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Chapter 443 The Struggle of Interests

As the officers and men of the 15 divisions of the two front armies of the Second Group Army marched into Shijiazhuang from the rear, the city was bustling with soldiers and war horses everywhere, and the supply of grain and vegetables became a problem, the load on the Jinghan Line increased greatly and it was overcrowded, and the operational direction of the First Army was located on the east road, and most of the main forces of the three corps were stationed on the Dezhou line, so after deliberation, Zhu Peide, Chen Tiaoyuan, Fang Dingying, and An Yi reported to Commander-in-Chief Chiang for approval and moved the headquarters east to the Taocheng military camp in Hengshui next to Jinpu Road on the 24th. It is convenient for operational command and the transportation and replenishment of personnel and materials. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The 12,000 officers and men of the 7th Division and the 5,000 brothers of the Independent Division marched eastward on foot, and An Yi, who had entered Shijiazhuang for less than a day, rode on horseback, looking through the dusty sky, the field of vision was almost all endless plains and low mounds, the undulating and winding hills in the distance were not much green due to drought and little rain, the aquatic plants and trees on the banks of the streams and small rivers were also swaying listlessly in the heat wave, and the sparse human population and scattered dilapidated dwellings made people feel an indescribable sense of vicissitudes and desolation.

The chief of staff of the independent division and the commander of the first regiment, Lu Guang, rode on the left side of An Yi, wiped the sweat and mud from his face, and said regretfully: "I left within a day of arriving in Shijiazhuang, and I didn't have a chance to take a more look, except for the station, the railway and the barracks we stationed, I don't know what the other places are like." ”

Hu Jialin, who was on the right of An Yi, put away his thoughts and said with emotion: "Shijiazhuang has nothing to see, there are no places of interest, there is not much history, except for Zhengtai Road and Jinghan Road, which are military camps, houses and some workshops. In fact, more than 20 years ago, Shijiazhuang was just a village with more than 200 households like his name, and then the Jinghan Railway was repaired to that slowly became a town, and the second year the Zhengtai Railway started again, in order to save money to avoid the construction of the railway bridge, and the railway starting point was moved from Zhengding south to Shijiazhuang in the north of the Hutuo River, which made Shijiazhuang lively day by day.

I remember when I was twelve years old, my father and my master took over a business in Tianjin, escorting more than 40 carts of goods to Shijiazhuang, I had never seen what the outside world of flowers and flowers became, so I rode a horse and quietly followed my father and my master to Tianjin, was found halfway, my father beat me hard, the master said forget it, let Xiao Linzi follow, twelve years old should also see the world, I was allowed to follow Tianjin, and then escorted the dart for five days to Shijiazhuang, at that time Shijiazhuang was not half as big as it is now, There are low and dilapidated sheds everywhere, now it is much better, there are everything in the western-style warehouses, warehouses, streets, factories, because it is in the transportation hub, it has naturally become a heavy place for the garrison, so every time the war of the Northern Expedition burns up, Shijiazhuang is full of soldiers in the city. ”

An Yi raised his head and looked at Huzi, knowing how excited his life and death brother was at the moment, he thought about it and comforted loudly: "Huzi, when Cangzhou is defeated, I will go home with you to see the old man and the mother, as well as the eldest brother and sister-in-law, the second brother and the second sister-in-law, you have been away from home for so many years, and there is no way to communicate during the war, it is time to go back." ”

"I'm going too, the eldest brother's parents are our parents, our brothers basically took their parents to the old Nanchang to enjoy the blessings, Jinan's parents and family also arrived in the old Nanchang after the Spring Festival to see the new daughter-in-law, only the eldest brother's family has no news, the younger brother I have been reluctant to go, and I dare not ask you, ala......s, "Cheng Guang sighed.

Hu Jialin smiled gratefully at Cheng Guang, and said that when he went to the rear team to take a look, he turned his horse and rode away, An Yi shook his head and said: "Cheng Guang, there is an idiom called hometown cowardice, it is estimated that Hu Zi's current mood is like this, he has not returned home for nine years since he entered the Zhilu Army, and at this moment his hometown is in sight, where can his mood calm down?" He never confides in his heart, he always has the image of an iron-clad tough guy, but in fact, he is full of sorrow no less than ours! ”

"I also see it this way, from knowing Brother Hu to now, I haven't seen him look at any woman, he has never visited the kiln, it is estimated that there is someone in the family, and it is estimated that we will be able to see it when we reach Cangzhou, I hope that Brother Hu's family is safe." The distance is light, and I can't help but look to the northeast.

