After a day and a night of unremitting travel, the two breakthrough troops of the 25th Regiment finally met in the area of Nianzhuang in Xuzhou. Yang Longfei, who had not recovered from a serious illness, could not have imagined that at this time, this little-known town located in the west of Xuzhou would become one of the main battlefields for the battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party ten years later.

The first battalion led by Xie Dacheng first arrived at the second and third battalions in four hours, and the village where they are currently settled is called Wangji Township, and most of the people in the village have moved away. It is said that Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations, is preparing to launch a large-scale military campaign with Terauchi Shouichi, commander of the Japanese North China Front, in the Jinpu and Longhai railway areas centered on Xuzhou, and the two sides plan to invest a total of nearly 800,000 troops, which is estimated to be another vicious battle.

By the time the deputy head Zhang Shan and others arrived at the village, it was already close to noon. When the two breakout forces met, both sides showed great joy, and almost all the fighters embraced each other. Zhang Shan rushed up and smashed Xie Dacheng's chest with a punch: "Damn, your kid is still alive?!" ”

Xie Dacheng said proudly: "What I said, can I die if you Lao Zhang is alive?" Okay, you kid, I just let you rush out with the team, I still thought I wouldn't be able to see you...... Alas, without further ado, what about Lao Tzu's fast and slow machine? Now it's time to return it to its rightful owner, right? ”

Zhang Shan disdainfully took out the delicate shell gun from his waist and handed it to Xie Dacheng: "Hey, who is rare about your broken gun, Lao Tzu just uses it by the way." If you want to say it's convenient, Lao Tzu's horse brand oar doesn't know how much stronger than your box cannon! ”

"You're cheap, and you're still selling ......," Xie Dacheng wiped his favorite gun with his palm with satisfaction, and scolded with a smile.

"Hey, I said, why didn't you see our leader? What about the head of the regiment? Zhang Shan pulled the brim of his hat crooked and looked around.

Xie Dacheng led Zhang Shan and the others to a stretcher, which was still covered with the animal skin mattress. Zhang Shan panicked when he saw it, and he even asked in a reproachful tone, "What's going on?" ”

"It's nothing, isn't this sick, I guess I'm asleep again......" Xie Dacheng hurriedly explained.

"It's been almost three days, and the fever hasn't gone away? What do you kid eat? Zhang Shan glared at Xie Dacheng and said ruthlessly.

"What do you mean by that? Lao Tzu is not a fairy, and you don't want to think about the environment along the way, it's just a place where birds don't. To put it mildly, the regiment commander has not had any problems until now, he is already burning high incense, do you think this is still the field hospital of our division headquarters? What do you think? Xie Dacheng shouted dissatisfiedly.

Zhang Shan was on fire, he looked at Xie Dacheng, a half-guy, a little unreasonably, and said in his heart that the head of the regiment was infected with this disease because this kid was not well taken care of, but this is good, and he said that he was not willing to say a word. I dare to take the conversation back, it seems that this kid is underwhelmed, and if you don't take this opportunity to teach him a lesson, you won't be able to manage it in the future.

"You kid still dare to talk back, your skin is itchy again, right?" Zhang Shan threatened.

"Ahem, I said Lao Zhang, you eat*, right? I haven't seen you rise in the market for a few days! Dare to beat Lao Tzu? I, Xie Dacheng, have been beaten and scolded by my father and mother in my life, and even the head of the regiment has only kicked a few times when he is fine, you kid is that green onion, and he gave you face, right? What the are you with me? If you want to find a fight, just say it, don't use the regiment commander as a guise, what kind of good person is it? ”

"I see you shit badly! Anyway, there are no Japanese to fight now, Lao Tzu is itchy, do you dare to find an open space to practice? Zhang Shan's repeated provocations made Qian Liyuan, the commander of the second battalion, and Cao Guang, the commander of the third battalion, who were standing on the side, feel crying and laughing, and said in their hearts that these two people are sick, what's the matter? When we met just now, we were beating our chests and greetings, how old will we be to see each other with fists and feet?

