At about 10 o'clock on July 27, the sixth year of the Republic of China, inside and outside the War Department located at the mouth of the Iron Lion Hutong, the five-color flag (national flag) fluttering, the nineteen-star flag (military flag) was displayed, the military and police were densely packed, five steps and one sentry, ten steps and one post, and all kinds of imported cars parked the small square in front of the War Department building.

"Dudu ......" two gray Chevrolets and a black Model T formed a miniature convoy, separating the bustling crowd and moving slowly from north to south on Dongsi North Street.

"I'm sorry, the parking space in front of you is full, so please get off here!" There were still two intersections from the Iron Lion Hutong, and the convoy was stopped by the barricade set up here by the military police, and a platoon commander politely saluted and said: "Please stop nearby or return the same way!" ”

"Humph! Do you know who's in the car? Get out of the way yet! The first car door was opened, and a big man dressed in a second-class and second-class (lieutenant colonel) army uniform got out of the car and shouted at the military police platoon commander: "We are all ordered to attend the celebration banquet, and you can afford to suffer if you are delayed!" ”

A trace of disdain flashed in the eyes of the military police platoon commander, what is the great deal about a small regiment commander, the lowest level who came to the banquet today is the regiment commander, but he still said respectfully: "This commander, it's not that we are deliberately embarrassing you, it's just that you came too late, and the inside has been blocked......

"This is about Lao Tzu's birds, and there are two intersections, let our brigade commander walk over?" The big man said angrily when he heard this, and the dress, which was already a little small, was even more funny at this time.

"Jiwu, forget it!" Out of the car in the middle came a young general dressed in a first-class and third-class (major general) dress, and softly stopped the big man from going crazy, and nearly ten officers walked down one after another behind him.

"Anyway, it's only two intersections, just a few minutes away." The young general smiled and said to the officer behind him: "We have all come over thousands of miles to the north, and we are afraid of taking these few more steps!" ”

"Thank you for your cooperation, please go here, go through the Fuxue Hutong and go through the side door!" The commander of the military police platoon nodded and said that he had seen a lot of generals in the city of Beijing and at the feet of the Son of Heaven, but he was still an extremely young general, especially a general of the combat unit.

"Listen to my command, one-two, one-two, one-two......" With the pace of the young general, more than a dozen officers behind him consciously stood in two columns and followed him forward.

"Platoon commander, whose team is this, such rules!" The gendarmerie was amazed: "And these officers are so young!" ”

"You ask me, I ask who is going!" The gendarmerie platoon commander scolded impatiently: "Guard your post!" ”

……

"Brigadier Commander, you go slowly!" As soon as the group walked to the entrance of Fuxue Hutong, Zuo Jiwu shouted: "This dress is too small, and you can't take a step at all!" ”

"Haha, Jiwu has given you the biggest one, and I'll ask the Quartermaster Department to customize one for you!" Tang Zhidao stopped and said with a smile, he was also uncomfortable, the Beiyang Army's dress was really bad, especially the pointed high hat was really powerless to complain.

"Jiwu, you will be there in a moment, right away!" Deputy Brigade Commander Zhang Yuanhang also persuaded: "It's too late for us to come, and we'll change it when we have dinner."

Just two days ago, the Cabinet issued a military order for reorganization and promotion, and the former 3rd Mixed Brigade of the Zhili Army was reorganized into the 18th Mixed Brigade directly under the Ministry of War, which has three infantry regiments, one regiment of cavalry and one battalion of engineers. In addition to the statutory establishment, the brigade also has under the jurisdiction of the reconnaissance battalion, guard company, battalion study and other units directly under the brigade headquarters, and the full number of personnel and firepower may even exceed one standard army division; brigade commander Tang Zhidao was promoted to the rank of major general, officially stepping into the ranks of senior generals of the Beiyang Military Department, and his subordinates were also promoted.

As soon as the group walked to the bottom of the War Department building, a group of people also came to meet them, but the number was slightly more, and the general led by the general hurriedly greeted Brigade Commander Tang when he saw him, and said very enthusiastically: "Congratulations to Brigade Commander Tang, a double harvest in career and love!" ”

"Congratulations to Senior Commander Li for being awarded three medals, plus the rank of general!" Tang Zhidao also handed over to congratulate him, and under his strong protection, Li Jin was considered a blessing in disguise, not only was he not punished for participating in the restoration, but he kept the position of division commander, and was even awarded three medals, plus the rank of general. Brigade Commander Tang, who was the first to advocate anti-imperialist and repeatedly refined, and then severely defeated the Braided Army in the Battle of Shahe, was only awarded five medals, which is really unreasonable!

