In the next week, An Yi's schedule was full, busy and orderly. At seven o'clock in the morning, he was the first to arrive at the general headquarters to review the battle report and sign the orders sent to the three legions. When encountering major problems, he asked the staff to submit them
Zhu Peide strictly performed his duties as the former enemy chief of staff. At noon, no matter how busy he was, he would return to the independent division barracks in the north of the city to visit the wounded, condolences to the doctors, and sometimes talk to the female nurses who admired him so much, and then
Returning to the headquarters to continue working or attending meetings, I would either have two drinks with Zhu Peide for dinner, or be invited to a small gathering by my colleagues or brothers. I would start working from 8 pm to 1 or 2 pm, and almost every other night
Went to Commander-in-Chief Chiang's study to talk for about half an hour.
On the morning of April 19th, extremely angry news finally came: Japan's Tanaka Cabinet decided to send troops to Shandong again. Fukuda Hikosuke, commander of the Kumamoto Sixth Division, had issued a mobilization order, and the entire division was ready to board the ship.
When the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar. An Yi handed over a 5,000-word commentary that he had written and revised over the past few days to the staff of the Intelligence Section, and ordered him to immediately send it to the Nanjing Liaison Office and forward it to Oriental News Agency as soon as possible for the next
The full text was published in an issue of "Eastern Outlook" weekly.
Due to the relationship between An Yi and the generals of the three armies and divisions, the fourteen reporters dispatched by He Jing's Oriental News Agency were given the opportunity to interview with the army, and they received timely and accurate battle reports and vivid and informative war reports.
Documentary articles were published in an endless stream in "Oriental News" and "Oriental Outlook", which caused a sharp increase in sales of newspapers and magazines under He Jing's command.
Liu Hong, a reporter sent by He Jing to the Revolutionary Army Headquarters, conducted five exclusive interviews with Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek, An Yi, Zhu Peide, He Siyuan and Ge Jingen, especially the long series of "Records of the Yufeng Battle" written by Liu Hong, which aroused great concern from all walks of life.
Reaction: The names of generals such as An Yi, He Yaozu, Xia Douyin, Hu Jialin, Gu Changfeng, and Cheng Guang were familiar to the Chinese people. Once the standard photo of Gu Changfeng, who was called the "Tiger General of the Northern Expedition" by the press, was promoted to major general, was published, it immediately attracted attention.
Countless girls looked at him, causing his wife Zhou Ruoting to repeatedly plead with Lao Shoudao in Lao Nanchang to send telegrams to remind him.
Although there was a threat from the Japanese, the various armies of the Northern Expedition did not slow down the pace of the campaign: On April 12, General Jiang Dingwen led the First Army to capture Hanzhuang; General Feng Yuxiang's Second Army, Sun Liangcheng's troops, occupied Yuncheng
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On April 13, General Jiang Dingwen's First Army of the First Army made another effort and captured the Yinping line in one fell swoop; General Chen Zhuo of the Second Army led the 26th Army after a day and night of fierce fighting, and finally defeated the enemy and occupied Linyi, an important town in southern Shandong.
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Seeing that the Zhilu Allied Forces and Sun Chuanfang's troops were about to collapse, and the success of the Northern Expedition was imminent, Feng Yuxiang, commander-in-chief of the Second Army, held a grand rally and officially announced that he would cross the Yellow River north to attack Fengjun. He also sent a telegram to General Li Zongren, commander of the Fourth Army, calling on him to lead the
The soldiers of the Fourth Group Army set off as soon as possible to participate in the Northern Expedition.
On April 15, after a short rest, Sun Liangcheng's troops of the Second Army launched another fierce offensive and successfully captured Juye with a devastating force. Jiaxiang advanced directly to Jining, and together with the three generals Shiyou, launched a pincer attack on the remnants of Sun Chuanfang who had retreated to the front line in Jining;
The Ninth Army of General Gu Zhutong and the Fourth Army of General Miao Peinan of the First Army Group adopted the advice of the former enemy's general headquarters, bypassed Zaozhuang, and attacked Tengxian County in the north at full speed.
