On September 3, the thirteenth year of the Republic of China, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War officially began, and the troops of Qi Xieyuan and Lu Yongxiang exchanged fire in Yixing, Jiangsu, and both sides suffered casualties.

Jiangdong Province also moved, the overseer Sun Kaiqin was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai coalition army, and Duan Haixiang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy of the provincial army, responsible for exterminating Chen Zikun who was entrenched in the Jiangbei area.

Duan Haixiang has maintained a good relationship with Chen Zikun since the last defeat, but he did not want to avenge this arrow, he laid out the army on the south bank, dug fortifications and repaired trenches, and put on a defensive posture, but secretly he was collecting boats, preparing to form a pontoon bridge, and cross the river to the north.

This is Xia Jingqi's idea, the so-called soldiers are not tired of deceit, and to deal with the cunning Chen Zikun, you have to be smarter than him.

Although the war began, the normal exchanges between the two sides of the strait were not interrupted, and the cargo ships transporting coal and pulling tung oil sailed freely in the Huai River, and the two sides sent a lot of detailed work to each other to listen to the military situation, and every day Xia Jingqi had to take a boat to the river, take a telescope to observe the north bank, and reconnoiter the movements of the Jiangbei army.

Jiangbei not only practiced river crossing operations, but also set up a lot of rafts as a supplement to the shortage of ferries, and it seemed that he had made up his mind to go south.

The former enemy headquarters of the provincial army, there was a sand table on the table, Staff Officer Xia and a group of young Zhuang officers who graduated from the army martial arts hall stood majestically aside, Duan Haixiang came in from outside surrounded by guards and horses, and laughed: "What is the good news today?" ”

Xia Jingqi said: "Back to the commander, the north has begun to build a raft, it seems that it is a heart to cross the river to fight us." ”

Duan Haixiang said: "Last time, they took advantage of it, I really bullied my old Duan, if I don't beat Xiao Chen's out this time, I won't be surnamed Duan." ”

Xia Jingqi said: "The arrogant army will be defeated, not to mention that our army has an overwhelming advantage, as long as the pontoon bridge is erected, it can drive straight in, go straight to Nantai, take Jiangbei, you can enter Xuzhou, copy Qi Xieyuan's back road"

Duan Haixiang said: "It's ridiculous that Chen Zikun is about to be destroyed, and he is still dreaming of crossing the river in the autumn season." ”

The crowd laughed.

Xia Jingqi suddenly knelt down and said, "Commander, please call the shots!" ”

Duan Haixiang hurriedly helped: "Why did Staff Officer Xia say this, please get up quickly." ”

Xia Jingqi said: "The humble father was killed by Chen Zikun, please ask the commander to avenge this bloody revenge for the humble position." ”

Duan Haixiang said: "You have a family feud, I have a national hatred, the Jiangbei Army is composed of a group of bandits and grass bandits, this time I have fought Jiangbei, they will definitely be cut to the roots, although Chen Zikun let me go, but it is a personal relationship, the commander will never miss the old in front of the big right and wrong, you can rest assured, I will hand over Chen Zikun to you at that time, just don't harm the innocent, his family will not have to be investigated." ”

Xia Jingqi said: "Commander Xie! ”

Duan Haixiang said: "Come, let's formulate a thorough plan for crossing the river." ”

……

Although they were ostensibly posing to cross the river, in fact, they secretly repaired the city wall, dug fortifications, and stored food and ammunition, and Chen Zikun's two wives were also sent to Xuzhou and went north by train to Beijing to escape the scourge of war.

In the evening, the battalion outside the city of Nantai sounded the assembly call, and 500 soldiers wearing gray and blue chabu military uniforms quickly assembled on the school grounds, they were completely different from the other brothers of the 7th Mixed Brigade, wearing the military uniform of the regular army, wearing a large-brimmed hat decorated with the five-color star emblem, a cowhide bullet box hanging on the belt, leggings were tied to the knees, the rifle was a brand new German Mauser, the military rank collar epaulette was readily available, and a white armband was wrapped around the arm, on which was written the word "Sun".

This is the standard dress of the provincial military garrison brigade.

Chen Zikun came over in a military uniform and with a sonorous sword, and began to speak after inspecting the troops: "Brothers, I have trained you for so long just for today, on the other side of the Huaijiang River, there are 60,000 horses and horses of the provincial army, we can't beat him, we can only dig his nest. ”

As he spoke, he took off his hat and knelt on the ground: "Brothers, I'm going to die for a lifetime, I, Chen Zikun, will kowtow to you first!" ”

Five hundred brothers knelt down in unison, and five hundred pairs of knees made an earth-shattering sound on the school field.

Five hundred wine bowls, all filled with spirits made from Huaijiang water and Nantai red sorghum, Chen Zikun picked up the wine bowls and said, "Dry!" And when he had drunk it, he threw the bowl on the ground, and the brethren dried up the wine, and five hundred bowls were smashed into the smoke.

Chen Zikun took out his pocket watch to look at the time, and said in a low voice: "Let's go!" ”

A light rain fell from the sky, and the troops put on their coats and hats and set out overnight.

At the same time, the steam cargo ship parked by the dock of Nantai was loaded with coal and quietly set sail, but as soon as it reached the center of the river, a dazzling pillar of light shot over, and it was the gunboat of the provincial marine police corps.

In order to prevent the Jiangbei Army from forcibly crossing the Huai River, Sun Kaiqin assigned several gunboats of the Marine Police Corps to Sun Kaiqin for moderation, and specially searched and inspected ships from South Thailand.

