By the time all four cars had crossed the river, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Not far after crossing the river, we found Pinglu County.
When they were approaching Pinglu County, Qiao Yanfang, who was driving, glanced at Chen Zifeng first, and then looked back at Xiao Ancheng. They are both thieves, and these two people immediately guessed what she meant!
Chen Zifeng tilted his lips and sneered, and said, "Let's do this. Leave the car to me and I'll accompany Ruolan. You go to Sanmen Town."
The result of their discussion last night was to go to the 38th Army as soon as possible to conduct their investigation work. According to Commander Zhao, the 38th Army was to defend the area east of Pinglu County.
Sanmen Town is located to the east of Pinglu County and will be the headquarters of the 38th Army from now on!
About ten kilometers south of Sanmen Town, there is a small village called Dongyan Village, which will be the headquarters of the Fourth Army in the future. Therefore, it is important to understand the situation near Sanmen Town as soon as possible.
However, the two Japanese people accompanied by Liao Ruolan are obviously anomalies, so we should pay attention to them!
Liao Ruolan definitely doesn't want to see Xiao Ancheng. Therefore, in comparison, it is best for Chen Zifeng to accompany the two Japanese to observe the position. Qiao Yanfang naturally wants to be with her brother Xiao. And Qiang Hu naturally wants to follow Qiao Yanfang. So, the only choice is
Let Chen Zifeng go.
So, Xiao Ancheng and the others got out of the car on the side of the road. Chen Zifeng asked Li San to get into the antique car and chased Liao Ruolan's car. Xiao Ancheng and others got into the truck behind and took another dirt road to San.
Gate Town.
Wu Jihuai saw this process clearly from behind. Without thinking, he asked the driver to follow the truck in front and go to Sanmen Town too!
23-13
Sanmen Town is extremely small, with only a hundred or so households. To call it a town is actually a bit reluctant.
A road passes through the town. The road has long been trampled by cars and horses into a thick layer of loose soil. When people walk on such a road, smoke will rise under their feet and their shoes will be covered with dust. The reason why Sanmen Town is important is because
It has such a dirt road.
There are still people in the town, in small groups, squatting under the eaves, smoking cigarettes and chatting, or leaning against the wall and staring blankly. Children are the most active, running through the streets screaming and raising more dust.
A middle-aged woman and a red-faced girl were busy working next to the roller. The girl used branches to drive the donkey pulling the roller, while the middle-aged woman used a small broom to sweep the grain on the roller. The girl watched Xiao Ancheng, Qiao Yanfang and others coming from the street.
As he walked past, a simple smile appeared on his face. The middle-aged woman scolded in a low voice, and then the girl continued to drive the donkey pulling the roller.
There are good and bad houses in Sanmen Town. The better houses are tile-roofed houses with a brick frame, an adobe wall in the middle, and a layer of white ash on the outside. They look quite beautiful and elegant. The worse houses are completely made of adobe.
They are built thatched houses. Some have a layer of yellow mud mixed with wheat husks on the outside, and some have not even been wiped with yellow mud. They have become quite dilapidated after being exposed to the sun and rain.
The people who walked through the streets the most were soldiers, including the small group of Xiao Ancheng and Qiao Yanfang.
There is only one small hotel in the town, and there is a black plaque on the door with the words "Sanmen Inn" written on it, which is very appropriate.
Xiao Ancheng and Qiao Yanfang could only choose to live here.
23-14
Sanmen Inn is a courtyard with several rows of old houses. The guest rooms are divided into two types: large rooms and small rooms. The large rooms are bungalows and can accommodate a dozen or twenty people. The small rooms are more advanced and have a kang at the entrance.
It can accommodate one or two people, or three or four people, depending on whether the guest is willing to live alone.
After Qiao Yanfang inquired about it clearly, she chose a big house, explaining that she lived alone and could not accommodate outsiders. Naturally, this big house was arranged for Qiang Hu and other brothers to live, and their supplies and weapons were also stored.
She chose two more huts, which she lived alone and could not arrange for outsiders. Of these two huts, one was for Chen Zifeng and Xiao Ancheng, and the other was for herself. With this arrangement, no one had anything to say.
They were making arrangements, and Wu Jihuai and others also came, so they naturally chose to live here.
Wu Jihuai brought two of his men. Jiao Ming and Jiang Yufeng also brought two of their men, plus a driver. There were eight of them in total. Wu Jihuai discussed with Jiao Ming how to arrange the house.
As soon as Jiang Yufeng heard that Qiao Yanfang lived alone in a room, she immediately approached her with a smile and asked if she could share a room with her.
Qiao Yanfang looked at her pretty face and glanced at Qiang Hu at the door. She smiled and nodded in agreement. She even put on a very welcoming look and said with a smile: "Let's get together and talk."
.”
After Xiao Ancheng and Qiao Yanfang settled in the Sanmen Inn, they left two brothers to look after the house and left the inn to check the situation in Sanmen Town.
Wu Jihuai, Jiao Ming, and the beautiful Jiang Yufeng also walked with them with smiles and checked together.
23-15
Qiao Yanfang is a naughty girl. The small group of them walked slowly on the street for a short distance, and she walked to Jiao Ming's side naturally.
She looked at his rank of major and said, "Does Chief Jiao know anything about this place?"
