At dawn, the sudden explosion of gunfire and explosions woke up Lin Shuqing and Huang Xing, who had just finished their sleep from the military meeting, and listened to the direction coming from the artillery position. Lin Shuqing hurriedly ascertained the situation, and soon, someone came to report that an enemy army wearing our uniforms had mixed into the artillery position and attacked the artillery that was being prepared. The exact damage has not yet been ascertained.

Huang Xing and Lin Shuqing were shocked and angry. Without artillery support, the battle would be even more unfought. Lin Shuqing, who was already holding his breath because of yesterday's defeat, scolded Mengshan Jun for being shameless, he never expected that the opponent would use the tactics of sneak attack.

"Arrest all those shameless thieves, or eliminate them! Don't miss a single one! Lin Shuqing shouted to the commander of the guard company, "Take your company to the artillery immediately." ”

I can't sleep. Huang Xing stood in the courtyard and looked at the southern sky, and Lin Shuqing simply ran to the war room to wait for news. The intermittent gunfire from the north indicates that the clearance operation is not over.

"How the hell did they get here? How many people came? Where are the loopholes in our positions? Lin Shuqing asked the staff officers on duty in the war room in a stack, but no one could answer. Chief of Staff Sun Wu had no choice but to send a competent staff officer to find out the situation of the battle and told him to catch a few live mouths.

If the enemy infiltrated a regiment, wouldn't it be a big mess? The idea of retreating rose again, and Lin Shuqing got up and went to the door to look at Huang Xing's burly figure, but he couldn't open his mouth.

Fighting a war is like gambling, always playing with good fantasies. When you lose everything, you will regret not coming.

It was dawn, and the accurate news finally arrived. The artillery suffered heavy losses, and almost all of the platoons of the alert artillery were killed. The artillery lost about half of its people, and the artillery was completely destroyed. The infantry that went up with reinforcements suffered considerable losses, the commander of the guard company was killed, and a very reliable and capable company lost thirty-five killed and fifty-seven wounded, and was almost wiped out.

Huang Xing and Lin Shuqing were shocked, "What about the enemy? Did you catch it alive? ”

"Nope. They were very ......" The staff officer of the report thought for a long time, but still used the word powerful, "No one was captured alive, they ran away." ”

"Ran away? How many people are there? ”

"About a team."

"A team? One squad to finish off the artillery? And wiped out a few hundred of us? Lin Shuqing's anger came up. I didn't believe the staff officer's report at all.

This side has not yet been processed. Fighting resumes on the front lines. The violent explosion made Lin Shuqing understand that the attack of the Mengshan army had begun.

Six o'clock in the morning. The First Division of the Southern Army concentrated all its artillery fire to bombard Ta Nao Mountain, and not only that, Feng Guozhu mobilized a large number of mortars to the positions of the Seventh Regiment and the Ninth Regiment. Approaching bombardment. Cover the 7th Regiment to seize the commanding heights of Ta Nao Mountain.

6:25 a.m. The position of Ta Nao Mountain, which was held by the 4th Regiment of the People's Army, was lost! The Seventh Regiment organized a death squad to launch a charge before the shelling was over, and the lame regimental commander Ma Jing'an personally led the death squad to charge, which greatly inspired the morale of the army. Dead in the trenches under heavy artillery fire, the defenders were unable to hold back the onslaught of the opponent's elite infantry. After Ma Mian gave the order not to take prisoners, the commandos who rushed to the position with muddy and bloody corpses slaughtered the defenders with grenades, pistols, bayonets and sapper shovels, even if the opponents had surrendered.

The 4th Regiment, which had not been rested after a hard fight, collapsed, and as the Mengshan Army infantry brigade that followed behind the death squad rushed to the top of the hill, the 4th Regiment had lost its organized resistance.

After occupying Ta Nao Mountain, the Seventh Regiment also captured the most rearly high ground southeast of Tingsi Town in one go. Then guide the artillery to bombard the town.

The People's Army front was broken through. Feng Guozhu, who was guarding the command post of the Seventh Regiment to observe the battle situation, immediately ordered the Third Brigade to attack on all fronts, and the Seventh Brigade, which had already arrived at the front line of Guantang and was ready to serve as a backup for the Third Brigade, was ordered to turn around Ting Si Town and make a detour to Ma'anshan from the west of Axe Lake with light equipment, in an effort to cut off the retreat of the First Division of the People's Army. Feng Guozhu strictly ordered Gu Xiaolin to completely light his equipment, abandon all the heavy weapons that were inconvenient to carry, and quickly intersperse, be sure to intercept the first division of the People's Army south of Wuchang, and not allow any of them to escape back to Wuchang!

