At eight o'clock in the evening, Wuhe County, the Zhilu Allied Army Clearance Headquarters.

After listening to Cheng Guorui's report, Chu Yupu, a veteran who rushed to the Wuhe camp from Liuxiang, showed deep disappointment on his face, he stood up in annoyance and walked a few steps, turned back to Cheng Guorui and said:

"Jingwu, An Yi is extremely cunning, judging from his evil deeds of escaping from the encirclement several times, bloodbathing the sand squire, and burning the whole town of Taiping, this person has reached the point of being extremely vicious, and he is full of tricks, and the remnants of his command are all outlaws, we must not take it lightly, today he suddenly led the crowd to the east by boat, and turned north again when it fell, it is very puzzling, don't you think?"

Cheng Guorui smiled helplessly: "The subordinates are also incomprehensible, after receiving an urgent telegram from Sun Dashuai, the subordinates and others have also repeatedly analyzed this, thinking that the fleeing enemy is repeating the old tricks, true and false, trying to affect my judgment of clearing out the various armies, maybe he will appear in the north in the area of Dongzuijiao tomorrow morning."

After detailed estimates, the oil of the two steamboats can still sail about 80 kilometers, not to mention that the fuel is about to run out, therefore, he is likely to be going around in circles with us, after all, Hongze Lake is a hundred miles in circumference, there are many tidal flats in the lake, it is difficult for our army to search for everything, and the remnants of the enemy are relatively safer than on land. ”

"Makes sense."

Chu Yupu pondered for a moment and asked again: "What if all this is an illusion, and the remnants of the enemy are dormant in the dense forest of Daxingtan?" ”

Cheng Guorui was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "The sky has been clear for two days, our planes have never stopped reconnoitring the enemy, Sun Dashuai also specially dispatched two reconnaissance planes for this reason to closely monitor, the lake is unobstructed, and there is no obstruction at a glance, and his subordinates think that the intelligence will not be wrong, even if An Yi's remnants suddenly turn around and go to the southeast or southwest estuary after nightfall, forty or fifty kilometers of waterway need to sail for at least six hours, An Yi's remnants have been closely pursued by our army for several days, and they have fought hard again and again, presumably the enemy chief An Yi also knows that his department is at the end of the crossbow and is unable to fight again, Therefore, the subordinates believe that the turtle is more likely to be in the lake.

In addition, Sun Dashuai said yesterday that he urgently transferred three divisions to block the southeast estuary and along the east bank, and it was really difficult for the remnants of the enemy to break through, and his subordinates also transferred a regiment of the 39th Division stationed in Mingguang County to Xuyi, together with a battalion of defenders in Xuyi, to take strict precautions, and it was difficult for the remnants of the enemy to break through from the direction of Xuyi. ”

Chu Yupu nodded and paced slowly again, hesitated for a long time and finally made up his mind: "Tongfang, where are the Temporary Sixth Division and Wang Dongjun going at this moment?" ”

"The Sixth Division has arrived at Liuxiang to rest, and Wang Dongjun rushed to Shuanggou Town on the north bank, and both divisions were stationed in place according to Yushuai's order to closely monitor the movement along the lake. Zhang Zhenbei's cavalry brigade drove to the north bank of the Huai River, and after receiving the commander's order, he immediately turned back and headed north, presumably rushing to the front line of eastern Henan and western Luxi to fight against Feng Yuxiang's northwest army. Chu Yupu's new chief of staff of the Seventh Army replied.

Cheng Guorui shook his head: "Yushuai, Feng Yuxiang was silent for a long time, and suddenly launched a full-scale attack on the front line of Henan, Yan Xishan and Jin Sui's army has already occupied the first line of Shijiazhuang, and now that Jiangbei is at the bottom, it is not said that this army will also be urgently transferred north, if the remnants of An Yi are cowering in Hongze Lake, we have no choice but to let Sun Dashuai go to the nerves of trouble." ”

"This is exactly what Ben Shuai is worried about, if this thief is not removed, there will be endless troubles!"