Jiao Ming nodded, "I've been here a few times. The teaching regiment of the 38th Army is stationed here, and the leader is Li Zhenxi."
As he said this, he pointed to a brick building in front and said, "That is their regiment headquarters."
Qiao Yanfang walked up to Xiao Ancheng and said, "In front is the military training group. Let's go in and take a look."
Sure enough, there were soldiers standing guard outside the courtyard gate of the brick house.
Xiao Ancheng stepped forward and said: "Brother, we are the gendarmerie from Chongqing. We would like to meet your Commander Li."
The soldier went in to report. After a while, the soldier came out and waved to them, indicating that they should go in.
Xiao Ancheng and Qiao Yanfang thanked the soldiers and entered the courtyard gate.
Wu Jihuai, Jiao Ming and others also wanted to follow, but they were stopped by soldiers and said sternly: "You are also from the gendarmerie!"
Wu Jihuai and others were wearing plain clothes, so naturally they couldn't talk nonsense.
Although Jiao Ming, Jiang Yufeng and others are wearing military uniforms, it is estimated that everyone in the teaching team knows him and even hates him!
He said a little annoyed: "We are from the military!"
The soldier said: "Sir, he only let the gendarmerie go in, and didn't say you were allowed in. I'll inform you when they come out!" The soldier's tone was quite rude!
Qiao Yanfang smiled slyly, waved to them, and followed the soldiers' instructions and entered a brick building.
23-16
According to the information in Qiao Yanfang's hands, Li Zhenxi, the head of the teaching group, was born in 1906, his original name is Li Kuishan, a native of Lijiabao, Dingxi County, Gansu Province, Huangpu Fourth Phase, and was sent to the 17th Route Army to work for Yang Hucheng after graduation.
As an accompanying staff officer. He participated in the Xi'an Incident and is currently the head of the military training group.
The data also shows that he was still a strong soldier. In the Battle of Niangziguan in October 1937, he was seriously injured and was carried by soldiers to direct the battle on the battlefield! They fought bloody for two days and nights to take back the old pass.
And all the lost positions!
Therefore, as soon as Xiao Ancheng and Qiao Yanfang entered the room, they saw a tall and thin colonel officer without a military cap standing in the middle of the room. They immediately saluted him respectfully and announced their names.
Captain Li stared at them motionless for a moment, then asked: "You said you are the gendarmerie, what kind of gendarmerie?"
Xiao Ancheng said seriously: "Sir, we are the gendarmerie of the Investigation Division of the Chongqing Garrison Headquarters. We have been ordered to come to Xi'an and the Zhongtiao Mountain front line to understand some situations."
"What do you know!" Commander Li's voice was stern.
"Sir, I dare not hide it. One aspect we need to understand is the army's combat readiness, and the other aspect is the political leanings of officers at all levels within the army."
"You are trying to find people from my teaching team who are on the same side!"
"Sir, I dare not hide it, it's true!" Xiao Ancheng said seriously.
"Now the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are cooperating! Don't you know!" Captain Li replied to him.
"Yes, I know, we are just ordered to understand, we don't intend to do anything!"
"Then, you have to understand now!"
"I'm sorry, sir, I misunderstood. We just arrived today and stayed at the 'Three Gate Inn'. Now we just go out for a walk and walk to your door. We just came in to take a look, there is no other intention!"
"You said there is no other meaning, what do you mean!"
Xiao Ancheng couldn't help but smile and show appreciation. He even nodded to Qiao Yanfang.
He said softly: "Sir, it would be great if you could inform each battalion and company of our teaching group and say that we will come to understand the situation."
Captain Li stared at him and said nothing for a while.
The room was very quiet. Xiao Ancheng still looked at Captain Li with a smile on his face.
Captain Li looked at them calmly. Everyone could see that he was very wary of this gendarmerie!
Finally, Captain Li returned to the table and sat down. He glanced at Xiao Ancheng and Qiao Yanfang again, wrote a few lines on a piece of paper, and then signed his signature at the end.
He walked up to Xiao Ancheng, put the piece of paper in his hand, and said in a low voice: "Now, you can go!"
23-17
Xiao Ancheng, Qiao Yanfang and others walked out of the teaching group's courtyard, while Wu Jihuai, Jiao Ming and others were still waiting across the street.
Xiao Ancheng smiled and said: "We have finished talking with Captain Li. Do you want to have a talk?"
Jiao Ming stared at him sideways and said fiercely: "What are we talking about! He is a communist!"
Xiao Ancheng took out the letterhead written by Commander Li, handed it to him, and said with a smile: "Chief Jiao, look at this, do you think he will be a communist? If he were a communist, would he write this to me?"
Jiao Ming unfolded the letterhead. Wu Jihuai and Qiao Yanfang stood beside him and looked at it. What was written on the letterhead was:
"All ministries and military police units from Chongqing are aware of combat readiness and the political leanings of officers and must provide assistance."
The signature below is: Li Zhenxi, year, month and day.
This Jiao Ming twisted his mouth again and again, and still said with an anger: "This regiment is communist from top to bottom!"
Xiao Ancheng looked at him motionless and said softly: "Sir Jiao, since you said so, then from tomorrow on, we will start investigating from this teaching group! No one will be let go!"?