Nanjing, General Headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Coalition Army, Office of the Commander-in-Chief. … Top Novel, www.

"Commander-in-chief, this is the information that has just been transferred from the General Staff, in view of the critical situation in Hubei, Yuan Shikai has ordered Duan Zhigui to lead the army south as the commander of the First Army of the Beiyang Army, of which Wang Zhanyuan's department has entered Xinyang, Li Chun's department has entered Xiangyang, and Zhang Shuyuan's department has followed closely past Nanyang, with a total strength of 33,000 people."

Xiao Zhenlei knew that Wang Zhanyuan's division was the second division of the Beiyang Army, and Li Chun's division was the sixth division of the Beiyang Army, and the predecessors of these two divisions were the second and sixth towns of Beiyang respectively, which was Yuan Shikai's starting force, and it was now the two most elite divisions in the Beiyang Army, as for this Zhang Shuyuan, he had not heard of it, so he asked: "Who is Zhang Shuyuan?" Which army did he bring? ”

Military Secretary Xiao Gao said: "Commander-in-chief, during the last Northern Expedition, wasn't Yuan Shikai's Jin Yunpeng Division, the fifth town of Beiyang, wiped out by our army?" Zhang Shuyuan's department was reorganized according to some of the fleeing routs in the fifth town of Beiyang, Zhang Shuyuan was the fifth town's artillery standard before, and his artillery standard escaped after destroying our artillery, picking up a life, and I don't know how he moved, not only was he not blamed by Yuan Shikai, but he was also promoted to the position of commander of the fifth division! ”

"Three divisions, 33,000 people! Two of the divisions are still Yuan Shikai's elite troops, Zhang Yunnong's department is still blocked in the area south of the Yangtze River, Hubei Li Yuanhong still has two divisions in Jiangbei, plus Duan Zhigui's first army, the total strength is no less than 50,000, and Zhang Yunnong only has more than 30,000 people and less than 40,000 people, which is a little less than Duan Zhigui in terms of strength! This heavy rain delayed our pace, but it gave Yuan Shikai enough time to deploy troops."

Xiao Gao echoed: "Who said it wasn't! ”

Since the start of the Northern Expedition, the weather has been good for the first few days. The three major battlefields have achieved good results, among which the middle line battlefield commanded by Zhang Xiaozhun. The Northern Expeditionary Army soon advanced from Jiangxi to Hubei and seized the area south of the Yangtze River in Hubei, with the cooperation of the Yangtze River Fleet. It was actually very easy to cross the Yangtze River and set foot in the Jiangbei region, but then the weather changed greatly, and the heavy rain for several days caused the water level of the Yangtze River, which had already entered the summer flood season, to rise sharply again, and the operation of crossing the Yangtze River could only be postponed.

This rain continued to fall every day, and after a long time, not only was the air humid, but many soldiers began to get sick. Moreover, due to the heavy rain for several days, the roads were difficult to navigate, not to mention the difficulty of marching, and the officers of combat units such as the howitzer regiment and the mountain artillery battalion could be said to have gray hair, the artillery wheels were stuck in the mud on the muddy roads, the war horses could not be dragged, and even some military trucks were stuck in the mud puddles.

Xiao Zhenlei thought for a while and ordered: "Inform Xu Shaozhen of this news, let him have a bottom in his heart, and you can go to the Meteorological Bureau." I need a forecast of the weather conditions in various places for the last few days, the more accurate the better! ”

"Yes, Commander!"

Soon, the secretary Kotaka returned. took the weather forecasts from the Meteorological Bureau, Xiao Zhenlei took the weather forecast sheet and looked at it, and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. In a few days, the weather conditions in various places will begin to improve, so that Zhang Xiaozhun and Cai Guodong can prepare for war.

It has been nearly 20 days since the Northern Expedition began. Only the Western Route Army's Cai Yi Division has achieved the greatest results, and has occupied most of Shaanxi. At present, Cai's department is in the process of resting, Nanjing has sent officials to Xi'an to take over government affairs, and the headquarters has also sent officers to organize and collect some of the defeated troops, and to reduce the troops and reorganize them into local armed forces to maintain law and order in various parts of Shaanxi.

The battles on the Central Front and the Eastern Front have not made any progress due to the weather, and there is no other way but to wait for the weather to clear before making plans.

After reading the weather forecast, Xiao Zhenlei returned it to Xiao Gao and said: "Send it to the General Staff Department to Chief of Staff Jiang, show him it too, and give an order to Cai Guodong and Xu Shaozhen in my name, let them prepare for combat, and as soon as the weather permits, start it immediately, don't have any hesitation, it's time to move after resting for so long!" ”

"Yes, Commander!"

Wuchang, front command.

Since Zhang Xiaozhun commanded the Third Army of East China and the 43rd Division of the Hunan Army to occupy the area south of the Yangtze River with lightning speed, Li Yuanhong had to give up Wuchang and retreat to Hankou and Hanyang, wanting to block the northern expeditionary army from going north with the danger of the Yangtze River.

"Report to the commander, this is a telegram from the Nanjing General Headquarters transferred by the commander-in-chief!" A staff officer came over and made a report.

