Chapter 171 The First World War Determines the Southwest (1)

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In the headquarters of the Fifth Division in Guiyang, which was making final preparations for the encirclement and annihilation of Tang Jiyao's troops, because of Yang Qiu's unexpected arrival, the staff officers were all smelling the smell of the impending decisive battle while they were coming in and out. Just when the Fifth Division and the newly built Eighth Mountain Brigade were all mobilized, the General Staff Headquarters in Wuchang also took action, and after the Third Division and the First Brigade were transferred to Yuping, Guidong, the Second Brigade also received orders to start moving towards Huaihua. At the same time, the Seventh Infantry Brigade, which had been suppressing bandits in Xiangxi, was required to suspend all operations within five days. At the same time, in order to ensure the security of Hunan, which has always been regarded by the outside world as the absolute trump card of the national defense force, the 1st and 2nd Divisions, which are being reorganized from the field division, have also been transferred to a reinforced brigade and taken a boat from Hanyang to Xiangtan overnight.

In addition, the Sixth Infantry Brigade that shocked Dali in Yunnan Province on the Sichuan side, the Seventh Brigade and more than 30,000 troops pointed directly at Yunnan and Guizhou. Such a big transfer naturally cannot be concealed from the outside world, whether it is Beijing or Nanjing, everyone knows that this time the Guizhou War is inevitable.

If the war is confined to Guizhou, the question is whether Yang Qiu will take this opportunity to defeat the Dian army in one fell swoop and swallow even Yunnan? In fact, as soon as the question was raised, everyone had the answer in their hearts. No one can resist the temptation to unite the special administrative regions of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Sichuanbian (all later known as Xikang, easy to read), and once these four provinces and regions are controlled by Yang Qiu, it means that the National Defense Force will officially have a large rear area that accounts for more than a quarter of the country's population and is rich in natural resources! It also means that he really has the confidence and strength to confront the north!

Worried about the resumption of the civil war, the Nanjing Caretaker sent telegrams to Wuchang many times asking for explanations for the reasons for the troop transfers, and expressed his willingness to mediate the conflict between the Yunnan Army and the National Defense Army, and even hinted that Guizhou and Xikang would be handed over to Yang Qiu, and that the three provinces would be upgraded to four provinces (Xikang had not yet been established as a province at that time, but was only a special zone).

As soon as Yuan Shikai learned of the large-scale transfer of the National Defense Forces, he used the power of the central government to demand that Yang Qiu immediately withdraw his troops, and said that Yunnan and Cai Yi were provinces and governors that had been brought under the jurisdiction of the central government, and this kind of transfer had gone beyond the scope of the powers of the patrol envoys of the three provinces. In an interview with British reporters, Duan Qirui, the minister of the army, even said that he would not rule out the use of force to intervene in this kind of civil war, and then really ordered the Beiyang Second and Fifth Divisions to prepare for attacking Wusheng Pass, and also ordered Ni Sichong to be ready to attack Hubei by a detour from Henan at any time.

Ni Sichong moved, and Bai Wenwei, the governor of Anhui, hurriedly reorganized the army (). Since there was only one division left in Anhui, fearing that Bai Wenwei would be overthrown by the Ni army, who hated the Kuomintang, the three divisions in Nanjing also began to be on guard. When the tide of the Great War struck again, Wuchang continued to remain silent, neither explaining the reason for the troop transfer, nor agreeing to mediate, and even the so-called madman, who wrote a few sentences in the newspaper almost every day mocking Zhang Taiyan, the chief of education of the three provinces in Nanjing and Beijing, completely shut his mouth this time.

This trend even spread to Britain and France, and because Yunnan was deep into the southeast peninsula, the two countries, which had huge interests in the East Indies, began to worry that the growing national defense forces would affect their interests here, so they sent their representatives to negotiate and demand an explanation of Yang Qiu's military action. However, because of the relationship between the sworn enemy, Germany supported the Wehrmacht's actions in a high-profile manner, and even accelerated the delivery of weapons and ammunition ordered in Germany to Yang Qiu.

Duan Qirui, Lu Jianzhang, Cao Kun, Duan Zhigui and other military officers came, and even Feng Guozhang, who had not appeared for a long time, sat next to him, pointing and discussing the battle situation in front of the southwest map hung on the wall. In front of these old Beiyang, the new Chen Eun seemed to be out of place, but his words were sharp, and he didn't have to be inferior to these arrogant soldiers at all, and said: "His Eighth Brigade doesn't need to be counted on, and the Seventh Brigade is not reliable in Xikang, and the snow-capped mountains over there are not melted all year round, although the Seventh Brigade participated in the Anmin operation, it is impossible for this kind of big battle to rely on a new infantry brigade to trek through mountains and rivers to sneak attack Dali, so this time the main force is the three divisions and two brigades, the fifth division and the sixth brigade."

