Colonel Chen Hao escorted the special train back to China at the end of June. The so-called special train was a train disguised as a troop carrier loaded with more than 500 tons of gold, and Major General Zhang Xiaoding, deputy director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, personally organized a guard team to escort this special train, and transported this huge wealth back to China without accident.

After the errand was handed over at Changchun, the mission of the guard was over, and all the officers involved in the matter were relocated and did not return to the Russian battlefield. Chen Hao's relationship was transferred back to the General Staff Headquarters, and at the same time he was given a month's long vacation, which means that he could report to the General Staff a month later.

The first thing Chen Hao wanted to see was, of course, his mother, wife and children. However, before returning to Wuxi, he first went to Beijing and met Admiral Ye Yanbing, who had always cared about him.

Before the meeting, Long Qian gave Ye Yanbing a new hat -- first vice minister of national defense, so that he had the right to express his views on army building. After the meeting, Feng Guozhu set off for Russia, and Wang Mingyuan could not leave until Feng Guozhu arrived, during this time, the burden of the Ministry of Defense was pressed on Ye Yanbing's head.

Ye Yanbing met Chen Hao at his home.

"It's not easy, it's a narrow escape. Now I'm finally relieved. Ye Yanbing held Chen Hao's hand and stared at the young colonel, "I already know the overall situation, you go home and live for a while first, Xu Yi came to Beijing with a child last autumn, and there was no news of you at that time." She was worried, but now she is relieved. Let me know what you're going to do next. ”

"I've been assigned to the General Staff, and I think it's better to lead the troops below."

"I understand you. However, working in a headquarters office is a rare opportunity that will teach you things that you can't learn in the field troops. My opinion, you should rest assured that you should work in the General Staff for a while. The president is convening a national defense conference, and according to the president's judgment, whether it is a European war or a Russian civil war, there are only a few days left. The large-scale war is over, and the army will definitely be downsized. Go down and take a regiment. It's just to complete the daily training subjects, which is not very interesting. It's different to stay at the headquarters, you have to learn to look at things at a higher level, understand? ”

"Thank you for your concern. I can only obey the assignment. What else can be done? ”

"From the essence of the army. Don't like officers with personality. But on the battlefield, it is always those generals with personality who are more likely to shine. You're a bit rebellious in your bones, aren't you? ”

Chen Hao grinned. "I don't think so."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not asking you to change anything. Come with me to my father-in-law's dinner tonight, he is glad to hear that you have returned to China, and wants to meet you. ”

"Okay." Chen Chao has always regarded him as a nephew, Chen Hao understands. What he didn't understand was that Ye Yanbing didn't mention anything about his capture. He thought Ye Yanbing would ask, but he didn't.

"The defense seminar has not yet been adjourned. The issue of the center of gravity of defense was discussed, and there were three opinions, southward, westward, and northward. Oh, and the north is actually aimed at Japan, and some people think that the time is ripe to solve the Lushun and South Manchurian railways. What do you think about this issue? ”

"This, I didn't think about ......"

"The colonel is already one step away from the general. I don't want to. Commander Shi has been transferred back to China to take charge of the Northwest Military Region, and you may not know it yet. I'll leave this topic to you, and I'll talk to you when you've thought about it. ”

"Yes."

"Don't be so formal at home. I've got some gifts for you, that's it, you bring them, and you'll be able to get there. I'll let my car drop you off, I've got something to do, and I'll go. ”

Chen Hao suddenly felt that he was very ignorant. Should have bought some gifts in Changchun, first, he didn't think about it, secondly, he really had no money on him, the military salaries of the officers and men of the expeditionary force were different from those of the domestic troops, it was bookkeeping, and Huayuan was not commonly used in Russia, on the contrary, it was the kind of military tickets issued in the form of allowances that could be purchased, and before returning home, he gave all the military tickets he had saved to Captain Yankisheng.

Shouldn't I go to the General Staff to receive my military salary? The expeditionary force went abroad to fight and enjoyed the first-class theater allowance, and he should have saved a lot of military salary, if he was also paid during the period of capture.

