readx; Xinhai Great Warlord 437_Xinhai Great Warlord_From (.)

As the spring of 1914 arrives and the bitter cold of the northern winter slowly disappears, a large-scale war between the Nationalist Army and the Beiyang Army will break out again. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo.

This spring offensive is not only what the Americans want to see, but also what countless Chinese people want to see, and the military and political leaders in the national army system are all waiting for the army to go north and finally unify China.

The war between the Nationalist Army and the Beiyang Army in the spring of 1914 was not only related to Chen Jingyun's power, but also related to the interests of many people.

In addition to the military and political leaders in the national army system, even those ordinary civil servants who are the merchant class in the southern provinces hope that the national army can quickly win a victory in the Northern Expedition, and finally there will be more promotion channels for ordinary officials, and will bring a broader market to the industrial and commercial industry.

Even ordinary people hope that Chen Dashuai will win, especially in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, which have begun to carry out land reform, a large number of peasant strata who have been allocated land have personally supported you Chen Jingyun to a higher level, and they naturally hope that Chen Jingyun will win, otherwise once Chen Jingyun defeats the Beiyang Army and goes south again, the land they just got will be in vain.

Of course, there are not no people who oppose Chen Jingyun, and there are many, such as some stubborn landlords in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, who are unwilling to give up their land in life or death, and are despised by the measures taken by the republican axe to guide them into the industrial and commercial industry, and are even more dissatisfied with the multi-year payment plan for the republican axe to acquire land, and even several influential squires used the clan power to violently confront, but they were ruthlessly exterminated by the garrison troops stationed there, and all those who participated in the rebellion were exterminated and all their family property was confiscated. Although the local garrison regiments under the national army system are not good, at that time, compared with the field troops of the national army and the Beiyang army, they have been uniformly equipped with Hanyang-made or Type 88 rifles, and they even have some old-style artillery, which is more than enough to deal with bandits and popular rebellions, and even the regular troops of some local garrisons and other warlords are not inferior at all, for example, the Anqing garrison regiment has been fighting with the 15th mixed brigade on the Anqing front. The field combat capability of the Anqing garrison regiment, armed with machine guns and mortars, was not much worse than that of a field infantry regiment of the national army.

When Chen Jingyun carried out land reform in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, he adopted a forceful approach, in which the landlords either followed the advice of the political axe and gave up their land for shares in some projects to engage in industry and commerce, or gave up their land in exchange for money and waited for death. Of course, there is a third way to go, that is, to hold on to the land unshakenly, and what greets them is the bullets sent to them by the national army!

The military discipline of the Nationalist Army has always been known for its harshness, but this severity refers to obedience to orders, not to say anything about not disturbing the people, not taking a stitch from the masses, and so on. The reason why the National Army does not have a reputation for brutality is because the commanders of the army did not order the soldiers to slaughter the people, but if Chen Jingyun really had a fever in his head that day and gave an order to slaughter the city, then most of the national troops on the front line would have no psychological burden.

In fact, there are many similar examples, almost every time the Chinese Nationalist Army attacked the enemy who relied on the fortified city to defend the city, and the civilian casualties caused by this almost indiscriminate shelling were huge.

It is precisely because the war will cause huge casualties and great losses to property, so the civil war in recent years has made the lives of the Chinese people miserable, the people who are not in the war zone are fine, and the people in the war zone are miserable, in order to escape the war, the people in Anhui and Jiangsu have fled on a large scale last year, a few went to the north, and most of them went to the south, especially the Yangtze River Delta in the area of Zhouzhou, Nanjing, and Hangzhou.

The large number of fleeing people has also brought sufficient labor resources to the expansion and development of industry and commerce in the Yangtze River Delta in the past two years.

As in Hefei and Chuzhou last year, almost when the Nationalist Army arrived at Xuzhou, the people of Xuzhou had already begun to flee on a large scale, and most of them had already heard the tragic situation of the people in Hefei, Chuzhou, Jiangbei, and other areas when they were facing the flames of war, and in the areas where the two armies had invested more than 100,000 troops in a strategic decisive battle, the people caught in the middle were always the most killed and wounded. People who don't want to die, whether they are high-ranking officials and nobles in the past or ordinary people in the market, have left Xuzhou one after another last winter, some have fled to the countryside to escape the war, and some have simply gone directly to southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Newspapers often talk about Fujian, Zhejiang, and southern Jiangsu, where there is no war, and there are countless job opportunities, all of which attract many poor people who have no means of living.

The prosperity of Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou also attracted many dignitaries and nobles, on the one hand, to escape the war, and on the other hand, they also subconsciously gathered in this political and economic center to seek more opportunities to make a fortune.

