In the middle of the night, in the Liuquan Operational Command Headquarters, which was as brightly lit as day, Chief of Staff Zhang Dingfan pointed to Taierzhuang on a large map and announced to the generals in his deep voice the battle plan formulated by Bai Chongxi:

"Ladies and gentlemen, General He Yaozu's 40th Army has successfully occupied Taierzhuang an hour and a half ago, according to the latest order of Commander Bai, the 40th Army will lead its troops to leave Taierzhuang in the early morning of tomorrow, along both sides of the canal, from east to west to attack Hanzhuang, in one fell swoop to cut off the retreat of the three armies of the Zhilu coalition army we are currently facing, strive to flank the north and south, and eat nearly 70,000 enemies of the three armies in front in one fell swoop!" Zhang Dingfan paused slightly, leaving the generals a time to digest.

Zhang Dingfan saw the extremely shocked eyes of the generals, and nodded with satisfaction: "This is not the whim of Chief Bai, please see, our west is the blue waters of Weishan Lake, the enemy is impossible to retreat from here, we only need to send two divisions to block the Jiangzhuang line in the east, and the enemy who is cut off from the back road will become a turtle in the urn."

Therefore, the first task of the 1st Division of the 40th Army and the An Yi Division was to do everything possible to hold back the enemy for eight hours from dawn. As long as it can delay for eight hours, the friendly forces will basically be able to reach the predetermined position and smoothly close the encirclement.

In addition, the two reserve divisions of the Tenth Army immediately made preparations for a long-distance attack, and they had to set off before 4 o'clock in the morning and rush to the Jiangzhuang line via Qingshanquan and Duzhuang to build a blocking position in advance and wait for work. ”

The generals were enthusiastically discussing, and it soon became clear that this was the best solution to the current dire situation. As long as the three armies on the opposite side are eaten in one fell swoop, the Feng, Zhilu coalition forces and Sun Chuanfang's troops will inevitably throw a mouse, and the Northern Expeditionary Army, which lacks troops and major generals, will be able to maintain the battle line on the front line of Xuzhou, winning valuable time for the strategic layout behind. Therefore, as soon as the discussion ended, everyone was full of praise for Bai Chongxi's keen eyes and exquisite strategy.

Through the fierce fighting during the day, the officers and men of the Tenth Army gradually walked out of the shadow of defeat and re-established their confidence, Wang Tianpei and other generals were infected by the high morale of the soldiers of An Yi's reading division and the competition for battle, all of them were greatly boosted in confidence, and they were determined to be ashamed of the past, and it was generally believed that with the current strength and morale, they could completely keep the strong enemy out, and there would be no problem in holding the position.

Admiral Wang Tianpei stood up and expressed his determination to resolutely obey the order and go all out, Bai Chongxi had been silently watching before, seeing the high morale of the crowd, he couldn't help but nod with satisfaction, waved his hand and motioned for Wang Tianpei to sit down, and explained the requirements, the problems to pay attention to, and the grasp of the timing in a few words.

The two instructors who were in charge of the task of running and blocking could no longer sit still, and immediately stood up and said goodbye, and the deputy commander Jin Handing also said that he would personally go to supervise the battle, and then followed. General Wang Tianpei also said goodbye when he saw that it was late, and An Yi accompanied Bai Chongxi to send the generals of the Tenth Army out of the door, and respectfully invited Bai Chongxi to go to the temporary bedroom on the side of the command room to rest.

Bai Chongxi shook his head slightly, and whispered An Yi to return to the command headquarters to continue chatting, and after sitting down, he asked kindly: "An Yi, I know that you are not like others who only see the benefits and can't see the disadvantages, you tell me, what is the difficulty of our plan?" Are you sure it will happen? ”

An Yi replied truthfully: "I dare not say that I am completely sure, but there should be five or six points, and if you have these five or six points, you should work hard to fight for it."

The subordinates thought that there were two main difficulties: first, whether General He Yaozu's 40th Army could not be discovered by the enemy in Lingxian in the north, successfully rushed to Hanzhuang and built a strong blocking position; Another is whether the enemy will notice it and retreat in advance, or feel that it is impossible to capture our position, and temporarily return to Hanzhuang, so that the 40th Army will be in danger. ”

"Very good, the second question is what I am most worried about, after a fierce battle today, the enemy's battle losses are no less than 7,000 people, and the loss of more than 3,000 men and horses in the hands of your reading division alone is equivalent to the loss of a division's strength.

