Chapter 333 Suqian Campaign 2

Although Wu Peifu is not bad, to be able to be promoted to a major general. To be honest, there are some clever factors. He is an officer from an artillery background, and the artillery has always been valued by Zhao Dongyun as a technical service. However, in the artillery system, he is basically the head of the colonel's artillery regiment. After all, There is no artillery brigade or artillery division in the army, and although there are many institutions related to artillery in the command department, the chief officers of these institutions are basically the rank of colonel. Only the gun department of the Ordnance Department is the position of major general, but this position is civilian. Although they are officers from artillery origin, It's a civilian, and there is only one position.

As a result, artillery officers can't continue to be promoted under the artillery system, so if artillery officers want to continue to be promoted, and they have to become the chief of the real power force, they can only serve as brigade commanders, infantry division commanders and so on.

In order to appease artillery officers and solve the promotion path of artillery colonels, Zhao Dongyun will be promoted to artillery officers including Ren Cungao, Liu Tinggui and Wu Peifu. Otherwise, there will be a few senior generals in the Feng army who will get these artillery. An officer.

My family understands his own affairs. Wu Peifu knows that his promotion is full of twists and turns, and it is understandable that he is envious of Su Kangyun, who has a smooth road and a bright future.

And Su Kangyun, who is opposite, continues to explain the current Suqian war.

"At present, Suqian is on the front line of Qingjiangpu. The enemy troops are mainly stationed in three areas, namely Suqian. The fifth division of the Liangjiang Army and Taoyuan County are stationed there. The first mixed brigade of Zhejiang, Qingjiangpu, and the second mixed brigade of Zhejiang are stationed there. According to our investigation, the second mixed brigade of the Liangjiang Army newly assisted by the enemy has been stationed in Suqian and formed the Suqian defense line with the 5th Division of the Liangjiang Army.

"In contrast, our 10th Division needs to deal with this battle line more than 70 kilometers wide at the same time. There is a regiment in the direction of Qingjiangpu, a regiment in the direction of Taoyuan County, and a brigade in the direction of Suqian. Although it seems that there are troops stationed in three places and can maintain the offensive posture, there is no one in each place. The law forms an absolute military advantage, and a small number of tactical advantages cannot be converted into decisive strategic advantages, so I still maintain the previous suggestion that our division should draw troops from Qingjiangpu and Taoyuan counties and concentrate on the main force to conquer Suqian in one fell swoop!"

After Su Kangyun's words fell, Zhou Fulin, the commander of the 20th Brigade next to him, said, "If the two regiments of the 19th Brigade are transferred to the north, I can certainly get reinforcements, but what about the defense in the direction of Taoyuan County and Qingjiangpu? What if the enemy goes north from these two directions to threaten Muyang behind our army?

However, Su Kangyun said, "The two enemy forces in the direction of Qingjiangpu and Taoyuan County are both local provincial troops in Zhejiang. Through the previous series of battles, we can find that their combat effectiveness is limited. A few days ago, the 37th Regiment commanded by Colonel Lei Anlin of the 19th Brigade was able to attack the first mixed brigade of Zhejiang in Taoyuan County. On the offensive.

The Anhui military officers opposite the combat effectiveness gap between the two sides must also know whether they have enough courage to take the initiative in this case?

"In addition, if they take the initiative to attack, it is not only a bad thing for us, but also a good thing. As long as they leave the original defense line and do not rely on a lot of fortifications, it is not difficult to defeat them. If they dare to take the initiative to attack, then we will suspend the attack on Suqian, and then transfer the main force to eat their attacking troops first. Once the active attacking troops in these two places are annihilated, then we can take the opportunity to capture Taoyuan County and Qingjiangpu, and then transfer the main force to Suqian to the north. At that time, the enemy will come alone. Suqian, how can you resist the full attack of our division?

Su Kangyun, as an old-qualified senior staff officer, still has a very old vision.

Although the two armies in northern Jiangsu occupy the same territory, the Feng army has always taken the initiative to attack, and the Anhui army can only rely on the pre-built fortifications for passive defense. If the Anhui army gives up these fortifications to play field with the Feng army, then the senior generals of the Feng army are naturally extremely welcome.

The reason why it is so difficult to conquer in northern Jiangsu now is that the Anhui army is hiding in the fortifications, and before occupying the absolute strength and firepower advantage, it is impossible for the Anhui army to take the initiative to give up these fortifications and then take the initiative to launch an attack and fight with the Feng army.

After Su Kangyun said that, Ren Cung-gao, who was superior, was also a little hesitant!

Ren Cung-gao is a relatively low-key senior general in today's Feng army. His reputation is far less than that of Gu Lanyu, and he is not as rich as Cao Kuan and others who have rich qualifications that ordinary people can't surpass. But he can win the major general and become the division commander of the main division of the 10th Division, which naturally has his excellence.

Ren Cung-gao, like Wu Peifu, are senior generals from artillery, but the reason why he can stand out from so many artillery officers and become the division commander, one of the three main divisions of the Feng army, in addition to the factors of the great expansion of the Feng army, is also inseparable from his own ability. Although he is from artillery background, He has a very deep study of footwork and logistics, and is especially good at frontal offensive operations.

