Facing the soldiers holding spears that suddenly appeared, Xia Lianshan, the commander of the cavalry company, immediately recognized the other party from their military uniforms as Yan Xishan's Jin army uniform, if nothing else, it should be the 12th Brigade of the Du.

"We are the cavalry company of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, I am the company commander Xia Lianshan, may I ask my brother, which part of the Jin army are you?"

The soldiers who intercepted in front of the cavalry horse head were indeed the 570 Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, and the leader of the team was a squad leader. But since the comers belonged to friendly forces, their vigilance was relaxed, and the squad leader reported his own door and asked the other party about his intentions.

Xia Lianshan confirmed the identity of the other party, immediately turned over and dismounted, and said with a smile to the Jin army squad leader in front of him who was similar to his own size: "Fellow, are you from Pingquan County?" My hometown, but it's in this county town behind you! ”

The hometown of the squad leader of the Jin Army is Shouyang County on Zhengtai Road, and at this time, he heard the cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army speak authentic Shanxi dialect, and claimed that his hometown is in Pingquan County, so he couldn't help but feel a little closer; Moreover, although the other party did not have a military rank mark on his military uniform, after all, the number was reported as a company commander, and he immediately put his spear on the ground and took the lead in saluting Xia Lianshan: "Hello sir!" ”

Xia Lianshan returned the salute seriously, and then explained his intention to the other party, especially emphasizing that he had brought a letter that needed to be presented to the commander of the 12th Independent Brigade. Of course, he did not mention who the writer was.

In the regimental headquarters of the 570th Regiment, Tian Mingda was reviewing the grain requisition plan submitted by the chief of staff, and it was the season of green and yellow in early spring, and the grain and herbs carried by the army of the 12th Independent Brigade that had been defeated all the way were very limited, and if they did not go down to the countryside to collect grain, I am afraid it would be difficult to survive. Tian Mingda, who was in a bad mood, suddenly received a report that a small group of cavalry from the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army's Forest Division had come to visit and was stranded at the front of the first battalion's defense area at this moment.

Eighth route army? Or cavalry? The surprise of the commander of the 570 regiment was no less. So far, Tian Mingda has never dealt with the Eighth Route Army, and he has not even seen what the military uniform of the Eighth Route Army looks like; As for the names of Lin Shi and Xu Brigade, he had only heard the people from the brigade department talk about it a few times earlier, and his impression was completely unfamiliar. Why did this group of communist troops come to the door inexplicably?

The suspicious commander of the Jin Army was hesitating whether to meet the visitor in person or ask the adjutant to deal with it, but a detail of the report suddenly aroused his great interest: in addition to a dozen cavalrymen of the Eighth Route Army, there was also a large cart accompanied by a female soldier among the passengers, who was said to be extremely peugeot-looking.

The brigade headquarters of the 12th Brigade used to have less than ten female soldiers, most of whom were signal soldiers and clerks of the telecommunications class, but when the 570th Regiment was defending Fengdian County, the radio and communication personnel sent by the brigade headquarters from Wencheng to Fengdian were attacked by the Japanese army and lost several female soldiers.

Tian Mingda himself is very fond of women, in the early years when he was stationed in Wencheng, he also secretly went to the Qinglou in the city to prostitute himself, and later he was sent by the brigade commander to Fengdian County, dozens of miles away, and this hobby was interrupted. Knowing that the Eighth Route Army, which was currently waiting in the first battalion defense area, actually carried female soldiers, and they actually looked like a peugeot, the Jin Army was excited, so he decided to deign to go to the outpost to find out.

Sure enough, as soon as they met, Tian Mingda was amazed by the beautiful appearance of Zhang Xiu, a female soldier of the Eighth Route Army, and learned from the mouth of Xia Lianshan, the commander of the cavalry company of the other party, that the female soldier was the battalion headquarters of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Lin Division.

Xia Lianshan didn't notice this detail, and he didn't expect that the 12th Brigade of the Independent Army would come directly to a colonel to receive his party, and Tian Mingda's name was deeply remembered in his mind - although the cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army was unable to participate in the defense of Fengdian in person, but not long ago, when he was recuperating from his wounds at the headquarters of the 391st Regiment in Big Elm Mountain, no one in the Central Army did not scold Tian Mingda and the 570th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, precisely because they escaped from the battle. It finally led to the fall of Fengdian County into the hands of the Japanese invaders. At this moment, being able to see the dignity of Head Tian in person, Xia Lianshan's heart felt as if he had overturned the five-flavor bottle.