An Yi looked forward with deep eyes, and nodded slightly: "Don't worry, the Ji people have their own natural appearance, Cangzhou has not suffered any war in recent years, and several Zhifeng wars have only been fought in the west and north of Cangzhou, Hu Zi's hometown is in Botou Town, south of Cangzhou City, it is estimated that it will be fine, and when the meeting is held tomorrow night to arrange combat missions, I will talk to General Chen Zhuo of the 26th Army, and let him let Botou Town be stationed in two regiments of our independent division, and our five thousand brothers will let Hu Zi go home in style this time!" ”

"Okay, let me take command, make sure that none of the other friendly forces can harass Botou Town." Cheng Guang happily asked for battle.

On the evening of 27 July, Zhu Peide, former commander-in-chief of the First Group Army, Chen Tiaoyuan, commander of the Second Army Corps, Fang Dingying, commander of the Third Army Corps, and An Yi, who had been removed from his post as former enemy's chief of staff but was still exercising the rights of chief of staff, walked out of the barracks and came to the Qikong Anji Bridgehead, which has a history of more than 200 years, and walked along the river bank to chat.

After the operational meetings last night and this morning, the various group armies were making intense preparations according to their respective combat missions, and General Fang Zhenwu's Fourth Army moved north from Jizhou to the front line of Shenxian and Xinji; The 17th Army of General Chen Tiaoyuan's 2nd Army remained in Dezhou, and the 26th and 37th Armies advanced to Wuqiao and Leling; General Fang Dingying's 3rd Army was the middle road, Mao Bingwen's 40th Army attacked Fucheng, and Xia Douyin's 27th Army attacked Wuqiang. The 31st Army of Jin Handing, which rushed to Huimin from Binzhou yesterday, was temporarily returned to General Chen Tiaoyuan's Second Army Corps as the right reserve. All armies have smoothly entered the state of imminent battle, and several commanders can also relax for a while.

Chen Tiaoyuan, like Zhu Peide, are Confucian generals who have read poetry and books and have profound knowledge of Chinese studies, and have studied the humanities and history of various places. There are Confucian master Dong Zhongshu, Han Dynasty famous general Dou Ying, Sui Dynasty famous minister Gao Ying, Northern Song Dynasty famous minister Li Fang and other romantic figures, are also Hengshui people, the long history for Hengshui left a lot of places of interest and cultural landscapes, such as Dou's Qingshan, Feng's tombs, Zhou Yafu's tomb, Anji Bridge, Baoyun Temple, Tang Dynasty famous economist Kong Yingda's tomb, etc., An Yi listened with relish, only then did he know how poor and pitiful his historical knowledge was.

Forty-year-old Lieutenant General Fang Dingying does not speak much, but he has profound knowledge of military theory, his qualifications and academic qualifications are quite rich, and he is also Chiang Kai-shek's junior brother at the Zhenwu Military Academy in Japan, joined the League during his studies in Japan, and then was admitted to the eighth artillery major of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, and after graduation, he entered the Baoding Military Academy as the first artillery instructor. During the Xinhai Revolution, he participated in the Wuchang Uprising, led the rebel army to fight in Hankou, and after the peace between the north and the south, he went east to Japan again for further study, and successively entered the Japanese Army Artillery School and the Field Artillery Shooting School to study. In 1923, Sun Yat-sen organized the Hunan army to crusade against the Hunan overseer Zhao Hengti, and the Hunan general Fang Dingying was appointed as the acting commander, and later was ordered by Sun Yat-sen to lead the troops to quell Chen Jiongming's rebellion, and since 1925, he has served as the director of the Huangpu Military Academy's enlisted student department, the chief of education, and the principal of the Northern Expedition. Fang Dingying was ordered to organize the student army to expel Zhang Fakui, and then led the then newly formed 13th Army and later the 46th Army to cooperate with Li Jishen's army, successfully quelled the coup d'état of Zhang Fakui's department, and was transferred to the commander of the Third Army after the Jinan tragedy.

The rigorous, meticulous, erudite and kind Fang Dingying, like General Zhang Zhizhong, was an instructor whom An Yi deeply respected, and several deputy division commanders of the 46th Army were all students of the first and second phases of Huangpu brought by Fang Dingying, and the two had many conversations when they were in school. At this time, he and An Yi walked side by side, listening attentively to the conversation between Zhu Peide and Chen Tiaoyuan, always with a faint smile on his face.

From historical anecdotes to the use of troops, and then from the use of troops to the combination of vertical and horizontal forces, after a while, Chen Tiaoyuan turned the topic to the current offensive of the various group armies:

"Before leaving Shijiazhuang, I heard that Brother Baichuan secretly sent envoys to have a secret meeting with Zhang Zuolin, and now it seems that the two sides have not negotiated, otherwise the three armies of the Third Army would not still be fighting so fiercely with the Feng army on the front line of Tang County and Wangdu, and it is estimated that Brother Baichuan's two armies on the north road will also attack Huailai from Zhangjiakou."

