Cai Zhongwat led the adjutant Cai Peiyuan to stride over, and greeted Liu Zhi, An Yi and others who greeted him and shook hands with each other, everyone said as they walked, turned the corridor to the back hall where the charcoal fire was lit, Cai Zhongwat handed the tweed coat stained with snowflakes to the attentive orderly, and after sitting down, he took the hot tea handed by An Yi and thanked him repeatedly.

"Brother Jingfu, this tiger general under your command is amazing! Ha ha...... When the commander-in-chief received your good news, he was full of praise for the employment of Brother Jingfu and Xiao Yi's command level, and immediately ordered me to lead my troops to come and receive the 26 artillery pieces and ammunition you had captured. Cai Zhonghu said happily.

Liu Zhi is not good at sociability, but he and Cai Zhongwat have worked together at the Whampoa Military Academy for several months, and they are more familiar with each other, so they did not beat around the bush and were polite, and modestly smiled and replied with a few sentences and then turned to the topic:

"Brother Zhuchen has won the award, just now Xiao Yi and I were mentioning you, and I wanted to ask you for a big favor, but I didn't expect to say that Cao Ying Cao Ying arrived, so I didn't have to call Commander Bai for help."

Cai Zhongwat listened to Liu Zhi's plan to concentrate artillery to blast away the enemy's position, pondered for a moment and then nodded: "This matter is estimated to be no problem, and there is no task for my artillery regiment in the next two operations, my task is to complete the handover procedures with you for twenty-six artillery pieces, and form my new second regiment on the spot, so I can also call the question without asking Commander Bai for the war, however, it is best to send a telegram to the principal through Brother Fu or Xiao Yi, and most of the principal's magnanimity will agree, as long as the principal nods, I led 700 soldiers under my command and 150 officers and soldiers entrusted by Xiao Yi to go up to fight a battle with everyone. ”

"Thank you so much! I'm going to send a telegram to the headmaster asking Brother Chenchen to sit down for a while. Liu Zhi happily stood up and walked out the door.

Adjutant Cai Peiyuan put down the teacup and smiled at An Yi: "Xiao Yi, the more than 100 brothers you sent to escort General Yang Shijun and his entourage to Nanchang will follow a large number of supplies to Lanxi at five o'clock in the afternoon, and tomorrow morning will be able to follow the vehicle of our regiment to transport ammunition back here, and I left Nanchang one day earlier than them, so I rushed to Jiande today." I have already forwarded the letter entrusted by you to the principal and the third brother Ming, the principal opened the letter in front of me and read it, very pleased, and asked me twice how is your mental state and body? I replied that I haven't seen you worried, the principal smiled rarely, I think this time I received another good news, captured 26 artillery pieces and captured more than 10 enemy generals, and achieved the second great victory in the battle in Zhejiang, the principal doesn't know how to reward you, amazing! You've beaten all of us big brothers, haha! ”

"This is the credit of the brothers under his command, and it is also the credit of the first division of the commander Xue Yue, if it were not for the soldiers of the first division to successfully storm Meicheng, the defending enemy would not have fled west in a panic, and the brothers of the third battalion of the younger brother would not have been able to catch this big fish." An Yi smiled humbly.

Cai Zhonghu sat close to An Yi and asked with a smile: "When passing through the Bai Pass, the artillery company commander trained by your ministry led us into the model battalion to take a look at the captured artillery. If the principal agrees to your second division's request, tomorrow morning I want to go to the front to have a look, and you can accompany me. ”

"Little brother obeys! Brother Cai, if you don't settle down, please go to the junior brother's regiment headquarters to deal with it for a night, in the manor of a big landlord in the north of the city, it is quite quiet and spacious. An Yi suggested.

Cai Zhongwat was very happy: "We really don't have a place to live, I just wanted to ask you to help solve it, but who knew that as soon as we met, it would be involved in the war, haha!" The landlord's house where you live, there are no young ladies left, right? ”

"That's not true, if the eldest brother really wants to find a girl to talk about his life ideals all night long, I can ask my brothers to see who has this way." An Yi replied quietly, causing the audience to laugh.

At night, Cai Zhonghu, who had finished washing, walked down the wide spiral staircase in a charcoal-dried coat, and at the corner of the staircase, he saw An Yi and his generals sitting in front of the fireplace on the west side of the hall to discuss nervously, and hesitated for a moment and was about to return upstairs to rest, but was stopped by An Yi.

Under the hospitality, Cai Zhongwat was also happy to participate in An Yi's discussion, just sat down and didn't drink tea when he heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the building, and stopped for a moment in front of the building, and the sound of horses' hooves went away again.

