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The whole battle situation was exactly the same as the commander of the First Group Army expected, because the Feng Department and the Zhilu Army were defeated again and again, and the morale was completely lost, and the progress made by the various group armies of the First Army was enough to be described by the word "flying". Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Yan Xishan, the former commander-in-chief of the left army of the Third Army, Zhang Yinwu, occupied the city, and the pressure on the right flank of the defenders of Baoding of the Feng army was getting stronger and stronger, coupled with the non-stop attack of the right army of the Third Army on the front line of Wangdu, the three armies of Feng Yuxiang's second army swooped down viciously from the south, and the entire defense line commanded by Zhang Xueliang, the major marshal of the Feng army, was already crumbling and could collapse at any time.

At 9 o'clock in the morning of the 29th, the General Headquarters of the Central Political and Political Affairs of Nanjing and the General Headquarters of the *** Army issued an urgent order: All the armies of the former enemy should stop standing by when they advance to the line of Jinghai, Yongqing, Gu'an, and Changxindian, so as to avoid diplomatic disputes!

As soon as this order was issued, Feng Yuxiang's Second Army could only temporarily suppress the strong desire to "enter the city first and be the king", and temporarily adjusted the direction of the attack, while encircling Baoding from the south and east, Han Fuju's troops of the Sixth Army, which had reached the southeast of Baoding, suddenly turned around and killed to the east, occupying Lixian County quietly surrounded by the Zhenwu Corps of the First Group Army in one fell swoop, thus completely disrupting the offensive pace of the First Group Army.

Fang Zhenwu stood on the mountain bag more than ten kilometers north of Lixian County and was so angry that he led the two armies under his command to walk all night, and just about to start a siege of the county seat of Lixian, he watched the fat in front of him being rushed up by Han Fuqu and swallowed it in one bite, and the anger in his heart can be imagined. Fang Zhenwu was full of grievances, and immediately called Zhu Peide and An Yi to complain, and wanted to go into the city to have a good theory with Han Fuqu, but who knew that the telegram referred to soon arrived:

Order the Fourth Army to go north, take Gaoyang City 17 kilometers north in one fell swoop, and then continue to travel 27 kilometers to the east, capture Renqiu, take a short rest and wait for the next order, so as to cooperate with the 2nd and 3rd Army Corps to start a siege on the defenders of Cangzhou!

After receiving the order, Fang Zhenwu asked his subordinates to take out the map and look at it again, and suddenly came to his senses, and no longer cared about arbose with Han Fuqu, and led more than 35,000 soldiers under his command to kill Gaoyang, and defeated a brigade of Gaoyang's Zhilu army in only half an hour, looted the enemy's supplies in Gaoyang City, and flew east again.

An hour and a half later, Pang Bingxun, commander of the 20th Army of the Northwest Army, led his troops to rush into Gaoyang City, looking at the empty town, and stomped his feet and shouted that it was too late.

After receiving the reply that Fang Zhenwu captured Gaoyang's division to the east, Zhu Peide immediately ordered the Second Army to attack quickly according to the adjustment plan, and the Second Army Corps moved on the whole line under the command of General Chen Tiaoyuan, the 37th Army attacked Leling, the 31st Army of Jin Handing attacked Qingyun, and the 26th Army of General Chen Zhuo went north from Ningjin to attack Nanpi with the 27th Army of General Xia Douyin in the middle road; General Fang Dingying commanded more than 4,000 soldiers from two regiments and one battalion of the independent division in the middle of the road to the north from the left flank of the 27th Army, bypassing Dongguang Town, and ordering General Mao Bingwen, the acting commander of the army, to lead the 40th Army to attack Wuqiang. At this point, the First Army, which had been silent for nearly a week, finally kicked off the third phase of the campaign.

At 5:30 a.m. on the 30th, Han Fuqu, who had easily taken Lixian, learned that Fang Zhenwu's troops had found nothing and had gone north, and that he had no worries about an enemy attack from the north, so he immediately led two divisions of the Sixth Army to march lightly and make persistent efforts to kill Suning, and after a full meal of more than 18,000 officers and men, he quietly drove out of Lixian at 2 o'clock in the morning, and after three and a half hours of galloping 18 kilometers to Liujiatun in the west of Suning City, the whole army stopped advancing and rested a little, preparing for a surprise attack on Suning.

At the same time, the cavalry brigade of the Zhilu coalition army, which had more than 3,000 men and horses stationed in Hejian, quietly drove to Suning City, and after a secret discussion with the defenders of a brigade, it immediately divided into two roads, north and south, and quickly disappeared into the darkness before dawn.

On the open ground outside the west gate, several torches were lit, and Zhang Chengzhu, a burly and bearded major general of the Zhilu Army, and Li Jinlong, deputy brigade commander and chief of staff, rode out of the city surrounded by three hundred iron horsemen, and came to the two scouts of the Northwest Army who were pressed to the ground.

Zhang Chengzhu didn't look back, the horsewhip in his hand waved to the west, and there was a crisp sound of breaking the air, and hundreds of horsemen moved and followed him to the north.

