After the Long March of the main Red Army, Zhang Fenglan, who had been under review and was seriously ill, was left in the red capital Ruijin, before the main force of the Kuomintang invaded Ruijin, a political commissar of the Red Army who was also isolated and examined pulled Zhang Fenglan to abscond, evaded more than ten searches and many pursuits, and fled to Baoan Village at the junction of Zhejiang and Jiangxi in a panic, and finally did not escape the interrogation of the Kuomintang army's checkpoints, and the two were arrested and escorted to the regimental headquarters of the first regiment of the new 10th Brigade in Jiangshan County.

When he arrived in Jiangshan County, Zhang Fenglan, who had a high fever all over his body, was already extremely weak, and before he fell, he said to the regimental political commissar who was holding him, "Find a way to ask to see Wu Ming", and after speaking, he fell unconscious, and the political commissar of the Red Army only then remembered the rumors that had been circulating in the leadership for several years, and in order to save Zhang Fenglan, he didn't want to ask the guards immediately.

In just three and a half hours, a military car took the two of them to the Changshan barracks, and the regimental political commissar also met Wu Ming, the most insidious and cunning Kuomintang officer in the rumor, and was well cared for and treated.

"The wounded and sick of your army have all been treated in time, but three of them did not survive last night, and I have seen the rest of the seriously wounded, and they can basically survive, but I don't know what they will do after their injuries are healed?"

Wu Ming's words caused Zhang Fenglan to sigh, and the political commissar of the Red Army, who had recovered and changed into a literati cotton robe, sat on the edge of the hospital bed, listened carefully to the conversation between Wu Ming and Zhang Fenglan, carefully observed Wu Ming with a calm expression, and saw that Zhang Fenglan really couldn't think of a good way, and couldn't help but ask Wu Ming: "What does Colonel Wu think about this?" ”

Wu Ming shook his head slightly: "I don't have any high opinions...... It is estimated that within three days, the war in northeastern Jiangxi will end, and at that time, I am afraid that all the surviving officers and soldiers of your army will be escorted to Nanchang and will not be sent to me again. Although you are reluctant to say your name until now, I can understand your feelings, and I am not willing to hide anything from you, the reason why I came to ask Mr. Zhang today is to hear your opinion, what should your officers and soldiers do when they are injured? ”

"In addition, I will strive to bring over the wounded and sick of your army who have been firmly besieged by six regiments on Huaiyu Mountain for treatment, as for Fang Zhimin and other high-level generals, please forgive me for my incompetence as a lowly official, they have caused a sensation at home and abroad because of the execution of two foreign missionaries, and they will definitely be escorted to Nanchang Military Prison."

Zhang Fenglan wanted to sit up, Wu Ming went up and carefully supported him, took a pillow and put it on Zhang Fenglan's back, carefully arranged the infusion tube connected to the hanging bottle above the bed, and handed his Yujing handkerchief to Zhang Fenglan, who was coughing constantly.

Zhang Fenglan finally gasped, looked at Wu Ming and asked, "Lao Fang, they are really hopeless?" ”

Wu Ming was quite unbearable in his heart, and deliberately diverted the topic: "Mr. Zhang, can you tell me, why didn't you retreat with the main force of the Red Army?" Is it just because of illness? ”

Zhang Fenglan knew that this time Fang Zhimin and they were afraid that they would be more auspicious, so they hesitated for a long time and had to answer Wu Ming's inquiry: "Mainly because of illness, and secondly, I am still in the period of political censorship, and he is the same." ”

Wu Ming nodded thoughtfully: "I understand, so you can't go back." ”

The political commissar of the regiment smiled bitterly: "It seems that you know the situation inside us very well. ”

Wu Ming nodded: "Listen to your accent, it's from this province, right?" ”

The political commissar of the regiment went out: "My name is Song Wenjing, I was a teacher in Shaoxing Middle School before the revolution, I was engaged in party affairs in Wuhan after the failure of the Great Revolution, and I was ordered to transfer to southern Jiangxi three years ago...... Before the main force retreated, we were centrally managed, and we met Minister Zhang, who worked together back then, and then your main force called, and the people with guns either went to fight or fled, and no one cared about us......"

"Mr. Zhang and I didn't want to be prisoners, and we helped each other to escape, but we found that except for the north, all other directions were either fighting, or were blocked by your heavy troops, so we had to flee the war zone without our lives, and then went north as a teacher, hoping to rush to the northeast base area of Jiangxi to meet with Secretary Fang, although I was repeatedly interrogated along the way, but I still came over, but I didn't expect that the small villages on the border of Zhejiang and Jiangxi were seen through by your subordinates."

"I've been thinking about a lot of things in the past few days, I'm the subject of strict scrutiny by the organization, even if I go back to find my superiors, I can't get rid of many suspicions on my body, so I want to go back to my hometown Shaoxing to continue teaching, live a quiet life, and ask Colonel Wu to take care of me."

Wu Ming saw that Zhang Fenglan had no other meaning than sighing in pain, and immediately agreed: "No problem, you can leave at any time." ”

"Thank you"

Song Wenjing was grateful, Wu Ming not only did not make it difficult for him, but he didn't even ask about the reason and his future plans, such a person is very rare in this world today.

