The rare two days of sunny weather disappeared again. The sky above Nanjing was gray and the wind was howling. Along with the pattering of sleet and snow, the cold and humid atmosphere was very uncomfortable.
After attending the military meeting, An Yi returned to his home in Houzai Lane late at night. He received a stack of messages from Chen Yu and read them carefully. Chen Yu and Liu Hao poured hot tea for An Yi and sat down to wait. In this thick stack of telegrams, there were secret reports from North China, as well as secret reports from Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha and Yueyang intelligence stations. Among them, the urgent report jointly sent by Zhang Hongluan and Deng Bin of the 44th Army of Western Hunan surprised An Yi. Feeling urgent.
"Let's go to the conference room below."
An Yi took the message and stood up, turning down the west aisle with Chen Yu and Liu Hao, followed by Shen Fengdao and Lin Yaodong.
Open the small door of the storage room under the stairs and get in, then open a cabinet wall close to the inner wall, enter the dimly lit descending corridor, turn east and enter the large basement. There are three operators on duty and an interpreter. When the electrician saw An Yi, he quickly stood up and saluted. An Yi smiled and waved his hands to indicate to the brothers that they should go about their business. He walked straight to the east wall and stopped, and ordered Liu Hao to merge with the headquarters and the 44th Army of Western Hunan. Take out the redrawn large map of Hunan and hang it up.
Liu Hao turned on another high-wattage electric light, pointed at Changde on the map, and whispered: "The division seat is right here. The Tan Daoyuan division of Lu Diping's division, which was dispersed by the Guangxi armies, fled into Changde City. Ye Qi led the 52nd Division to pursue them hard. A division of Tao Jun's 18th Army moved south from Yichang early yesterday morning. The intention was very obvious, which was to cut off Tan Daoyuan's division from retreating to the north, and with Ye Qi's division to the east of Changde and Yiyang to the south. He Jian and his brigade were attacked from three sides, leaving Tan Daoyuan with the only way to escape to the west. The two counties of Anhua and Yongding to the west were occupied by the First Division of our 44th Army, and Commander Deng's instructors also quietly moved eastward, preparing to According to the telegram, Senior Zhang, Commander Deng Bin and Commander Zhang Cunzhuang of the First Division seemed to be undecided, probably because they were afraid of exposing their strength and triggering a lot of suspicion from the outside world."
"Your analysis is good. They adhere to the eight-character principle of 'hidden strength and steady development' and cannot alert the outside world until the critical moment. In addition, the Sangzhi and Longshan lines to their north are the territory of the Red Army He Huzi. There has always been no conflict between them. In business, they were doing business secretly and getting along well. It is estimated that Senior Zhang and Deng Bin were unwilling to reveal their strength prematurely because of this, lest Commander-in-Chief Chiang would let them go to fight the local snake He Huzi and create a big enemy for nothing. But now they encountered This emergency situation will be difficult to handle unless..." An Yi's voice gradually lowered.
"Master, do you think it would be better to suggest that Senior Zhang and Deng Bin take the initiative and quietly assist Master Tan Daoyuan to sneak into western Hunan?" the shrewd Liu Hao asked thoughtfully.
An Yi turned to Liu Hao with admiration in his eyes. Liu Hao graduated from Shanghai Industrial College and was among the first batch to be admitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Jiangnan University of Science and Technology with excellent results. He promoted the idea of loyalty to the country in the recruitment office of An Yi's headquarters. Inspired, An Yi resolutely signed up to join the army. After three months of recruit training, he was selected into the base's teaching team. Then he was selected into a special class for further training due to his excellent grades and good business background. An Yi went to the base to teach in the latter stages of his recovery from his injuries in Lao Nanchang. At first glance, he took a fancy to this intelligence genius who spoke little but had excellent results. Within a few days, Liu Hao was promoted to lieutenant, and followed An Yi back to Nanjing as deputy director of the base office, responsible for intelligence and liaison matters. Over the past few months, Liu Hao has been diligent and loyal. With his solid cultural accomplishment and talent, he has read a large number of military books eagerly. The information on generals of various military groups that An Yi obtained from the headquarters and An Yi's three battle records have completed his work. The work was impressive and impressive, greatly reducing Chen Yu's pressure. She was respected by both old and new brothers in the office, and her progress in all aspects was quite rapid.
Liu Hao saw An Yi looking at him with deep meaning, and touched his head in embarrassment: "Master, is this subordinate being rude?"
"No, no, on the contrary, it's very insightful. I know you must have your own unique analysis. Let's hear it." An Yi patted Liu Hao's shoulder encouragingly.
"Zhiyuan, just talk freely!" Chen Yu also said with a smile.
