Blood-quenched mountains and rivers

Since the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the main force of the Northern Expedition invaded Hunan, and the whole country responded accordingly.

During the Northern Expedition, the three armies that were the primary targets of the Northern Expedition were Wu Peifu of the direct line, Zhang Zuolin of the Feng line, and Sun Chuanfang of his own faction. After repeated comparisons of the strength of the enemy and ourselves and analysis of the conflicts between the enemy and the enemy, the revolutionary "government" of Guangdong finally determined the following: His strategic policy is to concentrate his forces to defeat one by one, and the first target of the battle is Wu Peifu.

At that time, among the three forces, Wu Peifu was the most ferocious enemy, but he was in a weak position among the Beiyang warlords. Due to Feng Yuxiang's restraint, Wu Peifu had fallen into a situation where he was under the enemy's back and forth, and internal forces were splitting.

After determining the combat objectives, the Northern Expeditionary Army was divided into three groups. The Ye Ting Independent Regiment went to the front line of Hunan as an advance force, and the Northern Expeditionary Army used the Fourth Army, Seventh Army, and Eighth Army as the main frontal attack.At this time, Sun Chuanfang had already fallen into Chiang Kai-shek's counter-intrigue. Under Liang Wenyuan's lobbying, he had a rift with Wu Peifu. He sat back and watched Wu Peifu's bloody battle and refused to give any support. Wu Peifu can only fight to the end.

The Northern Expedition Army occupied Changsha, Pingjiang, and Yueyang respectively, quickly ending the fighting in Hunan. Wu Peifu immediately led the troops to fight the Northern Expedition Army at Tingsi Bridge and Hesheng Bridge in Hubei.Blood Quenching Mountains and Rivers 125

The reason why the battle location was chosen at Tingsi Bridge was because of its special geographical location.Tingsi Bridge is located in the south of Xianning. It is a necessary pass leading to Wuhan. It is surrounded by mountains on the east and surrounded by water on the other three sides. The terrain is very dangerous.Wu Peifu tried to rely on natural dangers to resist tenaciously, and waited for most reinforcements from the north to arrive before launching a full-scale counterattack. He went to the front line to command back and forth, and sent eight broadsword teams to supervise the formation.When the Northern Expeditionary Army marched to Tingsiqiao Town, only an iron bridge on the Guangdong-Han Railway from west to northeast could pass. Wu Peifu concentrated his firepower on the iron bridge and sealed it tightly.

Tingsi Bridge is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which can be called a natural danger. Wu Peifu concentrated [-] troops here, including the remnants who fled from the front lines of Miluo and Yueyang in Hunan, and the defeated generals who were defeated on the front lines of Pingjiang and Tongcheng. With the reinforcements dispatched from Wuhan, and the rest of the reinforcements from the second line will arrive soon, Wu Peifu has great confidence in defending the Tingsi Bridge.

Before the Battle of Tingsi Bridge officially started, the two armies fought for a day, and the two sides had become stalemate, and the Northern Expeditionary Army made no progress.That night, Huang Qixiang, the head of the 36th regiment of the Northern Expedition Army, was approved. Ye Ting sent troops to detour to Gutangjiao to attack the back of Wu Peifu's army.

Wu Peifu was attacked by the enemy, and the Northern Expeditionary Army was brave and good at fighting, and captured the Tingsi Bridge overnight.

When Tingsi Bridge fell, Wu Peifu was furious, and shot and killed nine people including brigade commander Fang Guoxing and regiment leader Liao Dingyue. Tang Shengzhi retreated without support.

The next day, the Northern Expeditionary Army regrouped and recovered Ketingsi Bridge, but in the afternoon it was recaptured by the death squad organized by Wu Peifu's brigade commander Ma Ji. The two sides saw each other for more than ten days. The first army went into battle, captured Tingsi Bridge, and captured more than [-] officers and more than [-] soldiers of Wu Peifu's subordinates.

On the morning of July 7, Chiang Kai-shek's special train passed by and found that there were many abandoned corpses everywhere in the middle of the river and on the iron bridge, and the fighting was extremely tragic.

After the defeat of Tingsi Bridge, Wu Peifu still wanted to stick to Hesheng Bridge.The terrain in the northwest of Hesheng Bridge is low and flat, and in the southeast there are three mountains guarding the side of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, which is the last pass into Wuchang from south to north.In order to hold on to the Hesheng Bridge, Wu Peifu personally took the banker's train to supervise the battle in the north of the bridge, and sent a supervisory team. At first, Wu Peifu used artillery fire from three sides to attack the Ye Ting Independent Regiment in an attempt to encircle it. However, with the reinforcements of the Tenth Division and No.12 Division of the Northern Expedition Army, Wu Peifu The frontal defeat was shaken by the enemy's front and back, and the broadsword team in charge of the formation killed several brigade-level officers in a row, but they could not recover their defeat.

