Just when Tian Songyao was determined to send 10 regiments to reinforce Mianyang, the Red Third and Fifth Army Corps from Suining had already rushed into Nanchong County and occupied the county seat.

Nanchong is the nest of the warlord Luo Zezhou's 23rd Division. Because of the failure of the siege of the Sixth Road, Luo Zezhou, who served as the deputy commander-in-chief of Liu Xiang's third route to suppress bandits, cooperated with the commander-in-chief Li Jiayu's new 6th Division to prevent and block the Red Fourth Front Army on the Peng'an front, and the troops remaining in Nanchong were only one regiment.

When the Red 5th Division entered Nanchong County, it was six o'clock in the morning, and the soldiers of the Sichuan Army of a regiment were basically picked up in the bed. All the money, grain, and opium looted by Luo Zezhou fell into the hands of the Red Army.

The most typical is Luo Zezhou's little wife, who was sleeping with a guard when she was caught by the Red Army. Seeing someone breaking in, he thought it was the master who had returned, so he was so frightened that he was covered in chaff, knelt on the bed naked, and shouted that the master was sparing his life, and the master was sparing his life. The Red Army soldiers did not dare to look at her, twisted their heads to the door and shouted that they would not be killed. When the woman saw that it was not Luo Zezhou, she immediately changed her face and shouted: "Who are you, don't you know that this is the Luo Mansion?" Get out of here, and be careful when the master comes back and shoots you! ”

It made the Red Army soldiers cry and laugh, so they had to wait for her to put on her clothes and tie her up.

After Peng Dehuai entered Nanchong, he did not stop long, and ordered the Fifth Army Corps to take Xichong in the west, and then outflank the southern county towns along Changlin, Longfeng, and Dawang in a roundabout way to prevent Tian Songyao's main force from fleeing west to reinforce Mianyang; Ordered the three divisions of the Third Army Corps to take Peng'an in three ways and eliminate the main forces of Li Jiayu and Luo Zezhou. After succeeding, he transferred his troops to the north along the west bank of the Jialing River, and joined the Fifth Army Corps to attack the south, and completely annihilated Tian Songyao's main force.

At this time, Peng Dehuai swept away the haze of the Xiangjiang fiasco, and was ambitious, relying on the two legions he commanded with more than 40,000 men and horses, to defeat Tian Songyao, Li Jiayu, and Luo Zezhou, the three Sichuan warlords.

At this time, Mianyang was surrounded by the Red Ninth Army.

Deng Xihou has a pointed chin and a wide forehead, looking a bit like a monkey, known as "Crystal Monkey", which means that he is like a monkey. It is said that during the melee of the Sichuan warlords, Deng Xihou was exquisite, no matter who he fought, he did not do his best, and he was naturally wiped out if he was defeated, and he could try to take advantage of the negotiations if he was defeated, and often played the role of a peacemaker.

Deng Xihou grew up in a poor family, relied on his uncle to raise him to study Chengren, and was later admitted to the Sichuan Army Middle School. After graduation, he served in the Sichuan Army, gradually promoted from a lower-level officer, and gradually evolved into a warlord who dominated one side, was awarded the title of general by the Beiyang political axe, and also served as the governor of Sichuan Province for a period of time. He is the leader of the Baoding department in the Sichuan army.

The warlords at that time were not all villains with very bad character. The so-called warlords are their own troops and not the state, relying on the army in their hands to dominate the political economy of one side and attack wantonly.

The warlords of Sichuan are very special, and unlike Han Fuqu's brutal methods of killing Zhang Zongchang, they have many things in them that seem very human today. For example, every time there is a scuffle, the opponent is not completely killed, but always leaves a way for the opponent to live, and likes to drink tea to negotiate to settle the final dispute, like Liu Xiang against Liu Wenhui. The most famous is that Fan Harr dealt with the matter of concubines who had an affair, not only did not pursue it, but also accepted the woman as a righteous daughter and the male as a righteous son, gave 5,000 yuan, and also held a few tables of banquets to let them marry, which many people can't think of.

There are also a few exceptions, during the Second Liu War, Liu Xiang's troops captured Liu Wenhui's righteous son and brigade commander Shi Zhaowu alive, and Liu Xiang strictly ordered him to be shot, because Shi Zhaowu bullied men and women in Chengdu and did too many evils.

Although Deng Xihou is a warlord, he is also a man. This person, like Liu Xiang, does not smoke, gamble, or accept concubines, and is a well-known wife in the Sichuan army. Historically, during the Anti-Japanese War, Deng Xihou led his troops to go on an expedition, and Wang Mingzhang, the 122nd Division under his command, defended Teng County and composed a heroic song. Of course, due to the arrival of Liu Yimin, history has changed, and the fate of many people has also changed.

