The Battle of He Shengqiao not only made the Fourth Army take the title of Iron Army, but even the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government in China, and even the entire world circle, became hot again, and he made people realize that the reunification of China by the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government was not empty talk, but a very likely goal, because in such a short period of time, Wu Peifu, a giant, had fallen.

On August 31, the independent regiment led by the independent regiment rushed to the city of Wuchang. And the person in charge of attacking Wuchang City was Li Zongren, the commander of the Seventh Army, and Chen Keyu, the deputy commander of the Fourth Army, and President Jiang also hurried to the front line, because he and Li Zongren had a difference of opinion on whether to fight or not.

Li Zongren is a general from Guangxi, who is good at fighting the enemy in a difficult environment, but at this time, he is also very hesitant about Wuchang City, looking at the map with a water cup in his hand, and he can't make up his mind for a long time.

He knew that the siege of the Dao was no better than the others, and even if the Fourth Army was not his descendant, he had no reason to bury their lives in vain.

"Delin, Wuchang City is barehanded, why haven't you sent troops to fight for a long time." As soon as Chiang Kai-shek entered the headquarters, he was very dissatisfied and said to Li Zongren.

"Commander, you also know that this is a siege war, and it is not easy to fight." Li Zongren sighed and said.

"It is precisely because it is a siege war that we have to take Wuchang City while the enemy is not firmly established, and if we confront us for a few months, then what is the Northern Expedition." Chiang Kai-shek tried his best to restrain his anger, and secretly cursed a few poor ghosts in his heart, that is, to claim the king and hegemony in Guangxi.

"Commander, Wuchang is not unstable, you see that the city of Wuchang is deep, you are looking at the soldiers on the city wall, there is a little unstable foothold, if we attack, the casualties will definitely be very large." After all, Chiang Kai-shek was Li Zongren's nominal boss, and he couldn't resist Chiang Kai-shek too much, so he had to state the facts.

"I know that you can't beat it, so I came here on purpose, and I have a way to fight Nanchang." Chiang Kai-shek said confidently.

"Then, it's up to the headmaster's personal command." Li Zongren shook his head bitterly, for Chiang Kai-shek to command the battle, Li Zongren really did not believe that he could have any special achievements, after Chiang Kai-shek issued a military order, Li Zongren only secretly shook his head, Chiang Kai-shek used just the old methods used during the Eastern Crusade, using bamboo ladders, climbing the city wall, and storming, Chiang Kai-shek even brought skilled craftsmen from the third division to prepare to make ladders.

The independent regiment stationed, Cao Yuan sat on a lawn, holding a pen in his hand, writing a word, and had to pause for a long time, "Father is on top, unfilial son Cao Yuan is headed, since the child participated in the Northern Expedition, all the way to conquer, the battle must be won, and he has made great contributions to the country, and now the son may have to perform the impossible task for the cause of the country and the people, if it is done, it will be a meritorious achievement, if it is not successful, it will be killed, I hope that the father can raise the child Maomao to adulthood, and when the child grows up, Let him find Liu Fuguo to join the army, his father is a hero, I hope my son can also become a hero, the child views many generals are Liu Fuguo's most talented, the most righteous, the child has the honor to give him a period of time as the chief of staff, and the child and Liu Fuguo are classmates, he will take care of my offspring. As for the second elder in the second half of his life, he can only entrust it to my younger brother. Unfilial son, Cao Yuan is at the head of the pause. ”

Before going to the battlefield, he had to write a letter to his family, which was a custom spread by the Third Division, and now almost all the Northern Expeditionary Army were doing this, looking at the happy soldier next to him, Cao Yuan really wanted to tell him, "Soldier, go home, this war will kill you." ”

The first battalion of the independent regiment is a brave team, which is the new title of the death squad, and cao yuan doesn't need to prepare, he just quietly looked at the clouds in the sky in the last half of the day, thought about the future, and thought.

Thought about it.

