In the evening, the courtyard of the Xiao family ancestral hall in the west of the city was very lively, and division commander Liu Zhi held a grand dinner to welcome the arrival of military adviser Bribenov, and to celebrate the successful holding of a far-reaching military-civilian party by the model battalion and the good results of successfully recruiting more than 400 recruits.

An Yi was very happy to see the familiar fifth-phase trainees, and after greeting most of the juniors who were older than him, he grabbed Zhan Huanqi and Peng Jianqing, the engineers and communication scientists, to sit at the same table with him, and introduced the two to Huzi.

Yin Jinan also came back after greeting the trainees, and asked 23-year-old Zhan Huanqi, whose ancestral home is Foshan, Guangdong, and Peng Jianqing, whose ancestral home is Huangshi, Hubei Province, who had just turned 20.

Zhan Huanqi, who was of medium height and thin face, replied that Li Hong was too good, and he was selected by the central teaching team that was being built as soon as he arrived in Changsha, and asked us to apologize and say hello to the two seniors.

Zhan Huanqi and Peng Jianqing were envious of the model camp, and the two bowed their heads to discuss for a moment, and plucked up the courage to ask for an internship in the model camp. An Yi laughed, and immediately said that you two just don't want to enter the model battalion, the division headquarters just agreed to expand our police platoon into a guard company and a communications company, as long as you are willing, you will go to the communications company to serve as a platoon commander, and when you graduate, how about officially transferring to the lieutenant company position? Zhan Huanqi and Peng Jianqing were overjoyed, and stood up to sincerely thank An Yi and Yin Jinan, which made the trainees at the surrounding tables envious to death.

Halfway through dinner, An Yi, who had just touched three glasses with Bribenov, came back and sat down, and saw that Zhan Huanqi and Peng Jianqing only had an armed belt around their waists, and the other trainees were also like this without guns, so after thinking about it, Liu Zhi, who walked to the main table again, pleaded in a low voice.

Liu Zhi, who was in a good mood, agreed as soon as he could, and immediately called Quartermaster Kuang Shimin and instructed him to send two more shell guns to the model battalion later, along with 600 half-new and old spears. Kwong Shimin replied that 600 spears and 30,000 rounds of rifle ammunition had been loaded, and that he would immediately go to the model operation when the dinner was over.

An Yi, who achieved his goal, didn't care about the unfriendly eyes of a few regiment commanders who were jealous of his snatching of soldiers, and pulled the smiling Lao Kuang to his table, and even coaxed and deceived Lao Kuang, who was not good at drinking, into a daze, and almost counted the two shell guns into two boxes of shell guns, and the awakened Lao Kuang Lian said that An Yi was cunning, but he still happily asked the young men around him to lead two good horses and tie them to the little black horse outside the courtyard.

As soon as Lao Kuang walked for a while, the young quartermaster under his command sent two brand-new shell guns to An Yi along with a full pair of lanyards, and whispered that the two horses had been handed over to An Yi's guards outside the hospital.

An Yi, who was satisfied, thanked the young quartermaster loudly, and immediately issued the gun to Zhan Huanqi and Peng Jianqing, and the trainees at the surrounding tables were dumbfounded and extremely envious, and secretly made up their minds that they would definitely ask to be assigned to the model battalion for internship tomorrow, but how did they know that they would be divided up by several main regiments the next day and quickly put into the battlefield.

As night fell, the banquet ended, and the Xiao Clan Ancestral Hall, which had sent off the guests, was immediately restored to a heavily guarded military stronghold, and a group of regiment and battalion commanders sat intently around a long table of eight immortals in the ancestral hall hall, listening to the division commander Liu Zhi and chief of staff Xu Tingyao explain the battle plan that was about to begin: by means of surprise attacks and rapid attacks on three sides, the 2,500 defenders of Shangfu Town were encircled in one fell swoop...... The 1st Company of the Model Battalion and the Police Communication Platoon, as the guides and vanguard of the surprise attack, also assisted the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 4th Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 6th Regiment to advance covertly through the small roads of the southern front, and to go out day and night to strictly protect their whereabouts.

