On June 15, all units of the Northern Expeditionary Coalition Army had arrived at the scheduled location, and the commanders of all roads had also rushed to the front line to take command, and Xiao Zhenlei was in charge of the Nanjing General Headquarters.

On June 18th, under the order of Xiao Zhenlei, the three armies launched an attack together, in these three armies, the most fierce fight was not the eastern front battlefield and not the middle line battlefield where heavy troops were gathered, but the Western Army commanded by Cai Yi, he had four divisions under his hands, although the weapons and equipment were not as good as Xiao Zhenlei's East China Army, but the weapons and equipment were not bad, before Xiao Zhenlei emphasized at the high-level meeting of the coalition forces that the Northern Expedition was related to the national fortune, and all the provincial coalition forces must exclude the elite troops, and the governors of all provinces were embarrassed. said that they would never send some untrained farmers to fill the number, in fact, they originally thought so, but Xiao Zhenlei raised this point at the meeting, and they gave up their original plan, so as not to lose face.

Garrisoned in southern Shaanxi was Zhang Yunshan, a general under the governor of Shaanxi Zhang Fenghui, who led two divisions south to resist the Western Route Army of the Northern Expedition led by Cai Yi under the order of Zhang Fenghui, and the two sides fought fiercely in southern Shaanxi.

Fierce battle for three days, Zhang Yunshan was defeated, led the troops to retreat to Hanzhong and Ankang line to rely on the strong city defense to defend to the death, Cai Ye immediately led the army to besiege the city, but due to the lack of heavy firepower, the siege battle fell into a stalemate for a while, the two sides confronted each other in the city wall, and there were battles from time to time.

Guangyuan, the headquarters of the Western Route Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

"Report!" Zhu Peide stood at the door and saluted and shouted.

"Come in!"

Zhu Peide walked in with a text clip in his left hand and saluted: "Report to the commander, it has been found out, it is Zhang Yunshan who is responsible for guarding Hanzhong, Zhang Yunshan was a lower-level officer of the Shaanxi New Army in his early years, but his relationship with the Elders' Association is extraordinary, his seniority is high, there are many disciples, and most of them are soldiers of the New Army, and many people in the Elders' Association are members of the Alliance, so Zhang Yunshan's status in the Shaanxi Army is very high, and he once had a dispute with Zhang Fengxiang about the position of the governor of Shaanxi, at the end of last year, he joined Yuan Shikai's camp, After the reorganization of the army, he got the position of commander of the first division of the Shaanxi Army, and he and Zhang Yunshan both took refuge in Yuan Shikai, but there was a great contradiction between the two of them. Garrisoned in Ankang is the Second Division of the Shaanxi Army, the division commander Zhang Yiqian, this person and Zhang Fengxiang are both graduates of the Japanese non-commissioned officer school, according to our investigation, Zhang Yiqian was very angry in the assassination of the Song Dynasty, although he has not made a clear statement, but we think we can fight for it! ”

After listening to Zhu Peide's report, Cai Yi said: "I have heard of this alumnus, and he should be a person worth fighting for, so I will write a letter, and you will send someone to see his reaction, no, you go to see him in person, and this letter must be handed over to him in person." ”

"Yes!"

It took Cai Ye a short time to write a letter, put it in an envelope and handed it to Zhu Peide, who took the letter and walked out.

Two days later, on June 24, good news came from Ankang, and Zhu Peide rushed over with a letter to report to Cai Yi, "Commander, I'm back."

Cai Ye turned around and saw that it was Zhu Peide, and hurriedly asked, "How is the situation?" What did Zhang Yiqian say? ”

Zhu Peide picked up the enamel cup and took a sip of water and said: "Commander, Zhang Yiqian promised anyway, he asked me to come back and tell you, tomorrow at eight o'clock in the evening, after he holds a military meeting to clean up a few of Zhang Fengxiang's cronies, he will lead the troops to raise righteousness, let us be ready here, this time his adjutant also came with me, ready to discuss the details of the uprising with you, and now the people are outside!" ”

"Oh? Invite him in! ”

"Yes, Commander!"

On the evening of June 25th, Cai Yi rode a fast horse to the front line headquarters of the coalition army outside Ankang City, responsible for attacking Ankang was Liu Cunhou of the Sichuan Army, after seeing Liu Cunhou at the front line headquarters, the two had a dinner together, and discussed the details of welcoming Zhang Yiqian's troops.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Cai Yi walked back and forth in the headquarters, waiting was a very painful thing, and it was also a kind of torment, he suddenly stopped, walked to the map and looked at it, stretched out his hand to look on the map, and asked: "Zhu Peide, where is Xu Chongzhi's department now?" ”

Zhu Peide said: "I arrived at Gaotan at noon, and now I should be almost in Ziyang, right?" ”

Cai Ye found Ziyang's location on the map, thought about it and immediately said to Zhu Peide: "You immediately send someone to pass the order, ordering Xu Chongzhi's department not to come to Ankang, take the path to the northwest, and take Shiquan, Ningshan and Foping for me as quickly as possible!" In addition, send people to the front line in Hanzhong to tell Li Gengen and Xiong Kewu not to let Zhang Yunshan escape to Baoji."

"Yes, Commander!" Zhu Peide saluted and turned away.

