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Chapter 405 Fighting Method

The spring of the 17th year of the Republic of China is destined to be a painful time of chaos and internal and external difficulties. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

The Lijin section of the Yellow River in Shandong Province burst its embankment, flooding more than 80 counties, causing heavy casualties and millions of people being homeless. Yan Xishan's Jin Sui army and Zhang Zuolin's Feng army were still fighting fierce battles day by day on the front line of Shuo County in northern Shanxi, in full swing; Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army quietly stopped fighting with the Feng army at this time, moved the general headquarters from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng, and faced Zhang Xueliang, the young marshal of the Feng army, across the river; The 11th Army's Chen Jitang Division, which had abolished the strength of the Nine Bulls and Two Tigers, finally recovered Haifeng and Lufeng in Guangdong, and strangled the young ** regime in its infancy; ** More than 2,000 troops led by Zhu De were lost after defeating Xu Kexiang's division and capturing more than 1,500 long and short guns and a large amount of ammunition at Pingshi on the Hunan and Guangdong borders; Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government in Nanjing, with a rare attitude of compromise, made concessions to the major warlord forces and sought temporary peace, but could not escape the dilemma of being wantonly invaded and suppressed by the imperialist powers.

The Americans learned from the secret report that the warlords of Guangdong and Guizhou entrenched in the south had reached an anti-Chiang alliance, and that the majority of the people who were originally inclined to support Chiang Kai-shek's government were hesitant, and the positive plan for readjusting the China policy that had just been formulated was immediately postponed, and a large number of dollar loans, steel, and other materials continued to be exported to Japan. In order to cling to its huge interests in China and aggravate China's division, the British government did not hesitate to increase its support for the northern warlords, once again aided the Zhilu warlord Zhang Zongchang with 1 million pounds of weapons and ammunition, and secretly telegraphed to Lan Pusheng, the minister to China, to use the pretext of going to Hong Kong on business to defeat his opponents Wang Jingwei and Zhang Fakui, who had already defeated his opponents Wang Jingwei and Zhang Fakui, who were in charge of Guangdong again, in a secret meeting between the province and Hong Kong. In less than three days, the "Shaji Massacre" monument made of blood and flesh by the Chinese people in the anti-imperialist struggle was quietly demolished, and the news that Li Jishen had received huge British aid immediately spread in the provinces and Hong Kong.

After brazenly ramming and sinking the passenger liner "Xin Daming" of the China Datong Company in Dongxing Xingang in Taixing on 18 February, causing more than 300 Chinese civilians to drown, the Japanese became angry at the Nanjing Government's intransigent attitude toward the "Han Yeping" steel, coal, and tariff negotiations, and on 28 February again drove a warship on a rampage in the waters of Pingtan in Fujian Province, brutally killing more than 180 innocent civilians with naval guns and machine guns. In addition to futile protests and more hatred from the whole people, the weakened Nanjing government was helpless against this series of beastly atrocities.

On 1 March, Li Zongren finally got his wish and won the post of chairman of the Wuhan Political Branch, and with satisfaction and disappointment, he returned to Wuhan with the slogan of "Working Together for the Second Northern Expedition" and ordered the convening of a military and political conference in the Lianghu region to begin to divide the cake.

At 9 o'clock in the morning of 5 March, more than 20 important members of Bai Chongxi, Cheng Qian, Lu Diping, and various ministries attached to the Gui family gathered at the Nanyang Building in Hankou to attend a military and political meeting held by Li Zongren, the newly appointed supreme military and political chief in the Lianghu region.

The meeting had just begun, and before it had yet entered the formal agenda, the Jiangfang troops sent an urgent report from the outposts along the river: Seven ships of more than 500 tons suddenly drove upstream without warning, and the ships were not loaded with any goods, but were loaded with officers and men of the National Revolution.

The face of Hu Zongduo, the commander of the Wuhan garrison, changed, and without waiting for Li Zongren's order, he immediately got up and rushed out of the conference room.