The ladder was ready, and under the production of Zhou Shidi and the skilled craftsmen from the third master, three thousand ladders were made in half a day's effort.

Next, the siege station, which is absolutely idiotic in the eyes of Westerners, began, Chiang Kai-shek stood in the headquarters and said to Li Zongren very confidently, "Do you see the young commander with the red scarf?" He came from the Third Division, the former commander of the Third Staff Division, called Cao Yuan, I don't know what medicine Lu Dao took, so he had to be transferred to the Independent Regiment, but let him command the Fen Yong Team, I can't believe it anymore. The order I gave them was that the city of Wuchang must be taken within forty-eight hours, otherwise the warlord would engage in "

For this young man named Cao Yuan, Li Zongren knew, and at this time he could only nod, hoping that this young officer could succeed. After all, the warlords are ruthless, Chiang Kai-shek has even moved out of military law, if this young man named Cao Yuan can't finish it, there is only one word in the face of him, and that is death.

Artillery bombardment, the ancient siege of the city with trebuchets, and with the progress of the times, artillery has become the main force of the battlefield, one shell hit the city wall, although the enemy's run returned fire, but not strong. At this time, Cao Yuan set off.

Cao Yuan took the lead, carrying a ladder, and kept climbing to the city wall under the cover of artillery fire, grenades kept exploding above his head, and the people around him kept falling.

There were nearly 1,000 people in the first battalion, and most of the half-day effort was lost, and the deputy battalion commander cried and shouted to Cao Yuan, "Battalion commander, let's retreat, we are not attacking the city, we are sending us to death, we don't have this need." ”

"Retreat, the military order is like a mountain, how to retreat, let my brother rush with me, even if I die today, I will die under Wuchang City." After speaking, Cao Yuan rushed forward again.

If there is one thing that the Independent Regiment can compare with the Third Division, it is military discipline, soldiers keep falling, but the soldiers of the Independent Regiment did not take a step back, until there were only more than ten people left around them.

Cao Yuan himself was seriously injured, his shoulders were wrapped with bandages, Cao Yuan took out a pen and paper in the corner of the wall, and wrote, "The sky is dawning, there is no hope of entering the city, there are more than ten people under the lowly subordinates, but the revolutionary soldiers have advanced and retreated, how to deal with it, please instruct." "Signed Cao Yuan.

When writing the word Yuan, a bullet hit Cao Yuan's forehead, and the last stroke of the word Yuan made him stretch very long, and an excellent graduate passed away.

Ye Ting took the report left by Cao Yuan before he died, and tears flowed out, he joined the Third Division to learn the skills of leading troops in the Third Division, but after he arrived at the Third Division, he was assimilated quickly like Nie Rongzhen, let him say the military secrets of the Third Division, he didn't say a word, even the unique training method, he didn't want to say more, because without the approval of the division commander, he would not do it.

The party was afraid of losing such an excellent soldier, so he recalled him to the Independent Regiment, and after he returned to the Independent Regiment, although he did not teach the unique things of the Third Division, he had the spirit of belonging to the Third Division, the temperament of the Third Division, he could feel the rapid progress of the combat effectiveness of the First Battalion, and he was even ready to write a letter to the Central Committee to ask the Central Committee to reuse this young man, and it was such an excellent soldier who was terminated by a bullet just now.

At that time, Guo Moruo was in the Political Department, heard about Cao Yuan's deeds, and wrote an inscription, "The blood of the revolution, the flower of ism, Cao Yuan's merits, mighty and powerful, can abide by discipline, can not always boast, can love the people, can save the country, and destroy the front, like iron." The burden of the revolution is like the shoulders of iron, and the public is like iron, and the people rely on it, and they are willing to be as mature as iron for hundreds of millions of years.

This poem was widely transmitted later, and gradually ceased to represent Cao Yuan alone, and became the name of the army to which Cao Yuan belonged back then, and this army was called, "Iron Army"