Chapter 328 The Battle of the Prelude to the Northern Expedition
In July 1918, the French military government launched an attack on Qiongzhou under the personal command of Marshal Wang Hengyue!
This battle is commonly known as the "Prelude to the Northern Expedition."
When the guardian fleet suddenly appeared on the sea, the entire Long Jiguang Army was completely in chaos!
The "Haiqi" took the lead in firing its cannons, followed closely by the cannon fire from all ships. The shells hit the island overwhelmingly, and the burning fire and gunpowder smoke enveloped everything.
This was the first "naval battle" that the military government's generalissimo experienced personally.
The powerful artillery fire and the spectacular scene made Wang Hengyue completely forget about the discomfort of seasickness.
Zhonggu's dream of a big navy started with this marshal who didn't understand water at all and got seasick!
Artillery shells continued to bombard the Lingaojiao area of Qiongzhou, constantly destroying the defenders on the island, and completing all preparations for the landing operations of the army brothers.
The huge power of the artillery fire opened the eyes of the army brothers on the ships. As the shells fell one after another, bursts of cheers broke out.
Although compared with real maritime powers, the Guardian Fleet is still too weak, but in the eyes of the army brothers, this is their own powerful fleet.
Wang Hengyue also stood calmly on the deck, looking at the spectacular scenes in front of him.
He was as excited as his soldiers, and he wished he could cheer loudly like them. But he couldn't, as he was a commander in chief, so he could only bury this fiery feeling deeply in his heart.
The constant bombardment caused Long Jiguang's army on the island to be completely in chaos. Under the bombardment of the artillery shells, the defenders ran around in confusion, and the commander's orders completely lost their effect.
A wide landing area was opened up under the crazy bombardment of ships on the sea.
Then, more than one battalion of the National Revolutionary Army began to land under the cover of warships.
There was no effective resistance. Long Jiguang was defeated by the artillery fire. It only took a short time for Lingaojiao to fall into the hands of the National Revolutionary Army.
**The soldiers calmly cleared the battlefield and established the beachhead. Everything was so orderly.
Immediately, more soldiers began to land. By 12:00, the number of Japanese soldiers entering the Lingaojiao beachhead position had reached two regiments.
There are also a large number of soldiers being transported down by various ships, constantly thinking that Wang Hengyue of Qiongzhou lacks real troop transport ships, although it does not require a large-scale to deal with Long Jiguang.
There was no organized dispatch, but Wang Hengyue and his naval officers quickly saw this flaw.
The landing operation will not be the only one, and we will face more tenacious enemies in the future, Wang Hengyue thought in his heart...
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Hengyue, the Grand Marshal of the Protective Revolutionary Military Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the National Revolutionary Army, boarded Qiongzhou together with the headquarters!
This is the second time Wang Hengyue has come to Qiongzhou. The first time was in another era, when Qiongzhou was called Hainan, but this time it was completely different.
As Generalissimo, as Commander-in-Chief!
The machine guns have been set up, and the soldiers are busy but orderly reinforcing the beachhead fortifications to welcome the arrival of more brothers.
The temporary headquarters was set up immediately. Almost at the same moment, Long Jiguang, who knew the end was coming, forced his troops to counterattack, trying to drive the attackers back into the sea.
The sound of gunfire rang out fiercely outside, but this did not affect Wang Hengyue and his officers: "Once all the troops of the two divisions have completed the landing, the troops will be divided into two groups, one starting from Lingao, along Chengmai, and Anding
, turned to threaten Haikou. It headed all the way from Lingao to Baisha and Changjiang. At the same time, the cruiser "Haichen" and "Haichou" were accompanied by the destroyers "Flying Eagle" and "Wufeng" gunboats diverted to the direction of Haikou.
The threat of force forced Long Jiguang to surrender!" "Yes!" the officers who received the order said loudly.
The gunshots outside became more intense, and Wang Hengyue was a little impatient: "Jia Haoyang!" "Here!" "Drive away all Long Jiguang's people!"
"Yes!" Wang Hengyue focused his attention on the map again: "It is not too difficult to defeat Long Jiguang's troops. His troops have poor combat capabilities and poor weapons. A frontal attack will not pose much danger to us.
We should pay attention to the complex terrain of Qiongzhou and be prepared for them to launch a surprise attack when we advance."
Wang Hengyue gave instructions carefully one by one, and the call of the National Revolutionary Army's counterattack came from outside.
After a while, Jia Haoyang walked in: "Report, Long Jiguang's people were driven away." "Oh, I got it." Wang Hengyue didn't feel any surprise at all: "Send a company of troops to search all the way.
The situation on the march route must be clarified immediately.
"Yes!" While Wang Hengyue mobilized his troops and landed in large numbers, Long Jiguang was also extremely anxious.
He didn't understand why his luck was so bad. He held the title of Governor of Guangdong, but was driven to Qiongzhou. But now, his opponent would not even allow him to stay in this place.
Long Jiguang knew that his reputation was very bad.
