Chapter 259 Duan Qirui's Counterattack

There are many things in the world that you can never expect.

For example, what was said in the emergency telegram of the Army Department!

After reading the telegram, Hu Chuyuan immediately kneaded it into a ball angrily, threw it on the ground, and couldn't help scolding the "rice bucket".

Seeing that the matter was very serious, Li Jingfang did not dare to stay any longer and hurriedly got up to leave.

There were only Hu Chuyuan and Li Cunyi left in the room. In a short time, Sun Zongyuan rushed over. As soon as he entered the room and saw that Hu Chuyuan's face was pale, he went to pick up the secret electricity on the ground.

The telegram was sent to the train, and Sun Zongyuan was personally responsible for sealing and stamping. Naturally, he knew what kind of news it was.

He sighed and said to Hu Chuyuan, "Your Excellency, since it has happened, we can only find a way to deal with it first."

Hu Chuyuan sneered and said, "Duan Qirui is a rice bucket. The main force of the Jianghuai Corps is in Pyongyang. It is well equipped and has abundant troops. If he can't defend Pyongyang, you can let him cut off his head and send it to Yanjing."

Sun Zongyuan sighed again and said, "As the main general, I failed to detect the signs of the rebellion of the Korean army, and I failed to notice that the French army went south and let myself fall into a situation of one defense and three. Duan Qirui is indeed his crime. However, the situation in Pyongyang is still very important. Don't miss it. You still have to find a way to save it quickly.

"Alas...!"

Hu Chuyuan can only have a long sigh.

Now at this throt, where should he be transferred troops?

There are a total of 47 divisions in the top ten regiments in China. In the regular army of 1.37 million people, there are only three divisions left in the country, less than 100,000 people.

Duan Qirui has five divisions of the Jianghuai Corps in North Korea, all of which are veteran integrated divisions, with a total strength of 186,000 people, well-equipped and well-trained. Almost all front-line officers have graduated from military academies at home and abroad. They are also the most in-depth and long-term core main force that implements the concept of "army is a military a military academy" The team.

The Jianghuai Corps has no mechanized troops. The equipment of the five divisions has reached the scheduled combat standards. On average, each division has 37,000 people. Outside the normal division system, there is a brigade and an additional artillery regiment. Among them, the oldest second and fourth divisions also have additional artillery brigades respectively.

In terms of the size of artillery units, the total number of the seven divisions of the Japanese army is not half of that of these five divisions.

There are still three divisions of the Jianghuai Corps that are not in North Korea. The eighth division has been deployed in Shanghai and Suzhou. The fourteenth division is in Shandong and Jeju Island, and the last new forty-fourth division is in Tianjin.

Even if Hu Chuyuan wanted to send more troops to Duan Qirui, he couldn't pump.

Sun Zongyuan knows these situations very well. Seeing that Hu Chuyuan was quite embarrassed, he could only persuade him: "Your Excellency, you can't lose it. Our arsenal in Anzhou has just entered the stage of large-scale commissioning. The Anzhou coal mine can mine 600,000 tons of coal every month. The grade of Jiechuan iron mine is extremely high, and there are also 300,000 tons of iron every month. Production of ore. Pyongyang Coal Mine and the nearby Zaining Yinli Iron Mine have entered a high-yielding period. The four major gold mines in North Ping'an Province are still accelerating, producing pounds and dollars. The scale of Anzhou Iron and Steel Machinery Factory, Arsenal, Pyongyang Machinery Factory and Nanpu Shipyard should not be underestimated. It may not be anything to stay in our hands. If you take it away from me, it will be troublesome.

"Yes!"

In the final analysis, these enterprises were personally ordered by Hu Chuyuan to invest and build. The specific scale is, how much investment is, what the production capacity is, and the quality of local minerals... He is too clear in his heart.

In 1897, in order to invest in Anzhou Coal Mine and Nampo Shipyard on a large scale, he also re-signed a new concession treaty with the Kingdom of Korea, which transferred Anzhou and Nampo to the concession.

Both Anzhou Coal Mine and Pyongyang Coal Mine are high-quality anthracite, with low sulfur content, which is most suitable for coking ironmaking, and for ship power boilers to burn coal. The total reserves of Jiechuan Iron Mine are not only as high as hundreds of millions of tons, but also the average iron content of ore is more than 50%, and the total amount of sulfur and phosphorus is also very low.

