The effect of Yangzhou's victory was far beyond everyone's expectations, and the ensuing series of military actions made various forces at home and abroad jaw-dropping:

At the swearing-in meeting held on 1 May, Commander-in-Chief Chiang, who held the authority of Nanjing's political axe, solemnly announced: General He Yingqin was appointed commander-in-chief of the First Route Army, leading the 2nd, 21st, and 22nd divisions of the First Army, and General Zhou Fengqi's 26th Army, General Lai Shihuang's 14th Army, and General Cao Wanshun's 17th Army to cross the river to the north. General Li Zongren assumed the post of commander-in-chief of the Third Route Army, and led his troops under his command Xia Wei Division of the Seventh Army, Liu Dingjia Division of the 15th Army, General Wang Tianpei's Tenth Army, General Wang Pu's 27th Army, and General Bai Wenwei's 33rd Army to quickly move north to attack the Chuzhou line; The Second Route Army, with Commander-in-Chief Chiang as the commander-in-chief and General Bai Chongxi as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, was under the jurisdiction of the 40th Army of General He Yaozu, the 1st and 3rd Divisions of the First Army, the 37th Army of An Yi Reading Division, General Chen Tiaoyuan, and the 6th Army under the acting command of General Yang Jie.

Wuhan reacted strongly to this, and after announcing in April the dismissal of Chiang Kai-shek from his posts as chairman of the Military Commission, head of the Military Department, and president of the Whampoa Military Academy, it again announced the dismissal of Chiang Kai-shek from his post as commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the name of Wang Ching-wei, chairman of the Kuomintang, and at the same time appointed General Feng Yuxiang, who was far away in Shaanxi, as commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, and Yan Xishan, commander of the Jinsui Army, and General Tang Shengzhi, whose military strength had grown rapidly, as deputy commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army.

Who knew that Yan Xishan, who was old and cunning, did not buy it, and refused the appointment of the Wuhan political axe on the grounds of "deep fear of the spread of the red disaster", which made Wang Jingwei and Tang Shengzhi embarrassed and made a big red face, but Chiang Kai-shek was very happy, and immediately secretly ordered Kong Xiangxi, a chaebol whose ancestral home was Shanxi, to set off from Shanghai and secretly go to Shanxi to discuss with Yan Xishan.

At this moment, there was suddenly the shocking news that Chiang Kai-shek was going to disarm and incorporate the Second Army, and the officers and men of the Second Army were shocked when they heard the news, and all left Jiangbei in panic and drove to Wuhan, and Cheng Qian, the commander of the Nanjing garrison, did not know if he was tired of the "Qing Party" movement that killed people, and secretly responded to the call of Wuhan, and hurriedly led the most elite 17th Division under his command to leave Nanjing and throw himself into the Wuhan camp before taking the oath, and then the 19th Division of the Sixth Army stationed in Nanjing was quickly reorganized into the Sixth Army under the leadership of Yang Jie. Since then, it has been attached to the wing of Commander-in-Chief Chiang.

Chiang Kai-shek, who had received the support of Li Zongrengui's army and the military departments of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, completely tore his face with the Wuhan side, openly denied the legal status of the Wuhan side, set up a separate central committee, and promoted Hu Hanmin as the chairman of the National Political Axe Committee and chairman of the Central Political Conference, and went toe-to-toe with the Wuhan National Political Axe led by Wang Jingwei and Sun Ke, and announced to the whole country that he would immediately lead his troops to the north to eliminate the reactionary warlords, defend Mr. Zhongshan's legacy, and complete the unfinished Northern Expedition of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. For a time, it won the favor and support of many neutral forces.

Since then, the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary Army have been completely split into two camps, and countless Whampoa comrades have since embarked on the road of fighting in the same room, and in the disputes of the next few decades, they have performed one historical tragedy after another of heartache and love-hate.

An Yi didn't know how much significance and promotion the Yangzhou victory he planned and achieved single-handedly had on the current situation, he only knew that after his reading group was upgraded to a reading force, he had endless things to do. As soon as he arrived at the Nanjing Grand Mansion Hotel, he called Chen Lifu directly, and Chen Lifu promised to go to the Grand Mansion Hotel to meet Pan Henian.

