Beiyang reactionaries

Then he spread out the map and said: "I have recently compiled information about the troops of Guangdong and Guangxi. I think that once the two troops of Guangdong and Guangxi fight, the first to collapse will be the troops from Shaozhou attacking south. Never mind Shen Hongying's Guangdong The Third Army of the Army, or the Second Army of the Guangxi Army under Lin Junting, is completely composed of bandits. These two troops seem to have a large number of troops, and their weapons are not too bad. But their combat effectiveness is very poor, and their organizational skills are even worse. Facing troops with excellent tactical capabilities, they are definitely not opponents. I think that this army will definitely not be opponents of the Cantonese Army."

"Yes. The Third Army of the Cantonese Army they are facing is an expanded unit from the First Division of the Cantonese Army. It is a force with strong tactical capabilities, even better than Chen Jiongming's First Army of the Guangdong Army and Xu Chongzhi’s Second Cantonese Army is even more outstanding. There is also Wang Wenhua’s Guizhou Army, which cooperates with the Third Cantonese Army. Although the weapons and equipment are not good, it is not a force that can be underestimated. The troops of Shen Hongying and Lin Junting are really good. Not necessarily their opponents."

Fang Dingying also nodded.

Compared with Lu Rongting's Gui Army, the Guangdong Army is much better in many aspects.That is, the Cantonese army is becoming more and more modern, and their organizational model is getting better and better, while Lu Rongting's troops are still bandit-style troops.

The composition of Lu Rongting's army is still the same as before, and it doesn't look like a tight army.On the contrary, each has its own forces, and the promotion of officers by each army is also based on the bandit model of the year.

There was nothing wrong with such a model ten years ago.

Because everyone is familiar with it and there are not many people, this mode is easier to command.But after ten years, the current Chinese army has begun to change.The more different the troops from before, the more different the troops feel, the stronger the combat effectiveness.

For example, among the immediate troops, no matter whether it is the 16rd Division commanded by Wu Peifu or Feng Yuxiang's No.[-] mixed brigade, they are all very different troops in the direct troops.It is completely different from the direct veteran troops.

In terms of troop organization, training, and military discipline, it is different from the old Beiyang army.

And what about combat power?

Wu Peifu's 16rd Division and Feng Yuxiang's No.[-] Mixed Brigade absolutely surpassed the entire direct troops in terms of combat effectiveness.

why.

Because Wu Peifu, Feng Yuxiang, including Sun Chuanfang who went to Mongolia, they have begun to get rid of the model of the Beiyang Army or the old Chinese army, and began to explore a new military model.It should be said that the regularization of the army has already begun.

Therefore, the combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the old army of the Beiyang Army.

Just like at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Beiyang Army was a new army of the Qing Dynasty, which was closer to a regular army.Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army far exceeded that of the Green Camp in the late Qing Dynasty.Everything is developing, if it cannot keep up with the pace of the times, it is destined to be eliminated.

This is the case with Lu Rongting's troops.

Lu Rongting, who was born as a bandit, and the senior management of Lu Rongting's army, who was born as a bandit, have not caught up with the regularization of the army at all. It should be said that they do not understand the regularization of the army at all.This is especially true for Shen Hongying's troops and Lin Junting's troops.Because Shen Hongying and Lin Junting are both semi-independent forces in Lu Rongting's Gui family, they must maintain their positions.If they want to keep their position, they must keep their army.

So all the officers in their army are their own people.But be it Shen Hongying or Lin Junting, what they call their own people are not their relatives, their fellow villagers, or their brothers.Basically, they are all bandits. How can they fight.

But it's safe.

My relatives, my fellow villagers, and my brothers, at least they will not betray themselves.Most of the warlords in the Republic of China followed this pattern.However, the later warlords also knew how to win over those military school graduates, and knew how to win over those who really knew how to fight.But in Lu Rongting's army, there are very few students in the military academy, and there are even fewer people who have really systematically learned how to fight.How could such an army have combat effectiveness.

And their opponent Guangdong Army far surpasses Lu Rongting in this respect.

Regardless of whether Sun Yat-sen's slogan is practical or not, at least for now it is still quite attractive.

