At the same time that Dai Huan led the Northern Route Army to the expedition, the Right Wing East Route Army of the First Army of the Protectorate Army, which was composed of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd regiments of the Guizhou Army, also marched eastward into western Hunan under the leadership of Commander Wang Wenhua, and entered the Hunan and Guizhou borders in early February 1916.

At this time, Ma Jizeng, commander of the Sixth Beiyang Division appointed by Yuan Shikai, was the commander of the first route, leading the Sixth Division, the First Brigade of the Eighth Division, the Seventh Mixed Brigade of Tang Tianxi in Henan, the 39th Brigade of the 20th Division of Fan Guozhang in Fengtian, and the cavalry and artillery team of the Second Mixed Brigade of about 30,000 people, known as the "100,000 Army".

Although the Beiyang Army had many generals, was well-equipped, and had complete troops, the Eastern Route Army was not intimidated by the momentum of the Northern Army.

Wang Wenhua divided the strength of the three regiments into three routes, one for Wu Chuansheng's regiment to attack Qianyang and Hongjiang, one for Mao Wenhua's regiment to attack Huangzhou (now Xinhuang County, Hunan Province) and Yuanzhou (now Zhijiang County, Hunan Province), and one for Peng Wenzhi's regiment to attack Mayang.

After the battle began, the various national defense armies took advantage of the mountainous nature of western Hunan and the fact that their officers and men were good at fighting in mountainous areas, and used guerrilla tactics to win more than 10 battles in a row, effectively killing and injuring the Beiyang Army.

After more than half a month of heroic fighting, the East Route Army successively captured Huangzhou, Qianyang, Yuanzhou, Mayang, Jingxian, Tongdao, Suining and other county seats, annihilated three mixed regiments of the enemy, and killed, wounded, and routed about 10,000 enemy troops. The strong Beiyang Army was defeated by the poorly equipped Protector Army, and Ma Jizeng, the commander of the first route, committed suicide in shame.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Yuan Shikai immediately ordered Zhou Wenbing, the commander of the 10th Brigade under Ma Jizeng, to succeed him as the commander of the first road, cobbled together four mixed brigades to gallop to Xiangxi, and recruited more than 2,000 veterans in Baoqing (now Shaoyang City, Hunan) to enrich the front line in Xiangxi and counterattack the Protector Army.

The Protector Army followed one after another, held its ground, and fought back bravely. By the beginning of April, except for a few counties such as Changde, Taoyuan, and Chenxi, the remaining 21 counties in Xiangxi were either conquered by the Protector Army, or announced that they would protect the country and fight against Yuan. The Northwest Hunan Army was surrounded by anti-Yuan counties and was in a dilemma.

The right-wing East Route Army of the First Army of the Protectorate bravely killed the enemy in western Hunan, completely smashed Yuan Shikai's attempt to attack Yunnan through Hunan and Guizhou, and encouraged and promoted the movement to overthrow Yuan and protect the country in the southwest and the whole country.

For the achievements of the North Route Army and the East Route Army of the right wing of the First Army of the Protectorate, Cai Ye spoke highly of it at that time: "The Guizhou Army was divided into Sichuan and Hunan this time, fought hard and worked hard, and every time it was able to win by surprise, win more with less, and regain the famous city by thousands of miles, it caused the strong to lose their courage and the hearts of the traitors. ”

The first army, the main force of the Protector Army, according to the initial plan of dispatching divisions, set out in the fourth year of the Republic of China, and on January 16 of the second year, they arrived at the Xinyang area bordering Yunnan and Sichuan.

On the 17th, the Protector Army advanced to Yanzipo, and Yuan's army lined up on the mountain. A detachment of the Protector Army attacked on the back, the second detachment detoured to Xuyan to assault the back road of the Yuan Army, the Yuan Army did not abandon the mountain and fled, the Protector Army took advantage of this victory to pursue, the momentum was like a broken bamboo, Huangpoer, Fenglai Field until the village of Touyin was occupied. By the 18th, the Hengjiang River had been completely occupied.

On the 19th, the first detachment stood on the right bank of the Jinsha River and pinned down the enemy with artillery, and the second detachment crossed the river through Luodong and launched an assault from behind the mountain. On the morning of the 20th, Yuan's army abandoned Baicun Creek and retreated to Xuzhou.

After the Protector Army advanced to Cypress Creek, the defenders of Yuan's army and Xufu were in an uproar.