"Colonel Tian, dare to ask if the brigade headquarters of your brigade is stationed in Pingquan County right now?" Xia Lianshan tried his best to calm down his ups and downs: "I myself brought a handwritten letter from Wu Zijian, the deputy commander of our battalion, to present it to the commander of your brigade. ”

Seeing that the Jin army came forward to receive the colonel and regimental commander, Xia Lianshan did not dare to be vague about the identity of the letter writer, but how did he know that Tian Mingda's mind at this time was almost on the beautiful female soldier Zhang Xiu, and he did not find fault with the rank of the "deputy battalion commander".

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say," The Jin army commander hurriedly invited Xia Lianshan and his party to his regimental headquarters to take a break: "Give the letter to my adjutant and ask him to personally go into the city to run the brigade headquarters." As he spoke, he glanced at the female soldier wearing the uniform of the Eighth Route Army.

In Pingquan County, Zheng Yuan, the commander of the 12th Independent Brigade, did not have such a good temper in the face of a letter written by a deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army, and he called the adjutant of the 570th Regiment with dissatisfaction, and impatiently asked about the situation of the visitors, and then the boss reluctantly opened the letter.

This letter from Wu Zijian's handwriting to the commander of the 12th Brigade of the Independent Army, the subject is very simple, first informing the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Lin Division where the foot of the Guanmen Mountain is currently located, and the current situation of the unit's joint operations with the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, and then requesting the 12th Independent Brigade of the Jin Army to establish contact with the department to jointly resist the Japanese puppet forces.

"What a bad tone!" After reading it hastily, Zheng Yuan disdainfully threw away the letter in his hand: "The Eighth Route Army was originally a partial division that was recruited, how many guns can a battalion have?" A small deputy battalion commander is ashamed to send a few people to come to the alliance with me, a major general of the national army, is he also worthy?! ”

Tian Mingda's captain and adjutant replied cautiously: "Brigade seat, I saw this small Eighth Route Army with my own eyes just now, and more than a dozen cavalrymen are all Oriental horses under their crotches, and they are all 38-style cavalry spears in their hands, and the sabers seem to be Japanese goods; It seems that the equipment of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of this forest division should not be bad. ”

"Oh? Japanese from head to toe? Could it be that the Eighth Route Army was armed by the Japanese? The brigade commander of the Jin army rolled his eyes in confusion, greatly puzzled.

"Brigade, you're joking, it should be that this group of Eighth Route Army fought with the Japanese and captured it."

Hearing the adjutant of the 570 Regiment explain like this, Zheng Yuan's face couldn't help but be hot: Grandma, such a simple truth is so crooked! However, if it is really the sophisticated equipment taken from the Japanese, then the combat power of this Eighth Route Army is really not to be underestimated. At present, the 12th Brigade is alone behind the enemy, surrounded by strong enemies, and it is better to have an extra helper who is not far away than to fight alone. In addition, Xiao Junping, the missing intelligence staff officer of his brigade headquarters, has not been heard from, and it is said that he has been exiled to the Eighth Route Army, so he might as well use this clue to conduct an inquiry.

Thinking of this, Zheng Yuan instructed Tian Mingda's adjutant to ask the good students of the 570th Regiment to receive the visiting friendly liaison officers and their party; In the future, the liaison between the Second Battalion of the Eighth Route Army and the headquarters will be entrusted to the 570 Regiment Defense Area and the head of the regiment Tian Mingda - in the final analysis, no matter how well equipped the Eighth Route Army is, it is only a battalion, and after all, he is a dignified major general and brigade commander of the National Army, and it is impossible for him to condescend to deal with the other party in person.

In the face of the warm hospitality of the 570 regiment headquarters, Xia Lianshan's heart was still not good. In his instinctive consciousness, he is still full of closeness to this native hometown soldier; However, various legends about the 570 regiment abandoning Fengdian and escaping from the outside world made him feel like a fish in his throat. It's just that when he came, Deputy Battalion Commander Wu Zijian specially told himself to focus on the overall situation and not to easily expose the shameful scars of the 12th Independent Brigade; So the topic of the defense of Fengdian came to his lips several times, and he swallowed it back.

