In the early morning of June 22, after another day of bloody battles, Zhang Yantian and Gu Mingchang inspected the troops and comforted the wounded, and then began to sit around for dinner with several staff officers.

It's dinner, but it's actually lunch. And the content of the two meals added up is nothing more than a compressed biscuit and a little mountain spring. Since entering the Bagua Pass, Zhang Yantian and Gu Mingchang have not closed their eyes, and they have not rested for five days now. Both men had scruffy beards, dark and thin. The military rations were eaten up three days ago, and now there is only a few compressed biscuits left, which were airdropped from the Dingzhou base. The ammunition was used up two days ago, and now it is partly the unused bullets and grenades that the officers and men of the reconnaissance company directly under the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division led by Diao Yide collected from the positions at great risk, and some of them also come from airdrops.

In today's war, the original small number of people has been reduced by half. This made Gu Zhang and the others worried, and even though they were hungry with heavy loads, they still couldn't eat.

For Zhang Yantian, the degree of hardship of this battle was originally unimaginable in any case, the battle has been fought until now, he was very clever, and he has long since lost his mind to make small calculations, and the only thing he cares about now is whether he can get a name after his death, and whether he can leave the image of an anti-Japanese hero in the annals of history. As for the surviving officers and soldiers of the Second Column of Special Police, from the original desire to fight a war, to the later cursing father and scolding mother, and then to the current execution of orders only known by the Dao Machinery, they have been consumed by the war and have become real war animals.

The length and difficulty of this battle also deviated from Gu Mingchang's original plan. Undoubtedly, Gu Mingchang was an excellent staff candidate, and he took into account all the factors of the battle before the war. Therefore, his pre-war estimate was that as long as they could hold out in Bagua Pass for three days, then when the 29th Army and the 57th Army solved the Japanese army in Chahar, then the end would have come for the little devils led by Kazuki Kiyoji. At that time, the cadet army will undoubtedly have a broader space for development. However, five days have passed, but there has never been a shadow of reinforcements in the direction of Yanqing, and he began to wonder if there was something wrong with it.

Gu Mingchang is a native of Beiping, and since he was sensible, he has experienced the melee of the warlords in Beiping, so among the young people of the Xuebing Army, he hates the essence of the warlords, and he can't help but worry that it is Qin Dechun and Zhang Zizhong who is selfish, and at a critical time, he actually wants to reap the benefits, which is waiting for the Xuebing Army and the little devil to fight for both defeats.

After taking a few bites of the hard-to-swallow biscuits, drinking some water, the next mile was to discuss the battle arrangements for tonight and tomorrow. Under the circumstance that the troops on both sides were suffering excessive losses, after discussion, Gu and Zhang integrated the two troops together for unified command, organized them into three main battalions and a reserve battalion, and took turns to go into battle every day, which ensured the sustainable combat nature of this team.

Zhang Yantian said in an extremely hoarse voice: "Xiao Gu, I'll come in the first half of the night today." You hurry up and rest, if we can't stand in front, you take the brothers to withdraw first! If my estimate is correct, tonight, the Japanese army will definitely make a big move! ”

During the daytime battle, the Japanese army showed a different momentum from the previous two days. As a front-line officer, Zhang Yantian keenly felt the changes, and when he said this now, it was a bit of an explanation of the future.

Gu Zhang and the two have worked together for many days, and from the initial incongruity to the current tacit understanding, some words can be understood without being explicitly said. Gu Mingchang straightened up, looked at Zhang Yantian through a pile of burning artillery fire not far away, and said solemnly: "Brother Zhang, from the moment I put on the military uniform, there is no such word as retreat in my life dictionary. Don't persuade me, this is not only my personal meaning, but also the voice of all the officers and soldiers of the 1st Division and 3rd Brigade here, and I think, it is also the voice of all the brothers in your department - as long as there is still one of us, the little devil will not want to cross the Great Wall from the Bagua Pass. ”

Everyone, whether it was Diao Yide and others who still maintained their strong fighting spirit, or the officers and soldiers of the second column of the special police who were already a little sluggish, everyone stood up and showed their attitude with their upright bodies.

Zhang Yantian looked over the faces of these brothers who had been living and dying for more than ten days or even years, and finally, solemnly gave a military salute and said, "That's good! I'll go first, and when we get down, we'll still fight devils together! ”

"Yes!" Everyone couldn't help but stand upright, and gave a military salute, and at the same time replied loudly.

Zhang Yantian was about to move forward, when suddenly, a soldier from a reconnaissance company under Diao Yide, who was responsible for monitoring the situation at the northern end of the pass, ran over with a person and shouted from afar: "Brigade Commander Zhang, Staff Officer Gu, and a brother from the special police has come over." ”

Gu Zhang and the others glanced at each other, and their eyes showed joy. Then, two ** steps went up, and when they got closer, Zhang Yantian opened his hands and said to the visitor with a smile: "It's a book, it's great, I finally looked forward to you." But he knew the people who came.

