The weather of sunny and rainy weather when it is cloudy and sunny is finally stabilized in the dark clouds in the sky, the thick misty smoke and rain shrouds the earth, the call sign of the wind for a night in a row, gradually tends to flatten, the water surface of the Nüshan Lake of the blue waves appears cold and bleak, the reeds by the lake are undulating and swaying like waves in the changing wind direction, and the land of Jianghuai has entered the annual rainy season.

Under the leadership of the regiment commander Gu Changfeng, the third regiment of the Reading Division quietly came to Panjia Town and stationed there, which was only 7.3 kilometers away from Liuxiang, the main transit place of the Zhilu army's materials in the north, and only five kilometers away from the main stream of the Huai River that turned south from the northeast of Liuxiang.

At noon, the reconnaissance group urgently reported that a battalion of enemy troops from Wuhe County, 20 kilometers to the west, had already entered Liuxiang Town, distributed in the east wharf and the eastern periphery of the town, and was stepping up the construction of fortifications together with half of the battalion that had been scattered by our troops, and another regiment had reached Changhuai Town, 16 kilometers to the west, and it was expected that after lunch, reinforcements would be made in the direction of Liuxiang.

Gu Changfeng immediately ordered Kuaima to report to Hu Jialin, who was five kilometers behind, and suggested that the mortar company directly under the rear, which had returned last night, and the engineer battalion that had returned last night to the rear should be urgently transferred to the front, and the strength of one company should be used to feint at Liuxiang, and the main force of the three regiments would advance eight kilometers west to strike at the enemy crossing the river at the junction of the Tong River and the Huai River.

Hu Jialin, who received the urgent report, ordered the mortar company, engineer battalion, and guard battalion blasting detachment to go to Panjia Town at full speed, leaving the three regiment engineer companies and one company of logistics officers and soldiers to strictly guard the banks of the Huai River, and after sending a report to An Yi, they took the lead in rushing to Panjia Town under the escort of a platoon of guards, and set up a plan with Gu Changfeng to "besiege the town and send reinforcements".

At one o'clock in the afternoon, under the cover of the officers and men of one company of the Third Regiment, the mortar company successfully rushed to the mouth of the ditch 2.3 kilometers west of Liuxiang Town, set up 12 mortars and began to launch a fierce shelling of the Liuxiang Wharf for 10 minutes. Nearly half of more than 50 ships, large and small, were blown up, three fortifications scattered on the shore were directly hit, more than 20 officers and men were killed or wounded, and more than a dozen flat-bottomed transport ships broke their ropes due to violent shocks and swayed downstream. The rumbling cannon fire frightened the defenders of Liuxiang, and the deputy of the defending corps reported to Wuhe County through the newly erected telephone line.

More than 1,800 officers and men of the 2nd Regiment of the 9th Division of the Zhilu Army were having dinner in Changhuai Town, 16 kilometers to the west, when they received an urgent order from the division headquarters in Wuhe County, they immediately threw down their rice bowls and galloped to the aid of Liuxiang in the rain.

The drizzle did not stop, the roads became more and more muddy, and because of the different types of footwear of the soldiers in the alternate seasons of spring and summer, although the straw sandals were non-slippery, they could bring up heavy mud, and the shoes and socks of the few officers and men wearing cloth shoes were wet, slippery and difficult to walk, and the figures of the long contingent could be seen everywhere in the long procession, and several people carried more than 10 heavy machine guns in groups, and from time to time because one of them slipped and fell into the mud, the officers and men complained to each other, scolded and reprimanded, and the whole team had to slow down after advancing more than one kilometer at a rapid pace.

In the temporary headquarters of Wuhe County, General Chu Yupu, deputy commander of the Zhilu Allied Army and former commander-in-chief of the enemy, Jiang Yuming, commander of the Ninth Division, Kong Fanfang, chief of staff of Major General, and other generals and commanders nervously analyzed the latest emergency reports received.

"Report to the deputy marshal, the 2nd Regiment of the Ninth Division received an urgent report from the Changhuai Garrison Company, and has rushed to Liuxiang at full speed, and the first regiment has been fully equipped, and immediately left for Changhuai Town to wait for the next order. According to the supplementary report of the defenders of Liuxiang, the enemy launched a fierce attack on the periphery of Liuxiang from the east and south immediately after the shelling. "The colonel's adjutant has finished his report and is waiting for instructions.

The veteran Chu Yupu turned to the map on the long table in the middle of the lobby and pondered, Jiang Yuming turned to the colonel's adjutant and asked loudly: "Mountain Tiger, what information does our reconnaissance team have returned?" ”

Qin Shanhu, who had a mustache, shook his head: "Without any information on the location and movement of the enemy's main force, our reconnaissance team simply cannot go out of seven kilometers south of the county seat.

According to the reports of the brothers who escaped, we preliminarily judged that we were encountering small groups of enemy scouts, each numbering about eight or nine men, and that they were stealthy and fast, and that a salvo from a distance of two or three hundred meters could accurately hit our reconnaissance team.

Beginning this morning, the guard regiment learned a lesson, and each time it sent a cavalry team of more than one squad to reconnoitre, but the enemy scout squad was actually equipped with light machine guns, and it was able to accurately strafe our men and horses at a distance of more than 300 meters. ”

Jiang Yuming said with some annoyance: "Send the main force to attack the west bank, I don't believe that the enemy will not come out to fight!" ”

"Yuming, what are you anxious about? As the commander of the first army, he is most afraid of being provoked by the enemy and acting recklessly, where has your experience gone over the years? ”

Chu Yupu put down his two-foot-long pipe, raised his head and looked out the window at the drizzle: "There is no vanity under the fame, An Yi is not easy to deal with!" He is very aware of the weakness of our northern army, and knows that in this wet and muddy place where the water network is dense, our army cannot give full play to the advantage of artillery fire, and cannot keep up with his marching speed, therefore, he relied on the advantage of the southern army in the rain and night battle, and carried out a sudden attack with more attacks and fewer attacks on the defenders of the towns of Wuhe with a small force. Recklessly, he sent a large army to fight it.