If the enemy retreats by two o'clock tomorrow afternoon, our plan of encirclement and annihilation will be meaningless. Therefore, I need you to do everything you can to nail the enemy firmly here. ”

After that, Bai Chongxi looked at An Yi with a gaze full of expectation.

An Yi pondered for a long time, still still didn't figure it out, Bai Chongxi said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's still early, there is still time to think about it slowly after I go back, as long as I come up with a way before dawn tomorrow...... By the way, there were a lot of people just now, I haven't rewarded your second head Chen Zhibiao, I don't need him to come again in the middle of the night, you answer his phone, let me talk to him and encourage him. ”

"Yes!"

An Yi stood up and walked to the telephone, and soon connected the phone of the second group, and took the microphone to ask Bai Chongxi to talk.

Bai Chongxi took the microphone and praised him enthusiastically, praising Chen Zhibiao's extraordinary courage and swift and efficient raid action, and finally said that he would give Chen Zhibiao a great credit, and Chen Zhibiao on the other end of the phone was so moved that he was almost speechless.

Bai Chongxi put down the phone with satisfaction and looked at An Yi: "This Chen Zhibiao is quite good, he is a rare general, you are really well educated!" ”

An Yi hurriedly explained: "It is an honor for Chen Zhibiao to receive the commendation of the commander-in-chief, and it is also the honor of my reading teacher. In fact, today's successful sneak attack had an element of luck, the enemy fought with the 10th Army for three days and three nights, and then fought with our two divisions for an afternoon, and the long-distance rush and continuous combat were very tiring, and we were in a passive defensive position, the enemy relaxed his vigilance, so that we could succeed in one blow.

But despite this, Regiment Commander Chen Zhibiao is still an excellent commander, and his style is hard and fast enough, and he has a high prestige in the eyes of the officers and men of our division. ”

"Not bad, but no matter how powerful he is, without you, a division commander who is full of strategy and all-encompassing, he would not be able to shine, let alone such a good soldier and military backbone at all levels, your unique command style and advanced training methods are famous in the whole army, don't be too modest." Bai Chongxi said with a smile.

An Yi smiled, and suddenly came up with a way to drag the enemy, and without waiting for Bai Chongxi to sit down, he immediately whispered in Bai Chongxi's ear:

“…… The captured brigade commander was the younger brother of the enemy commander Cheng Guorui, although Cheng Guorui had a prominent reputation in his life, he was a very domineering and irascible person, and if the commander-in-chief agreed, his subordinates would do it. ”

Bai Chongxi stared at An Yi's eyes in astonishment, and after a long while, he nodded suddenly: "Those who become big things are not informal, I agree." ”

An Yi immediately walked to the phone and connected to Chen Zhibiao: "Zhibiao, tomorrow at six o'clock in the morning, escort the more than a dozen enemy generals who have returned from captives to the front line and let them go back." ”

"Ah, what's wrong? After working hard in the middle of the night, is it really like this? Chen Zhibiao exclaimed, looking extremely reluctant.

An Yi lowered his voice: "Let it go!" I've got it all for me! But you have to find a few brothers with broken mouths and strip them of their clothes and pants, and make a big laugh, and it is better not to give them even shoes. ”

Chen Zhibiao was stunned for a while, and asked inexplicably: "All stripped naked?" Naked? ”

"Well, in order to show our humanitarianism, give each of them a leash, and that's it, carry out the order!" An Yi gave instructions solemnly.

"Yes! Resolute execution! ”

An Yi returned to Bai Chongxi's side to say goodbye, and then walked out of the headquarters and went to the main position of the front line to inspect.

Zhang Dingfan saw An Yi's disappearing back, came to Bai Chongxi, who was full of emotion, and sat down, with a few rays of light shooting out of his eyes: "How could this guy come up with such a shady trick?" I can't stand this humiliation if I change it. ”

Bai Chongxi was also very touched, stood up and sighed: "This is exactly the terrible thing about An Yi, as soon as I ask for it, he understands it, and it is quite clever and ruthless, such a genius is witty and has no scruples, and his future achievements will never be below you and me!" There is a way that Jin Lin is not a thing in the pool, it seems that it is difficult for us to get our wish......"

