Chapter 1746 Negotiation

People die for money, birds die for food, in times of war, who doesn't fight for food?

It's May, and the wheat in the fields has finally matured.

And around the wheat that is about to be harvested, the various forces in Qilu Dali have started all kinds of fights.

However, compared with last year, the messy forces this year have decreased a lot, because of the integration of various forces.

This situation is like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in ancient Chinese history. Various armed forces have their own spheres of influence, but among them, some have become bigger and stronger, so those small forces can only choose sides when they can't strengthen themselves to protect themselves.

From the perspective of the Japanese puppets, they have recently extended their tentacles to the rural areas of Qilu. The armed forces that can surrender to the Japanese army have surrendered, and the forces that do not want to surrender to the Japanese army and have not forgotten who their ancestors are can only surrender to the National Army or the Eighth Route Army.

Everyone is staring at the mature wheat, but it is impossible for you to ask them to collect grain. Collecting grain is the business of the people, and robbing grain is the business of the army.

Compared with other forces, the Eighth Route Army has been getting stronger in the land of Qi and Lu. Since 1939, the political cadres of the Eighth Route Army who entered the land of Qi and Lu in large numbers have played an important role. The guerrillas have gradually strengthened their strength, and then they have been upgraded to the regular Eighth Route Army, this detachment and that column.

And in the area of ​​robbing food, of course, the correct term is to protect food. The Eighth Route Army has a unique advantage in protecting food. The reason is naturally that the armed forces of all sizes under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Route Army are both soldiers and civilians.

To deal with the Japanese army's sweep, they have the regular Eighth Route Army and the more flexible county brigade and district squad, and the county brigade and district squad can both protect food and help the people collect food.

In sharp contrast to the Eighth Route Army, the situation of the 51st Army in Shandong has become less optimistic.

The reason is that when they first came last year, the Eighth Route Army was not very strong, and they could rob from the hands of the people.

But the growing strength of the Eighth Route Army is different!

The Eighth Route Army took the path of combining the military and the people. If they wanted to rob food from the people again, the Eighth Route Army would never agree.

In fact, some troops under the 51st Army had a good cooperative relationship with the Eighth Route Army, but some troops had already clashed with the Eighth Route Army because of robbing food.

It was impossible for the National Government to provide more food supplies to the 51st Army.

You should know that the current SD Provincial Chairman Shen Junlie has been in a mess with Yu Xiuzhong, the actual leader of the Northeast Army. Why would the SD Provincial Chairman provide supplies to the Northeast Army?

And even if they wanted to give it, they couldn't, because the SD Provincial Chairman was worse off than the Northeast Army.

During the Japanese army's "rectification" operation, the provincial government had no decent army at all. The army they incorporated, such as the Security Division, was undoubtedly incomparable to the Northeast Army in terms of combat effectiveness.

The dignified provincial government had no fixed office location, nor did it have its own fixed sphere of influence. They themselves were living a precarious life, so how could they provide supplies to the 51st Army?

With the arrival of the harvest season, the common people became worried. As the saying goes, "the prosperity of the people is hard, and the decline of the people is hard." They don't know how much grain they can collect in their own yards. Don't work so hard that you end up making wedding clothes for others.

Although the Eighth Route Army is now on the rise and treats the common people fairly, the grain is ripe and the Japanese devils will come to rob it. After all, they still lack some confidence in the "Three Guns and Eighth Route Army".

There is a folk song that goes like this, called "The moon is crescent and shines on the nine states. Some families are happy and some are sad. Some couples share the same bed, and some are drifting outside."

In fact, this folk song can be used to describe the people in the land of Qi and Lu.

Some are happy and some are sad. Some are sad and some are happy.

And at noon one day in early May, a happy laugh came out in a farmer's yard.

In this yard, you can see the lonely flat-topped mountain in the distance, which is Baodugu.

"Hold the calf, hold the calf, this time we really have a calf, hehe, and it's a boy!" Someone in the yard laughed, it was Qian Chuan'er.

Just opposite Qian Chuan'er, Gao Xiaocui was holding a little boy who was only a few months old, and that was the son that Wang Laomao had in his old age!

There were men and women in the yard. In addition to Qian Chuan'er and Gao Xiaocui, there were Chen Hanwen, Zhang Guiying, Chu Tian, ​​Su Ya, Li Xikui, Liu Xiuyu, Ju Hongxia, Da Laoben, Bian Xiaolong, Sun Baoer, and Xiao Axe.

However, all of them were wearing ordinary people's clothes.

"I don't know if your family, Platoon Leader Chu, has a girl or a boy." At this time, Sun Baoer looked at Su Ya, who was already pregnant.

"It must be a boy, and it will be a brave man when it grows up!" Xiao Axe said as a matter of course.

"They all say that those with flowers on their faces will give birth to boys." Su Ya said a little shyly.

Everyone looked at Su Ya's face.

Su Ya, the former female student now looks no different from a young wife in the countryside, but she does have a "flower" on her face.

"What's the point of giving birth to a boy? I like girls. When the time comes, my family will give birth to a girl to be the daughter-in-law of Captain Wang's family." At this time, Li Xikui suddenly said.

