Chapter 25 Volume Three Victories

On the evening before the bloody battle broke out, Xiang Gong's staff officer and Duan Renyi, head of the regiment, went to the front line of Lagangzi Village to inspect.That day, the sky was very warm, and the spring scenery had not been shattered by the artillery fire. The green should be green, the green should be green, the hillsides are dotted with wild flowers, and the sunshine of April sprinkles the earth.The land is a wheat field, and the wheat is very good. It is spread from the hill in front of Xiagangzi Village to the Xima River below the hill.The Xima River flows silently, and the intoxicating halo of the setting sun floats on the surface of the river.

No one believed that a war was imminent, not to mention the brothers of the New Third Regiment, not even Duan Renyi, the head of the regiment.When walking from the regiment headquarters of Shanggangzi Village to the front of Xiagangzi Village, the head of the regiment, Duan Renyi, kept nagging about the crops in the field, causing Xiang Gong's staff to keep reminding Duan Renyi to remember his identity: he was no longer the county magistrate, but It is the head of the regiment; what is related to him is not the crops, but the war! Duan Renyi said again and again that when he walked to the village of Xiagangzi, he seemed to have a deeper concept of going to war.He stopped and stood among the weeds on the fence, squinted his eyes and looked at the wheat fields below, and saw many bare backs and bare heads, thinking he had discovered a serious problem:

"Why haven't these people evacuated yet?" Mr. Xiang couldn't laugh or cry: "Captain Duan, look more clearly, this is your soldier!" Duan Renyi was startled: "My soldiers? What are they doing?" Mr. Xiang is annoyed: "Dig a trench!" "Dig trenches? That's good! That's good!" "Once it starts, this is the frontier!" "Okay! It's good to be the frontier here! Oh, the terrain is good!" As Duan Renyi said, he walked down the courtyard and looked around at the scenery, showing no sense of shame.

After getting out of the yard and approaching, the soldiers in the wheat field got up to greet Duan Renyi one after another, calling him the county magistrate over and over again.He agreed to everything, clasped his fists together, and said incessantly, "Brothers have worked hard", "Brothers have worked hard", as if these soldiers were not preparing for war, but helping build the courtyard wall for his house.Seeing the older soldiers, he leaned over to chat a few words, asking if they are used to being in the army?An old soldier said he was not used to it, so he cried after speaking, which made his eye circles red...

Mr. Xiang couldn't stand it any longer, his brows were furrowed into a knot, his face was stretched, and he followed closely behind Duan Renyi without saying a word.When he walked to the slope in the middle of the trench, he saw a 14 or 15-year-old soldier urinating with his back to Duan Renyi. The command "Stand Attention" was issued. Few people take passwords seriously.The old soldier who was chatting with Captain Duan Renyi was still wiping his tears, and the little soldier who was urinating with his back turned to him was still urinating.In a depression not far away, an old man with a piece of floral cloth wrapped around his head, he didn’t know if he didn’t hear the password, or something, but continued to sing his "Little Widow Going to the Grave" with his voice squeezed. People applauded him loudly.Two guys wearing only shorts were wrestling, falling from the wheat field into a shallow trench, and from the trench to a new mound of soil. They didn't stop when they heard the password, and there were many people booing behind them. .Some soldiers nearby managed to stand upright, but all of them looked crooked like their bones were falling apart.

Does this look like fighting a bad war? Fang Xianggong was on fire, kicked the peeing soldier down, pulled out his gun, and fired two shots into the sky above the depression. Unexpectedly, as soon as the two shots were fired, an old man with a beard ran up to his feet. Before he could understand what was going on, the old man was already holding a shiny shell, and asked him with a face like a walnut skin. : "Master Fang, how often have you fired?" He gave the old Han Bing a hard look, and shouted "Stand Attention" again. The old soldier stood up, pretended to stand up for a while, and then tilted his head:

"I want this kind of cartridge case. In the future, Master Fang, please... you can save some for me. I will give you the money! I can buy you cigarettes for you all the time! This kind of cartridge case..." He slapped the old Han Bing face to face. "Did you fucking serve as a soldier to eat food, or to collect junk?" The old soldier didn't dare to make a sound. In order to ease the atmosphere, Duan Renyi walked up to him and said: "Does Staff Fang have good eyesight? This old man is really a junk collector. His name is Liu Polan. He works under the Marquis Commander of the Third Battalion. Well done, oh, not bad! Not bad!"

