Just after the old calendar year, a unit of the Nationalist Army marched northeast along the lofty mountains of Lingnan. The marching columns of the troops are loose and loose, and it is not difficult to judge through the appearance of this army, and at first glance it is a local miscellaneous reorganization of the national army troops. After the old calendar year, Zhu Shaoliang, commander-in-chief of the Southern Front Defense Command in Guangzhou, ordered the local security regiment in Shaoguan, Guangdong, which had just completed its reorganization, to be transferred to Ganzhou to join the 34th Brigade of the Ma Kun Division of the 12th Division of his descendant troops. At present, Chen Cheng's main force, the 18th Army, is stationed in Ganzhou and the south, and the five divisions under his command are stationed in Ganzhou, Nanfeng, Xinfeng, and Anyuan respectively to prevent the Red Army from advancing to Guangdong. In addition, the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Guangdong Army and the 1st and 2nd Independent Brigades respectively stayed in the front line of Zharenhua and Nanxiong to reinforce the operation at any time.

Although Chen Cheng's 18th Army was mixed, Luo Zhuoying's division of the 11th division and Zhou Zhirou's division of the 14th division were the most complete and powerful troops with the strongest combat effectiveness. Chen Cheng's troops claimed to be good at defensive operations in the civil engineering department, so Chen Cheng placed the 11th Division in Ganzhou to defend hand in hand with the 34th Brigade, intending to stabilize Ganzhou. Ma Kun did not belong to Jiang's lineage, and in view of the importance of Zhangzhou's strategic value, Ma Kun asked the commander-in-chief Zhu Shaoliang to increase the defensive force. Requesting that the two regiments under his command be expanded into three regiments with a strength of 6,000 men, Zhu Shaoliang took into account the importance of Ganzhou and immediately requisitioned local militia groups to strengthen its defensive forces.

After obtaining this information, Dark Arrow decided to let the special combat team join this local militia to infiltrate Zhangzhou according to the infiltration plan formulated by the headquarters. Mu Shixiong led two special operations detachments to Shaoguan in mid-January and successfully joined the militia group, which was officially named the 72nd Regiment of the 34th Brigade because he had guns. After the old calendar year, Shangfeng ordered that the 72nd Regiment was temporarily transferred to Zhangzhou to join the 34th Brigade. At this time, Mu Shixiong led his troops to march in the queue. The team members carried rifles in a variety of postures (it was impossible to carry sniper rifles, and Dark Arrow would be responsible for transporting sniper rifles into Ganzhou in the future). In order to camouflage and disguise, the team members marched very slackly, and the military discipline was extremely poor.

Some of the team members used guns as crutches, some team members wore open arms and crooked hats, and many team members scolded and scolded while walking, obviously extremely dissatisfied with the transfer to Ganzhou. This team as a whole looks like a "rabble". The head of the militia group is a big fat man, probably spending money to dredge it up and become an official number. Mu Shixiong joined this army to make Qian Ba, and soon had a hot fight with the big fat regiment commander, and his boss battalion commander also had benefits, so he looked down on him. Along the way, Mu Shixiong, the battalion commander and the regiment commander talked about wine and talked about brothers, and arrived in Ganzhou in February.

Ganzhou City has a long history and is the main road from the south of Jiangxi to Guangzhou, and its strategic value is very important. Ganzhou is surrounded by water on three sides, and its Gongjiang River and Zhangjiang River converge to form the upper reaches of the Ganjiang River. Zhangzhou has a peculiar geographical location, with only the southeast being unimpeded. Ganzhou belongs to a typical hilly and mountainous landform, known as eight mountains, half water and one field. Ganzhou's complex terrain, tall city walls, and peculiar landforms surrounded by water on three sides form a natural barrier, which has been easy to defend and difficult to attack since ancient times. After the failure of the third encirclement and suppression, the Kuomintang pursued fortress tactics, and in order to resist the attack of the Red Army, they strengthened the construction of fortifications in Ganzhou, a military stronghold.

Luo Zhuoying's 11th Division mainly defended the east and west of Ganzhou, Ma Kun was responsible for the defense of the north of the city, and the southeast was the focus of the defense. If the Red Army wants to attack the city, it is only feasible in the southeast direction, and it has to face heavy defense, theoretically it is almost impossible for the Red Army to take Ganzhou City with the existing equipment, especially Chen Cheng's civil engineering department is good at defensive operations, and there is a set of sticking to the city. After the provisional 72nd Regiment arrived in Zhangzhou, the brigade commander Ma Kun naturally had to review the newly joined troops. On this day, on a playground on the east side of the city, Ma Kun couldn't help frowning when he saw his loose subordinates coming from afar.

