Shang Hu rode on a tall horse and walked proudly in the Chinese army, and the troops marched along the railway line. Since the change in Shanghai, the railway line from Fuzhou to Shanghai has ceased to operate. At this time, there was a train on the railway line that followed the army slowly, and the train was loaded with the army's provisions. The soldiers were probably encouraged by the good news of the establishment of a military government in Guangdong, and their morale was very high, and they were all filled with high enthusiasm for fighting.

The army rested for the night at a place called Flying Foot, and continued its march in the early hours of the next morning. There was no shadow of the Qing army in the towns along the way, and even if there were, they fled or were captured. "How far is it from Ningde?" Shang Hu asked. An operational staff officer unfolded the map and said, "Report to the brigade commander, there are still 9 kilometers from Ningde." As he spoke, a horse came quickly.

A signal soldier raised his hand and saluted: "Report to the brigade commander, the prefect of Ningde sent a messenger to ask for submission." ”“haha！ This is the deterrent of our army, and the prefect of Ningde is very wise. Tell the forward troops to speed up their advance, and have the messenger relay the prefect of Ningde to welcome our army into the city. Two hours old, Shang Hu arrived at the city of Ningde, and from a distance, the south gate of Ningde was wide open, and the secret hemp people gathered outside the door, and a group of Manchu officials dressed in official mansions were looking forward.

The forward troops had already entered the city, and the people on both sides looked at this army they had never seen before. At this time, the notice of the Northern Expeditionary Army and the people has been posted on the side of the city gate, and many people gather around the notice, and those who have good deeds read the contents of the notice aloud, and the scene is not lively. Shang Hu dismounted in front of a group of officials. The first official in his 40s stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, I have heard that the Northern Expedition Army did not commit any crimes in Fuzhou Qiu, and the military discipline is strict, and it is a benevolent and righteous army. Therefore, it was decided to abandon the darkness and join Mingningde to avoid the war. ”

"Lord Prefect is wise, my Northern Expeditionary Army has shocked the world, and at present, the Governor of Liangguang, Lord Zhang, has stood in the camp of opposing the Qing Dynasty, and you have no hesitation to surrender to sincerity, on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief Deng of the Guangzhou Military Government, welcome you. I have decided that the prefect will still be in charge of Ningde's government affairs and maintain the stability of Ningde, and I will report to the Guangzhou Military Government. When the prefect heard this, he was overjoyed and hurriedly invited Shanghu into the city. Shang Hu gave the order, and the troops went out of the city and camped after showing their military might in the city.

The people in the city were crowded with people, watching this army that had never been seen before. The gossip is flying all over the sky, saying that the rebels are green ghosts with long green faces and fangs. But it is true that this army is wearing green uniforms, and there are some blue-faced fangs but all of them are handsome and chic. The troops showed their military appearance and military prestige in the main streets of the city, and then left the city through the north gate, not stopping in the city at all. Merchants in the city were relieved and opened their doors one after another.

Soon Shang Hu led the guards to the prefect's yamen. After entering the lobby, Shang Hu said: "Your Excellency, according to the regulations of the military government, all officials who are loyal to the military government will cut their braids to show their hearts, and they will wear military government uniforms. The junta promised that if someone was unwilling to serve the junta, they would be able to opt out. In addition, the people of Li can voluntarily choose to cut their braids, and they are not allowed to use force. After speaking, Shang Hu took out a set of civilized clothes and said: "Lord Prefect, make official uniforms in a unified manner like this!" "Although the prefect is a little embarrassed, since he chooses to surrender, he must obey.

Early the next morning, Shang Hu camped outside the city and prepared to set off. Suddenly, a large number of people poured out of the gates, and many wagons appeared, loaded with goods. Shang Hu Dingqing took a look and saw the prefect walking in front happily. "What's going on?" Shang Hu asked confusedly. "General Shang, the army is here with strict military discipline and no offenses in the autumn, and the merchants in the city are grateful to Dade, they consciously donate money and materials to express their hearts, please be sure to accept it."

