Outside the Qianjiang County Ya, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui were standing side by side on the steps in front of the county Ya.

In front of the county office, a team of Beiyang soldiers were busy carrying important materials to the carriage. Combined with the blood-colored remnant sun and the constant sound of gunfire outside the city, the figure of the group of Beiyang soldiers added a bit of haste and panic.

"Not only did I not defeat the enemy, but I was about to retreat to Wuhan after only holding it for less than two months, I really had the trust of the palace guard..."

And looking at Feng Guozhang with a gloomy expression, Duan Qirui also sighed.

"Fourth brother, don't be too discouraged, although you have the trust of the palace guard, it's better to leave early than late now. What's more, our main force has not been damaged, and it is not impossible to make a comeback after returning to Wuhan..."It's just that even Duan Qirui himself won't believe these words...

And after hearing Duan Qirui's words of consolation, Feng Guozhang only had a long sigh left after a wry smile.

"The main force is not damaged......... Comeback........."

A month ago, after the National Social Army broke through the second line of defense, because of the urgency of the situation, not only Jin Yunpeng's department, which was a reserve, but even Wang Zhanyuan's department, which was sitting in the county seat, was also involved in the battle. With the addition of more than 20,000 fresh forces such as Jin Yunpeng and Wang Zhanyuan, the originally bad battle situation finally stabilized, and not only that, but also recaptured some positions sporadically afterwards.

It's just that before Feng Guozhang, Duan Qirui and others could be happy, under the command of Yang Xincheng, the Nationalist Army that came across the river launched another onslaught, which not only recaptured the lost scattered positions, but also put the third line of defense in a precarious position. Fortunately, with Feng Guozhang's personal supervision of the battle, coupled with Li Chun and others desperately defending, the third line of defense was finally not lost.

However, it didn't take long for the Nationalist Army to make a comeback again, and the heavy firepower that was like a nightmare for the Beiyang Army was even more overwhelming.

After the seizure of ships from inland lakes such as Changhu Lake, and the ships transported from the ports of Jingzhou and Yichang through the Sichuan-Han Railway, the number of ships available in the hands of Zhu Qinglan and others has reached more than 1,000, many of which are large ships that can carry more than 100 people. With these ships, heavy equipment that could not have been transported can also be transported to the other side...

For example, the Makqin heavy machine gun, for example, the light and heavy mortars of 80 and 120 calibers, and the 75 and 105mm German mountain guns, howitzers, etc., which were originally useless (in terms of range, field guns and cannons are much longer than mountain guns and howitzers, and the range of these two caliber mountain guns and howitzers is only 5 or 6 kilometers...) ）

When it was only 60 mortars, 37mm infantry guns, and Madsen plus Browning semi-automatic pistols, it was already difficult to deal with the Nationalist Army in front of them, and now that there were heavy equipment such as Makqin crossing the river, it was naturally even more difficult for the Beiyang Army in the defense line to parry.

Not long after, although the two mixed associations stationed in Wuhan arrived in Qianjiang by rail, the Nationalist Army also transferred two infantry divisions from Sichuan and Guizhou for reinforcements. In addition, the two mixed brigades of Zhili are still on the Jinghan Railway, and Feng Guozhang and others in Qianjiang are even more suffering.

It was at this time that the news came that Yunnan Cai Yi and Hunan Tan Yanmin announced their reading power.

Cai Yi said that after all, Yunnan is far away, even if the Sichuan-Yunnan Railway is used to transport the Yunnan army to Yucheng, and then Yucheng will be transferred to Jingzhou, it will take at least half a month. What's more, the main force of the Yunnan army is still on the Sichuan-Yunnan border, and it will take a long time to return to Kunming from the Sichuan-Yunnan border, but Tan Yanhong...

Changsha is on the flank of Qianjiang, if Tan Yanmin sends troops to Hubei at this time, then Feng Guozhang's trouble is really not small at all. Moreover, Changsha is connected to Yueyang from the Xiangjiang River, and Yueyang is connected to Dongting Lake, which is connected to the Yangtze River. If Tan Yanmin's Hunan army sends troops by water, I am afraid that it will be able to reach Junshan or Honghu without saying anything...

At that time, Tan Yanmin didn't need to do anything, he only needed to occupy Xiantao, which was only 60 kilometers away from Honghu, and then hold on for a while, and when the Guoshe and Hunan troops attacked from both sides, it would not be so easy for Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui to retreat to Wuhan...

