Chapter 13: Changing Guards (36)

At the end of July, Mo Di had been in the General Hospital of the 21st Group Army for almost two months, and he felt that his body had improved greatly, but the attending doctor believed that he had not yet recovered, and his lung problems still existed, and if he wanted to be completely cured, it was best to stay in the hospital for another month. Traditional Chinese medicine Mr. Wu also believes that Mo Di still needs to continue to consolidate, let alone stop the treatment, he believes that the reason why Mo Di can have the current effect, mainly because he insists on spitting, but Tu Na plays a only a subsidized role, and the final decisive role is to regulate Mo Di's body, and the body is healthy and poisonous, so in the view of Wu Lao Chinese Medicine, Mo Di is best to stay in Lihuang for a year, and next spring will be very good, so that he can show his skills and kill the Japanese invaders.

In this case, Mo Dou and set his mind and make plans for the New Year in Lihuang.

On this day, there were two uninvited guests in the ward, who were completely unexpected, one was Cheng Shufen, deputy commander of the 48th Army, and the other was Su Tingxun, commander of the 173rd Division. Both of them brought condolences to Mo Di, relatively speaking, Su Tingxun's condolences were much higher-end, Cheng Shufen's was only some wild fruits in the deep ditch, but Su Tingxun brought some imported goods from the United States, canned beef, compressed biscuits, and two bottles of brandy produced in an unknown country, one color of foreign languages. Seeing these items that are usually difficult to see, Rao is invincible vision is not low and flashes of golden light.

"Master Su is too polite!" Mo Di said from the heart.

"Tianzhong, soon you will find out that there is a reason for Brother Shumin's (Su Tingxun's character) to give him a generous gift, and the teacher is famous!" Cheng Shufen said with a smile: "It is said that Mo Tian is very intelligent, and guess it." ”

"Oh! But Chief Su wants to be promoted to an important position in the military department? Mo Di guessed: "Congratulations to Chief Su!" ”

"Hahahaha, people say that Tianzong is a small Zhuge in Dabie Mountain, seeing Ye Zhiqiu, he guessed it, and it was so." Cheng Shufen laughed and said: "Talking to smart people is to save energy." ”

Su Tingxun, a native of Lingchuan, is a graduate of the Guangxi Army Accelerated School, and Li Zongren and Huang Xuchu are classmates at the same time. This time, the 173rd Division was assigned to the 48th Army, and Su Tingxun thought it was just a normal transfer at first, but in less than three months, he was appointed deputy commander of the 48th Army, deputy commander of the lieutenant general, and the officer was promoted to one level. According to the regulations, he will no longer concurrently serve as the commander of the 173rd Division, and will be replaced by Liu Fang, the former deputy division commander.

Cheng Shufen, the former deputy commander of the 48th Army, was transferred away before his butt was hot, and he was transferred to the Seventh Army as the deputy commander. This transfer made Cheng Shufen even more satisfied, after all, he had been staying in the Seventh Army, and the 172nd Division was his descendant unit.

Su Tingxun is 50 years old this year, he is an old-fashioned person, he smiled and said to Mo Di: "We old guys, we are really not suitable to be the commander-in-chief of the division, the division-level units under the jurisdiction of the 21st Group Army are all C-level divisions under the three-regiment system, and the division-level commander-in-chief should be a younger general in the year of fighting, and I can be the last deputy commander, and it can be regarded as burning incense and emitting green smoke from the grave. ”

Cheng Shufen laughed, even if he was reasonable, he also came up with a reason to refute it, thinking that Qi Daozheng, the commander of the 171st Division, was the same as Su Tingxun, the old qualification of graduating from the Guangxi Army Accelerated School, why would he only be in the post of division commander, and Zhong Ji, Tan, He Yi, and Li Benyi.

