Back to the Republic of China as a commander

Lu Yongxiang, the commander of Beiyang Tenth Division, is different from Zhang Huaizhi. Zhang Huaizhi belongs to Duan Qirui, and Lu Yongxiang, at best, is only half of Duan Qirui. Otherwise, Feng Guozhang would not acquiesce in letting Lu Yongxiang be the new member The division commander of the [-]th Division and concurrently served as the Zhejiang Military Affairs Supervisor.

At the beginning of the war, under Duan Qirui's behest, both Lu Yongxiang and Zhang Huaizhi were passive and sabotage their work.As a result, Feng Guozhang's layout was delayed, and the subsequent situation made the shrewd Lu Yongxiang realize that this cannot go on like this.Because the youth army is obviously not the scabies disease that Chief Duan said, but a serious illness in his heart.Grandma, do you have scabies with more soldiers than ours in Beiyang?Moreover, Lu Yongxiang's ambition is to control Zhejiang, a wealthy place, but if he doesn't help Feng Guozhang defeat the youth army, then under this overwhelmed nest, will there be any other eggs?Only by defeating the youth army can the team return to Zhejiang and repel the attack of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary coalition forces on Zhejiang.So Lu Yongxiang finally chose to stand on the side of light and justice (light and justice?).

Therefore, the attacking force mainly composed of the 11th Beiyang Division and the [-]st Patrol Division of the Zhejiang Army pressed down on Lu Diping's Youth Army No. [-] Division without hesitation.

Compared with the Ninth Division, the No.11 Division is almost the weakest unit of the Youth Army. First of all, it is made up from officers to soldiers, including the original Hunan Mine Police Corps, the 39th Beiyang Brigade and its own The old parts are combined.The supplies have not been fully replenished, and the officers have not been retrained, and even the political cadres have not been fully dispatched (the political cadres are also out of stock!).

But that's it. Under the onslaught of the Beiyang Tenth Division and the Zhejiang First Division, the No. 11 Division was desperately resisting.

The 111st Battalion of the [-]th Regiment commanded by Zhang Zizhong is at the core of the entire offensive storm at this moment --- Doujia Village. . . .

And where is the key point of the whole battle?In Tao Zhiyue's place, in Tongling, this is the key point that determines the entire battle.

To live or die, to win or to lose, to glory or shame?All of this fell on Tao Zhiyue's shoulders, and on the head of the entire First Division.

The performance of the officers and soldiers of the First Division at this moment is absolutely worthy of their shining numbers, their beautiful uniforms, their generous treatment, and their excellent equipment.

The Beiyang Second Division, which was in charge of the offense, could be said to be the trump card of Beiyang, but when the attack was launched, they realized how stupid it was to attack such an opponent. It caused huge and unbearable casualties to oneself.And after several crazy attacks, the middle and lower rank officers and soldiers of the Second Division refused to attack at all. This is not how this battle was fought.Wang Zhanyuan was so angry that he finally had to order the bonus to be increased to 10 yuan, and a 15 yuan ocean attack salary was issued first.

Chapter 262 Mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood ([-])

On March 3th, with the end of the first day of attack, the war entered a climax on this day. Both the youth army and the Beiyang army were carrying out the craziest attack and the most tenacious defense since the Republic of China.

But Zhang Huaizhi was an exception here. After letting Cheng Qian play around, he began to have a long memory and began to shrink the defense line to a limited extent. He tried his best to play local small battles with Cheng Qian.And what Cheng Qian wanted was such an effect, he could still figure out where was the main battlefield and where was the secondary battlefield.If I played too much, I would be suspected of ruining the overall situation. If Zhang Huaizhi's army is dragged here, everything will be ok.

The real decision of life and death lies in three other places. Among them, in Tongling, Feng Guozhang, our tour envoy to the five provinces, unceremoniously took out all his family assets. Division, the other troops all smashed at the Tongling defense line guarded by Tao Zhiyue's department.

Wang Zhanyuan of the Second Beiyang Division and Yang Shande of the Fourth Division really had no reservations this time, and took out all the stocks in their hands.The artillery shells almost completely plowed through the defense line of the First Division of the Youth Army, and wave after wave of infantry rushed towards the defense line of the First Division of the Youth Army.The entire First Division of the Youth Army was facing the most severe battle since it became an army, and all the officers and soldiers were gnashing their teeth to resist it.

