When Tang Yulin was about to ask Zhang Zuolin for help, Zhang Zuolin's life was not easy. Just when the Northern Expeditionary Army occupied Jinan, Zhang Zuolin made a response move, he reduced the strength of the Feng army and other warlords in the land of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Lu, and formed three lines of defense with more than 400,000 troops for active defense.

He took Dezhou and Shunde as the first line of defense, Cangzhou and Shijiazhuang as the second line of defense, and Machang and Baoding as the third line of defense. On the front of the Jinpu line in Zhili Province, Sun Chuanfang's army was located in Dacheng and the area west of it, and the troops led by Zhang Zongchang and Wang Qi were stationed near Cangzhou.

Later, the Jinan incident occurred, and Huang Ke, commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, was subsequently dismissed.

Under the fierce offensive of the Northern Expeditionary Army, the Feng army was defeated one after another, and soon after the Northern Expeditionary Army's Central Route Army and the East Route Bureau joined forces in Baoding, the large army was under the city of Beijing, ready to attack Beijing at any time and take this important northern city.

Jiang Xianyun also held a meeting ceremony, he is now concurrently serving as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and how to carry out the next military deployment after the meeting is his business.

On February 12, not long after the Spring Festival, Jiang Xianyun held a meeting on military deployment in North China in Baoding, which was attended by not only the staff members, but also the senior generals of the Eastern Route Army and the Central Route Army, Cui Wu and Lin Zuo.

In February, Baoding was still a little chilly, the whistling northwest wind blew on the face like a knife, and the officers who came to Baoding to attend the meeting were all riding tall horses and wearing thick tweed coats.

Although Jiang Xianyun is a high-ranking officer, he has also fought for many years, and he usually wears mostly training uniforms.

At eight o'clock that day, Jiang Xianyun and Lin Zuoda came to the conference room early. The conference room was held at the Baoding Army Military Academy, and Jiang Xianyun naturally had his own intentions for opening this military academy, and he planned to turn this military academy into a Xiguan Military Academy of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the north.

The entrance to the military academy had been renovated, and four heavily armed sentries stood tall at the door, wearing thick cotton clothes, but their faces were still red from the cold wind.

When they arrived at the door of the conference room, Jiang Xianyun and Lin Zuoda dismounted one after another, and after the guard led the horse, there was a crisp sound of horses' hooves behind them. The two of them followed the prestige, a tall man in a tweed military uniform, needless to say, this person was naturally Cui Wu, the commander of the Middle Route Army.

After seeing Cui Wu arrive, Jiang Xianyun and Lin Zuo greeted him enthusiastically. Cui Wu also saw the two of them, so he simply jumped off the horse early, threw the whip to the adjutant next to him, and walked quickly towards Jiang Xianyun.

"Hello Commander Jiang!" Cui Wu walked up to Jiang Xianyun and did not forget to salute him, Jiang Xianyun is now the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and he is Cui Wu's commander in his position, according to the rules of the army, he should salute. Jiang Xianyun also returned the salute unceremoniously.

"Commander Cui, are you, a man from the south, used to it in the north? Can you still stand the winter? Jiang Xianyun took out the Three Fort cigarettes in his pocket and handed them out to the two people in turn.

Cui Wu took a deep breath and said, "I'm not used to it, aren't you also unaccustomed?" Look, you two are dressed the same as me, aren't you? ”

Lin Zuoda and Jiang Xianyun subconsciously looked at it, it turned out that the three of them were wearing khaki training uniforms inside, a tweed coat on the outside, and no boots on their feet.

The fact that the three of them are dressed like this proves that they are often on the front line of the battlefield, and only those who are often on the battlefield will start with the most practical outfits.

"No way, I think the ones who are best at dressing up are Wang Maocai and Xu Shaozhou, and every time I have a meeting, I see them wearing straight clothes." Lin Zuo laughed.

Cui Wu waved his hand: "Xu Shaozhou is still a talent, and it is nothing to wear well." But Wang Maocai, that bad old man, can also wear it well? I don't look like a prince when I see through the dragon robe. ”

Everyone was amused by Cui Wu's words, and several people walked into the conference room with laughter. In the conference room, Jiang Baili, chief of staff, and Bai Chongxi, senior staff officer, were already seated in their positions, two of them were wearing military uniforms with straight lapels, and the big-brimmed hats in front of them were placed on the table in an orderly manner, and Jiang Baili was also wearing a pen in his breast pocket, with the style of a Confucian general.

Next to Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, sat there with his legs crossed, different from the military uniform full of tables, he was wearing a navy blue suit, a brightly colored tie on the collar, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his face made him look quite literati.

Once everyone had arrived, the meeting began. The adjutant general first handed over the draft document of the combat plan printed with the words "top secret" to the people, and then Jiang Xianyun talked about his own views.