The Guangdong Army attracted a large number of young generals.

Especially the Third Army of the Cantonese Army.

Deng Keng was originally the division commander of the First Division of the First Cantonese Army. Later, when the Cantonese Army purchased Duan Xun's munitions in Zhangzhou and expanded its army, Deng Keng took his first division to expand the troops and became the Third Army of the Cantonese Army. .

Of course it is an army, but in fact the army is only about [-] troops.

But it's a very strong force.

Deng Keng invited a large number of young generals from Guangdong.Among them are graduates of the Army University, Baoding Military Academy, and some Army Middle Schools.Of course, no matter how bad they were, they would have graduated from the Guangdong Army Primary School, and later joined the officer training group formed by Deng Keng.

It should be said that they are all officer seedlings.

Such as Deng Yanda, Chen Mingshu, Zhang Fakui, Ye Ting, Xue Yue, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai, Chen Jitang, Yu Hanmou, these famous young officers are currently serving in Deng Keng's Third Army.

Not to mention them, Deng Yanda's generals Liang Hongkai, Chen Keyu, and Li Zhangda are all well-known generals in the Guangdong Army.

It can be said that Deng Keng's Third Army of the Guangdong Army attached great importance to military quality and cultural quality from top to bottom.Even among the troops of the Guangdong Army, they are all famous and excellent troops.

This army has a strong geographical color, but it is also the most determined army.These people all believed in Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principles, so they all defected to Deng Keng, but they actually wanted to defect to Sun Yat-sen.

How can an army with a strong sense of feudal banditry defeat such an army with culture, discipline, tactics, and faith.Including Wang Wenhua's Guizhou Army, there are more than 7000 Cantonese troops along the way.Although the number of people is only half of Shen Hongying and Lin Junting's, both Li Jishen and Fang Dingying are not optimistic about Shen Hongying and Lin Junting's way.I am more optimistic about Deng Keng's troops.

"Chief of staff, let me tell you my opinion, you can help me with my staff."

"it is good."

"Judging from the current actions of the various troops, the first to fight must be Lu Rongting's third army and the troops of the Yunnan Army stationed in Guangdong. It is really difficult to judge this road, and I don't know how the Yunnan Army will choose. But according to my judgment, The troops of the Dian Army will definitely not work for the Guangdong Army. On the contrary, Shen Hongying and Lin Junting are very likely to win or lose quickly. Of course, it is also possible that Lu Rongting's second army will defeat Chen Jiongming. But no matter what happens, As long as Lu Rongting's first road or the second road has a fierce battle, and then there is a victory or defeat, our troops will immediately march."

"And we have to act fast this time, so fast that the Guangdong and Guangxi armies can't react. Don't give them any reaction time, let the No.16 division (division commander Liu Duanshang) quickly enter Shaozhou, and cut off the communication between Shen Hongying and Lin Junting. The back road. Let the No.17 Division (division commander Wang Tianpei) quickly occupy Zhaoqing, let the 34th Division (division commander Wang Kai) also quickly go north from Zhanjiang, take Maoming and Yangchun, and advance to Guangzhou. Let the 17th Division (division commander Zhang Zizhong) also Immediately follow Division No.[-] and enter Guangdong."

Li Jishen drew out his thoughts.

Fang Dingying frowned and said: "Commander, you have to know. Once our troops attack from three directions, judging from the current situation, we can sweep Shaozhou, Zhaoqing, Maoming, Gaozhou and other places. There are not many troops in these places. But once we If the troops occupy Guangdong in this way, Lu Rongting's troops will definitely be defeated, and the Guangdong army is close at hand. It is very likely that they will enter Guangzhou earlier than us."

"Yes, there is a possibility."

Li Jishen nodded.

Once Li Jishen took action, then tens of thousands of troops would enter Guangdong, and Lu Rongting, who was currently taking the last adventure, would lose the possibility of final victory.In other words, as long as Duan Xun's troops enter Guangdong from behind, it will completely announce the end of Lu Rongting's era.At that time, as long as Lu Rongting's troops get the news, they will inevitably panic and disorderly, and it is predictable that they will be defeated across the board.