Qian Liyuan scolded in his heart: It is estimated that these two people are idle, if they really have this kind of kung fu, it is better to run back to Nanjing and kill a few more little devils. Opinions are opinions, but Qian Liyuan and Cao Guang have no intention of stepping forward to persuade them. There is a saying that "it's none of your business, hang high." Not only were the two ready to fight, but they also had the intention of watching the battle coldly from the sidelines. According to the Beiping dialect, he is a typical master of coaxing seedlings. said so, but Cao Guang and Qian Liyuan really wanted to see who of these two guys was better at kung fu.

Xie Dacheng was not ambiguous, he sneered and began to untie his armed belt: "Practice and practice, I'm afraid you won't be raised by my mother......"

Qian Liyuan was about to play the role of a referee, but he was unexpectedly scolded by Yang Longfei, who was awakened from a deep sleep: "What is the noise? It's like a fucking donkey barking trough, get out of the way! ”

In this way, this imminent battle died halfway before it began. Seeing this, Xie Dacheng hurriedly shouted with a bitter face: "Regiment leader, Lao Zhang, he is full of food, and he will abuse my ...... as soon as he comes."

Yang Longfei interrupted his shouting of grievances shamelessly, and shouted: "I heard it, it's noisy, Lao Tzu can't live in peace for a while!" Zhang Shan, it's rare for you kid to be the number one and still have a problem? Stir up trouble as soon as you come up? After saying three words, you shouted and beat this and kicked that, you kid has become a sperm, right? ”

Zhang Shan scratched his head embarrassedly and smiled: "Commander, am I not worried about you?" I'm afraid something will happen to you......"

Yang Longfei stalked his neck, and found that Xie Dacheng's kid was standing aside gloatingly and smiling, so he didn't get angry: "What are you kid happy about?" Eaten bee droppings? Just fucking watching other people's jokes, how dirty your ass is? I said, where did you kid learn such weird bird talk? I usually can't sleep without saying a few strange words with a gun and a stick, right? ”

"Commander, you can't blame me for this, I didn't talk like that. It's strange that someone influenced me, especially Cao Guang, this rabbit cub loves to make a few words of soup to squeeze others, don't I learn to come and go? In the end, it's not all my responsibility......" Xie Dacheng hurriedly deducted the basin outside.

Cao Guang almost didn't jump up from the ground when he heard this, he who was originally neutral immediately changed to the camp of the deputy head Zhang Shan, and scolded back unceremoniously: "Hey, I said Xie Dacheng, you kid is really not a thing!" How do you catch and bite who like a mad dog? I provoked you, and you're going to put a basin on me? I think I should let Lao Zhang pinch you to death like an ant, so that you don't have to go crazy and bite people everywhere......"

Xie Dacheng didn't let go of the handle, he complained to Yang Longfei with a conspiracy that had succeeded: "Listen, head of the regiment, this kid has more crumbs in his mouth than anyone else, it's just that he didn't have anything to say and affected me, this kid is a black sheep!" ”

Yang Longfei used all his strength to stop the quarrel of several people: "Okay, shut up Lao Tzu!" How can you say so much about the first day and all night...... It's not enough to be annoying! Zhang Shan, let me ask you, where are we going next? ”

"Commander, where am I going? You are the head of the regiment, you can go wherever you say, why do you need to ask me? Zhang Shan smiled bitterly.

"You don't wear a high hat for me, Lao Tzu was dizzy before breaking through. Didn't you say that we would meet in Xuzhou after the breakout? Since you've thought of this, you've definitely thought about how to go from here, and I'd like to hear your opinion. Yang Longfei shouted.

Zhang Shan is really a straight gut, he didn't hear Yang Longfei's words at all. To be honest, when he learned about the breakout route and meeting place formulated by Zhang Shan himself, the true identity of this kid aroused Yang Longfei's suspicions. On the night before the breakout, Yang Longfei received an order to cross the river from the north and pull the troops to Chuzhou for rest and recuperation. The position that Zhang Shan is responsible for commanding is the center of the regimental headquarters, and even if the heralds of the headquarters or the headquarters come to convey verbal orders, they will not choose two breakthrough directions at the same time. Unless the team has never received an order from the commander's department at all, it is completely random to break through without any rules.