Song Wenjing, who was disillusioned, was no longer in the mood to stay in Wu Ming's barracks, so Wu Ming asked his adjutant Mo Mingqi to bring him two sets of new cotton robes, drove him to the wharf of Zhaoxian Town, and sent him all the way to the cargo ship from Maoliangwu to Hangzhou.

Only Wu Ming and Zhang Fenglan were left in the spacious room, and they had no scruples about talking.

"If you can save more people, you should try to save as many as possible, but I'm worried about causing you unnecessary trouble...... Your Kuomintang intelligence department is not vegetarian either, and even more ruthless. Zhang Fenglan said to Wu Ming worriedly.

Wu Ming said with a smile: "It was originally my task to treat the wounded and contain the prisoners, my car company just transported a batch of grain to Shangrao in the morning, and I sent a telegram to Shangfeng in the evening, asking the convoy to load as many wounded and prisoners of your army as possible when it comes back, and a dozen trucks should be enough." ”

Zhang Fenglan put his mind at ease, looked at the brown and yellow tweed military uniform on Wu Ming's body and the new collar badge on his collar and asked, "When did you become the Central Army?" ”

"It was changed in October last year, and the current number of our department is the new 10th Brigade of the Central Army...... Don't think that with the name of a newly formed brigade, it is a regular army, in fact, it is the same as the miscellaneous armies that have been incorporated in various places, they are all temporary numbers, and in the end they are either absorbed by other main divisions or split, and the officers who are lucky can keep their posts, and those who are unlucky are either transferred to the rear or sent money to be dismissed. Wu Ming replied.

Zhang Fenglan thought for a while: "In this case, it is better to strive for the name of an independent brigade...... Aren't there quite a few independent brigades in the main forces of the Kuomintang? As far as I know, the independent brigades of the Kuomintang Central Army are very well equipped and quite capable of fighting. ”

Wu Ming explained in detail: "I don't know very well what the nature of the independent brigades and independent regiments of the Red Army is, but the independent brigades under the various route armies and divisions of the Central Army are not official numbers...... The reason why the equipment and treatment of these independent brigades are good is that they are all descendants of the commanders-in-chief, army commanders, and division commanders of various armies, and they are the basis for expanding their own strength and about to expand into divisions."

"Like the new brigades, the supplementary brigades of each division also have this nature, but the supplementary brigades usually need to undertake the tasks of logistics transportation, recruitment and training of new soldiers

Zhang Fenglan finally understood, and asked worriedly: "So have you considered your future?" ”

Wu Mingha smiled: "This sentence should be appropriate for me to ask you, right?" ”

Zhang Fenglan shook his head embarrassedly, and then let out a long sigh: "Alas...... No matter what, I will stand by what I believe in, believe in my organization, and all misunderstandings can be made clear, and I am sure of that. ”

Wu Ming asked: "What if you don't know it and die unjustly?" ”

Zhang Fenglan smiled indifferently: "What's so terrible about death?" It is terrible to lose faith and spirit, and it is better to die a brittle death than to live like a walking corpse.

Wu Ming was quite moved, thought about it and said in a non-negotiable tone:

"Whether you want to die or live in the future, at least you can't die until I cure you completely, considering that your identity is very special, for your safety and for me to have less trouble, tomorrow I will send you to Maoliangwu in the mountains to the north to receive treatment......"

"In addition, you have to change your name to deal with possible risks There is a hospital in Maoliangwu, which is part of our field hospital, you can stay there and treat your illness with peace of mind, everything will be discussed later."

"Slow down"

Zhang Fenglan was a little anxious: "My disease can't be cured in a month or two, if it can't be cured in a year, you have to keep me for a year?" ”

Wu Ming nodded without hesitation: "I plan to keep you for two years, the reasons are very good, first, I believe that Mao Zedong and others, who appreciate you very much and have been treated unfairly like you, will soon make a comeback, but it is estimated that it will take more than a year to completely take over the leadership; Second, you still have hundreds of wounded, sick and prisoners with me, and you can't just throw them all at me, can you? Whether you go or stay, you need to make a decision; Third, aren't you going north to resist Japan? The opportunity will come soon, maybe the remnants of your army who are hiding in the mountains now will be my Wu Ming's brothers who fought side by side to protect the family and defend the country in a year or two, many of them are your old subordinates, with you here, at least there will be no misunderstanding of being in the same room. ”

Zhang Fenglan was silent, he had learned Wu Ming's prophecy, so he couldn't believe it, and he was in the current predicament, even if he didn't agree with Wu Ming's opinion, he couldn't drag the sick body and the suspicion of surrendering or even a spy to find his own organization.

After a long time, Zhang Fenglan asked in a low voice: "Tell me the truth, why are you so polite to me and our people?" ”

Wu Ming thought for a while: "Actually, I was just polite to you, if you didn't save me, I wouldn't be where I am today, so I want to repay your kindness...... As for your officers and soldiers, they are all Chinese, and they are all soldiers, so regardless of victory or defeat, they should be treated humanely."

"I'm not a very disciplined person, and most of the time I only act according to my conscience, and it has nothing to do with any beliefs or any isms, do you understand?"

Zhang Fenglan smiled bitterly: "It seems that you really can't be in our team, alas, it's up to you, how can I arrange for me to listen to you." ”