Huanghai Nande's Yinli Iron Mine is currently the largest iron ore base found in the Kingdom of Korea, with a total reserve of about 1 billion tons and an average iron content between 35% and 42%. It is also a very valuable iron ore area.

It is precisely because the return on investment in northern North Korea, especially in Pyongyang and Anzhou, is very obvious that Hu Chuyuan finally decided to make a large-scale investment here.

After the outbreak of the war, the factories and industrial and mining enterprises he invested in North Korea also became more important. The on-site production of firearms, ammunition and small-caliber mortars was a very important supply ground for the Jianghuai Corps and the North Korean army.

Pyongyang must be saved!

After a short period of thought, Hu Chuyuan finally gave a long sigh and said to Sun Zongyuan: "The Qingxu Corps and the Jianghuai Corps urgently added two divisions, and the 14th Division of the Jianghuai Division and the 23rd Division of Fujian and Zhejiang were transferred to Pyongyang. The 30th Division of the Southwest Corps made up the defense of Shanghai, and the 8th Division of the Jianghuai Corps made up the defense of Shandong... Enter the mechanized corps, speed up the deployment, and strive to enter Pyongyang before the beginning of spring next year.

"I see, my lord!"

Sun Zongyuan was quietly relieved and temporarily added more than 60,000 elite troops to Pyongyang, which should play a very key role, but he knew very well that this was the limit that Hu Chuyuan could transfer.

Hu Chuyuan knew better in his heart. After a pause, he said to Sun Zongyuan, "Send an urgent telegram to Lu Guangxuan and Lu Han. First, the Army Department continues to expand its strength in the existing establishment. The 31st division of the old brand has been fully added as an integrated division. In wartime, the scale is five main regiments, one affiliated brigade and two affiliated regiments. Each regiment has a maximum of seven columns, and the highest level of each regiment is seven companies. Except for the absence of an attached brigade, the rest of the conventional division is equivalent... First of all... Expanded from the Jianghuai Corps; Second, the training scale of new recruits of the reserve divisions of the Corps of the Army Department has been expanded again, and the total strength of the army has been increased to the size of 54 divisions; third, the marine divisions and battalions affiliated to the fleets of the Navy Department have been officially restructured into marine divisions, using the order of three, and the 101st Division is located in the Pacific Fleet. The Beiyang and Nanyang fleets temporarily set up a marine division, and the Pacific and headquarters fleets have three marine divisions.

Sun Zongyuan was a little stunned, and the scale of this expansion was really large.

Relying on the long-term policy of "the army is a military academy" and the establishment of the original naval divisions, it is completely feasible for the army to expand to 54 divisions and the marine division to 8 divisions.

However, after the completion of the new round of expansion, the total strength of the army is close to 2 million, and the total strength of the Marine Division is about 250,000.

Sun Zongyuan couldn't help asking Hu Chuyuan, "I'm afraid the military expenses can't stop."

Hu Chuyuan said, "I know."

If there are many words, he won't say it, and he doesn't need to say it, because he has decided that if the new war treasury bonds can't be raised, he will sell his own property to support the war.

As for how to repay these treasury bonds without affecting the construction of the national economy... This can only wait and wait. One step is one step.

Sun Zongyuan hurried back to the train station to send a telegram, while Hu Chuyuan continued to think about it.

After a while, Wu Shuzhen entered the room. At a glance, she knew that there was something particularly troublesome in Hu Chuyuan's heart. She didn't ask much, but just asked the chef to prepare the supper.

She knew that Hu Chuyuan would go to bed very late this night.

In Pyongyang...!!!

Duan Qirui has long been in a mess. With the training and support of China, the North Korean army now has seven divisions and a large number of Qinwang Volunteers, with a total strength of about 200,000 people.

The rebels had no trouble. The three main North Korean divisions arranged in Wonsan suddenly defected and welcomed the French landing in Wonsan Port, causing 140,000 French troops of nearly one army group size to rush into the Korean battlefield.

At the same time, the Japanese army attacked the three gaps in the Ahu Feiling Mountains on the scale of eight divisions, especially concentrated in the area of Xinxiling, with four first-class divisions concentrated.

At this time, Duan Qirui was stationed in Xiangyuan County, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, as his command center. All the main forces in his hand were concentrated in the Ahu Feiling Mountains, and half of the Korean army was in Wonsan and half in Pyongyang.

He also knew that the North Korean army and the rebel army were not worth relying on. They tried their best to leave them in the rear and do some easy things to resupply and build fortifications.

