Seeing that Song Zhewu looked at the north and was silent, Zhang Yafei was a little puzzled, now there is no opponent north of the Yellow River - the Northwest Army, but this Pang Bingxun division is stationed in Zhengzhou south of the Yellow River, and there is Sun Liangcheng's division in Shandong, if Sun Liangcheng's department retreats west to Shaanxi, it must first go north along the Jinpu Road, and then from the Jinpu Road through Kaifeng and Zhengzhou to Lingbao in Xuzhou (31 years ago, the western section of Longhai Road only led to Lingbao). It will never go north along Jinpu Road to Shijiazhuang, then south along Pinghan Road to Zhengzhou, and then turn to Longhai Road to retreat westward. In other words, the Fourth Route Army here would never be threatened by the Northwest Army north of the Yellow River.

The only ones who could threaten the safety of the Fourth Route Army were Pang Bingxun in Zhengzhou, Sun Liangcheng who retreated from Shandong, and of course, the main force of the Northwest Army that came back along the Longhai Road. If it was only Pang Bingxun and Sun Liangcheng, with the strength of the Fourth Route Army in Henan, it would take a lot of trouble to completely annihilate them, but if it was to defeat them, it would not take much effort. If the main force of the Northwest Army returns to Zhengzhou, then they can retreat to the north of the Yellow River and hold the north of the iron bridge.

Therefore, Zhang Yafei believes that as long as the safety of the southern end of the Yellow River Iron Bridge is guaranteed and not blocked by the Northwest Army in Henan, the safety of the Fourth Route Army in Henan can be guaranteed. This is also the reason why he focused his defense on the south side of the bridge, and only placed a company on the north side of the bridge. But there's nothing wrong with deploying like this, right?

Zhang Yafei, who had been thinking about it for a long time and couldn't get the essentials, said without words: "The cavalry brigade set off this morning after receiving the order, and it is estimated that it will be able to meet the Gao Hongwen Department of the Jin Sui Army transporting supplies and grain north of Huojia, and if it goes well, you can come back tomorrow." ”

In fact, as soon as the news was sent out in the cavalry brigade, he had already reported it to the headquarters in Liulin. He also knew that Song Zhewu would not be unaware.

Song Zhewu turned his head and said in a calm but solemn tone: "Yafei, at this time three years ago, I found Brother Xiao and you, as well as Gao Zongbao, Zhang Tao, Wei Guanghui, Wang Xu, Liang Fang, Wu Jin, etc., to Tianjin to help me prepare for the construction of our new army. At that time, although we had sufficient troops, recruiting 18,000 men in just a few months, we were the only officers, and we not only had to train these peasants who had just picked up guns and make them qualified soldiers as soon as possible, but we also wanted us to train officers at all levels with our own hands. The nine of us almost opened a crash training course for officers of the Baoding Military Academy and the German [***] School, which combined Chinese and Western cultures, and of course there were also advanced classes later. ”

Speaking of this, the corners of Song Zhewu's mouth couldn't help but show a proud smile. But soon the smile was obscured by the quickly tense corners of his mouth.

"It can be said that we were both fathers and mothers at that time, and the establishment of our Fourth Route Army was too large, and others don't know why, but the nine of us are clear, although it is for the establishment of the army, it is also related to the fact that we do not have so many qualified officers. At present, except for the officers brought in by the two divisions of the 19th Army, almost all other officers at all levels have been taught by us and have been pulled up by us. In the past few years, although our Fourth Route Army has not experienced any strong winds and waves, it can even be said that it has been smooth sailing, and this is not only the result of our Taoguang cultivation, but also related to our correct choice of camp, first by Chairman Shang Zhen's care, and then by the favor of the Nanjing Central Political Axe, and even Yan Xishan in Taiyuan has also favored us, and it is precisely because of the competition of these forces that our Fourth Route Army has been able to continue to grow and develop to this day. However, we must not forget that it is not that there are no external forces that threaten the survival of our Fourth Route Army, and the continuous development and growth of our Fourth Route Army has made many people feel uneasy! ”

After a pause, Song Zhewu looked at Zhang Yafei and said: "The Fourth Route Army has grown up with our hard work, and it is not easy for it to develop to this day!" We, the old men of the Fourth Route Army, should always be careful to let others hurt it! ”

The reason why Song Zhewu mentioned to Zhang Yafei today the hardships of the Fourth Route Army since its formation was that he found that Zhang Yafei only arranged a company on the north bank of the Iron Bridge, and this company only played the role of a sentry, if Yan Xishan or Tang Shengzhi wanted to make unfavorable moves against him Song Zhewu, as long as they sent troops to raid, they could block the Iron Bridge and block him on the south bank.

Song Zhewu felt that Zhang Yafei and others were still too young, had little life experience, and rarely guarded against others. Song Zhewu, who was a man of two lifetimes, added up his age to more than 50 years old, and if he followed the history he was familiar with, then his age was more than 80 years old, and he was familiar with Yan Xishan and Tang Shengzhi, who were influential figures in the Republic of China, how they hid their swords in their smiles and were capricious in history. If Zhang Yafei thinks that Yan Xishan's Jin Sui Army and Tang Shengzhi's Fifth Route Army are friendly forces, and takes it for granted that they will never act unfavorably against the Fourth Route Army, then he will suffer a big loss sooner or later.

