Tao Rong saw Li Sichi take out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, sighed and said, "Brother! The two of us have been together for some years, and my brother is telling you the truth. Listen to your own decision, I'll leave it to me. ”

After thinking about it, Tao Rong couldn't bear to say again: "Brother! Commander Song is not thin for the two of us. Although I am the deputy chief of staff, I look like I have been demoted by half a level, but how many people are there in our 19th Army? There are more than 40,000 people in the full fight. However, the Fourth Route Army now has about 200,000 men, and it has entrusted me with the most important combat work. The same is true for you, brother, one of your divisions originally only had more than 10,000 people, but now the division given to you will have nearly 40,000 people, and it is an army elsewhere. If you are so self-exceeding, you are really sorry for Commander Song's trust in us. I, Tao Rong, have really done a good job in the Fourth Route Army!"

Li Sichi grabbed Tao Rong's hand and said urgently: "Chief of Staff Tao, you can't ignore your brother!" You tell me to do whatever I want. ”

Tao Rong looked at Li Sichi, sighed and said, "You can go back like me, draw 4,000 people from each regiment in a company unit, remember, don't bring officers above the battalion level." There is a sentence that you must always keep in mind, all of us are now members of the Fourth Route Army, all the troops are Commander Song's, there is no Nineteenth Army, and there is no one of your Li Sichi's troops. ”

Li Sichi nodded vigorously and said: "Thank you Chief of Staff Tao for your advice, I will go back and redeploy personnel, and when I get to Hebei, I will invite the Chief of Staff to dinner." ”

When Tao Rong and Li Sichi came to the station of the First Division with the transferred personnel, Wu Jin had already brought his battalion over. The formation of the artillery regiment went smoothly and was quickly completed under the auspices of Li Mingyang, chief of staff of the 1st Division. The commander of the artillery regiment was Liang Dacheng, commander of the artillery battalion of the former 1st Division and the 3rd Regiment, and the commanders of the three battalions were all the commanders of the three artillery battalions of the 19th Army. Tao Rong and Li Sichi didn't say anything about this arrangement, because artillery is a technical branch after all, and artillery officers need technology.

Zhang Yafei understood the meaning of Song Zhewu's mixed troops very thoroughly. The baggage regiment, the guard battalion, the communications battalion, and the reconnaissance battalion did not just supplement the people brought by Tao Rong and Li Sichi, but he transferred 3,000 people from the whole division, not only ordinary soldiers, but also officers at all levels, and took out 3,000 people from the people brought by Tao Rong and Li Sichi to supplement the original troops. The 3,000 men of the original unit were mixed together to form a baggage regiment, a guard battalion, a communications battalion, and a reconnaissance battalion.

Wu Jin was the commander of the baggage brigade and was very familiar with the establishment of the baggage regiment, so Wu Jin was responsible for forming the baggage regiment. Wu Jin had already taken the battalion he had transferred to the 1st Division as the basis, and the four baggage companies were the backbone to form four battalions; The guard battalion, communications battalion, and reconnaissance battalion have been supplemented on the basis of units directly under Zhang Yafei's 1st Division. The division of personnel was quickly completed, but on the appointment of officers, Zhang Yafei, Tao Rong, and Li Sichi had disagreements.

What Zhang Yafei meant was that half of the officers of the baggage regiment and the three battalions of guards, communications, and reconnaissance were provided by his original first division, and the other half was provided by Tao Rong and Li Sichi, of course, the officers of Li Yixuan's division also had to be considered. Although the officers above the regimental level of that division were all dismissed, the officers below the battalion level were still there, and these were all experienced in combat, and they had to be gradually inserted into the unit for digestion.

Zhang Yafei saw that there were no officers above the battalion level among the people brought by Tao Rong and Li Sichi, and knew that the two were too careful. Although Zhang Yafei doesn't seem to have any scheming on the surface, Zhang Yafei is actually very delicate. Zhang Yafei felt that all the personnel of the original 19th Army were scattered in various squads and platoons, and even if they were given some regular positions, they were not afraid of someone making ghosts. Moreover, giving them some regular positions also shows that the Fourth Route Army has officially accepted them, and does not treat them as outsiders and look down on them, which is also easier to appease them. And Zhang Yafei really couldn't find so many officers for a while.

Who knows, Tao Rong and Li Sichi resolutely disagreed, saying that all the chief officers were provided by Zhang Yafei, and their officers were all demoted to one level, and they only provided deputy positions in the reorganized troops of the First Division.

Several people argued for a long time, but no one could convince anyone, and in the end, Wu Jin proposed to go to Song Zhewu and let Song Zhewu decide.

Song Zhewu was very happy to hear a few people tell him what had happened. He understood Tao Rong and Li Sichi's thoughts, and also felt that Zhang Yafei handled this matter very well, if they were all given the deputy positions of officers of the former Nineteenth Army, these people would not be satisfied if they didn't say anything, and it was really possible to force these people away, and it would not be conducive to the integration of other troops in the future.