"I'm sorry Commander Ye, I don't have any money on me, and the gift should be prepared by me."

"It's just a mind. That's it," Ye Yanbing got up and went back to the bedroom to find some change, about a few dozen yuan, and handed it to Chen Hao, "Hehe, I'm my lady in charge, you can take this money first." Wait until you report to your new unit before you pay the army. Now the relevant files may not be transferred back, and it is not easy to do so. ”

After seeing Chen Chao, Chen Hao returned to Wuxi the next day. The joy of reuniting with family does not need to be detailed. It's just that his wife Xu Yi was surprised when he talked about Ye Yanbing and Chen Xian's coming to Wuxi, not because he was surprised by the carefulness and thoughtfulness of Ye Yanbing and his wife, but because Xu Yi talked about the situation of his neighbor Tao Jing, who was puzzling to him, when he went to Chen Chao's mansion as a guest that night, Chen Xian was also there, and he didn't mention Tao Jing at all. According to Xu Yi, Ye Yanbing obviously knew Tao Jing, and the two chatted for a long time. But Tao Jing refused to talk about talking to Ye Yanbing. Tao Jing is just an art teacher, even if his father is a celebrity in Wuxi, he is far from the general of the National Defense Army. This matter is really strange, if Tao Jing and Ye Yanbing have an old relationship, how could Ye Yanbing take Chen Xian to see her? And Chen Xian, whom Xu Yi talked about at the end, told her not to talk about this matter to anyone, which made Chen Hao even more puzzled.

Chen Hao knew Tao Jing. Quiet and beautiful, with indescribable elegance in dealing with people. What an enigmatic woman......

It's also evil. The day after Chen Hao and his wife were talking about Tao Jing at night, Tao Jing came to the door, "Colonel Chen, I am here in the name of my father." Now the whole society is paying attention to the heroic expeditionary force, you are a meritorious soldier who has fought in Russia for two years, and at the will of my father, I would like to invite Colonel Chen to the school to make a report, do not push it back. ”

"Make a report? What do you want me to report? Chen Hao, who put his son around his neck, was a little strange.

"It's up to you to decide what you want. You can talk about anything. Although there is often news of the victory of our expeditionary force in the newspapers, I always want to hear about my own experience. The students want it, and so do the teachers. My father heard that you had come back to visit your family. Command me to make the trip. Colonel Chen, will you give my father and me a face? ”

"But ......" Xu Yi remembered the experience of her husband's capture, and was a little hesitant.

"Okay, I'll go. When? Chen Hao remembered his experience on the train and quickly made a decision.

"It's up to you. If so, how about four o'clock tomorrow afternoon? ”

"Done."

"The school will pick you up then."

"No, no, I'll just go myself. Place I know, and, isn't there still her? Chen Hao pointed to his wife.

Chen Hao had insomnia at night, and his wife had already fallen asleep. His mind was clearing. There has been pain. There have been self-pity, especially in prisoner of war camps. Now the rest is happiness, and he feels that fate is still very kind to him, although he lost his father at a young age. But he was taken care of by others. Study. Joining the army is also considered a smooth journey, and there have been several experiences that cannot be allowed between life and death. But they all turned around. Isn't it enough that the mother is alive, the wife is virtuous, and the son is smart and strong? As for the future, a colonel in his early thirties is a rarity in the whole army, right? Thinking of the respect that most people cast into their eyes on the journey, and thinking of their own family, the gloomy mood they once had is gone. It's more about looking forward to the future.

The next afternoon, when Chen Hao, accompanied by the principal, walked into the auditorium, which had just been completed and still smelled of lime, he found that the auditorium was full, and even the corridors were full of people.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please Yajing." The principal who stepped onto the podium pressed down with his hands and made a solemn gesture, "Everyone is concerned about the expeditionary force fighting for the country, and they all want to hear the story of the expeditionary force Yang Wei in the foreign land. Today, we are fortunate to have Colonel Chen Hao, who has just returned from the Russian battlefield, and now let us warmly welcome Colonel Chen to give us a report. ”

The applause was warm and polite.