Can't you do this?

Duan Qirui has a feeling of disillusionment. He really can't figure it out. This is fighting against North Korea. Are North Koreans all national scum? Or do they have too much hope for themselves?

In a word, Duan Qirui is a little confused.

He doesn't seem to care anymore.

His biggest problem now is that he must send people to guard the Xialan Mountain, which is the area where the Beidafeng Mountains and the Ahu Feiling Mountains meet. It is also a gathering place in a mountainous area, which is relatively easy to defend.

Another problem is that he is very worried that the North Korean rebels guarding the Beidafeng Mountains will also surrender on a large scale, allowing the French army to bypass the Xialan Mountain defense area and directly attack Pyongyang.

If the North Korean troops stationed in Pyongyang also surrendered... The Jianghuai Corps would be miserable and directly besieged by the French army.

Shou... It's definitely not a fucking way.

He decided to take some risks and concentrate the main divisions on Xialan Mountain to give a blow to the French Fourth Army, which was trying to advance. The French did not know the actual combat strength of the new army, especially the lack of sufficient understanding of the second division in his hands.

He not only thought so, but also did it.

The second division in his hand had been assembled and began to march towards Xinping at night. The large troops marched lightly at night. They marched 130 kilometers in three days to meet the fourth division stationed in Xialan Mountain and fought with the strength of 70,000 troops of two divisions.

After darkening, Duan Qirui took the off-road vehicle in person and led the second division to leave the headquarters secretly.

The teacher he led by himself knows it himself.

It is absolutely not difficult to march 130 kilometers in three days.

On the night of October 17, Duan Qirui had led the Second Division to secretly cross the Danan River and came to the southern part of the Xialan Mountains, only 12 kilometers away from Lu Hongtao's Fourth Division.

The army secretly gathered and reorganized in the mountains, and the military supplies temporarily transported by the naval transport fleet through the Danan River are being redistributed.

After the off-road vehicle drove to Nanping, the mountain road ahead was even more rugged, and Duan Qirui himself leaned on foot.

Here, he could already hear the sound of the cannons of Xialan Mountain. The artillery brigade of the Fourth Division was recating, and the French army was recating.

Time always passes quickly. The young officer who suddenly joined the Battle of Longchuan ten years ago has now been promoted to major general by Hu Chuyuan, commanding the entire Korean battlefield, and is known as the four generals together with Li Kaiye, Ye Boyong and Yang Zongli.

Duan Qirui was thirty-six years old. Finally, he cut off the braids he hated in his heart and shaved a big bald head.

To be honest, his head shape is not good-looking at all. His forehead bone is particularly high, and the sides of the back of his head are particularly wide. He is thin and has high cheekbones. In addition, he has a bad temper. Many people laugh at him as a triangular donkey.

He doesn't care, because he knows that except for Hu Chuyuan and Li Kaiye, there is no one in the army who is not afraid of him.

Even Lu Guang Quan has to give him three points.

Duan Qirui has always regarded himself as the direct line of Hu Chuyuan. He is also a rejucious person. Lu Guangxuan said that he was not afraid that he was fake.

In the camp in the mountains, in the afterglow of the sunset, Duan Qirui couldn't wait to take several of his staff officers to climb up the highest mountain nearby and observe the French and North Korean rebel positions more than 20 kilometers away with high-power binoculars.

In the distance, the three divisions and two brigades of the French army are deployed together, which has formed a trap for the Xialan Mountain garrison, and the artillery position is relatively lagging behind.

Duan Qirui looked over and understood in his heart that the French army's heavy weapons were insufficient. After all, they landed in a hurry for less than seven days. Now he has just come here and wants to take advantage of the Japanese army's great offensive to get a ticket.

The artillery troops stationed behind the French army are the second division of the North Korean army they trained, and the artillery equipment is also the 122mm howitzers they provided. Although it is the old equipment eliminated by the Huai army, the average firepower is still relatively fierce.

It was getting dark, and Duan Qirui's heart was bright.

At this moment, he was already very clear that his adventure strategy was right. The French did not know the combat effectiveness of the Chinese elite army at all. In contrast, he said that his precautions were much stricter and more cautious.

"You deserve to be beat into that kind of German surname by the Germans!"

Duan Qirui sneered in his heart. In fact, he hated the Germans from the bottom of his heart, but until now, every division of the Jianghuai Corps has retained the German general instructor with excellent quality and strict iron rules, and has been strictly promoting German militification in accordance with his requirements over the years.

