The first town of Beiyang, which was personally led by Yin Chang, crossed the Nanjunpan River on the 16th, and only the small cavalry of the Mengshan Army was harassed on the opposite side, and the losses were slight, and the city of Wuding Fumin was captured on the evening of the same day.

Yin Chang sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai with joy, "Our department has occupied Huimin. ”

Yuan Shikai immediately called back to commend him, "I am very relieved to receive the call." Wangdu led the department and violently rushed to Jiyang. ”

On the night when the first town entered Shandong - before occupying Yangxin, the first target was missing a staff officer, the staff officer was called Duanmu Liang, who was a graduate of the first phase of the Baoding Military Academy, and was originally a pipe belt below, but the standard thought that this person was unreliable, and insisted on changing people before the battle, and transferred him to the standard as a staff officer, who knew that this person disappeared as soon as he entered Shandong.

The first standard is convinced that it has surrendered to the enemy! The disappearance is evidence that corroborates his suspicions. There was no battle that night, how could Duanmu Liang not know what to do?

Of course, this situation was reported to Yinchang, and Yinchang suppressed it. Yin Chang had already learned the news of the Fengtian Incident, and Yin Chang, who felt that the situation was critical, could not care about dealing with a missing staff officer, even if this person was a spy, it was too late now. The Seventh Division had been transferred to Texas, and their rear roads were empty.

After the successful occupation of Huimin, the ominous feeling of Yinchang rose. Is this a trap? If the staff officer named Duanmuliang really defected to the enemy, the Shandong army would know his whereabouts and plans - the first target was the forward of the whole town, and as a staff officer, he could know the combat target.

Will they set a trap for themselves? On the evening of the 16th, Yin Chang was thinking hard in Huimin City.

Shandong is like an enemy country! From entering Shandong. Yin Chang found that there was an empty city along the way, the people had fled, and even the wells had been destroyed, not to mention looking for food and people! This is the legendary Fortified Kiyono? How did the adversary organize the evacuation of a large number of civilians? Where did the people flee?

Because there was no clean water source and no guides, the bridge was blown up...... The troops were angry, and the second mark burned at least three villages in Yangxin, but Yinchang did not stop it, which was indeed infuriating, Beiyang was the army of the imperial court. The Shandong army is already a rebel army. Why did these officials and people in Shandong collectively rebel?

The first town only carried seven days of food, and it seemed impossible to collect grain on the spot, so it could only rely on the supply of Zhili and follow itself deep into the "enemy territory". The supply lines will get longer and longer...... Yin Chang, who has received a formal military education, of course, knows the danger of this situation - it must be solved quickly!

He no longer hesitated. A brief military meeting was convened. It was decided to cross the Shahe River south the next day and assault Jiyang.

The first crossing of the river, which was marked in the early morning of the 17th, was blocked by fire from the opposite bank, and there was no artillery. There were only machine guns and rifles, interspersed with a small number of mortars. Caused trouble for the first bid. Yin Chang, who rushed to the front enemy, observed the situation on the other side in the telescope, and it was still the cavalry that had been following him not far away, but there were many more people, at least one battalion!

"Multi-way attack! Are the artillerymen, artillerymen all fucking dead? ”

When the artillery of the first town began to bombard, the enemy's cavalry began to retreat in a hurry in Yinchang's telescope, and one shell landed accurately in the cavalry group, blowing up at least two horses. The performance of the artillery won Yin Chang's applause, "Reward, reward the artillery three hundred taels!" Yin Chang was in a better mood, for his infantry had waded through the knee-deep Sand River and landed on the opposite bank, and all the blockers had withdrawn.

Shahe was not a moat, and it did not stop his troops. Calculating the distance, from here to Jiyang, that is, the distance of seventy or eighty miles, it will be a good day to rush through!

At noon on the same day, the first bid occupied Zijiao Town. In the afternoon Yin Chang moved the command post to Zijiao Town, and the First Association began to assault Takahashi, reporting that the enemy's cavalry had reappeared, was annoying, always harassed, fled, harassed again, and then disappeared. Yin Chang instructed the First Association to leave the enemy's cavalry alone and to occupy Takahashi tonight.

