The sun sets slowly, the sound of gunfire gradually subsides. Liuquan Station is crowded and smoky. Under the cold muzzles of the officers and soldiers of the Third Regiment of the Independent Division, more than 3,600 prisoners are divided into piles of every two hundred and squat on the ground obediently.
At first glance, it was a vast area of darkness.
The officers and soldiers of the Second Regiment and the Training Brigade responsible for cleaning up the battlefield, with the assistance of more than 300 workers' pickets, were sorting and stacking a large number of seized weapons and ammunition on the second platform opposite the railway.
Accompanied by the generals of the Tenth Army and the Independent Division, Bai Chongxi walked through the heavily guarded platform and looked at the batches of prisoners and the mountains of seized weapons. He smiled and nodded repeatedly, obviously very satisfied. He also specially praised An Yi.
The independent division's quick attack timing and strong combat effectiveness commended Wang Tianpei's guard regiment for their great contribution and fighting spirit, risking their own lives and going straight into the enemy's rear to destroy the enemy's artillery positions, which helped the entire army win this battle.
What happened was that in the afternoon, when the enemy and we were in full swing of attack and defense, and the battle situation was at a stalemate, An Yi, who had long hated the artillery positions on both sides of the railway behind the enemy's position, cleverly took advantage of Wang Tianpei and the third party who could not hold their heads up in front of Bai Chongxi.
The generals of the Tenth Army were eager to atone for their past humiliation and decisively made suggestions to generals such as Bai Chongxi and Wang Tianpei:
Use a train to load a regiment of commandos, pass through the battlefield at high speed, and drive six kilometers north. Use the automatic firepower and grenades concentrated in the hands of the commandos to annihilate the two artillery positions behind the enemy's position in one fell swoop, giving them the final blow.
As long as the enemy's superior artillery fire cannot intercept our army's full-line charge, everything will be easy!
Bai Chongxi weighed it briefly and readily accepted An Yi's suggestion. However, he knew that all An Yi's independent divisions had moved to the front positions, and only the three regiments left as reserves of the Tenth Army could maneuver, so he looked at the hesitant with a smile.
I hope Wang Tianpei will take the initiative to take orders.
Wang Tianpei still didn't know what Bai Chongxi meant, so he gritted his teeth and actually sent his most elite guard group up. With the help of railway workers, they rumbled into the battlefield in four relatively sturdy iron carriages, waiting for the enemy.
It was too late for the army to react. The roaring train crashed through three hastily erected obstacles, quickly rushed to the artillery position behind the enemy's position, and launched a close-range and fierce attack on the enemy's artillery, which had little ability to protect itself.
As the artillery positions suddenly went silent, the enemy was shaken across the board. In shock, they could only retreat across the board. The Luguang Independent Regiment, the Xia Jian 1st Regiment, and the Chen Zhibiao 2nd Regiment where the army's model camp was located decisively attacked.
It broke into the enemy's position from the center and divided the exhausted and demoralized enemy into two parts, the north and the south, laying a solid foundation for subsequent divisions to expand their results.
Gu Changfeng's 3rd Regiment on the right, the 3rd Teaching Division of the 10th Army, and the 30th Division saw a strong breakthrough in the middle and immediately followed them, quickly dividing and encircling the Sixth Army of the Zhilu Allied Forces they were facing, and the entire battlefield appeared in the blink of an eye.
A one-sided trend.
Seeing that the victory was determined, Bai Chongxi once again gave a decisive order: The enemy was defeated and in chaos. The divisions of the Tenth Army only needed to pursue the victory non-stop, and they would surely expand the results and regain Hanzhuang, and even Zaozhuang!
The battle situation was exactly as Bai Chongxi expected. After receiving the order, more than 36,000 soldiers of the three divisions of the Tenth Army immediately handed over the battlefield to the independent divisions and launched a fierce pursuit of the enemies who were fleeing in disarray. At 6:2 pm
Very successful in regaining Hanzhuang and making persistent efforts
They fought hard to catch up, and even defeated the two important towns of Zhouying and Shagou south of Zaozhuang. The main force approached and set up camp twelve kilometers south of Zaozhuang, waiting for the arrival of the two instructors who had completed the pincer mission with He Yaozu's 40th Army.
Launched a large-scale attack on Zaozhuang, where the enemy's foothold was not stable.
Under the setting sun, the generals stood on the top of the independent division's command post, looking at the flat battlefield several kilometers ahead. They looked carefully at the lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. The corpses of the enemy soldiers had not been collected and buried, and the burning weeds and bushes were still burning everywhere.
