The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Si Lie just casually said that the 3rd Regiment of the 26-2 Division had been rebuilt: This surprised Chen Mingren and everyone in the division staff.

After the annihilation battle south of Fuyang, Chen Tianheng added the 400-plus soldiers from the supplementary battalion to the combat units. This was simple. However, how to fill the supplementary battalion became more complex.

The First Division had the priority to select the tens of thousands of prisoners captured by the 10th and 11th Divisions, but after much selection, the First Division only wanted less than 200 people.

Chen Tianheng requested the Northern Expedition Army Recruiting Offices in Jiujiang, Changsha, and even Guangzhou to provide the rest. They would all be young recruits with clean backgrounds, preferably literate. Of course, wounded soldiers from the battles along the Wuchang to Nanxun line, who had recovered and were in good health and would not be affected by combat, would also be returned to the army.

Then, Chen Tianheng sent a telegram to the staff headquarters of the 20th Division of the First Army in Guangzhou, asking Chief of Staff Ye Jianying to give some seedlings for the fifth and sixth batches of students.

The General Staff had a lot of trouble just for these few hundred soldiers.

"Second Battalion calling! New developments in the battle in eastern Zhejiang!"

Qian Deng Ruoxian received a telegram from the Second Battalion of the Reconnaissance Battalion.

The Second Battalion was currently located southeast of Shaoxing. Their communications relied entirely on a portable radio carried by two packhorses. It was said that the Second Battalion had to carry the radio up Niuchang Mountain. From the location of the telegraph machine, a telescope could be used to see Xinchang County to the south and Baiguan County to the north. The location was excellent.

Yesterday, the Second Battalion reported that the 19th Army, operating in eastern Zhejiang, had left Shaoxing, Baiguan, and Zhuji and was concentrating in Xinchang County. Today, the Second Battalion learned after descending the mountain that all members of the 19th Army had already departed from Xinchang and were headed for Ninghai.

The strange developments on the battlefield in eastern Zhejiang had a cause.

After the 19th Army entered eastern Zhejiang, the Zhejiang Army troops did not engage in a head-on confrontation with this army and gave up Jinhua, Yiwu, and Zhu along the way. Even when the 19th Army was approaching Baiguan-Shaoxing, the Zhejiang Army took the initiative to withdraw its main force from Shaoxing to Ningbo.

Later, local merchants and gentry in Zhejiang met with Shi Duo, the commander of the 19th Army, and the gentry gave 5 silver dollars to the 19th Army.

The Zhejiang merchants were saying that Zhou Yinren's Fujian army, driven out of Fujian by He Yingqin, had nearly 20,000 remnants and now occupied Lishui and Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang, and were about to attack Taizhou. The Fujian army had always had poor military discipline, and this time they had fled south to plunder the people's wealth and commit all sorts of atrocities, which the people of Zhejiang had great dissatisfaction with.

Since the Northern Expeditionary Army came to Zhejiang to fight the warlords, and the Fujian Army was also a warlord, it was hoped that the troops of the Northern Expeditionary Army would first move to Ninghai to fight the Fujian Army. At the very least, this would prevent Zhou Yinren from continuing north to occupy Ninghai after occupying Taizhou. If this group of Fujian Army could be eliminated, that would be even better. During the battle between the 19th Army and the Fujian Army, the Zhejiang Army (the troops in eastern Zhejiang) and the Northern Expeditionary Army maintained peace, neither attacking the other.

The request put forward by Zhejiang businessmen was reasonable. For the sake of 50,000 oceans, Shi Duo decided to change the direction of the 19th Army's attack and attack the Fujian Army first.

So the 19th Army set out one after another, first concentrating in Xinchang County, and then setting out from Xinchang County in a mighty force to defend Ninghai.

