Liu Bingxian has been left in Qujing for five days, Cai Yi is very important to this little junior brother with a bold surname, and warmly retained and talked in detail, except for the military meeting of the Yunnan army did not invite Liu Bingxian to participate, Cai Ye let Liu Bingxian stay by his side when dealing with military affairs.

Liu Bingxian was very embarrassed at first, but after two days, he was very calm, he admired the generous and majestic senior brother Cai Yi, and wanted to take this opportunity to learn.

Nearly half of the other generals of the Yunnan Army came from all over the country, and they did not have any opinion on the existence of Liu Bingxian, and they felt that Liu Bingxian was a Kuomintang hero who was deeply loved by Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing, and was very different from his third counterrevolutionary brother Xiao Yimin; Second, many generals of the Yunnan Army, like Liu Bingxian, came from various periods of the non-commissioned officer school, and they attached great importance to the relationship between their brothers and sisters; In addition, Liu Bingxian has been in the Sichuan Army for a short time, and currently only serves as the commander of the Yucheng garrison, and the commander of the Second Division of the Sichuan Army is just his title, and the actual person in charge of the Second Division is Xiao Yimin's lackey, the brave and unscrupulous deputy division commander Liu Dingxun.

Therefore, most of the generals of the Yunnan army have no scruples about Liu Bingxian, but they like to get along with this cheerful and outspoken young general very much.

There is a Qilin Mountain in the north of Qujing City, the west foot of Qilin Mountain is the historic Qilin Academy, and the south foot is the magnificent and majestic Confucian Temple, where Cai Yi's temporary headquarters is located.

Since Cai Ye stationed in the Confucian Temple, this ancient temple has been lively, from morning to night all rushed to the Yunnan army generals with a stern look and full of confidence, and occasionally there are local rich gentry and elders come to visit and reward the army, Liu Bingxian lives in a row of neat wings in the backyard of the Confucian Temple.

After breakfast, Liu Bingxian and his personal guards walked in the courtyard, the gloomy sky and the swaying canopy of the big green trees indicated that the cold rain was coming, and Liu Bingxian's mood was as heavy as the dark sky.

In the past few days, the generals of the Yunnan Army, who had been drinking and chatting with Liu Bingxian, asked him about many things about the Sichuan Army, including the level of training, equipment, and even the Sichuan Army Military Academy. Liu Bingxian always had no worries based on the facts, so the generals of the Yunnan Army knew a lot more about the Sichuan Army, and many people bluntly said that they had gained a lot.

In return, the generals of the Yunnan army will also tell Liu Bingxian, who can't go back for the time being, a lot of the situation of the Yunnan army, including the current situation of the two armies, etc., so Liu Bingxian knows very well that the big war is imminent, and everything is inevitable, although he did not participate in the formulation of the specific battle plan of the Sichuan Army General Headquarters, but he knows his third brother Xiao Yimin, and knows that Xiao Yimin is determined not to let the Yunnan army enter Sichuan, so he does not hesitate to fight with the Yunnan army again.

This situation made Liu Bingxian, who was bent on promoting peace talks, very disappointed and worried, he had a kind of distress of being caught in the middle and difficult to be a man, neither advance nor retreat, even if Cai Ye immediately sent him back to Sichuan, he could not leave immediately, otherwise he was likely to be scolded as a heartless hypocrite, or even misunderstood as a Jiang Gan-style character.

After a few days, Liu Bingxian carefully weighed and analyzed repeatedly, and finally painfully found that his third brothers Xiao Yimin and Cai Yi are both masters of figuring out people's hearts, and they can control everything in their hands unconsciously, which makes people feel an irresistible sense of powerlessness!