Zhang Dingfan looked at Bai Chongxi's back walking towards the lounge, and trembled in his heart for no reason.

The next morning, the long-lost sun rose in the east, shining on the humid earth with steam, and the heat surged, and the hot summer after the rainy season had arrived.

More than 40,000 officers and men were concentrating on the battle and waiting for the enemy's position in the distance, and the officers and men could not help but feel nervous, and the invisible murderous aura spreading in the air seemed to be heavier and more worrying than yesterday.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the enraged enemy finally went crazy, and more than 40 artillery pieces of two artillery regiments hiding behind the enemy's formation poured dense shells into the position of the middle reading division at the same time, and after the 10th officers and men on both flanks dodged for more than ten minutes, there was still not a single shell flying.

At the end of the 20-minute high-intensity artillery bombardment, the enraged enemy soldiers swooped down on the revolutionary army position in three directions, and the officers and men of the revolutionary army positions could no longer pay attention to the brothers in the middle of the road, and all of them picked up their guys and opened fire on the swarming enemy.

At 8:30 a.m., Malan Bridge, nine kilometers west of Taierzhuang.

General He Yaozu, whose face was as sharp as a knife and his expression was resolute, and his mustache and eyebrows were as black as his eyebrows, stood at the head of the Malan Bridge, and the deputy army commander Gu Zhenglun, division commanders Mao Bingwen, Yang Yongqing and other generals surrounded him, and everyone looked at the officers and soldiers on both sides of the canal from afar, and did not move for a long time.

Suddenly, there was a roaring sound from far and near in the sky, and General He Yaozu remembered something and immediately roared loudly: "Enemy plane bombing!" Get down! ”

The roar was heard from one company camp to another, and the originally fast and orderly contingents on both sides of the canal instantly became chaotic, and the vast majority of officers and men who had no experience in air defense did not know what to do at all.

Fortunately, there were only two enemy planes, and all of them were reconnaissance planes, and after circling a few times over the three-kilometer-long procession, one plane pounced in the southwest direction, and the other plane circled 180 degrees in the air and flew back to the northwest direction.

Gu Zhenglun remembered something, quickly got up from the ground, and exclaimed loudly: "Oh no! The enemy had already discovered our intentions, and if the enemy planes returned to inform the three armies engaged in the southwest, we would not have been able to reach Hanzhuang before the enemy retreated. ”

General He Yaozu also panicked when he heard this, and decisively ordered loudly: "Send an order to the whole army, advance at full speed!" ”

The generals under his command hurriedly ran, and it took more than twenty minutes to reorganize the chaotic team and stride towards Hanzhuang.

At 10:46 a.m., the officers and men of the 40 th Army, who had reached the halfway point of the target three kilometers east of Xiaoxinzhuang, really ushered in an arduous test; four enemy planes came quickly, three of them dropped heavy bombs, blowing up the advancing army on the ground in two in one fell swoop, and the other went around to the northwest direction and turned the nose of the plane again, and swooped down and strafed the gray revolutionary army on the ground, causing the officers and men to shout wildly and tremble in fear, frightened, the whole team was disrupted again, and it was simply impossible to move on.

At 11:40 a.m., General He Yaozu finally gathered up the officers and men of the three divisions under his command and rushed to Xiaoxinzhuang in front with all his might, and the scouts suddenly came to report: the enemy's troops of about three divisions were rapidly coming from the direction of Gushao Town in the north.

Liuquan Town South Station, the temporary headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Bai Chongxi quietly listened to the battle reports from the front line, looked at An Yi, who calmly told his subordinates on the other side, and secretly sighed, in the enemy's three-hour-long frantic attack, the Reading Division suffered from the enemy's artillery bombardment for twenty minutes, and then endured the enemy's frenzied attack three times his size, and still has no defeat. An Yi, the soul of the reading master, was very anxious about the large-scale and long-term shelling of the enemy army at the beginning, but after the shelling was over, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he received a report from the regiments in front, and the whole person immediately relaxed.

