Back to the Republic of China as a commander

After Tao Zhiyue skillfully pried open the canned lychee in his hand with a military thorn, Lu Diping took a sip unceremoniously: "It's so sweet, Commander-in-Chief, what is this?"

Tao Zhiyue chuckled: "I know you don't. This is the military canned food produced by our Anjiang Cannery Factory. It is usually filled with salted fish, fruits, etc. These things are perishable. If you seal them in canned food, the shelf life will be longer. Point. As for the canned lychees you drink, Brother Lu, this is a special offering for officers above the regiment, and ordinary soldiers have no chance to taste it."

Lu Diping gulped down the last sip, then took out the pulp with his hands and ate it, with a look of relish.Then he yelled vaguely: "tmd, isn't Lao Tzu's No.11 Division a youth army organization? Why did those bastards from the Armament Department even send their summer clothes to Hukou, so why didn't they distribute them to us? "

Tao Zhiyue chuckled and said, "Brother Lu, you really misunderstood the brothers in the Armament Department. Our military cans were all distributed before we crossed Xuefeng Mountain. I also made a report when I arrived in Changsha. Applying for replenishment, but there is something in the Armament Department but there is no capacity to transport it, so there is no way to transport it, not to mention you newly formed troops, even we are out of stock. Then, Brother Lu, what you just drank is my last drink Canned, hehe."

Lu Diping's eyes widened, and he said in embarrassment: "Oh, Commander-in-Chief, why didn't you say so earlier if a gentleman doesn't win people's love?"

Tao Zhiyue waved his hand and said, "It's okay, the military officer in charge of contacting us at the Armament Department has assured us that the allocation of transport capacity has become much looser recently. As long as we take down Wuhu, this thing will be replenished in due time."

As soon as Lu Diping heard this, he immediately got up and said: "Commander, this time to fight Wuhu, let our eleventh division go!"

Tao Zhiyue was delighted when he heard it: "This is no problem in itself, but this time I may not be able to promise you, Brother Lu. Because our style of play may have to be changed, this time we will not learn from Bai Chongxi to play tough battles."

Lu Diping didn't understand: "No attack? Then how can we take Wuhu?"

Tao Zhiyue smiled and said, "Brother Lu, you are pretending to be ignorant. Let's change the game this time. Let's play lure the snake out of the hole..."

On March 3, the first ace division of the youth army finally reached the bottom line of the Beiyang army, Tongling, and the No.20 division under the command of Lu Diping took down Nanling, and appeared in front of Feng Guozhang with a double arrow division.

Almost at the same time, on the left side of the youth army, Ni Sichong gathered more than [-] remnants to abandon Anqing and flee to Hefei. The Chaohu line of defense guarded by the Dingwu Army is about to start a decisive battle that will determine the fate of China.

On March 3, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were having the most intense quarrel since they met at the Southeastern Front Army Command, which had moved forward to Anqing.

"Brother Delin, this matter is no small matter. This time the reinforcements sent by the commander must be given to my left army, otherwise the situation will be ruined." Bai Chongxi almost yelled.

Li Zongren shook his head and said, "Brother Jiansheng, it's not that I'm an unreasonable commander, but that the danger faced by the right army is several times that of yours. Feng Guozhang's army is actually a hundred thousand. In comparison, your left army is now It is [-] elites, and the other side's Beiyang Army on the front line of Chaohu will not exceed [-]. So I will transfer the Ninth Division that will be reinforced this time to Tao Zhiyue and the others, I hope you will understand."

After hearing this, Bai Chongxi was so angry that he almost bumped his head against the beam of the house. He slapped the table hard several times and said, "Brother Delin, you are confused. What are we doing? , to fight for the victory of the war for yourself. What kind of justice are you talking about at this time? Look at the strategic situation for yourself. Now it is a two-line decisive battle, and the competition is who is more ruthless and faster. If we capture Pukou immediately, the Beiyang Army will Lost. Conversely, if that old thief Feng Guozhang beats Tao Zhiyue and the others immediately, the rear of our left army will be in front of them. They have a navy, and then they will have no rear and no supplies. The result of annihilation of the entire army."

Li Zongren shook his head and said: "I just saw this, so I decided to strengthen Tao Zhiyue's power and avoid the situation you mentioned."

