In fact, Zhang Yunfei also knew their whereabouts well before their plane reached Taiyuan, and it was discovered by an early warning radar station in the northern suburbs of Taiyuan and reported to the headquarters, and then the radar station on the ground had been monitoring Chen Cheng's special plane.

Seeing that Chen Cheng's special plane was about to arrive, Zhang Yunfei got up and said to the commander-in-chief: "Commander-in-chief, that Yunfei is missing, I am going to greet the Kuomintang delegation now." ”

"Go ahead!" The commander-in-chief waved his hand.

Zhang Yunfei took Liu Dazhu, Fang Zheng and others, as well as about a platoon of guards, and rode in more than a dozen off-road vehicles, a long convoy, which looked full of pomp and circumstance, and headed for the airport on the outskirts of Datong. Paying attention to pomp, Zhang Yunfei wanted to cater to the psychology of high-ranking Kuomintang officials.

It only took Zhang Yunfei more than 10 minutes to reach the Datong Airport in the suburbs of Datong, the flat Datong Airport appeared very empty, and there were only a dozen planes on the huge airport, and these planes were all planes of the little devils who had been captured before, and these planes were mainly used for the training of the flight brigade.

Seeing the arrival of Zhang Yunfei's motorcade, Gao Zhihang, the captain of the flight brigade, happily came to Zhang Yunfei's car, personally opened the car door for Zhang Yunfei, and said happily: "Hello, division commander, Gao Zhihang, the captain of the brigade, reports to you, according to our radar surveillance, the special plane of the Kuomintang side will arrive in about ten minutes." ”

This Gao Zhihang was sent by Zhang Yunfei to Henan to recruit William to Datong a few months ago, Zhang Yunfei didn't know, at this time Gao Zhihang was killed and martyred, but I didn't expect that when William arrived in Henan, Gao Zhihang did not sacrifice, that air battle with the little devil was only seriously injured once, after recuperating from the injury, he accidentally learned that he was seriously injured by his teammates, so Gao Zhihang was disheartened for a while.

Knowing that Gao Zhihang was not sacrificed, Zhang Yunfei was ecstatic, but Zhang Yunfei was not very sure whether he could recruit Gao Zhihang, but William relied on his ability to turn a straw into a gold bar, and he fooled Gao Zhihang to Datong.

After Gao Zhihang came to Datong with suspicion, he saw the prosperous scene here, the well-equipped troops, the wide airport, and more than a dozen planes, which were basically in line with what William said at the beginning, so the doubts in his heart immediately disappeared.

After coming to Datong, Gao Zhihang performed well, so Zhang Yunfei was immediately entrusted with an important task and served as the captain of the newly formed flight brigade, and after serving as the captain of the flight brigade, Gao Zhihang did not disappoint Zhang Yunfei, not only the flight training of the unit is very set, but also the unit is also managed very well, and he is a rare general.

Zhang Yunfei praised Gao Zhihang a few words, and then looked at the watch, time was running out, Chen Cheng's special plane was about to come, Zhang Yunfei said loudly to the comrades who participated in the greeting: "Comrades, get ready to welcome the delegation." ”

Everyone immediately stood in a neat line, and by the way, they sorted out their military appearance, which looked more solemn. Zhang Yunfei stood at the front of the team, carefully looking at the southern sky, Zhang Yunfei had faintly heard the roar of the plane.

Gradually, in the direction where the voice came, a small black dot appeared, and the black dot became bigger and bigger, and Chen Cheng's special plane came. The airport hurriedly guided Chen Cheng's special plane to land on the predetermined runway.

An old-fashioned propeller plane slowly taxied on the runway, as soon as the plane stopped, the ground crew soldiers at the airport immediately laid out a fiery red carpet in front of the plane, and then, the door of the plane opened, put down the spiral ladder, and the first person to get out of the cabin was Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng was dressed in an official uniform, the four gold stars on his shoulders were shining, and Chen Cheng, who was smiling, slowly walked down the gangway, and as soon as he stood firm on the red carpet, Zhang Yunfei walked forward quickly, held Chen Cheng's hands tightly, and said with full anger: "Welcome to Datong, sir." ”

Chen Cheng is the chief of the general staff at this time, and he is also a first-class general, Zhang Yunfei still has to give him face, and he must be very enthusiastic and respectful.

Zhang Yunfei's attitude made Chen Cheng very comfortable, and he also held Zhang Yunfei's hand, and said happily: "Congratulations to Commander-in-Chief Zhang, I am entrusted by the commission to come to congratulate the establishment of your group army." As soon as Chen Cheng met, he emphasized to Zhang Yunfei that Chairman Jiang was far away in Yucheng.

"Thank you so much to Chief of General Staff Chen." Zhang Yunfei said modestly, and then said jokingly: "Chief of General Staff Chen will stay in Datong for a few more days, but if we have a place where we are not well entertained, I hope that Chief of General Staff Chen will take care of it." ”

After the two exchanged a few words, Zhang Yunfei introduced Fang Zheng and Liu Dazhu to Chen Cheng one by one, Fang and Liu, holding Chen Cheng's hands, were very excited, and they couldn't be as calm as Zhang Yunfei.

