On 17 May, the high-level leaders of the coalition forces held a military meeting, which was presided over by Chief of Staff Jiang Baili, with Xiao Zhenlei as commander-in-chief, Sun Wen as chairman of the Kuomintang Party, and Xu Shaozhen and Huang Xing as commanders-in-chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of the Chinese and Western Route armies. In addition to the provincial governors, Cai Guodong, Zhang Xiaozhun, and Anhui Governor Bai Wenwei also participated.

As soon as the meeting began, Jiang Baili, as the chief of staff of the Northern Expeditionary Army, began to deploy combat forces, and according to the discussions with Xiao Zhenlei and Cai Yi and others in advance, Jiang Baili explained in detail the strategic deployment plan of the General Staff, and then said: "Yuan Shikai does not have many troops on the central and western fronts, and the main force of his Beiyang Army is mainly on the eastern front. Zhang Xiaohuai led the Third Army of East China and the 43rd Division of the Hunan Army to attack Li Yuanhong's Hubei Army, and the Jiang Defense Fleet will cooperate with you in the attack, by the way, Tan Dudu, who is the commander of the 43rd Division of your Hunan Army? ”

Tan Yanmin said: "It's Chen Fuchu!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei asked, "Who is Chen Fuchu?" Who are they? ”

Huang Xing, who was seated, hurriedly said: "Chen Fuchu I know that this person turned out to be the 49th standard commander of the Hunan Army, after the Wuchang Uprising, he led his troops to participate in the battle, and he held Hanyang under my command, fought fiercely with the Beiyang Army for more than a month, defeated the Beiyang Army, and made meritorious contributions, but he was also seriously injured at that time!" ”

Cai Ye also said: "I am old with him, I am familiar with this person, he is strict in governing the army, he does not think about personal feelings, and his headquarters moved to Yuanling last year." At that time, opium smoking and poisoning had become a major public hazard in Yuanling, so Chen Fuchu first advised and then banned it, and severely punished those who opened the museum and trafficked drugs. There is a person named Wang Qingyuan who is Chen Fuchu's aunt's cousin, who was arrested and imprisoned for opening a museum and selling drugs. ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded when he heard this: "Okay, this person wants to get it, now many local army commanders are engaged in the opium business, not only do he not do it, but he also ordered it to be banned, it can be seen that he is not a greedy person for money, he can deal with the Beiyang Army under the command of General Keqiang for more than a month, it can be seen that he is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, it is him!" ”

Tan Yanmin saw Xiao Zhenlei praising his subordinate generals, he was extremely happy in his heart, felt more faced, and said with a smile: "The commander-in-chief has promoted him like this, I have thanked him first, since the commander-in-chief has taken a fancy to him, then he will lead the 43rd Division under the command of General Zhang!" ”

Jiang Baili said again: "Okay, the battlefield on the central front is so decided, then the battlefield on the western front is composed of a division of the Sichuan Army, a division of the Yunnan Army, and a division of the Guangdong Army, and the commander is Cai Songpo, do you have any opinions?" ”

Sun Wen, Huang Xing and others were there, and Hu Hanmin was the first to say: "General Songpo is a person who knows the soldiers, and it is more than enough to command the army all the way as the governor, enough to convince the public, I agree, our Guangdong army will send 34 divisions under the command of General Songpo, and the division commander will be appointed by Xu Chongzhi, the deputy governor!" ”

Zhang Peijue, the deputy governor of Sichuan, was not far behind and said: "I admire General Cai's military talent, and our Sichuan army also agreed that General Cai should be the commander of the Western Front battlefield and send two divisions to participate in the battle!" ”

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, two divisions? Didn't you say that you would send a division? Why did Zhang change his words to two divisions? Xiao Zhenlei asked in everyone's confusion: "Zhang Dudu, you said to send two divisions?" I don't know which two divisions? Who commanded both divisions? ”

Zhang Peijue said: "Yes, I have already telegraphed with Yin Dudu before coming, his Northern Expedition is related to the national fortune, since the Northern Expedition must be thorough, our Sichuan Army must go all out, we will send the 41st Division and the 42nd Division to participate, the 41st Division Commander Xiong Kewu, presumably many people know him, the commander of the 42nd Division, Liu Cunhou, who also graduated from the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School in his early years, is also a person who knows the soldiers!" ”

Everyone couldn't help but nod when they heard this, but Xiao Zhenlei frowned and said, "Xiong Kewu is not from a military background, right?" ”

Everyone present was stunned when they heard this, but they quickly reacted, knowing that Xiao Zhenlei was doubting Xiong Kewu's military command ability, Huang Xing hurriedly said: "Commander-in-chief, although Xiong Kewu is not from a regular military background, he has commanded and participated in many uprisings, and his command experience is not lacking, and with Cai Songpo in command, I think he should be competent, right?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei shook his head and said: "I don't doubt his military command ability, and Cai Guodong and I are not from regular army soldiers, so we don't command wars differently?" I am worried about whether he will be able to resolutely obey the command, and I must know that this is a joint operation, and the most important thing is whether or not the command can be unified; if each unit goes its own way, it will not only fail to increase its combat effectiveness, but will also restrain other troops."

