Chapter 156: The glory gradually emerges

After the news that Taoyuan County was captured by three thousand troops of Chen Quzhen's troops in western Hunan, it was panic within a radius of hundreds of miles.

The infamous reputation of bandits in western Hunan scared the wealthy officials and gentry at all levels to sweep away money and flee their families. Landlords and businessmen from various towns around Changde flocked to Changde, where the city was high and thick walls, to take refuge.

Wang Jinjing, the major general of the Third Mixed Brigade who guarded Changde, hurriedly dispatched troops and reduced the defense line, and urgently ordered a regiment who escaped from Taoyuan to guard the key points of water and land in the west of the city. After Cili was captured, he took the initiative to withdraw a battalion from Linli and put it in the north of the city to build defensive fortifications. At the same time, he urgently reported to Chen Huan, the boss in Yueyang, who was in charge of Yueyang, to request support.

Wang Jinjing knew that the bandits in western Hunan had grown rapidly through smuggling arms and opium in the past few years, and the force of the fierce bandits who rushed towards him in three groups was less than 15,000. Moreover, the bandits are well-equipped and act quickly, even better than before.

Judging from the fact that Taoyuan, Cili and Linli counties were captured overnight, the combat effectiveness of the bandits in Xiangxi was far superior to that of the Third Mixed Brigade stationed in Changde. What's even more terrible is that the officers and soldiers of the Mixed Brigade under Wang Jinjing were all the Hubei troops stationed in Changde from Hubei. They were stationed in Changde for less than a year. Because of the common bad habits of various armies such as loose military discipline and excessive tax collection, they formed enemies with the local chamber of commerce and countless people.

The 55-year-old Jiang Jiang of the Hubei Army, Wang Jinjing, didn't want to run away, because the bandits in western Hunan came too fast and too suddenly, and the whole area of ​​Hunan had become chaotic. Tan Yankai and Cheng Qian joined forces to occupy half of Changsha, Hengyang, Liling and other Hunan. The boss Chen Huan, who was swaying between the north and the south, was pressing against Tan Yankai and Cheng Qian, who were holding up the anti-flag, was helpless and helpless. The precious two days passed in a blink of an eye, and there was no reply to Wang Jinjing, who was stationed in Changde, which made the panic-in Wang Jinjing waste two days in vain.

When Wang Jinjing made up his mind to defend Changde, more than 20,000 Xiangxi bandits had surrounded Changde. Wang Jinjing, who led his troops to the top of the city to prepare to defend the battle, had not seen clearly what was going on. Xiangxi bandits unscrupulously set up a position of more than fifty mortars and an artillery position one kilometer outside the West City Gate and the North City Gate. The two regiments guarding the temporary fortifications outside the city were already scared and fleeing before the bandits were bombarded. Wang Jinjing and his officers and soldiers on the city were sweating profusely, and their faces looked like earth.

......

Yichang, on the bank of the Yangtze River, has changed a lot after more than 100 days of governance and construction by the Sichuan Army, and is now very different and full of vitality everywhere.

Facing the Sichuan Army patrolling in line and the black-clad police at the intersection of the street, the people of Yichang no longer had any panic on their faces. The expansion of the new Yichang Wharf is more prosperous than before. The difference is that more and more businessmen speak Sichuan accents.

In the Yichang Garrison Command in Linjiang, generals including Xiao Yimin, the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army, Wang Lingji, the deputy commander-in-chief of the staff, Bao Jiqing and other generals sat together to listen to the report on the Hunan battle situation of the Chief of Staff:

"At 8 o'clock this morning, Tan Zu'an, General Cheng Songyun and 56 Hunan generals jointly issued a telegram across the country. General Tan Zu'an was elected as the governor and general of Hunan. General Cheng Songyun was appointed as the Hunan Military Affairs Council Office, reorganized the governments at all levels in Hunan and organized the Hunan military forces;

"At 10 o'clock this morning, General Wang Jinjing ordered the 4,000 officers and soldiers under his command to give up resistance. General Chen Quzhen and General Wang Jian allowed General Wang Jinjing's troops to carry weapons, equipment and their own money to return to Hubei according to the negotiation agreement; in addition, the 10th Brigade led by General He Qiwu had arrived in Yiyang and joined the second division of General Cheng Qian's Hunan Army to encircle Tang Xiangming's Brigade, which refused to surrender."

