The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"Front Command Battle Report," Chen Tianheng said, "Today, the Seventh Army has crossed the Huaihe River Railway Bridge and is fighting alongside the Fourth Army. During the day, the two armies captured three villages, and two divisions of the An Guo Army have been decommissioned. After these days of fighting, the An Guo Army's heavy artillery ammunition reserves are running low. They are likely abandoning their heavy artillery and breaking out westward toward Mengcheng."

Zheng Dongguo: "If they can't get through, then shouldn't the First Division go over there?"

Chen Tianheng nodded: "Of course. The First Division cannot be absent from the final battle of the final battle of the Northern Expedition."

"Huh? The final battle?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, this will be the final battle, because... Zhang Xueliang is surrounded.

Xinmaqiao Station on the Jinpu Railway.

An Guojun Huaihe Group Command.

After returning from the front line on the Rui River, Zhang Xueliang kept walking around. He walked around Xinmaqiao Station from east to west and north to south. When he returned to the headquarters, he said to Zhang Zongchang: "Deputy Commander Zhang, immediately have the engineers level the land and build me a runway within 24 hours."

Zhang Zongchang: "Runway?"

Zhang Xueliang: "Yes, it is used for landing of planes. I will have a plane take off from Jinan, pass through Xuzhou, and land here.

Zhang Zongchang: "But my engineers don't know how to build a runway. Do yours know how?"

"It's just a big road! 500 meters long, straight! Flat! The flatter the better! Got it?!" Zhang Xueliang roared. "We're damn surrounded! Are we going to be taken prisoner?!"

Zhang Zongchang: "I understand. I will lead my troops to break out towards Mengcheng.

"The plane can accommodate two people. I can fly the plane and you sit in the back seat." Zhang Xueliang whispered to Zhang Zongchang.

Sun Chuanfang: "." Language: City language: and

I shouldn't have come here. As the deputy commander-in-chief of the An Guo Army, I've already become a commander without any troops. Why would I come here to form a group...

Nanjing.

Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly got off the Shanghai-Nanjing train and said to He Yingqin as soon as he got off the train:

"Jingzhi! I don't understand, how did we win the Battle of Xuzhou and Bengbu?

He Yingqin: "At the beginning of this battle, our army struggled to hold on. After the arrival of the First and Fourth Armies, Bai Chongxi immediately ordered the two armies to attack from both wings. The Fourth Army crossed the river and immediately engaged in fierce fighting with the An Guo Army. However, Chen Tianheng led his troops directly to Suxian, cutting off the An Guo Army's main logistical artery. This was the turning point of the entire battle. In Suxian, the two divisions of the First Army successively defeated the An Guo Army's attacks from the north and south. In the north, they successively annihilated two An Guo Army divisions and thwarted two An Guo Army's attempts to force a crossing of the Hui River in the south. The enemy suffered heavy losses. Therefore, although the battle was commanded by Bai Jiansheng, the decisive factor in the battle was our First Army.

Chiang Kai-shek: "Did the First and Second Divisions of our First Army suffer heavy losses in this battle?"

"From the battle reports, no."

Chiang Kai-shek rubbed his chin and said, "But Bai Jiansheng is still the commander-in-chief of the battle."

He Yingqin: "Jiansheng is the commander-in-chief of the battle, but you are the overall coordinator and supporter of this Eastern Route Army campaign.

Tianjin.

Japan's "China Garrison" Headquarters.

Japan's military presence in North China began in 1901.

After the signing of the Boxer Protocol, the Eight-Nation Alliance obtained the privilege of stationing troops in the Tianjin-Shanhai Pass area. Japan then announced the establishment of the "Qing Garrison Army" with its headquarters in Tianjin. It was composed of six infantry battalions, a field artillery battalion, a field hospital, a garrison headquarters, etc., with a total strength of 2600 people.

After the war, while Western nations retained the privilege of stationing troops in North China, their presence there gradually decreased, with many countries maintaining only symbolic presence. Only Japan diligently expanded its garrison facilities and employed various pretexts to increase its troop numbers. By 1927, the total number of foreign troops stationed in northern China was less than 10,000, of which 4500 were Japanese.

When Okamura Yasuji and several other young military officers arrived at the China Garrison Headquarters, they immediately closed the door and held a secret meeting.

"Zhang Zuolin has declared martial law over the Jinpu Railway. Military trains can operate, but civilian trains cannot. The Tianjin garrison cannot move south." Kagesa Tadaaki pointed at the map. "But Zhang Zuolin has little use for this railway. The front is about to collapse. Nishihara-kun, I hope you will persuade the Kwantung Army Headquarters to transport the Kwantung Army ashore in Qingdao by sea, and then move them to Jinan along the Jiaoji Railway."

