young marshal spring and autumn

On November 11, Ma Fuxiang convened a combat deployment meeting with the commanders and above of the defenders of various ministries in Ningxia. The reason why our army will win the battle is as follows: first, our army can get food locally, and it is not easy for the other army to transport it for a long distance; It is convenient to occupy the land, and it is easy to supplement the supply of troops." It was decided to concentrate superior forces and stick to several strategic points.

"Anxi Army" pressed from north to south, and Shizuishan was the first dangerous pass.Shizuizi is close to the west bank of the Yellow River, and Helan Mountain stands in the northwest. The terrain is quite dangerous and favorable for military defense.It was decided that Ma Baolin, the deputy brigade commander of the 5th Mixed Brigade, would personally lead the two infantry regiments to defend.As long as there is a chance to breathe, the successive troops in the provincial capital of Gansu and the defenders in Pingliang and Tianshui can gradually reinforce them, and the situation will change for the better.

After the meeting, in the name of protecting local foreign merchants and wealthy households, they extorted huge sums of money for military pay, so that the soldiers risked their lives to obey orders without causing any change.At the same time, the imams of the mosque were asked to encourage the Hui people: Zhang Hanqing is now leading troops to the west, not only to attack the city, but also to kill the religion.Only with the joint efforts of the army and the people can the city be protected from massacres.

In order to disintegrate the fighting spirit of the Ningxia defenders and publicize the idea of ​​the "Anxi Army", Zhang Hanqing mimeographed thousands of copies of the "Letter to the Compatriots in the Northwest" and lashed out at the Ma Fuxiang Group: "The other generation controlled the territory, was cruel and heartless, employed people to act, and respected the same : One must have the same surname, that is, horse, if you are not a horse, you don’t like it; second, you must be of the same family, that is, Hui, and you must not be close unless you are back; Do not believe in religion." Claiming that the "Anxi Army" will build a prosperous, prosperous, democratic and civilized new Northwest with the "Three People's Principles" program.

On December 12, the Tang Juwu Regiment of the 2st Brigade of Han Linchun's vanguard first attacked Zhandengkou.

Shizuizi is close to the west bank of the Yellow River, and Helan Mountain stands in the northwest. The terrain is quite dangerous and favorable for military defense.It was the middle of winter, the mountains were covered with heavy snow, and the river was frozen with ice. The "Anxi Army" Ma Longxiang Regiment and Tang Juwu Regiment divided their forces into two groups: one went straight to the front of Shizuizi and stormed Ma Baolin's position, and the other crossed the ice bridge at night from the east of the river and attacked Shizuizi suddenly, forcing Ma Baolin's troops to abandon the dangerous pass and retreat one after another .It took less than 2 hours from the start of the charge to the completion of the battle.The Feng army took advantage of the victory to pursue and surrounded Pingluo.

Pingluo is 120 miles north of Yinchuan City. The city is small and strong, and most of the residents believe in Islam.Ma Hongkui personally led 2 cavalry regiments as the general reserve team, with 1 infantry regiment and 1 artillery battalion, commanded by Chief of Staff Lu Zhongliang to defend the North City.He knew that there was no line of defense to the south of Pingluo, so he encouraged his troops to defend with all their might.The city has a relatively sufficient reserve of food, fodder, ammunition and other military supplies.

Han Linchun, the commander-in-chief of the "Anxi Army", saw that the attack was flat, so Pei Chunsheng, the deputy commander and commander of the 1st Brigade, led 3 regiments to continue the encirclement. On the 6th of the same month, he led the army to quickly point to Ningxia City.The Ningxia horse army, which was originally defending along the northern line, was greatly threatened by the superior force of the "Anxi Army" and retreated steadily for fear of being encircled and wiped out.In order to consolidate Ningxia's outer defensive line, Ma Fuxiang strictly ordered the retreating troops to transfer to the defensive positions around Fort Li Gang, and cooperate with the original garrison to resolutely block the advancing "Anxi Army".

When the "Anxi Army" occupied Dengkou, Poshizui, and Weipingluo, and approached the provincial capital of Ningxia, Ma Fuxiang was greatly alarmed and wanted to withdraw the 35th Brigade of Ma Hongbin, the main force of the Ningxia Army, to Lingwu, Jinji, Zhongwei and other counties. , and the Ma Fushou garrison brigade stayed in the provincial capital, and called Zhang Guangjian, the governor of Gansu, to report the urgency.But he also considered that if the main force of the 35th Brigade moved backwards, how could the strength of the garrison brigade alone be able to defend it?If the morale of the army is shaken, it will be detrimental to Ningxia's defense, and his beloved son Ma Hongkui is in danger, so he cannot be left alone anyway.But if you don't withdraw your main force first, you are afraid of being besieged by the "Anxi Army", and the food road in the rear is also in danger of being cut off.Therefore, full of doubts and fears, it is difficult to retreat.

When the military meeting was held, Ma Hongbin advocated sticking to Ningxia with all his strength, which can not only stabilize the morale of the army, but also turn the defense into an offensive.After hearing this, Ma Fuxiang cheered up the officers at all levels of his subordinates and said: "Ma Hongkui can still hold on to Pingluo with thousands of soldiers. I personally lead tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and I have more than enough power to protect Ningxia. The Fengjun is adventurous and has no reinforcements. If we fight hard, we will have the hope of a complete victory.”

