A courtyard house; Li Yunlong, a subordinate of the deputy director of Harbin Military Engineering I

He hurriedly stuffed the chamber pot under the bed and looked up at the door.

When he saw Zhang Renfeng at the door, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open for a long time. He almost wanted to crawl down and salute. This was the Emperor's brother!

He quickly pulled up his pants, stretched them a couple of times at the waistband, wiped his face, and looked over with a smile.

"Oh, it's Commander Zhang! What brings you here to see Little Li?"

His gaze passed over Zhang Renfeng and landed on the burlap sack on Sun Bing's shoulder. The sack wasn't tied tightly, revealing the necks of two liquor bottles. The red paper labels read "Yanghe Daqu" (a type of liquor).

"Oh, there's wine too."

Zhang Renfeng pulled over a chair and sat down, the chair leg scraping against the floor with a creak.

"I was just passing by and thought I'd drop in to see you."

Li Yunlong chuckled, shifting his weight onto the edge of the bed and bracing himself against the mattress. "I heard you fought another major battle at Shuangduiji, Commander. Oh dear, it's just that my body isn't up to par. Otherwise, I'd definitely be following you, following the old brigade commander, across the Central Plains!"

As he spoke, he slapped his thigh, then rubbed it while wincing. His leg was wrapped in bandages, with some pale yellow medicine seeping through them.

Looking at his appearance, Zhang Renfeng snorted: "Alright, stop talking nonsense. I'm just here to visit you on behalf of the old brigade commander. After that, I'll go to Beiping to report on my work."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong craned his neck forward: "Go to Beiping? Isn't Beiping still not liberated?"

"Don't ask anymore, it's confidential."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong looked at Zhang Renfeng in disbelief and envy. Damn it, he's only twenty-eight and already the deputy commander of the army corps and the commander of the main force column! It's infuriating to compare yourself to others!

He looked Zhang Renfeng up and down. His face was neither fat nor thin, his cheekbones were a bit high, his eyebrows were thick, his nose was straight, his lips were pursed into a line, and a layer of bluish stubble appeared on his chin.

His hands rested on his knees, his knuckles thick, his palms and the area between his thumb and forefinger covered in calluses, and black gunpowder marks embedded in his fingernails that he could not wash off.

Speaking of Zhang Renfeng's resume, it's truly as famous as it gets.

Born in 1919 into a poor family in Baise, Guangxi Province, he followed Zhuang mountain people from a young age to quarry stones, make explosives using traditional methods, blast tunnels, attack bunkers, excavate tunnels, charge explosives, and was a top-notch engineer in the army. He was also well-versed in both military and political affairs.

When he was ten years old, in 1929, his parents were persecuted to death by local tyrants and evil gentry who colluded with the old Guangxi clique. His older brother, Zhang Rende, who was ten years older than him, was conscripted and participated in the Central Plains War with Li Zongren.

After his family was destroyed and he was left with nowhere to turn, Zhang Renfeng was taken in by the old political commissar, who was then using the alias Deng Wenwu, and served as a full-time orderly for the front committee. At the end of the same year, he participated in the Baise Uprising.

The following year, he followed the old political commissar to participate in the Longzhou Uprising and established the Seventh Red Army. Afterwards, he left Youjiang and went to the Soviet area, starting as a service soldier and becoming a combat soldier in the guard company of the Seventh Red Army headquarters. He fought in four provinces: Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi. During the bloody battle of Meihualing, at the age of only eleven, he made explosive charges and continuously destroyed enemy heavy machine gun positions.

Arriving in the Soviet area in 1931, the 7th Red Army was incorporated into the 3rd Red Army Corps and entered the engineering school, where it systematically learned blasting and bridge building. At the 3rd Red Army Corps' accompanying school, it rose from communications squad leader to engineering battalion commander.

The Long March began in 1934. During the Xiangjiang Campaign, he blew up the pontoon bridge that was being used to pursue the enemy. During the Loushan Pass Battle, he blew up the strong pass. He also carried out the beach breaching operation during the crossing of the Dadu River. After the Long March, he served as the deputy division commander of the Third Army Corps. Later, he entered the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University for advanced studies in engineering and infantry combined. He graduated first in his major.

In 1937, when the Red Army was reorganized, the old political commissar recommended him to the 386th Brigade and 772nd Regiment of the 129th Division. He served as an instructor and battalion commander, and participated in the ambush battles at Shentouling, Xiangdangpu, and Changle Village, as well as the precise demolition of Japanese transport convoys. From then on, he was known as Zhang the Demolitionist in the Eighth Route Army!

