at West Point, and I can teach it to Brigade Commander He's brother when I have time." ”

The overseer Tian Zhongyu below nodded secretly, and said to Xiong Bingqi, the governor beside him: "This son is a talent, it is better to transfer him to our Shandong." ”

Before Xiong Bingqi became the governor, he was Cao Kun's chief of staff, and he had heard of Chen Zikun's name. ”