June 29.

The troops that set off from the Meiling base numbered almost 1,200 people.

The extra ones were about 200 people brought by the commander of the supplementary battalion, Mangzi.

The reckless man, who has never liked to use his brains, put forward two high-sounding reasons this time: the soldiers of the supplementary battalion are also soldiers, and this time they will go together as a training. The replenishment battalion does not carry weapons, but only carries ammunition to large units, this should always work, right? I don't know if this is his own idea, or if there is another "master" to guide him.

In short, Xie Niancheng agreed to his request.

Because the German instructors were too eye-catching, the instructors could only stay behind on this expedition.

Xie Niancheng got up at five o'clock and was busy until nine o'clock, when all the troops were mobilized, he was relieved, and rode on the high-headed horse "San Lang" specially transported from Sichuan to shuttle through the marching ranks.

The sequence of the troops' advance was as follows: reconnaissance platoon, first company, second company, units directly under the battalion headquarters, artillery company, third company, engineer and baggage company, and supplementary battalion.

According to Xie Niancheng's request, the troops on this march brought enough ammunition and equipment, and each platoon carried field tents.

Cattle, carts, wheelbarrows, and people marched in a mixed manner, but fortunately the roads were smooth and wide on the morning of the first day, and the troops were lined up in four columns, and the first three hours of the march were relatively smooth.

Since the preparation of lunch at noon, there have been some small situations:

There are those who do not obey the call of the cattle and run around, there are those who are dissatisfied because the food bought by the secretary of their company is not as good as that of other companies, and there are those who cannot walk......

Fortunately, officers at all levels were prepared at the preparatory meeting.

In Xie Niancheng's troops, there were directors of the battalion political departments, instructors in the company, and instructors in the platoon, and these political workers all took out notebooks to record the various problems encountered along the way, and prepared to hold a meeting at an appropriate time to discuss them in preparation for the formulation of marching regulations in the future.

The biggest problem in the morning was with the reconnaissance platoon.

According to Xie Niancheng's idea, there were more than 30 cavalry on horseback, which should be able to cover a radius of ten miles from his team, but as a result, the reconnaissance platoon was inexperienced, and it was running in the morning, and many of them did not catch up to come back for lunch. When they came back for lunch, they were still in good spirits, but the horses couldn't run at all.

In desperation, Xie Niancheng had to lend all the horses of the cavalry platoon to the reconnaissance platoon in order to ensure the coverage of the reconnaissance in the afternoon.

Another problem in the morning was the lack of concentration from top to bottom during the march. It was the first time for everyone to march so heavily armed, and everything was very novel, even Xie Niancheng himself had hit the hill halfway and enjoyed the panoramic view of the troops' advance, not to mention others?

Throughout the morning, almost everyone found excuses such as "broken foot" and "stomach ache" and ran to the side to enjoy the queue performance.

But this question is okay, it should be fine in two days.

After lunch, the two o'clock to six o'clock march was the only time to have more problems.

The most prominent thing is the problem of the soldiers' physique, when they were ready to set off two days ago, everyone's morale was very high, and they all had endured hardships. When discussing how much weight is appropriate for individual soldiers, from the beginning of fifty pounds, all the way to the weight, and finally set a hundred pounds, when they set off, many soldiers spontaneously brought a little more ammunition, and finally the general weight was about ninety pounds!

At first, the officers and men did not think that this weight would be a problem, because when they worked before joining the army, they all carried more than 100 catties of weight. But they forgot that at that time they could rest at any time, and at the end of the day they would walk twenty or thirty miles, and the first day's march was planned to be sixty miles, so it was not long in the afternoon that the overall speed of the troops became slower and slower.

Seeing that it couldn't be done at three o'clock, Xie Niancheng ordered the troops to rest in place, and after learning about the situation, the officers were also a little dumbfounded.

In the end, Wen Deyun solved this problem: "Hey, I said that everyone is too spoiled by livestock? You see, there are a lot of things that animals carry, but not as many as our soldiers! ”

This phenomenon is also due to the fact that most of the soldiers are poor, and many of them have no livestock at home, and even if they do, they are also expensive, so when everyone sets off, the livestock carry less than people!

Xie Niancheng was angry and amused when he saw this situation, and hurriedly ordered the officers and soldiers to readjust the load, and the adjusted individual load was reduced to about 60 catties, and now the troops were finally able to advance normally.

In addition to the physical problem, the discipline of the team also began to become loose, and when they first set off in the afternoon, the soldiers exchanged heads and ears, some chatted happily, and laughed from time to time, and when the body fell, the team was lifeless again, not the slightest bit angry, and the morale was obviously much lower than in the morning.

At six o'clock in the evening, when they arrived at the camp that the reconnaissance platoon had found, the discipline of the whole team was not bad, and there was no chaos, and they still found the camp in turn under the command of the officers of each company and platoon.

However, when it came to setting up temporary fortifications and setting up tents, which were basically untrained, I delayed a lot of time, and I didn't start eating until after seven o'clock.

Xie Niancheng simply ate a little, looked around, and found that many company and platoon sentry posts were only 100 meters away, and some did not repair the fortifications at all, and some did not dig toilets......

After eating, the soldiers could rest, but the officers at all levels could not.

In Xie Niancheng's tent, dozens of officers above the platoon level gathered, and the purpose of this meeting was to collect all kinds of problems that had arisen during the first day of the march and to solve them in a timely manner.