In the end, Ye Ting's independent regiment captured Wu Peifu's command position from the front. Wu Peifu had to flee to Wuchang in a hurry, and his troops retreated. The Northern Expedition Army captured Hesheng Bridge on the morning of the [-]th.

In August 1926, when the Northern Expeditionary Army attacked Wuchang, Wu Peifu won over Liu Zuolong because of his decisive position. He appointed Liu Zuolong as the governor of Hubei Province and the defense commander of Hanyang. Liu Zuolong took office in Hankou. The troops stationed in Hanyang and Xianghe On the front line, Wu Peifu pinned his hopes on Liu Zuolong.However, in September of that year, when the Northern Expedition army attacked Hanyang, Liu Zuolong suddenly led an uprising, and deployed cannons to turn the muzzles and bombard Wu Peifu's headquarters in Hankou.

Wu Peifu never thought that when he tried his best to win over Liu Zuolong, the Northern Expedition Army handed over to Liu Zuolong a letter from the director of the Political Department of the National Revolutionary Army General Headquarters. Winning under the command of the Northern Expeditionary Army, the three towns of Wuhan fell one after another. Wu Peifu was forced to abandon the city and fled north in a hurry, leading the remnants to retreat to Henan.

At the same time, Zhang Zuolin, who was Wu Peifu's sworn brother, not only refused to save him, but also sent troops to occupy the whole territory of Zhili to prevent Wu Peifu from entering the Zhilu area. Wu Peifu had no way to go to the east and north. There was Feng Yuxiang's army attacking in front of him. Although he claimed to have 20 soldiers, after repeated defeats, Wu Peifu's soldiers had lost their fighting spirit and had no intention of responding to the enemy, and their troops collapsed.

Soon after, the Feng army occupied Zhengzhou, and Wu Peifu had to lead his troops westward into Sichuan. Since then, Wu Peifu's political career came to an end.

Wu Peifu was completely defeated in the battle, and Sun Chuanfang was in danger, but Sun Chuanfang had no intention of meeting the enemy, and instead urged Qi Xieyuan to send troops to fight the enemy.

At present, Qi Xieyuan, who holds the Second Division and First Brigade in his hand, has already seen Wu Peifu's fate, and feels a headache. He sits in the office and frowns tightly. However, Zhao Jinzhong is not worried about the war like Qi Xieyuan at all. The Overseer need not worry, although it is inevitable to send troops, but the Overseer has forgotten a general under his command."

Looking at Zhao Jinzhong's complacent expression, Qi Xieyuan frowned and looked at Zhao Jinzhong sideways, wondering: "What general?"

Zhao Jinzhong suppressed the pride in his heart and said: "Did the governor forget, we still have Yang Wei who graduated from the Virginia Military Academy."

Qi Xieyuan's face collapsed when he heard this, and he looked at Zhao Jinzhong furiously and said, "It's not a child's play to meet soldiers on the battlefield, just relying on how much strength a Hangzhou garrison commander Yang Wei has to send troops to fight against the enemy?"

For a long time, Qi Xieyuan never counted the strength of Yang Wei's two brigades in his own strength. After all, Yang Wei's two brigades, except for the one regiment he was going to disband, were all recruited by Yang Wei himself. He didn't spend any money on military expenses. In his opinion, Yang Wei, even if he had the best ability, couldn't support the strength of two brigades.Blood Quenching Mountains and Rivers 125

After Qi Xieyuan finished speaking, Zhao Jinzhong waved his hands again and again and said: "The warlord does not know that Commander Yang is a military prodigy. After he was stationed in Hangzhou, he organized the entire territory of Hangzhou and wiped out countless bandits. His strength must not be underestimated."

Zhao Jinzhong has long been eager to send Yang Wei to the front line to relieve his hatred, and now is the best opportunity to show his loyalty in front of Qi Xieyuan, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Qi Xieyuan, who had no intention of sending troops, was naturally moved when he heard Zhao Jinzhong's words, but he still had a grudge against Yang Wei, hesitantly said: "However, Yang Wei's time in the army is not long, if he takes the lead, I'm afraid it may not be absolute." reliable."

Qi Xieyuan was suspicious by nature, and Zhao Jinzhong knew this a long time ago, so he had already thought of countermeasures in advance, and said repeatedly: "The governor doesn't have to worry, Jin Zhong has already thought of countermeasures, Yang Wei can take the lead, and another brigade commander Zhu Guangming will lead the battle. In this way, if Yang Wei wholeheartedly joins the warlord, he will fight and kill the enemy; if he is really harboring evil intentions, then Brigadier Zhu, who is in charge of the battle, will deal with it."

Zhao Jinzhong's method can be described as a perfect strategy, and Qi Xieyuan immediately felt relieved, so there was this telegram received by Yang Wei.