Back to the Republic of China as a commander

Due to the scheduling of the army, the second phase of the battle was finally postponed to March 3, which also provided more time for the preparations of the two warring parties, which also led to this battle that later historians called the Southeast Campaign. The tragedy of the war was no less than a battle in the European War.Many novel combat methods also emerged in this battle, which greatly subverted the traditional perception of the Chinese army's combat effectiveness by the great powers.

On the night of March 1916th in the fifth year of the Republic of China (AD [-]), outside Anqing City, the surrounding fields were vast and silent.Ni Sichong, the commander of the Beiyang Anwu Army, did not feel sleepy. He sat alone in the living room thinking quietly, and the western wall clock in the living room was consciously striking eleven o'clock.

"Master, it's time to rest." It was Ni Sichong's wife who spoke. From her point of view, since her husband came back from Hunan, he has been in a bad mood, so he is very careful about his work and rest.

"Ah, it's Madam, you go to bed first, I really can't sleep!" Although Ni Sichong's nickname is Living Hades, everyone in Anhui is not afraid, but what everyone doesn't know is that this Ni Sichong is a man who loves his wife, no matter No matter how many concubines he takes, he is always polite to his wife.

Madam Ni did not leave, but sat down together very worriedly and said, "Master, what happened to bother you so much?"

Ni Sichong was also a figure during the period of the Republic of China. He suppressed rebellious parties, supported restoration, and surrounded the president (Feng Guozhang was surrounded by soldiers in Anhui in 1918). He never missed any of these messy major events.Although the final ending is very miserable, but if a person lives like him, it is really a blessing and a crime, so there is nothing to worry about.

But he is not bothered by the current situation. If he supports Yuan Shikai's restoration, this Anhui boss is the number one activist. He has signed almost every call to persuade him. He is the number one loyal minister under Yuan Shikai's command. look like.Yuan Shikai naturally reciprocated his loyalty to him, and made Ni Sichong the first-class duke.

Ni Sichong was then ordered to go to Hunan to suppress the Hunan guards led by Cheng Qian, Lin Xiumei and others. The pressure is outside Hengyang.But I never thought, the situation changed suddenly, and Wang Zhenyu, Cheng Yaojin, was killed halfway.First, the first division of the Youth Army crossed Xuefeng Mountain and entered the Hengyang area through Baoqing Mansion, which led to a reversal of the enemy's strength.Then there was news that Ma Jizeng's Sixth Division was wiped out. At this time, Ni Sichong, a veteran leader of the army, would be a pig if he couldn't see the situation clearly.Our old Comrade Ni thought about it, and the 2 people who stayed in Hunan would be regarded as unfamiliar with the place, and the situation could not be changed.So Ni Sichong made a decisive decision and withdrew, and before he left, he gave Tang Xiangming a hard time by throwing the first division of the Hunan Army into it.

Moreover, Ni Sichong's Anwu army withdrew not so cleanly, they didn't even enter Wuhan, and went directly back to Anhui.The speed and distance of the retreat were definitely not worse than Ye Zhichao during the Sino-Japanese War.

Everyone must be very surprised, isn't Ni Sichong afraid of being held accountable by Lao Yuan?Ni Sichong is not a child either. He has been an official for many years, and his ability to see the direction of the wind is first-rate.This old Yuan was at a time when he was losing ahead, and when his own side was employing people, he would only pretend to win over a general like Ni Sichong who held military power, instead of playing the trick of beating Ma Su with tears.

Sure enough, as soon as Feng Guozhang interceded here, the telegram of Lao Yuan's crime and meritorious service came down.

But this little bit of caution is just fooling Lao Yuan, Ni Sichong's biggest headache now is the youth army.It's really unexpected that this kid Wang Zhenyu has accumulated such a strong strength in just a few years. After taking over the territory of Jiangxi and Hubei, he will continue to move eastward, and he is about to break into his own territory, Anhui.

Ni Sichong knows better than anyone else that you have land to have money, money to have soldiers, and soldiers to have power.Therefore, Anhui is no better than Hunan, and the trick of running away is not good, but judging from the situation of the Sixth Division and Hubei and Jiangxi, this youth army is probably different from the civilian army during the Second Revolution. He is still slightly better than his own army, which makes it very difficult for him.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid our family's good times are coming to an end. I'm thinking about cleaning up tomorrow. The old and the young will go to Tianjin to escape. The south will soon become a battlefield. For my husband I don’t know what will happen tomorrow?” Although Ni Sichong made up his mind to stick to Anqing (note that during the Republic of China, the provincial capital of Anhui was Anqing, and the governor of Anhui was Zhang Xun, and his Dingwu Army was stationed in Xuzhou, and Ni Sichong’s identity was Anhui Governor, the Anwu Army under his command is stationed in Anqing), but the emotion of failure is still completely exposed in front of his wife.

Madam Ni is a very traditional woman, she never asks about her husband's official affairs, so she can only nod silently: "Understood, I will arrange for someone to pack things tomorrow, but it may take some time."

