The smoke of gunpowder that lasted for more than four hours cleared, and Qiaoyi Town, located in the northern suburbs of Changsha, was already in ruins, and the corpses and fires left between the positions of the two armies felt desolate under the shadow of the remnant sun.

Qiaoyi Town, which is surrounded by three mountains and one water, has always been the throat leading to Yuezhou and Xiangyin, can be called the north gate of Changsha, the north-south railway, highway runs through the whole town, the Beiyang Army and the Hunan Army have a total of more than 30,000 soldiers in four divisions, and have been fighting here for four days and nights.

Seventeen attacks in four days and nights were repulsed, and more than 5,000 shells fired from 34 artillery pieces could not shake the Hunan army's defensive line, and the Beiyang Army, which had been overwhelming all the way and attacked everything, had to stop its advance after paying the price of more than 3,000 casualties.

In the face of the brave Hunan army that went forward at all costs, Zhang Jingyao, who was on the front line to supervise the battle at night, could only sigh that the Hunan army was an outlaw, and secretly admired Cheng Qian, the former enemy commander of the Hunan army.

Cao Kun, who was in charge of the overall situation in Yuezhou, could not sit still, and after receiving the news that the whole line was blocked, he rode his horse south overnight, and the next morning, accompanied by Zhang Jingyao, Fan Guozhang and others, entered the frontline position.

Cao Kun took the lead, climbed the millstone pass in front of the artillery position, and after drilling into the carefully constructed front-line headquarters, he immediately raised his binoculars to carefully observe the Hunan army's defense line, and Zhang Jingyao and Fan Guozhang, who followed left and right, hurriedly glanced at each other, and invariably showed a guilty wry smile.

The position from Doujiashan to Jinjiazui, which is 3.5 kilometers ahead, is now unrecognizable. This two-kilometer defensive position, which lay in front of the Beiyang Army, had completely lost its normal appearance, and was full of charred black dirt and burning wooden stakes, and the area of more than 100 meters in front of the position was densely packed with the corpses of the two officers and soldiers who had not had time to rein.

Faced with such a tragic scene, Cao Kun secretly took a cool breath, his face looked much better when he put down the binoculars, and he no longer blamed Zhang Jingyao and Fan Guozhang for their ineffective attacks, but comforted the two old friends and subordinates very understandingly:

"I really didn't expect that the resistance of the Hunan army would be so resolute, and the Hunan army could still hold on to such an extent, and it was still unyielding to repair the fortifications, which shows its determination to resist to the death. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of an artillery regiment on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River in the west, I really don't want the brothers to pay a cruel price here and fail to attack the fortified positions for four consecutive days. ”

The burly Fan Guozhang finally breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to launch a jail:

"Commander, the Hunan army's position is surrounded by mountains in the east and a big river in the west, and the attack surface is extremely narrow, even if our army has the advantage of strength and artillery fire, it will be difficult to put it away!

"The two elite divisions of the Hunan army are all placed opposite us, and the middle and eastern fronts are definitely insufficient, as long as they can break through any of them, the entire defense line will surely collapse, but why has our army's middle and eastern roads not progressed for a long time? Could it be that the other three divisions and one mixed brigade are also in such big trouble as us? ”

Cao Kun waved his hand: "Don't count on the east road, the Sichuan army occupying Liuyang has been dispatched, they are swaggering on the side, their strength is as high as **1,000 people, not only has many light and heavy machine guns, but also powerful mortars, its strength is far beyond our expectations, where does Feng Huanzhang, who is already half-hearted, dare to take a step forward?" ”

"How so? Didn't you say that there was only one regiment in the Liuyang Sichuan Army? Could it be that the Sichuan army is really going to wade into this pool of troubled waters? Zhang Jingyao was taken aback.

Fan Guozhang was worried: "It's troublesome!" ”

Cao Kun nodded solemnly, drilled out of the headquarters, looked at the Hunan army position in front of him, and raised his big hand to point to the west:

"Actually, I suspect that the artillery regiment that appeared on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River was the reinforcements invited by the Hunan army, you all know, how many cannons did the entire Hunan army have more than 100,000 people? Even if you count the old-fashioned 57 guns and 37 anti-aircraft guns from ten years ago, there are 30 guns that are considered to be the top of the sky!

"However, the artillery regiment that suddenly appeared on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River the day before yesterday actually erected the barrels of twenty-four Krupp 75 field guns, looking at the two lakes and the surrounding provinces, who else could there be besides the Sichuan army? Except for Xiao Yimin, who still has this family background? That's why I order you to attack at all costs!

"Only by defeating the Hunan army in front of you and approaching Changsha can we gain the initiative in the overall situation, otherwise no one can predict the sinister consequences when the Sichuan army moves!"

