Chapter 24: The Military Uses the Oxen to Cross

  When the Independent Regiment was fighting a bloody battle under Wuchang City, Liu Yuan finally returned to the Third Division and led his troops to follow Chen Qun's Sixth Army, Second Army, Third Army, and the First Army's first division to form the second route to advance into Jiangxi. They successively captured Ganzhou, Pingxiang, Yichun, Tonggu, Xiushui, and Gao'an.

  Cheng Qian, also known as Songyun, was a graduate of the sixth period of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and a member of the Tongmenghui. He was also a prominent figure in his youth.

  This time the Northern Expedition was also smooth sailing, and the Sixth Army captured Nanchang with the support of local workers and students in Jiangxi.

  Deng Yuqu's cavalry regiment defending the city was defeated, while the 56th Regiment led by Zhang Zhen blasted into the city through the Hui Min Gate and entered the urban area. The Nanchang Garrison Commander Liu Huanzhang and Provincial Governor Li Dingkuo escaped over the wall in a state of panic.

  Nanchang was captured immediately, and Cheng Qian rode into the city to the sound of triumphant music, receiving a warm welcome from the citizens. At the same time, he delivered an impassioned speech.

  The Northern Expeditionary Army received great support from the local masses, and the local people slaughtered pigs and sheep to make moon cakes to entertain the Northern Expeditionary Army.

  Liu Yuan was still some distance away from Nanchang City, and when he heard that Cheng Qian had occupied Nanchang City, instead of blindly rejoicing like others, he furrowed his brow tightly and ordered the troops to speed up their march.

  Wang Boling was not only the commander of the First Division but also, due to his deep trust with Chiang Kai-shek, appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the General Reserve Force.

  When he heard that Cheng Qian entered Nanchang City, Wang Boling also hastily led a part of the division to rush to Nanchang City and sent a joyful report to Chiang Kai-shek, changing the embarrassing situation of the brothel incident a few days ago. As for the First Division, except for Xue Yue's team, all were brought by Wang Boling, and the marching speed was slow and not advancing.

  But Zhu Peide had ordered his troops to advance hastily before, but after hearing that Nanchang was below, he felt that it was meaningless to move forward and ordered the troops to rest on the spot, thus making Wu Changcheng's army become isolated.

  An isolated army advancing deep into enemy territory is always a taboo for military strategists. At this time, there were people who saw the signs of this situation, such as Zhu Peide, but he chose to remain silent and avoid danger at this moment, while the three divisions had already arrived at Niu Xingche Station on the outskirts of Nanchang City.

  Now the chief of staff of the three armies has been replaced by Zuo Quan, who has just returned from abroad. Zuo Quan spent two years studying in Germany at the Berlin Military Academy for a year and at West Point in the United States for another year. He learned a lot and became more Westernized, wearing brand new suits and speaking fluent English. Liu Yuan was furious and slapped him before he switched back to Chinese.

  "Older brother, it's not me saying this, but Zhang Zuoping is really too much. Not only did he penetrate deep into enemy territory, but also failed to capture Niuxing Railway Station, which is such an important location. If we get surrounded in Nanchang later on, there won't even be a place for us to retreat to. This just goes to show how incompetent our superiors are. If it were me, I would definitely send an elite troop to capture Niuxing, establish a defensive line, and form a pincer movement with Nanchang. That way, if we encounter a surprise attack, there's still a possibility of holding onto Nanchang." Zuo Quan's words made sense, and the people beside him, including Hu Zongnan, were nodding in agreement.

  "Zuo Quan, you little scamp, your ink hasn't been wasted on you, I say Liu Yuan is indeed biased, what right does he have to support you? He's not good enough for Hu Zongnan." Hu Zongnan said, reprimanding Zuo Quan.

  "Comrade Hu Zongnan, please note that it's not that you're not allowed to go. Your English scores are always over 30 points each time. What use do you think you'll be when you go abroad?" Du Yuming said with a smile.

  "Alright," Liu Yuan waved his hand and said, "I reckon it's not that Cheng Qian doesn't want to fight against Niu Hang, but rather he can't command Wang Boling. This useless monk has no ability, yet the principal still values him so much, he'll die sooner or later."

  "That's just a useless thing, but the useless thing still has a big temper, it can command the tower. Otherwise, we'll take down Niu Hang, and that would be helping him out too, aren't we all revolutionary soldiers?" Song Xi Lun wiped his glasses, actually only he himself knew that he had been in the Communist Party for some time now, this time the organization's task assigned to him was to instigate Liu Yuan, occupy Niu Hang, after all Cheng Qian was brought into Nanchang by Lin Boqu, if something went wrong, it would be the Communist Party's bad luck.

  "You think you're the only ones who can think of this, but if Wang wants to have a good time, why not just go to Nanchang? Since we came to Niuhang Station, it's all about saving Cheng Qian's life. But after doing such a big thing and saving him, I'm afraid it won't be possible to keep a low profile later."

  Nie Rongzhen now doesn't even know if he still counts as a CP (Communist Party member). The organization hasn't given him any tasks lately. Last time when paying party dues, the other side was surprisingly puzzled - "Am I not a CP?"

  "Let the world know that our three armies are the best in the world, and let everyone know that there is the best commander in the world here." Zuoquan has been in the US for a long time, and his personality has changed a bit, he speaks with more confidence now.

  "Alright, just show them our flag and that's it." Liu Yuan smiled and pointed at the soldiers defending against Niu Xing, "Look at those over a thousand people on the opposite side. Don't look at our three divisions now with only eight thousand people, as long as one battalion charges up, they will have to surrender."

  Wang Yaowu is still a private, and when the squad leader is in a bad mood, he will still beat himself up. However, Wang Yaowu does not have any resentment towards Liu Yuan, and he has learned many things from his time in the army that he would not have been exposed to otherwise, which is very important for his future growth.

  "Wang Yaowu, stop smoking, new recruit egg, smoke your sister's cigarette, holding our Third Company's flag, sit down and tell them, give them five minutes to get out." The squad leader snatched the cigarette from Wang Yaowu's hand and took a drag.

  "Class monitor, this was given to me by Old Xiang, and he told me to take two puffs." Wang Yaowu said discontentedly.

  "Get out of here quickly," the class leader kicked Wang Yaowu's butt, and Wang Yaowu swiftly picked up the military flag and rushed towards the opposing position.

  The opposite side was astonished when a young soldier suddenly came over with the military flag, thinking that the young man on the opposite side had gone mad. However, when they saw the three-division military flag above, they became extremely depressed. At this time, the soldiers of the three divisions appeared in front of Niuxing Station in large numbers.

  "If you move forward, we'll open fire." The soldier on the opposite side shouted at Wang Yaowu.

  "Open fire, tell them we are the 3rd Regiment! If you don't want to die, get the hell out of here!" Wang Yaowu shouted loudly.

  Upon hearing Wang Yaowu's words, the opposing side suddenly became flustered and finally calmed down. "Brother, we are all Chinese, we don't want to die for the warlords either. We are willing to retreat, but you can't take over Niuxing Station without firing a shot. After all, our families are still in Jiangxi. How about this: you fire a few shots into the sky and we'll have an excuse to withdraw?"

  "Grass, soft egg," Wang Yaowu cursed and ran back to the military camp. Seeing that Zhang Lingfu, who had just arrived, was leading a group of scouts back, he glared at him fiercely but didn't say anything. Instead, he went over to Liu Yuan's side and repeated what he had just said.

  "Fire a blank shot. I've really learned something today. You go back and tell them that I agreed, but let them leave the gun behind. My bullets aren't free either."