Shang Hu saw the expectant gaze of the people and said: "Okay, I'll accept it, but the prefect, all the merchants who donate money and materials will be registered and made a register, and the name and quantity of each donated money and materials will be clearly remembered, and the military government will definitely be rewarded in the future!" "My subordinates must do it?" The prefect smiled. The soldiers stepped forward to unload the goods and silver taels on the truck, and the scene was joyful. Dozens of big men came to Shang Hu in front of Shang Hu, and a strong man led by him said worriedly: "General, we ask to participate in the Northern Expeditionary Army, do you want us." ”

"Are you afraid of death?" Shang Hu smiled. "Don't be afraid of death!" "We are not afraid of death!" The man in the back chimed in. "Good! I promise to take you! One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the surrounding descendants asked to join the Northern Expeditionary Army. Shang Hu said loudly: "Don't make noise, there are conditions for joining the Northern Expeditionary Army. The first is to be physically strong, the second is to have no bad habits, and those who smoke big cigarettes are not allowed, and the third is not to be greedy for life and afraid of death. If you agree, you can sign up now. ”

Shang Hu's voice fell, and the scene became chaotic, and hundreds of people asked to join the Northern Expeditionary Army. Zuihou was selected and 150 people qualified. Shang Hu ordered the formation of a brigade of recruits, each of whom was issued with a set of military uniforms. Standard weapons were limited, so each person had to be issued a Remington rifle captured by the Qing army. The young people who were not selected saw that they were clamoring one after another, and the surrounding officials and businessmen sighed for a long time, since ancient times, the more the merrier, but they did not expect the Northern Expeditionary Army to be so selective in the selection of soldiers, so far they are full of confidence in this army.

5 days later, Shang Hu successfully occupied Wenzhou, and then continued to wave his troops north. As the reputation of the Northern Expeditionary Army became better and better, it left praise everywhere it went. Shang Hu rode a high-headed horse and entered Wenzhou City with great ambition, and the Wenzhou prefect fled, and it is unknown where he fled. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, it was a capital crime for the prefect to abandon the city and flee. Frankly speaking, Shang Hu was a little depressed, and he didn't have a single battle all the way north. Not to mention that he has this idea, the officers and soldiers under his command also have this idea.

Since the Qing army was so incompetent, Shang Hu held a military meeting in Wenzhou, and then the troops were divided into two routes, and he himself led the 4th Regiment, the artillery team, and the recruit team to advance to Taizhou along the railway line. The 2nd Independent Regiment advanced to Jinhua, and Shang Hu ordered the 2nd Independent Regiment to occupy Jinhua and occupy Quzhou accordingly according to the situation. There were some surprises, Taizhou was still not guarded by the Qing army, and Taizhou County ordered surrender.

Continuing to advance north along the railway line, he unexpectedly encountered resistance from the Qing army in Xinchang. Shang Hu didn't know that there were about 40,000 Qing army green battalions in Hangzhou and its surroundings. Needless to say, the Qing army gathered in Hangzhou, obviously the role played by the Hangzhou generals. Xinchang is located in the plain area of the water network, and there are rice fields everywhere as far as the eye can see, and the two-cropping rice crop is already more than a foot high.

"It's really a land of fish and rice!" Shang Hu took the binoculars and looked at Xinchang and muttered. A combat staff officer put down his glasses and said, "Brigade commander, although Xinchang does not have a city wall, the Qing army dug a trench and built a fortress. The Qing army had 5,000 people, and we only had 2,000 men, excluding the artillery team and the recruit team, and the attack force was only 1,500 people. Although the combat effectiveness of the Qing army was not good, they were defensive operations, and if they attacked, they would inevitably pay heavy casualties. ”

"Convene a meeting of officers above the battalion level and the captain of the artillery team, and I will deploy combat missions!" Obviously, Shang Hu has already brewed a mature combat plan in his heart. After a while, the chief officer arrived, and Shang Hu looked at the crowd: "The Qing army in front of us has 5,000 people, and there is a way that a good tiger is difficult to defeat a group of wolves, but the Qing army in front of us is not a group of wolves, but sheep with horns. This battle is the time to test the combat strength of our Northern Expeditionary Army, do you have confidence! "Have faith!" "you haven't eaten enough! Shout not loud enough, shout again! "Have faith!" The officers shouted at the top of their voices.

