At the northern end of the bridge, only a company of a battalion was stationed, and no trenches were built, but a few improvised fortifications were piled up with sandbags at the head of the bridge. On the flat ground on the south side of the bridgehead with his back to the river, Sun Sicheng, whose eyes were bloodshot, was leading a platoon of sappers to build a shack with more than 30 ordinary people. Seeing Song Zhewu and his entourage coming, Sun Sicheng hurriedly ran over and immediately reported: "Report to the commander-in-chief, Sun Sicheng, commander of the engineer battalion of the First Division, is inspecting the construction of the shed. ”

"How's the shack at Garden Mouth on the South Shore going?" Song Zhewu asked Sun Sicheng while observing the shack.

"In order to complete the project as soon as possible, the chief of staff asked us to find more people, and we have found more than 200 shackers this time, plus the people of our engineer battalion, who rushed to work overnight yesterday, and now 400 stables have been built, and now we are building a warm shed for people, and we promise to let the soldiers live in it tonight. The construction of the north bank here only started early this morning, there is only one company here, I arranged for a platoon of the engineer battalion to come to assist, I came to check the progress, there are more than 60 people here, and it can be completed this afternoon. Sun Sicheng replied quickly.

"You haven't slept all night, have you?" Seeing Sun Sicheng grinning, Song Zhewu said again: "Tell Zhang Yafei, just say what I said, and strengthen the food for the engineer battalion, including these workers." ”

Sun Sicheng said with a smile on his face: "No, just like this, we have a regular meal, not only the white flour buns are enough, but everyone also has meat, we are very content, and we can't eat it when the Northwest Army is not victorious." These workers eat the same food as we do, and they don't eat meat at home for years. ”

"After staying up all night, how can I do it without strengthening nutrition, and add more meat, just according to wartime standards, according to what I say." Song Zhewu glared at Sun Sicheng, and said in his heart that the Northwest Army was too bitter, and he would be content with a little better food. Although he was glared at by Song Zhewu, Sun Sicheng was warm in his heart, the commander-in-chief was a lieutenant general, and he still cared about the food of their grassroots officers and soldiers, and such a good meal had to be added with meat! I'm on the right track.

The frame of the shack has been erected, and judging from the frame, it is to build thirty shacks. The materials used to build the sheds were only wooden poles, bamboo poles, reed mats, planks, and hemp ropes, and the soldiers of the engineer battalion basically delivered the materials to the shacklers on the shelves below, and the shacklers tied them on them, only to see them wrap the rope around the crossed wooden poles or bamboo poles, and then thread it through the rope buckles, and tighten it to complete a fixation, which is obviously very skillful.

Song Zhewu asked Sun Sicheng: "Can it be strong and firm just like this?" And the feet are not buried, but don't they fall apart in a few days? ”

Sun Sicheng nodded and said: "Commander-in-chief, please rest assured, the scaffolding technology is mainly the rope buckle, and the rope buckle of the skilled worker is simple and strong, and it is easy to untie when disassembled." Here in Zhengzhou, whether it is flat or on the roof, we rarely dig pits, three horizontal and four vertical, firm and reliable. Such a shed, as long as we don't dismantle it ourselves, there will be absolutely no problem in half a year. ”

Different from Song Zhewu's attention, Li Rujuan's eyes widened in surprise when she watched the shackmakers walk around barefoot and easily on the high trellis beams. "Don't fall off when walking on such a narrow pole!" ”

Song Zhewu also felt that it was very dangerous, and frowned and said to Sun Sicheng: "Why don't you wear a seat belt?" ”

"Seat belts? What is a Seat Belt? Sun Sicheng asked suspiciously.

Song Zhewu suddenly remembered that he didn't know if any of the construction workers in this era used seat belts, but looking at Sun Sicheng's expression, he didn't seem to have heard of it at all. It is no wonder that in this era, no one cares about the life and death of workers at all, where there will be people who think about the safety of workers, and falling down can only be regarded as your bad luck. In later generations, according to the requirements of national safety standards, seat belts must be worn when climbing operations above 1.5 meters, otherwise it is a violation, and the leader of the unit will be responsible for the accident.

Thinking of this, Song Zhewu explained with a wry smile: "Even those who work at high heights must have a rope tied around their waists, and the other end of the rope is tied to a high place to tie it firmly, once someone falls from it, the rope will hang the person to avoid falling to the ground and breaking." ”

Sun Sicheng, who suddenly came to his senses, smiled and said, "The commander-in-chief is talking about safety ropes, right?" I heard Si Rong say that when building tall buildings in France, ropes were tied around the waists of workers. ”

"yes, that's it, you call the workers down, everybody has to do it." Song Zhewu said with a calm face.

Sun Sicheng wanted to say something, but in the end he called the workers down a little helplessly. The workers who didn't know why all came around, although they didn't know how big an official Song Zhewu was, but seeing Sun Sicheng's respect for Song Zhewu, they could think that this person's official position was very big, at least bigger than Sun Da's official. Before Sun Sicheng joined the army, he also worked as a shackler, and everyone was familiar with him.

Seeing that everyone was gathered around, Sun Sicheng told everyone that if they went up again, everyone should tie a short rope around their waist and fix themselves on it to avoid falling down.

