245 make a comeback Next

Yuan Shikai woke up from his deep and distant memories and took a deep breath, as if he was about to spit out his chest.

Yuan Shikai's expression has returned to calm. He smiled bitterly at his son and said, "This is what I wanted to go to the small station to train soldiers. Li Hongzhang Lao Zhongtang asked me in front of the emperor and the empress dowager, and Lao Zhongtang encouraged me. I'm so impatient that I can't rub sand in my eyes. I almost lost my temper tonight.

"Father," Yuan Keding saw that he restrained himself like this, and his expression was also a little gloomy, and he was also moved. "How good it is that Zhu Andian is willing to let go of the conditions to support his father. He also called on the powers to give us loans. These are all good things. It's a good thing that we couldn't ask for before! What is your father worried about? Is it because of the tactical and strategic worries of Li Madman? The madman Li is arrogant and makes public the tactics and strategies of the Kuomintang. He really doesn't pay attention to my Beiyang. Since we know his tactics and strategies, there are many ways to defeat him!"

Yuan Shikai stood there and didn't say anything immediately. For a long time, he waved and said, "Son, come here."

Yuan Keding got up in confusion and approached his majestic old father. Yuan Keding grabbed Yuan Keding's hand. Yuan Keding felt that his palm was full of sweat, cold, warm and sticky. He struggled for a while, but Yuan Shikai did not withdraw his hand. He called his name and said in a trembling voice, "The British have at least two meanings to make such an appeal at this time. Do you understand?"

Yuan Keding shook his head blankly.

Yuan Shikai's chest fluctuated violently, which made Yuan Keding's hands hurt and said, "First, the allies clearly feel that our government is teetering, and the Kuomintang may win. Second, without the assistance of the British, the situation we face will deteriorate rapidly.

Yuan Shikai finally let go of Yuan Keding's hand. Yuan Keding was surprised and couldn't speak. Isn't it just a Handan? How can there be such a terrible conclusion?

"Come back, Handan must be recovered!" Yuan Shikai gritted his teeth and said, "Tell Duan Qirui and Zhao Ti that Lei Zhenchun and others can hold on at any cost!"

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After the defeat in Handan, Yuan Shikai was not willing to make a comeback and put the focus of attacking the liberated areas in Handan, in an attempt to retake Handan and pave the way for the capture of the Kuomintang Hubei District.

After learning about the actions of the Kuomintang army, Lin Tiechang said to Ji Yulin, "Yuan Shikai wants to make a comeback and compete with us for control of Handan."

Handan was liberated, and the newly established Jin-Hebei-Luyu border area government also moved here, and the Central Bureau and the Military Region also came here. The Jin-Hebei and Luyu troops based in Handan can threaten Shandong and northern Jiangsu in the east, cooperate with Shaanxi and Gansu in the west, fight in the Central Plains in the south, and deter Jin and Hebei in the north. Therefore, it is a veritable "place of the four wars".

Li Xiang attaches great importance to this strategic point. He has said many times: "You are in the place of the Fourth World War, and you have to take on the glorious task of the Army of the Fourth World War." "You can't let the enemy take Handan, open the Pinghan Line, and transport troops to the Central Plains."

Li is very clear about Yuan Shikai's careful deployment and intentions. Therefore, after returning to Wuchang from Handan, Li wanted to take care of the fatigue of the journey and immediately called the responsible comrades of the Military Commission to discuss countermeasures.

On the second day after returning to Wuchang, Li Xiang immediately personally drafted a telegram sent to Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin: "The main forces of Shaanxi and Hubei are transferred to the Central Plains battlefield, and it will take a month to arrive. After the arrival of each department, they will arrange the battlefield, be familiar with the terrain, and initially complete the preparation will take two months. By March, therefore, it is a serious strategic task for us to hinder and delay the march of the stubborn army to the north.

In the telegram, Li Xiang, on behalf of the Central Military Commission, instructed: "My Taihang and Hebei and Luyu District can concentrate more than 60,000 main forces, under the unified command of Lin and Ji to deal with the stubborn army to the north of Pinghan Road, and annihilate most of them during the military period."

After the telegram was sent, Li Xiang still felt uneasy. Because this battle is really important, in case of a bad fight, Yuan Shikai's arrogance will be arrogant.

Therefore, he called the Jin-Hebei-Lu-Yu Central Bureau, with Ji Yulin as the secretary, and pointed out the seriousness of the situation: "The upcoming new Handan Campaign is to oppose the attack of the main forces of the Beiyang Army. The victory or defeat of this battle is extremely important to the overall situation... I hope to use the experience of the Handan Campaign to mobilize Taihang and the northwest. The two districts, under the command of Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin, carefully organized each battle and won the victory of the second Handan Campaign.

For the second battle of Handan, Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin have been prepared for a long time. The situation of victory in the last Battle of Handan has been decided, but it has not yet completely ended. They returned from Handan to Chi'an Village, where the military region is stationed, began to deploy in advance, and issued instructions to the leaders of the columns formed in the Handan Campaign: "In order to adapt to the organization of the next battle, all the troops on the Pinghan Line are under the command of the well. Control Tangyin and its two sides with strong troops, monitor and delay the enemy's advance to the north. The main force quickly occupied Zishan, Linzhang, Cheng'an, Feixiang and other areas, preparing to destroy the enemy in Zhangbei. Hebei, Luyu and southern Hebei should relax the necessary direction and pull out the army to use in the decisive direction of the Pinghan line. They should not worry everywhere, disperse the troops, and be powerless everywhere.