Seeing that the brigade commander was unhappy, the big fat regiment commander immediately stammered: "Brigade seat, the unit has just completed the reorganization and needs systematic training, and I promise to make the unit look new within three months, and I will never let you down." "Look at your troops, there is no standing phase, there is no seat, it is simply a rabble. Okay, I'm not difficult for you, after all, your department has just completed the reorganization, and it is serving as a reserve in the city, and the main task is training! "Brigade seat, humble duty and resolutely complete the task!" The head of the big fat regiment nodded, although the northern city defense had the Ganjiang River as a barrier, but Ma Kun was still not at ease with his defensive strength.

Now that the Red Army has become more powerful, it was very lucky to encircle and suppress itself in the early stage, and it was not eaten by the Red Army. There were all kinds of indications that the Red Army was going to attack Zhangzhou, and although the southeast direction was the focus of the offensive, the Red Army was elusive and would suddenly launch an attack from the north. At present, the Red Army's reconnaissance units often appear on the other side of the Gan River in the north, which makes it difficult for him to sleep. After the September 18 Incident, Ma Kun had the idea of continuing to encircle and suppress the Red Army, especially the idea of peace negotiations put forward by the Communist Party. As a military man, Marquin considers it his duty to defend the territory. But a soldier takes obedience to orders as his duty, and even if he is depressed in his heart, he can't do anything about it.

On the night of his arrival in Ganzhou City, Mu Shixiong was discussing with his subordinates in the camp when a sentry came in and reported: "Report, someone from my hometown has arrived!" When Mu Shixiong heard this, he immediately got up and walked out of the room to another room. In the room sat a middle-aged man dressed as a horse-hung merchant. The greetings of the meeting did not need to be described, and the person who came went straight to the point and said: "Captain Mu, the Dark Arrow Headquarters has asked us to learn more about the situation of the Ma Kun Department, and the basic situation has been clarified at present. The 34th Brigade is currently composed of 3 regiments, with a total strength of about 6,000 people, of which the 70th and 71st regiments are the main forces, and the headquarters is mainly responsible for the defense of the northern part of Ganzhou City. ”

"How's this person Ma Kun?" Before coming, Mu Shixiong listened to Ouyang Jian's brief introduction, saying that Ma Kun is a relatively upright person, who has the heart of worrying about the country and the people, and can act when the opportunity arises. The person continued: "According to the information we have, Ma Kun was born in a poor family, and he is 35 years old this year. After graduating from the Luzhou Huguo Lecture Hall, he joined the Guizhou Army and was promoted from platoon commander to brigade commander. Ma Kun participated in the Central Plains War and participated in three encirclement and suppression in Jiangxi. This man has no vices and is very upright. After 918, this person was dissatisfied with the continued encirclement and suppression of the Red Army, and we only have these information. Mu Shixiong pondered for a moment and asked, "What are the three legions waiting to start moving?" ”

"It is tentatively planned to launch a peripheral offensive on March 10!" Mu Shixiong pinched his fingers and counted that there were still 20 days left. "I want to know when the guns and ammunition of the special operations team will come in." "Captain Mu, the enemy's investigation is very strict, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for such a short time." "Since there are difficulties, for the sake of safety, we will not transport our guns to Ganzhou City, you go back and tell the headquarters, we will resolutely complete the task. Based on your introduction, I thought of two options. One plan is to receive the assault team into the city at the northern city wall, and the other plan is to control the headquarters ······of the 34th Brigade and force the Makun battlefield to revolt. ”

After the members of the Dark Arrow left, Mu Shixiong returned to the house again and said to his subordinates: "The headquarters plans to launch a feint attack in the east and southeast on March 10, and clear the periphery of the fortifications in 10 days, and ask us to start the operation on the night of the 20th and cooperate with the northern assault force to break the city." Depending on the situation, I am ready to implement two scenarios. First, the 2nd detachment was responsible for occupying a local area of the northern city wall and covering the assault team to break through the city. Second, the 3rd detachment attacked and occupied the headquarters of the 34th Brigade and forced its brigade commander Ma Kun to revolt on the battlefield. Captain of the Second Division! "Here!"

