Chapter 301 Sweeping Henan

Due to the existence of the Jinghan Railway, the south reinforcement speed of the Third Army of the Feng Army is quite fast. In almost a few days, the first reinforcements of the Third Army have arrived outside Zhengzhou.

This shows how huge the modern railway has played a role in the war. In fact, one of the very important reasons for the railway construction in contemporary China is its military role. For example, the previous railway inside and outside the customs, the current Beijing-Feng Railway, and the original goal of building this railway in the Qing Dynasty was not to develop the eastern three provinces. Ji, but to facilitate the transfer of troops from inside to outside the customs.

The same Jinghan Railway also plays an important military role. When the Feng army in other directions needs to walk only 20 or 30 kilometers a day, the Feng army on the Jinghan Line can maneuver hundreds of kilometers a day. It only took a week for more than 30,000 troops from two divisions of the Third Army to Zhengzhou. That's all!

After the Third Army reinforced Zhengzhou, Meng Enyuan's First Army and Chen Guangyuan's Third Army carried out the final siege attack on Zhengzhou. The remnants of Wang Ruxian and Wang Shizhen's nearly 10,000 people defending Zhengzhou could not resist the fierce attack of more than 70,000 troops of the Feng army, and Zhengzhou did not rely on Mount Tai like Jinan. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so the battle of Zhengzhou is much easier than many people think.

Two days after the Feng army launched the attack, the remnants of Wang Ruxian's Eighth Division, which had low morale, suffered a large-scale defeat. The defeat of the remnants of the Eighth Division directly led to nearly 10,000 people under Wang Shizhen's command, followed by large-scale surrenders and defeats.

Three days, only three days. Zhengzhou, with more than 20,000 defenders, was captured by the Feng army. In this battle, the Eighth Division under Wang Ruxian and some of the troops of Henan Province and Wang Shizhen suffered nearly 3,000 casualties, nearly 10,000 surrendered and were captured, and another 7,000 to 8,000 people fled.

And the casualties of the First Army and the Third Army are only 800!

From the battle of Zhengzhou, it can almost be seen that Wang Ruxian's 8th Division has been severely damaged in the two battles of the Battle of Shijiazhuang and the Battle of Anyang. The 8th Division in the Battle of Zhengzhou is just surviving. With the fierce attack of the Feng army with superior forces, it is natural that the 8th Division completely dispersed. .

And in the battle of Zhengzhou, Fengjun had another unexpected gain, that is, they captured Wang Ruxian.

"Brother Meng, how do you think this person will deal with it? Send it directly to Beijing?" Chen Guangyuan has a headache about the captured Wang Ruxian. This person is really. If you defeat him in a war, you will run away. Either learn from Wang Yingkai and others to announce the opposition and escape into foreign embassies, or simply commit suicide.

However, Wang Ruxian did not escape, but was caught by the Feng army and became a veritable prisoner.

Meng Enyuan also has a headache for Wang Ruxian. You should know that these big warlords in China are not simple people. Although Wang Ruxian's reputation cannot be compared with Duan Qirui and others, he is at least a famous warlord in China. According to the Beiyang tradition from last year to now, Fengjun generally will not Kill all the warlords in Beiyang. Basically, if you surrender, you will selectively accept them. If you announce the exit, you will be sent out of the country as a gift. If the warlords can't do it, you can also be an apartment in the concession.

How to put it? After all, everyone was still a colleague last year. In Yuan Shikai's era, everyone was also called brothers. They often drank and fooled around together. Moreover, the Beiyang system was too strongly influenced by Confucianism, especially the high-level officials in Beiyang generally had a strong seal. The Confucian complex is very false and cherishes its reputation, which is completely different from those revolutionaries who play assassination every day.

So looking at the history of Beiyang, you will find two interesting nouns: Shimotano and Yugong!

Failed warlords announced their departure and then ran to the concession to be the apartment. It is rarely said that there is such a thing as killing, which is not visible in other systems.

In fact, Wang Ruxian had been defeated, so he should have published an interesting announcement of electricity in the field without being caught by the army, and then ran to the concession to be an apartment. However, this person did not issue a telegram in the field and did not escape or commit suicide, which made Meng Enyuan feel a little difficult to deal with.

In fact, it can't be blamed on Wang Ruxian. He also wanted to escape, but the speed of Zhengzhou's fall was too fast, only three days. This time was just a blink of an eye for a large-scale battle. Before he could react, the army had been defeated and did not let him have it at all. There was enough time to publish something about going down the field and electricity, and even before he could lead the guards to escape, the Feng army had already killed his headquarters, so he had no choice but to become a prisoner of war!

"First send a report to the president, and then deal with it!" Meng Enyuan is not like going to do anything without authorization. Although Wang Ruxian is a rising warlord, his identity is too special for him to deal with it without authorization, and Meng Enyuan does not intend to stay in Zhengzhou.

The staff has called him many times, asking him to lead the first army east into Kaifeng and then go straight into Xuzhou!

