Because there were too many things that needed to be reported to Song Zhewu, when the two discussed the deployment of personnel and the reorganization of the troops, Xiao Guodong forgot about Ye Changgui, and as soon as the personnel arrangements were announced, Ye Changgui was dumbfounded, but he knew that Song Zhewu trusted him extremely much, and the work entrusted to him was not handed over to anyone Song Zhewu could rest assured. But he didn't dare to tell Song Zhewu himself, so he had to find Xiao Guodong to find out about the situation. As soon as Ye Changgui mentioned it, Xiao Guodong thought about it, and hurriedly pulled Ye Changgui to find Song Zhewu.

Regarding the situation that Ye Changgui has too many part-time jobs, Song Zhewu knows very well in his heart, but these things are very important, and there are not many people who can make him absolutely trust now, and he can't find a suitable person for a while. However, he also felt that Ye Changgui had too much work, and it was likely that he would manage everything, but he couldn't manage it properly.

"Changgui, the affairs of the special brigade can only be done by you, and others can't do it. You see the rest of the work, you can hand it over. "Song Zhewu wanted to ask Ye Changgui's opinion.

Ye Changgui did not hesitate, opened his mouth and said: "Commander, I think we can hand over the mountain brigade to the deputy brigade commander Li Ruifang, this person is very good at mountain warfare, and the training of the troops is also very good. ”

Seeing Song Zhewu's hesitation, Xiao Guodong understood that Song Zhewu was not very worried about this person's ability, and the most important thing was that he did not absolutely trust this Li Ruifang.

Xiao Guodong said with a smile: "Wen Ge, I have been to see the mountain brigade, the troops are often managed and trained by Li Ruifang, although it has only been a few months, but the unit has a new look, after watching the training of the mountain brigade, I really understand what mountain warfare is, with the combat effectiveness of this mountain brigade now, in mountain warfare, except for the Changgui special brigade in our Fourth Route Army, other units in the Fourth Route Army are fighting against them with the same number of troops, and they must not be their opponents. Moreover, Wen Ge, you don't know that among the people who came from the original Gui department, only Chief of Staff Tao, Division Commander Li and Li Ruifang took their families to Laiyuan, and there were several other regiment-level officers. ”

Xiao Guodong's meaning was to tell Song Zhewu that this Li Ruifang could be trusted, otherwise he would not have brought his family to Laiyuan.

Song Zhewu understood what Xiao Guodong meant, but these words could only be understood, and he would not express his distrust of a senior officer like Li Ruifang in front of Ye Changgui.

Song Zhewu asked Xiao Guodong: "When did Chief of Staff Tao, Division Commander Li, and Li Ruifang's family arrive in Laiyuan?" ”

"They arrived in October, and I haven't had time to tell you yet?"

Song Zhewu said to Xiao Guodong: "You make arrangements, when I come back from the mountain brigade, I will have a banquet for their families." Song Zhewu thought for a while and said: "If this Li Ruifang is really talented, I will remove his sub-character and appoint him as the brigade commander." ”

There are two large-scale modern coal mines in the Jingcheng area, one is called the Jingcheng Coal Mine, also known as the Jingcheng Mining Bureau, which was opened by the local gentleman Zhang Fengqi in the 24th year of Guangxu, and later co-founded with the German Hannagan; One is called Zhengfeng Coal Mine, also opened by Chinese, Duan Qirui owns shares, Duan Qirui's younger brother Duan Qixun was the chairman.

These two coal mines and many small coal kilns produced a large amount of coal, and Jingcheng was also the largest coal-producing area in North China at that time, and most of the coal produced was exported from Tianjin, so there were many merchants in Jingcheng area, and even technicians from Jingcheng. Some businessmen even secretly set up joint ventures with small local miners.

Because of his own existence, Song Zhewu has always forbidden the mountain brigade to train in Jingcheng, and it is for this reason that the training site of the mountain brigade was initially set in Fuping.

Only now he had to pull the mountain brigade to the Jingcheng area, because Jingcheng was located at the junction of Hebei and Jin, only 30 kilometers away from Shijiazhuang on the Jinghan line. Known as "the fifth of the eight Taihang provinces, the sixth of the nine stops in the world", it is the key point of the Jin-Hebei thoroughfare, and it is the place where the soldiers of all dynasties must fight.

