The headquarters ordered the headquarters of the West Route Corps, and the generals and officers immediately took action excitedly when they heard about it. In the corps headquarters, all generals at and above the division level are seated. At present, the 10 integrated divisions are fully manned, plus the independent artillery division, the independent cavalry brigade, and the ** independent regiment { At present, the ** independent regiment has become a cavalry unit, and this move is mainly to consider fighting in the great northwest. The total number of troops reached 150,000 horses.

Leng Yifei looked at the general sitting and said majestically: "Everyone, the headquarters has changed its strategy, due to the change of the enemy situation, the operation of the Central Route Corps to advance to the west of Henan and attack Tongguan has changed. The headquarters asked us to go out of the Qinling Mountains and make up our minds to eat the 50,000 Russian troops in Xi'an, so as to lay the foundation for the situation in the great northwest in one fell swoop. Based on information provided by Headquarters. The weapons and equipment of the Russian army are slightly inferior to those of the British and French armies, but their combat effectiveness is strong, and the soldiers are brave and tenacious, which just makes up for the backwardness of the equipment. Next, I would like to ask Deputy Commander He to explain in detail the operation of the troops out of the Qinling Mountains. ”

He Meng stood up and walked to the huge military map, picked up the baton and said: "Everyone, the headquarters requires us to not only eat the Russian army, but also not let him escape, so the concealment of our troops out of the Qinling Mountains is very important. If the Russian army finds that something is wrong, there are three escape routes to choose from. The first is to flee to the west, the second is to the north, and the third is to flee in the direction of Tongguan in the east. In addition, it is also possible for the Russian army to stick to Xi'an, of course, it depends on the courage of the Russian army to stick to Xi'an. ”

He Meng continued: "It is not advisable for the Russian army to flee to the west and the north, so the first thing for the Russian army is to defend the city, and the second is to flee in the direction of Tongguan." We hope that the Russian army will flee in the direction of Tongguan and strive to annihilate the Russian army in the field, of course, it is not excluded that the Russian army will stick to the city and prepare for attacking the fortified positions. Therefore, our combat jihua is to encircle the Russian army, eat it cleanly and thoroughly, and then achieve our strategic goals. ”

He Meng continued: "The operation of our troops out of the Qinling Mountains is that I will lead 4 divisions, plus the Independent Cavalry Brigade, the ** Cavalry Regiment, and the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Independent Artillery Division to form a left column. The left column entered Shaanxi from Guangyuan and then occupied Hanzhong. In order not to alarm the Russian army in Xi'an, they went north to occupy Fengxian by Chencang Road, and then secretly captured Baoji. After capturing Baoji, he waved his troops eastward to quickly capture Xianyang, blocked the passage for the Russian army to flee west and retreat north, and ensured the encirclement and annihilation of the Russian army. ”

"The main force was led by the commander and chief of staff to form a right column of 6 divisions and the 4th and 6th brigades of the 2nd Independent Artillery Division, and crossed Bashan into Shaanxi from 10,000 yuan. The right column was the first to take Ningshan and open the meridian road. After the right column crossed the Qinling Mountains, it took Chang'an County, and in order not to alarm the Russian army, it quickly seized Weinan and completely blocked the route of the Russian army's eastward escape. Now I would like to ask the Chief of Staff to give a brief account of the situation of the enemy forces. Chief of Staff Khalid stood up.

Commander Leng Yifei stood up and said: "When the troops go out of the Qinling operation, our target is the Russian troops in Xi'an. How to ensure the total annihilation of the Russian army, the concealment and speed of the troops are the top priority. After the withdrawal of the British troops in Tongguan, the Russian army in Xi'an became a lone army. If the Russian army is allowed to escape, the purpose of our campaign will be greatly reduced, so I ask commanders at all levels to pay close attention to it. In addition, the biggest difficulty we face is that the road is difficult to navigate, even unimaginable. Now there are still 10 days before the dispatch of troops, so let's divide up and prepare! ”

