The scorching climate of August 1909 pale in comparison to the sudden outbreak of a large-scale civil war in China, and the eyes of China and abroad were focused on the great war that would determine the course of China. Knowing that this battle will lay the foundation for China's political direction, whether the Mengshan Army will establish a national power and sweep the Manchu Qing regime more than 200 years old into history, or whether it will repeat the story of pacifying the Taiping Army, foreigners pay more attention than the Chinese.

The British government, which had long been debating the China issue, quickly passed a bill to finance the Manchus, lending 5 million pounds to help the Manchu government quell the unrest. Not to be outdone, the Japanese (Britain and Japan were allies) also quickly provided a loan of 4 million yen to the Manchus (all paid for by arms). The two countries have made their positions clear.

Although the Germans did not openly support the Mengshan Army, they secretly signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Military Government to provide about 5 million marks worth of arms, some of which were even drawn from the German troops stationed in Qingdao, such as six 75mm tube retreat field guns and 4,500 shells, which were quickly loaded onto the train and transported to the Jinan and Shandong Army. They believed that the victory of the Mengshan Army would help Germany to grow its power in the Far East.

The Russians took the initiative to find Lushan and offered to provide weapons (mainly ammunition) worth 3 million rubles, but demanded that Lushan sign an anti-Japanese secret agreement with them, that is, to conclude an anti-Japanese alliance with the Mengshan army. The Russians, due to the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, the domestic situation was violently turbulent, and the economy was on the verge of collapse, and they were simply unable to maintain a strong presence in the Far East, on the one hand, hoping for the emergence of a pro-Russian regime in order to further recover the South Manchurian Railway that had been taken by Japan, and even to unite with the new government of China to drive out the Japanese again. Occupy Port Arthur and gain good access to the sea, and on the other hand, hope to obtain permanent garrison rights in North Manchuria. The Russians, who were eager to take advantage of the chaos, finally intercepted Lushan on the way of the Northern Army's march, but Lushan prevaricated the Russians' demands on the excuse that he had no right to sign a diplomatic agreement with the Russian government, which required the approval of Commander-in-Chief Long Qian. The Russians had no choice but to go to Guangzhou to find Long Qian, who was already in Hunan. Naturally, the agreement could not be signed, but the Russians made it clear that they were willing to see the Mengshan army seize power.

The United States, France and other countries are closely watching the war situation in China. But it openly expressed its position not to intervene in the Chinese civil war. Among them, the Americans passed Huamei Machinery, which has a good cooperative relationship with the Mengshan Army. conveyed to Meng Shanjun an intention to provide a loan.

After the 1st Division of the Southern Army conquered Chenzhou on August 6, on August 8, the 1st Brigade of the Forward Army conquered the fried ruins and entered Leiyang. The Leiyang patrol battalion fled from the wind. Leiyang went down without a fight. The forward units of the 1st Division continued to advance at high speed. On August 10, the first regiment of the first brigade had arrived at the city of Hengyang. It was two days ahead of Situ Jun's plan.

The Second Division was also launched in Guangxi. On 6 August, the 4th Brigade occupied Nanning. Lu Rongting abandoned the city and fled to Guilin. The 2nd Division was instructed by headquarters. The two brigades advanced side by side and attacked Guilin along the Nanning-Guilin road. Stimulated by the first division's entry into Hunan and successive victories, the second division, which had initially completed its internal rectification, accelerated its march, and the daily march mileage was more than 100 miles; on the same day that the first brigade launched its attack on Hengyang, the fourth brigade of the second division's vanguard had already occupied Laibin, crushed Lu Rongting's resistance, and annihilated more than 400 enemies. Guilin, the capital of Guangxi, is already in sight. Lan Xinzhi telegraphed to the headquarters that our department would seize Guilin on the 12th at the latest.

Long Qian, who had established a base camp in Shaoguan, did not pay attention to Guangxi, nor was he in Hengyang. Instead, it was placed in Shandong, because he had just received a telegram from Ning Shijun, and the Shandong Battle officially started in the early morning of August 10th!