When the Nationalist Army officially launched the spring offensive on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the residents of Xuzhou City had gone to five or six, and even half of the people were not there, and half of the people were also hiding at home and trembling, since a few days ago when the Nationalist Army began to prepare for the spring offensive, the Beiyang Army also saw that something was wrong, and the traffic arteries in and out of Xuzhou had been blocked in the past two days.

Guanqiao Town, just ten miles away from Xuzhou City, is an inconspicuous town that would not have attracted people's attention in the past, but today, this name is known to most military generals, for the simple reason that the headquarters of the First Army of the National Army was set up here. Originally, the headquarters of the First Army was set up in Suzhou, but as the troops had already surrounded Xuzhou, Li Jimin continued to move the headquarters of the First Army forward in order to command nearby, and moved it to this small town only ten miles away from Xuzhou.

Li Jimin looked at the battle report in his hand, put down the battle report with a worried look on his face, and then looked at the map around Xuzhou on the table, and only raised his head after a while: "The second division is going too fast, let them stop, let the ninth division on their left flank enter the predetermined area before marching, so as to avoid a lone army from encountering a concentrated attack!" ”

When the colonel's adjutant next to him heard this, he immediately took out a paper note, and then immediately went out to prepare a telegraph room to let the people of the communications battalion issue Li Jimin's latest combat order.

Li Jimin also took out his coat at this time, and after putting it on, he went out, although it was already spring, but it was still too cold, and there was not much difference from the deep winter, Li Jimin looked at the snow on the ground and looked worried.

Originally, according to his intentions, this spring offensive should not have been launched at this time, at least until the snow stopped, but in order to launch a nationwide spring offensive, the General Staff gave Li Jimin an order to attack on all fronts, and although he Li Jimin had the intention to oppose it, he had to carry it out. Of course, this is just his personal opinion, and Shen Gang of the General Staff thinks a lot more than him!

Speaking of the spring offensive, but we must not really wait until the spring rain drifts to launch a full-front offensive, when the earth thaws and the spring rain continues, the road problem will become the biggest enemy of the national army, the trouble encountered in launching the offensive in the rainy season The national army has already encountered a while in the Anhui and Jiangxi campaigns last year, and when the national army marched into southern Anhui, it was slow to move because of the continuous rainy season, especially the heavy weapons and equipment could not be put in place.

And this time, Shen Gang won't let this happen again! Therefore, it is the right thing to take Xuzhou before the weather completely deteriorates. And after taking Xuzhou, after the Nationalist Army once again inflicted heavy losses on the Beiyang Army, Shen Gang really couldn't think of what Yuan Shikai could use to block the Nationalist Army from going north.

In addition to the weather, there is also the so-called political reason. Chen Jingyun does not want the front line to drag on for too long, he needs a victory in a short period of time, he needs a huge victory to calm the people's minds, he needs a huge victory to make the Americans make up their minds to invest, and these cannot wait.

Outside Xuzhou City, Yang shouted loudly 'Ah', 'Ah', 'Ah', pulled out the bayonet on the rifle from a soldier of the Beiyang Army wearing a blue-gray military uniform, and then picked up the bayonet on the rifle to look for the next opponent, but as far as the eye could see, there were no people standing around this position, there was no Beiyang Army wearing a blue-gray military uniform, and there was no Nationalist Army wearing a brown-green military uniform, and the explosion of the shells was still coming into his ears one after another, and the sound of the explosion made Yang's ears buzz.

He looked around blankly, but there was not even a single person standing nearby, and there were corpses everywhere in his eyes, including comrades in brown-green military uniforms, and Beiyang Army in blue-gray military uniforms.

He didn't know how long he had been fighting, he only knew that after the whistle in Platoon Commander Li's mouth blew, he jumped out of the trench like other comrades-in-arms, and then rushed towards the position of the Beiyang Army a hundred meters away, he clearly remembered that Platoon Commander Li was running in front of him at that time, and then in the next moment, Platoon Commander Li threw himself to the ground, and Yang Da saw it very clearly, countless blood had gushed out from Platoon Commander Li's neck, and he died.