On the 21st, the Protector Army entered the Syrian Mansion without bloodshed, and representatives from all walks of life in the Syrian Prefecture welcomed the Protector Army into the city. Syria became the first important county town captured by the Protector Army after entering Sichuan.

Yuan Shikai heard the great earthquake and ordered Wu Xiangzhen to be the envoy of southern Sichuan, and ordered him to make meritorious service with the crime.

Sichuan general Chen Eun transferred troops to counterattack Xuzhou in four ways: Wuxiangzhen led his troops to attack northern Syria from Ziliujing; All the way for Feng Yuxiang's troops to attack Xudong from Luzhou; All the way for Zhu Deng, the Han army (patrol army) of the five unifications, attacked the west of Syria from Qianwei; One route was divided into troops from Luzhou, and one went around Gao Heng to disturb southern Hunan.

Xuzhou is located at the southern edge of the Sichuan Basin, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the lower reaches of the Jinsha River and the Minjiang River, and the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The terrain is long from north to south and narrow from east to west, and the terrain is high in the southwest and low in the northeast. The west is the remnant vein of the Great and Small Liang Mountains, the south is the northern slope of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and the northeast belongs to the hilly area of the basin, which is also a strategic place.

On January 29, Ma Xinpei, the commander of the second battalion of the first detachment of the Protector Army, fought with the Yuan army from the artesian well at the Douniuyan near the Zongchang, and the detachment leader Deng Taizhong also led a reinforcement team to gallop the next day, and the fierce battle lasted for two days and nights, and the Yuan army resisted stubbornly. When the two armies were unable to hold each other, on the 31st, Yang Zhen, the leader of the second detachment, led a platoon of troops to help in the battle, and the morale of the Protector Army was greatly boosted, and they rushed to kill at the risk of death, and the Yuan army was defeated and broke away to the artesian well.

The Protector Army captured two cannons, killed and wounded more than 400 enemy soldiers, captured dozens of people, and piled up more than an inch of bullet casings in the position; The Protector pursued the victory.

On the same day, the battalion commander of the second detachment, Tian Zhongqing, also fought with the Yuan army from Feng Yuxiang's department in Huzhou in Baishachang, and the Yuan army used several cannons and more than a dozen machine guns to strafe in a concentrated manner according to Longtou Mountain, and Yang Shengmin, the commander of the fourth company of the Protector Army, was killed in battle, and Ling Bang, the commander of the third company, was also seriously wounded, and the rest of the officers and soldiers were also killed and wounded, but they still resisted with all their strength.

The detachment leader Yang Zhen led the team from the sect and ordered the engineer battalion to attack the front and left flank.

In the middle of the night, a detachment and a battalion also arrived, besieging the left flank of Yuan's army, fighting for three days and nights, killing one Yuan's battalion commander, three company commanders, and hundreds of soldiers; Feng Yuxiang, the commander of the Yuan army, also suffered heavy losses and retreated to Nanxi.

The Protector Army pursued fiercely, and Yuan's army drowned many people by throwing themselves into the river, capturing a large number of guns and bullets, and capturing more than 100 people.

The Han army of the five divisions of Yuan Jun and Zhu Deng was divided into Pingshan, Guyupian and Liangshuijing, all of which were blocked by the Protector Army. The division of troops from Pingshan to attack Cypress Creek was also repelled by the Protector Army.

On the morning of February 4, Yuan's army gathered two battalions of the Sichuan Army and six companies of the Beiyang Army to attack Zongchang. In the twilight of the fourth day, the Protector Army braved the rain to attack the Yuan army, the Yuan army could not resist and rushed, more than 100 people died, many wounded, seized two cannons, a machine gun, more than 40 loads of ammunition, and five camel cannon mules.

On the evening of the 6th, a regiment of Yuan's army and two battalions of Chen's army entered Xuzhou City from Qianwei according to Niu Xichang. A small part of the Protector Army held on to the danger and lined up with most of the enemy. The Protector Army was taken by surprise and attacked on all sides, and the Yuan army was defeated. After chasing for more than 30 miles, he captured two cannons and a large number of guns and ammunition.

Before and after this battle, the drama fought for seven or eight days and nights, and the Protector Army only had one echelon regiment, with a total of five battalions. The three-way Yuan army counted several battalions of the second brigade, and the national protection battalion was brave with morale and destroyed the enemy.

On the other hand, Yuan Jun saw that the third route was defeated, so he had to make a detour and retreat to Luzhou, and Chen Eun's plan to attack Syria on the fourth route ended in a big defeat.