He knows that when it comes to war, he is indeed not as good as Li Kaiye. That's really a mother-in-law.

He has always felt that people like Li Kaiye have only been talented for hundreds of years, just like Xu Da and Chang Yuchun in the Ming Dynasty, who can't meet one or two in troubled times.

But he also has his own advantages.

He should be the first army general to develop Germanization to the extreme. On the basis of German militization, he also has his own ideas and methods. First, his general school policy is very good, and he personally serves as the general teacher. Second, he is careful and does his best. Every time a new set of equipment appears, he writes it himself. The user manual provides guidance to all the staff. Third, his training is cruel and particularly bitter. In order to ensure the military spirit and effect, even he trains with everyone. Fourth, he is a thorn, relying on the direct line of Hu Chuyuan's direct line. He needs equipment, supplies, food and treatment all day long.

Finally, he was the first large-scale submachine gun in the country, with three in each squad. In addition, he specially organized three submachine gun assaults, as well as Browning rifles, wheeled grenade launchers and a large number of mortars.

Walking down the mountain quickly, Duan Qirui was like a bison, with bright eyes, and his pace was big and fast, as if he could kill people.

He knew in his heart that he would fight very beautifully in this battle.

The dog said, he wants to fight in person.

Therefore, he called his old classmate Wang Zhanyuan, the deputy general and brigade commander of the 204 brigade, and the two talked all the way.

Hearing that Duan Qirui was going to fight in person, Wang Zhanyuan was angry. He looked at Duan Qirui and said, "Don't you believe me?"

Duan Qirui ignored him fiercely, but said, "This is an artillery brigade. What are you doing? If I die, you will take over my position. I fucking commanded the three regiments to copy the bread from behind.

With this, Duan Qirui has put on an unnegotiable posture and didn't give Wang Zhanyuan any room at all.

Wang Zhanyuan was very helpless, the dog said... Duan Qirui did not talk about the spirit of cooking, but he was also the highest commander of the Jianghuai Corps and the Korean battlefield. His military rank was a major general.

The dog said.

Wang Zhanyuan is a colonel, and there is a brigadier general in the middle.

Duan Qirui was fierce and seemed to walk back to the barracks fiercely. Although everyone was used to it, he was still a little nervous to see that he was so cold today.

All steps should be accelerated. The telegraph line of Nanping can't be connected, and it can only be contacted by radio devices for the time being.

The navy's supplies have been sent to Nanpingkou, and a special regiment has been sent to receive and deliver them.

All members are on the spot to prepare for the war.

It is obvious that Duan Qirui will launch an attack tonight or early tomorrow morning.

It's really risky for two divisions to fight against one of the other people's army and the North Korean rebels of one division. Even the two oldest reorganization divisions in China are very dangerous.

Although the French lacked heavy equipment and the fortifications were not perfect, their second division did not carry heavy equipment. The heavy machine guns were all left in the Xiangyuan camp, all with light machine guns and submachine guns, no cannons, all small mortars.

Fortunately, the navy temporarily transferred more than 60 mountain howitzers with only 75mm caliber.

After dark, the Jianghuai Second Division began to set off secretly and ventured to the extreme. Only Wang Zhanyuan stayed with an artillery regiment and two infantry, and the remaining 30,000 people were all equipped with infantry equipment and made a detour to the French backline to attack the Second North Korean rebel division.

It happens that the second division beats the second division, and the master beats the apprentice.

groping along the mountain road, the second division quickly interspersed, crossed several small rivers, and arrived at the eastern defense line of the second North Korean division in the early morning, only six kilometers away from the opponent's artillery position.

The four main regiments of the Second Division were separated and approached the eastern defense line of the North Korean rebels one by one.

It was very close to the enemy's front. As soon as the appointed time arrived, Wang Zhanyuan's artillery regiment sent out artillery cover the bombardment, mixed with incendiary bombardment of the rebel artillery positions.

The fire burned in an instant, illuminating half of the sky.

Just after the first round of shelling, Duan Qirui personally took an infantry regiment to cover the position with mortars and machine guns, and the other two infantry all equipped with submachine guns rushed in from the left and right wings.

The North Korean rebels did not expect that the Jianghuai Corps would penetrate into their hinterland. They were suddenly caught off guard. The front positions were killed and injured, and soon lost the protective line of the artillery position.

