Liu Jianxu feels like an ant on a hot pot now.

Last night, the 62nd Division fought fiercely with the Red Bandits at Xikou, and after receiving Tao Guang's telegram asking for help, he immediately ordered the 16th Division and the 63rd Division to urgently reinforce them. The 16th and 63rd Divisions arrived and attacked Tao Guangbu in front and back, and soon wiped out the Red Army troops.

After receiving the telegram from Tao Guang, he immediately sent a telegram to Chairman Chiang and Chairman He. What a victory! What an unprecedented victory! According to Tao Guang's report, more than 5,000 Red Army soldiers were captured, and even Luo Binghui, the commander of the Red Ninth Army, became a prisoner. It's amazing, it's really amazing, I have led my troops to encircle and suppress the Red Army for many years, when did I achieve such a big victory! Therefore, after reporting to Chairman Jiang and Chairman He, he happily went to Chuang to rest.

Just now, the guards recklessly woke themselves up from their sleep, saying that there was an emergency. As soon as he put on his clothes, the chief of staff came, saying that it was the Suining county magistrate who called and reported that he had received a report from the head of Shanmuqiao Township that [***] had been ambushed by red bandits in Xiaoshui and Xikou, and the remains of [***] soldiers were everywhere on the roads and rice fields. The county magistrate has already sent a security regiment and a self-defense regiment to investigate.

What the fuck is this kidding? Is it possible? Tao Guangbu was ambushed by the enemy, didn't he already eliminate the red bandits? How did it suddenly become full of [***] soldiers' remains?

When I asked the chief of staff again, this guy actually said that the radio contact with the 16th, 62nd, and 63rd divisions was lost.

Lost radio contact? Why is the contact interrupted, it's impossible. Wait, is the report of the Suining county magistrate true? Could it be that the 16th, 62nd, and 63rd divisions were all wiped out by the Red Army? Oh my God, those are the three elite divisions, nearly 30,000 horses, when did the Red Army have such a good appetite!

We have to check the situation quickly. Immediately ordered the cavalry regiment to set off, take two radios, go all the way to Xiaoshui, all the way to Xikou, and be sure to find out the real situation on the battlefield as quickly as possible.

It's really dizzy, how did you forget about the Air Force? It's daylight now, so the Air Force can be dispatched immediately to reconnoiter Xiaoshui and Xikou! Wait, as soon as the Air Force is dispatched, wouldn't Chairman Chiang know everything? Think again. Forget it, if it's really all three divisions that have been wiped out, who can cover it? Let's let the Air Force go out, the sooner the better.

Just when Liu Jianxu was restless, the head of Shanmuqiao Township, Suining County, was pestering the county magistrate to ask for money.

This township chief knew about the defeat of [***] in the middle of the night late yesterday.

After the Red 18th Regiment left Xiaoshui, the villagers of Xiaoshui Village began to worry, there were [***] corpses everywhere on the road and in the ground north of the village, which could scare people to death at a glance. That's not all, the more than 500 seriously wounded Hunan soldiers left by the Red Army to take care of them cried for their fathers and mothers, so that the guests did not dare to go out and the children did not dare to sleep. In desperation, the villagers discussed, recommended a few people, and reported to the township chief, asking him to send someone to bury the corpse and get those [***] wounded soldiers away along the way. I was supposed to go to Shanmuqiao to report before dinner, but when I heard gunfire in the direction of Xikou, the villagers did not dare to go, in case the Red Army came back again, knowing that they would report to the township chief, would they not follow them. It wasn't until the gunfire in the direction of Xikou completely stopped at night, and the villagers thought that the battle was really over, and the Red Army probably wouldn't come back.

