The people in the tent were both surprised and a little expectant about the staff officer's words. What is surprising is that since the other party has sent an envoy, it is obvious that they are here to surrender, and this also shows that the other party's reinforcements have arrived, at least soon, otherwise only more than 10,000 people on the front line of Zhujiahe will never be supported like this; The hope was that if Hu Zongduo agreed to power up the field, they would avoid a battle in which there was no chance of victory.

Hu Zongduo didn't want to see the other party's ill-intentioned envoy now, he still had to fight, maybe the last battle, and even he didn't think that there was much chance of winning. It's just that he needs such a battle, and he needs to use this battle to give Li Zongren an explanation; also use such a battle to give yourself a relief and a spiritual comfort.

But when Hu Zongduo saw that the others, including Li Sichi, were looking at him with very expectant eyes, he sighed helplessly, waved his hand and said, "Bring them in, listen to what they have to say." ”

Wang Zhi was in front, Sun Li's chief of staff Hu Fei was behind, and the two were escorted into the tent by the guards. To be honest, Wang Zhi was still a little scared in his heart, he knew that Hu Zongduo must hate Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui to death in his heart now, and it was precisely because of their surrender to Jiang that the situation in Wuhan had deteriorated to this point. Hu Zongduo now wants to give up Wuhan and defeat back to Guangxi, it is impossible, it seems that there is only one way to go, he is really afraid that Hu Zongduo will kill him in anger. However, when I saw that Yin Chenggang and Li Jianhou were also there, I felt a lot more at ease, and these two people would never watch Hu Zongduo kill him.

Wang Zhi nodded slightly to Yin Chenggang and Li Jianhou, and hurriedly said to Hu Zongduo flatteringly: "I've seen Commander Hu." He nodded to Tao Rong, Li Sichi, Li Yixuan, and Zheng Zheng to say hello.

Hu Zongduo said coldly: "Isn't this Chief of Staff Wang?" You don't assist Yang Tenghui in defending Xiaogan, what are you doing here? Wang Zhi cautiously laughed and said, "The commander-in-chief said that he was laughing, we can't help it!" "No way?" Li Sichi sneered and said, "I'm afraid I have hooked up with Lao Jiang in Nanjing a long time ago, right?" "When Li Mingrui looked for Yang Tenghui a few months ago, Wang Zhi, who was Yang Tenghui's old partner, knew it, but he didn't dare to tell the truth now, in that case, Hu Zongduo would really kill him.

Wang Zhi didn't dare to take Li Sichi's words, and said to Hu Zongduo with a wry smile: "Commander-in-chief, we do have a hard time. Where is Xiaogan in danger to defend, we only have one division, and we have to fortify on both sides, but we tried our best. The Fourth Route Army has more than 70,000 troops, and there are more than 10,000 of us who can stop it. ”

Wang Zhi's words, Hu Zongduo really can't accuse him of anything, it is Li Zongren's order to defend Henan with only one division's troops. Li Zongren thought that Han Fuyu's troops were just bluffing, and the reason why Feng Yuxiang did not immediately send troops to join forces with the Gui family to fight against Jiang was that Feng Yuxiang wanted to take advantage of it. Feng Yuxiang must have wanted to wait until the two sides were exhausted, and then wave his troops out of the pass, exchanging the greatest victory at the smallest cost. However, that would be the most unfavorable to Chiang Kai-shek, with Feng Yuxiang's surname, he would definitely stab Chiang Kai-shek when he was the weakest, and even like in the second Zhifeng War in 1924, taking advantage of the fierce battles between the two armies in Shimenzhai and Shanhaiguan, he suddenly returned to the division to launch the Yanjing coup d'état, and assumed the commander-in-chief of the National Army of the Republic of China. He will never fight his idea of a local powerful faction who has no righteous reputation, and it is a big deal to hand over Wuhan and even Hubei to him. Moreover, his 100,000 men and horses to defend the Wuhan area are indeed insufficient, and some of them are overstretched, and it is helpless to leave only one division in the north of Wuhan. But after all, it was him, Hu Zongduo, who commanded on the front line, and it was he who personally gave the order, and Hu Zongduo felt that his face was a little hot.

Hu Zongduo sneered and said: "Chief of Staff Wang, I didn't order you to stick to filial piety, if you can't defend it, you can retreat to Wuhan, do you have to betray Chief Li and surrender to Chiang Kai-shek?" ”

Wang Yi was a little frightened when he thought of the fierce artillery fire of the Fourth Route Army, and said with a painful face: "Commander-in-chief, everyone, you don't know how fierce the artillery fire of the Fourth Route Army is!" It took more than two hours to completely annihilate our first brigade, how do you say this battle will be fought? If you want to retreat to Wuhan, it is even more impossible, as soon as the retreating troops will be scattered, not to mention that they still have a cavalry brigade. ”

Wang Zhi's words surprised the people in the tent, and Li Jianhou asked with some disbelief: "Annihilated the First Brigade in more than two hours?" Wang Zhixin nodded with palpitations and said: "It is true, I have been in the army for more than ten years, and it is the first time I have seen such fierce artillery fire. ”

Zheng Zheng still didn't believe that the combat effectiveness of the Seventh Army was by no means worse than that of their Nineteenth Army, and it was hard for him to imagine that a brigade was annihilated in such a short time. He asked suspiciously: "Chief of Staff Wang, the position of the Fourth Route Army on the opposite side, my division has also been attacking for a long time, although there are a lot of artillery, but it is not as serious as you said?" ”

Wang Zhi smiled bitterly and said, "My Senior Commander Zheng, the opposite side of you is just a regiment of them, and of course there will be fewer artillery." "What? A regiment? This time, the people in the tent were clearly not convinced.