"Is about to collapse? Are you saying that a large army of 15 men, armed with heavy artillery and armor, is going to be destroyed? Can't the Fengtian Army continue to mobilize troops and attack southward from Xuzhou?"

Ying Zuo Zhen Zhao: "Inside news. Just this afternoon, the Fengtian Army attacked south again from Xuzhou, trying to open up the railway line, but failed again.

Okamura Yasuji: "Did we run into the First Division of the Northern Expedition in Shanghai?"

Ying Zuo Zhen Zhao: "It wasn't even defeated by the First Division, the Fengtian Army was defeated by the Second Division..."

The second attempt by the An Guo Army to break through Suxian from Xuzhou took place on the afternoon of March 8, when the battle on the southern front of the Rui River had not yet completely ended.

The capacity of the Jinpu Railway limited the scale of the Anguo Army's mobilization. In one day, they could only deploy one division of troops north of Suxian. If they wanted to deploy more, they would have to transport troops continuously for two or even three days. The 60th Division of the 22nd Army of the Zhilu Allied Forces, transferred from Zaozhuang, attacked Suxian this time.

This unit got off the train at the location of a half-burned armored train on the railway line, south of Cao Village. More than 3,000 people moved forward for more than ten kilometers. When they were approaching the Tuohe River north of Suxian City, they encountered the defense line of the Second Division.

The 60th Division launched an attack on the defense line in three directions with three battalions of troops, but it was not very effective and was beaten back by the defensive forces of the 2nd Division in more than half an hour.

What about the 60th Division? It was still ordered to fight to Suxian to open up the Jinpu Road. It did not dare to fish in vain. The division commander called on the 87th Division coming from Jinan to hurry up, and at the same time transferred both regiments to the front line, preparing for a larger attack.

The 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division had already assembled into an offensive formation and was waiting behind the trench line. Seeing that the time was almost right, Liu Zhi fired another signal flare:

"Second Division! All hands on deck!!"

3 month 9 day.

On the flat land west of Xinmaqiao Station on the Jinpu Railway, the An Guojun engineers worked hard all night and completed the urgently built runway.

Zhang Zongchang was right. Although their corps had engineers, these engineers did not know how to build a field airport. They just randomly made a 500-meter-long flat straight road, and then used white sheets to make a huge "→" arrow at one end of the runway to tell the planes in the sky to land from here. That was it.

At 10 a.m., a biplane appeared over Xinmaqiao Station. It was the kind of C.59 trainer plane that Zhang Xueliang could fly.

After circling in the air, the pilot saw an arrow formed by a white sheet on the ground. He turned half a circle again, aligned with the arrow, and lowered his altitude to prepare for landing.

The runway built by the engineers was long enough and very straight. The only problem was... as soon as the tires of the trainer plane touched the ground, the plane bounced violently and returned to the air.

If you watch a slow-motion replay, you'll see that when the plane touched down, the tires embedded themselves directly into the dirt runway, with almost half of the tires buried in the soil. Simply making the runway long and straight isn't enough; if the surface isn't hardened enough, the plane can't take off or land.

The Caudron C.59 was able to maintain its posture during its first bounce, but when the plane touched the ground for the second time and bounced back into the air, it somersaulted. With two more clangs, the plane rolled forward one and a half times and lay on its belly in the middle of the runway, with aircraft parts scattered all over the ground.

"Hurry, pull me out..." The pilot struggled in the cockpit.

The Anguo Army soldiers and engineers nearby rushed forward and pulled the pilot out of the cockpit. Zhang Xueliang watched this scene from a distance and could only sigh:

"Deputy Commander Zhang, you just said...we're going to break out to Yongcheng?"

Chapter 74: The Final Battle of the Northern Expedition (Part 2)

"Old Qian! You're here!"

Qian Zhuangfei, dressed in businessman's clothes, appeared at the First Division Headquarters. He saw Chen Tianheng, Lu Deming, and Huang Wei, and waved to each of them.

"Chen Mingren and Qian Deng Ruoxian are in Bengbu, which is the rear command post. Mine is called the forward command post," Chen Tianheng said. "You came at the right time. Tomorrow the First Division will cross the Rui River and join the offensive to pursue and annihilate the An Guo Army cluster.

