That night, Brigadier Cheng personally presided over the ceremony. Tang Dao and Ye Chenghuan served as witnesses. Lei Xiong raised his right hand under the red flag and solemnly swore an oath.
Brigadier Cheng looked at Tang Dao, his eyes filled with joy.
At this point, the top three commanders of the Four Lines Regiment are all under the command of the Eighty Group Army. Under their influence, the Four Lines Regiment, which has tens of thousands of elites and huge resources, will become a force that the Eighty Group can rely on.
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Even many years later, when Brigadier Cheng talked about this night, he still thought it was a memorable night in his military career. Even though he personally commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to beat up American cowboys on the ice sheet,
It’s nowhere near as big as the harvest from this night.
For Lei Xiong, who solemnly swore an oath under the red flag, making this decision was extremely difficult. Before this, he had not joined any political party.
"My ideal is very simple. I want to earn some money to support my family, and do my best to give my wife and children a better life. If one day the Anti-Japanese War is won, my biggest wish is to be disarmed and return home to be with my wife and children." This was a few days ago.
, Lei Xiong and Tang Dao were sitting in Tang Dao's small courtyard, facing Tang Dao's straight-to-the-point answer.
After more than three years of fighting side by side, the two trusted and relied on each other. They were not brothers more than brothers. Lei Xiong was not surprised at all even if Tang Dao told him personally that he had joined the 80th Army more than a year ago.
However, even with Tang Dao's persuasion, Lei Xiong still had reservations about the 80th Army and maintained his own views.
This is what Tang Dao admires most about Lei Xiong. Although Tang Dao has become so influential that no one can match him in the Four Elements Group, and even Ye Chenghuan, who is both civil and military, can only obey orders when he joins the group, Lei Xiong still maintains his determination.
He expresses his personal opinions and often makes suggestions on the deployment of Tang Dao and improves it.
He is almost unique in the Four Elements Regiment in being able to obey orders without following them blindly. Tang Dao made him the supreme commander of the garrison brigade, not only because of his trust, but also his recognition of his abilities.
Otherwise, Tang Dao would never have risked the lives of 7,000 people at his hands.
"Brother Lei, if you want to spend time with your wife and children after the war, that's fine. I actually think so too, but have you ever thought about a question: If the Japanese run away, will the war end?" Tang Dao smiled.
He said.
"This" Lei Xiong's eyes narrowed slightly.
Having been in the 88th Division for several years, he certainly knew that person’s attitude towards the 80th Army. “To secure the outside world, we must first attack the inside.” However, the person who set the national policy after the September 18th Incident would tolerate the Eighth Army if the Anti-Japanese War was victorious.
The existence of the Tenth Army?
How could anyone else, let alone the 80th Group Army with more than 100,000 elite soldiers, sit back and wait for death?
"The 80th Army only has more than 100,000 troops. Even if Anxian's troops are included, it only has 200,000 troops. How can it be its opponent?" After thinking for a long time, Lei Xiong gave a pertinent opinion.
"Whether the war is successful or not depends not only on the strength of the troops, but on the will of the people. If the two sides are at war, there is an essential difference in the Patriotic War. Both sides are Chinese, and 9% of the soldiers who make up the army
Ten comes from the bottom like you and me.
Let me ask you, if it were you, would you like to help a regime that maintains the wealthy and beautiful life of the elite, or would you rather help a regime that helps the poor people in the world live a peaceful life with their wives and children?" Tang Dao cast his gaze into the distance.
"Perhaps, Brother Lei, you will say that history has proven that after anyone seizes power, there will be internal power struggles and subsequent corruption, but that also requires a process, and it is better than a person who is now completely rotten and will only lie down among the people.
Isn't it much better to have a regime where the blood-sucking body represents the interests of the landlords and comprador classes?
Just like in a person's life, everyone will make mistakes in the process of life. We must learn to accept mistakes and just correct them.
Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, once said: Water can carry a boat but it can also capsize it! Whoever has the hearts of the people can dominate the world.
Why did the powerful Mongolian Yuan fall? Why was the powerful Ming Empire that overthrew them and established a powerful Ming Empire broken into the capital by a group of peasants, and the noble emperor could only hang from a tree?
The long river of history will make the most correct choice."
Lei Xiong's eyes were deep and he was deep in thought, but Tang Dao did not disturb him and refilled his cup with hot tea.
Seeing that Brother Lei was already struggling, Tang Dao added another fire.
"Brother Lei, let me ask you, if the Japanese leave and those Westerners still want to maintain their former interests and continue to maintain concessions in China and occupy ports and mines, will you be willing?"
"Of course not. If we can beat away the Japanese devils, we can beat those foreigners. If they dare to come, they must first ask me and my brothers if we agree with the guns in our hands." Lei Xiong answered without hesitation.
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"Then do you think that person will be as you think?" Tang Dao smiled.
"That man, I already knew from the battle at Si Xing Warehouse that he doesn't have the ability and courage!" Lei Xiong shook his head and gave his own definition.
"But the 80th Army Group will meet!" Tang Dao replied firmly.
"The reason why I chose to join them is very simple, just because one of their generals said something at a military meeting: You and I are born in this era, sacrifice is the price we must pay. If you don't pay, your son will pay, and your grandson will pay.
, our generation is covered in blood and has feet in mud, so we should pay."
Brother Lei was shocked.
The words Tang Dao said were like a bullet, hitting his heart hard.
He has been in the army for nearly ten years. Facing the enemy's heavy artillery and the incoming infantry, he has never been afraid. Even in the desperate situation like that at Sihang Warehouse, he was trapped alone, with no way out, and he didn't even raise an eyebrow.
Wrinkle it.
But when I dreamed about it at midnight, I thought about my wife and young son in my hometown, and thought about the Japanese soldiers with bayonets breaking through the defense line and rushing into my hometown, with the bloody bayonets pointed at them. Lei Xiong woke up from his dreams countless times. That was really the most important thing in his heart.
Things to fear.
Therefore, he fought tooth and nail on the front line just for the peace of his loved ones in his hometown.
If their generation does not sacrifice, they will have to let their sons sacrifice themselves when they grow up. The words of the 80th Army general that Tang Dao relayed truly touched the softest corner of his heart.
"What a man!" Lei Xiong praised loudly.
Tangshanhe's cry came from inside the house.
"Since you two are so strong, come and coax Shanhe to sleep." Tantai Mingyue went out holding Tang Shanhe, who was frightened to tears by Lei Xiong, and looked at the two rough men with angry expressions on their faces.
"Ouch! I'm sorry, brother and sister, let's just leave now!" Lei Xiong awkwardly grabbed Tang Dao and fled from the small courtyard.
"Hey, Tuanzuo, don't look at what you just talked about for a long time, but do you know the real reason why I am willing to join the 80th Army?" Lei Xiong, who had already made the decision and looked relaxed, asked Tang Dao with a smile.
"What is it? It can't be because you scared your nephew to tears just now and you were afraid that Mingyue would scold you so you reluctantly agreed! Then I have made a deal with you. If you don't have the ideal to make decisions for the people, you can still observe a few more times.
We’ll make a decision next year.” Tang Dao replied sternly.
"You and I are both from the village. Who doesn't know how hard the people are suffering? The ideal of the Eightyth Army is in line with my heart, and I am willing to follow them." Lei Xiong said. "But compared to this, I am more afraid of the future.
We brothers are rivals!"
"The main reason is that I can't beat him!" Lei Xiong then added.
Looking at the man with a bright smile in front of him, Tang Dao said nothing more.
Tang Dao understands Lei Xiong so well. With Lei Xiong's personality, if he can't beat him, can he still lose? It's just a life-threatening injury. What he fears is not that he can't beat him, but that the brothers are fighting against each other!
