"Dad, what do you mean by escaping?"

Wang Goudan saw his father Wang Tieniu packing up his burden, so he asked his father curiously. He was only five years old, which was the age of naivety and ignorance, and he could not understand the heavy meaning of the word "escape".

"Are you willing to starve?" Wang Tieniu stopped, raised his head and asked with a smile. He has a plain, slightly weathered face.

"I don't want to." Dog Dan said, he is most afraid of being hungry.

"Those who don't want to starve to death and go out in search of food are called fleeing the famine."

Wang Tieniu tied up his burden and looked around to see what had fallen. This house is surrounded by walls, and except for a few torn clothes, it seems that there is nothing of value anymore.

The harvest is not good, there is not enough food to eat, many people run to the south, they all say that the south is good, the big city is full of construction sites and factories, as long as you have the strength, you will not starve to death. The village seemed to be empty all at once, and in any case, those who went out did not return, except-

Wang Tieniu took out a letter from his arms, which contained a few lines of distorted words: "Big brother, I'm Erniu, how are you?" How is my sister-in-law? How is the eldest nephew? Is it okay for Cuihua next door and her dog?

I'm good. I went to the South Seas, working in the Borneo lumberyard, although the work is very tiring, but the food and shelter, there are fish and meat, I eat three pieces of fat meat per ton, but it is fragrant, does it sound wider than Cuihua and her landlord father?

Haha......"

Although he has a vulgar name and doesn't read much, Wang Tieniu is definitely not a brute bull, so he can read and write and understand the family letter sent by his younger brother.

The pride revealed between the lines of his younger brother aroused Wang Tieniu's yearning, and he tried to imagine how happy it was to eat three pieces of meat! Cuihua's family doesn't eat meat every day.

Wang Tieniu didn't know the taste of meat for a long time, oh no. One week. You can eat a small piece of meat a month. His heart and liver are sweet.

Looking at his thin son, Wang Tieniu couldn't wait to curse Erniu's bastard for ruining meat every day, why couldn't he give him a share of his eldest nephew? My poor baby, I have no mother since I was a child, and I have to starve, I haven't lived a good life for a few days, God doesn't let the crops live, fortunately there are two cows.

"The boss said I was diligent. Let me be the squad leader, and I have ten people under me. The boss gave me a salary of fifteen yuan a month, almost fifteen yuan.

Nanhua doesn't need the ocean to buy things, the boss issues banknotes, and I have saved them.

I heard from the new workers that the banknotes in Nanyang are as valuable as the banknotes in Tangshan, and they can be mixed, but what is the legal tender in Tangshan?

Oh, Tangshan is China, and the Cantonese and Fujianese here call their hometown Tangshan.

Borneo is good for everything. It's hot, and it's raining for two days. As soon as it rains, there are more mosquitoes, we sleep with a gauze tent, not afraid of mosquito bites, the gauze tent is very beautiful, white and light, and the village landlord Cuihua and their family do not have ......

The natives of Borneo are more annoying than mosquitoes, ugly and lazy, they don't like farming, and they waste the fertile fields here. They went to the lumber yard once last year and never showed up again. When you come, I'll talk to you again. ”

Wang Tieniu looked at a bill of exchange worth 200 yuan in front of him, and almost couldn't believe that his younger brother, who was arrested by Lazhuang Ding a few years ago, actually ran away to Nanyang.

In these years, there has been a shortage of wars and wars every year, and you still think that Erniu is gone?

There is no war in the south, and if Wang Tieniu hadn't received a letter from his younger brother, he would have been ready to go to the south to make a living.

I didn't expect Erniu to earn fifteen yuan a month, what a big profit, my father and son really relied on him.

He put the letter away, and hid the money order with a small piece of cloth and put it in his close-fitting coat. He got the bank and was able to exchange the money order for cash.

Recently, a commercial bank from the south bought land in Henan, but I really don't understand that the land drought cannot grow crops, and the peasants have abandoned the land to flee the famine, and the land has long been worthless, so why do people still want it?

Interestingly, the company, called Nanhua Grain Company, took over the peasants' land and arranged for the landless peasants to work in the south, and it is said that some people were sent to the South Seas.

The money from selling the land was enough for Wang Tieniu to take the train to Wuhan, where there was a ship to the South Seas.

Squeak!

Wang Tieniu closed the broken door, as if to isolate the painful past from the world behind the door, the gray house.

With his son, he turned his back on his hometown, leaving behind a parched land and a withered village.

A week later.

Countless people like Wang Tieniu and his son fled the famine, but they were not as lucky as this father and son. Because the father and son can at least sit on the train with the lowest fare, their direction is clear, and more people can only follow the railway, dragging their families and mouths, and going south in a daze, just to get to Xinyang as soon as possible.

