Back to the Republic of China as a commander

Chapter 214 The Battle Clouds Are Covering ([-])

Wang Zhenyu thought for a while and then said: "Well, let's go and tell Ma Xicheng and the others that the material focus of the Armament Department is still in the direction of Hubei. There is no need to go to Guangdong and Guangxi too much. It is enough to give a base for a campaign. I guess Guangdong has a lot of ammunition. The demand may be less than that of Changde. I feel that the final decisive battle will take place in the direction of Hubei and Jiangxi. Considering the problem of transportation capacity, I decided to take a gamble. Lao Yang, please tell Ma Xicheng what you mean. At the same time, the factory under the Ministry of Armaments will give I am running at full speed, people are shutting down, their salary is doubled, and the security level of the military industrial system has to be improved, and it is likely that they will decide the outcome of the war."

Yang Wangui frowned and replied: "Yes, Commander. But is it necessary to make such a big move? The current reserves can definitely support us to conquer half of China. Commander, our budget for this war is already very high. If we want to do this If you do, the final result of this fee will be amazing!"

Wang Zhenyu shook his head and said: "Lao Yang, you can't just see how much money is spent, you have to see more things. We have already invested so much. If we win, the return will be amazing. But if because I am reluctant to part with the last bit of investment, so once we lose in the final result, all the previous investment will be in vain, and we will not have our share in this world. And everyone must have an awareness that once we win a decisive victory in Hubei, Beijing will We will definitely unite under our strong pressure, and the powers who don't want China to be unified, especially the Japanese, will definitely contribute money and weapons to help Beiyang to fight us. At that time, the scale of the war will escalate, and we must consider The situation of fighting alone without foreign aid must be taken into consideration. The military industry is our lifeline, and our combat thinking should also revolve around this point. The Ministry of Armaments should set up some work teams. Follow the big army to accept minerals and other energy sources to ensure the raw material demand for our military production, and we must tell Ma Xicheng immediately."

In fact, at this time, all the troops participating in the war are still in a state of assembly, and the Beiyang Army as the opponent is in the process of issuing orders, and the assembly has not even begun. Even if there is a firefight between the two armies, it will be a few days later. .But after the electricity was sent, Wang Zhenyu was still somewhat nervous. After all, he had bet all his wealth on this war that he had planned for a long time. Once he won the bet, his status in China and even the world would be different in the future.So Wang Zhenyu didn't dare to go to sleep at all. He chose to stay in the staff department with nothing to do, just to keep abreast of various news, but the result made the staff department tense in advance. Everyone hoped that he could stay in front of the boss. a good impression.

"Marshal, the Regent Charlotte of Luxembourg is here." Huang Shaohong, head of the attendant department, came in and reported.

Wang Zhenyu was a little upset and said: "It seems that the Luxembourgers are frightened by our civil war, well, I'll go see her."

Wang Zhenyu stood up and said to Yang Wangui: "Old Yang, please don't be so nervous. The hard battle is behind. Once the battle starts, everyone will enter a 24-hour shift, and I will come here to supervise the battle in person."

Yang Wangui and other staff members watched Wang Zhenyu leave one after another. Unlike the grassroots combat units, the staff members of the staff department knew more or less about Wang Zhenyu's grand plan and knew how courageous it would take, so everyone looked at Wang Zhenyu with admiration at the moment. . .

In Li County, Ma Jizeng, the commander of the Sixth Beiyang Division, was worrying with Yuan Shikai's telegram.Lao Yuan had already appointed him as the commander of the First Route Army of the Rebellion Army, and he was fully in charge of the war in western Hunan, but he didn't say that he would send more troops.

To tell the truth, Ma Jizeng has become fatter and his waist thicker during the more than a year of being stationed in Li County.He was amazed by the wealth of Li County. The tax alone was worth several million dollars every year.Not only Ma Jizeng, but most of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division have made a fortune, including those who carried private goods, extorted everything.

The people of Li County did not have a good impression of this Yankee division. Whether it was the army of the former guard envoy Wang Zhenya or the youth army of the patrol envoy Wang Zhenyu, they lived in peace with the local people.What's more, these Yankees are different. They seem to be reincarnated from starvation. They just keep searching for land, wishing to scrape the last copper plate on the ground in Li County into their own pockets.

