97 Walk and Receive

The first thing Li wanted to return to Wuchang was to urgently summon Zeng Gao and Li Xiping in his luxurious residence in Luojia Mountain.

As soon as Zeng Gao and Li Xiping entered the house, Li Xiang didn't wait for them to sit down and asked directly, "How is the offensive of the Anxi Army in the northwest?"

"The work of attacking Qinghai and occupying Xining has already been completed." Li Xiping reported on the attack on Qinghai and said, "While marching into Qinghai, the Anxi army also carried out a campaign to open up the Hexi Corridor in Gansu, and carried out a long-distance pursuit of the Kuomintang army in Wuwei, Zhangye and Jiuquan, west of Yongdeng, Gansu and east of Anxi."

At that time, the remnants of the two pillars of the Qing Dynasty, Changgeng and Shengyun, were retreating to the Hexi Corridor. In addition to the original Qing army in Hexi, there were still more than 40,000 people. After they retreated to Gulang, they first put a defense in Wujialing. In order to cope with the sudden attack of Xiangyang by the Beiyang Army, the main force of the Ezhou Revolutionary Army was unable to take care of Hexi, but they could take a breath for a while. Who knows, the battle of Xiangyang launched by the Beiyang Army ended quietly after Yuan Shikai was sworn in as president in Beijing. Chang Geng and Sheng Yun then held a military meeting at the Twin Towers north of Gulang and decided to continue to retreat west in an attempt to retreat to the Yumen area.

"Good! It is appropriate to chase the poor bandits bravely, and live up to the famous student overlord. Li wanted to say eagerly.

In order to prevent the enemy from retreating to Xinjiang, the Anxi Army issued a combat order to march into Hexi: the Jingbumu Corps went north from Xining, Qinghai and crossed Qilian Mountain to attack Zhangye; the Huangyue Corps marched west along the Lanxin Ancient Road and its right side, and the Zhang Fengyi Corps was on the right side, around Dajingxi on the edge of Wujialing and Tengli Desert. Enter; Anxi Army attached to the field army artillery regiment and chariot battalion as the left, straight to Wuwei and Jiuquan.

The entire Anxi army was dispatched. Because the fleeing enemy was distracted, the command was chaotic, and it did not defeat itself. All departments swept away the fallen leaves with the autumn wind and advanced rapidly, and the enemies defected or fled wherever they went.

The leading troops advancing from Xiangtang and Heqiaoyi to Yongdeng and to the west, Guangfu Yongdeng, crossed Wujialing, Guangfu Anyuanyi.

The Anxi army, which advanced from Anningbao and Shajingyi along the Lanxin Ancient Road to Yongdeng, accepted the surrender of the remnants of the enemy cavalry.

When the Anxi army advanced from Hajiazui and Xiaoyuchi to Songshan and Dajing, to Songshan, east of Gulang, more than 800 enemy cavalry surrendered under the leadership of Xietong.

When the Anxi army made a combat deployment to capture Gulang and march on Wuwei, the enemy fled before the attack was launched. The Anxi army successfully occupied Gulang, Dajing and other places, and then advanced to the south and east of Wuwei. The leading troops conquered Wuwei, and more than 7,500 enemy officers and soldiers stationed near Wuwei defected.

So far, all the departments of the Anxi Army have gathered their weapons and marched towards Zhangye with a rapid force composed of mules and horses. During this period, the leading troops arrived in Shandan after a march of 700 kilometers in 17 days. More than 600 soldiers were defeated by the enemy, and more than 300 horses and camels were sent to Cheng in Le Town, Shandandong.

......

The victory of the Anxi Army flew into Li Xiang's luxurious official residence in Luojia Mountain, Wuchang. Anxi Army walked and received it like this, and went thousands of miles a day, which made the people who did not abandon the public debt of the Western Expedition crazy.

At the same time, the Jingbumu Corps advanced north from Xining. After capturing Datong and Menyuan, he marched continuously against the wind and snow and cold, and entered the Qilian Mountains with snow all year round.

The average altitude of the Qilian Mountains is more than 4,000 meters above sea level, stretching for thousands of miles, mountains, peaking people, snow all year round at high places, thin air, variable climate, sparse population, birds and animals are also regarded as fear of the road. Wang Changling, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, has a poetic historical cloud of Qilian Mountain and Hexi Corridor: "Qinghai Changyun dark snow mountain, lonely city looking at Yumen Pass." The difficulty of marching can be imagined. However, in order to quickly open up the Hexi Corridor and occupy Jiuquan, the Anxi army had to take this dangerous road.

Due to the rapid march and the cold winter, even if Li Xiang had made sufficient preparations for the winter battle in the northwest before, he looked through Qilian Mountain, with an average altitude of 4,000 meters in this season, which was a hardship that even Tibetans living on the snowy plateau for generations could not imagine, and the strange sufferings were narrated.

In the morning, the army set out from the black stone and began to snow after walking more than 20 miles. The propaganda drums of each class mobilized and shouted slogans: "Cover Qilian Mountain, destroy the last enemy, and restore the northwest!" ... Songs and slogans echoed over the plateau, and the march of the troops accelerated.

The wind and snow are getting bigger and bigger, and the whirlwind is sandwiched with dry snow powder, which actually hurting people's faces. The soldiers wrapped their heads and faces with towels and still climbed the circling uphill mountain road, but the speed slowed down significantly.

The heavy snow wrapped the whole Qilian Mountain. The soldiers climbed forward against the wind and snow, which was heavy, cold and uncomfortable. His legs were as heavy as he was filled with lead. He took a hard breath. He always felt that the air was not enough to breathe. The more he walked up, the more he felt short of breath. The weak soldiers were out of breath. Some covered their mouths with hand towels, but after a short time, the towel on his mouth froze into ice. The team pulled longer, and someone began to fall behind.

