On August 6, 1917, Duan Qirui sent his confidant General Fu Liangzuo to replace Tan Yankai as the governor of Hunan, and sent his brother-in-law Wu Guangxin as the commander-in-chief of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Sichuan investigation envoy!
After Fu Liangzuo led the Beiyang Army to Hunan on September 9, he immediately ordered the dismissal of Liu Jianfan, the former Lingling garrison commander of the alliance, and Lin Xiumei, the brigade commander of the Hunan Army stationed in Hengyang. On the 18th, Liu and Lin jointly sent a telegram to declare "independence" and the navy
Act in concert with the southwestern Dharma-protecting provinces.
The southwestern provinces that protect the law regard the change of Hunan governor as a signal for the Beiyang faction to march into the southwest. For their own interests, to ensure that Hunan does not fall into Duan Qirui's hands and prevent him from drinking from the Pearl River, the Guangxi clique decided to send the 80th Battalion of the Guangxi and Guangdong Allied Forces.
Aid Hunan.
On October 3, he went to Zhongshan and formally ordered the crusade against Duan Qirui and other republican rebels.
The Hunan Protectorate Army formed the Southern Hunan General Headquarters headed by Cheng Qian. The overall goal of the Protector Army of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan provinces was to attack Changsha. At this time, Duan Qirui also issued a crusade order to the Beiyang Army, and Fu Liangzuo appointed the Eighth Route Army.
The division commander Wang Ruxian was the commander of southern Hunan, and the commander of the 20th Division Fan Guozhang was the deputy commander. They attacked southern Hunan in three directions.
On October 6, the Beiyang Army and the Shonan Protectorate Army fought in Nipu, Xiangtan, and the Protectorate War officially broke out!
On October 7, Wang Hengyue, the patrol envoy of Dianjin, who had been waiting for this opportunity, suddenly announced: crusade against Yunnan!
borrow.?
Yunnan used force to fight against the law-protecting government, refused to listen to the law-protecting government's orders, and refused to make the Northern Expedition!
Only God knows!
If we say that we don’t take the law-protecting government seriously, Wang Hengyue would be second to none, and absolutely no one would dare to be first. But now the Sichuan Jin patrol envoy has actually put up this banner!
Duan Qirui was overjoyed! Obviously, he regarded Wang Hengyue as one of his own!
But before the joy was over, Wang Hengyue called the whole country again. Sichuan and Guizhou were "independent". This "independence" was just "independence" changed to a more pleasant name.
Sun Wen was a little anxious. The battle between the north and the south had just begun, but Wang Hengyue started fighting in the southwest!
Sun Wen urgently sent a telegram to Wang Hengyue, ordering him to withdraw his troops immediately and start the Northern Expedition first!
But Wang Hengyue didn't take this "Generalissimo" seriously at all. In his reply to Sun Wen, he said that if he wanted to go to the Northern Expedition, he must first pacify the interior. Tang Jiyao was a follower of Duan Qirui, and so on.
In short, in one sentence, as long as he, Wang Hengyue, conquers Yunnan, he will definitely lead his army in the Northern Expedition!
At present, the Guangxi Army, the Guangdong Army and the Beiyang Army are fighting in Hunan, and they have no time to take care of Yunnan's affairs.
Moreover, the most important point is that Wang Hengyue has elite soldiers, and he still supports the law-protecting government on the surface. If he is really annoyed and turns back to assist Duan Qirui, it will be a big deal!
Under such a situation, the law-protecting government did not even dare to send a condemnation telegram. Just like in the past, Wang Hengyue launched the most appropriate war at the most appropriate time!
It hits you at a critical point, making you want to interfere but there is no way to do so!
On October 7, the day the crusade order was issued, Jiang Baili of the Southern Route Army immediately organized the Luhui offensive. In Ludian, Huize launched a fierce attack on the Yunnan Army.
Huize is the hometown of Yunnan Governor Tang Jiyao. Here, Tang Jiyao placed the elites of two divisions, with Gu Pinzhen, commander of the Sixth Division, as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy!
Gu Pinzhen, Cai E's subordinate during the War to Protect the Country, appears on the battlefield again!
But this time, his opponent is not Beiyang, but the Sichuan Army!
The well-prepared Dingguo army did not rush to attack, but continued to sort out the Yunnan Army's positions with powerful artillery fire, constantly weakening the Yunnan Army's strength.
Seeing such intensive artillery fire, Gu Pinzhen couldn't help but sigh: "If Cai E was still there, how could Wang Hengyue dare to be so arrogant!" Unfortunately, Cai E is no longer there. Wang Hengyue is missing the most important target on the road to unifying the three southwestern provinces by force.
opponent!
Gu Pinzhen suddenly remembered that Cai E had actually said back then: "Wang Hengyue is very ambitious. Sooner or later he will unify Southwest Africa and Yunnan. Jin,
Guangxi and Guangdong unite, otherwise they cannot suppress Wang Hengyue, absolutely..."
Cai E's prediction was accurate, but the coalition forces from the four provinces he wanted to see did not appear.
The Jin army was defeated and lost Guizhou, while the Gui army first fought a battle with the Yunnan army, and now the Guangdong and Guangdong allied forces are fighting in Hunan and Beiyang!
Thinking of this, Gu Pinzhen couldn't help but sigh...
"Where is Jinjun? Have you arrived at the designated location?"
"No!"
"No?" Gu Pinzhen suddenly turned around: "Why?" In fact, you don't need to ask Gu Pinzhen to know why.
Since Jin's army entered Yunnan, at first everyone shared the same hatred and everything was in peace. However, as the Gui army retreated and the Sichuan army temporarily suspended military operations, conflicts began to emerge.
The main contradiction is the issue of military pay.
