General Zhu Peide, who had just returned from Nanjing, was very annoyed, and he was extremely angry at the announcement jointly issued by the Nanjing Special Committee and the Military Commission, and after suppressing Zhou Fengqi, the commander of the 26th Army of the Zhejiang Department, and forcing him to resign, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi suddenly arrested Lai Shihuang, commander of the 14th Army, who was being treated in Shanghai, and dismantled the 14th Army in a blink of an eye. Appointing the veteran Niu Yongjian as chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Department, Gu Zhutong, the former commander of the Third Division of the First Army, immediately formed a brand-new Ninth Army, and no one took the Ninth Army under Zhu Peide's command seriously.

In August and September, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi expanded the Seventh Army into the Seventh Army with Xia Wei as the commander, and stayed in the old nest in Guangxi and were pursuing Ye Ting, Huang Shaohong's 15th Army under He Long's Department, Bai Chongxi's General Tao Jun's Eighteenth Army and Hu Zongduo's Nineteenth Army. He personally served as the commander of the 13th Army, and the more Zhu Peide thought about it, the more worried he became, and the more he thought about it, the more frightened he felt, and all the generals under his command also saw the deep crisis.

The generals and colonels in the Nanchang City Overseer's Mansion gathered, and everyone showed a nervous and uneasy look on their faces, they sometimes whispered to each other, sometimes turned their heads to look at a map hanging high on the wall and pondered silently, and sometimes three or five people gathered together to start a heated discussion...... It turned out that these generals and schools urgently gathered under the call of Zhu Peide to discuss how to deal with the complex and grim situation in front of them.

At this time, the guns on the Jiangxi-Guangdong border in the south continued, and the Hunan-Jiangxi border in the west also shot loudly, in full swing, and one by one the numbers of the Red Army units appeared in the sky, and [***], who realized the importance of the gun, finally embarked on the road of armed seizure of power.

Tang Shengzhi's army in the upper reaches of the river sharpened its knives and occupied important places such as Anqing, Wuhu, Lu'an, and Hefei, and would continue to advance towards Nanjing at any time if it was not satisfied; In the north, Sun Chuanfang, who suffered heavy losses, took advantage of the mutual suspicion between Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan and the opportunity of the two armies to sleep in the same bed and dream, and with the strong support of Zhang Zuolin, he once again gathered Zhang Zongchang's army and launched a fierce attack on the revolutionary army advancing into Jiangbei; Shanghai in the east has also changed its master, Bai Chongxi took office at the end of August as commander of the Songhu garrison, less than a month later, Zhang Dingfan, chief of staff under his command, became the mayor of Shanghai, the original commander-in-chief Jiang appointed Yang Hu and mayor Zhang Qun have already dispersed, the wind in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is rumoring, the undercurrent is surging, the chaebol in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has tightened credit, and the European and American powers are eyeing each other, and a crisis may break out at any time.

In such a chaotic and dangerous situation, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi had no scruples about canceling Zhu Peide's Ninth Army, relying on their own rapidly expanding military strength and political position that seemed to be becoming more and more stable.

He Yingqin, who had already joined the Xingui camp, was complacent after owning Liu Zhi's First Army, Gu Zhutong's Ninth Army, and Qian Dajun's 32nd Army, and completely obeyed the orders of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, and ordered Qian Dajun's 32nd Army to attack Ye Ting and He Long's troops in eastern Guangdong, while he commanded the remaining Xiong Shihui divisions of the 1st Army, 9th Army, 26th Army and 14th Army to engage in fierce battles with Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang's troops on the front line of Jiangbei, and reported his righteous deeds and battle situation to the whole country every day. However, the main force of Li Zongren's Third Route Army and the four armies remained on the front line in southern Anhui and central Anhui, in case Tang Shengzhi's troops in the direction of Wuhan were desperate, while Bai Chongxi's three armies and two divisions of the Second Route Army were floating and elusive, which indeed made it difficult for Zhu Peide and his generals to sleep and eat peacefully because they occupied the fertile land of the Poyang Lake Plain and owned important places in Jiujiang and Hukou.

The meeting presided over by Zhu Peide lasted from morning to 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and there was still no clue, and the generals under his command had different opinions, and the disputes continued, and the faction represented by Jin Handing suggested that they should fight back and never back down, and the faction represented by Wang Jun emphasized that the situation was complicated, advocated Taoguang being obscure, and maintaining the status quo, and no one could convince anyone, so that Zhu Peide could not make a decision for a long time.

In the end, Zhu Peide seemed to suddenly remember something, announced the dismissal of the meeting, and immediately took his confidants to rush Jin Handing and Wang Jun to Lao Nanchang by car.

On the wide field of the old Nanchang non-commissioned officer training base, the football team of the teaching brigade led by An Yi was playing a fierce game with the football team of the special brigade under the command of Ding Zhicheng.

After more than two months of football, many brothers' kicking skills have improved rapidly, from the original ignorance of offside and what part to use to play the ball to the development of An Yi, who is close to the first in technology, this short process often makes An Yi full of emotion.

Zhu Peide's car slowly drove into the gate of the base in the salute of the sentry, and soon after it stopped on the side of the court, An Yi, who was sweating profusely, ran to Zhu Peide and others to say hello, Zhu Peide said with a smile:

"I heard that as long as it doesn't rain, you will rush here every afternoon to play a game, and you have a leisurely and comfortable life, I really envy you!"

