After reading the telegram, Yu Jishi put it on the table: "I know about this matter, Bengbu will hold a press conference for external propaganda." The political axes of various countries saw that the morale of our Northern Expeditionary Army was like a rainbow all the way north, and there was a great tendency to coerce Yanjing to smash Huanglong, so most of them swayed and stopped supporting Sun Chuanfang, and only said that he was still unswervingly supporting Zhang Zuolin of the Feng Department for his own interests, so various countries sent many reporters to inquire about the news, and asked to go to the front line to interview the generals and commanders of various armies, so as to thoroughly understand the details of our side. The principal felt that this was a difficult opportunity to publicize, and after thinking about it, he agreed, and so there was this press conference.

However, Xiao Yi, I have to remind you that the proposal to hold a press conference in Bengbu was first put forward by General Li Delin, on the grounds that it was to promote the revolution, boost the morale of all parts of our Northern Expedition, and win the support of all countries in the world for the Northern Expedition. ”

"Huh!? That's ......."

An Yi was stunned for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "Won't I just go away?" I called back directly, and said that our unit had suffered heavy casualties and was resting nervously, and I really couldn't spare time, and this was also the case. ”

"Nope! You're going! ”

Yu Jishi said decisively: "Not only do I want to go, but I also want to make a big show in the area, so as to show the whole country and the world the image of my Northern Expeditionary Army and the image of my Whampoa elite, the principal is extremely looking forward to this, understand?" ”

An Yi sighed faintly: "Okay, I understand, just go, anyway, I haven't been to Bengbu, so it's just a tour." ”

The brothers couldn't help but laugh when they heard this, Hu Zongnan looked at An Yi's listless appearance, didn't want to disturb him, and chatted with Yin Jinan in a low voice, Yu Jishi, who had successfully completed the task, drank tea easily, and glanced at An Yi's sad face from time to time, secretly feeling funny.

An Yi felt bitter in his heart, leaned heavily on the back of the soft sofa, looked at the painted ceiling and wanted to sort out his thoughts, but he fell asleep after thinking about it. He was so tired that he hadn't slept more than four hours in eight days, often two days and two nights in a row, and every change on the battlefield always touched his passionate heart...... Two hours later, An Yi, who had recovered slightly, sent Yu Jishi, Hu Zongnan, and others, who were anxious to return to Nanjing, to the outside of the city, and Hu Jialin and Gu Changfeng, who had rushed from Liuxiang Town for a meeting, were also among them.

Among the 11,000 captives, more than 1,400 wounded captives chose to stay for treatment under the consultation of the officers and men of the division, and the 6,000 eliminated prisoners and officers each received two oceans of travel expenses, and were immediately sent out of the city, and the remaining 3,600 young and strong prisoners were divided up by the three regiments, more than half of which were divided into the second regiment of Chen Zhibiao, which was more than half damaged in battle.

It was five o'clock in the afternoon when An Yi arrived in Bengbu, and there were only 36 guards accompanying him along the way, but wherever the banner of the reading force master went, the friendly troops were warmly picked up, solemn and thoughtful.

At the beginning, An Yi didn't feel anything wrong, and when he was about to enter Bengbu City, he learned in advance that generals such as Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Wang Yingyu, Xia Wei and Hu Zongduo had greeted him outside the city gate, and An Yi immediately realized the reason for the courtesy along the way.

There were still 100 meters away from the welcoming crowd at the city gate, An Yi immediately dismounted, followed by Lin Yaodong, the chief of the guard, and strode towards the two generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, who were in the center of the welcoming procession.

General Li Zongren returned the salute with a smile, strode forward, and held An Yi's hand affectionately: "I have admired General An for a long time, and I see it today, which is enough to comfort my life!" ”

An Yi replied with a smile: "Don't dare to be!" With Chief Lao and the generals coming away, his subordinates were sincerely frightened and extremely excited. Sir, my subordinates had the honor to witness the commander's demeanor in the battle of Tingsi Bridge, when his subordinates served as the commander of the engineer battalion of the Second Division, and was selected into the engineer squad of General Huang Qixiang's assault regiment. ”

Li Zongren pondered for a moment and smiled heartily: "Haha! I remember, when it was dark, the atmosphere was majestic and tragic, and for reasons of secrecy, we commanders could not personally send the warriors to the riverside, and now I think about it very regrettably, that night attack was fought beautifully!

