Changsha is located in the south-central area of the Yangtze River and in the north-eastern part of Hunan. It is located in the transition zone from the southern end of the Dongting Lake Plain to the hilly basin of central Hunan. The Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago conveniently built Changsha as a city.
For eight years, the city site has remained unchanged, making it one of the longest cities in Chinese history to have built a city at the same address.
On the morning of the 23rd, Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek's fleet entered the Changsha Waterway. He Jian, who had long been a master in officialdom, cleverly dispatched four regiments spread over five kilometers on both sides of the Xiangjiang River for security.
The bright-faced Hunan officers and soldiers were all in high spirits and stood at attention to salute. Commander-in-Chief Chiang and his entourage, who were standing at the bow of the ship and watching carefully, nodded frequently and were deeply satisfied.
Commander-in-Chief Chiang's flagship has not yet docked, and the military band on the pier has already played military music. He Jian, commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army and chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, led more than a dozen generals under his command to stand neatly in front of tens of thousands of cheering and welcoming soldiers and civilians.
Raise your white-gloved right palm and salute respectfully.
An Yi smiled lightly and shook his head slightly, admiring the grand scene created by He Jian. At this time, Liu Guang, the director of the first hall, walked up to An Yi and asked An Yi in a low voice what he thought?
An Yi curled his lips and motioned Liu Guang to take a closer look behind the neatly dressed first row of officers and soldiers.
Liu Guang was a little surprised. He looked at it intently and was stunned for a long time. Then he sighed and said: This He Jian is really fucking amazing! He deliberately lined up the ragged officers and soldiers behind the officers and soldiers who were wearing new clothes. On the surface, it seemed that
It is to cover up embarrassment, but it is actually a complaint. It clearly tells the Commander-in-Chief and those of us that He Jian is very loyal. It not only shows his respect for Commander-in-Chief Chiang and the civil and military personnel in the headquarters, but also allows Commander-in-Chief and everyone to see that He Jian is very loyal.
The difficulties we are facing right now are beyond the imagination of ordinary people!
An Yi smiled after hearing this. When he saw that the ship had stopped, Commander-in-Chief Chiang immediately stepped off the ship. He said nothing, and together with Liu Guang, followed closely behind Chiang Kai-shek and others, they came to the dock one by one with He Jian.
He saluted and shook hands with the generals of the Hunan Army.
Except for He Jian who respectfully stretched out his hands when shaking hands with Commander-in-Chief Chiang, the other generals just smiled and stretched out their right hands to hold it lightly. When it was An Yi's turn, his eyes lit up and he stretched out his hands again, and in front of everyone
People praised An Yi for his skill in using troops like a god, and the troops under his command were as fast as dragons and lightning, etc. This made An Yi, who had seemingly lost his military power and devoted himself to the general staff, very embarrassed, and kept saying nonsense praises insincerely.
After reviewing the troops, Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek, guided by hundreds of cavalrymen, got into a car and rushed to the Huangpu-Changsha branch where he was temporarily setting up camp. He washed up briefly and immediately convened a military and political meeting to listen to the reports made by He Jian and his generals.
In the middle of the meeting, his subordinates came down to report that Commander Zhang Hongluan of the 44th Army, Chief of Staff Zhang Cunzhuang and their entourage, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel He, arrived and were waiting in front of the building to be summoned by the Commander-in-Chief.
Chiang Kai-shek nodded happily, turned to He Jian beside him and whispered a few words. He Jian immediately stood up, respectfully moved the chair for Chiang Kai-shek, and kindly asked Ye Kaixin to follow Chiang Kai-shek out.
Zhang Hongluan, Zhang Cunzhuang and others saw Chiang Kai-shek coming out to greet him with many generals. They quickly stood at attention and saluted and reported loudly. They suppressed the excitement in their hearts of seeing each other again after a long separation. They nodded to Ye Kaixin, who had tears in his eyes, took Chiang Kai-shek's outstretched hand and greeted him respectfully.
