30,000 horses and horses crossed the Yangtze River moat, no matter what, it took a few days, the troops who crossed the river first rested in Hankou, Zhao Yufeng of the quartermaster department of the division headquarters took a few gang leaders to the street to buy flour, and a group of northern soldiers were stationed in Hengyang for two years, eating rice every day, and a bird had to fade out of their mouths.

The most prosperous thing in Hankou is the avenue along the river, as far as the eye can see, the signboards are lined up one after another, Swire & Co., Nissin Steamship Company, Asia Oil Company, all of them are foreigners' trades, and the river is full of steamers, and the liveliness is no less than that of Shanghai Tang.

A group of people were dazzled, and they walked in unconsciously, when suddenly two foreigners patrolled and stopped them, pointed to the rifles on their backs, and waved their hands in a sign of refusal.

Zhao Yufeng immediately came back to his senses, afraid that he had arrived at the head of the British Concession, but all the concessions were strictly forbidden for Chinese armed personnel to enter, causing diplomatic disputes and causing chaos to the division commander, and he couldn't resist a few heads, so he quickly nodded and led people to retreat.

Finding a grain store, Zhao Yufeng asked with a big grin: "Boss, do you have flour?" ”

The boss was settling accounts with the previous wave of guests with the abacus, and looked up and said, "I believe in your evil, why did you buy so much flour today, and the last two bags have just been sold." ”

Zhao Yufeng rolled his eyes, took out a cigarette and said to the customer dressed as two workers in front of him: "Friend, let's discuss, how about we have a bag of flour?" We came from the north, and we were tired of eating rice all day, so we wanted to eat steamed buns. ”

"Cheng, we are also northerners, listen to your accent Shandong?" The worker was very bold, and immediately brought a bag of flour over.

"I'm from Shandong, who is my brother?" Zhao Yufeng handed over the cigarette roll with a smile.

"I'm from Jinan Mansion, my ancestor moved to Beijing, which part are you, boss?" The worker took the cigarette and lit it with Zhao Yufeng's match.

"We are soldiers of the 3rd Division." Zhao Yufeng said.

"It turned out to be Wu Dashuai's soldiers, I gave this flour for free!" The worker's eyes lit up, and he patted his chest and wanted to push back the silver dollar that Zhao Yufeng took out.

"Wu Dashuai understands the righteousness, we workers on the railway are admired, besides, the brothers are not rich in soldiers, we are still fellow villagers, what is a bag of flour, go, drink with me." The workers were arrogant, but Zhao Yufeng was embarrassed.

As he was talking, Chen Zikun came in, and when he saw the worker, he immediately said happily: "Brother Dahai! ”

It turned out that this worker was Zhao Dahai, and when he met his old acquaintance in another country, the two immediately hugged each other, and tears flew everywhere.

"Brother, why did you come here?" Zhao Dahai took a step back and looked at Chen Zikun's military uniform again, "Why are you still wearing two and a half feet?" ”

Chan sighed: "It's a long story. ”

"Then say slowly, go, find a place to drink, all go, who doesn't go won't give me face." Zhao Dahai waved his hand, and couldn't help but say that he took everyone to a nearby tavern, ordered two pots of wine and eight dishes, and introduced to everyone: "This is a worker, called Lin Xiangqian, we are all workers on the Jinghan Railway, my name is Zhao Dahai, and Da Kunzi is an old neighbor." ”

Zhao Yufeng and others bowed their hands and introduced themselves one after another, on one side were the soldiers in the army, and on the other hand, the workers on the railway, they were all pure masters, and this wine was a pleasure.

While everyone was drunk, Zhao Dahai called Chen Zikun out and said in a low voice: "Do you know about the things at home?" ”

Chen Zikun's heart sank and said, "I've been out for a long time, I don't know." ”

Zhao Dahai said: "When it was Layue, Uncle Xue died in the detention center for unknown reasons, they said that he died of typhoid fever, but in fact, it was the ghost of the Ma family, they did not hesitate to kill people in order to occupy the Ziguang Depot, they are simply beasts!" ”

As he spoke, two plumes of smoke erupted from his nostrils and stomped on the cigarette butt fiercely: "In this world, the poor are not allowed to eat." ”

Chen Zikun's heart ached, and Uncle Xue's appearance appeared in front of him, but such a good person could never be seen again.