An Yi put down the phone, drove to the Nanjing Political Axe Compound, and went to the military headquarters of the First Army left behind to submit the preparation report, still respectfully and respectfully asked to see the military minister as before, talked with General Jiang Guangding, deputy army commander, He Yushu, director of the political department, and other commanders for an hour and a half, reported in detail the expansion of the headquarters and the grim situation it was facing, and sincerely implored the military department to give great help and guidance to the young self and the reading teacher in all aspects.

An Yi's sincere attitude and humble style of not being arrogant or impatient won the appreciation and trust of the superiors, and he readily approved the expansion plan of the reader.

General Jiang Guangding and his colleagues discussed for a moment, and immediately decided to allocate 8,000 sets of military uniforms, a regiment of light weapons and equipment, and corresponding ammunition to support the expansion of the Reading Regiment to be upgraded to a division.

At the end of the report, the old commander He Yushu sent An Yi out of the door, and earnestly told An Yi to go to the manager of the General Headquarters as soon as possible and the old commander Miao Bin to help, and get more equipment and funds for the recruitment office and non-commissioned officer training base in old Nanchang, and told An Yi that he had determined the candidate for the party representative of the Reading Division, that is, Liu Shoujiang, a 26-year-old major general who is currently serving in the Political Department of the Military Department, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu, joined the Kuomintang in Shanghai at the age of 17, graduated from the Yueben Non-commissioned Officer School last year, and gave up the opportunity to enter the Yueben Army University to continue his studies. He resolutely returned to China and followed Commander-in-Chief Chiang to participate in the Northern Expedition, and was a rare talent who understood both military and political affairs.

An Yi bid farewell to He Yushu and drove to Xiyuan, the official residence of Commander-in-Chief Chiang, with his adjutant Shen Fengdao and chief of guard Lin Yaodong.

As soon as the car stopped on the grass next to the garden, Wang Shihe, the commander-in-chief's chief of guard, had already greeted him with a smile, led An Yi into the courtyard, and came to the attendant room to wait.

Soon, Yu Jishi, Kang Ze and other Huangpu senior brothers, who learned of An Yi's arrival, all gathered around the attendant room, congratulating An Yi on his promotion to division commander, and asking An Yi to put two tables of wine to celebrate. An Yi agreed without thinking.

The four or five brothers failed to say a few words, and when the secretary came to inform Yu Ji, the principal invited An Yi, An Yi hurriedly stood up, straightened the brim of his hat, sorted out his discipline, followed Yu Jishi to the door of Chiang Kai-shek's office, paused for a moment, walked into the inner hall to report loudly, and saluted Ge Jingen and Yin Zusheng, who were sitting on the sofa inside, with a smile.

At this time, Commander-in-Chief Chiang and others were suffering from the delay caused by the two divisions of Dai Yue of the Second Army fleeing Jiangbei and abandoning the siege of Chuzhou, and it was difficult for them to make a choice for a while in response to the telegrams sent by Gu Zhutong and He Yingqin asking for war at the same time.

Commander-in-Chief Jiang motioned for An Yi to sit on the stool opposite the desk, thought about it, and pushed the telegrams of Gu Zhutong and He Yingqin in front of An Yi:

"Let's take a look first, when it comes to the battle situation faced by your new editor, your instructors Gu Mosan and He Jingzhi have their own reasons, and they are also two completely different plans formulated around the central goal Jinpu Road, tell me your opinion after reading it."

An Yi read the two long messages in detail, pondered for a moment, and euphemistically put forward his opinion:

"Principal, Chief He's plan to capture Hai'an with the main force and quickly go north to Yancheng is very good, the student inferred: Now Nantong has been in the middle of the attack of the two divisions of our First Army and the 14th Army of General Lai Shihuang, the enemy defending Nantong will definitely respond to each other with the enemy defending Jingjiang, and adopt the strategy of resistance layer by layer, Chief He plans to use the two divisions of General Zhou Fengqi's 26th Army and the 14th and 21st divisions of our army, abandon Nantong, and go straight to Hai'an along the coast of the East Road, it is estimated that he wants to break through Hai'an in one fell swoop and attack Yancheng, which is heavily guarded by the enemy. Indirectly formed a roundabout encirclement of Zhang Zongchang's troops in Taizhou, Xinghua and Gaoyou, forcing Zhang Zongchang's Zhilu coalition army to withdraw northward from Nantong, Jiangyin, Taizhou, and Gaoyou, and retreat to the first line of Huai'an and Xuzhou. From an overall point of view, it is indeed a good strategic plan to occupy most of the areas south and east of Taizhou and Gaoyou to Huai'an at the minimum cost, and to boost morale and deter the enemy. ”

