The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Ah, it seems that the historical records were changed by myself.

Chen Tianheng: "Comrade Mao, the contradictions between the Hunan and Guangxi cliques will continue to intensify in the future. They may escalate from verbal abuse to confrontation, and from confrontation to a hot war. But to what extent will it escalate to meet the conditions for our army to send troops? I think it should be based on Tang Shengzhi's transfer of troops from Hunan.

Mao Runzhi: "Yes. Whether they end up fighting or not is their business. As long as Tang Shengzhi transfers some of his troops from Hunan to Hubei, we will send troops."

Chen Tianheng: "If that's the condition... I think we can wait, but only for a month at most."

6 month 25 day.

It was 7 o'clock in the evening and it was not yet completely dark.

Zhang Gan, former colonel adjutant of the Seventh Army and commander of the Eighth Brigade, set out from Wuhan and went to the 18th Army headquarters in Xianning to take up his post.

Zhang Gan was a core officer of the New Guangxi Clique. He was originally Li Zongren's adjutant and later served as a brigade commander. Of course, the 7th Army's brigade had now been upgraded to a division. However, Zhang Gan was not promoted to division commander, but was sent to Wuhan to take over the 18th Army.

The 18th Army was originally Tang Shengzhi's unit. Recently, Bai Chongxi removed the original commander of the 18th Army and replaced him with Zhang Gan. Zhang Gan brought more than 300 people from Nanjing to Wuhan, including his personal guards and a group of grassroots officers from the old Guangxi clique, to revitalize the 18th Army.

This certainly means that the Guangxi clique wants to swallow up and digest the 18th Army, but the person who issued this order is Bai Chongxi, the Chief of Staff of the National Revolutionary Army. I just want to ask you, Tang Shengzhi, whether you accept it or not.

Zhang Gan: "Where are we now? How far is it from Xianning?"

"Reporting to the commander, we just passed Hesheng Bridge. The one on the left is Wangjian Mountain, which is still forty miles away from the 18th Army's base."

"Hmm." Zhang Gan pulled out a compass from the rickety carriage and waved it left and right: "The feng shui here is extraordinary. Stop the car for a moment."

...Sir?"

Zhang Gan: "Stop, there are ghosts here.

The carriage stopped, and Zhang Gan found a stable spot to set up his compass. Feng shui was his hobby, and it was said he often used it to guide his operations during battles, with considerable success.

"Da da da da..." "Puff puff puff--"

"ah!

Suddenly, there was a row of random gunfire a few hundred meters ahead. When Zhang Gan heard something was wrong, he rolled over and hid in a ditch by the roadside before the bullets reached him. The coachman who was driving his carriage was shot and killed.

More gunshots and shouts came like a tide. In front of and behind Zhang Gan, his old comrades from Guangxi had subconsciously retreated off the road and spread out among the rocks in the wild, ready to fight back.

Zhang Gan: "Tang Shengzhi! Damn you, Tang Shengzhi!"

Chapter 104: Literacy Class of the 15th Independent Division

The "625 Incident" or the "Xianning Incident" opened a new chapter in the struggle between the Guangxi and Hunan factions.

From the Cold War to a hot war.

In fact, the fighting between the various factions of the National Revolutionary Army at this time was anything but civilized. It wasn't the kind of palace intrigue characterized by forming cliques and setting traps for each other; it often resulted in the flipping of tables. Just this February, Yuan Zuming, commander of the 12th Army of the Northern Expedition, formerly the "Dingqian Army," was assassinated by a scheme set up by Zhou Lan, who was dispatched by Tang Shengzhi. His 12th Army was then dismantled and incorporated into Tang Shengzhi's Hunan Army.

In addition to Yuan Zuming, another Guizhou military leader, Peng Hanzhang, was also arrested and detained, with plans to execute him later.

The protagonist of the Xianning Incident, Luo Pan General Zhang Gan, dramatically survived the attack. He and dozens of Guangxi veterans around him escaped the encirclement and hid within the territories of the Hunan and Hubei armies, avoiding villages and towns. Three days later, they entered the territory of the Guangdong 11th Army and reestablished contact with Li Zongren.

Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were furious: "Zhang Gan's appointment as commander of the 18th Army was an order from headquarters. How dare you disobey? The 18th Army is now in a state of frailty. If the Guangxi clique takes it over, reorganizes and trains it, and strengthens its combat effectiveness, wouldn't that be beneficial to the Party and the country? Without reorganization, your army might not even last a single day against the First Division!"

Tang Shengzhi was also furious: "Hunanese contributed greatly to the Northern Expedition. When the revolutionary army swore an oath to the Northern Expedition, there were eight armies, three of which were from the new and old Hunan factions. Tang Shengzhi's Eighth Army was the most powerful of them. After the capture of Wuchang, the Eighth Army was divided into four, and the recruits were all from Hunan. You, a general from Guangxi, are coming here with two or three hundred people to pick peaches. Isn't this bullying the honest people?"

Yichun.

"Nong" means farmer, rural area, and farm work.

"It has a character called qu on top and a character called chen on the bottom. That's the structure of the character. Why are these two characters combined? The character qu doesn't actually mean curved, but represents farmland and the ridges leading in and out of the fields. And chen represents a farmer bent over his farm work."

"...Okay, we've finished teaching today's 15 characters. Now it's time for dictation. I'll say, write on paper."

In a classroom temporarily serving as a literacy school at a county primary school, Jian Xianren was lecturing. Seated on small stools below were over thirty illiterate officers from the 15th Independent Division. Jian Xianren said, "Prepare for dictation," and the students quickly picked up their pencils and opened their notebooks, ready to go.

Jian Xianren: "Today, we'll select one student to write on the blackboard, and the rest of you will write on your own paper. He Long, go to the blackboard in the back."

He Long groaned in pain: "Sister, no, Teacher Jian, you want me to go on stage and write again?"

"Yes, you are the teacher.

"Yes, I am the commander. If they see me make a fool of myself, it will affect my prestige.

He Long walked to the blackboard at the back of the classroom and picked up the chalk. The other thirty or so students in the literacy class sat facing him. Sai Xianren picked up the textbook and prepared to read. Chen Tianheng appeared at the back door of the classroom.

"Commander Chen, Commander Chen! Is there an urgent military matter that needs to be discussed in a meeting?!" He Long said happily.

Chen Tianheng shook his head.

"Are there some little brats causing trouble under the 15th Independent Division?!"

Chen Tianheng shook his head again: "Nothing. I came here today specifically to supervise your study."

The first army’s literacy class had the largest literacy target: He Long.

He Long was illiterate, only recognizing his own name and a handful of common characters. Telegrams, military orders, and official documents were usually read or written by his adjutants or staff officers. The 15th Independent Division was temporarily attached to the First Army, and with the rebel army in Yichun undergoing a reorganization period of more than a month, He Long had fallen into Chen Tianheng's literacy class.

Jian Xianren joined the Communist Youth League last year and the Party this year. After the Nanchang Uprising, members and Party organizations from Jiangxi and Hunan continued to join the rebel army, and she was one of them. Because she graduated from a modern middle school and was considered educated among the rebels, she was assigned to teach at a literacy school.

After the dictation, He Long wrote 12 out of 15 characters correctly, with 2 being wrong.

Chen Tianheng: "Teacher Jian, if I can't write the dictation, can we have some kind of punishment? Like 10 push-ups for each word?"

He Long, Jian Xianren, and all students:

After the literacy class, there was a geography class. Chen Tianheng taught this class, which was a good opportunity to understand the situation of the officers of the 15th Independent Division.

"Now that our army's next march has been determined, this class will focus on the geography of Hunan. Is anyone here from Hunan? Please raise your hands.

23 out of 33 officers raised their hands, including He Long.

Chen Tianheng: "Then where in Hunan are your respective hometowns? Tell us where you are from, and we'll mark it on this map. He Long, you don't need to. I know you're from Sangzhi, Hongjiaguan in Sangzhi County. But where is Hongjiaguan in Sangzhi County on this map?"

