"This is the National Socialist Army?"

After pointing the camera at a group of soldiers who had just disembarked from the ship, one of the reporters asked his colleagues next to him.

However, after listening to his words, the colleague only replied a little absent-mindedly. "Hmm—" and then pointed the camera at the soldiers again.

At the same time, even if there are so many gentry and ordinary people on the dock, so many reporters suddenly appear, Xiao Yongyan and Gu Chengzhou will inevitably feel a little inexplicable. "These things?" Pointing to the reporters who were jumping around, Xiao Yongyan asked politely.

"These are all from Jiujiang yesterday...", as if he was a little frightened, the mayor of Xingang Town stood aside and explained. It is said that they got the news that the national news agency ...... No, it was your army that would land here in Xingang, so I rushed over overnight, saying that I was waiting for the news..."Then looking at Xiao Yongyan's face, the mayor continued. "Sir, do you want to get rid of them now?"

He didn't know much about the National Social Army, but he knew a lot about those Qiu Ba of the Gan Army. Naturally, he was afraid that the actions of these reporters would annoy Xiao Yongyan, or give him some excuse to play on the topic and bring disaster to the town again.

"This is not necessary...", waving his hand, Xiao Yongyan frowned slightly. But it's kind of weird..."

"It's normal." Standing aside, Gu Chengzhou said with a smile. "Now that we have taken Hukou, the next target must be Jiujiang, if you want to fight Jiujiang, you must first find a place to unload the troops, and Xingang Town is the most ideal location. This kind of thing can be guessed by many people..."

"It's also here..."Hearing Gu Chengzhou say this, Xiao Yongyan was relieved for a while. Tell the brothers to hurry up. Let's try to get to Jiujiang before dark..."

"Yes!" After receiving the order, Xiao Yongyan's adjutant turned his head and ran out, while Xiao Yongyan and Gu Chengzhou continued to stand on the dock and talk to the mayor of Xingang Town and some official gentry.

After the adjutant left, Xiao Yongyan looked at the town mayor who was sincerely frightened there. "Speaking of which, we also have something we want to ask Mayor Mayor for this time..."

I sighed in my heart, and sure enough, the mayor still sneered on the surface. "What's the matter, sir, please tell me..."

Apparently. He already thought that Xiao Yongyan was trying to ask for something from him, and it was not surprising that everyone who had been a soldier in the past few years seemed to like this. Originally, the Gan army stationed in Jiujiang also liked to go to the surrounding counties and towns to fight the autumn breeze when they had nothing to do, and the town mayor had long been accustomed to this kind of thing.

It's just that although he is used to it, the mayor and the surrounding officials and gentry are still a little apprehensive in their hearts, and they don't know how much Xiao Yongyan wants.

Fewer words. It's okay for them to get together. But if there are more...

There are only a few thousand people in the whole Xingang Town, although it is located in the main traffic artery, it is more prosperous than some ordinary villages, but such a few people, obviously there will not be a lot of money...

However, to the mayor's surprise, Xiao Yongyan did not ask him for money, but really asked for help.

"That's the case..."After thinking about it carefully, Xiao Yongyan said. Our troops need some young men to carry ammunition and some supplies for us. So I hope you can give me some help..."

Hearing Xiao Yongyan say this, the mayor and the others immediately understood.

Just listening to the request. Instead, they were a little embarrassed.

Because of course, they thought of arresting Minzhuang, this kind of thing was not uncommon in the past, usually the officials and soldiers asked Minzhuang to help, and it was certain to take care of the food, but the money would definitely not be given.

That is, dry in vain.

Obviously, no one will like this kind of work for nothing, so if you really want to get people together, I'm afraid you need him, a local snake, to come forward to help catch the 'strong man' door to door.

The problem is that this kind of thing is to be scolded, and it will never end up in any good.

If you want money, the mayor and the gentry here will make up the money, and they can later scavenge it from the hands of the common people, and the money scavenged may be more than what is taken out.

And now...

————————————————————

Xiao Yongyan was waiting for an answer here, when he saw the mayor's somewhat embarrassed face there, he suddenly understood something in his heart.

"Don't worry." Xiao Yongyan said with a smile. "All the people who come to help, we pay a salary of 5 dimes a day, if someone is injured, the cost of the soup and medicine is all covered, and there is another burden, well, 30 yuan of compensation, if you are disabled or dead, there is also a pension..."

Although since the recovery of Anhui, there has not been anything that has happened to let the people work in vain, but this does not mean that it has not happened before the recovery, so Xiao Yongyan knows the situation very well.

And after hearing Xiao Yongyan's words, he was overjoyed to learn that the mayor was not in vain.

5 dimes, the wages of workers in Anhui are also 2 jiao, the average in Shanghai is 1 jiao, and Jiangxi, it is worse than Anhui in the past, only 5 to 8 points, and 1 jiao is already considered a high salary.

This is still the wages of factory workers, and ordinary farmers can't even earn this money.

If this is not the case, the capitalists of this era are all vampires, and they absolutely spare no effort to oppress the workers.

It's because despite the hardships of life in the factory, the wages are still higher than working in the fields, and there is absolutely no need to worry about bad harvests—————— only unemployment...