I remember that Commander Huang Qixiang was also promoted to the rank of general after that battle, haha! Please, the camp has prepared a light wine, wash and change clothes, the dinner will start immediately, feel free to take a little rest, and the press conference will be held on time at eight o'clock tonight. It's good that General An is here, and the Second Route Army has General Jiansheng and General An as representatives, and tonight's press conference will have a representative surname. ”

"Thank you, sir! Gregor Bai, please ...... Chief Xia, Chief Hu, please! ”

An Yi humbly and politely, Hu Zongduo, the commander of the Second Division of the Seventh Army, who had several encounters with An Yi and cooperated with him under the city of Nanchang, patted An Yi on the shoulder affectionately, and the chief of staff Wang Yingyu and the deputy commander General Xia Wei also seemed to appreciate An Yi's politeness and self-cultivation, and they got along well with each other, without any far-fetched points.

Interestingly, An Yi's room was arranged on the east end of the third floor, directly opposite General Bai Chongxi's room, and the whole process was accompanied by Director Mai of the Political Department of the Seventh Army and Bai Chongxi's chief of guard. Fortunately, Bai Chongxi's chief of guard, Huang Ruihua, and An Yi are old acquaintances, and when the siege of Nanchang failed, Huang Ruihua escorted Commander-in-Chief Jiang out of the siege and An Yi led his troops to respond, so there was no sense of rustiness after meeting.

Huang Ruihua asked An Yi to wash and change clothes, and personally arranged An Yi's 36 guards in the eight rooms next door, which was very warm and thoughtful.

What An Yi didn't expect was that the dinner was a buffet with an open surname of Chinese and Western, and more than 100 Chinese and foreign reporters were also among the banquets, and the restaurant was bustling and lively.

General Li Zongren introduced Wang Tianpei, commander of the 10th Army, former commander-in-chief of the Third Route Army, and Bai Wenwei, an old-timer of the 33rd Army Commanders' Alliance, to An Yi one by one.

Fortunately, after the meeting, General Li Zongren, who was busy with everything, had to talk with a group of veterans while eating, and An Yi could be more relaxed.

An Yi had just gotten some food, and before he sat down, Bai Chongxi, Zhang Dingfan and others arrived one after another.

Bai Chongxi saw that An Yi was about to stand up and salute, and hurriedly waved his hand to signal that he didn't need to be polite, and ordered the waiter to bring food and drink, and the three of them sat down and talked in a low voice.

Bai Chongxi smiled and signaled An Yi not to be restrained, while Zhang Dingfan asked with interest about some key decision points in the Battle of the Five Rivers.

An Yi did not hide it, answered truthfully one by one, and explained his difficulties, hesitations and discernments at the critical moment, seeing the strange expression on Zhang Dingfan's face, he hurriedly asked:

"Chief of Staff, subordinates...... Is there anything wrong with what the subordinates are doing? Please ask the chief of staff not to give me extravagant advice. ”

Zhang Dingfan shook his head and sighed slightly: "This battle is like this, how dare I say anything to teach, just after listening to your narration, and then thinking of Chief Bai's analysis and summary of all aspects of the Battle of the Five Rivers, I found that Chief Bai and General An have a striking similarity in predicting the enemy." Your command and combat ability far exceeds my original estimate, it is unbelievable, so young that you have such foresight and courage! ”

"The chief of staff has won the award, his subordinates are in danger, there is really no way to give it a go, look back afterwards, the subordinate platoon is full of loopholes, as long as there is a problem in one of the links, it is estimated that it will be a big defeat and escape, ashamed!"

An Yi sincerely said what he felt in his heart, thinking of the hardships of this battle, he couldn't help but grab a white napkin and wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead.

Bai Chongxi saw An Yi's humble appearance, and secretly praised himself in his heart, after a big victory, it is rare to analyze his own gains and losses so honestly, face up to his shortcomings instead of being complacent, at least Bai Chongxi has never seen it since the Northern Expedition, almost all of the people he saw were proud and arrogant with a little bit of achievements, even if he was humble on the surface, he was also complacent in his heart, and there were few people like An Yi who were honest and straightforward and bluntly said their own shortcomings.