On April 17, Generals Sun Lianzhong and Han Fuqu of the Second Army led two front armies to engage in a fierce battle with the main force of the Feng Army, Ji Yiqiao and Yu Xuezhong's corps at the Zhangde (Anyang) front line; Gu Zhutong, the first corps of the First Army
After a day and night of hard fighting, General Ninth Army and General Miao Peinan's Fourth Army captured Teng County in one fell swoop; General Jiang Dingwen's First Army occupied Zaozhuang without any bloodshed, and then launched a pincer attack on the fleeing enemies in Zaozhuang with General Yang Shengzhi's Tenth Army, which was speeding up.
On April 18, General Shi Yousan of the Second Army defeated Jining; General Xi Yechi led two cavalry divisions to conquer Yanzhou with lightning speed; General Gu Zhutong and the Ninth Army attacked Xiazo County with great success; General Chen Tiaoyuan
Commanding the Second Army Corps to fight fiercely on the eastern front, good news came frequently. The three armies under his command attacked the city all the way with overwhelming force. They captured the Yishui line of Zhucheng but were still unwilling to stop advancing in victory and continued to advance towards Laiwu and Tai'an lines.
At this point, not even a tenth of the Anhui army under Sun Chuanfang's command remained. This tycoon who had dominated the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River for many years lost all his money and fled to Jinan sadly. Zhang Zongchang, the Zhilu warlord, also suffered heavy losses under the full attack of the revolutionary army and had to retreat to the front line in Jinan.
, the National Revolutionary Army overcompleted the first phase of the Second Northern Expedition in just fourteen days.
On the 22nd, the former enemy general headquarters of the First Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army moved to Yanzhou. Acting division commander Hu Jialin led the independent division, and Li Shilong led the seventh division to Yanzhou in advance to serve as a guard. Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek moved to Yanzhou, where the former enemy commander-in-chief Zhu Peide,
Accompanied by Chief of Staff An Yi and other generals, they visited Zouxian, Yanzhou and the surrounding revolutionary army departments for a condolence review, and began the second phase of operational preparations for the offensive on the front line of Jinan.
Late at night, a meeting attended by generals above the division commanders of the three corps of the First Army ended successfully. The generals who were stationed nearby rode back on horseback, and those who were stationed far away were led by the logistics attendant to stay overnight in the west wing of Fuya Zhongyuan.
The excited Commander-in-Chief showed no signs of fatigue, leaving Liu Zhi, Jiang Dingwen, Gu Zhutong, Xu Tingyao, Hu Zongnan and other seven or eight confidants to continue their night talks.
The former enemy headquarters is a large ancient building complex covering an area of hundreds of acres. It is located on the north bank of the Fu River that runs through the city. It is said to have been built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. It was the magnificent palace of Zhu Yuanzhang's tenth son, King Zhu Tan of Lu.
The gate is facing the beautiful Zhongyu Bridge across the Fu River. The west side hall behind the main hall is the location of the former enemy headquarters of the First Army. After the military meeting and all the generals left, Chief of Staff An Yi returned to the carved beams and painted buildings.
In the side hall, he nodded and sat down with more than a dozen staff officers on duty to read the two piles of intelligence that they had just received this evening.
As the war unfolded, An Yi's extraordinary commanding ability gradually emerged. The Battle of Zaozhuang of the First Army was another masterpiece planned by An Yi:
Gu Zhutong's 9th Army and Miao Peinan's 4th Army launched a leaping and fast attack, bypassing the Zaozhuang line defended by four divisions of the Zhilu Army at maximum night march speed, and suddenly appeared under the Tengxian City guarded by two divisions of the Zhilu Army.
It only took one hour and forty-five minutes to capture the city, severely damaging the defenders and cutting off Zaozhuang's enemy's northward escape route. In order to avoid being encircled, the main enemy force had no choice but to abandon Zaozhuang and flee eastward at full speed. The Tenth Army led by Yang Shengzhi
Three main divisions and one supplementary division were already waiting at the front line of Zhangzhuang and Huangzhuang, fifteen kilometers to the east. Jiang Dingwen led the wolf-like First Army to pursue from the west. Gu Zhutong once again commanded his troops to move south. The three armies
Eight divisions were mobilized to attack from the east, west and north. After five and a half hours of fighting, they achieved a great victory in the Northern Expedition by annihilating more than 7,000 enemy troops, capturing more than 16,000 enemy troops, and seizing a large amount of weapons, supplies and food.