At the same time, Zhou Yinren's Fujian Army, commanding 6 men, left Taizhou and headed north, also heading for Ninghai. These 6 men were the only remaining ground forces of the Fujian clique (excluding the Fujian navy), and despite their small number, they comprised six divisions (or rather, six division commanders).

Shortly after the 19th Army set out to fight the Fujian Army, the Second Battalion sent another message.

报:

The Zhejiang Army's Meng Zhaoyue and Zheng Shaoqian troops quietly followed the 19th Army and occupied Shaoxing and Baiguan!

"Oh no. Oh no. Shi Duo has been deceived." Chen Mingren commented after seeing the telegram, "East Zhejiang is in trouble.

Lu Deming: "With the Fujian Army attacking from the front and the Zhejiang Army stabbing us from behind, the 19th Army might be in an even worse situation than the 26th Army.

Chen Tianheng: "The Zhejiang Army has recaptured its lost territory, but they may not dare to directly attack the 19th Army. The Zhejiang Army and the Fujian Army do have a very poor relationship, even though they are both under the Five Provinces Coalition Army. ... But if Shi Duo is defeated in the battle with the Fujian Army, then the situation on the battlefield in eastern Zhejiang will be uncertain.

Chen Mingren: "If Shi Duo fights Zhou Yinren, who has a better chance of winning?

Chen Tianheng: "Shi Duo has just revolted and joined the Northern Expedition. His troops haven't undergone any reforms. Not only do they lack Party representatives, but the staff, officers, and soldiers remain exactly the same. Shi Duo's troops are based on the First Division of the Zhejiang Army, which was previously under Chen Yi. If they were to face the Fujian Army, I'm afraid the Fujian Army would have a better chance of success. But comrades, let's return to our battle plan. New orders from the Front Headquarters have further postponed the general attack on Hangzhou."

Chen Mingren: "Hasn't it been postponed from January 10 to January 12?"

谦登若宪:“刚收到的电报是说要推迟到1月15日，26军还没有重建起来。蒋校长的希望是杭州之战由26军三个师先打第一波，第一师和第二师暂且观战。因此西线就得耐心等陈焯的26军恢复起来。”

Chen Mingren returned to the map and said, "If we delay any further, I'm worried that all of Sun Chuanfang's troops in northern Jiangsu and Anhui will be transferred to Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

On the map, the defenders in Hangzhou were marked as 3rd Division and 1st Brigade. Sun Chuanfang no longer had any main forces left. The largest of these divisions had 6000 men, while the smallest, Bai Baoshan's Allied Forces 5th Division, had less than 3,000 men.

Bai Baoshan's division only had two regiments, and the third regiment existed only on paper. Sun Chuanfang asked Bai Baoshan to recruit soldiers himself, but he did not give him enough money, so Bai Baoshan could not recruit any soldiers at all.

There is one division in Shanghai, Li Baozhang's 9th Division.

Jiaxing and Suzhou do not have a full division of regular troops.

Nanjing's garrison was relatively large, comprising four divisions and two brigades. However, facing immense pressure from the Jiangzuo Army, Nanjing likely dared not send troops to reinforce Hangzhou. Sun Chuanfang's only option was to transfer his troops south from north of the Yangtze River.

In fact, according to the agreement between Zhang Zuolin and Sun Chuanfang when the An Guo Army was established, Sun Chuanfang should have transferred all of his more than 3 Jiangbei troops to the south of the Yangtze River and concentrated his forces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to resist the Northern Expedition Army. The Fengtian clique would have been responsible for resisting the Northern Expedition Army north of the Yangtze River.

Of course, Sun Chuanfang's territory north of the Yangtze River would naturally belong to Zhang Zuolin.

Chen Tianheng was also looking at the map for a long time, then exchanged glances with Chen Mingren.

"Commander, I'm afraid Sun Chuanfang will abandon Hangzhou.

Chen Tianheng: “I think so too.

Chen Mingren: "Shanghai will also be abandoned by Sun Chuanfang as soon as the siege of Hangzhou begins.