The person who came was a major about 30 years old, and when he saw Zhang Yantian, he first saluted the military salute and said, "Brigade Commander Zhang, it's great to finally see you." ”

Zhang Yantian held his hand, introduced Gu Mingchang to him, and said: "This is Gu Mingchang, the staff officer of the Military Department of the Cadet Army, and this is Wang Moushu, the adjutant of the first column, everyone is a brother, you know each other." ”

Gu Mingchang shook hands after the first military salute, holding the other party's hand, he carefully looked at the clothes and expressions of the major adjutant, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Although the clothes on Wang Moushu's body were also damaged, his expression did not look nervous, so it was inferred that Yizong should not have experienced any vicious battles. Since Yizong can get here, does it mean that the enemy of Yanqing has been solved or driven away? Then next, the 29th Army and the 57th Army will continue to kill, Ha Luha! The end of the devils of Kazuki Kiyoji has really arrived. He was about to ask the other party about the battle situation, but the latter let go of his hand and turned to Zhang Yantian and said, "Brigade Commander Zhang, our brigade commander asked me to bring you a few words, can you ask the brothers to avoid it?" ”

Zhang Yantian was in a good mood at the moment, but he didn't doubt him, and said with a smile: "There are all good brothers here, it doesn't hurt to say anything directly!" ”

Wang Moushu's brows furrowed, and then he suddenly asked Gu Mingchang a strange question: "Staff Officer Gu, you are the supreme commander of the military here, right?" ”

Gu Mingchang nodded and said with a smile: "Ashamed!" ”

Wang Moushu also smiled, and the next moment, he suddenly took out a pistol and shot it at Gu Mingchang.

"Phew!" At the sound of gunshots, Zhang Yantian shouted: "What are you doing?" Gu Mingchang only felt a pain in his left rib, and the whole person immediately fell to the ground.

And almost at the same time as the gunshot, Diao Yide, who had been standing on Gu Mingchang's right side, shook his right hand, and a dagger flew out, piercing Wang Moushu's heart, which also made the latter's head slightly off, and at the same time lost the opportunity to shoot a second shot.

Diao Yide roared angrily: "Lao Tzu has long thought that you kid is not dealing with it, sure enough!" As he spoke, he rushed forward and raised his fist to smash it down.

Zhang Yantian was shocked by this scene, his eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, and he also roared angrily at this time: "Wang Moushu, have you taken refuge in the Japanese on a dog day?!" As soon as the words came out and remembered a more serious problem, he hurriedly stopped Diao Yide: "Wait! Then he asked in a trembling voice: "Wang Moushu, tell me honestly, is the one vertical, one vertical already finished?" ”

Wang Moushu covered his heart with his right hand, gasping for breath in his mouth, and tried to speak several times but ended in a fierce cough.

Zhang Yantian glanced at Gu Mingchang and said to his adjutant, "Bandage him." ”

The adjutant stepped forward, took out the first-aid kit from his body, and was about to show his hands and feet, Wang Moushu said with difficulty: "Thank you, use, you don't need it!" With his left hand, he fumbled and took out an envelope from his shirt pocket, handed it to Zhang Yantian, and then tilted his head, fell to the ground, and stopped breathing.

Diao Yide stood next to him, and at this time he grabbed the letter.

The adjutant frowned and asked, "What do you do?" This letter is for our travelers! ”

Before Diao Yide could reply, Gu Mingchang, who had already bandaged his wounds by his subordinates, said, "Yide, give it to Brigade Commander Zhang." ”

Diao Yide glared at the adjutant, quickly swept the envelope, and saw that there were only five words on it, "Zhang Yantian personally opened", and handed over the letter to Zhang Yantian with some reluctance. As soon as the latter took the letter, he glanced at the envelope, and his brow could not help jumping, obviously knowing the handwriting.

The envelope was not sealed, and he took out the letter paper, which was only a few sentences on it, and Zhang Yantian almost finished reading it at a glance. After reading the letter, his expression became strange, and after a few seconds, as if he had made the above major decision, he handed the letter to Gu Mingchang and said, "It was written to me by Commander Yu, you can take a look." ”

Gu Mingchang concluded from his expression that this letter was unusual, and he didn't push it back at the moment, so he took it and read it, and after reading it, he took a heavy breath, and his face suddenly became quite ugly.

Zhang Yantian first looked at the dark distance, then turned his head to look at Gu Mingchang and said, "If this letter had come a few days earlier, I might have been really tempted, but now...... Brother, to tell you the truth, I don't even take life and death lightly, do I still care about those things outside my body? ”

In the letter, Yu Xuezhong asked Zhang Yantian to immediately respond to Lao Jiang's call to return to the Nanjing government, and let him act cheaply to crusade against the rebellion. After the event, depending on the size of the contribution, the central government will be rewarded.

Gu Mingchang coughed twice, handed the letter back to him, and said softly and slowly: "This letter is really timely, otherwise, I don't understand why I didn't see reinforcements until I died?" Damn, it's fucking sad to think about, we are desperate to fight here, trying to drive out the Japanese invaders and restore the rivers and mountains, but some people take the opportunity to play a conspiracy to get rid of dissidents. Rebel, the student army that resisted Japan and saved the country became a rebel, and those who only knew how to flee when they saw the devil, and couldn't even defend the capital, became the teachers of justice, damn it! This world is so fucking ridiculous! ”