The township chief, who was shouted from the bed by the guards, was shocked after hearing the report of the Xiaoshui villagers. He knew about the battles in Xiaoshui and Xikou, and what he was thinking at the time was that [***] was chasing the Red bandits, and the Red Seventh Army from Guangxi and the Red Sixth Army in the first half of the year were not all chased by Chairman He's [***]? Therefore, although he heard the gunshots in Xiaoshui and Xikou, he did not send anyone to see it, after all, the bullets do not recognize people, and it is better not to go. After listening to the report of the villagers of Xiaoshui, he knew that it was [***] who had been defeated, and he still didn't believe it, so he repeatedly asked a few villagers if they were mistaken, and don't regard the corpse of the Red Army as [***]. A few villagers said that it would not be wrong, there were still more than 500 [***] seriously wounded soldiers lying in the village, and the township chief had to quickly call someone to get them away, if it was too late, a few more would die, and the people could not afford to bear it.

The township chief thought, Xiaoshui's battle was defeated [***], so will Xikou also be defeated [***]? Just as I was thinking about sending someone to Xikou to take a look first, people from Beishan and Xikou came, and they also said that there were [***] corpses on the road and in the ground, and they had to send someone to bury them quickly, in case of a plague, it would be troublesome. The township chief asked if there were any Red Army troops in the village, and the people in Xikou said that they were all gone, but the ball was clean, and there was not even a single person left. The township chief asked again if he knew where the Red Army had gone? The villagers said that they didn't know, and they were so frightened that they closed the door and hid in the house and didn't dare to come out, not knowing where the Red Army had gone.

The township chief didn't dare to slack off at this time, and asked the villagers to go back and wait, and he hurriedly took people, put on torches, and rode mules to Suining to report to the county magistrate, which was the scene when Liu Jianxu received a telephone report from the Suining county magistrate early in the morning.

Seeing that the county magistrate had finished reporting to Liu Jianxu, and that the people of the security regiment and the self-defense regiment had also set off to Xiaoshui and Xikou, the township magistrate of Shanmuqiao Township began to ask the county magistrate for money. Joke, so many people died, there must be a coffin and someone to bury it, doesn't it all cost money?

The county magistrate knew that the township chief wanted to make a fortune, and he was very disapproving, but he didn't dare to offend the township chief on his face. At that time, the county magistrate was appointed by the province, but the township magistrate was a local bully or squire, and he was a veritable powerful faction. This is also a strange phenomenon in Hunan local politics in the early Republic of China. Therefore, the county magistrate had no choice but to perfunctory the township magistrate and say that this matter was a matter for the army, and he had to wait for Commander Liu Jianxu to find out the situation. When the township chief heard this, he was annoyed, and directly said that he had to be wronged [***] brother, and if he died in battle, he had to let wild dogs gnaw on the corpse. It wasn't until the county magistrate promised to report to the peak as much as possible and strive for reimbursement according to the facts, that the head of Shanmuqiao Township took Bao Ding and rode a mule back to arrange manpower.

The Air Force's reconnaissance report came over the radio, and there were [***] bodies all around Xikou Village, and no military activity was found on the ground; The road at the northern end of Xiaoshui Village was also littered with [***] remains, and no troops were found to be active on the ground; In the entire passage area, except for the movement of the [***] Xia Wei Department and Liao Lei Department on the southern front, no signs of Red Army units were found.