Yang Longfei clearly remembered that before the battle, when he went to the "Zixuan Teahouse" alone, the spy named Cui Zhicheng provided that his breakthrough target was in Shandong, and Xuzhou was the only way for Nanjing to go to Shandong. Yang Longfei couldn't help but have a question from the bottom of his heart, why is Zhang Shan's breakthrough target strikingly similar to the secret order he obtained? Could it be just a coincidence, that I was overthinking?

Zhang Shan said straight to the point: "Commander, then I'll say it directly." I suggest that we better not mix up the current troubles, how about we take a detour to Shandong? After Xuzhou, walk another seventy or eighty miles to Zaozhuang, I heard that there are many devils in Jinan. Anyway, we are now the emperor of the sky, where are we not fighting devils? What do you say? ”

As soon as these words came out, except for Xie Dacheng's elm head, Yang Longfei, Cao Guang, and Qian Liyuan were all somewhat surprised. Before Zhang Shan finished speaking, Cao Guang and Qian Liyuan, two "people who understand", looked at each other, as if they were conveying silent communication through their surprised eyes. I didn't expect Zhang Shan's kid to have a lot of fancy intestines, and it seems that the suspicion that he may be a Communist Party is not groundless.

The matter is obvious, there is our own ready-made team in Xuzhou, and the best place to go is definitely to go to Chief Li of the Fifth War Zone. But this kid went off the rails, gave up and went to his own team close at hand, and insisted on suggesting that the head of the regiment lead the team to Shandong to fight devils. What the is that? No one can say clearly, not a single soldier in the entire 25 regiment is from Shandong. As for the troops entrenched in that territory, there are many more: there is the Third Army under Han Fuyu, deputy commander of the Fifth Theater; There was the 115th Division, which had just been reorganized from the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army into the Eighth Route Army; the Fifth Army stationed in Jinan under the leadership of Lieutenant General Yamashita Fumi, then chief of staff of the Japanese Front in North China; There are also local fish and meat towns, puppet armies full of evil, and bandit organizations in various mountains.

Such a mixed melting pot, who knows which kid Zhang Shan is? To say that the national army that defected to Shandong is pure nonsense, Zhang Shan, this kid is not going to do this kind of thing of taking off his pants and farting. But it is impossible to say that he went to join the devil puppet army, otherwise why did this kid go when the city of Nanjing was broken, and he had to go all the way to Shandong to be a traitor? As for being a bandit in the mountains, it is even more impossible, it is just some dirt buns that gather in the mountains and forests, and a group of rabbles who are worried about slipping away as soon as they hear the gunshots, it is not enough to be ashamed.

In this way, the idea is clearly clear. Zhang Shan, a rabbit cub, is a Communist Party nine times out of ten! Otherwise, what would he do if he was in such a hurry to jump into that mixed chowder? It's not going to see the West, is it?

Qian Liyuan and Cao Guang's judgment is basically the same as Yang Longfei's, to be honest, he has never doubted the identity of Zhang Shan's kid before. The whole regiment like Xie Dacheng and others are all old guys who started with him back then, and they were picked up from the pile of dead during the Central Plains War, and Liu Baoquan, the former chief of staff of the regiment who died in the Battle of Luodian, is no exception, commonly known as the "old 25th regiment". But among these people, only Zhang Shan is an exception, this kid belongs to a monk who is halfway monk, and his qualifications are there. It stands to reason that it is not too much for him to start as an ordinary soldier, but since this kid was assigned to the 25th Regiment, he has almost stepped up one step a year, and he can be said to have risen from the battalion commander, regimental chief of staff, and deputy regiment commander, and has not suffered any setbacks in the middle.