Qian Zhuangfei: "I rushed to Xuzhou and Bengbu, and it took me a long time to determine where the First Division was."

"The First Division stayed in Su County for a week. I didn't expect it to stay that long, which is why you found me. Starting tomorrow, the First Division will be in full swing again."

Qian Zhuangfei: "Newspapers across the country are reporting on the battles on the Jinpu Railway. It's going crazy. The Fourth Army's iron rollers, the First Army's river of death... Hey, are the corpses of the Fengtian Army really clogging up the Rui River?"

"These reporters..." Chen Tianheng laughed, "are just writing novels. The Fengtian Army was not a bandit group lurking in the mountains. They were a regular army, not a group of 10,000 or 20,000 people gathered together to charge. We thwarted their crossing of the river twice. The first time, we launched a surprise artillery attack on their boarding point, destroying the ferries they had collected. The Fengtian Army suffered over 100 or 200 casualties. In the second defense of Xiaobei Bay, our mortars overturned many of the Fengtian Army's rafts, and an estimated 300 to 400 of them fell into the river. We wiped out over 400 of them on the shore. Then, because all the boats were destroyed, the Fengtian Army could no longer cross the river and stopped.

Qian Zhuangfei delivered a secret letter:

In recent days, anti-communist incidents have occurred in Nanchang, Anqing, Wuhu, and Zhenjiang, areas controlled by Chiang Kai-shek. The Anqing KMT headquarters was destroyed, and over ten people were killed in the chaos, including seven Communist Party members. I learned about this in the newspaper in Nanjing while I was on my way from Shanghai to your place. The situation is very sensitive.

Chen Tianheng: "My regular news channels are a bit limited here. I only learned about Yang Sen and Xia Douyin's rebellion by chance when I saw the news. ...Has Xia Douyin been recruited again?"

Chen Duxiu wrote the letter because Xia Douyin's rebellion only lasted 48 hours before it died down.

On March 3, Fan Shaozeng and Xia Douyin led two divisions from Yichang to attack Wuhan. On March 4, they sent a telegram to the whole country. Then, on March 5, the two divisions surrendered.

More precisely, it was an expression of acceptance of the new conditions offered by the Wang Jingwei government, and a refusal to rebel. Wang Jingwei allowed the rebel army to be stationed around Wuhan, and at the same time promised to recall all party representatives from the areas controlled by Xia Douyin and Yang Sen and to disband the local Kuomintang party headquarters.

Now Xia Douyin's Independent 14th Division is stationed outside the city of Wuchang, and Fan Shaozeng's Sichuan 7th Division is stationed in Hankou. The troops are staying obediently in the barracks, and Wang Jingwei has not caused them any trouble.

Chen Duxiu believed that Wang Jingwei was preparing to purge the Communists. While Wang Jingwei and Xia Douyin were ostensibly trying to get him to surrender, they likely reached some kind of agreement behind the scenes, asking Xia Douyin and Fan Shaozeng to wait for a signal. As for when the signal would come, it was likely after the Battle of Jinpu Road.

Chen Duxiu had written to Chen Yannian, asking him to pay special attention to the safety of the party organization in late March and early April. The Party Central Committee in Wuhan (the Central Committee of the Communist International) did not have the Fourth Army to provide security at this time, so he should pay special attention and it would be best to find a place to work that could be quickly evacuated.

Chen Duxiu's instructions to Chen Tianheng's troops were that once the Battle of Jinpu Road was over and the anti-communist campaign in Wuhan began, they should immediately march towards Wuhan, and at the same time coordinate with the 25th Division of the Fourth Army (Chen Tianheng said that they could have mutual trust with Ye Ting's 25th Division and even fight side by side), so that the two troops could arrive in Wuhan at the same time to suppress the counter-revolutionaries.

"The situation is like this, Old Qian. The Battle of Jinpu Road is about to end. It won't be over by the end of March. In my opinion, it will be over by mid-March at the latest.

"Moreover, I can say with certainty that the Battle of Jinpu Road will be the end of the Northern Expedition. After this battle, Zhang Zuolin is likely to change his flag, and even if he does not change his flag, he will sue for peace.

Chen Tianheng wrote back to Chen Duxiu and also verbally told Qian Zhuangfei to prepare for the possibility of having to discard the letter on the way to ensure its safety. Chen Tianheng gave Qian Zhuangfei instructions based on the map:

"We confirmed a few days ago that Zhang Xueliang was also in the Huaihe River cluster of the Anguo Army. Since then, I have been setting up a trap to make sure Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Zongchang fall into our hands."