Now Deng Xihou is already in a hurry.

Since the Red Army occupied Chengdu, Deng Xihou has been on high alert. He divided his 48 regiments into two parts, 21 regiments were deployed in Guangyuan and Jiange, and the remaining 27 regiments returned to defend Mianyang, Jiangyou, and Zitong.

At about 6 o'clock in the morning, Deng Xihou was called up by the guards, saying that the red bandits had been found at the south gate, and soon several other city gates also reported the discovery of red bandits.

Deng Xihou hurried to the city gate to take a look, obediently, the red bandits were determined to attack Mianyang, and it seemed that there were tens of thousands of horses. There was no movement on the preset position outside the city, and it was estimated that the red bandits were taking the sheep by the hand.

Back at the military headquarters, Deng Xihou hurriedly sent a telegram to Liu Xiang for help, and then began to send telegrams to Tian Songyao, Yang Sen, Liu Wenhui, and Li Jiayu for help. Originally, I wanted to order the troops who stayed in Guangyuan and Jiange and the troops in Jiangyou and Zitong to come back to help, but after thinking about the strength of the red bandits, it was better to keep some capital for myself, in case these reinforcement troops ran into the ambush circle of the red bandits, then there was really no chance to turn over.

After sending the telegram, Deng Xihou sent another telegram to the Jiangyou garrison and the Zitong garrison, asking whether the enemy situation had been discovered, and after receiving an accurate report that there was no enemy situation, Deng Xihou wholeheartedly urged the troops to strengthen their defense, prepare to fight with the red bandits for a while, and wait for rescue.

Strangely, after the siege of the city, the red bandits did not immediately attack the city, but began to build positions. Deng Xihou judged that the red bandits must have rushed from the direction of Chengdu on a rapid march, and they may have been too tired and rested while building fortifications. At this time, if you organize a surprise attack, you will definitely get miraculous results. If you can fight a bloody road, you can also retreat to Jiangyou, where the terrain is conducive to defense.

Therefore, Deng Xihou ordered to concentrate mortars and heavy machine guns to fire at the Red Bandits' positions and cover fire, and ordered the two regiments to go out of the south gate and the west gate to attack the Red bandits' positions. Deng Xihou himself watched the battle from the city wall.

When Luo Binghui, the commander of the Red Ninth Army, and He Changgong, the political commissar, heard the sound of mortars, they knew that Deng Xihou was about to launch a counterattack.

Luo Binghui laughed, and said in the Sichuan dialect he had just learned after arriving in Sichuan: "Crystal monkey, you are a turtle son, Lao Tzu has not done it yet, you Gua Wa will start the war first, and Lao Tzu will accompany you for the whole game." "Immediately ordered the troops at the south gate and the west gate to get out of the way, let the Sichuan army in to fight, and not let any of them escape. He also ordered artillery to bombard the city gates and cut off enemy reinforcements.

The enemy commander who was ordered to attack the south gate was originally unwilling, why did this unfortunate errand fall on his head? Deng Xihou had no choice but to watch it from the city wall, so he had to rush up. At the beginning, one battalion was in the front and two battalions in the rear, and it was still cautious. When the battalion at the head tore through the Red Army defense line, the enemy regiment commander felt a thrill in his heart, damn, I said that after the Red Bandits besieged the city, why didn't they attack the city in time, dare to love that the main force has not arrived and the troops are insufficient! This line of defense is so thin, it will be broken as soon as it is attacked, and if it does not rush up to expand the results at this time, Lao Tzu's regiment commander will be in vain. He immediately raised his pistol and shouted loudly: "Brothers, rush forward, kill a reward of 2 yuan, capture alive a reward of 5 yuan, and catch the female red bandit, whoever catches it first will use it first." Rush to Lao Tzu! ”

The Sichuan soldiers shouted, opened fire, and rushed into the positions of the Red Army.

The artillery of the Ninth Army Corps was formed for a short time, and during the battle of Tucheng, the shells flew all over the sky, making a lot of jokes. After arriving in Sichuan, the Ninth Army Corps and the First Army Corps acted together, and Luo Binghui asked [***] to send Zhao Zhangcheng with his artillery company to train the artillery of the Ninth Army Corps. The effect of the training is still obvious, this time a regiment of the Sichuan army rushed into the encirclement, and immediately opened fire on the south gate, blocking the shelling, shrouding the entire south gate in a tight artillery fire, except for a few who are not afraid of death, the others can not get out.

