After receiving Chiang Kai-shek's telegram, Zhang Qun thought about it again and again, and discussed it with Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong, and Chen Cheng, and then sent Chiang Kai-shek a telegram back: "If the second horse attack fails and the main force is annihilated, how to deal with the Gansu issue?" If we want to negotiate, why take this risk again and give [***] the excuse that our party sabotaged the armistice negotiations? ”

Chiang Kai-shek did not get angry this time, and patiently explained that the second horse attack on Tianshui was to recover the lost territory in Gansu and to test the strength of the Communist Party. If the Communist Party asks questions, local forces can answer if they do not listen to the orders of the Central Committee; If the attack of the Second Horse does not go well, and the Communists have the possibility of increasing troops in Gansu on a large scale and occupying the entire territory of Gansu, they will immediately be restrained by the prohibition of reckless action during the armistice. Otherwise, the central authorities will enter Shaanxi on a large scale and mediate the dispute between the Communist Party and the Second Malaysia by armed force, and the consequences will be borne by the Communist Party. In short, it is to make the Communist Party sit on the charge of civil war and provide an excuse for the central government's attack. If the main force of the Second Horse is quickly annihilated and the Communist Party is strong, it will immediately negotiate seriously and stop all military operations.

Zhang Qun sighed in his heart, poor Erma was regarded by the chairman as a touchstone to test the strength of the Red Army, and he was completely sold.

Although Zhang Qun secretly slandered himself in his heart, he no longer mentioned the matter of resignation, and carefully studied with Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong, and Chen Cheng on how to negotiate with Zhou Enlai. After all, it is not an easy task to get [***] to withdraw from northern Sichuan out of thin air.

Tianshui is the birthplace of the legendary Fuxi clan, known as the hometown of Emperor Xi, and also the birthplace of the Qin State and the Qin people in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Li Qing, commander of the 13th Red Division, Chen Dazhong, political commissar, Wang Nanhu, chief of staff, and Chang Huayu, director of the Political Department, were gathering at the division headquarters at this time to study defense against the Tianshui map.

Since the 13th Division attacked and occupied Tianshui, according to the instructions of the corps commander, the troops had already built fortifications in Tianshui and were ready to hold on. In addition, Hu Zongnan has obtained the ammunition and baggage stored in Tianshui, and it is not too much to say that the current 13th Division is well-armed and has sufficient ammunition.

After receiving Liu Yimin's telegram, Li Qing knew that the corps commander was determined to annihilate the main force of the Ma family army here. Therefore, the task of the 13th Division is very clear, that is, to firmly attract the main force of the Ma Jiajun and let it continue to reinforce, form a whirlpool here, and completely suck the main force of the Ma Jiajun into the whirlpool and drown. Therefore, he left the 38th Regiment, the 39th Regiment and the troops directly under the division in the county seat, and let the elite 37th Regiment occupy the key points on the edge of the county seat. If the enemy comes to attack, they will rely on the fortifications to resist step by step, and gradually lead the enemy to the well-fortified county town, which will be their burial place.

According to the intelligence of the divisional reconnaissance company and the regimental reconnaissance battalion, the 100th Division of Ma Bufang, the main force of Qingma, the 5th Cavalry Division of Ma Buqing, and a large number of security regiments have already set up camp in Gangu County. If it weren't for the constraints of the armistice order, with Li Qing's temper, I'm afraid he would have hit the door a long time ago. It's good now, I didn't go to Ma Jiajun for trouble, but they deceived the door.

The only thing I don't know now is whether Ma Hongkui and Ma Hongbin will send troops to Tianshui to participate in the battle. There are 12 divisions Liu Jianjian in Pingliang, I'm afraid that Ma Hongkui is not so bold, right? If Ma Hongkui's 7th Division and Ma Hongbin's 35th Division also come to join the scene, then this scene will be much better.

The problem now is that the Ma Jiajun must be allowed to make the first move, and then attract all its main forces to the vicinity of Tianshui County, so that they can do their best to attack the city and create conditions for the main force of the army to encircle and annihilate it.

This kind of battle was very unaccustomed to the troops of the Seventh Army Corps, who were accustomed to attacking. Starting from the 18th Regiment, Li Qing followed Liu Yimin, fighting all the battles of taking the initiative to attack, deploying the enemy first, and firing the enemy first. made Chen Dazhong laugh, he wanted to fight, and he wanted to go wrong.

Actually, this map is nothing to look at, and it's been a bit of a shame to occupy Tianshui, and these people look at the map every day when they have nothing to do, and they have already studied the map of Tianshui very well.

