Chapter Twelve: Principal Chiang Falls Off His Horse

  Liu Yuan said that Tingqiao Bridge and Hesheng Bridge are not entirely related to Ye Ting, but rather these two places are the famous sites of their independent regiment. Liu Yuan said this also in hopes that they can fight side by side with the independent regiment again in the future.

  It's not impossible to go to two places at once, but the third division suffered heavy losses in this war, and Hunan has not been fully recovered yet. If I were to go somewhere, there is only one possibility, that is, being wrapped up like a dumpling.

  Liu Yuan was not a very arrogant person, choosing to pursue the enemy's retreat direction, successfully taking down Xi'an and Liling. Then he rushed to Hengshan, cutting off the communication line between the Eighth Army and Guangdong, breaking the enemy's attempt to control southern Hunan.

  Chiang Kai-shek was very clear about his younger brother's performance, although he was in Guangdong, but still paid close attention to Liu Yuan's performance.

  His original intention was to let him and Jiang Xiyun take a vacation, but Liu Yuan unexpectedly asked the Third Division to go to Hunan for training, and then secretly asked himself to fight, so there were these big battles.

  As for Liu Yuan's performance in Anren, Liling and Hengshan, Chiang Kai-shek and the entire Guangzhou Revolutionary Government were very satisfied, and commendation orders had been issued several times.

  At the same time, the three armies were able to defeat Wu Peifu's Zhili clique, and the Fourth Army, Eighth Army, and Seventh Army of the National Revolutionary Army all marched northward.

  The Third Division continued to advance rapidly, capturing Xiangtan and Changsha, and capturing the enemy general Ye Kai-xin. The independent regiment of Ye Ting also arrived immediately, but ultimately late, did not catch up with the big battle. At the same time, Liu Yuan also gained the reputation of "Flying General".

  The Third Army repeatedly made military achievements, while He Long led his troops to occupy Changde, besiege western Hubei, capture Xiangyin and Yiyang, capturing thousands of enemy soldiers. Meanwhile, this old marshal also entered Liu Yuan's line of sight.

  Liu Yuan and He Long coordinated, with three divisions making a strong crossing of the Miluo River, encircling and capturing Pingjiang City, which had been considered impregnable, and taking Yueyang, after which fighting in Hunan province was basically over.

  On August 15, 1926, Chiang Kai-shek led the crowd to finally arrive in Changsha, where a military conference would be held in Changsha to discuss the second phase of combat plans.

  Since Liu Yuan and He Long took down Yueyang, there has been basically no war. He wanted to advance to Hesheng Bridge first, but was rejected by the Military Commission. Liu Yuan could only scold them in private for being idle, and couldn't do anything else.

  Liu Yuan's this time marching into Hunan gave Chiang Kai-shek a big face, Chiang Kai-shek prepared to personally award him the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, and also held a military parade in Changsha.

  Don't think that reviewing troops is a monopoly of the Communist Party, the Nationalist Party also loves reviewing troops.

  The location of the military parade was at the large drill ground outside the East Gate of Changsha. The first to appear was Li Zongren's Seventh Army from Guangxi. Although the Seventh Army could fight, it was very poor and had no military band, not to mention that their clothes were tattered and worn out. This caused the reporters to snap photos all along the way, which made Chiang Kai-shek extremely dissatisfied. He secretly said that Li Zongren was playing tricks on him, but in fact, Li Zongren was not playing tricks - Guangxi was truly poor.

  Chiang Kai-shek rode on a tall horse, wearing a marshal's uniform, with a long sword at his waist, and in front of the three armies, he looked majestic and dignified.

  Chiang was very satisfied with his own troops, riding his horse step by step to the front of the Third Division. The uniforms of the Third Division were also very worn out due to multiple battles, and there was even unwashed gunpowder on them, but Chiang could still feel the strong killing intent emanating from the division.

  Chiang Kai-shek said three good words in a row, and in someone else's army, Chiang Kai-shek was just looking at the horse, but in the Third Division, Chiang Kai-shek really stayed for a long time.

  Chiang Kai-shek, holding a horse whip in one hand, dismounted and walked up to Liu Yuan, saying: "If I had a hundred Third Armies, I could unify China within three years. You have worked hard, Third Army, you have worked hard."

  "Serve the people!" Liu Yuan just subconsciously shouted out the slogan of later generations, and then the entire Third Division also subconsciously followed their commander in shouting this.

  Chiang Kai-shek's eyes welled up with tears, and he patted Liu Yuan's shoulder, "What a great service to the people, what a blessing for the country!"

  Chiang Kai-shek mounted his horse and had his deputy lead a military horse over to Liu Yuan as well, "Come with the principal for inspection. In the future when I'm old, you'll take my place."

  "Principal, I'm a student." Liu Yuan was momentarily unable to react to Chiang Kai-shek's approach, unsure whether he was probing him or being sincere.

  "Fu Guo, don't you want to?" Chiang Kai-shek looked at Liu Yuan with a hint of difficulty, couldn't his most outstanding student appreciate his own position?

  Liu Yuan finally saw the warmth and purity in Chiang Kai-shek's eyes at this moment, no matter what would happen to him in the future, at least he was sincere now.

  Liu Yuan nodded and mounted a white horse, closely following Chiang Kai-shek, falling back by one horse length.