Thank you Commander-in-Chief for your encouragement.
Everyone returned to the conference room, and Zhang Hongluan was arranged to sit next to the old chief Ye Kaixin. Zhang Cunzhuang and others felt a little strange when they thought of An Yi's reserved smile just now. Seeing An Yi's calm expression without looking over, they became even more confused.
, we can only sit down silently and try to figure out the reasons.
At Chiang Kai-shek's signal, Ge Jing'en stood up and read out the commendation for He Jian's department, appointed He Jian as the commander-in-chief of the Fourth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and based on He Jian's application, he appointed the 19th Division and three new divisions under his command.
The numbers and personnel were appointed and certificates of appointment were issued. Next, based on the resolution passed by the Central Military Commission and the General Headquarters, Ge Jingen once again announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Zhang Hongluan, Deputy Commander Deng Bin, Chief of Staff Zhang Cunzhuang and the three divisions under his command.
The division commander issues an appointment order and issues a formally signed letter of appointment.
At the end of the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek, in the name of the Central Military Commission and the Commander-in-Chief, personally announced the decision made after repeated discussions on the ship:
The 44th Army is stationed in the entire western Hunan region, including Changde, and is directly under the Central Military Commission and directly under the jurisdiction of the General Headquarters; all other areas are the Hejian Fourth Route Army Garrison Area.
He Jian and his generals looked at each other in shock. They did not expect that Chiang Kai-shek would transfer the important town of Changde to the 44th Army. However, when they heard that the other armies of the Central Army did not garrison troops in Changsha, Yueyang, Northern Hunan, Eastern Hunan, and Southern Hunan, they
He did not seek to capture Hengyang, where Wang Jun's troops had not yet completely evacuated, and finally felt a little more balanced in his heart. However, he thought that the 44th Army of Zhang Hongluan, his old opponent who knew the inside and out, was to the west of him, completely blocking the road from Hunan to Sichuan, and would completely block the road from Hunan to Sichuan.
Guizhou's roads took up more than half of it, and I suddenly felt a lump in my throat.
However, He Jian, who was very wealthy, did not show any displeasure, nor any surprise or satisfaction. He listened politely and smiled. When Chiang Kai-shek finished his announcement, he immediately stood up and thanked Commander-in-Chief Chiang and the Central Committee.
Trust means that one will always obey Commander-in-Chief Chiang’s orders and serve the country and the people with loyalty and responsibility.
Chiang Kai-shek nodded repeatedly, obviously very satisfied with He Jian's response, and immediately promised to issue sufficient military uniforms and batch replacement equipment to the Fourth Route Army within half a year, and immediately awarded He Jian a heavy reward of 200,000 yuan in recognition of He Jian.
and the outstanding contributions made by the soldiers of the Hunan Army in the entire campaign against rebellion.
After the luncheon, Chiang Kai-shek, who had put aside all his worries, returned to his temporary residence on the second floor to rest for a while. At the invitation of Ye Kaixin, An Yi invited Zhang Hongluan and others into his guest room to reminisce about the past.
An Yi carefully asked Shen Fengdao to pay attention to the situation outside the door and around him. He returned to the brothers and whispered about his latest transfer, the reasons and current situation of several divisions under his command being separated, and the possible consequences for Commander-in-Chief Chiang and other accompanying officials.
The reasons for the misunderstanding were explained in detail. Only then did Zhang Hongluan, Zhang Cunzhuang and others understand the reason why An Yi had turned a blind eye to them in the meeting just now, and the reason why he was walking on thin ice and working cautiously now. They knew that although the current situation seemed calm, it was actually full of crises.
They all expressed that they would follow suit and exercise restraint as much as possible to avoid exposing their close relationship.
