As soon as the light rain stopped, the sky and the earth were empty, and the officers and men of the Third Division of the National Revolutionary Army pulled a long formation through the winding and muddy roads in the north of the city, and drove in an endless stream to the northeast. In the wasteland on the left side of the road, more than a dozen wild dogs were not afraid of the brigade of men and horses speeding twenty meters away, and were devoting themselves to the desperate tearing and barking battle for a shallow buried thigh that had been cut out.

On the bluestone platform under Dongjialing, Gu Zhutong and An Yi stood side by side, and several school officials stood behind the two of them, talking to An Yi for a long time, Gu Zhutong, who was talking about the dawn, looked at the tired team and said in a low voice:

"General Li Delin's Third Route Army of 100,000 men and horses is going to fight a decisive battle in Xuzhou today, and it is very clear from the latest order of Commander-in-Chief Bai that the battle of Xuzhou has nothing to do with you and me, and it can also be said that there is nothing to do with our Second Route Army, let alone launch any battle.

If it weren't for the fact that we took Sixian and Lingbi by surprise, which caused passivity and pressure on General Li Delin's battle situation, and the battle of Xuzhou would not have been delayed, these many situations made those of us leaders on the front line feel frustrated, and the principal's mood is not difficult to understand. ”

An Yi nodded: "The subordinates have already deduced it in their hearts, but they just don't dare to say it." Just six hours after we took Sixian and Lingbi, General Li Delin's right flank main force Hu Zongduo's division quickly captured Gurao and Yong'an, north of Suxian, and the report said that after several hours of hard fighting, but his subordinates knew that it could be done with only one charge, and there was no so-called fierce battle at all.

From this point of view, all the forces are bargaining with the headmaster about the Northern Expedition, but the asking price is different. ”

"Okay, you kid is mature, on the surface you seem to care about everything, ignorant, but you know better than anyone else in your heart, and your vision is extremely vicious, I used to underestimate you."

Gu Zhutong turned to An Yi and smiled slightly.

An Yi sighed: "It's still the battlefield that can hone people!" Where would a subordinate have thought so much a few months ago? All were forced out. ”

Gu Zhutong nodded with deep feelings: "It's really difficult for you this time, you have to be ordered to go north if you can't rest in Si County, it seems that Commander Bai can't forget you at any time, the next battle is extremely complicated, you have to be careful."

Again, although your reading division has been hastily replenished, and has now reached the scale of more than 8,000 people, but nearly half of the recruits and prisoners have been recruited, and the people's hearts are unstable, and if you suffer another heavy blow, I am afraid you will not be able to get up for two or three months. ”

"Subordinates remember!"

An Yi smiled gratefully at Gu Zhutong: "My 1st, 2nd and 3rd regiments have already driven directly from Sixian to Lijiaji, and the Reading Force Regiment and the artillery battalion have also gone north from Changgou, and it is estimated that they will be able to meet with the third senior brother at Lijiaji at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and my subordinates will strive to enter Fangcun before 10 o'clock tonight." It was a large town, only thirty-five kilometers east of Suining, where the governor was stationed, and if there was any danger at that time, his subordinates would call the commander to take care of it. ”

Gu Zhutong said with a smile: "Your department is right between my third division and Xuzhou, which has invisibly become my left flank barrier, which can let me go and attack Suqian, after the war starts, it is estimated that I will not have the energy to deal with you, everything can only rely on yourself, if you can't win, won't you flee to my side?" ”

An Yi smiled, the two talked for a while, saluted each other and said goodbye, An Yi rode a horse and sent three miles before returning to the city, and without sitting down, he gave a series of orders to the communication staff and heralds.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the four main regiments of the Reading Force Division had already trekked on the road to Lijiaji in the northwest, and the Reading Force Regiment and the artillery battalion in Changgou Town, under the unified command of Yin Jinan, had packed up their equipment and marched north.