  At the moment Liu Yuan rode on horseback, everyone was stunned. Chiang Kai-shek was only forty years old and in his prime, yet he had already begun to cultivate a successor, and this successor was none other than young Liu Yuan.

  Everyone suddenly realized that Chiang Kai-shek rose to power from Huangpu, and Liu Yuan was the leader of the young faction of Huangpu. If Chiang Kai-shek had such a day, only Liu Yuan could bring about Huangpu.

  Seeing Liu Yuan riding a horse behind Chiang Kai-shek, the comrades of the Kuomintang were both delighted and jealous. They were happy because everyone knew about Liu Yuan's abilities, and if he were to take over as president in the future, the Kuomintang would definitely become even better. This was more like a kind of motivation, urging Liu Yuan to work even harder.

  But Liu Yuan's age cannot help but make some people jealous, including Yu Jishi and He Zhenhan. They have always thought that they can also do what Liu Yuan did, it's just that they have been doing things around Chiang Kai-shek all the time and didn't have the chance.

  The military music continued, and Chiang Kai-shek also came to his senses from the earth-shaking "Serve the People" of the Third Division. He had obviously been impulsive just now, he was still young, and he didn't have to go so far as to win over Liu Yuan like this.

  Forget it, since I've done it, I won't regret it. Anyway, in the future, I'll have to take action against CP myself. Liu Yuan, as a successor, will definitely not turn against CP. Even if he sympathizes with CP, his soldiers won't agree.

  Chiang Kai-shek marched forward, pondering, and suddenly discovered that there were soldiers in front of him. The number was not large, but the military might was quite good. It looked like it had a bit of the Third Division's style, and its equipment was very advanced, with even tanks.

  "Whose troops are those?" Chiang Kai-shek turned around and asked Liu Yuan.

  "It's an independent regiment, Ye Ting's troops." Liu Yuan said quietly from behind.

  Seeing the military might of the opposite side so prosperous, Chiang Kai-shek's heart suddenly became very displeased. Fortunately, the other party was not too numerous, otherwise Chiang Kai-shek would have probably moved to eliminate them by now.

  Although he was unhappy in his heart, Chiang Kai-shek still waved his hand at the Independent Regiment. The commanders of the Independent Regiment also knew that Principal Chiang was not enthusiastic about them, so they responded with a lack of enthusiasm.

  So all troops were reviewed, and came to the front of the Eighth Army. The Eighth Army was quite ordinary in its performance during the Northern Expedition, and Chiang Kai-shek didn't think much of it either.

  But just as Chiang Kai-shek was walking forward, Tang Shengzhi, in order to please him, actually had his troops shout in unison, "Serve the People."

  Chiang Kai-shek's horse suddenly became startled, let out a long whinny, and lifted its front hooves off the ground, then began to gallop wildly. Chiang Kai-shek's body had already tilted sideways on the horseback, his feet still in the stirrups, but his hands could no longer grasp the reins firmly. It seemed that Chiang Kai-shek was about to be thrown off the horse or dragged forward by it.

  At this time, Liu Yuan, who had been behind Chiang Kai-shek all along, rode forward on horseback, bent down from the horse and made a "scooping up the moon from the sea" gesture, scooping up Chiang Kai-shek with one hand, then got off the horse himself and personally led the horse for Chiang Kai-shek, this move truly solidified his reputation as the successor.

  The crowd watching the military review also took a deep breath, it was really close just now. The expedition is imminent, if Chiang Kai-shek has an accident, what should this Northern Expedition do? No one knows.

  Chiang Kai-shek also secretly thought that Liu Yuan was indeed his lucky star, and just as he had the idea of letting him take over in the future, he saved himself once again. Counting the previous times, he really was his great benefactor.

  Chiang Kai-shek had spent a long time in Shanghai before, and he was particular about distinguishing between gratitude and resentment. He remembered every single thing Liu Yuan did for him.

  Everyone has their own thoughts at this moment, and Tang Shengzhi is no exception. He is a superstitious person and afterwards found a monk to ask about this matter.

  The monk with the surname Gu said to Tang Shengzhi, "When a great general goes out to battle, if the flag is broken and the horse falls, it is an inauspicious sign. Chiang Kai-shek's northern expedition will surely end in disaster."

  "What about Liu Yuan? He actually pulled up Chiang Kai-shek." Tang Shengzhi asked anxiously.

  Gu and Shang shook his head and said, "This child is the Martial Harmony Star descended to the world, it is a heavenly fixed auxiliary star, with the responsibility of saving the master, so he will save Jiang in times of crisis, this is heaven's will."

  As soon as the monk finished speaking, Tang Shengzhi's face suddenly became very unsightly. Since Chiang Kai-shek is still in charge, what do I need you for?

  Upon seeing Tang Shengzhi's expression, the monk suddenly became enlightened and continued to say, "However, Chiang Kai-shek was still defeated by the Eighth Route Army before his fall from horseback, it can be seen that Chiang Kai-shek was still conquered by the Eighth Route Army."

  The monk finished speaking, and Tang Shengzhi's face finally had a few more smiles. You have the protection of Wuqu Xing, how can you still be restrained by me? From then on, Tang Shengzhi also had a rebellious heart, until the Ninghan split, when Tang Shengzhi led an expedition to attack Chiang, and there was a great battle at Jiangtang.

  But what the monk said was indeed very accurate and effective, as for where it was accurate, we'll talk about it later.