Kaifeng, Henan, the General Headquarters of the First Front Army of Beiyang.

Not long after Wu Peifu, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, left, Jin Yunpeng, the newly appointed chief of staff of the Beijing base camp, took the newly drawn up "Central Plains Decisive Battle Plan" to Kaifeng by special train and personally commanded the operation in the direction of the Longhai Road.

However, Cao Kun, the commander-in-chief of the Frontal Army and the envoy of the Zhilu Yu Parade, really did not have any opinion on Xu Shuzheng's arrangement. The decisive battle in the Central Plains or something, Wu Peifu said that he couldn't win, so of course there was no hope! Now that someone is carrying the defeated black cauldron for him, of course, he can't ask for it. So Cao Kun simply took sick leave and returned to his Zhili Baoding to help Wu Peifu rectify the soldiers of the three mixed brigades.

As soon as Cao Kun left, the headquarters of the First Front Army was basically the world of the Anhui system of Xu Shuzheng (Duan Qirui), the 238th champion. The Anhui general, who had no real combat experience, sent Cao Kun on the train today, and when he returned to the headquarters, he began to talk loudly. They are all discussing how to relieve the siege of the besieged Third Division, and by the way, strike another blow at the Northern Expeditionary Army commanded by Chang Ruiqing, a traitor. Although the Beiyang Third Division was a direct soldier, Beiyang had already reached this point, and of course they put aside that little bit of their view and discussed how to implement the plan for the decisive battle in the Central Plains.

"Damn, Wu Ziyu is that famous general? What kind of shrinkage of troops to retreat to the decisive battle, it seems to be a thing, but the fight is completely chaotic. Knowing this, it is better to fight with the Northern Expeditionary Army in Xuzhou, maybe there is still a chance to win. ”

"Now we still have a chance! After all, the Third Division is the number one strong force in our Beiyang, and it is not so easy to be eaten by the Southern Army! As long as we can strictly implement the battle plan for the east and the south. The two front armies joined forces to attack, not to mention the defeat of the Northern Expeditionary Army, there was always a draw. ”

"Yes, we have eight divisions here! Among them, three are divisions of the participating armies, which are the elite trained by Japanese instructors! Are you afraid that you won't be able to beat the 238th Nanban champion? ”

"However, there are too many southern soldiers, and there are 400,000 on the road to Xuzhou alone! There are also nearly 100,000 people going north along Jinghan Road. We and the Jinpu Road Front Army combined are no more than 16 divisions and a few brigades, and the total strength is only more than 200,000 ......."

"There is not much to do in military affairs. They fought for hundreds of thousands of days without eating the Third Division, which already speaks for itself! I think the key now is speed, we must act quickly and catch Chang Ruiqing off guard! ”

I heard my subordinates talking there. The morale was also high, and Jin Yunpeng's tense face also showed a smile. If he, the "former commander-in-chief of the enemy," wants to win the war, to put it bluntly, he must count on the following brothers to fight with their lives. Before he came to Kaifeng, Xu Shuzheng told him that as long as this battle could be won, the errand of the overseer and governor of Henan would be his!

He coughed lightly, and the generals below immediately stopped speaking, and he smiled and said to Qu Tongfeng and Fu Liangzuo: "Weiqing, Qingjie, the three divisions of the participating army are the main force in this battle!" The commander-in-chief of the brothers also depends on the two...... I wonder when the participating troops will be able to dispatch? ”

Qu Tongfeng and Fu Liangzuo glanced at each other, if it was Cao Kun who said this, of course they could find a way to delay. But now it has been replaced by Jin Yunpeng, the head of the four King Kongs of the Anhui system, to command. They can't afford to delay any longer. Qu Tongfeng smiled at Jin Yunpeng: "Two of the three divisions of the participating army are in Kaifeng and can be opened at any time, and one has advanced to Lankao and can be started at any time." However, the southern army had already opened a defensive line west of Shangqiu, and deployed about 100,000 troops...... Our three divisions can't be knocked out! ”

Jin Yunpeng looked at Qu Tongfeng with blazing eyes: "Wei Qing." Xu Youzheng has already ordered that in this battle, our participating troops must take the lead, and they can only take the lead! As for the eighth, twelfth, seventeenth, nineteenth, and twentieth divisions, I will find a way to urge them to do their best. But you must go up first, and then go out at once! Within three days, it was necessary to advance to the west of Shangqiu, and it took two days to complete the deployment and occupy the starting position...... Today is February 18th. It must be played by February 23rd! ”

