Sun Sicheng and Sun Sirong, the two brothers, were taken to Zhengzhou with the engineer battalion this time, and the two didn't care too much at first, anyway, they would be released back to the Northwest Army when they arrived in Zhengzhou. Sun Sicheng thought that he was just going home to visit his relatives.

His son should also go to school this year, and it seems that his wife will suffer some things in the future, and there will be no more savings in his 20 oceans of military salary. But when he thought of his wife and son, Sun Sicheng felt a warm feeling in his heart.

Sun Sirong is more at ease than him, he is not from the Northwest Army, this time he was unlucky enough to be arrested with the engineer battalion, he had already told an officer of the Fourth Route Army just now, he understood him very well, and promised to intercede with him and let him go home when he arrived in Zhengzhou. Unexpectedly, when handing over the weapons of the engineer battalion just now, they were all officers and soldiers of the Fourth Route who looked fierce and vicious, and after the Northwest Army laid down their weapons, they all became amiable, but at that time, Sun Sirong was frightened by the bright bayonet, and he didn't want to appreciate this crime anymore.

But soon Sun Sicheng's feeling of going home to visit his relatives was gone, and the military train they were riding in had not yet started, and several lieutenant-level officers came to their carriages, openly announcing that they would be recruited to join the Fourth Route Army. Seeing that no one answered, a captain pushed away the officers who were waiting for the record with a notebook, and began to publicize the treatment of officers and soldiers at all levels of the Fourth Route Army.

As soon as I heard that the soldiers of the Fourth Route Army put aside all kinds of expenses, the monthly military salary was five oceans, and it was actually paid to their hands. The soldiers of the engineer battalion in the carriage immediately blew up the nest, first whispering to each other, and then some bold soldiers took the lead in asking to join the Fourth Route Army.

In the blink of an eye, there were only a few officers left in the carriage. Seeing this scene, the captain who led the team said with a smile: "Maybe I didn't make it clear just now, in our Fourth Route Army, the soldier's monthly salary is five oceans, the main and deputy squad leaders are fifteen and ten oceans, the main and deputy platoon commanders are thirty and twenty oceans, and the main and deputy company commanders are fifty and forty oceans. We in the Fourth Route Army very much welcome you experienced officers to join, of course, whether you can continue to hold your original position depends on whether you can pass our assessment. ”

The officers are different from the soldiers, although everyone is attracted by the high military salary, but no one dares to stand up first, they all stare at you with big eyes, you look at me, I look at you, and then they all look at Sun Sicheng.

After being silent for a long time, Meng Dazhu, the commander of the second company, who had always been upright, took the lead in standing up and said loudly: "To tell the truth, I don't have any other ideas about joining the Northwest Army, that is, to be a soldier to eat food and receive salary, and I not only have my wife and children, but also my elderly parents. If I were in the Fourth Route Army, I would have 50 yuan a month's salary and 600 yuan a year, and these 600 yuan would not only not starve them, but would also allow them to afford to eat meat, buy new clothes, save some, and buy some land every year. I would also like to ask, is all this true? Do you owe or not? If I don't owe money, I'll join the Fourth Route Army. ”

The captain of the Fourth Route Army said with a smile: "You can rest assured of this, I have been in the Fourth Route Army for almost two years, and I have never been in arrears, and even the monthly salary has not changed." ”

The engineer battalion had just been formed, and the officers still had no sense of belonging to Sun Sicheng, the battalion commander, so Meng Dazhu just glanced at Sun Sicheng and walked to the next carriage.

With Meng Dazhu taking the lead, the other officers also followed, and only Sun Sicheng and Sun Sirong were left in a huge carriage in an instant.

Sun Sicheng saw the captain looking at him with a smile on his face, and asked strangely, "Do you want me too?" ”

"Yes! Absolutely. You are the battalion commander, you naturally have a lot of experience and strong ability, so we naturally want it. The captain replied with a smile.

Sun Sicheng hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Do you still want me to be the battalion commander?" ”

The captain replied, "I don't count this, if you pass our assessment, our superiors will consider your problem." "Although Sun Sicheng's parents have long since passed away, he still has a wife and children, and he lives on his military salary. There is no need for his uncle, that is, Sun Sirong's father, to help often. And now it is impossible for him to return to the Northwest Army. The situation in this carriage he is in is like this, and it is estimated that the other carriages will be the same, and he can't go back alone? Even if his boss doesn't blame him, he doesn't have a single soldier, what can he do when he returns to the Northwest Army? It is definitely impossible to be a battalion commander again, and it may not be possible to go back to be his company commander. Joining the Fourth Route Army, even if you can't be a battalion commander, a company commander will definitely not be able to run. Thinking of this, Sun Sicheng gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I will also join the Fourth Route Army." It's just that my younger brother is not from the Northwest Army, he is a foreign student studying in France, and he just came to see me this time. When you get to Zhengzhou, let him go! ”

Tao Rong's reaction when he heard the news was completely different from the reaction of the staff officer, he knew that Song Zhewu paid great attention to recruiting students and skilled workers with expertise, and now this Sun Sirong not only has expertise, but can be said to be an expert. So I immediately ran to ask Song Zhewu for advice.