At first, Yang Longfei thought that this kid came in through the back door, so he didn't take him seriously, and was ready to squeeze him away several times. But after a few battles, Yang Longfei found that Zhang Shan was not like the soft egg who relied on nepotism to eat and pee his pants when he heard the gunshot. On the contrary, this kid dared to play with his life, and as soon as the battle started, he began to grab the main attack mission, and once he personally took the warrior to put the * bag. In the battle of Luodian, this kid suffered two machine gun bullets in the chest, and the bullet was only three centimeters from the heart, and he was almost not saved, and he returned to the team to participate in the battle after lying in the hospital for less than two months, which made Yang Longfei sincerely admire.

He once asked Liu Baoquan, the former chief of staff, to check the resume of Xia Zhangshan, and later learned that this kid was a native of Huang'an County, Hubei, and an authentic peasant family. But suspiciously, from November 1927 onwards, the boy's resume was a blank slate, and it was not until October 1935 that he returned to normal. What has he been doing in the past eight years? Lie down at home and sleep a lot, or run to some unknown kiln to be a big teapot for a few years?

Yang Longfei remembers the major events that happened in those years very clearly, according to the calculation of October 1935, the Red Army of the Communist Party of China at that time had ended the Long March and entered northern Shaanxi. As for whether Zhang Shan will infiltrate the Central Army at the orders of the top level during this time period, it is unknown. But there is one thing that can basically be implemented, that is, Zhang Shan's identity is definitely the Communist Party! And he joined the party much earlier than Yang Longfei himself. To be precise, Yang Longfei is still an officer who has been rebelled against in the final analysis.

Seeing the head of the regiment Yang Longfei staring at him, Zhang Shan suddenly felt a little furious in his heart: "Commander, I am just a suggestion, the key depends on you." If you don't agree, I'm sorry I didn't say it. As for where to go, it's up to you, and I'm sure to obey. ”

Yang Longfei did not intend to expose Zhang Shan's * identity on this, on the contrary, he showed a flat attitude to look at the other party, which is the professional quality of joy and anger that has been cultivated after a long period of front-line combat. As the old saying goes, "Mount Tai collapses in front of it and the color remains the same", Yang Longfei is not obscure about this result, who made him a Communist Party himself.

"It's okay, it's good to be assertive. Didn't I tell you a long time ago? You should have your own ideas. So be it, just follow your ideas. On my order, the whole regiment rested in place for half an hour, and then marched in the direction of Zaozhuang. I am sick now, and the command of the unit is under the supervision of Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang, and whoever has an opinion should put it forward now, and don't wait for the team to start talking nonsense that is useless. Yang Longfei's face turned pale and said weakly.

Xie Dacheng glanced at Zhang Shan and asked, "Commander, I don't understand what you mean." It is...... It's okay, what are we going to Zaozhuang for? There's no devil in that. How good is it for us to go to our own team in front of us, if we can't do it tomorrow, we can do it with the little devil, let's take revenge, right? ”

"The reason is that you ask Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang, he is now the highest commander and fighter of the whole regiment, and I am now a sick number. But there's one thing, no matter what the reason, you have to obey orders, you know? Yang Longfei closed his eyes slightly and replied softly.

Xie Dacheng pursed his lips and said, "Yes, when I didn't ask." If he told me that he was going to see the West, then we would have to go too, wouldn't we? That's it! He turned his body to face Zhang Shan, and said in a sour tone: "Commander Zhang, just now I didn't know Mount Tai with my eyes, you have a lot of them, bear with me." Now that the head of the regiment has spoken, I have nothing more to say. The first battalion is the hometown of our regiment, I don't mean anything else, I just hope you don't take us to the ditch......"

"Dacheng, you don't need to throw this soup to disgust me, our brothers are all dead, no matter how bad I Zhang Shan is, I won't hurt you, right? Don't worry, as long as I'm alive, even if there is a ditch in front of me, I will definitely lie there and let you step on it first. Zhang Shan smiled to show sincerity.