"Hengyang is the gateway to southern Hunan, controlling the three provinces of Hunan, Guangdong and cabinet. Hengyang, Changsha is difficult to defend. The first phase of our army's strategic objectives has been achieved. Now there is no information on the southern transfer of the eighth town, I think that the second division of Lan Xinzhi can skip Baoqing and go straight to Hengyang from Guilin as a backup for the feudal pillar. Although Situ Jun slept very little throughout the day, he was in good spirits.

"Well, telegraph Lan Xinzhi, leave the Fifth Brigade to completely annihilate the forces of Lu Rongting and the Long brothers, and surrender is also acceptable, and the threat to the rear road must be removed. In addition, it has been raining for several days, the roads are muddy, and it is difficult to transport materials. After the first division captured Hengyang, it should take a little rest, and the troops should be very tired. ”

Long Qian's mouth responded, but his eyes were fixed on the map of Shandong.

"The commander is worried about Shandong?"

"I can't help but worry. Yuan Shikai concentrated four towns in such a narrow battlefield at once, and Ye Yanbing's pressure was too great. By the way, is there any news in Shandong? ”

"Not yet." Situ Jun glanced at the staff officers, "We can't help, our side is the biggest help to them." ”

"Hmm. Is there a telegram coming from Lushan? ”

"No, there isn't. Since their troops were dispatched from Changchun in two ways, there has been no news. ”

"It would be nice if Yuan Shikai knew the current affairs. Beiyang elite soldiers may not be able to become a national defense powerhouse. Is there a reply to the telegram to Yuan Shikai? Long Qian hoped that his long-term layout could reduce the loss of the civil war, and hoped that Yuan Shikai, who had returned to the mountain, would recognize the situation and adopt an attitude of cooperation with the Mengshan army, leading to a peaceful resolution of the incident. After arriving at the forward command post in Shaoguan, he learned that Yuan Shikai had taken over the command of Beiyang, so he personally drafted an open letter to General Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang generals, stating the Mengshan Army's idea of establishing a republic and hoping that Beiyang would accept the reorganization of the Mengshan Army to rebuild national defense. But the other party has not called back.

"Ha Luha, the commander thinks simply. If you don't hurt Lao Yuan, how can Lao Yuan bow down and be a subordinate? What the commander said is that the key to this big battle is in Shandong. Situ Jun looked relaxed.

At the same time that Yan Shulin, the commander of the 1st Brigade, personally arrived at the front line to deploy the attack on Hengyang, the Texas front line had already opened the pot.

This was the largest battle of the Chinese army since the First Sino-Japanese War, but unfortunately, both sides of the war were descendants of Yan and Huang.

More than 200 artillery pieces on both sides covered the smoke and dust of the bombardment of the Texas front, and the commanders of both sides could not see the situation of the positions at all; the telephone lines laid in advance by the 16 th Brigade were all blown up within an hour, and the headquarters of the 16 th Brigade could not learn about the situation of the two regiments deployed at the front, and the staff officers shouted hoarsely at the microphone but it was meaningless, so they could only send groups of signal soldiers to risk their lives to repair the telephone lines.

"Report Divisional Department. The third town of Beiyang launched an attack on the front line of Liu Zhimiao on the west bank of the canal. The enemy's artillery fire was extremely fierce, and the divisional artillery regiment was requested to suppress the enemy's artillery with all its might, otherwise this battle would not be fought. After comprehensively judging the situation, Xue Xiaocai, commander of the 16th Brigade, sent the first report to the division headquarters stationed in Pingyuan County.

Brigade Commander Xue, formerly known as Xue Xiaocai, was a veteran of Mengshan, who was the platoon commander during the Battle of King Qin in 1900 and personally killed Prince Zhuang Zaixun. When the fifth town went south, he stayed in Shandong as the commander of the Shandong Patrol Corps, and three years later served as the commander of the 16th Brigade of the main brigade of the 6th Division. His name was changed by Long Qian, how ugly the dishes are, let's call Xiaocai.