"Not bad! Good eye! You can see the entire strategic purpose of the old commander He Jingzhi, which is very rare, and it proves that your military level has entered a new realm, and it lives up to my trust and expectations for you, very good! ”

Chiang Kai-shek stood up happily, and when he saw An Yi standing up politely, he waved his hand to signal him to sit down, took a few steps and turned around expectantly and asked:

"So, what do you think of Gu Mo's local battle plan to annihilate the enemy in Taizhou and cut off the retreat of the enemy on the front line of Jingjiang?"

An Yi hesitated slightly, and finally mustered up his courage in Chiang Kai-shek's encouraging gaze, and said loudly:

"Principal, the students believe that in the initial battle of the Northern Expedition on the whole front, we should not be obsessed with the occupation of one city and one place, but should take the annihilation of the enemy's living forces as the greatest goal.

If the students' speculation is correct, at least within a week, the Third Route Army of the left flank of Chief Li Zongren will not quickly attack the Bengbu line supervised by Zhang Xueliang, and can only divide the troops into three routes on the basis of taking Hefei, Huainan and Fuyang, and carry out strategic persecution on Xuzhou.

Judging from the fact that General Li Zongren has only sent one division under his command to participate in the Northern Expedition, he will definitely be cautious step by step, no longer doing bloody battles like attacking Hesheng Bridge, but waiting for the Central Route Army under the command of General Bai Chongxi entrusted by the principal to capture Chuzhou, and then advance together.

In view of this, the students are more inclined to Commander Gu's plan, as long as Commander Gu's third division and the student's reading division contain the enemy troops on the front line of Taizhou and Gaoyou, they will be able to create a great opportunity for the First Route Army of the East Road under the command of Commander He to create a great opportunity to encircle and annihilate more than 20,000 defenders in Jiangyin and Nantong, and 70,000 people will encircle and annihilate 20,000 people, and it will be completed in three days at most, and after three days, the enemy in Taizhou and Gaoyou will retreat without a fight, and retreat to the Huai'an line. In the entire Xuzhou campaign launched in the latter step, the Eastern Route Army, dominated by our army, will be able to relieve a lot of pressure. ”

Chiang Kai-shek stared at An Yi's eyes in great surprise, looked at An Yi cramped and uneasy, and quickly stood up and stood solemnly, not daring to move.

Sitting quietly in the corner, the chief of staff Ge Jingen and Yin Zusheng were shocked by An Yi's vision and strategy, they both saw Li Zongren's true intention to secretly preserve his strength in the high-profile Northern Expedition, but they both tacitly understood each other and never mentioned it, they did not expect that An Yi, a tiger general who was famous for his ability to attack and defend well, would have such a lofty strategic vision, and could also put forward a clear and definite strategic proposition from the current tangled and complicated battle situation - should not be obsessed with the occupation of one city and one place, but should be the greatest goal of annihilating the enemy's living forces!

How could this farsightedness and magnificence not make Chiang Kai-shek and the two senior staff members secretly amazed?

"I'm sorry...... The students are arrogant and ignorant, and ask the principal to punish ......"

An Yi couldn't see the joy and anger from Chiang Kai-shek's deep gaze and uncertain face, so he lowered his head in fright, hurriedly admitted his mistakes, and secretly regretted that he had said too much, and he regretted that he had not listened to the advice of the old way, forbearance and tactfulness, and made such an extremely embarrassing and worrying situation.

Chiang Kai-shek raised his head and sighed, walked past An Yi, who was nervous, came to Ge Jingen and Yin Zusheng, motioned for the two who stood up to sit down, and then asked kindly:

"What do you think of An Yi's opinion just now?"

Yin Zu glanced at Ge Jingen, stood solemnly, and replied in a low voice: "Vision, practical!" ”

"That's the opinion of my subordinates."

