Volume 3: Who rules the ups and downs, Chapter 7: Can't compare

The main force of the Provisional Government's Northern Expeditionary Army was in Huai'an. Commander-in-Chief Sun Yue led his troops northward. On the right was the Provisional Government's Third Division led by Leng Yu, with more than 9,000 men.

The train slowly entered Bengbu Station. When the whistle whistled, the carriage door opened, and the cold wind penetrated his collar. Leng Yu couldn't help but shiver. In order to show the unity of the officers and soldiers, Leng Yu rode in a stuffy car like ordinary soldiers.

With his feet on the ground, Leng Huan straightened his military uniform first, and then the guards got off the car one by one. Leng Huan put his hands behind his back and looked at everything in front of him coldly. Bengbu is the territory of the National Defense Forces, and the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Provisional Government used Bengbu itself.

, is a signal.

There was not a single soldier of the National Defense Forces visible on the platform, and it seemed that they had no intention of defending against the Northern Expeditionary Army. Regarding this, Leng Xuan was not at ease. The strength of the National Defense Forces was no longer comparable to that of the Provisional Government's army. The soldiers continued to follow

After getting off the car, officers from various departments kept calling for troops to detach. Leng Yu was not very satisfied with the troops he brought out.

The main force under the provisional government was mainly the original Ninth Town, which was later reorganized into the First Army. It had two divisions. Unexpectedly, a battle on the Beijing-Hankow Line led to Lin Huaichuan, who belonged to the First Army, to defect to Hanyang, and then left one after another.

Nearly a hundred officers. This was a serious injury to the First Army. The main force was like this, and the third division, which was formed later, was just fine. Its team was the Guangxi Aid Hubei Mixed Brigade. When they arrived in Hunan, they were

When Huang Xing left Wuhan, Leng Xun received a notice from Nanjing and led his troops to Nanjing. On the way, more than a hundred student soldiers voluntarily left the team and went to Hanyang. After arriving in Nanjing, they added a group of new soldiers and expanded it into the Third Infantry Division.

The total number of soldiers in the army is over 9,000. As a result of the expansion of the army, the combat effectiveness is naturally reduced. Originally, there were not many veterans in the mixed brigade. After this addition, 80% of the new recruits and officers have never seen blood.

In comparison, the equipment is quite satisfactory. After Wuhu's large-scale purchase, the Third Division was taken care of. The Sixth Brigade was replenished with a fleet of Hanyang-made machine guns, and 16 Haqi Keisi machine guns were also replenished.

Lusen's 12 Wuqi Mountain Cannons form a machine gun battalion. Military uniforms, uniforms, etc. are also given priority. The third division is called a division, but it is actually more

The divisions of the Beiyang and the National Defense Forces are not the same concept at all. The National Defense Forces have one division. Take the Sixth Division stationed in Bengbu as an example. It is equivalent to two mixed brigades plus a divisional artillery regiment, a cavalry garrison, and various technologies.

There are more than 16,000 soldiers in total. One town of the Beiyang Army also has more than 12,000 people. It is different!

Leng Yu was a member of the old alliance and a former leader of the Anhui New Army (at the level of battalion commander). In 1908, he conspired to carry out an incident. The news was leaked in advance, and Leng Yu was escorted to Nanjing for interrogation.

Regarding Fang Jianxiong, it is difficult for Leng Huan to explain his feelings clearly. Unlike some hard-liners in the alliance congregation, he blindly rejects and dislikes Fang Jianxiong. His experience in the Anhui New Army made him very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Anhui New Army. That's it.

What a lousy army. After Fang Jianxiong's hand, it is now the number one strong soldier in the world. For this, Leng Xun was very convinced. No one dared to take the right route army job at the military meeting, but Leng Xun took the initiative to ask for it later.

.Take this job.

"Yu Qiu!" With a powerful call, Leng Huan turned his head and saw that a dozen steps away, Xu Shaojie, wrapped in a green military coat, was walking quickly. This was an old Shangguan. Although he joined the National Defense Forces,

Leng Yu didn't dare to show any slightness.

Xu Shaojie had a high prestige among the Provisional Government troops. Militarily, he led the Ninth Town to a tie with the Eighth Town in the Taihu Autumn Exercise. The Eighth Town was the only strong force that could challenge the Beiyang Army. As a person, Xu Shaojie was a kind-hearted person.

, treats people kindly, and is very popular. If he yells at the current First Army, most of the officers will be gone. Even Leng Xun once served as a team officer in Xu Shaojie's Ninth Town, and later joined the army.

Gu Zhongchen.

"I've seen Commander Xu!" Leng Yu quickly stepped forward and stood at attention three steps away to salute.

After Xu Shaoji returned the greeting, he stepped forward and extended his hand. Leng Yu hesitated for a moment and shook hands.

"Yu Qiu, I'm very happy to hear that you are here with your troops. Over in Nanjing, when it comes to military talents, you are rare." After shaking hands, Xu Shaojie smiled and said coldly, "Commander Xu, thank you."

Already."

"Let's take a walk together." Xu Shaojie smiled and turned around. Leng Xun hesitated for a moment and then followed. After walking for a while, he realized that Xu Shaojie only brought two guards and followed him from a distance.

"The fifth town of the Beiyang Army is currently stationed in Xuzhou. The Northern Expeditionary Army in Nanjing can still beat Zhang Xun. If we want to compete with the fifth town, I am afraid it will be worse. Especially in the third division of yours, the recruits account for

How can we fight this battle when we have 80% of the capital and still have a surplus?" Xu Shaoji couldn't help shaking his head as he spoke. Leng Xun didn't know how to answer, so he tightened his lips and said nothing.