"You're in charge of scouting the defenses of the northern city walls, including the deployment of troops!" "Yes!" "The captain of the third division is responsible for finding out the situation of the guard unit of the 34th Brigade Headquarters, especially the situation of troops, weapons and equipment!" "Yes!" In the days that followed, the members participated in military training during the day, and at night they used the night to reconnoiter the enemy. That night, the two detachment leaders reported the situation to Mu Shixiong, and the second detachment leader first said: "Captain, according to the reconnaissance in the past few days, we know that the 70th Regiment in the north of the city serves as the left flank defense, and the 71st Regiment serves as the right flank defense, and the defense line is mainly located on the city wall. The weak link of the enemy army was the junction of the 70 regiment with the 71 regiment, which could be chosen as a breakthrough. ”

The captain of the third division reported: "Captain, there is a guard battalion at the headquarters of the 34th Brigade with a strength of about 300 people. The weapons of the guard battalion of Magun were the best, and one platoon was armed with submachine guns. The brigade headquarters was very well guarded, and it was very difficult to get close, but we found that there were no sentinels at the high point, so we could choose to attack from the ridge close to the brigade headquarters. "Comrades, our equipment cannot be brought in, so we can only find a way on the enemy. The second detachment had to prepare more grenades, and in addition, in the process of capturing the city walls, it was necessary to obtain heavy weapons from the enemy. The third detachment should find out the distribution of troops in the brigade headquarters guard unit and strive to destroy the submachine gun platoon and obtain submachine guns. ”

Mu Shixiong continued: "If we can successfully control the brigade headquarters and force the 34th Brigade to lay down its arms and surrender, we can not only speed up the process of the Ganzhou Campaign, but also avoid unnecessary casualties." We have a very difficult task to do here, and I ask you to be extra careful not to show your feet. There are still 12 days to go before the attack, and the investigation will continue to clarify all the details. The feint troops of the three army corps must first clear the outer fortifications in the eastern part of Ganzhou. How do we act and wait for the order from the top to understand? "Understood!" When the special combat team was carefully preparing in the city, the 42nd Brigade of the 18th Army and the 14th Division was stationed in Shahe Town in the east of Ganzhou, and the brigade commander was reporting to the division commander Zhou Zhirou at this time.

The brigade commander reported that a large Red Army force had been spotted on the east side of Shahe Town, and it was obvious that the Red Army was about to attack. Zhou Zhirou's division headquarters was located in Nankang, and the 41st Brigade under his command was stationed in Longling Town, and the 40th Brigade was with the division headquarters. Zhou Zhirou received a report from the commander of the 42nd Brigade and ordered him to closely monitor the movements of the Red Army, and at the same time report to the army commander Chen Chengyu. After receiving the report, Chen Cheng immediately ordered all units living in the southern part of the country to listen to the order and prepare for reinforcements at any time. Chen Cheng's military headquarters is located in Longnan County, and although he has five divisions under his command, except for the 11th and 14th divisions, which are strong and strong, and the establishment is full, the other three divisions have a large shortage. The total strength of the 18th Army was 46,000 people.

10 kilometers east of Shahe Town, the headquarters of the 3rd Army of the 3rd Army appeared here. At this time, the military commander Xiao Feng was looking at the military map, and seemed to be engrossed. Tick-tock telegrams came and went, and the operational staff officers of the military headquarters were busy and nervous. After the expansion of the Red Army, Xiao Feng was promoted to commander, and there were three field divisions under his command, each with a strength of 8,000 troops. At this time, political commissar Li Chuping said: "Army commander, Yang Shangkun reports that the 7th Division is ready to attack at any time. At this time, Chief of Staff Peng Xuefeng walked in and said: "Army commander, the 8th Division has begun to move, and after the offensive starts, it will capture Shashi Town at any time to block the north to aid the enemy." ”

"After the attack began, I estimated that Chen Cheng would definitely go all out to rescue and ordered the 9th Division of the Reserve to be ready to support the 8th Division at any time. Mr. Peng demanded that the feint attack should also be realistic, and we must capture Shahe Town and advance to Ganzhou City, so that the enemy can be convinced that our main attack direction is the southeast of Ganzhou. Whether we can successfully take Ganzhou depends on whether we can fight the first battle well and whether we can smoothly advance to the city of Ganzhou. Whether the troops can successfully approach the city and move south to block the attack is the most important thing. "Report, Mr. Peng called, and the attack time remains the same." An operational staff officer made an urgent report. "Order Yang Shangkun to officially launch an attack at 8 o'clock tonight!" Xiao Feng decisively gave the order.