But Takahashi met with enemy resistance. Very tenacious, not only cavalry, at least one target infantry was holding the high bridge, the enemy had small-caliber artillery, and a large number of mortars, which brought serious casualties to the first standard, a pipe belt was killed - shrapnel cut the neck, the rescue was ineffective and died, the first standard was defeated, and at least fifty people died.

In fact, Yin Chang, who took over the command of the First Association, immediately organized a second attack, but was still defeated. The opponent built a complete line of defense - a long line of trenches and communication trenches, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, the figure of the man was even found in Yin Chang's telescope.

"These people who should be killed actually helped the rebels against the imperial court!" Yin Chang mobilized the second mark on the one hand, and ordered the artillery to seize the position, "Blow up the high bridge for me!" ”

The artillery bombardment did not break the enemy's resistance, and after the second target was put into the attack, it was still defeated. It was getting dark, and the First Coalition Army, which was not good at night fighting, could no longer fight.

As usual, Yuan Shikai's telegram came, asking about the situation of the battle. Yin Chang truthfully reported that he had broken through to Gaoqiao, less than fifty miles away from Jiyang. But Takahashi had resistance from no less than one regiment of the Shandong Army, and both attacks were successful.

An hour later, Yuan Shikai's telegram arrived again, the telegram was very long, first talking about the situation in the whole country, Long Qian had begun to attack Changsha, the Lushan advance had already moved west to Mukden, and the situation in the north and south battlefields was extremely critical, especially in the north, and the sixth town would face the attack of superior enemy forces. And the most important direction - the direction of Texas still needs at least three days to be effective, "be sure to motivate the soldiers, attack overnight, and quickly break through the enemy at Gaoqiao to rush to Jinan to save the situation!" ”

Yin Chang immediately called back, and tomorrow he was determined to occupy Jiyang, and then turn to Jinan.

He didn't say to attack tonight, nor did he say he wouldn't attack tonight. He promised to capture Jiyang tomorrow, and that's enough! Yin Chang's heart was filled with anxiety, both for the serious deterioration of the situation and for the incompetence of Yuan Shikai's battle in Dezhou. Do you want the first town to save the situation in Shandong?

That night, Yin Chang convened a meeting of the main officers and told about the current situation, he did not say that Texas was a stalemate, Zhang Xun's attack in the direction of Yizhou was not good, not to mention that the twentieth town had changed, Fengtian City had been occupied by the Mengshan army, Yin Chang reversed black and white, saying that a decisive breakthrough had been made in the direction of Dezhou, and the Shandong army had put the last bit of strength into Texas! And Zhang Xun's attack on the South Road also achieved a major victory. The attack on Yizhou City has begun. The situation is a great thing. Now it's up to us, they all say that the first town can't be beaten, and now they want to take a look, and it must be our first town that takes Jinan!

This is naked deception. However, Yin Chang does not have to bear any conscience and moral condemnation, and deception is an important connotation of politics, and it is also a military necessity. If you tell the truth, Yin Chang estimates that those banner men in the first town are afraid that they will not take a step forward!

After explaining the favorable situation, Yinchang planned for tomorrow's attack on Takahashi, emphasizing the importance of using artillery to open the way. Yin Chang found that his officers were preoccupied and extremely depressed. So he scolded. "Since my first town entered Shandong, I have been invincible all the way, and Takahashi has not won the battle, which is just a small setback. The essence of our army has not been damaged. Don't be discouraged! ”

The second co-concord is Manchurian. Surnamed Hesheri, along the way his troops took on the task of covering the baggage, and did not go into battle. Just dealt with the attack of a few small groups of "bandits", and the casualties were extremely slight, and at this moment stood up and responded, "My lord, the key is not Jiyang, but supplies!" I don't think it's reliable to raise food on the spot! It's all going to be fucking shipped from Cangzhou! The conscience of the common people in this area is very bad, the grain road is long, and it has to be heavily guarded, I think it is better to build the third standard, otherwise I will purely become a baggage team! ”

Yin Chang nodded, "That's right." I'll call the end party and ask him to return the third bid to us. "At the beginning, Zaifeng deducted the third bid on the grounds of the weakness of the Jingshi, which was not right! Weak? Now the whole country is weak! Even the 43rd Mixed Association that had just been formed in Shanxi was transferred to Wuchang.