Zhengzhou has been taken, so he does not plan to stay in Zhengzhou more. He is ready to let the front troops advance east tomorrow. He also leads the main force to keep up. Naturally, Chen Guangyuan's third army is responsible for the task of Zhengzhou defense and subsequent southward operations.

When Wang Ruxian's telegram arrived at Zhao Dongyun's hand, Zhao Dongyun was also a little surprised, but he didn't have much feelings for Wang Ruxian. Not to mention now, even Wang Ruxian's status in the Beiyang era was far lower than that of Zhao Dongyun. At that time, Zhao Dongyun and Wang Ying Kai, Duan Qirui is also known as the three bosses of Beiyang, and even Zhang Huaizhi, Wu Fengling and others have to recognize themselves as second-rate, and Wang Ruxian was just the commander of the new army in Henan last year. If Wang Yingkai hadn't won him and gave him the number of the eighth division, he would not have developed the current situation.

So Zhao Dongyun just called back and asked Wang Ruxian to send a telegram first, and then arrange for him to go to Beijing. Anyway, this person can't be killed or released. He can't be put under house arrest first. In the future, when the situation stabilizes, he can consider letting him go to the concession as an apartment.

"Now that Zhengzhou has won, is there a plan for the next mobilization of the combat office?" Zhao Dongyun Road.

Shi Yanglin said: "The combat office has ordered the First Army to enter Kaifeng and Guide in the east and approach Xuzhou. In addition, the Third Army has also been allowed to send troops to continue south to Ruzhou, Xuzhou, Nanyang, Runing and other prefectures. However, considering that there are many mountains at the border between Henan and Hubei provinces, and Wushengguan is difficult to attack and defend, the subsequent actions of the Third Army are mainly to peep at Wushengguan in addition to recover the prefectures and counties in southern Henan.

Zhao Dongyun nodded: "Don't worry about Wushengguan and Hubei. First control Henan and eliminate the remnants of the enemy army. Humph, they can defend Wushengguan, and we can also block their northward passage in Wushengguan."

"The follow-up strategic focus has to be on Xuzhou. I have asked the Quartermaster Department and the Ordnance Department to make relevant adjustments. The ammunition supply in Henan will be greatly reduced in the future, and the part freed up will be used to supply Xuzhou, so this should be taken into account when considering the battles in Henan and Hubei. Go."

Shi Yanglin said, "The Ministry of Vocational Understanding!"

Nowadays, the senior generals of the Feng army basically know that the life-and-death enemy of the Feng army is not Wang Shizhen, nor the Southern Federation, but Duan Qirui. It can even be said that the reason why they are so anxious to take Zhengzhou is also to be able to deploy troops to the front line of Xuzhou, in order to ensure that the troops and ammunition on the front line of Xuzhou are sufficient, appropriate It is natural to shrink the troops and supplies of other fronts.

And Shiyanglin naturally understands that with the end of the Zhengzhou Campaign, the strategic focus of the subsequent Feng army will turn to the front line of Xuzhou, while Henan will turn to strategic defense. On the one hand, it is to eliminate other armed forces in Henan, such as remnants and bandits, and on the other hand, Wang Shi Jane's troops stopped them and prevented them from going north.

And these tasks are the tasks of the newly formed Third Army. One of the two divisions in the Third Army is newly formed, and the other is the reorganization of the soldiers of the direct army. It can be said that the combat effectiveness is actually limited, and leaving them in Henan will not affect the strength of the Feng army's front-line troops in Xuzhou.

With Chen Guangyuan's Third Army's fierce attack in Henan, it quickly captured many towns, and the 13th Division went all the way south to reach Wusheng Pass. However, to Wang Shizhen's relief, the 13th Division of the Feng Army did not launch a large-scale attack, but dug trenches and built tents and barracks not far away. Naturally, the Feng army did not take the initiative to attack, and the strength in his hand was scarce, and Wang Shizhen, who was fighting on two fronts, was also not in the mood to counterattack Henan and sent more than 10,000 people to garrison after Wusheng Pass.

Although the famous world's majestic pass, such as Wusheng Pass, is no longer the era of cold weapons, and the importance of these so-called world's majestic gates has greatly decreased, but the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack is still very conducive to defense. Wang Shizhen estimates that if more than 10,000 people guard, there is no 40,000 to 50,000 people in the Feng army on the opposite side will not want to attack. .

So, Wang Shizhen sat and watched the war between Duan Qirui and Zhao Dongyun after the Battle of Zhengzhou, and also thought about how to take down the damn Wuchang and completely destroy Zhang Zhidong to control Hubei.

With the development of the situation, unconsciously, people are staring at the front line of Xuzhou. Not to mention the Soviet and Anhui people, even the Duanfang and Zhang Zhidong of the Southern Federation also opened their eyes and stared at the front line of Xuzhou. Because if nothing unexpected happens, the biggest regulation is about to break out here since last year. In the model war, the Soviet Feng army and the Anhui army will gather more than 100,000 or even 200,000 troops to carry out a super-large-scale battle, and the victory or defeat of this battle will directly affect the subsequent development of China's situation.

It is rude to say that this upcoming war will directly determine who can reach the peak of power and unify China!