Thick smoke and fire were rising, and the scattered residential buildings had been razed to the ground in the battle.
The air current on the middle position was hot and the gunpowder smoke was not gone. Bai Chongxi climbed up the mountain along the one-meter-deep traffic trench. Although most of the trenches he passed along the way were destroyed by enemy artillery, each of them was several meters deep underground and each one was tightly protected.
The gun holes were almost intact. Only then did the generals understand why the officers and soldiers of the Independent Division were there.
The reason for the minor casualties under the fierce attack of the enemy's artillery fire, the tattered sandbags everywhere on the position, and the fixed wooden posts buried deep in the sleepers, all reflect the excellent position construction and battlefield adaptability of the officers and soldiers of the Independent Division. Bai Chongxi and the soldiers
I will be full of praise for this model division that was born out of the engineering corps.
General Wang Tianpei, the commander of the Tenth Army, was in high spirits after the victory. From time to time, he whispered to An Yi beside him. When he reached the top of the hill and stood still, he told An Yi very generously:
"Tomorrow morning, I will ask the general below to divide the captured artillery into twelve and send them to your military camp, so that your artillery will not be idle."
"Thank you so much, senior. Many brothers in the artillery battalion under my junior are still crying on the bombed-out position. This relieves my urgent need."
An Yi's thank you elicited a burst of good-natured laughter, but what An Yi was most grateful for was: Wang Tianpei sent out his most elite guard regiment at the critical moment, bravely took on the extremely dangerous train raid mission, and swept through at the cost of nearly half of the casualties.
The enemy's two artillery positions greatly reduced the pressure on the regiments of their own independent divisions and attacked bravely, thus winning the final victory in this battle and avoiding possible heavy casualties to their own special forces.
Along the way, An Yi kept weighing in his mind. If Wang Tianpei had not taken the initiative to take on this critical task, would he have gritted his teeth and sent out Ding Zhicheng's special brigade and Chen Kan's teaching brigade? Until now, he still has no answer.
, so I can only be grateful to Wang Tianpei for taking the initiative to ask for a fight.
Before returning, Bai Chongxi called An Yi to his side and asked in detail about the construction methods and workload of the fortification trenches of various shapes and depths along the way. Gao Guanwu, the chief officers of the Tenth Army, also followed closely and listened attentively.
An Yi knew everything and talked about it without any intention of hiding anything. He even stated the principles and standards for the excavation of the corresponding auxiliary traffic trenches one by one. Bai Chongxi and the generals listened with gusto and nodded frequently. They felt a lot and said that they should
This advanced experience of the Anyi Independent Division was extended to plain operations in the next stage, where the survey of terrain, construction of fortifications and excavation of trenches became even more important.
However, Bai Chongxi and the generals have ignored one of the key issues, which is that they must have well-trained officers and soldiers and efficient tools, and they must have a grasp of basic technologies such as soil solidity, stress and bearing capacity, and excavation depth. Otherwise,
It's definitely not enough to rely on soldiers working hard to carry out barbaric construction. Not only will you get twice the result with half the effort, but substandard bunkers and fortifications may even cost your life.
Bai Chongxi didn't even bother to eat dinner and rushed back to the Xuzhou camp. He had to seize the time to formulate a huge counterattack plan to ease the current tense situation.
Through these two days of fighting, Bai Chongxi keenly saw that although Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang's 250,000-strong army was approaching fiercely, there was a lack of contact and support between them, and there were loopholes everywhere. Therefore, Bai Chongxi secretly made up his mind to quickly launch a counterattack on all fronts.
, the first route army in contact with the eastern front suddenly turned around and advanced forward, attacking the enemy head-on before they could react. I dare not say how many enemies were annihilated, but at least the opponent could retreat in the face of difficulties, or wait and see.
After all, after nearly half of the Nanjing government's three-pronged army has been deployed south to deal with the Wuhan army, the troops remaining on the front line are stretched thin and the pressure has increased greatly. Rather than being passively beaten when the time comes, it is better to take the initiative and win valuable support for the imminent overall adjustment.
time.
An Yi, who saw off Bai Chongxi and the generals of the headquarters, said goodbye to General Wang Tianpei, returned to his division headquarters, grabbed two big steamed buns, ate them while listening to the report carefully, and from time to time gave specific opinions on a certain issue. Wait for everyone
After the arrangements for the aftermath of the incident were completed, a summary meeting was held to study various departments' consumption supplements, pension rewards and other plans. Until the sun rose, I still couldn't lie down and close my eyes.