Especially because there are only more than 50 miles to Niangziguan, and there are only more than 200 miles to Taiyuan through Yangquan and Shouyang, the traffic is better, it is the material exchange and distribution center of Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the geographical location is very important, and the well-known battle of Han Xin at home and abroad, Jingcheng is the main battlefield.

Entering Shanxi from Jingcheng to attack Taiyuan was the closest and best route of action for troops starting from Taihang Mountain, allowing large troops to pass quickly. The only thing to worry about is the famous Xiongguan Niangzi Pass.

The Jin Sui army had a regiment stationed at Niangziguan and a brigade in Yangquan. For these thousands of Jin Sui troops, Song Zhewu didn't care about them at all, but if they lived in the pass to defend, it would be more troublesome. If he wants to complete his plan to seize Shanxi, the only way to do it is to successfully take Niangzi Pass.

The mountain brigade trains here, and there is also a secret mission, which is to find a path that can enter Shanxi without passing through the Niangzi Pass, such a road naturally cannot be passed by large troops with equipment, but it is still feasible for lightly armed and well-trained mountain troops. If there is a mountain brigade that goes around to Niangzi Pass, there is absolutely no problem in quickly taking Niangzi Pass.

Of course, because of his own relationship and the fact that there are indispensable intelligence personnel from Yan Xishan in Jingcheng, the training site will naturally not be placed near the Jingcheng mining area, but in the mountainous areas of Nanshan and Cuijiagou, which are more than 100 miles away from Jingcheng.

When Song Zhewu and Ye Changgui came to Cuijiagou, they were just in time for the mountain brigade to conduct the monthly training assessment. However, the general assessment time is either at the end of the month or at the beginning of the month, and it is now the middle of January, and it is rare to put the assessment at such an improper time.

Ye Changgui could see Song Zhewu's puzzled expression, and said with an embarrassed smile: "Commander, this assessment is usually conducted in the last week of each month, this time I want the commander to see the training of the mountain brigade in the past few months, and I deliberately arranged the time until today." ”

Song Zhewu nodded disapprerovingly, didn't speak, just asked Ye Changgui to take him directly to the training ground.

Although the officers and men of the Mountain Brigade were all drawn from the veterans of the 19th Army and the Fourth Route Army of the former Gui Department, and their basic tactical skills were already very good, after all, the time to become an army was too short, and it took only four months to complete the battle.

Li Ruifang, who has obviously lost a lot of weight, knows Ye Changgui's purpose for inviting Song Zhewu, Ye Changgui has already understood him in advance, and they have gotten along for a few months, and the relationship between the two is very good, Li Ruifang is not only grateful to Song Zhewu for his exceptional promotion, but also admires the part-time commander and confidant sent to support him.

From the extraordinary skills of the instructors that Ye Changgui brought him, it can be seen that Ye Changgui did not hide his personal interests, but really wanted to help him train the mountain brigade well. In the next troop training, Ye Changgui was even more supportive, as long as it was the training equipment he needed, and even some of the weapons he asked for, he would find a way to get him. For his training plan, Ye Changgui also appreciated it after seeing it, and completely left it to him to handle it by himself, Ye Changgui only supervised the implementation, and almost never interfered in anything with him.

Li Ruifang just cast a grateful look at Ye Changgui, and hurriedly ran to Song Zhewu and gave Song Zhewu a solemn military salute.

This military salute expresses Li Ruifang's heartfelt respect for Song Zhewu, the commander. Although Li Ruifang was very familiar with mountain warfare, he had never seen a real mountain combat unit, and he had never even heard of the fact that there were special mountain combat units, and when Tao Rong told him that he had suggested to Song Zhewu that he should be the deputy commander of the newly formed Mountain Brigade of the Fourth Route Army, Li Ruifang could be said to be so excited that he burst into tears.

Li Ruifang is very grateful to his old boss, and thinks that he can make an exception from the battalion commander to the deputy brigade commander, which is completely because Tao Rong has promoted his old subordinate.

However, when Song Zhewu talked to him and Ye Changgui and explained to them the significance of forming a mountain brigade, the future tasks of the mountain brigade, and what skills the future mountain brigade should have in order to adapt to mountain warfare, Li Ruifang began to sincerely admire Song Zhewu's mind for agreeing to let him be the deputy brigade commander.