Wang Zhi saw everyone's doubts and hurriedly explained: "This is indeed a group, and I just found out. The establishment of the Fourth Route Army was somewhat different from ours, and they had more than 7,000 men in one regiment, which was about to catch up with our two brigades. ”

Wang Zhi's words shocked everyone a little, a regiment has such a strong firepower, and the firepower of that division will indeed be terrifying. Tao Rong asked: "How many regiments does they have in one division, are the other regiments the same as this regiment?" ”

Wang Zhi turned around and said to the people in the tent: "I don't know about this brother, this is the chief of staff of this regiment, Hu Feihu, you have to ask him." The people in the tent were a little dizzy by Wang Zhi's words, and Wang Yi said, only then did he remember that the little lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Route Army behind him was the messenger who said to surrender, and the tent immediately fell silent. For a while, the scene in the tent was very strange, and everyone looked at Hu Fei without speaking.

Hu Fei calmly stepped forward and said, "I am Hu Fei, chief of staff of the Third Regiment of the First Division of the Fourth Route Army, and I will answer the general's question just now. "Tao Rong's military rank is major general.

Hu Fei said: "This is not a secret, I can tell you that our division has four regiments, and this time three regiments have come to Hubei, and the firepower configuration of each regiment is the same. Tao Rong asked again: "You are said to have more than 70,000 people this time, according to what you said, you have nearly 30,000 people in one division, and your division has one regiment less, and there are also 20,000 people, do you have a total of three divisions?" "It's a military secret." Hu Fei said with a smile. "But how many troops, you will see soon, because our large army is only 30 miles away from the Zhujia River."

Hu Zongduo sneered and said, "Chief of Staff Hu, you didn't come this time to intimidate us, did you?" Tell me what you have come for. Hu Fei said calmly: "Our purpose is very simple, to ask you to surrender to our army. ”

Wang Zhi also reacted at this time, he had been interrogated by them for half a day, and he was afraid of something with such a strong backing of the Fourth Route Army, so he stepped forward and said: "Yes, yes, we are persuaded to surrender by the order of Chief of Staff Xiao Guodong, the former enemy commander-in-chief of the Fourth Route Army in Wuhan." ”

"Shut up." Hu Zongduo drank Wang Zhi in a short but stern tone: "You, a traitor of the Gui family, if it weren't for Yang Tenghui and Li Mingrui who defected to Jiang, my army would have safely returned to Wuhan to make plans again, and now let my tens of thousands of troops be in danger, so that the war situation in Hubei will collapse completely, all thanks to you, you dare to come back to persuade you to surrender?" Someone, pull him out and kill him. The guards on both sides stepped forward and grabbed Wang Zhi and pulled him out. Wang Zhizhi shouted anxiously: "Commander-in-chief, for the sake of our acquaintance for many years, you can't do this!" ”

Yin Chenggang and Li Jianhou both stood up, and just about to stop them, Hu Fei shouted: "Stop!" After speaking, he stepped forward and said to Hu Zongduo: "Commander-in-Chief Hu, our commander said that if Chief of Staff Wang has any problems, the Fourth Route Army will kill all the officers above the division of the 19th Army. ”

Hu Fei's words surprised everyone in the tent, which meant that if Wang Zhi had an accident, the Fourth Route Army would have to pay for the lives of all their officers above the division level. Hu Zongduo was so angry that he laughed angrily, and said viciously: "You little lieutenant colonel chief of staff dare to threaten me!" Not only did I kill him, but I also killed you, and I was dragged out and killed. Although Hu Fei was also a little apprehensive in his heart, he still tried his best to control his demeanor and said calmly: "If even I am killed, then it is not only that we will kill the officers above the 19th Army, but also the officers above the regimental level." ”

"Smack", Hu Zongduo slapped the table and stood up, reaching out to pull out the pistol on his waist: "Lao Tzu will kill you now." ”

Hu Zongduo was so angry that he hugged Hu Zongduo in a panic: "The military seat is angry, the military seat is angry." Hu Zongduo tried his best to break away twice, Li Sichi also felt that Hu Zongduo's approach was very inappropriate at this time, not to mention that Wang Zhi and Hu Fei were here to persuade them to surrender, even if they were captured, they were not easily shot. If you really shoot these two people now, it will be a big taboo. Let's not talk about whether the Fourth Route Army wants their officers above the army to pay for their lives, at least the life of his old superior will not be saved, if Song Zhewu wants to kill Hu Zongduo, Chiang Kai-shek will only steal fun, but he will definitely not intervene. immediately stood up and stood in front of Hu Fei, and scolded the guards loudly: "What are you doing in a daze? And bring them to me, and let no one come near them without my command. ”

Hu Zongduo's military headquarters has always been with Li Sichi's division, and the guards also know that Li Sichi is Hu Zongduo's henchman. Li Sichi waved his hand again and motioned for the others to go out, and several of their division commanders came out, and the others all retreated in interest.

(To be continued)