"The food problem is very important, your second association must not be careless! Pay attention to search the villages and towns, and try to feed the enemy! You're right, Shandong people are terrible! To take Jinan, Lao Tzu will settle the account with them! ”

If Yin Chang knew the story of the Mengshan Army's martial arts fight against the flood six years ago, he might not be surprised. The area around Jiyang was the disaster area of the great flood, and afterwards the Mengshan Army invested a lot of manpower and material resources to help the people restore their livelihoods, and since then the mass foundation of the Mengshan Army in Wuding Province has been laid. Later, the Mengshan Army implemented rural autonomy and recruited troops in Wuding, and Wuding became a stable base of the Mengshan Army second only to Lunan. This time the decisive battle with the imperial court was the most remarkable, and the Wuding Mansion made the most adequate preparations, fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness, destroying transportation, evacuating the people, and arranging the battlefield, all in an orderly manner.

The next day, in the early morning of August 18, Yinchang's artillery launched a fierce fire attack on the town of Takahashi, and Takahashi suddenly became a sea of fire. After the artillery mark hit a base number of ammunition, the two marks of the First Association launched an attack from two directions, and successfully attacked the high bridge, without a trace of resistance, and the defenders who resolutely resisted yesterday actually withdrew by night!

Although a large number of shells were consumed in vain, Yin Chang was still happy. After capturing Gaoqiao, Jiyang, the first strategic goal of the first town, was in sight. Yin Chang ordered the First Association to "take advantage of the victory" to advance, go straight to Jiyang through the Linjia Bridge, and be sure to occupy Jiyang City before sunset.

However, the first target met with resolute resistance again at Linjiaqiao, and both attacks failed, and the defenders' mortars inflicted heavy casualties on the slightly dense charging team of the first standard, and the first battalion of the main assault battalion suffered casualties of two officers and four platoon commanders, and the first standard was Han Chinese, and strongly requested artillery support, and without artillery support, he refused to attack again.

Yin Chang once again arrived at the front line and carefully observed the enemy's defensive positions, and in the frontal position east of Linjiaqiao, the enemy actually deployed barbed wire! This thing made the main Beiyang forces in Texas break their brains, and they were more annoying than the mines that made the infantry curse.

Are they going to stick to the Lin Family Bridge? How many troops do they have? This part of the defenders was undoubtedly the same force that guarded Takahashi yesterday, not the cavalry that had been constantly harassing itself, but a regular infantry unit. A regiment? A hint of ominous feeling rose to Yin Chang's heart, in the case of fighting like that in Texas, the Shandong army still put an infantry regiment and a large number of cavalry in Wuding, what does it mean? Do they have enough troops or do they learn of our plans?

Now is not the time to verify this. Yin Chang urgently ordered the artillery to move forward, and since there was barbed wire blocking the way, it was necessary to use artillery.

It was about 10 a.m. An urgent report took Yin Chang by surprise.

The report was sent by the 2nd Association Hesheri Association, and Takahashi was captured by the enemy! The rear guard suffered heavy losses, and only a few officers and soldiers escaped! The Hesheri report says that the enemy is strong, at least one target!

Gaoqiao is only twenty miles away from Linjia Bridge. As soon as the 2nd Association left Takahashi, the enemy occupied Takahashi, where did this group of enemies come from? At least one mark? The Shandong Seventh Division has been transferred to Dezhou, where did so many troops pop up?

Baggage, especially food, must not be lost! Yin Chang immediately ordered the Second Association (there was only one target) to turn around and recapture the baggage and recapture Takahashi!

"Tell you about the co-ordinator! If you can't take back Takahashi, let him come and see him! Yin Chang's voice changed.