Deng Xihou saw that the attacking troops were progressing smoothly and broke into the position of the red bandits, and felt that his judgment was correct, and that the red bandits were indeed resting, so he prepared to order the troops waiting at the south gate and the west gate to go up for reinforcements, and tear apart the encirclement of the red bandits with one blow.

As soon as the Red Army's artillery sounded, Deng Xihou realized that he was wrong, very wrong, this was not Yang Sen's troops, nor Liu Wenhui's troops, this was a fierce red bandit. I am afraid that the brothers of the two regiments will become meat buns that have fallen into the dog's mouth, and they will not be able to come back.

It's true that he can't come back, since Tucheng and the Sichuan army fought once, the Ninth Army basically hasn't fought any battles, and they are all marching, resting, and replenishing. Now that the whole regiment has 20,000 people, and no decent battle has been fought, the cadres and soldiers are full of energy. Whether it can become the main force like the Seventh Army Corps, the First Army Corps, the Third Army Corps, and the Fifth Army Corps depends on the performance of this battle. Therefore, after receiving the order of the corps commander, the cadres immediately understood the intentions. When the Sichuan army attacked, they gave way to the middle road and let the Sichuan army enter the encirclement.

The commander of the enemy regiment was charging with his brethren when he heard the sound of cannons, and when he looked back, the south gate was already covered in smoke. I said in my heart: "It's not good, Lao Tzu is fooled!" Before he could finish speaking, a dense burst of machine guns and rifles rang out on both sides of the procession, and his brothers were knocked down in rows and rows. The enemy regimental commander hurriedly shouted "lie down" and threw himself to the ground, and just as he wanted to look up to see the situation of the troops, a grenade exploded overhead. The last thought of the enemy regiment commander was: "Lao Tzu is really a melon baby!" ”

The enemy brigade commander who rushed out of the south gate with the troops was a veteran of the civil war, and when he rushed out, he led the brigade special service battalion to the end, and as soon as he saw that the Red Army had just made contact with the two sides, he knew that something was not good, and hurriedly ordered the troops to retreat.

Unfortunately, at this time, the Red Army's machine guns and rifles had already begun to shoot, and grenades were also beckoning, and when the enemy brigade commander withdrew to the south gate with the special service battalion, the regiment he rushed in had already been beaten by the Red Army in the east and west, and it was no longer in formation. As soon as the enemy brigade commander saw that the main force had not withdrawn, he rushed up with the special service battalion with a red eye, trying to meet the troops and break through.

I was finally surrounded, and I still want to break through, how can there be such an easy thing in the world. The Red Army, which closed the gap, stubbornly blocked the onslaught of the special service battalion. The weapons of Deng Xihou's 28th Army could not be compared with Liu Xiang's 21st Army, they were basically made in Sichuan, and the rifle could not even hit 200 meters. This distance is far away and can't hurt the red bandits, and they want to rush up to fight in close quarters, but they are crushed to death by the red bandits' firepower. Hearing that the gunfire in the encirclement was getting thinner and thinner, the enemy brigade commander sighed and had no choice but to return to the south gate with the special service battalion.

Deng Xihou, who was watching the battle, gasped, and thought of going out of the city to attack, testing the truth and reality, and if he did, the whole army would rush up and break the red bandit defense line. If it doesn't work, just withdraw when you encounter a counterattack. I didn't expect the red bandits to be so cunning and eat the two groups cleanly. Two regiments are 3,000 people, so they are out of it all at once. After a few more attempts, his own garrison was finished. Deng Xihou was really smart at this moment, and ordered the troops to strictly guard the fortifications and not go out of the city to attack.

After returning to the military headquarters, the more Deng Xihou thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he had never suffered such a big loss in the civil war that he had fought for nearly 20 years. Two regiments were annihilated in formation, which was terrible. If the red bandits start to attack the city, with the troops at hand, there is a chance that they will not be able to defend it. No, relying on Liu Xiang's reinforcements is unreliable, no one knows what kind of calculation that guy is playing, don't wait for him to arrive slowly, he has already sacrificed his life for the great cause of suppressing bandits, and the joke will be bigger! We had to find Chiang Kai-shek and let him rush to the reinforcements of the first division in Guangyuan, which was the elite of the elite, and the weapons and equipment were first-class in China. You have to hurry up, if it's too late, you may become the first army commander to be captured or killed by the Red Bandits!

