An Yi, who lost to his younger brother, did not mean to be depressed at all, and happily returned to the Taierzhuang Division, but before his ass sat firmly, he was so excited by the good news that he danced:

The Third Route Army commanded by General Li Zongren successfully took the county seat of Jinxiang, an important town on the west bank of Weishan Lake, and the Tenth Army of General Wang Tianpei successfully occupied Teng County, a strategic place in southern Lunan, and is currently taking advantage of the victory to force Zou County, Ma Yuren, the Twelfth Army of the Zhilu Coalition Army, was isolated and led his troops to surrender, and the three armies such as Pan Hongjun and Du Fengju fled all the way to Jining; The 14th Army of the First Route Army under the command of General He Yingqin, Lai Shihuang, occupied Juxian, and the 17th Army of General Cao Wanshun captured Yuezhao, forcing Sun Chuanfang's main force to flee north to Weixian, and the revolutionary situation looked very good.

"Hey, why don't you have a battle report from Chief Gu and Chief Deng? It stands to reason that there should be a result at this time......" After An Yi flipped through the telegrams, he checked from the beginning again, and found that there was no telegram that he wanted to know the results of the battle the most, so he couldn't help but raise his head and asked with some puzzlement.

Yin Jinan, who had just walked into the door, had a worried face, and saw An Yi holding a stack of telegrams with excitement on his face, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head, and immediately raised the note in his hand, and took the initiative to take over the conversation and said: "Linyi City is high and deep, and the heavy troops are gathered, so you can't rush here...... You take a look at this first, just received the ......"

An Yi glanced at Yin Jinan, whose face was a little uncertain, suspiciously, took the telegram and read it carefully, then slowly put it down, exhaled turbid air, and said worriedly:

"I really didn't expect that the situation would suddenly turn so bad. The future of the Northern Expedition is uncertain, and I am afraid that the entire front will be withdrawn next. ”

"What's wrong?"

Yang Bin curiously picked up the message and read it carefully, and after reading it, he angrily threw the message on the table, and said angrily:

"I really didn't expect that Wuhan was so aggressive, Tang Shengzhi and Zhang Fakui were like mad dogs to dispatch troops, what inherited Mr. Zhongshan's legacy, what firm Northern Expedition all became, all of them aimed their guns at Nanjing, and the Ninghan War that made us deeply worried before is about to become a reality!

Alas, it seems that we don't need to go north, if most of the main forces of the First Route Army are all withdrawn to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to defend Nanjing, not only will the victory in sight of the Northern Expedition die, but even the huge territory of northern Jiangsu and southern Lunan that has been fought hard will be lost again, and it is also very likely that when fighting to the death with the Wuhan army, Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang, who have taken a breath, will wave their troops south, and the future of our departments is worrying! ”

Hu Jialin was stunned after quickly browsing the message, and he didn't know that the half of the cigarette that he was talking about had fallen to the ground, and it took a while to ease his breath, his face full of worry and unwillingness:

"The situation is probably worse than we thought...... In the face of the menacing Wuhan army, not only will the main force of the First Route Army have to retreat southward, but the main force of General Li Zongren's Third Route Army may have withdrawn even faster.

Let's think about it, the left flank of the Third Route Army is the eastern Hubei and northern Jiangxi regions, and isn't this area the edge of the territory occupied by General Li Zongren at present? How could he allow the source of the tax revenue, which he had managed to run a little better, to be harassed by others? I don't see that in three days, the two divisions of the Seventh Army will leave the battlefield and move south. ”

Hu Zi and Yin Jinan both thought that they would soon be able to hit their hometown, and when the time came, they would return to their hometowns with infinite scenery, but when they were close at hand, they suddenly gave birth to such a great change.

An Yi's mind turned sharply, and he asked Yin Jinan again: "How are Henan and Shanxi?" ”

Senior Brother Yu of the headquarters called back and said that Feng Yuxiang had been shouting to cross the Yellow River north for three days, but there was no movement at all, but he was busy purging the party in Henan, and he had publicly telegraphed Shi Jingting and Li Xingzhong, the confidant generals stationed in Shaanxi and Gansu, to rectify party affairs, eliminate the Communist Party, and drive out all the political commissars and party representatives who had been sent to all the ministries under his command. On the contrary, General Yan Xishan kept his promise and went out of the front line of Zhengtai Road, which seemed to be a deadlock in the negotiations with the Feng Department. Yin Jinan replied.

"What's the news over there in old Nanchang?" An Yi continued to ask.