At the west gate of Sixian County, Du Yuming and Zheng Jiemin led the Second Regiment to Lingbi with the assistance of a teaching company of Chen Kan, and they will take over the defensive tasks left by Gu Zhutong's Third Division and Reading Division after they urgently went north, and the supplementary regiment led by Fang Tian and Chen Jianxuan continued to be stationed in Si County, and insisted on carrying out battlefield training with the help of the two teaching companies of Reading Division.

For the sudden emergency order, the performance of the Reader soldiers was very calm, and they seemed to have long been accustomed to such high-intensity continuous battles and rapid marches, but Du Yuming, Zheng Jiemin, Fang Tian and others had a different opinion, they were extremely impressed by the super tenacity of the Reader soldiers, and at the same time, they were also deeply skeptical that the tired Reader soldiers could capture the single town of 36 kilometers east of Xuzhou within 24 hours, not to mention the need to march 90 kilometers in one day and one night. Even if they got there, it became a huge question whether they still had the strength to attack Shanji Town.

Only Chen Jianxuan, deputy and instructor of the supplementary regiment, judged with great certainty: I dare not say whether other teams can do it or not, General An Yi's reading division is absolutely good, this elite unit is better than the ace brigade when I was in the army, the reading division not only has more than twice the weapons and equipment of the regular troops, but also has a strong will and iron discipline!

At 2:20 p.m., the vanguard of the Reading Force Division crossed Lijiaji half an hour before the arrival of Gu Zhutong's 3rd Division, and continued all the way north, while the 2nd Regiment of Chen Zhibiao, which had replenished 800 recruits, arrived at Lijiaji at 2:50 to rest, and An Yi, who had caught up with the Reading Force Regiment and the artillery battalion from the Lingbi Copying Road, followed the brigade and slowly marched north, only four kilometers away from Lijiaji.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Gu Changfeng's third regiment took the lead in stationing in Fangcun, and the officers and soldiers of the whole regiment buried pots and cooked rice under the care of Ding Zhicheng's guard battalion, Gu Changfeng led a few deputies to walk among the soldiers, and asked the 1,000 captive soldiers who had just been attached to the army in his unique style and pride whether they could afford it, and these prisoner soldiers who had just joined the team for two days replied gratefully: Bitter is bitter, but in the commander's troops, our brothers live like human beings, and many battalion and company commanders give their horses to our injured and sick brothers, and none of us are beaten or scolded, There are also twice the original military salary, and our life has been sold to the commander!

At eleven o'clock in the evening, An Yi and Hu Jialin and other division-level commanders arrived at Fang Village, simply ate something and jumped into the small river at the edge of the village to take a bath, and immediately held an emergency meeting.

Colonel Ding Zhicheng, commander of the guard battalion, pointed to the map on the big table to report on the military situation: "Most of the main forces defending the enemy in Xuzhou fled north, leaving only three divisions and one brigade to occupy the favorable terrain in the north of the city, risking their lives to block General Wang Tianpei's Tenth Army and General Xia Wei's First Division of the Seventh Army.

At present, our four divisions have entered the city and engaged in fierce street battles with the stubborn enemy, and it is estimated that the fortifications of the northern city and villages occupied by the enemy are strong, and our artillery cannot be spread across the big city, and the two sides were still in a fierce exchange of fire an hour ago.

Most of Zhang Zongchang's two armies successfully retreated along the railway to the direction of Zaozhuang, and because there were still heavy enemy troops on the front line of Damiao and Xuzhuang, we could not conduct further in-depth reconnaissance, but according to the analysis of the three pieces of intelligence sent back by the radio station in the front, it was certain that General Hu Zongduo's Second Division of the Seventh Army had quickly advanced to Zhangji southeast of Xuzhou along the railway, and it was estimated that after an hour it would be able to cut off the connection between the defenders of Danji Town and Xuzhou City.

If we can make up our minds, let Dou Fang quickly concentrate four reconnaissance groups and one detachment to hold back a regiment of defenders in Shanji Town, so that our main regiment can rush to Shanji and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop. ”

"Boss, it's only sixteen kilometers, let's fight!" Xia Jian shouted for war.