Besides, after more than a month of hard fighting, the Beiyang Army also suffered heavy casualties, and even if it continues to hold on, I am afraid it will not last long.

In this case, it is better to retreat to Wuhan first, and after converging the two mixed brigades reinforced by Zhili, a decisive battle will be fought in Wuhan with the Socialist Army of the same country.

Thinking of this, after consulting the opinions of Li Chun, Wang Zhanyuan and others, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui jointly telegraphed to Yuan Shikai, hoping to retreat to Wuhan while the main force still exists...

After receiving a joint call from Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui, Yuan Shikai, who was bedridden because he learned that Cai Yi and Tan Yanmin had read ability, vomited blood and vomited three liters of blood again, which frightened Yang Du and Yang Shiqi, who were known for their resourcefulness, and did not know what to do. Fortunately, Yuan Shikai was a very decisive person after all, although he knew that retreating to Wuhan would cause trouble, he still agreed with Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui's suggestions. Not only that, Yuan Shikai also sent the first Beiyang division guarding Zhili to Wuhan to reinforce —————— soldiers of the first division are almost all banner people, and Yuan Shikai is like a living Cao Ying in the eyes of the flag people, if it is said that Yuan Shikai is still confident that he can suppress these incompetent flag people, but it is better to get them out of Zhili earlier, so as not to make any mess with these flag people...

After all, now the only thing that Zhili can fight is the Beiyang Third Division commanded by Cao Kun, and if the bannermen of the First Division take advantage of the situation to make some trouble, Cao Kun's Third Division may not be able to suppress it. (Wu Peifu was also in the 3rd Division, but he was the commander of the 3rd Artillery Regiment...) ）

Of course, after the order was issued, Yuan Shikai decisively fainted again—————— Yuan Shikai's body has not been very good in the past two years, and now he has suffered two consecutive stimuli, and his body naturally can't hold on.

After Yuan Shikai's telegram came back, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui ordered the Zhili Mixed Brigade and the Fengtian Mixed Brigade, which had just arrived in Qianjiang and were still fresh forces, to replace several main divisions on the defensive line, and when these main divisions returned to Wuhan by train, Qianjiang was responsible for the rear...

After receiving such an order, the brigade commander of the Zhili and Fengtian mixed brigades, although he kept greeting Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui's family, he still replaced Wang Zhanyuan and Li Chun very responsibly.

The Military Intelligence Bureau deployed a lot of people in Qianjiang, although because of the war, the personnel of the Military Intelligence Bureau could not immediately pass on the news, but after 2 days, the personnel of the Military Intelligence Bureau still managed to spread the news to Zhu Qinglan and others.

After learning that the Beiyang Army had begun to retreat and had transported the battered Sixth Division Li Chunbu back to Wuhan by train, Zhu Qinglan immediately ordered Yang Xincheng to lead his troops to launch a fierce attack on Qianjiang. However, as the troops sent by Yuan Shikai during the Second Revolution, although the Zhili Mixed Brigade and the Fengtian Mixed Brigade were much smaller than the main divisions of Beiyang in terms of numbers, they would not be inferior to too much in terms of combat power, so no matter how the Nationalist Army attacked, the two mixed brigades gritted their teeth and held on.

——————————

Just when Feng Guozhang was still lamenting Duan Qirui's "comeback", Feng Guozhang's personal soldier captain suddenly walked over and said.

"Two adults, the carriage and horses are ready, please get in the carriage..."

"Fourth brother, it's no good to stay, let's go..."

"Yes...", he glanced back at the Qianjiang County Ya. I don't know if we still have a chance to come back..."Saying that, Feng Guozhang shook his cloak and got into the carriage with Duan Qirui, and returned to Wuhan by train more than half an hour later.

By the time the Nationalist Army invaded Qianjiang County, almost all the main forces of the Beiyang Army had withdrawn to Wuhan, leaving only some miscellaneous soldiers who had no time to leave to surrender at the railway station...

2 days later, when Yang Xincheng had collected almost all the remnants of the soldiers in the city, Yan Guang, who learned the good news, also arrived in Qianjiang by train.

"Bai Zhou, well done!"

Although Yang Xincheng is at least 10 years older than him, after getting off the train, Yan Guang still smiled and patted Yang Xincheng who greeted him on the platform.

"Where, it is Bai Zhou's honor to serve the governor..."

Hearing Yang Xincheng's words, Yan Guang just smiled.

