August 6th, late at night.

Under the stunned gaze of fishermen on more than 10 small fishing boats anchored on the bank of the Han River, the two 800-ton freighters turned on their searchlights and sailed upstream, one after the other, steadily approaching the Qinglong Wharf in the east of Chaozhou City.

"Brother Xiangting—"

Xiao Fei, the commander of the 1st brigade, and Xu Tongyao, the commander of the 2nd brigade, exclaimed at the same time, and both stepped forward and hugged Lu Chuanfang, the adjutant of the General Headquarters for a long time, with surprises and touches on their faces.

Lu Chuanfang, who was wearing civilian clothes, smiled, looked at the black and thin Xiaofei, and then looked at the junior brother Xu Tongyao, who had tears flowing onto his beard, gently pushed the two away, took a step forward, and gave a solemn military salute in front of a large group of familiar old brothers:

"Brothers, Commander-in-Chief Xiao has asked me to bring you a word -- I have wronged the brothers, he is the same as the 300,000 brothers in our army, and he has not forgotten for a moment the 8,000 brothers who are alone in eastern Guangdong, and he is the same as the 300,000 brothers in our army, and he is extremely proud and proud of you!"

Dozens of officers at all levels excitedly raised their hands to return the salute, one by one, just like the abused little daughter-in-law who saw her mother's family, tears flowed, and many brothers even cried bitterly, even Xiao Fei and Xu Tongyao, who were surrounded by Lu Chuanfang, couldn't help but burst into tears.

Lu Chuanfang stepped forward to meet with the brothers one by one, shook hands one by one, and finally returned to the brothers, and loudly conveyed the praise and commendation given by Commander-in-Chief Xiao Yimin to the 8,000 brothers:

"Brothers, according to the instructions of Commander-in-Chief Xiao, the Military and Political Department of Nanjing Xingying has made a decision: to grant you the number of 'Nanjing Xingying Directly Subordinate Reading Second Division', all officers and soldiers will be promoted to the first level, and a collective reward of 500,000 will be awarded!"

The wharf was full of cheers, and the more than 800 soldiers who were loading and unloading the goods shouted loudly with excitement, and many of them danced and shouted loudly to vent their long-suppressed resentment.

Lu Chuanfang pointed to the two freighters: "Brothers, please see, what is being unloaded from the ship are 10,000 sets of new military uniforms with new steel helmets and thick-soled military shoes, 150 mortars, 300 of the most advanced M1918 improved light machine guns, 5 million rounds of ammunition and mortar shells, I hope that all the brothers will bring these new equipment back to their subordinates as soon as possible, and greet the upcoming big war with a new look, which will definitely show the prestige of our army!" ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill—"

The familiar roar suddenly sounded, shaking the sky over Chaozhou.

An hour later, Xiao Fei and Xu Tongyao, who returned to the camp in the city, looked at the map and took turns to introduce the situation to Lu Chuanfang and others, and finally Xiao Fei made a request that was not in the plan:

"Senior Brother Lu, if the southern side of Fujian can continue to contain the Eighth Brigade of the Guangdong Army and prevent it from calmly going south, the younger brother wants to divide a regiment, plus a temporary artillery battalion, to take Raoping County as quickly as possible, block the road for the Eighth Brigade of the Guangdong Army to retreat to Meixian, and annihilate the enemy of this division on the Fujian-Guangdong border."

Lu Chuanfang thought for a moment: "If the troops are divided, will the direction of Shuikou Town be affected?" ”

Xiao Fei replied with a smile: "It doesn't have much impact, in fact, the troops we have deployed in Shuikou Town are not four main regiments, but two regiments plus the machine gun battalion and the special service battalion directly under it, with a total strength of less than 5,000, but the banner of four main regiments is played to confuse Xu Chongzhi, and the two regiments and baggage battalions of our second brigade have remained in Chaozhou and Shantou without moving." ”

Xu Tongyao added:

"Since the end of last year, the establishment of our division has been changed to the same two-brigade and four-regiment system as the Guangdong Army at the request of the Guangzhou base camp, and the number of officers and men of the main regiment is only more than 1,500 people.

"Xu Chongzhi's Eastern Route Army sounds very strong, but there are only three mixed brigades and two directly subordinate battalions, and the total strength is only more than 18,000 people, of which more than 2,000 are still wounded soldiers who are recuperating from their wounds, and the intact artillery of the three brigades adds up to only 16, and there are less than 60 heavy machine guns left, and they may not have seen light machine guns."

Lu Chuanfang weighed for a moment and immediately agreed:

"I agree, but I still have to ask the commander-in-chief, it needs to be approved by the Nanjing headquarters before it can be implemented, at this critical period, any change in the combat plan in any direction may affect the overall situation, and if the headquarters approves this new plan, it is also necessary to establish close ties with the friendly forces in Fujian, so that the north-south attack can be smoothly implemented."

Xiao Fei and Xu Tongyao smiled excitedly: "We will send a telegram to the commander-in-chief immediately for instructions!" ”

……

At three o'clock in the morning on August 8, the Nanjing Overseer's Mansion.

Qiao Yifu, deputy director of the General Staff Office in charge of confidential communications, hurriedly entered the smoky headquarters, came to Xiao Yimin, and handed over a telegram: "Commander, Chaozhou is in urgent charge." ”

Xiao Yimin quickly read the message, raised his head and looked at Wang Lingji, Zhang Sike, Zhang Qun and others:

"Xiao Fei and Xu Tongyao jointly called to request that they want to separate a part to attack Raoping County on the border of Fujian and Guangdong and block the retreat of the Eighth Brigade of the Guangdong Army, what do you think?"