Li Qing coughed, called a few people over from the map, poured a glass of water, drank it, and then said: "This battle is the most boring, when to fight, the enemy has the final say, can this or that?" If they are too timid to attack, won't they make us wait in vain? Lao Chen, you send a telegram to the corps commander to see if we can send a small army to attack, tease Ma Bufang, and see if he dares to respond. ”

Chen Dazhong said: "That's not good, now is the period of armistice negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, let's play here to be happy, Vice Chairman Zhou and they don't know how much it will take." I will not send such a telegram, and I will not allow you to send it. ”

Li Qing smiled immediately: "Lao Chen, are you becoming more and more like a political commissar?" ”

Chen Dazhong said: "I was originally a political commissar, and it is not a matter of whether I am like or not!" ”

Li Qing said: "You have to go, the more you talk about it, the more serious it becomes, it seems that you have forgotten what I used to do!" By the way, I'm in a hurry, so I'd better send a telegram to ask where the corps commander is. The size of the unit is getting bigger and bigger, and the area of defense is getting bigger and bigger, and it is difficult to meet the commander. When the commander arrived, I had to advise him to hurry up and build a railroad, otherwise it would be too slow to run on two legs. ”

Wang Nanhu said: "That is, building railways is a top priority, and when we occupy Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai, we will not be able to do without railways." Not only the railway, but also the road had to be repaired if an agreement was reached with the Kuomintang, otherwise the troop movement would be too slow. In case something happens in Xi'an, when we arrive, the daylily will be cold. ”

Chang Huayu shook his head and said softly: "The construction of railways and highways that you are considering is a major matter, but in my opinion, this has little to do with our 13th Division. After this battle, I guess we will go back to Xi'an, and I don't know when we will be able to do it again! It's Hu Laohu, an unlucky guy, I'm afraid he won't be able to leave after coming this time, maybe the corps commander will let him stay and train cavalry. ”

Li Qing said: "Hu Laohu also has to go, after the defeat of the Ma army, we will have to face the Jin Sui army and the Central Army, and the cavalry will inevitably take on guerrilla and assault missions." It was up to the commander of the regiment to see which unlucky guy was pleasing to the eye, so he left him behind. After speaking, his eyes went straight to the faces of Chen Dazhong, Wang Dahu, and Chang Huayu.

provoked Chen Dazhong to laugh: "Teacher, you are too unkind." It's only been a few days since this new team was formed, and you want to drink goodbye? Anyway, I'm the political commissar, and I'm going with the troops to meet the Central Army, don't look at me in the face. ”

Wang Nanhu said: "It's fun to fight the Central Army, how can this kind of thing be missing me?" ”

Li Qinggang glanced at Chang Huayu, who was usually soft-spoken: "Don't look at me, I think you fought happily in the main battalion one by one, and I squatted alone in the new barracks so angry that I had nightmares every night." I finally got out and left, and wanted me to stay, but there was no door! ”

Li Qing sighed and said to himself: "It's a pity, I estimate that this is another division commander's position." ”

Wang Nanhu said: "As long as I can fight the Central Army, let me be the regiment commander and battalion commander." I don't have a rare division commander in the rear. ”

Li Qing said: "Forget it, if you don't want to stay, then I won't suggest it to the corps commander." Hurriedly went down the troops, carefully inspected the fortifications, and heard that the cavalry of Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing was still very strong. I went to the 37th Regiment, the political commissar went to the 38th Regiment, the permanent director went to the 39th Regiment, and the chief of staff went to the troops directly under him. Let's go! After saying that, he walked out directly.

Several people followed.

Ma Bufang, acting chairman of the Qinghai Provincial Political Axe, director of security, commander of the newly formed Second Army, and commander of the 100th Division, who is temporarily stationed here, is also looking at the map.

After the Red 13th Division attacked Tianshui and the Red 12th Division attacked and occupied Pingliang, Ma Bufang set his sights on Tianshui. His original idea was simple, if the Red Army was just passing by, he would not fight. If the Red Army occupies Tianshui and does not leave, then it will fight resolutely.

Therefore, in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's order, he led all his main forces to Gangu early, set up a headquarters in Gangu, concentrated more than 70,000 people of all the main forces of Qingma, and built a solid defense line in Gangu to prevent the Red Army from continuing to penetrate into the hinterland of Gansu. At the same time, he did not forget the brothers Ma Hongkui and Ma Hongbin in Ningxia, and asked Chiang Kai-shek to telegraph and order them to lay a defensive line around Pingliang to prevent the Red Army from attacking Ningxia.

Today, after receiving a telegram from Chiang Kai-shek, asking him and Ma Hongkui to concentrate the main force to attack Tianshui, Ma Bufang immediately took action, while sending a small force of cavalry to Tianshui to investigate, and at the same time sending a telegram urging Ma Hongkui to lead the main force of the Seventh Division to the south, leaving Ma Hongbin's 35th Division to monitor the Red 12th Division. Ma Bufang planned to wait for Ma Hongkui's main force to arrive, and immediately attack on all fronts, resolutely take Tianshui, and destroy the Red 13th Division on the opposite side.

Ma Bufang, 32 years old this year, looks very smart and enthusiastic, but in fact he is very cruel. There is a song of flowers in the northwest: "The tiger that goes up the mountain and the wolf that goes down the mountain is no more fierce than Ma Bufang's gang." "The ferocity of Ma Bufang's Qingma troops is realistically depicted.

