Chapter 244 243. Tang Shengzhi joined the National Revolutionary Army

Wu Peifu couldn't attack Nankou for a long time, and finally relied on the strong assistance of the Feng army and the Zhilu coalition army to resolve the deadlock.He was not satisfied in the north, and he took the wrong path in the south, because he neither joined with the revolutionary forces in Guangdong, but also forced Tang Shengzhi to join the revolutionary camp. The Hunan issue was a hot potato between the north and the south at that time. Both Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui struggled on the Hunan issue in the era of Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui. The problem that Yuan and Duan could not solve, Wu Peifu came out for the second time now. There is no question of Hunan.Wu's counselor Zhang Qizhen repeatedly advised Wu: "Although Tang Shengzhi is not afraid, if he takes refuge in Guangdong, his power will not be insulted. Therefore, even if Changsha is defeated and Hengyang is conquered, the local problems in Hunan Province will become North-South problems. This must be taken seriously." Wu Ze underestimated Hunan. He rose up with the withdrawal of troops from Hengyang in the past, and handled Hunan's problems with ease every time. This time his resurgence also originated from Hunan. He thought that others had trouble dealing with Hunan, but he solved it easily. , so he acted on his own with Hunan affairs.

On April 25, 2015, he appointed Ye Kaixin as the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in Hunan, and He Yaozu as the governor of Hunan. On May 2, Ye Kaixin's army attacked Changsha. The Tang army was caught off guard and retreated from Changsha to Hengzhou. Ye Kaixin, He Yaozu and others all earnestly hoped that Zhao Hengti could return to Hunan and preside over the major affairs of the province. Therefore, after the capture of Changsha, Ye Jixiang telegraphed the senior gentry of Hunan Province to convey to Wu Peifu, please do not follow the orders of Ye Duxiang and He Changxiang, and at the same time send a telegram to greet him. Zhao discusses Tang.

On May 8, Ye Kaixin entered Changsha and appointed Wang Longzhong as the recruiting envoy of southern Hunan to recruit Tang Shengzhi's army. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the Hunan Army formed the Hunan Protecting Army. Zhao Hengti was promoted as the commander-in-chief, and He Yaozu was the commander-in-chief. Before Zhao returned to Hunan, Ye Kaixin acted as the commander-in-chief. The telegram said that the expansion of the war, the fishing seat must be quickly returned to the presidency, and it is not enough to cause chaos in Jingxiang. Since Zhao Hengti went to Shanghai, the Hunan Province and all parties urged Zhao to go out of the mountain. He firmly expressed his unwillingness to return to Hunan. Sun Chuanfang warmly invited him in Nanjing, and Zhao Sui went to live in Nanjing. Wu said: Restoring Zhao's Xiangdu will be beneficial to the joint provinces, coalition forces, and joint defenses.

Zhao Hengti once sent a telegram to the Nationalist Government in Guangzhou, advocating that all guest troops withdraw from Hunan.Because after Tang Shengzhi retreated to Hengzhou, Guangdong decided to send troops to assist Tang. The Military Commission of the Nationalist Government decided to send Dai Yue, Zhang Zanhua, and Li Mingyang to assist Hunan, and ordered Bai Chongxi and Xia Wei to lead the Guangxi army into Hunan. On June 2, 2015, Tang Shengzhi canceled his name as acting governor of Hunan in Hengzhou, officially joined the National Revolutionary Army, and became the commander of the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the commander-in-chief of the front enemy in the middle.

Local disputes in Hunan Province contributed to the early Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army. After Tang Shengzhi received the help of the revolutionary army, his momentum was greatly boosted. In mid-June 2015, he repeatedly succeeded in counterattacking.Ye Jun turned victory into defeat and retreated to occupy Xiangxiang and Xiangtan.Ye Kaixin planned to go to the front line to supervise the troops. Wu Peifu dispatched Mo Dapei, Wang Duqing, and Tang Fushan as the commander-in-chief of the three-way aid Hunan Army, and Peng Hanzhang was the supervisor of the Hunan-Guizhou border defense.Unexpectedly, at this time, Peng had already conveyed his sincerity to the Nationalist government, and he sent a telegram saying that he had led all his subordinates to move to the east of Guizhou, and asked the government to reorganize it under an official name and wait for dispatch.

At this time, Wu Shang was in Changxindian and refused to return to the south of his army. He underestimated the strength of the revolutionary army because of his victories in the Hunan and Hubei battles, because Guizhou had Yuan Zuming and Jiangxi had Deng Ruzhuo. Surrounded by the left and right wings, and without the cover of the navy on the river, Changsha and Yuezhou were unable to attack or defend.So he is still dreaming of "conquering Hunan four times".Wu Peifu lacked understanding of the current situation. In the past, when the Hunan Army aided Hubei, he had no determination to fight against the Wu Army, and because of the peace talks, he missed the opportunity to go straight to Wuhan, so the Wu Army defeated the Hunan Army in one fell swoop.Although Tang Shengzhi's Hunan army is limited today, there is still a revolutionary army that has recharged its batteries after the Tang army.This new force is a newborn calf, and they all have the courage to swallow up the bullfight and destroy the dynasty.In the past, Wu's army was the basic army. At the same time, the north was completely controlled by the direct line, and there were a lot of support from the rear. But this time, Wu's men were just some miscellaneous troops, who were neither able to fight nor willing to fight. Know.