Zhan Huanqi walked quickly to An Yi with an urgent report, An Yi took a look, immediately leaned over to check the map on the big table in front of him, looked at it for a moment and told everyone in surprise:

"An hour ago, we just learned that the Fifth Division led by Chief Tan Daoyuan quietly drove into Yangchunqiao from Jiande City, and now the First Division of Chief Xue Yue has driven over from Meicheng in the east, saying that it was ordered to go to Yangchunqiao Town to station, Chen Zhibiao did not dare to slack off, and immediately sent a fast horse to report. With such a major transfer of the former enemy's command headquarters this time, why didn't we inform our Second Division? Strange! ”

"I guess Commander Bai was transferred to support you, right? After Brother Boling (Xue Yuezi) captured Meicheng, there was no way forward, and there were only two options for the next step, one was to cross the 21st Division on the east bank of the Fuchun River and the 9th Division of Brother Shiguang (Li Mingyangzi) to attack Panling; One is to drive to the front line of Yangchun Bridge and assist your second division to break through the enemy position on the front line south of Tonglu City, and there is nothing else except these two possibilities. Cai Zhonghu said with a smile.

Ye Cheng, the commander of the second battalion, who was sitting opposite Cai Zhonghu, stood up and carefully looked at the map, shook his head and said what he thought:

"Commander Cai is reasonable, but his subordinates are a little deeply puzzled, if they really support the attack direction of our second division, Chief Tan's fifth division should not stay in the town, but should go directly to Qiantan Town in the north, and camp behind the three regiments of our division and Chief Chen's sixty-fifth regiment, otherwise when Chief Xue's first division drives over, where can the small Yangchunqiao Town accommodate so many soldiers?

Again, the south of the enemy's five-kilometer position in front is mostly a hill pond, and it is very good to be able to accommodate five regiments to attack, how could Commander-in-Chief Bai make up six regiments at once? If you stay for two days, based on the limited supply of Yangchunqiao Town, it will be very difficult for more than 20,000 officers and soldiers to eat, not to mention the consumption of the siege after breaking through the enemy's blocking position. Therefore, I think that it is very likely that in response to Xiao Yi's assumption just now, Commander-in-Chief Bai made this strange move without warning, which has a profound meaning! ”

All the brothers raised their heads nervously, An Yi had already stood up, and gave orders to Ding Zhicheng, the commander of the thoughtful guard company, and Gu Changfeng on the side:

"Tiger Head, Lao Ding, you have worked hard, immediately lead the three and four platoons of the guards who are on duty to sneak out to the northwest of Zhangjiashan and Jinfeng Pavilion, and closely monitor every intersection leading to the north in this area, don't alarm anyone, and find an abnormally quick return!"

"Yes!"

Gu Changfeng and Ding Zhicheng replied in unison, saluted and left side by side in good spirits.

An Yi ignored the stunned Cai Zhonghu, walked to Xia Jian, who had already stood up, and whispered a few words close to his ear, Xia Jian nodded excitedly and left quickly.

Yang Bin and Qu Muchen had already understood, and tacitly nailed the large map on the table to the west wall with beautiful wallpaper, Dong Lingzi and Peng Jianqing lit the four lanterns again, and the entire hall was suddenly illuminated.

An Yi pulled up Cai Zhongwat on the sofa and walked to the map, pointed to the north-south paths and the movement routes of friendly forces, and whispered his guesses.

Cai Zhonghu was taken aback after hearing this, and was stunned for a long time before asking in a low voice: "It's too unexpected!" Incredible...... Xiao Yi, do you think Commander-in-Chief Bai really dares to take this risk? ”

An Yi shook his head: "Junior Brother doesn't dare to assert now, if Chief Xue's first division and Chief Tan's fifth division really enter those mountain trails in the northwest before the early hours of tomorrow morning, it will prove that Junior Brother's guess is right, otherwise it can only be Junior Brother's wishful thinking."

While you were taking a bath, my brothers and I discussed this, and I joked that I would send a battalion of brothers to sneak quietly into the mountains from the northwest, follow the Mabang Road between the indigenous villages and towns of the She nationality in this large area for 80 kilometers north, quietly cross Huangpudu, which is 20 kilometers northwest of Tonglu City, and then turn to the northeast and advance at full speed for 21 kilometers, and launch a surprise attack on the former enemy headquarters of Meng Zhaoyue, the commander of the Zhejiang army stationed in Xindeng Town, in an effort to capture the generals of the Zhejiang army stationed in Xindeng in one fell swoop, and Tonglu City will not be attacked.

However, the brethren all said that the guards stationed in Xindeng were no less than a brigade, and that it was very risky for one of our battalions to attack around a big bend, and that the upper peaks would not agree with our risky tactics, so the younger brother did not continue the discussion. ”

Cai Zhonghu nodded heavily: "I understand, so you just received the sudden transfer of the two divisions, and you paid attention to it again, right?" In my opinion, Commander-in-Chief Bai did dare to use such a big move, if it succeeded, the two divisions would turn around and cut off the retreat of the enemy defending Tonglu City, and Tonglu City would not have to attack, at most only need to do some persuasion work.