There is another reason, that is, the Central Plains War will start soon, and his plan is also time to gradually infiltrate Zhang Yafei, Gao Zongbao and other generals, so as not to be at a loss and not fully prepared at that time.

Seeing Zhang Yafei bowing his head and thinking, Song Zhewu looked at the undulating mountains in the north, and said word by word: "Yafei, you have to remember that there are no eternal friends and no eternal enemies in the world, only interests forever." ”

Then he said in an accentuated tone: "The soldiers are in danger, and we have to guard against it!" ”

Song Zhewu said this, where can Zhang Yafei not understand, Song Zhewu can be said to have fundamentally broken away from Shang Zhen, openly obeying the orders of the Nanjing Central Committee, and even nominally being the army of the national political axe, but secretly it is also Yan Xishan and the snake of Shanxi, and there are some things that Chiang Kai-shek does not know.

But Song Zhewu's words can be said to be a clear statement telling him that he must not only guard against Yan Xishan, but also guard against anyone who can harm the Fourth Route Army, even including the Nanjing Central Political Axe.

Song Zhewu, a person who is not yet thirty years old, has such a deep mind, which makes Zhang Yafei very surprised! He didn't even believe that it was from the mouth of the rich boy who drank a few years ago, except for dancing guns and sticks.

"No eternal friends, no eternal enemies?" Zhang Yafei muttered a few times in a low voice, thought for a while, raised his head and looked at Song Zhewu and said solemnly: "The commander's words are incisive, Yafei has been taught." From then on, I, Zhang Yafei, have no friends in my eyes, only opponents. I am going to adjust the defensive deployment and transfer the 4th Battalion to the north of the Iron Bridge for fortification. ”

Song Zhewu saw that Zhang Yafei really understood what he meant, smiled and nodded, and said: "Yafei, this Yellow River iron bridge is the foundation of our troops in Henan, and we must absolutely ensure that the bridge is controlled by our Fourth Route Army." He pointed to a lonely high on the west side of the iron bridge and said: "That high ground is very important, and it must be in our hands, so that in the event of an incident, it can not only support each other with the troops at the bridgehead, but also effectively ensure the safety of the troops at the south bank of the garden mouth and the rear of the cavalry brigade outside the town......"

Leaving the Yellow River Iron Bridge, Song Zhewu did not inspect the defense in the town of Huayuankou, he believed that since Zhang Yafei understood what he meant, then he would do a good job, and he had the ability.

However, he did not go back to Liulin Town directly, but went straight to Liyuan Village along the main road by the Pinghan Railway, where Sun Li's third regiment lived, and Song Zhewu also had to check the defense and training of the third regiment.

As soon as he approached the village, Song Zhewu could feel a very strong atmosphere of imminent battle, and on several high ground within a mile outside the village, there were officers and men of the third regiment reinforcing the fortifications that had been basically repaired, and as long as these high ground were not lost, the enemy would not be able to approach the village at all. Before arriving at the village, you can see that there is a dug trench 50 meters away from the village to surround the village, and there are piles of sandbags piled up on the edge of the trench, and the machine gun position on the sentry on duty, and the muzzle of the black hole hole is pointed outside the village. When you come to the village, there are fortifications at the main junctions and defensive positions.

Song Zhewu nodded with satisfaction, Sun Li, the head of the third regiment, is a talent, and he will strengthen his training in the future, and he will definitely be able to take on a heavier burden in training.

Sun Li was not found in the regiment headquarters, and the staff officer on duty told Song Zhewu, "Commander Sun accompanied Chief of Staff Tao to the village to inspect the training of the troops." ”。

Under the leadership of the staff officers on duty of the Third Regiment, Song Zhewu and others came to the threshing floor behind the village, where the soldiers of the Third Regiment were gathered, and they were all in full swing carrying out all kinds of regular training.

Song Zhewu found Sun Li and Tao Rong in the southwest corner of the threshing floor, and the two were watching with great interest as the soldiers in the field were practicing stabbing training.

After Sun Li saluted Song Zhewu, Tao Rong said with a smile: "Commander-in-chief, the defense of Liulin Town, Bei'anzhuang and here have all been inspected, and in general they are all good. The best of these three defensive positions was the three regiments. ”

Song Zhewu nodded and said, "I've seen it all the way, and the three regiments are really doing very well." ”

Seeing Song Zhewu's praise, Sun Li hurriedly smiled and said: "Sun Li doesn't dare to be greedy for merit, this is all due to the commander's guidance." ”

Song Zhewu, who was very happy in his heart, smiled and said: "Okay, you Sun Li, how can you learn from Zhang Yafei and them to be able to make sycophants." Since you arrived at the Third Regiment, whether it is Zengjiazhai to fight bandits or Zhujiahe Blockade, you have fought very well, and I am very relieved that the Third Regiment will be handed over to you, and it will be a little condescending to put you in the position of regiment commander. Do it well, if you fight a few more beautiful battles, I will give you a division to bring. ”

(To be continued)