"Zhang Xueliang was Zhang Zuolin's eldest son and was deeply loved by Zhang Zuolin. He felt that this child was smart enough to inherit his own power and there was no need to consider his other sons. Under no circumstances was Zhang Zuolin willing to abandon his son.

Qian Zhuangfei: "So, in other words, if they captured Zhang Xueliang at the Battle of Jinpu Road and used his son as a hostage, Zhang Zuolin would inevitably surrender?"

Chen Tianheng nodded. "That's right. A few days ago, the Front Command, Commander-in-Chief Bai Chongxi, proposed two plans for an encirclement and annihilation campaign. One was to allow them to cross the Hui River, and the Northern Expedition Army would gradually eliminate the An Guo army from the Hui River to Xuzhou. The other was to force them to break out westward to Mengcheng."

"If we let the main force of the An Guo Army cross the Hui River, Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Zongchang might abandon their main force and flee first. After all, with a force of over 100,000 people, it's not uncommon for us to miss even two small units. But now the First Division is firmly blocking the Hui River defense line, and the An Guo Army can't get through. They tried to force a plane to land at their hastily built field airfield a few hours ago, but it failed. Zhang Xueliang can't escape."

"As for the overall battle situation, Bai Chongxi has set up two attack groups on the southern front. The first group is composed of the 4th and 6th Armies, and the second group is composed of the 7th and 14th Armies. We have another division in the 1st Army, Xue Yue's 22nd Division, which has already moved towards Mengcheng, ready to block the An Guo Army if they break through and approach Mengcheng. The 2nd Army is the general reserve.

"In the next five days, the people of the whole country will see that the An Guo Army, also known as the Fengtian Army's most elite heavy field group, has been wiped out by us on the Huanghuai Plain. This is also the only field group currently under the An Guo Army.

"The Battle of Jinpu Road will be the end of the Northern Expedition..." Qian Zhuangfei repeated this sentence, "I really didn't expect it.

Chen Tianheng: "Now that we have dealt with the warlord issue, we can focus on what we should do.

In fact, Chen Tianheng had just confirmed a few hours ago that Zhang Xueliang's field airport had not been put into use by his reconnaissance company, and only then did he confidently say that the Northern Expedition could be ended in one battle.

According to OTL, the Northern Expedition didn't reach Shanghai until late March, followed shortly by the April 12th and July 15th attacks. The demoralized Northern Expedition tried to continue, but suffered setbacks along the Beijing-Hankou and Jinpu railways, particularly at the gates of Xuzhou in August. The An Guo army, taking advantage of the situation, rushed back to the Yangtze River and crossed the river in a massive attempt to recapture Nanjing. Bai Chongxi engaged the An Guo army in a fierce battle at Longtan, near the Yangtze River, wiping out tens of thousands of their men and ultimately turning the tide of the war.

After the Battle of Longtan, the two sides continued to confront each other for more than half a year. In 1928, the Nationalist Government started the Second Northern Expedition. Then, in May 1928, they encountered the well-prepared Japanese army in Jinan.

Rui River. Wangzhou Village Ferry.

The 1st Division's Engineering Battalion moved the pontoon bridge to the Wangzhou Village ferry and completed its construction at night.

On the night of March 9, the Second Regiment of the First Division crossed the pontoon bridge and entered the decisive battle area - the long oblique strip between the Wohe River and the Ruihe River.

The An Guojun's Huaihe River cluster will be within this long, oblique strip. Currently, they are located along the Bengbu to Guzhen railway line. Starting tomorrow, these 100,000 men will gradually move towards Mengcheng.

刚参战时这个大集群包含有6个步兵军、1个炮兵军，13万人，现在还剩10万人多一点的样子。但10万人规模仍菸户是这个时代少见的大兵团。

参战的北伐军也是6个步兵军:第1、2、4、6、7、14军。其中1、4、7是强军，2、6、14一般。总兵力12万人。

"Report to the division commander! Two artillery groups of the Anguo Army are firing at the north bank of the Rui River, and the bombardment points are still Xiaobei Bay and Hechazi. They are using 100mm and 150mm heavy artillery."

Chen Tianheng: "The Anguo Army's artillery corps has exhausted its ammunition overnight. They will abandon these heavy artillery pieces at daybreak and head west. Tell the First Regiment to continue monitoring the direction of the Hui River. Tomorrow morning, if the reconnaissance intelligence is confirmed, pack up and head to the Wangzhou Village ferry to prepare to cross the river."

