After a chain of sudden changes, the originally planned battle did not happen. The soldiers of the Second Red Army who were notified in time wiped away the sweat from their brows and stopped advancing. They rested on the spot and monitored closely. Fan Shisheng's brigade suddenly received an urgent order and also stopped the pursuit.
Turn and drive quietly toward Liling in the southeast.
The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division smoothly entered Cili without firing a shot. The officers and men of the Third Division of the 44th Army left a company behind and politely welcomed Zhang Fakui and others into the city. They asked the Fourth Division, who was full of doubts,
The generals explained that because Hunan Provincial Chairman He Jian had redefined the administrative districts of the entire province,
Shimen, Cili, and Liling were assigned to northern Hunan. The 44th Army was ordered to cede the territory of Shimen, Cili, and Liling counties. The defense handover was to be completed in the next two days, so only one company was left to maintain order and complete the task.
After the mission, he also had to return to the west to station in Dayong County (now Zhangjiajie City).
After the division of new administrative districts, Cili did not receive the task of resettling the victims. Everything remained as it was until the Third Division of the 44th Army was dispatched by the central government, and no large-scale construction or infrastructure construction was carried out in Cili.
Because it is backed by the increasingly affluent Xiangxi base area, the pay for officers and soldiers with strict military disciplines has also increased sharply. Therefore, Cili, like all counties in western Hunan, is exempted from tax for one year. The people are happy and support this, but it suffers from He Jian and the newly arrived
Zhang Fakui's 4th Division: The county government's granary was empty of food except for dust particles. Even after the war stopped, there was still no food.
The common people who had been living a miserable life had little surplus grain at home. The grain of more than a dozen large landowners in the city and various counties and towns had been purchased by the 44th Army for disaster relief. The remaining seeds have been turned into seedlings in the fields.
Rice seedlings. The period before the autumn harvest is the leanest time of the year. Even if the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division wanted to grab some rice to plant, they would not have a chance.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Fakui drank three bowls of sweet potato porridge that could almost see people's faces, peeed and soaked for more than a minute, and with a dark face ordered the entire army to set off and continue southward.
Just an hour after the army started, more than 4,000 soldiers of the Second Red Army suddenly attacked the county town. They quickly captured all the defenders of a company and occupied it.
The main force of the 12th Regiment of the 3rd Division of the 44th Army returned again to perform defense duties. Halfway through, they received a report from a soldier who had luckily escaped.
All gone,
When more than a hundred brothers who had been disarmed saw the arrival of the main force, they were so sad that they cried: The Red Army was so poor that not only did they take away all the guns and ammunition from a company, they also took away the clothes, pants and newly issued rubber-soled military shoes from the brothers.
They were all taken away!
Zhang Hongluan was very angry after receiving the emergency report. The third division commander Zhang Shaodong immediately roared. The deputy division commander Tan Liangde and the chief of staff Liu Hanhua gritted their teeth and were extremely angry. If Zhang Hongluan hadn't severely scolded Zhang Hongluan, the three of them would have left Zhang Fakui alone and went to seek revenge on He Huzi.
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Zhang Fakui led the fourth division to march continuously for 23 kilometers until they reached the calamus in the middle of the triangle between Cili, Liling and Changde. Just as they were about to take a rest, they were immediately attacked by three divisions of the 44th Army. From the northwest, due west and
The artillery shells that kept flying from the south made a sharp roar and exploded among the chaotic and unprotected officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division, causing thousands of casualties in just over five minutes. The whole army was in chaos, and screams of grief were everywhere.
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The panicked Zhang Fakui risked his life and climbed to the high ground in the south of the town to take a look. He suddenly took a breath of cold air as the black and dense Qiwu field artillery and mortar shells that kept flying in ruthlessly destroyed the empty houses and thatched sheds.
, there were red lights flying for several miles around the south of the town, but the east side was relatively calm without being surrounded.
Zhang Fakui decisively ordered the entire army to retreat eastward. He escaped five kilometers away from the crazy pursuers with powerful firepower. After a rough inventory, he found that the artillery regiment was gone, as well as the engineering battalion, supply camp, communications company, etc., and the 20,000 officers and soldiers were all gone.
There were more than 13,000 people left, and there were still groups of stragglers coming quickly. Most of them were in disarray and in ragged clothes, let alone whether they had weapons in their hands.