After all, everyone knows that if you are from the regular army, you will be instilled with the idea of obeying military orders from the first day of being a soldier, but if you do not have a military education, your awareness of obeying military orders will definitely be weaker.

Huang Xing thought for a while and gritted his teeth and said: "I can guarantee this, he is a member of our Kuomintang, I will talk to him, if he does not obey military orders during the war, General Cai can act cheaply!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei turned his head to look at Cai Ye and asked, "Brother Songpo, what do you see?" ”

Cai Yi pondered for a moment and said: "Since General Keqiang guarantees it, it's so decided!" Our Yunnan General will send the 39th Army Division to participate in the war, and the division commander Li Gengen, a member of the Kuomintang Party, graduated from the Japanese Zhenwu School and the Non-commissioned Officer School, and I believe that Mr. Sun and General Keqiang are no strangers to him. ”

Sun Wen and Huang Xing both nodded when they heard this, and Sun Wen said: "With Li Gengen as the division commander, we are relieved!" ”

Jiang Baili said at this time: "Okay, in this case, the Western Front Battlefield is under the command of Cai Songpo, under the jurisdiction of Xu Chongzhi of the Guangdong Army, Li Gengen of the Yunnan Army, Liu Cunhou of the Sichuan Army and Xiong Kewu, and the unification of the Central Front Battlefield and the Western Front is under the command of General Xu Shaozhen, who is the commander-in-chief, General Cai and General Zhang have no opinion, right?" ”

Cai Ye and Zhang Xiaozhun stood up at the same time and said, "Resolutely obey the command of General Xu!" ”

After taking a sip of water, Jiang Baili continued: "Finally, let's talk about the Eastern Front battlefield, with General Cai Guodong as the commander-in-chief, which is also divided into two parts, the Anhui part is commanded by General Xu Jizu, and has jurisdiction over Wu Tiecheng's 26th Army Division and Bai Wenwei's 53rd Anhui Army, and the northern part of Jiangsu is commanded by General Wu Shiyou, under the jurisdiction of Yao Chengcheng's 21st Division, Huang Yingjie's 23rd Division, and Li Yingshi's 27th Division. If you have no other opinions, it will be settled, and the commander-in-chief will now talk to you about the logistics of the coalition forces! ”

Xiao Zhenlei took a sip of water and said with a smile: "The problem of logistics can be said to be the top priority, if the problem of logistics is not solved, there is no need to fight, how many battles in ancient and modern China and foreign countries have failed because of logistics problems?" As the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, and one of the initiators of the Northern Expedition, I am really sorry that I can only solve a part of the supply of ammunition for you here, and not all of the ammunition, after all, you all know that the weapons used by your army are varied, and our country has now become a dumping ground for Wanguo brand weapons, and I can only supply ammunition with guns or artillery of the same caliber used in the four provinces of East China. You want me to take out other caliber ammunition, and our arsenal does not produce it, so you need to solve the problem of ammunition and grain and grass by yourself, after all, this Northern Expedition is not for a certain person or a certain party, but for the whole of China, everyone has the money to make a strong contribution, and unanimously agreed to oust Yuan Shikai from power. In addition, I would like to emphasize that the troops dispatched by all departments must obey the command of the commander, and there must be no disobedience to military orders, let alone any disturbance of the people along the way by the coalition forces. ”

Tan Yanmin frowned and said, "Commander-in-chief, there's no need to be so strict, right?" ”

Tan Yanmin is an old-school person, and he feels normal about soldiers snatching something from the hands of ordinary people or molesting women, so he said this.

Xiao Zhenlei shook his head and said: "Tan Dudu's words are wrong, our Northern Expedition Coalition Army is a righteous army, and they are all new-style armies, now that the Republic of China is in place, the army should also have a new atmosphere, how can we do things that harm the people?" If we want to win the Northern Expedition, we must win the hearts and minds of the people, and if our army is fighting while bullying the people, how can we gain the support of the people? ”

Cai Ye echoed: "The commander-in-chief is reasonable, I agree, if you want to set up a military police picket, you will first station a team in our Yunnan 39th Division!" ”

Hu Hanmin and Zhang Peijue also agreed one after another, and Tan Yanmin no longer objected when he saw this, and followed the trend.

Jiang Baili asked again: "Do you have anything else to say about logistics?" If you have no other opinions, then the problem of food and grass will be solved by yourself, and our General Headquarters will help solve some of the ammunition, and the rest of the ammunition will also need to be solved by yourself! ”

These people also know that it is impossible to let Xiao Zhenlei take out all the ammunition and grain and grass of the coalition army alone, even if Xiao Zhenlei is willing to give it, it is not easy to transport it, and when it is estimated that the battle is over, it is already very good that he can help solve some of the ammunition, and everyone agrees.

Next, Xiao Zhenlei, Jiang Baili and others discussed with the governors of these places how to guard against Lu Rongting and Tang Jiyao, or according to Xiao Zhenlei's suggestion, in order to prevent Lu Rongting and Tang Jiyao from making trouble in the rear after the Northern Expedition began, each of the surrounding provinces sent a division to the border as a deterrent.

In terms of details, it took two more days of meetings before they were completely decided, so that the provinces could truly reach an agreement on the issue of the Northern Expedition. R1152