5 dimes, can definitely make all the young people in Xingang Town run out to help, after all, this is an unimaginably high salary.

And later, when the Nationalist Army leaves, he and the local gentry can also find a way to add more taxes, and take back the money that those people earned from these Qiu Ba from Anhui, so that they can also make a small profit...

"Those mud legs, 1 corner is enough, why do you need 5 corners so much..."

Thinking in his heart, the mayor looked at Xiao Yongyan. "This, I don't know how long this salary will be paid..."

In case you wait until the battle is over, then you will break your promise. That can't be helped.

Could it be that they can still settle accounts with these Qiu Ba? Even if those Qiu Ba are reasonable, the guns in their hands are unreasonable. So the mayor of the town also wanted to ask clearly, after all, he would be able to find a way to issue a tax from the townspeople later. He has a stake in that.

didn't know this, Xiao Yongyan said with a smile. "Don't worry, it will be distributed on the same day, and it will definitely not be delayed, then, please leave this matter to you..."

"Of course, of course. Little old man, let's do it..."After speaking, the mayor smiled kindly, and then dragged a few people to follow him back to the town.

But after running for a while, the mayor ran back again. Just when he saw Xiao Yongyan and Gu Chengzhou who were smiling, the mayor himself smiled a little embarrassed. "Well, how many people do you need for your army?"

"A thousand, at least a thousand..."After thinking about it. Xiao Yongyan said.

Although there are specialized baggage battalions in the troops. But if all the work is left to the baggage battalion, after all, the burden is still too great, so they usually recruit more young men to help.

Naturally, money is to be given ...

Hearing the figure of 1,000 people, the mayor of the town was also embarrassed, there were only a few thousand people in his town, many of whom lived outside the town, so many people. It's hard to say if it can be called in a short period of time.

As if he saw the mayor's difficulty, Xiao Yongyan said with a smile. "Just do your best..."

————————————————————

5 dimes a day. It was distributed on the same day, and there was compensation for the injured, and there was a pension for the dead, which quickly caused a sensation in Newport Town.

Even before all the troops got off the boat, more than 500 people had already come to sign up. This also made the battalion commander of the baggage battalion overjoyed, after all, there were more people, and his work would be easier.

However, in the far corner, looking at the people coming and going on the dock, the faces of several reporters looked ugly.

"These guys who see the money..."

"No way, ordinary people are like this..."

With that, a tall, thin reporter raised the camera in his hand. "We've got everything we need, and we'll go back to Jiujiang now?"

"Okay." The two people in the reporter said without hesitation.

The other two looked a little hesitant, which also made the other three look at it.

"What's wrong with you?"

Hearing their companion's question, the two men thought for a moment and asked. "Do you think the Governor can really win?"

"This..."

Hearing his companion's question, the remaining three didn't know how to answer.

Seeing their companions like this, the two men continued. "We have already filmed the situation of the National Socialist Army, it seems that these Anhui people came over and did not tell a lie, it is indeed the strength of a division, fifteen or six thousand, this number is three times that of the Jiujiang defenders, in addition, we also saw just now, dozens of artillery pieces were unloaded from the ship, including even 12 105mm large-caliber howitzers, plus ten gunboats on the river, wouldn't we just go back and die?"

From the beginning of the fall of Hukou, Li Liejun and the others had already guessed that the next target of the National Social Army would definitely be Jiujiang, and that there was a chance that it would land in Xingang Town.

Therefore, after coming to this conclusion, Li Liejun quickly dispatched five officers from the Jiangxi army, and rushed to Xingang Town to investigate the truth of the Nationalist Army in the appearance of reporters—————— and the news he got earlier, many newspapers in the city would send reporters to Xingang Town, so there was no need to worry about being discovered.

After taking over the mission, the five officers hurried to Newport Town, and stayed at the town's inn for the night, waiting for the National Social Army, which might come later.

As a result, the National Social Army saw it, but their confidence was almost lost.

Leaving aside the fact that the National Social Army, which is equivalent to three times the number of Jiujiang's defenders, the 72 artillery pieces alone are definitely not something that Jiujiang's city walls can resist.

If you go back like this, wouldn't it be like sending you to death?

No one would want to die if they could, and neither would they, so after hearing the words of their companions, the 5 reporters quickly fell silent.

It wasn't long before a reporter spoke. "I don't care, I am deeply trusted by the Governor, and I can't leave the Governor alone at this time."

"Me too." Another man spoke. "Anyway, I'm also a member of the Kuomintang, and if others can run at this time, I can't run at all..." Your words. If you want to stay, stay if you want to...... Let's go..."He also knew that if it was in Jiujiang. It only takes a voice to deal with these deserters, but now in Newport, if you really do this, you will only attract the surrounding national social forces, and then the gains will outweigh the losses.

Hearing his words, the two officers from before looked down for a moment, handed them the cameras in their hands, and then turned away without looking back. It's just that in the process of walking, their hands are always attached to their waists...

And behind their backs. The three men just smiled wryly and watched them leave.

