The northern Soviet front is about to gather more than 100,000 troops of the three armies of Feng, Anhui and Shandong, and the total number of troops on the line has exceeded the Tangshan campaign of the two families before, although the battle of more than 100,000 troops is nothing for the Russo-Japanese War, after all, in the battle of Fengtian and Liaoyang during the Russo-Japanese War, the total number of troops on both sides of the war exceeded 600,000, and it cannot be compared with the first World War and the second world war in later generations.

However, this battle composed of more than 100,000 modern armies is extremely rare for contemporary China!

Although due to the outbreak of the civil war in the country, the various armed forces in the country have surged in the past year, and the regular and irregular armed forces under the command of the major warlords have combined to exceed one million, but there are not many field troops that can really fight, most of them are concentrated in the hands of the Beiyang armies, especially in the hands of Zhao Dongyun, and the others are scattered in the Anhui army, the Hubei army, and the Jin army, as for the army in the hands of the Southern Federation, although the total number is quite large, the total number is not less than that of the Beiyang warlords. However, most of the troops of the Southern Federation were chaotic, and only a few main forces could barely fight with the Beiyang elite, such as the eighth town and the twenty-first town under Zhang Zhidong, the nineteenth town under Zhao Erxun, the thirty-eighth town under Duanfang's new formation in Liangguang, and the original Jiangbei mixed brigade in Xiliang, all the way to the forty-sixth town that was reorganized and expanded after the defeat in Fujian.

You can see from the numbers of the main forces of the Southern Federation, at this time, how chaotic the number and establishment of the troops of the Southern Federation are, the number of the town-level is more than forty, but in fact, there are not a few towns that can be pulled out, most of them are all kinds of messy new armies, old armies occupy those numbers, and a few hundred people dare to play the banner of such and such a town.

The total number of regular field troops in the hands of various warlords in China is actually less than 300,000, and Zhao Dongyun's family accounts for nearly half of the more than 100,000.

This is also the reason why many warlords in China regard Zhao Dongyun as the biggest threat, don't look at the Feng army, there are only 100,000 troops going south now, but you must know that these hundreds of thousands are regular field troops, each of which is equipped with perfect light and heavy weapons, and has undergone complete training.

Otherwise, Duan Qirui would not have been like a great enemy, and he wantonly transferred troops from the southern front to the north, and as soon as he was deployed, there were as many as 70,000 or 80,000, but in terms of the number of troops, it was already far more than the more than 30,000 people of the second army of the Feng army from the southeast of the mountain.

And Duan Qirui's deployment of so many troops gathered in Xuzhou, putting on a posture of fighting to the death in Xuzhou, that is, the Feng army was forced to change the original strategy, not only the newly formed Third Army went south to reinforce Henan, but also after taking Zhengzhou, the First Army was transferred east to Xuzhou.

In this way, around the Xuzhou front, the Feng army gathered a huge force of more than 80,000 troops in the first and second armies.

This is self-defeating for Duan Qirui, if Duan Qirui only sent 30,000 or 40,000 people north to Xuzhou, the Feng army would not attach so much importance to it, and would not specially transfer the First Army from Henan to northern Anhui to participate in the Xuzhou Campaign.

In the war, the various behaviors of both sides affect each other, and the reason for the subsequent results is only known after the battle

The Xuzhou front line brought together more than 150,000 troops on both sides, which also caused the largest battle since the civil war last year, and such a large-scale battle was also a serious challenge to the command system of the Feng army.

As the First Army and the Second Army arrived at the Xuzhou front line one after another, especially after the 19th Brigade took Haizhou, the Feng Army used many ships from the Navy and the Quartermaster Department to supply by sea, and the troops on the front line, especially the First Army from the southeast of Shandong, received sufficient supplies.

And at this time, the battle of Xuzhou, which has been prepared by both sides for half a month, has finally begun!

On 19 September, Zhao Dongyun formally appointed Meng Enyuan as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in Xuzhou, and Xu Bangjie as the deputy commander, commanding the 100-millimeter heavy artillery battalions directly under the 1st Army, the 2nd Army, and the two subordinate headquarters.

After several days of rest, the 20th Brigade of the 10th Division under Xu Bangjie moved south from Yicheng and launched an attack on Pizhou, 60 kilometers away from Xuzhou, which was an important stronghold between Suqian and Xuzhou, not only to hold the canal passage, but also to avoid the flank threat when the rest of the Second Army attacked Xuzhou.

Therefore, in the operational plan of the Operations Department of the Feng Army Command, the capture of this place was a prelude to the launch of a general attack on Xuzhou.

However, Duan Qirui on the opposite side also knew that he was not just defending a city in Xuzhou, but the entire northern Jiangsu defense line, and an important peripheral stronghold like Pizhou would not give up lightly, so there was a whole mixed brigade defending the place.

