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Text Chapter 174: One battle determines the southwest (4)

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    Dupang Ridge, one of the five ridges in the Nanling Mountains, originates from southwest Hunan and ends in northeast Guangxi.  The border between Hunan and Guangxi cuts Dupan Ridge in half with a knife. The intersection of this ridge and the boundary is Yong'an Pass.  In the era when the Guangxi Wolf Army became famous, countless wealthy men set out from here to join the Han family in the Central Plains to fight against foreign enemies.

    In the m¨¦ngm¨¦ng sky, there is neither the beautiful scenery of the Mist Lock Castle nor the remains of the fort. The former Yong'an ancient battlefield is already covered with green.  At this time of day, there should be no people on the cobbled pass road. After all, the reputation of the bandits in western Hunan is too great. Even if they have been beaten to nothing by the National Defense Forces, even if the few remaining ones hide in the depths of the mountains to fend for themselves, business travelers do not dare to do so.  Take risks easily.

    But today is something special. Nearly a thousand Gui soldiers in disheveled uniforms, with their heads lowered and gritted teeth, silently walking towards the pass. Lu Rongting, who is in his fifties, is riding on a horse with bloodshot eyes and a tired look. Dozens of soldiers are standing next to him.  From time to time there were sounds of crying among the Ru family members.

    Lu Yuxun¡¯s face was covered in mud and his uniform was stained with blood. A fierce battle only made him a little more wild like his father.  Seeing Yong'an Pass right in front, he wiped his face with his sleeve: "After Yong'an Pass, you will reach Hunan. When Yang Qiu was suppressing bandits in western Hunan, he was afraid that the bandits would break into Guangxi, so he stationed a camp on it. Do you want to send someone to report it first?  sound to avoid misunderstanding."

    Lu Rongting nodded and asked Lu Yuxun to contact him personally. He got off his horse and took a look at his family members. He walked to the soldiers and said, "Let's all rest here. If I, Lu Rongting, can make a comeback in the future, I will never forget all the brothers who are accompanying me."

    The soldiers responded and sat down on the ground. Chen Bingkun, who had escaped together, saw that there was no warning, so he asked Tan Haoming to lead people to the front for deployment.  Lu Rongting shook his head when he saw this: "The deployment is nothing. Let everyone rest after running all night. Stop messing around."

    Chen Bingkun came over and said worriedly: "Captain, I'm not telling you that you must be on guard against others! Don't you think it's strange that Tang Jiyao suddenly came to Guangxi? Moreover, Yang Qiu's troops have just started encirclement and suppression, and he came before a battle was fought.  , inside"

    Lu Rongting is not a fool. He has been in Guangxi and Vietnam for so many years. How could he do it without some skills?  So I felt like I was in the mirror, even if Yang Qiu didn't do anything wrong.  Tang Jiyao must have been expelled to Guizhou on purpose, but what's the use of saying this now?  At present, the only one who can save himself and Guangxi is him and his illustrious National Defense Force.  So the old man glared and said: "Remember what I said! Tang Jiyao entered Guangxi without permission and killed innocent people indiscriminately. Everyone can kill him!"

    Chen Bingkun has followed him for so many years.  Naturally, he heard the meaning, and Tan Haoming nodded quickly and did not dare to mention it again.  A moment later, the sound of neat footsteps came from the direction of Yong'an Pass. After Tan Haoming helped Lu Rongting get up, he saw a group of fully armed National Defense Force soldiers running over.

    As a veteran soldier who has been fighting with guns for decades, even without formal education and training, this group of soldiers made Lu Rongting feel pricked in the eyes, especially because all the bayonets on their armed belts were neatly worn.  Some understand why Yang Qiu can rise so strongly.

