The station was brightly lit and busy, with thick soot rising from two locomotives, dragging open wagons to form a special train, and thousands of railway workers and nearby residents came to help, and together with thousands of officers and soldiers of the Reading Division, they carried sleepers and railroad tracks out of the freight yard warehouse.

Liu Shoujiang looked at the moving scene of the military and civilians in full swing in front of him, and was very emotional, just now he was still suspicious about giving more than 300 long and short guns to the workers' pickets, worried that they would be used by [***] to leave hidden dangers, and now seeing the scene of so many workers and local people supporting him, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart: "Master, it seems that your decision is right." ”

An Yi was talking to Yin Jinan in a low voice, and when he heard Liu Shoujiang suddenly come out with such a sentence, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he understood, waved his hand and said:

"Lao Liu, you are too polite, this is an extraordinary time, we have to use extraordinary means! Otherwise, at the moment when the Northern Expedition departments are competing to retreat, it will be difficult for us to support it with our own strength, and if it were not for the help of the railway masters, we would not have been able to make adjustments in time.

I will have to follow the train later, go to meet with General Wang Tianpei, Ji Nan and Lao Yang need to go to the two flank positions to prepare for the reception, you and Hu Zi stay at the division headquarters, and lead the division's subordinate departments to command the overall situation.

If we successfully bring back the main force of General Wang Tianpei's 10th Army in the early morning, the food of 50,000 or 60,000 people will become a big problem, and we must order the brothers in the logistics department to set up pots and cook overnight, the officers and men are hungry and have no combat effectiveness, I estimate that it will be a tough battle next, mobilize the masses as soon as possible, and buy grain reserves! ”

"Don't worry, I'll do this, with the support of so many enthusiastic people, I should be able to cook tens of thousands of meals before dawn." Liu Shoujiang happily agreed.

At this time, Zhou Enrong and two sturdy railway workers strode towards An Yi, Zhou Enrong greeted Yin Jinan and Liu Shoujiang, and said to An Yi with a smile: "General An, all the preparations have been completed, and you can set off now." ”

An Yi glanced at the military belt around Zhou Enrong's waist, and saw that a red silk was carefully tied on the handle of the barge gun, the whole person was in good spirits and quite heroic, and the two smiling workers behind him were also dressed in the same way as him, obviously the leaders of the workers' pickets, and couldn't help but nod and joke easily: "Uncle Zhou, the red silk on the handle of this gun is so beautiful, my sister-in-law tied it for you, right?" ”

Zhou Enrong grinned happily: "That's right, let you say it, it was indeed your sister-in-law who made it herself!" Tie a red silk in addition to looking good, but also has the meaning of peace and auspiciousness, she looks forward to my safe return, but also looks forward to the victory of the Northern Expeditionary Army! ”

Everyone laughed and was all happy, An Yi whispered a few words to Yin Jinan, and then boarded the black locomotive with Zhou Enrong.

Shen Fengdao quietly followed behind An Yi, while Lin Yaodong led the well-equipped guards to jump onto the second wagon, and the eighteen-car train slowly drove out of the platform, cutting through the dark night sky, and heading towards the north shrouded in darkness.

At the Liguo Town Station, seven kilometers south of Hanzhuang, there was a lot of noise and uproar, with officers and men shouting and jumping like headless flies, and everywhere there were calls to find their own company, and the usual scattering and panic of the defeated army could be seen everywhere, and under the influence of the sound of dense gunfire and shell explosions coming from time to time four kilometers to the north, the whole situation was surprisingly chaotic.

Surrounded by Deputy Army Commander Jin Handing, Chief of Staff Gao Guanwu, Party Representative Zhou Zhongliang, and a group of generals and colonels, the short and stout General Wang Tianpei strode onto the chaotic platform, and the Hundred Guards rushed to the front, aiming their rifle butts and leather whips at the panicked and crowded officers and men, and soon opened up a wide space.

Ding Zhicheng, who came to contact in advance by a locomotive, saw a group of generals coming, hurriedly jumped off the front of the car, and quickly stepped forward to salute:

"Report to the general, Ding Zhicheng, the commander of the guard battalion of the Reading Division, was ordered to come and contact the general!"

Although Wang Tianpei was also panicked in his heart, his face looked calm, and he returned the salute and smiled politely: "Hard work, Camp Commander Ding!" Has General An arrived at Willow Springs? ”

"General Hui, our division rushed to Liuquan in the afternoon, and after four hours of arduous work, it has now successfully built a defensive position three kilometers long. Later, the division seat would personally bring a train of extended open carriages with two fronts, and order his subordinates to seek the general's opinion on whether to send the baggage and logistics officers and soldiers back to Liuquan first. Ding Zhicheng replied.

"It's so thoughtful!"

