After listening to the herald's order, An Yi was overjoyed, and immediately asked Hu Zi and Yin Jinan to summon the company commanders, company deputies, the battalion headquarters gun platoon and the five platoon commanders of the 123rd platoon, and ordered the instructor of the first company, Huang Yingwu, to be responsible for staying at the station with the instructors of each company and the platoon commanders of each squad to stay at the station to be on guard, and the 14 officers of the battalion rode large and small horses to follow the herald of the division headquarters to the observation point set up by the division headquarters at the front, and observed the actual battle under the guidance of the division commander and staff officers.

After nearly an hour of galloping, the herald took An Yi and his entourage to the col on the right side of Pengjiatang, which was cleverly set up by the Second Division behind the positions of the Fourth Army and the Seventh Army.

This extremely secretive and uniquely located observation point is 2.5 kilometers more prominent than the front-line headquarters at Henggou Bridge, 4.8 kilometers away from the main position of the Hesheng Bridge where the main force of the Fourth Army is attacking on the left front, and only 3.6 kilometers away from the main position of the Seventh Army on the right front.

An Yi arrived at the back of a low hill more than 60 meters high, immediately ordered the brothers to dismount, smiled at the herald who blamed him for bringing so many brothers, took out two packs of "Hademen" from his pocket and sent them respectfully with a box of matches, and promised that if the chief blamed himself for being stubborn.

The herald took the cigarette and the match and shook his head, pointed to the observation point more than 60 meters wide above the low mountain and turned around to go to other things, and the six company deputies, instructors and five platoon commanders who followed were grateful to An Yi, and knew in their hearts that if the battalion commander had not insisted on bringing himself to watch the battle, I was afraid that he would have lost this great opportunity to witness the decisive battle of more than 100,000 troops.

An Yi tied his beloved horse to the stump at the foot of the mountain, glanced at the top, and led the brothers to the most extreme mountain road at the foot of the mountain to the east and quickly ascended the mountain.

Ascending the mountain col and finding a row of wooded gentle areas at the bottom of the almost vertical mountain tip on the left, An Yi was regretting that he didn't bring the seven-star knife carefully made by the master of Changsha, Hunan, and the beard and the second platoon leader Qu Tongyuan had already pulled out the treasure knife and folding sapper shovel on their respective bodies and worked hard.

With the help of the brothers, they carefully removed the broken logs, brought in large rocks and quietly piled them up, and in less than ten minutes they had built a solid observation point large enough for twenty people to prostrate and observe.

Xu Tingyao, the deputy division commander who came with two guards and came from the mountainside more than 20 meters below, wanted to blame An Yi for disobeying the order and bringing so many junior officers, but when he saw the beautiful observation point built in an instant, he couldn't help but praise loudly:

"Sure enough, it's a sapper, I originally fancy this point, but the mountain road up is too steep, and the trees are too dense to block the view, so I finally gave up, I didn't expect that after you did this, it was better than the three points set by the division headquarters in the west."

An Yi, who was lying in the middle of the observation point, immediately moved the place, Lehe pointed to the vacated wide position, and smiled modestly: "The deputy division commander is here, this position is the most comfortable, and the mountain below the body has a naturally formed depression, which is just in the lower abdomen, and it is not bad for the little brother to lie down for a long time." ”

The brothers couldn't help but sneer, Xu Tingyao climbed a few steps and skillfully lay down, raised his hand to slap An Yi's head, and turned to Yin Jinan on the right to ask him if he wanted to pass the new telescope, aiming at the position of the Seventh Army in front of the right while looking out, while adjusting the focus: "This new telescope is good, much clearer than mine, even a few prominent firepower points in the left flank position of the Seventh Army can be seen clearly, Xiao Yin, you are wronged to use my telescope, it is on my waist, you take it yourself." ”

"Okay."

Yin Jinan moved cautiously, took off the telescope from Xu Tingyao's waist, climbed back to the position and raised it to observe, it seemed that changing to a telescope with poor accuracy was not affected at all.

