After the news came out that Taoyuan County was occupied by 3,000 men and horses of the Xiangxi bandit Chen Quzhen's troops, the chickens and dogs within a radius of 100 miles walked away, and there was a panic.

The notoriety of the bandits in Xiangxi burned, killed and looted, frightened officials at all levels and rich gentry to sweep away the money and flee with their families, and the landlords and wealthy merchants of the towns around Changde poured into Changde with high walls and thick walls to take refuge.

Wang Jinjing, the commander of the 3rd Mixed Brigade who was guarding Changde, hurriedly dispatched troops to shrink the defensive line, and urgently ordered the remnants of a regiment that fled back from Taoyuan to hold the water and land points in the west of the city, and put a battalion that took the initiative to withdraw from Linli after Cili was captured to build fortifications in the north of the city.

Wang Jinjing knew that the bandits in Xiangxi had grown rapidly in the past few years by smuggling arms and opium, and that the strength of the fierce bandits who were rushing at him in three ways was not less than 15,000, and that the bandits were now well-equipped and moved quickly, which was better than before.

Judging from the fact that the three counties of Taoyuan, Cili, and Linli were captured overnight, the combat effectiveness of the bandits in Xiangxi has far surpassed that of the Third Mixed Brigade stationed in Changde, and what is even worse is that the officers and men of this mixed brigade under Wang Jinjing's command were all Hubei troops he brought from Hubei to defend Changde, and they were stationed in Changde for less than a year, because of the common vices of various armies, such as lax military discipline and rampant expropriation, they formed a grudge with the local chamber of commerce and countless people.

The fifty-five-year-old Jiang Wang Jinjing of the Hubei army did not want to run, but because the bandits in Xiangxi came too quickly and too suddenly, and the whole territory of Hunan had become chaotic, Tan Yanmin and Cheng Qian's two armies combined forces to occupy Changsha, Hengyang, Liling and other half of Hunan, and Chen Eun, the boss who was swinging between the north and the south, was pressed step by step by Tan Yanmin and Cheng Qian, who raised the anti-flag, and was helpless. made the panicked Wang Jinjing also waste two days in vain.

When Wang Jinjing made up his mind to defend Changde, as many as 20,000 Xiangxi bandits had already surrounded Changde, and Wang Jinjing, who led his troops to the top of the city to prepare for a vicious battle, had not seen clearly what was going on, and the Xiangxi bandits were one kilometer outside the west city gate and the north city gate, and unscrupulously set up a position of more than 50 mortars and an artillery position, and the two regiments guarding the temporary fortifications outside the city did not wait for the bandits to shell it, they had already fled in a panic, and Wang Jinjing and the officers and soldiers under his command at the head of the city were drenched in cold sweat. look ashen

Yichang, on the bank of the Yangtze River, has undergone more than 100 days of governance and construction by the Sichuan Army, and now it has changed greatly and is full of vitality everywhere.

In the face of the Sichuan army patrolling and the black-clothed police at the corner of the street, the people of Yichang no longer have any panic on their faces, and the newly expanded Yichang wharf is more prosperous than before, but the difference is that there are more and more businessmen with Sichuan accents.

In the Yichang Garrison Headquarters in Linjiang, Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army, Wang Lingji, deputy commander-in-chief, Bao Jiqing, chief of staff, and other generals who attended the opening ceremony of Yichang Middle School sat together to listen to the report of the chief of staff on the war situation in Hunan:

"At eight o'clock this morning, Tan Zu'an, General Cheng Songyun and 56 generals of the Hunan Army jointly sent a telegram to the whole country, General Tan Zu'an was elected as the governor of Hunan Province and the overseer, and General Cheng Songyun was appointed as the Hunan Military Affairs Council, reorganizing the political axes at all levels in Hunan and reorganizing the military forces in Hunan;" At 10 o'clock this morning, General Wang Jinjing ordered his 4,000 officers and men to give up resistance, and General Chen Quzhen and General Wang Jian allowed General Wang Jinjing's troops to return to Hubei with weapons and equipment and their own money according to the negotiation agreement; In addition, the 10th Brigade led by General He Qiwu has arrived in Yiyang and joined forces with the 2nd Division of the Hunan Army of General Cheng Qian to encircle Tang Qianming's brigade, which refused to surrender. ”

Xiao Yimin smiled with satisfaction:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the situation in Hunan has become clearer, and General Tan Zu'an and General Cheng Songyun can be said to be what everyone wants, according to the current reaction of the Beiyang political axe and the garrisons in Hubei, the Beiyang faction has no ability to interfere in the political situation in Hunan in a short period of time, as long as Tan Zu'an and General Cheng Songyun quickly stabilize the political situation in Hunan, it is a matter of time before the large and small separatist forces scattered throughout Hunan are dismissed or annexed. At this point, I think that the 4th Division can implement the second step plan in advance, quickly turn around and go north, regardless of the question, and directly occupy Gangneung. ”

"Agreed!"

