Song Zhewu and Tao Rong's conversation was interrupted by Li Rujuan and a staff officer from the headquarters, who each brought a telegram and handed it to Song Zhewu and Tao Rong respectively.

The telegram sent by Li Rujuan was sent by Lin Wei, and the telegrams sent and received by Li Rujuan were all directly handed over to Song Zhewu, and most of the telegrams could only be read by Song Zhewu and Xiao Guodong. The content of this telegram was: "Brother Wen Gewu, Shandong Provincial Chairman Sun Liangcheng, without the approval of the Ministry of Military Affairs, left his defense zone without authorization, robbed countless cities and counties in Shandong of money and grain, and coerced a large number of young men and women with the intention of withdrawing west to Shaanxi. Sun Bu did not respect the military orders of the central government, only carried out Feng Yuxiang's private life, and completely ignored the central government's decrees, which was undoubtedly rebellious, which shows that Feng Yuxiang's rebellious heart is obvious. This move by the Sun Ministry made the chairman of the committee extremely angry. However, although Feng Yuxiang's heart is not subordinate, but the reality of rebellion has not yet appeared, the central government should not intercept Sun Bu by force, to give Feng the rebellious act to the truth, brother Wang Wen Ge and my brother wholeheartedly to safeguard the dignity of the central government, the chairman of the National People's Congress unified the military order and government decree, intercepted Sun Bu by force, in order to set an example. Sun Bu withdrew from the west to the relevant information, and General He will inform the Fourth Route Army separately. ”

Tao Rong handed the telegram to Song Zhewu after reading it, and said with some concern: "Commander-in-chief, this is an intelligence report sent by He Yingqin's staff headquarters of the rebel army, and as we expected, Sun Liangcheng from Shandong has already left Shandong and retreated,"

Song Zhewu took the telegram handed by Tao Rong, and handed the telegram in his hand to Tao Rong, Tao Rong looked at Song Zhewu in surprise and hesitated not to answer the telegram. Tao Rong knew that the telegrams handled by Li Rujuan were top secret in the Fourth Route Army, and only Song Zhewu and Xiao Guodong, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff Wang Xu, could read them.

Seeing that Tao Rong didn't answer the telegram, Song Zhewu understood Tao Rong's thoughts in his heart, and solemnly said to Li Rujuan: "Rujuan, the telegram you received will not only be available to me, Chief of Staff Xiao and Chief of Staff Wang in the future, but also Chief of Staff Tao." After speaking, he handed the telegram to Tao Rong, and looked at the intelligence report sent by He Yingqin about the actions of Sun Liangcheng's troops.

Tao Rong glanced at Song Zhewu gratefully and took the telegram. Tao Rong knew that the people who could see these telegrams in the Fourth Route Army had come into contact with the core secrets of the Fourth Route Army, which meant that he Tao Rong was already the most trusted person in Song Zhewu, and he was already a core member of the Fourth Route Army. Song Zhewu was able to trust him like this, a general who had just been annexed, which made Tao Rong let go of the last bit of baggage and decided to follow Song Zhewu completely. From then on, until his death, Tao Rong was Song Zhewu's staunchest supporter and most powerful assistant.

In the telegram, He Yingqin informed Song Zhewu in detail of the information on the evacuation of Sun Liangcheng's troops from Shandong. Including the number of Sun Liangcheng's troops, weapons and equipment, the time and order of departure of each unit, and the composition of the personnel of each vehicle, are all listed in detail. It can be seen that the Central Army has long been eyeing Sun Liangcheng, and sent him such detailed information, although there is no mention of him Song Zhewu to intercept Sun Liangcheng, but needless to say, Song Zhewu can also understand the meaning of the telegram.

After the staff officer who sent the telegram went out, Tao Rong said: "Commander-in-chief, we are afraid of something, although this telegram was sent in the name of Lin Wei, but the content of the telegram Chiang Kai-shek absolutely knows. It seems that we will not be able to intercept Sun Liangcheng's troops, otherwise the commander-in-chief will not be able to explain to Chiang Kai-shek. ”

Song Zhewu believed that the contents of this telegram were not only known to Chiang Kai-shek, but could even be said to be that Chiang Kai-shek had instructed Lin Wei to send it to him. also understood that now Chiang Kai-shek knew that Feng Yuxiang was going to concentrate his forces and prepare for war with him, and even he wanted to realize Song Zhewu's proposal on top of Turtle Mountain and solve Sun Liangcheng's troops in Shandong in one fell swoop. However, he was still unwilling to bear the charge of provoking a civil war, which was to ask him Song Zhewu to fire the first shot of the Northwest Army that crusaded against Feng Yuxiang.

Although Song Zhewu needed Chiang Kai-shek's support very much in order to realize his desire to possess Shanxi in the future, and he did not mind taking on the charge of provoking a civil war, he would not agree to ask him to fight hard with Sun Liangcheng with the Fourth Route Army. Sun Liangcheng's department is one of Feng Yuxiang's main forces, not to mention that he has to prepare to deal with Feng Yuxiang's fierce counterattack full of anger, that is, he wants to stop Sun Liangcheng and eliminate the main force of the Northwest Army, even if he is not knocked out of one or two teeth, it is inevitable that a few of his teeth will be loosened. However, Chiang Kai-shek's intentions must not be violated, unless he wants to unite with Feng Yuxiang and drive out Chiang Kai-shek, otherwise Chiang Kai-shek will definitely get rid of his Fourth Route Army.

