The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

As for the wounded...they had already been left on the Jinpu Road. The Northern Expedition Army couldn't just sit there and watch the wounded in the tents.

The 16th Division entered Chenhai Village, drove out all the villagers, established a circular defense, reported the news to the rear, and sent scouts to the front, back, left and right.

The scouts haven't returned yet, and the Northern Expedition Army appears outside the village.

"Stop digging! Concentrate! Concentrate quickly!" Tang Kun, commander of the 16th Division, ordered his two regimental commanders to finish earthwork, gather their troops and prepare for battle.

The Fengtian Army jumped into the unfinished trenches and sandbag fortifications, and the Northern Expedition Army's artillery fire arrived.

The first round was a dozen artillery shells fired, and the Fengtian Army in the trenches were covered in dust. The Fengtian Army soldiers who were not yet in the trenches fled in panic.

Second round, third round. Tang Kun found a sandbag machine gun emplacement that had been pierced by a shell from the front, sending dust and dirt flying all over the sky. What's going on? This isn't a mortar, this is a mountain cannon?

Hehe Xiyanghai

The third group.

Du Yuming arrived outside Chenhai Village and used a telescope to observe the Fengtian Army's defense inside Chenhai Village.

"Their fortifications aren't complete," Du Yuming said. "They're only half built. No, less than half completed. One battalion from the southwest, two battalions from the northwest, attack immediately!"

Hugou Town.

"Du Yuming reports! The Third Regiment has captured Chenhai Village, annihilating approximately 3,000 enemies. They are the vanguard of the Fengtian Army's 8th Army, the 16th Division. Over a thousand remnants of the 16th Division are fleeing!"

Chen Tianheng: "Where is the motorized artillery?"

Lu Deming pointed to a spot 2 kilometers west of Chenhai Village and said, "The mountain artillery is here, responsible for supporting the battle to capture Chenhai Village."

Chen Tianheng: "The 8th Army is the left wing of the Anguo Army's retreat. They are retreating in a long snake formation along the main road. The 16th Division is in the lead. There should be groups of enemies behind them moving towards Chenhai Village. Inform Wei Lihuang to rush from Lumiao Village to Chenhai Village, and prepare two regiments to meet the enemy.

The messenger rode away in a hurry.

It takes 20 minutes to rush from here to Chenhai Village and Lumiao Village. However, according to the instructions before the war, Wei Lihuang should be able to automatically adjust the combat according to the battlefield situation. When the messenger arrived at Lumiao Village, several infantry battalions of the Second Regiment should have left Lumiao Village and gathered in Chenhai Village.

Sure enough, this was the report from the messenger 40 minutes later.

Lu Deming: "The 8th Army is moving in clumps along the road, and one of them must be their artillery."

Chen Tianheng: "The group in front of the artillery may be an infantry division. If the infantry division waits for the 8th Army artillery to set up its guns before launching an attack on Chenhai Village, then the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Chenhai Village will have to take the initiative to attack.

Xu Xiangqian: "Send orders to the 2nd and 3rd Regiments.

The messenger rushed away.

At a battlefield 8 kilometers apart, the time lag for direct command is 40 minutes.

Therefore, in this era and in this kind of combat environment, the on-the-spot decisions of regimental commanders are extremely important.

But this time it was okay. When the messenger arrived at Chenhai Village, the Second and Third Regiments had not yet "automatically attacked" but were gathering troops to prepare for an active attack.

"Our troops are ready to launch an offensive and defeat the enemy forces in front of us. However, the enemy's 47th Division has not yet fully arrived at the battlefield, so the 2nd and 3rd Regiments must continue to wait.

Chen Tianheng was not surprised to see the battle report jointly signed by Wei Lihuang and Du Yuming. This had happened 25 minutes earlier. If his estimate was correct, by the time Chen Tianheng read this battle report, the 23rd Regiment, which had reported "waiting" 25 minutes earlier, had already launched a counterattack against the Fengtian Army's 8th Army with the support of mortars and mountain artillery, and might have already rushed to the Fengtian Army's artillery positions.

"If I write an order now, the battle might be over by the time it reaches the 2nd and 3rd Regiment. … Let's make the next phase of deployment."

Xu Xiangqian: "The next stage is to squeeze the An Guo army's central marching column. That's right here.

Xu Xiangqian drew a line from the open space between Chenhai Village and Lumiao Village, pointing to Wangxu 4 kilometers away.

Four kilometers is the maximum range of a 75mm mountain gun. Wangxu is the only way for the Anguo Army's central retreating column. According to the Fengtian Army's retreat process, a division must arrive at Wangxu this morning to pave the way for the three armies and artillery corps (two artillery brigades are already empty-handed) to retreat.

