Taigu Village is a small mountain village about ten kilometers away from the county town in Xiyang.

There are more than 40 households in the village and more than 200 people, but there are less than 200 acres of fertile land, less than one acre of people's turn, and the rest are all slopes where they can only grow miscellaneous grains.

More importantly, less than 200 acres of fertile land are all in the hands of the only landlord in Taigu Village.

In the first half of the year, under the joint exploitation and oppression of the Japanese and traitors, the food rations in the hands of the villagers were taken away. If the landlords in the village were not very kind and borrowed 50 kilograms of miscellaneous grains per household, so that the villagers would have hungered with wild vegetables, and some people in the village would have starved to death.

Now everyone is looking forward to the arrival of autumn harvest soon and to harvest some food from the field.

But even so, the little harvest in the field cannot last long.

I paid the rent and lost the coarse grains I borrowed before the autumn harvest. I snatched some of them by the Japanese, so it would be nice if my family had left the food for half a year.

Although I have to live on wild vegetables and borrowing for the next six months, the villagers have become accustomed to this hard life without a meal. Except for some young people in the village, few people want to change anything.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, a team of more than ten people suddenly appeared at the entrance of the village, and a large truck full of food was pulled in the middle of the team.

The villagers were hurt by various armies. Although the Eighth Route Army guerrillas were very nice to them, the guerrillas were too weak and were not the opponent of the Japanese at all. They only dared to move secretly in private, so the teams that appeared at the entrance of the village were definitely not the guerrillas.

With fear of the army, the villagers instantly scattered in shock. They returned to their homes, closed the door, and prayed to God that the army at the entrance of the village would not come to them.

Surprisingly, everyone waited at home for almost half an hour but didn't see anyone smashing the door and robbing things.

A few bold young men began to walk out of their homes, wanting to know what the troops at the entrance of the village were doing!

A soldier from an infantry squad, except for four or five people holding guns at the entrance of the village, all gathered at the threshing ground at the entrance of the village, unloaded the grain from the truck, and then set up the table with the truck.

"My fellow villager... Hello, we are the Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Army, not the Japanese and puppet troops, and we can't shoot everyone in the world... The Japanese and traitors in the county have been wiped out by us..." A soldier saw the young man in the village looking out and greeted him quickly...

Seeing that they still had a hesitant expression and did not dare to come to the entrance of the village, the soldier who had just spoken continued to shout: "We are the Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Army, a team that specializes in fighting Japanese devils. We will never steal everyone's things. Don't worry... "

"Did you see the food we just pulled to the entrance of the village? The car was filled with white flour and millet. We knew that the villagers were living a hard life, so we prepared it for everyone!"

"Don't be afraid, we will never rob the men and rob everyone of things!"

Finally, a young man was told and he mustered up the courage to walk towards the entrance of the village: "Don't you really rob anything? You're going to give us food?"

"More than real gold..." the warrior replied with a smile.

I was afraid that the other party would leave, so I told all the troops about recruiting and recruiting conditions in one breath.

"Xiyang was occupied by our National Salvation Army. From then on, there will be no Japanese to come to cause trouble for everyone and steal everyone's things..."

"In order to better protect everyone and defeat the Japanese, our National Salvation Army decided to expand our national army in Xiyang. If we meet the conditions for recruiting troops from our National Salvation Army and then we are willing to join the National Salvation Army, each new recruit will give 50 kilograms of food. During the period of joining the army, the family can also reduce the amount of food tax."

"After joining the National Salvation Army, we not only care about our fullness, but also can eat a meal of meat every few days and half an egg in two or three days. If the troops win a battle, we can not only eat meat with extra meals, but also rewards and allowances to get!"

"If we join the National Savior Army and die, we will also give a generous pension to reduce the grain taxes of the families of the victims. We will also build a school in Xiyang to send the children of the victims to school and raise him to adults for free..."

Few young people are willing to stay in the village and wait for death after eating this meal.

After hearing the explanation of the National Savior Army soldiers in front of him, several people were very moved. A young man with the most courage directly looked at him and asked: "You can really have a full meal every day and eat a meal of meat every few days?"

"Of course!" the soldier patted his chest and replied.

"As soon as you see your body, you will know that your family has no food. You eat wild vegetables every day, and you can't eat enough, you don't have oil or water, you don't have any strength, you can't see any blood on your face, and you have a pale and thin skin."

"Look at us again. If we don't have enough food and don't have some oil and water, can we grow so strong? Then we can't even carry the gun, so how can we fight!"

"As long as you join the National Salvation Army, I guarantee that everyone can eat full every meal, eat a meal every few days, eat half a boiled egg in two or three days, and can also add extra meals when fighting, which is definitely better than what you eat during the Chinese New Year."

"If you practice well in normal times and kill the Japanese on the battlefield, you can not only make contributions and become a cadre, but also give everyone some rewards. This is definitely a good thing that you can't even touch with a lantern."

"There is another benefit. Don't forget: after joining the National Salvation Army, you will be able to receive fifty kilograms of millet or white flour immediately, and the annual grain tax paid by your family will also be reduced a lot."

