Regarding this point, Yuan Su and Jiang Baili had already had some discussions on the train. Before leaving Beijing and returning to Luanzhou, the Ministry of War and the Military Council of the Presidential Palace both talked to Yuan Su about going south to Henan. Generally speaking,
It means that Yuan Su's troops are the first troops to enter Henan with the official Zhong Yang Army designation, so the political significance is far greater than the military strategic significance. To sum up, the meaning of Zhong Yang is
"I would rather hold still" than "disgrace". It seems that Yuan Su's troops are far inferior to Zhang Xiyuan and He Fenglin's troops. After all, Zhang and He are veteran Beiyang generals.
Moreover, they spent much more time leading troops than Yuan Su. To put it simply, these two people have traveled more roads than Yuan Su has eaten.
Fu ordered to adopt a conservative posture and sit in Zhengzhou, waiting until the power of the civilian army in the province weakens before choosing another opportunity to act; the second is to follow Yuan Su's original plan, concentrate on operating a springboard to the hinterland of Central China, and open up a new area in Henan
to gain territory; the other is to actively participate in military operations to encircle and suppress the militia, and strive to gain a reputation in the first battle.
At this time, in the temporary brigade command post, Yuan Su did not tell all his plans. He only emphasized in front of all the officers Fu's order and the significance of the deployment of the Central Army's Third Brigade to Henan Province. He requested
All regiments and battalions are fully prepared for combat, maintain optimal condition, and are ready to send troops to combat at any time.
After that, they learned about the current situation of the Third Brigade with each regiment, including the reserves of various strategic materials and logistics materials, as well as the current views of soldiers in the army on the civil unrest in Henan. Generally speaking, the military supplies of the Third Brigade are divided into
There are two aspects: on the one hand, it is part of the supplies brought by the third brigade itself, and on the other hand, it is the logistics supply promised by the Kaifeng Dudu Mansion. For this reason, Yuan Su asked the brigade headquarters to immediately set up a logistics team to rush to the Kaifeng Dudu Mansion.
Responsible for coordinating material supply issues at any time.
As for the situation of the soldiers in the army, there is not much reaction. Although it is everyone's nature to be greedy for life and afraid of death, it is obviously impossible for this newly-built army to serve the country with loyalty and to regard death as home. In the end,
At least it is impossible in a short period of time. Most of the soldiers in the third brigade are locals from Huaibei. Because Zhengzhou and Anhui are not too far apart, these soldiers are not emotionally inappropriate.
According to the summary of the commanders of each regiment, these soldiers were all new recruits who had just completed training. As the saying goes, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, so they did not have a big impression of the war.
Yuan Su was very pleased with this. Even if these recruits were just "fearless", they could still show a completely different side from the various troops in Henan Province, so it was obviously easy to do superficial work.
After introducing the internal situation of the province and the third brigade, Yuan Su asked the battalion commanders to go back first, leaving only the officers above the regiment headquarters to hold a military meeting that got into the topic.
The commanders of the three regiments of the third brigade are all officers promoted from the previous second regiment. They can be regarded as Yuan Su's old subordinates. Although these regiment leaders are not qualified in many ways in terms of qualifications and abilities, there is no way.
In the future, we can only explore and learn while giving instructions at our posts.
After closing the door of the command post conference room, Yuan Su officially began to discuss the military direction of the third brigade. The troops have already gathered in Zhengzhou. Whether they will be conservative or proactive in the future, they must first determine a program and ideas. None of the officers present are outsiders.
, Jiang Baili agreed with Yuan Su's active development of the strength of the Young Faction, so he would not disagree with a more duplicitous and positive course of action.
In fact, before the third brigade sent troops, the brigade headquarters and each regiment had already guessed Yuan Su's purpose, so there was almost no argument in the current discussion. These officers followed Yuan Su without any big beliefs or goals.
, it is nothing more than hoping to gain more personal benefits. In the second revolution before, the establishment of two military headquarters in Huaibei and Huai'an has already demonstrated Yuan Su's ambition to expand his territory, and has also shown what can be gained by following Yuan Su.
Opportunity to enclose the territories. Fu's order is to stand still in Zhengzhou. This is obviously not eating the big fat meat in front of him. Not only that, but also watching others slowly rushing to eat it. Who would it be?
I'm afraid I won't even want to.
Therefore, as soon as the meeting began, everyone believed that a more active military deployment policy should be chosen. Whether it was concentrating on expanding territory or attacking the civilian army, as long as it was profitable, it would be much better than sitting in Zhengzhou.
Of course, even if they are really actively involved, the officers still prefer the safer development territory. After all, the third brigade is a group of fledgling recruits. The civil unrest in Henan Province is so serious that several zheng fu armies have been defeated.
, letting the new recruits from the third brigade go into battle is somewhat a bit scary.
Everyone gathered around the map table. They were silent at first, then made comments, and then fell silent again after making comments.
