"Eilechuan, under the Yin Mountain. The sky is like a dome, covering the four wildernesses. The sky is blue, the wilderness is vast, the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep. This "Song of Eile" is a folk song widely circulated among the nomads north of the Yellow River during the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China, hearing this folk song, even if you do not come to the Mongolian steppe, you can also experience the vast, vast grassland natural scenery.

In September, the grassland is a good time for the sky to be high and the clouds are light, and the autumn is high and cool.

In the early morning, on the upper leaves of the grass, which is more than a foot high, the crystal clear dew drops are shining under the rising sun, the crystal light is shining, shining, as if a lot of tiny pearls have been sprinkled on the grass blades. In the distance, the early herdsmen were already grazing their cattle and sheep, but the size of each flock was not very large, most of them were only one hundred and eighty, and these white sheep roamed freely among the fresh green grass, so that the snow-white waves were shining in the green sea.

More than 50 miles south of the Abaga Banner, a group of cavalrymen of the Fourth Route Army, dressed in grass-green German uniforms, escorted hundreds of camels with weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies strapped to their humps.

On a slightly higher slope, a tall white horse and a sturdy flower horse stood quietly, and the riders on the horses were Song Zhewu and Wei Guanghui.

After more than 20 days of marching, Han Guang's cavalry brigade has crossed the Left Banner of Bahrain and continues to advance in Manchuria as the vanguard of the army, and the 1st and 2nd regiments of the 1st Division have already arrived at the Left Banner of Bahrain, where a military station and an airfield are being built, and the artillery regiment, most of the baggage regiments, and the 3rd Regiment behind the palace have also crossed the Keshiketeng Banner, and will arrive at the Left Banner of Bahrain as a general military station in about three days. Thanks to the more than 400 trucks along the way, these vehicles were able to transport almost one regiment at a time and then return every other week to transport the next, which greatly accelerated the march of Song Zhewu's troops.

Song Zhewu planned to replenish ammunition and supplies here in the Left Banner of Bahrain, and after a short rest and recuperation, the troops would march to Manchuria.

Li Wentian, who had already arrived at the Left Banner of Bahrain first, called last night, saying that not only had the arms and materials given by Zhang Xueliang already arrived in a steady stream of ammunition, but even Zhang Xueliang himself had already arrived at the Left Banner of Bahrain yesterday evening.

The reason why Song Zhewu did not follow the large army straight to the Left Banner of Bahrain, but went north to Abaga Banner, was because he wanted to hand over a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies brought from Laiyuan this time to Wei Guanghui, so he only brought his guard company, one of the two special operations squadrons he brought this time, and a battalion of the baggage regiment to escort the supplies.

Wei Guanghui's cavalry army could not go to the Left Banner of Bahrain, and if they went back there, it would inevitably arouse the suspicion of others, and in the grasslands in this area of Chahar Province, there were forces of Yue himself very early, and the one who had the deepest collusion with him was the current King of Sunitnit, who was known as King De of the Right Banner of Zasakdoro Duling County, Demuchuk Donglup.

Song Zhewu knew that this person had been seeking Inner Mongolian autonomy with his own support, and in April 1934, he established the Mongolian Local Autonomy Political Committee in Bailing Temple; In February of the 36th year, with the support of the Kwantung Army and the puppet Manchukuo, the General Headquarters of the Mongolian Army was established, with King De as the commander-in-chief of the Mongolian Army and Yamauchi (said himself) as the military adviser. The members of the "Mongolian Political Council" serve as the backbone. King Tokutak reads the oath of office: "I vow to inherit the great spirit of Genghis Khan, recover the inherent territory of Mongolia, and complete the great cause of national rejuvenation."

It is impossible not to guard against people like King De, and it is precisely because of his intention that Song Zhewu went east this way and did not meet and visit any Mongolian magnates.

According to Song Zhewu's plan, Wei Guanghui's cavalry army was to stand by in Sunit Left Banner and Sunit Right Banner, ready to advance into Outer Mongolia at any time. From here to Kulun, the capital of Outer Mongolia, there are more than 800 kilometers in a straight line, not only the Gobi Desert, but also the mountains, but occasionally some plateau grasslands, most areas are hundreds of miles uninhabited, very difficult to walk. But it is precisely because of this that it is easier to achieve the purpose of the raid.