Ge Jingen also stood up and said respectfully: "The subordinates also heard what General An Yi didn't say, he said, '70,000 people encircled and annihilated 20,000 people in three days at most', in fact, he wanted to say that there was no need for so many people at all, Brother Jing could leave two divisions and General Lai Shihuang's headquarters, and besiege the enemy in Nantong and Jingjiang with the third division of Brother Mo and An Yi's reading division, and more than 40,000 soldiers from other departments could completely follow Brother Jing's plan to break away from the Jiangbei battlefield, capture Hai'an, and point at Yancheng.

The reason why An Yi didn't say it clearly was that his subordinates thought that he was just modest, it seemed that he had already thought about the entire current battle situation, and it was estimated that he also had a good way to encircle and annihilate the enemy in Jingjiang and Nantong. Although he is young, he is indeed a rare handsome talent, if the commander-in-chief agrees, he will transfer An Yi to the headquarters after the fight in Xuzhou, so that he may be able to give full play to his strengths. ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction: "I heard it too...... You immediately summarize this revision plan, and then send a telegram to He Jingzhi and Gu Mosan as soon as possible to take action, the faster we act, the more we can seize the initiative. Other things, let's talk about it later, he is still young, it would be better to exercise at the grassroots level for a few more years. ”

"Yes!"

Ge Jingen and Yin Zu saluted and left, and walked past An Yi and patted his arm affectionately to show their approval.

Chiang Kai-shek strolled back to the wide desk and sat down, holding his chin in his hand, and quietly looked at An Yi for a while: "How is your reading teacher expansion work going?" ”

"Back to the principal, the 2,000 recruits from Nanchang to Zhenjiang are still on the way, and the students are worried about fighting at any time, so they only carry out simple deployment on the basis of ensuring combat effectiveness, and enrich the combat units and model battalions of the original regiment into a reading regiment, and now they have built fortifications on the line from Jiangdu to Taizhou, and they are strictly guarded, and the other battalions are basically merged as a whole, which will not affect the military operations that may be launched at any time, as long as the principal or Commander He gives an order, they can be pulled into the battlefield." An Yi replied in a low voice.

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction, took out a list from the drawer, and gently put it in front of An Yi:

"It seems that you have already been fully prepared for battle, very well, I am satisfied! This is some of the equipment that I have added for your new Reading Force, which is completely equipped according to the existing equipment of your model battalion, and is estimated to meet most of your requirements, and has been shipped and will soon arrive in Zhenjiang, so you don't need to waste precious time running in person.

However, you can't stay too long in Nanjing City, just say hello to a few senior brothers outside and go back, the situation is pressing, the battle on the east road is about to begin, and your reader will be under a lot of pressure, and if you don't get it right, you will have to suffer from both sides.

In such a complicated situation at present, for the sake of the overall situation, you are not afraid of hardships and dangers, and you have taken on your shoulders the heavy task of containing 20,000 enemy troops on the front line of Taizhou. Go back and do a good job, if you have any requirements, send me a telegram, and when you hit Xuzhou, I will personally meet you meritorious people and give you awards in person. ”

"Yes! Students will never live up to the principal's expectations! ”

An Yi looked grateful and inexplicable, slowly raised his hand and saluted solemnly, took the list with both hands and turned around on the spot, and strode away with firm steps.

Chiang Kai-shek stood up and walked to the window, looked at the new sprouts in the courtyard, and exhaled a long breath. At present, the power of the various ministries is gradually gaining momentum, and the people's hearts are fluctuating and the political situation is confusing, he has to make concessions and compromises in exchange for his position as the commander in the Nanjing political axe, and has to consume the strength of the various departments through the Northern Expedition, and gradually consolidate his advantages, but now all the ministries are preserving their strength, and even the general He Yingqin, who is in his heart, is actually trying his best to avoid the consumption of the troops in his hands, so as to further establish his absolute dominance in the First Army, which makes Chiang Kai-shek secretly vigilant, It seemed helpless again.

Since the purging of the party, generals such as Xue Yue and Zheng Zheng under Chiang Kai-shek and groups of promising military heroes have left angrily, and the combat effectiveness of all units of the First Army has dropped sharply.