"Huh!? Speaking of which, even if we defeat the Cheng Qianbu in front of us, the battle situation is not clear, and we may be hit by the superior artillery fire of the Sichuan army at any time? ”

When Zhang Jingyao heard this, he was taken aback, where would he have thought that the road ahead would be so difficult.

Cao Kun nodded a little frustratedly: "What you are worried about is very likely to happen!" The sudden appearance of the Sichuan army made the entire battlefield situation suddenly virtual and real, and it was difficult to grasp, and every step we took must be cautious. ”

Fan Guozhang couldn't help but hesitate: "What should I do next?" Are we going to back down? Even if we can't take the position held by the submarine in front of us for a while, we can contain nearly half of the Hunan army's troops, and the middle of the Xiong Chief of Staff is in charge, isn't there still two divisions? Why can't I still get a green hill shop? ”

Cao Kun reluctantly explained:

"Qingshanpu has been taken down, the two brigades of the Hunan army did not stick to Qingshanpu, but took the initiative to retreat ten miles, and built a strong fortification between Tianlei Mountain and Yangjiashan, the chief of staff did not dare to be careless when he saw this, and sent seven teams of men and horses to reconnoiter in a row, and found that there was an additional number of Xiangxi garrison brigade in the Hunan army."

Zhang Jingyao and Fan Guozhang were stunned again.

Thinking of the close relationship between Chen Quzhen, the king of Xiangxi, and Xiao Yimin, the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan army, the two immediately understood that the entire front had been blocked.

Although the Beiyang Army still has three and a half divisions of reserves that can be transferred at any time, the invincible prestige of the Xinhai Houchuan Army is really scruples.

What's more, so far, I only know that an artillery regiment suddenly appeared on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River in the west, and there is the ** Qianchuan Army that blocked the advance of Feng Yuxiang's troops, but what about the hidden ones in the shadows and invisible? How many Sichuan troops have entered the battlefield? Where are they hiding now, ready to deliver a fatal blow?

Cao Kun and his entourage silently returned to the former enemy headquarters set up 10 kilometers behind, and along the way the generals were worried, having fought for so many years, they had never encountered such a strange situation in front of them.

Thinking of the Battle of Wanxian a few years ago, as well as Xiao Yimin's scheming, ruthless and vicious way of using troops in the two Sichuan-Yunnan Wars, Cao Kun and others felt even heavier

Twenty-four hours later, eighteen kilometers northwest of Changsha, Guansheng Temple in the south of Wangcheng County.

Cheng Qian, who returned from the front, surrounded by more than ten adjutants and guards, rode his horse to the temple, turned over and dismounted and followed his engineer company commander, strode towards the riverside grove, and many officers and soldiers sitting on the ground saw Cheng Qian, and hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Cheng Qian strode to the gun emplacement at the edge of the woods, carefully looked at the swarthy gun barrel pointing to the sky in front of him, and then stepped forward to touch the gun carriage and wheels, knocked hard, and couldn't help laughing:

"Clever, clever! More than 20 wooden cannons frightened Cao Kun and Zhang Jingyao, haha! Company Commander Liu, where are the brothers in the Sichuan Army Engineer Battalion? I have to thank them properly. ”

The sturdy engineer company commander hurriedly replied: "Report to the division, the brothers of the Sichuan army left before dawn, saying that they were going to the front line of Tianlei Mountain. ”

"Oh? Who's coming the order? Cheng Qian asked.

"It was the order of Commander Chen of the Xiangxi Garrison Force, and Chief of Staff Li of the Second Garrison Division personally came to pick up the people." The engineer company commander replied respectfully.

Cheng Qian nodded and didn't say anything more, turned around, ordered to be strictly vigilant, strictly prevent leaks, and then rushed to Wangcheng to meet with the garrison commander Chen Quzhen.

Along the way, the Sichuan Army Engineer Battalion used more than 20 Krupp artillery pieces made of wood to scare off the Beiyang Army has been lingering in Cheng Qian's mind, he never thought that the Sichuan Army's engineer level has developed to such an extent, a camouflage artillery array that is suspicious of the formation, is so realistically constructed, and the effect is so huge, which Cheng Qian never thought of before.

Referring to the excellent performance of an infantry brigade of the Xiangxi Garrison Division in the previous defensive battle, Cheng Qian could only sigh secretly, and at the same time was deeply worried about the situation after this battle.

However, the two divisions of the Sichuan Army have already entered the battlefield, and it is too late to regret it at this time, even if it is really easy to invite God and send God, it is not so much to care about, and the current Beiyang Army stops attacking and shrinks on the whole line is only temporary, and when the three divisions of the Beiyang Army that are moving south arrive at the battlefield, it is the real test for everyone.

(To be continued)