"I just talked to Commander Batu in Guisui, his side is now ready, Batu and Liu Jian are ready to take Rehe in half a month, and our side should also move, but when will the troops be dispatched? How to send troops? That's the purpose of coming to you today, let's talk about it. ”

He Yingqin, who was sitting next to Jiang Xianyun, said after reading it: "I suggest sending troops at the same time as General Batu. Even if Rehe and Beijing are connected, if we send troops at the same time, Zhang Zuolin can not care about each other, and it is not good to transfer troops from outside the border, so that we can take Beijing and Rehe and other places in one fell swoop, and prepare for the next move to the northeast. ”

Everyone nodded in approval of He Yingqin's words, and after a while, Jiang Baili knocked on the folder in front of him and said, "Minister He is right, but I think it would be better for General Batu to send troops first." ”

As soon as Jiang Baili finished speaking, everyone focused their attention on him, everyone knew that Jiang Baili was the most important staff officer before Huang Ke, and practice has proved countless times that his decision was indeed correct.

Ignoring everyone's surprised gazes, Jiang Baili put his hands on the table and said, "Let's go back and look at the map, this place in Rehe is outside the gate." General Batu was attacking Darehe from Suiyuan, and if he transferred troops from Guannei at this time, it would be far less convenient than transferring troops from Mukden. What's more, we are already in the city, and Zhang Zuolin will not easily move Beijing's troops, so Batu's fight against Rehe can be said to have nothing to do with Beijing's Beiyang Army. ”

After hearing this, everyone felt that it made sense, and they all praised it with their eyes.

Jiang Baili continued: "Let's attack Beijing a few days later, firstly, we can contain Beijing's troops, and secondly, we can disrupt Zhang Zuolin's deployment, so that he can't figure out our intentions; Moreover, if General Batu goes well, and then moves eastward after defeating Rehe, then these Feng troops in the pass will be in a * bag. ”

Jiang Xianyun understood what Jiang Baili meant, he nodded and smiled: "What the Chief of General Staff said is extremely true, I think we can wait until General Batu besieges Chengde and send troops." ”

Jiang Baili nodded in acquiescence, he understood that Jiang Xianyun had understood his intentions.

There were a lot of things discussed at the meeting, and after it was over, He Yingqin didn't speak again, and when it was over, Jiang Xianyun asked according to the rules: "Minister He, do you have any other opinions?" ”

It's just that before He Yingqin answered, Jiang Xianyun immediately said: "If everyone has no opinions, let's get here today, and then we will study the detailed plan in two days." ”

Ten days later, Liu Jian, the general of the Batu army, led his troops to Chengde City, and the garrison Tang Yulin urgently asked Zhang Zuolin for help, but after receiving Tang Yulin's telegram for help, a rumbling sound suddenly came, Zhang Zuolin felt that the earth was shaken, and after a while, he immediately understood that the Northern Expeditionary Army's attack on Beijing had begun.

Before this attack, Cui Wu served as the commander-in-chief of the offensive, and Lin Zuoda was in charge of specific sports warfare. Cui Wu gathered hundreds of artillery pieces from the two armies, and before he began to attack, he began to bombard the defense line of the Beiyang Army for dozens of miles.

Large-caliber artillery shells poured into the positions, the smoke of artillery fire obscured the sky and the sun, and the assembly points and firepower points of the Beiyang Army were in a sea of fire. Even the residents of the nearby city of Beijing felt the power of the artillery fire.

Although the residents of old Beijing often fight, where have they ever seen such a serious shelling. The rumbling sound was like thunder, the glass on the windows clattered into pieces, and the solid foundation of the big brick and tiled houses began to shake from side to side, and for a moment it felt like the earth was about to collapse.

After a day-long artillery bombardment, the fortified defensive line originally built by the Feng army collapsed, and the position was as silent as death. As the sun set, the shelling stopped, and the soldiers hiding in the trenches felt their heads buzzing, and as soon as they poked out, they seemed to hear the sound of waves.

Where did the waves come from in the plains, they poked their heads out and looked, on the opposite side of the position, thousands of charging soldiers rushed towards this side, and everywhere the team went, shouting like a tide, the defenders had long been stupid.

At the same time, in the courtyard of the Prince's Mansion in downtown Beijing, Adjutant General Zhao Xiyan was putting on an overcoat for Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin has changed into a civilian dress, wearing a black courtesy on his head, wearing a satin cotton coat, and a pair of round sunglasses on his face, showing the appearance of a landlord in Beijing.

"Little Liuzi, remember! Out of the customs is still our world, there is a gun in his hand, no matter who is in power, he asks us, you have to be careful, I am waiting for you in Mukden. Zhang Zuolin patted Zhang Xueliang next to him.

Zhang Xueliang nodded: "Father, please rest assured, I will definitely bring the team back to the Northeast safely." ”

After turning around, Zhang Xueliang asked Adjutant Zhao Xiyan again: "Is everything arranged?" ”

Zhao Xiyan nodded: "Young marshal, please rest assured, we will take a steamer from Tianjin to Lushun, and then go to Mukden." ”

Zhang Xueliang patted him on the shoulder: "Take care of the handsome man for me along the way." ”

Moments later, Mr. Zhang and his family got into a black Austin sedan and drove forward.