A big young man with a height of 1.8 meters looked at everyone, walked to the front and said: "Brother Sun, how else do we do the work with a rope tied around our waists, we can't walk around on it, we will definitely use more time, you also know our work this time, it is all agreed with the shed, and it must be completed today, otherwise we will be deducted from our wages." ”

Sun Sicheng said helplessly: "This is our commander-in-chief for the sake of you, I am afraid that if you fall from it and break it." ”

The big young man looked at Song Zhewu, and saw that Song Zhewu was followed by many guards with two guns on their waists and hips, and knew that this person's official must be very big, so he opened his mouth and didn't dare to make a sound.

Song Zhewu stepped forward and said with a smile, "Young man, what's your name?" ”

The big man was a little overwhelmed and forgot to answer for a while.

Sun Sicheng said: "His name is Li Fang, he is righteous, and his skills as a shackmaker are good, and he is led by these people." ”

Song Zhewu said kindly: "Tie the safety rope and work on it to be safe, otherwise if you fall and break, not only will you suffer, but your family will also suffer for you, it doesn't matter if you slow down, it is important to ensure safety." ”

Song Zhewu's words made Li Fang and the people behind him look a little gloomy, and after being silent for a while, Li Fang said with a wry smile: "Sir, we understand that you are for our good, but we can't finish it today, the shed will have to deduct wages, we have old and young people in our family waiting for us to make money and eat, we should be careful, what can't fall down, even if it falls, it has nothing to do with the chief." ”

Song Zhewu was a little helpless, he knew that what Li Fang said was the truth, and he asked them to wear seat belts to work this time, so next time they were in the department, I am afraid that no one would find them to work, and he could protect them today, but he could not protect them in the future. After being silent for a while, Song Zhewu waved his hand helplessly and said, "You can continue to do things, but you must be careful." ”

Li Fang glanced at Sun Sicheng and saw him nodding, so he turned around and led the shackers to go back to work. As soon as he took a few steps, he was stopped by Song Zhewu.

"Li Fang, how much can you earn a month as a shackler? Who is in the family? Song Zhewu looked at Li Fang and asked.

Li Fang turned around and stood still, looked at Song Zhewu, and did not speak. Sun Sicheng urged Li Fang and said, "Li Da, the commander-in-chief asked you something, and you shouldn't answer quickly." ”

Li Fang saw that Song Zhewu didn't seem to have any evil intentions, and said in a deep voice: "If you have a lot of work, you can earn two or three oceans a month." There are only mother and one sister in the family. ”

"Are you willing to join our Fourth Route Army, our soldiers' monthly salary here is five oceans, and if you do a good job, you will have fifteen oceans a month when you become a squad leader. Five oceans should be enough for your mother and sister to go hungry. Song Zhewu has a good impression of this calm Li Fang.

Li Fang was a little surprised, being a soldier actually had a monthly salary of five oceans? He looked at Sun Sicheng with some disbelief.

Sun Sicheng smiled and said, "Big man Li, this is true. Our Fourth Route Army is not as shabby as the Northwest Army, only a piece of ocean salary, our Fourth Route Army's military salary is high, and there is no arrears, which is more than what you earn every month, and without your big belly, your mother and your sister must not be hungry. ”

Li Fang and Sun Sicheng's families live not far away, knowing that Sun Sicheng can't lie to him, if there are five oceans a month, his mother and sister will definitely not be hungry, and they can even eat a few meals of fine grain and white noodles. immediately saluted Song Zhewu and said, "Thank you, sir, then I will follow you." ”

The young men in the back saw that Li Fang had joined the Fourth Route Army, and looked at the young soldiers behind Song Zhewu who were wearing clean and neat grass-green military uniforms and carrying box guns, and they were also very envious, and some people timidly asked: "Sir, do you still need people?" I also want to be a soldier. ”

"Yes, of course, as long as we are strong." As he was talking, Zhang Yafei ran over with a few guards and staff officers panting. Song Zhewu said with a smile: "You came just in time, after the shed is completed, you can ask among these workers, and if there are any willing soldiers, they will be temporarily assigned to your engineer battalion." We are short of personnel, and in the future, we must have an engineer battalion in each division and an engineer company in the regiment, and these people have some experience and are very suitable to be engineers. ”

Subsequently, Zhang Yafei accompanied Song Zhewu back to the bridge, where he reported to Song Zhewu about his defense subordinates at Tieqiao and Huayuankou. Zhang Yafei's deployment was: "A battalion guards the iron bridge, the defense focuses on the Henan bridgehead, and only one company is placed in the north to ensure the communication channel with Hebei; He led the division and the second battalion, the artillery battalion, and the baggage battalion to live in Huayuankou Town; Behind the town, on the bank of the Yellow River, the area where the cavalry brigade was stationed; The third and fourth battalions were stationed in the south and west of the town respectively to ensure the safety of the flank of Huayuankou Town. ”

After Zhang Yafei finished reporting, Song Zhewu didn't make a sound, just looked at the north and was distracted. Zhang Yafei, who has known Song Zhewu for ten years, knows that this is where Song Zhewu is dissatisfied.

(To be continued)