Because when you arrive in Xinyang, you will have a way to live. Xinyang is one of the stations of the Jinghan Railway, which has been under the control of the Wuhan Zhi Gong Party for three or four years, and when they arrive in Xinyang, the displaced people can get organized help from the government and social groups (such as the Meihua Foundation, the Anhui Labor Association, etc.), and they have a way to live.

Along the Jinghan line, China Railway Corporation rebuilt the Wuhan-Xinyang railway, making it a double-track railway, so the transportation capacity from Xinyang to Wuhan was greatly improved.

All the way south, the flow of people fleeing the famine is getting bigger and bigger. On the contrary, the further north you go, the more desolate the northern Central Plains becomes.

"Dad, there are so many people out there! Are they fleeing the famine? Wang Goudan has been very excited and curious since he got on the train, and pointed to the people who were hurrying with bitter faces outside the window and asked.

"That's right, it's an escape." Wang Tieniu sighed with emotion, how many people have fallen, how many wives have been separated, and how many people who have no chance to escape have been abandoned to their hometowns on the dry land.

"Xing, the people are bitter. Death, the people suffer. ”

Wang Tieniu suddenly remembered a few lines of poetry that he had read in school when he was a child, and now he seems to be more touched.

"Well said! The rule of the warlords is brutal and unkind, and the heavens in the north are about to change. ”

Xu Xiangqian went south from Tongguan, the mountains and rivers in the surface, and couldn't help nodding when he heard such touching words. What surprised him was that these words came from the mouth of an old peasant-like man, he was carrying a child, dressed plainly, and the rustic taste made Xu Xiangqian feel kind.

"You are?" Wang Tieniu looked at the young man in his twenties sitting opposite, although he was dressed plainly, his face was old and bitter. But there is a kind of vigor. Looks like a learned person. Well, it should be much more knowledgeable than yourself.

"Xu Xiangqian, a native of Shanxi."

After talking, Wang Tieniu knew that the young man from Shanxi in front of him was actually a college student, what kind of military school he was studying in Wuhan, and he just caught the train after returning to Shanxi to visit relatives during the holidays.

Wang Tieniu has gained a lot of knowledge these days, and he has heard some things in the south from others on the train, and he knows how rare college students are to study in military schools.

"Oops. I didn't expect you to be a general! Wang Tieniu said in awe.

As the saying goes, good iron does not hit nails, good men are not soldiers, and soldiers are not highly evaluated in traditional concepts, especially in the northern region where Wang Tieniu lives, many people go to be soldiers when they have nothing to eat, and they die half their lives when they go to be soldiers.

However, there seem to be different evaluations of officers, officers are officials, officials are adults, and their status is naturally different from that of ordinary soldiers, so Xu Xiangqian is in front of Wang Tieniu. It's an adult who makes him respect.

"You've won the prize, and I'm a recent graduate. Not a general yet. ”

Xu Xiangqian shook his head and waved his hand, thinking that military cadets are generally awarded the rank of second lieutenant when they graduate, and he never thought of becoming a general. The revolutionary climate in the south was much better than in the north, and the original choice proved to be quite good.

The fly in the ointment is that other students are lucky enough to be assigned to the headquarters or the ten field divisions of the 1st to 10th divisions for internship, which should be very promising, but he was assigned to Nanyang, which was completely unexpected by Xu Xiangqian, it stands to reason that his grades are among the best and should not be assigned to the unfamiliar Nanyang. When they told the news to their family, they were also very surprised.

"Probably because I'm the stupidest and can't please my superiors!"

Xu Xiangqian thought of his treatment, and was secretly depressed, but he had nowhere to talk. Even if you apply for a transfer back to China in the future, it will be a few years later.

Immediately, he thought that a large number of middle and high-ranking members of the revolutionary army had participated in the war of independence in South China, such as Situ Yong and Zhang Dongliang, two generals, who led the army back to China from South China to participate in the revolution, and exchanges between the Wuhan military circles and Nanhua have always been very frequent.

Thinking of this, this trip to the south may also be an opportunity, Xu Xiangqian is finally not so pessimistic about the future.

At this time, he was depressed, and he didn't know how surprised Situ Nan would be when he met him, the marshal, in the future! Although he has a sullen face and a thick Shanxi accent, most people can't understand it, but Situ Nan especially likes this tenacious general, he is a well-known honest man!

Probably because the conversation was more speculative, Xu Xiangqian put aside his mind for the time being, and told Wang Tieniu about his possible trip to Nanyang in passing.

"Oh, I'm also going to the South Seas, what a coincidence."

Wang Tieniu was very happy to hear this.

