The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Liu Zhi, having received accurate intelligence from Nanjing, abandoned his cautious approach of the previous few days and launched an attack on Anyuan. To supervise the First Army and the 26th Army, which was temporarily under his command, Liu Zhi personally visited the frontline battlefield in Anyuan.

Chen Chao, commander of the 26th Army, said doubtfully, "Commander Liu, although this is a newly formed Communist army unit, Chen Tianheng is very good at training soldiers.

"So for this first battle, you, the 26th Army, will just watch and see how the First Army demonstrates how to attack," Liu Zhi said confidently, "Commander Yu, is the First Division ready?

"Report to the army commander, the three infantry regiments of the first division are already in place. But..." Yu Jishi hesitated.

Liu Zhi: "Just get into position. Fire the cannons!"

There was no city to defend in the Anyuan area, but the terrain was actually quite conducive to defense. Previously, the First and Second Armies had dug fortifications on several hills and hills, which just blocked the road from Yichun to Anyuan.

The three infantry regiments of the First Division followed Liu Zhi's instructions, with the first regiment in the middle, the second regiment on the left, and the third regiment on the right, lined up neatly.

The two mountain artillery battalions opened fire under Liu Zhi's order. The guns on the position suddenly rumbled, and clouds of smoke rose from the hill in front.

The artillery preparation would not last too long. After about 15 minutes, the bombardment stopped and the First Division was about to charge forward. However, in Yu Jishi's memory, the infantry attack tactics that Chen Tianheng mentioned were not so one-track.

Liu Zhi: "Yu Jishi, the time has come. First Division, all hands on deck! Shout on the phone!"

Yu Jishi broke out in a sweat, but since it was Liu Zhi's order, he had no choice but to go for it. He picked up the phone and shouted to the headquarters of the three regiments that were connected at the same time: "First Division, all hands on deck!"

The first regiment was the first to rush out of the starting point and launched a charge towards the hilltop in front of them with a relative height of more than 100 meters. Then the second and third regiments launched the attack at almost the same time. Suddenly, the shouts in front of the two armies became one.

Yu Jishi looked through the telescope and nervously watched the hill that the first group was about to climb.

When the infantry line was about 400 to 500 meters from the enemy position, the heavy machine guns on the hill opened fire. There was a crossfire from three heavy machine guns, and several puffs of gunpowder erupted from the line, likely indicating that the defenders were using mortars to cover the attack route.

only.…

Yu Jishi: "Hey? There are very few defenders on the mountain. Very few. 3 heavy machine guns, this should be the strength of a company at most.

Looking at the attack direction of the second regiment on the left, there were also three heavy machine guns firing. From Yu Jishi's rough observation, the marksmen of these heavy machine gun teams were quite skilled, but there were too few of them.

Forty minutes later, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments rushed their intended positions. The trenches and anti-artillery holes on the hill were completely empty. The defenders had already retreated, sweeping up even the bullet casings. The 40st Division only found a few escaped bullet casings in the corners of the trenches.

In addition, there were bloodstains in some places on the battlefield, which should be the casualties among the defenders caused by the shelling before the attack. However, there were no corpses near these few bloodstains. It seemed that the defenders took away the wounded and the corpses as well.

Well...anyway...the newly formed 1st and 2nd Divisions of the 1st Army of the National Army won their first battle and successfully launched a "pig attack".

Love

Leiyang, 40 kilometers south of Hengyang.

After a day's march, the Second Division and the front-line command camped in Leiyang.

"Chiang Kai-shek left us a lot of time, which is a good thing. But we still have to admit that our Central Military Commission columns have too many jars and cans.

Liu Bocheng's general staff is now the overall coordinating body for the campaign march.

After all, the uprising also established a revolutionary government. Now this government is in a mobile state - the Central Military Column, with a large number of non-combat personnel and supplies, and its daily marching mileage generally does not exceed 25 kilometers.