Looking at the Air Force's reconnaissance report, Liu Jianxu was stunned. It's clear, it's basically clear, the 16th, 62nd, and 63rd divisions are all finished, but I don't know if the three division commanders are dead or captured. I regret it so much, I still graduated from the Baoding Military Academy in vain, and I have experienced a hundred battles, why can't I see through the trap of the Red Army! So many corpses found in Xiaoshui must have belonged to the 16th Division, what 16th Division defeated the Red Bandit Guard Regiment, what 16th Division advanced to Linkou, now it seems that the first telegram after receiving the departure of the 16th Division is the beginning of the whole scam, the Red Army has long been ambushed in Xiaoshui, waiting for the 16th Division to hit the muzzle, who leaked the marching route and time of the 16th Division, so that the main force of the Red Army can set up an ambush in Xiaoshui so calmly, and wipe out the 16th Division! Judging from the time of Tao Guang's first telegram asking for help, it should be that the Red Army ambushed the 16th Division, captured the radio and password, knew the marching route and time of the 62nd Division, and then rushed from Xiaoshui to Xikou to ambush Tao Guang and Zhong Brigade, and then disguised Tao Guang to send electricity, ordered Wang Yuying's brigade to come back to help, and after eating Wang Brigade, he continued to disguise Tao Guang to ask for help from himself, so that he was fooled, and put a 63rd division into it. What a clever serial set, one ring after another, the time, route, and distance are so accurate, when did the Red Army have such a clever strategy! Think about the 63rd Division, the 16th and 62nd Divisions are not to mention, it is a mental calculation or unintentional, and they have embarked on the road of no return from the beginning, but the tragedy of the 63rd Division is completely avoidable! If you change your mind after receiving Tao Guang's telegram asking for help, you won't be fooled, think about it, what kind of situation will it happen if you can let Tao Guang ask for help, you should think about the bad at that time, if you think about Tao Guang's help, you must be in a desperate situation, then you don't have to let the 63rd Division go to death! Stupid, stupid! In vain, Chairman He trusts himself so much and hands over the whole army to his own leadership, how can he explain this to Chairman He! Thinking about it, Liu Jianxu took out a pistol and aimed it at his temple.

Before he could pull the trigger, several guards rushed up and grabbed the pistol.

The enemy's chief of staff persuaded Liu Jianxu with a crying voice: "The commander wants to open a point, and he is not afraid of no firewood in the green mountains." We still have a few elite divisions, the red bandits must not have gone far, they are hiding in the passage to rest, we can let Bai Chongxi's troops go north, and we and Xue Yue quickly waved our divisions south, forming a north-south flank attack, and completely eliminating the red bandits in the passage area. ”

Liu Jianxu looked at the chief of staff: "It's late, the red bandits won a big victory yesterday, their morale is extremely high, and they have obtained the equipment of our three divisions, and they have enough food and ammunition, so they want us to send them at this time?" Besides, if Bai Chongxi knew that our three divisions had been completely annihilated, I am afraid that he would order the troops to withdraw to Guangxi as soon as possible. ”

The chief of staff was unwilling: "Is it just like this cheap red bandit?" ”

Liu Jianxu sighed: "What can the red bandits do if they are not cheap?" If we lose the remaining divisions, I'm afraid Chairman Chiang will have to ask Chairman He to clean his study. I was tired and went to rest, and after the cavalry regiment had clarified the situation for a while, I would trouble the chief of staff to work hard and report to Chairman Chiang and Chairman He, asking for instructions on the future strategy for suppressing bandits. All troops ceased the pursuit of the Red bandits and held the defensive line while awaiting further orders. With that, he left the war room and went straight back to the bedroom to rest.

Liu Jianxu is worthy of being a veteran general on the battlefield, and his guesses about the battles of Xiaoshui and Xikou are basically accurate, and there are only two points that he did not guess correctly, one is that he did not expect that it was not the main force of the Red Army that eliminated his three divisions, but the Red 18th Regiment that eliminated his three divisions; Second, he didn't expect that it was not the marching route, time, and strength of the Hunan 16th Division that were leaked, but that Liu Yimin, a traverser from later generations, knew the whole situation of the Hunan 16th Division.

When the cavalry regiment of the 28th Hunan Army arrived at Xikou, it was already 9 o'clock in the morning. They followed the march route of the 63rd Division, and as soon as they reached the mountain pass between the streams, they saw the corpses of the Hunan army everywhere on the farmland, and flocks of eagles hovering in the sky, constantly swooping down and pecking. A cavalryman couldn't help but spit out with a "wow", and it didn't matter if this spit out, the soldiers spit out. The enemy regiment commander raised his horsewhip and pulled it away: "There is no interest, don't vomit, Wang Ba lid drops!" ”

After the fight, he turned around and looked at the farmland again, and he vomited with a "wow".