Zhan Huanqi, who was sitting opposite, replied: "Uncle Dao called and said that General Li Pinxian, commander of the Wuhan garrison, surrounded the Federation of Trade Unions with heavy troops, and completely disarmed the workers' Red Guards and peasant self-defense forces led by [***], and the new 20th Army of He Long under the command of General Zhang Fakui was preparing for the Eastern Expedition. ”

An Yi breathed a sigh of relief: "Makes sense! If this is the case, I am afraid that Ning and Han will not fight immediately, they are both deploying troops and sending generals, and there is no time for the troops to be transported, so they will not be able to reach the position at all, not to mention that there are so many peacemakers mediating in it. ”

An Yi pondered for a while, and then asked Yin Jinan and others for their opinions: "How about I send a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Bai asking for war?" What do you think of the request to go north to assist the 44th Army of Chief Gu, Chief Deng and Senior Ye in attacking Linyi? ”

Yang Bin looked at An Yi's eyes and thought thoughtfully: "You mean, our division has returned to the First Route Army......"

"I'll see it!"

The upright beard directly stated: "Just go to a telegram, maybe you can figure out the meaning of Commander-in-Chief Bai to keep us here, whether he agrees or not, he will give us a clear explanation." ”

"I agree!" Yin Jinan replied.

Zhan Huanqi saw An Yi looking at him with an inquiring gaze, and quickly nodded in agreement, grateful for An Yi's trust and care.

During this period of time, An Yi slowly let Zhan Huanqi enter the decision-making center, and Zhan Huanqi was deeply moved by this trust and support. Zhan Huanqi quickly wrote down An Yi's dictation, handed the folder to An Yi, and strode away after signing it.

At ten o'clock in the morning of the next day, General Bai Chongxi's reply came, and the task given to An Yi was still to hold the important place of Taierzhuang and closely monitor the possible abnormal situation in the direction of due north.

After An Yi received the callback, he understood Bai Chongxi's order, and was also like a mirror to the current battle situation, and immediately convened a meeting of commanders above the regimental level, and quickly decided on the strategy of vigorously building defensive positions and fortifications, and building invisible bridges ten centimeters below the water surface in the four sections of the canal to the south.

The brothers were very surprised when they heard An Yi's order, and only after learning from Yin Jinan and Yang Bin's battle reports that the two main divisions of General Li Zongren had rushed south last night, the 33rd Army and the 27th Army on the left flank retreated to Yutai, but Zhang Zongchang's two armies followed and went south to seek battle; The 26th Army of Zhou Fengqi, the main force of General He Yingqin's First Route Army, and the 14th Army of General Lai Shihuang also retreated along the canal to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

What everyone was extremely worried about finally happened under their noses, and the entire Northern Expeditionary Army changed from offensive to defensive, and the situation appeared extremely passive.

On July 3, the Northern Expedition units under the command of the Nanjing Political Axe, which had lost the command of Li Zongren and He Yingqin, finally ushered in the order of large-scale mobilization.

General Wang Tianpei, the former commander-in-chief of the Third Route Army, led the 10th and 33rd armies to defend Lincheng, the 1st and 3rd divisions of the 1st Army withdrew from Linyi and retreated to Zaozhuang, General Cao Wanshun's 17th Army gave up Yuezhao and retreated to Haizhou, General Chen Tiaoyuan's 37th Army retreated to Tancheng, the 3rd Route Army withdrew south from Jinpu Road and transferred to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to garrison, and An Yi's division was unexpectedly urgently transferred to Dahu Town, east of Xuzhou, to take on the heavy responsibility of defending the east of Xuzhou.

As a result, the area from Zaozhuang to Haizhou that the Northern Expeditionary Army had previously captured was completely abandoned, and Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang, who had been beaten by the Northern Expeditionary Army, finally relieved themselves and began to replenish their troops on a large scale, deploy troops, and slowly move south, and implement strategic pressure on the Northern Expeditionary Army that remained on the front line with less than half of the original troops. After Zhang Zongchang's army was supported by the southbound Feng army, all of them left all parts of northern Shandong and quickly gathered southward to launch a counteroffensive...... The Northern Expeditionary Army retreated in great strides, causing incalculable heavy revolutionary losses.

At noon the next day, An Yi, who was on the march, suddenly received an urgent order from Bai Chongxi, and the two divisions of General Wang Tianpei were in arrears for several months, causing a mutiny, and the Xu Yuanquan Division of the Sixth Army of the Zhilu Coalition Army, Cheng Guorui's Department of the Third Army, and Wang Dong's Department of the Fifth Army occupied Tengxian County and captured Lincheng, Wang Tianpei had retreated to the south bank of the Hanzhuang Canal, and asked An Yi's troops to postpone their southward movement, wait for orders in place, and quickly go north to meet the officers and men of the Tenth Army if necessary.

An Yi called back to follow the order, and after urgent discussion with the generals under his command, he decisively decided to seize the initiative and turn north.

