Chapter 7 Return (Fourth)

Although he had already had an unknown premonition in his heart, Zhang Songling was still beaten by a bolt from the blue, and his questioning words rushed out: "How could this happen?! Didn't the superior say that the bravery of fighting should be given priority? Looking at the country, which team is more desperate than our 26th Route, from Peking, Niangziguan to Taierzhuang, when did we 26th Routes rush to the front and retreat at the end?"

"I don't know what the reason is." Peng Xuewen moved his body outward to avoid being affected by the fish in the pond. "I just want to tell you a fact. The twenty-six roads have long been gone. A few days ago, your commander Feng Anbang was also killed. You are rushing back now and can only accompany General Sun to sit on the bench. In a short period of time, you will definitely not find any opportunity to go to the battlefield."

"What did you say?" Zhang Songling rushed over like a wounded lion, grabbed Peng Xuewen's neck tightly, and roared loudly: "What did you say, say it again, what's wrong with General Feng Anbang, General Feng Anbang, what's wrong with him?"

Even though he had already taken precautions, Peng Xuewen still couldn't escape. He was so angry that he waved his hands and patted Zhang Songling on the back, "Let go, let go, you, you want to strangle me to death, Feng, General Feng, no, you, you, save, help..."

Several agents hiding beside him drinking saw something wrong, so they quickly ran forward and picked up Zhang Songling, which made Peng Xuewen finally escape. He quickly walked away for more than ten steps away. While rubbing his neck that was pinched by purple, he whispered, "Let him go, he is just too sad. You guys continue drinking. Don't come over and meddle in other people's business."

"Yes." Several of his subordinates' kindness was not rewarded. They left Zhang Songling and left reluctantly. Looking at the fat Zhang who was squatting on the ground, Peng Xuewen sighed and comforted in a low voice: "General Peng was killed by the Japanese plane. You also know that our air defense methods have never been very good, but it is said that he left peacefully and basically did not suffer much."

I don’t know if these few lies worked or Zhang Songling thought it was easy to think about it himself. The latter did not pounce on him anymore, but silently grabbed a handful of floating soil, stood up silently, and silently let go of his fingers towards the wind.

The floating soil slowly slid from his palm, like smoke, floating far to the south under the setting sun. In the tears, Zhang Songling saw a honest elder slowly walking out of the smoke and dust, and waved at him, "Little brother, goodbye."

"Sir, goodbye." Zhang Songling solemnly saluted his military salute to the smoke and dust that had gone away.

Several agents who had retreated to the distance felt sad when they saw this scene. They raised their teapots and raised the wine inside to the sky. The aroma of horse milk wine quickly spread across the grassland. They were mellow and solemn. Several war horses who were lowering their heads to eat grass on the roadside smelled the smell of wine, raised their necks, and let out a series of wanton roars, "Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu,"

"Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu," more war horses joined in, gathering the roar louder and spreading farther away. The echoes in the wilderness and the neighing of the horses quickly overlapped together, and repeatedly stirred between the world, "Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu, Xiuxu," Soul Xiuxu, and Soul Xiuxu.

When the sound of horses gradually faded and the sky became completely dark. When you rush to the night, you are prone to wolves. Zhang Songling was unwilling to take such meaningless danger. He found a relatively low-lying place on the side of the road, led his three mounts and walked over, and silently began to prepare for camping in the wild.

Peng Xuewen had always had the idea of ​​bringing his cheap brother-in-law back to his command, and followed with four confidants. These people were old men of the Iron Blood Anti-Traitor Group and had long been used to sleeping in the open. With their help, all the work was done in an orderly manner. Not long after, three simple tents were set up on the grass. Some people collected some dry grass leaves from around, piled them into small piles, lit them with matches, and some people cut some unknown shrub branches with knives, and put them on the grass piles in small handfuls, attracting the flames even bigger.

The shrub that was cut at will was very dry, with beige flowers blooming on it. (Note 2) It quickly burned up after being fired, emitting a faint fragrance. Six big men sat in front of the fire, thinking about their own thoughts, and no one was willing to speak easily. Only the bursting sound of the shrub kept ringing in the fire, "crack, crackle!" The sounds were urgent, and the sounds were urging people to grow old.

After all, it is not a solution to sit down. After about half an hour later, Peng Xuewen raised his head and ordered loudly as his boss, "Get ready to go to bed. Everyone will work together on the night. Brother Zhang and I are in the first half of the night. You four are divided into two shifts. The second half of the night and the early morning. We are all more alert and put our pistol next to the pillow. There is no village in front of us or shop in the back. Maybe we will encounter some trouble."

"Yes." Several agents agreed and automatically divided into two groups, each with a tent, and fell asleep. After a moment, a gentle snoring sound came from the night sky.

Seeing that there were no third ears nearby, Peng Xuewen lowered his voice and said slowly: "I was also very shocked when I heard about General Feng's death. But this was during the war. Each of us must be mentally prepared. As long as we live for one day, we will fight hard with the Japanese. Even if we die, we will not feel ashamed of those robes and commanders who have left first."

"Yes." Zhang Songling was not in the mood to listen to him telling the big truth, hugged his shoulders and responded in a depressed manner.

Although the secret service regiment was a military officer reserve team of the 26th Route, it was nominally under the 27th Division. The division commander Feng Anbang dealt with everyone the most and had always taken great care of the secret service regiment. Zhang Songling's first medal was made by General Feng Anbang for him to put it on his chest. When he evacuated from near Peiping, he was infected with his wounds. It was Feng Anbang who used his power to get special medicine from Shanghai and saved his life.