Cheng Qian suddenly appeared at this time, walked into the courtyard, and shouted to Liu Bingxian from a distance: "Zicheng, General Songpo is invited!" ”

Liu Bingxian was slightly surprised: "Didn't you say that you were going to have a combat meeting?" What are you asking me to do as an outsider? ”

Cheng Qian came to Liu Bingxian's side and stopped, his expression was quite heavy:

"A regiment of General Liu Yunfeng on the left flank just entered Gao yesterday afternoon. The county's Hengjiang Field was repulsed by Wang Jian's 10th Brigade, which was in place in advance, more than 70 officers and soldiers were killed, more than 100 officers and soldiers were captured, and the only artillery company was blown up with mortars by the infiltration troops of the Sichuan army, and the entire left flank had retreated to salt. Saliva. The county seat is now very embarrassing to advance and retreat.

"The middle road is more troublesome, Sun Zhaoluan's third division of the Sichuan army has entered Xuyong, and when he saw our troops from afar, he opened artillery, judging from the density of artillery fire, Sun Zhaoluan pulled out all his artillery regiments, clearly telling us not to think about him, this road is not passable. Now there are opinions in the command headquarters, so General Matsupa wants to hear your opinion. ”

"What can I say? I'm ...... now"

"Let's go! Don't say so much, in fact, I don't want to fight this battle, after this meeting, I will immediately rush to Guiyang to serve as the chief of staff of the Second Army, and cooperate with General Li Liejun to attack Hunan......"

The conference room was filled with smoke and debates, and more than a dozen generals gathered around the map on the big table in the middle to express their opinions and disagree with each other. Cai Ye saw Cheng Qian leading Liu Bingxian to arrive, and gently applauded twice to signal everyone to be quiet, and then gave up a position and beckoned to Liu Bingxian.

Liu Bingxian had to walk over hard, clasped his fists and saluted everyone, then stared at the dense red and blue arrows on the map, and did not speak for a long time, nor did he ask.

Cai Yi waved his hand slightly to the surprised generals, approached the contemplative Liu Bingxian, and said with a smile:

"Zicheng, I remember that you predicted that the main force of the Sichuan army was likely to move south and go straight to Zhaotong, but judging from the current situation of the Sichuan army, the Sichuan army did not mean this, their forces were evenly arranged on a front of more than 200 kilometers from east to west, and they always took a defensive position, especially Sun Zhaoluan's division in the middle, after sensing our army's attack intention, he did not hesitate to move out more than 60 cannons to threaten us

"The result really worked, the total strength of our middle road is only four brigades, one of which is a new brigade as a reserve, and we don't dare to fight Sun Zhaoluan, who occupies a favorable location and people, so we all want to hear what Zicheng has to say, which can allow us to break the current deadlock. I implore Zicheng to give me a lot of advice, and don't have any worries. ”

Liu Bingxian raised his head: "Although my words are not good, in order to preserve the revolutionary forces, I still have to say: The only option at present is peace talks!" No matter how heroic and tenacious the officers and men of the Yunnan Army were, and no matter how high the command level of officers at all levels was, they could not defeat the Sichuan Army, which had twice as many troops as itself. ”

There was a big uproar among the generals, and many people stared at the arrogant Liu Bingxian in annoyance, only Cai Yi was still smiling, and Cheng Qian nodded slightly.

"Brother Zicheng makes sense, but many times, the soldiers are not more than the fine." Gu Pinzhen, the former enemy commander in the middle lane, said dissatisfiedly.

Seeing that Liu Bingxian didn't mean to explain again, Cai Yi asked with a smile: "Zicheng, we have made it difficult for you to be a man, but for the victory of protecting [***], for the success of the national anti-Yuan movement to protect the country, and the early establishment of the republican political axe, please reluctantly embarrass it, tell me your specific views Your opinion is very important to us, no matter whether the next step is peace talks or not, we will respect your valuable opinions." ”

Liu Bingxian sighed faintly: "Okay...... Staff Officer Duan, please hand me the baton. ”

The combat staff officer, who was nearly 30 years old, hurriedly handed over the baton, Liu Bingxian took the baton, and without saying a word, he directly pointed to the Xishui River, which was not marked with any military symbols on the map, that is, Shibao Town, which was more than 20 kilometers northeast of the two big red arrows of the Central Route Army: "Excuse me, are there troops here?" Or is it passing through here and going straight to the weak Qijiang troops? ”

The generals were taken aback and looked at Liu Bingxian incredulously.