An Yi held the heavy old-fashioned large-magnification telescope and watched it very devotedly, a few minutes later, he handed the telescope to Yang Fei on the left, and whispered to him to pass it on to the next brother after reading it, reminding everyone to take a closer look at the setting of the enemy and our positions and the arrangement of firepower, seeing Yang Fei nodded, An Yi turned to Xu Tingyao, who put down the telescope, and asked five very professional questions about the position setting and firepower layout in a row, Xu Tingyao explained to An Yi one by one, and Yin Jinan, Hu Zi and Chen Kan next to him all looked sideways at Xu Tingyao and listened attentively.

Xu Tingyao saw that this group of brothers seemed to be able to understand their explanations, and the occasional questions asked by several people were very specific, indicating that the understanding ability of this group of young low-ranking officers was far beyond the level of ordinary company and battalion commanders.

Xu Tingyao patiently and meticulously explained, and instructed everyone to take a good look at the staggered enemy posture that appeared after several hours of fierce fighting, and then turned to An Yi and asked in a low voice What was going on?

An Yi replied without concealment: "Since the beginning of the Northern Expedition, my company has talked about some famous battles in order to pass the boring time at night, and then gradually transitioned to making sand tables to fight separately, but I didn't expect this method to be very popular with the brothers, and slowly discussed and summarized the various battles that have occurred since the establishment of our army. The illiterate brethren gradually learned all the signs and common fonts and symbols on the sand table, and later I asked the literate brethren to write a booklet on military terminology for the illiterate brethren to learn, so that they could at least understand the telegrams and orders in the future battles, and be able to write some simple reports and requests. ”

Xu Tingyao was surprised: "No wonder...... How long does it take for a brother who can't read a single word to be able to read and write? Are you sure? ”

"I'm sure, it won't take long, the subordinates have already started, and it will take effect in half a year at the latest."

An Yi smiled, leaned close to Xu Tingyao's ear and whispered: "That booklet only has more than 500 words, and I can use it almost every day, and every time the sand table deduction subordinates set up a gambling game, everyone on both sides of the attack and defense has to take out two oceans, which side wins, and the subordinate is the host and president, according to the convention, the water is pumped in the middle into five, and the subordinates on both sides win or lose are sure to make a profit, and the squad leader who loses a few more times has no smoke, I'm not afraid that they are not in a hurry, haha!" ”

Xu Tingyao was impressed, and couldn't help but smile and scolded: "You kid is black!" It is estimated that casino masters like Jiang Mingsan (Jiang Dingwen) are not as black as you, but you really want to think of this trick, I believe that your brothers will soon be able to reach the level you said, and they will lose too much! Can you not work hard? Ha ha...... By the way, go back and send me the pamphlet you have compiled and attach a detailed study experience, if this matter can be popularized in the army, it will be of great benefit to raising the military level of grassroots commanders. ”

An Yi asked embarrassedly: "You don't need to write about the excitement of gambling money, right?" ”

"Are you stupid? Who made you write for gambling money? Won't you replace it with things like competing for honor or mobile pennants? After Xu Tingyao finished speaking, she raised the binoculars again and observed carefully.

In the next six hours, the experienced Xu Tingyao dutifully continued to explain according to the situation on the battlefield, and the brothers were eye-opening and benefited immensely this afternoon.

As a result of a day's fierce fighting and as many as seven fierce charges launched by both sides, more than half of the positions changed hands several times, and the attack and defense were instantly switched, and the generals of the Second Division on the recesses of the low mountains were frightened and amazed, and the fierceness of the Fourth Army and the Seventh Army and the tenacity of Wu Peifu's elite troops were fully manifested.

Perhaps the artillery shells on both sides had been exhausted, and the sound of artillery began to fall sporadically and finally gradually disappeared from 3 p.m., and the sound of machine-gun and rifle fire on the positions of the two armies seemed to suddenly become violent, and the positions were covered with smoke and corpses, but the two warring sides did not make any concessions or compromises, and except for the absence of white-knuckle warfare, all other tactics were used alternately and were unpredictable.