The principal continued, "Dear colleagues and students, Colonel Chen Hao is a recipient of the Medal of Hero. I have learned that the Wehrmacht cherishes honor very much, and it is very difficult for officers and men to receive the Medal of Hero. According to the head of the Wuxi garrison, the Medal of Heroes shall not be awarded for non-meritorious military achievements. In our Wuxi garrison, there is not a single officer and soldier who has won the Medal of Heroes. Now, I would like to invite Colonel Chen to give us a report. ”

This time, the applause was much warmer.

"Teachers, students, my name is Chen Hao, from Shandong, my Mandarin is not very good, the culture is not high, if you don't understand my dialect, please forgive me. Yesterday Mr. Tao from your school asked me to give a report to the teachers and students, I didn't want to come here, the army has strict discipline, although there is no military regulation stipulating that officers on leave cannot make reports to the locality, but there is indeed discipline in propaganda. Because of one thing, I decided to say a few words to you.

"What happened? Just a few days ago, on the train from Beijing to Wuxi, I met a professor from a university in Shanghai. Judging by his mannerisms and listening to his conversation, he must be a learned person. After he learned that I was an officer returning from the Russian front, he asked me a question, our country is still very poor, the construction of the country is in the ascendant, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the expeditionary force went to Russia with heavy casualties, is it worth it? Is it considered a reckless force? This question stopped me all at once, and it made me think about it all the time for the past two days.

"Dear teachers and students, I know what Mr. Tao and Principal Zhang want me to tell is nothing more than the story of the heroic battle of the expeditionary force in Russia. I believe that you must have learned about the achievements of the expeditionary force in the past two years abroad, we have recaptured Romania from the Germans and Austrians, we have defeated the German army again and again in Poland and Ukraine, and saved Russia from the brink of collapse. The expeditionary force has hundreds of thousands of horses, and at most there are more than a dozen corps, and as a colonel-level officer, what he has seen and known is actually very limited, and in order to fully understand the combat situation of the expeditionary force, only the highest-ranking leaders of the Wehrmacht and the commanders of the expeditionary force can explain it clearly. Each of us, in fact, is very small, and can only complete the task assigned to us by our superiors. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the expeditionary force are not all fighting directly with guns, such as building roads and engaging in transportation, which is very hard, but they may not have seen the enemy once in the past two years......"

Then a boy asked aloud, "Excuse me, have you seen a German soldier?" ”

"Don't interrupt Colonel Chen's report! After the meeting, there will be an opportunity to ask questions to the colonel. Principal Zhang stood up and scolded. turned to apologize and said to Chen Hao, "I'm sorry, it's because we didn't discipline strictly." Please continue. ”

"It's okay. That classmate asked a good question, and I can answer it. I've met the Germans and dealt with them. Before I tell this story, though, I want to talk a little bit about myself.

"I have been in the army for more than ten years, and I have been instructed by instructors in the recruit company, and the duty of a soldier is obedience! You will do whatever your superiors tell you to do, even if you are asked to go to a minefield and block the muzzle of a machine gun, you have to shout. Be! And then rush forward with all your might! My first battle in the army was in the Battle for the Founding of the People's Republic of China. Our troops were defending Texas, and the opponent was the Beiyang Army loyal to the Manchu court, and I was a company commander at that time, so I really didn't think about why we were fighting. No. The troops have educated us. Commander Long built the army in Mengshan, in order to save the country and save the people, and the court had no way. The Mengshan Army raised the banner of righteousness to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty for the sake of the 40,000,000 Chinese people and to establish a new China in which everyone had food to eat, clothing and clothing, and was no longer bullied by foreign powers. But I didn't understand it at that time, and I didn't think about it, I was stunned by a shell in the Battle of Texas, and I woke up and was already a prisoner of the Beiyang Army. This is the first time, but I can honestly say to everyone that I am not a bad breed and I have not taken a step back! More than half of my company was killed in battle, and no one retreated as deserters. The Mengshan Army won the Beiyang Army, and I returned from the prisoner of war camp, and my superiors did not dislike me as a prisoner, but I was still the company commander. A few years later, I went to the battlefield again, that time in Qingdao, our troops attacked the Qingdao fortress guarded by the Germans, at that time I was already the battalion commander, the Germans' artillery fire was much more powerful than the Beiyang Army, my battalion was pressed in the trench, a shell fell is several lives, but my comrades-in-arms no one was afraid of death, just rushed up against the enemy's machine guns and artillery, and destroyed the Germans' cement and steel fortresses one by one with explosives packs and blasting canisters. They said they could hold for three months, but after only two days, their line was broken through by us! ”