"Then what? The strength of the two sides is equal, and they are evenly matched? Then play positional warfare and push forward by 1.1 meters?"

Bai Chongxi almost ran away, but he still tried his best to calm himself down, and said softly: "Brother Delin, if this war goes on for a long time, there will be two problems. I wonder if you have considered it? The first problem is that we The Southeast Front Army currently has five reorganized divisions left here. Together with the security forces attached to the battle, it has almost reached a scale of 14. How much will it cost to feed and drink supplies for so many people? If the war drags on, Even if we win in the end, what position will you and I have in the commander's heart? Will you and I be allowed to command an army of 10,000+ people in the future? War is not only about killing people, we also have to settle economic accounts. The second question, If we can't concentrate our superior forces and penetrate the Chaohu defense line in the shortest time, then once Feng Guozhang recovers and transfers the two divisions commanded by Xu Shuzheng in Xuzhou, what will be the final situation of this southeast battle? Brother Delin, have you considered all of this?"

Li Zongren, who is not tall, frowned unconsciously. He walked straight to the map, staring at the map with his eyes and thinking hard.This time the commander-in-chief really trusted himself too much, leaving Xu Yuanquan and generals like Wan Yaohuang alone, but appointed himself, the most junior of the three army commanders, as the supreme commander of the southeast front army.Not only that, but he also assigned half of the youth army to himself with great confidence. If he couldn't win this life-and-death battle, how could he be worthy of the commander?

"Jiansheng, but if you follow your thinking, the situation on our left side is completely opposite to that on our right side. It's a situation of [-] against [-]. This is a bet on who is faster. By then Tao Zhiyue They will have to face a bloody battle."

Bai Chongxi was overjoyed when he heard the words, he knew that Li Zongren's attitude had finally loosened, and he quickly said: "Brother Delin, kindness is not in charge, this is our only chance, once Yuan Thief calms down, take After the army is mobilized, the battle in the southeast will become a bad one. So now we can only gamble to see who is more ruthless between us and Feng Guozhang, and compare Tao Zhiyue, Lu Diping and Zhang Huaizhi and Zhang Xun. Even better! Brother, don’t hesitate anymore. If you can’t do the job on Tao Zhiyue’s side, I’ll go for nothing. Anyway, my reputation has always been bad. But we have to hurry up. The sooner we prepare, the sooner we can Break through the Chaohu line of defense."

Li Zongren nodded and said: "Okay, let's do it like this. You don't need to do the work on Tao Zhiyue's side. I will take a regiment to Tongling to sit in the town in person. Their first division is from the commander's personal guard. There is no reason to do it." Can't chew hard bones..."

On the other side, in Feng Guozhang's temporary headquarters in Wuhu, Guo Songling and the others were working intensively. Feng Guozhang didn't know that his military deployment had been leaked long ago.He also thought he had a plan: "This time we are on a 24-[-] basis with the other party. Zhang Huaizhi and Zhang Xun are both old leaders, and the troops under them are also long-time fighters. They rely on the Yuxi River to resist the enemy left and right. The attack of the route army is not a big problem. So the key problem is here, we are twice as large as the enemy, so this time we will defeat the enemy's right route army in one go. I ordered the second division and the fourth division to follow Wuhu Set out and attack Tongling directly. The [-]th Division starts from Xuancheng to attack Nanling. You must take advantage of the opportunity of the enemy's division to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop and join forces in Tongling. After defeating Tongling, I will let the navy follow and transport you from Chizhou to Jiangbei , gave the enemy left army a fatal blow. I heard that Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the enemy army, is only [-] years old this year. He dares to compete with the old man at such a young age. I think he is humiliating himself, hahaha."

"Hahaha" Wang Zhanyuan and Yang Shande also laughed loudly.

Only Guo Songling frowned and said softly: "Commander, I'm afraid we should be more cautious. I suggest that General Xu Shuzheng's team be transferred down to supplement the Chaohu defense line, so as to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Wang Zhanyuan was furious when he heard the words, and scolded: "You bastard, how can you, a mere staff officer, be able to intervene in such important military matters? If it's against you, you'll pay it back."