Every inch of the position is soaked with the blood of the soldiers, the sound of guns and guns, the sound of metal collisions, the hoarse shouts, and the wailing before dying.The most tragic scene in the world was repeatedly staged on these kilometers-long fronts, and everyone didn't know when it would end.They just shoot numbly, reload, keep shooting; block, stab, block and stab again.All in all, it is to eliminate all active enemies in front of you, leaving no one behind.

Young and fresh lives on this front turned into clouds of smoke in an instant. The breath of death gradually enveloped the entire front.

"Commander-in-chief, we can't fight like this anymore. Our first division is one against two, and we can't afford this waste!" Zhang Xuguang, chief of staff of the division and head of the 101st regiment, rushed forward with white gauze still oozing blood wrapped around his left arm. Come in and shout to Tao Zhiyue.Just now, another company of the 101st Regiment, after more than 160 officers and soldiers were killed, relied on the last dozen officers and soldiers and reinforcements to drive out the Beiyang Army that rushed in again.The tenacity of the youth army not only exceeded the psychological bottom line of the Beiyang Army, but also exceeded its own physical bottom line.Although the officers and soldiers of the First Division can effectively kill and wound the enemy by relying on their bravery and tactics, the disadvantage in terms of strength is irreparable, and this will become more and more obvious as the battle continues.

Tao Zhiyue looked at the military map and did not speak. At this time, Li Zongren came to Tao Zhiyue's headquarters less than 1500 meters away from the front line through the artillery fire. "Ji Chang, we can't be so hard-working, we have to find a way to change the current passive situation."

Tao Zhiyue was startled when he heard the words, he raised his head and said to Li Zongren: "Commander Li, why are you up here, you are messing around, this place is within the range of the artillery of the Beiyang Army, it is too dangerous, come on, hurry up."

The thin Li Zongren has a very stubborn personality. He waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it. If you're afraid of death, you're still a soldier. I just went to the front line to see it before I came. The brothers fought hard, and the firepower of the Beiyang Army is also very fierce. , we can’t continue fighting like this, otherwise the first division will be exhausted sooner or later.”

Tao Zhiyue shook his head and said: "There is no way, Commander Li, we can only fight like this. We are now fighting the Beiyang Army fiercely, and we can't do anything false. I listened carefully just now. According to their firepower today , and soon their cannons will not be able to fire, either they have no shells or they are so hot that they can scald people to death.”

However, Li Zongren disagreed: "But if we continue to fight like this, our strength is small after all, and we can't afford to lose it! We must adjust! Let's give up some positions first, and adjust our strength to rest before continuing to fight."

Tao Zhiyue also shook his head very stubbornly: "Commander Li, they are all brothers of mine, Tao Zhiyue, and I cherish their lives more than you, but kindness does not command soldiers! So at this time, we must grit our teeth and persist, as long as If we can persevere, then the enemy must be the first to give up, otherwise we will just wait to be crushed by the enemy. Commander Li, offended!"

Li Zongren shook his head angrily, okay!Look at who I am as the commander, whether it's Bai Chongxi or Tao Zhiyue, plus that Cheng Qian who acted without authorization, he just doesn't have a fuel-efficient lamp under his command.He said helplessly: "Since this is the case, then I, Li Zongren, will stand here today and defend our army's Tongling line of defense with everyone. Just as Commander Tao said before, we will stick to the end and never give up."

Since then, the attack of the Beiyang Army began to slowly decline under the threat of the First Division Heavy Artillery Regiment, and the officers and soldiers guarding the front line couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing this situation, Li Zongren felt good about Tao Zhiyue A lot, he knew that the front of the First Division should be worried about being broken by the Beiyang Army.

Frontal attack is only one thing, the most dangerous will always come from the side. The two divisions led by Lu Yongxiang will pass through Nanling and enter Tongling from the side.This tactic was learned by the Beiyang Army from Japan, and it has been used well in history.It was used many times during the suppression of the [-] Revolution, the Second Revolution, and even during the Northern Expedition.The most famous one was the Battle of Nanchang during the Northern Expedition, which almost wiped out Chiang Kai-shek's First Division of the Party Army.

But in Nanling they also encountered a hard stubble, Lu Diping's No.11 division.

