Chiang Kai-shek personally called Chen Zikun to attend a meeting of the Military Council. This means that Chen Zikun is already a member of the highest military authority of the Kuomintang, and his rank is one level higher than that of the chairman of the National Defense Construction Supervision Commission.

Chen Zikun hurriedly went to the meeting, Liu Ting stayed at home, although the weather was extremely gloomy, but her mood was indeed sunny, she liked Nanjing, because only in Nanjing can the world of the two be shared.

Liu Ting made a phone call to the Jiangdong Provincial Government, originally ordinary family phones could not directly make provincial long-distance calls, but Chen Zikun was already a member of the Military Commission, and the number was listed as the highest level and was not subject to any restrictions.

The long-distance call was transferred through multiple channels, the sound effect was very poor, and the current sound was sizzling, but I could barely understand it, Liu Ting reported her identity, and hurriedly called Liu Cunren to answer the phone.

"Dad, I'm in Nanjing, the war has begun, and I can't go back for the New Year for the time being."

"Ting'er, take good care of yourself, everything is fine at home, don't worry."

After Liu Ting arrived in Shanghai, she sent a telegram back to tell her family her whereabouts, and now she said that she couldn't go home for the New Year, and her father was naturally uncomfortable, but she could also accept this fact, her daughter was older, and she would have to spend the New Year in someone else's house if she got married sooner or later.

At noon, Liu Cunren took out his pocket watch and saw that it was time to get off work, packed up his things and went out of the gate of the provincial capital with a cloth bag, and the central street was full of people, and the newsboy shouted at the top of his voice: "Sell newspapers and sell newspapers, Japan attacked Shanghai on a large scale and was repelled by our army!" ”

Liu Cunren hurriedly paid for a Huaijiang newspaper, today's morning newspaper was a full late morning, it seems that it was a temporary page in the morning, the content is that the Japanese marines stationed in Shanghai raided our Zhabei defenders, was bravely repelled by our 19th Route Army, and is currently in a fierce battle, seeing this, Liu Cunren felt a surge of blood on his head, although he has long passed the age of a hot-blooded youth, but he still feels very excited to see the news of the national army's brave resistance, the Chinese army finally resisted, and no longer gave up Shanghai like the three eastern provinces!

……

For three days in a row, Chen Zikun was in Nanjing as a counselor in military affairs, and the battle reports on the Shanghai front came one after another, and the 19th Route Army fought very hard and beautifully, and the commander of the Japanese fleet in Shanghai originally clamored for the end of the war within four hours, but the battle was still fruitless for three days. Instead, the 19th Route Army captured the headquarters of the Marine Corps and captured 3,000 rifles.

On 1 February, Japanese warships shelled Nanjing, in order to prevent the expansion of the war, the Chinese army did not return fire, the Nationalist Government decided to move west to Luoyang, in order to show its determination to resist, but the military and government organs remained in Nanjing, and began to discuss the matter of supporting the 19th Route Army.

Chen Zikun took the initiative to ask for help, and was willing to lead the army to fight, but Chiang Kai-shek politely refused, and the Military Commission formed the Fifth Army with the 87th Division, the 88th Division, and the Central Teaching Corps stationed on the front line of Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and appointed Zhang Zhizhong, chief of education of the Central Military Academy, as the army commander, and led the army to Shanghai to support.

The Japanese offensive was frustrated, and had to accept the mediation of Britain and the United States, announcing a three-day truce, but secretly sending troops to prepare for a larger-scale offensive, and the Chinese side also used this time to actively prepare for war.

"Raising troops for a thousand days and using them for a while, this battle of Shanghai is a great opportunity for sons and daughters to serve the country." Chen Zikun is still very confident in the combat effectiveness of the old anti-smoking corps.