Zhang Fakui kicked off an arm-thick tree trunk on the side of the road and shouted to the west: "I will throw away your mother Zhang Hongluan——"
"Boom, boom boom——"
The roar of mortars sounded again, and dozens of shells whizzed in from behind the northern highlands in an instant. The officers and soldiers of Fan Shisheng's department, who had been lying in wait for half a night and were bitten by mosquitoes and gnashing their teeth, opened fire and were pushed to the roadside by the guards.
Zhang Fakui from Hangou threw off his guards and climbed up, shaking off the dust from his head and body, and shouted to seize the mountain.
He quickly counterattacked with his head high, but before he could finish his words, there were loud shouts of killing from the west, and more than 20,000 Xiangxi troops came in with murderous intent. Zhang Fakui pulled out his pistol and rushed towards the small dirt bag in front, but through the gunpowder smoke he saw his subordinates.
All the soldiers ran eastward without their lives. Screams, explosions of shells, and wailings came one after another. No one heard his orders.
Zhang Fakui looked up to the sky and sighed. He was suddenly lifted into the air by his adjutant and a group of personal guards, and rushed down the hillock to the east. Just when Zhang Fakui was about to curse, he saw that the hilltop he was standing on just now was blown up by a flying shell, causing mud and rocks to fly, and fireworks.
Zhang Fakui, who was soaring and his feet were not touching the ground, desperately turned his head to look back, and painfully discovered that after the smoke cleared, the hillock had been flattened.
The Forty-fourth Army and Fan Shisheng's troops won a complete victory in this battle. The third division commander Zhang Shaodong was surrounded by sixteen 80% new artillery pieces, piles of mortars, long and short guns, and light and heavy machine guns. He was so happy that he couldn't remember He Huzi.
The evil deeds of bandits.
The officers and soldiers of Fan Shisheng's department carried more than fifty captured machine guns, divided the several hundred kilograms of recovered opium, and returned fully loaded. They handed over the corpses and more than 2,000 prisoners to the brothers of the 44th Army to deal with the aftermath. They had not gone more than ten miles, and the good news had been sent out.
It was in the hands of Fan Shisheng in Jingzhou City.
Fan Shi got angry and felt much better. Following the advice of his chief of staff, he immediately called Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek to tell him that he was working closely with the friendly forces and was ordered to annihilate nearly 10,000 enemies.
As expected, Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek lived up to Fan Shisheng's ardent expectations. He quickly called back to encourage him, rewarded Fan Shisheng with 50,000 yuan, named Fan Shisheng the commander of the Jingxiang Garrison Command, and promised to give Fan Shisheng a new Central Army designation as soon as possible.
Replenish all new recruits within a month.
Zhang Fakui's troops, who were defeated and fled eastwards, dared to stop and take a breath after crossing the mouth of Heishan. Less than half of the soldiers left around him, nearly 30% of them had lost their weapons and equipment, and each of them looked depressed and had panic in their eyes. A group of generals and generals gasped for breath.
They gnashed their teeth with hatred towards Zhang Hongluan and the 44th Army, and they all swore to remember the blood feud and would repay it one day.
The stubborn Zhang Fakui buried his hatred deeply in his heart and summoned his generals to urgently discuss the future. At the same time, all the soldiers packed their bags, distributed weapons and ammunition, and braced themselves for battle.
The generals summed up their experiences and lessons, and unanimously believed that the reason why Zhang Hongluan's attack was successful this time was entirely because they were blinded by Zhang Hongluan's despicable appearance, so they felt safe marching on the edge of his territory, and they did not follow the drill requirements when they were tired.
, sporadic detectives dispatched
The patrol team also hurriedly returned after walking three to five miles. This profound lesson gained with blood has since been engraved in the hearts of the generals of the Fourth Division. In the future military career, no matter where these generals went or which faction they joined,
army, they never made the same mistake again.
As night fell, the reconnaissance team sent out a report quickly, and He Jian sent two major generals to contact them.
Zhang Fakui and the generals deliberated for a moment and came forward together. Wu Qiwei and Huang Zhenqiu discovered that the person coming was Wei Suzhong, a senior fellow who graduated from Baoding, so they quietly lowered their guard.
Weisu Zhong conveyed He Jian's greetings and sincerity in a low voice, saying that he did not want to be enemies with the brothers of the Fourth Division, and was willing to provide all conveniences to quietly support the Fourth Division's march south through Miluo. With Weisu Zhong's sincere invitation and thoughtful arrangements,
With no way to go, Zhang Fakui finally led more than 9,000 of his brothers to march eastward, arriving at Huangsha Town in the north of Miluo City at noon the next day and settling down.
…
What exactly does He Jian want to do?
