Chapter 272 Battle of Bazhou 1

Since Meng En has surpassed others as the commander of the First Army, although the troops under the First Army have been transferred, the command structure of the headquarters of the First Army has never been abolished. Now the specific war to besiege the Beijing Division is the responsibility of the First Army, commanding the Ninth Division, the Fourth Mixed Brigade and the Fifth Mixed Brigade. This established Meng Enyuan's position in the Feng army, second only to Zhao Dongyun, which has surpassed Chen Guangyuan, Lin Yongquan and others.

With the precedent of Meng Enyuan, which of the following people is not eager to sit in the position of military commander!

Especially in the foreseeable future, once the Feng army successfully defeats Wang Zhanyuan's 7th Division and conquers the capital division, the next step of the Feng army must continue to go south to control Nanzhili and Shandong, and then continue south to Henan and even Jiangsu, Anhui, Huguang and other places.

Not to mention how to arrange the strategy of the Feng army going south in the future, but it is inevitable to fight south. At that time, it is impossible for Zhao Dongyun to personally lead the troops to go south to fight. After all, Zhao Dongyun can also personally serve as the commander of the Second Army to fight, but once he enters the capital, Zhao Dongyun will be the previous king. Yingkai sits in Gyeonggi, and then the commander of the lower southern team will definitely be the generals below.

Throughout the south passage, no matter which side of the main attack, there is a 90% possibility of attacking Shandong and Henan provinces, and the above two armies may produce two military commanders. Even if one of them is taken away by Meng Enyuan, there is still one left to let Chen Guangyuan, Xu Bangjie, Lin Yongquan and others competed.

In the current matter that can affect the future development, Chen Guangyuan will naturally not take it lightly and is unwilling to leave any bad impression on Zhao Dongyun, so after receiving Zhao Dongyun's order, he led the third division south very simply.

As the 3rd Division went south, the distance between the two sides was even shorter. The next day, the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division made contact with the 7th Division in the northeast of Bazhou, which was also the first large-scale engagement of the main infantry forces of the two sides.

At the beginning of the war, the generals of both sides seemed to be very conservative. Kong Jingbei of the Fifth Brigade knew that he did not let him launch a decisive charge, but let himself contain the enemy. In addition, although the 7th Division stayed in Bazhou for a short time, it had been two days and had also built a gradual field fortifications. Therefore, Kong Jingbei also did not launch a large-scale strong attack, but only intermittently launched a containment attack.

Although this attack could not cause many casualties to the 7th Division, Wang Zhanyuan frowned at this!

"Can it be detected clearly? Opposite is the fifth brigade of Kong Guanbei? Wang Zhanyuan's long-term experience in the Feng army made him very familiar with the Feng army, especially most of the third division from specific formation to new tactics and even the name of the battalion commander below. Not to mention that he was the brigade commander of the Fifth Brigade before, and Kong overlooking the north is just his successor.

Although Wang Zhanyuan, the commander of the Fifth Brigade, has been vacant for a long time, he is very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Brigade. In fact, in the process of returning to Zhili and being responsible for rebuilding the Seventh Division, he greatly imitated the training of the Feng Army, especially in tactical training.

"Let the 28th Regiment in front cheer up. The opposite 5th Brigade is best at shooting in front of the front, and their mortar troops are the best in the Feng army. Be careful of the protection of heavy machine gun positions and proper maneuver!" Wang Zhanyuan knows the Fifth Brigade very well.

He knew that although many troops in the Feng army claimed to be the whole field army, the direct line under Zhao Dongyun's command has always been this third division. Compared with other troops, the third division has been in the army for many years and soldiers have been trained for many years. Their shooting techniques have been fed with massive bullets over the years, especially the subordinates of the Fifth Brigade. In the 10th Regiment, its infantry shooting accuracy has been ranked first in the Feng army for a long time. In addition, the third division is also the first unit equipped with mortars in the Feng army, and has trained a large number of mortar shooters for the friendly army over the years.

The mortar shooters of these third division have basically been playing mortars for two or three years. Although they can't hit anything, under normal circumstances, it is easy to quickly shoot down a heavy machine gun position without solid fortification protection.

Although the fifth brigade opposite is the elite of the Feng army, Wang Zhanyuan did not worry too much. These days, the trench defense theory is not unreasonable. Even if the fifth brigade opposite is the elite, it is impossible to break through the position of the 29th Regiment head-on.

Wang Zhanyuan was more worried about the Fifth Brigade in Kongview North. He was more worried about Gu Lanyu's Sixth Brigade.

Gu Lanyu was regarded as unknown before the Battle of Tongzhou last year. This person was born in the camp school. To be honest, this origin is really not good. In today's Beiyang system, whether it is the Feng army, the direct army or several other warlords, the senior generals are mainly Tianjin military students, and a few of them stay in Japan. , a very small number of people returned to China from the Baoding Military Academy. As for the many graduates of the Wuwei Right Army Camp School in those years, most of them are at the grassroots level, and a few excellent people will be recommended to continue their studies. Few people, like Gu Lanyu, have jumped to this class of senior real power without further study over the years. .

