On September 3, 1920, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War officially began. Qi Xieyuan and Lu Yongxiang's troops exchanged fire in Yixing, Jiangsu, and both sides suffered casualties.

Jiangdong Province also started moving. Supervisor Sun Kaiqin was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai coalition forces, and Duan Haixiang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the provincial army, responsible for extermination of Chen Zikun entrenched in the Jiangbei area.

Since Duan Haixiang suffered a good relationship with Chen Zikun since his defeat last time, but he still wanted to avenge the arrow. He arranged the army on the south bank, dug fortifications and built trenches, and put on a defensive posture, but secretly gathered ships and prepared to line up into a floating bridge and cross the river to the north.

This is the idea that Xia Jingqi came up with. The so-called "never tired of deceit" is to deal with the cunning Chen Zikun, you have to be smarter than him.

Although the war ended, the normal exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were not interrupted. Cargo ships carrying coal and tung oil were sailing freely in the Huai River. The two sides sent a lot of detailed investigations into military information. Every day, Xia Jingqi would take a boat to the river, use a telescope to observe the north shore, and investigate the movements of the Jiangbei army.

Jiangbei not only practiced crossing the river, but also laid many rafts as a supplement to the shortage of ferries. It seemed that he had made up his mind to go south.

At the front command of the provincial army, there was a sand table on the table. Staff Xia and a group of young and powerful officers who graduated from the Army Military Academy stood beside each other. Duan Haixiang came in from outside surrounded by guards and horsemen, laughing and laughing: "What's good news today?"

Xia Jingqi said: "When I returned to the commander, I started to build a raft in the north. It seems that I am dedicated to crossing the river and beating us."

Duan Haixiang said: "Last time, they took some advantage. I really think that old Duan is easy to bully. If I don't beat Xiao Chen's shit this time, I won't be Duan's surname."

Xia Jingqi said: "A arrogant army will be defeated, not to mention that our army has an overwhelming advantage. As long as the floating bridge is built, we can drive straight into Nantai and attack Jiangbei. We can take the troops into Xuzhou and capture Qi Xieyuan's retreat."

Duan Haixiang said: "It's ridiculous that Chen Zikun is about to be destroyed, and he is still dreaming of crossing the river with a great autumn dream."

Everyone laughed.

Xia Jingqi suddenly knelt down and said, "Commander, please make the decision for the humble one!"

Duan Haixiang quickly helped him: "Staff General Xia said this, please get up quickly."

Xia Jingqi said: "Bizhi's father was killed by Chen Zikun. Please ask the commander to avenge this bloody revenge for Beizhi."

Duan Haixiang said: "You have family feuds, I have national hatred. The Jiangbei army is composed of a group of bandits and bandits. This time I fought Jiangbei, I will definitely kill them. Although Chen Zikun let me go, it was a personal friendship. In the face of major issues, this commander will never be nostalgic. Don't worry, I will hand Chen Zikun over to you to deal with it, but don't harm the innocent, and his family will not need to pursue it."

Xia Jingqi said: "Thank you, Commander!"

Duan Haixiang said: "Come on, let's develop a detailed plan to cross the river."

...

When the provincial army built a plank road and crossed Chencang secretly, the Jiangbei army was also busy. Although they appeared to cross the river, they actually repaired the city walls, excavated fortifications, and stored food and ammunition. Chen Zikun's two wives were also sent to Xuzhou and took a train north to Beijing to avoid the war.

In the evening, the camp outside Nantai City sounded the assembly call. Five hundred soldiers in gray and blue summer cloth uniforms quickly gathered on the school ground. They were completely different from other brothers from the Seventh Mixed Brigade. They were wearing regular military uniforms, large-brimmed hats decorated with five-color star badges, cowhide bullet boxes hanging on their belts, and leggings were tied to their knees. The rifle was a brand new German Mauser, with a military rank collar and eaves on them, and a white armband was wrapped on their arms, with the word "Sun" written on them.

This is the standard outfit of the provincial military police brigade.

Chen Zikun walked over with a sword in a military uniform, and after reviewing the troops, he began to speak: "Brothers, I have trained you for so long. On the other side of the Huai River, there are 60,000 provincial troops. We can't beat him, so we can only take out his old nest. Brothers, wealth and honor are in danger. Whether to eat delicious food or eat braised vegetables in the future, it depends on this time."

As he said that, he took off his hat and knelt on the ground: "Brothers, I, Chen Zikun, kowtow to you first!"

Five hundred brothers knelt down in unison, and five hundred knees made a shocking sound on the campus.

Five hundred wine bowls were filled with the strong wine made from Huaijiang River and Nantai red sorghum. Chen Zikun held up the wine bowl and said, "Dry!" After drinking, he threw the bowl on the ground. The brothers also gulped the wine, and the five hundred bowls broke into the smoke and dust.

Chen Zikun took out his pocket watch to look at the time and whispered: "Go away!"

It started drizzling in the sky, and the troops put on straw raincoats and hats, and went out overnight.

At the same time, the steam cargo ship parked at the Nantai Wharf was filled with coal and set sail quietly, but as soon as it reached the middle of the river, a dazzling beam of light shot over, which was the gunboat of the Provincial Water Police Corps.

In order to prevent the Jiangbei Army from forcing the crossing of the Huai River, Sun Kaiqin also rowed several gunboats from the Water Police Corps to Sun Kaiqin to inspect the ships from Nantai. During the war, even ships with British flags were inspected.

The water police jumped over to check it out. The cabin was filled with white coal, and there was nothing wrong with it. After receiving routine filial piety, the cargo ship went forward for dozens of miles again, and landed at Jiangwan. It took several hours to dump all the white coal in the cabin into the river, revealing a huge object buried in the coal pile. The oil cloth attached to it turned out to be a black British Rover sedan.