Yuan Shikai was worried about the situation in the south, knowing that he would not be able to win this sudden battle if Shandong was not quickly defeated. Only a quick break through Shandong. Fang can use the train to transfer the main force of Beiyang into Hubei to face Long Qian's main force in the south. Time is on Long Qian's side, not on himself. In case Shandong cannot be quickly broken, when Long Qian captures Wuchang and invades Henan, Beiyang will fight on two fronts. Take care of one or the other. The war was basically lost.

Yuan Shikai after deploying an attack strategy against Shandong. In the name of the Military Aircraft Department, he sent a telegram to the Governor of Huguang, Rui Zheng, instructing that the decisive battle would be fought in Wuchang. Hengyang can be given up, Changsha is not easy to defend, and it can also be abandoned, but Wuchang is the place that must be defended, for this reason, the main force of the eighth town should go out of Yueyang to resist step by step, and stick to the line of Puqi and Xianning.

Yuan Shikai was anxious about the current situation, he scolded the court for being mediocre in front of Zaixun, how could he make Long Qian calmly arrange like this? If there is no containment from Guangdong, the sixth town can be transferred to Lianghu, and if Long Qian's main force retreats to Shandong, our army can also be calmly arranged. Now the initiative is in the hands of the enemy, it is really a mediocre minister and a misguided country!

He had forgotten that he had secretly rejoiced when the center had sent Long Qian south to quell the rebellion, but who knew that after three years, the situation had deteriorated to this point.

The key battlefield is in Shandong. Yuan Shikai did not wait for Li Chun's second town and Feng Guozhang's fourth town to be deployed, and urgently ordered Cao Kun, who had occupied the position on the west bank of the canal, to launch an attack on Dezhou. On August 8, on the day that Longqian's Southern Army captured Chenzhou, Yuan Shikai personally arrived in Hengshui, established an advance command post, and personally supervised the attack of the Third Town on Dezhou. He said to the officers above the standard level of the third town that in the past few years, he has always shouted about how elite the Mengshan army is, and now it is time to compete! Long Qian had already brought his main force to Guangdong, and only a few small shrimps remained in Shandong. Don't listen to the fact that they have so many numbers, even if they are full of numbers, they are just some new soldiers, and they will herd sheep after a few shells. Zhong Shan, you have been dealing with Long Qian since the year of Jihai (1899), and you have suffered a lot of losses from that kid! Now it's time to settle the ledger. Xiushan and Huafu's troops will arrive soon, and they will spread out on both sides of you, but I don't think that your third town needs to wait for them, I brought you an artillery mark, plus your artillery, and smashed all those turtle shells built by the Shandong soldiers on the other side of the canal! Force the canal and take Texas as soon as possible!

In the early morning of 10 August, Cao Kun took a breath of air, got the general's order, and spent a day to make adjustments and unfold the troops, and in the early morning of 10 August, he launched two targets -- the 10th standard of the Fifth Association and the 11th standard of the 6th Association -- on the 13-kilometer front line of Liu Zhimiao in Dezhou, and began a major attack on Shandong with artillery as the forerunner.

Liu Zhimiao is close to the canal, the thousand-mile canal starts from Tongzhou in the north, enters Shandong from Zhili, and forms a sharp arc in the north of Dezhou, like a rope sleeve. The two armies were sandwiched by the river, with the Beiyang Army to the west of the river and the Shandong Army to the east of the river.

Ye Yanbing has been stationed in Texas for a long time, repeatedly surveying the terrain, in view of the flat terrain in the north of Shandong, there is almost no danger to defend, and the only obstacle is the Grand Canal. Rather than retreating to the plains, it is better to rely on the canal to fight. Therefore, he built several chain positions composed of mines and communication trenches to the west, north, and east of Texas, and in consideration of the fact that the positions were breached, Ye Yanbing established three positions, storing a large amount of food, ammunition and even fresh water, so as to facilitate the counterattack.