The troops of nearly 30,000 people of the Jianghuai Corps were vented to annihilate the Second North Korean Division. At the same time, they sent people to repair fortifications, repair artillery facilities, and occupy the shell warehouses of the North Korean rebels.

To put it bluntly, although it has good equipment, the combat effectiveness of the North Korean army is really pitiful. Nearly 20,000 troops were killed and injured in just half an hour, and the rest mostly surrendered.

After occupying the shell warehouse, Duan Qirui immediately violated the international convention and killed all the prisoners.

The sky was getting brighter and the solid southern front was occupied. The Jianghuai Second Division adjusted the captured artillery. Wang Zhanyuan also pulled his artillery regiment over, and then concentrated his fire on the hinterland bombing of the French Fourth Army.

At this time, the French Fourth Army began to organize a counterattack, and the troops of the two brigades were wrapped up. In their west, the Jianghuai Fourth Division also began to organize shelling.

Both sides are the elite troops of the two countries. The battle of Xialan Mountain was very fierce. The French must recapture the position of the Jianghuai Second Division. If they can't take it back, they can't withdraw.

The offensive battle organized by the French Fourth Army lasted for four days. Due to the lack of artillery cover and strong attack, in the positional battle, the fire network composed of a large number of light and heavy machine guns and mortars of the Jianghuai Corps caused a large area of casualties to the French army.

After directly annihilating the second division of the North Korean rebels, because the weapons and ammunition of the two armies were completely the same, Duan Qirui's light and simple troops relied on the seized materials and quickly arranged the preparations for long-term battle, especially the addition of more than 100 Maxim heavy machine guns, which was very serious for the large-scale killing of the French army.

Four days later, the troops of the French Fourth Army stationed in Yuanshan, with the assistance of two North Korean rebel divisions, were ready to attack Duan Qirui's position. Before that, Duan Qirui had forcibly captured the old Xiling of Xialan Mountain and killed the French Fourth Army with the advantage of large area of artillery bombardment cover and gunfire. The three main divisions were annihilated.

Subsequently, the Jianghuai 2nd Division was responsible for the garrison, and the 4th Division divided its troops into two ways to pack their opponents.

At this time, through the supply of the Xialan Mountain war zone, the Jianghuai Corps transferred a large number of flamethrowers from the Pyongyang Hyogo, using these ranges to cover 60 meters of flamethrowers.

Using the big killing surname of flamethrowers and submachine guns, the Jianghuai Corps constantly adopts the short-range suppression of mortars and light and heavy machine guns, and the small-scale infantry's breakthrough tactics to constantly seize the opponent's positions and cause large-scale killing and injury to the front-line enemies.

The North Korean rebels on both wings of the French Fourth Army were first defeated, and some of the troops changed their flags. They were re-loyalty to the King of North Korea and pointed their guns at the French Fourth Army.

The whole Battle of Xialan Mountain was fought for only seven days. The Fourth French Army was destroyed under the strong attack of the two main integrated divisions of the Jianghuai Regiment. 104,000 troops, more than 70,000 people were annihilated, and about 20,000 people were captured.

On October 24, when Yang Zong Li fully retreated to Changchun, Duan Qirui fought a beautiful annihilation battle in the Korean battlefield, eliminating more than 170,000 enemy troops and reoccupying Yuanshan.

After taking down Yuanshan and getting the supplies and armaments of the French and North Korean rebels here, Duan Qirui immediately ordered to withdraw.

Fully withdraw to the Ahu Feiling Mountains, and first concentrate troops to fight a tougher battle in Xinxiling, disintegrating the offensive of the Japanese army.

Before leaving, he sent a telegram to Hu Chuyuan, hoping that Hu Chuyuan would send more militia training troops from Jianghuai as soon as possible, and use the guns and ammunition he seized and recovered in the Korean battlefield to quickly increase the number of Jianghuai regiment training troops stationed in Pyongyang to 100,000, regardless of combat effectiveness for the time being, at least more than the control of the North Korean army.

In addition, if the Army Department has approved the organization of a mechanized regiment in the Jianghuai Corps, he hopes that the speed will be as soon as possible, next March... He has very important tactical uses.

Duan Qirui fought so beautifully in this battle of Xialan Mountain.

The whole world was shocked, and the news quickly spread to China. The whole country was also greatly boosted and morale in China.

Duan Qirui, Chinese flying general!

(to be continued)