Xia Jingqi deserves to be unlucky, he is a person from Sun Overseer, and he is not Duan Haixiang's descendant, if necessary, he will not sacrifice who he will sacrifice, things have come to such a point, the provincial army is not a fool, the old nest is served, even if Nantai is occupied, Jiangbei is barren, and he can't afford to raise an army of 60,000 at all.

According to the original plan, after Duan Haixiang and his men and horses captured Jiangbei, they took Xuzhou directly and threatened Qi Xieyuan's back road, but now the plan has changed completely, without the support of grain and ammunition, it is difficult for such a huge army to move an inch, and it is difficult to bite Wu Peifu's third division to the north.

So when Duan Haixiang ordered to return to the division, the whole army breathed a sigh of relief, the family and property of those brigade commanders and regiment commanders were all in the provincial capital, so it was no wonder that they were not worried.

After the army pulled out the camp and set up the village, Duan Haixiang left a brigade of men and horses, and since the defeat of the last "military exercise", he has been much more cautious in fighting, especially when he is against Chen Zikun.

The 60,000 army was withdrawn within a day, and Xia Jingqi, who was still waiting for reinforcements on the north bank, saw the army retreating south with a telescope, and couldn't help but be anxious.

Xia Jingqi was disheartened, he had more than 1,000 people under his hands, and there was no artillery support, what to fight with the Jiangbei army, he immediately convened a meeting of his subordinates, according to the truth, the officers were anxious when they heard it, and they asked to cross the river and retreat, Xia Jingqi was a man, leading a battalion to cover his subordinates to cross the river.

When the news of the retreat of the provincial army reached Yan Su's ears, he laughed and said, "The protectors have made a move, brothers, it's time for us to go into battle." ”

Gai Longquan waved the shell gun: "Little guys, let the provincial army see the power of the masters, rush with me!" After saying that, he jumped out of the trench and rushed forward first, the Jiangbei army held back in the trench for several days, and could not hold it anymore, at this time he picked up his rifle and swarmed forward, and the bright bayonet flashed a white light in the sun.

Xia Jingqi saw the Jiangbei Army charging from the binoculars, his hands trembled, and he ordered the machine gun to fire, Makqin roared angrily, and the Jiangbei Army fell to the ground in rows, but not only did they not retreat, but rushed forward even more frantically.

The provincial army has never seen this kind of fighting, as soon as it was nervous, the heavy machine gun was jammed, and the rifle alone could not stop the enemy's group charge, and the voice of the company commander under his command was crying: "Regiment commander, withdraw, it's too late to leave." ”

Xia Jingqi looked back at the heart of the river, the troop transport had not yet arrived on the south bank, he gritted his teeth: "Hold on, otherwise the brothers will all be finished." ”

Seeing that the Jiangbei Army was getting closer and closer, Xia Jingqi said: "Brothers, there is only one way to die if you are captured by the Jiangbei Yankees, and if you don't want to die, break through with me!" ”

The remnants of the 11th Regiment who were dying had no way out, so they had to follow Xia Jingqi to break through to the northeast, and the Jiangbei Army pursued all the way, killing and wounding many prisoners, but Xia Jingqi still escaped with a company of men and horses.

The 7th Mixed Brigade drove to the riverside, and the rest of the ferries were burned by Xia Jingqi, the embers were not extinguished, the green smoke was curling, and then looking at the other side, it was also a mess, the army retreated in a hurry, and many tents were not taken away.

Yan Su couldn't help but smile and said: "It's really good for the army to encircle Wei and save Zhao with this move, the provincial army is already in chaos, let's add more fire to him, and the big thing will be done." ”

Gai Longquan said: "How to cross the river?" The boats are gone. ”

Yan Su said: "I have been prepared for a long time, and the big boats are hidden in the Dawang River. ”

It turned out that the Jiangbei Army did not intend to confront the provincial army at all, and most of the collected ships were hidden in the reeds of the Dawang River on the edge of the county seat, and at this time they happened to be used out, and the second regiment sent a battalion to cross the Huai River, although it was strongly blocked by the provincial army, but it still stepped on the land on the south bank and opened up a beachhead.

The follow-up troops crossed the river in a steady stream, and the 7th Mixed Brigade all crossed the Huai River and officially began to fight southward.

……

Jiangdong Provincial City, Chen Zikun has received a telegram from Beijing, President Cao Da appointed him as Jiangdong Provincial Military Affairs Supervisor, promoted to lieutenant general, awarded Xiaowu General, and can be regarded as a genuine general of the Kaifu Jianya, but he is not excited at all, the situation in the provincial capital is small Nantai County is more responsible, and the slightest carelessness will be a catastrophe.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang are still in the midst of a fierce battle, the southward movement of the Feng army is a foregone conclusion, it is said that Sun Yat-sen is also actively planning the Northern Expedition, the people in the provincial capital can see from Chen Zikun's forced issuance of military tickets that his financial situation is difficult, these people have no other skills, and the ability to see the wind and make the rudder as the grass on the wall is not small.

The main force of the provincial army really went south, which was expected by Chen Zikun, but there was good news from Zhejiang, Lu Yongxiang did not send troops to attack Jiangdong, probably because he really couldn't draw troops, so that Chen Zikun's pressure was reduced a lot, after all, he and Duan Haixiang were old rivals, and Lu Yongxiang's Zhejiang army had never fought before, if the provincial capital was attacked from both sides, he would have to hurry away.

The issuance of military tickets was indeed strongly resisted by the people, and within two days there were dozens of cases of shops refusing to accept military tickets and disputes with soldiers, and the patrol police went to stop them, but they were also beaten by soldiers, and the case was reported to Chen Zikun, and he was helpless.