Qu Tongfeng frowned and said, "Three divisions beat hundreds of thousands of people? ”

Jin Yunpeng shook his head with a smile: "There won't be hundreds of thousands...... Feng Huanzhang has already given Xu Youzheng a package ticket, and his Jinpu Road Front will attack immediately! They can contain at least half of the strength of the Southern Army, the third division can still contain tens of thousands, the Shangqiu line is more than 100,000 in the sky, and our eight divisions are still evenly matched to fight them by hundreds of thousands. ”

……

"This and this...... On one side is Mount Tai, on the other side is a large area of hills, Jinpu Road in Jinan to Tai'an this section seems to be from a canyon to guò, such terrain is not a convenient place for the army to enter and exit, in case the southern army ambushes Mount Tai, our second army can be ......"

Li Chun, the commander of the Second Army of the Northern Army, looked at his immediate boss, Feng Yuxiang of the Jinpu Road Front, and spoke in a slurred manner. His Second Army withdrew from the front line of Zhengtai Road (in fact, it cannot be regarded as a front line, the Jin army retreated in Taiyuan and did not exchange fire with them), and was transported to Jinan by stuffy tank train for several days, and before he could catch his breath, Feng Yuxiang gave the errand to the Second Army to take the lead! They were also required to rush to the Tai'an front line within two days and launch an attack on the Northern Expeditionary Army. However, to the north of Tai'an, there is a mountain range of Taishan, and the terrain is complex, so it is really a good place to ambush.

Looking at Li Chun's hesitant look, Feng Yuxiang sighed, waved his hand and said, "Xiushuai, my people have already reconnoitred the mountains on both sides of Jinpu Road, and have not found any traces of the large southern army lurking. Moreover, our shape is severe, we can't be safe in everything, the end of Longhai Road will definitely start in three days, and our Jinpu Road Front must launch an attack at the same time, so that the southern army can not take care of each other. ”

"Three days...... How can you get three days? Huanzhang, why can't you arrange for the first and fifth divisions to go up first? ”

Listening to Li Chun's question, Feng Yuxiang just smiled bitterly: "Xiushuai, you don't know what virtues the first division has?" The foundation of the Eight Banners. The Fifth Division is lazy again in Shandong, and it is difficult to suppress bandits. Isn't it true that the main force of the Southern Army will deliver food to their doors? Let's Jinpu Road Front. The most capable of fighting is the sixth division of Qi Fuwan (Qi Xieyuan) and the second division of Wang Zichun (Wang Zhanyuan). They are all troops below the Second Army, so this head formation can only ask Xiu Shuai. ”

"Brother Huanzhang's Eleventh Division is also a strong force, right?" Li Chun said coldly.

Feng Yuxiang smiled: "What Xiushuai said is that my 11th Division will not be idle, they will set off today to control the mountainous areas on both sides of the Jinpu Road to ensure the safety of the flanks of the Second Army, and wait for the Second Army to pass through Guò." and then serve as a reserve for the attack on Tai'an. So Xiushuai can always rest assured, right? ”

Hearing Feng Yuxiang say this, Li Chun had nothing to say, so he reluctantly nodded and took over the task of taking the lead. But at this moment, he is. I'm afraid I would never have dreamed that his Second Army had not yet set off from Jinan, and a battle plan for the heavy damage to the Second Army had already been sent to Bai Chongxi, the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army's Northern Advance Corps.

It was Lu Yixuan who sent this plan to Bai Chongxi. However, this battle plan was not the work of him and the staff office of the Northern Expeditionary Command. It is the handwriting of Feng Yuxiang, commander-in-chief of the Jinpu Road Front Army in Beiyang!

"Brother Zixiu, you said that this ambush plan was sent to us by Feng Yuxiang? Could it be that he has already ......" Bai Chongxi looked at Lu Yixuan steadily, very surprised: "But why did he do this?" Can't he convince Li Chun to join us? Now that the shape is like this, Li Chun is not stupid, does he still want to be martyred for Beiyang? ”

Lu Yixuan tapped his fingers lightly on a mahogany desk in front of him, and said with a cold smile: "Why did Feng Yuxiang arrange it like this, I don't know. But I know he doesn't dare to cheat with us now! Brother Yaoru also means this, since Feng Yuxiang wants to use our hands to defeat Li Chun, we might as well do it, where is there too much credit? ”