, the three army commanders and the participating divisions all received special commendations from Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek, and was known as the "Zaozhuang Victory" second only to the Yufeng Victory.
An Yi's outstanding talents in the two battles were unanimously praised by army lieutenants and officers, and also attracted great attention from various military groups at home and abroad. Various newspapers and magazines at home and abroad published various news about An Yi. "Model Camp" written by He Jing
”, the two documentary books “Steel Army” were once again popular and reprinted several times. They were translated into many languages and spread to European, American and Japanese countries. During the two-year Northern Expedition, An Yi was promoted step by step from the engineer company commander to the general.
, is familiar to the military and civilians across the country and the military circles around the world. However, An Yi can face the overwhelming honors calmly. In addition to accepting routine interviews with several news media such as Shenbao, The Times, Central News Agency and Oriental News Agency, An Yi
Avoiding them all. This is not because An Yi is arrogant, but because he really can't spare the time to deal with it. In addition, the reporters from the above several news organizations are basically old friends and have always been of great help to An Yi. Therefore, the affectionate An Yi
No matter how busy I am, I try my best to meet the requests of my old friends.
Jiang Dingwen came to the front door, signaled Chen Mian and another guard not to bother, strode into the headquarters and walked to An Yi. An Yi raised his head and saw Jiang Dingwen immediately stood up, closed the document and asked in a low voice: "Brother
, you’re still awake so late?”
"Aren't you awake too? Why, can your body bear it after staying up like this every night?"
Jiang Dingwen took out a "three-fort" and handed it to An Yi. He knocked on the American kerosene lighter he had just obtained with a "clang" and lit it for An Yi:
"Quickly pack up and follow me. The principal wants you to sit down. Brother Mo, Brother Yuexiang, Brother Jingfu, and Brother Hu Zongnan are all here, waiting for you."
An Yi put the two large piles of documents into his briefcase, buttoned the bag and handed it to the adjutant Shen Fengdao who quietly extended his hand. He followed Jiang Dingwen out of the room and entered the yard: "Brother, did you help my younger brother collect bullet casings in Zaozhuang?"
"After the battle, I asked a brother from the division to pick it up. Sixteen carts full of them were all brought to the train station, and they were probably sent to Pukou. By the way, why did you collect so many gun shells and artillery shells? Is it your arsenal?
Can it be used again?" Jiang Dingwen asked.
An Yi did not answer truthfully, but deliberately avoided the important and ignored the easy: "It's difficult. Some of it will be used to produce belt buckles, buttons, handicrafts and other gadgets, and some of it will be sent to the foundry workshop of the agricultural machinery factory to be re-melted and cast into pipes or other tools. So far.
So far, we still don’t have the smelting technology and equipment for copper-zinc alloys, let alone the ability to produce thin plates for bullet casings. Everything still needs to be imported. I have to think hard to see if we can introduce technology and equipment. Hunan
There are many copper mines in Jiangxi, Guizhou, and Sichuan, and many old mining areas have been producing copper for hundreds of years. If we master the technology and have relevant equipment, we will be more proactive in the future."
Jiang Dingwen sighed: "You just have a different brain than others. You can make money in any game, and you always make a profit without losing money in wars. Now the whole army regards you as a treasure.
In the afternoon, I accompanied the principal to inspect the First Army. Brother Jing Fu and Brother Yuexiang quietly said to me, "Your temperament and personality have changed. You seem to have a smile on your face, but your eyes are unpredictable and unpredictable."
Out of awe, brother, I feel the same way. I feel like you have really changed. You have the demeanor of a famous general. I have experienced this feeling with Li Delin and Bai Jiansheng before. I didn’t expect that you are so strong at such a young age. You are so powerful compared to others.
It’s so popular!”
An Yi burst into laughter: "Brother, you follow the nonsense that others are talking about. It's really... I won't say it anymore. Others will think that we two brothers are bragging when they hear it."
Jiang Dingwen shook his head and laughed, nodded to the two guards guarding the entrance of the courtyard, and walked inside with his hands on An Yi's shoulders.