There is only one reason why this person can be promoted so quickly, that is, this person is one of the first officers to follow Zhao Dongyun. When Zhao Dongyun served as the commander of the Second Battalion of the Right Military Guard in 1901, Gu Lanyu was one of his team officers.

Later, with Zhao Dongyun's step-by-step promotion, he also rose. Although he was limited by his education and qualifications to serve as the commander of the 6th Brigade last year, this man was very eye-catching in the Battle of Tongzhou. At that time, he led the 6th Brigade in the roundabout battle in the Tongzhou Campaign can be called a circuitous battle to encircling the enemy. The classic examples of the army have even been studied and studied by the Feng Military Academy as typical examples.

Although limited by the limited overall scale of the Feng army, it is unlikely to make Gu Lanyu fly to the sky, when he shows this tactical literacy, Zhao Dongyun is almost certain that he will reuse him in the future, and he is the number one player of the next division commander in the Feng army system.

Wang Zhanyuan knew about Gu Lanyu, but after understanding it, he was more worried. What is Gu Lanyu famous for inside and outside the Feng army? The four words 'round the battle'.

So after the current forces only found the fifth brigade in the north, Wang Zhanyuan almost subconsciously thought that Gu Lanyu's sixth brigade might be making a detour.

Thinking of this possibility, Wang Zhanyuan thought that the troops of the Feng army were far more than the third division, and there was a 10th division nearby that did not appear. If he was delayed in Bazhou, wouldn't Xu Bangjie's 10th Division and Gu Lanyu's 6th division would be the same as Bao Guiqing in Huanxizhuang at the beginning? Surrounded.

Wang Zhanyuan, who had a strong sense of crisis, soon reacted. When the 28th Regiment of the current line engaged with the 5th Brigade of the Feng Army, Wang Zhanyuan quickly dispatched the troops of the 13th Brigade to the northeast. Its strategic purpose was very obvious, that is, if Chen Guangyuan's 3rd Division sent the 6th Brigade to make a circuitous Then Wang Zhanyuan also played a circuit. At that time, it is not certain who will successfully attack the enemy's flank.

What's more, Wang Zhanyuan sent the 28th Regiment on the front line, and the 13th Brigade was detouring to the northeast. He still had a 27th Regiment as a reserve team.

Wang Zhanyuan did not turn around and run away in the face of possible threats, because if he wanted to escape from the south, it also meant that his rescue operation from the capital was a complete failure. Wang Yingkai estimated that he would be completely defeated in Beijing in a few days. If he rushed west and north, the third division behind him would also be willing. I will definitely not give up the pursuit. At that time, it will not be retreating to the west, but a big collapse.

Contemporary domestic troops, whether it is the Feng army or the direct army, actually lack the ability to retreat before the battle. One may collapse on a large scale. The most obvious example is the Battle of Tangshan. Lu Yongxiang's second brigade retreated. Although Lu Yongxiang's second brigade ran back intact, the other direct troops were lost. It was tragic. Not to mention that the first mixed brigade was surrounded and annihilated, even the 11th Division and 12th Division suffered a lot in the retreat process, and the 12th Division had a regiment to surrender directly.

To evaluate the combat effectiveness of an army, the offensive and defensive capabilities are secondary. What best reflects the combat effectiveness of an army is actually the retreat ability.

Wang Zhanyuan is very clear about his seventh division. Defense or offensive warfare is okay, but if he plays retreating in battle, ten * will become a major collapse on the whole line. This is why few generals in contemporary domestic battles play such things as large-scale retreat. It's not that they don't want to withdraw, but they can't withdraw.

Even with a large number of casualties and enemies, it is better than retreating!

From a strategic and tactical perspective, it is not a good choice for Wang Zhanyuan to retreat. Of course, it is not a good thing to sit and watch the main force of the Feng army slowly surround it up. Now what Wang Zhanyuan has done is to take down the spirit of the Third Division before other troops of the Feng army come up. Many generals of the Feng army, including Gu Lan Yu likes to play circuitous attacks, and Wang Zhanyuan was also a member of the general of the Feng army before. He played the circuitous attack no less than other generals of the Feng army.

So what Chen Guangyuan, the commander of the 3rd Division, did not expect was that he intended to contain Wang Zhanyuan's 7th Division, but he had not yet sent the main force to launch an attack. Gu Lanyu's sixth brigade was still behind, but the 5th brigade of the front-line troops reported that Wang Zhanyuan's 7th division came up, and one The shot was a fierce left hook. Its 13th Brigade did not defend on the northern line of Bazhou as imagined by Chen Guangyuan before, but directly killed the flank of the 5th Brigade.

For a while, the Battle of Bazhou turned out to be the 7th Division of Wang Zhanyuan's circuitous attack on the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division. In just two days, the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division was in danger!