In late June, He Meng led his troops to assemble in Guangyuan, and then waved his troops from Bashan Jinniu Road into Hanzhong, Shaanxi. Since the Northern Expeditionary Army had complete control of several passages in Bashan, it was relatively easy to march from Sichuan to Hanzhong. In June, the weather on the children's faces changed as soon as the sky changed, and the sky was still clear when the army set out, but in the blink of an eye, the clouds were overcast, a gust of wind blew, and the raindrops became rapidly hitting the faces of the officers and soldiers. The morale of the officers and men was very high, and they did not seem to care about the overwhelming wind and rain. The wind and rain came and went quickly, and after half an hour, the dark clouds dispersed, and thousands of rays of light shot out of the cracks in the clouds, forming a colorful scene in the sky.

According to reconnaissance, Hanzhong was defended by only 3,000 Qing troops, which was almost an undefended city. It can be said that the Qing army in Hanzhong is basically a soldier, and I am afraid that it will flee immediately when it encounters wind and grass. To be precise, the Hanshui area was an undefended enclave for the Qing court, but it could not be abandoned on its own initiative, so the Qing army was only a symbolic garrison. Although the Qing court changed the Huai Army, the Hunan Army, the Green Battalion Soldiers, and the Eight Banners into the Great Fresh Army, the Qing Army stationed in Hanzhong was the former Green Battalion Soldiers.

At present, the Qing court has strategically abandoned the great northwest, and the main force of the Hunan army originally stationed in the northwest has been wiped out in Sichuan, and the rest have all been withdrawn to the Central Plains, leaving behind the original green battalion soldiers. The Northern Expeditionary Army was famous and powerful. The governor of Shaanxi requisitioned the green battalions from all over the country to the major cities, and the ordinary small towns were almost unguarded. Hanzhong was a large town after all, so the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu deployed 3,000 Qing troops in Hanzhong.

In order to achieve the purpose of concealing the troops, the left column chose to capture Hanshui as a helpless move. If you outflank Xi'an from this direction, you must cross the Qinling Mountains, and there is only one passage from Hanzhong to Zhen'an - Chencang Road. It is simply impossible to directly cross the Qinling Mountains in the direction of the Han River. Therefore, the left column could only choose to take the Chencang Road in Fengxian County on the west side of the Qinling Mountains, and then occupy Baoji, and then capture Xianyang, this route almost went around more than half a circle.

After the wind and rain, He Meng, who was riding on a horse, took off his raincoat and asked, "What is the place ahead?" "Report to the deputy commander, in front of Ning Qiang." An operational staff officer replied. "When will the forward troops reach Hanshui?" "It's about dusk! The cavalry brigade was the first to set off, and it was estimated that it would reach the southwest of Yangxian at noon, and then turn back to outflank Hanshui. He Meng signaled to speed up the march. The key to winning Hanshui is not to let the Qing army escape and expose the whereabouts of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a regiment of the Independent Cavalry Brigade encountered the Qing army at the junction of Hanshui and Yangxian. The Qing army defending Hanshui was about 3,000 men, and its supreme commander was a general soldier, who heard of the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army, panicked and immediately abandoned the city and led his troops to flee. Where did this chief soldier think that the vanguard regiment of the cavalry unit of the Northern Expeditionary Army was already waiting.

“haha！ The Qing army of Hanshui has indeed fled, brothers! Scatter the troops and outflank them. "The Northern Expeditionary Army fought against the Qing army, both psychologically and confidently, and it was not a problem to deal with the former green battalion soldiers. The cavalry units immediately dispersed their lines and outflanked them. The war horse under the crotch of the cavalry brigade of the Western Route Corps was a French war horse captured in Annam, and the war horse was huge. The cavalry soldiers drew their sabers, and the shining sabers were matched with the tall and mighty war horses, which was enough to make the Qing army tremble.