"If the attack on the enemy directly facing the 8th Army is successful, your unit will immediately implement the plan of bombarding the middle route, and use mountain artillery to continuously fire at Wangxu from long-range indirect aiming.

At 12:30 noon, the vanguard of Zhang Zongchang's First Army, which had occupied Wangxu, was suddenly bombarded.

The shells were 75mm mountain artillery shells, flying from far away. The vanguard had no idea where the artillery was located, but one thing was clear: where there were mountain artillery, there were the Northern Expedition Army, and the main force of the Northern Expedition Army was nearby!

As circumstantial evidence, at the same time that Wangxu was bombarded, bursts of light machine gun fire were heard near Wangxu. From at least two firing points, bursts of bullets flew into Wangxu in twos and threes.

In the center of the central retreat column, Zhang Zongchang and Zhang Xueliang not only received the news that Wangxu Village was under heavy artillery fire, but also received bad news from the left wing 8th Army: they were also hit head-on by the Northern Expedition Army on the way of retreat. The 16th Division was defeated and fled from Chenhai Village, which they had just occupied. When the 47th Division was preparing to reoccupy Chenhai Village with artillery support, tens of thousands of Northern Expedition troops in the village suddenly rushed out and instantly dispersed the 47th Division. Most of the 8th Army's artillery was also lost!

Zhang Zongchang, commander of the Second Front Army and commander of the First Army of the Zhilu Allied Forces, quickly made a decision: to change the direction of the march.

"Deputy Commander! Changing to the southwest will take a long detour!" Zhang Xueliang hurried to Mengcheng.

Zhang Zongchang: "If we continue to march along the central route as planned, we'll only run into the main force of the Northern Expedition, which will slow us down even further and put us in danger! Don't worry, my First Army will be stationed near Wangxu to guard the flanks and rear. The entire corps can then retreat slowly!"

At 2 p.m., the central retreat column of the Fengtian Army and the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces turned, and the Fengtian Army's 9th Army, 10th Army, and Artillery Army joined the right wing, the marching route of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces' 2nd Army.

Zhang Zongchang's First Army did stay and prepared to meet the attack of the Northern Expedition Army near Wangxu. Of course, Zhang Zongchang himself did not stay.

After the previous phase of fighting, an entire Anguo Army division had been annihilated by the Northern Expedition, leaving only five armies. Many of the divisions and brigades under these armies had also suffered losses. A real-time headcount would reveal that the remaining Anguo Army strength was no longer 100,000, but only a little over 80,000.

5 kilometers south of the right wing retreat column, the 7th Army of the Gui Army was marching forward. The 7th Army did not have as much heavy equipment as the Fengtian Army, and its soldiers were particularly good at running. They were marching at a speed 50% faster than the Anguo Army.

"Report! Military orders from the front!"

Li Zongren took over the military order.

"The An Guo Army is being pressed by the First Division on the northern front and has changed its marching direction?" Li Zongren asked, "Xia Wei! Where is Jiazhuang?

Xia Wei: "It's in front of us on the right, less than 3 kilometers away.

Li Zongren: "The An Guo army was so frightened that they dared not take the central route. They took the southern route instead and are now heading towards us. We stopped at Jiazhuang and waited for them!"

Chapter 76: The Final Battle of the Northern Expedition (IV)

…On the afternoon of the 10th, the 1st Regiment joined the battlefield, and by 6 p.m., the 1st Division had essentially annihilated the Fengtian Army’s 8th Army.”

When Bai Chongxi saw this telegram, he had an expression like "Old man on the subway with his cell phone.jpg".

On that day, the 8th Army's vanguard was struggling to gain a firm foothold in Chenhai Village. The First Division, upon arriving, seized the opportunity and launched a surprise attack, driving the 8th Army out of the village. Subsequently, the remnants of the 8th Army's 47th and 16th Divisions, along with the Army's artillery, deployed to retake Chenhai Village and open a retreat route. The First Division, however, launched an offensive, catching the 8th Army off guard and completely dispersing it, leaving the artillery completely lost. The First Division then began to clean up the battlefield.

Tonight, the First Division gathered its troops and began to confront the First Army of the Zhilu Allied Forces, which was covering the rear and protecting the flanks of the An Guo Army.

But in reality, Bai Chongxi had the First Division hold its position to prevent the enemy's left wing from escaping.

"According to intelligence from the reconnaissance battalion near Xuzhou, a large number of Anguo Army columns have entered Xuzhou, possibly a new batch of enemy reinforcements. I have ordered the Suxian Division to prepare for defense.

The reinforcements that entered Xuzhou were none other than Zhang Zuolin, commander-in-chief of the An Guo Army and leader of the An Guo Military Government.

He rushed from Beijing to Xuzhou to rescue his son personally.

"The army has withdrawn from the Jinpu Road? Can't hold on any longer?"

