Although the Nationalist Army gave a de facto explanation for Feng Qin's sudden resignation, claiming that Feng Qin resigned due to illness, but now that the war in southern Jiangsu is so tense, people are not only concerned about the war itself, but also pay attention to some high-level personnel transfers on both sides of the war.

As soon as Feng Qin resigned, people outside just got the news one after another, and many reporters came to the door to try to get the so-called inside information, and many of the insiders that these people speculated about were nothing more than the power struggle within the National Army, for example, some people said that Feng Qin, who was the chief of staff, had been at odds with Chen Jingyun as a powerful figure in the National Army, so Chen Jingyun would suddenly remove Feng Qin. Then some people thought that Chen Jingyun was in a stalemate with the tactics of southern Jiangsu and the situation of the Nationalist Army was dangerous, so Feng Qin was dismissed.

People like to judge the facts by their own imagination, even if the person tells them what is true, but people will still prefer to believe their own speculation rather than listen to other people's explanations.

This situation not only happens among ordinary people, but even some powerful personnel are concerned about it, especially within the national army system.

Feng Qin's resignation can be regarded as the first senior general to leave the core of power since the establishment of the National Army, the previous Yuan Fang was transferred from the position of the commander of the first division to the headquarters, and he also served as the position of deputy chief of staff, and the commander of the fourth division, Chen Kui, was transferred back by Chen Jingyun and also served as the position of deputy director of the logistics department, and even Chen Weihua, who was removed by Chen Jingyun because of the defeat in the battle of Zhenjiang, did not completely leave the system, but served as a military attache chief of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion in name only.

However, Feng Qin's departure was a direct resignation, not a transfer, and the addition was so sudden that it had to make outsiders suspicious.

Of course, this suspicion will not affect the normal operation of the National Army, and it will inevitably cause discussions, such as who will be the next chief of staff of the National Army, and who will become the second person in the National Army after Feng Qin, all of which have attracted people's attention.

However, Chen Jingyun did not give them much time to speculate, and the next day the Nationalist Army announced to the outside world that the chief of staff would be presided over by Yuan Fang, deputy chief of staff.

After Yuan Fang rushed to Shanghai overnight, he met Chen Jingyun, whom he hadn't seen for more than a month.

"Commander!" Yuan Fang was wearing the lieutenant general officer uniform of the National Army at this time, the two gold stars on the epaulettes were shining, and his hair was also oiled and neatly combed.

Chen Jingyun nodded and said, "You've worked hard along the way!" I've come all the way to rest! ”

"Thank you Commander for your concern, my subordinates are already resting on the ship!" Yuan Fang replied respectfully.

Chen Jingyun said: "That's good, the work of the staff is heavy, and you can't do it without a good body." In the future, you should also pay attention to rest, I don't want you to be the same as Feng Qin...... Alas, you will also go to see him later, this staff was established by him, and some things are better for him to explain! ”

"My subordinates understand!" Yuan Fang replied and then continued: "I will definitely ask Elder Feng for advice!" ”

The two then talked about some things, and because Yuan Fang had just come to Shanghai, he did not have an intuitive understanding of the war in southern Jiangsu, and he urgently needed time to make a comprehensive understanding, and then he could do a good job in the work of the General Staff. So he quickly said goodbye and left, first according to Chen Jingyun's instructions to visit Feng Qin, but unfortunately he went unlucky, when he went Feng Qin fell into a coma again, he sent a visit gift to Feng Fu, comforted Feng Qin's eldest son a few words and left, and then went straight to the location of the General Staff Department, and began his first day of work as the chief of staff.

This personal change in the top level of the national army did not affect the progress of the war in southern Jiangsu, Lishui and Zhenjiang directions are still deadlocked, and Lin Zhaomin is trying his best to conquer Dazhuo Town, Lin Chengkun on the north bank of the Yangtze River has not had a good rest for several days in order to take Nanjing, and the generals of these troops have a lot of troubles of their own, although they are a little sorry for Feng Qin's serious illness and resignation, but they only sent a telegram of condolence, and then Chen Jingyun announced that Yuan Fang was in charge of the work of the staff department. They threw away even the last of their cautionary thoughts, and continued to turn their gaze back to the current war.

Outside Taishan Town, Nanjing, Lin Chengkun used a telescope to observe the Beiyang Army position in the distance. The positions of the Beiyang Army were still emitting smoke and flames from time to time, and these were the consequences of the shelling by the Nationalist Army. In order to conquer Taishan Town, Lin Chengkun mobilized most of the main force of the guard division, including two infantry regiments, most of the artillery regiment, a 120-mm heavy mortar battalion and other auxiliary troops, totaling nearly 7,000 people, and then launched a strong attack on Taishan Town with the support of naval guns and aviation units.

The guard division took advantage of the strength and firepower to take a strong attack, but the stubborn Feng Guozhang was not so easy to deal with, with the three thousand remnants in his hand was stunned to defend, the battle was more and more fierce, although the guard division once broke through the outer positions of the Beiyang Army and entered the core area of Taishan Town, but the follow-up troops did not attack enough to let the Beiyang Army drive back.

