The rising sun rises from the horizon, and soon becomes unusually hot, the white dazzling light makes it impossible to look up, and a few waterfowl are flying freely on the wide Llama Lake, and the gusts of wind blow on the endless water, sparkling waves.

An Yi, who left the island and boarded the retreating wooden boat, the heaviest stone in his heart disappeared in an instant with the arrival of the old road peace telegram - late at night, the gunfire that rang out in Nanchang City did not affect Nanchang County, which is 15 kilometers south, but on the evening of August 1, a regiment of revolutionary troops with red ribbons around their necks drove into the old Nanchang County Ya, confiscated the weapons of the local police, and took over the control of the old Nanchang. did not pull out the landlords and wealthy businessmen of old Nanchang to criticize and parade the streets.

Lao Dao called back late at night on August 2: everything is in accordance with the instructions, all industries are suspended, the door is closed, and at noon there are five distinguished guests who come to the door to appease them, one of them will be in his early twenties, and he is from the model camp, his words and demeanor are quite polite, and the old and young are safe and the family business is not damaged, do not read!

An Yi carefully folded the telegram that he had read countless times and put it into his jacket pocket, looked at the wind-blown lake from afar, pondered quietly, and seemed to see Li Xiaolong's sassy and heroic posture wearing a revolutionary army uniform, a red ribbon around his neck, and a shell gun stuck in his waist. At the same time, An Yi also had a faint premonition that Huang Qixiang, the commander of the Fourth Army, and Ye Ting, the deputy commander of the Eleventh Army, would not forget the love of fighting side by side, especially Huang Qixiang, who would never hurt his An Yi's interests.

At this time, An Yi didn't know that the other two distinguished guests who followed Li Xiaolong to visit Lao Dao in Lao Nanchang were the big people he saved on the way back to Zhenjiang from Nanjing, and they all played an extremely important role in the Nanchang Uprising in this sonic boom I sincerely admire the charity of building the old Nanchang Hospital and the welfare factory for disabled soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

From 28 July to 3 August, An Yi had been twice as long as the commander-in-chief, General Bai Chongxi, had he had kept the order to "hold on for three days." If he hadn't received an urgent order from the general headquarters before dawn to immediately withdraw to Fangcun in the southeast of Xuzhou to stand by, An Yi was confident that he would have been able to stay for at least another ten and a half days.

Although Chu Yupu urgently transferred the new Third Army and two provisional divisions to Nianzhuang, the new Third Army was preparing to force south to find the Reading Division to start a war, and the other two divisions stuck to Nianzhuang to repair the blown up railway bridge, but this veteran who had been in northern China for half his life no longer dared to send a large army to search, encircle and suppress An Yi's Reading Division, and in just five days of hide-and-seek battle, Chu Yupu's two armies were cautious, and they were still eaten by the elusive and ubiquitous An Yi Division. and burned down Chu Yupu's temporary transit station.

After the small-scale attacks that lasted all night and night made tens of thousands of officers and men of the Zhilu Coalition tremble and rumor, and after one patrol after another had not returned, and one temporary camp after another was attacked by An Yi's division without reason and without warning, Chu Yupu, who had no choice but to order the two armies to retreat within 10 kilometers of the county seat, and wait for reinforcements to arrive before making another plan.

In the early morning of the fourth day, Sun Chuanfang's division and brigade quietly moved north from Suqian, which had just been captured, in an attempt to block the back road of An Yi's division and form a flanking attack with Chu Yupu's army in the north, but An Yi's division had quietly retreated to Wangji, northwest of Suining—when the two armies were twenty-one kilometers apart, Sun Chuanfang's team was discovered by the reconnaissance team of the Reading Division.

An Yi received an urgent report and immediately contacted Gu Zhutong's Third Division, which had withdrawn to Sihong, and wanted to eat this enemy in one go. Helplessly, Gu Zhutong got the order to stick to Sihong, and failed to cooperate with An Yi again beautifully, seeing the loss of the opportunity, An Yi and his brothers sighed for a while.