No reinforcements! Ye Yanbing's deployment was based on relying on his own strength to resist the main force of Beiyang, and he could not count on the Seventh Division, there was a threat from Zhang Xun in the south, and the essence was all transferred to the Sixth Division, and he must not count on Wu Nian's reinforcements.

The core of this plan is not to give up an inch of land! After the outbreak of war, he was determined to rely on the canal and the existing positions to resist the onslaught of the Beiyang with an inch-intransitive tactic. This seems to be contrary to Long Qian's idea of concentrating superior forces to annihilate the enemy in a movement that Long Qian has always emphasized, but Ye Yanbing, the front-line commander, said at the last military meeting after the 7.27 telegram that since Jinan must be ensured, then Dezhou must not let it! How far is Texas from Jinan? 200 miles! In the meantime, the avenue is flat and there are no mountains to rely on, where to retreat? If you want to fight, you can fight in Texas. Even if Texas is drawn, the Sixth Division is wiped out, and the blood of the four towns of Beiyang is consumed, and the commander's Southern Army will drive straight into the Beijing Division, and we will still win!

What an impassioned statement!

Ning Shijun agreed. Lao Ye, it's up to you this time, you bolted Beiyang to Texas, which is the first credit!

Before obtaining the Beiyang military plan, the Shandong army had to take into account the Beiyang attack on Shandong from the direction of Cangzhou under the condition of dividing its forces to deal with the threat from Jiangsu. The forces are a bit of a loss of the other. But the information came in time. Yuan Shikai actually concentrated all the Beiyang soldiers in the four towns on the front of Texas. That's easy to do. Since Jiang Yun firmly believed in the correctness of the intelligence, Ning Shijun ordered all three brigades of the Sixth Division to assemble in Dezhou and fight with Beiyang. In Yizhou, one of the strongest regiments of the 7th Division was left to deal with the possible attack of Zhang Xun mixed into the 13th Association, and the five regiments of the 7th Division, which had not yet been fully reorganized, were used as reserves. Always ready to reinforce Texas. The cavalry regiment directly under the Shandong Army came out of Wuding Mansion. Monitor the direction of Cangzhou.

The 16th Brigade, the main force of the 6th Division, was deployed north of Dezhou, directly opposite Liujiamiao. Its 46th Regiment was in the north and 47th Regiment in the south. A defensive line was unfolded along the sparkling Grand Canal. The shelling began at 6:40 a.m. and ended at 7:10 a.m., with at least 2,000 shells falling on the positions of the 46th Regiment.

The first battalion commander, Fan Yimin, was a member of the Boxers of the Mengshan Army in Xigu, and his qualifications were very old but his progress was slow, and he was not a battalion commander until nine years later. Although he had been trained under artillery bombardment, Fan Yimin, who had not had actual combat experience since the attack on the calf, felt that he was simply in hell! He couldn't perceive the counterattack and suppression of the Beiyang Army on the other side of the canal by his own artillery behind him, and he scolded the artillery for being incompetent when he squatted on the ground with his head open and his mouth open! The specially reinforced battalion command post was blown up, and it is conceivable that the losses of the shelter units of the companies were certainly not small. Finally staying up until the end of the shelling, Fan Yimin jumped up, "Hurry up and find out the situation of each company!" He shouted to the communications squad leader who was guarding the door of the command post with a gun, but he couldn't hear his own voice, and the communications squad leader looked at the battalion commander stupidly, apparently he didn't hear the battalion commander's orders - his ears were also temporarily deaf. When Fan Yimin gave the order loudly again, the little squad leader shouted "yes" and ran out of the battalion headquarters.

"Battalion commander, the enemy is beginning to cross the river." Before the communication squad leader could report, another communications soldier rushed in.