Chapter 45: The First Division Occupies Shanghai

Quzhou.

Chiang Kai-shek has personally visited the forward command headquarters in Quzhou.

"Why did the 19th Army move to Pinghai?" "Why did the 19th Army fail so quickly in Pinghai?"

Two sharp questions raised by Chiang Kai-shek.

"Commander-in-Chief, the 19th Army sent a telegram a few days ago stating that his troops discovered that the Fujian Army, led by Zhou Yinren, had entered Zhejiang and continued to advance northward. They feared that they might attempt to reach Ningbo via Ninghai and Fenghua, and then join forces with the Zhejiang Army in Ningbo. If the Fujian and Zhejiang armies were to unite and occupy eastern Zhejiang, their occupation would be even more disadvantageous to us. Commander Shi Duo has therefore personally transferred the 19th Army from Zhuji and Shaoxing to Ninghai."

"In the Ninghai direction, the 19th Army first seized Ninghai City, then Zhou Yinren's troops arrived and seized the high ground south of Ninghai City. The 19th Army sent troops south of the city to fight Zhou Yinren for the high ground, but failed. Instead, Zhou Yinren counterattacked Ninghai City. After a day and a night of fierce fighting, the 19th Army was defeated by Zhou Yinren's Fujian Army and was forced to withdraw from Ninghai. On the way back to Zhuji from Ninghai, the 19th Army was attacked by the Zhejiang Army, and the orderly retreat turned into a rout."

Chiang Kai-shek was very dissatisfied with the explanation given by the General Staff: "I heard that the 19th Army secretly accepted gifts from Zhejiang businessmen to change its battle direction. Is this true?

The staff officer who was introducing the battle situation shook his head, and Bai Chongxi also shook his head: "There is such a rumor, but I can't confirm whether it is true.

Chiang Kai-shek: "If the rumors are true, Shi Duo must be brought to justice. ... Jiansheng, after all this trouble in eastern Zhejiang, how are we going to capture Ningshao? Do we still have enough troops?"

Bai Chongxi: "Currently, the 17th Army and the 21st and 22nd Divisions of the 1st Army have entered the battlefield in eastern Zhejiang, but have not come into contact with the Allied Forces. Currently, the Allied Forces have nearly 30,000 troops in eastern Zhejiang, not including the Fujian troops that have entered Zhejiang.

"We still don't know how many Fujian troops are left after the 19th Army's battle in Ninghai. The battle report sent back by the 19th Army shows that they fought with the Fujian Army in a bloody battle, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. But as everyone knows, Shi Duo's battle report may not be credible.

"My plan is to slowly advance the 17th Army and two divisions of the First Army. Once He Yingqin has finished pacifying Fujian, he will lead the other three divisions of the First Army into Zhejiang, and then launch a general offensive to seize Ningbo.

Chiang Kai-shek: "What if Chen Tianheng's First Division joins the Ningbo direction?"

Bai Chongxi: "If the First Division joins the attack in the direction of Ningbo, it will naturally not be a problem to deal with the coalition forces there. However, the Qiantang River is wide, with no bridges and insufficient ferries. The First Division will have to wait for several days to cross the river, or it can go up to the narrow section of the upper Fuchun River to cross the river, but that will also require several days of marching. My original plan was for the First Division to continue to serve as the main force in western Zhejiang, and after capturing Hangzhou, continue to attack Shanghai. If Shanghai is captured, the First Division will set up defenses west of Shanghai facing Nanjing to prevent Sun Chuanfang from coming to rescue from Nanjing. If Sun Chuanfang does not come to rescue, we will prepare to advance to Nanjing with the First Division as the core.

"Hmm." Chiang Kai-shek pondered.

Bai Chongxi: "Commander-in-Chief, Ningbo is important, but Shanghai is the most prosperous city in China and a major financial and tax center; Nanjing is the former capital of the Republic of China. Both its political and economic significance are extremely significant."