    When he was young, he captured a French businessman. The businessman used to be an army officer. He still remembers what the French guy said.  The quality of an army depends on its bayonet, because the bayonet is very small and is rarely worn except for assassination training. Therefore, soldiers are most likely to forget the bayonet when they are dispatched in an emergency. If an army arrives in a hurry, if the bayonet is intact, it will definitely  They are elite soldiers who have undergone the most rigorous training.

    Yong'an Pass is just a small place on the border of western Hunan.  A unit stationed in a remote area can still maintain the integrity of its ordnance after receiving an order to suddenly dispatch. This shows that the grassroots officers of this unit are very solid. They can train continuously every day without supervision and always keep the soldiers in the best condition.  state.

    "Ge Chengyuan, the second lieutenant commander of the 18th Infantry Brigade of the National Defense Force, met with Governor Lu." The 22-year-old Ge Chengyuan was one of the soldiers who left with Qiu Wenbin. After returning to Wuchang, he saw that he was not reused, and Sun Wu and others  He also fought for power and profit, so he returned to Yang Qiu with him and participated in the Northern Expedition and the defense of Xiaogan.  Later, he entered the second phase of the crash course for officers at the National Defense University. After the bandit suppression in western Hunan, he was transferred to the company commander to replace him. Because of his outstanding performance, he was recently appointed as the battalion commander.

    In fact, he has already received the order from the division headquarters and has been waiting for Lu Rongting here for a long time. After seeing him, he immediately said: "The Commander-in-Chief can rest assured that he is safe here. Our department has been authorized and will do everything possible to ensure the Commander-in-Chief's safety."

    Of course, Lu Rongting didn't know that he had received the order earlier. He just thought that Yang Qiu was closely monitoring the surrounding provinces and that the news of Guilin had spread here overnight. He nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Ge. I don't know Commander Yang?"

    Ge Chengyuan smiled slightly: "Commander, please rest assured, our brigade commander Hang arrived from Xiangxi Starry Night last night. As long as you say a word, Commander, our 18th Brigade will immediately enter the customs and go straight to Guilin!"

    A young second lieutenant dared to say that he wanted to take Guilin directly.Chen Bingkun felt a little arrogant. Although Tang Jiyao's troops suffered heavy losses during the attack on Guilin, with the supplies left in the city, they could recover in one night.  Wang Zhixiang and the Guizhou Army troops in Liuzhou will definitely move north to join forces and rush for reinforcements. More than 10,000 soldiers with high morale are backed by the strong city and rely on an infantry brigade that will take at least two days to arrive.

    Before the cold snort in his heart ended, he heard another rustling sound coming from the direction of Yong'an Pass.  The sound was very strange, like something rubbing on the sand, but not as heavy as a carriage wheel.  Before everyone could figure out what it was, a large number of soldiers suddenly appeared on the pass. What made everyone even more stunned was that each of these soldiers was actually riding a bicycle made by a foreigner.

    Since this section is downhill, these National Defense Force soldiers on bicycles flew past the eyes of the Gui Army soldiers like sharp arrows.  Lu Yuxun also bought a bicycle from a foreigner a few years ago, so he immediately noticed that these bicycles were unusual. Not only had the style been changed, but the materials looked much stronger, and there was an extra shelf at the back.  In order to facilitate riding, the long rifles were all inserted into the downward-sloping gun bags at the horizontal bars. Even the machine guns were made into special bags, and all the marching equipment was placed on the shelves at the rear of the car.

    "***, why didn't I think of how to use it?" Lu Yuxun slapped his forehead hard, but unexpectedly, the pain in his forehead was not over yet.  Lu Rongting slapped him on the back of the head again, and said angrily: "If you have such ability, how could I lose Guilin City!" The conversation provoked a burst of snickering from everyone around, and even Ge Chengyuan admitted that the two father and son had the same charisma of Qiu Ba.  The taste is very suitable for military personnel.

    The soldiers on bicycles were about the size of a reinforced battalion. They quickly arrived at the foot of the mountain and then stopped and started to line up. At this time, another transport team of packhorses came from behind, and the first two officers of the horse team walked quickly.