Zhang Xiaozhun, who was looking at the map facing the wall, asked without looking back, "What content?" ”

"The intelligence department got the news that Yuan Shikai had sent Duan Zhigui as the commander of the First Army of the Beiyang Army, leading Wang Zhanyuan's 2nd Division, Li Chun's 6th Division and Zhang Shuyuan's 5th Division to the south, and now Li Chun's division has arrived in Xiangyang, and Wang Zhanyuan's division has arrived in Xinyang, Duan Zhigui accompanied Zhang Shuyuan's 5th Division through Nanyang, if the weather conditions permit, I believe they will soon come to Hankou and Hanyang, with a total strength of about 33,000 people, fully armed and equipped, according to the forecast of the Southern Meteorological Bureau, the weather will begin to improve in a few days, The General Headquarters ordered us to prepare for combat and seize the fighter planes to cross the Yangtze River and attack Jiangbei in one fell swoop! ”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaozhun turned around and took the telegram and looked at it, and then muttered for a moment and said, "Inform the commanders of all divisions, brigades, and regiments to come to the meeting immediately!" ”

"Yes!"

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the officers who had arrived from all over the country held a military meeting of senior officers at the front under the chairmanship of Zhang Xiaozhun, who first informed the officers of the news that the three divisions of the Beiyang Army were heading south, and then reported that the weather conditions would improve in a few days and that the war would start again.

"The commander-in-chief ordered us to prepare for battle and wait for the opportunity to move! This is to give us a lot of autonomy, Li Yuanhong is not worried, although he still has two divisions, but the front he needs to defend is too long, and it is a fool's dream to rely on the Yangtze River defense line to block us, the key is the three Beiyang divisions that came from the north, as far as I know, Wang Zhanyuan and Li Chun are both generals under Yuan Shikai, they are old men in Beiyang, and there are some military talents, we must not take it lightly, and we must pay attention to it tactically, but this time Yuan Shikai sent Duan Zhigui as the presidential officer It is a good thing for us, I heard that Duan Zhigui is a famous Beiyang pimp, he climbed to this high position, all because of his pimping skills, I don't know if you have heard of it? ”

"Hahaha," the officers burst into laughter.

Chen Fuchu, commander of the 43rd Division of the Hunan Army, said with a smile: "I heard that Duan Zhigui has often used beauty tricks over the years in order to climb the dragon and attach the phoenix, get promoted and make a fortune, and seek personal gain. During the Gengzi period, Yuan Shikai was appointed as the governor of Zhili, and later Duan Zhigui went to take refuge, Yuan Shikai appointed him as the general office of the patrol police in the northern section of Tianjin, but Duan was not satisfied with this, he was greedy for money and lustful, and he did what he liked, and bought famous prostitutes and beauties to Yuan. This move won the favor of the Yuan family, and under Yuan's sponsorship, Duan became the Tianjin patrol police. The beauty plan was successful in the first attempt, and Duan's tasted the sweetness and was proud. Since then, he has been uncontrollable, and has directed another well-known beauty plan. That was for Zai Zhen, the son of the former Prince of Qingqing, and Yang Cuixi, the immortal-like and brilliant Kun Ling in Tianjin, pimped it, and it was known to the world! ”

Many officers here know that Zai Zhen was very fond of Yang Cuixi and wanted to accept her as a concubine, but Yang Cuixi refused, Duan Zhigui happened to accompany Zai Zhen at that time, and when he learned of this, he used the power in his hand to threaten and lure Yang Cuixi's father and brother, and gave 10,000 taels of silver as a ransom fee, and the Yang family was forced to agree. Duan Zhigui immediately sent his entourage to send Yang Cuixi to Zaizhen's mansion in the middle of the night. Zai Zhen was overjoyed, thanked Duan Zhi Guiyu for his beautiful deeds, and invited his father in person, praising Duan's outstanding political achievements and meticulous talents, please use it exceptionally. His father asked Cixi, and then issued an edict: "Qin ordered the Tianjin Patrol Police Dao Duan Zhigui to give the political envoy and acting governor of Heilongjiang, and immediately went to take office." Duan's above-mentioned incident was heard by Zhao Qilin, the imperial historian, and it was impeached, and major newspapers and periodicals such as "Declaration" and "Times" did not hesitate to follow up and report on the page. However, Zhao's impeachment failed, and Zhao himself was dismissed by Prince Qing for the crime of slandering his relatives and nobles by doing an edict without permission, causing a public outcry. Afterwards, Cen Chunxuan, who is known for his outspokenness, visited Duan, but was rejected by Duan's messengers, Cen Chunxuan was extremely angry, and immediately played Zheyun: "Duan Zhigui is the son of the soap class, the slave of the Li family, and he is a prostitute for luck, and everyone despises it!" The appointment of a feudal official is really against the official motto. He also met with Cixi to complain in detail. Cixi was furious, and immediately issued another edict to dismiss Duan. The time period was already on the way to the post, and the edict was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and he was very frustrated, so he had to turn back halfway. Zai Zhen also had to resign because of this matter, but Yang Cuixi's name caused a stir across the country.

Zhang Xiaozhun raised his hand to stop the officers from continuing to laugh, and when the laughter stopped, he said: "Despite this, we can't underestimate Duan Zhigui, how to say that he also came out of the Beiyang Military Academy, and he still knows a little bit about military affairs, although he has spent all his energy on clinging to the powerful over the years, and lacks study in military affairs, but he still understands some basic military knowledge, so I want to remind you, don't despise him because of some ridiculous things, do you understand?" ”

"Yes, Commander!"

Zhang Xiaozhun asked again: "How is the work of collecting boats along the Yangtze River progressing?" If you haven't collected enough troops for boats, we will only give you three days, no matter how you collect, but there is one thing, you can't snatch it from the fishermen and the people, the gendarmerie of the General Headquarters has already come, and will soon be stationed in various units, if once you find that your troops have been caught causing trouble in the local area, I will not intercede at that time, and whoever is caught will be unlucky, I hope that you will restrain the troops after you go back, and don't crash into the muzzle! (To be continued......) R527