吗…

Bai Chongxi's proposal was to focus on Hangzhou-Shanghai-Suzhou-Nanjing. Although Ningbo was also a wealthy place, it was far behind the core areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Chiang Kai-shek was still hesitating.

However, Chiang Kai-shek hesitated for less than a day before someone came to Quzhou.

"Brother Shizue!"

"Mr. Yu, Mr. Chen, we are both visiting Quzhou. I hope we will forgive you for not welcoming us."

Zhang Jingjiang, Yu Qiaqing and Chen Guangfu arrived.

Zhang Jingjiang was Sun Yat-sen's financial backer and also the benefactor who helped Chiang Kai-shek regain power. Yu Qiaqing and Chen Guangfu were Chiang Kai-shek's potential financial backers—they had verbally expressed their support for Chiang Kai-shek in previous encounters but had not yet actually paid out.

Chiang Kai-shek dared not to fall out with these people no matter who he was with. This is probably the saying "one thing conquers another".

Zhang Jingjiang: "The fighting in Zhejiang has been extremely fierce since January, but it is said that the Northern Expedition Army is about to win in Hangzhou.

Chiang Kai-shek: "Previously, in the Battle of Fuyang, Chen Tianheng's Northern Expeditionary Army annihilated nearly 30,000 troops from Sun Chuanfang's 10th and 11th Divisions, captured Fuyang, and now besieges Hangzhou. Tomorrow morning, our army will attack the city, and Hangzhou can be captured within two days. However, in the Ningshao direction, the 19th Army has suffered a temporary setback, and our army needs to make some adjustments before we can capture Ningbo."

Yu Qiaqing: "Jieshi, if Hangzhou is taken, there will be a plain from Hangzhou to Shanghai, and with the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway, I think the Northern Expedition Army can quickly march to Shanghai, right?"

Chiang Kai-shek: "Yes, our army is advancing along the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway, which provides convenient logistics. Jiaxing is not heavily defended by Sun's army, so the army can reach the outskirts of Shanghai directly.

Chen Guangfu: "Commander-in-Chief Chiang, several of us have been closely following the war in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and have a basic understanding of the situation. So, I'd like to offer a suggestion, speaking on behalf of Shanghai's business community. ...Could the Northern Expedition send the First Division of the First Army, commanded by Chen Tianheng, to attack Shanghai? And after Shanghai is captured, could the First Division be stationed there to garrison?"

Yu Qiaqing: "It is not that we are overstepping our authority to appoint special generals, but the situation of the Northern Expedition is progressing too quickly. We are also expressing our opinions on behalf of the Shanghai business community.

"Oh, why did Mr. Yu and Mr. Chen specify that the First Division attack Shanghai?" Chiang Kai-shek's plan was inconsistent with the proposals of these two people, but the First Division crossing the river to attack Ningbo was not necessarily carried out. It was largely a temporary decision. Chiang Kai-shek just wanted to know the truth.

Chen Guangfu: "Commander-in-Chief Jiang, when you set up your headquarters in Nanchang, you invited me and a few others to visit Jiujiang. We all went to visit. The First Division was in Jiujiang. Jiujiang was in good order, and the factories, docks, and businesses were operating normally. The Jiujiang Concession had been taken back, and the factories and docks in the concession were also operating normally.

Chiang Kai-shek: "Yes, I also personally visited Jiujiang. The First Division was stationed in Jiujiang for two months and had a very good reputation. The Northern Expedition Army entered Zhejiang and the First Division left Jiujiang, but to this day the people of Jiujiang still strongly support the Northern Expedition Army and the National Government.

"Commander-in-Chief, you've only visited Jiujiang, but we've been to many more places," Chen Guangfu said. "As the saying goes, the hard part is comparing products. Mr. Yu and I have businesses all over the country, in Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Wuhu, Jiujiang, and Wuhan. I've been to Wuhan during the Northern Expedition, which was now the temporary capital. Mr. Yu also visited Wuhan after the Northern Expedition conquered it, right?"