Gu Changfeng echoed casually: "You can fight at all!" Our regiments were given three hours of rest, and it was not a problem to run more than 10 kilometers to fight a battle. ”

All the brothers looked at An Yi, An Yi shook his head slightly, crouched on the map, and repeatedly confirmed the information with Ding Zhicheng beside him, identifying the location and distribution of the enemy troops facing his department.

At this time, Zhan Huanqi, a communications staff officer, hurriedly came in and reported loudly: "After receiving a telegram from Li Zongren, the commander of the Third Route Army, after six hours of bloody fighting, the 100,000 warriors of the Third Route Army took the lead in breaking through the city. ”

An Yi was taken aback: "So fast? ”

"Wouldn't it? General Wang Tianpei's 10th Army is not good at night battles and street battles, General Xia Wei and other main divisions are located in the west of the city, and a division of General Liu Dingjia's 15th Army needs to make a big detour to the northwest, and finally defeat the stubborn defenders in the north of the city from behind the stubborn enemy's flank, and it will never be possible to do it without more than three hours, how can it be so fast? Could it be that the defenders in the north of the city gave up on their own? Yin Jinan was also very surprised.

Hu Jialin asked with a smile: "Is it the good news that General Li Delin sent out in advance when he saw that the victory was decided?" From the point of view of attacking the heart, this electrification helped to break the morale of the enemy army, so that the defending enemy on the first line ten kilometers north of Xuzhou retreated without a fight in panic. ”

"Not bad! I remember that when attacking De'an last year, General Li Delin did this once, and at that time, he used his broken radio station carried by more than a dozen people to announce to the whole country that De'an had been captured, forcing the enemy in Jiujiang not to dare to go south for reinforcements, and only three hours later did General Li Mingrui lead two brigades under his command to cross the swamp, copy the backpack from the enemy's side, and break the two divisions that occupied the perilous outside De'an in one fell swoop. ”

An Yi suddenly came to his senses and immediately issued an order to Zhan Huanqi: "Huanqi, urgently contact the reconnaissance team at the front, and let them report the movements of the enemy on the front line in the north of the city quickly!" ”

"Yes!"

Zhan Huanqi strode to the confidential room on the side.

"In order to annihilate a regiment of the enemy, take our special elite to risk, Lao Tzu will never do it! A special soldier of Lao Tzu is more valuable than a regiment of the enemy, and no one should make such a stupid suggestion in the future! ”

An Yi glanced around fiercely and saw that the brothers had all shut their mouths, so he said loudly: "As long as it can be confirmed that the enemy in the north of Xuzhou City has not been defeated on a large scale, we can easily deal with it calmly, you think about it, such a dark night, and it is drizzling, and you can't see your fingers, can the enemy escape on a large scale?" Are you afraid that there will be no enemies to fight? You have to use your brain to fight, and you have to pay close attention to every detail! ”

After An Yi finished teaching his brothers, he saw everyone's embarrassed smiles, and then said: "First of all, the task given to us by the General Headquarters is to occupy a single episode, so that the main forces of the Second Route Army in the east of me can completely relieve the worries of the West, so that Gu Zhutong, Senior Brother Hu Zongnan and General He Yaozu can concentrate on attacking Suqian, so as to achieve the strategic goal of the Three Route Army gathering on the Longhai Line.

Therefore, no matter how we fight, we must fight around a single episode, otherwise it is easy to form loopholes, and even cause the unhappiness of the friendly forces in the left neighborhood, we can't do such a thing, we are in the junction of the second and third route armies, and we are the only Whampoa army, we must be cautious in everything we say and do, I hope you keep this in mind. ”

"Report: The forward reconnaissance team has replied, and the fighting in the north of the city is still raging." Zhan Huanqi reported loudly.

The generals were overjoyed, and An Yi nodded heavily: "In this case, how about we have to catch a handful, we can't even drink a little soup when we come here, then it's a bag!" ”

The brothers laughed when they heard this, and they all looked at An Yi with blazing eyes......

(To be continued)