A few hours later, people came from the shore. Chen Zikun personally led 500 Hu Ben to Jiangwan in the rain, which was also the last suitable place for boarding. Then, there was a undulating area, and the river boat could not dock.

Five hundred soldiers threw down their straw raincoats and boarded the boat one after another. An autumn rain and a cold, the cabin was dry and warm, and the tired soldiers leaned on the bulkhead and gradually fell asleep.

Chen Zikun was not asleep. After he and Zeng Jiao patrol the entire ship, they came to the bridge and looked at the dark river with a telescope. It was raining tonight, and all the river ships stopped sailing. Only this fake ancient ship rang out loud and the motor was riding the wind and waves.

After a night, I approached the waters of the provincial capital. In broad daylight, the troop ship did not dare to dock, so I anchored and rested in the shallow water area of ​​the north shore. Five hundred people hid in the cabin. It was summer and the sun was in the sky. Although it was covered by tarpaulins, many people still fainted from heatstroke. So many people ate, drank and defecated in the narrow space, and the smell was so scented that they were extremely uncomfortable.

In the captain's room, Chen Zikun, dressed in casual clothes, observed the provincial capital on the other side with a telescope. Although the provincial army was under the south of the Yangtze River, there was still an elite security brigade and two newly formed brigades. It is still unknown whether his five hundred troops could successfully capture the provincial capital.

...

At the same time, the provincial army troops three hundred miles away began to operate. The twelve German Grusen 57 mountain cannons and twenty-four Japanese 31 style 75mm rapid-fire mountain cannons, and hundreds of shells were poured out. The Northern Army's position was blown up in a mess. The semi-finished rafts were blown up, and the ships parked on the shore also ignited a raging fire.

Through the telescope, Duan Haixiang saw the smoke sticks rising from the other side and said proudly: "Chen Zikun, it is impolite to come but not go. Feng Shui takes turns, and it's time for you to suffer today."

The ferry force has boarded the ship and is waiting for the commander's order. The first wave of attack is very risky and the casualty rate is extremely high. No senior officer is willing to lead the team. Xia Jingqi volunteered as the division chief, and Duan Haixiang promoted him to the lieutenant colonel commander on the spot, leading the reorganized 11th Regiment as a pioneer to cross the river.

The wind was slight and the Yi Shuihan. Commander Xia led his subordinates to fight for thousands of sails and rushed to the north bank. When he reached the center of the river, the north bank opened fire. The bullets of the heavy machine gun fired a series of high water columns in the river. The officers and soldiers were so scared that they lay on the board of the boat and did not dare to move. Xia Jingqi held his pistol and stood on the bow of the boat, silently moving.

The provincial artillery continued to open fire to suppress the other shore, and guns and cannons were heard. Yan Su, the frontier commander of the Jiangbei Army, ordered the troops to retreat when the enemy's artillery fire was too fierce.

In fact, there was only one regiment on the front line. The retreat was orderly, retreated to a position three miles away from the river, jumped into the already dug trenches, and rode them up one by one, waiting for the arrival of the provincial army.

The provincial army ships successfully landed on the riverside. From a distance, the Jiangbei army had already retreated and lost all the supplies on the ground. Xia Jingqi was overjoyed and waved his pistol: "Brothers, shoot Nantai and don't seal the sword for three days!"

The soldiers yelled and rushed forward, but a burst of shells fell down, and the explosions were overturned. The most annoying thing was that this was not the shells fired by the Jiangbei army, but their own people were firing. The provincial army had no idea of ​​infantry and artillery coordination. It had already landed here, and the artillery in the rear continued to fire according to the adjusted ruler. It would be strange if it did not blow up its own people.

Xia Jingqi urgently ordered his subordinates to retreat, scolded the artillery for being blind and quickly sent the fast ship back to report Duan Haixiang, and the artillery ceased to stop fire.

In any case, a regiment of 600 people from the provincial army had already landed on the north shore. Even if the battle was half won, Duan Haixiang was overjoyed and ordered the entire army to cross. Hundreds of sailboats transported soldiers and supplies and sailed to the north shore. However, the ships were too small, and this method of moving ants was extremely inefficient. Only more than 1,000 people were transported in two hours, and they were all light infantry.

Duan Haixiang was not anxious, he had a chance of winning, "Brothers, I will have breakfast in Nantai tomorrow, I will treat you to egg-fried buns."

The officers were filled with flattery.

...

On the north bank, in the trench, Yan Su raised his telescope and looked into the distance. The provincial army was very smart and did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he established a beachhead position to guard against the enemy's counterattack.

Gai Longquan said: "Chief of Staff, fight, I will take my brothers over and promise to drive them into the water."

Yan Su said: "No hurry, there are too few people here, not enough to be stuck between the teeth."

Gai Longquan laughed: "Chief of Staff, you are also a ruthless person."

Yan Su smiled indifferently. He was full of momentum on his lips, but his heart was full of ups and downs, 5,000 to 60,000. This battle could not be fought at all. Now it depends on whether the old fisherman's words can be fulfilled.

Suddenly a lightning bolt broke through the sky, then thunder rumbled, heavy rain poured in, strong winds whistled, visibility became extremely low in an instant, the river water was roaring, and the provincial army's troops transport ships started to turn in the middle of the river.

The raindrops hit the fortification tent, and the trenches instantly turned into a vast ocean, but Yan Su breathed a sigh of relief. The old fishermen's judgment of the weather was correct, and the heavy rain came too timely.

Xia Jingqi sighed to the sky, the heavy rain was too sudden, there was already a storm in autumn, and reinforcements on the south bank could not come. If he went deep alone, wouldn’t he become someone else’s pocket?
Chapter completed!