Chapter 782 Sooner or later, I will be killed by Li Chunjing
Perhaps seeing the doubts of his generals, Chen Keqiao said: "Don't be so sullen. It's just a war. I haven't fought a few big battles in the past few years. I think I'll make you nervous. Besides,
This order hasn't been issued yet, why are you so anxious?"
"Looking at you, you haven't had breakfast yet. Come here, bring breakfast to these adults. If they are starving, who will I find to fight with?"
Seeing Chen Keqiao's appearance, the officers of the Fifth Infantry Division were quite speechless.
Although their previous division commander, Wang Shanxu, was not very capable, like Cai Erhu, he relied heavily on his staff team to fight, but he didn't seem to be so indifferent when the war was approaching!
Perhaps because they knew that the Jiangnan battle plan was very important, the Privy Council believed that several of the main generals of the Second Army were not suitable for such an arduous task, so they asked Li Xuan to replace the generals and send more capable generals there.
The Second Army held the main duties.
Especially the Fifth Infantry Division, the core force of the Second Army, its division commander Wang Shanxu's ability is obviously inferior to that of other division commanders, and even the commanders of mixed regiments. In the past, it was okay to make do, but at this critical moment,
I'm afraid that won't work.
This proposal suited Li Xuan's appetite. Li Xuan's starting point was not because Wang Shanxu was incompetent, but because he believed that the chief officers of each department could not be allowed to hold a certain position for a long time, so he had long thought about making senior officials such as division commanders and regimental commanders.
There has been a rotation of army commanders at different levels.
Therefore, in July, he made a small adjustment in appointments. Chen Keqiao, the former commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, was transferred to the 5th Infantry Division as the division commander. Other units were also changed.
However, the scale of the transfer is not large. After all, the war is approaching, and large-scale personnel adjustments may cause certain chaos in the frontline troops and reduce their combat effectiveness, so Li Xuan is still very cautious.
As the most conspicuous person in the personnel transfer, Chen Keqiao has not been seen doing much since he took up the post of the 5th Infantry Division. Daily affairs are almost left to his deputy division commander and chief of staff, and he hardly interferes in the training of the troops.
and daily affairs.
Occasionally, I would come to a few strategic meetings, and they would always talk about trivial matters.
This made the officers of the Fifth Infantry Division a little confused. This was different from the rumored Chen Keqiao!
Chen Keqiao is a veteran with long experience. He was the commander of the Third Infantry Brigade and also the commander of the Fourth Army. Later, the Fourth Army was reorganized into the Third Infantry Division. He served as the commander of the Third Infantry Division and fought in Huguang for a long time.
.
In the Battle of Hengyang and the Battle of Changsha, his performance was quite eye-catching.
But when they actually came into contact with this person, the officers of the Fifth Infantry Division discovered that this person was different from the rumors. He did nothing and slept in all day long.
At this time, they didn't know that when Chen Keqiao was fighting, he went to bed before the battle was over and left the rest of the war to his generals.
After watching his subordinates finish their breakfast, Chen Keqiao said: "This is the right thing to do. His Majesty once said that food is iron and people are steel. If you don't eat this meal, you will be hungry!"
"When you have enough food, you will be strong enough to fight, don't you think so?"
However, Chen Keqiao obviously overestimated the sense of humor of his officers. No one matched the two sentences, so he immediately waved his hand: "Okay, I know what you are here to do, but the battle plan has not been drawn up.
Well, if there’s anything else to discuss, let’s go back and get ready after eating!”
Immediately, someone asked: "When will the army set off?"
After hearing this, Chen Keqiao said: "No rush, everyone goes back and prepares first, and we'll talk about it later!"
Still ready?
They have been preparing for today for half a year, are they still ready?
But after Chen Keqiao said this, he just left to himself. Seeing this, several officers of the Fifth Infantry Division sighed, and then they could only go back first.
At noon, Chen Keqiao saw a person. Although this person was a major, he was Li Chunjing's adjutant. Looking tired from the journey, he took out a letter and handed it to Chen Keqiao.
This letter was stamped with the seal of the Second Army and Li Chunjing's private seal. After opening it and looking at it, Chen Keqiao said: "Please report back to the commander of the army and say that our Fifth Infantry Division will act according to the order."
of!"
At the same time, he also wrote a handwritten letter, stamped with the large seal and private seal of the Fifth Infantry Division, and handed it to Li Chunjing's adjutant!
After the visitor left, he looked out the window with his hands behind his back, and then sighed: "This Li Chunjing is still as imaginative as before. He just gave me such a difficult task, so he thinks highly of me.
"
Finally, he muttered again: "It seems that after this battle, I will cry to His Majesty to complain that I and Two were transferred from the Second Army. If I fight under this man named Li, I will be killed by him sooner or later."
After a while, he handed over his adjutants and messengers, and then began to formally issue the order to set off. Go south? Naturally, go east. Where to go? The order didn't say it.
When Chen Keqiao led the main force of the Fifth Infantry Division to leave Jiande, Pengze and Li Chunjing in the rear were also leading the rest of the main force of the Second Army. They were also marching on the road, but their direction of travel was not
Going eastward along the river, we are heading towards Huizhou Prefecture in the southeast.