Tian Mingda's regimental headquarters requisitioned a villager's house, and temporarily erected two tents connected together, which included the regiment commander's bedroom, as well as the headquarters and the rest place of the guards. At a welcome luncheon set up in the regiment headquarters, the commander of the Jin Corps specially invited the beautiful female clerk of the Eighth Route Army and her company commander to sit together.

At this point, the female soldier Zhang Xiu had already felt a hint of obscenity from the malicious eyes frequently cast by the number one host, but the student soldiers who were not deeply involved in the world did not know how to deal with it, and secondly, out of care for the friendly relationship that the two armies had just established, so they held back. The cavalry company commander sitting next to her was in a complicated mood and never noticed this scene.

At the banquet, Xia Lianshan mentioned that his hometown was in Pingquan County, and in the afternoon, he wanted to take the opportunity to go to the city to visit his parents who had been absent for five years. Tian Mingda agreed, and said that he would send his subordinates to send Commander Xia into the city, and the rest of the Eighth Route Army brothers could stay in the regiment headquarters to rest. Zhang Xiu hurriedly proposed to accompany Xia Lianshan to visit Lingzun Lingtang, and hurriedly claimed that it was the deputy battalion commander Wu Zijian's intention, and she came forward to express her condolences to Xia Lianshan's family on behalf of the second battalion headquarters.

Seeing that the cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army agreed to the request of the female soldier, Tian Mingda couldn't help but show a look of disappointment on his face.

In this way, Xia Lianshan took two cavalry and female soldier Zhang Xiu, entered Pingquan County after luncheon, and arrived at the long-awaited old residence of the Xia family.

The parents of the Xia family, who are close to the age of the sixtieth birthday, were pleasantly surprised by the sudden return of their wanderer Xia Lianshan. Xia Lianshan, who is wealthy, has two older brothers and one sister, and the Cheng Ruixiang brand operated by the Xia family is a well-known silk and satin cloth merchant in Pingquan County, and there are two stores in Pingquan County alone, and the branch has even opened to the county seat of Huo County on the Tongpu railway line.

However, in the face of his relatives who had been reunited after a long absence, Xia Lianshan got bad news: his sister Xia Lily and his brother-in-law's entire family had all been killed in the battle in Fengdian, and none of them were spared!

The cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army, who was always concerned about his sister's safety, was like five thunderbolts, regardless of the presence of three male and female subordinates, he sat on a chair and cried. The crying voice led to Xia Lily's maid Sun Nier, who lived in a corner of the house, facing the young master who had traveled away from home many years ago and her appearance had changed greatly, Sun Nier did not dare to step forward, but stood silently in the corner and wept.

The old lady of the Xia family was afraid that her beloved son would be too sad, so she didn't want her family to tell the truth about Xia Lily's death, but vaguely claimed that Xia Lihe's whole family died in the Japanese siege of the city, and all the circumstances were brought back from Fengdian by the maid Sun Nier, who escaped death.

Xia Lianshan, who was distraught, grabbed the poor maid and cried and asked for details, Sun Nier was so frightened that she panicked, but fortunately, Zhang Xiu, a female soldier on the side, caught up in time and struggled to get rid of the cavalry company commander who was sad and angry like a lion. Xia Lianshan, who realized the gaffe, restrained his sadness. In an instant, the maid Sun Nier felt a sense of closeness to Zhang Xiu, who was dressed in a military uniform.

After calming down, Xia Lianshan learned from his sister's family's house in Fengdian that the headquarters of the 391st Regiment of the garrison was located at that time, and he immediately understood that when he was recuperating from his injuries in Big Elm Mountain, the officers and soldiers on the other side already knew about his relationship with Xia Baihe, but for understandable reasons, the other party concealed the tragic experience of the Xia family from him.

He was very grateful to Zhao Mutou, the commander of the 391st Regiment spy company who had never met so far, but sent his subordinates to escort Sun Nier back to his hometown in Jinnan during the war, and Sun Nier did not immediately tell the young master about the feelings between himself and the spy company commander. At this moment, she didn't know that in the next few days, she would not only reunite with the big brother Mu who had been thinking about it for a long time, but also become a female soldier in the enemy engineering team of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.