Chapter 430 Battle of Breakout

Jiangyin Fort, this fort has many years of history, but its strength is not very good, far from Wusong Fort. The 20th Brigade of the 10th Division of the Feng Army only took one day to take down this small fort.

After taking the Jiangyin Fort, it means that Cheng Biguang's naval fleet can go straight to Jinling smoothly, and nothing can stop Cheng Biguang's fleet from moving west to Jinling.

After Cheng Biguang led the fleet through Jiangyin, he sent a telegram to Zhao Dongyun of the Beijing Division, which was different from the previous telegrams such as complaining about the naval fleet and avoiding war. This time, Cheng Biguang's telegram to Zhao Dongyun was full of confidence, saying that his fleet forces fought bravely and were ready to launch a large scale against the enemies of Zhenjiang and Jinling. Shelling to support the army's combat.

In order to stop Cheng Biguang's fleet from going up the river, Duan Qirui ordered the weak navy of Anhui to stop it, and the sunken ship blocked the sermon.

However, in the face of Duan Qirui's order, the gunboat commanders of the Anhui navy refused very simply. It didn't matter. Facing the approach of Cheng Biguang's fleet, several captains of the Anhui navy in order to save the warships simply announced that they would gloriously join the Soviet navy family.

As mentioned earlier, the Chinese navy is a very unscrupulous guy these days. Its independent characteristics often make them betray their warlords. It is not an exaguable to say that they have anti-bones on their heads.

The navy betrayed the Qing court, the Southern Federation, the direct system, and the Anhui faction in 1906. Those who could betray in the past two years have betrayed them. If Zhao Dongyun is unlucky at that time, they will certainly not hesitate to betray the Soviet faction.

Of course, Zhao Dongyun is still the largest warlord in China, so Cheng Biguang, the admirals, still don't mind working for Zhao Dongyun on the premise that their own safety can be guaranteed and the naval military expenses can be guaranteed.

The 10th Division and the navy cooperated with each other and marched along Jiangxi, which made Duan Qirui in Jinling finally feel a sense of crisis that the doomsday was approaching.

"Although the second mixed brigade has launched a fierce attack, now the second mixed brigade lacks troops and medicine, and it is difficult to break through the defense line of the enemy. The enemy's 10th Division is about to arrive in Zhenjiang. At that time, relying on the remnants and 10th Division of the 9th Division, it is still very difficult to block the 10th Division, general, now this It's time to consider the next strategic direction!" A young man beside Duan Qirui said so cautiously.

Duan Qirui also sighed deeply at this time. In fact, the victory or defeat can be seen. Although the current war in the direction of Jinling is still deadlocked, as long as the 10th Division of the Feng army breaks through the direction of Zhenjiang and joins with the first mixed brigade to attack the east of Jinling, In the case of miracles, Duan Qirui could not see any possibility of continuing to guard Jinling.

And if a miracle happens, it will not be called a miracle.

As a military general, Duan Qirui will not rely on these illusory miracles. He only believes in his judgment and his army.

Now, it's time to go!

Duan Qirui knows very well that if he doesn't leave now, he will not be able to leave when the 10th Division takes Zhenjiang and arrives in Jinling.

But how to go is also a problem!

On the same day, Duan Qirui gathered a group of generals under his command to discuss how to withdraw from Jinling. Some people said that they would break out from the east, directly eliminate the first mixed brigade, and then go to Zhenjiang. At that time, he would gather the fourth division and a large number of Liangjiang army. It is not impossible to kill the tenth division by the way, so that it can also It is enough to recover the vast southern Jiangsu region east of Zhenjiang and establish a defense line in Zhenjiang to block the eastward pace of the Feng army.

Some people say that they will break out to the west, because there is a second mixed brigade in the west that can take over. As long as the Anhui army gathers the main force to break through the west and the second mixed brigade, it may not be able to break through the interception of the 14th and 3rd Division of the enemy, and then continue to go all the way to the southwest and retreat to Jiangxi.

However, in this way, it is equivalent to giving up the whole Jiangnan region and even Zhejiang.

Some people say that they will break out directly to the south. There are not many troops in this direction. There is only one 9th Division that lacks the 33rd Regiment. The possibility of breaking out is very high. As long as you can break through, you can go all the way south to Jurong and Lishui. Later, you can go east to Changzhou and Wuxi, or you can also go south directly. Huzhou, Hangzhou.

This is more selective, and it is also possible to recover the Jiangnan region and preserve the northern Zhejiang region.

However, there is a very big problem in breaking out to the east and south, that is, not to mention whether the breakthrough can be successful, even if the success rate is successful, it may also face the pursuit and encirclement of the main force of the Feng army in the future. At that time, it is possible to lose the remaining nearly 100,000 troops of the Anhui army in the south of the Yangtze River, which is for the Anhui system. It's more deadly than losing the whole Jiangnan.

Because the army is the foundation of the Anhui system, only with the army can it occupy land. Without the army, it is virtual to talk about any territory.