The predecessor of the Third Division was a unit that fought in Xiaogan, and Zhang Tingfu, He Xifan, and Xiong Bingkun were also top-notch officers in Hubei, and their combat effectiveness was second only to the First and Second Divisions. The Fifth Division is the foundation of the Hubei Sichuan Pioneer Brigade and the Sichuan New Army, and the division commander Su Xiaohu is a newcomer who graduated from the Hubei Gaowubei School. I heard that Jiang Baili still recognized him after he went, not to mention that he also had Yin Changheng to help. Moreover, they have been fighting with the Dian army in the mountains of southwest Guizhou for half a year, and they have been using the method of small rotations to hone their troops. The new Seventh Infantry Brigade seems to be a new unit in the later formation, but the brigade commander Hang Zhi is an old man who started in Yang Qiu, and more than 300 veteran backbones were transferred after Xiaogan, and he can subdue those bandits in Xiangxi not much worse than the Fifth Division. ”

Chen Yan continued: "Yang Qiu adopts the establishment of one division and three brigades, and the squad is 16 people, and each brigade is 5,516 people after the full number! That's 2,000 more than the mixed associations in the southwest. This time, there are six brigades, plus several security regiments, which have exceeded 40,000 people! Cai Songpo only has three mixed concords and some security regiments left in his hands, and Tang Jiyao's troops have also suffered heavy losses in the past half a year. He claimed 20,000, but I estimate that he would be 15,000 at most, and most of them were local bandits and defeated soldiers of the Guizhou army after Guiyang. The two sides combined are only 30,000 when they are full, and even if they don't count the difference in armaments, they may not be able to escape this time. ”

"***, I think it's better to send troops to support Cai Songpo! Just hit a dozen on the charge of starting a civil war! Duan Zhi said angrily.

Yuan Shikai glanced at his "godson", turned his head and asked, "Er'an, is Zhigui's method feasible?" ”

Chen Yan thought for a while and said, "It is feasible from the perspective of the three provinces alone. At present, we have two regiments of the Fifth Division and the Second Division in Xinyang, as well as the 25th Battalion of the Hubei Patrol City, which was originally formed and has been incorporated into the Wuwei Right Army. Shaanxi and Shanxi can each draw a mixed brigade out, plus Ni Sichong's men and horses, they can put 40,000 troops into Wushengguan and Hubei in one go! Now the question is. He didn't hide his worries either, and said: "Yang Qiu can fight Yungui, and he doesn't have to think about the surrounding Jiangxi and Anhui." But we are the Central Army, once we make a move, it will inevitably affect the whole body, once Ni Sichong makes a detour to Henan, who can guarantee that Bai Wenwei will not take the opportunity to take northern Anhui? There were three divisions and one guard regiment in Nanjing, two divisions and one mixed formation regiment in Jiangxi, three divisions in Guangdong, plus one division each in Hai, Zhejiang, and Fujian, and the Kuomintang still had a military strength of 12 to 15 divisions after it was dismantled! Although Nanjing asked Yang Qiu to stop, none of their troops moved, and even the nearest Jiangxi and Guangdong did not intervene, so it can be seen that they are still guarding us. ”

After hearing this, Lu Jianzhang said: "Why are you worried so much? If you want to fight, you can just fight, and after the fight, we will have to rebuild it! ”

"Don't talk nonsense. Seeing that the general election is coming, the Kuomintang is now eyeing us, at this time. Yuan Shikai sighed, but his eyes glanced at Liang Shiyi of the Ministry of Finance. Liang Shiyi has followed him for many years, known as the Beiyang money bag, and he understood as soon as he saw his eyes: "The last British loan has been used to rebuild the fourth, sixth and twentieth towns." Zhiquan organized a new army to train troops and took a large chunk, and the rest also purchased ordnance from Japan, unless it can wait until the end of next month, when the third batch of 3 million pounds of loans promised by Zhu Erdian will be in place, and he can still fight a dozen through gritting his teeth. ”

"At the end of next month? The daylilies are cold ()! Duan Zhigui didn't give up: "Yungui Mountain is high and dense, but it has been more than half a year before, and he Yang Qiu has already tightened his pockets." No matter how capable Cai Songpo is, he can't hold on for a month! ”

Yuan Shikai also had a headache, turned his head and asked, "Huafu, you fought with Yang Qiu in Hubei, according to you." ”