The Jin army lost its territory, and its military pay could not be guaranteed. It had to rely on support from Yunnan, but Yunnan's economic situation was not much better either.
The most important economy in Yunnan is Yuntu, and the route shipped from Sichuan has been cut off by Wang Hengyue, which forced Tang Jiyao to transport more Yuntu to Guangdong and Guangxi.
Once Yuntu is contained, the Yunnan Army's economy will have big problems.
At that time, the National Guard Army could only mix a large amount of clouds and soil in its military pay, let alone now? Especially after the Gui army attacked Yunnan, the economic problem became more serious.
When the gun goes off, there is a thousand taels of gold!
If the Yunnan Army's own military pay cannot be properly resolved, how can it have the power to take care of the Jin Army's affairs?
Since Tang Jiyao refused to take care of it, Jin Jun had to find a way on his own.
The place temporarily lent to the Jin Army to be stationed soon became unstable. Blackmail, robbery and other evil incidents occurred almost every day, making the place angry and resentful, and there was no peace for a day.
But when the news reached Tang Jiyao's ears, Tang Jiyao could only pretend that he didn't know anything.
Jinjun needs food and pay, but I can't give it to them. What should I do?
However, Tang Jiyao's connivance made the Jin army become more and more lawless. They even clashed with the neighboring Yunnan army one after another, and on several occasions they almost fought.
The Yunnan army was full of complaints, and they all demanded that the Jin army be driven out, and some even asked for a solution by force. If the Dingguo army had not suddenly started a large-scale attack, I am afraid that the matter would have further escalated.
However, the seeds have already been planted
"Commander-in-Chief, the Jin army demands that they be paid, otherwise they will not move. We have urged them several times."
"Forget it, don't count on them anymore, as long as they don't cause any trouble for us." Gu Pinzhen calmed down and said.
The sound of gunfire suddenly became intensive.
"Let the soldiers pay attention to avoid artillery fire and find good hiding places."
Gu Pinzhen kept imagining how Cai E commanded the army back then. He vowed to fight as beautiful a battle as Cai E in Yunnan!
Unfortunately, he was facing Jiang Baili!
"Commander-in-Chief, Dongchuan, Dongchuan!"
"Why are you panicking? What happened to Dongchuan?" Gu Pinzhen frowned.
"The Dingguo army is attacking Dongchuan!"
"What!" Gu Pinzhen almost jumped up.
"Dongchuan is in emergency, emergency!"
Gu Pinzhen immediately sat on the chair!
Dongchuan! The Dingguo army actually went to attack Dongchuan!
The Yunnan Army lined up in Ludian and Huize, and the Dingguo Army also assumed a decisive battle posture, but they did not want to fight a decisive battle between Lu and Hui!
Once Dongchuan is lost, the Yunnan Army will inevitably be cut off from its retreat!
"Abandon Ludian, deploy the 7th Division to defend Huize, and the 6th Division quickly return to support Dongchuan!"
"yes!"
"Report to the Chief of Staff that the Seventh Division of the Yunnan Army has abandoned Ludian!"
"Understood." Jiang Baili said calmly: "Let Xie Shui's first division occupy Ludian, Li Yifeng's second division, and the guard division launch an attack on Huize, and let the troops pretending to attack Dongchuan be pulled to Wuding and lead
The Yunnan Army's nose is gone. Let Guizhou's Fourth Division assume a posture of attacking Longlin and threatening Kunming, completely disrupting the Yunnan Army's deployment!"
"yes!"
Jiang Baili threw away the pen in his hand and looked outside: "Move the headquarters to Ludian!"
Jiang Baili captured Ludian without wasting a single shot.
Everything was leading Gu Pinzhen by the nose. When Jiang Baili entered Ludian, Xie Shuixiang's first division had already controlled the entire city.
"Report to the Chief of Staff that our First Division had no casualties, but when entering Ludian, a company commander sprained his foot!"
Jiang Baili couldn't help laughing.
"Chief of Staff, Ludian was captured without firing a single shot. Only you can win this battle." Xie Shuixiang said in a flattering tone: "No wonder Commander Heng can stay in Guiyang with peace of mind.
"When did you learn how to flatter people?" Jiang Baili put away his smile: "Continue to mobilize on a large scale and make the Yunnan Army all-powerful. I think one day at most, Huize will be abandoned by Gu Pinzhen on his own initiative."
"Without firing a single shot, Lu Hui's offensive will be over?" Xie Shui rubbed his head, and he still can't believe it.
"If Songpo was still there, he would definitely see the problems inside." Jiang Baili seemed to be thinking of his friend Cai E again: "Concentrate the troops frontally and mobilize troops on a large scale just to capture Ludian and Huize.
Two places? Songpa will definitely not be fooled."
Xie Shuixiang nodded silently.
The reason why Heng Shuai let the Chief of Staff command the Southern Route Army and ignored him at all was because he knew very well that since Cai E left, there has been no one in Yunnan who can rival the Chief of Staff.
Gu Pinzhen can't do it, and Tang Jiyao can't do it either!
Jiang Baili calmed down: "Gather all the machine guns and fire violently at Huize. Hit hard and fast, but don't attack, disrupt the Yunnan army's mind, and let the movements in Wuding and Longlin directions cause trouble."
The bigger the better.”
"Yes!" Xie Shuixiang replied loudly, "Send electricity to Hengshuai.
Jiang Baili thought for a while: "We can send a brigade to attack along Longlin, Qiubei, and Wenshan to disrupt the Yunnan Army and threaten Kunming. In less than a month, the Yunnan problem can be solved!"
Regarding the Yunnan issue, Jiang Baili has long been convinced. The only thing he has to face now is how to achieve the most satisfactory results in the shortest time!!.