At the military meeting on the evening of 18 July, General Li Zongren and General Bai Chongxi respectively reported on the battle situation of the Second and Third Route Armies and the enemy situation they were facing.

An Yi, a junior who was a small character, did not say a word from beginning to end, listened quietly, and felt that the opinions of the two generals, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, and General Ge Jingen were basically the same, and he knew that the Northern Expedition would still continue, and the big stone in his heart was also put down.

After a day of tossing, the bosses of the Central Party Department were tired, the light from the windows of the heavily guarded Yunlong Hotel was extinguished, An Yi, Wang Shihe, and Hu Jialin returned to the hall on the first floor after inspecting the sentry, and He Jinhan, the section chief of the lieutenant general of the attendant room and the director of the Political Department of the Guard Force, greeted him and whispered to Principal An Yi that he was invited.

An Yi was surprised by Principal Jiang's exuberant energy, nodded and ordered Hu Zi to make more inspections, and followed He Jinhan to the third floor with Wang Shihe.

He Zhenhan and Zheng Dongguo are both Whampoa pride who have just returned from Sun Yat-sen University and Frunze Military Academy in Russia, and they are deeply respected by President Chiang, He Jinhan is President Chiang's henchman as always, and Zheng Dongguo wrote a book on nationalism and analysis of China's current situation in Moscow, which was deeply appreciated by the party veterans and Commander-in-Chief Chiang in China. After Zheng Dongguo returned to China, he was immediately promoted to major general of the army.

Principal Jiang was still sitting in the spacious study to review the documents, An Yi and the attendant Kang Ze and others nodded and walked into the door of the study on the north side of the suite and reported in a low voice, Principal Jiang did not raise his head and ordered An Yi to sit down, and wrote with a brush for almost ten minutes before stopping, and then walked to the reception sofa after a few words of low instructions to Yu Ji, signaled An Yi to sit down and asked: "An Yi, what do you think is special about tonight's military meeting?" ”

An Yi thought for a while and replied: "It is the first time for students to participate in a military conference of this scale, and they don't know how similar meetings were conducted before, but the students just heard a rough idea, and felt that the generals of the various armies did not mention the movements of the armies on the Wuhan side from beginning to end, and they also mentioned the positions occupied by the eight front armies under General Feng Yuxiang, let alone the negotiations that General Yan Xishan was carrying out with the Feng army.

The opinions of the commanders of the various armies on the next battle plan were basically the same, and the students were very happy in their hearts, and it was estimated that there was no need to hide in the rear for too long. ”

"Sit down, sit down!"

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction: "It is not easy for you to see so many problems, today's meeting is a military meeting, it is normal for General Li Delin and General Bai Jiansheng to only talk about military affairs, although they have had frequent exchanges with each other on political issues before, but in this extraordinary period, their prudence can still be understood."

On political issues, there will be a panel discussion tomorrow, but no longer a large meeting like tonight, but a small meeting limited to a few managers, and this one, I decided to take place on the train. ”

An Yi hurriedly apologized: "The student is abrupt!" ”

Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand: "Tomorrow morning, after the regular meeting is over, I will go to your reading division with Li Delin, Bai Jiansheng and other generals to visit the officers and soldiers. ”

"Yes! The student will arrange it. ”

An Yi stood up and saluted to say goodbye, Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction and picked up the boiled water, he admired the excitement that flashed in An Yi's eyes and such a keen comprehension.

Among all Chiang Kai-shek's proud protégés, An Yi is purely a good student who he loves very much and even a little favoritism, Chiang Kai-shek has long admired An Yi's military talent and generous surname, he has always deeply regretted An Yi's confused political position and level, but after he issued a declaration of the Northern Expedition and a public [***] statement in the name of An Yi without An Yi's consent, he did not see any resistance and complaints from An Yi, and from this beginning, Chiang Kai-shek finally completely reassured himself as a student who was a military genius, especially An Yi's extremely forward-looking anti-British remarks before the Battle of Xuzhou, as well as his excellent performance in forcing Li Zongren to immediately launch the Battle of Xuzhou with ingenious and swift military action, made Chiang Kai-shek inexplicably happy and willing, and his trust in his favorite general rose to the level of a confidant.