He Long: "Xiangxi, the west, right there. Hey, I'm not very literate, but I know the word Sangzhi."

Chen Tianheng put up a small flag to mark Sangzhi County on the map.

"I'm from Yueyang." "I'm from Changde." "I'm from Huaihua.

Then each officer reported his hometown. Most people, regardless of whether they knew the Chinese characters for their county name or not, could point out where their hometown county was on the map. However, there were two officers who could not point out their hometown on the map.

Jian Xianren: "I am also from Cili, Hunan. Cili County is to the east of Sangzhi, right next to it."

"Okay, Mr. Jian is also from Hunan," Chen Tianheng noted on the map. "Then let's learn about the geography of each of your counties one by one. That way, we can supplement the knowledge from the textbook with your own experiences. Let's start with an overview of Cili County. Mr. Jian Xianren, could you give us a brief introduction?"

"Our county existed during the Three Kingdoms period, belonging to Wuling Commandery. In the early years of the Republic of China, it was part of Wuling Dao. Now, it's a county directly under the jurisdiction of Hunan Province. Well, it's located in the middle reaches of the Lishui River, east of the Wuling Mountains. Most of the county is mountainous, with very little flat land..."

"Let me tell you something," He Long began. "I'm not bragging, but I know Cili County like the back of my hand. I'm probably even more familiar with it than Mr. Sai, a native of Cili. When I was seventeen, I started trading private salt. The caravans would transport salt from Changde, through Cili, Sangzhi, and then to Xuan'en, where they would sell it to the Miao and Yi peoples living in the mountains.

"There are a lot of bandits in Dongxi Township. There are also a lot of bandits in Tongjinpu. In Xikou Town, there's not a single restaurant that sells alcohol that's not diluted with water..."

"The main river in Cili is the Lishui River. The Lishui River passes through the county seat. Its lower reaches are navigable by boat, and the upper reaches all the way to Qingshan Temple are also navigable..."

"Inside the county, though, there are three roads that pass through it, two horizontal and one vertical. This is the road from Changde to Erdougang. Once, when I was transporting goods, I encountered a bandit leader who wanted to pay the toll. The leader said, either keep 30% of the goods or hand over the knife in his hand. My uncle and I, with our small business, couldn't afford the toll. I had no choice but to draw my knife and fight him. In two moves, I killed the bandit..."

"There's a large canyon near Sanguan Temple. Fire two cannons or two shots into the air at the east end of the canyon, and the Yi people will emerge from the mountains. This is the signal agreed upon between the Pao Brothers and the Yi people to start the salt trade..."

He Long talked a lot.

Jian Xianren's talk was essentially based on geography textbooks, as she had attended a modern middle school. He Long, on the other hand, covered far more ground than Jian Xianren's, encompassing not only geography and local customs but also stories and anecdotes.

After He Long finished speaking, Chen Tianheng continued to evaluate the geographical information of Cili mentioned by the two people.

Jian Xianren talked about general geographical knowledge, which actually lacked a lot of necessary information from a military perspective (after all, it was the idea of ​​a middle school textbook); He Long talked about more information, including a lot of information that was useful to the military, but some information was still not mentioned.

Then Chen Tianheng found a new county: Changning County, Hengyang. None of the 23 officers were from this county. Chen Tianheng used this county as an example of military geography to teach the students how to quickly master the geographical information necessary for military operations in a region.

"I've noticed that you've all been with Commander He for many years, even before the 15th Independent Division, which was also the 1st Division of the 9th Army. Some of you even followed Commander He during the Xiangxi National Defense Army. The 15th Independent Division has marched all the way from Xiangxi, through Jiujiang, Nanchang, Xinyu, and here in Yichun. From now on, I can say with certainty that we still have a lot of places to visit and a long way to go."

"So I want to ask you a question. Why do you follow Master He?

Chen Tianheng began to deviate from the geography class and asked the officers of the 15th Independent Division a serious question.

