Changsha, Hunan, Governor's Mansion.

Tan Yanmin stood in front of the window, looking at the stretching roof under the bright sun, motionless, and the generals such as Yue Sen, chief of staff of the Hunan Army, and greedy Daoyuan, chief of operations of the Hunan Army, who were standing in the hall, did not dare to breathe.

In a short period of 14 hours, the suddenly launched Beiyang Army broke through the defense line of the Miluo River that the Hunan Army had painstakingly managed, and with an indomitable momentum, pushed the battle line 50 miles southward, and more than 10 counties and towns such as Baishui Town, Sanmenlou, and Wengjiang Town fell instantly, and the Feng Yuxiang Brigade under the command of Cao Kun quickly moved south from Pingjiang, and the front of the troops pointed directly at Gaoqiao, the front enemy headquarters of the Hunan Army on the right flank, and the various units of the Hunan Army, which were far inferior to the Beiyang Army in terms of weaponry and combat experience, were almost immediately defeated, and the defense line of 300 miles from east to west was vulnerable under the fierce artillery fire of the Beiyang Army.

What's even worse is that the three brigades of Zhao Hengti, who were guarding the strategic arteries of railways, highways and waterways on the Xiangyin line on the west road, retreated without a fight, all retreated under the city of Xiangyin, put away their weapons, and started negotiations with the Beiyang Army, and Zhang Jingyao occupied Xiangyin without a single shot.

Cao Kun, who had high morale, commanded the 20th Division of Fan Guozhang and the 7th Division of Zhang Jingyao of the Beiyang Army, and rushed south non-stop, rushing for 40 miles before stopping the advance under the desperate resistance of the 1st, 4th, and 1st Xiangxi Garrison Divisions of the Hunan Army.

When the news came, Changsha City was in a panic, the two new regiments stationed inside and outside the city lost control and dispersed in a hurry, countless wealthy people who had taken refuge in the provincial capital fled with their families, and a large number of revolutionaries who were still shouting revolution and swearing to die in the Northern Expedition under the bell and drum towers, at the crossroads, and in various military camps and colleges and universities yesterday suddenly disappeared, and the only thing that gave some comfort was that tens of thousands of young students and citizens stood up at this critical moment, raised their heads and chests, and rushed to the recruitment office urgently set up by Tan Yanhong. Once again, it proves the unyielding blood surname and plagiarism of the Xiaoxiang man for thousands of years.

Just after noon, the 8,000 elites of the Second Division of the Hunan Army led by Cheng Qian rushed to Changsha from Yiyang, and when they saw that order was restored in the whole city, Cheng Qian decisively ordered: The officers and men of the whole division followed the artillery battalion directly under the General Headquarters to immediately go north, and rushed to the aid of the 60-mile front from Gaoqiao in the east to Qiaoyi in the west.

Tan Supervisor Yan Min and Governor Liu Renxi learned that Cheng Qian's troops were coming, and immediately led their subordinates to welcome them out of the gate of the Governor's Mansion, and saw Cheng Qian and Chief of Staff Lin Xiumei dismounted from afar and walked quickly, and the excited Tan Yanmin and Liu Renxi both walked forward to salute, and finally Liu Renxi took Cheng Qian's hand and took the lead in entering the lobby of the Governor's Mansion.

Liu Renxi, who is more than a little old, is highly respected and pedant, and has a lofty status and appeal in Hunan's political and cultural circles, this old Jinshi of Guangxu for three years, at this time is already a long beard fluttering, and his body is thin, but his hands are still warm and powerful, his eyes are still clear and bright, and he kindly asked Cheng Qian around him all the way forward, which made Cheng Qian moved and guilty.

"Songyun, you're here, who will guard Yiyang?"

"Tell Wei Weng that the defense of Yiyang has been handed over to the Second Division under the command of General Chen Quzhen of Xiangxi, although the Second Division of the Xiangxi Garrison has not been established for a long time, the military discipline of the department is strict and the training is hard, which is enough to take on the important task of protecting Yiyang."

Cheng Qian hugged Liu Renxi and replied respectfully, but he omitted many confidential information about the Second Xiangxi Garrison Division, and did not reveal to Liu Renxi that the third brigade of the division was actually all elite Sichuan army reinforcements pretending to be the whole of Hunan.