"What are you doing in the South Seas? Work or business? Xu Xiangqian asked. looked at the rustic father and son in front of him, and it looked like they had fled. He traveled all the way south from his hometown in Shanxi to Henan, and he saw too many refugees from the north flocking south.

"My brother works in a logging plant in Borneo, and he wrote to me to come over, I want to be sad day by day in the countryside, so it is better to go to Nanyang to break through."

Wang Tieniu smiled slightly, and asked again, "It is said that there is gold everywhere in the South Seas, and it is easy to get the land after passing it, sir, are you true?" After speaking, Xu Xiangqian's eyes were a little expectant, of course, he believed what his brother said in his letter.

Xu Xiangqian was slightly stunned, he had never been to Nanyang, but according to the news he inquired about in Wuhan, Nanhua and Nanfang are in the same vein, and the shape is basically the same, both are engaged in industrial construction, and the government is also the Zhi Gong Party. It is natural for the Chinese regime to take care of the immigrants in the country and distribute the land to the Chinese, which is probably the reason for the tension between the Chinese and the natives. A soldier like himself who is assigned to Nanhua for an internship will definitely encounter trouble in the future.

He thought for a while and said, "It should be, otherwise how could millions of people run to the South Seas?" At least some of the classmates I know, their families have a lot of industries in Nanhua, and most of them have made their fortunes in Nanhua. ”

"That's good."

Wang Tieniu was very happy to hear this, the Mr. Xu in front of him was really knowledgeable, and among the classmates he knew were rich people from Nanyang, which was really amazing!

I didn't expect to fall in love with each other, two people who had never seen the sea before, so there was another topic, and it seemed to be a risky and exciting thing to cross the ocean.

When the train arrived in Xinyang, Xu Xiangqian felt that the atmosphere was wrong, the railway station was under martial law, his eyes were full of military police, and tanks and armored vehicles were dispatched!

"Something is wrong!"

Xu Xiangqian reacted immediately.

Eyes staring at the military column not far away, the soldiers were getting on the train, and at the same time there were armored vehicles and tanks on board, these steel monsters climbed onto the train flatbed and looked murderous.

Xu Xiangqian was very excited, he wanted to be assigned to such a team at the beginning!

Far away, Xu Xiangqian didn't know which number of troops it was, whether it was the Fifth Division stationed in Wuhan or the Sixth Division stationed in Hunan? Or maybe it's troops coming from the southwest?

Equipped with tank armored vehicles, it is certainly the main force. Xu Xiangqian thought to himself.

In less than ten minutes, the column had left, and then the second column was ready to enter the station.

When the passengers saw the troops falling to the north, they couldn't help but talk about it, and there was a commotion in the carriage, and everyone was saying that Wuhan was going to go on a northern expedition!

After several years of propaganda, in the hearts of the people, the warlords of all walks of life in the north have a bad reputation, and the people of Henan are looking forward to the noble, righteous and invincible past, and the Central Plains in the north! They are looking forward to it, at least the revolutionary army in the south is coming, the land rent will be reduced a lot, and there will be a way out in the future.

Is the revolutionary army going to send troops? The whole station was boiling, and the news followed the long line of displaced people, as quickly and agile as nerve conduction, and suddenly the entire Jinghan Railway became lively.

After the military train drove north, Xu Xiangqian and his bus could continue to go south, and in the process, they saw several military trains heading north, so the passengers became more and more sure that the Wuhan government had sent troops.

"Mr. Xu, is the south going to fight Wu Dashuai?"

Wang Tieniu asked, he heard that the most powerful commander in Henan was Wu Peifu of Luoyang, and he was on the way north of the revolutionary army.

"Quite possibly." Xu Xiangqian said casually.

When he left school, he didn't hear that the government had announced the mobilization of the Northern Expedition, if so, maybe he wouldn't have to go to the South Seas.

Directly participating in the Northern Expedition, defeating the Beiyang warlords, and unifying the whole country is exciting to think about. What happened in the end, it will be clear when we arrive in Wuhan.

However, to Xu Xiangqian's disappointment, when he arrived in Wuhan, the troops were not recruited by him, and he was still sent to Nanhua with a group of classmates according to the plan.

……

"Smack!"

Wu Peifu, who was in Luoyang, was very angry, slapped the telegram in his hand on the table, and said angrily: "It's really too deceitful! ”

He had long known that there would be such a day, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly, when he received the Wuhan army to send troops north, the vanguard of the people had already gotten off in Xuchang, and those bastards under his command either opened the door to surrender to the enemy or disarmed others in three or two clicks.

What a rout!

Wu Peifu thought with some irony. (To be continued......)

PS: I got the order of the chapters wrong in the previous chapter, it should be Chapter 356 Extravagance and Sin.

If it's wrong, it's wrong, the starting point is not good, and after it is sent, the title can't be changed.