At the same time, Bai Chongxi, who is good at calculation, is also quite afraid of An Yi's keen battlefield insight and fast and strange tactics, and then linked to An Yi's unique training methods and efficient and unique military management system, Bai Chongxi suddenly gave birth to a faint wariness.

Bai Chongxi still had a kind smile on his face, he put down the knife, gently wiped the corners of his mouth, drank a sip of boiled water, and looked at An Yi who was discussing with Zhang Dingfan with interest, seeing that the conversation between the two had come to an end, Bai Chongxi waited for An Yi to eat something and picked up the juice, before he asked with a smile:

"An Yi, this battle has gained a lot...... What did you do with the 10,000 captives in your camp? ”

An Yi hurriedly put down the cup and reported truthfully: "Among them, more than 1,400 wounded prisoners were left for treatment, more than 3,640 prisoners who were willing to join were divided into various regiments to replenish consumption, and most of the other old, weak, sick and unbearable ruffians were dismissed before their subordinates left.

After the war, the supply of subordinates was very difficult, and the officers and soldiers did not go hungry because of the generous assistance of the local people during that week, but the local people also had a very hard time, and the people paid too much for our war, and we could not afford to put pressure on them, so we could not bear to implement the practice of collecting grain and grass on the spot.

Due to transportation reasons, the supply of military supplies for which General Liu Shoujiang, the party representative of our division, was responsible, and only one batch was delivered, which was originally enough for the consumption of the officers and men of the division for two and a half days, but as a result, most of the prisoners were consumed, and the next batch of supplies was estimated to be delivered tomorrow, so his subordinates had to dismiss most of the prisoners.

Although I knew that nearly half of the dismissed soldiers would still have to serve as soldiers after they returned, and it was very likely that they would take up their guns again and oppose our Northern Expeditionary Army, from a humanitarian standpoint, my subordinates could only do this, and my subordinates always believed that this was a civil war and that our opponent was Chinese, so ...... So don't be too harsh, and ask the chief for forgiveness if it's wrong! ”

"There's nothing wrong with that, you're doing it right, and if it were me, I'd do the same."

Bai Chongxi nodded and continued: "It is indeed a bit inconsiderate to let you lead your troops to go deep alone this time, but you have told us with brilliant results that you still have a lot of potential to tap. ”

An Yi looked at Bai Chongxi in surprise, Bai Chongxi and Zhang Dingfan looked at each other and smiled.

"I'm sorry! Excuse me from General Bai and General Zhang, can I borrow General Bai's generals for a few minutes? ”

Ye Qing, a young and beautiful female reporter from "Central Daily", suddenly appeared behind An Yi and made a request to Bai Chongxi with a smile.

Bai Chongxi nodded politely in permission, Ye Qing thanked him, and said with a smile to An Yi, who stood up and saluted: "You are really handsome in a general's uniform, but your beard is not clean." Let's go, go to my table, He Jing and a few old friends are there...... Thank you, General Bai and General Zhang, for missing me. ”

"Miss Ye, please!"

Bai Chongxi nodded reservedly, watched Ye Qing pull up the restrained An Yi and walked to the reporter's table under the window diagonally opposite, smiled slightly, and said in a low voice:

"Our youngsters are really popular! I'm afraid that his limelight will overshadow everyone at the press conference later. ”

Zhang Dingfan smiled knowingly, glanced at the back of the graceful Ye Qing, nodded and said: "Since ancient times, they have been heroes and beauties, and no one can jump out of this circle, not to mention that An Yi is now in his prime, and he is famous all over the world for his achievements at a young age, which woman doesn't like it?" Ha ha! ”

An Yi didn't like it, but he couldn't help it, Ye Qing, who was wearing a small coat with delicate embroidered edges over a water-blue cheongsam, grabbed An Yi's arm and didn't let go, and under the envious gaze of the surrounding reporters, he pulled An Yi to his own table.