"It is likely that this is the case, Brother Huanzhang's three armies are not far behind, and yesterday they began to storm Anguo, Boye, and Lixian, and the Fengjun in Baoding were attacked on both sides, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to support for a few days, but I hope that Brother Huanzhang and Brother Baichuan can be courteous to each other and go north together." Zhu Peide said with some concern.

Fang Dingying shook his head slightly: "From the perspective of the younger brother, the second and third armies will not have a major conflict, and the two armies will attack Baoding, but it will be conducive to the advancement of the overall situation. However, our First Group Army has a bit of a headache here, and the younger brother is very worried that the Second Group Army, which is strong and strong, will cross our theater and enter the important town of Langfang first, and then force Tianjin in advance, thus disrupting the deployment of our army. ”

"It is very likely that everyone knows the style of the Northwest Army, wherever they capture, they will never leave anything for the follow-up troops, let alone friendly troops?" Zhu Peide frowned.

Chen Tiaoyuan saw that An Yi beside him had been listening and not speaking, so he stopped and asked with a smile: "General An, what do you think about this issue?" ”

An Yi replied politely: "The seniors have spoken very comprehensively, and the juniors suddenly thought of two questions: first, the Fourth Army led by General Bai Jiansheng had arrived in Zhangde yesterday, and according to the order of the General Headquarters, the direction of their attack was also Tianjin, if the line of the Fourth Army was occupied by the Second Army, what would General Li Delin and General Bai Jiansheng think?" I finally made up my mind to come from afar and get a piece of the pie, right?

For this reason, the United States, Britain, and France seized the opportunity of the Jinan incident and did not hesitate to quarrel with Japan and disagree with the two joint treaties proposed by Japan; with the efforts of Minister Soong Tzu-wen and others, Europe and the United States immediately vetoed Japan's proposal to expand Tianjin's international defense zone, and the United States took a tougher attitude, while instructing the Japanese Government to give explanations and compensate for the killing of its overseas Chinese. On the one hand, two fleets and 14 submarines were sent to cruising in the waters of Qingdao and Tianjin, and 3,000 troops transferred from Annam by France also landed in Tianjin, thus complicating the problem of Tianjin.

If the younger generation is not mistaken, the commander-in-chief and the central government will soon make a decision to stop our army on the outskirts of Beijing and Tianjin, so it will not make sense for our First Army to join in the fun again, and it is estimated that it will be very lively when the millions of troops are crowded around Beijing and Tianjin. ”

After listening to this, Zhu Peide and the three of them smiled heartily, and they all agreed with An Yi's analysis, Fang Dingying nodded with satisfaction: "An Yi has a wide vision, while staring at the battlefield, he can also see various problems outside the battlefield, which is rare, it seems that the two years of conquest have helped you a lot in your growth, you have surpassed your senior brothers a lot, no wonder the principal is unwilling to leave you in the rear, and let you return to the front line despite the pressure." ”

Zhu Peide praised again and again: "The vision is very unique, and the current situation has been thoroughly analyzed in a few sentences. Brother Boxiong, you have two students, most of the entire battle plans at this stage were formulated by him, and the generals and commanders of all armies were very satisfied, Brother Xue Xuan commented that this plan was not slow, and he advanced and retreated freely, and at noon Commander-in-Chief Chiang called back and thought that the plan was very safe, and it could be seen that he had made a lot of hard work. ”

Fang Dingying nodded in appreciation: "That's true, the younger brother has just taken over as the commander of the legion, and the evaluation of An Yi by several army commanders and division commanders under his command is still quite high, although An Yi is young, he does not lack combat exploits and qualifications, and winning battles one by one is his capital."

In this third phase of the campaign, in the face of more than 50,000 demoralized Zhilu troops, several plans formulated by An Yi were more targeted and realistic, and the emergency plan was relatively complete...... An Yi, I would like to ask you, what is your focus in formulating this plan? ”

An Yi replied truthfully: "Instructor, the student's focus is on profit!" Only interests will prompt the various group armies to squeeze up desperately, on the basis of consulting the opinions of several seniors, in order to avoid unnecessary disputes and even infighting, we have to formulate this conservative battle plan, our troops are limited and we have come from afar, no matter what, we can not compete for the two friendly forces that are almost out of the nest, plus General Bai Jiansheng led the Fourth Army into the battlefield at high speed, the competition for interests between the various armies will become more and more intense, therefore, the students feel that since they can't fight, it is better to be more generous, It is enough to conscientiously complete our own combat missions, and there is nothing to fight for except political reputation. ”

Fang Dingying's eyes lit up: "What a benefit, thorough!" Let's just easily finish this battle and watch it coldly, it is estimated that it will be very lively! An Yi, very good, haha......"