Chapter 255 254. Chiang Kai-shek's resignation and reinstatement

In late June 2016, the Northern Expedition swept through southern Shandong.Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang reorganized and counterattacked Xuzhou when the Jinan meeting decided to take advantage of the revolutionary army's strength.Zhang Zongchang's White Russian Army attacked fiercely in armored vehicles. Although the Northern Expeditionary Army resisted bravely, it was difficult to reverse the situation and withdrew from Xuzhou on July 24. In order to fulfill the promise made at the Xuzhou meeting, Jiang Zhongzheng announced his resignation on August 12, 16th year of the Republic of China.

Accompanying Jiang Zhongzheng to leave Nanjing were Hu Hanmin, Wu Jingheng, Cai Yuanpei, Li Shizeng, Zhang Jingjiang and others.After Chiang Kai-shek left Beijing, he went to Shanghai first, and then returned to his hometown of Fenghua. Chiang Kai-shek left for Japan from Shanghai on September 28, and published a letter to the Japanese military and civilians in Tokyo: "I don't want to travel here, although it is still a day, but from the perspective of the people of your country on the Chinese nation, there is no difference between us and the spirit of equality, and I have a very dear impression. The relationship between your two countries, Prime Minister Sun Xian I often promise each other as a country of brothers, and I believe that the people of your country hope for the freedom and independence of the Chinese nation, which is more important than other countries. However, if your country's government and people thoroughly understand our national revolutionary movement, and provide moral and spiritual assistance to it If we do not use the warlords who are angry with the people to obstruct the progress of the national revolution, this will be of great help to our national revolutionary movement, and at the same time it will be the essence of the fundamental goodwill between the two countries. If the completion of the national revolution will enable The two countries will be more harmonious, so that your country's position in East Asia will be more stable. At the same time, you may be able to contribute to world peace! The national revolution of the Three People's Principles will be completed in terms of the revolutionary spirit in national history and the trend of world thought. No matter how powerful it is, it must not be permanently suppressed and obstructed."

At 1:30 p.m. on January 10, Chiang Kai-shek returned to Shanghai from Japan. Members of the second KMT Central Executive Committee gathered in Shanghai and held the preparatory meeting of the fourth plenary meeting on December 10, and approved the reinstatement of Chiang Kai-shek as a leader of the national revolution. The commander-in-chief of the army, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, etc. also sent representatives to Shanghai to promote the drive. The Kuomintang even called on Wang Zhaoming to issue a declaration to study abroad and to dissolve the special committee. On January 4th, Jiang Zhongzheng returned to Nanjing from Shanghai. On the 5th, he announced his reinstatement and reorganized the headquarters of the National Revolutionary Army in Sanyuan Lane, Nanjing.Send a telegram to inform the whole country that they will continue to exercise the position of commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army. In addition to political and party affairs, they will follow the joint responsibility of the central committee members. The crime of retirement.

On January 8, the National Government specially appointed Jiang Zhongzheng as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army. The Northern Expedition Army was organized with the combat army of the National Revolutionary Army, the combat army of the National Army Allied Forces, the combat army of the Northern Revolutionary Army, and the Air Force. The commander-in-chief To govern and command. Jiang Zhongzheng, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition Chief of Staff He Yingqin Jiang Zhongzheng, Commander-in-Chief of the First Group Army (concurrently), Yang Jie, Chief of the General Staff

(Jurisdiction of Liu Zhi of the First Army, Chen Tiaoyuan of the Second Army, He Yaozu of the Third Army, Fang Zhenwu of the Fourth Army, Zhu Peide of the General Reserve, Chen Cheng of the Artillery Group, Qian Dajun of the Rear Guard, Zhang Jingyu of the Aviation Team, and Tu Jinsheng of the Iron Armored Caravan.) Feng Yuxiang, Commander-in-Chief of the Second Army, and Liu Ji, Chief of the General Staff (Jurisdiction of Sun Liangcheng of the First Front Army, Sun Lianzhong of the Second Front Army, Liu Zhenhua of the Eighth Front Army, Lu Zhonglin of the Ninth Front Army, Zheng Dazhang of the First Cavalry Army, and Liu Zizhen of the Armored Vehicle Group.)