Wang Lingji nodded: "The first division of the Hubei army stationed in Jingzhou is now much worse than before, there are only three regiments of more than 6,000 officers and soldiers, and the division commander Shi Xingchuan is under the pressure of Wang Zhanyuan.

"According to the intelligence department, Shi Xingchuan has always been in contact with Sun Yat-sen and the Southern Revolutionary Political Axe, and he has long wanted to lead his subordinates to return to his hometown Yangxin to eat, and it is also convenient for his subordinates to echo each other with the Southern Revolutionary Army, so I think that as long as Wang Jian's Fourth Division occupies the public security, we will send someone to Shi Xingchuan to send 200,000 yuan in opening fees according to the original plan, and he will definitely hand over Jingzhou to us."

"The chief of staff will talk about it too." Xiao Yimin turned his head to look at Bao Jiqing, his smile was very ambiguous, and the generals couldn't help laughing.

Bao Jiqing was quite helpless:

"Don't look at it, I know what you're thinking, I'll leave for Jingzhou tomorrow, Shi Xingchuan and Wang Jinjing have a relationship with me, especially Shi Xingchuan, in the early years, he went to Zhenwu Military Academy in Yueben, and walked my way This person studied in this period, joined the Alliance, and after returning to China, he served as the standard commander of the twelfth town of Fengtian, and returned to Hubei after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, and was appointed by Li Yuanhong as the commander of the first mixed brigade of the Hubei Army, and the following year he was awarded the rank of major general of the army, and was promoted to the commander of the first division, stationed in Wuchang, and later moved to Jingzhou, and concurrently served as the guard of Jingyi Town.

"With such rich experience, he will definitely be able to see the current situation of the two lakes clearly, I estimate that the revolutionary party in the south has already been in contact with him, no matter what he thinks, it is a wise move to leave Jingzhou, which has become a place we must attack, if he does not seize the opportunity of Wang Zhanyuan and Wu Peifu to fight to the death, move to the east of Hubei and preserve the strength to come, we don't have to be polite to him."

The generals nodded frequently, in a happy mood.

As long as Jingzhou is occupied, Xiangyang will go down without a fight, and the entire western Hubei and Jingxiang regions, which contribute more than 8 million yuan in taxes to Hubei's finances every year, will be under the control of the Sichuan army, which will not only be able to achieve the goal of nourishing the war by war through occupation, but will also be able to recruit soldiers on the spot in the western Hubei region, where the people are strong.

Judging from the current situation in the whole country, if the strategic offensive posture against Wuhan can be completed, the Sichuan Army will usher in a large-scale military expansion, and hundreds or even thousands of officers and non-commissioned officers will be promoted and reused, and they will have a valuable opportunity to display their abilities.

From the perspective of long-term goals, being able to bring the western Hubei region into the track of Sichuan's economic development plays an important role in protecting the eastern gate of Sichuan.

After the urgent task was handled, Xiao Yimin came up with a plan for expanding the army that had been repeatedly discussed by the General Headquarters.

According to the needs of the recent operation, in order to achieve the goal of occupying and controlling the two lakes and gradually encroaching on Shaanxi and Gansu, the expansion of the Sichuan army is imperative:

"Based on the strategic needs of our army, the two brigades stationed in Yichang were officially expanded into the 13th and 15th divisions of the Fifth Army, Liu Xiang was promoted to major general and commander of the 13th Division of the Fifth Army, and Yang Sen was promoted to major general and commander of the 15th Division.

The generals already knew about this adjustment plan and knew that the first commander of the Fifth Army was Wang Jian, who had made outstanding achievements and was trusted by Commander-in-Chief Xiao Yimin, so they had no objection to this.

Everyone applauded Xiao Yimin's decision, and what they thought about most in private was, what can Commander-in-Chief Xiao's next decision bring to him?

(To be continued)