"This is the momentum of the Northern Expeditionary Army. I decided to attack at night, and you can see that the Qing army dug trenches, although the railway line was cut off at the waist. But the stupid Qing army did not cut the rails, and the rails were still on the trenches. I decided to ・・・・・・. "After dusk, a train came from the rear station. Instead of pulling the carriages, the train pushes 5 carriages in front. When the train came to a standstill, the soldiers carried the planks onto the carriages, and then a battalion of soldiers got into the carriages, each with a white towel wrapped around his right arm.

After the soldiers took their positions in the carriages, Shang Hu gave the order to attack, and the train began to start. After the train started, Shang Hu ordered five artillery pieces to launch an artillery bombardment, followed by two other battalion soldiers following the train. The artillery roared and the flames shook the sky, and violent explosions came from the defensive positions of the Qing army in front. Shang Hu ordered the recruit brigade to follow up and carry out battlefield observation training, to put it bluntly, to let them experience the test of war.

Although there were only 5 artillery pieces, it still frightened the defending Qing army. The Qing army did not have the habit of fighting at night, they entered the defensive position in confusion, and found that only the fire of the explosion came from the railway line, and not a single enemy soldier was found in front of the defense line to attack. On both sides of the railway line, the Qing troops fell into blood mold, and they took refuge from artillery fire in all directions, and no one noticed a train whizzing along the railway line.

The artillery fire extended, and the train driver saw the red light signal in front of him to stop the train, and the soldiers in the front were the first to shoot in the carriage, and the soldiers in the back carriage jumped out of the car one after another. The Qing army reacted and began to fight back, but it was too late. The soldiers spread along the trenches, and a dense rain of bullets and grenades poured down on the Qing army. Under the explosion of the grenade, the Qing army was blown up and howled, fled in all directions, and ran backwards.

At this time, the assault team quickly laid planks on the steel rails, and after a few minutes, the assault team rushed through the trench, followed by the large force, and the explosion of gunfire and grenades immediately developed in depth. Such a tactic was very sudden, and the Qing army was not prepared at all, and it was impossible to imagine that the Northern Expeditionary Army would use such a strange method of fighting to break the city. When the city is broken, it also means that the Qing army collapses. At midnight, the explosions in the city stopped, and the gunfire became sporadic and sporadic .

Shang Hu led the guards into Xinchang, and there were torches everywhere and captives everywhere in the dark night. The Qing army dug trenches outside, which can be said to be self-digging graves. Of the 5,000 Qing troops, less than 500 escaped, with about 1,000 casualties, and the rest all became prisoners. The vast majority of the soldiers of the Qing army were killed and injured by grenades, and it can be said that grenades played a miraculous effect in the melee.

After daybreak, Shang Hu ordered the captives to fill in the trenches and restore the railway line. During the day, Shang Hu was sleeping in the temporary headquarters of Zhengxiang, and a report woke him up. "What happened?" "Report to the brigade commander, news came from the 2nd Independent Regiment that Jinhua did not find the Qing army, and they asked for instructions on the next move!" A subordinate reported. Shang Hu stood up and stretched his waist and said: "It seems that General Hangzhou wants to hold on to the city, and ordered the 2nd Regiment to give up the capture of Quzhou Jihua and advance to Shaoxing quickly."

Faced with such a large number of captives, Shang Hu was a little difficult to do. After thinking about it, he simply did not stop doing it, and then ordered the guards to put all the Qing prisoners and all the officers above the general level into the prison, and sent a company to garrison Xinchang. Then, among the captives, about 1,500 able-bodied soldiers were selected to form a new regiment. The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled temporarily served as transport brigades and acted with the large army. Shang Hu's method was later widely popularized in various troops, which played a pivotal role in the rapid expansion of the Northern Expeditionary Army.