During the Hundred Regiments Offensive 40 years ago, he was promoted to political commissar of the 772nd Regiment and concurrently served as the brigade's chief engineer. He led a large-scale blasting operation on the Zhengtai Railway, destroying one hundred Japanese railway bunkers and station guard posts, and became famous in one battle.

Later, the old political commissar became the secretary of the Taihang Branch Bureau. In addition to being the commander of the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade, Zhang Renfeng was also the chief engineer of the Taihang Military Region.

Combining tunnel warfare with landmine detonation!

In 1944, he was promoted to commander of the Independent Brigade of the Taiyue Military Region of the 129th Division.

He served as the commander of a field division in 1945.

Starting in 1946, he served as the deputy commander of the 9th Column. He followed Brigade Commander Chen across the Yellow River to advance into western Henan and participated in the Luoyang Campaign, the Western Henan Rafting Campaign, the suppression of bandits in the Funiu Mountains, and all the urban assault and demolition plans were designed under Zhang Renfeng's leadership.

In May 1948, the entire army was reorganized, and he was appointed commander of the 9th Column of the Central Plains Field Army.

After the Huaihai Campaign, the veteran political commissar directly approved his promotion to commander of the 9th Column. He was the youngest full column-level commander in the Central Plains Field Army's ranks.

Li Yunlong sighed, rubbing his unshaven stubble, and looked at Zhang Renfeng, saying, "You're twenty-nine, and you've never even held a woman's hand, have you?"

Zhang Renfeng glared at him: "Mind your own business. Is your injury any better?"

Li Yunlong grinned: "It's all healed now, but the doctor won't let me get out of bed. Let me tell you, if this injury had happened back in the Red Army days, I would have been back on the battlefield with a gun the very next day. Unlike now, I've been lying in bed for half a month, and my body is practically infested with maggots."

As the two were talking, a female nurse came in from outside, carrying an enamel tray with iodine cotton balls and a roll of new gauze, to change Li Yunlong's dressing.

When Xiaotian entered the room, she glanced at Zhang Renfeng, her face flushed again, and she lowered her head to walk to the bedside and placed the tray on the bedside table.

Zhang Renfeng recognized her immediately; wasn't she the nurse who had just been coerced and bribed by Director Luo?

Li Yunlong, oblivious to their glances, continued, "Since you've come to the hospital, how about this: which one do you fancy? I, Li Yunlong, will be your matchmaker."

After he finished speaking, he laughed and pointed to the nurses coming and going in the corridor outside the ward: "Look at the nurses of our Huaye Field Hospital, they are all excellent. Which one do you want? I will tell you. If anyone dares to disagree, I, Li Yunlong, will smash their door with my rifle butt."

Zhang Renfeng laughed heartily, patted the armrest of the chair, and turned to look at Xiao Tian, ​​who was bending down to remove Li Yunlong's bandages, her ears burning red.

Zhang Renfeng asked, "How about this one?"

Li Yunlong's face turned green.....

I finally found a boyfriend at the hospital, and now, when the boss comes, I'm told to leave immediately. Where can I go to complain?

"That's not fair of you. I just found someone I like..."

Seeing his spineless state, Zhang Renfeng really wanted to slap him!

This is the daughter of a rightist, the daughter of a capitalist. She's married now and looks good, but she'll be a burden in the future.

But once Li Yunlong has made up his mind, nothing can change it. If the sky wants to rain, and the dragon wants to find women, then let him be.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, take care of yourself."

After Zhang Renfeng finished speaking, he turned and left. Since it was something he liked, there was nothing more to say. "I've left you the wine. Drink it sparingly, don't let the doctor catch you."

Li Yunlong called out from behind, "I'll accept this wine. I'll treat you to it another day when I'm better!"

......

On the way to Beiping, Zhang Renfeng thought about it the whole way but still couldn't figure out why the Military Commission had summoned him back to Beiping in such a hurry.

After all, the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign would begin in just one month. The old brigade commander was being secretive, and the old political commissar wouldn't say anything either.

When he arrived in Beiping, he first went to the Military Commission to see the Chief of Staff. There was no full-time Chief of Staff at the moment; the position was held concurrently by Comrade Zhou, and the deputy position was held by Ye, who was also the director of the Military Control Commission and the mayor of Beiping. This was what puzzled Zhang Renfeng.