Back to the Republic of China as a commander

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.

He Chengjun, the head of the 104th Infantry Regiment, was the first to raise objections: "Commander, there is no favorable terrain for defense in this area at all. We have three difficulties in defense here, which are difficult to solve. What about the Beiyang Navy on the Yangtze River?" What to do? According to the report of the reconnaissance troops, the enemy army has already set off from Wuhu, and it takes only a day or two to get here. Entering positional warfare, even if we are not afraid of outflanking, we can't afford the 1.1-meter delay, and we will suffer a lot if we fight like this, Commander-in-Chief!"

Tao Zhiyue took a look at the extremely excited He Chengjun and said, "Commander He, I know everything you said, but this is an order. Now please tell me, commanders, what is the bounden duty of a soldier?"

"Obey the order," the four regiment leaders immediately replied loudly.

Tao Zhiyue nodded in satisfaction and said, "I also don't understand this battle plan, but from the perspective of the overall situation, we must suffer for our military flag and our commander. So let's not say anything more about this. , we still use our minds to see how to win this battle under such conditions is more practical."

Then Tao Zhiyue said again: "I ordered that each regiment deploy a company and a division guard battalion to form a special detachment, commanded by Chief of Staff Zhang Xuguang, and all go out to the Fanchang area to harass the enemy's vanguard and logistics troops. In short, do everything possible to win three days for our army. During these three to five days, I will try my best to give you as much cement and steel as possible. Look at the work. As for the navy, I don't think you need to worry about it, there will be changes soon, they will no longer be a problem, go implement it!"

The four heads exchanged glances, then saluted and left, the battle was about to begin. . .