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On the afternoon of the 21st of Sichuan Xiao, Zhang Huizan, who had received the Hunan brigade commander of the 52nd Division in advance, hurriedly led the 18th Division stationed in the east of the city to retreat to the Liuyang area, and the 15th Division of Xia Wei, the 52nd Division of Ye Qi, the 19th Division of He Jian, and the 16th Division controlled by the henchmen and generals completely surrounded and disarmed Lu Diping's garrison division and instructor in the city. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At 9 o'clock in the morning of the same day, Chen Shaokuan, the chief of the navy, who received an urgent report from the Yueyang and Changsha river defense fleets, was deeply shocked, remembering the friendship he had formed with Li Zongren during the crusade against Tang Shengzhi. Li Zongren was very surprised when he heard this. said that he never knew, and asked Chen Shaokuan again and again what was going on? Chen Shaokuan didn't know if Li Zongren pretended not to know, so he had to tell Li Zongren worriedly that the Navy's river defense fleet had come to Yueyang and Changsha to report urgently, saying that Xia Wei's troops and Ye Qi's troops had joined forces with He Jian's Changsha garrison to suddenly surround Changsha City, forcibly disarm the two divisions of Lu Diping's Second Army, and hundreds of people were killed and wounded in the clashes. The matter is too difficult to clean up at this point, and at this critical moment, I am afraid that the Gui army will not be able to explain to the central government and the people of the whole country!

Li Zongren was so shocked and angry that he almost fell to the ground, but Chen Shaokuan hurriedly helped him up and persuaded Li Zongling to immediately go to the central government and the general headquarters to explain the situation.

Li Zongren was in a heavy mood and nodded again and again. After Chen Shaokuan left, he immediately ordered the adjutant and the captain of the guard to prepare for a long journey, and his wife Guo Dejie hurriedly said goodbye, put on a robe and horse coat and left silently from the side door, passed through the alley and turned into the adjacent thick alley, and stopped two rickshaws with the adjutant and two guards to go to the Xiaguan Railway Station.

In the Beijing office of the non-commissioned officer base in Houzai Lane, An Yi picked up the phone and listened silently, hesitated for a moment and gave an order: "Don't disturb him, let him get on the boat safely." Just spy on him quietly, and don't embarrass him as long as he doesn't board the ship to Wuhan. ”

An Yi put down the phone and sat down on the sand. Holding his chin in his hand and pondering, he couldn't figure out why Li Zongren chose to run away after thinking about it. Wondering what Chen Shaokuan said to Li Zongren? If Li Zongren really didn't know. If Li Zongren is the behind-the-scenes manipulator, he should also do everything possible to return to Wuhan to command the overall situation, and he should not buy a ticket to Shanghai at such a critical juncture and flee in panic.

Li Zongren's abnormal behavior really surprised An Yi, who had a lot of speculation before, and he couldn't figure it out for a while.

The phone rang again, and Liu Hao, deputy director of the intelligence station, answered the phone quickly, put down the phone and came to An Yi after listening, and reported in a low voice:

"Division, people from the Investigation Department of the Party Department surrounded Li Delin's official residence. After ten minutes, two people were left to watch, and the rest all retreated, Mrs. Li, the guards, and the subordinates did not go out, and the second group of brothers tried to call the Li Mansion but could not get through. There is a good chance that the phone line has been cut. ”

An Yi nodded, thought about it, walked to the telephone, and called Gong Qian to ask the reason, Gong Qian replied that Minister Chen Guofu and the director of the First Bureau were personally responsible for the matter, and he couldn't understand the inside story, so he asked An Yi not to worry, and called An Yi immediately after inquiring clearly.

An Yi put down the phone, went back to sit down thoughtfully, picked up the teacup and carefully considered the mystery. Thinking of the past events of the attack on Tingxi Bridge and He Sheng Bridge, An Yi frequently sighed, Li Zongren at that time was righteous and awe-inspiring, and he would fight bravely to be the first in every big war, and the powerful direct army was wiped out in a snap of his fingers, whether it was character or outstanding military exploits, all of which made An Yi impressed and worshipped, but he didn't expect that it would be such a scene today, each other failed to become friends and belonged to the hostile camp, and then it was not necessarily a life-and-death situation.

Thinking about it, An Yi never wanted Li Zongren to be caught, and An Yi couldn't figure out the reason. His instincts told him it was better to leave a way out. Otherwise, it may not necessarily bring any unexpected trouble in the future, you must know that in the depths of An Yi's memory, Li Zongren once commanded the victory of Taierzhuang during the Anti-Japanese War, and later served as the vice president of the National Government, although I don't know how history plays a concubine, but the disappearance of such an important figure is not a good thing after all.