Frontal front. After judging the situation, Feng Guozhu released the three brigades and eight regiments that had been pinching, and attacked from the position west of the seventh regiment to storm the follow-up position of Tingsi Town of the People's Army. He knew that the opponent was finished, and now he just didn't want to give the opponent a chance to breathe, and strive to fight a battle of annihilation comparable to Lin Jiaqiao.

As soon as the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the People's Army was about to change the 4th Regiment out of the town, it was mixed up with the defeated 4th Regiment rout, and then collided head-on with the troops of the 7th Regiment who rushed down the high ground, and the battle began outside Tingsi Town. Armed with mortars and a large number of grenades, the Mengshan Army gradually took control of the situation and "squeezed" the second regiment out of the town in an hour, and the second regiment also collapsed after the regimental commander who had urged Huang Xing to retreat to save his strength was killed by a grenade.

After fighting until now, Huang Xing and Lin Shuqing could only retreat.

But it was already difficult for the Nationalist Army to stop an orderly retreat, and the troops were fleeing for their lives instead of retreating. Originally, retreating was more technical than attacking. Since noon on the 20th, the 3rd Brigade of the Mengshan Army crossed the town of Tingsi, chasing the opponents who had lost resistance and fled in all directions, a large number of civilian officers and soldiers raised their hands and surrendered, and became prisoners of the 3rd Brigade, and all the baggage brought by the 1st Division from Wuchang fell into the hands of the 3rd Brigade.

Huang Xing, Lin Shuqing, Sun Wu and others who fled on horseback escaped Xianning, it was already dark, and there were fewer and fewer soldiers in their hands, only a brigade and a regiment that were still complete followed them, but they also escaped three percent of the soldiers. Lin Shuqing said to Huang Xing after counting the troops, "I'm sorry for the prime minister, I'm sorry for the soldiers of the first division, please return to Wuchang as soon as possible, and organize the second division to transfer to Jiangning, so as to move later." I'm here to stop the enemy. Otherwise, we will all die here. ”

Huang Xingqing knew that Lin Shuqing had made a desperate plan to fight, but now he had no choice but to do so, "You take care of yourself, keep your useful body, and we will do it all over again." ”

When he led the army south, his ambition was gone, and he still couldn't do it himself...... Lin Shuqing left a group and built fortifications on the spot. "Brothers, let's stay here to cover Marshal Huang's withdrawal to Wuchang, there is still a second division over there, the revolution has not failed, I am with you, I will not leave." After Huang Xing left, Lin Shuqing mobilized the troops after the most retreat, but the officers and soldiers had long lost their will to fight, and everyone was depressed. Exhaustion. Hunger and despair gripped the remnants of the civilian army.

When the fighting resumed that night, the 3rd Brigade and 8th Regiment, which had caught up, exchanged fire again with the 1st Regiment of the Broken People's Army, but it was only very short, and some officers and soldiers of the 1st Regiment who had been connected in tandem attacked Lin Shuqing's command post. During the battle, Lin Shuqing was seriously injured by bullets. The first regiment defected. Surrendered to the Mengshan Army. This was the end of the Battle of Tingsi. Gu Xiaolin's detour of the 7th Brigade failed to intercept Huang Xing, and the 19th Regiment of the Forward Regiment led by Gu Xiaolin occupied Ma'anshan in the early morning of the 22nd, and at that time Huang Xing and Sun Wu had already passed the predetermined blocking line. fled back to Wuchang.

During the battle, the First Division of the Mengshan Army annihilated the First Division of the People's Army, which was reorganized from the Ninth Town of the former New Army, killing more than 1,500 enemies and capturing more than 4,900 enemies, and the rest fled.

Lin Shuqing, who fell into the hands of the Mengshan army, was seriously injured and died.

Due to the limitations of the terrain, Feng Guozhu could not show more troops, and the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division of the Mengshan Army, which mainly attacked Tingsi Town, also paid heavy casualties, mainly the 2 regiments of the 7th Regiment and the 9th Regiment suffered heavy losses, and preliminary statistics showed that the brigade lost more than 620 officers and men, and the number of wounded was double. The brigade was then transferred to rest on the spot, did not participate in the subsequent attack on Wuchang, and gave up the honor of attacking Wuchang to the 3rd Division and 7th Brigade. However, after this battle, the 3rd Brigade became one of the main brigades of the Mengshan Army, and the 7th Regiment was awarded the title of "Tingsi Regiment" by the headquarters in recognition of its meritorious achievements in winning the pass. This was the first regiment of the Mengshan Army to be named after the site of the battle, and the officers and men of the 7th Regiment had not really understood the meaning of receiving such an honorary title at the moment, and it was many years later that they enjoyed the treatment, and their juniors finally understood what the honorary title of the team had brought them.

It was the afternoon of September 22 when the news of the defeat of the 1st Division of the People's Army in the Puxian area reached Wuchang, and it was brought back by Huang Xing - in today's absence of radio, the news of the defeat at the front is generally spread through the common people rather than the army, and Huang Xing's defeat broke this example.

