At that time, the Anhui army was still very strong, and they were all concentrated in the Zhili area, and the mobilization of troops had a huge advantage over the scattered and scattered troops of the direct army.

When the advance of the direct army arrived in Zhuozhou, Duan Qirui served as the commander-in-chief of the "Dingguo Army", Xu Shuzheng was the deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff, and Duan Zhigui was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. The East Route Army of the Anhui Army, with Xu Shuzheng as the commander, had the 2nd Frontier Division, the 9th and 13th Divisions of the Army, and three mixed brigades, about 60,000 people.

The direct army was also divided into two ways to confront: the commander-in-chief of the western route was Wu Peifu, the commander-in-chief of the rear route was Wang Chengbin, and the commander-in-chief of the eastern route was Cao Qiang, and the strength was the 3rd Division and mixed brigades such as Cao Xuan, Wang Chengbin, Xiao Yaonan, and Peng Shouxin, with more than 40,000 people.

In contrast, the direct army was 40,000 to 100,000, which was a numerical disadvantage. However, the direct army is all elite soldiers in a hundred battles, and they all broke out in the bloody storm on the front line of the exchange of fire with the southern army, and their actual combat ability is far stronger than that of the Anhui system. In particular, Wu Peifu's Third Division has always been the main candidate for the expedition to the south, and its morale and combat effectiveness are the best in Beiyang.

The Anhui system was temporarily transferred by the garrison troops of various provinces, and there were many inconveniences in fighting across provinces, and when fighting with the south, they all shrank back and wanted to pick up ready-made cheap. As soon as the strings of war are tightened, the heart is first timid. Not to mention the newly built three divisions and four brigades of the border guards, which are purely frightening in number, and the recruits have never seen blood, such combat effectiveness can be imagined.

And the most terrible thing is that the generals have no fighting spirit, including Duan Qirui as the commander.

Beiyang warlords seem to have many groups, but they can only be traced back to two generations, most of them are the same clan, some are classmates, fellow villagers and even neighbors, and many of them have irreconcilable differences. For example, in the Zhiwan War, the 1st Anhui Division was the guard that Feng Guozhang originally brought to Gyeonggi, so it declared neutrality before reaching the front line, and many officers and men of the "border guards" and the officers and men of the direct army "did not marry each other and said that they would not fight," and "said that if they wanted the army to fight, they would not change the officers to another class."

When Qu Tongfeng, the first general of the Duan Army, swore to the army, he didn't know why he was fighting, and he was at a loss, so he only said to the soldiers: "This war is nominally unspeakable. But if we don't fight, people will call. He also said to the officer: "This war is a war between those of us who have received military education in military academies and those who have not received military education in schools. "In order to cheer up the soldiers of the Anhui army.

Duan Qirui also practiced benevolence and righteousness in the war. Comparing the combat effectiveness of the two armies, the Anhui army has an air force and a heavy artillery team, while the direct army does not, and there is no antiaircraft artillery to shoot aircraft, so the Anhui army obviously has an advantage. However, Duan Qirui could not bear to strictly order the air force to throw bombs, and ordered the heavy artillery team to "not use heavy artillery unless it is absolutely necessary."

How can this battle be fought!

Therefore, when Shang Qiheng later analyzed the reasons for the defeat of the Anhui army, he said: "Although the defeat of the Anhui army is related to the heavy rain from the sky and the internal changes of the Anhui army, the important reason for the defeat is 'the march attaches importance to benevolence and righteousness'. ”

Zhang Zuolin saw that the main force of the Anhui army had been transferred to the south of Beijing, and the rear was empty, and he was ready to take the opportunity to start an incident. In the name of cracking the subversive activities of the Anhui faction in the three eastern provinces, he announced Xu Shuzheng's eight major crimes, and sent a telegram to clear the monarch's side.