An Yi smiled and shook his head: "The juniors have too many mundane affairs, and they don't have time to train with the brothers, so they have to come here every day to sweat...... Uncle De, if you have time, how about we go to the old Sichuan restaurant and sit down? The younger generation also wants to hear what good news Uncle De brought back from Nanjing. ”

"Okay! I just have something to talk to you about, so I can't have a drink, I haven't tasted Sichuan food for a month. Zhu Peide readily agreed, let An Yi wipe his sweat and get into his car, and drove to Lao Hantou's tavern together.

Entering the private room on the second floor and sitting down to drink tea, Zhu Peide immediately told An Yi about the situation in Nanjing and the deprivation of his Ninth Army, Jin Handing and Wang Jun also expressed their thoughts separately, and implored An Yi to share his views.

An Yi said in surprise: "The Third Army originally had more than 33,000 people, the Ninth Army had just been joined by 6,000 Yunnan soldiers, and it had become more than 18,000 people in two divisions, and there were three new regiments with 4,500 people trained in the Nanchang North School Field.

Judging from the current situation of the Gui family making enemies on all sides, they will never dare to touch the predecessors, at least they don't dare before they beat Tang Shengzhi, but if the Third Army endures it, it will be difficult to say, don't say what Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi will think, just say that Tang Shengzhi, with his always domineering style, if he sees his predecessors swallowing their anger, they will definitely feel that there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, and they will not draw gourds to take the opportunity to occupy Jiujiang and Hukou?

As long as Jiujiang and Hukou are lost, Nanchang will lose the barrier in the north, whether it is from the water or land, it can be easily beaten. If you don't fight, you have to leave Jiangxi in disgrace, if you can't bear to fight angrily, it's better to seize the opportunity now, so that everyone doesn't dare to despise us! ”

"How do you seize the moment?" Wang Jun's face changed, and he asked eagerly.

An Yi pondered for a moment and smiled: "For example, if the junior is in the situation of the Third Army, the junior will announce in a high-profile manner that under the encouragement of the revolutionary situation, the officers and men of the Third Army who have been given the opportunity to recuperate and recuperate will be ready to fight and wait for the day, and will hold high the banner of Sanming Cooking Righteousness to inherit the legacy of Mr. Zhongshan, and strive to make all preparations to cross the river and the Northern Expedition in the shortest possible time."

In response to the call of General Feng Yuxiang and General Yan Xishan for the Northern Expedition, and respecting the military adjustment opinions of the Nanjing Special Committee, it was decided to follow the flexible and appropriate method of General Li Jishen and General Zhang Fakui in dividing the Fourth Army into two and forming the Fourth Army and the New Fourth Army. The Third Army was divided into two and a new Third Army was established on the basis of retaining the Third Army. ”

Zhu Peide was taken aback: "You are ruthless enough!" Two armies were brought out at once, and this movement was a bit too big, right? That's a big impact! ”

"Haha! Since someone else has made a move, the seniors have to take it, right? What's more, there is a precedent for dividing troops and expanding the army, the law does not blame the public, and no one dares to favor one over the other, rather than dodging and dodging and being in a dilemma, it is better to face the difficulties,-for-tat, and it is best to beat him stunned at once.

The younger generation thinks that as long as they do this, they will definitely make everyone stunned and impressed, and they no longer dare to underestimate the friendly and peaceful Third Army, which has always valued peace, will sigh that the Third Army has finally risen after two years of silence!

Secondly, since the Commander-in-Chief Chiang went into the field, the Third Army has not received a penny of military supplies, and every military uniform and every bullet has been borne by the seniors and the brothers of the Third Army themselves, so what is there to worry about? ”

An Yi said this, full of confidence: "Now Jiangxi is developing rapidly, Nanchang area merchants gathered, in the past three months, the taxes have increased by two to three percent, and to the greatest extent to plug the tungsten ore smuggling loopholes, we have used bandits and local riots as an excuse to control the trade and mining in one fell swoop, resulting in tungsten ore in just two months The price of three percent is still priceless, what are the predecessors and brothers worried about?"

If you are worried about the lack of guns and ammunition, the juniors will send a telegram to Lu Lin, Lihe, and the two oceanic companies in a while, and in less than ten days, you will be able to transport two ships of German-made sophisticated weapons and ammunition from Hong Kong and Macao, and then take tungsten ore to return him slowly, and the manpower is not enough, so the juniors will transfer all the 5,000 recruits who have been trained in the recruitment office for more than half a month to the Third Army. Even if he, Li Zongren, personally led the troops over, the juniors were confident that he would return with a feather!

In the entire Jiangxi battlefield, in addition to the officers and soldiers of the Third Army, who else is more familiar with us than us? What's more, we have the heart of the army and the people, and we will be able to respond to every call, if the homeland does not protect the strong enemy to suppress the border, we will have no problem recruiting another 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers within half a month, and the big deal is that the younger generation will let the nearly 1,000 old brothers from various factories and companies go into battle again, and all of them will serve as company and platoon commanders to lead the troops to kill the enemy. ”

An Yi said that Zhu Peide and the two generals under his command were full of enthusiasm and confidence, and they couldn't help cheering in unison, and Zhu Peide happily raised his glass:

"Good! If you don't make a sound, a blockbuster, according to what the virtuous nephew said, we will immediately set up two new armies, generously show our strength, show our attitude, if someone really dares to bully the door, then only the soldiers will meet! Come, nephew, thank you for your kind words, let's have a toast! ”

An Yi stood up respectfully, held the glass with both hands and respected each other politely, after drinking it all, he picked up the wine glass and poured the wine quickly, and very humbly saluted Jin Handing and Wang Jun.

(To be continued)