readx; When the Nationalist Army mobilized its troops in the first half of the year and adopted a series of confusing means to prepare for the plan to cross the river, the Beiyang Army was not idle, and Yuan Shikai's methods were frequent, first of all, he reorganized the local troops in various provinces, and reorganized three to four divisions as auxiliary forces of the Central Army. The local units of the three provinces of Hubei even took on some of the main combat missions and cooperated with several Beiyang armies in combat. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

From this point of view, Yuan Shikai's reorganization of the local armies in these provinces was quite successful, effectively expanding the number of subordinate troops of the Beiyang Army and assuming the tasks of some secondary fronts, so that the main force of the Beiyang Army could free up more troops to fight a decisive battle with the Nationalist Army.

In addition to reorganizing the provincial and local armies, Yuan Shikai also used the huge military expenditure of the aftermath loan to supplement the main forces of the Beiyang Army on the southern front, especially the 3rd Division, the 5th Division, and the 7th Division, which suffered great losses in the southern Jiangsu war. As for Zhang Xun's Eighth Division, although it bears the number of the Eighth Division of the Central Army, it is actually Zhang Xun's private army, and obeying Yuan Shikai's dispatch does not mean that the Eighth Division is Yuan Shikai's descendant troops, so the military expenditure is basically the same as some other provincial armies, only a very small part, and most of the military expenditure still relies on Zhang Xun to loot from the locality, which is also the fundamental reason why the Eighth Division has not been able to restore its original establishment for a long time, and there is only one infantry company and one artillery battalion so far. However, the third division, Yuan Shikai's descendants, received sufficient military funds and ordnance, and before the third division marched into Anhui, the whole division had been restored to full strength, and a ** regiment was also trained, and after being stationed in Anhui, this ** regiment was directly expanded into a ** brigade.

In addition to supplementing the establishment of the main division, Yuan Shikai imitated the model of the Second Mixed Brigade and the Mixed Brigade of the Southern Nationalist Army to form a number of mixed brigades, which greatly expanded the direct strength of the Beiyang Army in a short period of time, and allowed more main forces to go south to fight against the Nationalist Army. As for Yuan Shikai's newly formed 10th and 11th Divisions in the past two years, they were originally used to fight in the south, and they had already gone south.

Despite this, Yuan Shikai still said that he felt that the troops were insufficient, and he knew that the army in the south was not so easy to defeat, and it was impossible to defeat the national army easily without the advantage of troops, so more and more troops were needed. In addition, after the Xinhai year, he deeply felt that the generals under his command were becoming more and more arrogant, especially Feng Guozhang, since he became the commander of the Second Army in Huainan Xuanfu, he had not returned to Yanjing, even if Yuan Shikai recruited him back during the Spring Festival last year, he used the excuse that the front-line military situation was urgent and inconvenient to withdraw, this Feng Guozhang has been in Jiangbei for a long time, he is above 10,000 people in Jiangbei, no one is above him, and even if he returns to Yanjing, he is still above 10,000 people, but there is always a Yuan Shikai above.

Once you have tried the sweet taste of power, it is not so easy to give up.

Not only Feng Guozhang, but even Cao Kun, Duan Zhigui and others, whom Yuan Shikai relied on the most, although Yuan Shikai can still command them now, but he is no longer as handy as before, many times Yuan Shikai has to use a consultative tone with the front-line generals, such as preparing to attack Anhui and then crossing the river south from Wuhu to Anqing The plan is to discuss with Feng Guozhang and a few others, not that he Yuan Shikai acted alone.

For these generals under his command to become more and more powerful, Yuan Shikai also took corresponding measures, the most direct is to set up a new part and promote young generals, the tenth division, the eleventh division is the product of such a situation, Tang Tianxi's promotion and Xu Shuzheng's appointment is also Yuan Shikai's intention. It's just that what he didn't expect was that the two divisions were being formed and deployed in the Gyeonggi area the year before, but as soon as they were transferred to Jiangsu and Shandong this year, they repeated the old path of the main forces of the Beiyang Army in the past. Tang Tianxi is okay, because he is stationed in Bengbu and Chuzhou, with Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun pressing, Tang Tianxi is also very active in the face of Yuan Shikai's co-optation, trying to get rid of the suppression of Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun's two old bosses.

However, Xu Shuzheng, known as the youngest and promising lieutenant general in the Beiyang Army, led his troops to Chuzhou, which exposed his young and arrogant state, not only learning from the third division to expand his eleventh division, but also delaying Yuan Shikai's transfer and refusing to leave Xuzhou and enter Bengbu. You must know that at that time, Tang Tianxi's 10th Division had already left Bengbu and went south to the front line of Chuzhou, and his 11th Division needed to be stationed in Bengbu in time to take over the garrison. However, Xu Shuzheng delayed until the end of July before sending a regiment south to Bengbu, and after the Nationalist Army launched a river-crossing operation in early August, a brigade was stationed in Bengbu, but the main force of the 11th Division remained in Chuzhou.

This situation made Yuan Shikai scold in his eyes and in his heart!

Therefore, when the Nationalist Army launched the river-crossing operation in early August, Yuan Shikai in addition to paying attention to the front-line war, had already started the idea of re-organizing a unit, and this time Yuan Shikai decided to completely abandon the original system of Beiyang, hoping to directly control the new army that had been formed, and initially allocated the number of the 12th Division and the 13th Division, preparing to build a new army. To establish a reliable guard force around them, the main generals in the army don't want those who are talented, and it turns out that people like Xu Shuzheng who are too talented can't win them over, and they accidentally turn around and disobey Yuan Shikai's orders. Yuan Shikai was already planning to appoint the children of relatives and friends to control this pro-guard army, why could he Chen Jingyun use his own disciples to form a guard division, and he Yuan Shikai couldn't use the children of relatives and friends to form a pro-guard army?