Not only ordinary people, but even the local gangs and landlords in Li County have become the targets of blackmail by the Sixth Division.A landlord surnamed He in the southern suburbs of Li County had his home ransacked because he did not satisfy the extortion of a regiment leader of the Sixth Division.And the landlord surnamed He had nowhere to go to sue, and in the end he could only hang himself.After the Sixth Division entered the Li County area, the public security situation in the vicinity of the garrison area deteriorated immediately. Many young girls were raped, and many middle-class families were robbed.Now all fools know that the Sixth Division and the inhuman Yankees did the evil, because Ma Jizeng himself took the lead in raping two students from the Lixian Girls Middle School.The crimes committed by the Beiyang Sixth Division are too numerous to describe and are heinous.It was for this reason that the local people who hated them told Wang Zhenyu every move of Ma Jizeng's subordinates.

The common people felt that they could not live any longer, but Ma Jizeng felt that the days were more nourishing than when he was in Beijing. He was a lieutenant general in the army, and his boss was facing the Army Department of Zhengshitang.Neither Tang Xiangming, the governor of Hunan, nor Wang Zhenyu, the inspector of Hunan and Guangxi, had any jurisdiction over him, which is why Ma Jizeng was able to be the local emperor in Li County without any scruples.It was useless for the local gentry to sue Changsha, and no one dared to intervene, because Ma Jizeng was so courageous that he even dared to send the tax money that should have been sent to the Changsha provincial government to his own pocket.

People are animals, and they can't live a good life. In Wuhan, the Sixth Division was considered a well-known division of tigers and wolves, but after more than a year of happiness in Li County, its combat effectiveness is hard to say.

This is not what Ma Jizeng is most worried about. After all, the daily operations of the Sixth Division are still going on as usual. What he is really worried about are two points: The first is that the soldiers of Qi Xieyuan's brigade were transferred to Chen Huan, the commander of the Second Route Army. Under his command, the army in the hands of the commander of the First Route Army is less than a quarter of that of the Second Route Army. This battle is a bit risky.The second is Wang Zhenyu. Ma Jizeng is not an idiot either. During his more than a year in Li County, he also spied on the military situation in western Hunan many times, and roughly concluded that the number of troops was less than [-] (he didn't know the spies he sent out. They were all captured and rebelled by He Jian and the others).But for Wang Zhenyu, Ma Jizeng was still a bit jealous. He was almost killed by this guy at Yudai Gate back then, and he still had lingering fears when he thought about it. . .

Chapter 215 The Battle Clouds Are Covering ([-])

"One-two, one-two, one-two, up" Accompanied by the chant, a dozen strong men were trying to push out a heavy cannon that was stuck in the mud, and the army horse in charge of leading the cannon was also whipped by the groom Neighing endlessly.But the damn cannon is still motionless, no matter how hard and how much everyone expects it, it just doesn't move.The road in the mountains was not wide, and such a big guy was blocked in the middle of the road, and naturally even the march of the infantry was greatly affected.

The commander of the First Army of the Youth Army, General Xu Yuanquan, who was in charge of fighting in Hubei, frowned unconsciously when he saw the chaotic scene in front of him.As a big man who participated in the battle of Yudaimen with the commander in chief, Xu Yuanquan still has some opinions about his combat mission.The first division of my main force was transferred to participate in the battle of Baoqing, and I took the remaining two divisions here to drill the ravine, waiting for the sixth division of Beiyang to attack desperately. As an auxiliary action, Xu Yuanquan only needs to bring the elites of two divisions to take down Jingzhou City, which is guarded by less than one direct descendant from Beiyang. The second army fighting on the Hunan side will go north and jointly attack Wuhan.Xu Yuanquan was very dissatisfied with the deployment of the staff department, which was obviously a cannon to fight mosquitoes.Because this kind of low-risk combat means that the probability of meritorious service will be greatly reduced, and military merit is precisely what soldiers value most.Although Xu Yuanquan and Yang Wangui and Wan Yaohuang are known as the three big bosses under Wang Zhenyu, in the face of Yang Wangui, the steady progress of the Hunan forces headed by Liu Xing, and the rapid rise of the Guangxi forces represented by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, and the entire Hunan and Guangxi The development and growth of the group or the youth army.Xu Yuanquan, who regarded himself as a powerful leader in Hubei, was no longer the simple revolutionary youth in Hankou. His political power began to rise steadily with his status. He hoped that one day the youth army would rule the country, and he would be One of the most core people.

It didn't work out, things backfired, the commander-in-chief finally decided to start fighting for world hegemony, but he didn't catch up, how could Xu Yuanquan not be depressed.Looking at the chaotic scene, Xu Yuanquan said angrily, "What's the matter, isn't Bai Chongxi leading the second mountain brigade through this road? Why is it our first army's turn to walk like this?" Is it difficult?"