Yan Xishan, Commander-in-Chief of the Third Army, and Zhu Shouguang, Chief of the General Staff (Jurisdiction of Xu Yongchang of the right army, Shang Zhen of the left army, Shang Zhen of the middle army, Feng Yuxi of the reserve team, and Zhou Dai of the artillery group.) Yang Shuzhuang, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, and Li Jing, Chief of Staff (Jurisdiction of the First Fleet Chen Jiliang, Second Fleet Chen Shaokuan, Practice Fleet Chen Xunyong, Torpedo Guerrilla Zeng Yiding.) At the same time, the Military Commission issued three other secret orders, which were telegraphed to Jiang Zhongzheng, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, Yangshuzhuang, etc., and the texts are as follows:

"Commander-in-Chief Medal: very secret, hereby issue a secret order as follows: (1) The whole army of the Northern Expedition shall be under the jurisdiction of Jiang Zhongzheng, Commander-in-Chief of the National Revolutionary Army. The Combat Army, the Combat Army of the Northern Revolutionary Army, the Navy's Battle Fleet, and the Air Force are all in charge. (3) The manager of each combat army and the replenishment of field equipment and materials shall be handled in accordance with the original order, and the military shall The committee coordinates and subsidizes it." After Chiang Kai-shek was reinstated, he conscripted the fourth army, Miao Pei, from Guangdong to Jiangxi from Guangdong, Fang Zhenwu's troops from Yangkai to Germany, Fang Dingying's troops from Guangdong via Jiangxi and Zhejiang to Jiangsu, and Qian Dajun's troops from Guangdong via Fujian and Zhejiang to Shanghai. On the one hand, he ordered the troops in Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to disperse and prepare for departure.Suifu went to Xuzhou in person on February 9, convened the officers of the army to give lectures, reorganized the Xu and Hai armies into three legions, and transferred Ying Qin, the chief of staff, to stay in Nanjing.Re-instruct the first and second armies to make sure to make contact between Cao and Feng, and implement strategic deployment. On February 16, they arrived in Kaifeng and summoned Feng Yuxiang, Liu Ji, Chief of Staff of the Second Army, Shao Mou, representative of Shanxi Yan Xishan, He Chengjun, Chief of Staff of the First Army, and Ge Jingen, Chief of Staff of the General Headquarters, to discuss the plan for the Northern Expedition.All the participants advocated a large-scale action as soon as possible, especially the Third Army.That night, the two commander-in-chiefs Jiang and Feng decided on the date of the Northern Expedition, the mobilization of troops, the adjustment of the front line, the raising of military expenditures, and the actual supplies of the military. They decided on the general offensive steps.

Zhang Zuolin in Beijing held a cadre meeting in early February of 2017 to plan a counteroffensive and make a full-scale invasion. In mid-February, he convened a second cadre meeting and decided to take an offensive against Beijing, Han and Shanxi, and take a defensive position against Jinpu Road.In the end, it was changed to take a defensive approach to Jinghan and Jinpu Roads, but to take a sharp offensive in Shanxi.Use the main force of Zhang Xueliang's Third and Fourth Front Army and Zhang Zuoxiang's army to attack Jin, deploy a part of the Third and Fourth Front Army on the Beijing and Han Roads to take a defensive position against northern Henan, and the other three troops, Chu Yupu, Sun Chuanfang, and Zhang Zongchang, deploy in Daming and Jining , Linyi area, take the offensive defense to the south.I plan to go down to Shanxi first, and then go south.

On April 1, 2017, Chiang Kai-shek was in Xingyuan, Xuzhou, in addition to ordering the second and third armies to start the general attack on April 7, and called his chief of staff to Xuzhou to give combat orders on April 3.Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of arms on April 7. The strategic goal of the First Group Army under the personal command of Chiang Kai-shek was to concentrate superior forces and encircle and defeat the Beiyang Army in southern Shandong and Jining to occupy Jinan. Deploy by: The First Army concentrated in Xuzhou Dongfangbayiji, Daxujia, Jiawang, Liguoyi and near Xuzhou.