Jin Handing's heart was relieved, and he said very gratefully: "Military seat, it's rare that General An has thought so thoroughly, should he transport the withdrawn artillery regiment to Liuquan first?" ”

Wang Tianpei's mood was also much better, and he nodded and said: "Just do it, pass on my order, stand still on the platform and in the town, and let the artillery regiment drive here first." ”

"Yes!"

Ding Zhicheng pointed to the dense officers and soldiers around him, and boldly suggested: "General, if you can, please order the brothers of the two regiments to quickly bring sandbags and wooden planks, the platform is too low, it is difficult for the artillery to be dragged onto the train, and preparing in advance will save a lot of time." ”

Wang Tianpei smiled a little embarrassedly, waved his hand at the moment, and several major generals behind him ran out unintentionally, giving orders loudly, and thousands of officers and soldiers spent more than ten minutes before finally assembling separately, and then looking for guys everywhere to do a big job.

Half an hour later, more than a dozen temporary loading and unloading bridges were erected one after another, and the 34 guns of the 10th Army Artillery Regiment drove rapidly under the traction of horses, and more than 1,000 artillery officers looked nervous and shouted incessantly, seeing Ding Zhicheng and the dozen or so brothers behind him shaking their heads frequently, and underestimating the combat effectiveness of the 10th Army.

At this moment, An Yi's special train slowly drove into the platform.

Looking at the long train, Wang Tianpei's hanging heart finally let go completely, and immediately led his generals to follow behind Ding Zhicheng and others, striding towards the stopped train.

An Yi jumped out of the car, stepped forward and saluted respectfully, Wang Tianpei and others met and chatted with An Yi at the Xuzhou meeting, and they were naturally no strangers to meeting at this moment, and they greeted each other like old friends.

An Yi, who was covered in soot, was not polite, took Wang Tianpei's hand and walked far away, away from the noisy platform and the thick smoke and steam, stopped in front of an iron house, and immediately inquired about the battle situation on the front line, and learned that the four divisions of the Tenth Army were resisting stubbornly on the south bank in front and the two scattered divisions were assembling, so he immediately made a suggestion to Wang Tianpei:

Each division in the front took the regiment as a unit, quietly retreated step by step, leaving only one regiment in each division to shoot at the enemy who had suspended the attack across the river on the position, and under the cover of the rainy night, all the main forces were withdrawn to the first line of Liuquan, and the two flanks of the Reading Division, which had already built a solid blocking position, stopped to build a defensive position, and the main division immediately turned back to resist the enemy after settling down, and the scattered divisions and regiments moved to the rear of the position to quickly rest and recuperate, and used as a strategic reserve to meet the upcoming big battle.

After a brief discussion with Jin Handing and others, Wang Tianpei immediately agreed, and one after another orders were quickly sent to the front from the small warehouse on the side of the platform, and Zhou Enrong, who had been informed by Ding Zhicheng, assumed the command of the dispatch of the retreat operation, and soon transported more than 3,000 officers and men of the equipment and logistics departments of the 10th Army Artillery Regiment back to Liuquan.

As Wang Tianci, commander of the 28th Division of the 10th Army, led the three main regiments to quietly withdraw, the main forces of the other 29th and 30th Divisions also withdrew to the platform one after another, and under the calm command of the ministers of the military headquarters, they boarded the train that had just returned in an orderly and rapid manner.

The sky was slightly bright, the troops were almost finished, the train that served as the last transport task slowly docked under the command of Zhou Enrong and two deputies, An Yi, who had been busy all night, finally put his mind at ease, he spent more than three hours with Wang Tianpei and the commanders of the divisions of the Tenth Army to discuss the allocation of troops, the use of artillery and mutual coordination and other issues in the blocking war, An Yi's decisive strategy and reasonable layout were unanimously recognized by Wang Tianpei and others. These generals from Guizhou finally appreciated An Yi's outstanding military talent and fearless general demeanor, and the admiration from time to time during the discussion made An Yi very embarrassed.

Yan Deji, the instructor and division commander who was tasked with the task of breaking the rear, hurried to the headquarters to report that the enemy's three corps had begun preparations for an all-out attack, and that the first round of test fire from the enemy's two artillery positions had accurately destroyed the three firepower points on the south bank of the iron bridge, and that the brothers of the six regiments responsible for the broken rear were almost unable to withstand it.

Wang Tianpei glared at Yan Deji in annoyance, and reprimanded: "What are you panicking about? Yes? What are you panicking about? Isn't Lao Tzu also within the range of enemy artillery? What are you panicking about? ”

Yan Deji's face turned pale with fright, and he didn't know how to answer for a while, Jin Handing stepped forward and relieved the siege amicably: "Division Commander Yan quickly returned to the front line and organized the headquarters to retreat, the train that came to meet him has arrived, and the time is tight and there is no room for delay." ”

"Subordinates obey!"