At 8:40 in the morning, An Yi, Hu Zi and Yang Bin stripped naked and stood under the railway water supply tower to take a bath. A circle of guards were closely protecting and blocking the exposed spring light.
An Yi finished rinsing his head, which was full of soap bubbles. He didn't have time to wash himself when he heard Dou Fang coming to report urgently: he heard that the brothers of the Third Teaching Division of the Tenth Army who had sent twelve artillery pieces were begging for mercy, saying that they were preparing to march towards Zaozhuang.
The Political Department and the Military Law Department of the Tenth Army are holding a trial meeting at the North Station, and they want to behead the two regiment commanders who led the fight for pay in order to rectify the military law.
An Yi was shocked when he heard this. After a few days of contact, An Yi also knew that the Third Instructor Division was originally the instructor of the Ninth Army who was decapitated and disbanded by Tang Shengzhi. After the Ninth Army was divided up by various forces, there was no father.
A third of the disillusioned instructors of the Ma Army were separated. In order to avoid being annexed and annihilated by the warlords, the two regiment leaders had to join the Tenth Army of the Guizhou Army and searched for their lost brothers everywhere.
Brother, it was difficult to maintain the establishment of the two regiments. Wang Tianpei transferred another regiment to form the third teaching division of the Tenth Army. The division commander and deputy division commander were both Wang Tianpei's cronies, and they looked down upon the two regiments that defected.
, they squeezed and squeezed them everywhere, suppressed the two regiment leaders, embezzled military pay, and often forced the officers and soldiers of the two regiments to do the most painful, tiring and dangerous work. This led to the mutiny on the battlefield a few days ago.
However, these two regiments performed outstandingly in the two days of battle. They were able to fight hard and endure hardships. They cooperated with Gu Changfeng's three regiments and took care of each other. They established a deep friendship with each other. Gu Changfeng and Dou Fang
At last night's summary meeting, the outstanding contributions of these two groups were specially mentioned, and An Yi was deeply impressed.
"I have to take care of this matter. I can't let the warrior shed tears or bleed. Dou Fang, please ride your horse to see General Wang and ask him to spare someone under his sword. I'll be there soon."
An Yi hurriedly washed himself and wiped away the water stains all over his body: "Xiaojiu, go and prepare your horse! Chen Mian has prepared my general uniform..."
Hu Jialin, Yin Jinan and Yang Bin also quickly cleaned up, followed An Yi across the railway, jumped onto the cargo platform and ran into the division headquarters. Their adjutant and guard captains had already prepared their military uniforms.
While getting dressed, Hu Jialin asked An Yi: "The brothers of these two regiments went to the battlefield with a lot of resentment. Their position was on the right side of Hutou's third regiment. This battle was fought well from beginning to end, and the two regiment leaders were also bloody.
, it’s a pity to kill him so easily! What does Lao Wang want to do?”
Yang Bin interjected: "Is Commander Wang shirking responsibility and taking the opportunity to get rid of dissidents? If you go like this, wouldn't it be outrageous to do good things to others?"
An Yi tied up his shoelaces and stamped his feet: "We have to go. How can there be any reason to kill the general after winning the battle? Just based on the excellent performance of these two regiments on the battlefield, we can't just ignore death, let alone at this moment.
When it is time to hire people, the heads of the two regiment commanders have been moved, and the more than 3,000 officers and soldiers under their command will probably disperse immediately. How can this be done?"
"Just give Lao Wang some money and let him sell these two groups to us." Yang Bin suggested with a smile.
"If you didn't tell me, I would have forgotten...Jinan, please quickly ask the logistics department to put the 40,000 yuan captured on the battlefield yesterday on horseback. Add another 10,000 to make up 50,000 and send it to the North Station immediately."
An Yi saw Yin Jinan nodding and getting dressed before going out. Then he turned to Yang Bin and said seriously: "I also want to take over these two regiments! Just based on their performance on the battlefield, they are worth spending a lot of money.
But in this way, we completely offended the Tenth Army.
The friendly relationship established by Yi Cai is definitely gone, so this time we would rather be good people than let people think that we are taking advantage of others' danger. Besides, they also sent us twelve artillery pieces, making our artillery useful again.
In the land of martial arts, it's a matter of courtesy, don't be greedy."
Yang Bin nodded with relief: "Don't tell me that I haven't thought of this yet. If we accept those two regiments at this juncture, our independent division will be full, but it will be extremely detrimental to future operations.
You're thinking far ahead! By the way, didn't Commander Bai promise yesterday to send 100,000 yuan in cash to the Tenth Army? It should be able to solve their urgent needs, right?"
