On the first night of the Lantern Festival, the clock struck twelve, and everything in a small village in the west of Lin'an City was completely silent. Due to the Japanese invasion, precious gunpowder was needed to make landmines and explosive packets. Coupled with the war and chaos, people were panicked. During the normal Spring Festival, every household setting off firecrackers almost disappeared. During the entire twelfth lunar month and the first lunar month, the north and south of the country were silent, and there was no festive atmosphere at all. . Several men in black walked into the village. Several alert local dogs barked at the entrance of the village. The leader in front whispered to the people following: "Mr. Du, the two special commissioners have been waiting for a long time. Please come this way." "Quickly" "Follow up." Lieutenant Colonel Du Ziqi, chief staff officer of the Intelligence Section of the New Second Army, tightened his cotton-padded jacket and whispered to several subordinates. Arriving at the door of a farmhouse, several sturdy men walked out of the house. The leading man kicked the barking native dog aside, held his hands, and welcomed Du Ziqi and others into the house. It¡¯s very cold outside the house, and the temperature inside the room with ventilation on all sides is not high either. With the help of the light of the kerosene lamp, Du Ziqi nodded to the welcoming crowd standing in the room and said politely: "Everyone, it is already the Lunar Lantern Festival. On behalf of our military and all the officers and soldiers of the New Second Army, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the New Fourth Army." Brothers, I wish you a happy old age." "Commander Wu is well-known. Everyone in the New Second Army is a hero from top to bottom. It is a great honor for us to be blessed." A energetic middle-aged man in a long robe held up the bridge of his nose. Glasses, said with a smile. Du Ziqi took a careful look at the middle-aged man and asked, "Is it Mr. Zhang Fenglan?" "That's right." Zhang Fenglan nodded with a smile and stretched out his hand to ask Du Ziqi and others to sit down. Du Ziqi shook hands with Zhang Fenglan excitedly and said with emotion: "Our Commander Wu called me specifically to tell me that after meeting Mr. Zhang, he expressed his greetings to Mr. Zhang. He said that if it hadn't been for Mr. Zhang, he might have died. He's in Shangrao Prison." Zhang Fenglan sighed after hearing this. When I first met Wu Ming nine years ago, he was still down and out and unknown. In the following years, he rose like a comet and was promoted from teaching captain, battalion commander, regiment commander, brigade commander, division commander, and army commander to now. Becoming a nationally famous anti-Japanese hero and the highly anticipated savior of the nation, Zhang Fenglan had to lament the fickleness of the world. Du Ziqi let go and said with a smile: "Your army has now been reorganized into the New Fourth Army. In the future, on the anti-Japanese battlefield, the two of us can work together. "Work together to drive the Japanese out of China" "Thank you to Commander Wu for your concern. The New Second Army has repeatedly organized and destroyed the Japanese army on the frontal battlefield, including many main divisions, which frightened the Japanese invaders. It is actually the first strong force to resist Japan, whether it is Yan'an or the newly established The Yangtze River Bureau and our party's senior leaders all believe that General Wu is a patriotic general and a good friend of our party and our army. The sick and wounded guerrillas who stayed in the Soviet area after the Long March of the Central Red Army relied on the medicine provided by Commander Wu to save their lives. "Zhang Fenglan's words are definitely not false. When he faced a desperate situation, it was Wu Ming's kind rescue that enabled him to overcome the difficulty. Du Ziqi was the intelligence chief of the New Second Army. He was busy with affairs and did not have much time. He immediately got down to business and asked, "I wonder what important matter Mr. Zhang has for asking me to meet?" Zhang Fenglan coughed lightly and pointed to the thin-cheeked Zhong next to him. The young man introduced: "Mr. Du, this is Mr. Chen sent by the Yangtze River Bureau." "Mr. Du, hello, since contact with the New Fourth Army was restored, the top leaders of our party have been very grateful to General Wu for his selfless assistance. "Drip of Water" If you need our help in the future, please feel free to ask." Mr. Chen spoke very politely, with a bookish look on