Li Long heard the sound of gunfire in the distance and gradually stopped, knowing that the battle was over. So he hurried down the city wall, mounted his horse and galloped towards the headquarters.

"Contact a regiment immediately to inquire about the battle!" As soon as he entered the door, Li Long commanded loudly.

At this time, the communications staff officer happened to come out of the confidential room, and when he saw Li Long coming back, he hurriedly greeted him, "Report to the commander, Commander Chen of the front line is in an emergency!" ”

Li Long snatched the telegram from the staff officer's hand, looked at it carefully, and then slapped it on the table and shouted excitedly, "It's dry!" Chief of Staff, look at it! As he spoke, he handed the telegram to Chang Sheng next to him.

Chang Sheng took the telegram and looked at it carefully, and couldn't help frowning, "Commander, it is certainly worth being happy that the front line has won the battle, but this Ding Xichun!" ”

Looking at Chang Sheng's worried expression, Li Long immediately understood what Chang Sheng meant, lowered his head and thought about it, "Don't care about so much first, welcome people into Chengde first, after all, one more person will have more strength." ”

The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, Li Long and Chang Sheng hurried to the front line on horseback with a few guards.

"Where is Brigadier Ding? Bring it to Brigadier Ding! Li Long said excitedly as soon as he got off the horse.

Hearing Li Long's voice, several people walked out of Chen Zhenpeng's regiment headquarters, one of which was a middle-aged man wearing a Northeast Army military uniform with a gold star hanging on his shoulder.

Li Long greeted him with a smile, "This must be Brigade Commander Ding!" I have admired the name of the general for a long time, and it is really a blessing to see it today! ”

The man arched his hand and smiled heartily, "This must be Commander Li!" Ding is just a defeated general, and his cheap name is really not enough to worry about! However, Commander Li's prestige is like thunder, and he is really a model for my Chinese resistance! ”

The two praised each other a few words, and then Li Long let everyone into Chen Zhenpeng's regimental headquarters. It turned out that the middle-aged major general was named Ding Xichun, and he was currently the commander of the 117th Brigade of the Northeast Army. Originally, he led his troops to block the Yue army on the front line in eastern Hebei, but after the rout of the front line, he led the remnants to retreat in the direction of Chengde. In order to avoid the pursuit of the army, he could only take the mountain path, and only felt Chengde after two days in the deep mountains, and last night he happened to meet Chen Zhenpeng leading his troops to attack the enemy camp at night, and Ding Xichun immediately led his troops to join the battle, thus defeating the army.

Li Long and Ding Xichun chatted for a while, Li Long gave Ding Xichun a brief introduction to the situation in Chengde City, and then arched his hand and said, "General Ding, at this time, the army is attacking in a big way, and Chengde is in danger!" The younger brother implored the general to take up the post of commander of the Chengde garrison and lead all of us to defend Chengde and fight against the Kou. Li Long knew in his heart that he couldn't compare with Ding Xichun in terms of seniority, not to mention that the second regiment that had just been incorporated was composed of former officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army. Therefore, for the sake of the overall situation, Li Long was willing to give up command.

Ding Xichun smiled and waved his hand. "Brother Li is the commander of the Chengde garrison officially appointed by the central political axe, and Ding Mou led his troops here, and he must strictly follow Commander Li's orders to jointly defend Chengde!"

Seeing Ding Xichun shirking, Li Long thought that Ding Xichun was hypocritical, so he continued, "Brother Ding's words are wrong! The younger brother is still shallow, and he has no talent, it is really difficult to convince the public, being the commander of the Chengde garrison is just an expedient measure, and now that Brother Ding has come, the younger brother should abdicate and make way for Xian, and only General Ding is the first to look forward! As for the appointment of the central political axe, we will send another telegram to Shangfeng to explain the current situation in Chengde City. ”

Ding Xichun couldn't help but be a little moved when he saw that Li Long's sincere attitude was not like a hypocrisy, but thinking that he only had less than 1,000 people left in his hands, and Li Long's troops were as many as 3,000, if he really agreed to Li Long, even if Li Long was willing, it would be difficult to guarantee that his generals would oppose it. In case there is a gap between the two soldiers and horses because of this, it will not be conducive to the overall situation of the Anti-Japanese War in the future. Thinking about this relationship, Ding Xichun shook his head and said, "Brother Li, I, Ding Xichun, am here to fight devils, not to rob your command." If the elder brother repeatedly shirks, Ding can only say goodbye! Please also ask my brother to focus on the overall situation of the Anti-Japanese War, don't shirk! ”

Seeing Ding Xichun's serious expression, Li Long was a little embarrassed for a while, and he didn't know what to say.

Ding Xichun held Li Long's hand and said with a smile, "Okay! That's it, you are still the commander, and I will assist you. Who dares to disobey the military order and miss a major event, Lao Tzu shot him! Saying that, Ding Xichun glanced at several of his subordinates with cold eyes, and Ding Xichun naturally saw Li Long's concerns. Under Ding Xichun's prestige, several regiment commanders and battalion commanders of the 117 Brigade naturally did not dare to say anything.

Seeing that Li Long was still hesitating, Ding Xichun hurriedly said, "If my brother still recognizes me as an old brother, then don't shirk!" You are the commander, I am on the side to assist, and our brothers will join hands to fight against Yukou! ”

Seeing Ding Xichun's repeated insistence, Li Long could only agree, and said casually, "Then I will be wronged brother!" ”

"That's right, they're all men with handles! Why bother to be so twisted and pinched, like a girl, not to mention that they are all for the War of Resistance to kill devils, what grievances are not wronged! Ding Xichun said with a smile.

Li Long no longer shirked, so everyone had a discussion on the deployment of the next battle. Since there were less than 1,000 people left in Ding Xichun's 117 Brigade at this time, it was temporarily reduced to three battalions. The two discussed it and decided to build two lines of defense outside Chengde City. The first line of defense was on the front line of the Shuangfeng Temple, relying on the favorable terrain to build a defensive line to block the Japanese army. Chen Zhenpeng's regiment and Ding Xichun's division each sent a battalion to garrison it, and Chen Zhenpeng was responsible for unified command. The second line of defense was built on the front line of Erdaohezi on the favorable terrain, and it was still garrisoned by a regiment and a battalion each sent by Ding Xichun's department, under the unified command of Zhao Guozhong, the commander of Ding Xichun's department. Ding Xichun served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy and was fully responsible for commanding the defenders outside the city.

Due to the heavy losses of the 1st Regiment and the 2nd Battalion in the battle last night, they were temporarily transferred back to Chengde City and the 3rd Battalion of Ding Xichun's Division as a reserve.

In the early morning of March 7, 1933, the Chengde Garrison Brigade and the 117th Brigade of the Northeast Army fought in coordination to annihilate the vanguard brigade of the Eighth Division of the Yue Army outside Chengde City, killing more than 1,000 people!

At the same time, Li Long and Ding Xichun jointly issued a telegram of resistance, "It is said that Kou first occupied the three eastern provinces, and then committed Rehe, occupied my rivers and mountains, and killed my compatriots!" The list of crimes is too numerous to mention. Li Long, Ding Xichun and others belong to the army, and they have the responsibility to defend the land, resist for the sake of salvation and survival, and vow to live and die together in Chengde City! Although sacrificed to the point of one soldier, he will never retreat in order to preserve the personality of the Chinese soldiers! ......At the same time, he called on all ministries to rise up against the violent aggression and called on all sectors of society to support the frontline to resist the Japanese invasion. (To be continued.) )