At nine o'clock in the evening, An Yi and his entourage, who were ordered to return to the Shuaijiaba camp, had just arrived at the camp gate and did not dismount, and Wu Liheng, the star officer on duty, immediately stepped forward to report:

"There are two local young people who asked to see the battalion commander and the battalion deputy at the end of the day, and I heard that several bosses have gone to the Xiao Family Ancestral Hall for a banquet, so they have been waiting on the stone outside, and their subordinates invited them to enter the camp to sit and have a meal and wait slowly, they are unwilling, one is more proud than the other, it seems that they are here to find fault."

An Yi and the others looked up, and Gu Lao Er and his young men stood quietly thirty meters to the left of the camp gate. An Yi glanced at Hu Zi in surprise, and ordered Yin Jinan to lead Zhan Huanqi and the others back to set up a table of wine, and the two of them both dismounted and walked to Gu Laoer, who had been waiting for a long time.

"I'm sorry for the two, I didn't know that the two of you were coming, the brothers came back late, please forgive me! It is estimated that the two of us didn't have dinner, and the two of us didn't eat enough at the banquet, so let's go into the camp and have a drink together, and talk about something while eating. An Yi said kindly.

Gu Lao Er nodded expressionlessly, and without saying anything, he followed An Yi and Hu Zi into the barracks.

Several officers and men had already set up a simple long table made of wooden planks nailed four meters long and two meters wide under the tree outside the big tent, and several fireheads served fragrant cold dishes and a steaming hot pot, and two jars of local rice wine weighing 20 catties were also opened and poured into large bowls.

The three chief officers of the model battalion politely invited Gu Lao Er and the two to sit at the table, and Xia Jian, the police platoon commander, and the three company commanders sat down happily under An Yi's greeting, and An Yi called Zhan Huanqi and Peng Jianqing, who turned to leave: "You two didn't eat enough at the banquet just now, so sit down and eat together." ”

The beard lifted the wine bowl and raised it flat to his chest: "What do you call the two?" ”

Gu Lao Er didn't dare to slack off when he saw the steady etiquette of the rivers and lakes, and replied politely with a bowl full of wine: "The little brother is rude, and he didn't report the name to pay off Haihan." The younger brother's surname is named Changfeng, and the brothers on the road give him the bandit name of 'Jiangbei Tiger Head', which is not enough to worry about. This is my brother Dou Fang, who, like my younger brother, is a Hakka who lives in the bronze drum. ”

"Please!" Beard nodded.

"Please!"

After Gu Lao Er finished speaking, he drank a pound of soju from the big wrist, and showed the bottom of the bowl at the same time as his beard, winning everyone's applause.

An Yi motioned to everyone not to use some food casually, and after speaking, he happily picked up a section of burnt braised fat intestines and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a few times and applauded loudly: "What a fucking authentic, old Hantou, your craftsmanship is good!" Wait for the day when the world is too peaceful, Lao Tzu will pay you to open the largest Sichuan restaurant in Nanjing, haha...... Come! Let's touch a bowl of ...... What are you polite to Lao Tzu? With tonight's table of dishes, you old Han Tou should get a rank reward, and when Nanchang Lao Tzu is defeated, he will definitely get you a warrant officer, haha, it's done! ”

The old Han Tou on the side took the wine bowl handed by Dong Yanzi and dried it up, wiped his mouth and said to An Yi happily: "Boss, my subordinates don't want to open a restaurant in Nanjing, and when the war is over, my subordinates will return to their hometown Neijiang, and use the money given by the boss to open the best restaurant by the Tuojiang River, and all the brothers and families in our model camp will be free of charge, haha...... Let's eat slowly, don't be polite to the two distinguished guests, drink two more glasses, haha, and a few side dishes have to be seen. ”