At this moment, Chiang Kai-shek, how much he hopes that a few more students like An Yi will share their worries! But so far, An Yi has not shown any political orientation at all, which makes Chiang Kai-shek secretly worried in his heart, which is why he has not vigorously promoted and appointed An Yi.

Although from the analysis of An Yi's excessive pursuit of money and tolerance of his subordinates visiting the Jiyuan and begging for multiple wives, An Yi definitely does not belong to the kind of person who is willing to be poor for the sake of [***] beliefs, nor will he live a puritanical and rigorous life, but An Yi has not made any remarks against [***], nor has he suppressed and purged any red elements in the garrison area, which has made Chiang Kai-shek always haunted and difficult to let go.

"Report!"

Chen Lifu took the door after the report, walked to Chiang Kai-shek's side, reported in a low voice the meeting with Pan Henian, and then truthfully said his thoughts:

“…… According to the analysis of his subordinates, Xiao Yi already knew the identity of Pan Henian, and he must have been closely monitoring him secretly, and the reason why he did not tell his subordinates clearly was probably because of the good relationship between the principal and Feng Jingyao's predecessors. After Jiang Luming was escorted back to Nanjing, in order to survive, he also confessed to Pan Henian, and his subordinates were about to call Xiao Yi to inquire, but he didn't expect him to send someone over. ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded and said: "An Yi is very smart, he has room to do things, and he didn't make the matter of Pan Henian a detail public, and handled it very well, otherwise he would let those people with ill intentions take advantage of it and wantonly abuse and attack us." That's it, don't pursue this matter anymore, you can close the case by shooting those people surnamed Jiang, don't let Pan Henian be implicated, let him be a low-key person after returning to Zhenjiang, don't trouble us anymore, I will inform Brother Huaide (Feng Jingyao) about this matter, let him discipline him strictly. ”

"Yes!"

Chen Lifu finished answering and walked to the door.

"Slow down."

Chiang Kai-shek suddenly thought of something, beckoned Chen Lifu, returned to his position and sat down, sighed long, raised his head and issued a will rather painfully:

"You go to the party headquarters now, discuss it with your brother, and then, in the name of An Yi and the reader, publish a manifesto of the Northern Expedition and a political statement in the newspaper, indicating that An Yi and the 9,000 soldiers under his command are firm in the ideals of Sanming and righteousness, firm in the revolutionary will of the Northern Expedition, and criticize [***] for the crime of disrupting the political situation and splitting the revolution, how to write your ideas, your position must be firm, your wording must be clear, and you must let the whole of China know that An Yi is a staunch member of the Kuomintang, and he stands firmly in our Nanjing political axe, Stand on my side of Jiang someone. ”

Chen Lifu hesitated: "This ...... Xiao Yi is a person who is soft on the outside and strong on the inside, should he let his subordinates rush over to mobilize him, and he will ...... it himself"

"No need! Just do what I want! I know An Yi better than you, if you don't force him to make a choice, he will still try to play left and right like a businessman, and he will not be offended, maybe it will give our opponent a chance.

In this world, it is impossible to survive by duplicity, he is very confused at this point, rather than letting him choose until the moment of crisis, it is better for us to choose for him now, and everything will be easy to do if he breaks off his vain retreat, he will not have any violent reaction, at most he will not be happy in his heart, just like when he was suppressed and excluded by some people in the army for a long time.

You can rest assured, even if he is not happy, he will take into account the overall situation, and will still continue the Northern Expedition to fight every battle, you don't have any worries at this point, even if he misunderstands me, I believe that he will understand one day.

Go ahead, do it immediately, I hope to see An Yi's statement and An Yi's Northern Expedition declaration in tomorrow's newspaper, the sooner the better! Tomorrow, the revised East Road Battle will be launched, this is a battle that Bai Jiansheng did not participate in planning, but a big battle that was temporarily revised according to An Yi's good opinions, and I am very confident in this battle!

Therefore, the sooner the world understands An Yi's position, the better it will be for us, and after one or two victories in a row, An Yi's prestige will be greater, and the role of an exemplary role will be greater, understand? ”

Chiang Kai-shek asked, staring into Chen Lifu's eyes.

"Got it! The subordinates will do it immediately......"

(To be continued)