On the night of early spring, the weather is still cold, and the 2,000-year-old southern city is exceptionally quiet, if it were not for the heavy troops stationed inside and outside the city, and the breath of the sentinels patrolling back and forth under the torches brought out the mist, no one would associate this quiet ancient city with the flames of war.

Known as "the name of Jiangxi, Fujun Wangxian" is known as "the throat of Fujian, the belt of control of 100 Guangdong", the south city is located in the east of Jiangxi, strictly speaking, it belongs to the central area of eastern Jiangxi, due to the long-term and frequent war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, this place was designated as the central area of the encirclement and suppression troops by the Kuomintang Suppression General Headquarters, and it is also the assembly place for the main force of the Kuomintang to attack southern Jiangxi during the first three encirclement and suppression periods.

In this encirclement and suppression, the former enemy headquarters of the Central Route Army was set up in the county government compound in Nancheng.

Yu Jishi led four regiments to arrive at Wanfang Town, 4.5 kilometers north of Nancheng, at 7 o'clock in the evening.

The commander of the 80th Regiment stationed in Wanfang Town to serve as a rear guard was a student of the second phase of Huangpu, and he was very happy to see Yu Jishi and Chen Shizheng, the seniors of Huangpu, and immediately gave up all the barracks, and a group of senior brothers who graduated from various stages of Huangpu surrounded Yu Jishi and Chen Shizheng, and led the department to return to the city quickly.

Chen Cheng, who served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy and commanded four divisions, Li Yannian, the new commander of the Ninth Division, Luo Zhuoying, deputy commander of the 18th Army and commander of the 11th Division, and other generals and colonels had already received the news and were very happy to see Yu Jishi and others.

In the main hall of the compound of the richest family in Wanfang Town, which had been requisitioned long ago, Chen Shi, who had washed his feet, was facing the horse lantern to break the blisters under his feet, grinning and sighing while doing it, regretting that he should not be reckless for a while, gritting his teeth and marching more than 60 kilometers on foot with Wu Ming, he was tired and half dead and didn't dare to say anything, and there were four big blisters under his feet.

Yu Jishi, who had finished taking a bath, was in good spirits, sat down opposite Chen Shizheng to wipe his wet hair, and motioned to the adjutant who served hot tea to rest. ”

Chen Shizheng complained: "Who would have thought that after the order to speed up, except for two reconnaissance platoons and a few heralds, no one in Wu Ming's regiment rode a horse, even Wu Ming's ugly horse was carrying four boxes of ammunition on its back, and the rest of the officers' horses were either carrying weapons and ammunition or wounded, in that case, am I embarrassed to ride a horse?" ”

Yu Jishi smiled: "This Wu Ming is really not simple!" The reconnaissance and flank vigilance along the way were even better than I expected, the speed of the march was well controlled, although the speed was fast, it was much easier than before, and even the other regiment commanders did not complain, and they were convinced of Wu Ming and his five regiments! ”

Chen Shizheng stopped his movements, and praised it rarely: "I always thought that Wu Ming's level of leading troops was blown out by the Zhejiang security forces out of political needs, and after following you to take office, I found that the so-called new training methods promoted in the province are all flashy and unrealistic, I didn't expect Wu Ming and his regimental skills to be so solid, through six days of marching observation, Wu Ming's regiment's comprehensive performance is very good, and all aspects are not under any elite unit of our Central Army, if there are any shortcomings, I'm afraid it's just a lack of actual combat experience. ”

Yu Jishi nodded slightly, and then brought up another matter: "I heard you scolding in the backyard just now, what's going on?" ”

"Wu Ming, this guy came suddenly, asking for a front-line military intelligence report and a deployment map...... I gave it to him, but asked him to send the map back early tomorrow morning. I guess he waited for us, so he arrived not long after we came back, this guy is not very good at people, but he is still admirable for his diligence and dedication. ”

Chen Shizheng sighed after speaking, and quietly observed Yu Jishi's reaction.

Yu Jishi suddenly asked, "Do you think this guy is afraid of death, or is he taking precautions?" ”

Chen Shizheng thought for a while: "This guy is not like a person who is afraid of death, the battalion company commander under his command is also very strong, the reason why he waited for us to ask for the map, it is estimated that he wants to understand the battle situation in advance, and strive to have the bottom in his heart...... By the way, Chief of Staff Ma and Wu Ming went to Wanfang Town, and it is estimated that they will discuss the battle situation with Wu Ming, and they see that Chief of Staff Ma values Wu Ming very much, and the relationship between the two is quite good. ”

Yu Jishi picked up the teacup and drank tea silently, pondered for a long time and asked in a low voice: "When we were eating together in the evening, didn't General Cixiu (Chen Cheng) mention that the terrain on the flanks is complicated and headaches?" Listening to what he meant, combined with the analysis of the battle report, the mountain passage ten kilometers away to the west has not yet been controlled. ”

"I quietly asked Huang Wei, the commander of the 31st Brigade who was sitting next to me, and he explained that there are two paths in Baiguozhai and Maopailing in the west, one stretches from north to south along the small river that runs through the mountains, and the other is a mountain passage that has existed since ancient times.

"Recently, a battalion garrison stationed in that place has been attacked frequently, and I don't know where the communist army came from, and it is likely that there are other trails that have not been discovered, so there are always hidden dangers on our flank."

