In just five days, Ma Yongkui expanded his army to 400 men.
The reason why the recruitment of volunteers went so smoothly is because the people in Gansu were so poor that joining the army to fight the war was not much different from going out to work.
It's funny to say that when the government's military recruitment agency came to recruit strong men, the common people hid one by one because the whole process from recruitment to enlistment was very scary. But when Ma Yongkui, a bandit, recruited volunteers, the people nearby were very enthusiastic, mainly because they trusted Ma Yongkui.
At least I'll have enough to eat before entering the barracks.
On the day of departure, Zhou Hexuan looked at the ragged volunteers and said to Ma Yongkui: "It seems that you will not be able to be the cavalry battalion commander."
"There are always company commanders." Ma Yongkui curled his lips helplessly.
400 men were barely enough for a battalion, but there were only more than 100 horses. If Ma Yongkui wanted to join the cavalry division, he could only serve as company commander.
Zhou Hexuan got into the cab of the truck and shouted to Ma Yongkui: "Let's go. Since I recommended you to join the army, why should I give you a battalion-level establishment?"
"Haha, General Zhou is so generous!"
Ma Yongkui was so happy that he got on his horse and shouted: "Let's go!"
Among the more than 150 bandits, about 20 were unwilling to join the army, and they were dismissed by Ma Yongkui who distributed money and food. Master Pang You also did not want to join the army, so one night he quietly approached Zhou Hexuan to ask him to join the army, and Zhou Hexuan agreed to help him find a job in the provincial capital.
civil service positions.
The team of more than 400 people moved forward slowly, starting in the morning and arriving at Yongdeng County in the evening.
Hearing that a cavalry of more than 100 people was approaching, followed by more than 200 "refugees", the local security captain (who also served as the county magistrate) was frightened and hurriedly mobilized his army to fend off the bandits. The only old machine gun in the county was set up.
Zhou Hexuan asked Ma Yongkui's people to stop, drove over, and shouted to the security team: "Who is in charge of your affairs here?"
County Magistrate Hua Zongfu was a little puzzled. The invading team looked like bandits, but he had never heard of any bandits having trucks. He called to the security team members: "Don't shoot yet, let's wait and see what the situation is."
Zhou Hexuan took out his general certificate and shouted from a distance: "I am Zhou Hexuan, who is in charge here?"
"But Mr. Zhou Mingcheng Zhou?" Hua Zongfu finally had some insight.
"It's me." Zhou Hexuan said.
Hua Zongfu hurriedly came forward to greet him, shook hands and said: "I, Hua Zongfu, the magistrate of Yongdeng County, have long admired Mr. Zhou's name."
Zhou Hexuan pointed to the bandit team behind him and said: "I was returning from a business trip in Dunhuang and passing through the boundaries of this county. I met hundreds of volunteers who wanted to join the army and kill the enemy."
"That's it." Hua Zongfu didn't expose it on the spot. He had already seen that these people were bandits. How could there be righteous people on horseback and armed with guns?
Zhou Hexuan said: "There is no need for County Magistrate Hua to be embarrassed. We will rest outside the city. We also brought our own food. I just hope that your county can provide some drinking water."
Hua Zongfu's mind was a little confused. He couldn't figure out what method this was. The volunteers' joining the army would either be organized by the county government, or the local regiment area would be responsible for it, but it would definitely have to be handled with the assistance of the county government. The current situation seemed to be
He doesn't need to worry.
Hua Zongfu asked: "Mr. Zhou wants to send these volunteers to the regiment area?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "I will take them directly to the Lanzhou Military Control Area."
"Oh, that's good, that's good." Hua Zongfu finally had some confidence in his heart and secretly sighed that Zhou Hexuan had a strong reputation.
That night, Hua Zongfu sent someone to bring clear water, and asked Zhou Hexuan to go into the city to rest. After being declined by Zhou Hexuan, the next day he organized the people from the county to come dressed in red and green, beating gongs and drums, saying that they were coming to practice for the heroes.
OK.
When Zhou Hexuan led the bandits out of the county, he also took with him a banner that said "Kill the enemy to show off your power and serve the country with loyalty." The eight words were embroidered crookedly, and it was obvious that they were made overnight.
In this way, Zhou Hexuan and the others frightened the towns along the way until they finally arrived at Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province.
"You guys wait where you are, I'll go to the theater headquarters." Zhou Hexuan told Ma Yongkui.
Lanzhou was just established as a city this year. It used to be at the county level. Just like Zigong was established as a city due to salt, it was affected by the Anti-Japanese War. Lanzhou is the only way for Soviet aid materials to pass through, coupled with the development of industry and commerce in the west, 40
The era finally ushered in the city's modernization process.
Just like the treatment in Yongdeng County, Zhou Hexuan was greeted by the Lanzhou security group, who set up guns at the city gate and surrounded Zhou Hexuan's truck.
Zhou Hexuan showed his general certificate and said: "The special commissioner of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is on official business and will take me to the Eighth Theater Command."
"Ah...yes! General Zhou, please come with me." The head of the security group said quickly.
In order to solve the problem of military logistics and transportation, the road on the west side of Lanzhou has been widened to about 8 meters, and the streets in the city have also been repaired. Even a bus was opened not long ago, which was converted from an old car and can carry more than 30 people.
The routes of these buses were only a few miles, and they often broke down. Taking a bus was not as fast as walking. The people of Lanzhou at that time made up a jingle for this: "One trip is two or three miles, and it stops four or five times. It breaks down six or seven times, eight times.
Ninety people recommended it.”
After entering the city, Zhou Hexuan realized the "prosperity" of Lanzhou. Merchants coming and going from east to west were crowded together. Horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, mule carts, and camels were crowded and chaotic. Buses drove among the crowd and kept honking their horns. From time to time, they could still drive on the road.
I saw a few incompletely filled bomb craters, which were all bombed by Japanese aircraft. In the northwest during the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese aircraft paid attention to Lanzhou second only to Xi'an.
At this time, Lanzhou has completely turned into a large construction site. The seven main streets in the city center will all be expanded into gravel curbs with a width of 15 to 30 meters. The sidewalks on both sides of the road alone are 3 meters wide. Since there are no
Road rollers and large iron rollers could only be pulled by dozens of people. This type of urban construction continued until the end of the Anti-Japanese War.
In the last five years of the Anti-Japanese War, Lanzhou developed rapidly, and people worked hard to build despite the bombings of the Japanese invaders. In five years, the urban area of Lanzhou expanded nearly 10 times, and the resident population doubled. As a result, Japan surrendered
, Lanzhou's urban construction has stalled, industry and commerce have been in an overall depression, and more than 200 emerging factories have gone bankrupt and closed one after another.
Zhou Hexuan only drove for a few minutes and couldn't help but abandon the car and walk because the driving speed was too slow.
The city was so dusty that even the store signs were covered with dust. Zhou Hexuan could only cover his nose with his hands and walk. The theater headquarters was outside the city, so Zhou Hexuan had to walk through the city. It took about 40 minutes of walking. He finally
When he arrived at his destination, he handed his general's official certificate to the guarding soldier and said, "I'm looking for you, Commander Zhu. Please inform me."
Not long after, Zhou Hexuan was invited into the headquarters lounge, and Zhu Shaoliang, dressed in military uniform, came to greet him personally. The gentleman laughed loudly as he entered the door, and said with great enthusiasm: "Oh, it's the Duke of Ming Dynasty who is here. Some are not welcome at a distance, some are not welcome at a distance!