Liu Hao nodded and said calmly: "Master, this is what I think. Under the current conditions, it is completely possible for Senior Zhang to write a letter to Tan Daoyuan. As a senior general of the Hunan Army, Tan Daoyuan is from Hunan.
Senior military general Zhang Hongluan was of similar age, and both had served in the Second Division of the former Hunan Army. When Senior Zhang served as the Chief of Staff of the Second Division, Tan Daoyuan served as the commander of the Third Regiment of the Third Mixed Brigade of the Second Division, and later followed him.
Senior Tan Yankai went south to Guangdong to form the New Hunan Army. His subordinates made wild speculations, including General Lu Diping, who fled to Nanjing to file a complaint on the 27th of last month. He probably also knew senior Zhang Hongluan. If senior Zhang could personally take action, it is estimated that Tan Daoyuan would not
If there is any doubt, and in this bad situation, even if Tan Daoyuan has doubts, he can only take the risk of following Senior Zhang to Xiangxi to escape, otherwise it will be a situation where the entire army will be annihilated. Then let Chief Deng and Chief Zhang’s two divisions be surprised
Give the pursuers a good beating, and Tan Daoyuan and the others will probably be convinced. If done well, they can not only relieve the friendly troops from their embarrassing situation, but also deter the pursuers, and run away after the fight, which can also hide their own strength."
"What if Ye Qi and He Jian launch a pursuit in anger? Once a tug-of-war develops in western Hunan, the gains will outweigh the losses." An Yi asked with a meaningful smile.
Liu Hao replied confidently: "I forgive them for not daring... At that time, Division Chen Zhibiao of Bai Chongxi's Thirteenth Army was so awesome, wasn't he still beaten back by Commander Deng Bin who had just arrived in western Hunan? At that time, he
, the Forty-fourth Army is still an army that has suffered repeated defeats, with low morale and backward equipment. It cannot be compared with what it is now. I think Ye Qi and He Jian, who have always been shrewd, know how to choose.
In fact, this is also the case. Since the heavy beating of Chen Zhibiao's division, no one from the Guangxi army or the Hunan army has dared to cross the Anhua and Yongding lines. Now, Chief Zhang Cunzhuang and the others have established an alliance with the garrison regiments of several counties around Changsha.
We have established secret contacts, know the enemy's traces clearly, and occupy the right time, place and people in the high mountains of western Hunan. If we are attacked again at this time, neither the Guangxi army nor the Hunan army can stand it, not to mention that they have to be prepared for our Central Army's possible attack at any time.
The attack we launched can only come to nothing."
An Yi nodded repeatedly and praised loudly: "Well done, Liu Hao, you are very good! You have made progress, and you are making rapid progress. It is amazing. Keep up the good work!"
"Thank you, Master!" Liu Hao thanked him respectfully without being arrogant or impetuous.
"Liu Hao, just draft a message according to what you just wanted and send it to Senior Zhang and Deng Bin immediately. After dormant for such a long time, I'm afraid they have itchy hands. If they didn't strictly follow the established principles, they wouldn't have signed it to me.
In fact, the intention of those who sent the urgent call was very obvious. They wanted to fight this battle in order to test the results of their training over the past year and build up the soldiers' confidence and sense of honor. If we don't allow them to fight again, I'm afraid they will have to fight.
Everyone in the 44th Army was offended, haha!" An Yi laughed.
Liu Hao obeyed the order and turned around to write quickly. An Yi turned to Shen Feng and said: "If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. If the enemy wants to move, I will move first. Then I will strike first and strike quickly. I will take the 52nd Division of Ye Qi's pursuit by surprise and severely damage it." One, if you want to fight, you have to beat him to pain and fear, so that the Guangxi clique and the Hunan army will never dare to think of invading Xiangxi. You call the attendant's office immediately. I have urgent military information and want to meet with the principal. If If the principal can spare time to meet with you, please ask the principal to summon General Lu Diping as soon as possible. This time we are going to do something big."
"yes!"
Forty minutes later, An Yi stood at Chiang Kai-shek's temporary official residence in the backyard of the headquarters and bowed down to apologize to Soong Meiling who was walking downstairs.
Song Meiling smiled and asked An Yi if she had any urgent reports since it was already past one o'clock. An Yi joked that it was an urgent military situation involving the lives of several divisions and soldiers.
Song Meiling was slightly taken aback. She looked at Chiang Kai-shek who looked cautious with her beautiful eyes. She smiled appreciatively at An Yi and then quietly went upstairs. Chiang Kai-shek walked towards the study and asked An Yi, who was half a step behind: "You said that?" Exaggeration, is it really such a big thing? How come I don’t know about it at all?”