    "Cai Jimin (Hang Zhi) met Governor Lu."

    Lu Rongting was shocked after announcing his home status, and it was not surprising that Hang Zhi showed up.  After all, Ge Chengyuan just said that he would personally lead the team, but Cai Jimin is a senior staff officer at the General Staff of the National Defense Forces!  Although he is not as famous as the others, he is also one of the backbones who fought alongside Yang Qiu in the Hubei War.

    "Father-in-law, look." After just a few words of greeting, Lu Rongting was quietly pulled away by his son-in-law.  I glanced sideways and saw several war horses passing by. It was not unusual to see war horses, but what was strange was that these horses actually carried the gun barrel and gun frame, and even had wheels on them!  Can it be split, how many horses can carry a cannon?  With this sharp weapon, what else is there to fear in the deep canyon?

    Seeing Lu Rongting and other Guangxi officers in a daze looking at the three 70mm mountain cannons brought for testing, Cai Jimin and Hang Zhi looked at each other and smiled: "Director Lu, I will ask Battalion Commander Ge to protect you and go to Changsha to rest. You can rest assured about the rest.  , the commander has ordered that all forces be used to liberate Guilin and Liuzhou, and we will definitely seek justice for you and the people of Guangxi."

    Can I come back from Changsha now?  They even brought out Western bicycles and detachable cannons, so I just had to cooperate obediently!  Lu Rongting immediately glared at Cai Jimin angrily: "I'm not even seventy or eighty yet." He turned around and grabbed the rifle from Tan Haoming's hand, and shouted to the Gui army who had escaped together: "Master Yang is here to avenge us, he Tang Jiyao  No matter how hard you beat me, I will fight you back! Those who are not afraid of death will fight back with me."

    It¡¯s normal to be angry when someone with great power falls away.  What's more, it could be seen from his words that he already had a heart to surrender, so Hang Zhi didn't get angry and bumped into Cai Jimin quietly: "Lu Baiyi's temper is really not something to brag about."

    "It is a rare person to be able to vent his anger with just a few curse words at this time." Cai Jimin smiled slightly and called Ge Chengyuan: "Captain Lu and his family will be temporarily handed over to your protection. The telegraph operator will arrive and let him know immediately.  Send a report to the commander and find out that Lu Rongting is heading to Guilin with our unit."

    After Ge Chengyuan saluted.  The two of them chased Lu Rongting with long strides.

    When Lu Rongting arrived at Yong'an Pass, Yang Qiu and Jiang Fangzhen also rushed outside Liuzhou City. The 14th Brigade, which was chasing Liu Xianshi, was preparing to attack. A regiment from the 15th Brigade also arrived in the north and began to build a position to cut off the connection between Liuzhou and Guilin.  The telegraph line was cut off by soldiers who arrived early last night before the siege began.

    There are almost no traces of fighting on the walls of Liuzhou City through the telescope, and no large number of corpses were found around it. This shows that with Wang Zhixiang's internal response, yesterday's fighting was concentrated in the city, and the Gui army was caught off guard and the entire front was lost.

    Like Guilin, the walls of Liuzhou City are all made of one-meter-long bluestones. This gave Wang Zhixiang, who was hiding behind the city, a lot of confidence. He patted the thick bluestones and said, "Don't be nervous, Ruzhou. Cannons can't blast through such a thick stone."  The city wall. Just a mixed association wants to run wild, but there are no doors."

    Liu Xianshi naturally didn't think so. The scene of the changing of the King's Flag in Guiyang City was still fresh in his memory, so he quietly winked at his confidant, "After he went to make preparations to retreat from the north gate if something changed, he pointed at the mortars being set up in the distance with a solemn expression: "What Mr. Tie said makes sense, but it's better to be careful. They are so small."  The cannon is very powerful.¡±

    Wang Zhixiang just thought he was scared out of his wits. The bigger the cannon is, the more powerful it is. Can a few cannon barrels do it?  After Chongjiu, he gave up the position of governor to Lu Rongting's Qiu Ba, and took more than 2,000 close soldiers to escape to Nandan just for today!  Beifang has been contacted, and he should give it a try even for his son's future.

