Haizhou, this place can be regarded as a thousand-year-old city, even though it cannot be compared with Xianyang, Bianjing, Luoyang, these ancient cities, but it can barely catch a 'ancient' word.

It's just that there are countless prefectures and counties in the country today, and there are not 100 but 500 ancient cities with a history of 1,000 years, and it is really not easy for people to remember these small towns if there are no special events.

Recently, the name of Haizhou has frequently appeared in the mouths and articles of military and political dignitaries of the Soviet Union.

In a report submitted to the secretariat by the Ministry of Communications of the Cabinet, it said: "A few days ago, when we learned that the military planned to build a port and Haizhou, our department sent personnel to inquire about the coastal areas of Haizhou, and learned that the clouds and mountains are deep and waveless 60 kilometers east of Haizhou Prefecture, and that there was originally a small port in this place, which can be used urgently with a little repair, but for the sake of long-term planning, we should follow the regulations of Huludao and Yingkou and expand the port there." ”

Originally, the military took Haizhou to build a port, and it should have nothing to do with the cabinet, but no matter what the reason for the construction of this port, but now it is for the military, but in the future, it is not the same to be returned to civilian use, so it is reasonable for the Ministry of Communications to hurriedly send people to coordinate.

In order to prepare for the construction of Haizhou, a seaborne supply and transshipment center, in addition to sending the 19th Brigade to prepare for taking the place, the military actually carried out more actions in the rear.

In early September, as soon as the shipping supply plan was completed, many departments of the General Command jointly dispatched personnel, including the Communications Department of the General Staff, the Ship Department of the Ordnance Department, the Shipping Department of the Quartermaster Department, and the Navy Department, to jointly dispatch a technical team of more than 50 people to carry out the work of the Haizhou Supply and Transshipment Center.

It is not so easy to carry out large-scale shipping, in addition to preparing sea ships, it is also necessary to carry out urgent temporary expansion of the small port in Haizhou and increase the port equipment, otherwise the small fish port in Haizhou can not handle much material at present.

However, the urgent expansion of Haizhou's port is not a big problem, because the Feng army does not intend to turn this Haizhou into a real military port, or even turn it into a large-scale civilian port, it only requires that this Haizhou be able to supply the supplies of the Feng army to fight in northern Jiangsu normally in the following months.

Otherwise, the Japanese army would not have launched multiple landing operations at the same time during the Russo-Japanese War. When the Japanese army landed on the Liaodong Peninsula, the supplies needed by the troops besieging Lushun in the early stage and the troops going north to Mukden depended on the transportation of those small ports where they landed.

It's the same for Fengjun, as long as the port of Haizhou can berth small and medium-sized ships sailing along the coast, but I didn't think of letting Haizhou berth large ships of tens of thousands of tons.

It's just that these things are the affairs of those people in the command, and they have nothing to do with Wu Peifu, his current task is to take Haizhou, and how to deal with those people in the command after taking Haizhou is their business.

Outside Haizhou City, Wu Peifu withdrew his gaze from the map: "How is the situation?" ”

Although it is said that the intelligence department of the headquarters has sent Wu Peifu relevant information about Haizhou, saying that there are not many enemy troops in the prefecture and the subordinate Ganyu County and Muyang County, and there should be only about one regiment. At present, the strength of the Anhui army in northern Jiangsu can be described as abundant, but the strong strength does not mean that the Anhui army can be stationed in tens of thousands of people in every place.

According to the investigation of the intelligence department of the army headquarters, the main force of the Anhui army is currently stationed in Xuzhou, including the fourth division led by Duan Qirui himself, and there are other secondary forces stationed in Suqian and Qingjiangpu, and the entire defense line is generally arranged along the flow of the Jinghan Grand Canal, of which Xuzhou is the bridgehead, and Suqian and Qingjiangpu are the side rear lines. The northern part of Anhui southwest of Xuzhou was garrisoned by Zhang Huaizhi's nearly Wanlu army in Anhui.

The width of the joint defense line of the Anhui army and the Lu army in the Huaibei and northern Jiangsu regions is more than 200 kilometers, and it is naturally impossible to say that troops are deployed everywhere in such a long battlefield width.

It can be seen that Xuzhou plays an important role in this line of defense, Xuzhou is not only a bridgehead, but also the backbone of this line of defense, once Xuzhou is lost, then it means that this line of defense is divided into two, and the follow-up Lu army can only stick to Huaibei alone, and the Anhui army can only retreat to the area of Qingjiangpu.

The Anhui army went north to Xuzhou and regarded Xuzhou as a bridgehead, but it did not invest much energy in Yizhou in the northeast of Xuzhou and Haizhou in the east. It's not that the Anhui army can't capture it in advance, but after Duan Qirui is ready in Xuzhou, the Feng army is already moving south in Shandong, and in just a few days, it is a large area in southern Shandong such as Yanzhou, and in the face of the fierce Feng army, Duan Qirui does not dare to divide his troops north.

As for Haizhou, that area was purely abandoned by Duan Qirui!

The reason is simple, the supply line is too far!

In these years, not only the Feng army was plagued by supply problems, but also other warlord forces, especially the Anhui army, in the operation of the Anhui army in the northern Jiangsu region, its logistics supply strictly relied on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and other water networks, you can see from Duan Qirui's deployment of the defense line in northern Jiangsu, people simply deployed the defense line along the canal.

From Yangzhou to Qingjiangpu, and then to Suqian and Xuzhou, this road is an area where the canal is unobstructed, and the Anhui army in the above places can use the canal to get a large amount of supplies in a timely manner.

If the Anhui army leaves the above-mentioned places and throws its brains into Haizhou, then it is tantamount to taking the initiative to give up the logistical supply advantage, and then it will be the same as the Feng army from the southeast of the mountain, and it is estimated that it will have to count the bullets and fight.

