Did he trick the young marshal into becoming sworn brothers and then go south to Huangpu Military Ac

Lin Qi gave everyone no time to process what was happening, his voice as cold as iron as he spoke the cruelest truth.

"The Third Division was the strongest army in the Beiyang Army. With just one division, it could overwhelm two divisions of the Fengtian Army in a head-on confrontation."

"The year before last, you took the 27th Division, the most capable division in the Fengtian Army, to fight against Wu Ziyu's 3rd Division."

"And the result?"

"Once the battle began on the Beijing-Yulin Railway, the 27th Division could not withstand the frontal firepower of the 3rd Division."

"It was breached in three days."

"If the front line collapses, it will trigger a chain reaction."

"The 16th Division is wavering."

"The supply train to Luanzhou was cut off."

"Wu Ziyu cut off the flank of the Nine Gates with a flanking maneuver."

"It's all because the front line collapsed."

Lin Qi paused for a moment, then continued to coldly state the facts.

"A battle we can't win head-on."

"Don't fight head-on."

The entire west wing hall was silent.

Tang Yulin's grinning mouth slowly closed.

Jiang Dengxuan's disdain froze.

Sun Liechen's breathing became heavier.

Yang Yuting's brows furrowed into a knot.

"If not a direct confrontation, then where?"

Yang Yuting sneered.

"Should we send Wu Ziyu all the way to Fengtian?"

Lin Qi didn't answer, and lowered his head to continue setting up the game.

The hand reaching into the flag basket then grabbed a second handful of small flags with black backgrounds and yellow lettering.

The 27th Division, from that position in Lianshanbao, he raised.

Head west, all the way to Rehe.

Yang Yuting's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Are you going to drag the 27th Division to fight the 16th Division?"

Lin Qi didn't reply and continued arranging the items.

The Eighth Mixed Brigade.

24th Division

According to the actual organization two years ago, these two troops were stationed outside the pass and did not enter the pass.

Lin Qi transferred the flags of these two troops from Fengtian and pushed them all the way to the Chengde and Rehe line.

With this move, the entire main force of the Fengtian Army on the sand table deviated from the Beijing-Yulin Railway.

They weren't stationed at Shanhaiguan or Jinzhou; their forces were all concentrated on the flanking route through Rehe and Chengde.

The main force of the Fengtian Army was set up for one thing: to take down the 16th Division of the Zhili clique.

Tang Yulin exclaimed "Eh?"

This "eh" was much louder than the previous one.

He subconsciously put down the pipe.

He had led troops for thirty years, and in the year and eight months since the year before last, he had mentally rehearsed that battle dozens of times.

I considered sending the 8th Mixed Brigade to the Rehe direction.

He thought about it but didn't say it.

Because saying it aloud is just hindsight.

Moreover, he had another selfish motive. The Eighth Mixed Brigade was originally Jiang Dengxuan's side, but Jiang Dengxuan did not send anyone to replace him the year before last, which made him feel that he had been taken advantage of.

Tang Yulin glanced at Jiang Dengxuan, whose face remained expressionless.

But the hand that was holding the pipe unconsciously tightened its grip.

Jiang Dengxuan squinted.

"you mean."

"Avoid Wu Ziyu's Third Division."

"Are they specifically targeting the 16th Division, that weakling?"

Lin Qi nodded slightly.

Yang Yuting's expression changed as well. He realized that Lin Qi was trying to separate the direct line of relatives.

The direct line of command was never a unified entity.

Wu Ziyu's faction and Cao Kun's faction had been engaged in open and covert struggles. The 16th Division was Cao Kun's direct subordinate, which Wu Ziyu had always looked down upon.

Lin Qi's move was to take Cao Kun's weakness before Wu Ziyu could reach him.

Yang Yuting slowly suppressed the breath in his chest and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Vice Principal Lin."

"That's a beautiful idea."

"If Wu Ziyu's third division launches a counterattack from Changxindian."

"You should step aside."

"I will march straight to Fengtian."

Yang Yuting suddenly pushed the small flag of the Third Division towards Shanhaiguan on the Beijing-Yulin Railway.

Based on the actual marching speed of the year before last, the Third Division could have reached Shanhaiguan within seven days.

Yang Yuting's push was swift and decisive.

He was gambling, gambling that Lin Qi didn't have the guts to actually hand over Shanhaiguan, gambling that Lin Qi's main force of the Fengtian Army couldn't withstand the frontal assault of the Third Division and would inevitably return to reinforce Shanhaiguan.

As long as Lin Qi returns to reinforce, the flanking line in Rehe will become a joke, and the 16th Division of the Zhili Army can take the opportunity to advance south from Baoding.

The Fengtian Army was attacked from two sides and suffered an even more crushing defeat than in the battle two years ago.

Yang Yuting leaned against the north side of the sand table, his hands behind his back, waiting for Lin Qi to respond.