The defeat at Tingsi Town confirmed Sun Wu's predictive analysis of the battle situation - after Huang Xing went south to supervise the battle, Sun Wu analyzed the battle situation to Song Tan and others, believing that there was no hope of victory, "If it fails, the first division is likely to be annihilated in the pursuit of the opponent." This is, of course, the worst-case solution. If it is safe, an army should be sent to meet it, such as a defensive line in a paper mill or on a hillside. ”

Wuchang's army controlled by the Confederacy had only one second division, and the division commander was also under the control of Huang Xing, and was recruiting and expanding troops in order to reach the size of two brigades and four regiments. The troops were scattered in Hanyang and Hankou, of which the main force was placed north of Liujiamiao in Hankou, making a defensive posture to the north. Just when Huang Xing went south to Puqi and Xianning to supervise the first division, it was confirmed that the 7th Division of the Shandong Army, which had entered Henan and cut off the Luhan railway line, went south. If you want to defend against the threat from the north, as a southern army, the best place to go is Wusheng Pass at the junction of Hubei and Henan provinces, but to measure the itinerary - not to mention whether the second division can be used, it is too late to occupy Wusheng Pass and the northern gate of Hubei. Li Yuanhong vigorously opposed this plan, which was first proposed by Sun Wu, so he gave up. However, in two or three days, the first division was finished, and Huang Xing and Sun Wu fled back to Wuchang almost alone.

At this point, Wuchang fell into the northern and southern sandwich of the Mengshan army. Considering the troops, this battle cannot be fought in any case!

Huang Xing, who fled back to Wuchang, was at a loss and asked Sun Wen for help. Where is Sun Wen, who is busy with "founding the country", where can he send soldiers? He is still waiting for Wuchang's silver two to help the central government.

"In that case, there is only one way, retreat to the southeast." Sun Wu once again suggested, "According to the generalissimo's words, the Southern Army is coming soon, and if you want to keep the second division, the revolutionary armed force, you must be fast." Otherwise, it will be too late. ”

After the battle of Tingsi, Huang Xing's pride when he first came to Wuchang has been completely lost, thinking of Lin Shuqing's advice, it seems that there is only one way.

Sun Wu's opinion was not refuted. At this time, no one put forward any more rhetoric against the Mengshan army. Tan Renfeng forcibly suppressed his anger, and did not make a sound several times under the hint of Song Jiaoren's stern eyes, and he was already remorseful in his heart. If Sun Wen had not rashly declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in Shanghai, and if he had negotiated a charter with Long Qian's envoy, how could the situation have come to this? Looking at the current situation, Long Qian must have the idea of unifying the whole country by force, even if the second division is brought to Jiangning, can he rely on the southeast to resist the whole country?

But Huang Xing's current demeanor is really pitiful, and Tan Renfeng has a good impression of Huang Xing. Huang Keqiang is a doer, who has been running around with his head for more than ten years for the great cause of the revolution, and it is too cruel to blame him now.

They did not expect that under the influence of the defeat of Tingsi, some of the people who held a meeting to discuss withdrawing from Wuhan and moving into the southeast in order to try to raise others were already ready to act as "traitors".

This person is Li Yuanhong. In desperation, Li Yuanhong of the Toucheng Alliance had a different mind at this time. Li Yuanhong saw very clearly, the Alliance would never be the opponent of the Mengshan Army, where would he follow this group of doomed people? Under the pretext of organizing the original 42 bids stationed in Hanyang, he left the Generalissimo's Mansion located in the former Huguang Governor's Mansion in Wuchang.

Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, Tan Renfeng, Liu Gong, Sun Wu, Jiang Yiwu and several others made a division of labor. Huang Xing, Sun Wu, Li Yuanhong, Jiang Yiwu and others respectively assembled the troops of the Second Division. Take away all the weapons that can be taken away, Song Jiaoren, Tan Renfeng, Liu Gong and others are responsible for raising grain and grass and collecting ships, the latter is the most important.

After the meeting. The crowd split up. Song Jiaoren grabbed Tan Renfeng. "The guy surnamed Hong must be let go." Song Jiaoren said in a low voice.

"That's what you said." Tan Renfeng completely agreed. Song Jiaoren said he would do it. immediately took Sun Wu to the original Eighth Town Headquarters where Hong Yuecheng was imprisoned, under the pretext that Marshal Huang wanted to interrogate this person, and the defenders could not distinguish the truth from the false. handed over Hong Yuecheng, who was under house arrest, to Sun Wu.

The reason why he brought Sun Wu here was because Sun Wu had privately told Song Jiaoren that this person should not be detained, no matter from that point of view, the envoy who detained the family could not justify it.

