The "Hunan Economic and Trade Delegation" led by Tan Yanmin inspected Chengdu, Dayi, Ya'an, and other emerging industrial bases in Sichuan, and attended the commissioning ceremony of the second phase of the Qijiang Iron and Steel Plant.

When Tan Yanmin left Yucheng by boat at the end of his visit on 15 August, the four regiments of the Fourth Division of the Sichuan Army had already secretly sneaked to Luxi County in western Hunan Province.

Luxi County is located in the southeast of Xiangxi, east of Yuanling, south of Chenxi, Mayang, west of Jishou, Phoenix, north of Guzhang, since ancient times is the important town of the soldiers, now dominate the master of the five counties of Xiangxi, is one of the veterans of the Sichuan border guards, after the road protection movement to return to the field of the fierce general Chen Quzhen.

In the summer, when the sky was bright and the rooster was singing, an army wearing gray-blue military uniforms but equipped with many advanced weapons appeared on the south bank of Wuxi in the west.

In the morning light, more than 100 cavalrymen wearing khaki military uniforms rode their horses and galloped until they reached the foot of Luosi Mountain, ten miles north of Luxi City.

The middle-aged man in the lead, wearing a poplin cardigan, is wearing ordinary black homespun bloomers, but a palm-wide brown cowhide belt is tied around his waist, and the pistol holster on the right side of the belt reveals a delicate ivory gun handle, on which is a flying leopard carved into it.

The middle-aged man with a dark face and strong muscles turned over and dismounted, threw the reins in his hand to Ma Ben, who wore two guns at his waist, and surrounded by a group of officers, he walked up the mountain and down the stone hill, and saw that his adjutant had led four soldiers to ride horses, and couldn't help laughing, and the hearty laughter overshadowed the sound of the horse's hooves, which echoed for a long time on the mountains and rivers, and this person was Chen Quzhen, the leader of the bandits in Xiangxi who proclaimed himself the commander of the Xiangxi garrison.

The young officer with a square face and a well-defined silhouette flew off his horse, ran in front of Chen Quzhen who was walking in front of him in a few steps, and respectfully stood up and saluted: "Report to the seniors, Wang Jian, the commander of the Fourth Division of the Sichuan Army, led the troops to arrive, and the seniors are far away to greet them, and the juniors are deeply ashamed!" ”

Chen Quzhen laughed again, stepped forward to take Wang Jian's saluting hand, looked him up and down, and asked happily: "It looks exactly like Old Man Wang, haha!" How is your old man? ”

"Thank you seniors for your concern, my father is in good health, he resigned as a member of the provincial council at the beginning of the year, went home to retire, drank tea and boxed all day long, and liked to go to the gun factory for a while. My father has always been thinking about his seniors, and he knows that the younger generations are ordered to come, and he has prepared some small gifts for the younger generations to send. ”

Wang Jian replied with a spring breeze on his face. Before leaving Sichuan, Wang Jian deliberately returned to Anya's house and asked his father about Chen Quzhen's situation in Xichuan back then, although he had no impression of Chen Quzhen, who had been friends with his father for more than ten years and had hugged him, but he still regarded Chen Quzhen as an elder in his heart.

"Haha! Your old man is still so good-tempered, alas! Pinching my fingers, it's been almost eight years since I left Ya'an, and I couldn't have imagined that Brother Yiming would lead you descendants to fight such a big country, and even I, the old border army, would benefit immensely! ”

Chen Quzhen sighed with emotion, and held Wang Jian's hand for a long time.

A sturdy young officer behind Chen Quzhen stepped forward and whispered in Chen Quzhen's ear: "Dad, quickly welcome the guests back to the city, and the sun will come out if you continue to say it." ”

Chen Quzhen couldn't help but introduce his son and two sworn brothers who dominated Xiangxi to Wang Jian, and Wang Jian also respectfully introduced the chief of staff He Qiwu and two deputies to everyone, and then followed Chen Quzhen, beat horses and walked together, talking and laughing all the way to the county seat.

More than 8,600 officers and men of the Fourth Division, under the enthusiastic guidance of their masters, slowly followed.

The city wall of the ancient city of Luxi in Xiangxi is long gone, and through the quiet streets, you will soon come to the military camp in the south of the city built by the river.

The Fourth Division of the Sichuan Army spent a full 21 days on this trip, secretly marching eastward from Xufu in southern Sichuan, always maintaining the mode of marching day and night, passing through Nanchuan, Daozhen, Zheng'an, Yanhe and other six counties on the Sichuan-Guizhou-Hunan border, and finally arrived at Luxi, where it was stationed.

Entering the brand-new military camp in the south of the city, looking at the rows of barracks built with green tiles and wood, as well as a flat field with a length of more than 200 meters and a width of more than 200 meters, Wang Jian and He Qiwu were deeply moved, and kept thanking Chen Quzhen and the accompanying masters.

Chen Quzhen didn't care, but said that if it weren't for Brother Yiming's care over the years, the brothers in Xiangxi would have accumulated rapidly through arms trafficking, where would he Chen Quzhen control the family business in the five counties of Xiangxi today? In several letters, Brother Yiming repeatedly emphasized the need to maintain the secret whereabouts of the Fourth Division and the convenience of sorties, so he hurriedly built this temporary military camp, otherwise, how could he invite Wang Jian and the Fourth Division brothers who came from afar to be stationed in Phoenix, which is more well-equipped.

When more than 8,000 officers and men of the Fourth Division drove into the barracks, nearly 1,000 local people and men in khaki military uniforms had already set up four long flowing water banquets, and shouts, laughter, and curious discussions sounded everywhere.