Or Gong Jiaxuan helped him think of a way, the people don't trust the military ticket, then let them take the new post, under his suggestion, the Military Ticket Administration opened two exchange points in the provincial capital, merchants can take military tickets here to exchange silver dollars, but the exchange rate is discounted, one yuan military ticket can only be exchanged for five corners of the ocean, if you come back in three months, you can exchange it in full.

This is equivalent to the nature of the acceptance bill, if you want to cash in advance, you will lose the face value, if you wait for three months, you will not lose at all, to put it bluntly, Chen Zikun is gambling with his own credit.

There is gossip in the market that there are large households who eat military tickets at low prices and hoard them, after all, there are not many transactions that can be doubled in three months, so that the people who are greedy for cheap people hesitate again, at least the resistance to military tickets is not so strong.

Chen Zikun issued a million military tickets, which is equivalent to a white slip of one million yuan, this money solves the urgent need, the military salary has been settled, the grain has been settled, and the military heart is stable, so he can deal with Duan Haixiang with confidence.

At present, Chen Zikun has 8,000 men and horses, a new division and an infantry brigade, all of which are demoted to generals, and it seems to be a little difficult for them to go into battle to fight Duan Haixiang, but he still appointed Zhang Pengcheng as the commander of the former enemy and led the first division to meet Duan Haixiang.

"Superintendent, the lowly position has not been in battle, I'm afraid it will be difficult to be competent." Zhang Pengcheng is not modest this time, although he is from a military academy, he has never fought a war, and he is naturally weak in the face of Duan Haixiang, a veteran of a hundred battles.

Chen Zikun said with a smile: "Who let you fight with him, the provincial army is your old colleagues, you can catch up with them and talk about the day." ”

Zhang Pengcheng understood and smiled.

……

Duan Haixiang's 60,000-strong army was stationed in Pingchuan Prefecture, which was 200 miles away from the provincial capital, which was a small city in the south of the Yangtze River with beautiful scenery, and was ruined by the army in just a few days.

People from the provincial capital came to the army one after another, all of them were the families of senior officers, they came to report safety, saying that Chen Zikun had not committed any crimes in the autumn after occupying the provincial capital, and he was also courteous to Sun Dujun in Xiaye, and Zhang Pengcheng was appointed as the division commander.

These brigade commanders and regiment commanders moved their minds, since the adjutant director Zhang Pengcheng can be a division commander, then they can also be promoted and make a fortune if they take the team to throw themselves over.

Blocking opposite Duan Haixiang is the first division of the new formation of Jiangdong Province, 5,000 recruits, led by Zhang Pengcheng, a civilian official who has never fought, but the provincial army is unable to advance a single step, the two armies fought several battles, all of them fired guns into the sky, bluffed, and after the battle, the officers here sat on a sliding rod and a sedan chair to Zhang Pengcheng happily, and enjoyed the wine, food, opium and smoke and then came back.

Duan Haixiang knew that the army was disheartened, and this battle could no longer be fought, only one Ma Chun chattered all day long that he wanted to enter the provincial capital to avenge the overseers, and Balabala was annoying.

Ma Chun was sitting in Duan Haixiang's headquarters and scolding the street, when suddenly the adjutant came to report that the Jiangbei Army had crossed the river and headed south, exchanged fire with the troops behind the provincial army, and his side lost a company.

Jiangbei Army was born as bandits, with accurate marksmanship and daring to play with his life, with them chasing and fighting behind, Duan Haixiang had to think about his future.

Ma Chun said unfamiliarly: "Master Duan, give me a brigade of men, and I'll deal with them." ”

"Go down, I still have military affairs to do." The distraught Duan Haixiang repelled Ma Chun and called his confidant adjutant and said, "Help me contact Zhang Pengcheng and find a place to sit." ”

The adjutant took the order and went, and made an appointment for the time and place that night.

At noon the next day, Duan Haixiang came to a small town near Pingchuan Prefecture with a guard platoon, and Zhang Pengcheng also arrived with dozens of escorts, and laughed when he was far away: "Commander Duan, I haven't seen you for a long time, don't come unharmed?" ”

Duan Haixiang said: "Thanks to your brother, it's very good." ”

Two groups of people entered the restaurant, ordered the wine and food, pushed the cup and drank it, Zhang Pengcheng got straight to the point: "The president has been electrified to the whole country, removed the difference of Sun Inspector, and appointed Chen Dashuai as the governor of Jiangdong. ”

Duan Haixiang groaned: "Qin Shuai and I are righteous brothers, how can we be disloyal and unjust." ”

Zhang Pengcheng said: "This is a bad statement, although Qin Shuai treats you and me well, but he colluded with Zhang Sunwen to fight against the president, disloyalty first, let's turn against Lu Yongxiang together, it is the great loyalty." ”

Duan Haixiang said: "Let me think about it." ”

Zhang Pengcheng said: "What else is there to think, Sun Chuanfang's troops entered Xianxia Pass, Lu Yongxiang's defeat has appeared, and now if he doesn't defect, there will be no chance, let's take advantage of the stalemate on Qi Xieyuan's side, attack Shanghai first, and master the finance and taxation of Songhu, what else is there to worry about?" ”

Duan Haixiang's eyes lit up: "This is your idea?" ”

The curtain was raised, and a heroic figure flashed: "It's my idea." ”

Duan Haixiang fixed his eyes and saw that this was not the newly released Jiangdong Provincial Military Affairs Supervisor, Xiaowu General Chen Zikun.