The principal took the lead in applauding. Xu Yi, who was sitting in the audience, frowned, why did she talk about this? Being a captive is no glamorous thing.

Tao Jing, who was sitting next to her, applauded and said to Xu Yi, "It's a real man." ”

Chen Hao continued, "Unlike a few years ago, the officers and soldiers understand why they are fighting Qingdao. It is our Chinese territory, why should they occupy it? Right? So everyone is not afraid of death, it was our courage that overwhelmed the Germans and convinced them. Half of our battalion suffered casualties in that battle, more than 700 people, and the martyrs who died were lined up there, and there was no end in sight...... The bodies of some of the martyrs were no longer found, torn to pieces by shells and explosives packets, and turned into dirt. But the surviving officers and soldiers were not timid, and the recruits were added, and we continued to fight with the Japanese devils! Again, Shandong is Chinese, since we are the Wehrmacht, the Japanese devils dare to break in, and they must be killed! ”

The applause was even louder.

"Now I'm going to talk about the expeditionary force, about the professor's problem, and about my thinking. The expeditionary force went abroad to fight, it seems that it is different from the Mengshan army's rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China has been established, the country is thriving, as long as it is not blind, no one will deny it. It is also different from resisting Japanese aggression, what does it matter to us that the great powers are fighting in Europe? It is true that our country is still very poor, and although everyone's life is getting better day by day after the founding of New China, we are still far behind others. I haven't been to any other country, so let's talk about Russia, whether it's housing or clothing, Russians are richer than us. This is a war that they have been fighting for several years, with millions of dead and wounded, and the amount of money spent is not counted. The expeditionary force also costs money, and although I am a junior officer, I also know that the army is outside, food, clothing, weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and all that costs money. Moreover, so many officers and soldiers died in Romania, Poland, and Ukraine, and they are all young people who are not a few years older than you, so isn't it good to let them participate in the construction at home and honor their parents? Why work for the Russians or the British, the French? I'm not telling you that, just last fall, I was taken prisoner again. Of the detachment on that mission, only one of them survived, and all the other officers and soldiers died, and I don't even know where they were buried. Again, I am not a bad breed, and I have not lost the face of the Chinese. In hand-to-hand combat, the Germans knocked me unconscious," Chen Hao subconsciously touched his cheeks, "The butt of the gun smashed into my face, more than a dozen teeth were knocked out, and I woke up as a prisoner." Prisoners of war were not pleasant, and in the prisoner of war camp, I thought more than once about death. Sometimes it's easier to die than to live, because I love my relatives and my hometown, and I grit my teeth and get through. A year later, in exchange for prisoners of war, I was lucky enough to return to the troops...... In the German prisoner of war camp, I met a German major. He tormented me at first, but then he talked to me all the time. And he said unto me, You are awesome. You used to be our students, but now you can be our teachers. Why? It may not be clear to you that the German Army is known as the best in the world! The Germans did have a set of training to fight wars. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the Wehrmacht hired a large number of German instructors, and our troops had them, and they did serve as our teachers. But the expeditionary forces are in Romania, in Poland, in Ukraine. Braving the bitter cold of more than minus 40 degrees. Against their aircraft and artillery, they were defeated again and again! We traded more than 20,000 German prisoners for more than 4,000 of us, which is why he became more and more polite to me and thought that we were better than them......

