The ceremony was held on a somewhat rainy morning.

The officers and men of the Young Guards of the Northern Expeditionary Army, who lined up in a long line, drove into Shanghai under the guidance of two light armored vehicles. Waibaidu Bridge, Shili Yangchang, these typical places in Shanghai are all places that must be passed during the ceremony of entering the city.

A huge statue of Sun Yat-sen was erected on the team's armored vehicles, and next to each other was the flag of the new government, but under the rain, the flag looked a little depressed like a defeated general.

The officers and men showed great enthusiasm for this entry into the city. Most of the officers and men of the East Route were intellectuals, and this was especially true of the Young Guards. Therefore, before the ceremony of entering the city, the officers and soldiers were enthusiastic to change into brand-new khaki military uniforms, the helmets were also removed from the camouflage net, and the cavalry boots were repeatedly wiped with shoe polish, and some even brushed the horses, looking tall and mighty.

Although the officers and soldiers were actively preparing, they were a little disappointed on the day they entered the city. Unlike what had been expected, the citizens of Shanghai were calm and unfamiliar with the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army, they did not welcome them, there were no flowers and applause, only citizens standing on both sides in a hurry and with a blank face.

For them, the new army was both familiar and unfamiliar. What is familiar is that it is often advertised in the report, but what is unfamiliar is their first contact. Undoubtedly, this complex psychology hangs over the hearts of most Shanghai citizens.

Before the ceremony began, Fu Guoqiang originally wanted to use the strength of the Reserve Cadre Office and some newspapers to organize the citizens to welcome, but he reported the matter to Yang Yibing, and when Yang Yibing reported it to Huang Ke again, Huang Ke resolutely denied it.

Huang Ke said: To enter the city is to enter the city, we are not occupiers, we do not need to engage in any fancy tricks when we enter our own territory, no matter what people do, we must maintain the true character of revolutionary soldiers.

As a result, when the Northern Expeditionary Army entered the city, there was a situation that was inconsistent with the previous assumption. In addition, the continuous rain that morning greatly reduced the morale of many officers and men.

Xu Shaozhou, who was sitting in the Dodge car, looked resolute, and Sun Yuanliang, who was next to him, was full of frustration. The two sat in the Dodge sedan provided by Fu Guoqiang, although the sedan looked luxurious and stylish, but it looked extremely incongruous in the mighty army.

As the troops slowly marched in, the troops entering the city gradually entered the urban area, and the tall ceremonial soldiers carried the military flag and followed the armored car at the front of the team, and more than 100 ceremonial soldiers followed him closely, walking in unison and powerful.

Sun Yuanliang sighed and said: "I think it's better to give the order to let the troops move forward quickly and enter the barracks, it's like putting on a big show, but no one wants to watch it, aren't we making a fool of ourselves?" ”

Xu Shaozhou disagreed, "Shanghai Tang has been a concession since the Opium War, plus the late Qing Dynasty army and warlords who have been stationed here, there are countless people who stand guard and serve as soldiers in Shanghai. The common people are accustomed to seeing the changes here, and they look at the entry of each army with the attitude of observing from the side. It is normal for the common people to have such thoughts, so we must maintain the style of revolutionary soldiers and let them understand that we are different from the old armies in the past. ”

Sun Yuanliang didn't have time to pay attention to Xu Shaozhou's words, and at this time, he was poking his head out to observe the street scene of Shanghai. Cinemas, hotels, Gothic buildings, tinkling bells, and all kinds of buildings converge in Shanghai Tang, making this a veritable international architecture exposition.

Xu Shaozhou also looked out, and it was almost ten miles away. Seeing that Sun Yuanliang didn't say anything more, he suddenly shouted "stop" to the driver in front of him.

"What are you parking?" Sun Yuanliang didn't understand.

"There is a ten-mile ocean field in front, which is a foreigner's concession, and the morale of the officers and soldiers is low now, so I want them to take out their spirits."

After the driver stopped, Xu Shaozhou quickly got out of the car, he snapped the door of the mountain car and stood next to him and shouted to the passing team: "All the officers and soldiers listen to my orders: you don't see, Han Zhongjun, the weak crown is the captive, please Changying!" You don't see, Ban Dingyuan, the peerless light cavalry urges the battle clouds! 123 Sing! ”

Xu Shao was dressed in a military uniform, and the Xiguan Military Academy sword on his waist made him look mighty and upright, and he shouted out in his voice, and the officers and soldiers of the ceremonial team who followed him also sang along, and then the troops behind him all sang along.

"You don't see you, the final army of the Han Dynasty, the weak crown is a captive, please be long! You don't see, Ban Dingyuan, the peerless light cavalry urges the battle clouds! The boy should be in serious danger, how can he let the Confucian crown miss this life? The situation is that the country is in danger, and the feather is constantly fighting! Abandon my old pen, follow me in wartime, call out more than 100,000 comrades, sing war songs and join the army. ”

The officers and men of the Young Guards marched to Shiliyangchang singing military songs, and foreigners and Chinese in various concessions in Shiliyangchang were attracted by such songs, and those foreigners in the ballroom theater took to the streets to observe this special unit.

The crowd gathered more and more, and although there were no flowers and cheers, it was evident from their seriousness that they had a new look at this army.

The Japanese Fujita Tsuyoshi was among them, and he noticed the officer in the Dodge sedan at the front of the line, and also saw the officer holding a short sword next to him commanding the team behind him hoarsely. This unit was much more powerful and tall than the armies of the previous warlords, and although their national flags and military flags were soaked in the rain, they were still in the hands of those officers and soldiers, as well as the president's portrait in front of them, and the officers and soldiers who were in step with each other......

