Chapter 66: Raiding Greater Wuhan (7)

  On the highway from Xiaogan to Wuhan, thousands of torch-carrying Baoding Cavalrymen were running with their horses. Because it was dark and visibility was poor, they didn't let the horses gallop, but in the flickering light of the torches, you could still see the sparkling sweat on the horses' backs, obviously having run for a long time. About one mile behind the cavalry, a string of truck lights followed closely, stretching out for over ten miles. In the convoy, there were two trucks with cavalrymen running alongside to escort them. Sitting in the passenger seats of these two trucks were General Xiao Guodong, Chief of Staff of the Baoding Army, and General Zhang Yafei, Commander of the First Division.

  After Song Zheyu received Chiang Kai-shek's telegram, a stone in his heart fell to the ground, allowing his troops to enter Wuhan. Apart from his troops being the closest to Wuhan at this moment, it also indicates that Chiang Kai-shek has believed in his guarantee and believes that he has no intention of taking control of Wuhan. It can even be considered that Chiang Kai-shek trusts him to a certain extent.

  From Zhang Zizhong to Yuan, everything he did was to gain Chiang Kai-shek's trust. This trust was crucial for Song Zheyu, and only by gaining Chiang's trust could he seize the base of Shanxi in the future Central Plains War. Only with Chiang's trust could his legitimacy in Shanxi be recognized by Chiang; otherwise, Chiang might use the remaining power from the Central Plains War to reorganize his troops like the Northwestern Army and Jin-Sui Army. If his troops were still in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, Chiang would not have time to deal with him as he was busy surrounding the Jiangxi Soviet area of the Red Army. However, after the Central Plains War, tens of millions of troops from the Central Army and Zhang Xueliang's Northeastern Army gathered in Huabei. To eliminate a small warlord who was not part of Chiang's faction, Chiang would not mind fighting another small-scale battle. If that happened, all his grand ambitions since arriving in this era would vanish into thin air.

  In order to achieve his ideals and ambitions, he is now making every effort to gain Chiang Kai-shek's trust and support.

  So, Song Zheyu received Chiang Kai-shek's telegram and did not dare to slack off. He immediately ordered the chief of staff, Xiao Guozhen, to lead the troops composed of the entire First Division, the Third Regiment of the Second Division, the Cavalry Brigade, and most of the Logistics Brigade to march towards Wuhan. He himself followed Chiang Kai-shek's order in the telegram, leading the First and Second Regiments of the Second Division, as well as Yang Tenghui and Li Mingrui's troops who were about to arrive, to garrison Xiaogan and prevent Han Fu from marching towards Wuhan.

  In order to get Xiang Guodong's troops to Wuhan as soon as possible, Song Zheyu ordered the logistics brigade to unload all supplies from the trucks. Xiang Guodong and Zhang Yafei led the first division's first and third regiments, with over 15,000 men, carrying only weapons, ammunition, and one day's worth of rations, to ride in cars and cavalry brigades to occupy Wuhan first; Gao Zhongbao led the second division's third regiment, the first division's second regiment, and the logistics brigade followed afterwards.

  At the same time, find Yang Tenghui, because his troops have been stationed in Wuhan for two years and are familiar with the situation in Wuhan. Ask him to provide a guide team to follow Xiao Guodong to Wuhan. This guide team has two tasks: one is to lead the security army to occupy transportation hubs and important areas; the other is to persuade the various troops of the Guangxi clique in Wuhan to surrender.

  Yang Tenghui was surprised after meeting with Song Zhiwu and seeing the prisoners of war being treated. He saw that all the wounded soldiers from his destroyed regiment were properly bandaged and treated, and some seriously injured ones even received surgical treatment at the field hospital of the Security Forces. Yang Tenghui felt extremely surprised! He was not only surprised by the strong battlefield rescue and treatment capabilities of the Security Forces but also by their kind treatment of prisoners. At that time, due to the scarcity and high cost of medicine, even ordinary soldiers in his own troops might not receive timely and proper treatment. The Guangxi clique's troops were slightly better off, while other troops, such as the Northwestern Army, Sichuan Army, Yunnan Dragon Cloud Troops, and Guizhou Wang Jialie Troops, would often abandon their lightly wounded or mobile soldiers after bandaging them. If you wanted further treatment, including changing dressings, you had to find a way yourself. As for prisoners of war, it was even more hopeless - if you weren't a seriously injured officer, you could only wait for death. When he heard from a captured regiment commander that they received timely medical treatment after being captured, which was not what Yang Tenghui had imagined, especially after his telegram, this made Yang Tenghui very grateful and repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Song Zhiwu.

  "This is our domestic civil war, everyone is Chinese, that is to say they are all close brothers. No matter how they quarrel or fight, they are still a family, and a family is connected by blood. Blood is thicker than water. My troops, led by Song Zhe-wu, not only treated the Guangxi clique and your troops this way, but also treated the Northwestern Army the same way in the past. In the future, we will treat any domestic troops the same way." Two days later, when Chiang Kai-shek summoned him and Li Mingrui, Yang Tenghui told Chiang Kai-shek about Song Zhe-wu's words, and Chiang Kai-shek listened silently for a long time without speaking.

