If the Huai army wants to fight against the Liberation Army, there are a lot of opportunities. Especially after the Guangfu Army seized Xuzhou, the north of Huaibei is Xuzhou, the east is Suqian, and the south is Huainan across the Huai River. The entire Huaibei was surrounded by the Guangfu Army on three sides. The Huai army had more than 30,000 troops, but it was always unable to move, that is, the three directions of defense of these more than 30,000 troops were already stretched. Superiority in forces cannot be formed in any of the three directions, northern, eastern, and southern. Not to mention fighting in three directions at once.

Theoretically, it is easiest to attack Xuzhou to the north, and there is a lot of marching on that large plain, and if you can't win, can't you run? It's just such a large plain, and the Liberation Army can chase it as much as it wants. What if the Guangfu Army comes and confiscates its feet and chases it straight to Suzhou? In the end, Li Hongzhang still crossed the Huai River and launched an attack.

No matter how easy the Huai River is, the Huai River is the Huai River after all, and it is also a landmark that can make the Restoration Army have a sense of pause. Since the Liberation Army restrained their steps with reason before, in order not to let the war exceed expectations, the best helper was the rationality of the Liberation Army.

The 5,000 Huai army was ready for battle and began to assemble ships to prepare to cross the river. Although the Huai River is not wide, it is not something that can be crossed by simply wading. The Hunan Army's sailors had a big battle with the Guangfu Army's sailors at Chaohu, and after that battle, the big ships of the Hunan Army's sailors were all wiped out. The boat escaped to the Huai River through the water network of Guò Anhui. Li Hongzhang wanted to borrow the wisdom of the Taiping army to cross the Huai River, and used small boats to build a pontoon bridge to cross the Huai River.

An army of the Huai Army assembled on the north bank of the Huai River, and the Anhui Military Region of the Guangfu Army knew about it on the same day. The original Huaihe defense line was divided into two and became the Anhui Military Region and the Xuzhou Military Region. Major General Zhou Jinguo, political commissar of the Anhui Military Region, was in a meeting at that time, and in the face of a group of political commissars and military supervisors, this outstanding soldier in the Battle of the Two Lakes had a stern expression, "Most of the officers and soldiers stationed in Anhui are not from Anhui, and everyone must do ideological work well after they go back." Now the troops are in other places, and the soldiers' hometowns are not locals. Everyone is not good at good relations with the masses, is this still China's army? Is this still a glorious Liberation Army? ”

The political commissars are slightly better, and the military directors feel quite aggrieved. A colonel stood up and said: "Now the troops are shouldering heavy water conservancy construction work, and the troops are working very hard......

Zhou Jinguo shouted: "I took the chickens of the villagers and grabbed them in front of the villagers when I distributed the grain, what does this have to do with whether the work is hard?" Back then, Yue Fei's Yue family army froze to death and did not demolish the house, starved to death and did not loot. Only then can we gain the support of the masses. Our troops were only resupplied a little earlier and a little later, and there was no shortage of supplies at all. Can't you bear it for a while? What a hero in front of the common people! Isn't it glorious to bully unequipped people! ”

"Commissar! It was the people from all walks of life who added the team first, but it wasn't our troops who added the team first! The military commander was not convinced.

Zhou Jinguo didn't have the slightest intention of backing down, he replied loudly: "The common people have suffered for so many years, and they have never believed in the government. We are all from a bitter background, can't you think of this? The people don't believe in the new government, and we don't believe in it ourselves. The common people joined the queue because they were afraid that they would not have what they promised to share with them if they were late. But our troops still don't know if these supplies are definitely enough? The masses are scrambling to grab it, and the troops are coaxing! ”

The political commissars and military commanders who had been criticized were silent, and recently the Guangfu Army began to build water conservancy. Naturally, it is not enough to rely on the troops alone, but also to mobilize the people to participate in it. And the people have no sense of queuing, and they are frantically crowded forward to receive the supplies that should be given to them. There were also some comrades in the troops, but they were also squeezed. In the end, there was a stampede and hurt people.

It was impossible for the party committee to criticize the people, so the party committee approved the troops. Of course, the comrades in the army felt aggrieved.

After criticizing people, I saw that everyone no longer argued. Zhou Jinguo ordered: "I ordered, starting tomorrow, the number of people who distribute materials will be tripled, and the personnel will be diverted as much as possible to speed up the distribution." ”

Hearing this, the faces of the military commanders were full of displeasure, and they almost said directly, "It would be good if you said that the solution was not good!" ”

At this moment, the communications staff officer sent a telegram, and after reading it, Zhou Jinguo said to the participants: "Report to everyone that the Huai army seems to have been dispatched and is preparing to cross the Huai River. ”

This news immediately excited all the participants, and for three years, the troops of the Huai River defense line had long been preparing for war, but they could only suppress the reactionary landlords in Huainan and help the masses to build water conservancy. At this time, there is finally a battle to be fought, and this joy is really indescribable.

Zhou Jinguo said: "I immediately prepared to meet the attack, and at the same time sent a report to the central government. What do you mean? ”

At this time, all the military members who could represent the Anhui Military Region were there, and everyone raised their hands in an instant. Everyone agreed.

For Wei Ze, including the Military Commission, Huaijun's bravery is beyond imagination. Is the Huai army deciding to fight to the death? Or is there something else going on? The Military Commission agreed to meet the battle, but there was no unanimous opinion on the next battle.

Wei Ze thought about it, and finally asked Zuo Zongtang to come out and express his opinion. After all, judging from the familiar Cheng dù, Zuo Zongtang's familiarity with the Huai Army is probably quite high.

Zuo Zongtang still felt a little unhappy when he came out to speak, and his identity at this time was still a "rebel general". However, Zuo Zongtang is not the kind of person who doesn't know the general situation, after all, asking him at this time is also the most reasonable choice. After thinking for a moment, Zuo Zongtang replied: "I don't think the Huai Army is preparing for a decisive battle with the Liberation Army. If it was a decisive battle, they should defend in the direction of the Huai River and launch an offensive in the direction of Xuzhou. I also don't think that the Huai army is a false shot, as long as it attacks the direction of the Huai River, our army's troops in the direction of Xuzhou will definitely be ready. ”

It's just that Zuo Zongtang was a little hesitant in his final judgment, and he said after a moment of silence: "However, the Huai army doesn't know about our army's telegraph network, so I can't be completely sure about this." After all, I can't trust the news until I see the telegram. ”

After another pause, Zuo Zongtang changed his opinion a little, "But the transmission of intelligence will not be delayed for that long, and it cannot be set that the Huai Army completely thinks that the speed of our army's intelligence transmission is relatively low." ”

After listening to Zuo Zongtang's statement, Wei Ze came out to set the tone, "For high-level enemies, their actions can be understood, because our level is relatively high. When it comes to low-level enemies, our judgment is often wrong because we can't lower ourselves below a certain level. Now I ask the comrades to consider the Huai Army at a low level, and only by doing so can we get close to reality. ”R1058