The trenches dug in Zhangjiazhen by the Fifth Town of the Beiyang Army and the 3,000 Patrol Battalion of the Beiyang Army may be more than enough to deal with the artillery of the new army troops in other places at this time, but they have no effect at all under the large-scale artillery and curved artillery shelling of Xiao Zhenlei's descendants. The soldiers of the Beiyang Army and the patrol battalion were exposed to the outside and were extremely vulnerable to bullets or shells, and Xiao Zhenlei's descendants were equipped with two kinds of ultra-small artillery, grenadiers and mortars, and in the defensive battle, the 5th Town and the patrol battalion of the Beiyang Army suffered heavy losses of 3,000 people.

In the evening, under the heavy casualties, Jin Yunpeng had to order the remnants of the defeated army to withdraw to the third direction in Zhangjia Town, and then count the remaining troops at this time, he found that he had lost more than 3,000 people in one day today, half of which were soldiers from the Fifth Town of Beiyang, and the other half were patrol battalions.

Today's battle made Jin Yunpeng and the officers and soldiers of the Fifth Town have a great fear of the Fourth Division, the opponent's offensive ability is too strong, not to mention anything else, just the artillery covers the blow, and they Jin Yunpeng suffered heavy losses.

At night, in Jin Yunpeng's headquarters, everyone looked gloomy, the combat effectiveness of the Fourth Division of the Soviet Army was too strong, and the head-to-head duel could not stop the opponent's attack at all, and it was not a long-term solution to retreat in Zhangjia Town, and the other party would still launch an attack tomorrow, and only those buildings in the town could not block the opponent's powerful artillery fire.

Jin Yunpeng thought for a long time, sighed and said, "Send a telegram to Lord Yuan and report the situation here!" Whether we continue to hold out or retreat to Jinan, please give the order of Lord Yuan. If it's too late, it's hard to say if Lord Yuan will be able to see me! ”

"Yes. My lord! ”

At this time, a soldier walked in from outside and said, "Report to your lordship, there are a few officials at the checkpoint two miles outside the north of the town." Said I wanted to see you! It's their name thorn! ”

"Oh? Show me! Jin Yunpeng said as he took the name card from the soldier's hand and opened it to take a look, his face suddenly showed joy, and he hurriedly said: "It turned out to be Mr. Huizi, everyone come with me to greet him, compared to Mr. Huizi brought the order of Lord Yuan!" ”

The co-ordinators, standard commanders, and pipe bands in the headquarters hurriedly agreed: "Yes, my lord!" ”

When they came to the checkpoint, they saw a few people riding on horseback outside the checkpoint, and the first one of them was wearing a fur coat and a fur hat. The person next to him was wearing a military coat and a big-brimmed hat, with a heroic face. Jin Yunpeng hurriedly smiled and said, "Oh, the arrival of Mr. Huizi is just right to solve my urgent need to burn coal!" ”

After seeing people coming from the sentry post, a few people on horseback got off the horseback, and the one wearing a fur coat and a fur hat was Yuan Shikai's staff Yang Du.

Yang Du arched his hand and smiled: "Brother Yiqing! Oh, let me introduce you, this is Jiang Fangzhen, the Praetorian Guard."

Jin Yunpeng and Jiang Fangzhen nodded. Jin Yunpeng hurriedly asked: "Mr. Huizi, I just called Lord Yuan to report the situation here, and the shape is very unfavorable to me, the Jiangsu Fourth Division of Xiao Zhenlei on the opposite side is extremely elite. Our army is no match for it at all, and today alone we have lost two lines of defense in a row. The losses amounted to more than three thousand people, if the fight continues tomorrow. I'm afraid that the fifth town will be wiped out, Mr. Huizi quickly help me find a way. How to deal with this situation? ”

Yang Du smiled and turned his head to look at Jiang Fangzhen, and said with a smile: "Baili, it seems that your little brother is really not simple, no wonder you respect him so much!" ”

Jiang Baili said with a smile: "Let's not mention his military talent for the time being, with his current mastery of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huaijiang and other places, we can see his long-term vision and talent in politics, we are only afraid that we will not be able to get any bargain in his hands this time!" ”

Yang Du's face turned pale when he heard this, and he turned his head to Jin Yunpeng and said: "Yiqing, we came this time to contact Xiao Zhenlei entrusted by Yuan Gong, Tang Shaoyi in the south is about to reach an agreement with the representatives of the revolutionary party, if the negotiation is completed over there, Xiao Zhenlei here will be alone even if he wants to fight personally, you can relax, go, let's go to your headquarters to drink hot tea first and then slowly do the calculation."

"Yes, yes, look at my brain, please!" Jin Yunpeng heard the conversation between Yang Du and Jiang Fangzhen just now, and knew that this time to negotiate with Xiao Zhenlei, it would have to fall on Jiang Fangzhen, and he was immediately much more enthusiastic about Jiang Fangzhen.

General Command of the Coalition Forces.

The long conference table was full of senior generals on both sides, Xiao Zhenlei sat on the main seat and said: "Today's daytime attack, the Fourth Division fought well, but the tactical coordination is still a little jerky, but it's no wonder that you, you haven't fought a few battles, no matter how well you train, only after countless battles can you forge an iron-blooded division, Commander Yao, have the casualties of your division been counted today?" ”

The generals of the new army in other places couldn't help but slander in their hearts when they heard this, this kind of tactical cooperation is still jerky? So what does it take to qualify?

