On the Hunan battlefield, Zhang Jingtang surrendered, Chen Guangyuan was defeated, and the left and right wings of the Northern Expeditionary Army advanced together.

On the side of the Northern Army, under the powerful offensive of the Northern Expeditionary Army, all forces finally temporarily united together.

Wu Peifu's 3rd Division, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Mixed Brigades, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions of Hubei Sun Chuanfang, the 11th, 12th, and 17th Divisions sent by Yanjing, and the 47th, 48th, and 51st Mixed Brigades entered Hunan one after another to open up a decisive battle.

Later, under the strong pressure of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Duan Qirui also temporarily gave up the contradiction with the Anhui system, with Duan Zhigui as the commander-in-chief and Xu Shuzheng as the deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff, leading the 1st and 3rd divisions, the 9th and 15th divisions, and the 28th and 29th mixed brigades of the border defense army to reinforce Hunan.

Among them, although Wu Peifu only has only one third division, it is the most powerful army in Hunan from all walks of life. His third division, with its infantry, cavalry, artillery, and baggage, numbered as many as 15,000 men.

The Beiyang side attaches great importance to Wu Peifu, especially the new leader of the direct line, Cao Kun. After continuous consultations between the two factions, it was decided to appoint Wu Peifu as the commander-in-chief, commanding all the troops to aid Hunan and fighting a decisive battle with the Northern Expeditionary Army.

At this time, the Beiyang army gathered in Hunan, together with the army of Zhang Jingyao, reached fifteen divisions, eleven mixed brigades, and 270,000 people!

This is the "Beiyang Alliance", also known as the "Warlord Alliance".

Beiyang has taken out all his family resources to fight!

On the side of the Northern Expeditionary Army, there are two roads, on the left and right, with eleven divisions, six mixed brigades, and 180,000 people!

The 450,000-strong army gathered on the battlefield in Hunan, and the eyes of the whole country and even the world were focused on Hunan.

This was a decisive battle that would decide the fate of both the North and the South, as well as a decisive battle that would determine the fate of China.

History called this decisive battle the "Battle of Hunan", also known as the "Battle of Changsha"!

Wu Peifu, commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, Duan Zhigui, former commander-in-chief of the enemy, and Xu Shuzheng, chief of staff.

Liu Zhaocheng, commander-in-chief of the Southern Army, Zhang Xiaohuai, deputy commander-in-chief, concurrently served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and Li Zongren, chief of staff!

In late July, the two sides engaged in skirmishes, but on the premise that neither side had completed preparations for a decisive battle, they exercised great restraint and stopped the clashes as soon as they made contact.

At the beginning of the 21st, Liu Zhaocheng continued to dispatch planes to reconnoiter the situation of the Northern Army.

On the 22nd, the planes of the Northern Army finally appeared on the battlefield. And in the afternoon of the same day, the first bombardment of the Northern Expeditionary Army was carried out, and the Northern Expeditionary Army suffered no casualties.

On the 23rd, the two sides carried out small-scale tentative artillery bombardment.

Throughout the end of July, the two sides were basically in a small fight, and the tentative surname quality was better than the real decisive battle.

In the eyes of Wu Peifu, commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, although Liu Zhaocheng fought several beautiful battles in Hunan and annihilated some of Zhang Jingyao's troops, he was really not worthy of being his opponent.

He has already jumped to become the first general of the Northern Army, but what about the opponent? It's just a nobody who basically didn't have much fame before.

Driven by such a mentality, the psychological warfare between the two sides also began.

Wu Peifu personally handwrote a banner and sent it to Liu Zhaocheng's army, and the banner read:

"A little dog can compete with a tiger".

This is to compare Liu Zhaocheng to a puppy and himself to a tiger. Wu Peifu originally thought that Liu Zhaocheng was a young man, since he was a young man, he must be arrogant, and when he saw his banner, he would inevitably jump like thunder, and even fight himself in advance.

But what he didn't expect was that after Liu Zhaocheng saw it, he said very politely to the visitor: "Thank you Commander-in-Chief Wu for giving Zhaocheng Mobao before the war." Please tell Commander-in-Chief Wu that Zhao Cheng has nothing to reciprocate, but can only do his best on the battlefield. ”

After saying that, he actually asked Wu Peifu's hand to frame it and hang it in the most conspicuous place in his headquarters.

When he got the news, Wu Peifu was a little surprised. I may really underestimate this person.

I have heard that Wang Hengyue has a unique way of employing people, does this Liu Zhaocheng really have any great ability to be worthy of the important task of the commander-in-chief of the Hunan battlefield of the Northern Expeditionary Army?

Wu Peifu is not a person who is arrogant, on the contrary, he began to attach great importance to Liu Zhaocheng after that, and constantly asked Liu Zhaocheng about his previous achievements from various channels!

Knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can survive a hundred battles, which is the most important thing for famous generals in the past!