Gu Lao Er looked at everything in front of him in surprise, he couldn't believe that An Yi, who was polite and heroic in the ring, would get along with his subordinates like this, looking at the table full of officers of all sizes eating and talking casually, Gu Lao Er suddenly felt that how could this model battalion of the revolutionary army be the same as his own bandit cottage? Since his debut, he has always hated his title of "bandit", and he has always shown his good cultivation in getting along with heroes from all over the world, but what he saw and heard tonight surprised him, and he really wanted to ask An Yi: From which mountain did the brothers of the model camp recruit An?

After several rounds of drinking, his stomach was half full, Gu Lao Er saw that more than 100 brothers in the camp were all draped, one of the officers and soldiers carried more than 20 machine guns out to line up, several officers were distributing bullets and grenades to their brothers, the sentries at the gate of the camp were also replaced, and behind the beard there was also a young soldier with long and short guns all over his body, and the treasure knife of the beard was carried by the young man in his hand, and it seemed that he was planning to leave the camp.

At this time, Gu Lao Er was not in a hurry, put down the wine bowl and frankly said his intentions: "I can't hide it, junior brother, I am here tonight to learn from Brother Hu's high recruitment, and I hope Brother Hu will teach you." ”

The beard raised his eyebrows slightly, and he stood up generously: "I don't know what Brother Gu has to say?" ”

"Let's compare knives, as soon as the younger brother showed up, he was called out of the division by Brother Hu, and he was full of admiration in his heart, and he could only show his knife skills that did not grow in his hands and ask Brother Hu for guidance." Gu Lao Er stood up and respectfully clasped his fists and saluted.

"Good!"

Hu Zi threw the seven-star knife handed over by adjutant Zeng Changhe to Gu Lao Er, and asked Guo Dong to take An Yi's imitation seven-star knife from his back, said "Please", and walked to the open space five meters away to stand with the knife.

Hundreds of brothers saw that Boss Hu, who was in awe, was about to make a move, and all of them rushed up to watch excitedly, and formed a large circle of 10 meters square under the signal of several company commanders, and seven or eight brothers used long bamboo poles to pick up seven or eight horse lanterns to illuminate the inside and outside of the circle.

Gu Lao Er pulled out the treasure knife, a wisp of cold light flashed and disappeared, Gu Lao Er was taken aback and then shouted "Good knife", looked at it for a moment and sighed, walked to about three meters in front of the beard and smiled gratefully.

Beard nodded, pulled out the seven-star knife in his hand that was exactly the same but had a dark body, threw down the scabbard and lifted the knife diagonally, kicking the tip of the knife to knee height and never moving again.

Gu Lao Er saw the calm bearing of his beard and was ready to move, he took two steps back and slowly raised it with his left hand to hold the Seven Star Knife, and moved his right foot forward half a step and looked at each other on the ground, the strong fighting intent exuded by the two opponents actually pressed the onlookers to the point of heartbeat, and it seemed that he felt breathless.

I saw Gu Lao Er's shoulder snort dullly, and the whole person seemed to be close to the ground and quickly slid towards the indifferent beard, and the beard also suddenly launched at the same moment, the two quickly passed by, and the clear impact sound and breaking sound of the two long knives hitting each other made the onlookers take two big steps back together, and looked at it intently, the two masters in the circle did not seem to have moved except for changing positions, and still maintained their original postures.

Hu Zi was surprised in his heart, he didn't expect Gu Lao Er to launch so quickly, the long knife he swung out floated uncertainly, fierce and sinister, and the seemingly ordinary casual wave of his hand reflected a very solid and heavy skill, the long knife slashed like a cloud and flowing water without delay, faintly revealing the good demeanor of a famous disciple.

The beard immediately raised his spirit and straightened the long knife to his chest, and his cold gaze shone like a cold star and quietly covered his opponent, seeing that the surrounding brothers felt chills down his spine, and he couldn't help but take a step back.