After thinking for a while, Song Zhewu said to Tao Rong: "Chief of Staff Tao is right, this must be what Chiang Kai-shek meant. We sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek asking him to publicly give us an order to stay in Zhengzhou, but he was slow to express his position, but Yan Xishan rushed to send a message to shirk responsibility. In fact, to put it bluntly, this is that Chiang Kai-shek does not want to take the responsibility of provoking a civil war, but wants to push this responsibility to Yan Xishan, after all, we are still Shang Zhen's subordinates in name, and naturally Yan Xishan's subordinates, he just wants to increase the estrangement between Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, so that they are suspicious of each other. This time, let's intercept Sun Liangcheng, firstly, to use our hands to cut off one of Feng Yuxiang's arms, and there is also a purpose for this. ”

Pointing to the telegram in Tao Rong's hand, he said with a wry smile: "With this telegram, it is absolutely impossible to easily let Sun Liangcheng pass." ”

Tao Rong looked at the telegram in his hand, then looked at Song Zhewu and said, "What does the commander-in-chief mean to fight?" ”

Song Zhewu nodded and said, "Yes, you have to fight, and you have to beat it hard." However, how to fight is what we say, we must fight very well, but also make Sun Liangcheng bearable, and will not fight with us. ”

Tao Rong walked to the wall, looked at the map hanging on the wall and thought for a moment and said: "Commander-in-chief, the intelligence says that Sun Liangcheng's baggage and materials are all on the last column, there is a reinforced battalion escort, and the distance between their columns is only less than an hour's drive, I think we intercepted his baggage east of Zhanghu Bridge, and ate this battalion by the way, so that Sun Liangcheng will definitely come to the rescue, but as long as we resolutely block them, Sun Liangcheng loses the baggage and ammunition, he has no capital to fight to the death with us, and he can't take back the ammunition and baggage. It is inevitable to leave with one blow and withdraw from Zhengzhou. And this reason is also easy to find, that is, Sun Liangcheng plundered the money and grain in Shandong. ”

Song Zhewu looked at the map and said, "Okay, that's good!" Even if we seize his baggage, we can eat one of its reinforcements, and if Sun Liangcheng is angry and comes to rob him of his baggage, we can also bite him down again. This task will be handed over to Sun Li's three regiments. ”

After a little hesitation, Song Zhewu said again: "I think Suo will bite him a few more times, otherwise our Chairman Jiang will probably be dissatisfied, and then order Zhang Yafei to lead a regiment of other troops except the first battalion and the fourth battalion guarding the iron bridge of the Yellow River, to choose an ambush position between Yulong and Xushui west of Zhengzhou, and then when Sun Liangcheng's troops retreat westward, intercept his rearguard. ”

Tao Rong said with a smile: "The commander-in-chief is on the open side of the net, and has always left a way back for Sun Liangcheng, he has no determination to fight to the death, and even after the baggage was robbed, Sun Liangcheng may not pay attention to it at all and continue to retreat westward, if that is the case, we must be prepared and send troops to see him off in the back." ”――

In the division headquarters of the 14th Division of the Northwest Army in Zhengzhou, Pang Bingxun, the division commander who was over 50 years old and slightly fat, was lying on a couch and was smoking a big cigarette with clouds and mist.

Pang Bingxun's life can be said to be a life of glory and shame. He was once elected by the people as the "head of the top ten puppet army generals". In the first battle of Taierzhuang, Pang Bingxun once famously said: "I am about to be 60 years old, my leg is still lame, I have no worries, and I am fortunate to be able to participate in the war of resistance to defend the country!" It is certainly my wish to add a glorious page to the history of China's rejuvenation; Even if we write a line of our heroic sacrifice in the history of the country, we are worthy of our ancestors! ”

However, in 1943, Pang Bingxun's troops were dispersed by the Yue army, and he himself was besieged by the Yue army on the mountain, hiding in a cave, and was later betrayed and lured by Sun Dianying. He successively served as the commander-in-chief of the "suppression of bandits" in Wang Puppet, Jin, Hebei, Luyu, and Henan, and the commander-in-chief of the 24th Group Army of the Peace Rescue, and the "director of the Kaifeng appeasement". In September 1945, after the surrender of Yueben, Pang Bingxun did it anyway, and the ministry was incorporated into the new 1st Route Army for the National Political Axe.

Pang Bingxun, whose name is more Chen, studied at an early age, graduated from the Northeast Surveying and Mapping School, and served as a surveyor in the third town of the Qing Army. Before the Xinhai Revolution, he joined the League, but after the outbreak of Xinhai, he was forced to abandon the army and return to his hometown because of the suspicion of the authorities.

