Chapter 154: The soldiers leave Hunan

The "Hunan Economic and Trade Delegation" led by Tan Yanqian visited Sichuan emerging industrial bases such as Chengdu, Dayi, and Ya'an, and attended the commissioning ceremony of the second phase of the Qijiang Steel Plant. Finally, he stayed in Chongqing for three days. During this period, he held talks with Sichuan Governor Zhang Lan and Supervisor Xiao Yimin and other military and political officials every night.

When Tan Yankai finished his visit and left Chongqing on a boat on August 15, the fourth regiment of the 4th Division of the Sichuan Army had secretly sneaked to the Luxi County, Xiangxi.

Luxi County is located in the southeast of Xiangxi, adjacent to Yuanling in the east, Chenxi in the south, Jishou in the west, Fenghuang in the west, and Guzhang in the north. It has been an important town that military strategists have fought for since ancient times. Now, the master of the five counties in Xiangxi is one of the veterans of the Sichuan Border Defense Army. Chen Quzhen, a powerful general who took off his armor and returned to the fields after the road protection movement.

It was very early in summer. When the rooster was singing, an army wearing gray-blue military uniforms but equipped with many advanced weapons appeared on the south bank of Wuxi to the west, and continued to march slowly along the official road of the river bank.

In the morning light, more than a hundred cavalrymen in yellow military uniforms rode their horses and rode their horses until they were caught at the foot of Luoshui Mountain, ten miles north of Luxi City.

The leading middle-aged man was wearing a poplin double-breasted shirt and an ordinary black earth cloth bloomer on his lower body. He was wearing a brown cowhide belt with a palm-wide slap around his waist. The pistol holster on the right side of the belt revealed an exquisite ivory gun handle, and the handle of the gun was carefully carved with a flying leopard.

The middle-aged man with dark face and strong muscles turned over and got off the horse, threw the reins in his hand to the horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-drawn horse-

The young officer with square face and clear contour flew off the horse, ran a few steps to Chen Quzhen coming towards him, and stood attentively and saluted: "Report to senior, Wang Jian, the Major General of the Fourth Division of the Sichuan Army, led his troops to come. If you are tired of the senior, I will be very ashamed of you!"

Chen Quzhen burst into laughter again, stepped forward and grabbed Wang Jian's saluting hand, looked up and down, and asked happily: "He looks exactly like Mr. Wang, haha! Is your old man good?"

"Thank you for your concern. My father is in good health. He resigned from his post as a member of the Provincial Council at the beginning of the year and went home to retire. He drank tea and boxed all day long. He liked to go shopping in the gun factory for no reason. My father has always been thinking about his seniors. He knew that his juniors were ordered to come, and he also prepared some gifts to send to him."

Wang Jian replied with a spring breeze on his face. Before leaving Sichuan, Wang Jian specially put him back to Anya's home and asked his father about Chen Quzhen's situation in Xichuan that year. Although he had no impression of Chen Quzhen, who had been with his father for more than ten years and had embraced him, he still treated Chen Quzhen as an elder in his heart.

"Haha! Your old man is still so tough, alas! After counting on his fingers, he has been leaving Ya'an for almost eight years. At that time, I never thought that Brother Yiming led you young people to create such a big country, and even I, the old border army, would benefit greatly!"

Chen Quzhen was deeply moved and held Wang Jian's hand for a long time.

A strong young officer behind Chen Quzhen stepped forward and whispered in Chen Quzhen's ear: "Dad, please welcome the guests back to the city, and the sun is about to come out if it goes on."

Chen Quzhen couldn't help but smile and introduced his son and two sworn brothers who dominated Xiangxi to Wang Jian. Wang Jian respectfully introduced the Chief of Staff He Qiwu and the two deputys to everyone, and then followed Chen Quzhen and rode together, rushing to the county town with a chat and laughing.

The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division, who had more than 8,600 men, followed slowly under the enthusiasm of the master.

The walls of Luxi, the ancient city of Xiangxi, were no longer there. After passing through the quiet streets, they soon arrived at the Chengnan Military Camp built by the river.

The Fourth Sichuan Army Division took a full twenty-one day trip to the east, secretly advancing from the southern Sichuan Xu Prefecture, always maintaining the marching method of hiding day and leaving at night, passing through the six counties on the border between Sichuan, Daozhen, Zheng'an, along the river, and finally arrived at the base of Luxi.

Entering the brand new military camp in the south of the city, looking at the rows of barracks built with green tiles and wood, as well as a flat playground of more than 200 meters long and wide, Wang Jian and He Qiwu were moved and kept thanking Chen Quzhen and the accompanying hosts.

Chen Quzhen didn't care at all. Instead, he said that if it weren't for the years of care that the brothers in Xiangxi had accumulated rapidly through selling arms, Chen Quzhen would have controlled the family business of the five counties in Xiangxi today? Unfortunately, in several letters, Yiming repeatedly emphasized the maintenance of the secret whereabouts of the Fourth Division and the convenience of attacking, so that this temporary military camp was quickly built. Otherwise, Wang Jian and the brothers from afar would have to be invited to the Phoenix, which had a more complete range of facilities.

When more than 8,000 officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division entered the camp, nearly a thousand local people and men in yellow military uniforms had already set up four long banquets. Shocking, laughter and curious discussions were heard everywhere. Wang Jian and He Qiwu had been invited into the house by Chen Quzhen and his son and two generals of the garrison army to sit down, and raised their wine glasses in the face of a dazzling array of hearty dishes.

