Due to the deployment of troops, the second phase of the operation was eventually delayed until March 10, which also provided more time for the warring sides to prepare, which also led to the fact that the battle, which later historians called the Southeastern Campaign, was no less tragic than the first battle in Europe. Many novel combat methods also emerged in this war, which greatly subverted the traditional understanding of the Chinese army's combat effectiveness by the great powers.

On the night of March 11 in the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916 AD), outside the city of Anqing, the four fields were vast and silent. Ni Sichong, the commander of the Beiyang Anwu Army, did not feel sleepy, and sat alone in the living room thinking quietly, and the Western wall clock in the living room was consciously ringing the bell at eleven o'clock.

"Master, it's time to rest" It was Ni Sichong's wife who spoke, in her opinion, since her husband came back from Hunan, her mood has not been right, so she pays attention to her husband's schedule.

"Ah, it's Madam, you go to sleep first, I really can't sleep!" Although Ni Sichong is nicknamed the Living Yama King, no one is afraid in Anhui, but what everyone doesn't know is that this Ni Sichong is a person who loves his wife, no matter how many concubines he takes, he is always polite to his wife.

Mrs. Ni did not leave, but sat down together very worriedly and said, "Master, what happened to make you so annoyed." ”

Ni Sichong was also a figure during the Republic of China, suppressing the chaotic party, supporting the restoration, and Bingwei President (Feng Guozhang in Anhui in 1918) These messy events he did not pull down. Although the ending of zuihou is very miserable, but if a person lives to his job, then it is really a blessing and a blessing, and the sin is also created, and there is nothing to worry about.

But the current situation is not annoying to him, if he supports Yuan Shikai's restoration, this boss of Anhui is the number one activist, and he has signed almost every telegram of persuasion, looking like the No. 1 loyal minister of Tianzi under Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai's loyalty to him was naturally reciprocated, and Ni Sichong was crowned a first-class duke.

Ni Sichong was then ordered to enter Hunan to suppress the Hunan Protector Army led by Cheng Qian, Lin Xiumei and others, and the war was quite smooth at first, Ni Sichong relied on more than 20,000 soldiers and horses of the 15th battalion of his Anwu Army to press the Southern Hunan Protector Army to death outside Hengyang. But I never thought that the situation suddenly changed, and Wang Zhenyu, Cheng Biting Jin, was killed halfway. First, the 1st Division of the Youth Army crossed the Xuefeng Mountain and entered the Hengyang area through Baoqing Mansion, resulting in a reversal of the enemy and our Liliang. Then came the news that Ma Jizeng's Sixth Division was wiped out, and at this time, Ni Sichong, a veteran with troops, could no longer see the situation clearly, then he would be a pig. Our old Comrade Ni thought about it, his 20,000 horses stayed in Hunan, and he was not familiar with the place, and he couldn't change the situation, not to mention, he probably had to plant himself in it. So Ni Sichong immediately made a decision, withdrew, and before leaving, he ruthlessly pitted Tang Qianming and planted the first division of the Hunan Army.

Moreover, Ni Sichong's Anwu army withdrew not generally clean, and he didn't even enter Wuhan, and went back to Anhui directly. The speed and distance of the retreat were definitely no worse than Ye Zhichao during the First Sino-Japanese War.

Everyone must be very strange, Ni Sichong is not afraid of Lao Yuan's accountability? Ni Sichong is not a child, he has been an official for many years, and his ability to see the direction of the wind is first-class. This old Yuan is at the time of the defeat in the front, and when he is employing people, he will only be overdressed and wooed by a general like Ni Sichong, who holds military power, instead of playing the trick of slashing horses with tears.

Sure enough, as soon as Feng Guozhang pleaded here, the telegram of Lao Yuan's meritorious service came down.

However, this little caution is to fool Lao Yuan, Ni Sichong's biggest headache now is the Youth Army. I really can't imagine that Wang Zhenyu, a kid, has accumulated such a strong strength in just a few years, and after eating the territory of Jiangxi and Hubei, he will continue to move eastward, and he is about to enter his own territory Anhui.

Ni Sichong knows better than anyone that only with territory can there be money, only with money can there be soldiers, and only with soldiers can there be power. Therefore, Anhui is not as good as Hunan, and the trick of escaping from the battle cannot be played, but judging from the situation of the Sixth Division and Hubei and Jiangxi, this youth army may not be the same as the people's army during the Second Revolution, it seems to be very capable of fighting, and it is slightly better than his own army in terms of equipment, which makes it very difficult for him.

"Madam, I'm afraid our family's good days are coming to an end, I'm thinking about whether to clean up tomorrow, the old and the young will go to Tianjin to take refuge, this south will soon become a battlefield, and I don't know what will happen tomorrow?" Although Ni Sichong made up his mind to defend Anqing (note that the provincial capital of Anhui during the Republic of China was Anqing, and the Anhui overseer was Zhang Xun, and the Dingwu Army was stationed in Xuzhou, Ni Sichong's identity was the governor of Anhui Province, and the Anwu Army was stationed in Anqing), but the emotions of defeat were still completely exposed in front of his wife.