The bedroom door in front of the landlord slowly opened, Zhang Jingjiang, who was wearing wheat-colored cotton pajamas, slowly came to Chiang Kai-shek and sat down, and when he saw Yu Jishi respectfully holding hot tea, Zhang Jingjiang nodded slightly, and lovingly instructed Yu Jishi to sit down too, took a small sip of the teacup and put it down gently:

"Zhongzheng, your student's performance far exceeded my expectations, just a few questions and answers between your master and apprentice, it shows his extraordinary vision and resolute and resolute style, listening to his voice is like seeing his person, is a rare talent, worthy of training. As long as it is used properly, it will become the pillars of the party-state in a few years, just like Jishi, Zhenhan, and Kang Ze, who came from Huangpu. ”

"An Yi can be praised by Elder Jing like this, it's his blessing!"

Chiang Kai-shek was quite happy: "The elders of the headquarters and the party headquarters joked that An Yi was the most unruly person among my Whampoa students, so he would fight without a trace, as if he were out of nowhere."

I used to hold this view, but I slowly changed this view, and I felt that An Yi's traditional concept was stronger than anyone else, but ordinary people couldn't see it. ”

Zhang Jingjiang smiled with interest: "Let's hear it." ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded happily: "I won't talk about his military exploits, just talk about his character, An Yi is the most honest and generous person among so many students who lead troops, he is like a brother to his soldiers, he is polite to his superiors, he is never arrogant, he has deep compassion for the people, he can establish good relations with the local people everywhere he goes, he himself and his troops are deeply supported by the people, and the Battle of Five Rivers has been supported by tens of thousands of people to defeat an enemy four times his size, which is a very good example."

What I admire most about him is that since the Northern Expedition, he has led his troops to make so many military exploits, but he has never reached out to me to ask for money, he can bend and stretch, treat people sincerely, and win the general favor of the generals and schools of all armies in our revolutionary army, and the generals of all armies and divisions have praised this, and the generals who have fought side by side with An Yi have established a good relationship with An Yi.

As for the shortcomings, there are a lot, except for the fact that there is no initiative in the [***] problem, the others are all subsections, harmless, on the whole, this son is gifted and intelligent, pure-hearted, rare! ”

Zhang Jingjiang nodded with a smile: "Jishi, what do you think of your little junior brother?" ”

Yu Jishi replied respectfully: "The younger generation and Hu Zongnan, He Jinhan, Zeng Kuoqing, Wang Shihe, Du Yuming, Guan Zhenglin and others have been friends with Senior Brother An for a long time, and they have a deep relationship.

Senior Brother An's military theories and training methods are extremely innovative, and he always strives for excellence in action, so Senior Brother An's troops have a lot of cohesion and combat effectiveness beyond ordinary armies.

The generals and colonels of the various armies always showed a smile on their faces when they saw Senior Brother An, and mistakenly thought that his surname was too soft, but in fact, Senior Brother An had extremely strict jurisdiction over his subordinates, and the regiment commander was still locked up if he made a mistake.

Again, looking at the whole army, only Senior Brother An's reading division enjoyed a rich meal, the officers and soldiers were paid in full, and they never withheld arrears, and when the friendly troops could barely eat meat once a week, Senior Brother An had the ability to let his troops eat meat once every two days.

It is precisely because of Senior Brother An's rigorous methods of administering the army, supplemented by advanced training methods, that all the officers and men under his command are full of self-confidence, full of spirit, always grateful in their hearts, and are not afraid of death in battle.

Although all the above juniors know and try hard to do it, no one has done as well as Senior Brother An, and even Senior Brother Hu Zongnan, who has always been self-conscious for his good military training, sighs to himself, let alone the juniors. ”

"Not bad, not bad! It seems that An Yi, this kid, is waiting for the general recognition from top to bottom! Jishi, not to mention the advantages, what do you think are the shortcomings of An Yi? Speak up, no scruples! ”

Zhang Jingjiang is calm and calm, with a lovely smile, reflecting a good demeanor of the elderly.