I'm afraid no one knows that a certain army colonel who made one of the most important decisions in his life was sitting on a grass field, and Tang Tuanzuo was also sitting on the grass with him.
The reason was not that he was afraid of finding a secluded place, but that a little baby named Tang Shanhe was frightened and woke him up.
Tang Shanhe didn't know that because of his feat, his father thought that he had a weak personality, so he was given to Master Mingxin to start Chinese martial arts training when he was five years old.
When the young Tang Shanhe was exhausted from training, he would always cry and ask Aunt Erya, who wiped his scars, if that was his biological father? Otherwise, why would Mao find him a devilish master?
When he becomes powerful in the future, he must make his master and stepfather look good.
Erya looked at the child who looked more and more like a certain boy, and could only helplessly tell him that he was his father and could not be beaten, but the master could, but only if he could beat him.
Mingxin is not too far away
At that time, Mingxin had already mastered martial arts. Even Tang Dao said he was no match for him. Even the headquarters of the 80th Group Army asked him to be the chief combat instructor of the special forces of the field army. However, Mingxin resigned from the military and took Tangshan to the army.
Hedai went to the Taoist temple and taught his first disciple carefully.
Unexpectedly, the little guy hasn't learned much yet, so he wants to beat the master after he finishes his training.
Just like that, asking him if he is his biological father, just such a rebellious spirit, he is already very ridiculous!
A strict master gives birth to a good disciple, and it can be regarded as the second time that disaster has come from the mouth. Tang Shanhe ushered in more rigorous training, which also laid the foundation for Second Lieutenant Tang Shanhe, who was only 22 years old in the battle on the plateau, to shine in the future.
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His military exploits on that day were not inferior to his father's military exploits in the Sihang Warehouse when he was the same age!
It's a coincidence, maybe it's also destiny.
........
That night, the four people who had become comrades sat around a table and talked heartily about North China and the war situation in China.
Brigadier Cheng has great confidence in the North China battlefield, but is quite anxious about the national war situation. From his point of view, the current Japanese China Expeditionary Force Headquarters is still focusing on Central and South China, hoping to fully occupy the three most important areas in China.
After the Great Plains, they fully occupied South China, and then marched into the southwest and northwest.
With the North China Sea defense line completely lost, China's only channel for obtaining supplies from abroad is South China. If this area is lost again, China will have to fight alone.
After losing the important grain-producing areas and population of the three major plains, China, which is left with only the southwest and northwest, will have less war potential than before. Although it has high mountains and the Gobi Desert as defense lines, the population and materials are scarce.
It is full of disadvantages. Therefore, Central China can be lost, but South China must not be lost.
"When you go to central China, sooner or later due to changes in the war situation, you will be transferred to the southern battlefield. There are high mountains and dense forests, and the terrain is dangerous. You must be careful!" Brigadier Cheng said in one sentence.
As expected, they were worthy of being one of the Three Heroes of Huangpu. Even though they were in a corner of the north, they were still very familiar with the battlefields across the country and even predicted that the Four Troops would definitely go to the south to fight.
If he hadn't been sure that this was the real Brigadier Cheng, Tang Dao would have almost thought that he was also a time traveler. This senior's strategic vision was really awesome.
As a little butterfly from the future, Tang Dao certainly knew that in order to open up the Yunnan-Burma Highway and ensure this precious transportation route, China organized two expeditionary forces to fight in Burma, which resulted in huge casualties.
The casualties were huge, but it was worth it. It not only opened up the international transportation line in southwest China, drove the Japanese army out of the southwestern gate of China, supported the domestic frontal battlefield operations, inspired the people across the country to resist the war, but also dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army invading Burma.
, and it was “the first large-scale operation to assist an allied country to fight in a foreign country since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 and win a victory.”
To be qualified to sit on the position of the victorious country and to share in the fruits of victory in the war is all achieved through sacrifice.