  Although the two sides had just fought a fierce battle, it was each for their own sake and there was no way to avoid it. This time Chiang Kai-shek agreed to reorganize the Seventh Army, appointing Li Mingrui and him as commander and deputy commander respectively. However, they now only have one division of Li Mingrui who has not yet arrived in Xiaogan, and his division which lacks almost a brigade. They need troops to supplement them in order to quickly restore the vitality of the Seventh Army. If they can bring back the troops from Wuhan, they may even be able to gather some scattered soldiers, so that their Seventh Army will immediately have an army again.

  So Song Zhiwu said he wanted a guide team, Yang Tengfei strongly supported and selected more than 50 people who were all junior officers below the company level and some staff members. He also let his chief of staff lead the team to go to Wuhan together, with only one condition: "All the surrendered and captured troops of the Gui system must be handed over to him." This condition Song Zhiwu naturally agreed to without hesitation.

  At 3:00 AM, the cavalry regiment commander Han Guang sent a staff officer to report that they had arrived at the outskirts of Wuhan. Xiao Guodong ordered the troops to stop advancing and told Zhang Yafei to send someone to inform the cavalry regiment commander Han Guang, the first battalion commander Gao Tianyuan, and the third battalion commander Sun Li to come to a meeting. The several people quickly arrived at Xiao Guodong's location. Without saying much, he pointed to a point on the map that had been marked by his staff officers, who were holding flashlights, and ordered: "We have now arrived here, and soon we will enter the city area. I order Third Battalion Commander Sun Li to take charge of commanding the third battalion and the first battalion of the cavalry regiment to deploy defenses along the line from Zhuyehai, Mianyun Village to Hankou's east, Jintan Lake, and Zhujiabei, blocking the retreat route of the Guangxi clique from Huanggang back to Hankou. Your unit must arrive at the designated region before 6:00 AM." "Yes," Sun Li loudly responded.

  After several months of getting along, Song Zhe Wu and Xiao Guo Dong were both very satisfied with Sun Li's calm and composed handling of matters, so Xiao Guo Dong handed this task over to him.

  "Take your 2nd battalion and the 1st battalion of the 1st regiment, two infantry battalions, to occupy Hankou. The key is to occupy and protect the Hanyang Arsenal." "Yes!" Han Guan excitedly replied, it was his first time leading his troops on such a mission, although he knew there were not many enemy forces in Hankou. "The 1st battalion will send one company to control the airport and train station in Hankou, the rest of the troops will be commanded by me and General Zhang to occupy the key points in Hankou, set off immediately!" Several people took orders and quickly ran to mobilize their troops, soon the troops were divided into several parts, each rushing to different places.

  Here is the translation:

  This was already a suburban road in Hankou City, much better than where they had passed before, very flat. Zhang Yaofei ordered the troops to advance at full speed. On the way, they encountered several checkpoints, but the Guangxi Army soldiers at the checkpoints didn't dare to block them when they saw such a large-scale troop, and after firing a few shots, they ran far away. Therefore, they almost entered the city without any fighting. The motorcade and cavalry continuously split into small units of companies and platoons at each intersection, rushing towards important areas in the city.

  In the city, at this early hour, there are basically no pedestrians on the streets. There are a few police officers at some intersections who hear gunshots and the sound of large truck engines getting closer and closer. They rush out to see if it's the Kuomintang army, but instead they see an army wearing olive green uniforms that they have never seen or heard of before. They all turn around and run back to hide in police stations or run back home. During this period, no matter which army occupies a city, they will not make things difficult for the police because they need them to maintain order. Of course, except for high-ranking police officers with factional backgrounds.

  Wang De's injury had already healed, and he was now the deputy commander of the first battalion. The regimental commander, Gao Tianyuan, ordered them to occupy the airport and Hankou railway station. Wang De and the battalion commander divided their tasks, with him leading two companies to enter Hankou city district. Wang De led two companies under the guidance of a staff officer from Yang Tenghui's unit, leaving the main force behind. Twenty or so trucks sped towards Hankou railway station. Suddenly, intense gunfire was heard in front of them, accompanied by the crisp sound of MP18s. When asked, the staff officer who was leading the way knew that the source of the gunfire was in the direction of the railway station. Wang De felt anxious, knowing that the special forces had arrived in Hankou ahead of time and that this gunfire must be related to them. Although the special forces were skilled fighters with good marksmanship, they were only suitable for small-scale infiltration and sabotage, not large-scale battles. Moreover, in a vast area like Hankou and Hanyang, there wouldn't be many people available to send to the railway station.

  Under Wang De's repeated urging, the troops quickly arrived near the train station. At this time, many places in the city responded with gunfire, and even machine gun fire could be heard. On the contrary, the sound of gunfire inside the train station gradually stopped. Wang De became more anxious and loudly shouted at the troops to get off the truck. Without waiting for the personnel who went to scout ahead to return, he ordered two platoons from the first company to encircle from left and right, while he led the main force into an attacking formation and charged towards the train station.

  At this time, the gunfire in the train station was already very sparse. From the sound of the guns, Wang De could tell that they were all Type 38s with their unique sound. His heart put down a lot. Many special troops were equipped with submachine guns and pistols, but some also had Type 38s.

  Outside the station, Wang De met with the advance scouts who brought back a member of the Special Troops Battalion. The special troops battalion member reported that they were an enhanced squad and had already taken control of the train station. On the platform, there was a train carrying military supplies, with a reinforced company from the Guangxi Army escorting it, currently exchanging fire with them.

  Wang De heard the intermittent and sporadic gunfire coming from the train station and asked curiously, "Has the Gui Army's company been dealt with?" The special forces team member smiled and said, "Not yet, but it's almost as good as done."

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