Xiao Yimin, who stayed in Kangding for only three days, soon realized the true meaning of "a mountain has four seasons, ten miles of different days", on the plateau at an altitude of more than 2,500 meters, the temperature difference between day and night is very large, it is the dog season, you need to put on a coat in the morning, but at noon in the hot sun, you can't wait to strip your whole body, if you don't have a heavy quilt and brazier at night, you can't sleep at all, the amount of alcohol drops greatly, not to mention, drinking more can make people breathless.

The baggage battalion and more than 60 caravans led by Qi Luo, a veteran of the border army, drove into Kangding City in a mighty way on the afternoon of the third day.

More than 5,000 soldiers and civilians and more than 800 horse-drawn wagons transported all kinds of goods, piled up, the most important commodity trading market of the year in the Kangding area with the arrival of the caravan is about to begin, merchants from all over Xikang and the Tibetan region before and after, will gather in Kangding City in the next month, millions of commodities gathered from the middle of the river, will disappear with the caravan between the mountains and mountains.

Zhong Ying and Zhou Daogang were not lucky enough to participate in this year's bazaar, and in the early morning of the veteran Qi Luo, 8,000 officers and soldiers who had been preparing for more than a year and were holding their stomachs set off.

The snow-capped mountains in the morning light are particularly dazzling, and the vast forest under the snow line is as dark as daisies, hazy, and the river that rolls south reflects the blue sky, like a dark blue ribbon suspended on the gray earth, fluttering slowly.

The camp of Happy Horse Mountain in the cold morning breeze is particularly solemn, the sonorous sound of metal and the neighing of war horses, one after another, the dense footsteps shatter the tranquility of the early morning, when the first faint golden glow illuminates the white pagoda of the Buddhist temple on Zheduo Mountain, the whimpering and desolate lama horn sounded in unison.

Xiao Yimin, who was standing outside the gate of the courtyard, glanced at the monastery looming to the west, and then the image of the lama full of wariness and hostility at the welcome ceremony came to his mind, and realized that the news of the army's westward march would be the same as the previous two times, and it would soon reach Nyingchi and Lhasa.

But at this moment, Xiao Yimin didn't care, he even hoped that the news would spread faster, so that the group of people in charge of life and death in robes could not stop panicking, hoping that the disabled rebels could still muster the last courage and do their best to fight desperately like five years ago.

Dozens of generals stood behind Xiao Yimin, watching the soldiers of the Western Expedition.

Zhong Ying, who was standing beside Xiao Yimin, took a deep breath and showed a sincere smile to Xiao Yimin, who turned his head: "The company and battalion commanders of the main forces are almost all your students, and they are much stronger than those officers under my command five years ago. ”

Xiao Yimin nodded slightly, very confident in his students:

"At present, it seems that in the next few years, only the Xikang Theater will have battles to fight, and it will be the most able to train people, so most of the military academy graduates this year and next year will be assigned to your Fourth Army for training, and only the best who stand out in the cruel environment are qualified officers, and the eldest brother has to worry more."

"Does that need to be said? Don't worry, as long as our border army rolls for a few years, sharpens in brutal battles and in the harsh environment of the plateau, fools can become sincere and benevolent, haha! Zhong Ying's loud voice caused a heartfelt laugh from all the generals.

Qi Luo on the other side did not refute Zhong Ying this time, but agreed with Zhong Ying's point of view very much:

"If you can stay in our border army for three or two years, you will be much tougher in terms of physique and surname, maybe among the good seedlings from these batches of military academies, you can really produce one or two famous generals.

"We have been preparing for this battle for two years, a military station of fifty miles, all the way to Mangkang, all the brothers have at least half a year of plateau combat training, whether it is the number of participants or weapons and equipment, it is not comparable to the western expedition five years ago, the troops into Tibet are still caravan closely followed, solving the worries of ammunition, grain and grass replenishment, the officers and soldiers are paid three times the salary, if we can not completely eradicate those rabble with shotguns and waist knives, and establish a long-term stationed Lhasa battalion, There is really no reason to completely quell the rebellion that has been causing disaster for decades. ”

All the generals echoed their words, revealing a strong self-confidence in their words, which made the apprehensive Xiao Yimin feel much more at ease.

Xiao Yimin does not have the luxury of hoping to leave a name in history with this war, nor does he expect to be able to once and for all, including southern Tibet, northern Myanmar and the Shan State of the Dai people, and other sacred territorial integrity of the Chinese nation that has been sad for thousands of years, into the national map, but at least it proves that he has worked hard, as long as he does it seriously, no matter what the result is, he will not leave greater regrets and pain in this life.

The tail of the mighty army stepped on the stone bridge in the south, Zhong Ying and Zhou Daogang and other more than ten generals walked in front of Xiao Yimin, saluted neatly, and then turned over and got on the horse.