The officers around him naturally knew that their general was in a bad mood, so they didn't dare to speak out after such a yell, for fear of touching their brows.He was also Xu Yuanquan's adjutant, who had just been assigned from the Army University's crash course. He was the former Lizhou guard envoy, and now Lieutenant Colonel Wang Yuyin, the son of Wang Zhenya, the director of the Xiangxi Administrative Office, was quite courageous.

I saw him replying without fear or humility: "Reporter, as far as I know, it was summer when Mr. Bai and the others passed through this place, the weather was dry, and the road was not as muddy as it is now. At the same time, the mountain cannons they carried at that time were not as strong as ours. It is heavy to carry, and they march in pieces, so our situation is different from theirs."

Xu Yuanquan was furious when he heard the words, but seeing that it was his adjutant Wang Yuyin who contradicted him, he could only calm down.Don't look at his father's narrow walk recently, he is a famous official just like Lu Rongting.But his uncle, Qing Heng, is doing very well in the National Socialist Party. He just served as the director of the Hunan Provincial Party Department and is already a member of the National Socialist Party Central Committee.Moreover, Wang Yuyin is also very appreciated by Wan Yaohuang. Although he and Wan Yaohuang are at odds, he still regards him as a family in Hubei, and he must be wooed if he can.

No one knew that Xu Yuanquan had thought about so many things in such a short period of time.But no matter how scruples you have, you still can't lose face.

Xu Yuanquan said with authority: "Adjutant Wang, tell me, what should we do? The Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered us to take Li County by January 1th, but our marching speed can catch up to this time." When it arrives, Amitabha will burn incense.”

Wang Yuyin was really short-sighted, he didn't hear the dissatisfaction contained in Adjutant Wang's voice, he still replied with the old gods: "Master, for the current plan, we have to leave the cannon and move forward lightly."

Xu Yuanquan frowned and thought for a while and asked, "Can we take Li County with only light weapons?"

Wang Yuyin immediately replied: "If all Ma Jizeng's troops go to fight Changde, we can take Li County without shooting. On the contrary, we may have to wait for Commander Liu and the others to attack the city with heavy weapons."

Xu Yuanquan nodded appreciatively and said: "Well, it makes sense. Pass on my military order. Each of the two divisions will leave an infantry regiment to help escort the division's heavy artillery regiment. Get out of the way, and the other troops will immediately move towards Li County..."

The same tragedy also happened to Tao Zhiyue's unit of the First Division, which also belonged to the First Army but was assigned to the direction of Baoqing.The towering Xuefeng Mountain was the one that really tested the fighting spirit of the First Division.Tao Zhiyue half-jokingly said to his subordinates: "It is estimated that even the king of heaven and I will not guess that we will cross Xuefeng Mountain and enter Baoqing. Everyone can go at ease. I guess there will be no battle in Baoqing. Everyone will treat it as a field training." Now, remember not to fall behind."

At this moment, Tao Zhiyue was thinking about another thing. Before the expedition, the commander summoned him alone.During this summons, the commander-in-chief clearly told himself that this dispatch of troops to Baoqing is strictly a political battle, with two main tasks. The first is to receive Wang Longzhong, and the second is to force Lin Xiumei, Cheng Qian and others to make a second choice. One, either accept the adaptation and join the youth army, or honestly lead the team into Jiangxi, known as the vanguard of the youth army to attack Jiangxi.In order to ensure this, Secretary-General Yang Yongtai will follow the first division to act together.

Thinking of this, Tao Zhiyue took a deep breath, looked at the stars all over the sky, and suddenly felt a chill.As an officer of the youth army, I have always subconsciously aimed at leading soldiers well.Only now did I realize that as my status continued to rise, the situation of political struggles began to appear in front of me consciously or unconsciously. It seemed that I still had to keep working hard to improve my level.

While the young Tao Zhiyue was secretly encouraging himself, Liu Xing, the commander of the Second Army in Changde, was inspecting his army's position.Logically speaking, Liu Xing could attack Ma Jizeng with such affluent troops and overwhelming firepower.But the commander-in-chief ordered to defend on the spot, and no questioning was allowed.The miserable Liu Xing could only beg for food with a golden rice bowl, and urged the group of big-headed soldiers below to build fortifications every day. . .