Just when Li Xikui said this, everyone looked at Liu Xiuyu.

When Liu Xiuyu saw that everyone was looking at her, her face turned red and she said, "I'm going to wash the diapers" without paying any attention to Li Xikui, and then she turned and walked away.

When Liu Xiuyu said this, everyone in the yard was embarrassed and immediately fell silent.

Everyone knew that Li Xikui's wife was taken away by him, and it was normal for him to be unhappy with Li Xikui now.

In the silence, Bian Xiaolong, who had been silent all the time, suddenly said: "Who cares whether you give birth to a girl or a boy, you have to find a way to get your wife to bed again!"

Bian Xiaolong's words directly made everyone who was a little embarrassed laugh.

"Okay, keep your voice down, don't disturb the battalion commander and Uncle Wang from discussing things." Qian Chuan'er said, and the yard became quiet again.

At this time, in the house, Shang Zhen and Wang Laomao were sitting face to face, and Wang Laomao was still smoking.

Shang Zhen hadn't seen Wang Laomao for quite a while. Now that he wasn't wearing a military uniform, the wrinkles on Wang Laomao's face became deeper. If you count his nose, his old face was full of mountains and rivers.

The two men hadn't seen each other for a while, so they were actually very cordial when they met.

During this time apart, Shang Zhen had been to the division headquarters for meetings and talked to each other. When they met, he first said, "Uncle Wang, you're getting thinner." Wang Laomao replied, "Get lost, you just said that the wrinkles on my face are getting deeper."

After the two of them finished talking, they laughed, and the people who came with Shang Zhen also laughed. They seemed to have returned to the days under the "dual leadership" of Shang Zhen and Wang Laomao.

Shang Zhen came to discuss things with Wang Laomao, and by the way, he sent Gao Xiaocui over, and brought Chu Tian, ​​Chen Hanwen, Li Xikui, whose wives were all at Wang Laomao's place.

Wang Laomao moved to Baodugou at Shang Zhen's suggestion.

Originally, Shang Zhen planned to let Wang Laomao and his family move to Baodugou Village on the mountain to settle down.

But who knew that Wang Laomao didn't have time to live in Baodugou at all, because it had become the headquarters of a certain unit of the Eighth Route Army.

Wang Laomao was already in a semi-"retired" state, but in this chaotic world, there was no absolutely safe place. It would definitely not work to follow the Northeast Army. The Northeast Army also fought guerrilla warfare. There was no mass base and it was impossible for Wang Laomao to bring his family with him.

Why did Shang Zhen let Wang Laomao take his wife and children to Baodugou? In fact, Wang Laomao was clear in his mind. He just wanted to take advantage of the Eighth Route Army!

Since he couldn't go to Baodugou, Wang Laomao thought it through and simply settled down in a village closest to Baodugou.

But the following things were not as simple as imagined. You should know that in order to protect Wang Laomao, Zhou Quan and Shang Zhen gave Wang Laomao a platoon as guards!

That platoon had both long and short weapons and most of them were veterans. Wang Laomao spent money to buy a courtyard with the best conditions in the village, and then the Eighth Route Army came.

Imagine that the headquarters of a certain unit of the Eighth Route Army was in Baoduigou, but dozens of Northeast Army soldiers appeared in the neighboring village at the foot of the mountain. How could that be possible?

Fortunately, Wang Laomao just wanted to take advantage of the Eighth Route Army. He had no hostility towards the Eighth Route Army. After a conversation, Wang Laomao introduced his background to them in detail. In the end, it was the Eighth Route Army who asked Leng Xiaozhi and Mo Jianchen to investigate before they were relieved about Wang Laomao.

However, Wang Laomao and his guns were confiscated by them.

Think about it, "How can you let others sleep soundly beside your bed?" Wang Laomao, considering that his children were young, he also needed the "protection umbrella" of the Eighth Route Army, so he pinched his nose and accepted it.

However, as the two sides got to know each other better, Wang Laomao's gun was returned, and although the guns of his platoon were not given, the platoon's people were borrowed by the Eighth Route Army to be instructors!

There were indeed a dozen veterans of the War of Resistance against Japan from the Northeast in this platoon. In terms of military quality, they were much higher than the new soldiers of the Eighth Route Army!

Wang Laomao didn't care about this. He only cared about the safety of his wife and children. What was he unhappy about when his soldiers continued to teach the Eighth Route Army how to fight the Japanese devils?

Besides, Wang Laomao knew that his place was safer than the headquarters of the 113th Division!

The reason was of course that the Eighth Route Army's intelligence network was powerful. There were Eighth Route Army spies in every village. The intelligence would be passed on as soon as the Japanese and puppet troops made a slight move. If the Japanese army carried out any rectification operations again, it was estimated that the Eighth Route Army would get the intelligence before the Japanese army left the city!

So, at least now Wang Laomao is basically satisfied with his life.

But now, Shang Zhen came to discuss only one thing with him, that is, Shang Zhen also wanted to join the Eighth Route Army!