As mentioned earlier, the No.11 division is almost the weakest existence of the youth army. If they are allowed to fight positional warfare like the first division, it is estimated that they will collapse after a few waves.

But not being good at positional warfare doesn't mean not being good at other things, Lu Diping actually played a short assault.He used the officers and soldiers of the former Beiyang 39th Brigade who had received formal training as a point, and built positions from point to area, and the battle line was still broken by the Beiyang Army.Then the other troops chased after the Beiyang army after the breakthrough, and because the Beiyang army still had enemies on its flanks, they would not be able to come up with any decent way to face this kind of almost rogue counterattack for a while. .After several rounds of tossing, Lu Yongxiang was surprised to find that not only did he fail to break through the defense line, but he lost 3000 to [-] troops, what a hell.

Annoyed, Lu Yongxiang found that he really had nothing to do with Lu Diping's style of play, which was almost brown sugar. The only way was to gnaw hard at the bones, concentrate his forces, and pull out the nails one by one.As a result, the battle was immediately upgraded from an assault battle to an assault battle, and the tragedy was doubled directly, and everyone became a mess.

Here, Doujia Village, guarded by the 111st Battalion of the [-]th Regiment led by Zhang Zizhong, was the most fierce. The attack was once again repelled by the tenacious Zhang Zizhong's troops.Lu Yongxiang was very surprised and asked the left and right: "I want to confirm, are the youths fighting us now? Are they human?"

Just when the battle on the right side entered the most intense and tragic stage, on the left side, the youth army also entered the final stage of attack.

Bai Chongxi's attack order was resolutely and thoroughly carried out at 3:29 am on March 350. The three main field divisions concentrated more than [-] artillery pieces of various types, and they were brutally beaten against the Dingwu Army's position. .

This time, even Zhang Xun's headquarters was hit a few times, resulting in the death and injury of more than a dozen guards, which forced Zhang Xun to change his headquarters overnight.

It should be said that the design of the Dingwu army's defense line is still very reasonable. The youth army is constantly compressing towards the core position, but the Dingwu army is not rushing, relying on fortifications, and constantly blocking.

Almost every sandbag needs to be repeatedly assaulted, and the death squads and blasters can be used many times to capture it. The casualties of both sides are soaring.Although the attacking troops fought very hard, the major incident lasted for almost twelve hours from four o'clock in the morning to three o'clock in the afternoon. After the attack, the youth army found sadly that the Dingwu army still persisted like a stubborn rock. Not even the slightest sign of collapse.

The report requesting a rest was quickly sent to the Left Army Command. After reading the report, Bai Chongxi threw it on the ground. He told the officers in a stern voice: "There are no reinforcements, and there is no need to think about rest. I have no treatment for you here." Any answer or request, the only thing I want is a result, tomorrow at noon, I will have dinner in He County, it's as simple as that."

The words were quickly sent to the front, and the division commanders immediately knew that Bai Chongxi was angry, so everyone had to bite the bullet again, mobilize and adjust their troops, in short, continue to attack at all costs. . .

Now it's too much to switch to Dingwu Army. Damn, your youth army doesn't need to rest, it's playing fatigue battle, is this?

The Beiyang soldiers couldn't bear it anymore. People could not eat, but they absolutely had to sleep.Due to the disadvantage of a small number of troops, the Dingwu Army could not even do the most basic rotation.Zhang Xun and other major generals continued to go to the front to cheer, but they still couldn't stop the continuous and obvious signs of collapse of the Dingwu Army.

At 3 o'clock in the night on March 29, the youth army achieved a breakthrough in most parts of Hexian County at the same time. The army broke into Hexian County and started street fighting with Dingwu Army. .

The general situation is over! Zhang Xun had to flee to the Yangtze River with his guards and main officers, and fled to Nanjing by boat.

At 3 a.m. on March 30, the remaining 8 Dingwu troops surrendered to the youth army under the command of Su Xilin. So far, after 5000 hours of fierce fighting, Bai Chongxi wiped out 28 Dingwu troops. The gate of Pukou is as simple as that. is opened.

The Battle of Hexian was also the first successful battle in the history of the youth army, so it was honorably recorded in military history, and Bai Chongxi became a military genius and famous general recognized by the whole army.