An Yi replied in a low voice respectfully: "It's true, principal. General Tan Yiru (characterized by Tan Daoyuan), the commander of the fifth division of the Second Army of the Hunan Army, broke out of the siege of the Guangxi Army, tossed all the way, and defeated a regiment of Changde garrison yesterday afternoon. I'm afraid he is currently The city of Changde is breathing heavily. However, at this moment, a division of Tao Xun's department in the north is heading south to Changde. A brigade of He Jian in the south has also reached the front line 55 kilometers southeast of Changde. Ye Qi, who is chasing the fastest, is 52 The division has already crossed Huarong, and its leading main force is estimated to have arrived at the mouth of the river east of Changde at this time. It is expected that Changde will be encircled at noon tomorrow at the latest. At this critical moment, Tan Yiru's troops must not go wrong, otherwise General Lu Diping will lose This arm no longer has the power to deter Hunan, and the decision made by the Wuhan Political Branch has become an established fact. After successfully finishing the fifth division of the Second Army, the Guangxi clique can easily free up its hands to set up a defense line between Ninghan and Ninghan to attack us. The unfolding of the one-step plan is extremely unfavorable!”
"Oh? It's progressing so fast..."
Chiang Kai-shek stopped and thought for a while, turned to look at the door, and asked Wang Shihe, the chief of guard, "Has Lu Yong'an arrived?"
"I set off here twenty minutes ago, so I think it will be soon." Wang Shihe replied.
"Bring him in as soon as he arrives." After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, he walked towards the big desk and motioned for An Yi to sit down and relax. An Yi smiled and replied that General Lu Diping would be here soon. Just stand for a while and forget it, so as not to have to stand up again. This made Chiang Kai-shek, who looked quite solemn, amused.
An Yi then reported to Chiang Kai-shek one by one the location of the Forty-fourth Army, the content of the emergency report, the planned countermeasures, and the possible impact on the overall situation. After Chiang Kai-shek asked about the terrain and the combat effectiveness of the Forty-fourth Army, He was quite dissatisfied with the possible overall impact of An Yi's plan. He quickly agreed with An Yi's idea and praised him in a low voice. He was sincerely happy with An Yi's quick response and Zhang Hongluan's development ability.
The sound of hurried footsteps came closer and closer. Lu Diping, who had just shaved his beard and looked haggard and decadent when he first arrived in Nanjing, strode in. He stood at attention and reported: "Commander-in-Chief, my subordinates have been waiting for you to come to Nanjing!"
"Yong'an, you're welcome, sit down wherever you want."
Chiang Kai-shek watched Lu Diping shake hands with An Yi and sit down, waiting for the attendants to serve tea and then leave. Then he asked calmly: "I came to you late at night because of an emergency. Where is your fifth division now?"
Location?"
Lu Diping was slightly surprised, glanced at Chiang Kai-shek and An Yi, and quickly puffed up his chest and answered truthfully: "Yesterday at four o'clock in the afternoon, my subordinates received an urgent report from Brother Yiru that the 12,000 men of the Fifth Division had been fighting hard for days and finally came to an end.
After a heavy siege, only 7,000 brothers managed to reach Changde. They defeated the Guangxi clique's Changde garrison and immediately moved in to rest. At 11 o'clock last night, I received another telegram from Brother Yiru. The soldiers of the division are still safe at present, but they are tired and hungry due to the continuous winter rain.
, many soldiers fell ill due to illness, and the attrition of each regiment was very serious. Even if we want to continue to move, we are unable to do so, so we can only rest for the time being and wait for the next day."
Chiang Kai-shek nodded noncommittally: "Well... An Yi, please report the latest military information to General Yong'an."
"yes!"
An Yi then reported to Lu Diping in detail the current positions of He Jian of the Hunan Army and the various units of the Guangxi Clan. Seeing the excited Lu Diping wanting to stand up, he quickly held him down: "General Lu, please sit down, everything will be yours."
The principal is sure that as long as you can get in touch with General Tan Yiru in Changde now, you can probably turn the crisis around."
"Ah!? What should I do? What should I do..." Lu Diping turned to Chiang Kai-shek anxiously.
Chiang Kai-shek nodded and asked calmly: "Do you know Zhang Hongluan, the former deputy commander of the 44th Army?"
Lu Diping was stunned for a moment, then replied: "I know him, of course he does! In fact, most of the old generals of the Hunan Army know him. In the early days of the Northern Expedition, even the four divisions of Tang Mengxiao's Eighth Army could not surround him. It was our Hunan Army that
He is a rare and fierce general in the army. However, since General Jingqiu (named Ye Kaixin) asked him to serve as the deputy commander of the 44th Army to participate in the Northern Expedition, he responded to the central government's order to march westward to Wuhan and arrived in Hunan, but he was attacked by Li De and the Gui Army at the time.