An Yi and the generals around him have been analyzing this issue. Judging from the intelligence constantly reported by the 44th Army, as well as the secret messages from Yueyang and Changsha in his own intelligence network, He Jian has really done justice this time.
, with a deep sense of loyalty, he not only generously provided food, clothing and other supplies to Zhang Fakui’s Fourth Division,
He also carefully designed the marching route for the Fourth Division. The 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division who had rested for three consecutive days in Miluo Town put on brand-new military uniforms, carried enough ammunition and quietly went south. They marched day and night to circumnavigate the area in a week.
After passing Changsha, Zhuzhou drove to Hengdong. The journey was smooth and smooth.
Regarding the inquiries from the Central Committee and Commander-in-Chief Chiang, An Yi and Zhang Hongluan, who fought and annihilated nearly a centaur of the Fourth Division, were not responsible for anything. Everything was put on He Jianjian. They reported that the remnants of the Fourth Division had retreated after they were defeated.
Entering He Jian's territory. How He Jian responded to the Central Committee and Commander-in-Chief Chiang is unknown to outsiders, but An Yi was able to learn both sides of He Jian's story through Chiang Kai-shek's two calls requesting assistance in investigating the whereabouts of the Fourth Army.
After repeated analysis, An Yi and the generals believed that the reason why He Jian came forward to help Zhang Fakui was for the following reasons: Zhang Fakui once led the Guangdong Army and Li Zongren's Gui Army fought to the death, and the hatred between them was difficult to resolve. Now,
He Jianjian is responsible for rebuking rebellion, former
Duan Duan fought fiercely with the Gui army commanded by Bai Chongxi in northern Guangxi. He Jian's troops suffered heavy losses and had to withdraw from Liuzhou and Guilin and return to the southern Hunan front line. In line with the principle that the enemy of the enemy is a friend, He Jian helped the former sworn enemy of the Guangxi clique.
Zhang Fakui is excusable.
As for why He Jian dared to deceive the central government and deceive Chiang Kai-shek, this question is easy to understand. In today's chaotic situation, how many local warlords will confront the central government candidly? Not to mention the growing anti-Chiang forces in the entire north, and not to mention Wang Jingwei
, Xu Chongzhi, Ju Zheng and other veterans kept criticizing Chiang Kai-shek for bombarding the central government. They only said that Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui, the closest people to He Jian in Guangxi, had openly rebelled, and the central government had nothing to do with it.
ability to calm down, and finally had to rely on the rapidly growing He Jian to exert military pressure on Guangxi. Under such a delicate situation, even if the central government learned that He Jian had spared Zhang Fakui and the Fourth Division, it would not have any influence on He Jian.
He blames, after all, no one will do something that is too small to make a big loss. At this time, it is impossible for the Central Committee and Commander-in-Chief to push He Jian, who has four divisions, into the anti-government camp because of the remnants of the Fourth Division.
middle.
After thinking clearly about the mystery, An Yi put the matter aside. After completing the review of the troop allocation of the Shizhen Department in Western Guizhou, and making necessary supplements and suggestions, he, together with Yin Jinan, Ding Zhicheng and other confidants, began to analyze the situation in the Central Plains and himself.
discuss the interests.
The primary question is how to obtain one or two official designations in the upcoming military adjustment by the Central Military Commission, and use the military pay allocated by the central government to legitimately strengthen itself.
Just when An Yi and others were racking their brains and determined to develop, news suddenly came from Hunan:
Because of the sudden conflict between his soldiers and He Jian's soldiers, Zhang Fakui suddenly attacked a brigade of Zhou Lan's division stationed in Hengyang in a rage. The unprepared Zhou Lan's troops suffered heavy losses and were beaten out of Hengyang.
Furious, He Jian immediately mobilized Zhou Lan and more than 30,000 Liu Jianxu troops to pursue Zhang Fakui's fourth division, which fled south with all its strength. Unexpectedly, Zhang Fakui, known as the Ten Tigers of Guangdong, was even more angry and fierce, leading all the troops.
The troops continuously defeated the Hunan Army's three lines of defense. With the support of Li Zongren's troops in northern Guangxi, they quickly crossed the Huangsha River into Guangxi, carried away the equipment and materials of He Jian's three regiments, and escaped unscathed!
When the news came, An Yi was horrified. He never imagined that Li Zongren, who quietly returned to Guangxi and successfully made a comeback, would be so generous and readily accept his former enemy Zhang Fakui regardless of past grudges.
The sudden occurrence of this incident once again subverted An Yi's values and moral values that had been adjusted countless times to adapt to this troubled world.