The true biography of Yaqiao, the first chivalrous king of the Republic of China

Chapter 17 Forging a beam with Chen Tiaoyuan
In August 1921, Sun Yat-sen took Chen Jiongming as the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army to crusade against the old Guangxi warlords.Lu Rongting, Tan Haoming, Chen Bingni, Ma Ji and other important leaders fled Guangxi and took refuge in Zhili warlords one after another. In the autumn of 8, Ma Ji became Wu Peifu's chief of staff.With the help of Wu Peifu, Hunan warlord Zhao Hengti and others, the title of "Wuwei Army" in Guangxi was restored. The "Wuwei Army" established two regiments, and Chen Lei served as the head of the second regiment, stationed in Taihu County, Anhui Province, which borders Hubei.

Chang Hengfang and Chen Lei are fellow villagers and good friends. In September 1926, he led Li Xiaonan and Zheng Qingshi to Taihu Lake to meet Chen Lei in the name of recalling the past.After many secret talks, Chen Lei finally dispelled his worries and decided to lead his troops to revolt in response to the Northern Expedition.The Beiyang warlords had many eyes and ears, and they had already noticed that Wu Peifu immediately transferred a brigade stationed in Hubei, and Anhui Governor Chen Tiaoyuan also sent a brigade. Two heavy troops formed a pincer attack on the second regiment.The officers and soldiers of the second regiment did not remove their saddles and armor, and were ready to fight a bloody battle with the enemy.

On November 11, that is, a week later, the Seventh Army of the National Revolutionary Army led by Li Zongren invaded Jiangxi from the Echeng and Daye lines in Hubei, occupied Jiujiang, Sun Chuanfang's hometown, and threatened Chen Tiaoyuan's troops on the north bank of the Yangtze River. After hearing the news, a brigade fled in despair.The officers and soldiers of the second regiment breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, Li Zongren sent his troops to the south and marched into Nanchang.Seeing an opportunity, Chen Tiaoyuan sent another brigade to Taihu Lake to encircle and suppress. After fierce fighting, the second regiment was defeated and fled westward across the provincial border; ) Catfish Mountain outside the east gate of the county seat.In desperation, Chang Hengfang bluffed, sent people to slip down the mountain from the cliff along the rope, bribed the local people with a lot of money, and spread the news that "Li Zongren's troops returned to the carbine and came to rescue". Chen Tiaoyuan wanted to preserve his own strength, for fear that the troops would be made "dumplings" by the Northern Expeditionary Army. After dark, the brigade withdrew in a hurry.Chang Hengfang and Chen Lei were overjoyed and withdrew their troops to Huangmei, Hubei overnight, and rushed out of the encirclement.

But Wang Yaqiao was not so lucky.

After breaking up with Chang Hengfang, Wang Yaqiao led Kan Peilin, Liu Xingji and others to the eastern Anhui area bordering Jiangsu. Within a short period of time, more than 1000 troops were gathered under Wang Yaqiao's command.

Chen Tiaoyuan, 1886-1943.The word Xuexuan.Anxin from Hebei.Graduated from Baoding Military Academy. After the "Wuchang Uprising" broke out, Chen Tiaoyuan, who was a geography instructor at the Hubei Army Middle School in Wuchang, recommended himself and served as the staff officer of Feng Guozhang's second town in the Beiyang Army; in August 1917, after Feng Guozhang became president, he was appointed by Li Chun, the new Jiangsu governor He was the brigade commander of the 8th Mixed Brigade of the Jiangsu New Army; in October 74, he was appointed by Qi Xieyuan, the new governor of Jiangsu, as the commander-in-chief of the Sulu, Anhui and Henan bandits; Commander of the Fourth Division; in October 1920, he turned to Sun Chuanfang, a general of Beiyang Xiao, and assisted Sun Chuanfang's troops in capturing Nanjing and drove away Fengjun. , was appointed by the Beijing government as the Anhui military aftermath supervisor.Chen Tiaoyuan is tall and fat, with thick eyebrows and a square face. He smiles all day long. He is called "Big Chen", but when he hears someone call him "Big Chen", he smiles naively and never cares.

"Why is it Wang Yaqiao again? This kid has taken the guts of a leopard to fight against the government?" Chen Tiaoyuan, who is usually not easily angry, suddenly slapped the table and was furious after receiving the information of Wang Yaqiao's propaganda in the eastern Anhui area. "He opposed Governor Li (Li Chun) together with Han Hui, and attacked Governor Qi (Qi Xieyuan) together with Lu Yongxiang. He was really afraid that the world would not be chaotic! We must kill such troublesome people as an example!" Then he issued an order to send a brigade , the troops were divided into three groups, and marched aggressively into eastern Anhui; Wang Yaqiao's troops were a mob newly gathered, with few people and poor guns, so how could they be their opponents? 36 counting is the best.Most of Wang Yaqiao's troops broke up on the way to retreat, and only a few dozen people followed him into the reed marshes of Hongze Lake.

Hongze Lake is the fourth largest freshwater lake in China.The lake is open, covering more than 2000 square kilometers; the blue waves are rippling, and the green reeds are like pieces of green blankets floating between the water and the sky.Chen Tiaoyuan's troops set up posts and garrisons along various key points of Hongze Lake, and set up a net; posted notices everywhere, offering a reward of 5 to buy Wang Yaqiao's head; often sent water commandos to search suspicious areas and ships; They disguised themselves as fishermen, hid their pistols, and went out to sea with the fishing boat, looking for an opportunity to assassinate Wang Yaqiao.

Wang Yaqiao took his brothers to hide in Tibet, and played a game of "hide and seek" with Chen Tiaoyuan.Hongze Lake is wide and deep, making it easy to hide.However, food is scarce.Before the fishermen went to sea, they set a quota, and if there was an excess of one or two, they were confiscated by Chen Tiaoyuan's troops.In autumn, Wang Yaqiao and his brothers hunt water chestnuts, pick lake lotus root, peel lotus seeds, fish and shrimp to make ends meet;Occasionally, I met a kind-hearted fisherman who bought some rice noodles at a high price and mixed them into wild vegetables. They all ate with gusto.In a few months, his face became thinner and darker, and the suffering he suffered was endless.Wang Yaqiao has always been an optimist. In order to inspire everyone's fighting spirit and have nothing to do when he has nothing to do, he vividly told his brothers a "famous work" by "bandit control expert" Chen Tiaoyuan: Lincheng Carjacking Case.

(End of this chapter)