The most important point is that Li Zongren did not choose to return to Wuhan but went east to Shanghai, which made An Yi unclear for a while what was going on. However, if Li Zongren was determined to fight against the central authorities, he should not have given up the army and fled to Shanghai. This is clearly a stinky move!

An Yi stood up and commanded in a low voice; "Liu Hao. Lihai sent a telegram to General Zhang Chengzhu in Xuzhou. He was asked to mobilize all relations in the Pingjin region. As soon as possible, find out the actions of the affiliated departments and Bai Chongxi, who was stationed in Tangshan. ”

"Yes!"

Liu Hao turned around and walked towards the basement of the West Hall.

In Liuyang, Hunan, 16,000 officers and men of Xia Wei's 15th Division pursued after a day and a half. easily defeated Zhang Huizan's broken rear troops and successfully occupied Liuyang County. Zhang Huizan led 10,000 soldiers and fled into Wanzai County, Jiangxi Province in a panic. In response to the security forces of the county, a liaison officer was dispatched to Nanchang to ask Zhu Peide for help.

Zhu Peide quickly reported the situation to the Central Military Commission and the General Headquarters, and sent a secret telegram to An Yi. Explain in detail the location of the hanging army and seek countermeasures. An Yi received the telegram and analyzed it slightly. Zhan Huanqi's Jiangxi Provincial Security Command, Xia Jian's Ganzhong Security Command, Zhu Peide's Northern Jiangxi Garrison Division, Yin Jinan's Nanchang Garrison Division, and the Poyang Lake Garrison Division, which was being reorganized, all entered a state of combat readiness.

On the 22nd, the Wuhan Political Branch issued a letter to the whole country to dismiss Lu Diping, chairman of Hunan Province, and He Jian was appointed as "Fenghua arrived in Shanghai and called Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, and Li Jishen to Nanjing to discuss the Hunan case created by the Gui army." Later, he secretly met with Wang Jingwei in the French Concession, and after a few hours of secret discussions between the two, the commander-in-chief, Liu Wendao, was ordered to rush to Tianjin by boat. Bring the letter of appointment signed by Chiang Kai-shek and go to contact Tang Shengzhi, the former leader of the Hunan army, who was down-and-out and played mahjong with a few Beiyang warlords who went to the field every day. Then, with the assistance of an intermediary, he met with Li Zongren, who had fled to the concession.

After listening to Li Zongren's explanation, Chiang Kai-shek generously said that he did not mean to blame Li Zongren, and put all the blame on Hu Zongshi, Xia Wei and Ye Qi, and solemnly stated that the central government would not cancel the Wuhan political branch because of this. He personally agreed with the resolution of the Wuhan Political Sub-Committee that He Jian should be the chairman of Hunan Province, in order to maintain the status of the Wuhan Political Sub-Committee, and only need to make an example and punish the relevant people who exceeded their authority, and the Gui army is still the mainstay of the revolutionary army.

However, Li Zongren was not so easily fooled, and he was well aware of many past events in which Chiang Kai-shek wanted to capture and indulge. Considering his own safety and the future of the Gui army, he could only thank him in vain, and immediately after parting with Chiang Kai-shek, he called Bai Chongxi in Tangshan, Hebei, Li Jishen in Guangzhou, and Huang Shaoyuan in Nanning. Seek countermeasures from Xiao Zhuge Bai Chongxi. He also dissuaded Li Jishen from going north easily, and suggested that Huang Shaolian reorganize his armaments and lead his troops north to Hunan at any time.

At the same time, Li Zongren was also deeply confused by the current situation, and even sent a telegram to the Nanjing Central Party Headquarters and the General Headquarters to ask for punishment, saying that he did not know anything about the life of the "Hunan case," but Li Zongren miscalculated again, and he still naively implored the central authorities to posthumously approve the resolution made by the Wuhan Political Branch to dismiss Lu Diping and support He Jian as chairman of Hunan Province, on the grounds that it was to safeguard the face and authority of the Wuhan Political Branch. Under the angry questioning of many central elders and the overwhelming condemnation of public opinion, Li Zongren's political prestige and integrity fell sharply, providing ample reasons for the Central Army's crusade and Feng Yuxiang's downfall.