After two days of fierce fighting, the guard division had already suffered more than 400 casualties here, and it was initially expected that the Beiyang Army on the opposite side would have to be defeated with the same strength, so the battle situation was not unfierce.

Although the casualties were not small, Lin Chengkun could not take care of too much, and the headquarters in Shanghai had issued several urging orders to him several times in a row, asking him to take Taishan Town as soon as possible and end the Nanjing War to reorganize the army to guard against the southward movement of the Seventh Division of the Beiyang Army. Lin Chengkun knew the situation of the battle in Nanjing better than the headquarters in Shanghai, and he was very aware of the danger he was in.

The main force of the Seventh Division of the Beiyang Army has already reached outside Jiejiazhuang, and the day before yesterday it has launched a regimental-scale offensive in the near vicinity, and yesterday it launched a large-scale attack on Jiejiazhuang, although Lin Yongfei, who was defending Jiejiazhuang, claimed in a telegram to the division headquarters that Jiejiazhuang was as stable as Mount Tai, but at the same time mentioned that the Third Regiment now suffered too many casualties, consumed a lot of ammunition, and urgently needed to provide supply support.

Any reasonable person understands that the Third Regiment of the Guard Division, which has more than 2,000 people, will not be able to stop a whole Beiyang regular division of more than 10,000 people for too long, maybe three or five days will be fine, but after a long time, it will definitely be defeated. This is a disparity in strength, and it is not something that can change the situation of the two sides by opening their mouths.

The most important thing now is how long it will take for the guard division to be able to conquer Taishan Town, so as to completely solve the battle in Nanjing and reinforce the 3rd Regiment in Jiejiazhuang.

"When is the next air bombing coming?" Lin Chengkun put down the binoculars, his eyes were already bloodshot at this time, and although he spoke calmly, the tiredness revealed could be easily felt by everyone around him.

An operational staff officer beside him replied: "We are in contact with the aviation units in the direction of Lishui, and their bombing units are already making urgent preparations, and it is expected to arrive in the airspace over Nanjing in three hours, that is, at 40 o'clock at noon!" ”

Lin Chengkun nodded and said: "We must also contact the navy side, book the time of the joint artillery bombardment, and don't make any mistakes!" ”

"Rest assured, we have already contacted us, and when the time comes, the bombardment of our division's artillery, naval artillery and aviation units will be launched together to provide the most powerful artillery support for our army's final general attack!"

Lin Chengkun nodded: "That's good!" Let's go to the second regiment and have a look! ”

After all, Lin Chengkun took a group of senior generals of the guard division to continue to inspect the front line, and Lin Chengkun inspected the front line in the fierce battle, naturally not for fun, but to boost morale. The guard division had been fighting across the river for nearly ten days, and the first few days were rapid marches, and the next few days were continuous high-intensity operations, and even the morale of the iron army would have dropped a little in the process.

"Rest assured, the division headquarters is fully prepared, as long as we attack this time, the victory will be ours! Maybe one of us here can get a medal of two swords! Lin Chengkun was in the regimental headquarters of the Second Regiment, talking to the middle-level officers of the Second Regiment, trying to make himself appear relaxed between words, so that when others saw his expression, they had to feel that they were full of hope.

Lin Chengkun's words also made the officers below laugh, the National Army's Double Sword Medal is the only kind of medal for the time being, but this kind of medal that is common to the whole army is too biased towards ordinary soldiers and lower-level officers. Of the more than 200 medals of double swords issued today, the vast majority of them are obtained by ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers, and only a dozen are obtained by ensignants and lieutenants. In addition, the Nationalist Army has informed that Captain Du Yanpeng of the 2nd Battalion and 3rd Company of the 1st Regiment of the Former Guard Division, who has gone to Shanghai for treatment, will receive a double sword medal, becoming the first captain of the National Army to receive the Double Sword Medal.

"If you want to get the Double Sword Medal, I'm afraid you have to capture Feng Guozhang alive!" At this time, a major echoed with a smile: "I'm afraid this direct kill is not enough credit!" ”

"Hehe, maybe I can really catch Feng Guozhang!"

"That's it, who says it's not, now that Taishan Town is surrounded by us, they can't escape!"

Seeing that the atmosphere of the officers had improved, Lin Chengkun knew that his task was completed, and after chatting with these officers for a while, Lin Chengkun began to inspect the positions on the front line accompanied by these officers, of course, for the safety of themselves and many senior officers, they did not go too deep into the front line, but met with some soldiers on the peripheral front, and then Lin Chengkun personally awarded a double sword medal to a sergeant. After completing these things, it was not too early, and Lin Chengkun soon left with people.

At 1:35 p.m., the bomber group of the Nationalist Air Force came a little earlier than scheduled, but this did not affect the battle plan of their respective units, and after the bomber group appeared in the sky and dropped a series of aerial bombs, Sa Zhenbing on the Yangtze River gave the order to shell the flagship Haiqi, and at the same time, the divisional artillery of the guard division also began to shell according to the scheduled Zhuyuan.