Chapter 336 Duan Qirui's Decision

On October 31, in the headquarters of the Anhui Army in Xuzhou, Duan Qirui was listening to the report of his generals with a black face.

"Since the enemy conquered our Suqian, the fifth division and the second mixed brigade of our army gathered troops yesterday to try to counterattack Suqian, but the enemy has gathered the main force in Suqian, resulting in the failure of our army's counterattack operation."

"In order to avoid further counterattack by the 5th Division and the 2nd Mixed Brigade by the enemy, the department has been transferred to Suining County for deployment, but the department has been severely damaged in a series of battles in the early stage. At present, there are only about 13,000 troops left, and there is an extreme lack of heavy weapons!"

Listening to these words, Duan Qirui has made a decision in his heart that his fifth division of the Liangjiang Army and the second mixed brigade of the Liangjiang Army have been completely disabled, especially the fifth division of the Liangjiang Army. I'm afraid that not only lacks troops, but also after a series of consecutive defeats in the early stage, the morale of the troops has been It fell to the lowest point.

The fifth division of the Liangjiang Army was the first group of troops transferred by Duan Qirui to fight in the north of the Soviet Union. At first, they were deployed on the front line of Haizhou and Linyi. However, he was defeated by the 10th Division of the Second Army of the Feng Army and retreated from the line to the Muyang Front Line. However, it had not yet gained a firm foothold. The 10th Division of the Feng Army caught up again, so the 5th Division of the Liangjiang Army suffered another defeat and retreated to Suqian. Now it was defeated by the 10th Division of the Feng Army in Suqian and forced to retreat. To Suining.

Although this series of battles was annihilated or completely surrounded, many consecutive defeats have caused heavy losses to this unit. Before the war, the army had nearly 14,000 troops. Although 54 guns were not full, it also had 36 guns in two battalions. Although there are Japanese and German artillery, it is extremely rare to unify the caliber of 75 mm. In addition, it also has more than 30 heavy machine guns.

This kind of force, such firepower in China, can also be regarded as a first-class force, but it is the main force second only to the fourth division led by Duan Qirui in Anhui. Otherwise, it would not have been transferred by Duan Qirui to the north to participate in the battle with the Feng army at the first time.

However, after a series of attacks by the Feng army, there are only more than 8,000 people left in the department, and more importantly, heavy weapons such as artillery and heavy machine guns have been almost lost.

In addition, although the loss of the second mixed brigade of the Liangjiang Army is not so great, the firepower of this mixed brigade is relatively average.

Now these two troops are in Suining, with only 13,000 troops, and there are only ten artillery pieces. The two artillerymen can't even be assembled, and there are only about ten heavy machine guns left.

In addition, they need to face the 10th Division, one of the three main forces of the Feng army, which could not stop the attack of the 10th Division in its complete state. Now if the 10th Division of the Feng army attacks Suining again, the situation of these two troops is estimated to be very bad, because they are more serious than the heavy losses of soldiers and the lack of heavy weapons. The gas almost fell to the bottom. Duan Qirui was very suspicious that when the Feng army came to attack, they might be able to turn around and escape without resistance, just like those Southern Federal troops.

However, with the fall of Suining, if he still wants to stop the westward advance of the Feng army and avoid being surrounded in Xuzhou, then he has to stop this army.

While Duan Qirui was thinking, his generals made other suggestions.

"Now that Suqian has fallen, and the enemy will inevitably continue to attack west in the next step, trying to cut off our southern contact channel. Once we don't stop Suining, I'm afraid our army is in danger of being surrounded on all sides!" With the rank of general, Zhang Yongcheng, the division commander of the First Division of the Liangjiang Army, stood up and said, "In Suining's current situation, it may be difficult to stop the attack of the enemy's 10th Division!"

"Therefore, in addition to strengthening the defense of Suining, it is best to take a perfect solution!"

As soon as his words fell, Lei Zhenchun, the commander of the Second Division of the Liangjiang Army next to him, snorted coldly: "Brother Zhang, do you want to say that we should give up Xuzhou?"

Zhang Yongcheng did not look at Lei Zhenchun, but continued to look at Duan Qirui and said, "Marshal, now we are facing siege on both sides in Xuzhou, and it is difficult for Zhang Dashuai to protect himself in the face of the attack of the Feng army, and it is impossible to reinforce us. Once Suining in the east is also captured, what should we do then?"

In fact, since the news of the capture of Suqian reached Xuzhou, many generals of the Anhui army have retreated. Although they can still barely defend it on the side of Xuzhou, this is based on rear security. Only when the rear is safe, then Xuzhou, a bridgehead, has strategic value. If It is said that even Suqian, Suzhou and Qingjiangpu in the rear have been lost, so Xuzhou has become a lonely city surrounded by the Feng army!

At that time, it will not be the problem of Xuzhou losing its strategic value, but the problem that tens of thousands of Anhui troops in Xuzhou will be completely surrounded and annihilated.

Zhang Yongcheng continued: "Although we have suffered a slight loss on the front line of Suqian now, our main force is here. As long as we are determined to break through, a tenth division alone can't stop us. As long as we can bring back the main forces, then we can re-establish the defense line in Bengbu, Nanjing, Yangzhou and other places. Even if the war situation is urgent, we can retreat to the south of the Yangtze River, rely on the Yangtze River, and it will be much easier to stop the Feng army from going south!"