When Mo Di heard Cheng Shufen's words, he also felt that it was not normal, Qi Daozheng was the same as him, a fellow countryman among his fellow villagers, he was a little unhappy about this fellow taking the position of division commander with the rank of lieutenant general. Qi Daozheng entered the front line of the Anti-Japanese War with the deputy commander of the 171st Division and Yang Junchang's deputy, and after that, he also served as He Weizhen's deputy division commander, Xu Qiming's deputy division commander, and was once demoted to the front-line commander of the 170th Division. Suddenly, Mo Di remembered a question and asked Cheng Shufen: "Chief Cheng, I heard that some senior officers of the 21st Group Army have not been formally appointed by the Central Military Commission's Interpretation and Narrative Department, is there such a thing?" ”

Of course, Cheng Shufen knew this, when the Gui army went to Shanghai, although it accepted the troop establishment of the Central Military Commission, the military rank of the generals with the troops has not been on the same track as the central government, because the military rank of the Gui army is generally higher than that of the central army. Liao Lei, Xia Wei, Li Pinxian, and other leaders of the group army all held the rank of general in the Gui army, while Bai Chongxi, who was higher than them, only received the rank of lieutenant general in 1937. In this way, the generals of the Gui Army will basically be demoted by one rank. There is a saying that it is easy to be promoted and it is difficult to be demoted, and some generals of the Gui Army were angry and did not accept the interpretation of the Central Military Commission, and still hung the military rank within the Gui department, and it became natural for a while. Qi Daozheng, like Su Tingxun, was only relegated to the rank of colonel in 1937, while Mo Di at that time was only relegated to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later, Mo Di was promoted to colonel because of his military exploits, and Qi Daozheng and Su Tingxun were also promoted to major generals, so they have two military ranks, and everyone usually calls them lieutenant generals, but in fact, in the military department, their archives are just major generals, which are slightly lower than Lieutenant General Zhong Ji and Lieutenant General Zhang Guangwei who have been explained by the Military Commission. Zhong Ji, who became a lieutenant general at the age of thirty-four, is considered a leader in the Gui family, and if it weren't for his lack of qualifications, it would be entirely possible to become the commander of the First Army.

Thinking of this, Mo Di secretly glanced at Cheng Shufen, this is also a fifty-year-old general, a native of Huanggang, Hubei, and when it comes to understanding that Jiagui Tian Ye has returned to his roots, if nothing else, the position of deputy commander of the Seventh Army will be his highest position in the Gui Army, and if he makes a bold prediction, it is unknown that Qi Daozheng will soon take over his position. Since Su Tingxun was able to take him down the first time, Qi Daozheng might be able to take him down the second time.

After sending off the two deputy commanders, Mo Di breathed a sigh of relief, he was not very willing to get along with the superiors, and he was under pressure.

In August, the weather in Lihuang became extremely hot, and Jin Tongxuan's wife gave birth to a son. This is the first time he went to Jinjiazhai, the prosperity of Jinjiazhai really scared him a lot, where is still a mountain town, the general county is also difficult to compare. Jin Tongxuan held a banquet in a restaurant called Shilixiang in Jinjiazhai, and the scale of this restaurant was not small, and there were ten tables in the hall on the second floor, which was very magnificent. Jin Tongxuan is one of the few people in Lihuang City who do not have to do business and have enough money to spend, his parents and parents-in-law have tried their best to finally send a couple to Lihuang, the arrival of this couple not only brought condolences from both parents, but also brought a large amount of fiat currency and Guangyang. Jin Tongxuan bought a two-entry yard at the east end of Zhongzheng Road, with a main house and a side room, and a small back garden.

Wash the three wines and eat quickly, firstly, Jin Tongxuan was busy greeting guests, except for Jin Tongxuan, there are not many people who are familiar with Mo Di in Lihuang, only Wei Yongcheng is one. Wei Yongcheng's wife, Jiang Huaxiu, went to Xi'an because of the summer vacation, leaving him alone in Lihuang. The second is that the hotel is smoky, the air is dirty, and the respiratory tract is damaged, so it is particularly sensitive to this kind of occasion. Wei Yongcheng introduced the people at the same table to Mo Di, all of whom were from the Civil Affairs Department, and everyone welcomed the fact that a chief of staff of the 48th Army was stuffed into their table. Mo Di is famous in the six counties of Anqing West, but he has no reputation in Lihuang, let alone the prestige of being invincible in the world, just an ordinary colonel. Mo Di didn't plan to have too much intersection with them, and after eating for a while, he said goodbye to Wei Yongcheng, for the simple reason that he was worried that the air in the hotel would cause coughing. Seeing that Mo Di was unwilling to stay longer, Wei Yongcheng also put down the chopsticks in his hand, accompanied Mo Di to say goodbye to Jin Tongxuan, and after giving Jin Tongxuan's child a big red envelope, he came to a chicly decorated teahouse by the Shi River.