"Of course I went. I was so angry that I couldn't eat for three days," Yu Qiaqing said. "What kind of trouble did Wang Jingwei cause in Wuhan? Workers would skip work at any time, and if they did, they would only work four hours a day and then go home. The Wuhan Party Committee also mobilized a lot of people to march and demonstrate outside the Hankou Concession every few days. I heard that fighting broke out in January, and many people were killed and injured.

Chen Guangfu: "What the hell are those little brats at the Wuhan Municipal Party Committee up to? I suspect they're still Communists. They say they're splitting up, but in reality, they haven't split up at all."

Yu Qiaqing: "Wasn't Christmas just over? Commander-in-Chief, you may not know that before Christmas, Wuhan held an 'Anti-Christian Week'. Workers and students marched and gave speeches everywhere, and provoked churches. More than 20 Anglican, Anglo-American, and Friends churches throughout Hubei were attacked. Some were destroyed, and some became garrisons. They said that Central China Union University was a Christian base camp. Tang Shengzhi's 8th Army directly occupied it, and the dormitories were turned into barracks. All the teachers were unemployed. This all happened during the Christmas holidays.

"Oh. Were these things done by the Communist Party?

Chiang Kai-shek wasn't a believer yet. He wouldn't convert to Christianity until he was sure there was money to be made from it. Right now, he was only interested in the question of who had done this.

Yu Qiaqing: "Even if they are not Communists, they are young Kuomintang members who have been bewitched by the Communists.

Zhang Jingjiang: "Wang Zhaoming is still no match for the Communist Party. He lacks practical skills. He drew a line between himself and the Communist Party because the Communist Party pushed him too hard, and he was almost sidelined. In a rage, he purged the Central Executive Committee, but he was powerless to do anything about it at the lower levels. Speaking of which, Jieshi, Yu and Chen have all been to Jiujiang, and of course Chen Tianheng's troops also visited, but Jiujiang's urban order is what Yu and Chen are most concerned about. If Shanghai's urban order can be as good as Jiujiang after the Northern Expedition Army conquers it, it will be a win-win outcome for all parties.

Chiang Kai-shek: "I intend to impeach Wang Jingwei. He violates the instructions of the late Prime Minister and the fundamental principles of the National Revolution. ... In Jingjiang, the Zhejiang battlefield is not all victorious. The situation in eastern Zhejiang is not good. Zhou Yinren entered Zhejiang and defeated our 19th Army at Ninghai. He is about to merge with the Zhejiang Army."

Zhang Jingjiang: "Eastern Zhejiang will be resolved sooner or later. He Yingqin's First Army is about to take over Fujian. Not only has the First Army taken over Fujian, but it has also established several new troops in Fujian. They are all from Fujian local factions that have conflicts with the former old Fujian generals, and they can all be used.

"That Zhejiang Army general in Ningbo, isn't he called Meng Zhaoyue? I'll take care of him. He can either send a telegram and join the Northern Expedition, or resign and live in the concession.

Yu Qiaqing waved his hand and instantly threw Meng Zhaoyue out.

"Oh! If Mr. Yu could get Meng Zhaoyue to stay away from the Northern Expedition Army, that would be great," Chiang Kai-shek said. "But besides Meng Zhaoyue, there's also Zhou Yinren of the Fujian Army..."

Yu Qiaqing: "Zhou Yinren, I can also handle it.

Hangzhou City.

1 month 15 day.

Shell after shell flew into Hangzhou from the artillery positions outside the city, bombarding the coalition forces' positions. The shouts of the charge shook the earth.

The conjecture of the First Division's staff was indeed correct. The enemy troops in Hangzhou had no intention of fighting. Even the 26th Army, which had just been assembled and strengthened a few days ago, could not withstand the attack from the five-province coalition forces.