In order to avoid fighting on two fronts, Duan Qirui asked Xu Shichang to use a presidential decree to demand that all armies return to their original defenses, so that the Feng army would not be allowed to enter the customs. Zhang Zuolin did not stop doing anything, and contacted the Shunzhi Provincial Council, Tianjin General Chamber of Commerce, and the Zhili Chamber of Commerce Federation to announce Duan Qirui's three major crimes:

“… regards Donghai (President Xu Shichang) as a puppet, and treats fellow officials like slaves, commanding and commanding, and hot. Although Jin Yunpeng is a protégé, he is also the prime minister, and the system should be above supervision. It is a letter from Duan Qirui that has a relationship with the hospital, and it is personally approved with the words "the hospital" and the "department". If his subordinates are ordered to convey it to the Ministry of Thought, they will directly write an edict to the superintendent and hand it over to the Prime Minister and the General Minister for handling, and they will regard themselves as the head of state. Today, he has even changed the order of the Führer's seal, and forced the Führer's seal to be issued freely and arbitrarily. This is one of the major sins. Trusting Cao Lu, he borrowed 50,000 yuan from Japan to hand over the rights of the forest minerals of the three eastern provinces and the Manmengre River Railway to the Japanese, and signed contracts with Japan for the Jiaoji, Gaoxu, and Shunji railways, so that Shandong would also be the continuation of the three eastern provinces. Even a military treaty was concluded, and the Japanese army invaded North Manchuria, under the pretext of participating in the war and training, and the Japanese officers took the right to our troops. As for the two grave sins of being in favor of the signing of the German Treaty and advocating direct negotiations, all of them are for the purpose of flattering foreigners and destroying their own country. When Duan was in Yuan Xiangcheng, he often used Xiangcheng's appointment technique to use money to buy junior officers and instigate rebellion against superiors. Unexpectedly, since he came to power, it has intensified. … The extensive use of money and the consolidation of the provincial armies have led to the increasing number of armies and the depletion of financial resources. This is the third major sin. ”

At the end of the telegram, Duan Qirui was accused of not being as honest as most people say, and it pointed out: "The house in the Tianjin Yi Concession was purchased by Xu Shuzheng in the first year of the Republic of China with the money from Hanyang and 130,000 yuan; Zeng Yunpei used the Anfu Party fee to build a four-season house in spring, summer, autumn and winter; and restored the balance of 2 million yuan, which was put into his private pocket; Duan has a stake of 1 million yuan in Sino-Japanese Huiye Bank. ”

If you want to add sin, why should you do it? What's more, the evidence is conclusive? Zhang Zuolin's long-prepared battle plan was quickly conveyed to all departments: Ji Jinchun's 28th Division went out of Shanhaiguan along the Jingfeng Line to attack Tangshan and Tianjin; Zhang Jinghui led the 16th Division out of Chifeng, attacked Duolun, Guyuan, and Chicheng, and entered Zhangjiakou. Sun Liechen was the commander-in-chief of the Feng army outside the Guan, and coordinated the war in a unified manner.

Before Zhang Zuolin announced on July 13 that he would send troops into the customs, Duan was very confident in the battle of "seeking straightness", and he boasted that when the war began, it would only take five days to capture Baoding, and his confidence was that he believed that the Feng army would not help the direct army. Because he thinks that although Zhang Zuolin is at odds with Xu Shuzheng, he also has great contradictions with his direct Cao Kun and Li Chun, so Duan estimates that Zhang Zuolin must be sitting outside the customs and watching success or failure, and will not easily bet in the conflict between Zhiwan and Anhui, that is to say, Zhang Zuolin will remain neutral.

Duan believed that as long as Zhang Zuolin remained neutral, he was sure to defeat the direct army. How did he know that on the 13th, he received a military report that the 16th and 28th divisions of the Feng army had entered the pass, and then learned that the Feng army had been deployed on Jingfeng Road, Jinpu Road, Machang, and Junliangcheng, which really made him panic.