Gu Lao Er's heart was even more uncomfortable, the moment he approached, the extraordinary reaction of the beard and the agile blocking momentum sank vigorously, and in the blink of an eye, the knife edge of the two of them touched five times, and the last knife of the beard came first almost made Gu Lao Er's pace blocked and fell into the downwind, Gu Lao Er could only move sideways for half a step and flashed, thus keeping the offensive from being knocked away.

The two of them launched again, a dazzling cold knife light rushed to their faces, a sonorous impact sound accompanied by a string of sparks, the sharp impact of the long knife shook the ears of hundreds of brothers, and the brothers who were forced to retreat by the fierce momentum again had not yet stood firm, the two people in the field had separated and suddenly rushed towards each other, the two "whirring" sound of breaking the air had not stopped, and the warring sides had separated again, standing five meters apart, as straight as javelins.

"Dang Chang—"

Gu Lao Er threw away the long knife in his hand, looked up to the sky and sighed, two tears rolled out from the corners of his slender eyes, crossed his pale face and fell to the ground, the half-foot collar on the tight short jacket fell down, and hung on his chest with a few strands of cotton thread, fluttering by the bleak night wind.

Hu Zi waved the long knife in his hand casually, inserted it into the ground half a foot, walked to Gu Lao'er step by step and picked up his seven-star treasure knife, stood up and quietly looked at the extremely sad young master:

"Brother, you have already entered the threshold of the upper realm, it is rare to have such skills at such an age, and I also went through several years of exile and poverty, and I only spied on this threshold by a very chance the year before last. In time, I really won't be able to get the slightest advantage in twenty faces, and maybe you'll be on the edge after this battle...... I'm sorry, I have military affairs tonight, and I can't accompany my brother to drink wine, so let it be. ”

Gu Lao Er slowly lowered his head, and saw that the beard with the treasure knife on his back had walked in front of the more than 100 officers and soldiers who were gathering, and after issuing a string of orders in a low voice, he led these well-equipped brothers to trot out of the camp without saying a word, and soon disappeared into the darkness on the right side of the camp gate, and the hundreds of onlookers had all left, and the entire camp was silent, only a horse lantern hung alone above the banquet.

Gu Lao Er sighed again, and smiled bitterly at An Yi, who was already standing quietly beside him: "Brother An, I have been taught today!" Thanks to Brother An's hospitality, he said that he would definitely repay the meeting. ”

"Slow!"

An Yi stopped Gu Laoer, who turned to leave: "It is very rare for Brother Gu to have such skills, and he has an extraordinary conversation, a superhuman temperament, according to the beard, there is no void under the famous family, and it is a pity to bury the wilderness!" You and I were born in troubled times, so we should always remember the phrase hero in troubled times, right? I don't know what to say to you at this time, but I respect any choice you make...... I wanted to have two more drinks with you, but I couldn't do it because of my busy military affairs. Although you and I meet in the water, it can be seen that the face is fate, this knife is a little bit of my heart, accept it. This is made with the best American truck spring steel invited Changsha master craftsman, through special quenching and condensation and other multiple secret processes carefully made, more than ten times sharper than ordinary broadswords, the fine leather scabbard is also from the hands of famous masters, although it is not as good as the beard you just took the seven-star treasure knife, but the style, length and weight are the same, but a row of small openings has been cut, just find a sharpening knife to take care of, the right to make a thought. Just like what Beard said just now, everything can't be forced by fate, if I can live to the day I return to the field, maybe I can have a drink with you, haha! ”

The sad Gu Lao Er took the long knife with both hands, nodded gratefully to An Yi, handed the knife to the bitter little bean beside him, took a step back, solemnly saluted An Yi with a fist, and then turned around and left, leaving the camp gate for a long time, and seemed to hear An Yi's long sigh.

(To be continued)