At 5:50 a.m., before the rest of the Han Fuqu Department had time to form a team, he heard a burst of thunderous horse hooves rushing in, Han Fuqu was shocked, immediately turned over on his horse, and shouted that the whole army formed a formation on the spot to resist the enemy cavalry sneak attack, but it was too late, Zhang Chengzhu's cavalry brigade had already swooped from the north and south, and the dust and smoke stirred up by thousands of iron cavalry instantly covered the faint morning light of dawn, and the unique firing sound of the horse pistol sounded intensively, knocking down more than 10,000 panicked and chaotic officers and soldiers of the Han Fuqu Department. Before hundreds of officers and men could pull the bolts, they were knocked out by the tremendous force of the horses, and then the sabers of the forest cut a cold light in the scattered crowd, screams, wails and dull crashes one after another, and the two-kilometer-long procession was divided and ravaged by fierce iron cavalry on this endless plain.

Coach Han Fuqu saw that more than 10,000 of his subordinates were either bleeding and fleeing, and he raised his head angrily and pulled out his saber and wanted to step forward desperately, but he was tightly wrapped by the guards next to him and turned his horse's head, and fled back to Lixian in embarrassment amid the screams and roars that shook the sky.

The morning sun rose, the golden light sprinkled, the field west of Suning City was blood-red, corpses were everywhere, moans, wails, cries and the neighing of war horses sounded together, Zhang Chengzhu, who was riding on a high war horse, looked at the battlefield like hell on earth, sighed and shook his head, and then asked weakly to Pan Li Jinlong beside him: "How about the casualties of the brothers?" ”

"More than 850 people were killed in the battle, more than 1,400 were wounded, more than 6,000 enemies were annihilated, deserters were everywhere, and the brothers had no strength to chase and kill, and the more than 4,000 enemy wounded soldiers left on the battlefield could only be left to fend for themselves...... Withdraw, right? Li Jinlong, who had a thin face, replied.

Zhang Chengzhu didn't move, his eyes were full of sadness: "I'm afraid this is our last battle, I promised the commander to fight this battle for him, and after the battle, they don't owe each other, and I ordered the brothers to bring the injured brothers and withdraw." ”

Three o'clock in the afternoon, west of Hejian City.

Zhang Chengzhu led more than 2,600 exhausted cavalry and returned to Liangjia Town west of the river with more than 1,400 wounded.

"Report to the brigade, Cangzhou called, Haixing, Yanshan, Nanpi, Guozhuang all the lines were lost, the twentieth army of the Northwest Army Pang Bingxun is marching east from the Gaoyang line to Renqiu City, the defenders of Pingshu and Machang north of Cangzhou have been broken by the Zhenwu Department of the *** army that suddenly went east, and the road of our army's northward retreat is about to be cut off, and Cangzhou is already surrounded by the *** army on three sides!"

"Report—"

Another war horse came from the west, and the cavalry full of Khan hurriedly reported: "Brigade seat, Han Fuqu's department has received cavalry reinforcements and has driven from Lixian to Suning, and it is estimated that it will chase after it soon!" ”

Zhang Chengzhu sighed dejectedly: "It's too fast, it's too fast......"

Li Jinlong was silent for a while, waved his hand to let the herald retreat, patted his horse and came to Zhang Chengzhu's side and whispered: "Big brother, it seems that the eastern front can't go either, now more than tens of thousands of remnants of Zhang Dashuai's four armies are all crowded in Cangzhou City, and the destruction is imminent, if we want to flee for our lives, we can only pass from the coast and the north," but our war horse ran all night and killed all morning, and after walking for most of the day, we couldn't run, even if we could rush over, I was afraid it would be too late.

Zhang Chengzhu sighed again, muttered for a while, and ordered: "Order all the brothers to go south, drive into Baicao Mountain, which is more than 20 kilometers to the southeast, and hide for a few days, rest for a while, and then think of a way." No matter what, we can't let the Northwest Army catch up, they will not let us go easily after being a lifelong enemy for so many years. ”

"That's the only way to do it first......"

……

4:50 p.m., Botou Town.

The 27th Army, which occupied Nanpi County, was marching north along the avenue on the right side of the railway, and the army commander Xia Douyin gently tapped Hu Jialin's chest and joked with a smile:

"Brother Hu, I really didn't expect your hometown to be in Botou Town, no wonder An Xian's nephew is vying for your independent division to fight Botou, this time you are returning to your hometown! If I don't rush to Wai Cangzhou, I really want to be a guest at your house - hey, why is your face so ugly? Take it easy, anyway, it's a great joy for the tired bird to return home, and you are now a dignified major general, which is enough to make the family raise their eyebrows! After the defeat of Cangzhou, even if our First Group Army completes its task, it should enter a period of recuperation after that, and Brother Hu can stay at home for a few more days to comfort the pain of homesickness! Laugh, yes, that's it, I'm leaving......"

"Thank you, senior! Have a nice trip......"

