In the sixth year of the Republic of China, December 7, 1917 in the Western calendar, three o'clock in the afternoon.

Wusong Fortress, the five-color flag is flying high.

The barrage of fireworks during the day shot at the strongest fort in China in a century. An entire division of troops also formed a skirmish formation under the five-color banner and launched a Nogi Noshinori-style flesh-and-bullet attack. In the cold and bleak fields of the south of the Yangtze River, Makqin and Gatling machine guns licked their tongues of fire, like the sickle of death harvesting wheat fields, tearing the chests of countless Chinese youths, as if they were airlifted to the trench battlefield on the Western Front of the European War, the hell of collective massacre......

Wusongkou, on the waves of the Yangtze River, a leaf of fishing boats in the East China Sea Dharma Mountain, crowded between the huge ships...... Some come from Hankou and Chongqing in the middle and upper reaches, some carry the aquatic plants of Yokohama and Kobe, and some cross the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal or even the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Magellan, crossing more than half the world and waiting to enter the port of Shanghai.

The wind rose at the end of Qingping, and Qin Beiyang sat on the stern of the bumpy ship, looking at Chixian Shenzhou in Chinese mainland. Directly in front of him was the killing battlefield of Wusongkou, and he saw that he was about to be thrown into this rolling torrent.

Ouyang Anna, who was also seventeen years old, leaned on his hot shoulder, and wore a jade ring on the middle finger of her left hand. In her glass-colored eyes, a burning fortress was reflected.

The nine-colored tomb beast incarnated as a big dog, facing the cold wind blowing from the north bank of the Yangtze River, was sitting in danger, waiting for the day.

The passengers on the dhow also included Ye Kenan, a detective from the Beijing Police Department, 17-year-old Qi Yuanshan, Taiki Haneda, the young owner of Japan's Haneda Trading Company, and 14-year-old A You, who was lonely. A pair of boys and girls rescued from Mount Bodhidharma huddled in the cabin.

Ye Kenan immediately made a decision and let the captain continue to travel west. At the mouth of the Yangtze River, the wind is high and the waves are strong in winter, and ships are prone to collisions. And this small fishing boat, like a grasshopper shaking a tree, will fall apart immediately if it hits it.

The fishing boat set sail and sailed past Baoshan Artillery Taiwan. The Wusong fortress guarding the Yangtze River is already in the sea of fire. Approaching the embankment where the reeds were flying, everyone gathered at the bow of the boat.

Suddenly, a turning wave came, and Qi Yuanshan lost his balance and fell into the rolling Yangtze River!

He was a landlubber, seasick and vomiting, and he was about to be swallowed up by the waves. Qin Beiyang immediately took off his coat and jumped off the icy river.

Ye Kenan, Ouyang Anna, Ah You, and Haneda Taishu all shouted at the bow of the boat, but the captains did not dare to go into the water.

The Yangtze River in December is extremely cold, there are rapid whirlpools in the three sandwiches of Wusongkou, the water situation is complex and dangerous, and anyone who jumps down to save the drowning person will die in eight or nine times out of ten, and will be dragged to death by the drowned ghost. The boats that salvaged the bodies gathered around, ready to make an offer for the corpses.

In the steaming waves, Qin Beiyang flickered, dragging the struggling Qi Yuan Mountain under his armpits. The two teenagers struggled to defeat the icy Yangtze River and stepped on the stone embankment on the bank of the Baoshan River.

Between the large yellow reeds and the stone embankment, Qin Beiyang's hair was dripping, facing Ouyang Anna on the fishing boat, shouting and jumping to reassure her. Qi Yuanshan knelt on the ground and gasped, coughing up the water that had eaten into his lungs in pain, and the second drowning in two days made him determined to learn to swim!

Suddenly, the faces of the people on the fishing boat changed drastically, and Ye Kenan shouted loudly. Qin Beiyang was puzzled, and a bayonet was already on his vest.

Countless soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition emerged from the reeds, and the Beiyang Army in blue military uniforms. Facing the cold and shining bayonet, Qin Beiyang knew that he had no chance of winning, and just wanted to explain a few words, his head was smashed by the butt of the gun. The soldiers, red-eyed and with blood dripping from their bayonets, opened fire on the ships on the river, warning against approaching the area of engagement.