"Our army has made several contacts with the Northern Army in Zhuzhou." Zhang Xiaohuai, who rushed to the general headquarters, pointed to the map and said: "On the opposite side of us is the Hubei army commanded by Sun Chuanfang, which is a mixed brigade of three divisions, and on the 23rd and 24th, Sun Chuanfang launched a continuous tentative attack on our position with the strength of a brigade, and the offensive was not violent. On the 25th, the Northern Army continued to think about Zhuzhou and reinforced the strength of two brigades! ”

"Yiyang, Changsha, Zhuzhou, Wu Peifu opened a long snake formation, this is to use the advantage of troops, first defend and then attack, first passive and then active!" Liu Zhaocheng's eyes moved off the map: "Since this is the case, we will fulfill his wish!" ”

Li Zongren said with a smile on the side: "What do the two commanders-in-chief think Wu Peifu thinks in his heart now? Where do they think we'll hit first? ”

"Yiyang!" Almost at the same time, Liu Zhaocheng and Zhang Xiaohuai blurted out together.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Liu Zhaocheng immediately put away his smile and said: "Wu Peifu put out this one-word long snake formation, hoarded heavy troops in Changsha and Zhuzhou, and only placed Zhang Jingyao's two divisions on the Yiyang line, which is to tell us that his right wing is the weakest, and he also thinks that we will definitely concentrate superior forces to annihilate his right wing position first, which is deliberately putting his weakness in front of us and luring us to be fooled." As soon as we move, he can concentrate all his superior forces and storm our front. ”

"To lure the enemy's strength with his own weakness, Wu Peifu is known as the first general in Beiyang, which is true." Zhang Xiaohuai said with a smile: "Since the commander-in-chief has seen Wu Peifu's intentions, he has a plan to break the enemy!" ”

"The deputy commander-in-chief thinks in his heart, but I'm afraid it's the same as me." Liu Zhaocheng also said with a smile: "It's still the same statement, since he Wu Peifu thinks so, then we will fulfill his wish." Onslaught on Yiyang! ”

Li Zongren was taken aback on the side: "Storm Yiyang? ”

"Yes, concentrate superior forces and storm it!" Zhang Xiaohuai helped Liu Zhaocheng to continue: "In Yiyang, it is Zhang Jingyao's two divisions, and Wu Peifu overestimates Zhang Jingyao's strength. Zhang Jingyao's Seventh Division of the caretaker unit has just been annihilated, the morale is unstable, the morale is fluctuating, and there is absolutely no determination to defend Yiyang, and if the superior forces break through the Yiyang defense line in the shortest possible time, then Wu Peifu's flank will be really threatened, and Wu Peifu will be self-defeating! ”

"What about our front?" Li Zongren was still a little worried: "After all, the northern army has a numerical advantage, just in case"

Liu Zhaocheng was confident: "Hengshuai has three routes to the Northern Expedition, and we will also send troops on three routes!" The chief of staff commanded the Left Route Army, concentrated the absolute superiority of four divisions and three brigades, stormed Yiyang, and broke the snake tail of his long snake formation. With the strength of three divisions in his hand, the deputy commander-in-chief took the initiative from Zhuzhou to attack Sun Chuanfang's troops, making him, a snakehead, unable to move. I command the rest of the troops to attack the enemy at the same time! ”

Li Zongren instantly understood what Liu Zhaocheng meant.

The commander-in-chief wanted to attack instead of defend, so that the northern army that was preparing to attack fell into chaos for a short time, and then cut off Wu Peifu's "snake tail" with lightning speed, and surrounded the "snake" of the northern army in its own "nest"!

Thinking of this, Li Zongren frowned: "The commander-in-chief does not have much strength in his hands, four divisions and three brigades, once Wu Peifu is desperate, I am worried about the commander-in-chief." ”

Liu Zhaocheng smiled faintly: "There are tens of thousands of people, even if Wu Peifu is really a tiger, if he wants to eat my tens of thousands of puppies, he must have a good pair of teeth!" ”

His head was looking over, and the most conspicuous place hung the handwritten letter that Wu Peifu gave him:

"Little dogs can compete with tigers"!

A smile appeared on the corner of Liu Zhaocheng's mouth.

In Hubei in 1919, Liu Zhaocheng, the "little dog", was about to start a decisive battle with Wu Peifu, the "tiger", to determine the fate of China!

Guangzhou is staring at Hunan, Yanjing is staring at Hunan, the whole country is staring at Hunan, and the whole world is staring at Hunan.

The decisive battle will start soon, and Liu Zhaocheng and Wu Peifu finally stand face to face.

At least no one knows who will win this decisive battle in whose hands!

"The main forces of the Northern Expeditionary Army are already moving in the direction of Yiyang." Song Dapei clicked on the map: "More than four divisions are moving on the right flank of our army. At the same time, on the left flank of our army, the three divisions commanded by Zhang Xiaohuai were also in a posture of attacking the Hubei army, and in the center, Liu Zhaocheng was personally in charge. ”

Wu Peifu held a book in his hand, while reading, while listening to the report of his subordinates, he said with a smile: "Liu Zhaocheng can be regarded as bold, he actually sat in the middle of the road in person, facing the impact of our army, Huangkou Ruzi, I don't know how thick the sky is, I expect that this person will be captured alive in this battle." ”

Song Dapei also smiled: "Who is Liu Zhaocheng?" However, relying on Wang Hengyue's trust, he is young, and as the commander-in-chief of one aspect, Wang Hengyue uses this person to decide with Yu Shuai, how can he be undefeated? ”

"Pass my military orders." Wu Peifu put down the book in his hand and stood up: "Let Zhang Jingyao persist in Yiyang for more than ten days, let Sun Chuanfang deal with Zhang Xiaohuai, and the rest of the departments are ready to fight with me!" ”

"Yushuai, I'm a little worried about Zhang Jingyao." Song Dapei said at that interface: "Zhang Jingyao's troops are newly defeated, morale is low, and since Yushuai arrived in Hunan, Zhang Jingyao has been driven out of Changsha, and he will naturally have resentment in his heart, I am afraid that he will not fight sincerely." ”

Wu Peifu nodded: "Yes, this is also what I am worried about, so I decided to send you to Yiyang to oversee the army, and bring another guard regiment, if Zhang Jingyao really refuses to use his life, then you can replace him." ”

Song Dapei puffed up his chest and said loudly: "Yes, I must obey the order of General Yushuai!" ”

(To be continued)