This means that the Second Army was divided into two parts, one from the south and one from the north to march eastward at the same time. The Fifth Infantry Division marched eastward along the river, and the rest of the main force of the Second Army entered Huizhou Prefecture.
At this time, Li Chunjing's chief of staff An Zichen also looked puzzled and said: "Sir, didn't the plan we made before call for gathering all the main forces of the army, march directly eastward along the Yangtze River, and then go to Jinling? Why did we suddenly change the plan?
Got it!"
Li Chunjing said: "Well, I also made a temporary decision, but this is still an eastward advance. It doesn't have to go to Jinling with the Fifth Infantry Division to call it an eastward advance!"
"Then where should we go now? After going to Huizhou Prefecture and then to Jinling?"
Li Chunjing said: "Well, we'll see when the time comes. If I'm not mistaken about Chen Keqiao, we don't have to go to Jinling City!"
Not going to Jinling?
An Zichen felt that he could not keep up with Li Chunjing's thinking again. The last time he fought against Yuezhou and Changsha, Li Chunjing was like this. He had no battle plan at all.
Although the staff team of the Second Army had discussed many battle plans before, An Zichen was very suspicious that his immediate superior had not listened at all. He even thought that Li Chunjing had not decided yet.
What kind of battle plan to adopt.
Otherwise, Li Chunjing would not have blindly asked his chief of staff to prepare all kinds of supplies as much as possible, and then planned many chaotic marching routes, including crossing the river to attack Anqing and even marching all the way to the Northern Expedition.
route.
And it is precisely because of this that the reconnaissance cavalry of the Second Army will work tirelessly on a large scale, not only in the south of the Yangtze River, but also in the north of the Yangtze River.
It was also because of this that Wang Yiqi never understood the main direction of the Second Army's upcoming attack, whether to cross the river to attack Anqing, directly attack Jinling, or ignore Anqing and Jinling and attack other places.
Not to mention Wang Yiqi, even the Second Army Chief of Staff An Zichen, who had been working with Li Chunjing for more than a year, was a little confused about what Li Chunjing wanted to do, and he guessed that Li Chunjing himself didn't know.
What I want to do is just like the attack on Yuezhou last year.
Before arriving in Yuezhou, Li Chunjing clearly told An Zichen that he had no clear tactical goal at all!
And this time, I’m afraid it will be the same!
When Li Chunjing fought, he would never follow the battle plans executed by the staff team. He would always come up with one idea at a time. Not to mention that the Ming army was a little confused by him, the Tang army itself was confused.
I will be confused by Li Chunjing.
The Second Army came out in full force, and the Ming Army also took action quickly, with a large number of reconnaissance cavalry appearing. Of course, you would not have the guts to ask them to go directly out of the city to fight!
A few days later, Chen Keqiao led the Fifth Infantry Division to Guichi, and the local Ming army in Guichi was well prepared and did not mount a tenacious resistance at all. They only delayed it for a few days and used some of the landmines they had laid.
After killing some of the rebels of the 5th Infantry Division with similar fortifications, they fled directly.
Since the Tang Army took the lead in developing landmines and using them on the battlefield, the Ming Army also followed suit and began to develop landmines for use in defensive operations.
Their gunpowder output is too low, and they are reluctant to buy more grenades, and even more reluctant to use mines that require more gunpowder, so although they are available, they are rarely used.
But here in Guichi, they use it a lot!
After taking Guichi, the 5th Infantry Division took a short rest and then continued to advance eastward.
At this time, the Second Army had already penetrated deeply into the southern Zhili area, and at the same time, the rear was extremely empty!
At this time, it was an excellent opportunity for the Ming army in Anqing. If they were brave enough and crossed the river directly under the cover of the navy, they could easily cut off the supply line of the Second Army.
However, the Ming army was really afraid of being beaten. Seeing such a great opportunity, the defenders of Anqing did not make any move. They still stayed in Anqing at a slow pace and used the Anqing fort to continue to block the Yangtze River.
After Li Chunjing learned that there was no movement at all in Anqing, he sighed: "These pseudo-Ming thieves have learned to be smart. Anyway, since they can't cross the river, they won't let the fourth mixed group ambush in Dongliu.
, there is no chance to cross the river to attack Anqing, let them withdraw!"
At this time, the Ming army in Anqing City had no idea that they were afraid of the enemy and did not dare to move, which just allowed them to survive a catastrophe. Li Chunjing had already ambushed the fourth mixed group in Dongliu and was ready to cross.
As long as Anqing's enemies cross the river and go south, the fourth mixed group will directly cross the river in the dark and then sneak attack Anqing.
But soon Li Chunjing gave another order, ordering the Fifth Infantry Division to prepare to cross the river!
As soon as this order came out, An Zichen was frightened.
You know, there has always been a Ming Army cavalry on the north bank of the Yangtze River accompanying the Fifth Infantry Division on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The Fifth Infantry Division may be in great danger after crossing the river.
An Zichen asked: "Really let the Fifth Infantry Division cross the river?"