The Republic of Heroes

"Squeak--squeak--"

The riding boots stepped on the snow, and the brigade officers in brand-new cotton-padded clothes walked slowly along the combat fortifications, and stopped after the leading officers by the river. Wu Xiaoliang looked at the Northeast Army on the other side of the Yellow River with a solemn expression. The staff once analyzed that Zhang Xueliang was most likely to be up for grabs, but it was unexpected that he had such a strong sense of war. As soon as Lao Jiang launched his attack, he sent troops to attack on the north bank of Chen Huanghe River.

In the 18th year of the Republic of China, the first snow came ten years earlier than in previous years, and it snowed heavily for a whole night, and then more serious problems came before our eyes.After the first snowfall, the temperature dropped sharply, the water flow in the lower reaches of the Yellow River was extremely slow, and the river surface might freeze at any time. Once the river surface was frozen solid, the natural danger of the Yellow River would not be enough to rely on, and most of the fortifications built along the river would be useless .

In the middle of the night, the Northeast Army suddenly fired ten thousand artillery pieces, which made the defenders in Shandong extremely nervous.

However, at dawn, the Northeast Army stopped its bombardment and did not follow up. The staff almost unanimously believed that this was a bluff by the Northeast Army, and that the Northeast Army would not launch a crossing attack before the Yellow River was frozen.Despite such inferences, Wu Xiaoliang still didn't dare to be careless, and at noon he brought a group of military and political officials to inspect the fortifications on the river bank.

After walking for several sections in a row, all the arrangements were in order, and the permanent fortifications were well repaired. Wu Xiaoliang was quite satisfied with this, and secretly discussed the arrangement. As long as strict precautions were taken, there should be no major mistakes.

During the march, from time to time, soldiers on official duties would stand on both sides to salute, and then left with high spirits, without any signs of exhaustion from a night of tossing, all of them were actually very high-spirited.Wu Xiaoliang couldn't help but let out a sincere admiration:

"Mr. Dong really has the same style as before!"

It turned out that the defense line on the south bank of the Yellow River was defended by the No.17 Division. The division commander was Dong Haibin, the Beiyang model regiment. The chairman of the provincial government, after winning Jinan and setting up the [-]th Division, came out of the mountain again to take up a military post under Wu's repeated invitation.

I thought that this Master Dong had been idle for many years, and he might be unfamiliar with the battle, but he didn't expect that he was still a good soldier.This time he was transferred to lead the main force of the 57th Division to the junction of the three provinces of Shandong, Henan and Anhui to restrain Chen Cheng's [-]th Division. He insisted on keeping a brigade stationed on the Yellow River defense line. Those who are familiar can't be more familiar, and all of them are suddenly replaced by the newly returned [-]th Division. I'm afraid it will take a while to get used to it, and the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, Wu Xiaoliang readily accepted Dong Haibin's suggestion, and still used the 57th Division and one brigade as the main defensive force, while the [-]th Division served as the reserve team. Once the war further expanded, appropriate troops would be dispatched to the battlefield as appropriate.

Yang Xiaoou is still close to Wu Xiaoliang. To be honest, he still remembers the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army. If Yan Xishan's Jin army hadn't been completely inadequate in front of him by taking advantage of the location and external force, he would have been defeated long ago.He had privately ranked the combat effectiveness of various warlord factions in the country, and the Northeast Army was second to none, both in terms of equipment and training, ahead of all domestic forces.

As for the direct-line central army that the Nanjing government has been vigorously supporting and advocating, it is actually far less powerful than what the outside world imagined. Apart from factors such as morale and organization, at least there is still a big gap between the Northeast Army and the Northeast Army in terms of weapons and equipment.The German weapon masters that Lao Jiang frequently mentioned were only 2 people, which were not universal, and he would never take them out to fight the old man unless it was a last resort.

This is indeed the case. In order to preserve his strength during the Songhu War, he ordered the first army of his direct line Liu Zhi to station in Jiangyin and linger, allowing the Japanese army to attack the Shandong army in various ways without providing assistance.

Looking back, the Northeast Army has always been daring to fight. If Zhang Zuolin hadn't been born at the wrong time and died early, even if he couldn't save half of the country, it would be more than enough to protect the four eastern provinces and Hebei.

Yang Xiaoou seemed to see Wu Xiaoliang's worry about the imminent freezing of the Yellow River, his mouth moved, and he wanted to say something, but he hesitated when he reached the point of his mouth, and finally didn't say it, and followed Wu Xiaoliang to the next section of fortifications in a hurry.

In the evening, bad news came one after another. Feng Yuxiang went out of Tongguan to the east and made great strides, occupying Shancheng and Mianchi all the way to Xin'an, which was less than a hundred miles away from Luoyang.

Several civil servants of the provincial government couldn't help feeling a little flustered. Although Feng Yuxiang was defeated in the battle with Lao Jiang, he was famous after all. Whether it was President Cao Kun or Duan who was in power, even Marshal Zhang, who was later famous and almost won half of the country, once Having suffered from someone like him, Feng, is this momentum going to sweep Henan's Jie Rhythm?

