In order to unify the powers and facilitate command, Yuan Shikai appointed Zhang Xun as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in the Shandong Theater (due to the tight fighting in the Fengtian direction, the former commander-in-chief, Xu Shuzheng, the deputy commander of the army, was transferred) to coordinate the operations of the various armies in the Shandong Theater, which were not under the control of each other. The reason why Yuan Shikai appointed Zhang Xun as the supreme commander of the Shandong front was mainly because of his military exploits in leading the Wuwei front army and his qualifications as an old man in Beiyang, and Zhang Xun himself certainly understood in his heart how his military exploits came about.

As he spoke, a plane flew over the station, and then a yellow, cylindrical object fell from the sky and fell to the ground.

When several soldiers of the former army of Wuwei saw it, they immediately rushed over quickly, picked up the cylinder, and then ran back and handed it to one of Zhang Xun's adjutants, who opened the cylinder and took out a paper roll inside to look at it, and then walked quickly towards Zhang Xun.

"It's convenient to use this plane to deliver messages." Wu Peifu looked at the plane that gradually disappeared in the distance and sighed.

Zhang Xun took the paper roll and looked at it carefully, then handed the paper roll to Cao Kun, who only glanced at it briefly and handed it to Wu Peifu.

"Do you want us to go back? What's going on with him Yang Hanzhi? Wu Peifu asked a little strangely.

"He said that he wanted to annihilate the main force of the Yue army in the water network area between Anqiu and Gaomi, and it is likely that he wanted to copy his own back road." Zhang Xun waved his hand and motioned for his subordinates to take the map. Two officers of the Armed Guards quickly moved over a square table and spread the map on the table.

"You see, we have now unexpectedly laid down Jiaozhou, which is just blocking my retreat." Zhang Xun pointed to the map and said, "Let's move a little to the southwest, just in time to catch up with Lao Feng's team, and surround myself in the middle." ”

"But it turns out that Fu Xiao'an's fifth town in the north didn't you say that it was no longer there? What should I do if I cross the railroad and run behind them? Wu Peifu asked.

"I'll block their back road, and you can block the railway." Zhang Xun thought about it and finally made a decision on his own.

"It's fine." Wu Peifu thought for a while and said, "The chariot will be handed over to the Wuwei front army, if Brother Zhang wants them to help them fight, he must send infantry to cooperate with them and act together, so that the effect will be good." ”

"Looks like your third town is playing experience." Zhang Xun glared at Wu Peifu with a smile, "Don't worry!" My martial guard former army's ability to fight is no worse than your third town! ”

One thing Zhang Xun didn't tell Wu Peifu was that Yang Shuoming had already given him a "guide" on the operations of the ironclad chariot team before leaving.

Listening to the conversation between Wu Peifu and Zhang Xun, Cao Kun did not express his opinion, but carefully watched the work of the soldiers of the chariot convoy.

Through the hazy morning mist, in the room of a field command post, several figures swayed incessantly under the light of kerosene lamps.

On a mahogany table sent by the common people, a map marked with various colored arrows and symbols was spread, and figures floated back and forth around the map.

In the upper right corner of the map, there is a large compass marker indicating the direction. A thick, winding blue line representing a river runs roughly east-west through the center of the map. Around the blue line, there are many small blue lines, forming a dense network.

On this network, black lines mark a few small areas and a few black arrows to indicate the direction of marching, while the opposite of the black wireframe and arrow are red wireframes and arrows.

"It can't be delayed any longer! Tomorrow before dark, be sure to take this place! ”

The person who spoke looked haggard, but the straight military uniform was decorated with gold spikes and Jiahe patterns, and the military hat and epaulettes were decorated with bright golden five-pointed stars, which was none other than Feng Guozhang, the general of Jiangsu.

At this time, Feng Guozhang's eyes were bloodshot, and he stared closely at the area marked by a black line on the map, and said loudly.

"The Fifth Brigade is stepping up its offensive, but it is also constantly increasing its troops there, and our army has suffered considerable losses, and since the attack was launched in the afternoon, the Fifth Brigade has suffered more than 1,500 casualties so far......

"No matter how big the casualties are, you have to take them down for me!" Feng Guozhang shouted, "If the Japanese invaders break through from us, you and I will be sinners of the country and the nation!" ”

Hearing Feng Guozhang's roar, the people around him were startled.

In their impressions, they have never seen Feng Guozhang like this.

"Look at the former army of Wuwei and the army of Gan! There are more casualties than us! But people have never complained! ”

An adjutant said in a low voice: "The Fifth Brigade has been rushing to the front as the vanguard of our division since the beginning of the war, and in fact, there are quite a few losses every day......