The cavalry signal corps Pegasus returned. At this moment, the gunfire in the direction of the second mark, which was deployed on the right flank (north), mixed with the explosion of the already familiar mortars, was immediately reported. The second bid met a powerful blow from the enemy. At least one target enemy came out and launched a surprise attack in the direction of the headquarters!

Snare! Caught in the enemy's trap! The Shandong army deployed strong troops in Wuding, aiming to eat themselves! Yin Chang, who was okay in military literacy, immediately made the worst judgment: the enemy concealed the whereabouts of the main force and showed weakness to himself. Lure yourself all the way to the predetermined battlefield. Then the fangs were bared.

Now his position is extremely unfavorable: there is a Lin family bridge in front of him blocking the way. Gaoqiao was captured in the back, the Yellow River was in the south, and a strong enemy appeared in the north...... More critically. His own baggage was taken away, and the troops immediately ran out of food!

The baggage must be recaptured and Takahashi must be captured! Lin Jiaqiao is not the most important thing! Yin Chang, who was in a hurry, thought for a while, and ordered the second standard to desperately block the enemy attacking from the north, and the first standard suspended the attack on Linjiaqiao, and led the guard troops back to the back road, personally urging the second association to recapture Gaoqiao!

At noon on August 18, Wu Nian commanded the 20th Brigade and the 7th Division to successfully complete the encirclement of the first town of Yinchang, and surrounded the Yinchang troops in three ways in a field of more than ten miles from Gaoqiao to Linjiaqiao!

After determining that the first town was encircled by himself, the division commander Wu Nian, who had checked the situation, knew that Wu Nian, who was short of food for the Yinchang troops, ordered the troops to hold their positions and not take the initiative to attack, and he ordered the regiments, "The enemy has limited food to carry and trap him!" ”

According to the predetermined plan, Wu Nian immediately requisitioned the people, dug trenches on a large scale, and implemented his siege strategy.

The Shandong Army Headquarters had two assumptions about the Wuding Front, one was a quick decision, when Dezhou was in danger, Wu Nianbu should use the raid method to defeat the first town, disintegrate its combat strength, and then leave an infantry regiment to cooperate with the Chi Chun First Cavalry Regiment to expel the first town from Shandong. The second is to encircle and annihilate Texas, and Wu Nianbu should adopt the tactics of luring the enemy into depth, carefully select the battlefield, and aim to completely annihilate the first town.

The stubborn defense of Ye Yanbing's Sixth Division in Dezhou created the conditions for Wu Nian to establish meritorious deeds.

Wu Nian showed a good overall view in the Battle of Wuding. This veteran staff officer, who was first trained in the staff group, has been preparing to reinforce Texas, but the headquarters has not been instructed to reinforce Texas. In this way, after giving up Huimin, Wu Nian designed an encirclement, with the 60th Regiment to hold the high bridge, inflict heavy casualties on the enemy, and then took the initiative to retreat to the preset position of Linjiaqiao, without retreating, blocking it to the east of Linjiaqiao. The 58th Regiment, the main force of the 20th Brigade, concealed the flank, and seized it as soon as the enemy advanced out of Gaoqiao, closing the door for the enemy's eastward retreat. He personally commanded the 59th Regiment and the team directly under the division to take charge of the northern pass, and if necessary, carry out an intermediate breakthrough to cut off the enemy's waist and annihilate them separately. If the enemy retreats to the south, our army will pursue it and squeeze it to the bank of the Yellow River to annihilate it!

The cavalry regiment is Wu Nian's general reserve, which is responsible for the response in three directions.

Yin Chang, who was scheming against the enemy, completely fell into Wu Nian's trap.