"I know the dangers of the South China battlefield, but as the Japanese's appetite grows, China alone can no longer satisfy them, and will definitely attack Southeast Asia. At that time, the United States, the sun never sets and other established Western countries will inevitably turn against them and turn to
And if you support our country, South China will receive Western aid, and the Japanese will also suffer.
But because the battlefield in North China is too far away, I have to fight alone, and its danger level is by no means less than that in South China!" Tang Dao also had his own understanding.
"You must not underestimate this insidious guy like Okamura Koji. The more silent he is, the more he is holding back his ultimate move. You must deal with it carefully.
In addition, cooperation with friendly forces may not be as smooth as in the past, so you must be mentally prepared for this."
In Tang Dao's memory, Okamura Koji, who took office, not only adopted the "iron wall encirclement" and the cruel Sanguang policy. In order to capture Shaanxi Province and encircle Sichuan Province, he seconded soldiers from Japan and the Kwantung Army.
Many elite divisions went to North China. Before the start of the Pacific War, the number of Japanese North China Front troops was more than 300,000, not counting the hundreds of thousands of puppet troops cultivated by the Japanese army in the North China Front.
Even after the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan continued to deploy its elite troops to the Pacific islands in order to resist the attack of the United States. Japan's North China Front Army also had nearly 220,000 troops and more than one million puppet troops.
In May of 1941, it was under the command of Okamura Koji that the Nakajo Mountain Battle was humiliatingly defeated. Six generals were killed and more than 40,000 officers and soldiers died.
The main reason was on the one hand the insidiousness and cunning of Okamura Koji, but on the other hand it was the inevitable outcome of the Yamashiro man who was so afraid of the Eightyth Army that he carried out a material blockade.
Fortresses are breached from the inside. This sentence is very suitable for the North China battlefield at that time. If the two armies still cooperated as seamlessly as they did in the early days of the war, even if Okamura Koji had great abilities, he would not be able to make a comeback.
And this is what Tang Dao wants to remind you most.
"I know this. Since the Battle of Zishan, that person has become more and more wary of the development of our Eightyth Army and has stopped the funding of our Army for half a year." Brigadier Cheng nodded solemnly.
"But it doesn't matter. Even if Butcher Zhang dies, we won't eat pigs with hair on them. Our army now has a mass base in various base areas in North China. It's just that life is a little harder. No matter how hard it is, it can still be worse than when our army climbed the snow-capped mountains and crossed the grassland.
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No matter what those people think, our army will fight to the end and defend China to the end!" Brigadier Cheng's eyes were firm.
Looking at the angry Brigadier Cheng, Lei Xiong breathed a sigh of relief and expressed his attitude in one sentence: "At any time, the Jinan Garrison Brigade will advance and retreat with friendly forces!"
Then he turned his attention to Tang Dao and Ye Chenghuan: "I will wait in North China for the victorious return of the group leader, Director Ye, and my brothers from the Four Elements Group. I believe that you will definitely be able to return to Taihang!"
"Haha, I love hearing what Brother Lei said!" Tang Dao laughed loudly, stretched out his hand in the middle of the four people, and said loudly: "Defend our China, and you will have no regrets even if you die!"
"The war in the north is unknown, so this head must be hung at the gate of the country!" Brigadier Cheng smiled slightly and put his hand on Tang Dao's hand.
"Generals die in a hundred battles, and heroes return in ten years!" Ye Chenghuan also attached his hand to it.
"The country has been destroyed like this, why should I regret it?" Lei Xiong thought for a while, choked out a poem, and put his hand on it.
Currently, China's four best soldiers hold hands together with firm eyes in this dark night.
The real hero knows that the arrival of dawn will take a long time, but still rushes into the night firmly!
Just like they did in time and space, in the long darkness with no chance of victory, they still moved forward impassionedly towards the hail of bullets and bullets from the Japanese invaders.
It is with such comrades that Tang Dao, who looks into the dark night, knows that these people who are still moving forward in the dark night will eventually create their own dawn for future generations!
