Chapter 26 Watching the fire from the other side
Guo Junqing rode his horse back to Zhaoliqiao Station and reported the passing situation to Liu Jingxiao. He turned his eyes and said, "Okay! Let them fight. Immediately order the entire army to retreat."
Guo Junqing asked, "Where to retreat?"
Everyone was wondering for a moment that the Dingbian Army now has a large number of baggage and crew, and the movement can be said to be quite inconvenient. The road back to Wuhan is absolutely impossible, but everyone is not familiar with the place, so where should they retreat?
Meng Dingguo was depressed because he couldn't cry for reinforcements. He rushed to say, "Go to Wuxue! That's my hometown, I promise to take good care of everyone!"
Wujiu is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River in eastern Hubei and is known as the "bridge of the three provinces, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces". It has a dense population and is quite developed in commerce. It is more than 300 miles away from Wuhan in the north and can retreat to the Jiujiang line to the south. This is a top strategy.
Liu Jingxiao immediately made the decision to withdraw to Wuxue, and then invited Tan Yan and asked: "If our army withdraws from the battlefield, can your army not pursue?"
Although it is still a little far from the ideal target, the Hunan Army welcomes this. After all, Liu Jingxiao fought to trap beasts, and the Hunan Army suffered a great loss, so Tan Yan immediately agreed: "Yes!"
Liu Jingxiao also said: "Can your army borrow some mules, horses and carts to transport the wounded to us? We promise to withdraw from the battlefield and return it immediately."
Tan Yan was a little skeptical, and the Hunan Army did not have many mules, horses and carts. Liu Jingxiao promised it at this time: "We are willing to exchange some ammunition and food for food."
When Tan Yan heard this, he immediately agreed: "Yes!"
At that time, Liu Jingxiao had accumulated supplies, grain and grass on the front line, and from Zhao Li Bridge to the warehouse behind, there were more than 700,000 kilograms, and more than 300,000 kilograms of weapons and ammunition. Liu Jingxiao knew that it was impossible to take away all the supplies, and was willing to do a favor.
Of course, Wanyan Yuzhuo gave supplies in advance and was hungry. As a result, many combat supplies were not suitable. For example, there are now 2,000 three-pound shells, but Liu Jingxiao's troops did not have a three-pound cannon. Instead, the Hunan Army had a large number of three-pound cannons, and there were many similar situations.
Liu Jingxiao then took out all inappropriate materials from the baggage ammunition, created a roster, and handed over to Tan Yan. When the Hunan Army saw that Liu Jingxiao had signs of withdrawing from the battlefield, they also stopped the attack.
The supplies that Liu Jingxiao does not need can be said to be timely rain for the Hunan Army. The Hunan Army itself does not have an arsenal, so weapons and ammunition are already short of weapons and ammunition. The ammunition for attacking Hubei this time was tricked from Wang Zichun the last time, but after these days of hard fighting, the ammunition from the Hunan Army was only in two days of stock, and the materials were transported from the rear urgently.
The Hunan Army has a large army and many types of weapons, so all the ammunitions of Liu Jingxiao can be used by the Hunan Army. As soon as the Hunan Army estimated that the more than 100,000 kilograms of ammunition sent by Liu Jingxiao would not be a problem for another ten days, so I felt that this matter was very beneficial to both sides. In order to express my welcome, I immediately sent hundreds of rubber wheel trucks and more than 300 pack mule and horses to help Liu Jingxiao transport supplies.
In addition, Liu Jingxiao asked the troops to bring only one day's military ration, and there were a lot of leftover military rations and vegetables. The Hunan Army fought on the front line, and on the one hand, it implemented on-site requisition (but most of the materials near the front line have been bought out by Guo Junqing), and on the other hand, it was asked the rear to deliver materials, but the troops' materials were still consumed very much. In the next two days, it was probably the point where the food was out of stock, so it was very welcome.
In the afternoon of that day, envoys from both sides continued to travel, and there was no gunfire on the front line. However, the Dingbian Army still maintained a state of fighting to guard against the Hunan Army's sudden breach of the contract and attack.