An hour later, according to the suggestions of the commanders of the three divisions in front, An Yi finally gave the order for artillery reinforcements.

After the 15-minute artillery bombardment, An Yi, in front of more than 10 generals including Bai Chongxi, Zhang Dingfan, Wang Tianpei, and Gao Guanwu, almost gave the artillery battalion commander in front of him a death order to "give up the artillery and retreat all of them" in an angry voice.

An Yi put down the phone, his face was full of sadness, and he was extremely moved to see the generals. Gao Guanwu, chief of staff of the 10th Army, couldn't help but persuade An Yi forward, and before the words fell, the forward command post of the Reading Division called to report: The artillery position was covered by the enemy's fierce artillery fire, and more than 30 brothers who were reluctant to leave were gone...... After listening to the loud report of Zhan Huanqi, the chief of staff, all the generals in the hall looked at An Yi who was sitting slowly with his head in his arms, Bai Chongxi and Zhang Dingfan had mixed feelings in their hearts, and finally knew that An Yi had broken through another layer of mental barriers for generals: willing to give up, dare to give up!

Wang Tianpei was moved, came behind An Yi and patted him lightly on the shoulder, An Yi suddenly woke up, raised his head and squeezed out a smile at Wang Tianpei, and whispered in Wang Tianpei's inquiring gaze:

"Don't worry, I'm fine. If the artillery is gone, it will be gone, and I believe that it will soon be owned again, whether it is captured from the enemy or purchased at the expense of money, it will gradually increase, and I didn't have nothing before, right? If the artillery brothers under the command of the younger generation are gone, it will be really painful, and the younger generation of reading teachers may not be able to stand up for several months, and it will be fine...... I'm really fine. ”

Bai Chongxi heard it in his ears and remembered it in his heart, looked at An Yi and comforted him in a harmonious voice: "An Yi, don't worry, I will transfer twelve cannons to you after this battle, and I will definitely not let your artillery have nothing to do." ”

"Thank you, sir......" An Yi smiled gratefully.

"Report, the Forty Army is in an emergency!"

Pan Yizhi walked in quickly with a telegram: "Brother Guiyan (He Yaozu)'s 40th Army was bombed by enemy planes in turn, and then the enemy dispatched three divisions and a reinforced regiment to quickly block the westward advance of the 40th Army from Gushao Town in the north, and the two armies have now exchanged fire!" ”

Bai Chongxi sighed: "As expected! From the moment I saw the first plane flying over us, I expected this outcome, and it fell short! ”

An Yi thought about it, quickly took out a pen, brushed and wrote a line on the paper, and while everyone was not paying attention, he quietly signaled Zhan Huanqi to come over, handed it to him and whispered a few words.

Zhan Huanqi walked to the radio station on the other side casually, and saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he turned around and walked behind Bai Chongxi, who was looking up to the sky and sighing, and quietly handed over the note.

Bai Chongxi glanced at Zhan Huanqi with some confusion, but Zhan Huanqi turned around and left like no one.

Bai Chongxi shook his head and spread out the note, and suddenly stood up and ordered loudly: "Brother Guiyan: Brother Guiyan: Thirteen kilometers southwest of my brother, there are two divisions of the Tenth Army lurking, please contact him as soon as possible, and use Xi's telegram to order the two divisions to rush north, launch a flanking attack on the enemy who is blocking, and strive to eat the opponent in one fell swoop!" ”

"Yes!"

Zhang Dingfan walked quickly to the radio.

Bai Chongxi quietly looked at An Yi who was looking at the map in the admiring gaze of the generals, and saw that An Yi was engrossed and unresponsive, he smiled slightly, folded the note in his hand neatly and put it in his pocket, stood up and glanced at the generals around him, and said loudly:

"Ladies and gentlemen, if my judgment is correct, the three enemy armies we are facing are about to flee, please return to your respective units as soon as possible and prepare to pursue them with all your might!"

"Yes!"

All the generals stood up suddenly, replied in unison, and quickly left after saluting.

Bai Chongxi looked at An Yi's tall back, his face changed slowly, and his eyes were full of complexity......

(To be continued)