Chu Yupu was quite frustrated, so he could only put this matter aside for the time being, and urgently discussed with the generals the deployment of troops on Xu Beng's front line, and strived to complete the defense handover with Sun Chuanfang's army as soon as possible, so as to withdraw from the north and defend his Zhilu lair.

At 9:40 p.m., the intelligence staff officer suddenly rushed into the conference room and made an urgent report to Chu Yupu: "Yushuai, the 17th Army of the Anhui Army has sent an urgent telegram: The fleet of the enemy's An Yi Division to the mouth of the Shun River in the east of the lake is empty, and the boats are full of dummies made of wild grass and sticks, and the 17th Army requests our army to strictly blockade the west bank and the southwest area along the lake!" ”

"Not good!"

Chu Yupu Huo Ran stood up: "Pass my order: the temporary Sixth Division immediately marched east along the lake to Xuyi, and Wang Dongjun completely blocked the Huaihe estuary and the first line of Liuxiang!" Jingwu ordered the Mingguang garrison to send a brigade to rush north to help the direction of Xuyi, and I telegraphed Sun Dashuai and asked him to drive the two divisions that had reached Jinhu and Changtian to the west. ”

"Yes!" The generals replied with a bang.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Xuyi City West.

The panting steamboat dragged more than 30 fishing boats across the Xima Bridge and headed south along the Huai River, carrying nearly 1,000 wounded and sick brothers, leaving only the 2nd Regiment of Chen Zhibiao, which had more than 500 officers and men, to take charge of the safety and security of the fleet.

Chen Zhibiao arranged three guards and a group of machine guns on both sides of each wooden boat, and if it went well, the fleet would arrive at the mouth of Nüshan Lake in two and a half hours, and then enter the Qili Lake area, which An Yi was very familiar with, and the final destination was Jinli Town, 21 kilometers north of Mingguang City, where the southernmost point of Qili Lake was.

An Yi's plan was that even if he couldn't escape, the enemy would be helpless in the wide Qilihu area, not to mention that the Reading Division had a good mass base in this area, and the enemy would not be able to encircle and suppress even if he sent three or four divisions.

On the East Bank Avenue, more than 2,000 brothers of the Reading Division, dressed in the clothes of the Zhilu Allied Army and carrying sufficient ammunition, lined up neatly in regimental units, and marched south one after another under the muffled orders of the commanders at all levels.

In the raid an hour ago, An Yishi once again paid a heavy price of 285 killed and more than 300 wounded, and the brave and fierce Ding Zhicheng led more than 20 brothers to rush straight to the enemy corps headquarters in the city regardless of everything, capturing the enemy corps commander, regimental deputy and more than 10 lieutenants in one fell swoop, but also paid the price of five killed and eight wounded.

Ding Zhicheng, who was extremely heartbroken, did not restrain the three hundred brothers under his command who followed, and let this group of angry elites go on a killing spree, and the other two regiments and soldiers who arrived in one stream were infected by the brothers of the special brigade, and they also lost their restraint and launched a frenzied killing of the enemy.

Chen Zhibiao's Second Regiment set up machine guns at the gates of the cities outside the city, swept people when they saw them, and killed those who surrendered or fled outside the city, and the corpses of the entire Xuyi City were ambushed everywhere, blood was splashed everywhere, and none of the more than 2,100 garrisons were spared, and dozens of panicked civilians who had no time to return home were strewn across the streets, and the whole city was wailing and bloody, and the tragic situation was like hell on earth.

An Yi did not accuse any of the brothers, Ding Zhicheng, who personally cut off more than ten heads such as the commander of the enemy regiment, knelt down in front of him and confessed his mistake, An Yi didn't say anything, after helping Ding Zhicheng up, he gently patted his arm to show comfort, and whispered to Ding Zhicheng to cheer up and immediately lead his soldiers to reconnoiter the enemy situation along the way to ensure the safety of all the brothers.

The team marched slowly south under the starlight and walked silently for an hour and a half.

Since all the horses belong to the officers and soldiers of the special brigade who are responsible for important tasks, An Yi carried a rifle on foot like all the soldiers, and saw Zhan Huanqi walking in front wearing an oversized enemy lieutenant uniform walking very awkwardly, An Yi smiled and turned to Xia Jian beside him:

"It's all bloody all the way, how many did you kid kill?"