Xu Shaojie didn't seem to be planning to wait for his answer, and continued: "It can be seen that Nanjing asked you to come to Bengbu not to fight against Xuzhou, but to show off. But now that you have arrived in Bengbu, thinking about the old friendship,

Xu cannot sit down either

I'll let you go north alone. Let's do this. I'll transfer a cavalry battalion and a machine gun battalion to your command. From now on to Xuzhou, the march should be slow. When encountering the fifth town, we should shrink in time. As long as Huai'an is ready, you can

The support here is indispensable."

Leng Xun's heart twitched, and he didn't understand Xu Shaojie's meaning at all. Why should he help him? This feeling was too strange. What was even stranger was that Xu Shaojie seemed to have a complete understanding of the provisional government's Northern Expeditionary Army's battle plan.

Seeing his hesitation, Xu Shaojie couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart. He took the initiative to mention this matter to Fang Jianxiong. Leng Yu, the commander of the third division of the Provisional Government's People's Army, has excellent military talents. He might consider recruiting one or two people. Even if he cannot be used for his own purposes temporarily, he can be used in the future.

Play a role. Fang Jianxiong called back: Please handle the Bengbu incident on your own and there is no need to report it again.

"Then thank you Commander Xu." Leng Huan still agreed. After all, he was about to face the fifth town, the serious Beiyang Army. It was not the local warlord Zhang Xun who had all his bandits.

Xu Shaojie smiled with satisfaction, raised his hand to wave, and soon two officers ran over. Xu Shaojie said: "This is Commander Leng, you must obey the order."

Leaving Bengbu, we headed towards Xuzhou along Jinpu Road. We got off the train at Su County and rounded up two battalions of the National Defense Forces. The person responsible for the defense of Suzhou was said to be brigade commander Huyan Aobo, who didn’t even show his face. In short, the train was useless.

If you sit down, you can only walk. As a division commander, Leng Huan had a horse to ride. When riding the horse on the roadside, Leng Huan's eyes never left the machine gun battalion temporarily sponsored by the Bengbu garrison of the National Defense Forces.

It is also a machine gun battalion, but the machine gun battalion of the National Defense Force is obviously different. The first is the machine guns, which are all Maxim with wheels and baffles, and are towed by carriages. The second is the cannon, which is not the common 37 or 57 caliber mountain cannon.

Land artillery is a simple matter of using horses to carry some barrels and gun mounts. Leng Yu has learned that this is a 82-gun made in Germany.

diameter mortars. It is said that they will be replaced by Wuhu-made mortars in half a year. Soldiers in the machine gun battalion rarely carry guns. They basically carry a special wooden frame on their backs, which contains two to four artillery shells.

A small number of soldiers are equipped with guns, and they all have a cylinder-like submachine gun inside a cylinder. It is said that this thing is currently only equipped by the National Defense Forces.

The mobility of such a machine gun battalion is obviously greatly improved. Leng Yu is an expert and naturally knows about domestic wars. Once the two armies encounter a brigade-level unit equipped with such a machine gun battalion, the opponent will suffer.

What a loss. Not to mention, the National Defense Forces still have 60-caliber mortars, which go directly to company-level units.

Putting aside the equipment, just looking at the marching process, the marching procession of the National Defense Force's machine gun battalion was extremely rigorous. After walking all morning, there was no sign of fatigue at all. Singing continued along the way, showing high morale.

The steps were brisk. On the other hand, looking at the Third Division of the People's Army, after one morning, many troops were a little unable to walk. The National Defense Forces seemed not to feel it at all.

"Tata, tower!" The sound of horse hooves sounded, and the National Defense Force cavalry clearing the way in front sent back the signal corps.

"Report, signs of Qing cavalry activity were found in Caocun Town ahead."

Leng Yu was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the Fifth Town would dare to go so far. You must know that there is a brigade of the National Defense Forces guarding Suzhou, so you are not afraid of an encounter with the National Defense Forces or something like that?

"Order the troops to stop advancing!" Leng Xun issued the order, and the entire army rested on the spot, waiting for intelligence feedback from below.

After giving the order, another Jing Wei clearly made Leng Yu feel very uncomfortable. Also resting on the spot, the 3rd Division of the People's Army completely let go of the sheep. Some soldiers ran to the roadside to find a comfortable place to lie down and bask in the sun.

The formation immediately fell into disarray, with many people running around dragging their guns, fighting for a good place to lie down. On the other hand, the machine gun battalion of the National Defense Forces, after giving the order, the group sat in groups on the roadside in an orderly manner.

.Eat dry food and drink water, and check the equipment.

It was just that the equipment was backward, but Leng Xun was not feeling very uncomfortable. Seeing this scene, his face was burning.

"Go and notify the officers above the battalion commander to come to my place for a meeting."

Ten minutes later, a simple officer meeting was held. Officers at all levels were a little scared when they saw Leng Yu's dark face.

"Look at the soldiers you lead. They look like vagrants one by one. When marching, the formations are loose, and they are ordered to rest, and they all look like sheep. Look at what the National Defense Force did? Anyway, I feel ashamed and panicked.

.They are both the army. Others call them the army, but we call them the militia." Leng Xuan cursed loudly when he opened his mouth, and a group of officers could not hold their heads up after being scolded.

After Leng Xun scolded him, he said with a cold face: "Cheer up for me when you go back. It doesn't matter if you are almost close. If you are too close, you will lose your face."

The officers dispersed, and soon there was shouting and cursing all around. The officers rushed towards the lax soldiers like hungry wolves.

At this time, another messenger came from the forward cavalry battalion, this time with three horses, two of them carrying a prisoner of the Beiyang Army.

Leng Xuan was secretly shocked at this efficiency! (To be continued)
Chapter completed!