Since Yang Xincheng joined the National Socialist Party, the relationship between the two has been very close, and naturally there is no need to be too polite to each other—————— for Yan Guang, although Yang Xincheng is not his own descendant, but he is also a very capable person, Yan Guang is not a "certain principal", and he will not make the mistakes he once made, such as squeezing out miscellaneous cards and non-descendants or something...

However, after seeing the wounds of Qianjiang, the smile on Yan Guang's face gradually faded...

"In just over a month, such a county town has been reduced to ruins......... Fortunately, the Beiyang Army has retreated to Wuhan, and as long as the Beiyang Army in Wuhan is defeated, the situation can be determined..."

The news that Yuan Shikai vomited blood and was bedridden, Yan Guang had already learned through the Military Intelligence Bureau, thinking of Yuan Shikai's body and the fact that he died 2 years later in history—————— as long as he could defeat the Beiyang Army in Wuhan, Yan Guang was at least half sure that he would die because of the blow being too big.

Beiyang is supported by Yuan Shikai alone, without Yuan Shikai, Beiyang itself will fall apart, which can be seen from the later history of Beiyang's development. So as long as Yuan Shikai dies, even if Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang of the Beiyang Sanjie, as well as Yang Shiqi and Yang Du, the two henchmen, have no chance of turning the tables.

What's more, Yan Guang has already sent someone to contact Zhu Rui and Sun Daoren, and the three parties have reached a consensus that as long as the Nationalist Army attacks Wuhan, Zhejiang and Fujian will announce their reading power and take the chariot of the Nationalist Socialist Army—————— of course, they can also not take it, just like Long Jiguang in Guangdong, but as long as the Nationalist Army defeats the Beiyang Army in Wuhan, then there will be no more Beiyang forces in the entire south, and warlords like Zhu Rui, Sun Daoren and Long Jiguang will naturally have to be kneaded by Yan Guang at that time.

After chatting and laughing with Yang Xincheng and the others, Yan Guang took a carriage surrounded by the guards and walked in the direction of Qianjiang County.

In the process of the siege of the city by the National Social Army, the Qianjiang County Government was also deeply injured, but after entering the city, Yang Xincheng also asked people to clean up the county government, so when Yan Guang stepped out of the carriage, the county government was also cleaned up well.

Yan Guang had just entered the county office, and before he could catch up with everyone, Zhu Qinglan on the side had already spoken.

"Governor, now that the Beiyang Army has been driven back to Wuhan, are we going to take advantage of the victory to pursue and take Wuhan down by the way?"

Hearing Zhu Qinglan say this, Yang Shan and others on the side also accosted him.

"Yes, Governor, now that the Beiyang Army has been newly defeated, it is a time of low morale, if we can take advantage of the situation, it will not be difficult to take Wuhan..."

In just a moment, Yang Shan and other generals in the county government asked for battle.

However, looking at Yang Shan and the others who were inviting to fight, inexplicably, Yan Guang read a poem in a low voice.

"Zhongshan is pale and yellow, and millions of heroes have crossed the river.

The tiger is better than the past, and the world is turned upside down.

It is advisable to chase the poor bravely, and not to sell the name of the overlord.

If there is love in the sky, the sky is also old, and the right way in the world is the vicissitudes of life. ”

Reading and reading, a wry smile appeared on Yan Guang's face.

"It's better to chase the poor bravely, can't you sell your name as a learning overlord..."

Of course, Yan Guang knew that if he marched into Wuhan now, it would definitely be a good opportunity, after all, the Beiyang Army was newly defeated, and it was when morale was low, and Li Yuanhong's three divisions were not to worry. If the Nationalist Army can march into Wuhan along the Sichuan-Han Railway at this time, there is a 100% certainty that Wuhan can be taken within half a month.

But the question is......... Can the National Socialist Army still be dispatched now?

Speaking of the casualties of the troops, although the Nationalist Army successfully defeated the Beiyang Army stationed in Qianjiang, it definitely suffered a lot of casualties, and at least more than 1,000 people were killed and wounded on the first day of crossing the river...

In the ensuing battle, although the Nationalist Army had mortars, infantry guns and Madsen machine guns and other sharp weapons to help the battle, the Beiyang Army was not a fish belly force after all, and it had the advantages of numbers and geographical advantages, and it was also a defensive party.

