There was chaos inside and outside Liangxiang City. The sudden attack of the First Division caught everyone by surprise. The military chiefs of each unit were meeting in the city. The deputy who was left in charge had no decision-making power and could only send people to investigate.
While calling the headquarters in the city to inquire about countermeasures, the headquarters was also stunned by the attack of the First Division and had no idea what was going on. Moreover, Chief of Staff Xu Shuzheng was not in the headquarters at this time.
The officers were unable to issue orders and could only defend passively. However, as the First Division successfully broke into the city and engaged in fierce exchanges of fire with the defenders, intelligence came back one after another, and it was learned that the flag issued by the First Division was that the Third Division was advancing to search for the enemy detachment.
, now the officers, even if they were fools, knew that the First Division was an enemy rather than a friend, and hurriedly mobilized all units to besiege it.
At the same time, the whereabouts of Xu Shuzheng also became the key. The officers of the headquarters knew that Xu Shuzheng went to the hospital to visit Qu Tongfeng of the First Division. They secretly said that something was wrong. The First Division had rebelled. I am afraid that the hospital was not safe. They urgently mobilized the defenders.
To surround the hospital. The purpose of advancing to search for the enemy detachment was also to search for the field hospital. The two sides encountered each other halfway, and a fierce battle broke out on the street. The fierce artillery fire immediately caused the houses along the street to fall into a sea of flames. It was difficult for both sides to tell the winner.
After all, a large number of Anhui troops gathered in Liangxiang. The Anhui troops came from all directions. The pressure on the advancing enemy detachment increased sharply. The force was divided into two. One part was outside to block the approaching Anhui troops from the outside, and the other part stormed the city and seized the county seat.
…
Xu Shuzheng was silent for a while and said: "I really want to know why you let me go at the risk of beheading!"
Han Baihang shrugged and said: "I said, Chief of Staff Xu is a person I admire. I can't bear to see you become a prisoner and be humiliated. Anyway, the overall situation has been decided. Even if I let you go, it will not affect the overall situation. That's all."
.”
Xu Shuzheng was a man who had high self-esteem and was never willing to be defeated or humiliated. He said goodbye to Duan Qirui in Tuanhe before the war that day. He had promised to defeat the horse-hide corpse, but now he fell into the hands of the enemy and lost all his last capital.
He was already considering committing suicide, but Han Baihang's words made him give up his intention to die. As long as he did not fall into the hands of his enemy Wu Peifu, of course he was willing to live. He was confident of planning a comeback as before.
"Okay, I can order the armies to lay down their weapons and surrender, but I can't guarantee whether the armies will listen to my orders." Xu Shuzheng surrendered, the pride on his face was no longer there, only sadness.
"Chief of Staff Xu only needs to call the Anhui Army Headquarters, and you don't need to worry about the rest." With a victorious smile on his face, Han Baihang ordered the guard: "Call the Anhui Army Headquarters.
"
The guard shook the phone and rang the Li Family Ancestral Hall headquarters. It rang for a minute before the phone was picked up. A noisy voice came from inside: "Hello, I'm the headquarters!"
"I am Xu Shuzheng." Xu Shuzheng said hoarsely.
"Ah, Chief of Staff, are you okay? The people of the First Division are attacking us. The war situation is urgent and all units have been mobilized. What instructions do you have?"
"Order all troops to stop fighting, lay down their weapons, and surrender!" Xu Shuzheng said word by word.
"Ah, surrender?" someone exclaimed on the phone.
"Didn't I make it clear enough? Surrender! Immediately!" Xu Shuzheng hung up the phone angrily and said to Han Baihang: "Now it's time for you to fulfill your promise."
"Don't worry. It's a chaotic situation outside and it's not safe to let you out. When my people take over Liangxiang County, I will arrange a train to take you back to Beijing." Han Baihang promised.
Xu Shuzheng was controlled by others and could only wait anxiously.
…
At the Li Family Ancestral Hall Headquarters, the staff officer who answered the phone hurriedly reported to Deputy Chief of Staff Liu Wenpu. Liu Wenpu was a close confidant of Xu Shuzheng. The two were fellow townsmen and classmates, and they had a very close relationship. When he heard the staff report, he was immediately shocked.
, knowing that Xu Shuzheng had fallen into the hands of the enemy at this time, and the order to surrender must have been issued under coercion by the enemy, but he was in a dilemma whether to obey this order. From an emotional point of view, for the sake of Xu Shuzheng's life, he should obey the order and surrender.
, but from a rational perspective, once an order is given to surrender at this time, the troops that have finally gathered in Liangxiang will instantly collapse. Once Liangxiang cannot be defended, the Zhili army will be able to attack Beijing directly. By then, the end of the Anhui clique will be
arrive.
Liu Wenpu was so anxious that he was sweating profusely and couldn't make up his mind for a moment. However, he was a mature and prudent person after all. He knew that this matter could not be disclosed to the outside world, let alone discuss it with others. He strictly ordered the staff officer who answered the phone to keep it secret, while he was anxious in the headquarters.
Pacing back and forth, thinking about the battle between heaven and man, I finally came up with a moderate solution, neither ordering surrender nor ordering an attack. First, stabilize the enemy. The most important thing is to find a way to rescue Xu Shuzheng.
"Check quickly, where the call just now came from!" Liu Wenpu ordered.
The staff officer hurriedly called the telephone exchange. After a lot of effort, he finally found out that the call was coming from the field hospital.
When Liu Wenpu heard that it was a field hospital, he slapped the table and shouted: "Organize troops immediately and take back the field hospital!"
A lieutenant colonel officer said: "Two battalions were sent out earlier, but they were blocked by the enemies entering the city. Several attacks were repelled."
Hearing this, Liu Wenpu said angrily: "I don't care, I can't take the field hospital. Come and see me, you go and supervise the battle yourself."
The lieutenant colonel stood at attention and hurried away.
Liu Wenpu watched the lieutenant colonel officer rush out of the headquarters. His mind returned to Xu Shuzheng's order, and he was thinking hard about how to solve the current crisis. He was not worried about the enemies rushing into the city. Although the city only had one city defense regiment and the commander
The security regiment at the base is enough to support the arrival of peripheral reinforcements. The only thing he is worried about now is whether there are hidden dangers like the First Division among the troops returning from the front line. What makes him most suspicious now is the 3rd Division who went to respond.
The fifth brigade, he did not believe that Li Ruzhang was blind and did not notice anything strange about the first division. Now the first division was in a mess in Liangxiang. If the fifth brigade took the opportunity to rebel, then the West Route Army would not need to surrender, but could declare
Failed.
"Immediately send me a telegram to the Thirteenth Division to closely monitor the movements of the Fifth Brigade to prevent the possibility of changes." Liu Wenpu hesitated for a long time before issuing the order. He knew that this order was likely to cause dissatisfaction with the Fifth Brigade.
But the overall situation is more important, and I can’t worry about so much at the moment.
When the telegram was sent, Liu Wenpu felt a little regretful. As the deputy chief of staff, he was usually responsible for painting military aircraft. He was good at making suggestions, but not good at making decisions. He could not help but look forward and backward. He was afraid that he would not be able to afford the wrong thing if he was well-intentioned.
After thinking about that responsibility, I decided to report the situation here to Duan Qirui in Beijing.