Chen Tianheng: "There are no pursuers. The main problem is the defenders ahead. The marching plan can be adjusted again. With Chenzhou as the boundary, we can march slowly from Hengyang to Chenzhou. The marching order is the 2nd Division, the Central Column, and the 3rd Division. After arriving in Chenzhou, we must move faster to cross the Dayao Mountains, so the marching order is changed to the 2nd Division, the 3rd Division, and the Central Column. A regiment can be left behind as a rear guard behind the Central Column depending on the situation."

Liu Bocheng: "After Peng Dehuai's troops evacuate Hengyang, they can temporarily control the road from Hengyang to Chenzhou. This is also another rearguard force, which is safe enough.

Chen Tianheng: "Chen Mingren, what's the weather like in Chenzhou and Shaoguan?

"The detachment of the First Army Reconnaissance Battalion reported that Shaoguan had showers yesterday afternoon and will be sunny all day today. Lechang also had showers yesterday and rained for five hours from noon to dusk today. A section of the Hunan-Guangdong Trunk Road was flooded, with the deepest water reaching approximately 30 centimeters. However, according to local residents, the water will recede after the rain stops, but the road surface will become somewhat soft."

The Fourth Army telegraphed that the road conditions from Ganzhou to Shaoguan were manageable. They only briefly mentioned that they were manageable. Should we send another telegram to inquire about the Fourth Army in detail?

Chen Tianheng: "No need. Ye Ting, Zuo Quan and the Fourth Army's staff are well aware of the situation. They also sent out reconnaissance teams. If they say the road conditions are controllable, then they are. Alas! When will we get a weather forecast?"

Liu Bocheng: “Weather forecasting is something only Europe and the United States have, but we don’t have it in China now.

Chen Tianheng: "This requires meteorological observatories to be set up throughout the country to measure temperature, air pressure, humidity, and wind speed. A basic requirement for each observatory is a telephone connection. ... Just wait and see."

Matan Town, 37 kilometers south of Leiyang.

The 2nd Division and the front command headquarters camped on the second day of the march.

Although Matan Town is a town, it has sufficient conditions for camping - as a town passed by the Hunan-Guangdong main road, it is located between Leiyang and Chenzhou, with an appropriate distance. It is usually a place for various caravans to rest and stay. Matan Town even has electricity supply - a local boss built a diesel generator and a small power supply system to supply electricity to more than 20 households (mainly hotels).

In Matan Town, the front-line command headquarters routinely set up a radio station to receive battlefield information.

"Huangpu calls!!"

This telegram is extremely rare. It was sent from the Whampoa Military Academy on Changzhou Island in Guangzhou.

Ye Jianying was under investigation in Nanjing and returned to Guangzhou after the investigation. Before leaving, he received a radio frequency band and code book from the Party organization, which enabled him to send messages in Guangzhou. However, due to the distance, the radio signal was very weak. It took half an hour for the two sides of the Whampoa Military Academy to find the right channel for the call.

Chen Tianheng: "What did Director Ye say?

"Well... Director Ye said that Guangzhou had strong winds yesterday and today, and it started raining heavily this afternoon. There was a short period of torrential rain, and various newspapers were reporting that this was probably a typhoon.

"Typhoon? Fuck!"

"Fuck! Typhoon!"

"grass!

The General Staff was thrown into confusion by this telegram.

Chen Mingren: "How many days will the typhoon last? Ask Director Ye again. Also, after the typhoon makes landfall in Guangzhou, which direction will it drift to? East, west, or north?"

Liu Bocheng: "Tell Director Ye to pay more attention to the weather information in the newspaper. There may be a forecast of when the typhoon will end."

Huang Wei: "Everyone, everyone, let's calculate the time. The First Division is now in Chenzhou, and we are halfway there, expected to arrive in Chenzhou on August 28th. The Third Division and the Central Column will arrive on August 30th. After that, the march from Chenzhou to Shaoguan will take 4 to 5 days. In other words, during the most critical period of our march to the outskirts of Shaoguan, the typhoon should have passed.