After he came out as the commander of the artillery regiment, he successively held important positions in the Ministry of Education and the Quartermaster Department. He successively served as the director of the Training Department of the Ministry of Education and was responsible for the training of new recruits of the whole army. Later, he served as the director of the Railway Transport Department of the Quartermaster Department, responsible for railway transportation affairs, and then transferred to the commander of the 19th Brigade, and finally was promoted to the Second Army in Xu Bangjie. After the high position, he took the opportunity to take over the position of division commander of the 10th Division.

At the beginning, Zhao Dongyun personally selected him as the commander of the 10th Division. In addition to his rich experience, it was also related to his command quality in the Tangshan Campaign and the Bazhou Campaign. The 10th Division is famous for being good at frontal attack in the Feng army, just like Gu Lanyu's army is very good at circuitous attack. In the months before entering the customs, Ren Cunggao was famous for being good at frontal attack. At the beginning, he led his troops to break through the direction of Tangshan's direct army and broke through the first brigade of the first division of the direct army, thus laying the foundation for victory in the Tangshan Campaign.

In the Battle of Bazhou and the subsequent Battle of Jinan, this person also showed extraordinary frontal combat ability, breaking through the enemy's defense line several times in a row, thus establishing a victory.

Of course, some people may say that this is the credit of division commander Xu Bangjie, but Ren Cung-gao, the commander of the 19th Brigade at that time, was the front-line commander of this series of battles.

With these many contributions, he was able to surpass many generals of the Feng army and be promoted to division commander at the same time as Gu Lanyu, one as the commander of the third division and the other as the commander of the tenth division.

In the early stage of the Battle of Northern Jiangsu, after the 10th Division successfully won a series of important strategic points such as Pizhou, Haizhou and Muyang, Zhao Dongyun was specially promoted to a lieutenant general of the army and awarded four honors. In this way, the name of the division commander is confirmed, and there is no need to stare at a young general like several other division commanders.

is also the second senior general promoted to general in the army after entering the customs this year.

Among the several division commanders of the Feng army, Lu Yongxiang, commander of the 1st Division, Lin Yongquan, commander of the 9th Division, Gu Lanyu, commander of the 3rd Division, and Ren Cunggao, commander of the 10th Division, are all generals in the army, while the remaining four include He Zonglian, commander of the 8th Division, Cao Kuan, commander of the 11th Division, and Liu Tinggui, commander of the 13th Division, are all army. Major general added the rank of general. As for the 14th Division and 15th Division, these two divisions have not officially formed an army, and there is no division commander for the time being.

As for other brigade commanders, some of them are major generals of the army, while a few of whom are well-qualified or have other special factors are major generals. For example, Bao Guiqing, the commander of the first mixed brigade, was originally a major general of the army, but after taking the initiative to join Zhao Dongyun, he was awarded the major general of the army. In addition, Li Chun of the 7th Mixed Brigade, who withstood the attack of more than 20,000 soldiers of the direct army in the early stage of the Tangshan Campaign, also gave birth to the rank of major general of the army and the rank of lieutenant general.

As for the other mixed brigade commanders, they are all major generals of the army like other infantry brigade commanders, chiefs of departments and chiefs of staff of the command department.

So in fact, if you analyze it carefully, you will find that the scope of application of the additional rank system in the Feng army is somewhat fixed, that is, it is limited to the three positions of mixed brigade commander, infantry division division commander and military commander, while others rarely add rank. In addition, there is a special situation that has been posthumously awarded after the death of the battle. Since the entry into the customs, many colonel-level officers have been posthumously awarded the rank of colonel and major general after their death.

Interestingly, in addition to posthumously, the Feng army has never been granted the rank of colonel to active officers. At present, this rank is only used for posthumously after death, and this rank is also the lowest level, because the Feng army does not increase the rank of active officers, but officers at the level of lieutenant colonel and major. After the death, the colonel and lieutenant colonel are usually directly posthumously, and there will be no lieutenant colonel and colonel.

Generally speaking, the current military rank system is still relatively special, with Western military ranks as the tone, but it integrates the traditional Chinese rank system, but there are various restrictions, which are relatively obvious differences from Western countries, Japan and even the historical Northern Ocean, and the Republic of China.

As the division commander of the three main divisions in the Feng army, Ren Cungao enjoys a detached position and bears huge pressure unknown to outsiders.

Suqian can't attack for a long time. Not only Xu Bangjie of the military department called many times, but also the command department called many times to inquire. More importantly, even the secretariat of the presidential palace sent Zhao Dongyun's condolence telegram.

On the surface, these are all telegrams of inquiry or condolences, but Ren Cungao is very clear that Shangfeng has begun to be dissatisfied with the tenth Division's failure to capture Suqian for a long time, urging him to take Suqian as soon as possible!

Faced with the personal pressure of the peak, especially Zhao Dongyun, Ren Cunggao could not be indifferent. He must take Suqian as soon as possible, and then cooperate with the first mixed brigade to continue to push west to completely cut off the contact between the enemy in Xuzhou and the southern enemy.

Otherwise, you will have to carry a disadvantageous punishment on your back. Once you give Zhao Dongyun the impression that you are not good at fighting, then don't expect to become a military commander and make contributions like Xu Bangjie and Meng Enyuan in the future.

The only question now is, how should he take Suqian?

With less than 15,000 troops in his hand alone, how can he break through the defense line with a total of more than 30,000 enemy troops and then take Suqian?