"Mr. Hong, as you expected, our army has been defeated. Your army will soon be in Wuchang, now we have released you, please go, pay attention to safety, don't be gained by our army, now the city has begun to be chaotic......" Song Jiaoren kept wiping his sweat.

"Mr. Song, it seems that you are making your own assertion. This friendship, Hong remembered. And Mr. Sun, I advise you two to say a word, don't go with Huang Xing! Where to go? Retreat to Jiangning? Since ancient times, Wuchang has not been able to keep Jiangning! Sun Wen wants to live a power addiction, and when he established a country in Jiangning, he didn't want to think about it, since Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms, there was no one who built the capital of Jiangning and did not control the upstream. Don't go, stay with me. General Long Qian is eloquent and strategic, and his strength is like the sea, Hong is just a scholar, and he will be entrusted with important tasks when he talks about it, and he trusts him, not to mention the two? You can stay in Wuchang. It seems that it has only been a day or two since Wuchang City was broken. ”

Hong Yuecheng instead rebelled against Song Jiaoren and Sun Wu.

"Thank you Mr. Hong, everyone has their own ambitions, we are already friends and enemies, we are not friends, we are not going to be a stepping stone to defect to Long Qian, but because of Mr. Hong's identity, I am afraid that there will be harm in the chaos. You hurry up. Song Jiaoren saluted Hong Yuecheng with his fists, and pulled Sun Wu away in a hurry.

On the evening of the same day, the Seventh Brigade of the Mengshan Army arrived in the south of Wuchang City, because the Second Division did not have time to deploy defenses, the Seventh Brigade easily broke through the city, Wang Zhifeng contacted the Seventh Brigade, and immediately sent his subordinates as guides, interspersed by separate routes, and controlled the key points and commanding heights of Snake Mountain, "Quick, the enemy is ready to withdraw, they are collecting ferries, and they are about to retreat downstream, quickly pull the artillery up Snake Mountain, block the river, and must not let the enemy withdraw!" ”

Snake Mountain is the commanding height of Wuchang, standing on the top of the mountain, Hankou is in sight, Gu Xiaolin hurriedly led the 19th Regiment to capture Snake Mountain, where the fiercest battle of the Battle of Wuchang broke out, Snake Mountain was stationed in a battalion of the 2nd Division, the battalion spontaneously resisted, but at dawn the resistance was crushed, and Snake Mountain was occupied by the 7th Brigade.

When the Seventh Brigade began to plan to leave the Second Division of the People's Army in Wuchang, Song Jiaoren and others, who had let Hong Yuecheng go, had already crossed the Yangtze River to Hankou and found Huang Xing and Liu Gong.

"I can't wait any longer, I have to get on the boat overnight and go, I can go as much as I can," Sun Wu was anxious, "When the enemy arranges the artillery, the troops will not be able to go!" ”

"How to get there?" Huang Xing hoarsely voiced, "The direction of Hanyang has been cut off, I estimate that Li Yuanhong's wall grass has changed its owner again, we only have an incomplete regiment in our hands, and there are not enough ships." ”

"Regardless of Li Yuanhong, let's go by land." Sun Wu was so anxious that he stomped his feet.

Feng Guozhu led the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 1st Division to turn around and march eastward from Xianning, and went straight to Tianjia Town, once again outflanking the remnants of Huangxing, who might go down the east of the Yangtze River, with a big detour tactic, and at the same time penetrating Jiujiang to coerce Jiangning. The emergency reorganization unit of the 3rd Brigade, which was transferred to rest in Tingsi Town, ended its rest and recuperation, and was led by Brigade Commander Guo Baochang to march to Wuchang as a backup for the 7th Brigade. Situ Jun was worried that there were too many recruits in the Seventh Brigade, and the brigade commander Gu Xiaolin was promoted too quickly, making it difficult to cope with the overall situation, so he strengthened the Third Brigade, which had suffered heavy casualties in Tingsi Town, to strengthen the strength of the Wuchang direction to ensure the superiority of the Wuchang Campaign. The Third Division, which Wang Mingyuan stayed in Guangdong to expand and organize two brigades, officially marched eastward, not into Fujian, but out of Jiangxi in the north, with the front pointing to Nanchang.

At the same time, the 7th Division, which was moving south along the Luhan line, received an urgent telegram from the headquarters and immediately turned around and went north to deal with the Qing army in Henan. The problem of the two lakes has been solved, and there is no need for the strategic reserve of the Seventh Division! Long Qian secretly telegraphed Fang Yuan, and immediately went to Yuan Shikai to have a good talk with the Beiyang commander. What to talk about, Long Qian did not give clear instructions, and believed that Fang Shengyuan would grasp the proportions. (To be continued......)

PS: I forgot the title of Chapter 7. When this chapter ends, the upper part ends.