The cold wave from Siberia to the south for three consecutive days finally ended, and the freezing rain mixed with fine Xiaoice and hail also stopped, although the sky was still covered by clouds, but the mist that shrouded Lunan finally dispersed, and the earth began to show a little vitality.

Mazhuang in the west of Dahongshan was originally just a remote village where only more than 100 Hui people lived, and like most villages in Lunan area, in order to protect themselves, the people of Mazhuang built a dock fort with a circumference of more than 500 meters with stones and Sanhe soil.

At present, this dock fort has been surrounded by more than 200 large and small marching tents of the anti-bandit troops on the southern road, and as far as the eye can see, there are officers and soldiers wearing steel helmets and loaded guns and ammunition, as well as hundreds of men and women who have been running around and taking pictures since they came to Mazhuang two days ago.

The local villagers listened to the amiable officers and men who said that these people were "reporters" from various countries at home and abroad, and this really made the people of Mazhuang feel very fresh, and they soon found that among these "reporters" wearing various overcoats and with photo boxes on their chests, there were still 50 or 60 strange-looking foreigners and extremely windy foreign women, which made the people of Mazhuang, who climbed up to the fence of the dock fort every day to watch, stunned and shouted more than watching a play.

Mazhuang is not far from Xiji Town, which is passed by road and railway to the west, and the straight-line distance is only 14 kilometers, but under the continuous mountain barrier, the distance of 14 kilometers becomes a winding 22-kilometer mountain road, which can only pass a horse-drawn carriage in the eyes of all the mountain people, but in the eyes of the soldiers who come to Mazhuang, it is not worth mentioning.

The high platform opposite the south exit of Wubao was originally a large sunbath, and now there are nine large green tents on it, this tent is arranged neatly, and a camouflage net is enough to mix with the withered grass and dead trees all over the mountain, and there are guards with loaded guns and ammunition standing in front of and behind the three tents in the middle, and anyone can know the important surname of this place at a glance.

The three large tents to the west are inhabited by more than 100 Chinese and foreign journalists who are accompanying the army to cover news, and the large tent near the central headquarters is the residence of a joint investigation team composed of military attaches and diplomats from 12 European and American countries in China.

At this moment, dozens of foreign journalists and more than a dozen diplomats are holding daily forums, and their opinions and findings are extremely important, which will not only affect the reputation of China's political axe and military, but will also affect the attitude of the great powers toward China, as well as the future readjustment of the great powers' relations with China and their policies toward China.

Behind the side of the camp composed of nine tents, there are two wooden houses temporarily built with tree trunks and pine bark, and the people of Mazhuang still can't figure out the two wooden houses built by the officers and soldiers as soon as they come, why people come in and out every day, and there are men and women, soldiers and reporters, it seems to be very important, but there are no guards standing guard, and even the old man Ma who stayed in the main hall of the dock fort all day was confused by all kinds of news that gathered, and he didn't figure it out after two days, I had no choice but to send out my eldest son, who had followed him for more than 20 years and had come here to live in seclusion to avoid the enemy, and asked the kind officer in charge of the logistics and quartermaster of the officers and soldiers.

How did Ma Zhuang and Mr. Ma know that these two ordinary cabins are just men's and women's toilets, but it is these two temporary but extremely strong and clean toilets that have been hotly discussed by more than 100 Chinese and foreign reporters and more than 10 European and American diplomats who came with the army.

They generally believe that judging from these two toilets and the more than 30 identical toilets scattered around the temporary barracks, the "Second Reading Division of the Nanjing Xingying Army" is completely an elite division that is different from the army of any country, and every move, bit by bit, shows the good quality of this army and its unique temperament that is different from that of any other army; this is an army that is brave and good at fighting, an excellent army with advanced military thinking and inner spirit, and its comprehensive strength is by no means inferior to that of the army units of the great powers.

The elite troops directly under the Nanjing Xingying have always been very mysterious, and even the pervasive Yue himself has not figured out the details of the establishment, equipment, training, and combat effectiveness of the troops directly under the Nanjing Xingying, so all the [***] experts in the world have shown strong concern about the directly subordinate troops under the direct leadership of Xiao Yimin, and the British [***] side has drawn a command from Europe and the United States according to the performance of the German elite mountain troops and assault troops in the world war, and the comprehensive intelligence and the research summary of the Chinese [***] captain for ten yearsThe conclusion that the family felt incredulous:

"The elite troops under the direct leadership of Xiao Yimin are basically the same as the German mountain divisions, and from the beginning of the establishment of the army, they have received the systematic education and training of German [***] instructors, this army has easily won victories in China's ten-year civil wars, and has extremely rich experience in conquest, although it is not known its overall number, but its weapons and equipment and strong combat effectiveness are likely to reach the level of the German elite army divisions."

In this joint anti-bandit operation, the Nanjing Xingying openly displayed its most elite armed forces to the outside world for the first time through the outstanding performance of the "Second Division directly under the Reading Division," which left an extremely deep impression on all those who came with the army. A week ago, reporters and diplomats were amazed at the 15,000-strong army that had been temporarily transferred to suppress bandits, believing that this army far surpassed the anti-bandit troops in Shandong and the Beiyang armies in all respects.