Hearing the news, Song Zhewu was not only overjoyed. In Hankou, he wanted to tie up those students and engineers to his Fourth Route Army, but that would not work, if that was the case, public opinion would unanimously agree that he Song Zhewu was a warlord, and the people who were kidnapped would not necessarily contribute to him. But this Sun Sirong is different, he is a prisoner of their Fourth Route Army, and he can't find such a talent! He would never let go of his "muzzle" by himself, let alone force a prisoner to join his troops, and no one would make irresponsible remarks.

Song Zhewu immediately ordered Zhang Yafei: "This engineer battalion will be handed over to your first division, since all the engineer battalions have joined the Fourth Route Army, then temporarily maintain the positions of officers at all levels of this battalion, and return to Laiyuan to reorganize again." He also told Tao Rong: "No matter what method you use, this Sun Sirong must join the Fourth Route Army, temporarily grant the rank of lieutenant colonel, and stay in the military department first." ”

Zhang Yafei said with a smile: "Commander, I'm afraid that a kind person like Chief of Staff Tao can't complete this arduous task, and this matter has to be handed over to me, a wicked person, to do it more appropriately." ”

Song Zhewu also smiled when he thought about it, it was indeed a little inappropriate for someone like Tao Rong to do such a thing, so he smiled and said: "It's okay, but you have to tell him that he is a soldier when he participates in the Fourth Route Army, and if he wants to escape without permission, he is a deserter, and I will severely punish him." If he really wants to go, he will do a good job in the Fourth Route Army, and if he wants to leave in three years, I will never stop him. ”

In this way, a peculiar scene appeared, Sun Sirong was forced by several soldiers of the Fourth Route Army to put on the uniform of a grass-green hairy serge, hang up a shiny military rank, and wear black high-waisted leather boots.

When Sun Sirong appeared in front of everyone again, the soldiers and officers in the carriage where he passed by all stood up and saluted him, and even a few soldiers who forced him to change their clothes. The huge contrast made Sun Sirong's anger aroused by the forced change of clothes just now suddenly come to naught. In order to test the power of his newly released lieutenant colonel, he also deliberately took two specially equipped guards specially equipped for him to go around the adjacent carriage, and the effect was quite satisfactory to Sun Sirong. The salute of the soldiers and officers and the respectful gaze that looked at him made Sun Sirong's heart happy, it turned out that being a soldier was also a good thing. Although Sun Sirong never thought about becoming a soldier, it seems that being an officer is also a very good choice.

Sun Sicheng and Sun Sirong were taken to Song Zhewu's box by the staff officer, because Song Zhewu had already met them before. Sun Sicheng saluted neatly, Sun Sirong also wanted to salute like Sun Sicheng, but he didn't look like a soldier at all, Song Zhewu didn't mind and said with a smile: "Okay, you brothers do a good job, the rewards and punishments in the Fourth Route Army are clear, and they will never treat you badly." We are going to be stationed in Zhengzhou for a period of time, both of you are from Zhengzhou, and I am looking for you this time to ask you, what is the terrain between Huayuankou and Biyuan Village? With that, he pointed to the map spread out on the table.

Although Sun Sicheng did not have a big official position in the Northwest Army, he had stayed for more than ten years, and immediately understood what Song Zhewu meant. "According to the commander-in-chief, there are plain farmlands between Huayuankou and Liyuan Village, and there are no villages during this period, only a dozen scattered peasant households live."

Then he added: "The water in this area is shallow, and the water comes out of the water less than a meter down, so it is impossible to dig trenches." ”

Song Zhewu looked at Tao Rong and nodded, meaning that I am relieved of such a terrain.

Tao Rong saw that Song Zhewu had agreed to the plan, and all that was left was the specific deployment, so she thought about it and asked Sun Sicheng: "We want to station a regiment and cavalry brigade at Huayuankou, more than 15,000 people, and about 8,000 war horses, how big is the town, can we stay?" ”

Sun Sicheng shook his head and said: "They can't live in the town, there are only a few hundred households in Huayuankou, and it is definitely not possible to live in so many troops." ”

Mengxi saw Tao Rong frowning, looked at Song Zhewu and Tao Rong and said, "Commander-in-chief, chief of staff, how can you have a house to live in every day when you are marching and fighting, just set up a tent in the wild." ”

Song Zhewu looked at Meng Xixin and said, "In the end, he is a young man, although he has a flexible mind and is full of strategies, he still lacks experience in the end. He said solemnly: "Director Meng, the troops can camp in the wild, but the war horses can't." It's hard to say how long we are going to be stationed in Zhengzhou now, but I estimate that it will take about a month, and for such a long time, if the war horses have been in the wild, they must all be sick. ”

Sun Sicheng thought for a moment and then said, "Commander-in-chief, this is easy to do." ”

(To be continued)