Chapter 40: Preparing for Battle

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  "War Department, telegram from the Ministry of the Army."

  "Ah!" Zhang Xun conquered Xuzhou and plundered extensively, loading three large carts with gold, silver, and fine silks. He then led his army southward, passing through Huai'an yesterday, and now approaching Baoying. This route was the same one he took when he escaped from Jiangsu, and now he was revisiting old haunts, returning to familiar territory. Zhang Xun was in high spirits, feeling mighty and proud.

  After reading the telegram, the meaning inside was nothing more than asking Zhang Xun to immediately change his military direction, withdraw from Jiangsu and enter Anhui in the west, and not conflict with the Eighth Division. After listening to the contents of the telegram, Zhang Xun laughed and took it casually, glanced at it, and then carelessly crumpled it into a ball and threw it aside like trash.

  "General, the order from the Ministry of War, are we...". Seeing Zhang Xun acting like this, Tang Yiming couldn't help but advise.

  "What a ridiculous order!" Zhang Xun said disdainfully, "This is obviously the idea of that little white face Song Jiaoren. The telegram has no seal from the Premier or the President, why should I listen to him? Hmph! Not allowed to clash with the 8th Division? What a joke, we've already killed over a hundred on this road, what's the big deal?"

  "However, Song Jiaoren is the Premier after all, and the telegram was sent in the name of the Ministry of War. General, in my humble opinion, it's better to take a detour. If things get out of hand, it'll be troublesome." Tang Yiming furrowed his brow tightly, although he shared the same thoughts as Zhang Xun, having no good feelings towards the KMT and revolutionary parties, but after all, the central government's authority and name were at stake, not following the Ministry of War's orders would be a big deal if questioned in the future.

  "Little Tang, you don't understand this." Zhang Xun not only didn't tense up, but instead smiled and said: "If the Central Government really needed my troops to change direction, why wouldn't President Yuan personally send a telegram to Old Zhang? At least it should be Premier Duan sending a private telegram. Look, there's nothing like that, just this one telegram, can't you understand what it means?"

  "Marshal... You're saying... President Yuan is actually..."

  He raised his hand to stop Tang Yiming's words, and Zhang Xun smiled with narrowed eyes: "Some things are tacitly understood, just pass on my orders! The troops will continue south, pressing straight into Nanjing!"

  "Hush!" Tang Yiming came back to his senses and hastily gave Zhang Xun a military salute, then excitedly transmitted the order.

  "Haha, Song Jiaoren, KMT, the Eighth Division? Fine, I'll show you my mighty power! Old Zhang will make sure to let you see how formidable he is!" Zhang Xun swung his whip fiercely and spurred on his horse, galloping away with his guards.

  In Nanjing, Fang Zidao was anxiously waiting, the situation in the north was getting increasingly tense. Over the past two days, he had been in constant contact with Beijing and closely monitoring the advance of Zhang Xun's troops. As for Zhang Xun's unauthorized actions, Beijing's reaction was swift. Shortly after Fang Zidao sent telegrams to Song Jiaoren and the Ministry of War, the latter issued several consecutive orders, all of which were sternly commanding Zhang Xun's troops to immediately turn westward and not clash with the 8th Division of Jiangsu Province. Initially, Fang Zidao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that with the intervention of the Ministry of War, Zhang Xun would follow orders. But who could have expected that after several orders were issued, news from the front line reported that Zhang Xun's troops not only failed to change direction but continued to push towards Nanjing, as if they were going to occupy the city.

  Fang Zidao became somewhat anxious, and continued to send telegrams to Song Jiaoren and the Ministry of War, demanding that Zhang Xun's arbitrary actions be immediately stopped. At the same time, in order to prevent any unexpected situation from occurring, the entire 8th Division was mobilized, and began building fortifications on the main roads around Nanjing, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

  Zhang Xun's disobedience of orders, after news reached Beijing, made Song Jiaoren furious and he found Duan Qirui.

  "Despicable Zhang Xun, how dare he disobey orders and act arbitrarily! We must severely punish him for his dereliction of duty!" Before Song Xiaoren could even ask a question, Chief of Staff Duan Qirui had already begun scolding.

  "These are all by-the-bys, I want to ask Director Duan, what is to be done with Zhang Xun now?" Song Jiaoren's face looked extremely unpleasant, directly addressing Duan Qirui by his official title, revealing the anger in his heart.

  "What else can be done, just as Tuan Zhongshu said before, dismiss him! Investigate and handle it!" Duan Qirui did not hesitate at all, directly saying these words, and also took out a ready-made Lujun Department document: "Please ask the Premier to sign this, which is a newly drafted document."

  He picked it up and took a look. It was indeed a removal order. Song Jiaoren signed it on the spot without saying a word, and asked the army to immediately notify the front line of this order.

  "This is no problem, come on! Send this telegram immediately!" Duan Qirui agreed at once and, in the presence of Song Jiaoren, called over his aide-de-camp to hand over the telegram for immediate dispatch.

  Seeing the Ministry of the Army cooperate like this, Song Jiaoren's face improved a lot. Under Yan Huiqing's persuasion, he finally sat down. After being served a cup of tea, Yan Huiqing sat down beside him and sighed softly, saying to Song Jiaoren with sincerity: "Xuanchu brother, although Zhang Xun has been dismissed from his post, this matter of investigation is not that easy. The other day I also talked to you about the difference between Zhang Xun's troops and other troops. You should know too?"