Chen Tianheng: "The typhoon will bring heavy rainfall across a large area. The typhoon made landfall in Guangzhou on August 26th. Assuming the worst-case scenario, the typhoon moves due north. Then, from August 28th to August 30th, rainfall will increase along the Hunan-Guangdong border. These three days or so will be very unfavorable for the march. Chen Mingren, adjust the marching plan to allow for preparation and redundancy."

"Yes.

Chen Tianheng: "But there's no guarantee that a battle will break out in Shaoguan. The specific outcome will depend on the Fourth Army."

Liu Bocheng: "Did the small forwards of the Fourth Army bring a radio?

Chen Tianheng: "There is a light-weight radio on a backpack, which is currently unable to contact us, but can contact the Fourth Army.

Chapter 122: Fan Shisheng, Get Out of the Way

The Nanling Mountains, running east-west, are located at the junction of Hunan and Guangxi, and Hunan and Guangdong. They are composed of Dayuling, Qitianling, Mengzhuling, Dupangling and Yuechengling, and are also known as the Five Mountains.

The Guangdong-Hankou Railway, which was planned and started in 1896 during the Qing Dynasty, was blocked by the Nanling Mountains and remains two dead-end roads to this day.

The First Army advancing towards Guangdong had prepared for a forced march across the Nanling Mountains, but now, due to the combined unfavorable factors of rugged terrain and typhoon, the march became extremely difficult.

After receiving a telegram on August 26th announcing a typhoon landfall in Guangzhou, the First Army accelerated its march to minimize the need to march in the rain. The General Staff re-segmented the route, with the Second Division crossing Chenzhou County on August 29th and heading straight for Yizhang County, 35 kilometers south of Chenzhou.

At 6 p.m. on the 29th, when they were still two kilometers from Yizhang County, a torrential downpour began to fall. Chen Tianheng and his soldiers hurried into the city amidst the pounding rain.

"It turned out to be our worst guess," Liu Bocheng said. "After the typhoon made landfall, it moved straight north and covered us.

Chen Tianheng: "Chief of Staff Liu, are your eyes okay now?

In March 1916, while commanding his troops to attack Fengdu, Liu Bocheng was shot in the right eye and had his eyeball removed. Surgery in the eye, a region dense with nerve endings, can cause pain, similar to rheumatic conditions, when exposed to wind, rain, and humidity.

Liu Bocheng shook his head: "It's no big deal. Just give me a warm towel and apply it."

Commander-in-Chief, Chief of Staff Liu, has received a telegram from the First Division. The First Division is camping at Tiziling tonight, and the reconnaissance force has arrived outside Lechang. The attack on Lechang is planned for tomorrow at noon.

Chen Tianheng: "Reply to Xu Xiangqian and have the division headquarters radio station remain on all day tomorrow. A political solution is possible for the Lechang garrison. If a military occupation is carried out, ensure that the Wujiang Bridge remains intact."

Tiziling, where the First Division camped, was 10 kilometers from Lechang County. Xu Xiangqian was now in Guangdong. Lechang County, a small town north of Shaoguan, was a small city. According to previous intelligence, the county's garrison was less than a thousand men, making it relatively easy to capture. The key was to capture it quickly.

"We have received a telegram from the Third Division and the Central Military Column. They are already camped in Chenzhou, and the Third Division is ready to split up and march.

Chen Tianheng: "Remind He Long and Xu Jishen that when they leave the Central Military Commission's current column, they must take extra ammunition with them, as the First and Second Divisions ahead of them will need it.

Now the First Army and the mobile Central Army are arranged in three groups on the Hunan-Guangdong Road. There is a one-day difference in distance between the First Division and the Second Division, and there is also a one-day difference in distance between the Second Division and the Third Division behind it.