    The dream of finding a future for his son in front of Yuan Shikai was suddenly torn apart by several violent explosions before it even began.  The first to fire were the six 120mm mortars that had been positioned to support the brigade. The power of the nearly 15 kilogram shells had exceeded that of the 105mm howitzers, and the imported TNT yellow se** was even more powerful.

    Yan Kai, who is behind the artillery observation mirror, is also a veteran artilleryman from the 1st Artillery Regiment. He has a deep-rooted belief that artillery is king. As one of the first officers to learn how to use mortars, he fell in love with mortars from the first time he saw live ammunition firing.  gun.  It is even suggested to get a 200mm extra-large model.  Seeing that the first shot deviated from the target, he immediately corrected: "Distance 733 meters, bearing 47, wind direction southwest, left deflection, correction, rapid fire!"

    After revising the coordinates, six 120mm mortars bombarded the Gui army at a rate of 10 rounds per minute. Later, nine 80mm mortars also joined in. In just 5 minutes, they fired at the troops hiding behind the city wall.  The Gui Army and Liu Xianshi's Guizhou Army threw 600 artillery shells!  So much so that the empty ammunition boxes behind the position were piled up into hills.

    The firepower density of the same unit within the same period of time would have ranked first in the country, if it were not for the large number of residents in Liuzhou City.  The problem of propellant still needs to be solved, and artillery alone can completely solve the problem.  So when Jiang Fangzhen saw the ammunition box that was still being opened, he couldn't help but turn around and ask: "Inspector, don't you think it's a waste?"

    Yang Qiu did not answer, but said calmly: "My request is 10 minutes of fire coverage."

    10 minutes later, Lei Meng stuck out his tongue and still hadn¡¯t figured it out.  Jiang Fangzhen slapped him on the shoulder: "Don't forget it, if it's full, 1,500 rounds will melt the city wall!"

    Jiang Fangzhen found a place to sit down. He understood that Yang Qiu wanted to use this to establish his authority. After seeing this artillery fire, it would be much easier to recruit the Gui army in the future.  There is no suspense in Liuzhou. If Tang Jiyao is smart and breaks out now, he may still have a way to survive. Unfortunately, after the telegraph line is broken, he cannot know the situation here.  This battle will be over when the encirclement is completed tomorrow night.  Now that the news about Guangxi has spread, are Nanjing and Beijing already messing around?

    He guessed right, Nanjing was indeed in chaos.

    From the capital to being reduced to a mere companion, something seems to have been taken away from the city after handing over real power.  The Presidential Palace has become a joke, and the Provisional Parliament is even more idle. In the words of the old janitor, Nanjing has such a royal atmosphere that it will never come back after it was moved during the Zhu Di reign.

    "Compared with the chaos of hundreds of thousands of troops half a year ago, the city at this moment has returned to its original state.  The Jinling Arsenal was barely able to survive because of Yuan Shikai's funding. The only thing that increased was a foreign car with four wheels that sprayed black smoke. The revolutionary upstarts used this method to show off and display their status. After the election,  After receiving funding from Beijing, the caretaker government in Nanjing, which was about to end its mission, purchased thirty vehicles at one time for the transportation of government officials. It is said that after hearing that his money was being wasted in this way, Yuan Shikai was so angry that he did not speak for a whole day.