When the news came that the 58th Regiment had successfully captured Gaoqiao and captured most of the Beiyang Army's baggage, Wu Nian changed his plan for a quick battle, and was determined to use the method of siege to annihilate the Yinchang Department at the smallest possible cost. This plan was based on the report of Duanmu Liang, a secret son of the intelligence department lurking in the first town, Duanmu Liang, who had been lurking in the Beiyang system at the same time as Duan Yongqing, took the opportunity to escape after entering Shandong, and quickly found the cavalry of the Shandong Army cruising outside, and after reporting his identity, he was quickly sent to the headquarters of the Seventh Division in Jiyang, so that the strength and supplies of the Yinchang troops were completely exposed. After the battle of Gaoqiao, Wu Nian judged that Yinchang only had two days of grain and grass at most, and this judgment prompted Wu Nian to make up his mind to solve the siege.

Wu Nian said in a telegram to the Jinan Military Headquarters at noon on the 18th, "If the enemy retreats to the south, our army will press until the Yellow River is annihilated, and we hope to mobilize possible forces to deploy along the Yellow River; If the enemy holds on to the spot, our army will win without a fight...... The siege of the first town will surely shake the determination of the main force of the Beiyang in Texas, because the Sixth Division has been fighting hard for several days. It was no longer able to pursue the retreating main force of Beiyang, and the 20th Brigade of the Rank Department was the only force that could be used to advance northward, so it was really the best strategy to use the siege tactics at this time......"

Ning Shijun immediately replied to agree, instructing Wu Nian to take the goal of completely annihilating the first town in Beiyang, and specifically command the military headquarters not to interfere.

Wu Nian immediately activated the second hand that had been prepared, released the 3,000 people who had been mobilized in advance, and dug a deep ditch north of Linjiaqiao to stop Yinchang's assault to the north. Wu Nian's plan was based on the premise that the enemy and us were roughly equal in strength, and the artillery force was insufficient (all Shandong artillery was transferred to Dezhou). It is necessary to have sufficient reserves in place to deal with contingencies. Therefore, the 59th Regiment, which has a large number of recruits, must use the ground barrier!

Wu Nian, who was inconspicuous in the Mengshan Army, showed an outstanding overall view in the Battle of Linjiaqiao, because of the importance of the Battle of Linjiaqiao, which established his position in the Mengshan Army.

After the defeat of the first counteroffensive against Takahashi by the 2nd Association. Yin Chang, who was in a chaotic mood, sent telegrams for help to Yuan Shikai and Duan Fang, who was sitting in the War Department. claimed that he was surrounded by the main forces of the Shandong Army. Ask the main force of Texas to immediately divide troops to rescue!

The telegram caused an uproar. Yuan Shikai was furious. Call back Yinchang, "It's pure nonsense!" The main force of the Shandong Army is set in Dezhou, where is the main force as for Wuding? Yin Chang has no command. Fear the enemy like a tiger, exaggerate the enemy's situation and shake the morale of the army, mislead the country and the army! Order the officer to immediately reorganize the troops to occupy Jiyang, and not be afraid to move forward! ”

The end side was shocked when he received the call, and hurriedly went to Zaifeng to report, and Zaifeng, who was tortured by the Northern and Southern War, was immediately stunned, and was paying attention to the battle situation in Jinzhou for the past two days, and was looking forward to being transferred back to a town in the direction of Shandong.

"How's that for good? How is it good? "Where else can he do it?

"At the moment, we can only transfer the first mixed association, lose the first town, and the battle of Texas will definitely be lost!" Recently, the end side that has been planning the war situation in the south has also panicked!

The First Mixed Association is the last formed unit in the northern part of the Qing court, and it is scheduled to be transferred to Shanhaiguan, but now it is impossible to say that it will be used in Shandong first.

But Yin Chang was no longer able to support the arrival of the First Mixed Association. On the afternoon of the 18th, the first town of the trapped beast was fighting to concentrate its forces to attack Gaoqiao, and the battle was extremely fierce, with the support of the cavalry regiment, the 58th Regiment of the 20th Brigade firmly held Gaoqiao, thwarting Yinchang's plan to escape by taking the road. The next day, Yin Chang changed the direction of attack and broke through to the north, but was blocked by the trenches dug overnight, and was defeated under the heavy fire of the 7th Division and the 59th Regiment, and the 2nd Standard Commander was killed, marking the failure of the breakthrough.