Yang Da and Platoon Commander Li were not familiar with each other, Yang Da was the year before last in Ningbo to sign up for the army, at that time for nothing else, just to give the fifteen yuan settling-in allowance and the people in the national army recruitment station to go to the army after the meal was full. He has many brothers and sisters in his family, in addition to himself, there are three younger brothers and two younger sisters below, the old parents are tired every day and can't straighten their waists and can't support so many younger brothers and sisters, in order to save a pair of chopsticks for the family, Yang chose to join the national army without hesitation. In the past two years, Yang Da, like the three young people who joined the army with his fellow villagers, was added to the 91st Infantry Regiment under the Ninth Division of the National Army after passing the three-month recruit training and became an ordinary rifleman. In the past two years, Yang Da followed the Ninth Division to fight in southern Anhui, Anhui, Chuzhou, Jiangbei and then to today's Xuzhou, two friends who joined the army with him two years ago, one was killed in the Battle of Hefei, and the other was blown off his leg in the Battle of Chuzhou, and even the soldiers of the platoon he was in that year were at least half replaced. Yang Da didn't know when he would be the next person to die, and he didn't know if he would be like that fellow countryman who was blown off his leg or broken hand, and after retiring and returning to his hometown, he relied on the disability pension issued by the army but died.

His luck is quite good, not only has he lived well in the past two years, but he has also been slowly promoted to sergeant and become a squad leader because of his accumulated merits, and the military salary sent back to his family every month has also made the old parents at home finally breathe a sigh of relief, and the five younger siblings in the family are finally able to eat enough.

His experience was similar to that of most Nationalist soldiers, and now he either continued to fight until he was killed or disabled, or he was suddenly promoted to the rank of officer and became a member of the Officers.

And what about the platoon commander Li, this platoon has only been in this platoon for a month, he is a rookie second lieutenant who has just graduated from the Fuzhou Military Academy, he is very young and only eighteen years old, and what makes Yang Da even more incomprehensible is that this Li platoon commander's family does not have to worry about food and clothing, and the cigarettes he smokes at a young age are the most expensive Hademen gold suits, this kind of two-dollar and five-dollar pack of cigarettes is not something that a second lieutenant officer can afford, and even the biggest officer Yang Da knows, Cheng Zixian, the commander of their 91st regiment, smokes cigarettes for one dollar a pack. And he himself said that there was no shortage of money at home, and at that time, Yang Da jokingly said: You are stupid, the family has a lot of money to join the army!

Platoon Commander Li, who was only eighteen years old, just smiled, and then said something that many young officers would say: "For the rejuvenation of China!" ”

I don't know what Huaxia Fuxing is, and I don't understand why a rich son like Platoon Commander Li came to fight for a long time.

He only knew that not long ago, this platoon commander Li had died, for the so-called rejuvenation of China in his heart!

Yang Da continued to look around, but he couldn't find anyone standing, staggered past several corpses, he walked blankly with a rifle, he didn't know where to go, his boss Platoon Commander Li was dead, and the deputy platoon commander who took over the command now doesn't know where to go, and it is estimated that it is among the nearly 100 corpses that stretch all over the field.

After taking two steps, Yang Da saw a person not far away moving, as if he was about to struggle to get up, Yang Da saw it and hurriedly passed, at this time he felt that it felt good to see a living person, whether this living person was a soldier of the National Army or a soldier of the Beiyang Army.

Yang Da walked over, and what caught his eye was a Beiyang Army wearing a blue-gray military uniform, this Beiyang Army soldier seemed to be seriously injured, with a large pool of blood on his abdomen, and his right leg was still bleeding, this person obviously also found that Yang Da was coming, raised his head and looked at Yang Da with a panicked look.

Yang Da could clearly see the panicked look in his eyes, Yang Da picked up his rifle and slowly approached!

The Beiyang soldier panicked even more, then turned around and limped forward, saying that he was running, but the speed was not as slow as an ordinary walk.

Yang Da, who raised the rifle, did not chase it, but lowered the Fuzao Type 12 rifle in his hand on his shoulder, and then put the crosshair of the rifle on the back of the Beiyang Army soldier, Yang Da began to breathe slowly, he was very confident in his design technology, and with the rifle in his hand, he was completely able to knock down the Beiyang Army soldier not far away.

But he didn't pull the trigger for a long time, he didn't know what he was hesitating about, it would be ridiculous to say that it was merciful, there were at least a dozen Beiyang soldiers who died under him, and in the bayonet just now, there were as many as five or six Beiyang Army soldiers who died under his bayonet, but he still didn't pull the trigger!

Maybe it was a moment, maybe it was longer, and suddenly a gunshot rang out, and a snowflake appeared behind the Beiyang Army soldier in Yang's eyes and fell.

Yang Da turned around and saw five or six Nationalist soldiers in brown-and-green uniforms trotting towards him at a rapid pace, one of whom seemed to be able to see green smoke coming out of the muzzle of his gun.