Deng Xihou calmed down and personally drafted a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek: "Chairman Chiang of Nanjing, Jun Jian: At 6 o'clock this morning, the main force of the red bandits suddenly flowed into Mianyang, and the defenders on the periphery of Mianyang were attacked and exhausted, so the bandits besieged Mianyang City on all sides. He led the army and bandits to fight fiercely at the city gate, and lost two regiments of elites. Now Mianyang is in danger and is eager for reinforcements. I implore the commission to urge the army of bandits from all walks of life to march towards Mianyang and encircle the red bandits. The job is determined to live and die with Mianyang, and swear to fight with the bandits to the end. If the rescue is not effective, it is very likely that the whole department will become a benevolent in Mianyang. He is absolutely unwilling to fall into the hands of the red bandits, so that the commission and the national political axe will be disgraced. Deng Xihou, commander of the 28th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. January 26, 24th year of the Republic of China. ”

This Deng Xihou's abacus is very fine, he did not directly say that he was afraid that Liu Xiang's rescue would not be effective, nor did he directly ask Hu Zongnan for reinforcements, but emphasized that he would rather die than let the commission and the national political axe be humiliated. That's it, Deng Xihou, who has become a fine, knows that what Chairman Jiang wants is his own attitude, what he wants is Mianyang, an important town in western Sichuan, and as for the southern part of Huzong, Deng Xihou believes that he will soon go south for reinforcements.

After sending the telegram, Deng Xihou asked his wife to take out all the silver dollars that could be taken out, and prepared to give the soldiers a reward.

Madame was also very reasonable, knowing that this was a critical time, so she asked the orderly to go in with her and took 5,000 yuan. Deng Xihou took a look, no matter how smart the cousins were, they were all melons, and when was the time, they were still reluctant to make money. He personally went to open the secret room and asked the guards to carry out more than a dozen baskets of silver dollars. The lady immediately began to cry and refused to let her go. Deng Xihou, the famous rake ear, was mighty, and when he went up, he was slapped in the face, and the lady who beat him stared at him. Deng Xihou roared: "Gua Tangke, it's a matter of life and death, you still want money or your life!" After saying that, he ignored the lady and asked the guards to pick up the basket and leave.

The division commanders, brigade commanders, and regiment commanders guarding Mianyang were all summoned to the military headquarters, Deng Xihou pointed to more than a dozen baskets of silver dollars with white flowers on the ground, and shouted: "Brothers, see it, this is my Deng Xihou's savings for many years, Mianyang is guarded, these money are ours, if you can't keep it, it is the red bandits." I will now take it out and give it to the brethren. Tell the brothers that when you fight, you must fight bravely and fight hard. Which unit's defense line was breached, the battalion commander shot the company commander, the regiment commander shot the battalion commander, the brigade commander shot the regiment commander, and the division commander shot the brigade commander. If everyone dies in battle, I, Deng Xihou, the commander of the 28th Army, will pull out my gun and kill myself, and go down to the ground to accompany the brothers! ”

The emotions of the officers were mobilized, and they shouted and swore to live with Mianyang. Deng Xihou saw that the army's heart was available, so he made more careful and meticulous arrangements for the city defense, refining the defense line section and firepower allocation.

It should be said that Deng Xihou's measures were still effective, and the morale of the Sichuan army was raised at once. However, it was only the morale of the defense, and the determination to rush out had long since disappeared without a trace with the annihilation of the two regiments.

However, the Red Ninth Army did not provide the Sichuan army defending the city with a chance to show their martial bravery, and there was no sign of a large-scale siege of the city, but only dug trenches, repaired fortifications, occasionally fired a few shells, and did not even send a small force to attack and try to do it, which greatly disappointed the Sichuan soldiers who had just received the reward and wanted to make meritorious contributions.

It really made Deng Xihou think right, Chiang Kai-shek, who received the telegram, couldn't help but admire his foresight a little when he saw that the red bandits had really gone to Mianyang, and he felt a little proud in his heart. After consulting with several advisers, Chiang Kai-shek immediately ordered the whole division of Hu Zongnan's First Division to dispatch to quickly reinforce Mianyang, resolutely block the northward road of the Zhumao Red Bandits, and drive the Red Bandits to Chengdu. Ordered Xue Yue's troops to speed up, and after arriving in Chengdu, a small number of troops were left to garrison, and the main force went north to pursue. Ordered Liu Xiangdu to lead the Yucheng garrison and Pan Wenhua's troops, quickly gallop to Mianyang, cooperate with Hu Zongnan and Xue Yue, take Mianyang as the center, form an encirclement, and fight a decisive battle with the red bandits on the Mianyang Plain. Ordered the Air Force to dispatch fighters to support the defense of Mianyang.