Zhang Zuolin has a dislike for Xu Shuzheng, and he should not stab the already not very firm military spirit of the Anhui department at this time. This was a sign that Feng was obviously making a move, and Duan Qirui no longer hesitated at this point. He transferred the 13th Division and the 15th Division of the Eastern Route Army to meet the Feng Army separately.

Taking advantage of Anhui's surprise and shooting in the back, the situation was originally very good for the Feng army, but Zhang Jinghui's front-line commander Zou Duofen, the commander of the 32nd Brigade, advanced lightly against the enemy, and the main force was still in Duolun, he had already rushed to Zhangjiakou, but unexpectedly plunged into the pocket of the Anhui army.

thought that the Anhui army would not be able to support it for long under the attack of Zhifeng in the front and back, and he could take the opportunity to lay down a piece of territory. Don't you see the young marshal marching forward and already king in the northwest? Zhang Jinghui is an old man in Fengjun, and he is still in the position of division commander, is it not that he has no military exploits? Therefore, he was strongly supported by Zou Duofen.

It was Xu Shuzheng, who was surrounding him, who had a fierce force.

Sticking a knife in the back of the Feng army, this strong-tempered soldier moved Mars. In addition to a small number of troops to contain the direct army, the main forces of the 2nd Division of the Frontier Army and the 13th Division of the Army were all pressed, and the remaining 20,000 people of the Yi Army stationed in Rehe (now retreated to Zhangjiakou) cooperated to fight a beautiful counterattack of the Feng Army. Zhang Jinghui only has one division, and he is tired of the expedition, and if he is unexpected, he should be defeated in a battle. Then concentrate the victorious forces and turn around to engage the direct army, which is also a good strategy to avoid falling into a bitter battle on both sides.

Lightly dressed, Jane was bent on picking up a big bargain, so Zou Duofen was forced to do so...

The frontal line of defense was swept down, and the three iron fists that passed through him severed the connection between his command post and both regiments, and most of all, a shell hit him in the waist, and he, the brigade commander, was seriously injured. What's even worse is that in the absence of a large army, the direct army directly entered the brigade headquarters and captured him alive.

This was the first major defeat of the Feng army since its formation, and it was on a critical battlefield.

Zhang Zuolin was furious when he heard the news, in the plan of him and Zhang Hanqing and other high-level officials, this battle should be easily won. Taking advantage of the moment of Zhiwan's hard work, he took Zhangjiakou, an important town in Gyeonggi, and completed the actual occupation of Saiwairehe and Chahar, which can be regarded as a great contribution to this anti-section. After the war, it is necessary to rely on this battle to bargain with the direct family (the Jijin Chunbu can't fight on the Jingfeng line, because there are so many foreign forces, and that army is just to take the opportunity to occupy Tianjin). Now that he has been defeated, it doesn't matter if he loses face, how can he divide the north equally with his direct family in the future? I was going to pick the fruit, but now it seems that I have to pull out the thorns!

Zhang Hanqing was even more anxious. Zhangjiakou was an important barrier for him in the northwest, and it was inevitable that he would win: his northwestern army was located in a barren area, and important supplies were currently carried by horses between Inner and outer Mongolia. If Zhangjiakou loses, it is equivalent to cutting the northwest and northeast into two geographically!

Not only that, but he also planned to take advantage of this opportunity to connect Re, Cha, and Sui, and build a railway from Zhangjiakou---- Jining---- Guisui---- and Baotou to Lanzhou, and open up the northeast and northwest passages. Although it was very difficult to build these railways in history, it was related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and someone always had to do it, right? Moreover, entering the northeast from Zhangkou is much closer than passing through Mongolia. In addition, Zhangjiakou---- Chengde---- Fuxin---- Shenyang are also the main passages connecting North China to Northeast China, which completely avoid Japan, Britain and other powers.

Zhang Hanqing, who knew Zhang Jinghui very well, decided to go into battle in person. He personally led the reinforced battalion composed of the student teaching team of the Northeast Lecture Martial Arts Hall to rush to the front line in the starry night, but before he could take over, the battle ended miraculously!