Less than a day after the inventory was counted, Yin Chang ordered the whole army to break through to the south in desperation, and the officials of the first town, who understood the situation, turned a breakout battle into a rout. After Wu Nian received the report of the cavalry regiment, he categorically ordered the whole army to assault, and the battle of Linjiaqiao quickly came to an end, a large number of Beiyang troops began to disarm and surrender, the troops lost control, and the desperate Yin Chang committed suicide after leaving a sad suicide note in a small forest twenty miles away from the Yellow River.

The Battle of Linjiaqiao ended on the morning of 20 August, and Wu Nian, who had been prepared to hold Yinchang even if the 20th Brigade was wiped out, took stock of his casualties, except for the 58th Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment, which suffered slightly heavy casualties, the 59th and 60th Regiments could immediately be put into a new battlefield. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th, Wu Nian reported to the Jinan Military Department: The first town was basically annihilated, Yinchang committed suicide, and many enemies were captured, and the inventory was being counted. What is the direction of action of the department, we will decide as soon as possible!

Before the command telegram from the military headquarters arrived, the Texas battlefield changed dramatically. After learning that the first town was annihilated, Yuan Shikai categorically stopped the attack that had been weakened, and began to withdraw the soldiers and horses of the three towns that had arrived at the city of Dezhou, which was seriously damaged.

The Sixth Division, which paid heavy casualties, won the Battle of Dezhou and severely damaged the main force of Beiyang, but Ye Yanbing was really unable to launch a pursuit. The 16th Brigade and the 18th Brigade suffered heavy casualties, and after eight days of bloody fighting, the casualties of the troops were as high as 60%, and many companies had less than 20 people left! And the 53rd Regiment of the 18th Brigade was missing (captured) as many as more than 1,000.

The Sixth Division was crippled, but they made the first contribution to the national victory of the Mengshan Army at the heavy cost of more than 13,000 casualties (including missing). The victory in the Battle of Texas effectively announced the fall of the Manchus.

There were many factors that contributed to the 6th Division's victory in the Battle of Texas. First of all, the comparison of troops, counting the infantry alone, the six divisions, three brigades, and ten regiments (later reinforced by one regiment) faced the twelve targets of the three towns and six associations of Beiyang, and the disadvantage in strength was not great. However, the Sixth Division was a rapidly expanding force, and the proportion of recruits (including reserves) accounted for half. This is not as good as the three towns of Beiyang. In terms of terrain, except for the canal, there is no terrain that can be used by the Shandong Sixth Division, and it can only be artificially created. In terms of artillery, the two sides put in three complete artillery targets, including six 150mm large-caliber howitzers, and a total of more than 130 large and small artillery pieces. The Shandong Army concentrated almost all of its artillery in Dezhou, with a total of three artillery regiments and three artillery battalions (one each in the Sixth and Seventh Divisions, and one under the direct jurisdiction of the General Headquarters. one artillery battalion in each of the three brigades). A total of 140 guns of various calibers, but the maximum caliber was only 75mm (Long Qian's instructions to purchase German super-large caliber artillery were not realized), but the 6th Division was equipped with hundreds of 60mm mortars, and it was finally settled. The artillery of the Mengshan Army was not at a disadvantage. But in terms of artillery training. There is still a gap between the Shandong army and the Beiyang. According to post-war statistics, more than 20 cannons were damaged in the artillery battle, and only eight were in Beiyang. On other weapons. Beiyang lagged behind the Shandong Army, especially the light machine guns equipped by the Shandong Army left a deep impression on the Beiyang Army, but Beiyang had no time to catch up. In terms of the abundance of ammunition, Shandong is above the Beiyang. On the fifth day of the Battle of Dezhou, the Beiyang artillery had begun to limit the shells, but the artillery of the Shandong Army had been roaring, and there was never a risk of shortage. In terms of casualties, Beiyang surpassed the Shandong Army, because of the exquisite construction of the Shandong Army's position, Beiyang was on the attacking side, and in the eight-day bloody battle, Beiyang suffered a total of more than 18,000 casualties, especially the casualties of Cao Kun's third town. However, in the analysis of the types of casualties, the casualties of Beiyang officers were less than those of the Shandong Army, which shows the fact that the front-line officers of the Shandong Army died in advance. The 6th Division of the Dezhou Campaign lost one brigade commander, one regiment commander, 17 battalion-level officers, and even more at the company and platoon levels. This figure just reflects the fundamental difference in the concepts of the two sides in administering the army, and the Mengshan Army's consistent officer's leading style greatly offset the unfavorable factors of the large number of recruits, so that the Sixth Division can withstand the fierce attack of the three towns in Beiyang, like a mainstay, which makes Beiyang extremely depressed. Yinchang's defeat in Wuding was also directly related to the support of the people. It must be pointed out that the strong support of the Shandong people for the Mengshan Army against the central government was one of the key factors in the victory of the Dezhou and Linjiaqiao battles. In particular, the victory in the Battle of Linjiaqiao made the Mengshan army more aware of the great power of the people.