Don't say they're not in the mood right now, and even if they do, shooting will attract people. How could they do such a thing...

"Okay, since the people are gone, let's not look at it...", he said and glanced at the camera in his hand, and said an officer at the head. Something in the camera. Let's rush back to Jiujiang in front of the National Social Army as soon as possible. However, I'm afraid Jiujiang won't be able to hold it..."

"yes..."

Shaking their heads and sighing, the three of them quickly returned to Jiujiang.

————————————————————

After learning about the matter from the mouths of the three officers, Li Liejun sighed and did not lose any temper with the three of them. Instead, after the photos were washed out, they were asked to study them together.

Just looking at the dozens of artillery pieces and a large number of light and heavy machine guns that are still clear in the photos, neither Li Liejun nor Su Shi'an can think of any useful way.

Isn't there such a saying, in the face of absolute strength. Any intrigues are useless. The same is true for now.

And when it got dark, the National Social Army that landed from Xingang Town finally arrived outside Jiujiang City.

Newport Town. Xiao Yongyan probably got more than 700 young people, and then although the mayor claimed that he could still go to the surrounding villages, Xiao Yongyan couldn't wait, so he just asked the cavalry to go to some villages on the map after departure, and recruited as he went.

By the time they arrived outside Jiujiang City, there were about 1,700 more young men and women in the logistics area, in addition to the baggage battalion, which was enough to ensure the supply of the Jiujiang Campaign and even the Nanchang Campaign.

The experience at Hukou gave Xiao Yongyan and the National Social Army a new understanding of the strength of the Jiangxi army, but when they arrived in Jiujiang, the sky had begun to darken, and Xiao Yongyan was reluctant to attack the city at night.

On the second day, the 72 guns that had been set up were aimed at Jiujiang City, and together with the 10 gunboats on the river, they bombarded the city for more than three hours.

Heavy artillery fire caused a large area of the city wall to collapse, especially in the two places facing the river and the artillery regiment, and there were many gaps. And the shelling also caused heavy casualties to the defenders in the city, as for the people...

This is something that Xiao Yongyan can't take care of, and yesterday, the Special Affairs Bureau has already distributed leaflets in the city, so that the people can get out of the city as soon as possible. Now that a day has passed, the people who listened to the persuasion should have left the city, and as for those who did not listen...

Xiao Yongyan can't give up attacking Jiujiang because of those people...

Let alone...

"In the war, it is inevitable that the people will be hurt, the difference is only in the number and whether the heart is pure..."Glancing at another collapsed city wall with a telescope, Xiao Yongyan said to the adjutant. Let the artillery regiment cease fire after another half an hour of bombardment, and order the first and third regiments to launch an attack as soon as the artillery stops, and strive to take Jiujiang within one day..."

"Yes!"

After receiving Xiao Yongyan's order, the artillery regiment bombarded for another half an hour before stopping, at this time four hours had passed since the initial shelling, and with the ceasefire of the artillery regiment, the 10 gunboats on the river also stopped bombardment.

The four-hour shelling turned the city into a sea of fire, and the defenders of the city suffered heavy casualties.

By the time the officers and men of the two regiments rushed into the city, the Jiangxi army had almost no ability to resist in the face of the superior firepower of the Nationalist Army. However, in half an hour, many positions had been lost, and in comparison, although the Nationalist Army was the attacker, the casualties were pitiful.

Especially with the two equipment of grenades and machine guns, although the Gan army also launched several counterattacks, almost all of them were easily repulsed.

More than an hour later, there was even a company of the Gan army in the city that surrendered directly to the Nationalist Army entering the city—————— although the company was already dissatisfied.

In the face of such a situation, Li Liejun was also helpless, and after resisting as much as possible for a period of time, he finally had to evacuate Jiujiang under the protection of his personal guards one day later, accompanied by more than 1,000 Jiangxi soldiers.

At this point, the Battle of Jiujiang was completely over.

In the whole battle, the Jiangxi army suffered more than 2,000 casualties, and another three dissatisfied battalions surrendered, and only more than 1,000 people fled with Li Liejun, while the Nationalist Army consumed more than 30,000 shells in the battle, and the casualties were only more than 100 people...

The casualty ratio on both sides reached a staggering 20:1 ...

With the end of Jiujiang, Yan Shao's eyes also shifted to Nanchang.

In Hukou and Jiujiang, the main forces in Li Liejun's hands have all been disabled, and the remaining remnants of the defeated army are no longer able to stop Xiao Yongyan's pace. Next, it is only necessary to take Nanchang to declare the end of this battle.

At the same time, Chen Jiongming, who was in Guangdong, had not even completed the mobilization, and Yuan Shikai in Beiyang was stunned by the progress of the National Social Army.

Although he had also thought that Li Liejun in Jiangxi would not be Yan Shao's opponent, he never imagined that Li Liejun would lose so quickly, and he would almost have no power to fight back...

It's not surprising, because in history, Yuan Shikai used this speed to defeat Li Liejun and occupy Jiangxi, but now it's just Yan Shao...

However, in any case, the success of the Jiangxi campaign is bound to change the original plan of other forces, including Yan Shao's... (To be continued......)