"Retreat towards Mengcheng. It seems I have to send troops from here."

Zhang Zuolin angrily looked at the map and pointed at the Xuzhou-Yongcheng-Mengcheng highway: "Sun Dianying! You lead the 14th Army and rush to Yongcheng within two days and Mengcheng within five days! If you can't make it, you can quit as the commander of the 14th Army!"

Sun Dianying: "Yes, Marshal!"

"And this," Zhang Zuolin gritted his teeth, pointing at Suxian: "There's a railway line going straight to Suxian. Why can't Liu Wenzhao get through? And he even got himself involved?"

Liu Wenzhao had been captured. One division of his 15th Army, the 66th Division, remained in Xuzhou. Two other divisions, along with their commanders, had been mysteriously destroyed on the Jinpu Road, and the 66th Division had been holed up in Xuzhou for days, daring not to move. Now Zhang Zuolin had the 66th Division in his hands, personally commanding it.

Early in the morning of March 11, the 66th Division was driven onto a train and set off along the Xuzhou-Suxian Railway. The train stopped in front of the destroyed half of the armored train, and the officers and soldiers of the 66th Division got off and walked.

After dropping off the 66th Division, the train returned to transport its mountain artillery. After transporting the artillery, it was also tasked with transporting the 64th Division of the 22nd Army of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces. Zhang Zuolin knew that a single division might not be able to capture Suxian, but the Jinpu Railway was limited in capacity, and even the fastest route would take most of the day. After disembarking, the 66th Division advanced 5 kilometers and remained stationed, awaiting the arrival of the 64th Division. The two divisions would then combine forces and slowly advance towards Suxian.

However, the 66th Division advanced 5 kilometers and just stopped when the Northern Expedition Army appeared on the opposite side.

The 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division was in the center, with the 5th and 6th Regiments deployed on the left and right. Behind the 2nd Division, the mountain artillery fired the first round of shells. Liu Zhi pulled out Liu Wenzhao's command knife, which he had just captured a few days ago:

"Second Division! Everyone, charge forward!!!"

The battlefield south of the Rui River.

March 11 was the day when the An Guo Army collapsed.

On March 10, the left wing of the An Guo Army was lost; on March 11, the First Army of the Zhilu Allied Forces, which was covering the rear/protecting the flank, was attacked from two directions by the First Division on the flank and the pursuing Fourth Army.

Even after becoming the commander of the Second Front Army of the An Guo Army, Zhang Zongchang still held the position of commander of the First Army, which shows how important this army was to Zhang Zongchang. In fact, at this time, the First Army was the most powerful remaining unit in the An Guo Army group.

Under the joint attack of the 1st Division and the 4th Army, by the evening of March 11, one division of the 1st Army was completely wiped out, two divisions were defeated, and only one division following Zhang Zongchang (the 1st Army had 4 divisions) remained intact.

On the battlefield between Wangxu Village and Xilou Village, the 1st Division joined forces with the 25th Division of the 4th Army. The two troops that broke through from the east and west wings when the battle started now rushed here from the south and north directions respectively to meet.

"Zhou Shidi is here, and Chen Geng is here! Where's Jiang Xianyun?" Chen Tianheng asked. "Are you all okay?

Chen Geng: "Jiang Xianyun is at the front with his 75th Regiment. Don't worry, we are all safe and sound!"

Ye Ting shook hands with Chen Tianheng: "I heard that you defeated an entire army in one day yesterday?

Zhou Shidi: "The Fourth Army on the southeastern front almost completely wiped out an entire enemy army before they retreated."

Chen Tianheng: "To the north and south of Suxian, our First and Second Divisions have nearly defeated an army and captured a commander. ...Have you seen any An Guojun tanks in the past few days?"

Zhou Shidi: "I haven't heard that the Anguo Army has tanks, but I haven't seen them on the battlefield. Also, when we were clearing out the abandoned supplies from the enemy on the Jinpu Road, we found heavy artillery and supplies, but no tanks."

Chen Tianheng: "It seems that Zhang Xueliang has been retreating with his precious tanks.

In another direction, on the Jiazhuang battlefield, a super-large-scale battle was fought on March 11.

The 7th and 6th Armies of the Northern Expedition engaged in a fierce clash with the 9th and 10th Armies of the Fengtian Army, and the 2nd Army of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces on the right wing. By evening, the Anguo Army was defeated and again changed its march, retreating northwest.

Although victorious, the Seventh Army suffered a significant surprise during the battle: Angolan tanks made their first appearance on the battlefield. Although three of these 11 Renault FT-17 tanks broke down soon after the battle began, the remaining tanks still posed a significant challenge to the Seventh Army. The Angolan army's ultimate breakthrough and escape were largely due to these eight tanks; otherwise, the Angolan army might not have been able to escape.