Commander Bai is really very wise! I remembered that in June last year, President Jiang had a discerning eye and talent, and strongly recommended Commander-in-Chief Bai, who was unknown in the entire military circles, to be the deputy chief of the general staff of the General Headquarters, and to exercise the post of chief of general staff on behalf of General Li Renchao (Li Jishen), who remained in the base camp in Guangzhou. At that time, the members of the Military Commission, the commander of the Second Army, General Tan Yanhong, and these veterans gave full support to Commander-in-Chief Bai and provided an opportunity for Commander-in-Chief Bai to show his talents.

Since the Northern Expedition, Commander-in-Chief Bai has slowly aroused the ideas of some generals with his excellent performance, and he has basically shouldered the heavy responsibility for the planning of major battles, and as far as I know, before entering Zhejiang this time, the reason why the principal twice implored Commander-in-Chief Bai to serve as the former enemy commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army was that he was worried that Chief He Yingqin would not be able to control the entire huge and complicated situation.

Judging from the current progress of the various departments of the Eastern Route Army, it proves that the principal's worries are right, the Eastern Route Army's commander-in-chief He Chang's eastern Zhejiang front line has much more troops than the middle and west routes commanded by Commander-in-Chief Bai, and the resistance encountered is much lighter, but he is still at least three days behind the distance between the Chinese and Western roads. ”

Yang Bin on the side stepped forward half a step forward and whispered to his senior brother Cai Zhonghu:

"If Chief Bai unexpectedly launches a large-scale long-distance attack this time, the younger brother estimates that Hangzhou City will be taken by Chief Bai next, you see...... The distance from Xindeng to Hangzhou is more than 50 kilometers, and Xindeng is only 29 kilometers away from Fuyang, an important town in the south of Hangzhou, and the enemy army would never have thought that our army would advance so quickly, and the terrain from Xindeng to Hangzhou to Fuyang is gentle, and it can be easily reached by land and water.

At that time, it is only necessary to send a division south to block the town of Narrow Creek, the only way to pass, and the 40,000 defenders around Tonglu City will be attacked by our army from the north to the south, and they will be blocked in a narrow area 15 kilometers long and it will be difficult to fly, and the distance between Chief Bai and Chief He will not be so short as three days. ”

Cai Zhongwat and An Yi looked at each other and smiled, and when they heard the discussion of the brothers around them, they immediately turned their eyes to the map.

At this moment, Chen Zhibiao, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, who was stationed at the Xiangu Temple and the main road of the South Pass, sent people to report again: The 21st Division of Commander Cheng Cheng and Chen Cheng had arrived at the South Pass and was ordered to drive to Yangchunqiao Town in the north to station.

After Zhan Huanqi reported the news, the hall immediately fell silent, and General Bai Chongxi suddenly mobilized three divisions of troops and stationed in the small town of Yangchunqiao, and its ultimate purpose gradually emerged, further confirming An Yi's assumptions and speculations. But the idea is the idea, really dare to make this determination and implement it vigorously, this superhuman courage and magnificence, so that everyone admires and respects!

Cai Zhongwat looked approvingly at An Yi with a complicated expression: "If you don't say it, I really can't see the mystery, even if the enemy army already knows about the large-scale movement of our army, he will only think that he is attacking Tonglu with all his might, and he will not think of the leapfrog large-scale roundabout assault behind, and he will definitely deploy heavy troops on the front line of Tonglu to resist desperately.

Xiao Yi, there is no need to be too surprised and envious, you are already very good, far beyond everyone's expectations, and when the battle in Zhejiang is over, I am sure that you will step into the ranks of the generals of our revolutionary army from now on and become an eye-catching famous general.

This is not to comfort you or praise you, but your merits have already surpassed most generals, including me, thinking that those who did not grow a beard in a few days after returning from studying abroad and who did not make an inch of merit in the Northern Expedition have become major generals and lieutenant generals, I am deeply unjust for my colleagues who have fought bloodily since the Northern Expedition.

The generals of the Fourth, Eight, and Seventh Armies also used you as a negative teaching material, telling their subordinates that the Whampoa Department suppressed talents, so that their subordinates would not be tempted by Commander-in-Chief Chiang's army. I believe that the principal and the General Headquarters have already made a pertinent assessment of you, otherwise they would not have sent party newspaper reporters and editors to promote and build momentum for you.

Listen to me right, you have to be in the limelight, if you don't mix with a general, many people don't take you seriously, as long as you become a general, whoever sees you has to be afraid of three points, do you understand what the big brother means? ”

An Yi gratefully shook Cai Zhonghu's hand: "Big brother...... Let's talk about these words later, now the situation is different, it has changed a lot, and the younger brother has to make a series of plans in advance. You help the little brother to see, in such a situation, how to fight this battle is appropriate? ”

Cai Zhongwat sighed, and could only shake his head and follow An Yi back to the map.

(To be continued)