Hu Zongduo hurried to the Jiangfang Command Post of Longwang Temple on the riverside by car, and climbed the lookout platform built by the boulder and raised the telescope surrounded by a group of generals:

Seven large steamers emitting black smoke are calmly descending from the waters hundreds of meters upstream, four of them are flying the German flag, two are flying the Belgian flag, the passenger ship in the middle is flying the British flag, the front and rear three are large freighters, and in the cabin are neatly seated officers and men wearing new military uniforms and all over their bodies, and on the foredeck of the passenger ship in the middle, five people in new military uniforms are also looking at the left bank with binoculars.

Under the morning sun after a long absence, the flotilla full of officers and soldiers turned out to be closer, the sturdy middle-aged officer on the deck of the British passenger liner put down the binoculars in his hand, took a step, and stood majestically facing Hu Zongduo on the riverbank lookout, not moving, his five-inch-long thick hair fluttering in the wind, his eyes were blazing, the corners of his mouth showed a hint of ridicule, the golden medal of the lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army on his collar was shining, and the generals around him were also standing solemnly, looking at Hu Zongduo's eyes full of hatred and anger.

"Ye Kaixin? It's going to be him—oh my God......" Hu Zongduo couldn't help but exclaim.

"It's him, he's demonstrating to us."

Bai Chongxi stood beside Hu Zongduo at some point, gently pressed Hu Zongduo's hand that wanted to salute, put away the binoculars, and shook his head helplessly: "We are looking at them, they are also looking at us, judging from their eyes, I am afraid that this hatred will never be dissolved." ”

Hu Zongduo sighed deeply, turned to the river, looked at the passenger ship that had sailed more than 100 meters downstream, and asked puzzledly: "It seems that there are more than 10,000 officers and soldiers on the seven ships, and I don't know how many are in the cabin...... How could a foreigner's ship come forward to help? People who usually wear military uniforms are not allowed to board passenger and cargo ships from all over the world, where did Ye Kaixin come from with such great ability? ”

Ye Kaixin naturally doesn't have this ability, but Commander-in-Chief Jiang has the ability, and An Yi, who is rich enough to control nearly sixty percent of the country's tungsten sand exports, has the ability. In these days, money can make ghosts grind, and this is not true at all. Bai Chongxi said calmly.

Hu Zongduo was taken aback: "An Yi? Why did it get to him again? Brother Jiansheng means that An Yi is manipulating this matter behind the scenes? ”

Bai Chongxi nodded: "We already know Lao Jiang's decision, but we don't know how he plans to transfer Ye Kaixin's department to Jiangnan, last week Duke De held a meeting in Nanjing, and sent a secret telegram to take precautions for this, so that the river defense troops can closely monitor the 200-kilometer section of the river, General Cheng Songyun's Sixth Army, our 13th and 14th armies have retreated to the front line of central and northern Hunan and are ready to encircle and annihilate at any time.

You said earlier that it is difficult for Ye Kaixin's troops to escape from the well-defended waterways, and we all think so, Hunan is our defense area from south to north, and the entire territory of Hubei is now in our hands, how easy is it for Ye Kaixin's more than 10,000 remnants to quietly pass through our defense area? But who would have thought that they would leave with such a swagger as they do today? This An Yi is getting more and more difficult to deal with......"

Hu Zongduo frowned, and said worriedly: "At the end of last month, the major newspapers and magazines reported on the reconstruction of An Yi's division for a week, and the special interviews of "Oriental Outlook" were even richer, saying that An Yi's independent division was restored to the establishment of 12,000 officers and soldiers at once, and an artillery regiment with a car company was added, which is the first time in all division-level army establishments in the country. ”

"Yes! I'm also very worried about this, this guy has a grudge against us, his comeback is by no means good news for us, and he has successfully formed an independent division in only two months, and he probably has more advanced equipment than the newspaper says. ”

Bai Chongxi glanced at the distant fleet a little helplessly, and pulled his old classmate Hu Zongduo to the lookout: "Jin Handing's 31st Army has added a teaching regiment and a special service battalion, equipped with 2,500 new machine guns produced by the Nanchang Arsenal, officially named the 'Zhongzheng Yishi' machine gun.

Although this gun weighs 4.6 kilograms, the recoil is also larger, but the workmanship is exquisite, the firepower is powerful, the use of 7.62 ordinary rifle cartridges, and the Hanyang factory produced the new 7.62 caliber rifle is common, 30 rounds of magazine, the ruler range of 1,200 meters, we believe that the effective range is about 350 meters, after 450 meters there is no accuracy, but it is already remarkable to be able to produce it.