After receiving Li Xiang's telegram, Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin suddenly felt the urgency of the situation and the heavy shoulders. They know that whether this battle can be well fought is not a matter of a liberated area in Jin, Hebei and Luyu, but related to the situation of the whole country. To complete such a major and urgent task, you can only use two words, that is, you will win.

However, it is extremely difficult to win. At this time, the forwards of the enemy's four soldiers had arrived in Tangyin. The Beiyang Army urgently gathered in Qi County, Xinxiang County, Ji County, Zhengzhou and Kaifeng. Once all the 80,000 soldiers and horses are pressed, it is bound to form a huge disparity with the 60,000 troops that Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin can concentrate and have just completed the Handan Campaign before they can rest.

To win in the midst of difficulties, you can only rely on strategy. With 80,000 enemies, Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin will not all be put on the battlefield. They were determined to block 30,000 of them south of the Zhanghe River, let the guerrillas drag them back, and surround more than 40,000 enemies and annihilate them. This requires an ideal preset battlefield that can accommodate more than 100,000 soldiers and horses.

These days, Lin Tiechang is immersed in the map all day long, exchanging opinions with Ji Yulin from time to time. Gradually, their eyes focused on the river formed by the Zhanghe River and the Fuyang River in the southeast of Handan. This river cover is like a dustpan with a mouth facing the northeast. The two corners of the dustpan are connected to Quzhou, and the other is connected to Guantao. The belly pocket of the dustpan is a sand land belt, which contains Ci County, Handan, Linzhang, Feixiang, Matou Town and other cities that the enemy must fight for. From the perspective of the terrain, this is the river belt between the Zhanghe River and the Fuyang River. The terrain is flat and the soil is sandy. In addition to the sparse villages, it is difficult for the enemy to build strong fortifications, which is convenient for our army to attack. This is the last line of defense to stop the Kuomintang army. If the enemy is allowed to pass, the situation will be extremely unfavorable to me.

Lin Tiechang circled this big dustpan on the map with a red pen, stared for a while, and threw the pen away: "Committcommitt Ji, do you remember the person mentioned in the ancient book?"

Ji Yulin smoked a cigarette and said, "That's the concubine of King Zhou in the Yin and Shang Dynasty."

"It's this person. King Zhou was incompetence. When Wei Zi was forced to flee to the Western Zhou Dynasty, he fled from here.

"In ancient times, it was called Chaoge, and Weizi fled from Chaoge to Shangdang Weizi Town. Unfortunately, the current Shangdang has been recovered by our army. When the Beiyang army entered Chaoge, it got into its pocket and had no way to escape. While Ji Yulin extinguished his cigarette, he spit out the last breath of smoke into his mouth to the map. Suddenly, the smoke rolled on the dustpan.

Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin led the field army headquarters to leave Chi'an Village at the foot of Taihang Mountain and go to the Fengfeng mining area, which is a short distance away from Handan. A headquarters was established there to carry out the command of the Second Handan Campaign.

The speed of the carriage team gradually slowed down, and the dust gradually dissipated. The scenery on the roadside is clear, and Handan is in sight.

Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin believe in the reeds, enjoying the fields of midsummer, looking at the ancient city of Handan, which is within reach, and the conversation follows.

Handan, an ancient city with a history of more than 2,300 years, is not strange to Lin Tiechang and Ji Yulin, located in the central part of North China. During the Warring States Period, Zhao Jinghou, the monarch of the State of Zhao, moved the capital from Handan from Jinyang to Handan. They talked about the famous historical sites in Handan City, such as Lin Xiangru's "back alley", the "dressing building" and "Zhaomei Pool" of the maid of Zhao, as well as the cluster platform of King Wuling of Zhao, which is located in the northwest corner of the city wall and is still majestic today.

"There is also a small station on Pinghan Road outside Handan City, which is very famous!" Lin Tiechang said with a smile.

"If I guess correctly, you must be referring to the station of Huangsorghum." Ji Yulin picked it up.

Lin Tiechang nodded and turned around and asked the accompanying guard, "Which of you knows the allusion and source of this station name?"

Everyone knows that Lin Tiechang is going to say "ancient", and this "ancient" must be related to the upcoming battle, so they gathered around and listened to Lin Tiechang tell this story.

This is a story recorded in the Pillow written by Shen Jiji in the Tang Dynasty. In ancient times, there was a poor scholar named Lu Sheng. In order to make a name for his achievements, he went to Beijing several times to take the exam and lost his name. Later, once, he lived in the post station in Handan on the way. He met Lv Weng and lamented that he was not born at the right time. Lv Weng gave him a celadon pillow and asked him to sleep for a while, waiting for the shopkeeper to steam the sorghum rice. Lu Sheng fell asleep with a pillow. In his sleep, he not only married a wife and had children, but also won a scholar, made achievements in war, became an official to the governor, and became the prime minister for ten years. He was a high-ranking official, and full of children and grandchildren. It can be said that he could not enjoy endless glory and wealth... When he woke up, he knew it was a beautiful dream. Look around. Not only is Lv Weng still there, but even the owner's sorghum rice is still unsteamed in the pot.

After telling the story, Lin Tiechang laughed and said, "Yuan Shikai dreamed of opening up the Pinghan Railway. But who gave him a magic pillow and let him have the dream of dominating North China and dominating the whole of China?

"Of course, it's still Lv Weng. His celadon pillow is the best." Ji Yulin said seriously, "It's just that Yuan Shikai's fate is not as good as that of Lu Sheng. On this Handan Road, I dare to make a guarantee. His sorghum will never be familiar with it!