The Beiyang Army in the era of Yuan Shikai was to imitate the German Army, and now the Feng Army under Zhao Dongyun has expanded in size, and at the same time, more and more officers have returned to serve in the Feng Army.

Not only are the weapons and equipment almost all of the same German standard, but even the military uniforms are counterfeited with a strong German style.

For example, the weapons, almost all of them are German systems, the caliber of 7.92 bullets is German, the Fuzao 88 rifle used is also a copy of the German 1888 commission rifle, the heavy machine gun is also imported or imitated from the German MG01 type, the artillery is also imported from Germany 1903 75 mm field gun and the German export version of the 75 mm mountain gun, and the 75 mm tube gun imitated by the Fuyuan machine qì factory is also a German 75 mm mountain gun.

This is especially true in military uniforms, not long ago Germany just changed into a new gray military uniform, Fengjun is immediately followed up to change the color of the military uniform and related details, and launched a different standard military uniform from other warlord troops in China, among which the regular uniform is changed from winter blue and summer soil to gray in all seasons, this color is also known to the later generations as the Beiyang Army uniform, and last winter began to distribute woolen coats to officers.

As for the dress top, the dark blue of the Beiyang era is still used, but the pants are changed to black!

In addition, there are some other changes in details, all in all, after half a year of military uniform change, Fengjun has been very similar to the Beiyang Army in the eyes of later generations.

As for the troops of other warlords in China, they are still using the color of the military uniforms of the old Beiyang era, so the troops of other warlords are not easy to distinguish from the appearance, but the troops of the Feng army and other warlords in the country are very different.

In addition to military uniforms and equipment, many tactical details of the Feng army are also deeply influenced by the German Army, if it were not for Zhao Dongyun's new infantry tactics in recent years, it is estimated that the group of officers who returned to Germany would have turned the Feng army into a copy of the German army.

If the equipment, appearance, and tactics are not only the troops of the Feng army learning from Germany, but also the troops of other warlords in Japan and even in China are learning from the German army, then the introduction and attention of the staff system is the most influential change in the system of the Feng army.

At present, the staff system of all domestic armies, including Japan, is incomplete, and there are no staff officers, but the commander-in-chief of the unit basically has the final say in specific operations.

However, the operational command, especially the strategic command, in the Feng army is basically formulated by the staff officers!

In particular, at the division and mixed brigade levels, a large number of operational staff officers are attached, and these operational staff officers are all composed of senior and outstanding young officers, which are sufficient to propose the most rational and perfect operational plan for the commander-in-chief of the unit.

And the combat office in the headquarters is the most obvious symbol of the staff system of the Fengjun!

You must know that many of the operational plans of the Fengjun from last year to the present are basically from the hands of the Operations Department, which also leads to the fact that Yang Deming, director of the Operations Division, will have a rising position in the Fengjun system.

To put it bluntly, Yang Deming's importance in the Feng army is greater than that of those division commanders and brigade commanders, and the strength of the combat department has also made Yang Deming's demeanor change over that of his immediate boss, Fang Biyong, chief of staff.

Therefore, when Zhao Dongyun asked Yang Deming, the other generals present also turned their attention to Yang Deming.

If Yang Deming had been last year, he would have been timid in the face of such an occasion, but since last year, he has participated in similar military meetings I don't know how many times, even more than Fang Biyong, the chief of staff.

I saw him stand up, walked to the map panel in front as usual, picked up the command list and pointed in the direction of Bazhou: "At present, it is well known that the seventh division of the enemy Wang Zhanyuan is in Bazhou, and the fifth brigade of the Kong Guanbei division of our army that is engaged with this department in this direction, and the sixth brigade is urgently reinforcing this direction from Yongqing, and it is expected that the infantry units of the forward will arrive within one day, and the artillery and follow-up baggage troops are expected to arrive within two days."

In addition, Xu Bangjie's 10th Division has urgently moved south from the Liuquan line, although the speed of the southward march has been affected by the shortage of carriages, mules and horses, but its forward infantry units are also expected to arrive at the periphery of Bazhou tomorrow evening, and it is expected that the artillery units of this unit will also be transported to the periphery of Bazhou by the evening of the day after tomorrow and before dawn the day after tomorrow!

Under the reinforcement of the above two divisions of our army to the south, the safety of the Fifth Brigade can be guaranteed! ”

Hearing Yang Deming say this, everyone present nodded slightly, although everyone was also clear about the battle situation in Bazhou, but when they heard Yang Deming say it, it was clearer, and the people who were still worried about the safety of the Fifth Brigade also did not refute it after thinking about it.

I only heard Yang Deming continue: "According to the battle plan submitted by General Chen, the 6th Brigade of our division is required to make a detour to the southwest to attack the southeast of Bazhou, although the enemy's 7th Division may have reserves in this direction, it should not exceed one regiment!" ”

Although Wang Zhanyuan's Seventh Division is full, it is only two brigades and four regiments at full strength, and there is only one regiment that frontally pins down the Fifth Brigade, and another brigade that attacks the flank of the Fifth Brigade in a roundabout way to the north, so it would be good to have one regiment in the southeast of Bazhou, that is, the strength left on the right flank of the Seventh Division.

