Just when Zhang Cheng led the main force of the young column to Songpan with difficulty, the second division, as the vanguard team, had arrived in Songpan under the leadership of Ding Wei, and after some reconnaissance, he was pleased to find that Hu Zongnan's troops had not reached the Songpan area, which indicated that our army was one step ahead of the enemy, took the lead in entering Songpan, and seized the opportunity of the Songpan campaign. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

However, to Ding Wei's great dismay, Songpan City looked very tall and sturdy, and was garrisoned by a security corps of more than 1,000 people, as well as 800 local Tusi soldiers.

In the past, this difficulty was nothing at all, but because the Second Division had to compete with Hu Zongnan's First Division, the troops were in a rapid march and did not carry heavy weapons, so if they attacked it, they would have to pay a huge price to take this fortified city.

Ding Wei has been by Zhang Cheng's side for many years, and of course he knows that it is not a wise strategy to storm the city.

However, this fortified city could not defeat Ding Wei, he had an idea, and immediately ordered the Fifth Regiment to put on the uniforms of the Central Army of the People's Party, disguise themselves as the vanguard of the southern part of Huzong, plan to enter the city gate, and then surprise attack Songpan City.

At about 11 o'clock in the morning, on the mountain road at the north gate of Songpan City, an army wearing the uniform of the Kuomintang marched with great swagger. The leader was a handsome young officer in the uniform of a colonel, riding proudly on a tall horse, followed by a large army of more than a thousand people, forming two long columns, slowly and leisurely towards Songpan City.

Thirty minutes later, when the army reached the city gate, they were immediately interrogated by the guards on the city wall: "Hey! Stop! Which part is it? What are you doing here? ”

"You're so blind! Lao Tzu is the head of the leading regiment of the first division in the world. Hurry up and open the city gate and let Lao Tzu's team enter the city to rest, specially, the mountain road here is really difficult to walk, and Lao Tzu is tired! ”

"Oops! It turned out to be Chief Hu's team, and the people below should open the door quickly! Open the door! But don't slow down Chief Hu's team. ”

"Squeak......

There was a loud sound from the heavy gate, and when the gate opened, a small leader who called himself Company Commander Sun ran up to offer his flattery. However, a cold sharp knife was quickly put around his neck, and Company Commander Sun was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground, begging the Red Army grandfather to spare his life.

After making some threats, the Fifth Regiment, under the guidance of the leading party Sun Company Commander, occupied Songpan City without much effort, annihilated and captured the enemy garrison regiment and Tusi soldiers, and also captured a batch of heavy weapons and a large number of war materials.

At half past three o'clock in the afternoon of May 27, when Zhang Cheng led the main force of the column to Songpan City, Ding Wei had already led the second division to set up a formation at the city gate to greet him.

Zhang Cheng praised Ding Wei's action of outwitting Songpancheng, praised him for his wisdom and ability, and asked Li Yunlong and Zhou Weiguo to learn more from Ding Wei.

Li Yunlong and Zhou Weiguo verbally said yes, but in their hearts, they gritted their teeth with hatred for Ding Wei: "What a thing! actually gave Ding Erdanzi the first prize, next time he must take the lead and take the lead. ”

Zhang Cheng naturally knows about the competition between Ding Wei, Li Yunlong and Zhou Weiguo, but he thinks that the three of them are healthy competition, so he has always adopted a laissez-faire attitude. Ding Wei really did a good job this time, so Zhang Cheng also took the opportunity to deliberately praise Ding Wei in front of the two of them, arousing their competitive hearts and doing their best for the next battle.

Standing on the city wall, Zhang Cheng looked at this thousand-year-old city, which had been established in the Tang Dynasty, called Songzhou, since ancient times, it has been the commercial and trade distribution center of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and has the name of "an important town in the northwest of Sichuan", "an important town in the border area" and "a strategic rush".

What surprises Zhangcheng more is that this ancient city actually has seven city gates, according to the introduction of Songpan locals: the seven city gates are called "Jinyang" in the east, "Yanxun" in the south, "Weiyuan" in the west, "Zhenqiang" in the north, the southwest foothills are called "Xiaoximen", and the outer city has two gates, and the east-west direction is called "Linjiang", and the north-south direction is called "Fuqing".

Each city gate is surrounded by a large stone arch with a parallel six-sided strip, so that the top is semicircular, and there are various carved patterns on the large stone of the door base.

Such a majestic thousand-year-old city is extremely rare even in the world. In the face of this city, Zhang Cheng also had to admire the labor wisdom and rich creativity of the ancestors.

Chang Kaishen, who had just established the chairman's camp in Chongqing, had already received a report that the Red First and Fourth Front armies had joined forces, and he immediately judged that the Red Army of the two routes had moved north after joining forces in western Sichuan, attacking Gansu, Shaanxi, Qingdao, and Xin, and that there was an attempt to open up the Soviet Union's international lines of communication.