"There is a bit less food at home, and the food tax is less. The food left will definitely be more food than before, and it will take longer to eat. Moreover, there are fifty kilograms of food at home. At that time, your parents, brothers, wives and children will no longer have to go hungry because you join the National Salvation Army."

The brave young man was moved at that time and before the soldiers finished speaking, he shouted: "I want to join the National Salvation Army..."

The soldier briefly looked at the other party's body and replied: "Your health is OK. You can join the National Savior Army. But we are not everyone. If you don't have brothers at home and are the only sons, we will not accept it no matter how good the health is. Moreover, joining the National Savior Army requires your parents' consent, and what you say is not the limit!"

"If you really want to join the National Salvation Army, you can go back and discuss with your parents, and then bring them to find us!"

The young man thought for a while and replied: "I am not the only son, I have two younger brothers at home. I will go back to discuss with my parents now, and then bring them over to sign up..."

After saying that, the young man ran to his home.

There were also several young people who wanted to join the army and followed them back to the village three times.

A few young people who do not want to join the army or are not qualified to join the army also ran back to the village, and they wanted to bring the good news back to the village.

Twenty minutes later, the young man who left the entrance of the village first came back, with his parents and two younger brothers with complicated expressions following him. The mother still had tears in the corner of her eyes, obviously she didn't want her eldest son to join the army.

But the eldest son is too stubborn and he will run away from home if they don’t agree. Anyway, there is not much food at home and it can’t support the whole family of five.

"Sir, I've decided to join the National Salvation Army, and my parents agree!" The young man walked directly to the warrior who had just talked to him, and was both nervous and excited when he spoke.

The soldier saw that his mother behind him was already heartbroken and began to wipe his tears. He hesitated for a moment to comfort him: "Don't worry, fellow villagers, our National Salvation Army is not other troops, and we will not send new recruits to the battlefield as cannon fodder."

"As long as your eldest son trains well in the recruit battalion and learns the ability to kill enemies, he will not only save his life when he goes to the battlefield in the future, but also kills enemies and makes meritorious contributions. Maybe the next time you see him, you will become the squad leader of our National Salvation Army!"

A hint of hope quickly ignited on his mother's face and he quickly looked at his eldest son: "Have you heard what the commander said just now? Since you insist on joining the National Salvation Army, then follow the commander to train troops... I don't want you to kill the enemy and become an officer, as long as you can live well!"

The young man replied with a serious look on his face: "Dad, mom, don't worry, I will definitely practice my ability to kill the enemy!"

After saying that, he turned his eyes to his two younger brothers: "Second, third brother, you have grown up, so I'll leave your parents to you..."

When the soldiers saw that they had discussed it and the atmosphere was not as nervous as before, they pointed to the platform that had been set up on the threshing ground and said, "Since you have made up your mind, go with me to register..."

"My parents follow you. After registering, you need to press your handprints to confirm, and then get 50 kilograms of white flour or millet!"

"Name!" As soon as the young man walked over, he asked the document sitting on the other side of the frame, without a single nonsense.

"Chen Shan..." the young man mustered up the courage to answer.

"Age..." the clerk continued to ask.

"21 years old!" Chen Shan replied...

After asking several questions in a row, the document sent the registration book to Chen Shan: "You press your handprints in this place, your father presses your handprints behind you. After pressing the handprints, you will be the recruits of our National Salvation Army. You will gather at the entrance of the village tomorrow morning, and someone will take you to the county recruit camp to report!"

After all the two men pressed their handprints, a soldier next to them came over: "Chen Shan, there are millet and white flour here, and they are all 50 kilograms per bag. What do you want?"

"flour!"

Chen Shan answered very readily, and he and his parents had already discussed this result and were planning to make dumplings for the boss tonight to practice.

The news that Chen Shan joined the National Salvation Army successfully received fifty kilograms of white flour seemed like a gust of spring breeze, which quickly spread throughout the village.

Several young people who had the idea of ​​joining the National Salvation Army no longer hesitated and dragged their families to the entrance of the village to sign up!

The National Salvation Army, Tang Yufeng and Yuan Shushan appeared together in front of Zhou Cheng, and you could tell the good news they brought back with them just by looking at their faces.

Before he could speak, Yuan Shushan reported with excitement on his face.

"Captain, the people of Xiyang are very enthusiastic about joining our National Salvation Army. We have only recruited four days, and the number of new recruits who have completed the registration has exceeded 500. Only then have one-third of the villages and towns in Xiyang, and two-thirds of the villages and towns have not been there."

"According to the current recruitment speed, the recruit battalion can be fully organized in up to five days!"

Zhou Cheng did not smile because of this good news, but shook his head and replied with a serious look: "Deputy Commander Tang, Deputy Commander Yuan, you all were wrong."

"The reason why we can recruit so many new recruits in such a short time is not because the people are enthusiastic, nor how they support our national rescue army and support us, but because they are so poor that they can't survive, and eating food in the army has become their only hope for survival!"
Chapter completed!