But have you thought of it? For example, the three divisions of the First Army, each division has between 8,000 and 15,000 people, and the divisions under the command of Li Delin, the shorty man of Guangxi, are even more outrageous, with each division ranging from 16,000 to 20,000 to 20,000, which is equivalent to the total strength of our army.

Looking back, the enemy in front of us has no less than 10,000 people, only 2,000 fewer than your 9th Division, and your artillery battalion cannot come to the front line due to road problems, after subtracting these more than 800 men and heavy firepower, are you confident that you can defeat him in this rainy season and unfamiliar terrain? He wishes you could go out and find him. ”

"However, the current situation is very passive!" Jiang Yuming reluctantly defended.

Chu Yupu glanced at Jiang Yuming, who was so anxious that his face was flushed, returned to the table and looked down at the map again, and after a while, he suddenly raised his head and ordered loudly:

"Yuming, you immediately urgently order the next regiment not to stay in Changhuai Town, and go directly to Liuxiang to join the second regiment, if you encounter the enemy, build fortifications on the spot and insist on resisting!"

"Yes!"

Jiang Yuming seemed to suddenly understand, and called the adjutant to hurriedly order.

Kong Fanfang, chief of staff of the Ninth Division, approached the table and asked respectfully: "Deputy Marshal, are you saying that the enemy may ambush the second regiment that is the first to rush to the aid halfway?" ”

Chu Yupu nodded: "Not bad!" Otherwise, why would An Yi Kid spare no effort to attack our scouts? Isn't the purpose to keep our army from knowing about the movement of its men? In this case, he is very likely to attack Liuxiang at the same time, to ambush our reinforcements, he has such troops, and he also has such confidence, especially in the current situation, he has many more advantages than us, and he is very good at using it, judging from the situation in the past three days, he has been prepared, therefore, before the 11th Division in Suqian crosses the Huai River and enters the battlefield, we must not act rashly, otherwise it is likely to fall into his trap, this person is young but full of tricks, he is a strong enemy...... Prosperity, and then pass on my order to transfer the 3rd and 4th regiments of your department stationed in the west of the city to Changhuai, and echo with the defenders of Liuxiang at any time, so as to avoid being broken by the enemy individually. ”

"This ...... Deputy Marshal, we can't all go! There is less than one regiment of troops around you......" Jiang Yuming had already strode back, and he was very surprised to hear Chu Yupu's order.

Chu Yupu shook his head slightly: "Go, the enemy will not dare to attack Wuhe County within today, I will let Shanhu pass the order and transfer the Ji Junbao Brigade from Guzhen, rest assured!" But you have to be careful, don't attack lightly, you know? ”

"Yes!"

Jiang Yuming and Kong Prosperity replied in unison.

Nüshanhu Town, Reading Force Division Headquarters.

"The report was that Deputy Division Commander Hu had called that the strength of one regiment of the enemy army would reach the Tonghe crossing within ten minutes. In addition, Chief of Staff Yang sent a telegram saying that the forward battalion of the 2nd Regiment had successfully occupied Gupei Town, and that the enemy had withdrawn to Wuhe County last night, as the intelligence had shown, and that the rest of the 2nd Regiment had already crossed Huxi. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Peng Jianqing, the captain of the communications brigade, reported loudly that after Zhan Huanqi followed Yang Bin to carry the radio, Peng Jianqing temporarily served as An Yi's communications staff officer.

An Yi nodded: "Very good, the enemy is scared, and it seems that he is unwilling to make contact with us until his main force arrives...... Dou Fang? ”

"Here!"

Dou Fang threw away half of his cigarette and stood up.

An Yi didn't raise his head, and kept drawing a line on the map: "Mingguang City was captured by General Ye Kaixin's department, and the telegram said that the battle was fruitful, and it is estimated that the enemy's South Road Military Station was breached before it could be moved." As for you, you can immediately take the third division away, cooperate side by side with the three companies of Chen Kan's teaching brigade, and capture Qiaotou Town in the south as soon as possible, so as to deal with the safety of the left flank of Chen Zhibiao's second regiment, and teach the brigade to leave a company in Suxiang Town. ”

Dou Fang nodded happily, suddenly felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly said: "Big brother, we are gone, there are only two hundred people left in the communication brigade by your side, no!" ”

An Yi raised his head and took out a cigarette: "Joke, what danger is Lao Tzu in the middle of you?" What's more, with Xiao Jiu's guards here, what are you worried about?

Get out of here! You are limited to take Qiaotou Town for me within eight hours, there are only more than 300 defenders there, I heard that Mingguang City in the south was breached, I am afraid that I am scared to pee my pants, you go to clean up them, half of the captured weapons are divided into the fishermen's self-defense force in Suxiang Town, people ferry us by boat all day and night, and help us lead the way to help carry the ammunition box, and we don't charge a penny and take care of the food, we have to take something to others, right? ”

"Yes!"

Dou Fang saluted and left excitedly, An Yi watched the twenty-two-year-old lieutenant colonel battalion deputy commander grow up so quickly, he was very satisfied, and turned to Peng Jianqing, who had been standing beside him, and ordered loudly:

"Jianqing, send a telegram to Deputy Division Commander Hu, how to follow them, and then we immediately move the headquarters to Deputy Division Commander Yin's Luozui Wharf, I hope that Lu Guang's Reading Force will also take Gu Pei Town and join Xia Jian's group......"

(To be continued)