Liu Cunhou came to Cai Yi's side to take a look, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said: "The commander's move is powerful, he captured Ningshan and Foping, and Zhang Yunshan's retreat to Xi'an in Hanzhong was cut off, and his hope of waiting for reinforcements has also become a fantasy, Zhang Fengxiang's Shaanxi Army is only two integrated divisions, if Zhang Yiqian is obedient to righteousness, and Zhang Yunshan is trapped and dies in Hanzhong, then Zhang Fengxiang's army remaining in Xi'an must be some rabble, vulnerable, we can take Xi'an just around the corner!" ”

Cai Ye was not as optimistic as Liu Cunhou, he said worriedly: "Zhang Fengxiang's regular army has only two divisions in total, and we have four divisions, Yuan Shikai will not know our current situation, once we occupy the entire territory of Shaanxi, he will face the enemy on both sides, there are still capable people in the Beiyang Army, there will be no one who can't see the crisis in Shaanxi, if Yuan Shikai sends troops into Shaanxi, our battle will not be so easy to fight!" ”

Liu Cunhou was puzzled: "Although Zhang Fengxiang is interested in Yuan Shikai, he is not a descendant of Beiyang after all, he will rest assured that Yuan Shikai will send troops into Shaanxi, is he not afraid that Yuan Shikai will not leave after sending troops over, and he can still sit firmly in the position of the governor of Shaanxi?" ”

Cai Yi said: "Of course Zhang Fengxiang does not want Yuan Shikai to send troops over, but in the face of life and death, he is extremely reluctant and has no way, for him to let Yuan Shikai send troops over to help defend is much stronger than being captured by us Shaanxi, he will definitely think that if we occupy Shaanxi, his life may not be guaranteed, but Yuan Shikai sent troops over Even if he can't continue to be the governor, at least Yuan Shikai will not harm his life."

Liu Cunhou nodded and said, "Makes sense!" Commander, it seems that we need to prepare for a vicious battle sooner! ”

"yes!"

At nine o'clock in the evening, a huge fire rose in Ankang Chencheng Tower, which was a signal of the success of the uprising.

At eight o'clock in the morning of June 26, Cai Yi and Liu Cunhou led their troops to Ankang City, and when they arrived at the city, Zhang Yiqian had already led most of the officers and soldiers of the Shaanxi Second Division to wait at the city gate.

Reining in the war horse, Cai Ye and Liu Cunhou jumped down from the war horse and walked quickly forward to meet Zhang Yiqian, the three of them were extremely excited and excited to meet, holding each other's arms and laughing, and the officers and soldiers on both sides held guns and cheered loudly in celebration.

After greeting for a while, Zhang Yiqian saluted Cai Yi and said: "Commander Cai, Zhang Yiqian led his troops to officially join the Northern Expedition camp to crusade against Yuan Shikai, and I am willing to obey the commander's command!" ”

Cai Yi was overjoyed and said: "Okay, it is beneficial for Brother Qian to join, our Northern Expedition and the Western Route Army are like a tiger, hahaha."

The news of Zhang Yiqian's righteousness quickly spread, and after Zhang Yunshan in Hanzhong got the news, he scolded and smashed things, injuring several people. Zhang Yiqian threw himself into the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Ankang fell into the hands of the Northern Expeditionary Army, which meant that the original horns of Hanzhong and Ankang had been broken, and he Zhang Yunshan would be alone in Hanzhong, and if he did not retreat in time, then it would only be a matter of time before he was destroyed.

Zhang Yunshan immediately made a plan to retreat, he had only one division of troops in his hands, and after a period of fighting, the troops had been greatly reduced, and the strength was only two-thirds, and if he did not leave, it was likely that all of them would be confessed to Hanzhong, and after making up his mind, he led his troops to quietly evacuate Hanzhong on the night of June 28.

Li Gengen and Xiong Kewu found that there were only a few flags floating weakly on the head of Hanzhong City the next morning, and the ghost could not see a single one, so they sent a platoon of troops to reconnoitre, and soon learned that Hanzhong City had become an empty city, and the people were not less than one, Zhang Yunshan's men and horses were all gone, and after leading the troops into Hanzhong, Li Gengen immediately used the telegraph in the city to report to Cai Yi, who was in good health.

After Cai Yi got the news, he quickly called back, ordering Xiong Kewu to immediately lead his troops to follow and pursue, biting closely behind Zhang Yunshan's department, Xiong Kewu got Cai Yi's military order, and had to lead the Sichuan soldiers who were full of complaints to continue to pursue Zhang Yunshan.

On the morning of June 30, Zhang Yunshan's department arrived at Jinshui, but was reported by the reconnaissance team in front that the Northern Expeditionary Army had occupied Foping and Ningshan in front, and the north of the road to Xi'an was completely blocked. In desperation, Zhang Yunshan thought of surrendering, and he immediately sent someone to contact the Northern Expeditionary Army to negotiate for Surrender.

After Zhang Yunshan sent people over, Xiong Kewu, who was pursuing, and Xu Chongzhi, who was blocking the road, both ordered the troops to temporarily stop attacking Zhang Yunshan's headquarters, but immediately sent someone to report to Cai Yi, who immediately asked Xiong Kewu and Xu Chongzhi to tell Zhang Yunshan that they must surrender unconditionally in order to save their lives.

Cai Yi did this after careful consideration, Zhang Yunshan is different from Zhang Yiqian, he thinks that Zhang Yunshan is too cunning, has a strong desire for power, and is a complete ** opportunist, or a typical kind of person who is grass on the wall and the wind blows on both sides, and now Zhang Yunshan's wings are difficult to fly, of course Cai Yi will not bird him. R1152