After tomorrow, the three regiments will become four: the Third Division will separate from the Central Military Column to speed up the march and prevent itself from falling too far behind. The Guangdong Campaign requires the full deployment of all three divisions of the First Army. Peng Dehuai's telegram stated that after entering Hengyang, the Gui army would not leave the city or go to the countryside. With no pursuers behind, the non-combat personnel of the Central Military Column would be left behind.

After the intelligence from the First and Third Divisions was transmitted, the temporary command center in Yichang County waited for nearly an hour, but there was no new information.

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "What's the situation at the Communications Department and the radio station?

"We are still calling and answering with the Fourth Army. The other side's radio is turned on, but the text of the telegram has not yet been transmitted.

Chen Tianheng: "In the mountainous area, with widespread rainfall, the electromagnetic environment is terrible. The First and Third Divisions are dozens of kilometers away from us, and they can communicate normally. The Fourth Army headquarters is far away, so the signal is definitely not good.

"Commander, I've counted the troops of the Second Division. The men are fine, but the number of sick and lame horses is quite high," Du Yuming said as he walked into the temporary command post. "After being drenched in rain for most of the day and constantly marching, the horses will also catch a fever and a cold."

Chen Tianheng said: "If there aren't enough horses to pull the baggage train, the Second Division will leave behind some of its vehicles and supplies tomorrow, but the rest of the troops will continue to march as planned. For the vehicles and supplies that can't be taken away, we'll temporarily hire civilian workers in Yizhang County to transport them. We'll tell them to take the route from Yizhang County to Lechang County."

Du Yuming: "In fact, if we only send out the 1st Division, plus the 10th Division of the 4th Army, and approach Shaoguan from two directions, it will not be too difficult to capture Shaoguan.

"The battle in Lechang County still has a certain chance of not affecting the overall situation. Once we attack Shaoguan, all of Guangdong will be mobilized, and the campaign will enter a full-scale, fast-paced phase. At this point, we can't just focus on the battle to capture Shaoguan, but must complete it in one go. The Second and Third Divisions cannot join the battle too late. In addition, we must consider the current situation of the Fourth Army. Who knows where their vanguard, the 10th Division, is now... I was wondering why the Fourth Army's radio hasn't been connected yet?

Chen Tianheng was also anxious.

The radio station set up by the Communications Department received a message from the Fourth Army half an hour ago, but the signal was intermittent and very weak, making it impossible to officially transmit the message.

Before the two radios could actually send a message, they had to hear each other's call. The Fourth Army would send a short message, "Hello, this is the Fourth Army." The First Army would receive it and then send a short message, "Hello, I've got a message from the Fourth Army, this is the First Army." The Fourth Army's radio would then receive a response and send a short message, "I've got a message from the First Army." Only then could the two radios exchange messages.

However, the Fourth Army and the First Army's radio calls were stuck at the second or third step and could not proceed.

There was another thunder outside the window, and the rain seemed to become more intense.

The.

…Oh, damn typhoon weather.

"Report! A telegram from the First Division! They received the Fourth Army's message and forwarded it to us in full!"

Qian Deng Ruoxian slammed the table and said, "Great!"

The 1st Division was able to receive the telegram because its campsite was 40 kilometers ahead of the 2nd Division. No, that wasn't the reason. The main reason was that the 1st Division's campsite was at Tiziling, which was high and open, while Yizhang County was located in a depression in the Nanling Mountains.

The main message of Ye Ting's telegram is:

The Fourth Army Headquarters and the 11th and 12th Divisions have now arrived in Nanxiong.

The 10th Division, acting as the vanguard, had secretly captured Shixing County without attracting the enemy's attention. Shixing County was also located in Guangdong, not far from Shaoguan, so the coordination of the eastern and western armies' attacks on Shaoguan was no problem.

In front of the 10th Division, the vanguard of the vanguard, or the small vanguard, was approaching Shaoguan.

Shaoguan, an important city in northern Guangdong, is the gateway from Hunan to Guangdong. The current southern section of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway runs from Guangzhou to Shaoguan.