The Qing army was immediately stunned when they found that the cavalry units of the Northern Expeditionary Army were stunned, and the general soldiers of the Qing army knew that they could not escape, so they wisely chose to surrender. The battle ended before it even began. The commander of the cavalry regiment received the surrender of the general army of the Qing army, and at this time, the two regiments of the cavalry brigade rushed to the battlefield, and the mighty and majestic cavalry team made the back of the Qing soldiers who surrendered cold on the back of their necks, and they were glad that they had chosen to surrender.

Hanzhong is known as the birthplace of Han culture and is located in the alluvial plain of the Han River. The city was probably built in the Qin Dynasty and has a long history. There is the Qinling Mountains in the north of Hanzhong as a barrier, blocking the southward movement of the cold current, and there are Daba Mountain tigers in the south to form the Hanzhong Basin. Here is the climate dividing line between the north and the south, the watershed of the rivers, the four seasons are distinct, the climate is humid, there is no severe cold in winter, there is no heat in summer, it is the main grain producing area in Shaanxi.

The Northern Expeditionary Army's capture of the Hanzhong Basin was crucial to the food supply of the army in the future. The vanguard troops occupied Hanzhong without bloodshed, and He Meng led the headquarters to Hanzhong in the early morning of the next day, and the vanguard troops marched again and advanced to Fengxian. After learning all the facts, He Meng decided to stay in Hanzhong for a day. The Hanzhong Basin is a grain-producing area, and the grain and grass of the army need to be raised here in the future, so He Meng personally summoned the prefect of Hanzhong.

He Meng followed the usual practice of the Northern Expeditionary Army and continued to use officials from the previous dynasty, with the aim of quickly stabilizing the country. Frankly speaking, the prefect of Hanzhong was eager for the Northern Expeditionary Army to come, because this person had already understood the policy of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the prefect took the initiative to confess when he saw He Meng, so as to save He Meng's nonsense. He Meng asked the prefect to make every effort to raise grain and grass for the Northern Expeditionary Army, and at the same time leave a logistics regiment. Military operations were the main theme and could not be delayed, and He Meng led his troops to continue their journey the next day.

The greatest difficulty faced by the troops out of the Qinling Mountains was the hardship of the journey, and the main force advanced along the official road at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains to Fengxian. Artillery units, logistics units, including all kinds of light and heavy, marched slowly on the mountain roads. He Meng rode a war horse and looked at the steep Qinling Mountains, and secretly thought in his heart: If I am the commander of the Qing army, I will deploy a force here and condescendingly carry out the attack, then my own troops may be difficult to pass.

He Meng shook his head self-deprecatingly, ridiculous for his assumptions. The march is boring, especially when the troops move slowly, which makes people feel drowsy. In order to ease the pressure on the logistics troops before the expedition, each soldier was required to carry half a month's rations, so in addition to the necessary equipment and luggage, the soldiers also had an extra rice bag, so you can imagine what the marching speed of the troops would be like.

It doesn't matter if the troops march slowly, the key is the concealment of the large army, which is especially important. Fengxian County does not have a single soldier of the Qing army, and it is a remote town, so there is no need for He Meng to worry about it. He Meng passed the time and began to search for information. Suddenly remembering the letter from his wife, he couldn't help but take out the letter from his arms and check it again. His wife wrote to her that she found out she was pregnant not long after she left Chengdu.

The wife said that she gave birth to a son who was already one year old. The son is very cute, and his big eyes look very much like He Meng. The letter also said that the mother-in-law came to Kunming from her hometown in Hunan all the way, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law recognized each other and reunited. Currently, her mother-in-law is taking care of her son, and she is studying at a nursing school. The mother was very happy to arrive in Kunming and enjoy the joy of her children and grandchildren, and He Meng felt hot in his heart.

Zuihou's wife encouraged him to kill more enemies and not worry about his family. Although his wife wrote very plain in the letter, He Meng could feel his wife's strong affection. He Meng read the letter again, and was reluctant to put it in his arms. The next morning, He Meng received a report from the forward troops that Fengxian had been successfully occupied, and the first part of the forward troops began to advance towards Baoji.