There are several things that Ma Bufang has done in history that are very surprising. Let's talk about a funny one first, when Chiang Kai-shek was elected president, he summoned Ma Bufang and his son in Nanjing. After meeting, after a little greeting, Chiang Kai-shek pointed to Chiang Ching-kuo, who was following him, and said to Ma Bufang: "This is Dog Jingguo." When Ma Bufang heard that President Jiang was so polite, he actually said that his son was a dog, so how could he introduce his son? As soon as this guy was excited, he took his son Ma Jiyuan's hand and said, "This is Ma Jiyuan, which the donkey said." Chiang Kai-shek came back to his senses and laughed. In this way, Ma Bufang, who introduced to the president that he has become a major general, is also the first person in the Republic of China. Let's talk about a barren silver, Ma Bufang has a famous saying, saying that "I was born, I was born, and everything is indisniable". It means that except for his mother and his daughter, he is not polite to anyone else. That's what he said, and that's what he did, and his granddaughter was taken over by him. Some people say that Ma Bufang has more than 5,000 women in his life, which can be described as the first in the world. Later, Ma Bufang fled to Egypt, fell in love with his cousin Ma Yuelan, forcibly occupied it, and finally asked Ma Yuelan to write a letter to her mother and two younger sisters to live with him. However, this incident caused diplomatic disputes back then, and the whole world knows it. Another thing is that Ma Bufang's ferocity is similar to Chen Guangzhong, who was killed by Liu Yimin's troops, but Chen Guangzhong is not as famous as Ma Bufang, because Ma Bufang's troops once wiped out the Red Army's Western Route Army after the Long March. There are countless murderous examples of the brutal killing of prisoners of war of the Red Army and the humiliation of female soldiers of the Red Army, which led to the fact that our army did not have a combat unit of pure female soldiers until the War of Liberation. Later, when the Northwest Field Army liberated Gansu and Qinghai, [***] ordered Peng Dehuai not to allow the Qingma troops to revolt and surrender, but only to allow them to surrender unconditionally. A [***] army can make the founding leader hate it to such an extent, not to mention that the Central Army does not have it, including the Hunan Army and the Gui Army who fought a bloody battle with the Red Army on the Xiangjiang River, and Ma Bufang is another first.

Due to Liu Yimin's arrival, the fate of many people has also changed. Ma Bufang's fate is also going to change, and I am afraid that he will no longer be able to be the king of Qinghai. It's a pity that this guy is not aware of it, not only went to the front line in person, but also deployed the battle there. As everyone knows, the Grim Reaper is already beckoning to his troops.

It is more than 360 miles from Xi'an to Baoji, and it will take two days to arrive if you force the army.

On the evening of 26 March, Huang Su and Cai Zhong led the troops directly under the regiment assigned to the Xi'an garrison area to quietly leave Xi'an and advance towards Baoji under the cover of night. Subsequently, after Liu Yimin and Luo Ronghuan dealt with the remaining problems in Xi'an, they led the army headquarters to leave Xi'an and rush west.

On a spring night, so many troops marched on the land of Qinchuan with torches, and the momentum was very spectacular. It's a pity that Liu Yimin is not in the mood to watch this wonder, and his mind is thinking about what Chiang Kai-shek is planning all the way.

Before leaving Xi'an, he received a briefing from Vice Chairman Zhou on the state of the negotiations, and Zhang Qun asked Vice Chairman Zhou to restrain the Red Army from making military deployments for the time being, and specifically asked the Red Seventh Army Corps not to blow up the Tongpu Railway and attack the Luoyang Airport.

Although Zhang Qun said that he would resign if Chiang did not agree to the armistice negotiations, Liu Yimin, who was familiar with history, knew that Zhang Qun and Chiang Kai-shek would never abandon him all his life. It may be that Zhang Qun negotiated a lot with Yue himself, and his vigilance against Yue himself was high, and he realized that Yue himself was China's great enemy, so he tried his best to promote peace talks. He may have a different understanding from Chiang Kai-shek on this point, but Liu Yimin knew that Chiang Kai-shek could not let Zhang Qun resign, and Zhang Qun could not break with his old classmates. It is likely that a compromise will be formed between the two. As for who fell victim to this compromise it is difficult to say. Either the Ma Jiajun or the Sichuan Army.

If Chiang Kai-shek had not fought the civil war, it would have been a blessing for the country and the nation. In the past two years, when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in an all-round way, the situation in China's War of Resistance was at least much better than in history, and perhaps a few victories could be won in local battlefields to curb the ambitions of the army.

If Chiang Kai-shek still wants to fight, then the negotiations will become his cover. However, judging from the present situation, our party has shown its willingness to obey the leadership of the Kuomintang, and Chiang Kai-shek may now have no excuse for wanting to fight. It seems that we have to seriously study Chiang Kai-shek's mentality and see what this chairman thinks.

If Chiang Kai-shek didn't fight, wouldn't it have become a joke if he had mobilized the people like this?

Jokes are jokes, it's better not to fight than to fight and break up.

I don't know if the Central Military Commission has heard the content of the telegrams exchanged between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Qun, and I have to ask when I camp.

(To be continued)