All this made Fujita know that the troops that came in today were fundamentally different from the troops stationed in Shanghai in the past, yes! This is an army of faith.

That night, Fujita sent a telegram to Tokyo: the new government's Northern Expeditionary Army entered Shanghai, and the initial observation was different, it was an army of faith......"

Unlike Wu Peifu, who lived in seclusion in the White Emperor City, Sun Chuanfang did not immediately go into seclusion after losing power, but thought about how to take back the lost territory, but he also knew in his heart that it would be difficult to make a comeback when the overall situation was decided.

After Sun Chuanfang's troops were scattered, the military burden of defending the Northern Expeditionary Army north of the Yangtze River fell on Zhang Zongchang. Soon after the Northern Expeditionary Army entered Shanghai, Zhang Zongchang immediately rushed from Beijing to Xuzhou to personally supervise the battle.

Anhui and northern Jiangsu have almost been occupied by the Northern Expeditionary Army, the Northern Expeditionary Army is now opening the bow left and right, Xuzhou and Bengbu have become the focus of Zhang Zongchang's guards, in order to fight this battle well, Zhang Zongchang took great pains, he not only mobilized the Lu army in the Anguo Army to go to the front line to actively carry out defense, but also killed a number of generals who were pro-Northern Expeditionary tendencies to consolidate the army's heart.

On the one hand, Zhang Zuolin supported Zhang Zongchang, and on the other hand, a large number of troops were mobilized from the northeast and stationed in the Pingjin area, ready to attack at any time.

Zhang Zongchang was the first to kill Bi Shucheng, an important general in the Lu army. Bi Shucheng was the commander of the Eighth Army of the Lu Army, and he used to lead his troops to guard Shanghai. After Jiang Xianyun's Eastern Route Army defeated Sun Chuanfang, Bi Shucheng felt that Shanghai was difficult to keep.

Fu Guoqiang, who was in Shanghai at that time, asked people to meet with Bi Shucheng many times and persuaded him to take the overall situation as the priority to hand over Shanghai and join the Northern Expeditionary Army.

However, Bi Shucheng is still a little worried, these warlords who have been working in the big soldiers for many years are very clear about this set of politics, and they told you this and that good at the beginning, but once you hand over the gun, the previous words can be crossed out.

No one believes it, just believe that there is a gun in their hand, this is what many warlords of that era really thought.

Although Bi Shucheng did not surrender to the Northern Expeditionary Army, he was also more aware of current affairs. When the Northern Expeditionary Army attacked Shanghai, he only made symbolic resistance and then led his troops to retreat on all fronts, and the Eighth Army was preserved, and part of the Eighth Army was stationed in Qingdao, and the other part remained on the front line.

When Bi Shucheng was proud of his plan, someone told Zhang Zongchang about his previous contact with the Northern Expeditionary Army in Shanghai. Zhang Zongchang supervised the battle in Xuzhou on the front line, and he knew that Bi Shucheng's Eighth Army was still stationed in Qingdao, and if this kid made any small moves in secret, then northern Jiangsu and Shandong would be lost.

Zhang Zongchang said to his subordinate Chu Yupu that during the battle of Jiangnan, Sun Chuanfang rebelled before the battle of the Zhejiang army, the Anhui army, and the Soviet army under his jurisdiction, which led to the defeat of Sun Chuanfang's troops in one blow.

After hearing this, Chu Yupu said that Bi Shucheng had contact with the Northern Expeditionary Army before, and later surrendered Shanghai to the Northern Expeditionary Army without firing a shot, and now it is inevitable that he will do things to surrender to the enemy before the battle; Even if he does not surrender to the enemy in front of the battle, according to Bi Shucheng's consistent style of preserving strength and fearing war, it is not conducive to defense, so he insists on killing Bi Shucheng, so as to achieve the effect of killing a hundred people.

Zhang Zongchang also had this intention, and after listening to Chu Yupu's suggestion, he sent Chu Yupu to Jinan and asked him to take his warrant to deal with Bi Shucheng.

Soon after, Chu and Bi were respectively recalled to Jinan by Zhang Zongchang's telegram. Bi Shucheng didn't know that this was a typical "Hongmen banquet". He didn't notice anything beforehand, and when he got off the bus in Jinan, a wave of heavily loaded officers and soldiers from the military department had been waiting for a long time.

"Commander Bi, we are from the Jinan Military Administration, and now on the orders of Commander Zhang, please come with us." As soon as he got out of the car, a group of officers and soldiers surrounded him, and a young officer said a few polite words before discharging Bi Shucheng's gun.

Bi Shucheng knew that it was too late, so he had to obediently hand over the gun.

The day after he was taken away, Bi Shucheng was shot in Jinan. At this time, Chu Yupu was transferred to Qingdao to absorb the Eighth Army, Lu Zhang and Chu Yupu as the full-time defender, and Xu Kun as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy.

In addition to these, Qu Tongfeng, Zhu Panzao, Wang Hanming and other suspected people in Zhang Zongchang's Lu army were all dismissed from their posts as army commanders, and the old Fifth Division was disbanded.

Zhang Zongchang reorganized his troops through a series of things in front of the station to avoid being Sun Chuanfang's second, and he was ready to compete with the Northern Expeditionary Army at this time.