Yuan Su believed that he did not know much about the environment in Henan Province. Whether it was folk customs, the current trend of civil unrest, or issues such as geography, climate and environment, all the known information was hearsay, and it was just a rumor.
The general content. He looked at the map and thought for a long time. Personally speaking, the most ideal site was Xinyang first, followed by Nanyang, and then Xuchang.
However, the only place Zhang Xiyuan can control at present is Xuchang. It is said that Xinyang is also in chaos. Several local troops have gathered in Xinyang City and they dare not even enter or exit the gate. Not only that, because Xinyang is the southernmost town in Henan, and there are many people gathered there.
There are many civil forces in Huguang and southern Henan. For example, Zhang Qing, the largest tyrant in southern Henan, is known as the "Old Foreigner" and has thousands of dead soldiers under his command. Not only the local officials have to treat him politely, but also the civilian army of the Bailang uprising.
Also be courteous.
Putting aside those self-contained local military systems, these civilian forces alone are enough to cause a headache. If Yuan Su wants to occupy Xinyang as his base, it will probably be a huge military project.
As for Nanyang, on the one hand, it is where He Fenglin's troops are stationed, and on the other hand, it is the southwest mountainous area where the civilian army is overrun. If we advance to Nanyang, it will be equivalent to a head-on confrontation with the civilian army, which is completely contrary to the direction discussed before.
It is not that Yuan Su is afraid of the militia, but that he himself is very inexperienced in fighting in mountainous areas, and his troops are all new soldiers. If he really collides with the militia in the southwest mountainous area, he will definitely suffer a big loss.
Not to mention Xuchang, Zhang Xiyuan’s headquarters is set up in Xuchang, and this person has already made a gesture of taking Zhengzhou and Xuchang as his own. Previously, the main headquarters was under the orders of both the Fu and the Kaifeng Governor’s Office. Zhang Xiyuan even
The Ministry wants the Third Brigade to station in Zhengzhou.
"I think we should not just limit our direction to southern Henan. According to the information we have on hand, the situation in southern Henan is the most complicated, with all forces involved. If we really want to go south, it will take a lot of effort.
." At this time, Jiang Baili spoke unhurriedly, his face looked very determined, and his tone of voice sounded confident.
The eyes of everyone present involuntarily turned to Jiang Baili. Everyone did not speak, just waiting for Jiang Baili's next words.
"Shangqiu is the largest town in eastern Henan and an important transportation hub connecting Anhui and northern Henan. Judging from intelligence and on-site inspections personally experienced by the third brigade, although there are civilian troops in Shangqiu, it is definitely not like
It is as serious as expected. The civilian army in the area is likely to move north, or part of it may be disbanded on the spot. Even if there are still remaining civilian troops entrenched, they will be at the end of their efforts." Jiang Baili continued, as he spoke.
He stretched out his hand and drew on the map.
"Sir, do you mean to let us take Shangqiu?" Dai Fengxiang asked in confusion. Although he agreed with Jiang Baili's inference just now, it seemed to be completely different from the idea proposed by Yuan Su.
"Brother Baili, Shangqiu is more than a hundred miles away from Fengqiu, and it is also more than a hundred miles away from Anhui. There is the Henan Governor's Mansion in the west, and the 14th Division in the east. Regardless of the need for the development of our army in this place, even if we win
Shangqiu is bound to fall into the trap of the Henan Governor's Office and the Fourteenth Division, which is somewhat disadvantageous." Yuan Su expressed his personal opinion.
"I understand what Governor Yuan means. The Fourteenth Division obviously doesn't want to return empty-handed when they enter Henan. They have fought fiercely at the border of Henan and Anhui for so long, and now they only occupy a few small counties on the border. Of course, they are not considered to be soldiers.
I got what I wanted. Moreover, Anhui is now under the command of Governor Ni. Naturally, when the new official takes office, he cannot tolerate other people's troops. He will definitely try his best to exclude the 14th Division. In fact, the situation in Shangqiu and Haozhou has been going on in recent months.
It has obviously eased, but the Fourteenth Division has been reluctant to take large-scale counterattacks, which already shows that there are some problems." Jiang Baili said seriously.
Everyone understands what Jiang Baili means. Leading troops outside is also a matter that requires skill. As the saying goes, "The cunning rabbit dies and the lackey cooks the flying bird until all the good bows are hidden." If the enemy is really wiped out all at once, then the combat troops will have no use for it.
Don't say that the funds allocated by the central government will return to the original state, so there is no way to profit. Just say that after the hard work of fighting, no one will make any money, and no one will feel happy.
In other words, the senior officials of the Fourteenth Division were well aware of the situation in Shangqiu, and they were just deliberately holding back.
After a slight pause, Jiang Baili continued: "However, after all, Commander Qu is in Zhongyang, and Commander Duan and Baoding Military Academy need him to take care of it. It should be said that Commander Qu is not very interested in occupying territory in Henan.
Strongly. According to my guess, he just takes advantage of it if he can, but if he can't, he has nothing to do with it."dd