He was besieged by the Hunan Army who had surrendered to the Guangxi Clan. After that, there was no news about him. It is said that he had once again retired and returned to his fields. Commander-in-Chief, you said this is..."
Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand to stop Lu Diping's words, and said kindly: "Yong'an, it's okay to tell you the truth, but it's a matter of confidentiality. You need to keep this secret for the time being and not spread it out for at least half a year. General Zhang Hongluan
They did not go into seclusion. After breaking out of the siege, they summoned thousands of remnant troops to escape into the high mountains of western Hunan to recuperate. Now the army has grown to three divisions and 20,000 officers and soldiers. They have been carrying the designation of the Forty-Fourth Army.
Under the instructions of the general, he stayed in Xiangxi, endured the humiliation, and worked silently. At this moment, his two main divisions are less than 20 kilometers west of Changde. If your fifth division wants to survive, you can only establish contact with him and quickly withdraw into Xiangxi.
The Forty-Fourth Army is resting on its territory, and will wait until the situation improves before reorganizing in Nanjing or Jiangxi. The most urgent task is for you to send an order to Tan Yiru, asking him to lead the fifth division to retreat westward as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the encirclement is formed, it will be too late, and there will be so many injuries.
With downsizing and hard work for so many days, the situation is not optimistic!"
Lu Diping was shocked at first, and then overjoyed. He stood up and thanked the commander-in-chief excitedly: "Thank you to the commander-in-chief. Lu Diping and all the soldiers of the second army swear to the commander-in-chief: From now on, they will be loyal to the party and the country, to the leader, and to follow him to the death without hesitation!"
"well!"
Chiang Kai-shek stood up happily, walked up to Lu Diping with a pleasant look, and patted his arm gently: "Remember my words, the difficulties are only temporary. Your Second Army is an army with a glorious history and tradition.
He is an indispensable member of our revolutionary army. After overcoming this difficulty, he only needs a good rest and he will become an excellent army again. I am very confident about this.
Yong'an, your commander Zhang Shihou is currently in western Jiangxi. He is very safe under the care of General Zhu Yizhi's security forces. I am going to allocate a resettlement fee for them to station in Ji'an for rest and recuperation. After Tan Yiru's fifth division enters western Hunan, it will also be safe.
It's safe, don't worry.
However, you have to put more thought into these days. You must make a strong political counterattack against the rebellious Gui clique. Zuyan and others at the party headquarters will actively cooperate with you. You also have to attend the three conferences and the Chinese and foreign
Their conspiracy was exposed at the press conference. Hunan has suffered a lot in recent years and cannot let the Guangxi clique continue like this."
"I understand what I have done!" Lu Diping put his legs together and stood at attention again.
Chiang Kai-shek smiled slightly, pointed at An Yi and said: "This time you have to thank An Yi. He was the first to discover the danger, report it in time, and quickly formulate a series of countermeasures. In the future, you two must unite and cooperate sincerely."
, and make the greatest contribution to the cause of the party and the country."
Lu Diping turned to An Yi and said gratefully: "Our Second Army established a deep friendship with General An during the Battle of Nanchang and the battle into Zhejiang. There are also many Hunan soldiers in General An's independent division. Our two armies
The relationship between us has always been very good, and I am grateful to General An for taking care of me this time. Thank you very much!"
"General Lu, you're welcome. Both Mr. Tan and General An Yi respect the seniors very much, and General Zhang Shihou of your army has a good relationship with me. It's my honor to be able to help this time! By the way, I think
May I ask General, the former commander of your regiment, Zhang Tianyi, is a classmate of my subordinates. After he went to study in the Soviet Union, my subordinates have not heard from him. I wonder how he is doing now?" An Yi asked politely.
Lu Diping shook his head slightly: "At the end of last year, he was just promoted to the rank of Major General and Deputy Commander of the Instruction Division. The Instruction Division was dispersed during the Changsha breakout last month. There has been no news about him. It is estimated that he followed Zhang Shihou's 18th Division.
I have entered Jiangxi. Brother Yu will give General An a definite message tomorrow."
"Thank you, General Lu! He is An Yi's fellow senior. From the time he entered Huangpu and met now, An Yi has always treated him as an elder brother. He is very concerned about him in his heart. If he has any shortcomings, who committed the crime? I
An Yi is going to find him to settle the matter."
An Yi thanked him sincerely, with a hint of worry in his eyes.
Lu Diping and Chiang Kai-shek looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes, and were deeply moved by An Yi's emphasis on love and justice.