Song Ziwen smoked a cigar: "It's not proper, the tax police corps is a tax policeman, and if you participate in the war, it will go against the principle, and the bank group of the eight countries will stop disbursing the remaining salt money, and the funds will be gone." ”

Chen Zikun said: "This is easy to do, to change the number, I suggest that it be temporarily incorporated into the Central Army sequence, and then restore the tax police corps after the end of the war. ”

Song Ziwen said: "At present, it has to be like this. ”

Three days later, Japan sent the Third Fleet to the aid of Shanghai, and attacked Zhabei again, and the battle extended to Jiangwan and Wu Li, and the battle broke out between the tax police corps and the Japanese army.

The Fifth Army was still in the process of being organized, and Chen Zikun repeatedly asked for war but was not approved, so he had to change his name, saying that he was going to Shanghai to evacuate his family, which was approved by the Military Commission.

Chen Zikun did not take Liu Ting, flew to Shanghai alone, entered the concession, there was a depression everywhere, Zhabei was too close after all, it was impossible to have no impact, back home, the ladies were busy packing up the gold and silver, saying that they were going to collect donations, and even Yan'er took out her own piggy bank.

"Collecting donations for what?" Chan wondered.

"Raise donations for the 19th Route Army, buy guns, buy guns, buy iron hats, and fight small Japan." Xia Xiaoqing said, she wore a strong suit, and her feet were gripping tiger boots, and it seemed that she was itching to make a cameo appearance in Mulan.

"Nonsense." Chen Zikun scolded, but he was very relieved.

Yao Yilei asked him, "What are you doing when you come back?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "Xue Bin has brought the brothers into battle, I can't rest assured, come and have a look." ”

Yao Yilei exclaimed: "Then you want to go to Zhabei?" ”

Jian Bing was also shocked when he heard this: "Zhabei bullets are flying all over the sky, it's too dangerous." ”

Only Xia Xiaoqing is not the same thing: "Okay, I'll go too." ”

Chen Zikun said: "I, the army general, is not hereditary from my ancestors, but killed with a knife and a shot, am I still afraid of this?" ”

He made up his mind, and no one could persuade him, but as a member of the Military Commission, it was against discipline to rush into battle, Chen Zikun had his own way, he asked people to find a set of crumpled old military uniforms of privates to wear, tie leggings, put on a soft hat, and tie a cow belt around his waist, which looked similar to a ruffian.

The adjutants prepared a batch of condolence items, cigarettes, white wine, cakes, and miscellaneous goods, loaded with a truckload, Chen Zikun led the team, and drove mightily to Zhabei; when passing by the concession gate, the Chinese catchers not only did not inspect, but also saluted the truck, and the foreigners also turned a blind eye; Chen Qingfeng explained that recently, there have been many Chinese in the concession who have spontaneously gone to Zhabei to work in the army, and the foreigners have long been surprised.

When the car entered the Chinese realm, the scene was suddenly different, full of devastation, scorched trees, bullet casings and rubble everywhere, which showed the fierceness of the battle.

There are a few black-uniformed policemen on the side of the road, who are on duty with rifles on their backs, they are armed policemen of the Fifth Squadron of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

The policemen said that further on was the area of tug-of-war with the Japanese, and suggested that they should not continue to move forward, Chen Zikun expressed his gratitude, but still drove forward, and sure enough, two streets out, you could hear the sound of stray bullets, and from time to time shells fell, blowing up a cloud of smoke and dust.

There was a telephone pole lying in the middle of the street, and the car was forced to stop, and a few soldiers came out of the roadside, speaking in Cantonese: "Go back, danger!" ”

Chen Qingfeng got out of the car and said that we were here to work for the army, and the soldiers saw his rank of major and immediately stood up and saluted, and a house on the side of the road contained a forward headquarters of the 19th Route Army, and the largest officer here was a battalion commander. ”

"We are from the Military Council." Qing Feng's words are true, his own general is now a member of the Military Commission, and these adjutant guards will naturally be promoted.

The battalion commander was in awe and saluted: "We are the 1st Battalion of the 6th Regiment of the 156th Brigade of the 78th Division of the 19th Route Army. ”

Chen Qingfeng said: "Help move the telephone pole, we have to go to the front line." ”

The battalion commander said: "This is the front line, and beyond that is the Japanese defense line." ”

Chen Qingfeng asked his subordinates to bring out the consolation goods, Chen Zikun was caught in the team without saying a word, helping to carry things, he went to the front line not to show off, but to see the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army and the performance of the 19th Route Army, these are extremely valuable first-hand information, for a senior officer of the Military Commission.