"There is Yan Laoxi in the north of Henan, and Jiang Zhongzheng in the south. Now that Feng Yuxiang is about to hit the city of Luoyang, I wonder if General Li can withstand it?"

Leng Xun took an overview of Shandong's government affairs. He has worked hard for several months, and the situation in Shandong is very good. This General Wu is regarded as a faction, not a greedy person for money and power. He can always get a large sum of money from foreign banks to invest in the construction, but he has never asked the provincial government to guarantee the time limit for repaying the money. He also speculated privately that this was all secretly raised by Admiral Wu through special channels. Funds, but never thought that it was all from Wu Xiaoliang's own pocket.

If Feng Yuxiang calls, these achievements will be ruined once again in the military disaster, and the painstaking efforts of the past few months will be in vain. How can he not be nervous?

"Mr. Leng Yu, don't worry, Feng Yuxiang is just bluffing, and he will stop at Xin'an!"

Leng Xun has no military knowledge. The intelligence was brought back by the scouts of the General Staff Headquarters, but Li Youting, the general in charge of the army in Henan, did not submit an official document. This shows that if there is no accident, at least everything in Henan is under control under control.

Leng Yu may not know it, but Yang Xiaoou knows that Li Youting's army in Henan is nominally a brigade, but its actual strength is at least two divisions. The strength of this expansion in Henan is almost geometric. increase.Even if the combat effectiveness is not comparable to the 57th Division and the Second Army, compared with Feng Yuxiang's Beggar Army, at least it is not a star and a half better in terms of equipment.

The reason why Feng Yuxiang hurried out of Tongguan this time was that he was beaten so badly by Lao Jiang. This time, he wanted to get back the lost goods from the Shandong Army, but he might not have thought that this kick was a reference to the iron plate. on.

Thinking of this, Yang Xiaoou sneered for a while.After listening to Yang Xiaoou's words, Leng Xun's uneasiness was gradually suppressed, at least he had confidence in his heart, seeing that these guys were full of confidence, even if Henan was not guaranteed, Shandong would be as stable as Mount Tai.

But in the evening, the news came again, and the entire Shandong Provincial Government was shaken.

"What? Not only Xin'an, but also Luoyang?"

Yang Xiaoou suddenly got up from his seat, and there was a clattering sound, which knocked down several nearby chairs.This result was beyond his expectation. What was Li Youting doing in Henan?Even he couldn't see through this time.

However, the tone of the battle report sent back by Li Youting was mediocre, and he simply reported the results of the battle. It was not so much a victory as a defeat.At this pass, the Shandong Army could not help but lose a single defeat.The current situation of the Shandong Army is like the embankment of the Yellow River during the flood season. As long as there is a breach, the thousand-mile long embankment will lose its effect, and the land of Luyu will turn yellow everywhere.

Moreover, with the current strength of the Shandong Army, it is true that no extra troops can be sent to support the battle in Luoyang, Henan. Yang Xiaoou even felt a sense of powerlessness resigned to fate.

In desperation, he blurted out:

"Junzuo, let the second army go up, Henan will not collapse with the second army!"

Wu Xiaoliang immediately shook his head, "The Second Army has gone, and Henan has been enriched, but once the old Jiang's lineage from Jiangsu goes north to Shandong, what will they do to resist it?"

Yang Xiaoou was depressed for a while, it is impossible to lose the roots of Shandong for the sake of Henan, a place of the Four World Wars.In other words, even if Henan is captured, if there is no strong support from Shandong as the foundation, a province that is the land of the Four World Wars, with enemies from east to west, north, south, and north, is absolutely incapable of defending it.Therefore, the premise of winning Henan and even controlling Henan is that the foundation of Shandong must be stable. If you don’t care about it and come out with all your strength, wouldn’t it be a waste of money?

But Wu Xiaoliang's words reassured him.

"Jing Cong, I understand that Luoyang's defeat this time, even if it takes [-] steps back, it will be over. After all, the main force is no longer in Luoyang. As long as Kaifeng is not lost, the Henan front will not collapse. When Guan Bingyan's armored brigade is in With Henan free, we can go north to support him."

After hearing Wu Xiaoliang's words, most people in the room calmed down.Having said that, Yang Xiaoou said to Wu Xiaoliang that Guan Bingyan's armored brigade could go north to support Li Youting, but he didn't take it seriously, because it was impossible for Gu Zhutong's [-]th army to be wiped out in a short period of time. It is not easy to trap him, so as long as Gu Zhutong's Sixteenth Army persists in Xuchang, Guan Bingyan's armored brigade will not be able to go north for a day.

Therefore, the talk of the armored brigade going north to support is just a talk, but Yang Xiaoou also understands that this is Wu Xiaoliang's rhetoric to stabilize people's morale, and of course he cannot expose such doubts in public.But he still deeply agrees with Wu Xiaoliang's first point, Li Youting is resolute, decisive, and resourceful.Seeing that he led a group of troops alone in the cracks of several forces far stronger than himself, and finally succeeded in conquering most cities in Henan, this shows his ability.

Guessing is guessing after all, the battlefield is changing rapidly, and the big guys are still in a state of panic, waiting for good news from Henan, but the news from Henan has not arrived, but the electricity from Shanxi has arrived first.