Guo Songling said neither humble nor overbearing: "The so-called staff is to make suggestions and make up for the gaps. If I don't suggest at this time, then I am still a staff."

"You..." Wang Zhanyuan was furious, this staff officer dared to beat him, and immediately wanted to order someone to clean up Guo Songling.

"There's no need to argue." Feng Guozhang resolved the crisis for Guo Songling in time, "Maochen also had good intentions, but Maochen, I'm sorry I can't listen to you this time, because we can't afford the departure fee. If there is still money, I will I won't be in such a hurry to fight the enemy to the death, everyone just be more careful..."

Chapter 255 The Great Showdown ([-])

It was already the afternoon of March 3 when Li Zongren arrived at the headquarters of the Right Route Army in Tongling by boat. Tao Zhiyue led the staff of the Right Route Army headquarters, which is the First Division, to line up at the pier to welcome them.

"Commander Li, how can you come here by boat? The naval base of the Beiyang Army is in Shanghai, and shipping along the entire Yangtze River is not safe. Two days ago, our transport fleet was attacked by a speedboat of the Beiyang Army. Fortunately, the British fleet arrived in time. Intervene, otherwise we won't have Anjiang's original canned food to entertain you today."

Li Zongren looked at Tao Zhiyue in surprise. He knew that Tao Zhiyue's understatement was very easy, but the situation at that time must have been very dangerous.

"Commander Tao, I'm here for no other reason than to face the next situation with you!" Li Zongren cut to the chase and explained his intentions straightforwardly.After Bai Chongxi left, Li Zongren thought for a long time, and felt that it would be easy to order Tao Zhiyue to die, but it did not conform to his moral habits.But calm down and think about it, Bai Chongxi's method is indeed the only feasible one at present, if the war is to be ended as soon as possible, it can only be gambled.But even so, Li Zongren couldn't put the entire right army to death like Bai Chongxi and still act as if nothing had happened.So Li Zongren's final decision was to put himself to death.

One of the main reasons why Tao Zhiyue was so trusted and reused by Wang Zhenyu was that he was good at thinking, and as soon as Li Zongren said this, Tao Zhiyue immediately knew what Li Zongren was up to.He took a deep breath and said, "Commander Li, look at the children on the pier who are loading and unloading supplies. How many people do you think will be able to return to Anjiang after our battle is over?"

Li Zongren glanced at Tao Zhiyue in surprise, and after hearing this, he knew that this kid understood everything, so he could only sigh: "Commander Tao, I know this job is very dangerous, but please firmly believe that everything is for victory , everything is for the commander in chief. The first division is the direct descendant of the commander in chief. At this moment of deciding whether our entire group will fly into the sky or enter the earth, we can only rely on the brothers of the first division. I know that after this battle, Many brothers will shed the last drop of blood for the commander, the party and the country, but please believe that their blood will never be shed in vain.”

Tao Zhiyue glanced at Li Zongren, as if his enthusiasm had dissipated, and said: "Maybe, Commander Li, you can give an order. I will try my best to make a compromise between the execution of this order and the casualties."

Li Zongren could only nod slightly and said: "Well, the plan this time is actually very simple. The newly arrived Cheng Qian's Ninth Division will be transferred to the left army. Then the left army will be responsible for the main attack this time, and your right army will The army is in charge of defending. Your task is to stand firm in Tongling until Bai Chongxi and his left army break through the Chaohu defense line and take Pukou. Is there any problem with this?"

Tao Zhiyue nodded, thought for a while and said: "I have no problem with this plan itself. I think Chief of Staff Bai's idea is to be more ruthless and faster than anyone else. This is really the only way to fight. If I increase my strength along the way, Even if Beiyang is defeated, it will only take Nanjing. The main attack of the left army is full of victories, what a game of chess!"

Seeing that Tao Zhiyue could figure it out, Li Zongren was very happy and said, "Yes, yes, Jiansheng also meant the same thing."

Tao Zhiyue smiled wryly and said: "But Commander Li, the entire Tongling is almost a plain, and there is no danger to defend. Let our first division and No. 11 division two divisions face an enemy force twice as large as mine in such a wide area. This is a very dangerous decision, and the greatest significance of our bloodshed here is probably only to protect the rear of the left army. The biggest reality is that the No.11 Division is still a force that has just been formed and less than one Monthly troops, but they are now undertaking tasks that do not match their strength. You also studied in the crash course of the Xiangxi Army Military Academy, did Teacher Wan tell you that you can arrange it this way?"

