Back to the Republic of China as a commander

While Tao Zhiyue was preparing for the start of the war, Bai Chongxi did not rest. In contrast, the preparations for offense were definitely no less than defense.

Bai Chongxi hasn't slept well these past few days, and spends every day perfecting the battle plan with a group of staff officers.The various terrains, enemy situations, and intelligence sent back by the reconnaissance troops were also continuously sent back to the headquarters.The staff staff also compared and summarized very efficiently, and then based on this, they further improved the combat plan.With the passage of time, a clear map of the battlefield began to slowly appear in front of Bai Chongxi, which is why Bai Chongxi dared to say proudly and proudly during the third lecture at the Army University: "My staff team can say It is the most professional and efficient in the whole army."

Ye Qi, Hu Zongduo, Deng Yulin, and Fang Benren, the four main regiment leaders of the Seventh Division, are all in front of Bai Chongxi at this moment, waiting for Bai Chongxi's order.Over the past few years, Bai Chongxi, who is usually unsmiling, has established a prestige of being unambiguous in front of his subordinates.Moreover, Bai Chongxi has always emphasized that kindness does not control soldiers, and he is often more ruthless to his own people who do not obey orders than to enemies.Therefore, as long as there is an order issued by Bai Chongxi in every battle, no matter whether it is right or wrong, it will be regarded as a deadly order by the officers below, and it will be executed immediately without any discount.Of course, Bai Chongxi's prestige certainly did not depend entirely on his strict military laws. All battles he commanded would definitely end in great victories.

The staff sent two very critical pieces of information: "Report to Commander Bai, according to the information sent by the axe (the code name of the Yangtze River Intelligence), the actual strength of the Dingwu Army under the personal command of Zhang Xun is 4, and it rushed to the front line of Chaohu to sink Xiang's army is currently only half, but it is expected that in the next two or three days, all Dingwu troops will be in place, but their fortifications are also progressing slowly due to the lack of civilians. Guards, reconnaissance, and special agents) reported that the Zhang Huaizhi Department of the Fifth Division preemptively conscripted more than [-] civilians to dig fortifications on the east bank of the Yuxi River, but from fishing to Dongguan, the total length was five kilometers. The fortifications are simply substandard."

After thinking for a while, Bai Chongxi said: "Invite Commander Cheng Qian, Commander Liao Lei, and Acting Commander Li Pinxian of the Third Division together. I have combat missions to issue."

After a while, all the three division commanders arrived, and Bai Chongxi stood quietly in front of the sand table and said, "Everyone, the current enemy situation is in front of us. Zhang Huaizhi obviously made a small calculation and put his fifth division 2 More than [-] people nestled in Chaohu Lake, relying on Taihu Mountain and Yuxi River to resist us. From this terrain, I saw that even if we concentrated our superior forces to attack, it would be nonsense. The entire front is only five kilometers away, and we cannot use it at all. In contrast, Zhang Huaizhi threw almost [-] kilometers of front to Zhang Xun, and it gave us a front that is enough to deploy troops. This Zhang Huaizhi is not a good person, he actually put himself on our waist, if we attack It’s okay if the attack goes well, but if the attack doesn’t go well, he’s probably going to stick a knife in our left rib. So I’m thinking about a question, who will restrain Zhang Huaizhi so that he doesn’t dare to act rashly. And who will be the commander of the whole army? A sharp knife to penetrate Zhang Xun's Dingwu army?"

Cheng Qian is the most thoughtful person here. Originally, he had stayed well in Jiangxi and was planning to make Jiangxi Wang Dangdang, but Wang Zhenyu sent him to the front line to serve as reinforcements with a telegram.At this time, Cheng Qian's wings were not yet fully fledged, and he had no contact with the north, so he didn't even dare to think about supporting troops to rebel, and obediently obeyed the order and went to the front line.Cheng Qian's Ninth Division is much better than Zeng Jiwu's Tenth Division and Lu Diping's No.11 Division in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness.So the ambition increased along with the capital, Cheng Qian determined to make a great contribution in this battle, and strive to win a good position for himself when the youth army dominates the world in the future.It was with such vulgar psychological support that Cheng Qian was the first to shout: "I am willing to command the eleventh division as the vanguard of the whole army, and take the head of the old thief Zhang Xun for the commander-in-chief."

Bai Chongxi was stunned for a moment, and took a closer look at the older teacher, his eyes rolled, and he immediately understood what Cheng Qian was thinking.He smiled slightly, then shook his head and said in an unquestionable tone: "Let's leave the vanguard's errands to the third and fourth divisions. In my opinion, we need a strong team like the ninth division to watch over Zhang Huaizhi for everyone." The troops. That’s it, let’s see what needs to be changed in the staff’s combat plan.”

Cheng Qian was so angry that his lungs were going to explode, but he didn't like to have an attack, after all, he had only joined the gang not long ago.He held back his anger and said to himself: "What you Bai Chongxi said is that you see Zhang Xun's place is easy to fight, and you just think about taking care of your fellow Guangxi fellow. You think that no one knows about your little thoughts. Hmph, just wait and see!"