Chapter 216 The Battle of Changde

The situation here in Guangxi is not much better. Although training is carried out every day, when the troops are dispatched, everyone realizes the difference between actual combat and training. The entire staff of the Third Army is extremely busy.

"Hello, hello, is this the heavy artillery regiment of the [-]th Division? Why hasn't your heavy artillery regiment appeared yet? ... What, the tower crane is broken and is being repaired!" Hey, hello, pick me up from the guest dock management office. . .Hello, guest dock management?When can your tower crane be repaired? . . .What, tomorrow?Every effort must be made to fix it tonight, or the military law will be engaged. . . "

"Hello, hello, the third division? Why is the number of the Wuzhou military reserve base you reported different from the number of the military department and the armament department? ... What, the storage has not been completed yet? When is this, and it hasn't Put it in the warehouse, immediately contact the Armament Department, no matter what, we must ensure the supply of materials..."

The staff officers of the military department were arguing into the walkie-talkie, but Li Zongren, the commander of the army, stood very calmly on the map hanging on the wall, motionless.At this moment, he knew very well that it was useless to be anxious, no matter how powerful the youth army was, it would only be exposed to the world after the start of Changde.He suddenly felt a little excited. At the age of 25, he was actually qualified to command an army of [-] to fight Guangzhou. It was the commander who gave him such an ordinary Guangxi farmer such a chance to become famous.

While Li Zongren was grateful, Bai Chongxi was losing his temper at the Laibin Wharf. It was too slow, and the Seventh Division had only reached less than two-thirds of the scheduled assembly time, and the heavy artillery regiment was still dragging on Laibin without launching the ship.This meant that Changde hadn't started yet, otherwise Bai Chongxi would have shot several officers.

Bai Chongxi's anxiety is justified, even though he is only 23 years old, he is already an expert in leading troops.Judging from the information currently provided by the Guangzhou Station of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Long Jiguang in Guangzhou has received Yuan Shikai's telegram, but he hesitates to wait and see for various reasons.The main force of the department is still huddled in Guangzhou. At this moment, as long as he goes down the Youjiang River, he can appear under the city of Guangzhou almost without hindrance.But this also requires him to be faster, more ruthless and more accurate. Otherwise, there will be many nights and dreams. Once Long Jiguang makes up his mind to fight, the whole battle will increase unnecessary difficulty, and this is exactly what Bai Chongxi taboos.So at this moment, as the chief of staff of the third army and the commander of the seventh division, he was loudly scolding the officers of the seventh division who were in charge of this dispatch work.

"I don't care what method you use. Before dawn tomorrow, all the heavy artillery regiments of our Seventh Division must be on board. Before twelve o'clock tomorrow night, these heavy artillery must appear at Wuzhou Wharf. If you can't do it, fine, you can do it yourself Apply for court-martial, understand?"

All the officers wiped the sweat from their foreheads and replied in unison: "Understood!"

The entire Seventh Division ran wildly at full power that night, while Bai Chongxi looked at the end of Youjiang in high spirits and said, "Guangzhou City, I, Bai Jiansheng, are here..."

In Changsha, Commander Tang seems to have noticed something different. Unlike the blind optimism of other Beiyang bigwigs, Tang Xiangming can be regarded as being on the front line, so he attaches great importance to the collection of various information.No matter how tight the defense network is, there are loopholes. The intelligence and spy systems of the Military Intelligence Department and the Investigation Department can easily deal with the spies from the Beijing Division's Law Enforcement Department and the Army Department, but they cannot deal with Tang Xiangming's non-professional intelligence personnel. You can't help it when foreign officials return home to visit relatives and friends.Therefore, Tang Xiangming naturally had more materials and information about Xiangxi than Yuan Shikai did, but Tang Xiangming couldn't believe the feedback.It's too exaggerated. The industry and agriculture in western Hunan are actually several times more developed than that of the whole province. The level of development of various light and heavy industries is so high that Changsha, the provincial capital, cannot compare with it.

From this, Tang Xiangming deduced that, as the patrol envoy of Hunan and Guangxi, Wang Zhenyu, his titular immediate boss, would never let others have the strength of the army, but the secrecy measures in this area were too strict, and he had no way of investigating.