From Song Zhewu's conversation, Li Ruifang thoroughly understood the tasks and operational characteristics of the mountain troops, and he also knew that the mountain troops all existed as elite soldiers in mountainous countries in the west, that is to say, Song Zhewu let himself, who had just joined the Fourth Route Army, be responsible for the formation of this elite army in the future. What a trust in him!

And Ye Changgui, who was then sent as the brigade commander, was Commander Song's confidant, which made him feel cold at first, thinking that Song Zhewu was still not very at ease with him, but then after knowing Ye Changgui's position in the Fourth Route Army, Li Ruifang was completely and sincerely devoted to the Fourth Route Army, and also devoted himself to the training of the Mountain Brigade, because he understood that Ye Changgui would never stay in the position of the commander of the Mountain Brigade for a long time. When he learned that Tao Rong and Li Sichi were going to take their family members in Guangxi to Laiyuan, Li Ruifang didn't think about it and immediately took the initiative to ask Tao Rong to bring his family members by the way.

He can be said to have poured all his heart and soul into the mountain brigade, because the soldiers of the mountain brigade were all selected by him and Ye Changgui with Song Zhewu's warrant and personally selected by each division, they are all veterans from the mountains, and there are even some people who are from Orion, these people have life experience in the mountains, and they have a quick understanding of mountain operations, and after a few months of training, it can be said that they have achieved a little success.

Song Zhewu looked at Li Ruifang's dark and thin face, and then looked at the group of soldiers on the training ground who were full of murderous aura and had the momentum of the special brigade, and nodded with satisfaction.

stepped forward, patted Li Ruifang on the shoulder and said, "Hard work, Brigade Commander Li." ”

Song Zhewu's words made Li Ruifang's tears flow down at once. This general and commander, who had defeated the Gui Department, the Northwest Army, and Tang Shengzhi's Fifth Route Army, recovered Outer Mongolia, annihilated tens of thousands of Soviet troops in Manchuria in one battle, and commanded hundreds of thousands of troops, patted himself affectionately like this, and talked to himself affectionately like an old superior, which could not help but make Li Ruifang's heart surging and inexplicably grateful. Moreover, Song Zhewu's sentence Brigade Commander Li clearly agreed to correct himself, that is, the supreme commander of the Fourth Route Army really recognized himself.

Li Ruifang did not wipe the tears shed, but straightened his chest and said loudly: "It's not hard, Ruifang is willing to go to the soup for the commander!" ”

Li Ruifang's demeanor was not only expected by Song Zhewu, but also a little unexpected to him, Song Zhewu can basically be sure that Li Ruifang has truly returned to himself, and he has one more cadre and fierce general since then. took out a handkerchief and handed it to Li Ruifang and said: "It is said that men don't flick when they have tears, and soldiers should not shed tears at will, wipe away tears, I want to see your assessment." ”

Next, Li Ruifang organized the assessment, and Song Zhewu just watched around accompanied by Ye Changgui.

In the shooting assessment, the soldiers of the mountain brigade can shoot more than 90 rings at a distance of 100 meters, and more than half of them are above 95 rings, which is already very good. Of course, in actual combat, they are all moving targets, and it is impossible to achieve such a high hit rate. This kind of hit rate is already the best in the whole army of the Fourth Route Army, and the best is the special brigade, Song Zhewu has seen that many members of the special brigade can use submachine guns to strafe targets 30 meters away, and 10 bullets hit 100 rings, and they still raise their hands to hit.

In the stabbing combat training, the soldiers of the mountain brigade not only inherited the characteristics of the Fourth Route Army's group cooperation and fierce stabbing, but their methods are also more diverse, for example, they attach great importance to hand-to-hand combat, not only can they use daggers to spears, but even have bare-handed spear drills, which has obviously had the color of a special brigade, it seems that Ye Changgui, the acting brigade commander, really did not work in vain.

In the climbing assessment, several soldiers can climb a steep cliff tens of meters high in ten minutes with daggers and flying grabs, and then put down the rope, and the troops below quickly climb the cliff along the rope.

The next day, the mountain brigade carried out ambushes, sneak attacks, strong attacks, large-scale transfers and other assessments, which can be said to be very characteristic and effective, especially the ambush reminded Song Zhewu of some classic scenes in his previous film and television dramas.