The chariots, the horses, and the pedestrians, bows and arrows, are all at the waist.

Qin Beiyang and Qi Yuanshan were tied to a horse-drawn cart and sent to the heavily guarded county town of Baoshan. It was followed by a dozen carts, full of wounded soldiers with missing arms and legs, groaning and wailing to the sky, and spilling men's blood along the ruts.

"Whose army is this?"

Qin Beiyang, who was soaking wet, the warm blood jade in his chest forced back the cold.

Qi Yuanshan served as a soldier in the Beiyang Army, but he was also confused by the second monk: "The warlord of this year, today is to worship a brother, and tomorrow he will do it with a real sword and a real gun, who can figure it out?" However, listening to the accent, many of them are our fellow villagers in Zhili Province. ”

The entire county was full of soldiers, and they were escorted to the Guandi Temple, with an inconspicuous sign "Jiangsu Provincial Army Provisional Military Court of the Republic of China".

"Oops!"

Qi Yuanshan was about to struggle, but he had been forcibly pushed in front of a long case, and behind him sat a military judge and clerk wearing armbands.

The military judge only glanced up and asked impatiently, "Name?" ”

"Qi Yuanshan."

"Qin Beiyang."

"The number of the unit?"

"We are the people."

The military judge slapped the table: "You are dressed in civilian clothes, climbed up from the Yangtze River, and sneaked into the rear of our army's front, which is clearly a spy of the Zhejiang army on the opposite side!" ”

Qi Yuanshan's eyes widened: "Are you the direct army of Jiangsu Province?" The 6th Division of the Beiyang Army? ”

"Yes!" The military judge knocked down the stamp with his mouth and asked the clerk to record, "There are spies Qi Yuanshan and Qin Beiyang, and according to the Geneva Conventions, those who wear civilian clothes to spy on military intelligence are not among the prisoners of war." The verdict of this provisional military court: found the two traitors guilty of espionage, sentenced to death, and immediately executed! ”

"Wronged!"

Hearing the death sentence against himself, Qi Yuanshan's blood roared wildly, and the chill that fell into the Yangtze River was gone.

"Next."

The military judge didn't even look at them anymore, waving his hand lightly, like swatting two flies to death.

Qin Beiyang and Qi Yuanshan were tied up by five flowers, and there was no possibility of fighting back and escaping. There is a wooden sign inserted in the back, and their names are written with a red pen, and then a big cross is made, plus the word "spy". They were pushed under the city walls of Baoshan County, a good place to be shot, the bricks of the city were riddled with bullet holes, and the ground was bleeding that had not yet dried up.

Qi Yuanshan's tears flowed from his nose, and he shouted loudly: "Help! We are not spies! ”

Think about it yesterday on the island, Qin Beiyang was just named "Count of Dharma Mountain" by Anna and became the owner of a million silver. In a hurry, he sailed back to Wusongkou by night sailing boat, wanting to escape the wanted warrant of the concession, and went to Beijing to find the coffin of the little prince. Who would have expected that if it fell into the hands of the Beiyang warlords, it would be regarded as an enemy spy......

"The way of the world that cares about human life!" Qin Beiyang refused to tie a blindfold, and even refused to kneel, "It's a pity!" If I did not die on the battlefield against foreign invaders, but died at the guns of my own countrymen, let me stand and die by looking into your eyes. ”

The firing squad was ready, and ten Hanyang-made rifles were aimed at their chests. Seventeen-year-old Qin Beiyang, standing like a tall pine tree, the jade pendant close to his heart began to heat up, and the eyes of the nine colors and Anna were the same glazed as Anna.

Bullets were waiting in the chamber of the gun, and above the lead-gray sky, countless huge crows flew by, waiting to peck at the flesh of the dead.

Qi Yuanshan's legs were no longer trembling, and he shouted loudly: "The Sixth Division of the Beiyang Army, my father was your commander back then!" ”

The bullet was loaded, the bolt was pulled, and just as the trigger was being pulled, a soldier on horseback passed by and said, "Stop!" ”

The firing squad immediately lowered their guns and saluted in unison.