Li Zongren's face suddenly became very ugly, but he still gritted his teeth and said: "I can understand your current mood and dissatisfaction, but for the sake of victory and for the sake of the commander, I will still insist on ordering you as the commander of the Southeast Front Army. Army Commander Tao Zhiyue resolutely implements this plan and fights for the final victory of our youth army."

Tao Zhiyue also bit his cheek, stood at attention and saluted, "Please rest assured, Commander Li, the humble officer will not hesitate to carry out this plan resolutely. After all, we are all part of the youth army and the most loyal subordinates of the commander."

After the ceremony, Tao Zhiyue took a look at Li Zongren and said, "Then please forgive Commander Li for being rude. I have to deploy and implement this plan now, so I won't accompany you. The residences of you and your entourage have been locked. After the arrangements are made, I will take a step back first."

After speaking, he turned around and walked away without waiting for Li Zongren's consent, leaving Li Zongren and a group of stunned front army officers behind. The officers of the first division who participated in the reception, except for the officers who were responsible for arranging board and lodging, also saw that the big talk had collapsed. Follow Tao Zhiyue to leave.That supercilious arrogance left an incomparably deep impression on Li Zongren. . .

Tao Zhiyue returned to the headquarters without saying a word, but asked the adjutant to bring over the map, looked at it carefully for a while, and then said, "Go ask Master Lu to come over."

After Lu Diping came, he said: "Commander, what's the matter? I heard that you left Commander Li at the pier and came back by yourself? What's the big deal? Don't let anything happen at this time, the enemy is about to pounce on you." gone."

Tao Zhiyue nodded and didn't say much, he didn't want to pass on his dissatisfaction and affect the overall situation.He grabbed Lu Diping and said: "It's nothing serious, it's just that the latest order has come down. In order to avoid delaying time, I rushed back to deploy first."

Then Tao Zhiyue chose to turn a blind eye to the suspicion on Lu Diping's face and continued: "There is only one character in the No. 11 Division, and it is deployed on the front line of Nanling. No matter what method is used, we must delay Lu Yongxiang's Tenth Division as much as possible. They are not allowed to appear on the front line of Tongling, is this okay?"

Lu Diping's attention immediately returned to the map, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Commander, this task is not easy, but I am more worried. If our No. The fake show is true. Next, the first division will face the two divisions of Yang Shande and Wang Zhanyuan alone. Are there any reinforcements from the front army?"

Tao Zhiyue shook his head and said honestly: "The plan of the front army is to use the main force on the left and break through the Pukou defense line. Therefore, we can only rely on ourselves here."

Lu Diping was really angry when he heard the words: "Damn, then there is such a battle plan, isn't this putting the brothers on fire?"

Tao Zhiyue quickly comforted him: "It's not certain, brother Lu, don't think too much, go to Nanling, if Tongling is broken, you must not withdraw to Jiangxi, you go directly to Zhejiang .This time the Beiyang Army is coming out in full force, and even if they take Tongling, they will go all the way west, so your chances are quite high."

Hearing this, Lu Diping could only sigh and said to Tao Zhiyue: "Understood, brother, take care too, this time is very dangerous no matter how you look at it. Sigh..."

After sending Lu Diping away, Tao Zhiyue said to the adjutant: "Go and bring Zhang Xuguang, the head of the 101st Regiment, Xia Wei, the head of the 102nd Regiment, Yan Daogang, the head of the 103rd Regiment, and He Chengjun, the head of the 104th Regiment. I have orders to issue." .”

Although he has served as the commander of the first division for only four months, Tao Zhiyue has successfully established his prestige among the first division.The four regiment leaders quickly arrived at the headquarters of the Right Route Army, which was actually the headquarters of the First Division.

"Master, what order do you have?"

Tao Zhiyue didn't speak, just stood in front of the map and looked at the map without moving, and then said: "Our plan is to build fortifications from Tianmen Mountain to Zhongcang in the Yangtze River to defend the position."

"Ah!" All the team leaders exclaimed in surprise.