Although he came to a conclusion that frightened him half to death, Tang Xiangming did not hand over the collected information to Yuan Shikai.Because he belongs to Li Yuanhong, Tang Xiangming's elder brother Tang Hualong is Li Yuanhong's literary team.Li Yuanhong has always been opposed to Lao Yuan's proclaiming the emperor. Not only did he refuse to accept the honorary title of Prince Wuyi, but he also went to the Wuhan Concession and openly sang against Lao Yuan.Tang Xiangming is also in a dilemma at the moment, let's join the guards to challenge Yuan, the old man Yuan's army stationed in Hunan will definitely not agree, he is from the navy, and he doesn't have enough direct troops to protect him. It was very possible; but Tang Xiangming was unwilling to help Lao Yuan suppress Yuan, so the armament work in Hunan was at a standstill amidst this contradiction.

At this moment, the army under the name of the Hunan Governor's Mansion is also a very complicated situation. Some of them are Tan Yankai's first division and the troops incorporated from the original fourth division. These troops add up to a little more than 1 people. In the hands of Guo Renzhang, there are 5000 people in the Mine Police Corps, and finally there is a brigade left by the Beiyang Third Division, Wang Xueqian, the Fifth Brigade of Beiyang Infantry, about 8000 people, but this force is mainly stationed in Yuezhou, and at the same time stationed in Yuezhou There are still 7000 people in Zeng Jiwu's department.As for Ma Jizeng's Sixth Division and Ni Sichong's Fifteenth Battalion of Anwu Army stationed in Hengyang, they were not subject to Tang Xiangming's restraint, and they were all under the name of the Ministry of War.Tang Xiangming flexed his fingers and did the math, and there were almost 3 people on his side. Although the composition was a little bit complicated, it was estimated that no matter how the situation turned out in the future, it would not be a big problem for him to keep his position as the warlord.

Not far from the governor's mansion, the first division of the Hunan Army was stationed. Lu Diping, then commander of the third brigade of the first division of the Hunan Army, was opening a letter.

The letter was written by Wang Zhenyu to Lu Diping. Lu Diping burned the letter after reading it hastily. Give him a message, the content is not too much, just ten words, a brother for a day, a brother for life..."

On the occasion of this turbulent meeting and the turmoil in all directions, no matter Beijing, Changsha or Anjiang, they all set their sights on Changde.The news that Ma Jizeng is about to attack Changde has spread to almost every ant in Hunan, so what are Ma Jizeng and his 8000 Beiyang Sixth Division doing now?

Chapter 217 Bloody Battle in Changde ([-])

Liu Xuyi stood at attention and saluted: "Please rest assured, the military seat, even if you are the last person to fight to the humble position, the humble position will firmly guard the Zhujiaqiao, and will not tarnish the flag of our second army."

Liu Xing shouted with satisfaction: "Okay, you are indeed a good guy from our second army. Zhu Jiaqiao will entrust your brothers in the whole regiment. After this battle, I will definitely ask the commander in person for your credit."

"Thank you, Military Seat!"

In Anjiang, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, which is nominally the highest commanding body of the Youth Army, is still on paper.As the chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, Wang Zhenyu assigned himself two other vice-chairmen, Tian Yingzhao and Lu Rongting, but one of these two was engaged in diplomatic activities in the concession in Tianjin, and the other was simply a name.I stay honestly in my hometown Wuming, except for the annual party congress, basically no longer participate in any political activities.

In this way, Wang Zhenyu is the only leader of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, which also leads to the fact that the Secretariat of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and the attendant office have become two teams and one team.And under Wang Zhenyu's deliberate arrangement, starting last year, all orders involving the youth army will no longer be issued in the name of the commander-in-chief.Instead, they changed their minds and released them uniformly under the name of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.Although this is a bit suspected of taking off his pants and farting, Wang Zhenyu deliberately announced that all his orders are legal at this moment, and they are all collective decisions, and his youth army has thus become the SS instead of a warlord Wang Zhenyu's private army.

The Central Revolutionary Military Commission is actually set up in the patrol envoy's mansion, um, but the position of the patrol envoy no longer exists.From the moment Wang Zhenyu announced the power-on, the tour envoy appointed by Yuan Shikai was automatically removed from his post.

The legal issue that Wang Zhenyu had been worrying about was completely resolved at this moment. At this moment, he was waiting for the latest telegram from Wang Huaishi at his desk.

The Changde battlefield is destined to affect the nerves of the highest command of the two warring parties. Both Wang Zhenyu and Yuan Shikai know that this is the first battle between the two sides, and whoever wins means that whoever wins will get the first opportunity.

Wang Zhenyu read the latest information, and played a telegram report: "Ma Jizeng finally chose to go by water, and this battle has begun to enter our rhythm. Wang Hu, you go and carry my quilt, I will sleep tonight Here, report any news immediately!"