The troops stationed in this important town in northern Guangdong should be elite troops of the Eighth Route Army... but of course not. The troops stationed in Shaoguan were Fan Shisheng's 16th Army, the remnants of the old Yunnan Army.

There was no reason, it was just that Shaoguan was too poor, so it was given to the Yunnan Army to guard J4. The regular troops of the Guangdong Army were stationed around Guangzhou and had more money.

The current garrison in Guangdong is Li Jishen's Eighth Route Army, which has four armies under its command:

The main force was the newly formed Fourth Army, stationed in Guangzhou;

Li Fulin's old Guangdong Army Fifth Army was also in Guangzhou, specifically in the southern part of Guangzhou and Foshan.

Chaoshan has a newly formed Guangdong Army, which was formed by the Guangdong faction itself without the approval of Nanjing. It was mainly used to guard against the new Fujian warlords in Fujian from taking advantage of the situation.

Fan Shisheng's 16th Army was stationed in Shaoguan and its surrounding areas.

By the way, there is another unit of the Central Army, the 20th Division of the First Army, stationed on Changzhou Island where the Whampoa Military Academy is located. It rarely goes out. In Li Jishen's eyes, the 20th Division was placed there by Nanjing to monitor the New Guangdong faction.

On the road from Shixing County to Shaoguan, a team of horses was galloping.

Zhu De was the first to take the lead, and the dozens of people behind him were what Ye Ting called the "small vanguard."

"Stop. Who are they? ...Which army are they?

The defenders outside Shaoguan City stopped Zhu De and his entourage.

"Which army? The National Revolutionary Army." Zhu De said calmly.

"Please... please show me the troop mobilization order."

Zhu De: "I haven't mobilized any troops. These are just my personal guards. I came to Shaoguan to reminisce about the past, so it's reasonable for me to bring a few personal guards with me. Please inform Commander Fan Shisheng that Yujie is visiting."

Fan Shisheng hurried out of the military headquarters in Shaoguan and saw Zhu De: "Brother Yujie! Why are you here at this time?"

Zhu De laughed heartily. "Shisheng, long time no see. I missed you so much! I brought some wild game from Ganzhou and a few jugs of good wine with me. Why don't we go into the city and find a place to catch up and chat?"

Fan Shisheng smiled bitterly.

In 1909, Fan Shisheng was admitted to the Yunnan Army Academy. Due to his excellent academic performance, he was selected into the special class along with Zhu De, Zhu Peide, Deng Taizhong, and Yang Zhen. Of course, the most outstanding members of this special class were Zhu De and Zhu Peide, collectively known as the "Two Zhus." However, Fan Shisheng's ability to be their classmate was evident in both his qualifications and abilities.

Fan Shisheng should also have known that Zhu De had participated in the Nanchang Uprising and had become one of the Communist army's leaders. However, this did not affect their friendship. They were both remnants of the old Yunnan Army. If anything were to happen, their Yunnan Army classmates at the Military Academy were more trustworthy than the Nanjing government.

"Brother Yujie, I never expected you to defect to the Communist Party," Fan Shisheng said. "But both the First and Fourth Armies defected to the Communist Party. The Communist Party does have its ways. Although the Communist Party has been in a state of turmoil recently, its ideology is still very popular among the people.

Zhu De nodded: "It's a bit naive, but everything the Communist Party does is for the poor people of the world.

"But the Communists are still too weak. They occupied Nanchang, then withdrew, and later occupied Changsha, which has now been recaptured by the Guangxi Seventh Army. I heard the Communists are turning their attention to the countryside, but things are really bad there, and the countryside is suffering. Brother Yujie, if you were to come here, I would certainly welcome you. I wonder how many soldiers you have besides these few dozen?"

Zhu De picked up the wine pot and filled their glasses. "After the Communist uprising, I formed the Third Army in southern Jiangxi, which was composed of three divisions. The staff and officers were organized according to the specifications of the First and Fourth Armies, with a total of 15,000 people.