When the Guangxi army was in a panic, as long as the Guangdong army seized the opportunity, it was very likely to quickly defeat Lu Rongting's troops and then enter Guangzhou.

This will make the problem much more complicated.

"So we have to race against time. Before Lu Rongting got the news, the troops quickly entered Guangzhou. At present, Lu Rongting is in the western part of Guangdong. In addition to leaving some local militias, there are still some troops in Guangzhou. This time There are no powerful enemies on the road, and the troops can completely ignore these local militia groups. The No.17 Division (division commander Wang Tianpei) can go straight to Guangzhou, and the rear of the 30th Division can be protected by the No.17 Fourth Division (division commander Zhang Zizhong). In this way, when Lu Rongting gets the news and Lu Rongting's troops get the news, the No.17 Division will not be too far away from Guangzhou. When the Cantonese Army also gets the news, they will defeat the Gui Army troops in front of them, and then enter Guangzhou. It’s really inferior to Division No.[-].”

Time difference.

What Li Jishen wants to fight is the time difference.

After all, message delivery takes time.In particular, the news of Duan Xun's troops attacking aggressively must have been known to Lu Rongting first, and then Lu Rongting's troops.In the end, it was possible to pass it to the Guangdong Army.

This is not an hour or two hours.

It will definitely take time for the Cantonese army to respond to the news.And what Li Jishen wanted was this time.

"Seventeenth Division, Wang Tianpei. His troops are indeed good at long-distance raids. When Tang Jiyao was expelled, he and Master Zhang (Zhang Zizhong) were the two who rushed for thousands of miles and caught Tang Jiyao by surprise. Tang Jiyao's troops were defeated quickly. If he leads an advance force to attack, it is estimated that he will be able to reach Guangzhou within four or five days."

"Yes, I also value him. When Guangdong and Guangxi fight, as long as there is a victory or defeat between the Guangxi army and the Guangdong army, our troops will quickly rush to Guangzhou. Let No.17 enter Guangdong first, and don't bring heavy weapons , marching lightly. A day or two later, when Lu Rongting knows that our troops have entered Guangdong, our troops will attack again and again, and give Lu Rongting the final blow."

"Then what if the Guangxi army surrenders to the Guangdong army?"

"Not afraid."

Li Jishen stood up and said confidently: "Actually, it's okay if the Cantonese Army takes Guangzhou first. I'm just worried that the Cantonese Army's occupation of Guangzhou will have some political impact. After all, Guangzhou is the political center of Guangdong, and it was the former French Protectorate Army." The seat of the government. If this is not considered, what if the Cantonese army takes Guangzhou? What if the Guangdong and Guangxi combined? The Guangxi army, the Guangdong army, the Yunnan army stationed in Guangdong, the Guizhou army, and the Zhejiang army in Guangdong will not add up. to 9 people, and they each have their own systems, so they cannot fight together. The troops of our two armies enter Guangdong, and they can still stop us. And we still have a coast guard fleet that can participate in the battle, even if the Guangdong army occupies Guangzhou I am not afraid either. If the Cantonese Army really concentrates its main force in Guangzhou, then let the Sixteenth Division (Liu Duanshang) directly attack the whole territory of Huizhou and besiege the Cantonese Army in Guangzhou."

Li Jishen is really not afraid of war.

Guangdong currently has a lot of troops, but the sources of the troops are complicated, no one will obey the other, and no one can unify these troops.Perhaps Sun Yat-sen's appeal can unite them, but unfortunately Sun Yat-sen is not currently in Guangdong.Coupled with the outbreak of the Guangdong-Guangxi War, they can be regarded as the last struggle.Because they knew that fighting by themselves might benefit others, but they also knew that now was their last chance.If the two sides can't defeat their opponents and control Guangdong, they may never have such an opportunity after the battle between the Zhiwan and Anhui factions is over.

So although a little worried, the two sides still fought.

As long as Guangdong and Guangxi fight, Li Jishen is really not worried.I have sent troops from the two armies into Guangdong this time, plus the troops directly under my group army, the number of them is no less than that of all the troops in Guangdong.