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

Late at night on April 11, at Caijiaqiao, the Fourth Army Corps Command was still moving. This was a temporary encampment located 20 li east of Susong.

Having just arrived, all the staff and personnel of the Corps' directly subordinate agencies appeared exhausted.

Since it was late at night, everyone basically slept on the ground. When they reached the entrance of the command post, the political instructor of the guard battalion gave a signal, pulled the kerosene lamp forward, saw that it was Zhang Renfeng, and immediately saluted.

"Oh, it's Commander Zhang."

"Shh!" Zhang Renfeng made a shushing gesture and then asked his guard Sun Bing to fetch the bag of donkey meat sandwiches he had prepared before letting him go and rest.

"Is the old brigade commander asleep?" Zhang Renfeng asked the political instructor.

The instructor shook his head. "He's writing in his diary. He sends telegrams to Beiping every few days, saying you have to come back, or he'll curse you out."

"Oh? He really said that?" Zhang Renfeng couldn't help but find it amusing.

The old brigade commander is always like this. Don't let his usual humor fool you; he's incredibly serious about his work. But as for his personal life, haha, the old man keeps a diary for his wife. What respectable person keeps a diary every day and publishes it to the public?

"Alright, I'll go in and take a look."

Zhang Renfeng went in and found the old brigade commander slumped over his desk, holding a pen in his hand, with his notebook on the table.

The diary entry for April 11th is as follows:

[The weather is clear. Tonight we'll camp at Caijiaqiao, about 20 li east of Susong. I had a meager meal of noodles, less than a tenth of my usual portion. According to the General Front Committee, the Red Guards left two days ago. I wonder how much opium Deng Xiaoping collected. I've heard that the donkey meat sandwiches in Beiping are quite famous.]

Moving forward were the records of the march, and finally Zhang Renfeng's gaze fell on the record of the happy Children's Day on April 4th.

The old brigade commander was a very competent father; his diary entries are as follows:

[April 4th, cloudy, meeting. Thinking of Xiao Jian on Children's Day, perhaps he's thinking about the gifts his father gave him; maybe I'll treat him to a nice meal. Zhang Renfeng, that little Red Guard, has reportedly already set off. He sent ten telegrams to Zhou, requesting that the little devil not be left to serve in Beiping; our 4th Army cannot be without him.]

Zhang Renfeng laughed and patted the old brigade commander's shoulder hard. He didn't dare to pat him too hard, mainly because he was afraid of killing him, since the old man was not young and had many health problems.

"Hey, you son of heaven!"

"Snapped!"

Brigade Commander Chen nearly fell over. He put on his glasses and exclaimed, "Holy crap! You dare to read my diary? I'll beat you to death!"

Zhang Renfeng joked, "What the hell does a decent person keep a diary?"

"Get lost!" Brigade Commander Chen became serious. He saw Zhang Renfeng's package and immediately reached out to take it out. "Damn it, get me a taste of the donkey meat sandwich."

That evening, the commander and deputy commander of the corps met formally. Zhang Renfeng conveyed the details of the negotiations and determined that the crossing of the river would be postponed until the end of the month.

Brigade Commander Chen looked worried. On the one hand, since the Fourth Army Corps was established, he had been in charge of both military and political affairs for a long time, which was extremely tiring.

Brigade Commander Chen took a bite of the donkey meat sandwich, his brow furrowing. "This tastes wrong, it smells a bit rancid."

Zhang Renfeng explained, "It's been almost a week, so let's just make do with what we have."

Brigade Commander Chen is a true example of someone who speaks his mind; he talked while eating.

"Originally, the higher-ups intended for you to be the deputy political commissar and Guo Tianming to be the deputy commander. However, considering that you are the commander of the 15th Army, Guo Tianming will now be the chief of staff, and the deputy political commissar will be concurrently held by the director of the political department."

When you come back, you absolutely must help me out!

The 15th Army is currently under the temporary command of Deputy Commander Qin Jiwei, as he is the closest unit to the headquarters. I plan to hold a meeting on the 14th between Susong and Changlingpu with the Chief of Staff, the Political Department, and representatives from each army.

Zhang Renfeng said, "On my way from the General Front Committee, I went to the headquarters of the 13th Army. Their preparations were insufficient. I scolded the army commander and political commissar and taught them how to build simple boats with their engineers. For the remaining shortages, the local county cadres will coordinate. The boats for the 14th and 15th Armies are basically ready. But don't worry, according to the progress of the negotiations, it will be postponed by at least a week from our original date of the 13th."

Brigade Commander Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After they finished discussing work, he started complaining again, "Jiangnan is nice, but unfortunately I'm experiencing rectal bleeding again! It's awful!"

That's right, the old brigade commander's body had been under high-intensity overload for a long time.

Zhang Renfeng took out the medicine prescribed by an old Chinese medicine doctor in Beiping from the package and had his guard prepare it overnight.

The old brigade commander often suffers from insomnia, which is a common occurrence. He was tortured with electric shocks when he was in the Special Branch. The older he gets, the worse his physical condition becomes.