The Second Army concentrated in Haizhou, Xin'an Town, and near the North Station of the Canal. The Third Army was concentrated near Feng and Pei counties. The Fourth Army concentrated near Shanxian and Chengwu. The First Front Army of the Second Army (Sun Liangcheng's Department) is near Cao County and Heze. On April 10, Zhang Jingyu's air team reconnaissance found that the armored vehicles of the Beiyang Army guarded Hanzhuang and the northern end of the canal iron bridge, and the north bank of the Hanzhuang East Canal was well fortified.The revolutionary army launched an attack. After a fierce battle, they conquered Yuwang Mountain, Shengyang Mountain, Wangmu Mountain, and Chefu Mountain. They captured Taierzhuang that night, and the Beiyang Army retreated to Yi County.The 1st Division of the 1st Army of the Revolutionary Army entered Hongmiao, Yanzhuang, etc., the 3rd Division occupied Shanzhuang and the line of Gou Shang; Trident River. On the 11th, Wangzhuang and Tancheng were occupied. On the 13th, Hanzhuang and Shagou were occupied.

On April 14, the Beiyang Army fought to the death, and Sun Chuanfang counterattacked in the Fengpei area on the border between the Soviet Union and Shandong, and supported Zhang Zongchang.And Zhang Zongchang also came to the front line to attack the army. The revolutionary army fought repeatedly, defeated the enemy's offensive, and occupied Lincheng. Invaded Teng County on the 18th. On the 19th, Zou County and Qufu were occupied. Invaded Yanzhou on the 20th, encircling and annihilating the Beiyang Army in Yi County. Zhang Zongchang's army has the largest number among the seven armies of the Anguo Army, but its products are complicated and unsystematic, and its number is not even clear to Zhang's staff.Until the beginning of the Great War, the generals began to be dismantled and reorganized. Except for those with more men and guns, which still retained the division designation, the rest were organized into three detachments: lieutenant general, major general, and colonel. One-third, only Zhang Jingyao's Second Army was abolished, and the rest remained unchanged.And the formation of each army is not uniform. The number of each army varies. There are two or three divisions, and one division.It is almost customary for the commanders of various armies to concurrently serve as division commanders.The organization of its subordinates is also extremely disordered, each company may have seventy or eighty, or ten or twenty, so the combat effectiveness is also extremely weak.As for Sun Chuanfang's troops, they are still assigned according to the established rules of the Beiyang military system (according to the military system promulgated by the former Ministry of Army). The officers and soldiers also have more history, better training, and strong combat effectiveness; Sluggish, the army is lacking again, and it has become the end of its strength. Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang's troops retreated to Tai'an, Feicheng, and Jinan after being defeated by the revolutionary army in Yanzhou and Jining. Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang retreated to the vicinity of Gaowuqiao, Mapo, Sihe, Guanzhuang, and Dachang since the disastrous defeat, and then retreated to Boshan and Tai'an. The five divisions withdrew to occupy Feicheng, and deployed three divisions in Dao Valley and Fenghuangzhuang area outside the city to build strong fortifications to connect with Zhang Zongchang's army. The remaining two divisions were under the command of Ma Baoheng, with the main forces at Wande and Jieshou. On April 23, 17th year of the Republic of China, Jiang Zhongzheng was camping in Yanzhou to comprehensively analyze the situation of all parties. He judged that Zhang Zuolin planned to use the cover of the Zhi and Lu coalition forces to retreat to the three eastern provinces. , and expect to annihilate it south of the Yellow River. On April 23, the units of the Revolutionary Army began to move. On the 25th, the Third Army under the command of He Yaozu attacked Diantai, the Great Wall, Dawande, and Xiaowande along the lines of Dashe and Dashiqiao.The Fourth Army under the command of Fang Zhenwu stormed Feicheng.Other armies also attacked the Beiyang Army. On May 1, Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang thought that Jinan was isolated and difficult to defend for a long time, so they retreated to Dezhou. The revolutionary army then captured Jinan, and Liu Zhi entered the old governor's office in Shandong. Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Jinan from Tai'an at 4:00 pm on May 2, and convened a meeting of officers above the army commander to instruct local security matters, and ordered all troops to stay in place and stand by.At the same time, an important order was issued—— "All the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes set up by Zhang Zongchang in Shandong shall be removed, and all counties and agencies shall not accept them. This order."