"Because Commander He stands up for injustice and cannot bear to see the poor being bullied." An officer replied.

"Because Commander He loves the people and treats his officers and soldiers fairly and equally, fighting like this is enjoyable."

Chen Tianheng waited for a while, and the officers' answers were basically the above two types.

"We are a revolutionary army. On the one hand, we must have the ideal of fighting for the liberation of the people and the independence of the nation; on the other hand, we must have the ability to liberate the people of the entire country and make the nation independent from the aggression and control of imperialism.

"That is why, after Nanchang, we have been learning and summarizing our experiences and lessons at every opportunity along the way. We are a people's army, that's true. But we must also be a powerful army that belongs to the people. In the future, we will have a decisive battle with the reactionaries and completely sweep them into the dustbin of history. Not only that, we will also fight any imperialist powers that dare to invade us, eliminate the invaders, and safeguard peace.

"Besides that, I would like to talk about other things about our army.

"The 15th Independent Division has now expanded to 7,000 men. In addition to new recruits, we have also transferred in many officers, some from the 1st Division, and some from the Whampoa Military Academy Wuhan Branch. All officers and soldiers, including myself and everyone present, are indispensable to the revolutionary army. Our common and primary goal is to build a sufficiently powerful army that belongs to the people. Just like the 1st Division's name, 'Sword of Revolution,' we are not only a revolutionary army, but also an indestructible sword.

"In the future, I hope that 'Sword of Revolution' will not only be a nickname for the First Division, but also a nickname for the First Army.

"It's true that many revolutionaries sacrificed everything for the revolution. But if you have an 80-year-old mother and a crying baby at home, how do you choose? No, we don't want you to have to choose between these two options."

"In Yichun, we've readjusted the salaries of soldiers and officers. Soldiers and lower-ranking officers' salaries remain unchanged, and some veterans' salaries have even increased by 1 yuan. Senior officers' salaries have been reduced. The first month's salary under the new standard has already been paid. I can also assure everyone here that our military will pay according to this standard going forward. We won't let you work for nothing without being able to support your families."

In fact, there is no such thing as working for nothing in this world. It is just that the money that should be paid now is postponed to the future and repaid with interest.

Abandon your home and career now, and you will have a rich family and a great fortune in the future. Be penniless now, and you will be lying in the ICU for 20,000 yuan a day in the future.

"Intelligence sent from Wuhan Radio Station.

Liu Bocheng handed the telegram draft just received by the radio station to Chen Tianheng.

"Is it a secret intelligence station left by the Military Department in Wuhan?

Liu Bocheng: "Yes."

"Report! Telegram from the reconnaissance battalion!

The reconnaissance battalion of the 1st Division (1st Army) near Changsha also sent back intelligence using portable radios.

"A division of the Guangxi clique's Seventh Army has landed in Wuhan and has entered Wuchang. According to informants, another division of the Seventh Army has also boarded a ship in Nanjing and is on its way to Wuhan."

"Li Zongren accused Tang Shengzhi's 18th Army of armed rebellion."

"Tang Shengzhi has moved the 3rd Division of the 8th Army in Yueyang and the 36th Army in Changsha northward, and plans to deploy them between Xianning and Wuhan to prevent the Guangxi clique from forcibly disarming the 18th Army."

Chen Tianheng: "Old He, there really is an urgent military meeting that needs to be held now.

Chapter 105: I didn’t move at all, but I was pretending to move

The First Army Headquarters now has a Hunan-Hubei map hanging up.

In Hunan and southern Hubei, the Nationalist Army originally had 7 armies and 4 independent divisions stationed there:

唐生智的湘系第8、18、35、36军;粤系的陈枢铭第11军;黔系的王天培第10军;吴佩孚残部易帜而来的第15军。奉旨反共从四川-宜昌前来武汉的夏斗寅独立14师、范绍增川7师，还有军头被抓被杀，等待收编的黔系两个师。

Now there are two more divisions of the Guangxi Seventh Army in the war zone. Of course, these two divisions are not here to reinforce but to cause trouble, which has actually hindered the defense of the National Army in Hunan and Hubei.

