Although Wu Guozhi's tone was not polite when he spoke, Wang Xuexin was still in awe.
He did not bind his subordinates to himself, but chose a better and more promising path for his subordinates... Wu Guozhi had never considered the Eighth Route Army before because the Eighth Route Army did not have aircraft, and pilots like them were useless.
But now, if the Eighth Route Army has aircraft, the situation will be completely different.
Wang Xuexin understood the reason why Wu Guozhi could not surrender, so he stopped persuading him.
There is no point in continuing to persuade. For a smart man like Wu Guozhi, he actually has a clear idea in his mind about what is going on. He already has an idea of what to do, and others cannot influence his thoughts.
Therefore, Wang Xuexin did not even imprison or house arrest Wu Guozhi and his party...Wang Xuexin believed that it was not necessary. Wu Guozhi not only would not speak ill of the Eighth Route Army, but would help the Eighth Route Army to persuade its subordinates.
Sure enough, Wu Guozhi did exactly this after returning.
The pilot's accommodation was a small western-style building on East Street. This small western-style building was originally a property owned by Yan Laoxi's brother-in-law. By this time, the building had long been empty and had become a guest house for the Eighth Route Army.
However, this guest house does not accept ordinary people. The reason is that the Eighth Route Army emphasizes equality between officers and soldiers and living in poverty and simplicity. Living in such a small foreign-style building is special, so it is always empty.
When the pilots and their party arrived, Li Yunlong was worried that the pilots would not be able to live in a small house, so he hurriedly asked the guards to clean the small foreign-style building to accommodate them.
It can be seen that Li Yunlong still attaches great importance to these pilots, for fear that they will be dissatisfied with the life of the Eighth Route Army. He even said to Wang Xuexin: "Tell them, if they are willing to surrender and fly the plane for us, we will fly them wherever they go."
Wherever can we carry this little foreign-style building? If we can’t afford it, we can build one for them!”
Wang Xuexin was a little unhappy: "Captain, aren't you trying to be special?"
"How can this be considered specialization?" Li Yunlong's eyes widened: "We are... we are reluctant to let our children catch the wolf, do you understand?"
Of course Wang Xuexin understands, but the problem is...if these pilots are willing to surrender, they will also be members of the Eighth Route Army. If they are members of the Eighth Route Army, wouldn't living in a small western-style building be special?
But other soldiers wouldn't have any objections to such specialization! Everyone is counting on something flying into the sky to beat up the Japanese!
What’s the point of living in a small western-style building? The Yingjiang pilots hired by the stubborn army still cost tens or even hundreds of dollars a month!
Wu Guozhi and his group of pilots were quite satisfied with the accommodation in the small foreign-style building. In fact, they did not have such a house when they were stationed in Yuncheng. They lived in the military camp and received the same treatment as other soldiers... There was no way, who made the Jinsui Army have no planes? Because
There are no airplanes and there will be very few in the future, so pilots like them are not important.
The subordinates gathered together and immediately began to discuss:
"It's definitely the Japanese Tachikawa Type 99 transport plane!"
"It's in good condition. I checked, and there's nothing wrong except some damage during takeoff and landing!"
"I'm confident about driving it, platoon leader, let's try it!"
…
As he spoke, everyone turned their attention to Wu Guozhi.
Wu Guozhi, who was worried, looked at his subordinates who still didn't know the point. He just smiled and took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
The cigarette is the "Three Fortresses" often smoked by recalcitrant soldiers and warlords. The cover shows the Three Heroes fighting Lu Bu. On the left it says "Heroes of Liu Guan and Zhang Gu" and on the right it says "The Three Fortresses are now famous cigarettes".
As soon as his subordinates saw Wu Guozhi's attitude, they knew something was wrong.
At this time, the Jinsui Army had abandoned Yuncheng and fled to the mountains. It was a time when resources were extremely scarce... In fact, Yan Laoxi lost his money tree and became stingy. He used to give smoke to his subordinates, but now he has completely disappeared.
Smoke with strong stamina like the Third Fortress was usually reserved for the wounded who did not have anesthesia to temporarily relieve pain in the Shanxi-Sui Army.
But now, as the platoon leader, Wu Guozhi lit one casually.
Not only did he light them on fire, but he also threw them one by one to his subordinates...
The subordinates were stunned as they continued to smoke and did not dare to light up. One of the squad leaders, named Nie Haishu, who was Wu Guozhi's right-hand man, raised the cigarette in his hand and stepped forward and asked: "Platoon leader, what's going on? Is it a holiday today?"
"
Wu Guozhi didn't talk nonsense to them and asked directly: "Have you ever thought about surrendering to the Eighth Route Army?"
Nie Haishu was stunned for a moment, then looked at his subordinates around him and laughed: "Surrender to the Eighth Route Army? Just for those two transport planes?"
The subordinates also laughed.
In their view, this is an impossible option. What are the conditions for the Eighth Route Army? A force that cannot even pay military salaries. What can pilots like them do in the Eighth Route Army?
Only Wu Guozhi did not laugh. He asked coldly: "What if the Eighth Route Army has Hawker 81?"
The laughter suddenly stopped, and after a moment of silence, Nie Haishu said: "Impossible, how could the Eighth Route Army have Hawk 81..."
"The Eighth Route Army still has T34!" Wu Guozhi interrupted Nie Haishu: "Did you believe that the Eighth Route Army could have T34 before? Do you believe that the Eighth Route Army can capture Yuncheng? Do you believe that we are on the territory of the Eighth Route Army now?"
When he said this, Wu Guozhi pointed at his feet with his finger.
Nie Haishu was stunned when he heard this.
A few months ago, they would have been unable to imagine what Wu Guozhi said.
But a few months later... the situation changed so fast that they couldn't believe it was all real.
After a while, a squad leader asked: "Platoon leader, the Eighth Route Army...is there really a Hawker 81?"
Wu Guozhi nodded and said, "Otherwise, why do you think Li Yunlong tricked us into coming here?"
The subordinates shouted "coax" and became confused. They didn't know until now that they were deceived by Li Yunlong.
Then everyone quickly figured out a truth: If the Eighth Route Army did not urgently need Hawker 81 pilots, there was indeed no need to do this, because then these pilots would have no value to the Eighth Route Army, and they could not even compete with the guerrillas in infantry combat.
Not as good as anything.
Nie Haishu asked again: "Platoon commander, how many Hawker 81s will the Eighth Route Army have?"
"100!" Wu Guozhi replied.
These words once again caused a stir among the pilots, and many even had excited looks in their eyes... because it meant that they finally had a plane to fly, and it was an advanced Hawker 81.
But Nie Haishu asked Wu Guozhi calmly: "Platoon commander, what are your plans?"
Wu Guozhi threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stamped it out with his foot, then hugged it with both hands and said: "Brothers, my whole family is in Chongqing. I forgive Wu Guozhi for not being able to surrender to the Eighth Route Army with his brothers and continue to fight the enemy!"