Yuan Shikai immediately sent his two fifteen-year-old sons to study in Ben Lushi, the fifth son Yuan Kequan and the sixth son Yuan Keheng, ready to let them enter the army after studying for a year or two. And also let the eldest son Yuan Keding as the organizer of the 12th and 13th Divisions, Yuan Keding will still treat his injured leg in Germany, last year he accidentally broke his leg while riding a horse in his hometown of Xiangcheng, Henan, and was sent to Germany by Yuan Shikai for treatment, Yuan Keding, who was far away in Germany, also felt a little strange after receiving Yuan Shikai's somewhat strange appointment, you must know that although he Yuan Keding has been running around with Yuan Shikai since he was a child, he has also held many important official positions, but after all, he is not a professional officer. It was not easy to lead the troops, but he was active, and he immediately guessed Yuan Shikai's thoughts. Immediately, while continuing his treatment in Germany, he then entrusted Germany to send some military instructors to teach him, which is another way of studying abroad, and actively visited the German military, and he was naturally extremely envious of Germany's great achievements. Remembering that China has become a republic, but it still has not become rich and strong, but is divided by warlords, and there are big warlord leaders like Chen Jingyun who hinder domestic unification, so is the republic as useful as those revolutionaries say? If the republic is useless, then why not follow the example of Germany, who used the imperial system to make them one of the most powerful powers.

The imperial system once again made Yuan Keding's heart ripple.

On August 10, when the Fifth Division of the Second Army tried to cross the Hanshan area to reach Xianji, it was blocked by more than 1,000 troops of the Beiyang Army.

Although the Fifth Division soon launched a combat posture, the subordinate troops left the official road and scattered to march, and soon bypassed the sniper of the Beiyang Army on the front line, although it also used the advantage of strength to encircle, but the Beiyang Army on the opposite side was not stupid, and soon retreated, although the Fifth Division severely damaged this Beiyang Army and wiped out at least four or five hundred Beiyang Army, but the Fifth Division wasted nearly a day for this.

The next day, the Fifth Division received air intelligence that the Beiyang Army had arrived in the Jiangzhuang area, less than ten kilometers away from Xianji. This made Lin Feitai, the commander of the Fifth Division, extremely shocked, if the Fifth Division could not reach the Xianji area first and set up a relevant defensive line, then it would be difficult to cover the Fifth Mixed Brigade to cross the Xianqi and reach the rear of Chaohu.

It can even be blocked by the Beiyang Army in the Hanshan area and unable to advance, so that the second army's plan to encircle and annihilate tens of thousands of Beiyang troops in Chaohu Lake will be in vain, and even at that time, it may not be possible to capture Chaohu Lake by hard attack, and if Chaohu Lake cannot be captured, how can it be said to capture Hefei.

Immediately, Lin Feitai ordered the 51st Regiment in front to march directly and lightly overnight, and must dare to seize the Immortal Trace before the Beiyang Army, and hold on until the main force of the Fifth Division arrives. Now that it is no longer possible to care whether the lightly armed troops can resist the heavily armed Beiyang Army, it is the most important task of the Fifth Division to capture the fairy trail and establish a defensive line first.

Ma Cheng in the headquarters of the Second Army also received a report from Lin Feitai, facing the predicament that the Fifth Division was about to encounter, Ma Cheng was also at a loss, looking at the current situation, the Fifth Division was no longer too sure that it would pass through the Immortal Trace area in covering the Fifth Mixed Brigade, if it remained unchanged according to the predetermined plan, it was very likely that the Fifth Mixed Brigade would also have to be consumed there, which was not allowed to happen. Ma Cheng was also a decisive person, and immediately said: "Order the Fifth Mixed Brigade to turn to the west and march, bypass the area of Hanshan and Xianji, and directly capture the area north of Chaohu!" ”

Situ Jun, the chief of staff of the Second Army beside him, frowned and said: "Military seat, in this case, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the Fifth Mixed Brigade to arrive in time, now the Fifth Mixed Brigade is still in the Huzhuang area, if you want to bypass the Hanshan and Xianji areas, you will have to turn over the mountains, forests and hilly areas along the way, these areas cannot carry heavy weapons, and the supply of logistics materials will also be quite difficult." In addition, due to the extension of the road, the distance on the map alone is more than thirty-five kilometers, and the actual distance of the troops will be close to fifty kilometers, so even if the fifth mixed brigade is fast, it will take at least three days to arrive, and even if it arrives, I am afraid that the physical exertion of the soldiers is quite large, and the combat effectiveness has decreased a lot. ”

These concerns mentioned by Situ Jun are true, and Ma Cheng is also aware of them. But there are some things that you know are difficult, but you have to do them.

"If you don't change the plan, does the chief of staff think that our army will be able to break through the enemy's defense in the Xianji area, and then cut off the retreat of the Chaohu defenders, if it is not able to encircle and annihilate the Chaohu defenders, even if Chaohu is captured, these Beiyang troops will retreat to Hefei, and then the enemy will rely on the strong city to defend it, how can our army quickly conquer Hefei? If Hefei can't be attacked for a long time, how will it face the many Beiyang Army reinforcements at that time? Ma Cheng sighed, but there was fortitude in his eyes.

"Tell Guo Chengdong that as long as his Fifth Mixed Brigade arrives on the side of Chaohu Lake in time and cooperates with the main force of our army to encircle and annihilate the enemy army in Chaohu, I will personally ask the commander for him, with this merit After the war, a silver double sword medal will not be able to run away, and it will not be difficult to be promoted to division commander after the war!" Ma Cheng said softly.

Situ Jun sighed, and he could only turn around and go out to give orders!