When Xie Niancheng entered the tent, the officers in the tent were joking with each other about the day's troubles, Xie Niancheng's face was pale, and he shouted after walking to the main seat:

"What's the noise? Get out of the way if you want to chat, and come back in when you've had enough talking! ”

Xie Niancheng is really on fire in his heart, in today's state, if there are dozens of people raiding now, it is estimated that the team will be in chaos, and this time he sent his own troops to the last of all the teams, it was really lucky.

Hearing the battalion commander's anger, the officers stopped one by one.

Xie Niancheng continued to fire the cannon: "Look for yourself, do you look like a revolutionary soldier?" Do you go out and see, do those people out there look like soldiers? When you go to the battlefield like this, are you sending equipment to the enemy? ”

A series of questions made the officers a little ashamed.

Xie Niancheng stood with his hands behind his back, "Give me all out, I'll go out for a spin in ten minutes, and if there are any things that don't look good, they will be dismissed on the spot!" ”

Before leaving, in fact, with the help of German instructors, Xie Niancheng's troops had marching manuals, which made detailed regulations on the discipline, fortification, vigilance, and sanitation of the camp. But today is the first time to camp in the field, and many officers are not rigorous enough in execution, you are not rigorous here, and I am not qualified at all, and the whole camp seems to be chaotic.

The officers all went out, and Yang Yuwei persuaded: "Nian Cheng, don't get angry, it's the first time for everyone today, it's understandable." ”

Xie Niancheng said: "Staff Officer Yang! Will the enemy show mercy to us because we are on the battlefield for the first time? ”

Yang Yuwei, who rarely saw Xie Niancheng lose his temper, turned a little red.

"Yes, Battalion Commander."

Xie Niancheng realized that he had gone too far: "Yuwei, I'm not angry with you, the army is like this, it's really not good." ”

Yang Yuwei nodded: "Battalion commander, I understand." ”

Xie Niancheng took Yang Yuwei to look at the entire camp, and under the supervision of the officers, the soldiers were in order, and no one was noisy or laughing anymore. Seeing this situation, Xie Niancheng returned to the tent and waited for the officers to come back for the first day's summary meeting.

One by one, the officers entered the tent with stern expressions, stood up and spoke in turn, and after speaking, they didn't need Xie Niancheng to open fire, they all listened to it with sweat.

Each of their speeches is the omission and inadequacy of their own troops today, dozens of people have said it, in addition to the problems repeatedly mentioned, in the end, Yang Yuwei recorded more than 30 articles!

Xie Niancheng carefully read Yang Yuwei's records, fortunately, they are all problems that are not difficult to correct.

Xie Niancheng concluded: "Comrades, like everyone, I am marching for the first time, and I have made several mistakes today, so on the first day, I will not investigate and punish anyone...... It's just, the problem that was recorded today, I don't want to see anyone repeat it tomorrow, understand? ”

"Understood!"

"Okay, go back and read these thirty questions to every soldier. Tomorrow, I will let the communication squad inspect and record, with the platoon as a unit, which units have made the most mistakes, and when I camp tomorrow, I will be responsible for the fortification and sanitation of the entire camp, understand? ”

"Yes!"

"Okay, let's go."

The officers rushed out, and soon loud and small voices were heard from the tents, and the whole unit was a small step forward towards regularization.

On the second day of the march, the troops walked ten miles longer than the first day, and when the summary meeting was held in the evening, Yang Yuwei recorded 12 new problems, and four platoon-level units were finally punished.

On the third day, the marching distance finally reached 60 miles, and Yang Yuwei's record book had only three new problems, and there were no more formed troops to be punished.

On the seventh day, the troops arrived at Longgang and joined the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 3rd regiment.

The other troops of the third regiment were scattered in several villages, and Xie Niancheng looked all the way to the past, and the situation of the first and second battalions was not as good as the first day of the third battalion.

Seeing the regiment commander Hu Yang, Hu Yang was very surprised: "Battalion Commander Xie, you are so fast, I thought you would be here in two days." ”

Hu Yang understood that the relationship between himself and Xie Niancheng was not superior-subordinate, so he was very polite.

Xie Niancheng said: "How is it, where are the troops in front?" Did you fight with Chen Tongming? ”

Hu Yang said: "The large army has arrived in Longgang, Qianwei and Chen Tongming exchanged fire, Ye Ju brought two divisions from the direction of Huizhou, almost more than 10,000 people are in the Tamsui area, it is estimated that there will be a big fight in Tamsui." ”

"Then what are the plans of Head Hu?"

"Tomorrow we'll go on for another fifty miles."

"Commander Hu, can our department set off first?"

"Oh? Battalion Commander Xie, do you want to go to the front line? ”

Xie Niancheng nodded: "The officers and soldiers are eager to fight." ”

Hu Yang didn't know whether what Xie Niancheng said was true or false, but he would not refuse such a request: "Okay, tomorrow morning, we will leave at nine o'clock, and you will leave at eight o'clock." ”

"Thank you, Captain Hu, for making it perfect."

Hu Yang sighed, "Battalion Commander Xie, on the battlefield, there are no eyes for swords and guns." ”

Xie Niancheng heard Hu Yang's kindness: "Thank you Captain Hu for mentioning it." ”

Looking at the back of Xie Niancheng leaving, Hu Yang felt a little regretful, which soldier doesn't want to make contributions on the battlefield? Looking at his soldiers, Hu Yang really didn't have the courage to take them to the battlefield.