An Yi politely shook hands one by one, and after sitting down, he asked in a low voice to Zhou Chongan, a smiling reporter of "Declaration" next to him, "When did you arrive?" ”

"I came yesterday, I got the war zone pass in Nanjing, I wanted to go to see you in Wuhe, I heard that you were going to come to Bengbu, I didn't go over, congratulations on your big victory!"

Zhou Chongan laughed in a low voice like an old friend.

An Yi smiled indifferently, turned to Ye Qing and asked in a low voice, "Sister Qing, where did you kidnap this beautiful American girl?" ”

Everyone laughed, and Ye Qing criticized An Yi angrily: "Is there anyone who talks so casually like you?" It's rude! This is the China correspondent for the New York Times, and we have known each other since we first came to Shanghai last year, but Ms. Kaplan had been working in Yanjing and Tianjin until last month. ”

Ye Qing turned to Kaplan and laughed in a low voice: "Don't care, this guy is just like this with a few of our friends, he is still a little boy under the age of twenty-one, hehe!" ”

Kaplan, with his long black hair and beautiful brown eyes, smiled generously, "It's nothing, it's good...... General Ahn, it's a pleasure to meet you. ”

"Thank you! I'm glad too. ”

An Yi seemed to remember something, stared at Kaplan's eyes and asked curiously, "Miss Kaplan's Chinese is very good, it only took a year to reach this level, it's really surprising." ”

Kaplan smiled, "I'm smart, we Jews are gifted with languages. ”

An Yi nodded: "This is exactly what I want to ask, in the battle of Quzhou at the beginning of the year, Priest Alfred of Quzhou City told me when we were helping our officers and soldiers to treat that the surname Kaplan is a Jewish surname, and Mr. Alfred also told me that his wife is the surname Kaplan." ”

Kaplan happily replied, "Dear General Ann, Alfred is my brother-in-law, and he is the best and kindest doctor in the whole world. ”

"Really?"

An Yi looked at Kaplan with bright and white eyes in surprise, and Ye Qing, He Jing, Zhou Chongan and others also looked at her with great interest.

"Yes! Ten days ago, I accompanied my sister from the United States to the church in Quzhou, and my sister planned to stay with Alfred to preach and practice medicine in China, and Alfred told us about the battle of Quzhou, especially General An, who spoke very highly of the general, saying that the general was a wise and erudite person, a kind and tolerant person, and such a general is rare in China at present, and he is a real hero. ”

Kaplan said happily, her beautiful mouth very affectionate, and her white teeth when she smiled.

An Yi was stunned for a moment, looked at this and that, and smiled when he saw that everyone was smiling: "I'm not a hero, if people like me are heroes, then there are too many heroes in this world, at least in my opinion, I am not a hero, I can only be regarded as a qualified soldier, the real hero is the person who resists foreign humiliation and strives for the unity of the nation, such as Mr. Zhongshan, can be regarded as a real hero." ”

"No, no, no! The general is too modest, and if the general's combat exploits cannot be called a hero, it is very puzzling, such as General Li Zongren, General Bai Chongxi, etc., are all heroes in the minds of the Chinese, aren't they? Kaplan looked politely into An Yi's eyes.

An Yi thought for a while and smiled: "So...... Ask Mr. Zhou Chongan and Mr. He Jing to see if they will agree with you. ”

Zhou Chongan and He Jing glared at An Yi with annoyance, because during the time they got along in Kunshan, the three of them had a heated discussion about heroes and heroes, and as a result, even An Yi was determined by Zhou Chongan to be a person with great potential, He Jing basically agreed with Zhou Chong'an's point of view, at this time An Yi suddenly said this, which made the two quite passive, although they thought so in their hearts, but in today's atmosphere and the current situation in China, none of them dared to shout out loud, seeing that their friends were looking at themselves, I can only smile and not comment.

Fortunately, Director Mai of the Political Department of the Seventh Army happened to arrive, and politely greeted the reporters and took An Yi away, Ye Qing only then remembered that he didn't have time to ask a few questions he wanted to ask, so he discussed with a few friends and asked An Yi to give an interview opportunity later.

This proposal made the beautiful Miss Kaplan very happy, and she was the first to raise her hand in favor and thank Ye Qing.

(To be continued)