Changsha originally housed the headquarters of the 8th and 36th Armies and five divisions. The 35th Army's headquarters was in Pingjiang, and it and the division in Yueyang could provide support to Changsha at any time. The 18th Army's headquarters was in Xianning, and its three divisions were scattered around Xianning.

The five Hunan divisions in Changsha were united, relying on Changsha's defenses. Anyuan and Pingxiang were completely abandoned, with only a trembling garrison regiment. Even Xiangtan and Zhuzhou, dozens of kilometers south of Changsha, were semi-abandoned. Tang Shengzhi remained sensible, considering it a good thing that he could defend Changsha against the First Army.

Now that Tang Shengzhi has transferred the 36th Army, only the 8th Army Headquarters and two divisions of the 8th Army remain in Changsha. This is because Tang Shengzhi has no choice but to fight with the Guangxi Clique. The Guangxi Clique and the Communist Party are just as determined to kill him!

In addition, they probably thought that the 36th Army could go to Wuhan to find a place and return quickly, so they should be fine for the time being.

"After the Fourth Army retreats from western Fujian to southern Jiangxi, the planned advance toward Chaoshan should be postponed. The Fourth and Third Armies will remain in the Ganzhou-Ji'an area to continue reorganizing their forces.

Liu Bocheng, Chief of the General Staff of the Front, explained his plan.

"Up to this point, Wang Jingwei and the Nationalist high-ranking officials firmly believed that our goal was to capture Changsha and then retake Wuhan. Thus, shortly after Wang Jingwei moved the capital to Nanjing, the Communist Party established a Nationalist government in Wuhan to confront the Nanjing Nationalist government. They also firmly believed that the Fourth Army's actions in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian were feints, the real purpose of which was to attract the attention of the Nationalist Army and reduce the difficulty of the First Army's advance on Changsha.

"If the Fourth Army did not take any action at this time and lay low in southern Jiangxi, it would give the Nationalist Army another false impression, that is, the Nanchang rebels no longer needed to feint. Ye Ting's Fourth Army was rapidly rushing back from western Fujian and southern Jiangxi to the Hunan-Jiangxi border to participate in the battle to capture Changsha-Wuhan.

Chen Tianheng: “This is called ‘I didn’t move anything, but I was pretending to move’.

Liu Bocheng's overall battle plan was so unique.

Ye Ting returned from western Fujian and disappeared in the rural areas of southern Jiangxi. In fact, he continued to reorganize and train his troops on the spot, but he created the illusion that Ye Ting's troops were rushing to Changsha.

This would allow the elite Nationalist troops in the Yangtze River Basin to continue to concentrate in Wuhan, and the Guangdong-based troops in Guangdong would relax. Ye Ting, who was reorganizing his troops on the spot, had actually been outside the gates of Guangdong, and when the time was right, he would kick into eastern Guangdong.

the amount

"That's the overall plan for the campaign. Now it's time to lay out the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Tanzhou battlefield."

In front of Chen Tianheng were six divisional commanders from the First and Second Armies: Xu Xiangqian of the 1st Division, Du Yuming of the 2nd Division, He Longqie of the 3rd Division with his Chief of Staff Zhao Zijun, Xiao Jinguang of the 4th Division of the 2nd Army, Xiong Xiong of the 5th Division, and Xiao Chunv of the 6th Division. Chen Yi was commander of the Second Army.

"We are now in Shangli, which is also the headquarters of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Tanzhou Campaign.

"The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions will advance through Liuyang and attack Changsha. After passing Liuyang, the 3rd Division will split north at Yong'an Town and establish a defensive line in the Ansha and Qingshanpu areas to prevent reinforcements from the north. If necessary, the railway can be blown up to completely prevent enemy reinforcements. However, Old He, you must remember that blowing up the railway will result in at least 40 yuan in losses and dozens of telegrams of condemnation from all walks of life across the country.

He Long: "Tsk, 40 yuan, then I'd better try not to blow up the railway.