The two commanders exchanged pleasantries, but their subordinates just waited quietly, many officers of the 13th Division had been captured by the other party, and some officers of the 18th Mixed Brigade were from the 13th Division, so it was a little embarrassing for the two sides to meet.

"It's not for my brother's blessing, but I will ask my brother to help me in the future!" Li Jincai said with a smile on his face, as long as he could keep the throne of the commander of the 13th Division, he would be satisfied, as for the rank and rank of general, it was a good thing to add to the cake.

"Senior Commander Li said with a smile, you are a general and let me be a little major general and brigade commander, wouldn't it be cold to me!" Tang Zhidao also quipped: "You should bring me as a junior more!" ”

"The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, the long is a year and a half, and the short is three or five months, with the talent and strength of the elder brother and the favor of Premier Duan and Xu Youzhen, you are afraid that you will not be able to sit in my position!" Li Jincai said with emotion: "I'm afraid that you won't be able to look down on this position when the time comes!" ”

"Brigade commander, the title and medal ceremony inside will start soon, we should go in!" Brigade Commander Tang also wanted to greet Division Commander Li, and Chief of Staff Xu Yongchang reminded in a low voice.

"Cheng Li Master Jiyan, please!" Tang Zhidao had no choice but to stop and make a gesture of please, and Li Jincai no longer politely said and led the officers above the regimental level of the 13th Division into first, and Brigade Commander Tang also led his subordinates in.

At this time, the small auditorium of the War Department had long been crowded, and Tang Zhidao and the others reluctantly found a few places in the crowd and sat down, and greeted people they knew each other. The meeting was chaotic, there was no information about the flow of the meeting, no one arranged the location, and no one maintained order, it was hard to imagine that this was a meeting of senior military officers of a country. It was not until Prime Minister Duan Qirui, accompanied by Fu Liangzuo, vice minister of the Ministry of the Army, Duan Zhigui, commander-in-chief of the Gyeonggi garrison, and other dignitaries that the venue was a little quieter.

With the military band playing the majestic "China Stands in the Universe" (national anthem), the celebration party kicked off, and the entire celebration was presided over by the commander-in-chief of the Gyeonggi garrison, Duan Zhigui. The process is relatively simple, the first item is to play the national anthem, raise the five-color flag, the second item is to play the military song (the song of the marshal training soldiers), raise the nineteen-star flag, the third item is a brief comment by Duan Zhigui on the war against the rebellion, the fourth item is read out by Fu Liangzuo, vice minister of the Ministry of the Army, the State Council, the Ministry of War commendation order, and began to confer titles and awards, and the fifth item is Premier Duan Qirui's speech.

The officers of the 18th Brigade, including Brigade Commander Tang, participated in such a grand meeting for the first time, and they could only follow others, and everyone stood up and applauded. It was only when the awards and titles were conferred that he came to the front desk under the guidance of the ceremonial staff, and followed several generals who had made great contributions to receive the medals and swords issued by Premier Duan Qirui himself.

Although the celebration party was relatively simple, because it dragged on until half past ten o'clock, and it ended at two o'clock in the afternoon, many officers who had just eaten two bowls of porridge in the morning were already so hungry that their chests were pressed against their backs. Fortunately, the organizers were also prepared, and the celebration banquet that followed was also set up in the War Department building.

"Brigade Commander, where are we sitting?" But the group of the 18th Mixed Brigade was a little dumbfounded when they came to the banquet hall, because there were too many people participating in the banquet (there were two or three hundred people), but there were at most two hundred tables in the banquet hall.

"Don't worry about so much, grab a table first!" Brigade Commander Tang looked around and didn't have a clue, so he pointed to a table on the side and said, "Just sit over there, we just have enough for a table!" ”

Compared with the venue, the banquet hall was even more chaotic, and the later officers could not find a place at all, so they had to stand at the table with stitches and needles, and the first people were not embarrassed to sit and stand with them, so that the good celebration banquet became standing and eating. Fortunately, although the banquet was held in the War Department, the chef was invited from a high-end restaurant outside, and the dishes were full of color, flavor, and flavor, with all kinds of seafood, melons, fruits, and snacks.

"Don't wait, the other tables are already open, let's do it too!" I don't know when the banquet will start, Brigade Commander Tang was busy teaching the students of the camp school in the morning, and he didn't even bother to eat breakfast, looking at the various dishes on the table, he was already salivating.