At 8:20 p.m., the gunfire gradually thinned, the observation group of the Second Division retreated from the observation points as a whole, and under the command of Xu Tingyao, An Yi asked the returning brothers to return to the camp, and asked to start a discussion immediately after eating and bathing, presided over by Hu Zi and Yin Jinan, everyone had to express their feelings and preach the benefits, and they must record all what they saw and heard today.

An Yi returned to the division headquarters camp with a group of commanders, enjoyed dinner comfortably, and then took a hot spring bath with the commanders, and took the time to chat for a while with Lao Qi and Lao Wang Huanxi, two cooks who were robbed of the division headquarters from his subordinates.

Climbing out of the pool and putting on military uniforms, An Yi followed a group of energetic commanders back to the conference room of the division headquarters, and saw the sand table quickly made by the combat staff officers, and a group of generals and colonels under the auspices of the division commander Liu Xiao all gathered around the huge sand table of three meters by four meters, and began to summarize and deduce the offensive and defensive aspects of today's battle situation.

Three hours had passed, and the discussion had ended after a sharp argument, and Liu Xiao ordered the commanders of the three main regiments to return to their respective units at once, and the rest to sleep early to prepare for tomorrow's fierce battle. The commanders of the main force regiment left in a hurry after saluting, and An Yi, who had gained a lot, was called back by Xu Tingyao as soon as he wanted to slip away.

Xu Tingyao asked An Yi to stand aside, and finished telling Liu Xiao, Hu Shusen, and Yan Erai about the sand table games often played in the engineering battalion one by one, and turned to An Yi in the surprised eyes of the three colleagues:

"You kid didn't say a word all night, sometimes with a sad face, sometimes with a complacent face, thinking I didn't see it? Let's be honest, what do you think of? Now it's just a few of us, you can speak up, even if it's wrong, it doesn't matter. ”

An Yi looked at the encouraging eyes of the four bosses, thought about it, walked to Liu Xiao's side, lifted the one-meter-and-five-long indicator stick, and pointed to the north shore of the mighty axe lake on the left wing of the Northern Expeditionary Army of Hesheng Bridge on the edge of the sand table:

"My subordinates just now suddenly had an idea, if the Eighth Army used the 17 steamboats captured and surrendered in the Yueyang and Dongting Lake areas, and then towed 17 large wooden boats carrying the strength of a division, it would go down the Yangtze River at night, pass through Chibi and Jiayu to Beizhuang in the northwest of Axe Lake, and it would be estimated that the 125-kilometer waterway would be completed in eight hours, and then it would quickly sneak 20 kilometers east from Beizhuang, and immediately turn around and head south at Ansan, which was 16 kilometers north of Hesheng Bridge. Along the railway and the flat road on the left side of the line as fast as possible to smash the back of Wu Peifu's defenders, our Fourth and Seventh Armies and two divisions of our army will rise up to a strong attack, and the enemy will be unable to withstand the attack from the north and south of our army, and if the rear road is cut off and the morale of the army is shaken, it will be able to resist for half an hour at most. However, his subordinates did not know the situation of defending the enemy in the Beizhuang area, nor did they know what the 20-kilometer road from Beizhuang to Ansan was, so they did not dare to say anything, because if a division that went around behind the enemy line was intercepted, the gains would outweigh the losses. ”

Liu Xiao and the four of them looked at An Yi in surprise and sighed frequently, Hu Shusen said with great emotion: "In the meeting just now, no one put forward this wonderful idea, only you An Yi thought of it, which shows that your horizons are quite broad, and you have learned from the successful experience of the night attack on Tingsi Bridge and used it flexibly, which alone is worthy of appreciation."