his face. "It's okay." Du Ziqi waved his hand nonchalantly: "The military commander told me that it's not easy for the brothers in the New Fourth Army. We will definitely help those who can help." Zhang Fenglan and Mr. Chen looked at each other, and Mr. Chen spoke: "This time, I and I The main purpose of Lao Zhang's invitation to Mr. Du is to thank General Wu for his friendship with us on behalf of our party. Without your help, many of our officers and soldiers who stayed in the Soviet area may not have survived those extremely difficult years. " "However, we are now. There are indeed some difficulties. The New Fourth Army has just been reorganized and there is a serious shortage of various medicines and medical equipment. Our party hopes that your army can help solve some problems. After the reorganization of the New Fourth Army was completed, we immediately went to the Japanese-occupied areas and launched a large-scale raid. For guerrilla warfare, our weapons and equipment are now extremely crude. Even the Hanyang-made weapons with smooth rifling can only be used by two or three people in most troops. Hand grenades and mortars are in short supply. We very much hope to get them. General Wu's help." After Mr. Chen finished speaking, he looked at Du Ziqi with bright eyes. The Red Army once bought medicines from Wu Ming. Although the Jiangnan Red Army has now been reorganized into the New Fourth Army and moved from underground to above ground, there are still many restrictions on purchasing medicines and weapons and equipment, and the prices are extremely high. Now the representatives sent by the Yangtze River Bureau of the Communist Party of China and the liaison officers of the New Fourth Army hope that the New Fourth Army can cooperate with the New Second Army. ¡°As for the drug trade, our military base"The instructions can be processed according to the previous transaction method, and we will not set up any obstacles." Du Ziqi coughed lightly and said: "But if we need to provide national army standard weapons, we can only say sorry for the time being, because we are more than capable." "Of course, if your army is not so picky about weapons, we can provide a batch of Japanese-made weapons captured on the battlefield, including Type 38 rifles, crooked machine guns and grenade launchers." "Because our ammunition production line is being renovated, matching bullets and grenades are temporarily unavailable." "It makes no sense to buy without bullets. Don't you have an arsenal? Why can't you sell us standard weapons and supporting ammunition?" " Mr. Chen was in a hurry and spoke out what was in his heart. Zhang Fenglan pulled Mr. Chen's sleeve. Only then did Mr. Chen realize that he was speechless. He smiled awkwardly and cupped his hands and said: "I'm too anxious. Please ask Mr. Du. "Don't be offended." "Mr. Chen is right, our New Second Army does have an arsenal." The Maoliangwu arsenal is a semi-open secret. Du Ziqi admitted openly, and then said: "It is not that we cannot support your department's weapons and ammunition for the time being. Our army is reluctant to part with it, but now our arsenal is empty. Some time ago, during Chairman Chiang's inspection of Quzhou, he specifically visited the arsenal Chairman Chiang asked us to transfer a large amount of weapons and ammunition to Xuzhou to support the battlefield in the Central Plains. In addition, your army's intelligence department must also know that our New Second Army has exhausted all its weapons and ammunition after continuous operations. In addition, we are currently undergoing a new round of expansion, and we cannot even fully satisfy ourselves, let alone sell to external parties. As for the ammunition of Japanese-style equipment, the caliber of the bullets does not match the weapons we are currently equipped with. We previously imported some machine tools and production lines from Shanghai, and after modification, we can produce matching bullets, but it will take time. " "Okay" Mr. Chen sighed helplessly. Zhang Fenglan thought for a while and took Mr. Chen aside to discuss quietly for a while. When he came back, he said: "I would rather have weapons and other ammunition than be without weapons. At worst, we will rob the Japanese army. arsenal, or hijacking the Japanese military trains transporting weapons and ammunition We are ready to introduce all the Japanese-made weapons from your department, but we don¡¯t know the price.