In the 9th year of the Republic of China, Xinhe suffered a serious disaster, and the people were struggling to make a living, and Pang Bingxun, who was 41 years old at the time, joined the army for the second time and served as an adjutant in the 15th Mixed Brigade of Sun Yue.

In July 1920, when the Zhiwan War broke out, Pang Bingxun led the volunteers to participate in the war, and in April 1922, he participated in the first Zhifeng War. Pang Bingxun, then the commander of the infantry battalion of Sun Yue's 15th Mixed Brigade, led his troops to engage in a fierce battle with the Feng army in Nangangwa, near Changxindian, south of Yanjing. Under the care of the brigade commander Sun Yue, the leg was saved, but since then he has been disabled and lame. Although it is not good at walking, it does not have much impact on marching and fighting, and it is no less than ordinary people when running.

After the end of the war, Sun Yue, the commander of the 15th Mixed Brigade, concurrently served as the town guard of southern Hebei, and Pang Bingxun also followed Sun Yue into southern Hebei, and was soon promoted to chief of staff of the 15th Mixed Brigade. On September 17, 1924, the Second Zhifeng War broke out, and Pang Bingxun was transferred to Yanjing with the 15th Mixed Brigade and participated in the "Yanjing Coup". Subsequently, the 15th Mixed Brigade was reorganized into the Third Army of the Nationalist Army, and Sun Yue served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Nationalist Army and the commander of the Third Army. Pang Bingxun was reappointed as the head of the supplementary regiment.

In February 1925, the supplementary regiment was expanded into the second mixed brigade, and Pang Bingxun was promoted to the commander of the brigade. Later, he went to Henan with the Nationalist Army to participate in the battles of Hu and Han, and then moved to Shaanxi to expel Wu Xintian, the governor of Shaanxi. In the autumn of the same year, Sun Yue led the Nationalist Third Army back to Hebei, and the Nationalist Third Army occupied Tianjin. Pang Bingxun was appointed as the envoy of Tianjin Town, and at the same time was promoted to major general of the army, and was awarded the Order of Wenhu of the third class.

At the beginning of 1926, the warlord Zhilubong gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and launched an attack on the Nationalist Army, which was attacked on three sides. In order to preserve the strength of the Nationalist Army and reduce losses, Sun Yue issued a telegram on the withdrawal of troops in late March, ordering the Nationalist Army to retreat to the Yanjing area. On March 23, Pang Bingxun withdrew from Tianjin and retreated to the Wuqing area. At this time, the periphery of Yanjing had been occupied by the Zhi and Feng armies one after another, and the connection between Pang Bingxun's troops and the headquarters of the National Army was cut off, and they fell into the predicament of being isolated and helpless. Just when Pang Bingxun was at a loss, Wu Peifu, a direct warlord, sent people to lobby Pang Bingxun's troops and renamed them the 12th Mixed Brigade, with Pang Bingxun as the brigade commander, and soon left for Shijiazhuang.

During the Northern Expedition, Pang Bingxun's department was reorganized into the 11th Division of Jin Yunju's Henan Defense Army, and Pang Bingxun served as the division commander. In the winter of that year, Pangbu sailed from Minggang to Yanghe Town, east of Xinyang. Here, Pang Bingxun became acquainted with Wang Faqin, a member of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang. Under the persuasion of Wang Faqin, Pang Bingxun agreed to be reorganized into the Fifth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and to change banners and participate in the Northern Expedition.

At the beginning of 1927, Pang Bingxun led his troops to move to Xinyang. Soon, on the order of Jin Yunju, he went north from Xinyang in an attempt to prevent the Feng army from moving south, and when he arrived at Luohe, he was organized into the third army of the Henan Defense Army. Due to the defeat on the Zhengzhou front, Pang Bingxun led his troops to turn back to the south, and when he entered Zhumadian, he encountered the troops of Tang Shengzhi of the National Revolutionary Army. Seeing that the time had come, Pang Bingxun openly waved the banner of the Fifth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, accepted the command of Tang Shengzhi, and joined the ranks of the Northern Expedition.

On April 12, Chiang Kai-shek staged a coup d'état, and the Wuhan Revolutionary Political Axe prepared to go east to crusade against Chiang Kai-shek. Ordered Pang Bingxun's troops to go south immediately. Pang Bingxun ostensibly agreed to go south, but secretly he drove his troops to Kaifeng, defected to Feng Yuxiang's Second Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, renamed the 20th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and participated in the famous Eastern Henan War, which was appreciated by Lu Zhonglin, the commander-in-chief of Feng Yuxiang's Right Route Army. In imitation of the Northwest Army's method of managing the army, Pang Bingxun conducted a reorganization and training of his subordinate units, so that the appearance of the troops was completely new and their combat effectiveness was also improved. At the beginning of the 29th, Pang Bingxun led his troops to return to Anyang for garrison, and was reduced to the 14th Provisional Division of the Army, with two brigades under its jurisdiction, and Pang Bingxun served as the division commander.

After a while, Pang Bingxun was too addicted to smoking, put down the smoking gun, stretched comfortably on the couch, sat up and said: "Sun Dianying, this bandit, is more enjoyable than us, and the taste of this cigarette paste prepared by himself is good. ”

(To be continued)