It can be said that in addition to his immediate superior Lao Gou, Feng Anbang was the general that Zhang Songling admired the most. His deep feelings for this man were ranked above the elder Ji Shaowu and the eldest master Sun Lianzhong. However, this loyal elder disappeared silently from the world without any preparation. Just like many elders and brothers of the elder Twenty-six, they turned into a bright star in the sky.

"There are also difficulties in the superiors. Two of the three major arsenals in the country have been occupied by the Japanese, and the remaining one may fall into the hands of the Japanese at any time. At present, guns and ammunition are basically all relying on imports. Of course, we must give priority to replenishing those troops with still strength." Peng Xuewen thought for a while and continued to speak out.

The reason why Sun Lianzhong's team was not replenished for a long time was definitely not just because of the current difficulty in supplying military ordnance by the National Government, but this was the only one who could get it on the table. Peng Xuewen felt indignant after hearing about the others, let alone taking them out to enlighten Zhang Songling.

"Yes." He replied with another muffled groan. Zhang Songling still hugged his shoulders with both hands, as if no matter how close to the fire, he could not warm his body.

The night wind on the grassland was very hard, and through the clothes, it made people's backs cold. Peng Xuewen himself felt a little cold, so he moved his body and sat closer to Zhang Songling. "We two leaned together, it would be more comfortable."

Zhang Songling did not refuse this proposal, turned around and pressed Peng Xuewen's back against Peng Xuewen's back spine.

He was still in the mood to speak, just looking at the sky above his head lonely. It was already mid-autumn season, and the days passed so fast. At this time last year, he was still riding on a canned train with Lao Gou, Shi Tou and others to rush to Niangzi Pass. During those days, twenty-six routes were marked as the steel heads of the Chinese army in the newspaper. From top to bottom, almost everyone felt that the scenery was incredible. But now, this army has become a legend, with no bones left, (Note 3)

As a senior and brother-in-law who had seen with his own eyes, Peng Xuewen could feel Zhang Songling's mood at this time, but the more in this state, the greater the possibility of Peng Xuewen recruiting him under his command. Although Zhang Songling is not as easy to control as other agents under Peng Xuewen, he has good shooting skills, boldness, rich experience in fighting with the Japanese, and has a marriage relationship with Peng Xuewen. If he uses it well, he can become the other party's right-hand man.

With the mentality of seeking talents, Peng Xuewen decided to chat with Zhang Songling deeper, and pressed his back hard. He whispered, "I know you can't bear to leave the old army, have feelings and righteousness. This is a good thing, but a man can't just rely on feelings. You have to think about other aspects, such as personal future, surrounding development environment, and general trends. I am not urging you to climb up all the time, I just feel that only when a person reaches a certain position can he do what he wants. If he can't reach that position, the more he thinks in his heart, the more tired he is to live."

"What is a big trend?" Zhang Songling finally responded, faintly, as deep as a dream.

Peng Xuewen was immediately happy, thought for a while, and explained in a low voice: "The so-called big trend is the future development direction of the surrounding environment, which is what the ancients said about the secrets of heaven. Only when people understand the secrets of heaven can they make a difference. Otherwise, they will be useless to work hard. Let's take your old team as an example. Even if they are filled with soldiers and guns and ammunition, what can they do? Abolish all the military leaders and gradually bring the power of the troops to the central government. This is the big trend. If you are in power, you may have to do this."

Zhang Songling's back stiffened significantly, and then sighed and relaxed. Indeed, the twenty-six routes were neither favored by the Northwest Army nor could they enter the core of the Central Army. They were just a motherless child. The so-called scenery before was just a flash in the pan. After the scenery, it ended and it would never be possible to create glory again.

"So, I advise you to think clearly before making a decision. As the saying goes, women are afraid of marrying the wrong man, and men are afraid of entering the wrong career." Peng Xuewen knew that his words had already worked, so he simply shot while the iron was hot. "Even if you fight the Japanese, you should know who to stand with, otherwise you will have all your skills, but, ah,."

Before he could finish his words, his back suddenly became empty and he fell back to the fire. Zhang Songling suddenly stood up and strided to lead his war horse. "If it's what you said, next time he went to war with the Japanese, who would be willing to stand in front? I'll leave, we'll have a date later."

Note 1: The 26th Routes of Sun Lianzhong's troops fought tenaciously in the early stages of the War of Resistance. The 30th and 31st Division were basically eliminated. The 27th Division lost more than half of the battle of Taierzhuang. It immediately took on the task of retreating to the rear of the Xuzhou palace and almost broke up. The division commander Feng Zhian was also killed by the Japanese invaders in the autumn of 1938.

Note 2: A shrub with white flowers, commonly known as dried plums, is a herb. It turns out that it is very common on the grassland. The branches are semi-dry all year round, and the flowers are also very dry. They can be kept in the house for several years without falling.

Note 3: It was not until the summer of 1939 that Sun Lianzhong personally went to Chongqing for activities. It took more than two months before he won the title of deputy commander of the war zone. However, the troops under his command were temporarily pieced together, with extremely poor combat power, and the leading generals each had their own backstage and refused to obey his command, which led to Sun Lianzhong's failure to achieve the result of Taierzhuang's record in the subsequent War of Resistance Against Japan, which is a great regret.
Chapter completed!