Wang Lingji smiled and didn't speak, and motioned to Zhang Qun beside him to express his opinion.

Zhang Qun's face turned slightly red with excitement, it stands to reason that he, the head of the liaison department, is an idle officer who is in the test period, and he doesn't dare to expect to be able to participate in such a major battle decision, and he doesn't even have the qualifications to observe, but Xiao Yimin and Wang Lingji not only trust him, but also seem to value his talent very much, Zhang Sike and Qiao Yifu and other colleagues also give him support and encouragement in the open and secret, which makes Zhang Qun moved, before coming to Nanjing, he has never received the attention of the princes of the Guangzhou base camp, is purely an unknown young junior, and the strong contrast makes the ambitious Zhang Qun sigh and make the most important choice in his life in his heart.

However, Zhang Qun did not know the specific situation of the 80000 Sichuan Army stationed in Chaoshan for a while, nor did he know that the 8000 Sichuan Army had been supplied with weapons and equipment, and its combat effectiveness had been doubled.

"My subordinates don't know a lot about the situation, but they just have some ideas, and I feel that Heyuan County, which is connected to Chaomei in the west and Huizhou in the south, is likely to become a variable in this battle...... As long as General Wang Zhanxu's 11th Division can press the enemy in Heyuan as scheduled, so that he does not dare to act rashly, there will not be much suspense in the battle on the front line of Chaomei. ”

Xiao Yimin and Wang Lingji immediately praised it, and Zhang Sike and the others also looked at Zhang Qun, who was quite embarrassed, with great admiration, Zhang Qun was able to make such a clear judgment before he grasped the details of the overall situation, which shows his solid foundation and sharp thinking.

Xiao Yimin then gave a detailed introduction: "Yue Jun is really sharp-eyed and careful!" I would like to briefly update you on the situation...... Through our efforts in many ways, we have initially established contact with Chen Jiongming and reached consensus on many issues, so Wang Zhanxu's 11th Division will not attack Heyuan again for the time being.

"The reason why we are still slowly pressing towards the source of the river is just to create an illusion for the outside world."

Zhang Qun was taken aback, his chest was like a raging roar, violently shocking, stunned on the spot, and did not move for a long time.

Wang Lingji patted Zhang Qun on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.

Xiao Yimin continued: "At four o'clock in the afternoon yesterday, the Guangzhou base camp sent the veteran Zhu Zhixin to the Humen Fort secretly, wanting to rebel against the two regiments stationed in the Humen Fort to break away from Chen Jiongming's camp. ”

"Huh?!"

Not only Zhang Qun exclaimed, but Zhang Sike, Qiao Yifu, Wan Lianfeng and others also gasped, who would have thought that the dignified father of the League, the veteran of the Revolutionary Party, and the secretary general of the Generalissimo Mansion in Guangzhou would die in the chaos like this?

Xiao Yimin took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, waited for everyone's mood to recover, and continued to introduce: "Zhu Zhixin's death caused an uproar in the military and political circles of Guangdong, and the two camps that were already divided completely turned against each other.

"At this moment, I am afraid that the Gui troops under Lu Rongting's command have learned of this situation, and I even suspect that Chen Jiongming has established contact with Lu Rongting or Mo Rongxin, who is on the front line and commands the overall situation."

When the generals heard this top-secret news, they were all deeply shocked.

Wang Lingji said with a smile: "This is the way things are, it is always unpredictable, I believe that after dawn, the whole battle situation will change dramatically, we estimate that the three-way Gui army will enter Guangzhou City within two days, and the armies in western Guangdong that belong to Lu Rongting and Mo Rongxin will completely control Yangjiang, Enping and the area south of Guangzhou, I am afraid that Mr. Sun's hometown Xiangshan County will also be difficult to preserve, and the central political axe in Guangzhou is not far from being destroyed." ”

In silence, Zhang Qun suddenly asked: "Since this is the case, I'm afraid Meixian won't have to fight anymore, right?" ”

Xiao Yimin shook his head: "No, this battle in Meixian must be fought for three reasons: first, the eight thousand brothers who have been separated from us for a long time need to recast the morale of the army through this battle, which is an excellent opportunity to reflect the cohesion and fighting spirit of our army; "Second, we must take into account the psychological requirements of Fujian's friendly army, southern Fujian has been occupied by the Guangdong army sent by the Guangzhou revolutionary political axe all the year round, and the various units of the Fujian army have been fighting for several years and cannot drive away Xu Chongzhi's East Route Army, everyone has resentment in their hearts, so we must assist the Fujian friendly army to fight a turnaround battle, so that this grievance can be vented, which is conducive to Fujian's return;" Third, in order to completely control Chaoshan, a strategic place that contains the two provinces, Xu Chongzhi's ministry cannot stay, only in this way can the Qiongya area, which we have been secretly operating for more than a year, be more secure! ”

"Got it! Thank you Commander for cultivating! Zhang Sike and others expressed their sincere admiration.

Zhang Qun was completely stunned, and the large amount of confidential information pouring into his mind caused him to fall into a state of chaos after a huge shock......~~~~~~~~~~~~

(To be continued)