The southern front troops, composed of 10,000 Cantonese troops and school troops, drove straight to Chaoshan, and more importantly, this army was under the absolute control of the party; The workers' and peasants' movement flourished everywhere, the prestige of the Generalissimo's camp reached an unprecedented height, the development of the revolutionary situation had never been better, and the future had never been brighter.

Before the start of the military meeting, Xu Chongzhi, Zhang Mingda, and Xu Ji were chatting and laughing, and Chiang Kai-shek and Director Zhou were also chatting casually; In terms of Director Zhou's position, he is not qualified to participate in a meeting of this level, but today he is treated as a representative of the [***] side.

After the meeting began, Liao Zhongkai's expression was grim, and he first introduced the current political situation in Guangzhou.

"In order not to affect the front-line operations, there are some situations that have not been reported to you, and this time I have been entrusted by the Central Committee to report to you. After the prime minister was critically ill in Yanjing, Tang Jiyao announced that he would take up the post of deputy marshal, at this time, what you know, what you don't know is that recently the Yunnan army's forward Long Yun's department has entered Guangxi, occupied Nanning, the forward has approached Binyang, and Long Yun is here waiting for another way Tang Jiyu to attack Liuzhou. Li Baihuang annihilated Shen Hongying's main force in Guilin and Liuzhou, and currently Chen Bing Guiping and Guixian area; Fan Shisheng's headquarters of the Second Army of the Yunnan Army has entered Gui and is rushing to Guiping; Li Jishen's department was stationed in Wuzhou. At this time, the situation in Guangxi. ”

"The situation in Guangzhou is more complicated, after Yang Ximin went to Hong Kong, the information we got shows that he had met with the representatives of Duan Qirui, Chen Jiongming, and Tang Jiyao, and a few days ago he suddenly made a joint call to Yanjing with his subordinates Hu Sishun and Zhao Chengliang, asking the premier and Duan Qirui to propose peaceful reunification, eliminate the scourge of war, and relieve the people of Li and the people. Jiangxi Benren suddenly sent troops to attack Shaoguan, which led to Tan Yankai's defeat, which is probably related to this. Although the Eastern Crusade is progressing smoothly at present, there are many hidden worries about the revolution. I would like to discuss with you what to do next. ”

After Liao Zhongkai gave a briefing on the situation in Guangzhou and Guangxi, his task was basically accomplished, and military affairs were not what he was good at, so he simply did not put forward his opinions and let the military generals decide for themselves, and in the future he stayed in the Eastern Expeditionary Army as the general political commissar of the school army and the Eastern Expeditionary Army.

After Liao Zhongkai finished speaking, Chiang Kai-shek, chief of staff of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, immediately stood up and began to introduce the enemy's situation: "According to the intelligence of the Jieyang Peasant Association, after defeating Tan Yankai's Hunan army, Lin Hu's troops have turned around and moved south, and their troops are divided into two routes, attacking Haifeng all the way, with the purpose of cutting off our army's retreat; The other way out of the river Po to attack Jieyang, the forward arrived at Hengjundu, and the enemy also appeared in Luo Jingba. It is estimated that the enemy army will attack Jieyang along the Cotton Lake and Lihu Lake, and the strength is estimated to be more than 10,000 people. Our army is relatively scattered at present, except for the school army in Jieyang, most of the Seventh Brigade is still on the way back to Jieyang, and the Second Division is scattered in the area from Chaozhou to Fujian. ”

After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, there was a cold scene in the meeting hall for the time being, the enemy situation was indeed very serious, there were only two regiments in Jieyang, and the enemy army was tens of thousands of people.

"If the school army can hold Jieyang, all the seven brigades can reach Jieyang in two days, but even if the whole seventh brigade arrives, Lin Hu's troops are much more than ours, I think the second division will be transferred back." Xu Ji was very worried about Lin Hu's military superiority.

"After Chen Jiongming's remnants retreated to Fujian, Zhou Yinren demarcated Zhao'an, Yunxiao, and Pinghe counties to Chen Jiongming, and the navy Wen Shude was stationed in Xiamen, and at present, Zhou Yinren was forced by the prestige of our army and did not dare to send troops to help Chen Jiongming, if the whole army of our army concentrated in Jieyang, Chaozhou would inevitably become an empty city, will this cause Zhou Yinren's ambition, and then send troops to Chaozhou." Zhang Mingda raised his doubts.

Chiang Kai-shek stood up at this time, pointed to the map hanging on the wall, and said: "Commander Zhang is extremely worried that the main thing that retreated to the Fujian border is Hong Zhaolin's department, the enemy in this division has been attacked by our army several times, has become a frightened bird, and is unable to counterattack in a short time, the only thing to consider is the Zhou Yin people, if the Zhou Yin people and their joint action, the possibility of counterattack will increase, so I suggest that the second division stay in Chaoshan and monitor the movements of the remnants of the Chen army and the Fujian army on the Fujian border." ”

"The attack on Lin Hu was jointly carried out by the school army and the 7th Brigade. Although our troops are in a weak position in terms of troop strength, our army has won successive battles and its morale is high, while Lin Hu's troops have been marching for a long time, and the soldiers are tired and lazy. ”

Chiang Kai-shek was very disdainful of Xu Ji and Zhang Mingda's caution, and the excellent performance of the school army since the Eastern Expedition made him full of confidence. The more he spoke, the higher his voice became: "Now Lin Hu gives us a chance, a chance to annihilate him, you see..." Chiang Kai-shek picked up his baton, pointed to the map and said: "Chen Mingshu's brigade and Wu Tiecheng's troops have arrived at Lufeng, and they can order the two divisions not to come to Jieyang to converge, but to turn to Hotan and attack Hepo (now Hepo, Jiexi County) to cut off Lin Hu's retreat." ”

"My 3,000 school troops are stationed in Jieyang, and if the Seventh Brigade rushes back within two days, this battle will be won."

Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, Gallen added: "I agree with General Chiang's plan, and I still have to add that if we win this battle, the Fujian warlords will not send troops, and if they fail, then they will still send troops, so the second division does not need to stay in Chaozhou with the whole division, and can draw most of the troops from it to move north," Gallen stood up, pointed to the upper reaches of the Han River on the map, and said: "Here, create a situation that threatens Xingning and Wuhua, so that the enemy will not be able to increase troops on the Jieyang battlefield." ”

There was no objection to Gallon's words, and all previous plans for military operations were carried out after Gallen's approval, and the Crusade Army's successive victories also strengthened his authority. With the support of Gallen, Chiang Kai-shek showed a trace of unnoticeable pride, Zhang Mingda and Xu Ji always looked down on him, Xu Chongzhi originally planned to hand over all the command of the southern line to Chiang Kai-shek, and he stayed in Guangzhou for remote control, but it was these two people who were opposed, Xu Chongzhi had to personally come forward as the commander-in-chief, and Chiang Kai-shek was a small breath of relief.

Xu Chongzhi's final orders were: 1. Zhang Mingda's division of the Guangdong Army was stationed in Chaoshan to guard against the remnants of the Min Army and Hong Zhaolin, and at the same time to clear the remnants of the Chen Army that were wandering all over the country, and sent a powerful force to attack the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River, so as to contain the enemies of Wuhua and Xingning and prevent them from reinforcing the Jieyang battlefield;

2. The first and second regiments of the school army are stationed in Jieyang.

3. The Xu Ji Department of the 7th Brigade must return to Jieyang within two days. Our army on the Jieyang battlefield was commanded by Chiang Kai-shek.

Fourth, the Chen Mingshu Brigade of the Guangdong Army and the Wu Tiecheng Department of the Guard Army gave up the plan to come to Jieyang to converge, and went north from the Hotan area to attack Hepo, cutting off the retreat of the Tiger Army attacking Jieyang's forest.

5. The General Headquarters of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was moved to Chaozhou.

Chiang Kai-shek then ordered to take a defensive posture against Lin Hu, instructed the first regiment to send a battalion to build fortifications near Lindou, the second regiment to build fortifications in Xichang and Linpu, and the main force of the first regiment, the student team, and the enlisted student team to assemble in the city.

With the issuance of the order, the air of war in Jieyang City immediately became thicker, and the soldiers built fortifications on the city walls and streets, and fortifications were also being built outside the city, and the peasant army led by Peng Fentian also joined in.

Two days later, the Seventh Brigade had all entered Jieyang, but the three divisions of Lin Hu's army, Liu Zhilu, Wang Dinghua, and Huang Renhuan, who had already occupied Hepo, did not move, and did not see the slightest attempt to attack. When Chiang Kai-shek was confused, he received a telegram from Xu Chongzhi that Chen Mingshu's brigade and Wu Tiecheng's troops had arrived in Hotan and were marching towards Hepo. After consulting with Gallen, Chiang Kai-shek thought that Lin Hu might have discovered the actions of Chen and Wu's troops, so he gave the order to attack Hepo.

On the morning of March 4, Chiang Kai-shek led his army to leave Jieyang and march towards Puning. Chiang Kai-shek's deployment was to divide the troops into two routes, the school army was the left wing, and the Seventh Brigade was the right wing, he arranged a trap for Lin Hu, and the Seventh Brigade took the left flank to run to the dog's belly, so that the school army attracted the Lin army to the front, and the seventh brigade attacked the flank of the Lin army in a roundabout way.

On the way to the march, Chiang Kai-shek received information from the peasant association, and the Hepo Lin army was dispatched, and the troops were also divided into two routes, all the way out of Cotton Lake and all the way out of Lihu Lake. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was faced with two choices, one was to meet him, and the other was to retreat to Jieyang and hold on until Chen and Wu conquered Hepo. Chiang Kai-shek couldn't make up his mind and consulted with Gallen, and Gallen advocated to meet him, and Chiang Kai-shek also thought that although it was safe to retreat, the military order changed day and night, and morale would inevitably be affected, not to mention that there was also his own face.

After arriving in Puning, the information came again that the Lin army dispatched by Hepo was about five to six thousand people, which greatly reassured Chiang Kai-shek. So Chiang Kai-shek divided his troops again, teaching the first regiment to advance to Mianhu, and the second regiment to advance to Lihu. In the afternoon, the first group arrived at Cotton Lake, and the second group camped at the end of the lake (2.5 kilometers away from Cotton Lake). At this time, a shadow fell into the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the Seventh Brigade disappeared and lost contact. Chiang Kai-shek, as soon as he received the news, sent people to look for the Seventh Brigade, and he was so disturbed that he stayed up all night in the headquarters.

There was no news from the Seventh Brigade, but Lin Hu's news came first, and at about one o'clock in the morning, the reconnaissance team brought back information that Wang Dinghua's headquarters had arrived at Shangzha and Liu Zhilu had arrived at Lihu.