Yu Jishi thought for a while and replied: "As the principal just said, Senior Brother An never expressed any opinion on [***], and he has always missed the Communist Party members from Huangpu, such as Chen Geng, Huang Gongluo, Xu Jishen and Jiang Xianyun who died in the battle under Linying City not long ago.

If there are any big shortcomings of Senior Brother An, the younger generation thinks that it is greedy for money, everyone in my first army knows that as long as it is the battlefield that Senior Brother An's troops pass through, others will not want to get a penny of harvest, from artillery, to the belt on the corpse of the enemy and even the copper buckle on the placket, Senior Brother An's troops will loot it, and I heard that he also concealed the huge amount of opium seized several times, and quietly sold it and pocketed a huge amount of money, only once burning opium in Kunshan, it was also because of the siege of Shanghai, In order to establish the prestige of our revolutionary army, he endured the pain.

However, there is one thing that makes the younger generation puzzled, Senior Brother An has done everything he can, founded an industry in the old Nanchang, and has so far placed more than 2,000 retired non-commissioned officers and low-level officers in the army, most of these non-commissioned officers and low-level officers have moved their families to the old Nanchang, and their living standards are far above the ordinary civilians, so it seems that Senior Brother An's greed for money cannot be regarded as his personal greed, after all, the cost of placing these tens of thousands of veterans is extremely huge, but he does violate military regulations and military discipline by doing so, The juniors didn't know how to judge for a while. ”

Zhang Jingjiang and Chiang Kai-shek laughed, and Zhang Jingjiang said kindly: "Jishi, you are still very careful, you can see An Yi's attitude towards the communists, and you can also see the essence from An Yi's greed for money, which is very good!"

Today, I also want to talk about my own views on this An Yi, my views come partly from the understanding of An Yi's resume, and partly from the good relationship between my righteous daughter Gong Qian and An Yi, plus I have the opportunity to see An Yi's appearance, posture and speech up close, I have a clearer understanding of him. ”

Chiang Kai-shek and Yu Jishi all sat up straight, they knew deeply that Mr. Zhongshan called the "revolutionary saint" Zhang Jingjiang has amazing insight, at the beginning, Mr. Zhongshan, who was not in the climate and was overstretched and wandering around, was not yet famous, but received Zhang Jingjiang's full support and generous funding, and finally survived nearly ten years of hard years and became the pioneer of the Chinese revolution. It can be said that Zhang Jingjiang, who has traveled to Europe and the United States to create tens of millions of fortunes when he was young, has a pair of Bole-like eyes, and has extraordinary political wisdom and life experience.

Zhang Jingjiang took a sip of tea and said softly: "Let's talk about what An Yi just said, in just a few words, you can hear that he has put a lot of effort into Wuhan, Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren, and even Yan Xishan, who is far away in Taiyuan, he has said a word, which shows that this son has his own understanding of the current political situation and war situation, and I feel that his understanding is very comprehensive."

I was taken aback when he mentioned the sentence that Yan Xishan was negotiating with Fengjun, few people knew about this matter, and few people paid attention to it, it is estimated that An Yi heard it from a certain general in the General Headquarters today, but he emphasized this point very keenly, indicating that An Yi's vision is very broad.

Yan Xishan has always negotiated with various forces in the north over the years, even if he fights with the other side, Yan Xishan has never stopped using negotiations to achieve his own goals, which is why I personally think that Yan Xishan is more important than Feng Yuxiang.

It can be seen that An Yi's political level is much higher than we expected, just combined with An Yi's remarks at the Bengbu press conference, combined with An Yi's authorization to defeat Sixian and Lingbi at a speed that is unpredictable for both friends and enemies, do you still think An Yi has no political vision? ”

Zhang Jingjiang's calm question made Chiang Kai-shek nod frequently, which made Yu Jishi suddenly realize, and Yu Jishi pondered for a moment and couldn't help asking:

Jing Lao's words are that the younger generation has a sense of enlightenment, and from this point of view, the younger generation and others are usually deceived by his smiling face that seems to be full of care at any time. But the younger generation is a little confused, with Senior Brother An's personality, shouldn't we hide anything from our brothers and sisters?