As soon as the night came, Liu Jingxiao immediately assembled the troops. Murong Xuehai Regiment walked in the front, and the headquarters and the direct team followed suit. A large number of baggage and wounded soldiers were protected by a relatively complete retraining camp. Behind them was the main force of the troops, and the rear was Liu Jingxiao's most basic cavalry battalion. However, the cavalry battalion now has only more than 200 people left in the entire battalion, so Fu Sbo volunteered to lead two hunting soldiers to the end.
The Second Fleet had a "hunting army" system, with five people in one army. Liu Jingxiao didn't care about these hunters in the early days, but the hunters repeatedly killed Hunan Army gunners in front of the formation, causing the battle situation of Zhao Liqiao to turn danger into safety, and actually made Liu Jingxiao look at them with admiration.
In addition, Fu Sifu and Hua Yueying brought a company of infantry. Although they were not satisfied, they performed well in Zhao Liqiao's combat. Taiwan is indeed rich, its equipment is the best in the entire army and its combat effectiveness is also strong.
At the end, Ding Ning's cavalry company was also at the end, but their horses were all borrowed by Liu Jingxiao to transport supplies, so Ding Ning took the initiative to lead his company to cut off the rear. Although her company did not participate in the formal actual combat in this battle, she also gained a lot of experience.
Liu Jingxiao took advantage of the night to retreat the troops through the maple forest and moved to the rear of Cheng Yune's brigade. He also sent someone to Wuhan to ride a fast horse to inform Wanyan Yuzhuo of his own movements, which was of great importance, so Liu Jingxiao did not dare to send a telegram to Wanyan Yuzhuo.
Cheng Yune was immediately on the front line of the battlefield. After discovering the movements of Liu Jingxiao's troops, Liu Jingxiao had already led his troops to run away.
Cheng Yune caught Liu Jingxiao off guard. In this situation, Cheng Lu also decided to retreat to the rear of Liu Jingxiao's army. They did not have much supplies and moved quickly. Soon they occupied the mountains near Tingsi Bridge and set up a defensive posture, which was quite unfavorable to Liu Jingxiao's army.
At dawn, Liu Jingxiao had led his troops north along Tingsi Bridge. Liu Jingxiao personally went to Murong Xuehai to press the formation. Cheng Lu saw that Liu Jingxiao's division was in a strict and had great combat power, so he did not dare to stop it.
After Liu Jingxiao led his troops across Tingsi Bridge, he turned to the northeast under the guidance of Mengding Kingdom, went to Xianning for a brief rest, and then prepared to cross the Yangtze River.
Liu Jingxiao can retreat, but Cheng Yune can no longer retreat.
Tingsi Bridge is the last line of defense in Wuchang City. From then on, it is only more than fifty miles to Wuchang City. The road is flat and there is no danger to defend, so Cheng Yun and Elu can only defend it locally.
Shortly after Liu Jingxiao walked out of Tingsi Bridge, gunfires began to rise on the front line. Cheng Yune sent people to ask for help from Liu Jingxiao many times, but Liu Jingxiao ignored them all, and Murong Xuehai said to the special envoy for help: "We are in Wuxue to attack the Hunan Army under the order of Deputy Envoy Chen. I am really sorry..."
This is to use his skills to apply to the other person, and the messenger who asked for help ran back with his tail between his tail.
Under the guidance of Meng Dingguo, Liu Jingxiao drove the troops to Wuxue to rest. Cheng Yune sent someone to write a letter to Meng Dingguo for help. Meng Dingguo was angry. When he thought of his old friends who had been in trouble for more than ten years, he refused to send a battalion of reinforcements, and immediately tore the letter into pieces.
The further he went, the more envoys Cheng Yune asked for help. There was news that the two battalions on the front line of Cheng Ru were bitten heavily by the Hunan Army. Everyone praised each other and wished the Hunan Army a wonderful and fierce battle.
When he arrived on the edge of the Yangtze River, Liu Jingxiao sent another battalion of troops to escort the Hunan Army's mule heavy troops all the way back. Meng Dingguo used his connections to find a small steamer to start crossing the river.