However, before An Yi and his brothers sighed for long after arriving at Wangji, the reconnaissance detachment that remained behind suddenly sent an urgent report: Chu Yupu's army was heading for Xuzhou one after another, and Sun Chuanfang's division, which reinforced Chu Yupu, traveled to Zhanzhuang one after another, suddenly stopped advancing, and quickly drove west an hour later, and was expected to arrive in Yaoji at about four o'clock in the afternoon.

In the face of the sudden change in the enemy situation, An Yi was taken aback, and Sun Chuanfang's more than 16,000 troops drove to Yaoji, 11 kilometers northeast of Wangji, without fear, and what was worrying was that if Chu Yupu's three armies used the repaired railway to rush to the battlefield in Xuzhou, the friendly forces that were counterattacking Xuzhou and were in sight of victory were likely to be defeated, and even fell into the flanking attack of a strong enemy from both sides.

After An Yi convened the brothers to discuss, he did not dare to slack off, and immediately reported the sudden enemy situation to the general headquarters.

Bengbu, the headquarters of the Second Route Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Bai Chongxi slowly put the urgent telegram he had just received from An Yi on the table, staring at the map on the desktop motionless, and was engrossed: the anxious Commander-in-Chief Jiang, after receiving the help of Chen Chengshi, commanded Wang Tianpei's 10th Army and He Yaozu's 40th Army to storm the periphery successfully, and then rashly aggressive, it is very likely that he will fall into the enemy's commander Cheng Guorui's plan to lure the enemy into depth.

At this time, the enemy marshal Chu Yupu led the army to Xuzhou, which undoubtedly made the most powerful confirmation of Bai Chongxi's judgment. As long as the enemy army drove to the front line of Xuzhou, it would immediately form a strong pressure on the Second Route Army commanded by Bai Chongxi, and even if Bai Chongxi had a good reason not to rescue the Third Route Army of Commander-in-Chief Chiang who was about to be defeated, he could also move the front of the Second Route Army a little further back and retreat to the northern line of Bengbu.

Once Commander-in-Chief Chiang's Third Route Army retreated in great strides, Bai Chongxi would be able to retreat with him, and no one could make any accusations against it. On the contrary, the reputation of Commander-in-Chief Chiang will plummet with the defeat, the already shaky position of commander-in-chief will soon collapse, the various armies under his command that are vacillating with their own hearts will look for the Ming lord again, and the anti-Chiang voices from all walks of life will rise one wave after another.

"Brother Jiansheng, how do you call An Yi back?" Zhang Dingfan asked in a low voice.

Bai Chongxi raised his head, a grim smile appeared on his face, and then he picked up the folding fan on the table and slowly opened it, and replied unhurriedly:

"Just let him stay where he is and keep a close eye on the enemy's movements."

Zhang Dingfan's heart moved, and he said worriedly: "If An Yi sends this information to Commander-in-Chief Jiang in Suzhou at the same time, will we be passive?" ”

Bai Chongxi shook the folding fan and said confidently: "No, I know An Yi's surname very well, his troops are rough and strong on the outside, but in fact, the law and discipline are strict on the inside, and the military orders are like mountains, and he himself is such a model." Under such circumstances, he would not have overstepped the level to call Commander-in-Chief Chiang, and even if he really sent an urgent report to Commander-in-Chief Chiang, Commander-in-Chief Chiang would call me to ask for my opinion, and even directly ask our Second Route Army to take the initiative to step forward and strengthen the offensive in order to relieve the heavy pressure of his Third Route Army.

However, Commander-in-Chief Chiang has already captured the front line of Jiuli Mountain, an important place for the enemy army outside the city, and most of the main force has approached Xuzhou City to start a fierce decisive battle with the enemy, and I am afraid that he will not have the energy to take care of the sudden change in the east of Xuzhou. ”

Zhang Dingfan laughed: "The five divisions of my Second Route Army are facing the heavy pressure of the enemy's seven divisions, coupled with the surging arrival of Chu Yupu's two corps, Sun Chuanfang's 28th Division and the 35th Mixed Brigade, it is true that they cannot draw troops to rush to the aid of Commander-in-Chief Jiang and the Third Route Army. ”

Bai Chongxi sighed faintly and said, "I'm afraid Commander-in-Chief Jiang doesn't need our help." ”

"Brother Jiansheng said...... Is the defeat of the Third Route Army imminent? Zhang Dingfan thought for a while, but he was not sure, and then lowered his voice and asked in surprise.