The key point that affects the outcome is intelligence. In terms of intelligence, the Mengshan army completely defeated Beiyang. Since Tieliang's spies were cleared, the center has basically become blind to the training of troops, equipment, and equipment of the Shandong Army. However, Long Qian's chess pieces laid out six or seven years ago played a major role one by one. In particular, Duan Yongqing, who is in the core department, has made miraculous contributions to the Mengshan Army. Duanmuliang's timely escape provided the 7th Division with Yinchang's troop supplies and action planning, which was an important factor in Wu Nian's victory over Linjiaqiao. It was only natural that the Mengshan Army, which had tasted the sweetness of intelligence during the founding of the People's Republic of China, would attach great importance to intelligence work in the future, and this also made the intelligence department sit large and its strength swelled to the point that the supreme leader could not tolerate it, which brought great variables to the political and military structure after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The Battle of Linjiaqiao was an indisputable victory, with tens of thousands of prisoners captured. However, there was a controversy over the Battle of Dezhou, the Sixth Division thwarted Beiyang's strategic attack on Shandong, and caused huge losses to the three main towns of Beiyang, and the Mengshan Army was undoubtedly victorious in terms of strategy. But tactically, the defense of the 6th Division in Texas was quite debatable. In particular, when almost all the main forces and artillery were concentrated, the 6th Division, which was on the defensive side of the inner line, suffered too many casualties, and there were also examples of the 18th Brigade being defeated. The 53rd Regiment of this brigade was basically wiped out, the brigade commander was killed, and the regimental and battalion-level officers were seriously injured, and after the war, the brigade had to be vigorously reorganized. This defeat, which was written into military history, brought a reputational loss to Ye Yanbing, the commander of the Battle of Texas. Due to his special status, Ye Yanbing does not care about the slightly harsh evaluation of himself by military history researchers. But to be fair, the Battle of Texas was the heaviest weight of the Mengshan Army's founding battle, and after the battle, all foreigners, of course, who knew something about the Chinese Civil War, were no longer suspicious of the Mengshan Army's military victory. This is the significance of the Battle of Texas, and General Ye Yanbing, as a battlefield commander, deserves to receive the later honors.

After the first battle of Texas, the Sixth Division became the number one main division of the Mengshan Army, and even the First Division, which regarded itself as the main force of the Mengshan Army, had to be resigned to it.

At noon on August 21, after Long Qian learned the news of the victory in the Shandong Campaign, he sent a telegram to the Shandong Army in the name of the Mengshan Army Headquarters, praising the great merits of the Dezhou and Linjiaqiao battles. In his telegram, Long Qian pointed out that the victories in the battles of Dezhou and Linjiaqiao laid the cornerstone for our army to seize power in the whole country. In the name of the headquarters, I would like to pay the highest tribute to the heroic units of the Shandong Army! He also ordered all units of the Southern and Northern Armies to take the Shandong Army as an example, fight bravely, and advance towards the victory of the whole country! (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you to all the book friends who rewarded this book, it was you who forced me to move forward towards the completion of the book.