When the National Defense Movement first broke out, the Military and Police Alliance of the four provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong issued an ultimatum, giving them 24 hours to become independent. Yuan Shikai also gave him the order to "independently support the [Central] Central Committee." Only then did he
He was forced to declare independence, but he neither blamed Yuan Shikai nor supported the defense. After Yuan Shikai's death, he hurriedly canceled his independence and expressed his obedience to the Central Committee. Li Yuanhong appointed him as the governor of Guangdong. But at this time, he also had a reputation.
It was a mess, and everyone denounced it. Sun Yat-sen criticized that "the Cantonese people are worse than savage dragons." People from all walks of life in Guangdong also called for its dismissal.
Later, he cut off the contact between Li Lie and Zhaoqing, who was protecting Li Lie, and tried to trap Li Jun in Huli. He was defeated by Li Liejun and was forced to ask for peace. At that time, the Central Committee and the local armies in Guangdong were forcing
He left Guangzhou by himself. While delaying, he stepped up his efforts to transport away the property. He transported tens of millions of yuan of property that he had captured in Guangdong in three years before leaving Guangzhou.
Now, the enemy has landed in Qiongzhou, and I am afraid that Qiongzhou will soon be lost.
If Qiongzhou is lost, you can still find a way to go somewhere else. You can go north to join Duan Qirui or Feng Guozhang. But what about the tens of millions of properties you seized from Guangdong and transported to Qiongzhou? How do you take these things away?
Long Jiguang's mind went blank.
Losing these properties is simply killing yourself!
"If we fight, we will definitely not be able to defeat them." Gui Guangtang, his chief of staff, suggested to him: "Wang Hengyue personally directed the battle this time. The attack is fierce. They also have a navy. Once they bombard Haikou, it will be dangerous."
"Then tell me, what should we do now?" Long Jiguang said angrily.
Gui Guangtang rolled his eyes a few times: "The only solution now is peace talks."
"Peace talks?"
"Yes." Gui Guangtang said with certainty: "Wang Hengyue is landing a few days ago. Once he completes the landing, everything will be too late. I just received news that our counterattack force was defeated by Wang Hengyue in one fell swoop. Our strength
In fact, they are not on the same level as him. And what about Wang Hengyue? He only wants the Northern Expedition, and this attack on Qiongzhou is just his preparation for the Northern Expedition. He also wants a quick victory, and is also afraid that we will fight to the death."
Long Jiguang nodded frequently: "Go on." Guangtang sorted out his thoughts: "We can gather our troops, concentrate on the front line of Haikou, assume a decisive battle posture, give Wang Hengyue the illusion that we are ready to fight to the death, and then bribe the local indigenous people
, attacking and harassing Wang Hengyue's army everywhere, delaying their advance to the greatest extent. On this basis, we sent people to have peace talks with him."
"What are our conditions and requirements?" This is the question that Long Jiguang is most concerned about.
Gui Guangtang had no time to think and said: "We support the Guangzhou Protector Military Government, recognize Wang Hengyue as the Generalissimo, and are willing to hand over Qiongzhou to him completely, but in return, he will allow us to take away the troops intact and ensure that the governor
The envoy's property will not be infringed upon in any way!" Gui Guangtang spoke for a long time, and every word he said touched the heart of Long Jiguang, who nodded frequently.
When he finished speaking, Long Jiguang cheered loudly: "Okay, Guangtang, this is a good idea. Wang Hengyue will definitely agree to it. I think if you go to negotiate with Wang Hengyue in person, I really won't trust anyone else."
"yes.
Gui Guangtang had already guessed that Long Jiguang would definitely send him there, so Gui Guangtang agreed without any hesitation.
"Master, master, the [revolutionary] party is coming to kill, the [revolutionary] party is coming to kill!"
"Master, master, how can we do that!"
Just after we had finished discussing what to do, Long Jiguang's concubines had already rushed out crying and shouting.
Long Jiguang frowned: "What's the fuss! Wang Hengyue hasn't come here yet!" This was a family matter of the governor's envoy, Gui Guangtang quickly found an excuse to leave. As soon as he left, the concubines cried loudly again.
It's just that the "revolutionary" party is coming to kill. It's terrible. I heard that those "revolutionary" parties are murderers without blinking an eye. If the girl who is as beautiful as a jade is robbed by the "revolutionary" party,
What's the point of going?
Long Jiguang was upset to begin with, and his concubines made him even more upset. He finally waited for them to calm down a little before he said: "What's the mess? What's the mess? I'm not dead yet! Don't panic, I'm
We have sent people to negotiate with Wang Hengyue. You cannot die, and the [revolutionary] party cannot snatch you away.: Boss, take them and prepare quickly, pack up all the valuable things, and be ready to leave Qiongzhou at any time."
The boss finally had some opinions: "Sir, Qiongzhou really can't be defended anymore?"
Long Jiguang sighed, shook his head, and answered the boss.
Damn Wang Hengyue, if you want to go to the Northern Expedition, go to the Northern Expedition. You and I have never had any enmity. Why do you suddenly want to attack my Qiongzhou?
I was driven here from Guangdong. I originally wanted to live a peaceful life for a few days, but in the blink of an eye I was going to be a lonely wild ghost again!!