Back to the Republic of China as a commander

If one were to select the top ten tragic figures in the War to Protect the Nation, Ma Baochen, chief of staff of the Sixth Beiyang Division, would definitely be elected.As the chief of staff of a major general, he was first ignored by Ma Jizeng, the commander of the First Route Army and the commander of the Sixth Division, and was reprimanded many times.Then on the way of the great escape, Ma Jizeng gave an organization to block the rear mission, and he didn't know if he wanted to take the opportunity to retaliate.

But this is not a tragedy, because Ma Jizeng led the No.11 Brigade, the main force of the Sixth Division, to set off first, and threw the entire supplementary brigade of more than 6000 people to Ma Baochen to organize a stop.

According to Ma Baochen's military common sense, with such a strong force, it should not be a big problem to escape.But who would have thought that in just half an hour, the Zhujiaqiao position that replenished the first regiment of guards would change hands.The 401 Infantry Regiment of the Youth Army, which had achieved a breakthrough, didn't even look at the Beiyang soldiers kneeling on the ground and raised their hands above their heads. The whole regiment, led by regiment leader Liu Xuyi, rushed towards Wenjiaping fiercely.

Since the third batch of ships will arrive in two hours, although Ma Baochen heard the sound of rumbling guns from the direction of Zhujiaqiao, he estimated it for two hours according to the usual practice, that is to say, wait for the youth army to break through and replenish a defense line It will be at least four hours before we get here again.In this case, there is no need for him to build any fortifications. After releasing the two companies to serve as guards, Ma Baochen was busy organizing the retreat. Ma Jizeng left in a hurry, and most of the divisional documents were destroyed before they arrived. .

Numbness kills people. As soon as Ma Baochen burned a small part of the telegrams, he heard gunshots not far away. Before he could ask what was going on, the door was knocked open with a bang.The head of the supplementary second regiment ran in out of breath and said incoherently: "Chief of Staff, it's not good, let's go, the youth army is coming."

"What?" Ma Baochen was really flustered at this moment. Although he had been in the army for many years, this was the first time he was in a dangerous situation. He was stunned for a long time before he said: "Then why don't you organize a team to resist!"

The head of the regiment suddenly went black: "The enemy's penetration was too sudden and violent, and the two companies in charge of security outside had no time to warn. Our team was scattered in the village and prepared to board the ship, and there was no way to organize resistance. Chief of Staff , I don’t care about so much, let’s go, put on plain clothes and escape. The enemy is less than 100 meters away, and my guard platoon is resisting.”

Ma Baochen nodded and went to look for plain clothes, only to find that the suitcases had already left with the previous boat, and he was supposed to make that trip, but he took the initiative to leave late because he wanted to show his courage. trip, the result. . .

Regretting that it was too late for this meeting, before Ma Baochen and others came out of the division headquarters, a scene that terrified them appeared. Pairs of soldiers in blue military uniforms ran past the division department at an extremely fast speed. The yellow military coat on his body clearly revealed his identity and position.

I'm sorry, two youth soldiers immediately pointed their black guns at Ma Baochen. Ma Baochen had more than 20 people accompanying him, and they also pulled out their guns reflexively. The two sides immediately entered a tense confrontation.The two youth soldiers who were only in charge of guarding the door were now sweating in fright. When they broke the door, they didn't expect that there were more than 20 enemies with guns here.If they dare not call for support, they will turn around and run away, which is a dead end. They will either sell their backs and be shot, or be punished by military law.The only thing that could cheer them up was the comrades who kept running on the street less than three meters behind them. Unfortunately, they didn't notice anything abnormal here, and sweat flowed down their cheeks.

The confrontation was only for a short while, and seeing more and more young soldiers running past the door, Ma Baochen sighed resignedly and said, "Ma Baochen, the chief of staff of the Sixth Division of the Central Army, is willing to surrender to the youth army, we lay down our weapons. "

So far, Ma Baochen became the first senior general of the Beiyang Army to be captured since the outbreak of the War to Protect the Country.When the news reached Beijing, Yuan Shikai was so angry that he tore up the telegram: "Why didn't he commit suicide! Why didn't he commit suicide?"

Liu Xuyi didn't expect that the result of his reckless behavior was to catch such a big fish, so he immediately gathered his team and escorted more than 3000 prisoners to wait for the division commander Liao Lei to bring the follow-up troops up. . .

Dai Yue, the deputy commander of the second army of the Tiger Youth Army and the commander of the second division, is on the way of pursuit at the moment. He may be the most relaxed of the entire second army's pursuit force. They set off from Changde and traveled by water. The heavy artillery regiment took them with them, and chased Ma Jizeng all the way along the Yuanjiang River. According to Wan Yaohuang's plan, the next battle to attack Yiyang, an important town on the Xiangjiang Road, was also placed on the Second Division. Dai Yue's great contribution is just around the corner.

Relatively speaking, Zhou Zhengming of the Eighth Division was the one who suffered the most. Although they started early, they hid behind the Beiyang Sixth Division very early.But the plan couldn't keep up with the changes, and the whole plan was seen through by the timid and cautious Ma Jizeng, and this old boy even played a good show of a strong man cutting off his wrist and a gecko's tail, and ran away with his No.11 brigade and division headquarters up.