¡± Du Ziqi said readily: ¡°In view of the good cooperative relationship between the two parties, we can pay the market price 20% off will be provided to you. At present, we have more than 8,400 Type 38 rifles, 100 crooked machine guns, and 50 grenade launchers" Mr. Chen's eyes lit up and he said loudly: "We want all of these But we Funds are a bit tight, can I defer payment for a period of time? " "No problem" Du Ziqi didn't hesitate at all: "It's okay to exchange materials if you really don't have money. Just like the drug trade, we won't set up any obstacles to this. But one thing is that Dai Li's Secret Service will be upgraded to the Military Command Bureau, and both personnel and materials will be strengthened. This time, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek had a very unhappy time with our New Second Army during his inspection in Quzhou. The military special agents were keeping a close eye on us, and the transactions must be kept confidential. " "Absolutely no problem" Zhang Fenglan said: "We are also troubled by the all-pervasive Party Affairs Investigation Section and the agents of the Secret Service. In order to ensure safety, if we find that the situation is not right, we can choose a new date or place for the transaction. If necessary, we can even cancel the transaction. , I will never let you suffer a loss." Du Ziqi was very satisfied: "This is very good. I believe that our military will also be happy with our cooperation. "Mr. Chen nodded happily and asked: "Now the Japanese army in Central China is attacking everywhere, and southern Anhui and western Zhejiang are under the attack of the Japanese army. How should our two armies cooperate? " "This is what we think about The New Fourth Army has been fighting guerrillas in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and other places for a long time. It is very good at raids and harassment behind enemy lines. The two armies of your country and ours can carry out a series of cooperation in the Japanese-occupied areas, and our army will send regular troops deep into the enemy's rear. , assist your army in attacking the Japanese and puppet troops, and all the weapons and ammunition obtained will belong to your army. What do you think? "Du Ziqi asked with a smile. "It's really great." Commissioner Chen couldn't help but clapped his hands. At this time, the New Fourth Army was concentrated in Yansi, Huizhou, Wannan, and Qiliping, Hong'an, Hubei. The entire army was in extremely short supply of various materials. , especially the lack of weapons and equipment. Now that he heard Du Ziqi's generous words, Mr. Chen was so excited that he stood up and came to Du Ziqi, stretched out his hand and shook it tightly, saying emotionally: "Thank you so much, General Wu, thank you to the New Second Army." "Brothers" "You're welcome, from now on we are all brothers, this is what we should do" Du Ziqi looked at his watch after saying that, quickly said goodbye, and then disappeared into the night with his people. Such great results can be achieved today , Commissioner Chen could not restrain his excitement and said excitedly to Zhang Fenglan: "I think Wu Ming can be won over. Now that the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation has begun, the anti-Japanese united front has been initially formed. We must fully develop progressive forces, win over middle forces, and isolate stubborn forces. "Wu Ming is not Chiang Kai-shek"Regarding the relationship, it can be seen from Du Ziqi's words that Chiang Kai-shek does not trust the New Second Army, and there are many conflicts between the two sides. However, the New Second Army has made great achievements in the war, is unique in the national military system, and has a good impression of us, which is very rare. the power of progress. I want to call the Yangtze River Bureau and we must actively strive to win Wu Ming into the arms of our party.¡± ¡°I agree. Wu Ming was born in a poor peasant family and has a clear understanding of the old society. It was entirely through hard work and opportunities that he got to where he is today. "It is indeed a rare force for progress." Zhang Fenglan smiled. Although he knew that this was unrealistic, he did not pour cold water on Commissioner Chen. He had very complicated feelings about Wu Ming. During the period of Changshan Nutritional Disease, he had been with Wu Ming. Wu Ming has had many exchanges with each other, and Wu Ming has his own views on the future of the country and the nation. Some of his views are even very extreme and difficult to win over. But Wu Ming's patriotism is not fake. Under the current anti-Japanese situation, both sides are indeed. If we can achieve sincere cooperation and exchange what we have, the New Fourth Army may be able to gain huge benefits from it.