Moreover, Haizhou is not an important industrial base, and it is rich in wealth, so Duan Qirui casually sent a group to Haizhou to meet the situation.

The real main force of the Anhui army was gathered on the front line of Xuzhou, preparing to meet the second army of the Feng army from the southeast of the mountain and the first army from Shangqiu to the east.

If it weren't for the establishment of a maritime supply center, it is estimated that the Feng army would not have sent an entire 19th Brigade to Haizhou, and after arriving in Haizhou, Wu Peifu found that the Anhui army on the opposite side was not stupid, and knew that he would concentrate his forces and stick to one place and not give himself a chance to break through.

"The number has been checked, it is a regiment of the Fifth Division of the Liangjiang Army!"

After hearing this Fifth Division of the Liangjiang Army, Wu Peifu frowned: "What's the matter?" Isn't their fifth division in Jiangxi? ”

Compared with the unclear number of the southern federal troops, the establishment is chaotic, the number and establishment of the troops of several major warlords in Beiyang are generally more regular, although the combat effectiveness is strong and weak, but the number of the troops is generally more regular, the Feng army occupies the number of the central army, not to mention, the Anhui army under the command of Duan Qirui except for the fourth division and the second mixed brigade with the number of the Central Army, most of the other troops are used' The Liangjiang Army' is the prefix, and the first division of the Liangjiang Army has been incorporated into the sixth, and there are also a number of mixed brigades with local province prefixes, such as the Jiangbei Mixed Brigade, the Zhejiang First Mixed Brigade, and the Jiangxi First Mixed Brigade.

According to the intelligence of the intelligence department, the Fifth Division of the Liangjiang Army was still fighting in Jiangxi and the Southern Federation half a month ago, even if Duan Qirui immediately transferred this unit to the north, in the absence of a railway, even if it was transported by inland waterway, but unless the Fifth Division grew wings and flew over, it would not be possible to arrive in northern Jiangsu to garrison Haizhou so quickly.

"Can it be confirmed that it is the Fifth Division of Liangjiang?" Wu Peifu asked.

"It's their fifth division, indeed!"

Wu Peifu muttered, those officials of the intelligence department are all rice buckets, and said that there are no enemy troops in Haizhou, only a thousand people are miscellaneous, but now there is a Liangjiang Fifth Division, although there is only one regiment in front, but who knows if there is a fifth division behind it.

However, although he was surprised by the identity of the enemy, the battle still had to be continued, Wu Peifu said: "Report the news of the enemy's fifth division, and then let the artillery battalion be ready, and we will launch an attack in the afternoon!" ”

Hmph, if it is the entire Liangjiang Fifth Division, Wu Peifu may be more cautious, after all, even if the combat effectiveness of the Liangjiang Army is poor, but more than 10,000 people are also a trouble, after all, although his 19th Brigade has been assigned to the division's artillery battalion, the strength is only more than 5,000 people.

But on the other side, there was only one regiment, and there was no heavy firepower support, so Wu Peifu didn't plan to be cautious in front of such an enemy.

In the afternoon, under the bombardment of 16 field guns of the 2nd Artillery Battalion of the 10th Artillery Regiment and 6 120-mm mortars of the 19th Brigade, Wu Peifu commanded the infantry of the 19th Brigade to launch an attack.

After the garrisoned enemy Fifth Division One Infantry Corps could not resist, except for a small number of casualties and surrender, most of them fled southward, although Wu Peifu wanted to pursue but night fell, and his task was not to kill and injure many enemies, but to control Haizhou, and then continue to the east to control the coastal ports, so let the infantry regiment of the Anhui army flee thousands of people.

It's just that Wu Peifu's side is fighting smoothly, but several generals in the Beijing Division Command are a little frowned.

"The Fifth Division of Liangjiang appeared in northern Jiangsu, why was there no news before!" Fang Biyong was a little angry: "Director An, where are tens of thousands of dollars spent by your intelligence department every month, and you can't even notice such a big thing?" ”

An Yutong was silent and did not speak, and cursed Duan Qirui in his heart, this Duan Qirui must have made a means of confusing the public, and secretly withdrew troops from the Jiangxi front line to go north for reinforcements.

"Now that there is another fifth division, wouldn't the Anhui army have more than 70,000 troops in northern Jiangsu!" Shi Yanglin also frowned as he spoke: "Although the combat department also expected that the enemy would be reinforced, but now the variables are probably more than expected!" ”

"A fifth division is nothing, I'm afraid that the relevant information of the Anhui army before was fooled by Duan Qirui, how many enemy troops are there in Xuzhou now, where is Duan Qirui's fourth division? And in what direction are the other divisions of Liangjiang located? Fang Biyong looked at An Yutong again.

An Yutong was also a little stunned when asked, to be honest, now he really doesn't dare to pack a ticket to say how many enemy troops there are in Xuzhou, and even whether Duan Qirui's fourth division is still in Xuzhou He also has a question mark in his heart.

But on an occasion like today, he can't say that he doesn't know anything, otherwise his head of the intelligence department wouldn't want to go now.

So he stubbornly said: "According to our spy report, there are currently the first and second divisions of the Liangjiang Army and the fourth division led by Duan Qirui himself in Xuzhou!" ”

He said so, but Fang Biyong and Shi Yanglin already had doubts, and they didn't dare to believe the intelligence of the intelligence department!

When this matter was reported to Zhao Dongyun, Zhao Dongyun also frowned, although he didn't believe that Duan Qirui would play any tricks, but in line with the principle of prudence, he said: "The enemy situation ahead is unknown, I think Xuzhou still has to be stable." ”