Such a large-scale ambush cover is different from a small-scale ambush by a special brigade, which is a camouflage cover of thousands of people, and the difficulty can be imagined. Although the combat methods of the mountain brigade are still somewhat monotonous, he believes that as long as this unit is given some more time and accumulates enough experience, this unit will definitely be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility.

Originally, Song Zhewu also wanted to personally organize a confrontation between the mountain brigade and other troops to test the true combat effectiveness of the mountain brigade, but a telegram from Xiao Guodong made him have to dispel this idea and return to Laiyuan ahead of schedule.

Before returning to Laiyuan, Song Zhewu asked Ye Changgui to convene the officers and men of the whole brigade to give a lecture, and while encouraging and commending the officers and men of the whole brigade, he greatly praised Li Ruifang for training the mountain brigade into such a powerful unit in just a few months, and encouraged him to continue to train the troops strictly, and strive to train the mountain brigade into a truly strong army and elite soldier as soon as possible. He also officially announced in public that he had appointed Li Ruifang as the commander of the Mountain Brigade of the Fourth Route Army, with the rank of major general, and personally conferred the title on Li Ruifang in front of the entire Mountain Brigade.

Li Ruifang understood that Song Zhewu did this because he was afraid that he, a general who had just surrendered for more than half a year, would not be able to suppress the veteran of the former Fourth Route Army in the army, and he wanted to establish his prestige for Li Ruifang in the mountain brigade.

The mountain brigade did not set up a regiment, but organized 5 battalions, three of these 5 battalion commanders were battalion and company-level officers of the former Fourth Route Army, only one battalion commander was the company commander of the original 19th Army, and the other was a deputy regiment commander of the Zhao Fengwu Brigade of the former Northwest Army.

Through the training in the past few months, most people have now basically recognized him as a deputy brigade commander who has been unusually promoted, but he still has not established absolute authority in the mountain brigade, because everyone knows that he is only a trial brigade commander, and whether he can continue to do it depends on whether Song Zhewu, the supreme leader of the Fourth Route Army, is satisfied.

But now that all this has come to fruition, Song Zhewu praised his work in front of the officers and men of the whole brigade, and personally announced the appointment of him as the commander of the mountain brigade, which shows that Song Zhewu is extremely satisfied with his work, and he is already one of the few important generals in the Fourth Route Army. He believed that no one in the mountain brigade would dare to challenge his authority again, and he could organize his troops for training with more peace of mind.

Li Ruifang, who was excited, said on the spot that he would never let down the commander's trust in him and would definitely train the mountain brigade to become the best mountain unit in China.

Song Zhewu is most lacking in talent now, there is no way, his Fourth Route Army is expanding too fast, just relying on his original people, can not support such a large army, for talents like Li Ruifang, Song Zhewu is thirsty, the more such talents, the better.

Of course, there is still a very important condition for the talents he wants to reuse, that is, he must be loyal, and the talents who cannot be loyal to him will never be used even if Sun Wu is reincarnated, of course, the loyalty of some talents still needs the test of time, and Song Zhewu will also have corresponding inspection and prevention measures, which naturally have Fang Zhen to do.

Fang Zhen's work has always been very good, and Song Zhewu is also very satisfied. If Xiao Guodong is Song Zhewu's big butler, this Fang Zhen is the little butler that Song Zhewu did not appoint, but he, the little butler, is only responsible for eliminating any people and behaviors that may damage Song Zhewu's control over this army in time. Of course, the general situation is only to secretly force him to leave for some reasonable reason.

After Song Zhewu and his entourage walked a few hundred meters, Ye Changgui took his guards to urge the horse back to Li Ruifang, who was still watching Song Zhewu at the intersection, took a heavy pocket from the guard's hand, handed it to Li Ruifang, and said, "The commander said that you are welcome to take your family to Laiyuan." Knowing that when you were a battalion commander in the Gui department, your military salary was limited, and your family was not as wealthy as Chief of Staff Tao, which was three thousand oceans, and it was the commander's settling-in allowance for you. ”

Ye Changgui looked at Li Ruifang, who was excited and tearful, and said meaningfully: "Brigade Commander Li, do a good job!" ”

After speaking, he beat the horse and went to chase Song Zhewu.

(To be continued)