After all members of the Second Regiment crossed the pontoon bridge, Chen Tianheng's forward command also crossed the bridge. At the south bank of the bridgehead was a large town, Hugou Town, where the First Division's forward command was transferred from Suxian.

“Commander Bai called.

Chen Tianheng took the telegram.

"The An Guo Army's troops facing the Fourth Army, without suffering any new attacks, suddenly retreated 2 to 3 kilometers tonight. The enemy has begun a general retreat. The First Division must cross the Hui River as soon as possible and launch an interception attack from the north on the route the An Guo Army must take to retreat."

Chen Tianheng: "Reply to Commander Bai. The First Division is already on the south bank of the Rui River.

Chapter 75: The Final Battle of the Northern Expedition (Part 3)

3 month 10 day.

In late winter and early spring, the mornings on the Huanghuai Plain are chilly and cold. A northerly wind whips through the plains, stirring up a blanket of yellow sand, reminiscent of the dust storms that plague Beijing in March and April.

The 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the 1st Division crossed the floating bridge of the Rui River and assembled outside Hugou Town, the 1st Division's forward command headquarters.

"After the First Regiment withdrew from the defense line of the Rui River, I gave them half a day to adjust the troops. Therefore, the First Regiment will not cross the pontoon bridge until this afternoon. Lao Wei, Du Yuming, the battle during the day today mainly depends on your two regiments.

Chen Tianheng opens the map:

"The Anguo Army's main force began retreating westward last night. They had a lot of baggage, many wounded soldiers, and many high-ranking officials, which limited their movement. We arrived south of the Rui River early. Among the entire Northern Expedition Army, the First Division was in the most advantageous position for attack. The 23rd Regiment's goal today is to capture Lumiao Village and Chenhai Village and hold them firmly.

"By holding these two villages, we can force the Anguo Army to change the direction of its march from west to southwest. This way, the enemy's heavy forces will rush into the combat areas of the Seventh and Sixth Armies, and we will give the Seventh Army a big gift.

Bai Chongxi had already sent the complete plan for the March 10th encirclement and annihilation operation. The 4th and 14th Armies had already launched raids along the railway's longitudinal axis. The entire An Guo army group was withdrawing westward. The 7th Steel Army and the 6th Army, supporting the 7th Army, were to move westward in parallel under Chongxi's command. Their goal was to leverage their speed to reach the front of the An Guo army's marching formation around March 11th, intercepting, dividing, and encircling the enemy.

The First Division's battle plan was to advance 8-10 kilometers and occupy key points. Once the attack was made, the An Guo Army's retreat route would be like a blood clot in severe coronary heart disease, with poor blood circulation. The marching direction would inevitably have to be changed, so that the Sixth and Seventh Armies could just pick off the enemies on the spot.

"The 1st Division's forward command center will remain in Guzhen, and ammunition and supplies are also here. After your two regiments advance into combat, maintain contact with the forward command center. But most importantly, it is the two commanders who, based on the battlefield situation and our overall campaign plan, make impromptu decisions, manage changes, and make the most advantageous decisions for the entire battle."

"One last reminder.

Chen Tianheng raised the signal gun in his hand: "Three bursts of yellow flares. This is the only three-burst signal in our agreed signal system. It means that the front troops have encountered Fengtian Army tanks. When three bursts of yellow flares appear in the sky, the surrounding troops must treat it with particular caution.

As the left-wing vanguard of the Anguo Army's retreat, when the 8th Army Commander Wan Fulin heard that the entire army was going to retreat westward to Mengcheng, the first thought in his mind was: "Wan La!!"

It's 60 kilometers from Jinpu Road to Mengcheng!

Even though it's a vast plain, we have pursuers behind us, and they're carrying so much artillery and baggage. We might not even be able to reach the destination in two days, no, three days!

The 8th Army set out at dawn, taking the left route. At 9 a.m., the leading 16th Division reported reaching Chenhai Village.

Chenhai Village was 18 kilometers from the starting point, and Wan Fulin decided to stop there for the day. He ordered the 16th Division to build defensive fortifications and wait while he and the 47th Division arrived an hour later. Behind Wan Fulin and the 47th Division were the 8th Army's more than 50 75mm mountain guns and 77mm field guns, followed by the 15th Division and the entire army's baggage and supplies.

After the 47th Division and the army headquarters arrived at Chenhai Village, Wan Fulin stayed there for the night. The 16th Division advanced two kilometers and camped in Lumiao Village for the night. As for the artillery and baggage train that followed, they would be lucky if they could reach Chenhai Village before dark.