Because of the difficulty of supplying along the road, especially the fact that it is impossible for the cavalry army to come back in the short term, Wei Guanghui's cavalry army not only needs a large number of weapons and ammunition, but also all kinds of military supplies. Moreover, after he occupies the entire territory of Outer Mongolia, it will take two months for the mainland's support and supplementary materials to arrive at the earliest, and if there is an accident, it will have to wait for half a year. It is conceivable how difficult it is to let an army of tens of thousands of people hold on to Outer Mongolia when they are far away from the rear support and lack of food and ammunition. Song Zhewu almost moved half of Laiyuan's family to Wei Guanghui this time, and even brought Wei Guanghui's winter clothes for the cavalry army.

Song Zhewu is here to see Wei Guanghui off. If you need to tell Wei Guanghui, Song Zhewu has already said a lot last night, but he is still a little worried. Although Wei Guanghui had the ability and experience to read, fight, and develop, Outer Mongolia was too far away from the interior, and Outer Mongolia was no better than Wei Guanghui's original activities outside the mouth, where if something happened, Song Zhewu could at least reinforce a regiment within two days, but in Outer Mongolia, it would take dozens of times longer. All the problems there can only be solved by himself.

And the main problem is that there must not be any mistakes in the affairs of Outer Mongolia. The Soviet Union is now a young man who has just grown up rapidly, he is very large, but he is not strong enough, he has to be ready to defend himself against attacks from the West, and he is not yet able to take care of the vast and soft land behind him. Although Stalin had realized that Mongolia was a sharp knife that could be plunged into the waist of the Soviet Union at any time, he was now beyond his power. Losing this best opportunity, and trying to snatch back this huge piece of fat from the mouth of this polar bear, Song Zhewu thought it was almost impossible.

After the end of World War II, although the Soviet army drove the German army back to its homeland because of the huge material and financial support of the United States, the Soviet Union's military strength also swelled rapidly. It is said that during World War II, the United States alone supplied tens of thousands of aircraft to the Soviet Union, not to mention other weapons, materials, and raw materials. After the end of World War II, the powerful Soviet army even dared to argue with the allies headed by "Uncle Sam", and with its own strength, it forcibly divided half of Europe.

Therefore, Song Zhewu attached great importance to this operation, and his important surname even exceeded the Sino-Soviet war triggered by the "Middle East Road Incident". In Song Zhewu's view, the "Middle East Road" can be temporarily lost, and Outer Mongolia must not be lost for a moment. Because the loss of the "Middle East Road" will only be temporary, and the loss of Outer Mongolia will be permanent.

Song Zhewu looked at the team transporting materials down the slope and said to Wei Guanghui: "You are going to Outer Mongolia, it is thousands of miles away from Laiyuan, you must keep these materials!" You can still have a way to get food as a last resort, but weapons, ammunition, and medicines are not easy to raise on the spot. ”

Wei Guanghui lowered his head and thought for a while and said: "Commander, I know the importance of weapons, ammunition and medicine to our cavalry army, he is our life, you can rest assured about the problem of food!" I, Wei Guanghui, am not pedantic people, and I will not let my troops starve. I'm worried about the commander of your journey, you gave me all the ammunition and supplies, what if the supplies given by Xueliang are insufficient? ”

One of the reasons why Song Zhewu actually handed over this task to Wei Guanghui's cavalry army was that the cavalry army acted quickly and could achieve the purpose of a surprise attack; Another reason is that he values Wei Guanghui's own weaknesses first at all times, and Song Zhewu believes that this is particularly important.

Song Zhewu said with a smile: "You can rest assured, Canxuan called, Zhang Xueliang promised us weapons, ammunition and other materials, now there are 10,000 rifles, 500 machine guns, 1 million bullets, 100,000 shells, 200,000 grenades, 500 hundred barrels of gasoline, and countless other food and other items that have been transported to Bahrain Left Banner." Zhang Xueliang has already arrived in Bahrain Left Banner, and according to him, a large number of supplies will continue to arrive. He thinks that we are working hard for their Northeast Army, and he will never care about these things. ”

Song Zhewu paused for a moment, and still told uneasily: "When you arrive at Sunit Left Banner, be careful of the King of De there, this King of Germany is an active person who makes a lot of reading." When your troops get there, they declare that they are waiting for supplies and will go to Manchuria to prevent information leakage. ”