……

Zhang He leaned against a wall, leaning on Erlang's legs and smoking a cigarette leisurely. His identity is the commander of the 1st Reserve Regiment of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and a native of Luxi County, Pingxiang, Jiangxi. Zhang Heben is a lonely guy, coinciding with the end of April 1928 when the rebel troops met in Jinggangshan, he picked up a kitchen knife from home and went up the mountain with a few fellow villagers, he is an out-and-out "red ghost", and his qualifications are definitely ranked first in the battle sequence of the newly adapted Eighth Route Army, and he is the favorite general in the hands of brigade commander Xu Haidong.

Like Yang Longfei, this is also a guy who likes to cause trouble, with an unruly personality, likes to go on a rampage in doing things, and sometimes is reckless, especially with the newly arrived political commissar Hu Dequan, who has been in conflict for less than a week, and the two have already clashed two or three times. It is said that this newly arrived political commissar was engaged in intelligence work before, and he was only one of them, and it is estimated that he had never even touched a gun, and he was an out-and-out "bastard" in Zhang He's eyes.

Before Hu Dequan took office, the political and ideological work in the regiment had always been handled by Zhang He, but now that the new political commissar arrived, he was relaxed and had more time to spare. Besides, there is no fight to fight recently, so when I usually have nothing to do, I sit in the sun and smoke a cigarette, or sit cross-legged on the kang with the door closed and have a few drinks, and it would be better if I could have another plate of fried peanuts.

Before he finished a cigarette, political commissar Hu Dequan came to him again to make a report. Zhang He was in a good mood today, crossing Erlang's legs and humming a Xintianyou tune. When he is in a good mood, he will not be like a literati, but on the contrary, he will pretend to be very patient to listen to the content of the other party's speech-like report.

"Lao Zhang, I just received news from the inside line, the 25th Regiment of the Central Army has entered Xuzhou, I estimate that the next direction will be towards us, and I plan to take the reconnaissance platoon to Zaozhuang to meet you. After all, people came from afar and just finished a vicious battle, which can also show our respect for others. ”

Zhang He looked at Hu Dequan with an exaggerated expression, nodded vigorously and said, "That's right, that's right, it's still the political commissar who has considered the problem thoroughly." Your request for my approval, you can take the reconnaissance platoon directly under our regiment. As for the political work during this period, I will act as the agent for Political Commissar Hu, so you can take the team with you with confidence. ”

Hu Dequan smiled and nodded: "Okay, then I'll trouble you, I'm tired, I estimate that I should be able to rush back before dark." Then you rest, I'm going to assemble the team now......"

Zhang He looked at Hu Dequan, who turned to leave, with a wicked smile: "Okay, good, the political commissar is polite, go slowly!" ”

The reconnaissance platoon was concentrated on a highway line in the Linzao area and fan-shaped rows, where the peaks and mountains were stacked, the field of vision was broad, and there was almost no vegetation and trees within 10 kilometers of the perimeter, which was conducive to observing the enemy's situation, and was an excellent place for Hu Dequan to respond. At the same time, this is also a mountain col that is extremely unfavorable for combat, and for Hu Dequan, a political commissar with almost no combat experience, once a battle breaks out here, he will indeed feel caught off guard.

As the old saying goes, "what you are afraid of comes", the reconnaissance platoon had just occupied a high ground on the highway line, and a long convoy came from the northwest. It was a march of 12 Japanese Army Type 94 trucks, with two side three-wheeled motorcycles at the front of the convoy, a light machine gun mounted on the sidecar, and no foot personnel. The truck team drove straight along the highway as if it were no one.

This col is generally gourd-shaped and easy to ambush. The Japanese soldier Shaozo, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the first truck, reacted quickly, he stuck his head out of the window and shouted: "Hey, shoot at the wings!" "The intention was to test whether there was an enemy situation on the high slopes of the flanks by means of machine-gun fire.

The Japanese machine gunners sitting in the sidecar were ordered to open fire, and one to the left and the other to the right to suppress the fire from the commanding heights of the two wings......