Halfway through the wine, Chen Quzhen wiped off the sweat beads from Guangliang's forehead and sighed: "I only realized why Brother Yiming won every battle when I saw your strict military discipline and weapons and equipment. When I received Brother Yiming's first letter, I didn't believe that Sichuan could make a long and short gun that was easier to use than the German Mauser. When I saw it with my own eyes, I realized that I was the rustic bun ten years ago. Look..."

Chen Quzhen pulled out the imitation Colt m1916 military pistol at her waist: "I won't talk about your Sichuan imitation Mauser long and short gun. Now my five thousand brothers all have Sichuan-style equipment, which is easy to use! Tsk tsk... Look at this gun, I really compared it with the original imported from the United States. It turned out to be much stronger than the original goods. Not only is it more accurate, but it also has an effective range of 30 meters. This was given to me by Yiming three years ago!"

"Uncle Chen, have you been responsible for the line between Hunan and Guangxi? Junior Brother Yiming said, thanks to you who have always opened the Guangxi weapon market, otherwise I really don't know how to have something to do with Guangxi." He Qiwu said with a smile.

Chen Quzhen shook her head: "This is nothing, let alone I made more than 20% of it in the middle. This is Brother Yiming taking care of us! It's also a big deal in Guangxi. If it weren't for opening up the large markets in Hunan and western Ganzhou, I really wouldn't know how to face Brother Yiming."

When Wang Jian saw that it was almost done, he took out a letter and handed it on both hands: "Uncle Chen, this is our Commander-in-Chief Xiao's letter to you."

"Oh? Why did you take it out now..."

Chen Quzhen suddenly realized something when she said this. After taking the letter, she immediately stood up, walked to the bright window and read "" carefully three times before taking a deep breath, apologized to Wang Jian and He Qiwu, and ordered her son and nephew to greet her well. Then she walked to the riverside behind the house with her two assistants.

More than half an hour passed, the remaining mat was pulled off and a new dish was replaced. Chen Quzhen and his two assistants returned strode back, and the entire barracks had doubled their guard posts in front and behind.

Chen Quzhen signaled Wang Jian and He Qiwu to sit down, raise their glasses and drink together, and then went straight to the topic: "Two nephews, in addition to the numbers of the Fifth Division of the Hunan Army and the Xiangxi Garrison Division, Tan Zu'an is really willing to hand over Changde to us?"

Wang Jian nodded seriously:

"Yes, this is one of the important conditions of the "Sichuan-Xiang Secret Agreement". When our Commander-in-Chief Xiao made this request, Tan Zu'an and his two chiefs of staff were shocked. He had never known the close relationship between his senior and our Commander-in-Chief Xiao. He always thought that for a few years, the seniors had just bought weapons and ammunition from our Sichuan, and then resold them to Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi. After listening to Commander-in-Chief Xiao's explanation, they realized that our two families were as close as a family. After two days of consideration, Tan Zu'an agreed to our Commander-in-Chief Xiao's conditions, but asked his seniors to capture Changde alone and be responsible for eliminating the bandits in the entire western Hunan."

Chen Quzhen no longer hesitated. His chief of staff Huang Chengzhou asked with a smile: "Don't Tan Zu'an have only two brigades under him? Even if he united the four revolutionary troops of Cheng Songyun, his troops were not enough to deal with the two divisions of Chen Huan and Zhao Hengti, right? Didn't he say whether we need help to attack Yueyang?"

Wang Jian smiled and said, "Aren't we still there?"

"Ah!? Oh...haha! I offended you, I will punish you for one cup, haha!" Huang Chengzhou, who is nearly fifty years old and tall, is indeed punished himself for one cup, looking very happy and happy.

Chen Quzhen asked with interest: "How did Tan Zu'an plan to deal with the Beiyang Army and Wang Zhanyuan's Hubei Army? Those are two main divisions! There is also the Wu Peifu Mixed Brigade stationed in Xiaogan. Will the Beiyang faction really let Hunan ignore it?"

"Beiyang is looking apart, and I can't control it even if I want to... Zhang Xun, who is trying to restore the city of Beijing, was driven away. Feng Guozhang, acting president, has led his troops northward. Duan Qirui's two divisions are also gathering in Zhili. Everyone is fighting for central power, and they may fight. After all, the northern region is the old nest of Beiyang. When they finish their own affairs before reacting, they may have dust in Hunan." He Qiwu explained patiently.

Wang Jian then added:

"The entire plan has long been repeated weighing and deduction by our General Staff, and almost all possibilities have been included, and has also been recognized by Tan Zu'an and Hunan. The most important thing is that General Cheng Songyun has reached a preliminary consensus with us, just waiting for Tan Zu'an to meet him and make a final decision.

"At a step back, even if the Beiyang army in Hubei wants to go south, they dare not take action without certainty. After all, we still have two divisions stationed in Yichang, and now we have firmly controlled the western Hubei region. As long as Hubei dares to move, our troops in Yichang will advance east along the river, threaten Jingxiang, and control the upper reaches of the Han River, forcing the Hubei army and the Beiyang army stationed in Hubei to sigh."

Chen Quzhen slammed her palms excitedly: "I understand! Brother Yiming must have a complete combat plan. Let's just say, what should we do? When will we start?"

"The latest is September 10th. When the seniors are ready, let's take a look at the combat plan together. Commander-in-Chief Xiao asked us to listen to our seniors' opinions..."

"What else to eat? Take out the plan!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ps: Please subscribe, recommend tickets and monthly tickets, thank you!

!#
Chapter completed!