Inferring from the equipment of the 31st Army, An Yi's independent division is by no means less than 2,000 machine guns, and in the past, each of his squad leaders and deputy squad leaders will be equipped with flower machine guns, and it is estimated that this time will not be an exception, and his artillery regiment will have at least no less than 24 artillery pieces. ”

Hu Zongduo and Bai Chongxi got into the back seat of the car and rushed back to the Nanyang Building for a meeting, and along the way repeatedly analyzed the current situation of An Yi's division after it was formed, and were very afraid of the brave and advanced weaponry and flexible tactics of the officers and men of An Yi's division.

Both of them were puzzled that Chiang Kai-shek had not yet announced the attribution of An Yishi, but Bai Chongxi was very confident that An Yishi would definitely not stay in the rear, but would be used by Chiang Kai-shek as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition. After repeated deliberation, Bai Chongxi and Hu Zongze unanimously determined that the reason why An Yishi's division had not belonged to a certain army of the Huangpu department so far was probably the result of the competition between Liu Zhi and Gu Zhu and others.

By 12 o'clock at noon, there was no progress in the military and political conference with an extremely uneven distribution of interests, especially the debate on who would leave the two lakes to participate in the Northern Expedition, Li Zongren took the lead in proposing that Cheng Qian's Sixth Army and Lu Diping's Second Army each send one to form the First Army, He Jian's 35th Army, and Li Pinxian's Eighth Army to participate in the Northern Expedition, and the rest of the troops stayed behind. However, he let himself be in command and lead the Northern Expedition of the Sixth and Second Armies, and he felt very uncomfortable, so he also proposed politely and fairly: Whether it is from a political or military point of view, the Seventh Army of the world-famous "Northern Expeditionary Steel Army" should be the main force, and the other armies should each send a part to cooperate in the battle.

As soon as these words came out, they immediately won the support of Lu Diping, Li Pinxian and other non-Gui generals, Xia Wei and Hu Zongduo immediately objected, and the two sides quickly quarreled. Seeing that there was no unity of opinion, Li Zongren had to announce a temporary adjournment of the meeting, and after everyone went back, they thought about it again and resumed tomorrow morning.

During lunch, the exhausted Li Zongren was unwilling to eat, and had a tense discussion with Bai Chongxi, Xia Wei and other henchmen around him, and discussed for a long time, but he still couldn't come up with an effective way to be accepted by all parties, Li Zongren could only temporarily put down the topic when he saw this situation, and re-mentioned Ye Kaixin and An Yi's department:

"Jiansheng, can you conclude that all of Ye Kaixin's troops left Xiangxi and headed for the Suzhou-Anhui front?"

"It is basically certain that even if one is left, the number will not exceed one regiment, which is not a problem! If it is found that the remnants of it are still in Xiangxi, it is only necessary to order Brother Huhuang (Chen Jiayou) to lead the 14th Army to clear it. The younger brother has an idea, since everyone has such a big opinion that we did not send our descendants to participate in the Northern Expedition, the younger brother is willing to take on this important task without anything, and immediately transfer the 13th Army under his command back, take the lead in driving to Wusheng Pass, and be ready to go north at any time. Bai Chongxi said magnanimously.

Li Zongren was moved: "Jiansheng has solved my predicament!" The 13th Army was transferred to central Hunan and western Hunan for more than two months, all the way to the expedition, the battle achievements were impressive, and the soldiers were also quite tired, so they should be transferred back as soon as possible to rest and recuperate, and the personnel and equipment should be supplemented first, so as to recuperate and go north to fight...... Kensheng, how is your instructor? ”

Bai Chongxi put down his chopsticks and wiped the corners of his mouth: "I am resting in Yueyang, this time the instructor is attacked by the regiment and can't blame the division commander Chen Zhibiao, his marching route and combat method are not wrong, since the battle in Hunan he led the instructor to be brave and tenacious, invincible, brave and resourceful is very rare."