The marine police jumped over to check, the cabin was filled with white coal, there was nothing wrong, after collecting the routine filial piety, the cargo ship went forward again for dozens of miles, docked at the river bay, spent several hours dumping all the white coal in the cabin into the river, revealing a behemoth buried in the coal pile, uncovering the tarpaulin attached to it, it turned out to be a black British Rover sedan.

After a few more hours, people came to the shore. Chen Zikun personally led 500 tigers to Jiangwan in the rain, which was also the last suitable place for boarding, and further ahead was the undulating mountainous area, and the river boat could not dock.

Five hundred soldiers threw down their coats and fished onto the ship, an autumn rain and a cold, the cabin was dry and warm, and the soldiers who were tired from the march leaned on the bulkhead and gradually fell asleep.

Chen Zikun did not sleep, he and Zeng Jiao inspected the whole ship, came to the bridge to look at the dark river with binoculars, tonight there was rain, all the river boats were suspended, only this fake Taikoo steamer suddenly roared the motor to ride the wind and waves.

After traveling all night, approaching the waters of the provincial capital, the troop carrier did not dare to dock in broad daylight, and anchored in the shallow water area of the north shore to rest, and the five hundred men and horses hid in the cabin and did not move, it was summer, the scorching sun was in the sky, although there was a tarpaulin covering, many people still fainted from heat stroke, so many people ate and drank in a small space, the smell was smoky, and it was extremely uncomfortable.

In the captain's room, Chen Zikun, who was dressed in casual clothes, observed the provincial capital on the other side with a telescope, although the provincial army was pressed in the south of the Yangtze River, but the provincial capital still had an elite garrison brigade and two newly formed brigades, and it was still unknown whether he could successfully take the provincial capital with his own 500 men.

……

At the same time, the large force of the provincial army 300 miles away began to move, and the 12 German Grushen 57 mountain guns and 24 Japanese Trinity 75-mm rapid-fire mountain guns belonging to the three artillery regiments began to bombard the north bank.

Through the binoculars, Duan Haixiang saw the smoke sticks rising on the opposite bank, and said proudly: "Chen Zikun, come and don't be rude, feng shui takes turns, it's time for you to suffer today." ”

The first wave of attacks was very risky, the casualty rate was extremely high, and no senior officers were willing to lead the team, Xia Jingqi took the initiative to ask for help as a staff officer of the division headquarters, and Duan Haixiang promoted him to lieutenant colonel on the spot, leading the reorganized 11th Regiment to cross the river as a pioneer.

When the position of the center of the river was killed, the north bank opened fire, and the bullets of the heavy machine gun shot a string of high water columns in the river, and the officers and soldiers were so frightened that they lay on the board of the ship and did not dare to move, but Xia Jingqi stood on the bow of the ship with a pistol, awe-inspiring.

The artillery of the provincial army continued to fire on the opposite bank, and the gunfire and artillery rang out, and Yan Su, the forward commander of the Jiangbei Army, saw that the enemy's artillery fire was too fierce, and ordered the troops to retreat.

In fact, there was only one regiment of troops on the front line, and they retreated in an orderly manner, retreated to a position three miles away from the river, jumped into the trenches that had been dug, and raised their rifles one by one, waiting for the arrival of the provincial army.

The ships of the provincial army successfully docked on the riverside, and from a distance, the Jiangbei army had already retreated, losing the baggage all over the ground, Xia Jingqi was overjoyed, and waved his pistol: "Brothers, take down Nantai, and don't seal the knife for three days!" ”

The soldiers screamed and rushed forward, but a burst of shells fell, and the people who blew up turned on their backs, the most infuriating thing was that this was not a shell from the Jiangbei Army, but their own people were firing, and the provincial army did not have any infantry and artillery coordination.

Xia Jingqi hurriedly ordered his subordinates to retreat, scolded the artillery for not being long-sighted, and quickly sent the clipper back to report to Duan Haixiang, and the artillery ceased fire.

In any case, a regiment of 600 people of the provincial army has landed on the north bank, even if half of the battle is won, Duan Haixiang was overjoyed, and ordered the whole army to force the crossing, hundreds of sailing boats loaded soldiers and baggage, and sailed to the north shore, but the ships were too small, and this way of moving ants was extremely inefficient, and only more than 1,000 people were transported over within two hours, and they were all light infantry.

Duan Haixiang was not in a hurry, he already had the odds in hand, "Brothers, tomorrow I will have breakfast in Nantai, and I will invite you to eat egg steamed buns." ”

The officers were full of flattery.

……

On the north bank, in the trenches, Yan Su raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, the provincial army was very shrewd, and did not attack immediately, but established a beachhead to prevent the enemy from counterattacking.

Gai Longquan said: "Chief of Staff, let's fight, I will take the brothers to rush over and promise to drive them into the water." ”

Yan Su said: "Don't worry, there are too few people here, not enough to stuff your teeth." ”

Gai Longquan laughed: "Chief of Staff, you are also a ruthless character." ”

Yan Su smiled indifferently, his mouth was full of momentum, but in his heart, five thousand against sixty thousand, this battle could not be fought at all, now it depends on whether the old fisherman's words can be fulfilled.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt pierced the sky, and then thunder rumbled, torrential rain poured down, the wind howled, the visibility instantly became extremely low, the river was rolling angrily, and the troop carriers of the provincial army were turning in the center of the river.

The raindrops smashed on the canopy of the fortifications, and the trenches instantly turned into a sea of oceans, but Yan Su breathed a sigh of relief, the old fisherman's judgment of the weather was correct, and this heavy rain came too timely.

Xia Jingqi looked up to the sky and sighed, this rainstorm was too sudden, where did the wind and rain come from in autumn, the reinforcements on the south bank couldn't come, and he went deep alone, didn't he become someone else's bag.