Fan Yimin's ears began to regain function, and the shells falling outside seemed to be sparse, he rushed out of the shelter without saying a word, ran along the collapsed communication trench to the front, and saw his soldiers coming out of the anti-artillery holes one after another, all of them with gray faces like mud monkeys, "Go to the position, wait for the enemy to enter the firing range before fighting." ”

The heavy machine guns of the third company on the left flank had already been fired, and another light machine gun "quack" joined the chorus. Fan Yimin turned to the left and entered the trench of the third company, "Battalion commander, the enemy has crossed the river, and the dog has crossed over with artillery bombardment!" A squad leader shouted.

Fan Yimin pulled out his German box gun, lay on the edge of the bunker and looked northwest, and saw a hazy figure in the smoke rushing up, and people continued to fall under the blow of machine gun fire, but more figures rushed out of the smoke and pounced.

"Quick, notify the artillerymen and fire at Area 13! Fast! He pushed down the guard who was following him.

The Mengshan Army worked hard to train infantry and artillery coordination, and although Fan Yimin was fighting for the first time in many years, he had not forgotten to ask for artillery support.

"Fight, hit Lao Tzu!" Fan Yimin subconsciously fired his first shot at the figure, and the ghost knew where the bullet flew, and the gray figure of the Beiyang Army on the opposite side saw it clearly, "Fight!" Fan Yimin shouted hoarsely.

"Battalion commander, you go back and go and master the whole battalion! Here I am! Chen Hao, the commander of the third company, who had sweat washing out the dirt on his face and made a few traces, ran over and dragged Fan Yimin down the trench.

"Okay, I'll go to those two companies and have a look." Fan Yimin bent over and trotted away from the third company, and Chen Hao's shouts of throwing grenades came from behind.

The first attack of the Beiyang Army was repelled by a battalion, and the artillery was late, but a few shells still landed accurately in the retreating crowd of Beiyang soldiers in the canal, and the rising water column was accompanied by the cheers of the officers and men of the battalion.

"Find out the damage." Twenty-year-old Company Commander Chen Hao shouted. He stepped over a corpse, which was undoubtedly his soldier.

In the fifteen-minute battle, three companies lost nineteen people, ten of whom were killed. It is not clear whether he was killed by shelling or by gunshot.

The baggage soldiers rushed up, loaded with ammunition and water, and carried the wounded down. There was a rush in the trenches, but a sharp howling sound came, Chen Hao threw away the small round shovel in his hand, "Quick, enter the defensive hole!" ”

A shell accurately fell into the trench of the third company, and as far as Chen Hao could see, he saw that the two baggage soldiers and the wounded in their hands turned into a mist of blood.

Chen Hao, the son of Chen San, a long-term worker of Chen Chao. His father died in Li Chun's suppression, and Chen Hao's mother and son have been following Chen Chao, and Chen Hao regards Chen Chao as his father. He joined the army at the age of 17 and entered the military academy under the care of Chen Chao a year later, and served as a platoon commander after graduating last year, and was promoted to company commander in the Shandong Army. Before the war, Chen Chao said to Chen Hao, who went home to visit his mother, do you want me to tell Yan Bing and transfer you to the division headquarters as a staff officer? Chen Hao resolutely refused. Before the war, when Ye Yanbing inspected the 46th Regiment, he went to Chen Hao's Third Company for a meal, and said to Chen Hao, Okay, if you survive this battle, I will promote you to an official.

Usually when he met Ye Yanbing at home, Chen Hao followed Chen Zhi to call his brother-in-law, but at that time, Chen Hao replied loudly, "Please rest assured, I will never disgrace the Chen family!" ”

Chen Hao didn't know that his troops were facing the eleventh standard of the Sixth Association of the Third Town of Beiyang. It is the number one trump card of the third town, and the standard is called Wu Peifu, who is also from Shandong. Chen Hao didn't even know that the bloody battle he had experienced had just begun. (To be continued......)

PS: Two changes today