Bai Chongxi smiled coldly: "I'm afraid this Feng Huanzhang is also a ruthless character who will do anything to achieve his goals......" He leaned over to Lu Yixuan's ear. He said in a low voice: "Such a person, it will be a scourge to keep it sooner or later, or take advantage of this opportunity to clean it up together?" ”

Lu Yixuan just smiled faintly and was noncommittal. Feng Yuxiang was appointed commander-in-chief of the Northwest Frontier Defense as Sun Yat-sen's meaning. And after this Feng Yuxiang joined the National Government, most of them were the second Jiang J Shi! When the time comes, one will be in the northeast and the other will be in the northwest, but it will be very troublesome! He patted Bai Chongxi's arm and said with a smile: "The victor is not sanctioned!" Brother Jiansheng, you can fight as much as you want. The key is to win! As long as you win, no one dares to poke a hole in the sky! ”

……

From the end of February 1919, the decisive battle between the north and the south, which had been delayed for a long time, finally started in the two directions of Longhai Road and Jinpu Road!

According to the plan drawn up by the commanders of both sides, the main battlefield was along the Longhai Road. The Western Advance Corps of the Northern Expeditionary Army besieged the elite 3rd Division of the Northern Army in Yucheng with a powerful force, and deployed the main force on the Shangqiu line to wait for work, preparing to meet the main force of the 1st Front Army of the Northern Army advancing eastward. At the same time, the Second Front Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army went north along the Jinghan Railway and attacked the flank of the Northern Army to cooperate with the decisive battle on the front of the Longhai Road.

The First Front Army of the Beiyang Army also put on an open-minded posture, with the three divisions of the participating army as the vanguard, and came straight to Shangqiu. At the same time, the 3rd Division was also ordered to defend Yucheng to the last soldier! The Jinpu Road Front of the Northern Army also immediately moved south to attack the flank of the First Front Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army in order to relieve the pressure on the Northern Army in the direction of Longhai Road. In the entire Central Plains battlefield, the first battle of Yucheng was the encirclement and annihilation of the Third Division of the Northern Army.

In the positions around Yucheng, there was a lot of artillery fire. Now the 11th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was reorganized from the Hunan Army, is responsible for the main attack on Yucheng. The commander of the army is Chang Ruiqing's senior brother in the first phase of Baoding, and now he is also a member of Chang Ruiqing's Baoding department, and Tang Shengzhi, nicknamed "Tang Monk". The chief of staff of the 11th Army is a well-known figure, Jiang Baili, the former principal of the Baoding Military Academy and the name of "Xiangrui Gong" in history.

Jiang Baili is a native of Zhejiang, and studied in Japan and Germany in his early years, but he belongs to the leftovers of the Beiyang system, although he is not famous, but his official luck is not good. At the end of 1916, during the "government and court dispute", he was on Li Yuanhong's side. After Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng went into the field, they were appointed as vice ministers of the army, and they met Xu Shuzheng's shortcomings, which can be regarded as a grudge with Xu Shuzheng. Later, Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng came to power again, and he, the deputy minister of the army, could only be laid off.

However, after stepping down, Jiang Baili did not give up on Beiyang and remained in Beijing. While being his Crescent poet, he is waiting for a chance to recover. Waiting and waiting, I missed the wave of promotions from the rapid rise of the national government in the south. When he remembered that he wanted to follow Sun Yat-sen to make a revolution, all the good positions were occupied! As a result, he had no choice but to take refuge in his student Tang Shengzhi in Baoding and became the chief of staff of the army, but he still held the rank of lieutenant general, probably the highest-ranking chief of staff among the twelve descendant armies of the National Revolutionary Army.

Although only one position was given to the chief of staff of the army. But Jiang Baili still tried his best to assist Tang Shengzhi, and with the efforts of the two of them, the Eleventh Army, which had the old foundation of the Hunan Army, soon became one of the strongest forces in the National Revolutionary Army! That's why Wang Junhao handed over the task of annihilating the Third Beiyang Division to this army.

A fortification built to attack the 3rd Beiyang Division. The 11th Army also temporarily strengthened the 8th Artillery Regiment, which originally belonged to the 8th Army. Together with the original 11th Artillery Regiment and three mortar battalions in the formation, their firepower completely overwhelmed the 3rd Division of the Northern Army, which only carried one artillery battalion. However, the Third Division, the first elite of the Northern Army, also lived up to its reputation, and they made full use of the opportunity of the Northern Expeditionary Army's "encirclement". Strong fortifications were built around the walls of Yucheng, and the Northern Expeditionary Army did not have large-caliber heavy artillery, so there was no way to inflict too much damage on the infantry of the 3rd Division, which relied on strong fortifications. So the repeated charges of the Eleventh Army were repulsed by the opponent! The tragic battle lasted for a whole day and two nights, but no effective breakthrough was formed, and both sides of the war suffered heavy casualties, which can be regarded as a vicious battle that has never been fought since the Northern Expedition.