Zhao Dahai patted him on the shoulder and said: "It's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, let's remember this account for him, by the way, how is Xiao Shunzi?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "He is in Shanghai, he mixes very well, and I wrote to him before I came. ”

Zhao Dahai nodded: "It's good to have something to eat, let's go, drink wine." ”

……

The train was speeding north, the air in the stuffy tank car was dirty, and the soldiers were lying in the carriage dozing off, only Chen Zikun was smoking a cigarette through the gap in the door, and a year ago, he also fled Beijing by train, and now he is back by train.

Life is like a dream, the ups and downs of the past year are as ethereal as a dream, those people, those things, seem to be far away and untouchable.

Wang Degui moved over and took out a cigarette on Chen Zikun: "Boy, what do you want?" ”

Chen Zikun squinted his eyes at the rape flowers in the field and said: "I am thinking about the philosophy of life, where is the end and where is the starting point?" ”

Wang Degui was stunned for a moment, and then slapped Chen Zikun on the head: "Evil? Why did you talk about Zou Zou. ”

Chen Zikun himself was stunned, a sweary Qiu Ba suddenly said such a thing, even he didn't expect it, and then he grinned: "Lao Wang, in fact, I ......"

Wang Degui covered his mouth: "Boy, I have already seen it, you have something hidden in your heart, don't say anything, whether you want to get ahead, or want to take revenge, first treat the soldier as a good soldier and then say, these days, the gun is the most valuable, more effective than how many years you have been reading." ”

The words are not rough, Chen Zikun nodded deeply.

The men and horses of the third division went north to Zhili along the Jinghan line, the division headquarters was located in Tianjin, the base camp of the direct line, representatives from all walks of life went in and out every day, Caojia Garden was like a market, and the gossip was flying all over the sky, for a while I heard that Japan was preparing to mediate by force, and for a while I heard that the Feng army of 100,000 horses and horses had entered the customs, and finally one day, the exact news came, Cao Kun and Cao Marshal announced the formation of a rebel army, appointed Wu Peifu as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and officially declared war on Duan Qirui.

A big battle was imminent, the vigilance of the division headquarters was greatly strengthened, the password changed three times a day, and the atmosphere was quite tense.

The cooking squad was busy baking flatbread and steaming steamed buns all day long, how could he have time to cook hot rice during the war, he had to rely on these dry foods, Chen Zikun was so anxious that he couldn't help but regret why he didn't enter the machine gun company at the beginning, he had no skills but couldn't go into battle to kill the enemy, he could only deal with flour and rice, and there was no place to talk about this grievance.

"Come out and help with a few energetic people." Outside the room, Zhao Jun's shout came out again, and a big car stopped at the door, and the car was full of flour.

Chen Zikun came out of it with a rolling pin, and when he saw this formation, he quickly threw away the rolling pin, grabbed a bag of flour and put it on his shoulder, and asked, "Zhao Quartermaster, do you have any eyebrows about my application to be an infantry in the next company?" ”

Zhao Yufeng was a little absent-minded: "Oh, ah, yes." ”

Chen Zikun carried another bag of flour, feeling that it was much lighter than usual, and he asked again: "It's about being a soldier in the next company." ”

This time, Zhao Junjian heard it clearly, and sneered: "It's not easy to be a supplementary soldier, and there will definitely be a shortage of people on the front line when the fight starts." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Then it's troublesome for Zhao Junjun, help when the time comes." ”

"Okay, okay, let's go." Zhao Junjian waved his hand impatiently, Chen Zikun carried two bags of flour into the room, threw his bag on the ground and said: "Strange, I used to be able to carry two bags, but today I think I can carry three bags." ”

Wang Degui heard it, came over to check the weight of the noodle pocket, and found a big scale to hang it, and scolded: "The surname Zhao is really black." ”

Chen Zikun said: "What's the matter, it's too short of two catties?" ”

Wang Degui stretched out a finger: "Shhh, don't make a noise, don't be nosy, this kid is very good, and he will definitely not be able to treat us badly." ”

After a while, Zhao Yufeng walked in, pretended to inspect it, picked up the pancake and took a bite, and praised: "The craftsmanship is good, the brothers have worked hard, I will treat you to eat mutton shabu at night." ”

Wang Degui smiled at Chen Zikun knowingly.

As he was talking, two large gendarmes came in from outside, with armbands wrapped around their arms and big knives stuck in their backs, and stood on either side of the door like two door gods, and then a military police captain walked in, his sharp eyes scanning the room.