The Eighth Division also reacted quickly. When Liu Xing arrived with the guard company of the military headquarters, the Chen Quzhen Division of the 801 Regiment under Zhou Zhengming had already rushed towards Yuanjiang.It stands to reason that Ma Jizeng could not escape this time, but another accident happened. Before Ma Jizeng attacked Changde, he left an engineer battalion on the east bank of the Yuanjiang River.Although this unit had only one battalion, it managed to reach a pontoon bridge on the Yuanjiang River. As a result, Ma Jizeng escaped from the Yuanjiang River except for a battalion of thousands of blocking troops, and then blew up the pontoon bridge. The 801 regiment was so angry Chen Quzhen, the leader of the regiment, threw the whip into the Yuan River.

Ma Jizeng ran to Yiyang where the Xiangjiang Road is located, only to learn that Ma Baochen had been captured. Needless to say, the entire supplementary brigade was finished.Moreover, Ma Jizeng's relationship with Lao Yuan also sent a secret message to Lao Ma, telling Lao Ma that Lao Yuan was very angry at the failure of the Changde battle, but he did not send it because of the needs of the overall situation. If he lost Hunan Province again, the consequences would be disastrous.

As a last resort, Ma Jizeng could only gather the remaining more than 9000 people to stand firm in Yiyang. At the same time, in the name of the commander of the First Route Army, he strictly ordered Ni Sichong, who was stationed in Hengyang, to defeat the place in front of him as soon as possible, and then sent his troops to Yiyang to join him.

This is an ideal state, because Ma Jizeng got even more terrifying news a day later.

Tao Zhiyue, who replaced Zhao Dongsheng before the battle, was transferred from the fifth division to the first division as the division commander, and turned the whole Baoqing mansion upside down. In just two days, he made an emergency landing on the local government and garrison in Baoqing (mainly the local garrison itself also There are not many people with guns), and then commanded 5000 people, known as 6, to join Cheng Qian in the Yongzhou area of ​​Chenzhou, and Lin Xiumei's army of more than [-] people, a total of [-] people wanted to capture Hengyang.But Ni Sichong, a bastard, is not very good at fighting, but judging from the situation, he is one-on-one. Looking at the situation, he knows that Wang Zhenyu's strength is far superior to his own, so why fight this kind of battle!

At this time, Ma Jizeng's telegram came again, and Ni Sichong thought about it.He immediately called back, saying that the battle in Yiyang was related to the safety of Hubei, and the safety of Hubei was related to His Majesty's great emperor.Therefore, Hengyang was handed over to Hunan local management immediately, and the [-]th Battalion of the Dingwu Army under the command of the Ministry of Staff went to Yiyang, under the command of Ma Jizeng, the commander of the First Route Army, to reconnaissance and pacify the bandits in western Hunan.

It would be great if Ni Sichong really went to Yiyang, but this guy is not kind, he evacuated from Hengyang area without waiting for Tang Xiangming's army to take over the defense, and he didn't go to Hengyang to support our Commander Ma as stated in the telegram.They burned, killed and looted all the way, went directly to Yuezhou along the Xiangjiang River, and then headed towards Anhui. Ma Jizeng was so angry that he scolded him for being shameless, but these are all later. . .

Ma Jizeng didn't dare to run away anymore, and defending Yiyang to the death was the only way out.But this also has to ask whether Dai Yue, the deputy commander of the Second Army of the Youth Army and the commander of the Second Division, agrees or disagrees.

On January 1, when Ma Jizeng ran to Yiyang, Dai Yue arrived on the back. The vanguard of the Second Division easily defeated the Beiyang Army security forces that were already frightened.By noon, the heavy artillery regiment of the Second Division of the Youth Army was in place and bombarded Yiyang fiercely.

How could the Yiyang City Wall, which had been standing for thousands of years, withstand such a blow from such a modern industry, and it collapsed in dozens of places.

At this point in the battle, it would be difficult for the Beiyang Army, which lacked heavy weapons, to continue. Ma Jizeng was about to shed tears. The Sixth Division didn't even fight a tough battle, so it collapsed, and he died unjustly. All.

On January 1, the war in the Guangdong area was led by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Third Army. On this day, the troops of the Eighth Division of the Second Army of the Youth Army also arrived in Yiyang.The most direct result of their arrival was that a large leaflet was fired at the defense line of the Beiyang Army in Yiyang with cannons. The content was a letter from the family members of the Sixth Division in Li County. Don't work for Yuan thief anymore.

In the afternoon, the fourth division was also in place.The 8000 youth army was surrounded by more than [-] Beiyang troops in Yiyang City, but they did not attack.

"What, there are 7 people outside our city alone. He Wang Zhenyu got the arms and salaries from there. How can he support so many troops in a small Xiangxi?" Ma Jizeng, who was holding the news of the capture of the Yue tribe, asked in a daze.

"It's absolutely true, Master, what kind of battle are we fighting here? We haven't figured out the enemy's strength until now. This battle is impossible to fight. Let's surrender, Master. We are fighting for the Great Emperor!" Your Majesty is loyal." Zhou Wenbing, the commander of the No.11 Brigade, had already convinced his old enemy Zhang Zhonghe before he came to see Ma Jizeng. Everyone's family members were in the hands of the youth army, and the army in his hand had lost all their belongings. , In this small city of Yiyang, they will not be able to get them together for a while.And after yesterday's fierce shelling, everyone's morale fell to the bottom, and no one wanted to fight anymore.

Ma Ji once looked at these subordinates who already had a slightly fierce look in their eyes, and knew that asking himself was just a sentimental gesture, he sighed and nodded in agreement.

On January [-]th of the fifth year of the Republic of China, the Sixth Division of the Beiyang Army was wiped out in Yiyang. Ma Jizeng, the commander of the First Route Army in charge of the Hunan War, committed suicide by taking poison.