Ni Sichong shook his head and said: "Don't clean up those pots and jars, but mainly clean up valuable gold and silver jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings. In addition, I will give you a 150 million HSBC cashier's note for you, This is what I withheld from this year's tax. You guys set off as soon as possible. I have booked a British freighter to go directly to Shanghai. When you arrive in Shanghai, you will transfer to Tianjin. I am busy organizing labor to dig fortifications every day. , but God knows that Anqing can guard for a few days, maybe Zhang Dashuai's army will be lost before it arrives, and it may be too late to leave, so I will leave tomorrow, and now I will go and wake up my family, pack things overnight, and immediately ..."

The Tiger Banner of the Youth Army appeared in Pengze County eight days ago, the place where Tao Yuanming, who picked chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and saw Nanshan leisurely, served as the county magistrate.It is said that Tao Yuanming was unwilling to bend his waist for five buckets of rice that day, so he lost his official seal and ran away.But I didn't expect that more than 1000 years later, descendants are still calling for this official seal.

Ni Sichong felt that before he could recover from his escape from Hunan, the young army caught up again.So he didn't plan to run away anymore, he wanted to defend Anqing to the end, even if he would wipe out the Anwu army he had pulled out with his own hands.

Of course, guarding Anqing does not necessarily mean guarding Anqing City. Ni Sichong's plan is to use Wangjiang County, which is [-] miles away from Anqing City, and Qianshan County, which is [-] miles away from Anqing City, as fulcrums, with the Yangtze River as the back, forming a defensive line, and starting to resist from the periphery. and consumption, try to delay time, and then wait for Zhang Xun's Dingwu army to come up before making plans.

Wangjiang County is located in the southwest of Anqing, with the broad Yangtze River on the left and a large lake area consisting of Longgan Lake, Daguan Lake, Huanghu Lake, Mihu Lake, Wuchang Muhu Lake and Qingcao Lake on the right.

These lakes next to the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River have been complementary for a long time. When the Yangtze River is full of water, the water flows into the Great Lakes to prevent flooding.Wang Zhenyu vaguely remembers that later generations built the world's first dam on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which destroyed this ecological relationship, causing these lakes to dry up and become a grassland where cattle and sheep can't be seen. Wang Zhenyu can only agree with the same time Like most Chinese people in modern times, if they know it, they can only draw a circle and play curses helplessly.

Ni Sichong is still a soldier. He set up the defense line at Wangjiang with this in mind. It is March at the moment, and the lake is very shallow, so it is not easy to sail. Heavy weapons cannot be transported by water, and the lake is wide, so there is no need to worry about the young army's attack. One's own rear.Another advantage of deploying defense here is that military supplies can be transported up by water, which is relatively easy.So Ni Sichong decisively decided to send his younger brother Ni Min to command the Tenth Battalion of the Anwu Army to deploy defenses along Mishui to stop the youth army here.

Ni Min is also considered a character. After the Shuaijun arrived, he didn't care about anything. He directly conscripted [-] civilians, provided them with food and drink, and forced them to build various fortifications.Regarding the firepower advantage of the youth army, the Beiyang Army probably knows a little bit at present, so the degree of emphasis on fortifications has naturally been greatly increased.

And the one who confronted this guy An Wujun was the Seventh Division of the Youth Army under the personal command of Bai Chongxi. At this moment, Lao Bai looked at the situation around Anqing and just wanted to scold his mother.Moreover, the civil construction that is going on across Mishui can only admire the labor force of many parties. Since many heavy weapons have not yet been brought up, it is impossible to even fire artillery to interfere.

Compared with the Beiyang Army, the Youth Army does not have so many civilians available, but everyone has received some rigorous training, so although there are half as many people as the opponent, the efficiency in building fortifications is not worse than the opponent.

As a result, there was a competition between the two sides to repair fortifications on the front line in northern Anhui. Everyone knew that the next one must be a bitter battle.

On March 3, Liao Lei's Fourth Division was finally in place, while Li Zongren's Third Division bypassed the lake area and moved towards Qianshan County, northeast of Anqing, where Ni Sichong also placed ten battalions.The Anwu Army had a total of 9 battalions. Ni Sichong sent out all the other 25 battalions except for five battalions in Anqing, his hometown, as a reserve team.Feng Guozhang also knew about Anqing's difficulties, and now he urged Zhang Xun to reinforce Anqing three times a day, but the fifteen battalions of the Dingwu Army with [-] troops had not yet arrived in Nanjing.It's not that Zhang Xun is playing tricks, it's that the brothers below are fighting for salary, and they won't move without paying the starting fee.And this money is really impossible to get out (the generals are rich in private, but no one wants to post it).

While Ni Sichong was trying to arrange for his family, at 3:11 on March 11, the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division and the Seventh Division of the Youth Army secretly entered the attacking position, waiting for the shelling of their own artillery to start.