The middle route of the First Army of the Protectorate departed from Kunming on January 14 of the fifth year of the Republic of China, and Dong Hongxun, the leader of the third detachment of the front, led the team to arrive at Bijie on January 26.

After Yunnan declared independence, Chen Xiao was very panicked about the northward movement of the Protector Army, and immediately ordered Liu Cunhou, the commander of the Second Division of the Sichuan Army, to lead a brigade from Luzhou to Yongning, and sent troops to guard the Gulin Snow Mountain Pass, in an attempt to prevent the Yunnan army from entering Sichuan.

As mentioned earlier, Liu Cunhou was Cai Yi's subordinate, and he also worked with Tang Jiyao in the 19th Town of the Army. At that time, the leader of the Thirty Seven Associations was Cai Yi. The seventy-four standard system is Luo Peijin, Tang Jiyao is the first battalion pipe band, and Liu Cunhou is the second battalion pipe band. Therefore, Liu Cunhou had long been in contact with Cai Ye and was determined to rebel against Yuan. When Dong Hongxun, the vanguard of the Middle Route Army, arrived in Bijie, Liu Cunhou immediately sent someone to contact him.

Subsequently, Dong Hongxun's department, with the cooperation of Liu Cunhou's department, marched north from Bijie. On January 28, it occupied the Chishui River, then Lianke Snow Mountain Pass, Grinding Muddy Station, Yingpan Mountain, Gaotupo and other places, entered Yongning on the 31st, and entered Naxi County (now Naxi District, Luzhou City) on February 1. Naxi County is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, about 20 kilometers away from Luzhou on the other side of the Yangtze River in the north, and is the only place to enter Luzhou.

After Dong Hongxun's troops arrived in Naxi, Liu Cunhou issued a telegram to protect the country and ask Yuan Tong, announcing an uprising. and renamed the two regiments of Liu Bao and Chen Limen as the National Protector Army, and appointed himself as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Sichuan National Protector Army".

Subsequently, Liu Cunhou and Dong Hongxun negotiated the attack on Luzhou, and decided to rush before most of the enemy's reinforcements arrived in Luzhou, and Dong Hongxun's detachment and Liu Cunhou's Chen Limen regiment coordinated the northern attack to capture Luzhou as soon as possible.

On the 5th, the Protector Army launched a brave offensive against Yuan's army, and after a day of fierce fighting with the enemy, it occupied Lantian Dam and Moon Rock on the opposite bank of Luzhou on the morning of the 6th. Subsequently, Dong Hongxun handed over Lantian Dam and Moon Rock to Chen Limen's regiment for defense, and discussed with Chen Limen to attack Luzhou in two ways. One route was assisted by Chen Limen's regiment from Lantian Dam and Moon Rock, and one route was that Dong himself led two battalions of his detachment to cross the Yangtze River from Tai'an Field in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and attack the flank of Luzhou.

Luzhou is bordered by Tuoshui in the north, the Yangtze River in the south, the mouth of the confluence of the two rivers in the east, the dangerous pass of the dragon through the pass in the west, surrounded by water on three sides, backed by mountains on one side, easy to defend and difficult to attack, known as "iron beating Luzhou". And this place is the throat of Yunnan and Guizhou into Sichuan, and it has always been a place for soldiers to fight. However, at this time, the hostile situation in Luzhou had undergone major changes. Obviously, the Protector Army does not know much about this.

Originally, at the secret meeting in Tianjin, Cai Yi, Liang Qichao, and others, taking into account the actual situation of the enemy's strength and our weakness, and in order to gain the initiative on the battlefield, agreed to declare the independence of Yunnan after the Protector Army had sneaked to the border of Sichuan, and then quickly dealt a surprise blow to the enemy in southern Sichuan and occupied Syria, Luzhou, and other important places.

However, on 20 December, Liang Qichao sent an urgent telegram to Cai Yi, informing him that Yuan Shikai would send Zhou Ziqi to Japan to negotiate the conditions in exchange for Japan's recognition of the imperial system and the emergency situation of the Jiangsu general Feng Guozhang "hoping that Yunnan would rise quickly" and would "respond immediately", and suggested that Yunnan revolt in advance.

As a result, Cai Ye and others declared independence ahead of schedule when the troops participating in the war had not yet been assembled and the relevant preparations had not been completed. As a result, half a month after Yunnan declared independence, Cai led the main force of the Protector Army from Kunming. This gave Yuan Shikai the opportunity to transfer troops into Sichuan and make his main force arrive in Luzhou first.