When the vanguard crossed the river, dozens of people stood on the opposite mountain, holding rifles and firing a few shots into the sky, as if they were hostile. As a result, Meng Dingguo got off the shore and asked the president of the Wuxue Chamber of Commerce, saying, "Did you know that I'm back, so I sent someone to beat me?"
Meng Dingguo is a well-known figure in the local area. When the Chamber of Commerce saw him, he knew that this army of unknown origin was easy to deal with. He quickly said, "Everywhere, there are all ignorant kids. I thought the Hunan Army had only shot a few shots after crossing the river. Dingguo, you are back, so that's easy to deal with!"
Meng Dingguo immediately asked the Chamber of Commerce to get two more boats. Liu Jingxiao still had a lot of cash around him, so he immediately paid the ship's capital. The three small steamer ships took more than two days to transport the troops and supplies across the river. When the express delivery was completed, a battalion that escorted the Hunan Army's baggage troops also came back.
After the entire army arrived at Wuxue, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Wuxue has an office of Shanghai Industrial Bank, but the office is really powerful. It actually got Liu Jingxiao 50,000 yuan in foreign countries. With Liu Jingxiao's existing tens of thousands of oceans, Liu Jingxiao threw money and bribed the officers and soldiers.
Each of the wounded was given eight yuan, and the military pay was settled according to the double pay. The rewards that should be paid were not a small amount. All the soldiers who had made meritorious were prepared to be promoted. Anyway, the military officers were short of military officers, and the burning and pension expenses were settled.
Liu Jingxiao strictly observed military discipline. As for the procurement of materials, the Chamber of Commerce came forward to negotiate. Liu Jingxiao asked Duan Zhijie to temporarily organize military police to strictly investigate military discipline. After shooting two soldiers who violated orders, the Wuxue elders thought that Liu Jingxiao's army had excellent military discipline. Not only did they not distribute money, but they also made it profitable for merchants to buy and sell things. Therefore, local people welcomed Liu Jingxiao to stay here temporarily.
This was a joy. Liu Jingxiao decided to rename the Cavalry Battalion, Li He's Battalion, and Xiao Rulang Battalion respectively, respectively, and the Second Regiment, Third Regiment and Fourth Regiment. In addition, since the Zhou regiment was not fully organized, the remaining more than 1,100 people in the Zhou regiment were added to the Third Regiment, and all officers were retained at the original level.
However, when Guo Junqing saw that Liu Jingxiao was about to be promoted to an officer in large numbers, he said, "The key is whether he can fight or not. To promote so many people... This is very dangerous! If our Dingbian Army did not have the training in Rehe for those few months, how long can we last in Yangloudong..."
This is really a good word. Liu Jingxiao also felt that Rehe had great results in training troops at the beginning, so she changed the training camp to the Hubei Army First Division Suiba School, and was still the principal of the self-selected person, and Duan Zhijie was responsible for the vice principal.
Liu Jingxiao ordered that all cadres who want to be promoted should go to the camp school to study. Of course, several regiment leaders were temporarily instructors, but Liu Jingxiao did not relax with them. They reviewed the gains and losses of the Yangloudong combat experience and wrote a lot of combat reviews.
Based on these reviews, Liu Jingxiao and the officers wrote the famous "Compilation of Hunan-Hubei War Materials" which is the best in the dream of war history enthusiasts. Many true classic war history works are quoted, but unfortunately they are hidden in archives and are not allowed to see them at first.
On the other hand, everyone is still paying attention to the results of the front line. The Hunan Army was helped by Liu Jingxiao and had three reinforcements from another brigade, and they worked very hard. Therefore, Cheng Lu was attacked by the Hunan Army in the Tingsiqiao area, with heavy casualties. He sent people here several times to ask for assistance. Liu Jingxiao replied: "The Hunan Army is about to cross the river and besiege Wuxue, so I am ordered to stay here."
This is nonsense, but Cheng Lu's messenger could only whisper: "Teacher Liu, the fact that Ting Siqiao's battle is urgent, you can just pull us..."
Chapter completed!