"It is said that it will be delivered later, but I don't know how long this 'subsequently' will last. According to the efficiency above, it is common for it to take ten days and a half months or even three or two months. They don't
As our First Army is a direct descendant of the Commander-in-Chief, we are so wealthy, especially since two months ago the logistics and military regulations were significantly revised, and money and supplies were directly allocated to the division level. Therefore, many brothers thought that other friendly armies were the same, but they did not know what was going on.
It's difficult, I know it very well.
The soldiers of the friendly army lived a very hard life. Not only were they exploited by their superiors at all levels, but they were also often owed their pitiful wages. Many soldiers of the friendly army could not eat meat once a month, but they had to risk their lives and rape.
Fighting against the enemy, I feel sad every time I think about it!"
An Yi sighed loudly and immediately urged everyone to leave quickly.
There is only a little more than two kilometers between the North Station and the South Station. An Yi and three brothers arrived on horseback wearing brand new and straight general uniforms. Surrounded by dozens of well-equipped guards, they looked powerful and impressive. The spacious cargo yard
The officers and soldiers of the Tenth Army headquarters, which were covered in darkness, immediately gave way to a path.
An Yi dismounted from his horse more than thirty meters away from the waiting General Wang Tianpei of the Tenth Army, and trotted up to a dozen generals to salute respectfully. The three brothers behind him, including the bearded man, also did the same, which satisfied the generals of the Tenth Army.
To save face, Wang Tianpei and others, who were unhappy with the interruption of the trial, felt much better when they saw this.
After An Yi saluted, he stepped forward and begged sincerely: "Senior, please forgive An Yi for being reckless! I heard that senior wanted to take advantage of a great victory to implement military law, but juniors and others remembered the bravery and tenacity of the two regiment commanders and their soldiers in yesterday's battle.
, I couldn’t bear to come here to ask for a favor from my senior!
Seniors and officers, morale has been greatly boosted after the great victory. Even if these two captains deserve to die, they still have some military merits. What’s more, the war to come is going to be difficult every step of the way. Strong warriors are needed everywhere to fill the vacancies. This is the time to hire people.
On this occasion, I would like to ask seniors and officers to think twice before taking action!"
Yin Jinan also stepped forward and requested politely: "Senior, I received twelve artillery pieces as a gift from my subordinates this morning. I and all the brothers in the independent division are very grateful. We know that many soldiers of the Tenth Army, General Guangjiu, are on the front line and are in urgent need of them."
Money, this junior has specially sent 50,000 yuan in cash to reward the brothers of the Tenth Army. A mere gift is not respectful, so I beg you, senior, to accept it!"
Wang Tianpei and others looked at each other, wondering which song An Yi and others were singing? Then they all looked at Yin Jinan in surprise, who spoke sincerely, and then at An Yi, who was smiling, feeling that the other party risked offending the Tenth Army.
It was extremely unwise for the general to put the commander in danger to save two unrelated regiment leaders, and he even suspected that the independent division had ulterior motives.
Yin Jinan waved back, and fifteen pack horses came ticking over carrying heavy money bags. Dozens of brothers from the Logistics Department of the Independent Division worked in pairs and carried the money bags to the side of the circle surrounded by many officers and soldiers. Wang Tianpei and others
Under the complicated eyes of the people and the grateful gazes of thousands of soldiers, after the stacking was completed, they immediately led their horses away.
Wang Tianpei looked at the two regiment leaders who were tied up in the field, with extremely complicated expressions. He looked at the two young regiment leaders who were being held down and kneeling on the ground with expressions of worry and anger, and then looked at An Yi and others whose faces were full of concern and intolerance.
He shook his head and turned behind, discussing in a low voice with Chief of Staff Gao Guanwu, Party Representative Zhou Zhongliang, and Director of the Political Department and Chief of the Military Justice Department Gan Jiayi.
There was silence among the officers and soldiers. More than 3,000 disarmed soldiers under the two regimental commanders stood in the distance, nervously waiting. The atmosphere was extremely depressing and dull.
A few minutes later, military judge Gan Jiayi, who had received the final result of the deliberations, walked towards the two regimental commanders who were kneeling on the ground, waved to the law enforcement military police, and signaled for his subordinates to loosen their bonds. Wang Tianpei and Zhou Zhongliang walked up to An Yi and said with a hearty smile:
"These two guilty generals are able to get the generals to intercede on their behalf. It is a blessing they have cultivated in their previous lives! Haha... Xiaoyi, you took such pains to come here to intercede. Do you know these two people?"