"I have a hunch that I can't stay in Lihuang for long." Mo Di said: "This breakup, I don't know when we will see each other again." ”

Wei Yongcheng shook his head and said, "Not necessarily, the mountains don't turn around, it's hard to say that after a while, you will be transferred to the 21st Group Army, and we can chat together again." ”

The teahouse by the Shi River is much more advanced than that of Xiangshan Temple, exquisite and elegant, and very charming. Mo Di sat in a small cubicle near the river, a small table of rosewood near the window, and a futon on both sides, this is the guest seat, a small red clay stove is booming, and the water in the small iron kettle has been boiled, and a white mist comes out. The pottery cup shows the ancient meaning, the tea color is more elegant, the river breeze blows, and the tea fragrance fills the space.

"This Lujiang war, the area from Hefei in the northwest of Chaohu Lake to Anqing in the south should be stable for one or two years, and there should be no problem. Even if you go down to the grassroots level, you won't have too many risks of war, and I'm not worried about your safety. Wei Yongcheng said: "The only thing to worry about is your body, after raising these days, it looks like you have some meat on your face, and the water color is much better, but your current situation is really troublesome, Su Zuxin and Yang Zanmo of the 48th Army are all smokers, especially Yang Zanmo, who is not far from Hademen, the environment of the military department, I am afraid that you are a little difficult to overcome." ”

"Not only the military headquarters of the 48th Army, which organ is not smoky, and now there are a few people who do not smoke." Mo Di nodded and said, "It's still your uncle who is insightful and advocates the New Life Movement, and doesn't smoke or drink." I finally know the benefits of the New Life Movement! ”

"Hahahaha!" Wei Yongcheng said with a smile: "During the Chinese New Year, I saw him, although he is not a smoker, he is more like a smoker than any smoker, and he is as thin as a numb." His life was truly austere, unruly to the point of outrageousness. Although Wei Yongcheng did not have much respect for Chiang Kai-shek, he recognized his life very much, as the head of a country, each meal fixed four dishes and one soup, the taste was mainly cooked in his hometown Ningbo, and he preferred vegetables, fruits, small fish and shrimp, never extravagant and wasteful. Never drank alcohol, smoked, drank tea, or even drank a cup of coffee in decades. Wei Yongcheng believed that it was precisely because of this perseverance that Chiang Kai-shek could persist in resisting Japan in an extremely difficult environment and not give up easily. It can be said that as long as Chiang Kai-shek is there, China will not be destroyed, and China's War of Resistance will definitely be victorious.

Mo Di asked Wei Yongcheng, is there any way to find an idle position, it is better not to stay in the agency. Wei Yongcheng thought about it and said to Mo Di, there really is such a position. Mo Di hurriedly asked what it was? Wei Yongcheng told him that Su Tingxun had made a joke in the past few days, a joke bigger than Liu Heding of the 39th Army. On the second day after he became the deputy commander of the 48th Army, the 173rd Division was transferred out of the 48th Army and transferred to the Seventh Army. In the 48th Army, Su Tingxun was left alone, like an orphan. Su Tingxun was a little annoyed, he arrived late and left early in the deep ditch shop and didn't go to work, he didn't speak at the meeting, and it was all negative nonsense to say. The above also knew that he had gone too far this time, and turned a blind eye to Su Tingxun, Li Pinxian repeatedly told the Political Department not to rectify Su Tingxun's materials. Yang Zanmo of the 48th Army was a real wise man, and proposed the establishment of the Tong (Cheng) Lu (Jiang) Wu (Wei) Garrison Command, with Su Tingxun as the commander of the headquarters, and the headquarters was located in Tongcheng. The report has been submitted and approved by the 21st Group Army, the Anhui Provincial Government, and the Anhui Provincial Garrison Command. At present, it is necessary to prepare a group of people for Su Tingxun, so that he can stay away from the deep ditch shop and do whatever he likes. Since Mo Di asked, Wei Yongcheng proposed that Mo Di go to Tongcheng, and while serving as the chief of staff of the 48th Army, he also served as Su Tingxun's colonel commander and adjutant.

It's a great thing to be happy that this position can be said to be tailor-made for yourself. Staying in Tongcheng is not a little better than staying in the ravine. I stayed in Tongcheng for a month before, and I was deeply impressed by Tongcheng, but unfortunately the time was too short to savor the culture of Tongcheng, which was a great opportunity.