"Go forward or rest?"

The snow is getting heavier and heavier, the wind is getting stronger and stronger, breathing is more and more difficult, and the chest seems to burst. Someone just couldn't walk and sat down. But you can't wait to freeze to death. The army only has the tradition of moving towards victory, and there is no habit of waiting to die. The commander ordered to move forward resolutely.

The plateau at night was vast, the snow kept falling, and the strong wind swept the snowflakes, like a runaway wild horse. The clothes were rustling by the wind, making the soldiers stand on their feet. The team advanced on the vast snowfield like a majestic dragon, and the soldiers who fell behind by the road were still walking with their heads held high. This is a longing for victory, an ideal for revolution, which inspires the warriors to climb Qilian Mountain against the blizzard with a non-human will.

The youth of revolutionaries is full of heroic pleasure in revolutionary ideals, and all difficulties are insignificant to them.

It is by inheriting their revolutionary will that this army can continue to walk strong.

More than 40 miles away from Obo, cold snowflakes scattered on people. It is more than 5,000 meters above sea level here. Many people feel dizzy. Obviously, the air is thinner. The cold wind is like a steel needle, stingling people's skin. It's so cold that it's hard to support it. The teeth are rattling and shivering all over. The most annoying thing is that I want to eat some dry food to keep warm, but the dry food is frozen like ice. I can't eat it hard, so I have to hold my breath and drink soju, but this can only warm it for a while, and then it will be colder. Many soldiers still fell behind. Some people in the army were walking. They suddenly fell down and lay down with their eyes closed. They sacrificed their precious lives to restore the northwest. With tears in their eyes, everyone buried the bodies of their comrades-in-arms with white snow, raised their heads, took their arms, and continued to move forward.

After 28 hours of forced force, the troops walked 220 miles, and finally passed through the Qilian mountain beams and reached Obo.

Then, he marched for more than 20 hours to capture Minle County. The leading troops entered the three fortresses of Zhangye, defeated the Qing army that tried to reinforce the people, and encircled and attacked Zhangye. After 19 minutes of short battle, that is, to annihilate the defenders.

After Zhangye's recovery, the troops marched westward night, forcing the enemy fleeing west of Zhangye to put down their weapons one after another.

Jing Bu Mu, Huang Yue, Zhang Fengyi and Zhang Fengyi met Zhang Ye, and then waved Ge Xijin.

Most of the remnants of the Qing army who fled to the western end of the Hexi Corridor were organs and logistics units. There were only five associations in the combat troops, and the associations were scattered, with only more than 500 to 1,000 people, and only more than 2,100 people. The morale was extremely low and could not support the situation at all. In terms of geographical conditions, there is no pass that can be used and a strong city that can be defended; in terms of logistical support, it has been depleted, the officers and soldiers have been gone for three months, and the soldiers and materials have not been replenished; it has been separated internally, and the struggle between the main war faction and the main peace faction is becoming increasingly acute, and it is impossible to carry out large-scale resistance in an organized manner. Therefore, when the leading troops of the Anxi Army were facing Gaotai and Jiuquan, the remnants of the Hexi Qing Army had to make a final choice. The stubborn leader Chang Geng and Sheng Yun were killed in the mutiny one after another, and the last three pillars of the Qing court fell. The main and generals held the military power and brewed an uprising.

In this favorable situation, the Anxi Army resolutely implements Li Xiang's two-pronged policy of military strike and political struggle. On the one hand, the army is advancing rapidly to the west, and on the other hand, it promotes the policy of the Ezhou government through multi-party relations and does political efforts.

The remnants of the Qing army finally revolted a total of about 30,000 people in Jiuquan and sent out a national telegram to accept the adaptation of the Anxi Army of the Ezhou Revolutionary Revolution.

So far, the Hexi Corridor has been fully restored.

The victory of the

battle not only restored the vast area of Hexi, but more importantly, it opened the only way for the Anxi army to march into Xinjiang.

Sun Yat-sen, who was far away in Nanjing, was very happy after receiving the news of the restoration of the Hexi Corridor. He immediately called to commend:

Brother Li Xiang:

The soldiers used their lives to restore Gansu in one fell swoop. The achievements were made in the Republic of China. Our nation has accumulated indignation for more than 260 years, which is worthy of praise. We hope to pass on the award, and report the officers and soldiers for this battle for the award. The cause of saving the country is still extremely difficult, and I hope my brother will be reluctant.

Zhongshan.

Yuan Shikai officially took office as the second interim president of the Republic of China in Beijing under the observation of Cai Yuanpei's special envoy on March 10. However, the Provisional Senate, which was still in Nanjing at that time, asked President Sun to continue to be responsible for central government affairs until President Yuan's cabinet was fully established. Therefore, Sun Yat-sen's award order at this time is still very practical, at least saying that the government of the Republic of China recognizes the legitimacy of Li's occupation of Gansu.

Li wanted to receive this telegram and was very excited. The list of meritorious soldiers was passed outside Nanjing. He decided to hold a grand exhibition of the Western Expedition in Wuhan, which was open to Chinese and foreign people to visit.

Huang Xing also publicized in the Nanjing Military Department according to Li Xiang's war report. The newspaper reporters of the Alliance also naturally waved the flag and shouted.

As soon as the news of victory spread, some Chinese and foreign reporters in Nanjing and Shanghai unanimously asked the Nanjing Provisional Government to organize them to visit their achievements in Wuhan, and even asked to go to the northwest to interview battlefield news.

After Nanjing notified Li Xiang of this decision, Li Xiang agreed. For this reason, Li wants to put the precious cultural relics recovered from Japan for exhibition.