"Don't tell me about any losses! I want them to take the position of the Wokos for me before it gets dark tomorrow! After dawn the day after tomorrow, I will go to the position of the Japanese to see their deaths! Did you hear that? ”

"General, if that's the case, the Fifth Brigade needs reinforcements, the army there is strong, and once they know that there is no way out, they will probably fight the trapped beasts. The combat effectiveness of the Yue army is already stronger than that of our army, and the aerial reconnaissance has just discovered that a large number of enemy troops are still rushing there, and the Fifth Brigade may be fiercely counterattacked by the Yue army. They don't have the heavy artillery of the Wuwei Front Army and the Jiangxi Army! ”

Feng Guozhang stared angrily at the person who spoke: "How many widows are there?" Didn't the report from the night before say that there were less than 3,000 pirates there? ”

"But last night the intelligence staff of the Fifth Brigade reported that they had learned from the captured captives that the Japanese army had a complete wing there, and the intelligence officer of the Third Brigade also reported last night that according to the prisoners, the Japanese army had moved their headquarters there......"

"Why didn't you report this information earlier?" Feng Guozhang said angrily.

"These are all pieces of information that I got last night when it was almost the middle of the night, when you were already asleep, and the big guy thought it would be too late to tell you about it in the morning......"

"Bastard!"

Feng Guozhang slammed his fist on the table, frightening the other party to shrink back his words.

At this time, the table clock placed on the side suddenly rang, reminding the people in the room of the time, Feng Guozhang turned his head to look at the hour, and finally calmed down his anger.

"From now on, no matter how late it is in the future, you must report the situation to me in a timely manner, understand?" Feng Guozhang looked at the people around him and said in a deep voice, "Forget it this time, just this once, not for example!" Did you hear that? ”

The surrounding officers hurriedly nodded yes.

"From this point of view, it is very likely that I want to gather the troops originally assembled in Shuangyangdian and launch a counterattack against us."

"That's right, this should be a natural thing, their commander will not watch his subordinates being surrounded and leave it alone," Feng Guozhang said, "For us, the situation is not as optimistic as he Yang Hanzhi expected." ”

Feng Guozhang beckoned as he spoke, and the people around him approached the map again and watched carefully.

At this time, on the front position, a man dressed as a peasant was trudging desperately in the muddy water.

Behind him, from time to time, there were bursts of muffled thunderous cannonballs, mixed with crisp gunfire.

With his staggering steps, there were bursts of sharp pain in the calf of his left leg from time to time, which made his eyes blacken for a while, and Venus began to emerge, and the surrounding scenery began to become hazy.

Soon, he approached another battlefield, and his eyes were full of resentment when he saw the corpses of the soldiers with mutilated limbs in front of him.

"Damn the Shina people! Someday, I'm going to kill you all! Nakajima Haranosuke - whose real identity is an intelligence agent stationed in China - scolded viciously.

Nakajima Haranosuke came to the corpse of a soldier of the Zomoto, took a rifle from his hand, used it as a crutch, and continued to walk forward with all his might.

His target is Qingdao.

He was going to send the information that he and his companions had worked so hard to get into the hands of the commander, who was also an intelligence officer but had now become insensitive.

The sound of the cannon behind him suddenly became louder, and Nakajima Haranosuke instinctively lay down in the muddy water, dodging the possible cannonballs.

As soon as he thought of the horrific scene of the shelling by the [***] team, his body couldn't help but start shaking.

After a burst of cannon fire, it suddenly stopped, and Nakajima Haranosuke didn't bother to check it, but immediately got up from the ground and walked forward with a staggered and brisk step.

Nakajima Haranosuke walked forward for a while, and suddenly noticed several sneaky figures around him.

Nakajima Haranosuke shook his head, widened his eyes and looked carefully, and saw several Chinese figures.

A Chinese in a short shirt did not seem to notice Nakajima Haranosuke's approach, and he was concentrating on removing rings and other ornaments from the hands of the fallen officers and soldiers, and he also had a well-made Yumoto knife hanging from his waist, apparently from a dead officer.

Nakajima Haranosuke looked around again and found more Chinese doing the same thing, some men and women, all with greedy glint in their eyes.

Seeing such a scene, Nakajima Harasuke rushed upward, and he trembled and wanted to pull out the revolver pinned to his waist, but suddenly found that the pistol was gone for some time.

Nakajima Haranosuke threw away his broken rifle and bent down, pulling through the pile of dead bodies like the Chinese, looking for a weapon that could be used, when the Chinese who were examining the corpses noticed him. Seeing Nakajima Haranosuke's actions, it is likely that they regarded him as someone like them, so they ignored him, and continued their respective work.

A Chinese may have flipped over a badly wounded and dying soldier, and the moaning of the soldier startled him, and he took a few steps back in horror and pulled out the dagger at his waist.

(To be continued)