Yang Deming continued: "When the Sixth Brigade is making a detour, the third division's subordinate baggage, engineering and other troops continue to move south, and it is expected to arrive at the Fifth Brigade the day after tomorrow to support the department!"

At the same time, the 10th Division pressed the enemy's 13th Brigade directly from the north, and the enemy's brigade attacked the 5th Brigade for a long time without flanking it, and was attacked by the 10th Division, and it was bound to be defeated, and the 10th Division and the 5th Brigade would be able to carry out a counteroffensive against the division. ”

At this time, Meng Enyuan said: "What if Wang Zhanyuan transfers the 13th Brigade to retreat? ”

"In this case, it will be necessary to rely on the Sixth Brigade to quickly break through from the southern front and cut off the rear of the enemy army!" Yang Deming did not stop there, but continued:

"The strength of the two divisions of our army, with a fifth brigade to contain and drag the enemy, and many others to launch attacks on the flanks of the enemy, many colleagues in the combat department think that this move is expected to hit Wang Zhanyuan's seventh division in one fell swoop, and no matter how bad it is, it can also severely damage the enemy's first brigade!"

Yang Deming did not arrogantly say that he could encircle and annihilate an entire Seventh Division in one fell swoop, in fact, with the strength of the two divisions of the Feng Army today, he could not encircle the Seventh Division, and could only use the old method to contain a small number of troops in the front, and the main force launched a roundabout attack from the flank, which then caused a situation of multi-sided attack, as long as the flank of the Seventh Division collapsed, then the collapse of the entire Seventh Division's front was inevitable.

As for how much the enemy can reap after the collapse of the army, it depends on the actual situation.

"If our army can inflict heavy losses on the Seventh Division, then the follow-up Third Division and the Tenth Division will be able to pursue all the way south, without giving the Seventh Division time to regroup, and then it will be able to pursue all the way to Shandong, and then control Shandong, and it may even be possible to seize Jinan in front of Zhang Huaizhi and Duan Qirui and other northbound troops."

Yang Deming did not say what to do after marching into Jinan, because even if it was a qiēshun lì, the battle in Shandong would have to be ten days and a half months later, and the troops of the Feng army entering the customs after more than a month of fighting would also need a large-scale and long-term rest to replenish the lost soldiers and equipment, and more importantly, replenish ammunition and other supplies, and then be able to recover their peak combat strength and meet the northbound troops of Zhang Huaizhi, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, Wang Ruxian and others.

And these follow-up battles are still too far away for the Feng army to be discussed today.

After listening to Yang Deming's words, Zhao Dongyun did not make a decision at the first time, but asked unexpectedly: "Where is Hua Zhenji's Second Cavalry Brigade now?" What's the situation in Shijiazhuang? ”

Fang Biyong on the side replied: "According to the news transmitted back by the Second Cavalry Brigade yesterday, the Second Cavalry Brigade has successfully arrived in Dingzhou, and there is still a distance of more than 70 kilometers from the Shijiazhuang front, but the Second Cavalry Brigade has suffered great losses in non-combat at present, and a large number of horses have been injured and sick, the brigade is currently less than 1,000 horsemen, and the rest of the cavalry is currently heading south on foot. ”

Hearing that there were less than 1,000 cavalry left in the Second Cavalry Brigade, Zhao Dongyun raised his eyebrows, although he had expected that the Second Cavalry Brigade would suffer a large number of non-combat losses in the process of going south, but the loss was still so great that he was heartbroken, the Second Brigade was full of nearly 2,000 cavalry before entering the customs, and in the Tangshan Campaign, when he went south to Langfang, he had already lost hundreds of horses due to long-distance maneuvers, and now he has lost hundreds of horses, leaving less than 1,000 horsemen. After this battle, I am afraid that more than 1,000 war horses will need to be replenished to be able to restore the combat effectiveness.

But heartache is heartache, but Zhao Dongyun has no intention of giving the Second Cavalry Brigade an order to slow down their pace! Compared with the battle of Bazhou, Shijiazhuang was more critical, Wu Fengling suffered a lot of losses under the onslaught of Wang Ruxian's troops, Wu Fengling sent a telegram to Zhao Dongyun saying that it had lost nearly 2,000 troops, which was more than the total loss of Wu Fengling's march into Shanxi for half a year, and several times used words such as critical battle situation, Zhao Dongyun estimated that if his reinforcements did not arrive, and if Wang Shizhen's brigade went north, Wu Fengling had a great possibility that he would not be able to hold on.

Once Shijiazhuang is lost, then the entire Zhili battle situation will fall into an extremely unfavorable situation for the Feng army.

Therefore, even if the horses of the Second Cavalry Brigade ran to death, more than 2,000 people of the Second Cavalry Brigade would have to arrive in Shijiazhuang to reinforce Wu Fengling's headquarters!

The Second Cavalry Brigade set out from Langfang, passing through Liuquan, Dingxing, Baoding, and Dingzhou, and on the way there was a small battle in Baoding, defeating a regiment of the provincial army deployed by the direct army in Baoding.