Xiao Yimin smiled with satisfaction:

"Everyone, the situation in Hunan has become clearer. Tan Zu'an and General Cheng Songyun can be said to be the most popular... According to the current reactions of the Beiyang government and the various garrisons in Hubei, the Beiyang faction has no ability to interfere in the political situation in Hunan in a short period of time. As long as Tan Zu'an and General Cheng Songyun quickly stabilize the political situation in Hunan, it will be a matter of time before the separatist armed forces scattered in Hunan will be dismissed or annexed. At present, I think the Fourth Division can fully implement the second step in advance, quickly turn around and go north, and directly occupy Jiangling regardless of whether it is necessary."

"agree!"

Wang Lingji nodded: "The First Division of the Hubei Army stationed in Jingzhou is now far worse than before. It has only three regiments and more than 6,000 officers and soldiers. The division commander Shi Xingchuan lived like a year under the suppression of Wang Zhanyuan. Not only did the military expenditure be severely arrears, but even the weapons and ammunition were the same as five years ago.

"According to the income from the intelligence department, Shi Xingchuan has always had contact with Sun Yat-sen and the Southern Revolutionary Government. He had long wanted to lead his troops back to his hometown Yangxin to eat, which would facilitate the mutual echo between his troops and the Southern Revolutionary Army... So I think that as long as Wang Jian's Fourth Division occupied the public security, we will send someone to send Shi Xingchuan a 200,000 yuan extension fee as per the original plan, and he will definitely hand over Jingzhou to us."

"Chief of Staff, let's talk." Xiao Yimin turned to look at Bao Jiqing, his smile was very ambiguous, and the generals couldn't help laughing out loud.

Bao Jiqing was quite helpless:

"Stop looking, I know what you are thinking... I will set off for Jingzhou tomorrow. Shi Xingchuan and Wang Jinjing have a relationship with me, especially Shi Xingchuan. In his early years, he went to Japan to study at Zhenwu Military Academy and walked my way... During this time, he joined the Tongmenghui. After returning to China, he served as the 12th Town of Fengtian. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, he returned to Hubei and was appointed as the commander of the First Mixed Brigade of the Hubei Army by Li Yuanhong. The following year he was awarded the title of Army Major General and was promoted to the commander of the First Division, stationed in Wuchang, and later moved to Jingzhou and also served as the commander of the Jingyi Army.

"With such rich experience, he will definitely be able to see the current situation in the Two Lakes... I guess the revolutionary party in the south has long been in contact with him. No matter what he thinks, it would be a wise move to leave Jingzhou, which has become our must-attack. If he does not seize the opportunity of Wang Zhanyuan and Wu Peifu fighting to the death, move to eastern Hubei and preserve his strength and wait for the future, we don't have to be polite to him."

The generals nodded frequently and were in a happy mood.

As long as Jingzhou is occupied, Xiangyang will go down without a fight. The entire western Hubei and Jingxiang areas, which contributed more than 8 million taxes to Hubei's finance every year, have since been controlled by the Sichuan Army. The Sichuan Army can not only achieve the goal of fighting to support the war through occupation, but also recruit soldiers on the spot in the western Hubei region where the people are strong.

Judging from the entire national situation in front of us, the Sichuan Army will usher in a large-scale expansion of its army, and hundreds of officers and non-commissioned officers will be promoted and reused, and have valuable opportunities to show their abilities.

From a long-term perspective, being able to incorporate western Hubei into the track of Sichuan's economic development plays an important role in protecting the eastern gate of Sichuan.

After the emergency handling was completed, Xiao Yimin came up with the military expansion plan that had been repeatedly discussed by the General Command.

According to recent combat needs, in order to achieve the goal of occupying and controlling the two lakes and gradually eroding Shaanxi and Gansu, the expansion of the Sichuan Army is imperative:

"Based on the strategic needs of our army, the two brigades stationed in Yichang were officially expanded into the 13th and 15th divisions of the Fifteenth Army, and Liu Xiang was promoted to the Major General Command of the 13th Division of the Fifteenth Division, and Yang Sen was promoted to the Major General Command of the 15th Division. The former Yichang Guard Commander's Jiang Defense Force was handed over to the General Command directly under the General Command. What are your objections?"

All the generals had already known this adjustment plan and knew that the first commander of the Fifth Army was Wang Jian, who had made outstanding achievements and was trusted by Commander-in-Chief Xiao Yimin, so he had no objection to this.

Everyone gave Xiao Yimin's decision warmly. What I thought most in private was what Commander-in-Chief Xiao's next decision could bring to him?

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ps: There is a power outage during the day, and the power will be powered at 6 pm. I will write down this point quickly and send it to you quickly.

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Chapter completed!