After spitting up, the task had to be completed, the soldiers led their horses along the road to Xikou, not far from the Yangxu River Bridge, found the bodies of Chen Guangzhong, the commander of the 63rd Division, and the chief of staff. On the position of the red bandits on the edge of Xiaoshui Village, a large number of bullet casings and artillery shells were found, and the enemy regiment commander was speechless for a long time.

Seeing the arrival of the [***] cavalry, the security chief of Xikou and the Suining County Security Regiment who arrived first all came out to greet them. The chief recounted the battle he had seen to the commander, and then led the cavalry to Beishan Village and five miles south of Xikou to see the remains of the battle. In the end, the commander of the cavalry of the Hunan army asked if he knew where the red bandits went? The chief said that he did not know the specific place, and it was estimated that it would be either east or west, or south. Because everyone in the village was scared at that time, no one dared to come out to see. It wasn't until the red bandits were gone that everyone dared to come out, and then hurried to report to the township chief.

One of the company leaders had the courage to say: "Tuanza, should we search south again, maybe we can catch up with the red bandits!" ”

The enemy regiment commander raised his hand and whipped it: "Lao Tzu hasn't lived enough!" The operator sent a report to the headquarters, saying that the battlefield had been inspected, the entire 63rd Division had been killed, and the 62nd Division had lost about 4,000 people, and the body of Lieutenant General Chen Guangzhong, commander of the 63rd Division, had been found and brought back with the team. The whereabouts of the commander of the 62nd Division, Tao Guang, are unknown. Our unit deployed a guard at the mouth of the stream and asked for instructions on specific actions. ”

A news conference is being held at the headquarters of the Yueyang Pursuit and Suppression Army in Hunan. He Jian, commander-in-chief of the pursuit army, chairman of the Hunan Provincial Political Axe, and army general, sat on the rostrum with a spring breeze. The spokesman said that the Hunan Army's Tao Guang Division, Zhang Liangji's Division, and Chen Guangzhong's Central Committee worked together to eliminate the Red Bandits' Ninth Army Corps and a division of the First Army Corps at Xikou as an unprecedented victory, and said that General Liu Jianxu would escort the Red Army prisoners of war to Yueyang, and then invite all the ladies and gentlemen to come for sightseeing and share the grand scenery. At the end, the spokesman changed his words and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to invite the commander-in-chief of this campaign, the commander-in-chief of the pursuit army, the army general, Chairman He, and Yun Qiaogong, who are strategizing and winning a decisive victory, to speak, everyone is welcome!" ”

Amid the applause of the reporters, He Jian stood up in high spirits, and after signaling that the applause had stopped, he began to speak: "This great victory is possible thanks to Chairman Chiang's wise leadership, correct decision-making, and proper deployment, as well as the bloody battles of the front-line officers and men. After this blow, the red bandits were already in a state of good luck and almost crushed their troops. Our army will pursue them relentlessly, and we will wipe out all the bandits, return peace to our people, and return our rivers and mountains to stability. When the time comes, please come and drink the celebration wine with the soldiers of our army! ”

There was another round of applause. He Jian nodded, and was about to continue his speech, blowing about the future political and economic development of Hunan, when he saw his confidential staff officer hurriedly break in. He Jian was furious and scolded: "Panic, what a system!" ”

Ignoring He Jian's reprimand, the confidential staff officer ran straight to He Jian and presented a telegram.

As soon as He Jian saw the telegram, his face turned pale and pale, and his mustache trembled. The confidential staff officer saw that the momentum was not right, and was about to step forward and stretch out his hand to help, when he saw He Jian's mouth open, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and his body fell backwards.

The scene was chaotic.