At the same time, to the west of Yucheng, the three divisions of the Beiyang Army's participating armies, which started from Kaifeng and Lankao and advanced along the Longhai Railway to Shangqiu, and the reinforcements of the two armies under the personal command of Wang Junhao also launched a decisive battle on the plain west of Shangqiu! The army participating in the war was an army carefully built by Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng who used Xiyuan to borrow money to purchase Japanese arms and hire Japanese instructors. In terms of training and equipment, it is definitely China's first-class army, not even under the 3rd Beiyang Division!

The Fifth Army and the Seventh Army commanded by Wang Junhao are the foundation of the Fujian Army and the Guangdong Army. There is also a certain amount of combat effectiveness, but after all, the expansion of troops is too fast. The weapons and equipment are not excellent, and the training of the troops is not as good as that of the participating troops. Although it had a threefold advantage in numbers, it was on the defensive for the sake of safety. Trenches were dug on the plains on both sides of Longhai Road to defend, and the participating troops commanded by Qu Tongfeng and Fu Liangzuo also launched a shock attack a little recklessly, but they suffered a lot of losses under the steady defense of the opponent's superior forces. But it is also far from exhausting.

The war between the two sides in Henan fell into a stalemate for a while.

The General Headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army in Xuzhou entered the busiest time after the fierce battle on Longhai Road began. Chang Ruiqing and Lu Yixuan both set up marching beds in the war room, adjusting their deployments at any time according to the development and changes of the battle situation, and formulating new battle plans. In fact, those two marching beds are just for show, as the commander and chief of staff of hundreds of thousands of troops, it is impossible to close your eyes and sleep at such a time!

After Lu Yixuan returned from Tai'an, he spent almost all day lying on the map, carefully marking the battle lines of the two sides on Longhai Road with red and blue pencils, and occasionally dealing with reports and news from other places. Chang Ruiqing, on the other hand, frowned, holding his arms around a huge sand table platform. He has more questions to think about than Lu Yixuan! He is not a simple soldier, but the head of a huge military and political group, and he must not only consider how to defeat the enemy in front of him, but also how to make the most of the victory in front of him, so as to lay the foundation for his complete control of the whole of China in the future!

At this time, Lu Yixuan suddenly asked the staff officers in the headquarters: "Has the main force of the Northern Army in Kaifeng already started?" Where are you now? ”

Ma Xiaojun, the deputy chief of staff in the headquarters, took the question and replied: "The main force of the First Front Army of the Northern Army has all left the vicinity of Kaifeng, except for an eighth division responsible for guarding the rear road, the other troops are moving eastward, and it is estimated that it has now passed Lankao." ”

Lu Yixuan raised his head and said to Chang Ruiqing: "Brother Yaoru, you have a chance!" As soon as the main force of the Northern Army advances eastward, there will be a huge gap in their deployment! Chang Ruiqing was awakened by his words and walked out of his thoughts, he looked back at Lu Yixuan, who was excited: "Zixiu, how do you want to fight?" ”

Lu Yixuan walked to Chang Ruiqing's side and tapped Cao County on the map with a baton: "Zhang Wenbai's Eighth Army is now in Cao County, and about 70 kilometers west from Cao County is Lankao!" If it doesn't take a day to attack lightly, as long as Lankao is taken, the seven divisions of the First Front Army of the Northern Army will be trapped in a narrow area west of Shangqiu and east of Lankao...... When the time comes, it will not be difficult for us to persuade them all to surrender. And now Kaifeng is empty, if the Eighth Army divides another division to raid after capturing Lankao, it is very likely to capture it lightly, and the whole of Henan will be taken by our First Front Army! ”

Chang Ruiqing patted the sand table and said loudly: "Good way!" Directly copied their lair......" He paused for a moment and ordered: "Immediately give an order to Wang Junhao and propose this construction to him, and in addition order the Ninth Army to immediately move westward and be incorporated into the sequence of the Westward Advance Corps." The Second Front Army was ordered to divide into two routes, all the way north along the Jinpu Road to Zhengzhou, and all the way to attack western Henan, assuming the posture of attacking the Zhensong army...... If they still refuse to accept our reorganization, they will be wiped out completely! ”！！！