However, I was not happy at all. I had the entire battle plan in hand. After Cheng Qianzai looked at it carefully, I could only say that I admired it. It was actually specific to the use of each company.With such a plan in hand, all you can do is to execute it desperately at all costs, because such a detailed plan is like a combination of punches in a boxing match.

It's no wonder that Bai Chongxi is notoriously strict in governing the army, and he has a bad reputation for not taking soldiers' lives seriously. The root cause is here, Cheng Qian thought to himself. . .

On the side of the Beiyang Army, Zhang Xun was looking at the other side of the canal in this place called Shenxiang at the moment, his whole old face was wrinkled like a bitter melon, and he was about to wring out water.

The time went back to March 3, before Feng Guozhang set off for Wuhu, Zhang Xun personally visited him at his patrolling mansion.There is only one purpose, Zhang Xun needs to replenish his arms.

Looking back on this war to protect the country, from beginning to end, the Beiyang Army was truly selfless, and there was actually only one person who fought for Lao Yuan wholeheartedly, and that was Zhang Xun from Jiangxi.And which of the other generals didn't have the idea of ​​sitting back and watching the situation to preserve their strength?No, they are all greedy and selfish ghosts, and they all say that the northerners are real, but at this level, the most real one is Zhang Xun, a Jiangxi native, unexpectedly!

But the conversation with Feng Guozhang was obviously unpleasant. When Zhang Xun came out, his face was full of clouds, he jumped on the horse, and then lashed the horse with a whip.The frightened war horse galloped out immediately, and galloped along the street.Seeing this, the guards got on their horses and gave chase, but the passers-by and vendors on the street saw the galloping horses and dodged one after another. They jumped up and down, but they dared not speak out.

Zhang Xun's anger was justified. As a non-mainstream of the Beiyang Army, the Dingwu Army was almost wiped out by the Soviet-Zhejiang Allied Army with the New Army's Ninth Division as the backbone during the [-] Revolution.And after receiving the secret support from the princes of the Zong-Social Party, especially the first batch of arms that Wang Zhenyu sold to the Zong-Social Party (it seems that these two are destined people), Zhang Xun began to revive.And soon reorganized the Dingwu Army in the Xuzhou area.After the Second Revolution, Zhang Xun finally fought back to Nanjing, but because of his contacts with the Zong-Socialists, Yuan Shikai deducted the title of military plunder and relieved him of the job of the Jiangsu Governor.This also caused the Dingwu Army to immediately become non-mainstream, and the supply of weapons and equipment lagged far behind other troops.Usually, if it is a weapon, it is almost fine, but Zhang Xun is a person who has fought against the Eight-Power Allied Forces, so how could he not know the importance of weapons.So he came to Feng Guozhang for no other reason than to fight this battle well, and asked to allocate some of the supplies that Lao Yuan brought down from the north to himself.The opening is fifty mountain cannons, two hundred heavy machine guns, and some ammunition.

But Feng Guozhang also has his own ideas at this moment. This batch of materials only has [-] cannons and [-] heavy machine guns. If Zhang Xun's Dingwu Army is satisfied, what will the second and fourth divisions think? .So even though Zhang Xun rubbed his lips dry, Feng Guozhang did not agree. In the end, Zhang Xun was about to turn his face, and Feng Guozhang reluctantly agreed to allocate [-] heavy machine guns. As for the mountain guns, sorry, there are none.If Zhang Xun and Zhang Shaoxuan were not angry with such a result, it would be a ghost. Later, when Zhang Xun went to live in Tianjin, he mentioned this to his friends: "Although the palms and backs of his hands are all flesh, the flesh is not the same thickness. ! If Lao Yuan can be less selfish and give me more support, how can it be Wang Wenzheng's turn to sit in the court now?"

If you have the conditions, you have to go, and if you don’t have the conditions, you have to go.Although Zhang Xun had many opinions and dissatisfaction with the coach Feng Guozhang, he still commanded his Dingwu army westward without hesitation.

But when he arrived at Shenxiang, he saw the situation of the army and was so angry that he almost jumped up and scolded his mother: "Zhang Huaizhi, you lack virtue."

With such a wide front and a full 60-mile wide defense line, even if one soldier stands one meter, Zhang Xun does not have so many soldiers to stand on.Zhang Huaizhi leaned to the side very lightly, and as a result Zhang Xun was completely in front of the [-] Youth Army. Anyone who encountered this situation would have to scold his mother.

But scolding is scolding, and battles still have to be fought.Zhang Xun called several generals under his command to a meeting to see what method is more appropriate.

Most of Zhang Xun's subordinates are officers who can fight, but not many are good at strategy. However, the three commanders standing in front of him, Su Xilin, Li Futing, and Zhang Wensheng, are all good at military affairs, so the four of them began to plan.

After tinkering for a long time, Zhang Xun said: "Yushu (Su Xilin's writing), you fought against the Germans at Niangziguan in the year of Gengzi, and we may be in big trouble this time. Tell me, what should we do?"

Su Xilin and Zhang Wensheng looked at each other and said: "Commander, we have less than [-] people in total, and we don't have enough heavy weapons. If we fight hard here, we may suffer a big loss. So, Commander, we must focus on defense, otherwise All we have to do is collapse across the board."

Zhang Xun nodded when he heard this, then stroked his mustache with his hand and asked, "Then tell me, where should our focus be?"