Among them, the U.S. Consul in Jinan, Military Attache Victor. Lieutenant Colonel Liddell's evaluation is the most representative surname:

"Comparing only the most ordinary marches, the Shandong army and even the elite troops of Beiyang have fallen far behind the Nanjing marching army. When the Beiyang Army marched, it was disjointed and chaotic, and even the marching team of 2,000 people could not maintain an orderly formation, and it was remarkable that the daily marching speed could reach 30 kilometers;

"On the other hand, the troops in the camp at Nanking were well-trained and disciplined, and there was absolutely no noise to be heard during the march except for the neighing of horses and the slight clash of metal, and this army was well-equipped, and the average weight of the officers and men was more than 20 kilograms. However, the speed of their march reached an alarming level: fifty kilometers a day, and it took only eight and a half hours.

"In last week's joint anti-bandit operation, two infantry regiments of the Second Division, equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns and mortars, fought continuously for three days and three nights, during which they fought more than 150 kilometers, and all of them marched and fought in the rugged and complicated mountainous areas. Of the twelve bandit strongholds that had been completely destroyed, nine were eliminated by the two regiments in the Readings operation, and each battle lasted no more than four hours.

"We, the members of the investigation team in vehicles, arrived at the battlefield every time we were one step late, and all we saw were burning houses, towering fences and corpses everywhere. Not only that, but under the outstanding command of the division commander, Major General Xiao Fei, and the commander of the special bandits, Major General Wang Qian, they drove most of the escaped bandits and the bandits within 100 kilometers of the surrounding area into Dahong Mountain, and then beautifully completed the encirclement of Dahong Mountain!

Therefore, I feel compelled to honestly express my opinion: The overall strength of the army under the direct leadership of the Nanjing Xingying far exceeds my previous expectations and imaginations, and this is a modern army with strong combat effectiveness and tenacious fighting spirit, advanced military thinking, and an excellent command system, except for the fact that I did not see their heavy artillery and infantry artillery, and even surpasses the most elite main division of our US Army in other aspects.

"It's a great pity that so far, we don't know how many of these elite army divisions there are under the leadership of the Nanjing Xingying, but I am convinced that it is definitely not just the second division we see so far."

The commanders of each regiment and the commanders of the battalions directly under them quickly returned to their own troops, and Xu Tongyao, deputy commander and chief of staff of the Second Division of Reading Force, also took their own staff teams and rushed to the front line of the two encirclements in the east and north of Dahong Mountain.

Xiao Fei pointed to a stream on the south side of Dahong Mountain on the sand table, and asked with some confusion: "Senior brother, why do you let go of this side?" Aren't you obviously going to make meritorious service to Peng Ziyue's guy? ”

"What? Red-eyed? ”

Wang Qian habitually holds his right arm, which was successfully connected after being blown off in the French battlefield, and now several years later, his three fingers are still unable to move, and he can only pinch the spoon with his right thumb and index finger when eating, and it can be said that the entire right arm is half-crippled. However, Wang Qian's spirit and temperament of the whole person have not been damaged at all, but because of the command talent and calm surname tempered by going to the battlefield after recovering from injury, the whole person has a qualitative improvement and leap.

Before returning to China, this outstanding commander, who participated in the entire operation of the combined forces against France, Britain, Belgium and the United States as a lieutenant in the German Army, not only had the rank of lieutenant colonel in the German Army, but was also one of the three heroes who received a letter from the Kaiser and was awarded a military merit medal.

This time, Wang Qian was appointed by Xiao Yimin as the commander of the South Road Bandit Suppression, which means that he has completely won Xiao Yimin's trust and reuse, and it is very likely that after the completion of the bandit suppression operation, Xiao Yimin will be fully responsible for training and commanding the three ace divisions directly under the Nanjing Xingying.

In this regard, Chen Lanting, commander of the First Reading Division, and Xiao Fei, commander of the Second Reading Division, who had been stationed on both sides of the Nanjing River, both raised their hands in approval, and now I am afraid that only Wang Qian or Zeng Chaoran, who has a higher prestige, can replace Xiao Yimin in commanding the only three ace divisions in the whole army.

Wang Qian saw Xiao Fei smiling and not answering, and explained very seriously: "Although the special forces brigade of your second division is very strong, there is still a big gap between it and Chen Lanting's first division and Wei Changfeng's special brigade of the Nanjing Garrison Division.

"In view of this, I asked the commander to transfer Colonel Peng Ziyue, the chief instructor of the special forces of the Ya'an base, and use this anti-bandit operation to let Peng Ziyue lead your special brigade to hone it well."

Xiao Fei really didn't expect Wang Qian to think about it so thoroughly, and immediately bowed his head in shame and admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, senior brother, the little brother is too childish, don't be angry, the little brother understands in his heart!" ”

Wang Qian smiled: "It's good to understand...... After the end of this operation, I am afraid that you will be trained for one year in the general officer class of the Nanjing Military Academy, and 70 retired German instructors and British and American instructors hired by the commander with high salaries have arrived in Nanjing, and all the teaching materials and the compilation of many examples of war in the world war have been completed. Beginning next month, the Commander and Chief of General Staff Zeng will serve as the chief and deputy head of the first class of generals. ”

"Huh!? OMG...... Can you not go? Xiao Fei had a headache when he heard about reading.

"Okay, if you're not afraid that the commander will transfer you to the headquarters organ, don't go."

"No, no! This can't be done, and I won't leave the second division if I am killed...... Can't I go? Alas...... I'm sad to death......"

(To be continued)