Chen Shizheng immediately guessed Yu Jishi's thoughts: "The west is a hundred miles of complex terrain with mountains stretching, and it is extremely difficult for a large army to march, if there is a battle, more than one regiment will not be able to swing away, if I remember correctly, the west of Maopai Ridge is the first line of Yihuang and Longxi Town, which is intertwined with the enemy's posture, and the straight-line distance is within 25 kilometers, according to the latest battle report, the main army of the communist army is likely to hide between Yihuang and Longxi, or to the south, do you mean to plug this gap for the main divisions?" ”

Yu Jishi nodded: "Judging from the current situation of the enemy and us, there is nothing for us to do in a short period of time, since this is the case, why not share the worries of the third brother Ming and the main forces?" The west side is fifty miles wide and wide, with high mountains and dense forests, so it is frequently harassed by small communist forces, but correspondingly, the possibility of being attacked by large communist forces is also very low, which is more suitable for our troops who have never been on the battlefield. ”

Chen Shizheng hesitated: "Our four regiments have been used as logistics support units, responsible for the security of the 20-kilometer transportation line in the rear and the guard of the flanks and rear, and used as a reserve in times of crisis. ”

"What if only one regiment is sent to the west to repair the hole?" Yu Jishi asked with a smile.

Chen Shizheng quickly understood: "It's no problem to draw only one regiment, the communist army has never taught rules, and it is familiar with the terrain and is elusive, and its main force is likely to come from the direction of Yihuang!" If this is the case, transferring Wu Ming's regiment, which has experience in suppressing bandits and is proficient in mountain operations, is far more effective than the main force that is good at positional warfare and tackling tough battles but has no experience in mountain operations. ”

Yu Jishi smiled: "You and I have come up with a piece, quickly put on your shoes, I will find the map and sum it together." ”

When Yu Jishi and Chen Shizheng were having a heated discussion on the lanterns, in the temporary garrison of the Fifth Regiment in Lijiaping, two kilometers west of the town, Chief of Staff Ma Zhizhai, Fifth Regiment Commander Wu Ming, and his battalion and company commanders were also discussing enthusiastically under the high-hanging lanterns.

Ma Zhizhai liked the collective atmosphere of Wu Ming's regiment very much, and even more appreciated the pre-war discussion and post-war summing up system that Wu Ming and his officers had adhered to for several years; although he did not say much during the discussion, and spent most of his time listening to everyone's opinions and weighing the level of each officer, he still secretly admired the high military quality of the officers at all levels of Wu Ming's regiment.

Just after half past eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, Ma Zhizhai, who had a lot of affairs, said goodbye and left, Wu Ming saw that the officers under his command who had been tired for a day had not slept yet, and wanted to carry out a large-scale offensive and defensive deduction against the situation of the enemy and us, so he simply bombed away, leaving only Dai Zichen to lead a group of staff officers to copy the map, and then went out to check the sentry with Zhang Dongning, a regimental staff officer, and Yin Dizhong, the commander of the first battalion.

Early the next morning, Wu Ming, who had received the notice, took Zhang Dongning, a staff officer of the regiment, and hurried to the temporary division headquarters in the town to attend an emergency meeting.

Half an hour later, Wu Ming, who was full of reluctance, slowly stood up, and under the gaze of more than 20 generals with complicated eyes, he put forward three requirements very calmly but very solemnly: "There are three requirements for subordinates, logistics supply must be guaranteed, ammunition must be increased, and half of the medical staff need to be taken away!" ”

Yu Jishi, who was in a good mood, immediately agreed, and generously gave Wu Ming ten more brand-new Czech light machine guns, but also put forward a request that Wu Ming could not refuse: "The Fifth Regiment must leave a radio station and a radio group to be attached to the division headquarters to facilitate mutual contact and war briefing." ”

At one o'clock at noon on 17 March 1933, a day that Wu Ming will never forget for the rest of his life, 882 officers and men of the Fifth Regiment of the Second Division of Zhejiang Security Division, under the farewell of Yu Jishi and others, silently walked into the mountains to the west in a neat formation.

Looking at the ranks of the officers and soldiers of the Fifth Regiment gradually moving away, Deputy Chief of Staff Chen Shizheng turned to Ma Zhizhai and asked in a low voice, "Where is the special service company of the Fifth Regiment?" ”

Ma Zhizhai thought to himself, only now do you remember the spy company that impressed you? But he still replied politely: "The first thing Wu Ming did when he came back from receiving the mission was to send the spy company to carry out reconnaissance and vigilance, so that the whole regiment could march to the destination at the fastest speed. ”

Chen Shizheng nodded silently, and Yu Jishi praised loudly: "Head Wu is thoughtful and clean, which is worth learning from our departments!" I suggest that all units of the division popularize Wu Ming's regiment's marching norms and pre-war preparation methods, and that all regiments should be mobilized, select elite soldiers and strong generals, and form their own spy platoons as soon as possible. ”

The generals were taken aback, and when they all looked at Yu Ji, who was striding towards the war horse, Ma Zhizhai and Chen Shizheng glanced at each other, and followed together, leaving a group of regiment commanders and regimental deputies in a daze.