    Zhang Jizhi, who never lags behind others, also bought one.  He has now resigned from the position of Minister of Industry of the Nanjing Government. As the leader of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang constitutionalists, Yuan Shikai did not forget to win over this "good man" who reminded him of Sun Wen's three major conditions, and made him the director-general of agriculture and commerce and the director-general of national water conservancy.  But as soon as he opened the door of Huang Xing's office, he saw this tall Democratic Party figure stumbling.  If Li Shucheng hadn't had quick eyesight and quick hands to catch him, he might have fallen down.

    The short and fat Li Yuanhong next to him also hurriedly stood up to help him. This scene made Zhang Jizong realize that something big had happened. After he was helped to sit down, he pulled Li Shucheng and asked: "Xiaoyuan, what's wrong?"

    Li Shucheng sighed: "Something big happened in Guangxi!"

    "What happened in Guangxi?" Although Zhang Jizhi no longer cares about Nanjing, he is still very clear about the major events. He asked in surprise: "Didn't Yang Qiu go to Guizhou and Yunnan?"

    Huang Keqiang calmed down and stamped his feet: "It was Guizhou that caused the trouble! Tang Jiyao was so frightened by Yang Qiu's tens of thousands of troops that he turned south and captured Guilin and Liuzhou in Guangxi! Lu Rongting's family is now dead."

    "What!"

    Li Shucheng continued: "Yang Qiu sent the news first yesterday. The ministers from various countries stationed in Guilin also sent telegrams this morning, and they also said that Tang Jiyao"

    "What's wrong? It's not the same as Guiyang!" Li Yuanhong snorted angrily.  He joined the National Socialist PartyAfterwards, his enthusiasm for politics suddenly became much higher, and the vice president's posture also increased, obviously preparing to use his remaining energy.  Li Shucheng nodded: "The British Minister sent us a message. Last night, Tang Jiyao ordered a city-wide manhunt. He took the opportunity to rob countless merchants, and the prostitutes who were raped were countless! This morning, he also ordered that thirty members of the Guangxi Consultative Council be arrested.  Many congressmen have been killed! Yang Qiu has called, demanding that the National Defense Force be granted the right to use all power to ensure peace in Guangxi!"

    "Give it! It must be given! Even if it means breaking the law, we must seize this Tang Jiyao and take him back to Nanjing for public trial to rectify the country's laws." Li Yuanhong was trembling with fat all over, and he didn't know whether he was really angry or asking for power on behalf of Yang Qiu.  Only Huang Keqiang reacted quickly: "No! This matter started because Yang Qiuxian went to war. How can he go to Guangxi again if he can't pick it clean himself? Xiaoyuan, please send a report to Zhantang (characterized by Hu Hanmin) immediately, he should have arrived  Guangzhou, let him discuss with Chen Jiongming and Long Jiguang and immediately send troops to Guangxi to capture Tang Jiyao."

    These words made Li Yuanhong a little dissatisfied. They all said that he was selfish, but at this moment, Yang Qiu's troops were obviously closer, but he wanted to transfer troops from Guangdong to distant places.  What's more, Long Jiguang was originally from Guangxi and had a very bad relationship with Chen Jiongming. He had no choice but to do so because he held military power. What was the difference between letting him return to Guangxi and letting the tiger return home?  Moreover, Lu Rongting also had a lot of grudges with him, and this return would definitely trigger a civil war in Guangxi!

    But he did not express any objection, because he had already vaguely guessed that Tang Jiyao's sudden U-turn to go south to attack Guilin must have something to do with Yang Qiu. Maybe this was Yang Qiu's plan, and the National Defense Forces in Guangxi could legitimately enter after the chaos.  As for political pressure, after Tang Jiyao's crimes were reported, people all over the world would be eager for the National Defense Forces to attack.

    It¡¯s a pity that the person in front of me is too naive. Maybe he has no problem with being a human being, but doing things!  Li Yuanhong sighed, glanced at Huang Keqiang who handed over to Li Shucheng, shook his head and walked out of the office. Zhang Ji looked at his chubby back, feeling gradually chill in his heart.

    The weather is about to change again!

    !  .

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