Chang Kaishen judged on this basis and telegraphed Hu Zongnan, ordering him to block the main road for the Red Army to the north no matter what.

Hu Zongnan very much agreed with Chang Kaishen's judgment that he had been stationed in the Longnan area for two years, and his most important task was to prevent the Red Army from advancing north or west.

Hu Zongnan has been studying the geography and personnel of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and the northwest region, and has particularly conscientiously collected and studied the situation and trends of the Red Army. Long before receiving Chang Kaishen's telegram, Hu Zongnan had already come to roughly the same judgment as Chang Kaishen.

Hu Zongnan once said to his staff and subordinates: "Why did the Workers' and Peasants' Party abandon the base areas in Jiangxi Province that had been wandering around for many years? It was because the Workers' and Peasants' Party could not have kept its base areas without the aid of the Soviet Union. The Workers' and Peasants' Party could only obtain material assistance from the Soviet Union if it moved to the border of Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinmeng and Mongolia and backed the Soviet Union.

Based on this view, in early April 1935, Governor Hu Zongnan led all units of the second column to arrive at Bikou and Wenxian in the southernmost part of Gan Province to assemble.

At this time, the Red Fourth Front Army had completely abandoned the Sichuan-Shaanxi border base area, and began to force the Jialing River west on March 28, quickly controlling the vast area on the west bank of the Jialing River, and captured Qingchuan City on April 10, and deployed defenses at Motianling at the junction of Sichuan and Gansu in the north of Qingchuan City, in an attempt to block the southern part of Hu Zong from Gannan by risk.

The so-called Ferris Ridge, that is, the ancient name of Yinping Road, is hundreds of miles longitudinal and horizontal, and the situation is extremely dangerous.

In mid-April 1935, Hu Zongnan ordered the 1st Regiment of the Supplementary Brigade to stay in Bikou to serve as a guard to meet the 60th Division and the 1st Central Supplementary Brigade that had not yet arrived.

Hu Zongnan personally led all his troops south from Bikou: with the Li Tiejun headquarters of the First Brigade as the right column, crossed the Motian Ridge, penetrated the primeval forest, and attacked in the direction of Pingwu, serving as the cover of the whole army.

With the Li Wen Department of the Second Brigade, the Ding Delong Division of the Independent Brigade, and the Liao Ang Department of the Supplementary Brigade as the left column, they attacked and advanced to Qingchuan through the line of Dadaoling, Haoxi, and Sanguoshi, which was the main force of the whole army, and Hu Zongnan led the first division to follow up with the road. The 49th Division, the 61st Division, and the 2nd Division Supplementary Brigade of the other units then followed up southward in order.

Li Wen's 2nd Brigade was the vanguard of the left column, and after crossing the Motianling, after fierce fighting, it broke through the defense line of the four fronts and occupied Qingchuan; Then Li Tiejun's brigade captured Pingwu City.

The follow-up units of the Hu Army marched into the northwest of Sichuan one after another, assembled on the front line of Qingchuan and Pingwu, built fortifications, and confronted the Fourth Front Army across the Fujiang River, which lasted for more than a month, in an attempt to cooperate with Xue Yue's pursuit troops of the Second Route Army of the "Suppression of Communists" and carry out a flanking attack on the Red Army from the north to the south.

In late May 1935, Hu Zongnan received a report in Qingchuan that after the Red Fourth Front Army defeated the Sichuan Army in the Battle of Tumen, which lasted about a month, it had given up the advance of Qingchuan and Pingwu, and crossed the Minjiang River to the west and advanced sharply to the west, one of which approached the line of Songpan and Zhenjiang Pass in the northwest of Pingwu.

Hu Zongnan knew that Songpan was also the main road leading from western Sichuan to Gannan, and its strategic position was extremely important, so he judged that the Red Army had an attempt to seize the road from here to the north, especially after he learned that the Red First and Fourth Front armies had successfully joined forces, and the intention to go north could be said to be imminent.

Hu Zongnan immediately handed over the defense of the Qingchuan and Pingwu fronts to the 32nd Independent Brigade and other units, and ordered Zhong Song's Independent Brigade of the Second Division to serve as cover in Pingwu, and the other divisions to take the Li Wen Department of the Second Brigade as the vanguard to quickly seize Songpan.

Hu Zongnan pointed out to his subordinates: "If you can seize Songpan first, you can cooperate with the Second Route Army (Xue Yuebu) to eliminate the red bandits." "Hu Zongnan asked Li Wenbu to occupy Songpan before the Red Army at all costs.

However, Zhang Cheng had a cheating device as a traverser, and Hu Zongnan's wishful thinking still failed. (To be continued.) )