Wei Guanghui gritted his teeth and said: "Just kill that King De, such people will have to kill one in the future." ”

Song Zhewu shook his head and said: "This is not good, these people are very influential figures in Mongolia, it is easy to kill them now, but it will cause the Mongolian upper nobles to turn away from us, and we can't touch them until there is conclusive evidence." With regard to the Mongol princes, we must guard against them and divide them. For example, Gongsang Norbu, although he was also a pan-Mongol when he was young, actively participated in the Reading Power Movement, and even went to Yueben privately despite the opposition of the political axe, and had close contacts with Yue himself, but since Qiaobalshan in Outer Mongolia deprived the princes of Outer Mongolia of their pastures and property, and even killed them, he completely changed his position, and now he is the one who is most in favor of maintaining unity. Therefore, after you arrive in Outer Mongolia, you must resolutely kill Choibalshan and his gang, and you will never be soft on any separatists who oppose reunification; For the Mongol princes and nobles who were attacked by Choibalshan's gang, as long as they supported the maintenance of national unity, they could return their pastures and property confiscated from Choibalsan to them. Choibalsan has killed many princes and nobles, and some even killed entire families, and the ownerless pastures and land have been collected by the newly established Outer Mongolian local government axe, which can allow ordinary Mongolian herders to graze at will; For herders who do not have cattle and sheep, they can also be given some cattle and sheep. ”

Song Zhewu pointed to the scattered sheep with a horsewhip and said: "The current Mongolian herdsmen, as long as they have 50 sheep, two cows, and two horses, they can meet the needs of food and clothing, and if there are 80 to 100 sheep, they are the small landlords among our Han people. ”

After thinking for a while, Song Zhewu said: "In addition, since we have recaptured Outer Mongolia and established a local political axe, we must exercise the right of the local political axe, and we will inevitably collect taxes. By taxation, I mean that it should be light on the general herdsmen, and moderately heavier on the nobles who own a lot of pasture and cattle and sheep. In addition, it is necessary to restrict the rights of the princes and nobles, who cannot have the right to take life and death from the herdsmen as before, and they only have the right to legally manage their property in accordance with the law. For these, it is necessary to make it clear when you return their property and pasture, and return to them those who can do this, otherwise they will not be returned. ”

Wei Guanghui hesitated for a moment and said: "Commander, I don't think it's bad for Qiaobalshan to nationalize all the land and pastures, there is no need to return these to them, even if they are distributed to ordinary herdsmen, they will support us even more." ”

Song Zhewu knew that Wei Guanghui was from a poor family, so it was not surprising to think so, he shook his head and said: "As I said just now, these princes and nobles are still influential among the Mongols, and they are the leaders of these people when they return to Mongolia in 28 years. By returning their property and pastures, we can immediately gain their support, and we can quickly gain a foothold in Outer Mongolia and better deal with possible Soviet aggression and encourage the Mongols to revolt; We have nationalized the pastures, and we cannot graze them ourselves, nor can we distribute them to herdsmen, because their financial resources are limited, which is not conducive to expanding production as soon as possible and restoring the economy of Outer Mongolia. Your cavalry army must become self-sufficient as soon as possible, and even financially support our troops in the interior. ”

Song Zhewu continued: "Of course they will be unhappy to restrict the privileges of the princes and nobles, but if they compare them with the time when Choibalshan was in power, they will not resolutely resist. Choibalsan confiscated all their property and even deprived them of all their rights. This time, Gongsang Norbu sent his son Zhuoren to the north with you, and you must cooperate well with him, and the affairs of the Mongol princes and nobles will be handled by him as much as possible. As soon as you recapture Outer Mongolia, I will ask the central government to let Zhuoren be the head of the local government of Outer Mongolia, he is the son of Gongsang Norbu, and the Mongols will trust him. Your task is to take care of the garrison and the border guards. ”

Song Zhewu said solemnly: "Another important point is that the local government cannot set up an army, only a police agency, and even those princes and nobles cannot have any private armed ......."