When the wine was half-drunk, Chen Quzhen wiped the beads of sweat from his shiny forehead, and said with a sigh: "Seeing your strict military discipline and weapons and equipment, I know why Brother Yiming won all battles, when I received Brother Yiming's first letter, I didn't believe that Sichuan could make a long and short gun that was better than the German Mauser, and when I saw it with my own eyes, I knew that I was still the same dumpling ten years ago, you see ........"

Chen Quzhen pulled out the imitation Colt M1916 military pistol on his waist: "Don't talk about your imitation Mauser long and short guns in Sichuan, now the Sichuan-style equipment of the five thousand brothers under my command is easy to use!" Gee...... Look at this gun, I really compared it with the original imported from the United States, and the result is much stronger than the original, not only more accurate, but also 30 meters more effective range, which was sent to me by a single shot three years ago! ”

"Uncle Chen, haven't you always been in charge of the line between Hunan and Guangxi? Senior Brother Yiming said, thanks to you for opening up the Guangxi arms market, otherwise I really don't know how to have something to do with Guangxi. He Qiwu said with a grin.

Chen Quzhen shook his head: "This is nothing, not to mention that I made more than 20% in the middle, this is Brother Yiming taking care of us!" It's also to blame that Guangxi is too poor, if it weren't for opening up the large markets of Hunan and Jiangxi, I really don't know how to face Brother Yiming. ”

Wang Jian saw that it was almost time, took out a letter, and handed it over with both hands: "Uncle Chen, this is our old letter from Commander-in-Chief Xiao to you." ”

"Oh? Why did you take it out now......"

Chen Quzhen suddenly realized something when she said this, took the letter and immediately stood up, walked to the bright window and read it carefully, read it three times in a row, and then took a deep breath, apologized to Wang Jian and He Qiwu, the two juniors, and told her son and nephew to greet them well, and then walked to the riverside behind the house with two assistants.

After more than half an hour, the remnants of the table were torn off and replaced with new dishes, and Chen Quzhen and his two assistants strode back, and the number of guards in front and behind the entire barracks had tripled.

Chen Quzhen motioned for Wang Jian and He Qiwu to sit down, raised a glass and drank together, and then went straight to the point: "Two divisions and nephews, in addition to the numbers of the Fifth Division of the Hunan Army and the Xiangxi Garrison Division, Tan Zu'an is really willing to hand over Changde to us?" ”

Wang Jian nodded solemnly:

"Yes, this is one of the important conditions of the "Sichuan-Hunan Secret Treaty", when our Commander-in-Chief Xiao made this request, Tan Zu'an and his two chief of staff were surprised, he has not known the close relationship between his predecessors and our Commander-in-Chief Xiao, and has always thought that in the past few years, the predecessors only bought weapons and ammunition from our Sichuan, and then resold them to Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi and other places, after listening to Commander-in-Chief Xiao's explanation, they knew that our two families were like a family, after two days of consideration, Tan Zu'an agreed to our Commander-in-Chief Xiao's conditions, However, the seniors were required to lay down Changde alone and be responsible for cleaning up the bandits in the entire Xiangxi. ”

Chen Quzhen didn't hesitate any longer, and his chief of staff, Huang Chengzhou, asked with a smile: "Isn't there only two brigades under Tan Zu'an?" Even if the four regiments of the revolutionary army of Cheng Songyun were united, the strength would not be enough to deal with the two divisions of Chen Huan and Zhao Hengti, right? Didn't he say if he needed our help to fight Yueyang? ”

Wang Jian smiled and said, "Isn't there still us?" ”

"Huh!? Oh...... Ha ha! Offended, offended, the old man punishes himself with a cup, haha! Huang Chengzhou, who was nearly fifty years old and tall and thin, really punished himself with a cup, looking very happy and happy.

Chen Quzhen asked with interest: "How does Tan Zu'an plan to deal with the Beiyang Army in the direction of Hubei and Wang Zhanyuan's Hubei Army?" That's two main divisions! There is also Wu Peifu's mixed brigade stationed in Xiaogan, will the Beiyang faction really let Hunan go? ”

"Beiyang is seeing it falling apart, and he can't control it, Zhang Xungang, who is trying to restore Yanjing City, has just been driven away, Feng Guozhang, who is acting president, has led his troops north, and Duan Qirui's two divisions are also gathering in Zhili, everyone is fighting for central power, and if they don't do it, they will fight. After all, the northern region is the nest of Beiyang, and when they react after they finish making trouble, I'm afraid that the dust has already fallen on the Hunan side. He Qiwu patiently explained.

Wang Jian then added:

"The whole plan has already been repeatedly weighed and deduced by our staff department, almost all possibilities are counted, and it has also been affirmed by Tan Zu'an and Hunan, and the most important thing is that General Cheng Songyun has also reached a preliminary consensus with us, just waiting for Tan Zu'an to meet with him to make a final decision.

"Taking a step back, even if the Beiyang Army on the Hubei side wants to go south, it will not dare to act on the premise of being unsure, after all, we still have two divisions stationed in Yichang, and now we have firmly controlled the western Hubei region in our hands, as long as the Hubei side dares to move, our troops in Yichang will advance east along the river, threaten Jingxiang, control the upper reaches of the Han River, and force the Hubei Army and the Beiyang Army units stationed in Hubei to sigh with admiration."

Chen Quzhen slammed his palms excitedly: "I understand!" Brother Yiming must have a complete battle plan, let's just say it, what should we do? When will it be launched? ”

"At the latest, it will only be September 10th, when the seniors have eaten, let's take a closer look at the battle plan, and Commander-in-Chief Xiao will let us listen to the opinions of the seniors......"

"What else to eat? Get the plan out! ”

(To be continued)