"I don't know if the professor is impersonating, I'm a little skeptical. You've probably heard about it. The expeditionary forces won one victory after another. With the lives and blood of countless soldiers. For the motherland, the Eastern Railway was recovered, the Tangnu Ulianghai was recovered, and huge economic aid was received from the United States. Gained the technology we desperately needed...... More importantly, it has gained the dignity and self-confidence that we Chinese deserve! I believe, and everyone must believe, that our republic is not Manchu, and the history of humiliation is gone forever, and it can only be a dream to send 20,000 people to China to go on a rampage 20 years ago! ”

Tao Jing was the first to stand up and applaud, and the teachers sitting in the front row all stood up. This time, the applause was the most enthusiastic, and it rang for three minutes.

"Thank you all for the applause. When I returned to the army, the chiefs still did not dislike me as a prisoner. After being examined and assigned work, General Wang Mingyuan, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, said to me that if there is a war, there will be prisoners of war, and as long as they do not betray the motherland, they are nothing. He asked me not to carry a burden and to make new contributions. He gave me a new mission, this time with the Germans, who were surrounded by us in Vinnitsa, and Commander Wang sent me as an envoy to the German headquarters, because the mission was completed, and my rank was restored from major to lieutenant colonel, and before returning home, I was promoted to colonel. Compared with those comrades-in-arms who sacrificed their wounds, I am lucky. To complete a special task. I came back, I went back to my motherland, and in Beijing, one of my elders said to me, thanks to you soldiers, you have built a country, and now you are defending it with the barrel of a gun, which is also another form of construction. You give me a memory, don't ask what the state has given you, ask what you yourself have done for the country. If everyone can answer with a clear conscience, then our old and young country will definitely have a bright future, and it will definitely be able to catch up with and surpass any country in the world!

"I got a not too short vacation, returned to my mother, wife and children, and saw the changes that have taken place in my motherland in the past two years, and the professor's question in Shanghai finally had an answer, and I regretted that I didn't sue him at that time. The answer to this is, not to mention the rights and interests that have been recovered, just for the dignity of the country, the sacrifice of the expeditionary force is worth it! Without a strong army, there will be no strong motherland and happy people's livelihood, and everyone will not have the opportunity to sit here and study with peace of mind. I hope that you will understand our armed forces and those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives to fight on the battlefield for the sake of the country and the nation, and I ask you to believe that under the leadership of the President, the National Defense Forces will continue to fight, recover all the territories lost in history, and plant the bright red military flag all over the sacred territory of the motherland! ”

After speaking, Chen Hao gave a solemn military salute to the teachers and students in the audience. Deafening applause rang out, and everyone stood up to applaud, cheer, and salute him.

Following the report meeting of the Wuxi Academy of Fine Arts, the Wuxi garrison also invited Chen Hao to make a report to the army, and the mayor personally came to Chen Hao's home to offer condolences. He appeared in the local newspapers, and his speech at the Wuxi Academy of Fine Arts was published in newspapers in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Wuhan, and reporters blocked the alleys, hoping to get an opportunity to interview him. "Don't ask what the country has given you, ask what you have done for the country" has become a famous saying that has been sung for a long time. In a word, Chen Hao became a celebrity in Wuxi. As a result, he had to end his vacation early, secretly left Wuxi, and returned to Beijing ahead of schedule.

General Situ Jun, chief of the General Staff, personally received Chen Hao, and the first thing he said was his report in Wuxi, praising him for his good speech and excellent propaganda for the army. Regarding his work, Situ Jun said, "Based on the experience of the European war, as well as the president's proposal, the Wehrmacht will officially form an armored force." The General Staff Department has set up an armored corps command, which is still in the preparatory stage, and will be temporarily in charge of Lieutenant General Chi Chunxian, and you will be the acting director of the Armament Bureau. Now, you can report from Commander Chi. (To be continued......)