It didn't take much effort, but the brothers of the first battalion all smoked the British brand cigarettes from the concession fundraiser, and they were happily singing, when suddenly there was a **shout: "Take your mother, the Japanese are coming!" ”

Sure enough, a wheeled armored car appeared on the street with murderous vigour, the iron plate was covered with rivets, the body was painted with the Rising Sun chapter of the Navy, and the water-cooled sleeve of two heavy machine guns stretched out of the turret.

The armored car fired wildly, and the 7.7 caliber machine gun bullets hit the sandbag bunker, which pressed the 19th Route Army to raise its head, and the field gun hidden behind the armored body exposed its hideous muzzle, and with a loud bang, the sandbag bunker in the middle of the street was blown up into the sky, and the six brothers who were still smoking cigarettes and laughing just now were blown up to flesh and blood.

The 19th Route Army returned fire one after another, firing at the armored vehicles from the windows of the upper floors and behind the bunkers, causing the steel plates to spark in all directions, and the armored vehicles were unharmed.

Chen Zikun and the others were protected by the brothers of the 19th Route Army, and they couldn't help but feel anxious when they heard the gunshots so densely, and their eager eyes were staring at the general, waiting for him to say a word.

"Find some bottles." Chen Zikun said suddenly, personally took a bottle of wine from the condolences, opened the cap and poured it out, took a rubber tube from the truck cab, opened the cap of the car fuel tank, inserted the rubber tube into it, took a few puffs, and the gasoline was led into the empty bottle, and then tore off the hem of the military uniform and plugged the bottle, saying: "Do as I do." ”

The guards did the same, and soon made six Molotov cocktails.

"I'm coming!" Double Happiness picked up the Molotov cocktail and was about to go into battle.

"Don't rob me." Yan Jinan picked up the Molotov cocktail and took the first step, in the end, it was the heir of the Yan family in Cangzhou, and the body method was called a neat one, and others had already gone to the roof before they could see it clearly.

The street fighting in Zhabei was extremely difficult, there were many civilian houses, the battle lines were staggered, the firepower was fierce, the Japanese army had air force cover, armored vehicles and heavy artillery cooperated, and the 19th Route Army relied on flesh and blood to withstand the enemy's repeated attacks.

Behind the armored car was the Japanese Special Marine Corps in blue, they were responsible for protecting the safety of the armored car, and when they saw the figure on the roof of the building, they immediately opened fire, Yan Jinan flashed and moved, the bullet could not hurt him at all, and a Molotov cocktail smashed on the armored car, but forgot to light the cloth strip.

Yan Jinan hurriedly lit another Molotov cocktail, used the Yan family's secret weapon, and smashed it on the observation window of the armored car, and suddenly the flames were everywhere, screaming again and again, he picked up a Molotov cocktail on a whim, and just about to smash it, a bullet flew in, hit the Molotov cocktail, and suddenly half of his body was on fire.

At this time, Chen Zikun had already led people to come back from the side, a burst of machine guns swept around, and the Japanese marines in the alley fell like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, Shuangxi rushed up and stuffed a smoking grenade into the window of the armored car, and one rolled on the ground, with a muffled bang, the armored car stopped, and the raging fire burned.

The fire on Yan Jinan's body was extinguished by everyone, but his clothes were scorched, his arm was scorched, and he fainted in pain.

Chen Zikun asked Shuangxi to quickly send Yan Jinan back to the concession hospital for treatment, and Qingfeng ran over and said anxiously: "General, withdraw, leave this place to the 19th Route Army to defend." ”

"! As a soldier, it is your duty to defend the land, and no one is allowed to take half a step back except for the wounded! Chen Zikun immediately reprimanded angrily.

The officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army watched in amazement as the private-class reprimanded the major commander.