Qi Yuanshan had already closed his eyes and was waiting for death, he still gasped like a yang, squinted his eyes, saw the man on the war horse clearly, and immediately roared and shouted: "Uncle save me!" ”

The other party is in his fifties, with two brush-like beards on his upper lip and three gold stars on the epaulettes of his blue military uniform, which is the highest rank of general in the Beiyang government. He dismounted, confused, and approached with an eyebrow furrowed.

"Uncle, I am Qi Yuanshan, the son of Qi Heavy Soldiers, the Sixth Town Infantry Co-Commander of the Beiyang Army!"

"You...... The children of Qi heavy soldiers? ”

The general's face is majestic, and at a glance he knows that he is an old minister of Beiyang, and he shows the demeanor of a general in his gestures.

Qi Yuanshan was still struggling desperately, and tears burst out of his eyes again: "I remember when I was seven years old, you came to my house as a guest, and you hugged me with your own hands?" ”

"It's a distant mountain!"

The general untied the rope for him with his own hands. Before Qi Yuanshan could say thank you, he also loosened his ties for Qin Beiyang.

"Who is this?"

Qin Beiyang asked in a low voice, and Qi Yuanshan almost sang: "The current Prime Minister of the Republic of China and Chief of the Army 'Dragon of the Beiyang' Wang Shizhen!" ”

The Beiyang Dragon meets the Beiyang Dragon.

Wang Shizhen put his arm around Qi Yuanshan and sighed repeatedly: "In the year of Gengzi, the Beiyang Army was stationed in Shandong. I led a detachment of bandits to be surrounded by tens of thousands of boxers, and my life was on the verge of death, but fortunately your father rescued me and hung the lottery for me. Ling Zun and I are both fellow villagers in Zhengding County, and we have been brothers of the opposite sex since then. ”

"That year, I was just born, and my dad told me about it."

"Virtuous nephew, you have been deaf and clear since you were a child, you can hear the wind and distinguish sounds, and you can shoot target bullets without missing a shot."

Qi Yuanshan nodded again and again, and couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Uncle, in the Xinhai year, at Yuan Shikai's birthday banquet, I recited the full text of the Beiyang Infantry Drill Manual. You also praised me - the blue is better than the blue, and you will definitely compete in the Central Plains, win the world, and open up territory for China! ”

"That year, as the last Minister of War, I was as loyal to the Qing court as your father. He was assassinated by Yuan Shikai, and I was also disarmed and returned to the field, and I am ashamed that I failed to help your orphans and widows. I also visited you, but I heard that you served in the Engineer Regiment and were wiped out in Taihang Mountain last year, thinking that you are no longer alive. ”

"Uncle, I have long been a civilian, and I have been in trouble recently, so I don't want to be mistaken for a spy."

Wang Shizhen called the military judge, whipped him severely, and strictly forbade the sumptuous execution of anyone, whether a spy or a deserter.

Seeing that Qi Yuanshan was soaked and shivering in winter, Wang Shizhen changed him into a warm Beiyang Army coat. The five-color flag gold star on the cockade and the epaulettes of the second lieutenant of the army are like the romantic figures of the time.

"Since ancient times, heroes have come out of teenagers! This Sixth Division of the Beiyang Army was originally an old unit commanded by your father, and the officers were all our fellow countrymen. Far mountain nephew, I have appointed you to be my secretary. ”

Premier Wang Shizhen stroked his beard, which reminded Qin Beiyang of Ouyang Sicong's style, but this one came from a bigger one, controlling the net worth of thousands of troops and hundreds of millions of people.

Someone also handed Qin Beiyang a set of military uniforms. He was about to excuse himself when there was a loud bang above his head. Countless shells fell to the city wall of Baoshan, buzzing in the ears, stumps and heads flew in the sky, and half of the firing squad had been killed.

Qin Beiyang lay down in the pile of dead people and asked, "Yuanshan, who is firing at the Beiyang Army?" ”

"It's also the Beiyang Army!"

"This is a fucking mess!"