The scale of the afternoon meeting was greatly reduced. Except for He Jian and his two assistants, there was no one else in the Fourth Route Army. Even the central government and party officials accompanying Commander-in-Chief Chiang were not able to attend. The core content of the discussion was
It became a battle plan to attack Guangxi, but An Yi did not participate in the formulation of this plan and only attended the meeting as a member of the staff.
After He Jian listened to Ge Jingen and Liu Guang's introduction to the current situation, the report of the offensive launched by the Guangdong army against Wuzhou and Qinbei areas in Guangxi, and the battle plan against Guangxi given to He Jian for reference, he immediately knew that his troops were about to fight Li Zongren.
Bai Chongxi's Gui army was defeated.
Since the Guangxi army has been provoking and attacking He Jian's troops on the front line in northern Guangxi and southern Hunan in recent days, He Jian and the Hunan military officers and soldiers, who were already deeply resentful of the Gui army, were very angry. There was another very embarrassing but unspeakable incident.
This incident left He Jian and the Hunan army officers and soldiers filled with resentment and nowhere to vent their resentment:
Seven days ago, more than 1,600 Guangxi officers and soldiers who were disarmed and demobilized by Yin Jinan Division and the 2nd Division of the 44th Army were sent to Changsha and entrusted to the Hunan Army to be deported on their behalf. He Jian said he was secretly happy and turned around.
Immediately, all these Gui officers and soldiers, who had only their belts and a set of military uniforms left, were incorporated into the new Eighth Division under his command stationed in Shaoyang. Since the officers and soldiers were all veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles, they did not need to be trained.
Because of their extremely strong combat power, they were trained for only three days after being registered and then distributed weapons as their own troops. Unexpectedly, these more than a thousand poor Gui soldiers were very cunning. Two days ago, they took advantage of the commander's carelessness and
At four o'clock in the morning, he escaped completely, carrying the rifle and machine gun issued by He Jian, and fled into the mountains at the junction of Hunan and Guangxi. Two regiments of the Hunan Army reacted and pursued angrily, but they were in the mountains south of Xinning.
They were ambushed by this group of deserters who were short in stature but walked like flying on the mountain road. Not only did they lose more than 300 brothers, they were also carried away by this group of Gui soldiers who carried more than a thousand rifles and a dozen machine guns.
This incident made He Jian and his division commander so angry that they were helpless. Only then did they understand why An Yi's troops did not accept any prisoners from the Gui Army. All the more than 5,000 people recruited by Yin Jinan's 16th Division and the 44th Army were all
He is a descendant of Hunan and Hubei.
Therefore, when He Jian forged a hatred with the Gui faction, faced Chiang Kai-shek's coercion, his own weak economic strength and other factors, and had no other choice, He Jian expressed his position very readily: "I will never let down the expectations of the Central Committee and the Commander-in-Chief."
!I vow to use all my strength to defeat the Gui Army!"
Chiang Kai-shek nodded happily and told He Jian about the current deployment situation of the divisions of the Central Hunan Army: "Now most of the Jinhanding Division and Wangjun Division have withdrawn, the 12th Jinhanding Division has moved to the front line in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, and the 7th Wangjun Division will be stationed
On the Ganzhou front line, together with Zhang Huizan's 18th Division, which has all withdrawn to Ji'an, they are preparing to launch a fierce attack on the Jiangxi Red Bandits; General Zhang's Forty-fourth Army will defend to the death, and will cooperate with Zhang Fakui's 4th Division currently stationed in Zhijiang, and Fan, who is stationed in the Public Security Bureau.
Division Shi Sheng worked together to launch an encirclement and suppression campaign against the He Long tribe at the border of Hunan and Hubei.
Therefore, Brother Yunqiao does not need to be distracted by the increasingly fierce Red Bandits at the junction of Hunan and Jiangxi, and the junction of Hunan and Hubei. He can just use all his energy in the direction of Guangxi. The military supplies consumed in the battle are supplied by the Military Supplies Department of the headquarters and various military depots.