What's more, among the troops attacking Hangzhou from three sides, in addition to the two sides being taken care of by the 26th Army, Liu Zhi's unit of the 2nd Division of the 1st Army was also responsible for the attack on one of the sides.

The First Division was waiting in the north of Hangzhou, between the Nanxing Bridge and Zhakou stations on the Shanghai-Hangzhou Line. In the morning, the Northern Expedition Army surrounded the city from three sides and launched an attack. The defenders began to escape from the only gap. The First Division took in thousands of prisoners at the two stations, and even more officers and soldiers of the Five Provinces Allied Forces laid down their weapons and surrendered on the spot in the city.

"The front-line command has confirmed it again," Chen Mingren said, holding up the telegram. "The First and Second Divisions will attack Shanghai. The First Division has less responsibility for the Hangzhou siege, so it will depart from Hangzhou first."

Chen Tianheng: "Has Commander Bai given us a timetable for capturing Shanghai?

Chen Mingren: "No, but he should send another telegram tonight.

Chen Tianheng: "That's good news. There's still no timetable for capturing Shanghai, so the Front General Command won't tell newspaper reporters the expected time for capturing Shanghai. Qiandeng, have you contacted the comrades from the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee?

Qian Deng Ruoxian: “We’ve made contact.

The Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee was the Kuomintang's Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee. The person in charge of the Kuomintang party committee responsible for coordinating with the Northern Expedition was unknown, only known by the codename "Moon Shadow Wutong."

The First Division requested the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee to prepare trains. The Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway had been closed for the past two days, with commercial trains running only between Jiaxing and Shanghai. A few locomotives and railway cars were left in Hangzhou.

According to Chen Tianheng's request, these locomotives and carriages were reorganized, with two trains consisting of a mixed group of five passenger cars and three flatbed trucks. This was the vanguard of the First Division's assault on the Shanghai-Hangzhou line.

"Is this an armored train?"

Song Xilian from the First Battalion of the First Regiment is at the train modification site.

"It can stop bullets, I guess." "Without the steel plates, it doesn't really count.

Several company commanders of the First Battalion had different opinions.

The specially marshaled trains certainly didn't have steel plates; there wasn't enough time. But on the flatbed trucks, soldiers were piling sandbags onto the ground, bag by bag. Each flatbed truck housed a Taisho 11 infantry gun (a flat-firing cannon) and a mortar, with the mortar positions each emplaced in a circular, bulletproof ring made of sandbags.

In passenger trains, sacks of grain were piled up on both sides, about 1 to 1.5 meters high. This way, even if heavy machine gun bullets penetrated the outer shell of the train, they would be blocked by the sacks. Soldiers could sit or squat in the center of the train.

"Division Commander! Another telegram has arrived from the Front Headquarters. It orders the 1st and 2nd Divisions to attack along the Shanghai-Hangzhou Line and capture Shanghai before Sun Chuanfang's reinforcements arrive, by January 20th."

Chen Tianheng: "Did the Front General Command expect Sun Chuanfang to send reinforcements only on January 20th?

Chen Mingren: "I guess so. January 20th is plenty of time."

"The capture of Shanghai on January 16th was before January 20th, right?

Chapter 46: 180 kilometers in one day

The Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway, connecting Shanghai and Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, was planned and designed in 1897 and opened to traffic in 1906. In 1916, a 16.1-kilometer-long connecting line between the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway and the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway was completed.

The entire line runs from Shanghai North Station, Fanhuangdu, Xujiahui, to Jiaxing, and then to Qingtai, Nanxingqiao, and Hangzhou Zhakou Railway Station, with a total of 24 stations along the way.

On the evening of January 15, the First Division headquarters was brightly lit, and Chen Tianheng and the entire staff worked all night.

"Commander, why can't the two trains run together? They have to be several kilometers apart.