Lin Qi laughed, but his laugh was cold.

"Staff Officer Yang."

He spoke slowly.

"You pushed me like that."

"That's exactly what I wanted."

After saying that, Lin Qi raised his hand, this time landing it on Shanhaiguan.

On the Shanhaiguan side, only one brigade was deployed just now, the 16th Brigade.

He flicked the small flag in his hand.

"This trip."

"Use as bait."

"Delayed attack."

"Hold on for three days."

Lin Qi raised his hand again, placing it on the 27th Division of the Fengtian Army that had previously retreated to Lianshanbao.

He ordered the 27th Division to take a long detour from Lianshanbao to Jiukoumen, which is located behind Shanhaiguan.

Jiumenkou.

In the operations room, everyone gasped.

Jiuguan Pass was a key point in the battle two years ago where the Zhili clique outflanked the Fengtian army's rear.

The year before last, Wu Ziyu used this method to cut off the Fengtian Army.

This time, Lin Qi reversed the order and had the 27th Division establish a defensive position from the rear of the Ninth Gate.

Yang Yuting's expression changed, and he opened his mouth.

Lin Qi raised his hand again before he could speak.

They raised the small flag of the 8th Mixed Brigade, which had just been placed in the direction of Rehe.

Head north.

Heading northwest of Beiping, they landed at Nankou.

South exit!

The operations room was completely destroyed.

Lin Qi's move was aimed at cutting off Wu Ziyu's Third Division's retreat route.

From this moment on, the sand table began to take on a clear outline.

The gap that was given up at Changxindian is the opening of the bag.

Shanhaiguan is the bottom of the bag.

The 27th Division established a defensive position at the rear of the Ninth Gate.

The 8th Mixed Brigade was positioned at the Northwest South Exit.

Once Wu Ziyu's Third Division penetrates through the gap left by Lin Qirang,

He crawled into a dead bag sandwiched between three bags of bread.

This is a pocket formation, not the traditional fighting style of our country, not the style of the Japanese Army Academy, nor the old-fashioned marching manual of the French Army.

This was a Verdun meat grinder-like tactic of luring the enemy in deep and then encircling them, the bloodiest method on the front lines of World War I.

Yang Yuting stared at the sand table, a serious look appearing in his eyes, and he swallowed hard.

"Vice Principal Lin."

The smile vanished completely from his voice as soon as he uttered those words.

"That move."

"Can we manage to deploy enough troops?"

"The telegraph system of our Fengtian Army two years ago."

Yang Yuting is grasping at the last straw.

The biggest weakness of the Republic of China Army was its communications.

In the battle two years ago, the Fengtian Army's telegraph operator was bribed by the Zhili clique, and the telegram was delayed by two days before reaching the 27th Division.

Based on the actual communication capabilities at the time, it was simply impossible to dispatch troops from Fengtian to Rehe and Nankou in time.

Yang Yuting was trying to break through Lin Qi's communication trap.

Lin Qi didn't wait for him to finish speaking.

"Staff Officer Yang."

He pointed his finger at Luanzhou.

"The Beijing-Yulin Railway's supply lines were disrupted two years ago."

"It's because the Fengtian Army's supplies were all packed onto the Beijing-Yulin Railway."

Lin Qi raised his hand upwards, and after raising it, he grabbed a handful of red supply flags from the supply flag basket in the southeast corner of the sand table.

The red flags were scattered one by one, some placed on the Beijing-Yulin Railway, some on the Beijing-Rehe Railway, and the rest on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

Lin Qi's hand was very steady, and every time a red flag was lowered, it would "plop" into the yellow sand.

"Supply from all three lines simultaneously."

As he laid out the last red flag, he spoke sternly.

"Each line only carries one-third of the supplies."

"In this way, even if Wu Ziyu cuts the Jingyu Railway, the remaining two lines can still hold the front line."

"The 27th Division's ammunition supply at the Jiukou Pass is guaranteed."

"The Eighth Mixed Brigade's ammunition supply at Nankou is also guaranteed."

"In terms of communications."

"The Fengtian Army headquarters was to travel to Rehe via the actual wired telegraph route from the previous year, detouring through Chaoyang, and the message would arrive within 36 hours. I had the 27th Division secretly set off from Fengtian a week in advance, heading west, avoiding the Beijing-Fengtian line, and taking the mountain road through Chifeng and Chengde. No telegraph was needed along the way; all communication relied on the old-fashioned post horses."

Lin Qi pronounced the four words "old-fashioned post horse" very clearly.

Tang Yulin's eyes widened in shock.

The mountain road between Chifeng and Chengde is the old route that Tang Yulin used when he was a bandit.

The post station system along this route dates back to the Qing Dynasty, and Tang Yulin still recognizes all the old hands who worked there.

The message was relayed via that line; there was no need for a telegram at all.