Bai Chongxi nodded, stood up and walked a few steps, suddenly put away the folding fan, turned around and whispered: "While Commander-in-Chief Jiang is still in the upper hand, immediately inform him of An Yi's urgent telegram, and at the same time ask Commander-in-Chief Jiang to suggest that An Yi's division go north bravely and cut off the road of Sun Chuanfang's division and brigade after brigade west into Xuzhou in one fell swoop, so as to relieve the pressure of the battle situation in Xuzhou." ”

Zhang Dingfan was slightly shocked in his heart, and then understood the true meaning of Bai Chongxi's words, nodded and stood up to draft a telegram, and asked Bai Chongxi to sign and strode to the confidential room.

Watching the translator quickly translate the text into numbers, Zhang Dingfan let out a long breath, and there was a faint trace of unbearable feeling in his heart, he knew that the dispatch of this telegram was equivalent to indirectly asking for the life of An Yi's reading division, seeing that the defeat of Commander-in-Chief Jiang's Third Route Army was imminent, and the time for the whole army to retreat south was numbered, but An Yi's department, which was in the dark, was ordered to wave his army north and fight against Sun Chuanfang's army alone. When An Yi's division and the enemy exchange fire, the defending enemy in Xuzhou, who was retreating from the revolutionary army, could at least divide three armies to block the retreat of An Yi's division, and this time An Yi would be doomed even if he grew wings!

Sigh to sigh, Zhang Dingfan, who stood resolutely in the camp of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, knew very well the cruelty of political struggle, and better understood the formidable military strategy of An Yi, a loyal student under Commander-in-Chief Chiang, and the huge potential he had, even an outstanding commander like Bai Chongxi was deeply afraid of An Yi, not to mention other generals in the army?

Zhang Dingfan knows very well that An Yi is becoming more and more mature and more experienced, if such a person is placed in the opponent's camp, he will always be a big trouble, it is better to take this opportunity to get rid of him quickly, otherwise it will be difficult to ensure that Chiang Kai-shek will not reuse this person when he makes a comeback, it will be the sorrow of his entire camp, just as Li Zongren, the commander of the Gui army, sighed: Such a genius is not used by me, it's a pity!

When the telegram was sent, the communications staff officer handed the original to Zhang Dingfan for signature and keeping, Zhang Dingfan took the pen, and suddenly felt that his right hand trembled a little, he took a deep breath, quickly signed his name, and whispered to the communications staff officer: "If Commander-in-Chief Chiang or General An Yi calls back, send it to me immediately." ”

"Yes!"

The communications staff officer replied respectfully.

Zhang Dingfan strode out of the confidential room, came to the entrance of the corridor, and subconsciously unbuttoned the military uniform, only to find that his neck was full of sweat beads, he stopped in front of the window, took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the sweat on his head and neck, looked at the clear sky, exhaled deep turbidity, in a trance, he seemed to see Commander-in-Chief Jiang did not hesitate to give An Yi an order to immediately go north to block the strong enemy, this order was given by Commander-in-Chief Jiang to An Yi, without Bai Chongxi and his own responsibility, Even if An Yifu escaped with his life, he could only hate his principal Chiang Kai-shek.

Zhang Dingfan shook his head hard to dispel the illusion in his mind, as if he saw the irretrievable fate of An Yishi's division under the fierce attack of the Zhilu coalition army and Sun Chuanfang's army, which was several times his own and had a deep hatred for him, and saw the scene of the well-trained model battalion soldiers who were well-trained and well-known throughout the country bleeding, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Although they belonged to different camps, Zhang Dingfan still felt deeply sorry for An Yi, a military genius who had not been seen in a century, he bowed his head and took two steps, his mood was quite heavy, his eyes were slightly gloomy, and he couldn't help muttering: Military orders are like mountains......

(To be continued)