Chiang Kai-shek, who had given the order, felt that Nanjing was too far away from the front line and it was very inconvenient to command, so he decided to set up a camp in Yucheng, where he would go to Yucheng to take command and supervise the invasion of all armies. He ordered He Guangguo, who was in Yucheng, to immediately look for a camp station, and ordered Yang Yongtai and Yan Daogang to take the original team of the Nanchang camp as the team to form the Yucheng camp and put it into work as soon as possible.

At noon, the Red Seventh Army had already arrived near Zitong.

Seeing that the Red Second Division was attacking the county seat of Zitong, Liu Yimin ordered the troops to camp in concealment north of Zitong.

Listening to the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of Zitong County, Feng Dafei was itching, and asked Liu Yimin if he would let him bring a regiment to support.

Liu Yimin said: "No, the Red Second Division is the elite of our army's elite." The command is strong, and the tactical literacy is also high. I estimate that Zitong is at most the defensive strength of the first brigade and two regiments, they are not the opponent of our Red Second Division, and when you arrive, the battle will be over. ”

Luo Ronghuan was happy when he heard Liu Yimin praise the Second Red Division, and interjected: "Yes, don't say that the Sichuan Army is a brigade, even two brigades, and it is impossible to be the opponent of our Second Division." In particular, the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division, like the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division, are the two sharp knives of our Central Red Army, and they can always win by surprise at critical times and open the way for our army. ”

As if to confirm Luo Ronghuan's words, the gunfire in the direction of Zitong gradually subsided, and the scattered gunfire began to shift to the east. Feng Dafei said: "It's not good, the Sichuan army has fled to the east. It must be that the Second Division is under-armed and has not blocked the gap. ”

Liu Yimin smiled: "Chief of Staff, I think you want to join the war and want to be confused." Have you forgotten the plan you mentioned when we entered Chengdu to leave the East Gate and let the Sichuan army escape? Don't worry, the Sichuan army must have fallen into Chen Guang's trap. ”

Sure enough, soon there was a lot of gunfire in the east of the city. Liu Yimin muttered to himself: "I don't even know about the siege of Sanqueyi, the quality of this Sichuan army is too poor!" After speaking, he shook his head again: "It's boring to fight with the Sichuan army, the command level is low, the tactical quality is poor, and the weapons are broken, these warlords really should come to an end." ”

Cai Zhong said with a smile: "Commander, you say it's boring to fight the Guizhou army, and you say it's boring to fight the Sichuan army." Is it only interesting to fight the Central Army? ”

Liu Yimin said: "It's not interesting to fight the Central Army, if they didn't chase and beat us, I wouldn't have bothered to beat them!" It is said that the combat effectiveness of the army is very strong, especially the several backbone divisions and regiments in the permanent divisions of the army, and they are extremely brave when they charge up. It would be great if the first division of Hu Zongnan, which we were about to kill, was the first division of the army, so that I could kill the killer and show no mercy. ”

While a few people were resting and discussing, Qian Zhuangfei and He Xinghua came over and reported that the radio had just been turned on and that they had received a report from the headquarters that Chiang Kai-shek had ordered Hu Zongnan to quickly go south for reinforcements.

Liu Yimin took a telegram and read that Chiang Kai-shek had given the order at 10 o'clock in the morning. I asked He Xinghua if there was any news of the special detachment. He Xinghua said that not yet, it is estimated that we have been marching, and the radio station cannot be turned on normally.

Liu Yimin calculated the time, Chiang Kai-shek was ordered at 9 o'clock in the morning, and with Hu Zongnan's loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, it would definitely be resolutely implemented. However, Hu Zongnan has so many troops, it will take at least three hours to gather troops and make preparations, which means that he will start from Guangyuan now. It is about 110 miles from Guangyuan to Jianmen Pass and about 110 miles from Zitong to Hanyang Town. Hu Zongnan's troops were a fresh force and moved a little faster, especially his cavalry regiment, which was slightly faster. His troops were extremely tired by the time they got to this last night, and it was very difficult to meet the enemy in Hanyang Town. But if you don't meet the enemy in Hanyang Town, and wait for the enemy to enter the county seat Pu'an Town and camp, this battle will be too difficult. In any case, we must rush to Hanyang Town in front of Hu Zongnan.

Thinking of this, Liu Yimin immediately ordered the end of the rest, the whole army changed into the clothes of the Sichuan army, and quickly marched to Hanyang Town, Jiange County, with the cavalry battalion as the lead.

(To be continued)