Zhao Yufeng's face instantly turned pale, and his legs were trembling.

The captain of the gendarmerie said: "How many of you, have you seen Li Changsheng?" ”

Wang Degui straightened his waist: "Back to the sir's words, I didn't see it." ”

Chen Zikun also said loudly: "I didn't see it." But he was muttering in his heart, what happened to the horseman Lao Li, even the gendarmes were dispatched.

Hearing that the gendarmes were looking for Lao Li, Zhao Yufeng's face immediately returned to normal, and he took out a cigarette and handed it over: "What's wrong with Lao Li?" ”

The military police captain took the cigarette with his white-gloved hand, but he didn't light it, and said with a businesslike face: "This Lao Li is also dizzy, he is actually a deserter at this juncture, and he will definitely be beheaded if he is caught, you are busy, I will go first." ”

The gendarmes left, Zhao Yufeng took a long breath and said, "Mutton shabu at night, as usual." After that, he went out.

Chen Zikun was puzzled: "Why did Lao Li want to be a deserter? ”

Wang Degui was silent for a long time before he said: "Lao Li and I are small standing soldiers at the same time, I heard that there is only one old mother in his family, this time he became a deserter, I guess something happened to my family." ”

In the evening, there was a commotion outside, Chen Zikun ran out to take a look, a team of heavily armed gendarmes came in with a big order and a ghost head knife, followed by the grizzled groom Lao Li, the collar badge and cockade were all taken off, and there were a few shoe prints on the military uniform.

Lao Li was pressed to the ground, the snow-bright ghost head knife was raised high, the horsemen, men, and orderly soldiers of the division headquarters were silent, and the military police captain looked at them majestically, crossed his waist and said: "Have you seen it, this is the end of being a deserter, someone is coming." ”

The gendarmes followed their heels: "Yes! ”

"Slashed!"

Lao Li's eyes closed, and two cloudy tears flowed out of the corners of his eyes.

"Keep people under the knife!" Just as the ghost head knife was raised, Chen Zikun shouted, and this nameless private stood up first without hesitation.

The gendarmerie captain stared at him: "Bold, do you want to rebel?" ”

Chen Zikun was not afraid: "Sir, let Lao Li live." ”

"Military law is like a mountain, why let him go?"

"Please give Li Changsheng a chance to make meritorious contributions, and we are willing to vouch for him." Wang Degui also stood up, and then the horsemen and soldiers also stood up and pleaded for Lao Li together, hula and kneeling on the ground.

The gendarmerie captain touched his chin, the effect of killing chickens and setting an example to monkeys had been achieved, and he didn't want to make a killing, so he pushed the boat down the river and said: "For the sake of all the brothers, I won't kill you today, and I will deal with it after the battle." ”

Turning his face to look at Zhao Yufeng, he said, "Zhao Junjian, come with me to the Military Justice Department." ”

Zhao Yufeng shuddered and smiled reluctantly: "What's the matter?" ”

The gendarmerie captain said: "Oh, the little thing, let's talk about it when it comes." ”

The gendarmes took Zhao Yufeng away, Lao Li lay on the ground and cried, trembling and kowtowing to everyone: "Don't thank you for your kindness, my Li Changsheng's life was given by everyone, and I wrote down this love." ”

Wang Degui came over to help him up, and sighed: "Lao Li, what are you doing, run away without saying a word." ”

Lao Li said: "The family brought a letter, but the old lady is gone, I ...... I was confused for a while. ”

……

Zhao Yufeng was taken to the military justice office, looking at the Guan Gong enshrined in the shrine and the ghost head knife hanging on the wall, his sweat soaked his clothes, and he regretted it in his heart, he shouldn't be greedy for the five hundred yuan cheap, and do tricks on military rations.

The captain of the gendarmerie sat down in front of him with a smile and was about to ask a question, when suddenly a herald came in and said, "The commander has an order, and there must be no mistake in opening it immediately." ”

"Hehe, Zhao Junjie, let's talk about our affairs another day." Captain Gendarmerie said.

Zhao Yufeng rushed back to the quartermaster department for a meeting in despair, it turned out that the two armies had already started a fierce battle on the front line of Zhuozhou and Gaobeidian, and the strength of the rebel army was tight, so the logistics troops of the division headquarters had to be sent to the front line to use.

The task of the Zhao quartermaster was very simple, just take the people of the cooking squad to transport the dry food to the front line.