Looking at the team escorting the materials that was gradually moving away, Song Zhewu said affectionately: "There will be a farewell for sending you thousands of miles, this is a long way to go to Waimeng Mountain, you yourself have to be very careful, if there is anything, we will contact you by telegram." ”

Wei Guanghui solemnly gave Song Zhewu a military salute on the horse: "Commander, take care!" I wish the commander a successful trip to Manchuria! ”

With that, he shook the reins of his horse, ran down the slope, and pursued the troops northward surrounded by the guards.

Seeing that Wei Guanghui's back could no longer be seen, Song Zhewu was still silently looking at the north, and Liang Bi said softly: "Commander, let's go too." ”

Song Zhewu reluctantly stared at the north, and at Liang Bi's signal, the guards stepped forward to hold the big white horse, and walked down the hill surrounded by Ye Qing and other guards.

Li Dayong, the commander of the guard company, led the guard company to wait at the bottom of the slope, let Song Zhewu and others, Li Dayong waved his hand, and the guard company followed in two columns.

Looking at the blue and deep sky like a wash and the rippling green waves and endless prairie under his feet, Song Zhewu suddenly had a strong urge to let the horse gallop in his heart, Song Zhewu patted the guard who was leading the horse and motioned him to leave, the guard looked at Ye Qing, Ye Qing nodded, the guard let go of the reins of the horse and retreated to the back and turned over his horse.

Song Zhewu gently stabbed the horse's belly with a spur, and the big white horse immediately understood Song Zhewu's thoughts, and the big white horse let out a cheerful neigh, scurried forward lightly, spread its four hooves, and galloped eastward.

Song Zhewu's sudden move startled Ye Qing, and he panicked and shouted at the guards to follow, while whipping his mount fiercely, and followed closely with the horse.

The big white horse has not galloped on the prairie for a long time, and its amazing foot strength has no chance to show his ability whether it is in Laiyuan or following Song Zhewu south to Hubei. This time I returned to the prairie after a long absence, smelling the breath of the prairie it was familiar with, and I was already very excited, Song Zhewu's longitudinal horse galloped, and the big white horse immediately stretched its slender and strong four long legs, and galloped out like an arrow.

The big white horse was really handsome, and at such a speed that the other horses were gradually pulled behind. Although the horses of the guards were also carefully selected, they could be seen a clear gap compared to the big white horses, and only Ye Qing, who had better riding skills, and a Mongolian warrior barely followed.

Song Zhewu listened to the whirring wind in his ears, and his mood was very happy, since he came to this world inexplicably, he was always thinking about planning his plan, and he didn't dare to relax for a moment, his nerves were always tense. At this moment, the intoxicating green of the endless grassland made Song Zhewu feel relaxed and excited.

It wasn't until the big white horse gasped and gradually slowed down that Song Zhewu controlled the big white horse to walk slowly.

The first to catch up was Ye Qing, his horse was so tired that he was foaming at the mouth, and his steps were a little staggering, as long as he was running for a while, he had to lie down. Ye Qing jumped off the horse sweating profusely, grabbed the reins of Song Zhewu's horse, and said with a cry: "Commander, if you are like this, my second uncle must drive me away." ”

Song Zhewu jumped off the horse, patted Ye Qing's shoulder, and said with a smile: "I don't blame you for this, it's a whim, your second uncle wants to blame you, you tell me." ”

Song Zhewu said unsatisfactorily: "But I, this run is really enjoyable, I have to come again when I am free that day." ”

Ye Qing hurriedly said: "Commander, Nick spare me, this time it will scare me half to death." I estimate that at this time, the souls of Adjutant Liang and Company Commander Li were frightened. The commander's horse is definitely one of the best horses in a million, and our horses can't catch up even if they are tired, and if the commander is running for a while, the horses of the cavalry company will be tired to death. ”

At this time, the Mongol warrior also caught up with him, and said with a look of respect: "The commander's horse is not a horse. ”

Song Zhewu couldn't help but laugh when he heard these words like tongue twisters: "What is it that is not a horse?" ”

The warrior said, "It's a dragon, and then Ryoma." ”

Ye Qing was also interested, and Xingfeng said: "Yes, it's the Dragon Horse, let's call it the White Dragon Horse." ”

As soon as he heard the three words of Bailongma, Song Zhewu made his ass to the ground, almost turned his back on his anger, and said in his heart: "Lao Tzu doesn't want to be a monk!" ”

(To be continued)