Although it has been decided to go, Duan Qirui can't decide which direction to go in a short period of time.

However, because the time left by the Feng army to decide Duan Qirui is running out, the 10th Division marched all the way at high speed. Because there were no obstacles on the road, they had successfully arrived at the periphery of Zhenjiang on April 24 and quickly launched an attack on Zhenjiang.

The 10th Division launched an attack with the support of the naval fleet. The 9th and 10th Division of Anhui Army could not resist at all. On the first day, they showed defeat.

In this regard, Duan Qirui finally made the determination to break out, and the direction of the breakout is south.

On April 25, Duan Qirui personally commanded nearly 50,000 Anhui troops in the inner and outer areas of Jinling City to launch a breakthrough operation towards the south. Naturally, it was the fourth division as a breakthrough vanguard. This is not that Duan Qirui deliberately put other Anhui troops behind, but because if they want to successfully break through the siege, only the fourth division can It has the ability to tear through the defense line of the 9th Division, thus opening a gap for the army.

As soon as the breakthrough battle of the Anhui army began, its tactical intention was guessed by Meng Enyuan. Can't you guess this? The 4th Division of the Anhui Army, which originally fought with the 14th Division and the 3rd Division, was suddenly transferred to the south and launched a counterattack on the 9th Division. The fool could see that Duan Qirui was about to break out.

"If you want to run, you have to leave me to the Fourth Division!" Naturally, Meng Enyuan will not easily release the Anhui army. Although the whole Jiangnan War is to seize the tax-bearing land in the south of the Yangtze River, the most important thing is to annihilate the living forces of the Anhui army.

There are so many Anhui troops, and most of the Liangjiang provincial military forces are not the main targets of the Feng army. In the whole Jiangnan strategy, the goal of the Feng army is very clear, that is, to divide and encircle the second mixed brigade and the fourth division, and then gather troops to annihilate the second mixed brigade and the fourth division.

Although the Feng army and the second mixed brigade lost a fourth mixed brigade and the 33rd regiment in the first battle, resulting in less than 3,000 people left in the above two units, the second mixed brigade could not go there. From more than 12,000 people at the peak to more than 6,000 people left now, saying that it has already It's not too much to be disabled.

However, another main fourth division of the Anhui army is the main force. The loss of thousands of people is nothing for the fourth division with more than 20,000 troops. As long as a few thousand new soldiers are added, it can be relieved for the whole month, and the fourth division can easily recover its peak combat strength.

And this situation is Meng Enyuan, which Zhao Dongyun is not allowed to happen.

Duan Qirui's fourth division is like a core pillar of Daxia. Holding up a piece of Anhui sky, as long as the fourth division is still there, then Anhui can easily rise.

It's more difficult to keep the fourth division than to win the whole Jiangnan.

This can be seen from the battle of the 9th Division intercepting the Fourth Division. Although the 9th Division tried its best to stop it, it still resisted very reluctantly when the Fourth Division launched an all-out attack of 20,000 people. In less than a morning, it was forced to retreat five kilometers.

At this time, Meng Enyuan also knew that he could not complete the task of intercepting the enemy by relying on the 9th Division, and immediately he decisively ordered the 3rd Division to quickly reinforce the 9th Division.

However, this reinforcement did not mean to directly go around the 9th Division to participate in the interception operation, but ordered the 3rd Division to attack the flank of the 4th Division.

He not only wanted to stop the breakthrough of the Fourth Division, but also took this opportunity to hit the Fourth Division hard, and then completely annihilate the enemy army that worried countless Soviet generals.

The fourth division is strong, but the ninth and third divisions are also the three ace units in the Feng army. Although the ninth division suffered a lot in the previous battles and its combat effectiveness has declined, the third division still maintains most of its combat effectiveness.

When the Third Division launched an attack on the flank of the Fourth Division, its fierce offensive was not something that ordinary troops could resist. A Liangjiang infantry brigade covering the flank of the Fourth Division only persisted for half a day and was forced to retreat. Finally, Duan Qirui was forced to transfer the supplementary brigade of the Fourth Division to resist the attack pace of the Third Division.

The 6th Brigade and 7th Brigade of the 4th Division were still dominated by the 6th Brigade and launched a fierce attack on the position of the 9th Division.

Following the 4th Division are more two river troops of the Anhui Army. They want to stop the attack of the 14th Division and the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Feng Army. Although there are many victories of these two rivers of the Anhui Army, most of them can't resist the attacks of the 14th Division and the 1st Mixed Brigade.

The breakthrough of the Anhui army led to the transfer of battles in the direction of Jinling from the city to the southern suburbs.

One wants to go and the other wants to stop. Both sides know that the battle in Jinling, which has lasted for a long time, is close to the final stage of winning or defeat. Both senior generals such as Meng Enyuan and Gu Lanyu or those ordinary officers dare not relax and urge their soldiers to launch the most violent offensive.