At the same time, the 19th Brigade took Haizhou, in addition to sending a battalion of troops to continue eastward to the coast to cover the port, the other troops of the 19th Brigade continued to move south to the Muyang area.

The other main forces of the Second Army under Xu Bangjie, including the Third Division, the First Mixed Brigade, and the heavy artillery unit, headed straight for Xuzhou along the southeast.

In the west of Xuzhou, the First Army led by Meng Enyuan also approached less than 30 kilometers away from Xuzhou, and successively conquered Tangshan, Xiayi and other peripheral defense lines of the Anhui Army, but in the face of the ferocious offensive of the First Army of the Feng Army, Duan Qirui wisely chose to shrink the defense line, and shrank the forces on many peripheral defense lines in the west to Xuzhou.

On the 27th, the Ninth Division under the command of the First Army captured Xiao County, an important peripheral stronghold to the west of the Xuzhou defense line.

However, the closer they got to Xuzhou, the more careful the generals of the Feng army on the front line became, and they were extremely cautious in using their troops to fight, because any middle and senior Feng army generals knew that the victory or defeat of this battle was related to who could reach the top of China in the end, and Zhao Dongyun in the rear would not tolerate any mistakes in command.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that the means of communication in these years were still too backward, Zhao Dongyun would have wanted to learn from the future generations of Brother Zhiqing's remote command, not that he didn't know the shortcomings of remote command, but that he was really worried.

With the outbreak of the Battle of Xuzhou, Zhao Dongyun's worries can be seen by others, although Zhao Dongyun is still calm and calm at this time, but the people who have been around him for a long time can see that Zhao Dongyun has been worried about the war in Xuzhou during this time.

Li San, as an old qualified entourage by Zhao Dongyun's side, naturally understands Zhao Dongyun's various expressions and body language very clearly, if he didn't have the ability to observe words and colors, he would not have been able to follow Zhao Dongyun's side for so long.

"President, here comes tea!" Li San put down the teacup, but Zhao Dongyun didn't turn around, still staring at the large map of China on the back wall of the office.

Li San waited for a few breaths, but when he was originally going to go out, Zhao Dongyun spoke: "Li San, how long have you been following me!" ”

Li San was a little stunned when he heard these endless words, and then said: "Back to the president, the ministry has been following you for seven years!" ”

Li San was his guard when Zhao Dongyun served as the commander of the military camp of Wuwei in 1901, and then he always followed Zhao Dongyun's side, from the ordinary guard to Ma Ben, and then to the officer of the guard, and then successively served as the director of the camp office of the third town, the director of the Secretariat of the Shengjing General's Mansion, the Governor's Office of the Three Eastern Provinces, the Patrol Embassy of the Three Eastern Provinces, and then to the current director of the Secretariat of the Presidential Palace.

Although his position has changed a lot, the work he does has not changed, nominally he is the director of the secretariat, but in fact he does not interfere in government affairs, he mainly acts as Zhao Dongyun's accompanying secretary, to put it mildly, it is the role of carrying bags, serving tea and pouring water.

But despite this, no one in the Su family dared to underestimate him, and Zhao Dongyun's trust in the Su family represented power.

Zhao Dongyun said: "Counting, you have followed me for a long time, you said that over the years, have I ever failed?" ”

Li San looked puzzled, but continued to answer respectfully: "No, since the president took office as the right army of Wuwei, he has never lost a single battle inside and outside!" ”

Zhao Dongyun turned around, and then Li San saw him with a wry smile on his face, Li San saw this expression, and guessed in his heart: Could it be that something went wrong on the front line in Xuzhou?

However, although Li San rarely intervenes in military and political affairs, he is the director of the Secretariat, and he is clear about many things, and he has the right to read the weekly military briefings, and according to the news he has learned, although the current progress of the Feng army on the front line of Xuzhou is not too fast, but it is because the Feng army is being cautious and cautious.

If it wasn't the reason for the Xuzhou front, could it be that something went wrong with the cabinet? It doesn't seem to be there, this second cabinet was set up by Zhao Dongyun himself, and the selection of senior officials who have been carefully considered, and most of them are from the Soviet Union, although there are not many troubles encountered since the establishment of the cabinet, but they have handled many domestic government affairs in a smooth and orderly manner, and the cabinet chiefs have no irreconcilable contradictions.

Li San was secretly guessing, but Zhao Dongyun didn't intend to hide anything, the Li San in front of him was not only his subordinate, but also an old man who had followed him for many years, and he immediately said: "There is a message from the Japanese 'Ben, saying that we have detained a batch of ordnance orders!" ”

When Li San heard this, his face immediately changed: "This Oriental person is so hateful, he has such a disregard for faith!" ”

Li San scolded the day for ignoring Xinyi, but the word Xinyi is nothing to Zhao Dongyun, what he really cares about is the meaning behind Ri's actions.