The conversation also turned to Li Yunlong. Originally, Li Yunlong's division was under Zhang Renfeng's command, but due to the needs of the war, he was transferred to the Third Field Army.

It's impossible to get it back in the short term; we can only wait until we're engaged in national defense construction in the future to get it back.

On April 21, the Fourth Army Corps broke through the river defenses and entered Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. On May 22, it liberated Nanchang.

In June, the Fourth Army Corps came under the command of the Fourth Field Army, but at the same time it was also subject to the command of the Central Military Commission.

In October, Guangzhou was liberated, but after discussion, Zhang Renfeng proposed to advance directly into western Guangdong without entering the city, a suggestion that coincided with the agreement between the two.

These actions immediately put Commander Lin of the Central and Southern Military Region on edge. He privately cursed: "My senior is really shameless. He has corrupted Zhang Baopo as well."

In fact, Zhang Renfeng personally went to the front line of the field army and liberated the entire territory of Guangdong Province in western Guangdong.

On January 4, 1950, Brigade Commander Chen presided over an enlarged meeting of the Corps Party Committee to prepare for the encirclement and annihilation campaign in southern Yunnan.

In addition to the main personnel of the Fourth Army Corps, the attendees included Song, the then chairman of Yunnan Province, and Zhou, a member of the provincial party committee.

The meeting room was filled with smoke.

A dozen or so people were crammed into a mud-brick house. A topographical map of southern Yunnan was spread out on a long table, marked with arrows and circles in red and blue pencils.

Brigade Commander Chen sat in the center, his gaze fixed on the map:

"In the Yunnan-Guizhou encirclement and annihilation campaign, the entire army corps must concentrate its forces to surround Tang Yao's army corps and prevent him from escaping. Renfeng, tell us your specific ideas."

Zhang Renfeng stood up, walked to the map, and pointed to several key nodes on the map:

"Tang Yao's army was cobbled together from completely unrelated places, containing many remnants of the Yunnan Army and the Central Army. Although its size was impressive, its actual combat effectiveness was limited. My idea was for the 13th and 14th Armies to advance from the east and west, while the 15th Army would serve as a reserve to cover their retreat and prevent them from fleeing to the China-Myanmar border. The key was to seize the bridges over the Yuanjiang River. Once we controlled the bridges, Tang Yao's tens of thousands of men would be trapped."

After listening, Brigade Commander Chen nodded, then pointed to a location marked on the map with his cigarette butt: "This place, the Yuanjiang Bridge, must be taken. If we don't take this bridge, Tang Yao will have the opportunity to lead his troops across the river and flee south. Once they cross the border, it will be inconvenient for us to pursue them."

"Let's hand over the Yuanjiang Bridge to the 15th Army," Zhang Renfeng said decisively. "Qin Jiwei has an engineering division that worked with me on demolitions in the Taihang Mountains back then. Blowing up bridges and dismantling roads is their specialty. Even if Tang Yao takes the bridge, they have a way to take it back."

The meeting lasted for more than two hours, with the commanders of each army speaking in turn, going over every detail of the operational plan.

When the meeting ended in the afternoon, everyone had that look on their face that was typical of someone before a big battle—not exactly nervous, but with a tense look in their eyes.

After the meeting, Zhang Renfeng returned to his residence, where Sun Bing had already brought dinner: a bowl of brown rice, a plate of stir-fried shredded pork with pickled vegetables, and a bowl of vegetable soup.

He had just taken a couple of bites of rice when he heard footsteps outside the door, followed by the communications officer's voice: "Report! A telegram has arrived from the 15th Army."

Zhang Renfeng put down the bowl: "Read it."

The messenger stood at the door and read aloud: "Report from the 15th Army Headquarters: Our unit arrived at the designated position yesterday. Engineers are currently conducting reconnaissance of the Yuanjiang Bridge, and the demolition is expected to be completed within three days. In addition, the headquarters received a letter signed 'Zhang Rende of Beiping,' which was delivered along with the military mail truck and has been forwarded to the army commander."

Upon hearing that his elder brother had sent a letter, Zhang Renfeng put down his chopsticks and reached out to take the kraft paper envelope handed to him by the messenger.

"My dear brother Renfeng: It's as if I'm seeing you in person. It's been over nine months since you left Beijing. Everything is fine at home, so don't worry. Guilin is studying diligently and is among the top students in his grade in the monthly exams. Yulin has also grown quite a bit taller and keeps asking when your second uncle will return. Your sister-in-law caught a cold last month, but she has recovered, so don't worry about her. Everything at the factory is as usual, except that scoundrel Yi Zhonghai has been slacking off lately. I reprimanded him twice in public, and he's become a little more restrained. Jia Gui's wife is causing trouble again, and Jia Gui locked her in the house for three days in a fit of anger, which pleased the neighbors. I am doing well and only look forward to your triumphant return. Your brother Rende, January 2, 1950."