"A dozen, I don't count. The tiger head killed the most, and soon after rushing into the city, I saw the beard rushing to the left front street in a hurry, thinking that it was to stop the tiger head from cutting off the captives who surrendered, but I didn't expect that I led the brothers to rush into the barracks from the east, and at a glance I saw the two big knives of the tiger head and the beard flying around, and the heads of people were rolling everywhere I went, and there was no one who was together, which scared me at that time, and I was worried that the two killing gods could not see clearly to kill me side, so I hurriedly ordered my brothers to raise torches and stop advancing, He led more than 600 brothers and watched the two of them lead three regiments of more than 500 bandits to kill in and out. Xia Jian shook his head and laughed in a low voice.

An Yi looked at the starry sky and sighed long: "Alas, this is the first time Lao Tzu has killed someone who surrendered, and I feel very uncomfortable, but seeing Lao Ding covered in blood and coming to the front to admit his mistake, I have an indescribable feeling in my heart, fortunately, the look in Lao Ding's eyes has returned to clarity, otherwise I am really worried that he will go crazy." ”

"Big brother, don't blame Lao Ding, the five dead generals under his command are all at the level of the detachment leader, and the deputy captain of the second detachment, Fan Minggang, is his favorite apprentice, and half of his head was taken off by the commander of the enemy battalion who pretended to surrender, do you think he can not hate?"

Xia Jian took a deep breath, took out the captured cigarettes, and suddenly realized the marching discipline and put it back in his pocket: "Big brother, we should be quite safe this way, judging from the loose defense of Xuyi City, the enemy would not have thought that our two or three thousand people would dare to attack his county town, nor would he have thought that we would swagger so much and go south overnight." ”

An Yi shook his head: "I can't say, in such a complicated situation, anything can happen, don't be careless, you have to learn more from Cheng Guang about this, only after crossing Heqiao Town in the south and walking along the edge of Qili Lake can it be considered relatively safe."

Just now, some brothers suggested that they rest in Xuyi for half a night, and they all said that the brothers were too tired, and they were already exhausted during this period of rushing left and right, and they only rested for a day and came to another raid battle, and they didn't take a breath and then fled for their lives, but fortunately, Hutou, Huzi, Lao Li and Lao Ding, these old rivers and lakes are experienced, and a few words let the brothers know the danger of staying, which is more effective than I said. ”

The herald ran from the front of the team and whispered to An Yi: "Shizuo, a team suddenly appeared five kilometers southeast of us, with a large number of horses, about 5,000 people, Chief Ding suggested that we reach the fork in front, immediately enter the ambush five hundred meters west of the path, and wait for this enemy army to pass before going on the road." ”

An Yi was shocked: "How far is the fork in front?" ”

"About seven hundred meters, the first reading force group stopped there."

"Give orders to all regiments and battalions, absolutely remain silent and enter the western path, and go forward for ten minutes to find an ambush site." An Yi ordered.

"Yes!" The herald flew away.

In less than twenty minutes, the ground trembled slightly with the sound of horses' hooves, hundreds of horses came from the south and galloped north at a medium speed amid the shouts, and the long procession following the horse team was all trotting forward, and the officers on the horses were shouting and shouting on both sides of the team from time to time, and it took the whole team a full fifteen minutes to fully pass.

An Yi, 500 meters to the west, carefully calculated that the enemy army rushing to Xuyi in the north was no less than 6,000 people, and at the same time, he also realized that within two hours, his whereabouts would be completely revealed.

Five minutes later, the team returned to the avenue, An Yi immediately ordered all the people to run forward, at this time, Ding Zhicheng led his troops to gather in the north of Heqiao Town, six kilometers in front, and urgently discussed with Hu Jialin, who was under the command of the team, and decisively decided to quickly annihilate a company of defending the enemy in the town, otherwise the whole army could only detour to the muddy area by the lake and take an additional seven kilometers of curves, and the seven-kilometer path would never be completed in three hours, and at this time, three hours at this time, it is likely that more than 3,000 brothers would die.

(To be continued)