Song Zhewu smiled and said to Tao Rong and Li Sichi: "I think Chief of Staff Tao and Division Commander Li are still a little worried. As I said, there will be no 19th Army from now on, only the Fourth Route Army is here for us, you have to put aside your worries, as long as you really think about the Fourth Route Army, everything is out of public interest, even if it is a little small, I will not blame you. ”

Song Zhewu thought for a while and said: "I think so, the commander of the baggage regiment is still the battalion commander who was transferred from the baggage brigade, and the deputy regiment commander is recommended by Chief of Staff Tao in the troops directly under the original 19th Army; The commander of the guard battalion was recommended by Yafei, and the battalion commanders of the communications battalion and reconnaissance battalion were recommended by Division Commander Li. The main posts of officers below the company level and above are all held by people from the former Fourth Route Army, and the deputy posts are held by people from the former 19th Army. The other officers, the officers of the former 19th Army and the officers of the Fourth Route Army, accounted for half. There was no other meaning in this arrangement, mainly because the Fourth Route Army was different from other troops in many ways, and it would take some time for these people to get used to it. In addition, Chief of Staff Tao and Division Commander Li, you must make it clear to the officers of the former 19th Army that they must adapt to the tactics and operational concepts of the Fourth Route Army as soon as possible. Tell them that the establishment of the Fourth Route Army is relatively large, and a regiment has already caught up with the establishment of a division of other troops, and in other troops, they will immediately have a position, but in the Fourth Route Army, they have to temporarily wronged them. However, within two years, the Fourth Route Army will be greatly expanded, and as long as they are qualified, I will give priority to them as the commanders of the troops, and as long as they have talent, they will not be buried in the Fourth Route Army. ”――

The silent night sky is full of stars, and the black and blue sky is as warm as jade. The moist spring breeze gently blows through the Guangrou Jianghan Plain, and the leaves of the trees and seedlings make a soft rustling sound wherever they pass, making this ancient land full of quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

At this moment, the Garden Station has a busy scene that is extremely incongruous with this atmosphere. The station was brightly lit, and everywhere was full of soldiers, and the sound of commands, the footsteps of officers running back and forth to command, and the sound of trumpets carrying cannons to the train were intertwined.

Different from the busy scene around him, Song Zhewu put on a cloak and stood quietly on the platform, observing his busy subordinates.

Song Zhewu had just sent Xiao Guodong away. Xiao Guodong returned to Laiyuan with all the recruits and their families, as well as the remaining troops after the formation of the First Division, a large number of weapons, ammunition and various supplies, escorted by the Second Division and the Baggage Brigade. The troops still waiting to get on the train at Huayuan Station were Zhang Yafei's First Division, Ye Changgui's Guard Brigade, and Song Zhewu's Temporary Command personnel, and Han Guang and his cavalry brigade had already set off first.

The team of the first division on the platform was a little chaotic, Song Zhewu frowned slightly, he was not dissatisfied with Zhang Yafei, after all, a large-scale mixed formation had just been carried out, and he was thinking that these newly incorporated troops would take time to truly integrate into the Fourth Route Army.

Deputy Chiefs of Staff Tao Rong and Zhang Yafei hurriedly walked over. "Report to the commander, the personnel and supplies of the first, second, and third regiments of the 1st Division have been pedaled, and the troops directly under the 1st Regiment, the 2nd Regiment, the 3rd Regiment and the 1st Division are marching according to the planned marching order, then the artillery regiment, the baggage regiment, and finally the headquarters and guard brigade. Division Commander Zhang led the division headquarters to accompany the three regiments. Is it now time to let the few regiments that have already pedaled the car set off first? ”

Song Zhewu nodded and said, "Yes, it's still too late, and we still have to send out a column every twenty minutes." ”

Zhang Yafei said embarrassedly: "Commander, the baggage regiment and the artillery regiment have just been formed, and there is a bit of chaos, I have already sent someone to tell them to speed up, and it is estimated that it will take more than an hour to load the baggage." ”

Tao Rong also said a little helplessly: "These people just came together a few hours ago, especially the people of the former 19th Army who were assigned to the baggage regiment, they are not very familiar with many affairs of the baggage regiment, and they do not cooperate well with each other, and even some officers still can't recognize his subordinates." I've asked a few staff officers from the headquarters to assist them. ”

Song Zhewu said to Tao Rong: "You go and tell Ye Changgui that he wants him to send some personnel to help the baggage regiment load supplies, and it doesn't take an hour, but it can be done in two hours, and the other troops who board the car will start in order." Adjust the order of march so that the baggage regiment can be put last to set off. ”

Tao Rong and Zhang Yafei were busy arranging the troops, turned around and left, and after walking a few steps, Tao Rong turned around and said with concern: "Commander, you have been on the platform for more than two hours, let's get on the train and rest for a while!" ”

Song Zhewu shook his head and said, "Go and get busy, I'll wait here." ”

Seeing that Song Zhewu insisted on waiting on the platform, the two hurriedly ran to arrange the troops.

Soon, with a long whistle, the train slowly started and slowly drove out of the platform.

Tao Rong, who had just walked for a short time, hurriedly ran back again. "Commander, news from Hankow......"

(To be continued)