As soon as Zhang Yongcheng said this, he was immediately opposed by many people. Tang Tianxi, who was appointed by Duan Qirui as the commander of the Fifth Brigade of the Fourth Division, directly refuted: "According to your point, we not only give up Xuzhou, but also give up the whole northern Jiangsu and even the whole Anhui area north of the Yangtze River?"

"Although our army is difficult now, how can the Feng army on the opposite side be easier? If they could take Xuzhou, they would have taken it long ago. Why spend months with us in northern Jiangsu? Now that the Feng army hasn't come, you have to retreat without a fight and give the whole area north of the Yangtze River to Zhao Ziyang empty-handed. Humph, I want to ask whose money you are taking!"

After being accused by Tang Tianxi, Zhang Yongcheng's face turned red in an instant and immediately said, "Well, don't you want to leave and wait for others to completely surround us? How can the lives of these 40,000 soldiers be saved at that time?

Then he said to Duan Qirui: "Marshal, now the situation is critical, and Suqian has fallen. Even if Suining can stay for another three or five days, it can't change the current strategic situation. Today's plan is to go first, as the old saying: keep the green mountains without worrying about firewood!"

"As long as our Anhui army still has 100,000 troops, we will not be defeated!"

Seeing that Duan Qirui has fallen into meditation, Zhang Yongcheng continued: "Now the core of our strategy is not to counterattack Shandong and Zhili, nor to eliminate how many Feng troops, but to block the south. Now that the front line of northern Jiangsu can no longer be defended, we should take the initiative to shrink the defense line. Relying on the Yangtze River, we will continue to defend until our troops in the south take Fujian and Guangdong, and free our troops to move north to reinforce the position.

"What we have to do now is to delay the time until we take down several provinces in the south, especially Guangdong. As long as we can drag it down, what if Zhao Ziyang is given to him by northern Jiangsu and central and northern Anhui?"

Listening to these words, Duan Qirui is also calculating the gains and losses in his heart. It is naturally the best if he can continue to defend Xuzhou, but the first thing to consider for generals is not what will happen if he wins, but what will happen if he fails. Once Suining loses, his nearly 50,000 troops in Xuzhou will It was completely surrounded and annihilated, which was unacceptable to Duan Qirui.

If you lose northern Jiangsu, it will not have much financial impact on you, because Jiangsu's main fiscal revenue these days is concentrated in southern Jiangsu, that is, the south of the Yangtze River. Although northern Jiangsu is better than other provinces, it is much worse than southern Jiangsu. As for Anhui, that is not his territory, that is Zhang Huaizhi's territory, and it is not sad to lose Duan Qirui.

If you can win Guangdong, relying on the income of Guangdong, a major tax province, plus Zhejiang or Sunan, um, and Jiangxi and Fujian to make up a fraction, then the fiscal revenue in your territory will still be very considerable in the future, at least there is no problem to surpass Zhao Ziyang.

Although Zhao Dongyun occupies a lot of territory, the three eastern provinces, Zhili, Shandong and Henan may add a northern Jiangsu and central and northern Anhui in the future, but the fiscal revenue gathered in these places is far less than the total income of southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi and southern Anhui.

As long as you can delay for a year and a half and continue to expand your army by relying on the fiscal revenue of these provinces, you will not know who is stronger or weaker in the two armies of Feng and Anhui.

But there is a preliminary stage, that is, how to drag it down?

You Duan Qirui want to delay, but why did Zhao Dongyun launch the battle in northern Jiangsu in order to suppress your development momentum of Duan Qirui and not give you time to rectify the territory and develop and expand the army.

If you say that you have lost the main force, especially the 4th Division, in Xuzhou, there will be no troops available in Jiangsu and Anhui to prevent the Feng army from going south.

Thinking of this, Duan Qirui has made a secret decision in his heart. As Zhang Yongcheng said, Qingshan has no need to worry about firewood. As long as he keeps the main force, then how about withdrawing from northern Jiangsu? At that time, he can rely on the Yangtze River to continue to drag on and drag it until he takes Guangdong and expands. Army, and then until the counterattack.

After Duan Qirui made this decision, he quickly made the corresponding tactical arrangements. First of all, he sent a brigade to Suining. If the Anhui army wanted to withdraw, he had to keep the retreat first, so as not to let the 10th Division kill all the way to stop the retreat of his main force. In addition, he began to shrink the defense line in Xuzhou, and then began to gradually withdraw his troops.

It's just that this large-scale retreat does not mean that it can be withdrawn, and the Feng army on the opposite side is not a fool. The Feng army on the front line of Xuzhou quickly found that the Anhui army on the opposite side showed signs of large-scale retreat. After this situation was reported to Meng Enyuan, Meng Enyuan did not show his joy. On the contrary, he looked cautious: "We must not let them escape. Our army fought for two months, not just for a Xuzhou. I want to keep this fourth division!"

"Ren Cungao of the 10th Division ordered him to conquer Suining within two days, and then march northwest to try to intercept the southern withdrawal of the Anhui army after meeting with the first mixed brigade!"