By this time, the An Guo Army's heavy troops, which had numbered 130,000 before the war, were reduced to just over 40,000 men around Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Zongchang.

Mengcheng is to the west of the An Guojun Group, but the An Guojun Group first moved southwest, and after being beaten, it retreated to the northwest, which is not the direction where Mengcheng is located.

"Taking into account the possible support actions of the enemy forces in Xuzhou, the An Guo army may have changed the direction of retreat from retreating to Mengcheng to retreating directly to Yongcheng.

Telegram sent by Bai Chongxi to the troops in the war zone.

Yongcheng is farther away than Mengcheng, but if the An Guojun sent reinforcements from Xuzhou, the reinforcements could set out from Mengcheng to support the retreating An Guojun group, and it would be more advantageous to retreat directly towards Yongcheng.

"Commander Zhang, our reconnaissance battalion has also noticed that people and horses and carts have been continuously moving out of Xuzhou all day long, taking the Xuzhou-Yongcheng highway. Judging from the length of the team, it must be at least an army's worth of troops.

Chen Tianheng and Zhang Fakui's command headquarters were combined, and the two armies discussed tomorrow's actions.

"Also, the reconnaissance team just reported back that the An Guo Army is also marching tonight, and their central group has been retreating on foot in a northwesterly direction."

Zhang Fakui: "Why are your scouts from the First Division spread everywhere?

"After all, we are the First Army here," Chen Tianheng said with a smile, "The First and Second Divisions, and the 22nd Division guarding the Mengcheng Highway. ...But we can't march very fast at night.

Zhang Fakui: "You mean, let them march at night and we chase them during the day?

Chen Tianheng: "Yes. We can still catch up during the day. Everyone should rest and restock on ammunition and rations... I don't think we've eaten much of them."

The First Division had indeed had very little dry food. On the evening of March 11, after the battle, Huang Wei rushed from Guzhen to the battlefield with a team of horse-drawn carriages, bringing not only ammunition but also hot meals, hot dishes, and hot water.

"Commander, the prisoner camp in Guzhen is full." Huang Wei reported this grim news to Chen Tianheng.

Chen Tianheng: "...transfer them to Xinmaqiao, and then transport them to Bengbu by rail. We already have a rail connection with Bengbu, don't we?

Morning of May 3th.

"Chen Tianheng, when you said 'it's still not too late to catch up during the day', is this what you meant?"

The Fourth Army and the First Army shared a common starting point. Zhang Fakui looked at the fleet of Speedwagon trucks in front of him with a complicated expression:

"The Commander-in-Chief really loves the First Division..."

"Don't say that casually," Chen Tianheng said, "I bought these Speedwagons with my own money.

Zhang Fakui:

第一师一共30辆卡车。一个师达到全摩托化得1000至1500辆卡车，一般把装备200~600卡车的状态叫做半摩托化师，至于一个师30辆卡车，叫二十分之一摩托化师吧。

Fourteen of the thirty trucks were used to tow mountain artillery, and another twelve were taken out today to load the second company of the first battalion of the first regiment to form a rapid assault column to block the escape of the An Guo army, or at least slow down its escape speed.

Car engines roared and the convoy of trucks started moving.

The clatter of horse hooves echoed. These were the eighty-plus men of the 1st Division's Reconnaissance Battalion's Cavalry Reconnaissance Team, also moving with the motorized assault column. The difference in road speed between the two was not that great. Even though it was the Huanghuai Plain, the Speedwagon trucks didn't dare to go too high.

"The motorized assault column took a parallel route to the enemy's retreat, which actually took a long detour. But it didn't matter. We could still reach the battlefield and make contact with the enemy within two hours."

All the cars were used on the "official road". Zhang Fakui and Chen Tianheng had no cars available, so they rode horses.

Zhang Fakui: "Chen Tianheng, I heard that many officers from Ye Ting's 25th Division and your 1st Division were members of the same society when they were at Whampoa Military Academy. Is that the War Research Society?"

Chen Tianheng: “Yes.

Zhang Fakui: "This war research society has a bit of the flavor of the Prussian officer corps.

Chen Tianheng: "However, China is not the Second German Empire, so we are not the Prussian officer corps. We just hope to build a professional army that can lead the trend in military thought, campaign science and tactics. We comrades are working towards this common goal.

Zhang Fakui nodded, but in fact he didn't know what Chen Tianheng was talking about. Every sentence contained information, but when these information were combined, it was invalid information.

Ye Ting came riding up from the front: "The An Guo army has indeed stopped and is planning to set up defenses. I am going back to the 25th Division to command the battle.

"I'm going back to the First Division too," Chen Tianheng said. "Commander Ye, where is the An Guo army trapped?"