Cai Yi was slightly stunned, and then nodded: "Zicheng really has sharp eyes and a heart as fine as hair!" Yes, this is the route of the five regiments of General Dai Huan and General Liu Cunhou, and the destination is also Qijiang, we hope that this road of strange troops can break the current battlefield situation, and also want to test the reaction of the Sichuan army. ”

"Then quickly order the withdrawal, otherwise it is likely that the whole army will be wiped out." Liu Bingxian said mercilessly.

There was another uproar in the hall, and nearly half of the people began to believe Liu Bingxian's prediction, the reason is very simple: Liu Bingxian can see through the loopholes in the battle situation at a glance, can Xiao Yimin, who is famous all over the world, turn a blind eye?

Cai Yi motioned for everyone to be quiet: "Zicheng, can you be more specific?" ”

Liu Bingxian smiled bitterly: "Yes...... With my understanding of General Xiao Yimin, it is impossible for him to expose such a big hole on this front, and he has enough troops to mobilize, and he can fill in any big hole, but this hole is so easily exposed

"I think it's not normal, and the only explanation is: it's a complete trap! Out of the purpose of not wanting the two provinces and the two armies of Sichuan and Yunnan to fight again, let me tell you my opinion, I believe that General Xiao Yimin will not be angry because of my nonsense, this guy is still very broad-minded, and he didn't want to fight this battle in the first place, as long as everyone takes a step back, everything is easy to say. ”

Under Cheng Qian's reminder, Staff Officer Duan quickly marked the route of Dai Huan's troops on the map, and a feint attack on Qijiang but turned back in the middle and went straight to the side of Sun Zhaoluan's department of the Sichuan army, clearly appeared on the map.

I have to say that this is a good move, and it is an excellent plan that complements each other, but considering the perverted marching speed and sophisticated equipment of the Sichuan army, and considering that it is likely to be the weakness deliberately exposed by Xiao Yimin, the commander of the Sichuan army, no one thinks that this is a good move.

Cai Ye had already turned to the chief of the communications section who was standing outside the circle: "Can you contact General Dai Huan?" ”

"General Dai's headquarters has entered Sichuan, there is no way to contact Lian Lai, the telegraph lines in northern and northwest Guizhou have been destroyed by a small group of rebels in reckless territory, our logistics and transport teams have been frequently attacked, and the fast horses that sent orders have been ambushed across the east bank of Xishui, except for the troops above the battalion level, the small force has no security guarantee on the east bank of Xishui." The tall and lanky chief of communications replied in a low voice, he had already reported the situation three times.

Cai Yi frowned, and after a little consideration, he asked again, "Can you contact the Syrian Mansion?" ”

The section chief lowered his head: "Since noon yesterday, the Sichuan army has cut off the telegraph line between the two provinces, and the Guizhou army in Lupingshan has also cut off the three telegraph lines leading from Guizhou to Hunan...... The subordinate had already reported yesterday. ”

Cai Ye closed his eyes in pain, returned to the map and glanced at the generals and colonels with panicked faces, and finally confessed to Liu Bingxian truthfully:

"General Dai Jian led his troops to attack Qijiang through Shibao three days ago, and then quietly turned around halfway and attacked Xuyong, according to the intelligence sent back at noon yesterday, they are now afraid that they have arrived at Xianshi Town, which is 15 kilometers southwest of the Hejiang River, if the Sichuan army has found their traces, we will not be able to save it.

"From the analysis of the Sichuan army and the rebel Luping Mountain Department of the Guizhou army cutting off all the telegraph lines in advance, they no longer want to negotiate with us, alas! Zicheng, you are ready to go back, go directly to Xuyong, and see if you can save General Dai Huan. ”

All the generals and colonels lowered their heads, Liu Bingxian looked around, nodded and agreed: "Then send the younger brother to Yanjin by car, and then give the younger brother two fast horses, I hope it is still too late." ”

As soon as Cai Ye nodded, several generals had already rushed out of the gate, and the sound of a car starting soon came from the courtyard.

(To be continued)