As a matter of fact, this strategy was first put forward by General Bai Chongxi at the supreme military meeting last night, and it coincided with what you just said, and according to the information behind enemy lines held by the headquarters, it was also completely feasible, but General Tang Shengzhi's Eighth Army replied that it would take at least five days to collect ships and prepare them, and at this time, Wu Peifu's direct troops were rapidly assembling in various places in Hebei, Henan, and Zhilu in the north, and within four days, they could go south to support the enemy defending Wuhan to Hesheng Bridge. Sun Chuanfang, a warlord who had been entrenched in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Fujian, and Jiangxi for many years, had already attempted to send troops to attack Changsha and cut off our army, but he hesitated and did not move under the persuasion of Commander-in-Chief Chiang and the sages of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Therefore, our army must capture the Hesheng Bridge and attack Wuhan in the shortest possible time, so as to deter the Quartet from breaking Wu Peifu's dream of holding on, and to force the direct departments that are about to come to help or have come to help stop going south and then shake the morale of the army, so that our army headquarters can persuade them one by one or break them one by one.

But I want to say that even if this plan of yours cannot be realized due to time, fighter planes, and political factors, it cannot erase your excellent military qualities and broad vision. ”

An Yi didn't expect that his accidental flash of inspiration would be so highly evaluated, so he smiled embarrassedly, put down the instruction stick and stood aside.

Liu Xiao nodded with satisfaction and asked, "What are the gains from today's actual combat observation?" ”

An Yi said excitedly: "The Fourth Army and the Seventh Army are too strong, far beyond the expectations of their subordinates, their officers and soldiers move quickly, they are not afraid of death, they are like a group of killing machines who don't know what death is when they charge, they will never retreat without a retreat order, and when they retreat, they will choose the most favorable undulating terrain to conceal the counterattack, and they can also suddenly launch a local charge while defending, and several times let the superior enemy retreat regardless of the other, and they are brave and resourceful and extremely tenacious, and their subordinates are deeply admired!" The subordinates have never seen a real battlefield, this is the first time, and the shock of the heart drama is very deep, and the subordinates are even thinking, what if they fight with them one day? Can you beat them? But I still can't think of a way to deal with them. ”

Liu Xiao and the others looked at each other in astonishment, looking at this subordinate with a wild brain, who was speechless for a while, but after thinking about it, An Yi's words could not be said to be unreasonable, this world is different from any dynasty in history, there is no moral norms, there is no common principle of life, aren't the major warlords and groups fighting and making peace with friends and enemies? Not to mention far away, let's just say that Mr. Zhongshan originally trusted Chen Jiongming, then Yang Ximin and Liu Zhenhuan, and then to Shen Hongying, the warlord of the Gui family, who was demoted and opposed, reversed and demoted, etc., there are many other people who are at both ends of the rat and forget their righteousness, so who dares to guarantee that the ten revolutionary armies today will be allies with one heart in the future? Who can guarantee that there will never be a single enemy among them?

An Yi looked at the unpredictable faces of the four bosses, and was too frightened to speak anymore, nervous and introspective that he had said something wrong? Did you commit any taboo by talking nonsense? But I also said it after getting encouragement from the bosses!

Hu Shusen and Xu Tingyao laughed one after another when they saw the bold An Yi frightened like this.

Several bosses who had calmed down all looked at An Yi with a smile, and after some encouragement and comfort, they told him to go back and rest early, and obey the call at any time tomorrow.

An Yi hurriedly saluted and left, and when he turned around, the four bosses saw that An Yi's back was already soaked with sweat, obviously it really scared him just now.

Yan Erai shook his head and said worriedly: "I heard those students in the first and second phases say that An Yi, this kid, talks about some upcoming things from time to time, and talks about some advanced ships, weapons and automobiles that have never been imported, and the recent introduction has proved that he is right, I am really worried that his last few words today will become a prophecy!" ”

Liu Xiao and the three laughed, but no one denied Yan Erai's words, but deliberately avoided this embarrassing topic and discussed how An Yi had so many ghost ideas? It made him think of using gambling money to stimulate his illiterate veterans to read and write, and he laughed happily when he talked about it, which also relaxed his nerves after a tense day.

(To be continued)