Cheng Qian hurriedly led his troops to the front line this time, and the most important reason was to discuss with Tan Yanmin whether to transfer the Sichuan army to help the war.

After Cheng Qian answered the questions of Liu Renxi and other civilian officials about the war, he took the chief of staff to the second floor at the invitation of Tan Yanmin, closed the door and immediately began a tense discussion.

Tan Yanmin took out a telegram and handed it to Cheng Qian:

"This is sent by Brother Yiming yesterday afternoon, when the foolish brother was still hesitating, the Beiyang Army suddenly launched, the hateful thing is that Zhao Hengti, Zhou Zhaoxiang and other scum defected, trapping 50,000 soldiers of our army in the enemy's multi-faceted attack, resulting in the collapse of the defense line, the front line retreated more than 50 miles, if it were not for Songyun's timely decision, retreat 50 miles to rebuild the defense line, I am afraid that the Beiyang heavy army has threatened the city."

Cheng Qian was in a heavy mood when he read the message, and after listening to Tan Yanmin's words, he was silent for a long time, and seemed to struggle in his heart for a while before he asked in a low voice: "Where is the envoy sent by Mr. Zhongshan now?" ”

It's okay not to mention this matter, Tan Yanmin was annoyed when he mentioned it, but many years of life in the sea have made Tan Yanmin experienced moderation and mellow and extremely mature, and in the face of Sun Yat-sen's extremely important old league member and commander of the Hunan Revolutionary Army, Tan Yanmin just sighed faintly, and replied lightly:

"Maybe it's the reason for the temporary chaos of the enemy's oppression, the three chief and deputy envoys only left Cheng Zikai Song's brother to stay in the party affairs department to think about countermeasures, and the rest of the people heard that they all rushed to Chenzhou, southern Hunan to organize reinforcements! I don't know if Chenzhou can organize reinforcements to come, as for the Guangdong reinforcements that Mr. Zhongshan said, I'm afraid that far water can't quench the thirst of the near, and it will be difficult to count on it for a while! ”

Cheng Qian was speechless for a long time, extremely disappointed in his heart with the Guangzhou political axe and the dozens of revolutionary elites they sent, knowing that Tan Yanmin and celebrities from all walks of life in Hunan were becoming more and more dissatisfied with what the revolutionary party had done, but he couldn't aggravate the contradictions at this time, and after thinking about it, he could only express his opinion directly:

"Brother Zu'an, the war is critical, and the top priority is to stabilize the position as soon as possible, resist the enemy from the second line of defense, mobilize all the forces that can be mobilized, and drive the Beiyang troops to the north bank of the Miluo River at all costs, otherwise not only will there be no momentary respite, but whether or not the current confrontation can be maintained is a question!"

Tan Yanmin nodded frequently, and the five or six generals on the side also echoed it, no matter what, Cheng Qian's opinion is the only advisable way at present, no matter what to do next, how to do it, we must do our best to fight and drive the Beiyang Army back to the north bank of the Miluo River, otherwise any statement is empty talk, if even the provincial capital Changsha is lost, there is no need to talk about everything else.

Cheng Qian glanced at Tan Yanmin, who was full of expectation, put down the teacup in his hand, and sighed secretly, remembering what the Guangzhou political axe and the local revolutionary party had done before, Cheng Qian could only silently bear the huge responsibility arising from it.

It was precisely because of Cheng Qian's acquiescence that the special envoy sent by Guangzhou and the Hunan Revolutionary Party succeeded in stirring up public opinion, vigorously publicizing the ambition of the Sichuan army to occupy Hunan, and arousing the worries of the conservatives in the military and political circles in Hunan, and then vigorously criticizing Tan Yanmin and Liu Renxi's Sichuan-Hunan alliance policy, and finally blocking the way for the Sichuan army to enter Hunan on the grounds that "it is easy to invite God and difficult to send God." If it weren't for the Beiyang Army's overwhelming troops, I am afraid that the Hunan Revolutionary Party, which had already stirred up public opinion, would have demanded the reorganization of the parliament and challenged and impacted the positions of Tan Yanmin and Liu Renxi.