Yan Deji saluted with relief, withdrew from the command headquarters, turned over his horse, and quickly ran to the front line.

An Yi saw Ding Zhicheng nodding to himself outside, turned to Wang Tianpei and the others knowingly, and said in a low voice: "The second train that arrived at the end stopped at Erdao, and we can evacuate now, and the train that stopped at the first lane is reserved for the last brothers to retreat, squeeze it a little, and the eighteen carriages can basically carry five regiments." ”

Wang Tianpei nodded, and walked out of the headquarters side by side with An Yi.

A group of generals behind him had already wanted to leave, hearing the rumbling cannon sound getting closer and closer, and the scorching air flow generated by the explosion was coming, many people were panicked and changed color, if it weren't for Wang Tianpei and An Yi walking in front calmly, maybe this group of generals would have been panicked and noisy.

The positions on both sides of the canal south of Hanzhuang were densely gunfired, and dense shells fell on the positions of the revolutionary army on the south bank, blowing up the positions under the mist with thick smoke and full of holes.

After 10 minutes of artillery bombardment, 60,000 officers and men under the command of Xu Yuanquan of the Sixth Army, Cheng Guorui of the Third Army, and Wang Dongbu of the Fifth Army of the Zhilu Allied Army launched a charge, shouting that the sound of killing shook the sky, and the officers and men of the Third Army, who were responsible for the breakthrough in the middle of the road, successfully rushed across the railway bridge and killed the positions that the officers and men of the revolutionary army had hastily built yesterday.

When the news reached Hanzhuang, Cheng Guorui, the commander of the Third Army, who served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, was furious and immediately ordered the Third Army under his command to launch a pursuit, Xu Yuanquan and Wang Dong were surprised by the escape speed of Wang Tianpei's Tenth Army, and they did not expect that Wang Tianpei's army, which numbered more than 50,000 people, would run so fast, and they did not know that the officers and men of the Tenth Army took advantage of the pause in the fighting on a rainy night, with the vigorous assistance of the railway workers, to quietly carry out a large-scale retreat into a formation, so they also strictly ordered their troops to pursue immediately like Cheng Guorui. I thought that no matter how fast my opponent ran, it would be impossible for him to go too far on a narrow road covered with water networks.

At 7:50 a.m., the headquarters of the revolutionary army in Pengcheng Daying, Xuzhou.

General Bai Chongxi, who was also the commander-in-chief of the Second Route Army and the interim commander-in-chief of the Third Route Army, had just walked into the war room from the backyard, and Chief of Staff Zhang Dingfan strode forward to report:

"Brother Jiansheng, General Wang Tianpei called, more than 57,000 officers and men of the Tenth Army have all withdrawn to Liuquan Town, and together with An Yi's division, they have built a solid blocking position, and the three main divisions and two instructors under his command are distributed in the area of two kilometers north of Liuquan Station, and the two wings of the three-kilometer position built by the Reading Division are lined up, and the artillery regiment under his command is ready to strike at the enemy."

Bai Chongxi's eyebrows fluttered, and he asked with some surprise, "Hey, so fast?" Did the department withdraw completely? ”

"Yes, although the method of retreat is not reported in the telegram, according to the guesses of the subordinates, it is likely that the transportation was carried out by rail, otherwise it would never have been so fast.

It is also 15 kilometers from Liuquan to Liguo Station south of Hanzhuang, and if you use the train to transport it, you can make four round trips in five hours. Zhang Dingfan is worthy of being a shrewd chief of staff, and after a little consideration, he can analyze it without leaving ten.

Bai Chongxi nodded emphatically: "Yes!" I should have thought of it a long time ago...... Last night An Yi sent a report that a blocking position was being built north of Willow Springs, and we should have thought that he would assist the Tenth Army in its retreat. An Yi's surname is generous and good at grasping the initiative, he will definitely do this. ”

"Just withdraw it...... I estimate that in six hours at the latest, the Naoru coalition army will be engaged with them, and it seems that a major battle is inevitable. Zhang Dingfan said.

Bai Chongxi thought about it and ordered decisively: "Immediately telegraph and order He Yaozu's 40th Army, which has withdrawn to Guanhu to rest, to move north quickly, and must reoccupy Taierzhuang before dark!" ”

"You're going to have a big fight?" Zhang Dingfan asked in surprise.

Bai Chongxi smiled and nodded: "It is to fight a big battle, and if this battle is fought, at least the enemy can stop pursuing on all fronts, otherwise our entire two-hundred-kilometer front from east to west will be very passive." In addition, I ordered the guard regiment to get ready, and I will go to Willow Springs to see it in person. ”

"Understood!"

(To be continued)