This time, Chen Cheng's entourage was only a dozen people, Zhang Yunfei invited everyone to board the off-road vehicle next to him, Zhang Yunfei pulled everyone to the hotel prepared earlier, and a large number of soldiers were arranged outside the hotel to stand guard.

In the evening, Zhang Yunfei personally entertained Chen Cheng and his party, and seeing the sumptuous dinner, Zhang Yunfei was very polite and enthusiastic, which made Chen Cheng have more face and a good impression of Zhang Yunfei.

Before coming to Datong, Chairman Chiang carefully explained to Chen Cheng, and Chen Cheng not only brought with him the letter of appointment issued by Chairman Chiang and the relevant documents of the Ministry of National Defense, but also brought with him Chairman Chiang's entrustment and hopes.

For a hero like Zhang Yunfei, Chairman Chiang wanted to try his best to win over and win over, and if Zhang Yunfei could be pulled into the camp of [***], the strength of the Eighth Route Army would be greatly weakened. Therefore, Zhang Yunfei's enthusiasm made Chen Cheng see hope, and he was very happy, and in front of Zhang Yunfei, he did not put on the shelf of the chief of the General Staff.

The next day, that is, on the 10th of May, the Datong Headquarters was full of lights and beaming, and in the largest conference room in the headquarters, the soldiers were busy there, preparing for some finishing work.

In the center of the conference room, a banner of "The Inaugural Meeting of the 36th Group Army of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army" was hung, and the tables on the rostrum were polished and shining, and on each table, teacups and bouquets of flowers were placed.

Under the rostrum, there are already full of officers above the former 136th Division, everyone is full of smiles, is in groups of heated discussions, today is everyone's grand meeting, everyone's mood is very happy, more happy than the New Year's holiday.

In the corner of the conference room, several people who looked like officers of the 136th Division were also talking and laughing, only to see a burly man with a slightly dark face, smiling at a 136th Division commander beside him and said: "I said Commander Zhou, I am really happy today, we have changed our shotguns to cannons, and we will be a group army immediately, it is really like a dream." ”

"Commander Yang, I said that you are a rough man, and you know how to be happy, I thought you knew how to bury your head in battle." Captain Zhou, who looked more Sven, teased.

Listening to Commander Zhou's ridicule, Commander Yang immediately smiled and said: "I said Old Zhou, I can't be happy, think about it, after we are reorganized into a group army, we are also rising, our regiment has not been upgraded to a brigade, and then we can be more free to work with little devils." ”

The Eighth Route Army in this era is still relatively simple, and they are promoted to think of being able to bring more soldiers and fight with good devils, unlike later generations, most of the political axe officials are just for promotion and fortune.

The head of the regiment next to him also said happily: "Lao Yang, you think of my heart, and I am also very much looking forward to it, after we expand, we can better fight the little devils." ”

After saying that, both of them laughed, and the warm and happy atmosphere spread throughout the conference room.

Like the two commanders of Zhou and Yang, the other commanders of the 136th Division have basically the same idea, and they are very much looking forward to it, hoping to create brilliance again and add a strong stroke to the history of China's War of Resistance again.

Under the rostrum, in the front row, several infantry brigade commanders of the original 136th Division were already sitting there, Wang Haiyang, Chen Erwa, Qian Long, Chu Tianming, etc., were sitting straight, but also smiling, waiting for the arrival of Zhang Yunfei and others.

Next to the brigade commanders were Sun Chuanzhi of the cavalry regiment, Liu Xing of the special combat team, and Chen Hu of the antiaircraft artillery regiment.

At the back of the conference room, dozens of reporters from several large newspapers across the country were ready, and several old-fashioned cameras were also ready, facing the direction of the rostrum.

Dozens of reporters, most of them in suits and leather shoes, with smiles on their faces, holding notebooks in their hands, are sitting neatly in the press area, and occasionally there are reporters talking in small voices.

Not far from the conference room, in a reception room, Zhang Yunfei and the commander-in-chief were talking in a low voice, exchanging their final opinions, and now it was not long before the inaugural meeting officially began.

Next to the reception room where Zhang Yunfei was, in a lounge with atmospheric decoration, Chen Cheng and several entourages were ready to attend the conference.

Looking at the entourage next to him, Chen Cheng instructed everyone to check their documents, and wait a minuteAt the meeting, Chen Cheng will announce the formal establishment of the 36 th Group Army on behalf of the National Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense, and present Zhang Yunfei with a letter of appointment personally signed by Chairman Jiang and confer on Zhang Yunfei the rank of second-class general.

At this time, Chen Cheng's mood was not as happy and excited as the officers and men of the Eighth Route Army, but he was a little irritable.

Last night, Chen Cheng wanted to talk to Zhang Yunfei alone, so he specially sent an entourage of his own to invite Zhang Yunfei, but Zhang Yunfei refused on the grounds that he was busy with military affairs at night and had time to visit Chen Cheng in person another day.

Seeing the entourage sent to inform Zhang Yunfei coming back with a disappointed face, Chen Cheng knew that Zhang Yunfei was not so easy to control, although on the surface, Zhang Yunfei was polite to himself, but in fact, Zhang Yunfei had his own opinions, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to win over, and Chairman Jiang's hope was afraid that it would be disappointed.

(To be continued)