Xiao Yimin subconsciously raised his hand and waved it a few times, he knew that the 8,000 army led by Zhong Ying would attack Lhasa like a bamboo, and he also knew that the two regiments led by Zhou Daogang could gain a foothold in Chayu, a strategic place in southeast Tibet, his only concern was the five-year covenant made with Zhong Ying and Liu Wenhui and others more than a year ago, two years have passed in the blink of an eye, I don't know what the situation will be in another three years, whether he can achieve his goal, and how many of the two hundred enthusiastic students will come back intact, The 200 military academy graduates who pinned his infinite expectations on him are also the mainstay of the Sichuan army and the hope for the future. In any case, the main battlefield of the Sichuan army is still in the east, and there is still a long way to go

At this moment, at the foot of Guogang Mountain, more than 100 kilometers west of the Mangkang camp, Xiao Yimin's protégé Liu Wenhui led a reconnaissance company lurking in the reckless pine forest at the foot of Kokang Mountain, vigilantly observing every move inside and outside the two rows of wooden and stone houses under the mountain through the dense coniferous trees.

More than 100 officers and soldiers crawling on the cold ground were shivering from the cold, everyone was wearing thick camouflage cotton clothes and cotton pants, under the coat in addition to a plush sheepskin vest, there was also a full set of Western-style warm sanitary clothes purchased from Shanghai, between the sanitary clothes and the skin, there was also a set of soft knitted autumn clothes and autumn pants, the body and the ground were separated by thick dead grass, but still could not withstand the erosion of the cold to the bones, and the faces that had been exposed to the cold and scorching for a long time were all burnt red. The parched lips and the hands clenching the steel spear were full of gaps, but those eyes were still vibrant, flashing with infinite vitality and fierce murderous aura.

Liu Wenhui's reconnaissance company spent seven days finally finding this important foothold of the rebels, and if they hadn't tracked it all the way, no one would have known that the two rows of inconspicuous stone and wood houses on the outside were actually an important stronghold of the rebels in the Qamdo area, less than four kilometers away from Zuogong, a strategic town on the road to Tibet in the north, and a battalion of rebels originally stationed in Zuogong had long been scattered and hidden, and now there are only more than 800 Tibetan civilians, and there is no quiet and peaceful, inconspicuous Zuogong at all. It was once an important barracks and supply warehouse for the rebels.

In the houses on both sides of the hill at the foot of the mountain, smoke rose from the cooking, and the original rebels and more than 180 militants who had been gathering here for two days got up one after another after a good night's sleep, walked out of the door one by one, and joked with each other.

The platoon commander who was crawling beside the company commander Liu Wenhui put down his binoculars, approached Liu Wenhui, who had been motionless for a long time, and asked in a low voice:

"Company commander, we've been waiting here for a day and a night, when will we attack?"

"Not in a hurry, maybe there are rebels coming, it is estimated that the various departments of our regiment suddenly appeared this time, and the rebels were frightened, so they gathered together, according to the current situation, not only there are a large number of rebels in the Zuogong area, but also Qamdo in the north and Mibo in the west were originally important camps of the rebels, and the situation in many places is comprehensive, and the rebels can only block our army on the line from Zuogong to Nyingchi."

Liu Wenhui looked calm, and after more than a year of hard training, he finally made the ambitious young man mature quickly.

The platoon commander, who graduated from the Sichuan Army Military Academy last year with a reconnaissance major, continued to ask: "Will our regimental headquarters march into Zuogong today?" ”

Liu Wenhui put down the binoculars, turned his numb body sideways, and changed to a comfortable position on his back: "It's hard to say, maybe it's today, maybe it's tomorrow, it depends on how well the third battalion is doing in Yacha in the north, if Yacha doesn't encounter a large number of rebels, our regiment will enter the Zuogong fortification according to the original plan, and wait for the arrival of the main force led by General Zhong." ”

"So, after arriving in Mibo, will we go west to Lhasa, or will we go south to Chayu?" The platoon commander asked again.

Liu Wenhui smiled and said, "How do I know? It is estimated that even the head of the regiment does not know. ”

The platoon commander nodded: "Company commander, if you were to choose, which way would you like to fight?" ”

"To the south, of course."

Liu Wenhui looked up at the blue sky and said quietly:

"At the beginning of last year, when the commander-in-chief sent me to the border army, he said that if I took Chayu and firmly occupied it, I would be able to overlook the Baiyi River Valley, which is thousands of miles in radius to the south and known as the land of fish and rice, and as long as I occupied the Baiyi River Valley, I would be able to connect with Myitkyina and western Yunnan in the east, and to the south would be the Bengali settlements and the Indian Ocean, and to the west would be southern Tibet, which the British wanted to annex overnight.

"Therefore, we must occupy the Baiyi River valley in order to curb the aggressive ambitions of the British, in order to achieve the ultimate strategic goal, and we will also create history because of this, and become a hero of the country and a hero of the nation!

"I haven't forgotten these words for a moment, every time I think of the commander-in-chief's five-year covenant, it's like I experienced it yesterday, and I will never forget it!"

The platoon commander was envious, and when he saw that Liu Wenhui closed his eyes and looked very tired, he didn't speak again, raised his binoculars to observe for a while, and quietly retreated to the rear to wake up the company deputy who had slept for three hours to replace him.

(To be continued)