Mrs. Ni is a very traditional woman, and she never asks about her husband's official affairs, so she can only nod silently: "I know, I will arrange for someone to clean up tomorrow, but it may take some time." ”

Ni Sichong shook his head and said: "Don't clean up those pots and jars, just pack up some valuable gold, silver, jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings." In addition, I will give you an HSBC cashier's check of 1.5 million yuan to you, which I have withheld from this year's taxes, you set off as soon as possible, I have ordered a British freighter, go directly to Shanghai, and then transfer to Tianjin when you arrive in Shanghai, I am busy organizing labor to dig fortifications these days, but God knows that Anqing can hold for a few days, maybe Zhang Dashuai's army has not yet arrived and will be lost, and it may be too late to leave then, so I will leave tomorrow, and now I will go and call everyone in the family up, pack up my things overnight, and ...... immediately."

The Tiger Banner of the Youth Army appeared in Pengze County eight days ago, which is the place where Tao Yuanming, who picked chrysanthemums under the east fence and leisurely saw Nanshan, served as the county commander. It is said that Tao Yuanming was unwilling to bend his waist for five buckets of rice that day, so he threw away the official seal and ran away. But I didn't think that more than a thousand years later, future generations are still calling back and forth for this official seal.

Ni Sichong felt that the anger that had escaped from Hunan had not had time to ease, and the young army caught up again. So he doesn't plan to run away anymore, he wants to defend Anqing to the end, even if he pulls out the Anwu army with his own hands.

Of course, guarding Anqing is not necessarily guarding Anqing City, Ni Sichong's Jihua is a fulcrum in Wangjiang County, a hundred miles away from Anqing City, and Qianshan County, eighty miles away, backed by the Yangtze River, forming a defensive line, and began to resist and consume on the periphery, striving to delay time, and then waiting for Zhang Xun's Dingwu army to come up and then plan again.

Wangjiang County is located in the southwest of Anqing, with the wide Yangtze River on the left and Longgan Lake, Daguan Lake, Yellow Lake, Mihu Lake, Wuchang Huhu Lake and Qingcao Lake on the right.

These lakes close to the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River are complementary to each other for a long time, when the Yangtze River is prosperous, the water enters the great lake to prevent flooding, and when the Yangtze River is thin, the water flows back to the Yangtze River to prevent drought, and it has been a complementary relationship for thousands of years. Wang Zhenyu vaguely remembers that in later generations, because of the construction of a shijie first dam in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, this ecological relationship was destroyed, causing these lakes to dry up and turn into a grassland where the wind blows grass and sees cattle and sheep, and Wang Zhenyu can only draw a circle and play curses like most Chinese of his time.

Ni Sichong is still a soldier, he set up the defense line in Wangjiang to take this into account, it is March at the moment, the lake is very shallow, it is not easy to travel, heavy weapons cannot be transported by water, and the lake is wide, so he is not worried about the youth army rushing to his own back road. There is also an advantage to deploying defense here, military supplies can be transported by water, which is relatively easy. So Ni Sichong decisively decided to send his younger brother Ni Min to command the ten battalions of the Anwu Army to deploy defenses along Mishui to block the youth army here.

Ni Min is also a figure, after the arrival of the handsome army, he didn't care about anything, and directly requisitioned 30,000 people, brought their own food and drink, and forced them to build various fortifications. As for the firepower advantage of the Youth Army, the Beiyang Army probably knows a little bit at present, so the degree of attention to fortifications has naturally increased a lot.

And the confrontation with this guy An Wujun was the Seventh Division of the Youth Army under the personal command of Bai Chongxi, and at this moment, the old Bai classmate just wanted to scold his mother when he looked at the terrain around Anqing. Moreover, the ongoing civil construction on the opposite side of the river can only be admired by the multi-party labor, because many heavy weapons have not yet been transported, and even artillery interference cannot be done.

Compared with the Beiyang Army, the Youth Army does not have so many civilians available, but everyone has received some rigorous training, so although there are half fewer people than the other party, the efficiency of building fortifications is not worse than that of the other party.

As a result, there was a competition between the two sides to repair fortifications on the northern Anhui front, and everyone knew that what would follow was bound to be a bitter battle.

On 9 March, Liao Lei's 4th Division was finally in position, while Li Zongren's 3rd Division was moving around the Lake District towards Qianshan County, northeast of Anqing, where Ni Sichong also placed ten battalions. There were a total of twenty-five battalions in the Anwu Army, and Ni Sichong left five battalions as reserves in Anqing, the rest of the twenty battalions. Feng Guozhang also knows Anqing's difficulties, and now he is urging Zhang Xun to reinforce Anqing three times a day, but the 15 battalions of the Dingwu Army and 20,000 horses have not yet arrived in Nanjing. It's not that Zhang Xun is playing with any heart, but that the brothers below are making trouble, and they refuse to move without giving a pulling fee. And this money really can't be taken out (the generals are privately rich, but no one wants to post it).

Just when Ni Sichong was bothering to arrange his own family, at 11:30 on March 11, the officers and men of the 4th and 7th Divisions of the Youth Army secretly entered the attack launch position, waiting for the artillery bombardment of their own side to begin.