In the face of the current crisis, Tan Yanmin could be completely arbitrary, and a paper order could clear the obstacles for the Sichuan army to enter Hunan to help the war, but Tan Yanmin did not do this, he threw the problem to Cheng Qian, the military and political leader representing the revolutionary party camp, and let Cheng Qian make the decision.

In this way, no matter what Cheng Qian's decision-making is, and no matter whether he wins or loses in the future, Tan Yanmin does not have to face it alone, if he fails, Cheng Qian and the Hunan Revolutionary Party, including Sun Yat-sen and others, who have been remotely controlling the Hunan Revolutionary Party to seize power from a long distance in Guangzhou, will find it difficult to shirk their huge responsibilities, and they must give an explanation to tens of millions of people in Hunan, otherwise, they will be spurned by the people of Hunan and all political forces.

"Brother Junjian, within five days, the second batch of weapons and equipment can be sent to Changde, how will my brother hand it over? Brother, Yimin. ”

Cheng Qian almost subconsciously read the telegram sent by Xiao Yimin again, and then thought of the Sichuan army in the military camp outside Changde City that had changed into the uniform of the Hunan army, as if he saw tens of thousands of well-equipped and high-morale Sichuan army officers and men, as well as extravagant and equipped with many light and heavy machine guns and mortars at the company level.

At this moment, Cheng Qian had a sense of trepidation in the face of a life-and-death decision, he knew that as long as he nodded, a brigade Sichuan army that had already lurked in Changde and existed as a local army in Xiangxi, and an elite brigade led by an instructor regiment stationed in Yiyang at this time and had been sent to Xiangxi to help Chen Quzhen train troops a year ago, would be able to enter the front-line battlefield within ten hours, and the entire front would be stabilized and have the strength to counterattack.

But what about after that? Can the revolutionary party understand his painstaking efforts? Would it be considered that he had left the revolutionary camp at a critical juncture? After the war, how should we deal with the relationship with the Sichuan army that entered Hunan to help the war? And how should we face Xiao Yimin, an old friend who values love and righteousness but is scheming? Even if the Sichuan army completely withdraws, how can it repay the huge loan and deep friendship of the Sichuan army?

Seeing that Cheng Qian's face was changing, beads of sweat were already oozing slightly on his forehead, and the generals around him were anxious but worried, but Tan Yanmin still poured tea for Cheng Qian calmly with a smile on his face.

Cheng Qian picked up the telegram that he had read countless times again, read it again before slowly putting it down, stood up and straightened the collar, straightened the hem of the military uniform, and asked extremely firmly but very peacefully:

"Brother Zu'an, junior brother remembers that there are more than 9,000 Sichuan troops in Liuyang, right?"

Tan Yanmin's eyes suddenly flashed, and he stood up and laughed:

"Yes, a few years ago, Brother Yiming reported that the department has been reorganized into a reading division directly under the Sichuan Army, and the division commander is named Yuan Chongxi, you should know this person, he came from the original Sichuan New Army, and then entered the Sichuan Army Crash School, and became a proud disciple of Brother Yiming and Wang Fangzhou, but unfortunately due to the distance, this newly formed reading division has no artillery, but it is enough to threaten the Pingjiang line on the right, and the sixteenth mixed brigade of Feng Yuxiang of the Beiyang Army stopped when it attacked Shashi Town, The reader, who was completely afraid of Liuyang, suddenly made a move and cut off his back road. ”

Cheng Qian nodded, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "At the moment of life and death, we can't afford any more hesitation, for the sake of Xiaoxiang's 30 million fathers and villagers, the little brother will move forward without hesitation!" The burden of commanding the whole army and the battle situation on the whole front, please pick it up, brother! ”

Tan Yanmin was overjoyed, stepped forward and grabbed Cheng Qian's hand, shook it vigorously, turned to the relieved generals around him, and ordered loudly: "Quick!" Time is running out, hang up the map now! ”

"Yes!"

Chief of Staff Yue Sen happily obeyed, and the rest of the generals were in high spirits, and at the moment of life and death, all the differences seemed so small.

(To be continued)