Changsha was once again under the attack of Tang Shengzhi's army. Under the urging of all parties, Zhao Hengti arrived in Hankou with Chen Qiang, Mei Xin and others on June 20. When Ye Kaixin heard that Zhao had arrived in Han, he immediately sent a telegram to welcome Zhao to return to Hunan to take charge of everything.He Yaozu also sent representatives to Hankou to meet Zhao.Zhao Ze divided Dian Ye, Tang, etc., and persuaded the soldiers to cease fighting to prevent local corruption. When Wu Peifu learned that Zhao Hengti had arrived in Hankou, he immediately called Zhao to ask him to solve the Hunan Bureau as soon as possible so that he could attack Guangdong and take charge of Tang Suppression.

On June 27, more than 30 people, including general Lin Hu of the Hunan Army, had a public banquet for Zhao Hengti. During the meeting, Zhao Hengti was unanimously urged to go out of the mountain to lead the affairs of Hunan. Sun Chuanfang had a phone call to the National Revolutionary Army in Guangzhou. One said: The people of Hunan ruled Hunan for a long time, and when they returned to Hunan in Yanwu, they would be able to calm things down. Both the southern division and the northern brigade should restrain each other, and strictly maintain neutrality in the Hunan war. avoid causing disputes.One said: "When Yanwu returns to Hunan, everything should be reconciled. If the two sides eliminate misunderstandings and let the people of Hunan take care of themselves, the future will be peaceful."The theory that Jiangxi and Deng (Zhuoru) mobilized the army to spy on Guangdong must be a rumor. If my brother withdraws the Cantonese army from the Jiangxi border to Hepu, he will be able to close the country and calm down.

On July 1, Zhao Hengti hosted a banquet in the political circles of the Hunan and Hubei armies, so it was widely rumored that the armies of Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong, and Guangxi jointly elected Zhao as the commander-in-chief.Sun Chuanfang also sent representatives to Han to pay a visit to Zhao, and Wu Peifu also sent Fu Ding to return to Han and Zhao Shangxiang. The National Revolutionary Army also actively reinforced Tang Shengzhi. Zhao Hengti left Hankou for Changsha in early July.The National Revolutionary Army sent a telegram to Zhao on July 5, urging Zhao to change his plan to challenge Wu. The telegram said:

"Mr. Zhao Yanwu from Changsha learned: I received a quick telegram a few days ago, and I am deeply relieved to hear that I have arrived in Changsha. Sanxiang is the birthplace of the revolution. Since Hunan and Guangdong are different, the unity of the Southwest has broken down, and the Northern warlords have become more fearless. Over the past few years , there is no war in every year, and the southwestern provinces have been instigated by it, and there has been no peace. The theory of inter-provincial self-government can only gloss over the eyes and ears for a while, but the country will suffer from it. No.) was constituted by Wu’s false order. Wu’s dream of unification by force, he did not hesitate to go against the grain to fulfill his great desire. It is to the soldiers of the Southwest, almost like the imperialism to the chiefs of the colonies, so that killing each other is the only clever plan .Jingqiu Yu Mengxiao (Tang Shengzhi), even thought that the brothers fought against the wall, and how could he go against the general will of the people of the whole province and brazenly lead the Wu army into the house! The former prime minister swore to the Northern Expedition to conquer Cao Wu, and now the Wu family has revived , Zhongzheng must continue the legacy of the former Prime Minister to discuss it. Gongben revolutionaries, the past history must not be neglected, it is appropriate to put the freedom and independence of the country and the nation as the most important thing, and Wu's personal feelings are less important. National traitor. The Jingqiu Department once gave advice, if they get the words of the tripod to promote their awareness, in order to punish the pioneers of Wu and share the shame of Xue Jiayu, the war in Hunan Province will stop, the national revolution will be completed, and the people of the whole country will rely on it. Chiang Kai-shek."

The strength of the Northern Clan is very thin, the revolutionary army is only 100,000 people, including the first fleet of the navy and the first fleet of the air force.Compared with any Beiyang warlord, such a force is incomparable.Therefore, in terms of combat policy, the Northern Expedition Army took the three major warlords Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, and Zhang Zuolin to defeat them one by one.In terms of military targets, Wu Peifu was selected as the first target, Sun Chuanfang as the second target, and Zhang Zuolin as the third target.At the same time, in the first phase of the battle, he specifically proposed to overthrow Wu Peifu, contact Sun Chuanfang, ignore Zhang Zuolin's slogan, and engage in political warfare. Since Wu Peifu underestimated the revolutionary forces, and he himself was a cobbled-up army, his troops in the south were not strong, including the Hunan-Hubei Frontier Defense Supervisor Li Jichen's troops stationed at Pingjiang, Tongcheng, Yueyang, Lixian County and western Hubei on the north bank of the Miluo River. There are about 30,000 people available for dispatch.The Hubei Army under Chen Jiamo also has about 30,000 people available for support at any time, and the Hunan Army under the command of Ye Kaixin also has about 20,000 people.Although Xie Wenbing, Tang Fushan, Ma Ji, and Shen Hongying had about 100,000 troops, Xie and Shen were defeated and Tang Fushan's army was extremely weak.Therefore, when comparing the National Revolutionary Army and the Beiyang Army, although there is a huge difference in numbers, the Revolutionary Army is as good as ten, while the Beiyang Army is weak and vulnerable. Although there are many people, they have no combat power.