He ignored Duan Renyi and just yelled at Liu Polan: "What are the people from the third battalion doing in the second battalion?" "If you go back to Master Fang..." "What Master Fang? This is the New Third Regiment of the 23rd Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army! I, Xiang Gong, are a major staff officer sent by the headquarters of the 23rd Route Army, not Master!" Liu Polan hurriedly changed his words: "Yes! Yes! Staff Officer Fang! You are always a staff officer, older than my grandfather, I know..." "What the hell are you doing when you go from your job to your job? Do you want to be a deserter?"

Liu Polan panicked: "Uh, no, no! Master Hui Fang... Uh, no, no, the words of Hui Fang's staff officer are like this: Isn't the battalion commander of the second battalion loyal to Lan Yelan? Didn't Lan Ye and our third battalion Houying yesterday Didn’t Master Chang make a bet? Didn’t Master Lan lose? It’s two bottles of wine that he lost. Today, Master Hou asked me to pick it up. We’re working for Master Hou, so we have to listen and drink. Master Hou said: Go and get Liu Polan. Liquor, if I can’t say it, it’s disobedience to military orders, don’t you always tell your brothers that disobedience to military orders will be shot..."

Facing such soldiers, he simply couldn't do anything. He waved his hand and ordered Liu Poor to go away. After dismissing the rags of the third battalion, and looking at the distance and near, only to find that the rags of the second battalion on the front line finally stood up under the dual duress of gunshots and passwords.Some were poked in trenches, others in fresh mounds dug up.In the distant wheat field, two shitting soldiers were also standing with their ragged military trousers, half of their uncovered green buttocks were facing his face.There was obvious resentment on everyone's faces, and some even rolled their eyes at him.