The odd one was a sergeant, and this person came to Yang Da and looked at Yang Da's sergeant rank, and then said, "Sergeant, we are in the second platoon, and we fell behind just now!" ”

Yang Da looked at the five or six people, and then said expressionlessly: "I am in the first row, and you in the second row are not far in front!" ”

The sergeant looked at Yang Da and asked, "Oh, big brother, you're in a row, by the way, what about the rest of you!" ”

Yang Da put down his rifle, then squatted down and took out a cigarette from his jacket pocket, this kind of military supply cigarette for ordinary soldiers is naturally not as good as the two five-day packs of good cigarettes smoked by Platoon Commander Li, it tastes a little spicy, and after taking a deep breath, Yang Dacai said: "It is estimated that I am the only one left!" ”

The sergeant and the others listened to the slight palpation, and at this time, they climbed out of the trench and looked out, and all they saw were intertwined corpses, dense corpses......

The 9th Division under the 1st Army, as the fist unit of the whole army, served as the main force for the breakthrough in the spring offensive, and on February 12, the 91st Regiment under the command showed the spirit of daring to fight, crushing the defense of two regiments of the enemy's 23rd Division, and occupying the southern defense line deployed by the Beiyang Army on the periphery of Xuzhou in one fell swoop.

On the 14th, the Ninth Division of the Nationalist Army broke through the defense of the main force of the 23rd Division of the Beiyang Army and approached the Xuzhou Railway Station.

On the 16th, the second division of the national army engaged the main force of the tenth division of the Beiyang Army in the west of Xuzhou, and then the first division of the national army bypassed the flank of the tenth division to attack, Tang Tianxi's tenth division faced the blow of the superior strength of the national army, this time it was not as good luck as several times in the past to be able to escape, Tang Tianxi's tenth division suffered heavy losses, and was forced to retreat and was pursued when it turned in, and after retreating more than 20 kilometers, Tang Tianxi's tenth division had only less than 6,000 people left.

On the 17th, the 1st Reading Artillery Regiment directly under the jurisdiction of the First Army arrived in Xuzhou to provide artillery support for the 9th Division attacking Xuzhou, and the Beiyang Army in the Xuzhou area had already retreated on all fronts.

The next day, Feng Guozhang sent a telegram to Yanjing asking for retreat, and that night, Yuan Shikai called Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, and immediately appointed Wang Shizhen as the chief of the War Department, Duan Qirui as the commander of the Second Army, and at the same time removed Feng Guozhang from all positions.

After Yuan Shikai endured Feng Guozhang for so long, he finally couldn't bear Feng Guozhang's defeat, and now Feng Guozhang didn't have many direct troops. Feng Guozhang's Second Army was now only 10,000 remnants of the army, although after arriving in Xuzhou, the 23rd and 16th Divisions, as well as the 1st and 11th Divisions, were all included in the command of the Second Army.

However, Feng Guozhang's successive failures have made him completely lose his prestige in the army, in this Xuzhou Campaign, Feng Guozhang is basically unable to command the troops on the front line, and most of the divisions on the front line of the Beiyang Army are now fighting on their own, even if there is cooperation, it is a private contact between several division commanders, Feng Guozhang, the commander of the Second Army, has become a joke.

After the news of the dismissal reached Xuzhou, Feng Guozhang was stunned, and he didn't say a word for most of the day, although he had expected to be removed by Yuan Shikai, but he still hoped that after Xuzhou was defended, Yuan Shikai did not dare to move him, but the failure of the Xuzhou Battle came too quickly, not only Yuan Shikai no longer trusted him, but even the division commanders and brigade commanders below no longer obeyed his orders.

Yuan Shikai made Duan Qirui the commander of the Second Army, but it was also impossible to reverse the rout of the Beiyang Army on the Jinpu line, and the main force of the National Army, the First Army, completely conquered Xuzhou on the 15th, and then the main force of the First Army continued to wave north, and entered Shandong with the Third Army.

Among the several divisions of the Beiyang Army in the Battle of Xuzhou, Tang Tianxi's 10th Division only had 6,000 remnants left to withdraw to the western part of Xuzhou, and finally entered the Shangqiu area, and Xu Shuzheng's 11th Division withdrew to Jining under the order of Duan Qirui. The 23rd Division, which was defending Xuzhou, was completely defeated, and except for a few high-level people who fled north, the remaining 4,000 people surrendered. The 1st and 16th Divisions, reinforced from the north, were not doing well, the 1st Division lost more than half of them, and the 16th Division would not have been able to go all if it had not been deployed in the rear.

Xinhai Great Warlord 437_Xinhai Great Warlord_