The city of Yinchuan in Ningxia has a circumference of 15 miles. It is long from east to west and doubles from north to south. There are six gates, which are closed day and night.The twin towers stand tall and magnificent.In the city is the West Pagoda Temple, with 8 corners and 11 floors, made of blue bricks, which is extremely strong.Ma Fuxiang moved many precious sundries into the west tower and sent troops to guard them; on the four sides of the city head, traffic ditches and shelters were dug, and artillery positions were installed on the north city; lights, and prepare surveillance posts at the head of the city.In addition, along the northern city wall, residents were ordered to dig tunnels, and basements were also built in the general headquarters (the seat of the provincial government).The one outside the city is the North Tower, more than 10 miles away from the city wall. The terrain here is important and it is the barrier of Ningxia City.Ma Fuxiang also knew that this battle was a life-and-death battle related to the existence of the Ma family, so he sent his nephew Ma Hongbin to lead the 35th brigade to station in person, hoping to delay the "Northwest Army"'s offensive edge and fight for the reinforcements in the provincial capital. time.

However, Ma Fuxiang did not dare to have too much hope for how many soldiers and horses the provincial capital can send: "Anxi Army" is said to be attacking from two sides, and now most of the soldiers and horses in the provincial capital of Lanzhou City are transferred to the north of Longbei to help Liangzhou, and it seems that they can support themselves. Maybe there is only Chen Shufan, the governor of Shaanxi.However, since Chen Shufan asked Liu Zhenhua, the commander of Henan Zhensong Army, to come to Shaanxi to help against the Shaanxi Jingguo Army, because Liu Jiu occupied the magpie's nest, his status in Shaanxi has not been as good as before.In addition, Xu Lanzhou, the commander-in-chief of the Gansu, Sichuan, Shanxi and Shaanxi Army entrenched in Xianyang, is a member of the Feng family. He has a brigade of the Feng family and other provincial coalition forces. Whether Chen Shufan can, or dare to come, is still unknown.Ma Fuxiang also sent several telegrams asking for help, but they all fell to the ground.

The "Anxi Army" is fighting in the ice and snow. As the front line stretches, the logistics are gradually unable to provide support. In recent days, even firewood for heating has been difficult to find.Zhang Hanqing had nothing to do. Seeing that the Ningxia army could not shrink back, he wanted to use space to gain time by resisting steadily. If he wanted to make a strong offensive, he would have to pay a lot of casualties.He has an "amazing" insight into the direction of national strategy, but his achievements at the tactical level are gone.One day he was very depressed, squatting in front of the bedroom of the headquarters, holding his cheeks in both hands, bowing his head in silence, the attendants immediately took pictures and wrote the title "Concern for the country and the people". Instead of writing 'worrying about the country and the people', it would be better to write 'thinking about your wife and children'".It became an anecdote in the army for a while.

Han Linchun had fought for a long time. He comforted Zhang Hanqing and said: "Young commander, don't worry. I have planned to use the cavalry regiment belonging to the division to harass the rear of the Ningxia provincial capital and cut off the food road of the Ningxia army. He will definitely lose without a fight." Zhang Hanqing had an idea. As soon as I moved, I remembered the most admired trick of "siege and fight for aid" in the war movies of the previous life: you don't come out, but I force you to do so.This is also what is said in the Art of War, "If you attack, you must save."He thought for a moment, took the battle map, pointed to the city of Yinchuan and said, "I have a solution: make it clear to besiege the city, and ambush the soldiers in the middle of the road. When the attack is urgent, Ma Hongbin will return to rescue the city, and our army can be wiped out in the middle of the road." It." Han Linchun nodded in praise.

So the 4th Brigade, Changjing Military Department, confronted Ma Hongbin's 35th Brigade ten miles north of Yinchuan City. Taking advantage of the great freezing of the Yellow River, the 11th Brigade ran to the east of the Yellow River at Zhaolinbu at night, bypassed the pass of the Great Wall, and then detoured from Hedong to Yinchuan by night. Under the city, the deployment of personnel was completed overnight, and the North Tower was cut off from Yinchuan.In the early morning of the next day, the artillery regiment belonging to the division made a feint attack on Yinchuan, and the artillery bombarded for a while.The cavalry regiment of the division broke through the Huinong Canal, captured Wang Hongbao, an important place behind Yinchuan, at a small cost, wiped out a battalion of the defenders, and harassed and defended against reinforcements behind Ningxia City.

Ma Hongbin heard the rumble of gunfire in the direction of Yinchuan, and all the liaison soldiers he sent there never returned.There is almost no danger to defend between the North Tower and Yinchuan. Isn't the enemy worried that they will strike back from behind?

But the situation is stronger than people, and the sound of the cannons of the "Anxi Army" can't stop for a moment, it seems that it is inevitable to spend a lot of money.He didn't dare to wait and see any longer: the defenders of Yinchuan City only had two garrison regiments, so he couldn't allow him to think too much, so he immediately used the main force to go out of the North Tower and rush to Yinchuan to help.He stepped forward, and the 2th Brigade of the "Anxi Army" attacked the remnants of the North Tower with one regiment, followed by the main two regiments.Ma Hongbin decided to abandon the North Tower and try his best to defeat the "Anxi Army" attacking Yinchuan City.