There is absolutely no problem with logistics. Brother Yunqiao, if you have other requirements, you may wish to put them forward in time and I will try my best to meet them."
He Jian stood up again with great gratitude, sat down slowly under Chiang Kai-shek's polite gesture, and said with some hesitation: "Commander-in-Chief, subordinate... I do have a request, I don't know if..."
Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand: "You can say it safely and boldly, now we are in the same boat and there is no need to worry so much."
He Jian nodded and told the truth: "Based on our army's repeated tests in mountain operations, we found that in mountainous areas with undulating and complex terrain, the medium-sized machine guns produced by Jiangnan Arsenal are very suitable for mountain operations, and this gun has reliable performance and operation
Its simplicity, range and sturdiness far exceed the imitation German flower machine guns currently equipped by our army. Therefore, the soldiers are very eager to have such a new automatic weapon with powerful firepower and moderate weight. If the commander-in-chief can arrange it, please
Equip a group of them for the main force of our army."
Chiang Kai-shek laughed and turned to look at An Yi: "I don't know about this either. Let General An talk about it. Can it be arranged?"
An Yi stood up respectfully: "Commander-in-Chief, General He, the current production tasks of Jiangnan Factory are very arduous. General Jiang Mingsan's 9th Division and General Xia Lingbing's 13th Division have been ordering for a long time, but they still cannot be arranged. I'm afraid they need to wait for a while.
Only time will do... However, General He's soldiers are about to go south, and they really need this kind of automatic weapon that is very beneficial to mountain and jungle warfare. If General He can't wait, his subordinates will immediately mobilize the Jiangxi security forces and temporarily give up the three hundred newly equipped weapons.
weapons and corresponding ammunition, no matter how many there are, there may be nothing we can do.”
"That's enough, that's enough. Thank you so much! General An Gaoyi and He express our sincere gratitude on behalf of all the brothers in the Hunan Army!"
He Jian stood up with a smile on his face, and bowed his hands to An Yi, with a friendly expression and a sincere smile, which made the generals in the hall chuckle involuntarily.
An Yi responded politely, Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction, and the meeting ended.
An Yi saw He Jian following Chiang Kai-shek closely, whispering all the way, and left in a hurry like other generals, not wanting to disturb the conversation between He Jian and Commander-in-Chief Chiang.
After the dinner, An Yi thought that Zhang Hongluan and others would return to Xiangxi tomorrow morning, so he walked out of his room to have a chat. Unexpectedly, he was stopped by Wang Shihe as soon as he left the house, and he quickly went to Chiang Kai-shek's room to wait for instructions.
Chiang Kai-shek told An Yi to sit down, but he stood up and paced gently. After a while, he asked: "An Yi, He Jian complained to me, saying that Wang Jun dismantled the entire Hengyang Ordnance Factory, including the screws.
Not even a few were left, they were all sold to the 44th Army. Do you know about this?"
Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek had not spoken, An Yi felt a little uneasy. At this time, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard what happened. He quickly stood up, took a step forward and reported in a low voice: "Principal, not only do students know about it, but they are also students.
The thread drawn from it.”
Chiang Kai-shek looked at An Yi in great surprise. An Yi explained in detail: "Principal, the 44th Army is located in the border of western Hunan. It is full of high mountains and hills and transportation is extremely inconvenient. It is very difficult to supply weapons and ammunition, so the students secretly requested General Wang Jun to make the decision.
Sell it to them so that they can gradually become self-sufficient in general firearms maintenance and ammunition, and even be able to do better through their own efforts to reduce the burden on the central government."
Chiang Kai-shek suddenly understood and nodded heavily: "I see, I'm just saying, you An Yi can't do stupid things, well done! It's more profound and insightful than I thought! Xiangxi is a card in our hands
Ace, your role is incomparable even to the three main divisions. From now on, you will be responsible for contacting them. Zhang Hongluan and others are grateful to you, so it is better for you to convey the orders of the Central Committee and me."