In the early morning of the 26th, Chiang Kai-shek, who had returned to Nanjing, immediately convened an emergency meeting of the division commanders and above of the Central Army, and ordered An Yi, Liu Zhi, Gu Zhutong, Miao Peinan, Zhu Shaoliang, Jiang Dingwen, Fang Dingying, Xia Douyin, and other divisions stationed in Nanjing, northern Jiangsu, and northern Anhui to prepare for the westward expedition.

After the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek left 12 people, including He Yingqin, Zhu Peide, Ge Jingen, Lin Wei, An Yi, Liu Zhi, Jiang Dingwen, Gu Zhutong, Zhu Shaoliang, Fang Dingying, and Xia Douyin, to continue to hold a meeting to approve the battle plan.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek, in the face of a group of nervous generals, suddenly announced the appointment of Liu Zhi, Zhu Shaoliang, and Zhu Peide as the new commanders of the First, Second, and Third Armies, and An Yi suddenly became the deputy commander and chief of staff of the Third Army.

Chiang Kai-shek did not tell the generals the source of information about the "Hunan case", and An Yi was also happy to be quiet and unwilling to be this bird, from the first time he saw Chiang Kai-shek, An Yi took the initiative to report, and the news happened to come from the company's crew moored at Yueyang Wharf, and he reported it when he thought about it.

Chiang Kai-shek knew that most of An Yi's fleet was equipped with high-power radio stations, so he was convinced. I didn't think much of it, and was happy to keep it under wrap to show my ability to be omniscient. However, Chiang Kai-shek still admired An Yi's protégé very much, and after the order was completed, he did not let Ge Jingen explain the official battle plan that had been hidden for a long time, "but asked An Yi to explain the details of the entire plan to the generals, so that the participating generals could understand the importance they attached to An Yi's cultivation."

An Yi humbly saluted Chiang Kai-shek and the generals, walked to the large map opened by the staff officers of the two attendants' rooms, took the baton, and explained the entire combat plan and possible changes clearly and clearly without reading the manuscript.

After An Yi finished explaining, he put down his baton, looked around at everyone, and said politely: "This plan has been repeatedly revised by the commander-in-chief, thanks to the many inspirations of Chief Ge, and combined with the ingenious suggestions of Mr. Changqing Yang Yongtai, it was finally determined. Rather, it is the position of General Feng Yuxiang of the Northwest Army, which the commander-in-chief and Mr. Gao Qing are worried about.

The Northwest Army was biased towards Shaanxi and Gansu, where there was a shortage of poor and backward goods and food, and it had long been eyeing Hunan and Hubei, which were rich in natural resources and known as "the two lakes are ripe for the world." In the past six months, the Northwest Army has conducted several armed tests on the Gui army on the Jingxiang line in northwest Hubei Province, but they have all been blocked back by the Tao Jun Department under the command of General Li Delin, and now the Northwest Army's five armies and 80,000 horses have quietly moved to the front line of Xinyang, Zhoukou, and Fuyang. The purpose is obvious, that is, to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight and wait for the opportunity, if our attack on Wuhan is blocked, the Northwest Army is likely to fly south to Wuhan under the banner of rushing to help, and at the same time order the three armies in the Jingxiang area to take the first line in western Hubei. If we are defeated and the Gui system counterattacks outside Nanjing, the Northwest Army can also go south through Xuzhou and go straight to Pukou. and then flank Nanjing with the hanging army in exchange for greater benefits.

Therefore, according to the instructions of the commander-in-chief, we must decide this battle and not give the Northwest Army any opportunity to take advantage of it, and at the same time mobilize troops to quickly occupy the Wusheng Pass in northern Hubei Province, cut off the Northwest Army's non-divisive thoughts in one fell swoop, and reduce the possible hidden dangers to the lowest point. After the explanation, please respect the axe where it is not reached. ”

The generals opened their eyes wide and silently looked at An Yi who came down to salute, Chiang Kai-shek smiled slightly, and said with great satisfaction: "If you have any suggestions and additions, please just say it directly, if you don't know anything, you can ask Kan Hou and An Yi, this plan has been brewing and repeatedly revised for several months, but it is only from the military aspect to deal with, and the political and other aspects have my own improvement, you only need to fight hard, move forward bravely, and do your best for the party and the state is the greatest merit." ”

"Yes!"

All the generals replied in unison, and then received their respective tasks under the auspices of Ge Jingen.

Chiang Kai-shek glanced at He Yingqin, who was uncomfortable, and beckoned An Yi, who nodded frequently and walked to the map again. Looking in the direction of Hunan, he pondered.