An Yi looked at the bearded and tall lanky leader who was turning his numb legs and feet towards him, nodded happily, and explained to Wang Tianpei:
"To be honest, I don't know these two, but Gu Changfeng, the commander of the Third Regiment of our division, fought side by side with these two two days ago, so he is very familiar with them.
At the summary meeting last night, the juniors learned about the outstanding performance of the two regiment leaders under the seniors and the more than 3,000 brothers under their command. They felt that it was a pity to kill them like this. It was better to let them follow the seniors and officers to the front line.
I believe they will be grateful to their predecessors for not killing them."
Wang Tianpei's expression softened, and then he burst into laughter. Through these words, he knew that An Yi had no intention of plotting against these two groups, and the big stone in his heart fell to the ground:
"Xiao Yi, you brothers are so loyal! No wonder the officers and soldiers under your command swear to serve to the death and march forward bravely in the war. It seems that your way of running the army is really unique! Good! Very good!"
An Yi smiled and shook his head, approached Wang Tianpei and whispered: "Thank you for the compliment, senior! In fact, this junior has his own reasons for doing this. Nearly 70% of the brothers under my command came to surrender on the battlefield, so the juniors know very well that they
The idea is to take care of the places where you can, otherwise the juniors will not be able to fight this battle."
Wang Tianpei was stunned and laughed knowingly again, and the generals around him also laughed happily.
An Yi raised his wrist to check the time and found that it was time to move out. The Tenth Army was about to move north. He quickly patted his chest and asked Wang Tianpei to rest assured that the independent division would do its best to help the wounded soldiers and logistics brothers who stayed at the North Station.
He also gave Wang Tianpei two hundred tons of rice from the South Station warehouse, which again won the great favor of Wang Tianpei and the general of the Tenth Army.
An Yi, Yin Jinan and others then respectfully put Wang Tianpei and others on the train, and then said goodbye to Zhou Zhongliang and other generals of the Tenth Army who had temporarily stayed behind. The officers and soldiers of the two mutinous regiments who had resolved the crisis were pardoned and happily
Collect weapons locally and take up logistics and security work.
When the two life-saving regiment leaders changed their clothes and rushed to the platform, An Yi and the officers and soldiers of the independent division had already left without a trace. The two reported to Zhou Zhongliang and received a reprimand. After leaving, they immediately went to the town to search for them.
The familiar commanders of the Third Regiment of the Independent Division, Gu Changfeng and Dou Fang.
Dou Fang and Gu Changfeng walked out of the Third Regiment station and saw the two regiment leaders arriving in a hurry. They hurriedly greeted them affectionately: "Brother Shi, Brother Mo, are you out to do something?"
Shi Zhen, the sturdy and bearded regiment leader, stepped forward and clasped his fists to express his thanks: "Thanks to Brother Gu, Brother Dou and General An! If it hadn't been for your generous rescue, I would have had our heads dropped by now... Shi and Rong Gao
Extremely grateful!”
Gu Changfeng hurriedly responded: "Don't say that. My younger brother and Dou Fang just reported the matter to the commander in time. He, Deputy Commander Hu, Deputy Commander Yin and Chief of Staff Yang immediately ordered my younger brother to go and plead with Commander Wang and others.
Yes, I really want to say thank you,
The two brothers should be more grateful to the brothers under their command. It was the brave fighting of the two brothers and the more than 3,000 brothers under their command that won the respect of my independent division and regarded them as their brothers. This is what happened next, haha, this is what is called
It’s fate!”
"Brother Gu, Brother Dou, can you take us to meet General An and several other generals?"
Mo Ronggao tried his best to suppress his excitement and approached Gu Changfeng to plead in a low voice. Shi Zhen also echoed. Both of them eagerly wanted to thank An Yi in person for saving his life.
Gu Changfeng smiled, and Dou Fang explained in a low voice: "Our master just asked the younger brother to tell the two brothers that there is no need to be so polite about trivial matters. He and a group of bosses in the division do not want to cause other people to misunderstand this matter.
, it won’t be too late to meet again after the battle.
Brothers, please come back. If you have any difficulties, please come here to see me and Brother Gu. We won’t leave within two days, but after two days, you won’t know. Even we ourselves don’t know the next step.
Where will you end up... Two brothers, please take care of yourself!"
Shi Zhen and Mo Ronggao looked at each other, said goodbye to Gu Changfeng and Dou Fang, sighed deeply, and bowed their heads to leave with great reluctance.