In the fierce fighting in the past two months, if the casualties of the Beiyang Army were more than 20,000, then the casualties of the National Social Army were at least more than 10,000. (Note that casualties and deaths are two different things, and I've met people who have confused the two before, so it's better to explain it beforehand.) Casualty refers to the injured + the dead. For example, in the Battle of the Somme in Europe, the Anglo-French army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties on the first day, and many people mistakenly believed that the Anglo-French army hung nearly 60,000 on the first day of the Somme, but in fact, many of them were just wounded. ）

A total of nearly 50,000 people from the four main infantry divisions of the National Social Army participated in the Qianjiang Campaign, plus more than 20,000 people from the two infantry divisions that were reinforced in the follow-up, and a total of more than 70,000 people participated in the Qianjiang Campaign. Among the more than 70,000 people, there were more than 10,000 casualties, and the losses of the National Social Army were not insignificant...

Of course, if it was just a casualty, Yan Guang would not have been able to recite the poem above...

After all, it was only one-sixth of the casualties, which did not mean that they were all hung up, and the six infantry divisions gathered in Qianjiang this time were still well preserved in terms of combat effectiveness. So the real problem is the problem of ammunition ...

It is always easier to destroy than to rebuild, yes, now Yanguang does have the Sichuan Arsenal as support, but the production capacity of the arsenal is also limited. Zhu Qinglan and Yang Shan played the artillery vigorously in Qianjiang, but in more than a month, they knocked out the annual production capacity of the arsenal...

According to the current stockpile of ammunition and artillery, if Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui can still support Qianjiang for a week, it is estimated that Yang Shan and they will have to consider saving ammunition. Not to mention the fact that not only artillery shells, but also pistol cartridges, grenades and machine gun cartridges are consumed very much, but the consumption of rifle cartridges for the Mauser G98 rifle is very small ...

So even if Yan Guang wants to chase down the poor now, at least wait for the reorganization of the troops and the replenishment of ammunition...

——————————

Although Yan Guang's voice was very small, Yang Shan and the others still heard a few words sporadically.

Among them, the paragraph "It is advisable to chase the poor bravely, and not to sell the name of the overlord" is even more clear, but just when Yang Shan and others still wanted to advise, Yan Guang opened his mouth to tell the current scene.

When Yang Shan and others learned that if artillery was used in the Qianjiang Campaign, the arsenal's artillery reserves would only last for a week, Yang Shan and others would no longer continue to fight.

Although they defeated the Beiyang Army, Yang Shan and others knew very well that the quality of the soldiers of the Kuomintang Army was not as good as that of the Beiyang Army, and that they could defeat the Beiyang Army, which had an advantage in numbers, by relying on many firepower and equipment that were superior to the Beiyang Army.

Especially in terms of artillery, such as 210 caliber howitzers, only one shot can reimburse all the enemy troops in a fortification, which is why the National Social Army can suppress the Beiyang Army.

Without artillery support, it would have been very difficult to defeat the Beiyang Army with the individual quality of the soldiers of the Nationalist Army. Not to mention that now it's not just shells that are nervous. The storage of pistol cartridges, machine gun cartridges and grenades is also very tight, if they are used as lavistly as before, they only need to maintain the campaign for a month, and during the battle, Yang Shan and they have to accommodate the production capacity of the arsenal to carry out the operation...

"That'...... Governor, how much time will it take at least if the arsenal is to stock up on enough ammunition? ”

"One to one and a half months...", Yan Guang said and looked at Yang Shan and the others. Shells can't wait, if we want to store enough shells, we need to wait at least 3 months, so the reserve of shells is enough as long as it is enough for half a month. The key is grenade and machine gun cartridges, as long as the reserves of these two can last for 2-3 months, it will be enough ...

"Can the artillery shell reserve only last for half a month?" Hearing Yan Guang say this, Yang Shan and the others also frowned. During the battle, Yang Shan and the others were accustomed to using artillery for a few hours first, and now they naturally felt a little embarrassed when they heard that the ammunition reserve could only last for half a month..."

However, looking at their appearance, Yan Guang just shook his head and said.

"It is impossible to have endless ammunition for you in every battle in the future, so it is better for you to adapt to the current situation earlier..."

After all, it won't be long before Yan Guang will set up iron factories and arsenals in Daye, Fengtian (Liaoning) in Hubei, Benxi and Anshan in Fengtian (Liaoning), Qian'an in Hebei and Ma'anshan in Anhui.

But the problem is, it won't be long before they go to Europe...

If you get used to relying on heavy firepower now, when you come to Europe, the Nationalist Army will suffer a big loss...

(To be continued)