Occasional gatherings in peacetime, as long as the brothers and sisters ask him anything about him in the military, he can explain them in detail one by one, and explain them with fresh examples, which always benefits his comrades a lot, but why does he keep hiding his political level? ”

That's a good question! That's the crux of what I'm going to say. ”

Zhang Jingjiang gently combed his white sideburns: "First of all, I want to emphasize one point, that is, we should not doubt An Yi's political position, he cannot be a communist at all, at most he has a good impression and sympathy for the Huangpu classmates among the communists, which can be understood from the analysis of An Yi's personality and morality.

Just imagine, which communist would be greedy for money and set up his own industry? Which communist party member would endure everywhere and unswervingly wave the Northern Expedition without relenting despite being repeatedly ostracized by his colleagues and deliberately ignored by his superiors, so as to make one great achievement after another for the party and the country? Which [***] can be so obedient to the Kuomintang leader and have a deep affection for our Whampoa classmates in the Kuomintang army?

If we don't give him a heavy responsibility because we are suspicious of him, it is very likely that we will bury a rare genius, and even really push him into the camp of [***], which we must not be careless! ”

Chiang Kai-shek sighed and echoed his voice, and Yu Jishi nodded frequently, deeply agreeing.

Zhang Jingjiang continued: "I think the reason why An Yi has not shown his political talent may have something to do with his position.

This son was born in poverty, and he has no roots in the military and political circles, and his only advantage is that he has good popularity, which has to be said to be his luck. From a small business guy step by step to today, it is indeed not easy to come by, the blood and sweat paid during this period is by no means under any of today's famous generals, several times escaped death and made great achievements, but won the admiration of others and did not gain the recognition and respect of others, think about it, if An Yi's great military exploits are put on another general of each army, what will the result be?

This is also the reason why Li Zongren attaches so much importance to An Yi, because Li Zongren has also come step by step from a soldier to today, and he can better understand the bitterness and hope, so we should reflect on the current promotion system.

Again, I have analyzed An Yi's radical remarks at the Bengbu press conference, marveled at this son's accurate foresight, and seemed to feel that this was a risky attempt that he mustered up the courage to make, maybe he consciously or unintentionally wanted to see what the results of his doing so would bring, but the result was that he was punished by demotion, so he became more cautious. From his few words, I learned that he seemed to have a lot to say, but he just didn't dare to say it.

Before, it was hard for me to believe that a young man who was only twenty-two years old had such extraordinary wisdom and talent, but after seeing him today, I finally believed it, especially his eyes left a very deep impression on me, I couldn't see the joy, anger and sorrow in his eyes at all, he stood so prominent among a group of generals, it made people feel like they stood out from the crowd, and the future was terrifying!

I'd love to take some time out of the next few days to talk to An Yi alone, maybe to get to know him better. ”

"No problem, just a word from Elder Jing, An Yi can have the opportunity to listen to Elder Jing's teachings, this is his honor." Chiang Kai-shek laughed.

Zhang Jingjiang smiled slightly: "Don't worry, this thing should be done naturally, it will not be good if it is too blunt and pretentious, it is likely to cause An Yi's subconscious psychological defense, but it will not achieve the effect of mutual understanding." ”

Yu Jishi respectfully suggested: "Aren't the principals and party officials going to visit Senior Brother An's reading teacher tomorrow to offer condolences?" On the way to let the special train drive slower, it will take an hour, and the same is true for the return trip, if the elder Jing is willing, the younger generation will arrange it. ”

Zhang Jingjiang nodded with satisfaction: "Jishi's idea is good, so let's arrange it like this." ”

Chiang Kai-shek said with a smile: "It is estimated that we will stop for half an hour at Dahu Station on the way, and I need to have a good talk with Li Delin and Bai Jiansheng, and before Feng Huanzhang (Feng Yuxiang) arrives the day after tomorrow, we must reach a consensus on a number of issues of principle." ”

"Okay, an hour is enough......"

Zhang Jingjiang slowly stood up and walked to his bedroom with Yu Jishi's support.

(To be continued)