Hu Jialin thanked him gratefully, watched Xia Douyin go away under the escort of a group of entourage, turned his head to look at An Yi who was smiling, and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?" ”

"I didn't laugh at anything, Uncle De approved our independent division to be stationed in Botou." An Yi replied with an excited face.

Hu Jialin's eyes widened: "You don't have to go back to the headquarters?" ”

"No need, the lack of one of the three in the siege of Cangzhou is to let the enemy flee quickly, save the enemy from jumping over the wall in a hurry, and let our troops increase unnecessary casualties. According to the latest order of the commander-in-chief, Uncle De and I have reached a consensus that we can let the remnants of the Lu army flee into Tianjin, and our troops will follow up slowly and surround Tianjin. The general headquarters of the former enemy is temporarily located in Cangzhou, and we can have a few days to rest and recuperate, except for General Fang Zhenwu's Fourth Army Corps all the way to Tongzhou, all armies will be stationed on the front line of Beijing and Tianjin, and we have nothing to do with the future war. Let's get on the horse, even if you are close to the hometown, you have to face it, and if you don't go back to the town, the villagers will probably be frightened, Cheng Guang led the troops to surround more than 300 remnants of the enemy and the entire town for a long time. ”

An Yi flew on his horse, and Hu Jialin, who was like an arrow, rode to Botou Town in the west, and Lin Yaodong and Zong Xingzhen, deputy of the special brigade, led more than 100 brothers to ride horses and follow closely.

Two kilometers from the railway side to the east of Botou Town, in a blink of an eye, Hu Jialin rode his horse across the familiar canal bridge, stepped into the town's east-west street and slowly reined in his horse, looked at the gray and black tile roof and a group of frightened villagers standing on the sunning in front of him, forced to bear the excitement in his heart and turned over and dismounted, and looked at the villagers in front of him with a pair of flushed eyes.

Teaching regiment commander Zhao Rui came up and saluted: "Report to the deputy division commander, the remnants of the enemy who fled into the town have 183 people who have taken the initiative to disarm and surrender, and there are still about 150 people hiding in the town, and after interrogation, about 30 of the hidden people are the children of the town, and the chief of staff will arrive at the inspection post in the west of the town, and order his subordinates to report to the deputy division commander." ”

Hu Jialin solemnly replied: "Understand, let the brothers collect the troops, and leave the periphery to the special detachment brothers to be on guard." ”

"Yes!"

Zhao Rui saluted and turned around to order the assembly, and the 1,500 elite soldiers of the teaching regiment soon rushed to Da Shaping to assemble according to the company camp.

Hu Jialin swallowed his throat hard, strode towards the hundreds of villagers who were shrinking in the corner of the sunbath and kept looking around, came to the middle of the bearded old man two meters in front of the stop, took off the steel helmet under the panicked gaze of hundreds of villagers, knelt down with both knees, knocked his head three times with both hands, raised his head and said in a choked voice:

"Uncle, Xiaolinzi is not filial, he has been away from home for nine years, so that you will be old...... Worry about ......"

The villagers were taken aback when they heard this, and looked at Hu Jialin, who was kneeling on the ground in military uniforms and crying like rain, no one dared to believe that this was true.

The 60-year-old man with a dark face and deep wrinkles rubbed his eyes, bent down and looked at it for a while, then suddenly his whole body trembled, and he stretched out his hand to hold Hu Jialin's head slowly: "God...... You're finally back, Xiaolinzi......*** your eyes are almost blind from crying......"

"Uncle, children are not filial......"

The villagers exclaimed in surprise, calling Hu Jialin's nickname one after another, Hu Jialin's eyes were closed, and he was speechless, and the more than 1,000 brothers who saw the whole team were stunned, and An Yi's nose was sour, and tears welled up in his eyes.

An Yi thought that it was not a matter to go on like this, so he strode forward and took off the steel helmet, knelt down on one leg beside Hu Jialin, and was about to open his mouth to greet him, but who knew that Cheng Guang, who had just arrived, and Zhao Rui, Huang Zhi, Luo Lei, Pan Jindong, Lu Xiong, Liao Chengpeng and other more than ten generals all came up and knelt down together, and immediately scared the tearful old man enough, the old man helped Hu Jialin and hurriedly asked: "Lin'er, is this ...... What's going on......"

An Yi raised his head and replied respectfully: "Uncle, little nephew An Yi is Brother Hu's brother in life and death, these soldiers around him are all Brother Hu's brothers, more than 17,000 soldiers of the Independent Division of the First Group Army of our National Army are all Brother Hu's brothers, Brother Hu's elders are our elders, and the little nephew represents more than 10,000 brothers in the independent division, greetings to you!" ”

"I can't help it, I can't help it! Get up, kids, get up......"

The old man hurriedly stepped forward to help An Yi, An Yi stood up to support the old man, and said kindly: "Uncle, let's go back, my big brother Hu hasn't been home for nine years, go home first!" ”

The old man wiped away his old tears and nodded frequently: "Okay, let's go home, let's go home...... Oops, I said, why do you keep jumping this morning? What a happy event"......