The whole division traveled 17 kilometers and arrived at Liuquan Town, the throat of Xuzhou, An Yi immediately ordered all regiments under his command to occupy favorable terrain and quickly build blocking fortifications, piles of rails and a large number of sleepers stored in the freight yard of the station were urgently requisitioned by the regiments of the Reading Division, and the grass huts and wooden houses on the soil slopes along the line were excavated and built into solid heavy machine gun fire points, and after the abandoned wagons were loaded with strong sandbags, they were pushed to the seven railway lines north of the station, and the small bridges of the three highways on both sides of the railway were piled up at the south end of the blocking positions. All 24 guns of the artillery battalion were pulled up to Qingquan Mountain on the left flank of Liuquan Station, and the logistics officers and men of the division assisted the sweaty brothers of the artillery battalion in setting up camouflage and carrying ammunition. Four hours later, a three-kilometer-long defensive position holding the railway and highway junction north of Xuzhou gradually took shape.

At night, the sky began to drizzle, and more than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Reading Division, who had hurriedly eaten dinner, continued to build fortifications, the division's guard battalions and reconnaissance companies of each regiment spread a wide net in three directions, and fast horses galloped between Liuquan and Hanzhuang, and an urgent report was sent to An Yi and his generals.

An Yi strode out of the temporary headquarters set up in the dispatching room of the South Railway Station, saluted respectfully to the representatives of the railway workers who rushed to assist after hearing the news, shook hands cordially, and said gratefully after introducing each other:

"Thank you for your great help! On behalf of the 11,200 officers and soldiers of the Reading Division, and on behalf of all the officers and men of the Northern Expeditionary Army, An Yi expressed his heartfelt thanks to the masters! ”

Zhou Enrong, the forty-five-year-old railway section chief, said with a bold smile: "This is what our worker brothers should do, and we are all very willing to fight side by side with General An and defeat the warlords." ”

More than a dozen workers and masters around echoed in unison, and everyone looked at An Yi with joy and enthusiasm in their eyes.

An Yi said politely: "Uncle Zhou, if you can, the juniors would like to ask Uncle Zhou and the masters to drive the empty open car in the No. 3 freight yard to meet the officers and soldiers of General Wang Tianpei's Tenth Army at the Iron Bridge of Jiujie Village in the south of Hanzhuang.

According to the estimation of the younger generations, the enemy will never be able to cross the defensive line we have built without more than five corps and at considerable cost. ”

"No problem, I brought all four drivers, the stoker and the other guys are concentrated on the platform, as long as General An gives an order, we can easily move the three locomotives and two wagons on the station."

Zhou Enrong replied loudly, thought for a while, and asked embarrassedly: "General An, the guys hope to get some self-defense guns and bullets, because they need to protect themselves after the fight, and again, our workers' pickets also want to impose martial law on the town, and will never allow the enemy's annihilation to come out and make trouble." ”

As soon as An Yi heard about the "workers' pickets", he immediately clearly realized the special identity of Zhou Enrong, the head of the [***], he pretended not to know, and laughed: "Okay! What is a few guns compared to your strong support? Uncle Zhou, how many people are in your picket team? ”

Zhou Enrong was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "If you want to say that there are many people, the guys on the railway and the guys in the repair shop add up to at least three hundred, but we don't dare to ask the general for so many weapons, one twenty long and short guns and a few boxes of ammunition are enough." ”

An Yi nodded, and waved his hand: "Captain Chen-"

"Here!"

Chen Mian, the deputy captain of the guard, stepped forward and replied loudly.

"You go to the logistics quartermaster department, Deputy Division Commander Yin and the party representatives just went there to inspect and tell them to distribute 300 rifles and 10 shell guns in stock to Uncle Zhou and his masters, and distribute 100 rounds of ammunition for each gun!" An Yi ordered loudly.

"Yes!"

Chen Mian turned sideways after saluting, and politely asked Zhou Enrong and the others to follow him to the Reading Freight Yard near the creek in the south.

Zhou Enrong and more than a dozen workers were taken aback, and then stepped forward to shake hands with An Yi to thank him, An Yi shook his head and said politely:

"Uncle Zhou, everyone, the guns are not brand new, but they are all very useful, I hope you don't mind, it can be regarded as a small gift from our Brother Reading to the big brother of the workers. You have done so much for our revolutionary army, and we don't know how to repay it...... Let's make do with it first, if the bullets are not enough, come to me again, if there is something captured in the next battle, the juniors will definitely pick out a batch of good guns and give them to Uncle Zhou. ”

"Thank you so much! General An is really ...... What a caring person for our fellow workers! I wrote down this friendship ......"

Zhou Enrong said, held An Yi's hand tightly, grateful, and then turned to his brothers and said loudly: "Guys, go!" Get out of the car as soon as you get your gun! ”

"Okay—"

(To be continued)