He was so depressed that he couldn't help but think again: what he was going to command in this blocking battle was not a national army team, but a mob who had only been in uniform for three months. Ordinarily, he could have nothing to do with this group of mobsters, and he could be a staff officer next to Lieutenant General Han Peige, but he wanted to lead the troops. As a result, he was sent to this broken team with Adjutant Strider three months ago Come on, now that I think about it, I really asked for it.But now that it's here, the crime has to be endured. Commander Han's kindness to him is as great as a mountain, no matter how hard it is, he can't let Commander Han down.Not Commander-in-Chief Han, who lost his life outside Wuchang four years ago.Commander-in-Chief Han found him among the dead, put him on horseback and drove him four hundred miles in one go. At that time, he and Captain Duan Renyi were standing on the mound beside the trench.The soil was just dug out and was very soft. His feet in riding boots sank little by little. He ignored it and stared blankly at the soldiers standing at attention for a long time before offering his allegiance to the Second Battalion Commander Lan who appeared in front of him. : "Battle Commander Lan, is this a brother from the third and fourth companies of your battalion?" Lan Jinzhong, who was standing opposite Captain Duan Renyi, nodded. "Show me, who looks like a soldier here! Is this a forward position, or is it your large gathering in Xijiadian?" Lan Jinzhong was not convinced, hesitatingly said: "Brother... Brothers, it's not drill, it's... It's digging trenches." "Dig a trench?" He became more angry, turned half sideways, and pointed to the ditch behind him: "Look for yourself, is this a fucking trench? Can you be buried tightly? Can such soldiers, such a trench, fight? If you lose your position after the battle, aren't you afraid of being shot?" He was telling the truth, he knew Commander-in-Chief Han's temper, lost ground, not to mention that Lan Jinzhong was going to be shot, I'm afraid he and Captain Duan Renyi would also be shot.He thought bitterly, this group of company and battalion commanders really should be killed. This state of laziness and laxity cannot continue.If it continues, the prospect of the blocking war will be unimaginable, and the military power of the 23rd Route Army is doomed to be lost here! Regarding this, Duan Renyi should be as clear as he is.Therefore, he didn't discuss with Duan Renyi at all, and announced sharply that Duan Renyi would give a lecture. Duan Renyi was obviously unprepared. He put his hand on his saber and was stunned for a while, then turned his head and asked him: "Commander Fang, what should I train?" He snorted: "You still ask me? Do you think they look like soldiers? Do they look like digging trenches?" "Yes Yes!" Duan Renyi seemed to understand, raised his head, and began to lecture: "Brothers, what Staff Officer Fang said is right! Oh, yes! We are not ordinary people now, we are all, oh, soldiers, revolutionary soldiers who resisted Japan! Soldiers, oh, we have to look like soldiers, and we have to do whatever we want What is it like! Om, to dig a trench, you must dig the trench well, to fight a war, you must fight the battle well, Om, you must not be careless!" Duan Renyi trained seriously, with one arm on his waist, and the other was dancing frequently, which seemed to be the case. "Sloppiness is very bad! Brother, when I was the county magistrate, I encountered such an incident, oh, the higher-ups asked the brother association to take a counter-revolutionary, and the counter-revolutionary was called Liu Laoba. Brother sent someone, oh, to get it. Bring it and ask. , I knew it was wrong. The counter-revolutionary was called Liu Laoba, and the man the brother took was called Liu Laoba. With a lot of thought, I asked, wouldn’t it be a big mistake? So, don’t be sloppy! Oh, don’t be sloppy! Let’s talk about digging trenches. Do you think that sloppy is coaxing me or the other staff? No, it’s just you. When the battle starts and the guns are fired, who is unlucky? You are unlucky! Therefore, you must dig trenches well and listen to Staff Fang! Oh, listening to Staff Fang is listening to me. Staff Fang is for your own good. Staff Officer Fang said that we must be prepared to fight fierce battles, and my brother thinks it is very reasonable. If you have the right way, you must be prepared, oh, you will be safe from danger!" Duan Renyi wasn't made to be a regiment leader at all, and the lectures that were supposed to show majesty were messed up.He touched Duan Renyi's hand in dissatisfaction, wanting to remind Duan Renyi to show the demeanor of a regiment leader, but Duan Renyi didn't understand, and he still spoke nonchalantly to his subordinates: "Brother, this... I have a lot of experience with this! When brothers were the county magistrate in Xijiadian, oh, there was a rule of conduct that was to prepare everything beforehand. Brothers, do you still remember the flood disaster three years ago? Is Changchun in the east flooded? Is Wangyingzi in the north flooded? Is Xijiadian flooded? Not flooded! Why? Because my brother was prepared! There are three drainage ditches!" When it came to the topic of being the county magistrate, Duan Renyi talked a lot, and the content was solid. However, he became anxious. After all, this place was not Xijiadian, but the forward position. Seeing the sun set, the position was still in such chaos, he couldn't let Duan Renyi go on talking nonsense. He touched Captain Duan Renyi's hand again, and clearly reminded: "Captain Duan, it's getting late, don't you..." Duan Renyi understood, replied "It's over", and said to everyone: "Digging a trench is different from digging a drainage ditch! Oh, if the drainage ditches are not dug well, at most the fields will be flooded. If the trenches are not dug well, you will lose your life and bleed! If a battle is fought, everyone will die, brother How can I explain to my father and fellow villagers in Xijiadian! Ah? My brother is the head of the regiment, oh, he is also the county magistrate of Xijiadian! Well, my words are over, everyone, please take care of yourself! Disband!" It was disbanded just like that, and it was almost the same as not lecturing.The direction of the frontier will not be fundamentally changed because of Duan Renyi's lecture.He knew the rabble all too well. He suggested to Duan Renyi: In view of the current situation in various positions, a meeting must be held overnight after dinner to further implement the pre-war deployment.Duan Renyi nodded immediately, and notified Lan Jinzhong, the second battalion commander in front of him on the spot.Then, he summoned the company and platoon leaders of the Second Battalion to his side, again explained to them the depth, width and key points of firepower deployment of the trenches in the forward position, and ordered them to rush to work all night.After the confession, he was still not at ease, and he took a shovel from the brother beside him, waved his hand, and said loudly to the group of company and platoon leaders: "Come here and see how I dug the trenches!"