Yao Chengcheng stood up and said: "Sir, the statistics are out, our army launched a total of two attacks today, 103 people were killed, 217 people were wounded, 782 people were captured, 2,679 rifles of various types, 245 pistols, 240,000 rounds of bullets of various calibers, and countless other military resources!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded and said: "Okay, today's battle is generally not bad, but you can't be complacent, don't take other troops in your eyes from now on, you must do your best every time you face the enemy, don't underestimate the enemy, sit down."

"Yes, sir!"

Xiao Zhenlei said again: "You may think that my requirements for Yao Cheng are a little too harsh, but in fact, they are trained by me, and I know they can do better." In addition, you don't have other thoughts in your hearts, thinking that Yao Chengcheng is my descendant, and all good equipment has been given to them, and your soldiers are still using old sleeves, thinking that I kiss them but not you, this is not right, the people sitting here today are all members of our iron-blooded National Salvation Party, there is no distinction between descendants and non-descendants here, you are here with me, I treat them equally, it's not that I'm reluctant to give you good weapons, but our weapons production scale has not kept up, and it is impossible to change all of you. And it is only more than a month since the recovery of the provinces, and it is too late to change all of you in such a time, things always have to come step by step, and there is no hurry. After the end of this Northern Expedition, I will reorganize all the armies under the banner of the Iron and Blood Salvation Party, unify the equipment and the number of soldiers, and you will all have the weapons and equipment of the third and fourth divisions at that time! ”

These generals were overjoyed when they heard this, straightened their waists one by one, and their spirits came up at once.

At this time, the communications staff officer walked into the conference room and saluted Xiao Zhen and Lei Lizheng: "Report to the commander-in-chief, Liu Chenglong's division of the third division of Jiangsu, the cavalry brigade of the First Army, and the Huang Yingjie division of the third division of the Zhejiang army have called respectively!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand: "Read!" ”

"Yes!" The communications staff officer took out the first telegram and read: "Commander-in-chief, Liu Chenglong, who is lowly and has recovered Yanggu, Guanxian, Huaxian, and Zaiping County in the evening today, and the first regiment of our division has captured the Qi River, and can cross the river at any time and advance east to attack Jinan!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei turned his head to look at the map on the wall, and saw that the western part of Shandong had fallen into the pocket of the Third Division.

The staff officer took out another telegram and read: "Qin Tiejun, commander of the Independent Cavalry Brigade of the Soviet Army, reported to the commander-in-chief, he personally led a cavalry regiment to raid Jinan Chengdong Gate an hour ago, and the Qing army defenders were defenseless and were successfully attacked by me. ”

Xiao Zhenlei was overjoyed when he heard this, patted the table and said: "In this way, Jin Yunpeng's department in the fifth town of Beiyang has cut off the way to retreat and has become the turtle in my urn!" ”

"Hahaha" The generals were also very happy, and immediately laughed one by one.

"Huang Yingjie, the third division of the lowly Zhejiang Army, reported to the commander-in-chief, until now, the lowly post has recovered Qingzhou, Shouguang, Changle, Linqu, tomorrow will attack Weifang, the lowly post to the commander-in-chief for instructions, Qingdao in the south is in the hands of the Germans, is the lowly post attacked and taken?"

After reading the telegram, Xiao Zhenlei thought for a moment and said: "Send a telegram to Liu Chenglong, tell him that the cavalry brigade has raided into Jinan, let him stand by and rest, gather the soldiers of the Qing army patrol battalions in various places, take them from the strong, go to their old and weak to form a regiment to garrison various places, and take over the power of each county and government, get in touch with the local members of our party, hand over the matter of forming a new government to them, give them an explanation, and try to unite people from all walks of life, but we must not violate the principle, and pay attention to methods and strategies in our work!"

Sue the Qin Tiejun to pacify Jinan, maintain social order in the city and the stability of the market, severely crack down on the robbers who take advantage of the fire, and then send a unit to encircle Jin Yunpeng's troops to prevent him from forcibly breaking through.

Send a telegram to Huang Yingjie and tell him that the country has not yet been pacified, and it is not appropriate to provoke external strong enemies for the time being, so let him not care about the German army in Qingdao, and do not provoke the Germans without authorization, if the German army in Qingdao takes the initiative to cause trouble, he can fight back! That's all, you go and generate electricity."

"Yes, sir!"

Xiao Zhenlei then said to the generals: "I think the news of the successful raid on Jinan by me will soon reach Jin Yunpeng's ears, and he will definitely be in fear all day long. Chuandong, you send someone to the forward position early tomorrow morning to shout and ask him to surrender, if this person surrenders, I can still open up to him, if he is stubborn, hum, then launch an attack to destroy his fifth town! ”

Zhou Chuandong, commander of the Second Army of the Zhejiang Army, got up and agreed: "Yes, sir!" ”

At this time, a communicator with a face full of gunpowder smoke ran in and saluted, and then whispered a few words to Wu Shiyou, the commander of the Second Army of the Soviet Army, and Wu Shiyou waved to him after hearing this: "Got it, you go outside and wait for a while!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

Wu Shiyou stood up and reported to Xiao Zhenlei: "Sir, there are two people who came over with white flags on the opposite position, one of them said that it was your old friend Jiang Fangzhen, and he said that he wanted to see you!" ”

"Jiang Fangzhen?" Xiao Zhenlei was taken aback, "Isn't he in the Praetorian Guard?" How did you get here? In this way, you pick them up on my behalf, arrange them, entertain them, and I'll go over for a fun meeting! ”

"Yes, sir!" (To be continued......)