The Battle of Hubei did make Feng Guozhang seem to be a lot older, and after returning to Beijing, he didn't even take over the Praetorian Guards but handed them over to Duan Qirui to deal with, and he was at home to care for the elderly. If Yuan Shikai hadn't personally sent someone to invite him this time, he really didn't want to care anymore, since he asked now, he could only say: "Wusheng Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Yang Qiu has a division and two artillery regiments there." It will not be a problem to hold for half a month, and the fourth division in Sichuan will be able to come down if there is this time. From Anhui to Hubei, you need to go to Wuxue, but there is a division and a brigade stationed in Wuxue, and it is still the brigade that scolded the party in Nanjing, and it is not easy to fight. Although nearly half of Yang Qiu's troops have passed, he is not without strength in his hands, he still has four security regiments in Hubei, and the scattered troops at home are about three divisions! Don't forget, he also has a water master. If it can't be solved within a month, Yang Qiuhui's party will definitely fight back! ”

Duan Qirui saw that he had been talking badly, and said a little angrily: "Hua Fu doesn't need to be so ambitious, right?" No matter how much he Yang Qiu can fight, his subordinates are also a group of hairy boys, can we old rivers and lakes still be afraid of him? ”

Feng Guozhang didn't have the heart to quarrel with him, and said: "I'm not afraid, but the opportunity to take the initiative to attack has not yet arrived." Guozhang only has two strategies, the best strategy is to send people to Guangdong immediately to persuade Guangxi to send troops, and in addition, let Wang Zhixiang go to see Lu Rongting, as long as the two thousand men and horses of the three mixed concords in Guangxi and Wang Zhixiang are pulled to the border of Guizhou, Yang Qiu will definitely be afraid! Even if he continues to fight, he must not lose Guangxi! The next strategy is to start fighting immediately regardless of it, but this is the case. He glanced at Chen Eun and said, "Let's prepare for the Jinpu Line and Northern Anhui to start a full-scale battle." ”

After listening to everyone's opinions, Yuan Shikai let out a long sigh, and he suddenly found that there were too many things in the way! The president sounded good, but it seemed to be different from what he had thought at the beginning, looking at the map, his eyes scanning over and over again.

When the north still had no clue, the southwest was already winding up, and Yang Qiuzheng in the Guiyang Headquarters of the Fifth Division was discussing the deployment with Jiang Baili, Su Xiaohu and Yin Changheng, and a crisp report interrupted everyone's thoughts.

"Report ()!"

Turning his head, Ming Zhao, who had been transferred to the headquarters for duty because of his outstanding performance during this time, stood at the door: "Report to the commander, division commander." The reconnaissance company of the 2nd Brigade reported that it was found that an enemy brigade had begun to accelerate its retreat in the direction of Nandan. The rest of the troops are also gradually withdrawing towards the border of Guizhou and Guangxi, and this is a detailed reconnaissance report. ”

After changing to a mountain division, the Fifth Division fought for nearly half a year while training, and saw that the capture of Yunwu Mountain had formed an encirclement posture against Duyun, but at this time, the enemy suddenly retreated southward, could it be said that he was going to make a detour back to Yunnan? Only Jiang Fangzhen stood up straight suddenly, looked at the direction of movement of Tang Jiyao's department and suddenly pointed to the map, remembering that Yang Qiu had asked him many times about Guangxi before, and said in surprise: "They want to enter Guangxi!" Crazy? ”

In just one sentence, it exploded in everyone's ears like thunder, Yin Changheng and Su Xiaohu hurriedly looked at the map, figuring out the meaning of the telegram over and over again, and most of the officers widened their eyes in disbelief, only Yang Qiu suddenly smiled, looked at him and suddenly got up: "Praying mantis is a praying mantis after all, and it can't fly into the sky." ”

"Change Command!"

While the officers brushed and stood up, the order clearly sent him out of his mouth: "Starting tomorrow at noon, the Fifth Division Teaching Regiment and the First Brigade will launch an attack on Xuanwei in Yunnan from Shuicheng." The 2nd and 3rd Brigades immediately set off and pursued in parallel in the two directions of Libo and Rongjiang, telling the troops. Don't chase too quickly, pay attention to maintaining physical strength to ensure that the troops enter Guangxi safely! The 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division, the 2nd Brigade, and the 7th Infantry Brigade abandoned their original tasks and immediately moved towards Andong on the Hunan side of the Guangxi border. Then send a telegram to the 1st Division and 3rd Brigade, Xiangtan do not stop, immediately organize ships to go to Xiaoshui on the Xiangjiang River, and assemble in Jianghua to stand by! The 8th Mountain Brigade and the 6th, 7th, and 11th Regiments of the National Guard are the general reserves! ”

"Tell all the soldiers who participated in the battle! Whether the southwest is ours or not depends on this battle! ”

This series of clear orders completely negated the Duyun and Libo decisive battle plans that the troops had done before, and all the troops pointed to one place, Guilin! ……

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