"The chicken leg is mine!" As soon as Brigade Commander Tang stretched out his hand to the roast chicken in front of him, a big hand had already taken the plate away, and he raised his head to see who else was not Zuo Jiwu.

"Brigade commander, I had diarrhea last night, and I'm already hungry." Zuo Jiwu broke off a chicken leg and explained with a smile while nibbling hard.

"Beware of choking!" Tang Zhidao picked up the chopsticks and put a large piece of Dongpo meat in his mouth, and looked around at the tables that were almost the same, and the food looked very ugly. Thinking about it, it is understandable that when the people here go outside, the five people and six of them are all division commanders, and the brigade commander is at least a regiment commander, but most of them are still big and rough in their bones.

"Everyone, be still!" It had only been about ten minutes since the meal was served, and Duan Zhigui seemed to be a little unsatisfied just now, so he ordered someone to bring amplification equipment and start speaking on the stage in the center of the banquet hall.

"Duan has a few heartfelt words, don't vomit or be unhappy!" Duan Zhigui cleared his throat and continued: "While everyone is here, everyone will listen to it!" ”

"Grandma's, the food is not good!"

"This dog's day speech is really addictive!"

"Didn't Lao Duan say it very clearly, what did Xiao Duan want to say?"

……

The banquet hall immediately whispered, but Duan Zhigui still went his own way, as if no one else talked about it: The matter of the war, this is the beginning, and there will be all the fighting in the future, please prepare well. The situation in China is that the more we fight, the more we will reunify, the more peaceful we will be, and the more divided we will become. It is only by force that reunification can be achieved, and this is a good reason. Today, we will strike anyone who wants to stand in the way of our great cause of reunification. It doesn't matter if he is Hunan, Liangguang, or Sichuan......

"Brigade commander, I heard that Xiao Duan meant to use troops against the south!" Zhang Yuanhang took a large piece of fish and put it in Tang Zhidao's bowl and whispered: "I don't know when this soldier will end!" ”

"Sun Wen has already gone south to Guangdong, and I am afraid that Premier Duan will not be able to influence him if he fights or not!" Tang Zhidao returned a big shrimp, sighed and said: "Don't look at the high-sounding everything, in the final analysis, it's just their respective status and interests." ”

"Premier Duan's side has been delayed in reinstating the National Assembly and the Covenant Law, and he has already given people a handle, and Mr. Sun is also asking for the people's life!" Xu Yongchang frowned and said, as a member of the former Alliance, of course he didn't want to meet his former friends.

……

After the small paragraph was finished, Fu Liangzuo came up again and talked about a large chase, and the general meaning was similar to the small paragraph, asking everyone to train their soldiers well and be ready to go south to quell the rebellion at any time.

"Nonsense!" A tall, honest-looking lieutenant general sitting next to him put the bowl on the table and said angrily: "Fighting back and forth, it's not that it has harmed the people and fattened these officials!" ”

Because of his relatively loud voice, Tang Zhidao next to him really listened to it, and couldn't help but glance at him, it seemed to be a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

"The Sixteenth Mixed Brigade Feng Yu X!" The big man also saw Tang Zhidao, and he hugged his fists and reported to his family from afar: "Please give me more advice!" ”

"Brigade Commander Feng is polite, the eighteenth mixed way of the Tang Dynasty also asks the seniors to help me!"

It turned out to be him? Is it really him? Brigade Commander Tang was stunned in his heart, and then turned his head and was stunned. He is also very conflicted about this extremely famous and complex figure in later history.

"I'm so young, I don't know how to get here!" The table of the 16th Mixed Brigade immediately began to discuss in a low voice, and the object was the young and somewhat excessive Brigade Commander Tang, and the regiment commander Zhang Zhijiang said indignantly that he was the battalion commander of the 20th Division in Xinhai Nian, and he barely mixed up with a regiment commander after five or six years.

"Zi Min said carefully! I have learned about this Tang Ruoshui, and people rely on real merit to become in this position! Chief of Staff Liu Yufen persuaded in a low voice: "Babu Zabu has been plundering northern Xinjiang for five or six years, and it is not the same as being planted in the hands of others!" ”

"What Lan Jiang said is extremely true, this time to quell the rebellion, only people have really done a battle, let's just beat the side drum!" Feng Huanzhang nodded appreciatively and said: "If you are ambitious, you are not old, let's learn more from others!" ”

……

The banquet lasted until about four o'clock, and after saying goodbye to a few people who knew each other around him, Brigade Commander Tang was about to go outside.

"Brigadier Tang, please stay!" An unfamiliar voice sounded behind him.

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