Chapter 263

The result of Bai Chongxi's desperate attack on He County surprised Feng Guozhang, who had been attacking Tongling and Nanling for three consecutive days and still had no results. He knew that something bad was going to happen, but at this time, he couldn't withdraw if he wanted to. He knew that he had to do it. Something to salvage this already dire situation.

"Tell Zhang Huaizhi, if we fail this time, he will be the sinner of the entire Beiyang. Tell Ni Sichong, don't think that if your family enters the Tianjin Concession, it will be safe. If the power is gone, that little money is not enough for him to lose for a few days. Tell Li Chun, don't I’m hesitant, Pukou is lost, so there’s no point in defending Nanjing?” Feng Guozhang became incoherent in the face of senior generals such as Wang Zhanyuan and Yang Shande, which made these senior generals feel the pressure.

Feng Guozhang took the tea handed over by the adjutant and drank it in one gulp. After a little relief, he suppressed his emotions, calmed down a little and said to the staff officers standing there dumbfounded: "Convey my order. , Ni Sichong's Anwu Army, Zhang Xun's Dingwu Army, and Li Chun's Sixth Division gathered at Pukou at full speed, and asked them to defend Pukou at all costs."

Wang Zhanyuan seemed to have seen something, he hesitated for a moment and asked softly: "Fu Shuai, we will not fight Tongling anymore."

Feng Guozhang was taken aback when he heard this. This was something he had been hesitating after learning of Zhang Xun's defeat in He County.

Although my own side failed to take down Tongling for three consecutive days, it is impossible to withdraw it now. The armies of both the enemy and us are stuck together.If he dared to play gecko docking, judging from the performance of the two armies, he might end up repeating the mistakes of Ma Jizeng because of the slow action of his own army.The army in his hands is Beiyang's biggest reliance. If the entire army is destroyed, there is no need to wait for the troops of Wang Zhenyu, Cai E, and Sun Wen to enter Beijing. One Yan Xishan is enough to make Lao Yuan step down.But if he continues to attack here and Pukou is lost, then the end of his army will also be exhausted and surrender.Whether to retreat or continue to attack, this question has begun to deeply trouble Feng Guozhang's brain.So at this moment, he himself didn't know how to answer Wang Zhanyuan's question.

Seeing Feng Guozhang's expression, Wang Zhanyuan knew that Fu Shuai probably didn't have an answer to the question he asked, so he immediately shut up and stood aside.

After a while, Feng Guozhang made a seemingly twisted decision: "Send a telegram to Xu Shuzheng, asking him to take the [-]th and [-]th divisions southward, and talk about it at Pukou."

At this time, I thought of letting Xu Shuzheng go south, would he come down?Yang Shande and Wang Zhanyuan who stood aside couldn't help but slander.But this is just thinking about it in their hearts. In this situation, they dare not say such discouraged words.But gradually they became more careful, because no matter how they looked at it, they were going to lose this battle.

Feng Guozhang is also a good person. Naturally, what are his subordinates thinking, he thought over and over again, and kept Wang Zhanyuan and Yang Shande: "We may suffer a big loss in this battle of Beiyang. I want to know your thoughts."

Wang Zhanyuan didn't follow up, but Yang Shande said that the commander-in-chief's will prevail, and he just carried it out.

Feng Guozhang sighed, and said with confidence: "Then we will retreat? We will go back to Nanjing first by water?"

Wang Zhanyuan finally spoke when he heard the words, he shook his head and said: "Fu Shuai, I'm afraid we can't do it even if we want to take the waterway now. The Yangtze River Fleet is now owned by the Kuomintang. If we withdraw to the waterway, it is estimated that they will pass through Jiangyin. The fortress is on the water and bombards us landlubbers. Besides, let’s retreat at this time, let alone the Jiangbei area, whether we can even retreat to Nanjing is a big problem. Will the youth army on the opposite side allow us to return to the division calmly?"

Feng Guozhang thought for a while and said: "Let's withdraw to Wuhu first, and then leave the two divisions in Jiangsu there. We will continue to withdraw to Nanjing. As long as the second and fourth divisions can return to the north, our Beiyang vitality will still be there. We still have a chance to recover today's debt. So don't hesitate, if we really wait for Bai Chongxi's grandson to conquer Pukou, it will be difficult for us to leave."