  "What's it to you? Are you afraid he'll turn against us?" Song Jiaoren shot back.

  "This is not a problem, Zhang Xun's troops are only about 10,000 people at most, excluding the garrison forces that did not follow him south. He brought away no more than 6,000 soldiers and horses. This force is really insignificant compared to the central army. However, you also know the current situation, brother. The First Army and Second Army have already arrived at the front line and are attacking Li Liejun's rebel forces in Jiangxi. There are also other provinces such as Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi that need troops to suppress them. The naval vessels of the Navy Department have already sailed south, all of which require coordination between the two armies. As for the remaining troops in the Central Plains, they are either in the northeast or northwest. The Ministry of War is currently short-handed, if we mobilize troops from other places, it will take too much time! In other words, if we use the forces of the First Army and Second Army, what if something unexpected happens on the front line...?"

  Duan Qirui's words were understood by Song Jiaoren, who had also participated in the original plan to suppress the rebellion and was well aware of the troop deployments from the Ministry of the Army. None of this had been hidden from him by Duan Qirui. Now that several front-line troops had arrived at their positions and the battle in Jiangxi had begun, it was absolutely impossible to withdraw troops from the front line to deal with Zhang Xun's forces. If they did so, it would cause chaos on the front line and even lead to a collapse of the war effort, which would only make the rebellion worse.

  Quickly quell the rebellion, this is the central consistent opinion, he Song Jiaoren will not sit and watch the rebellion intensify. However, from other places to adjust troops and generals, in terms of time, it's fundamentally too late, if so, I'm afraid before the soldiers gather and depart, Zhang Xun has already arrived in Nanjing.

  Frowning and thinking, Song Jiaoren also felt a bit embarrassed, and his heart was even more hateful towards the unruly Zhang Xun. As for military affairs, he didn't understand much, but he still understood the overall situation, and under helpless circumstances, he could only cast his inquiring gaze at the Chief of Staff Duan Qirui in front of him.

  "Actually... I was thinking... " Duan Qirui hesitated for a moment before suggesting, "If Zhang Xun receives the order and can turn back from the brink of disaster, everything will be easier to handle. But if he insists on going his own way, then only the Eighth Army stationed in Nanjing can stop him. The Eighth Army is known as the strongest military force of the KMT, and just a few days ago, it sent out only one regiment to quell the situation in Shanghai. Such a powerful force should take on this heavy responsibility. We will work together, on the one hand requiring the Eighth Army to defend Nanjing well, and if Zhang Xun intends to attack Nanjing, let the Eighth Army go to war to stop him. Of course, the main task of the Eighth Army is not to annihilate Zhang Xun's forces, but to block his way and try to buy us time. On the other hand, let the various units on the front line intensify their efforts to quell the rebellion. As long as the battle situation on the front line goes smoothly, after Li Liejun's troops are defeated, the remaining units will immediately withdraw from the battlefield and rush back to Nanjing, where they will join forces with the Eighth Army and annihilate Zhang Xun's forces in one fell swoop. Brother Rong, what do you think of this arrangement?"

  Song Jiaoren listened, his face suddenly darkened, and he sat on the other side, coldly sizing up Duan Qirui for a long time without speaking. After a while, he stood up and said in an icy tone: "In that case, let's do it according to General Duan's idea."

  "Alright! Please rest assured, General Chu. I will immediately send telegrams to all departments and ensure that they rush back to Nanjing and join forces with the 8th Division!"

  "Hmm!"

  He snorted, Song Jiaoren's face turned cold and he strode away. After returning to the Premier's residence, his mood was exceptionally terrible. Song Jiaoren wasn't a fool; as soon as Duan Qirui made his suggestion, he immediately sensed the conspiracy. However, knowing it was a conspiracy, he was powerless against it. The other side had planned their moves carefully, and for now, the situation could only rely on the Eighth Division itself.

  "Send a telegram to the Eighth Division, and have Fang Zidao take action immediately!" After some thought, Song Jiaoren made up his mind at once. He wanted to rely on the strength of the Eighth Division alone to solve the problem of Zhang Xun, not only that but also before the suppression of the rebellion, otherwise when the First Army and Second Army returned, not to mention the Eighth Division, the KMT's power in Jiangsu would be completely swallowed up by the Northern Warlords.

  The telegram was soon transmitted to Fang Zidao, who had been waiting for news. After receiving the telegram and reading it carefully, Fang Zidao immediately understood the situation of the 8th Division. Without hesitation, he issued an order that all battalion commanders and above of the 8th Division should report to the division headquarters for a meeting.

  "Tianyi, what's going on here? Why has everyone arrived?" Liu Zhen walked into the department and took a glance, momentarily stunned, and couldn't help but ask Xiong Shixue who had come with him.

  "How did I know? Probably a big move. Xiong Shi Hui was crying and laughing, you Liu Zhen don't understand, but I do? Didn't I just receive the order too?"

  After finding a place to sit down, the leaders arrived one after another. Commander Zhao Hengdu, Deputy Commander Fang Zida, and two division commanders Huang and Wang walked in with cold faces and sat down at the front.

  "Comrades! Our Eighth Route Army is going to fight, and we're going to have a big battle!" Fang Zidao said as soon as he opened his mouth, immediately causing an uproar below.