Chapter 43: The Great Battle of Mianhu (Part 2)
On February 27, 1925, the Eastern Expeditionary Army arrived at Haifeng City. This ancient city with a history of over 1,300 years was the hometown of warlord Chen Jiongming.
The merchants and civilians of Haifeng City raised the blue sky, white sun and red earth flag before the Eastern Expeditionary Army even entered the city. The peasants who had long suffered from natural disasters such as wind, tide, flood and drought were eager to overthrow Chen Jiongming and establish their own regime, putting an end to the Chen family's petty dynasty in Haifeng where "county heads are as numerous as dogs and commanders roam the streets".
At this moment, Sun Xinghua's three battalions have become the treasure of the Party Army. In general battles, the third battalion almost never participates, but whenever it does participate in a battle, it is always a real and tough fight. The third battalion of the Party Army has also become an ace card in Chiang Kai-shek's hand.
Although the party army and the Guangdong Army formed the Right Route Army, which won a series of victories, the crisis within was only clear to the officers.
After the Right Route Army captured Tamsui, the Left Route Army and Central Route Army composed of Yang Xiumin, Liu Zhenhuan and other troops began to stand still, and their attitude towards Chen's army also became ambiguous.
Xu Chongzhi and Principal Jiang originally wanted the Right Route Army to take advantage of their victory and pursue the enemy, achieving a series of victories that would boost the morale of Yang Liu's warlord troops and encourage them to continue fighting. However, after the Right Route Army achieved a series of victories, Yang Liu's warlords not only failed to advance but also had ulterior motives for eyeing Guangzhou.
"Captain, I think Yang and Liu are harboring evil intentions. Now that we're deep in enemy territory, if they were to attack us from behind, the consequences would be unthinkable." Captain Shen Jian said with a worried expression as he looked at Sun Xinghua walking over.
If we talk about commanding troops in battle and fighting against the enemy, Shen Jian is not as good as Hu Wei, the second company commander, and Dong Tianyong, the third company commander. However, from a global perspective, the other two company commanders are no match for Shen Jian.
"What do you want to say?" Sun Xinghua stopped in his tracks and looked at Shen Jian in front of him.
Shen Jian looked at his marching troops, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.
The Party Army troops began to march towards Chaozhou, the old nest of Chen Jiongming, but the Central Route Army and the Left Land Army did not show any intention to act, and instead lost contact with Chen's army.
"Commander, our troops on the right route and Chen's troops are fighting fiercely, consuming the strength of our party army and Guangdong army. Yang and Liu are holding back their troops, wanting to reap the benefits without doing anything. Once we and Chen Jiongming are both wounded, I'm afraid their troops will cause some trouble." Shen Jian said worriedly.
The news of Premier Sun's serious illness has spread to the troops. With Premier Sun around, these warlord troops dare not act recklessly. But once Premier Sun passes away, whether these warlord troops will still listen to the revolutionary government is something no one dares to guarantee.
Sun Xinghua smiled, lit a cigarette and looked at Shen Jian saying: "Your worries are reasonable, I think Principal Jiang's place won't be unaware either. But have you thought carefully, if we tear our faces now with Yang Liu and the two of them, the troops will face Chen Jiongming and Yang Liu's pincer attack from both front and back, the consequences will be even more difficult. Rather than tearing our faces, it's better to get along peacefully like this for now. As long as we solve Chen Jiongming, Yang Liu and the two of them are not worth worrying about."
Shen Jian only understood after listening to Sun Xinghua's analysis that Principal Jiang and Xu Chongzhi were not unaware of Yang Liu's thoughts, but they had no way out and were forced to take a compromising attitude towards Yang Liu.
On March 12, 1925, at 9:30 am, Mr. Sun Yat-sen died of liver disease in Beijing's Iron Lion Hutong Xingying, aged 60.
At this moment, the right-wing army troops had captured Jieyang and Shantou one after another, and were preparing to launch a final blow against the remaining Chen Jun troops. However, at this time, due to the private interests of the Yang Liu warlords, they turned their main force, Lin Hu's 20,000-strong army, towards Jieyang, cutting off the rear transportation line of the right-wing army, and then advanced on Chaozhou, attempting to annihilate the party army troops between Jieyang and Chaozhou.
As for the actions of Lin Hu's troops, Yang Liu's warlord troops not only did not stop them but also ordered their troops to withdraw and give way to Lin Hu's troops. Their purpose was simple: they wanted to use Chen Jiongming's troops to eliminate the party army and complete their unmentionable ideas.
Jieyang County, headquarters of the school.
Chiang's mood at this moment was very bad, he stood in front of the map, carefully looking at his deployment. Since receiving the intelligence, Chiang had quickly made adjustments, ordering Commander-in-Chief Hsu Chong-chi to order Zhang Minda's division to defend against the attack of Chen Jiongming and Ye Ju's remnants. The 1st Instructional Regiment was assigned to the front line, the 2nd Regiment to the left wing, and the 7th Division of the Guangdong Army to the right wing. All units were required to quickly complete their attack preparations.
Simultaneously, Chen Mingzhu's Traveling Army and the Guard Army (the Right Route Army's follow-up troops) were ordered to speed up their march and attack Lin Hu from behind, with the aim of annihilating Lin Hu's forces on all sides.
"Respectfully, your collective task is a heavy one. You can only attract Lin Hu's troops head-on, and the rest of the troops will be able to launch a swift attack on Lin Hu's troops." Principal Chiang looked at He Yingqin in front of him and said seriously.
This time He Yingqin's First Army was assigned the task of a frontal counterattack, and they faced Chen Jitang's forces which were at least several times larger than the First Army.
"Principal, rest assured, the First Battalion will guarantee the completion of the task." He Yingqin saluted and replied immediately.
Principal Chiang nodded in satisfaction and looked at the three battalion commanders beside him.
"Fu Guo, this time your regiment will take the lead, and in the first battle, we must show the prestige of our party's military forces, and let Lin Hu's troops know our strength." Principal Chiang fixed his gaze on Sun Xinghua, saying seriously.
"Yes, Principal." Sun Xinghua hastily replied.
Chiang nodded and encouraged them again before letting the officers of the First Regiment leave.
Night has come silently.
The troops of the First Division, who were also instructed, had already arrived at Mianhu Lake for accommodation.
Inside the three battalions, Sun Xinghua gathered four company commanders and issued ammunition supplies from logistics officer Chen Shan.
Each officer was also aware of the pressure they were about to face. Although there were smiles on their faces, in their hearts, they were all very worried.
After all, the troops of the First Division, including logistics and special forces (referring to engineers, machine gunners, artillerymen, etc.), were only over 2,000 people. Lin Hu's troops, however, were ten times that of the First Division, with more than 20,000 people. Moreover, Lin Hu's troops had always been Chen Jiongming's elite forces.
"This battle is tough, everyone knows that. What I want to say is that this battle can only be won and cannot be lost. Once we lose, we will have no chance of defeating Chen Jiongming again. Premier Sun is waiting for our victory message in Beijing, we absolutely cannot lose the battle." Sun Xinghua looked at the four battalion commanders, saying seriously.
"Yes, Battalion Commander." The four company commanders said in unison, saluting.
As soon as they mentioned Premier Sun, their morale rose. They didn't want to disappoint Premier Sun, so they made it clear that this time they couldn't lose the battle, otherwise it would be a great blow to the seriously ill Premier Sun.