At that time, one division of the 14th Army was 15 kilometers on his right flank, and the second division of the 13th Army was 12 kilometers on his left flank. The entire attack plan was reviewed and approved by the younger brother, and no problems were found in advance, but I didn't expect the enemy to be so bold, the ambush location was so desperate, and the first blow was immediately far away, which made people unguardable!

Before the younger brother arrived, Division Commander Chen found me, he was very suspicious that Ye Kaixin's department was hiding the instructor of the special brigade of An Yi's independent division, and analyzed in detail from the terrain, time, means, and the location of the second regiment commander and several battalion-level commanders killed by snipers at the attack site, which was very reasonable, and the younger brother also felt that this battle was very similar to An Yi's field combat style, but there was no evidence to prove the existence of An Yi's department, and now Ye Kaixin led his troops to the Jiangbei front, which is even more difficult to verify. ”

Li Zongren frowned slightly, he was very worried about An Yi's comeback, he had already realized that there would be a battle between himself and Chiang Kai-shek sooner or later, and throughout the Whampoa family, only An Yi's independent division made him the most fearful, not only An Yi's extraordinary military talent and the strong combat effectiveness of the independent division, but also the hatred between each other that gave Li Zongren the most headache. From An Yi's character analysis, as long as the two sides tear their faces, he will not hesitate to retaliate, and any independent division under his command that encounters tenacity and cunning will be a huge worry.

Xia Wei, who was sitting next to Li Zongren, also smiled wryly, thinking of An Yishi's iron-blooded and fierce on the battlefield in Jiangbei, he shook his head and didn't want to say anything.

Bai Chongxi saw the worry in his heart from Li Zongren's face, thought about it and explained in a low voice: "Brother, please be relieved, this time to the north, An Yishi will inevitably be used as a sharp blade by Lao Jiang, and when he goes north to fight one hard battle after another, without about half a year of rest, it will be difficult for all the troops fighting in the north to recover, not to mention Feng Huanzhang's Northwest Army, Yan Baichuan's Jin Sui Army and other forces to bargain with Lao Jiang and fight for power and profit."

Taking a step back, even if the crisis really comes, it will be a matter of the future, in this long period of time, we don't know what will change, and the troops we will stay in the rear will not make no progress, the Hanyang Arsenal is now in our hands, a little more effort can improve the training and equipment level of our various armies by a few grades, just an An Yi division of 10,000 people, there is no need to take him too seriously. ”

Li Zongren smiled slightly, nodded and sighed lightly: "Speaking of which, the production management of the Hanyang factory really has to be tightened, the Japanese have blocked us for so long, if it weren't for the fact that we cleverly pushed the 'Shimogamaru' incident onto the Kawadong Elder Association and gave them some preferential policies in terms of trade, I'm afraid we are still in a bleak situation today."

Lao Jiang is a thief, his mouth shouted sincere unity, high-profile lifting of the economic blockade of the two lakes region, allowing all walks of life in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi to reopen trade with the two lakes region, in fact, he wished that we had achieved nothing, the foolish brother came back this time, and a lot of energy needed to be focused on economic development, otherwise it would be difficult to protect the needs of my more than 100,000 soldiers. ”

"Today's Nanchang area has become the trade center of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, General Zhu Yizhi built the three major trading markets in Jiujiang, it is said that the third army has made a lot of money by selling houses and land alone, and almost all the rich businessmen in our two lakes have migrated over, but it's a pity! Can you try doing business with An Yi? Hu Zongduo, who had never spoken, suggested.

Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were stunned at the same time, and after thinking about it, it made sense, they looked at each other and nodded in unison, Li Zongren said kindly:

"Jinyu (Hu Zongduo), among all the generals and colonels of our army, An Yi has the best relationship with you, you are now shouldering the heavy responsibility of the entire Wuhan garrison, I will assign you a position of provincial supervision, and you will establish a normal business and trade cooperation relationship with Nanchang New Industrial Zone, what do you think?"

Hu Zongduo was overjoyed, stood up and said excitedly: "Zongduo will definitely go all out!" ”

Li Zongren smiled heartily and motioned for Hu Zongduo to sit down, and Bai Chongxi was also deeply satisfied that Li Zongren trusted and reused his henchmen so much.