Stills from Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Recently watched Toei's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the small universe burned.
Especially in the second part of "Burning Yangtze River" - before and after the Battle of Chibi, the long and vast artistic conception, the thick and atmospheric picture, and the music of the intestines of the intestines instantly ignited the three national complexes that had been treasured for many years, and were stirred to tears.
From this and the other, I think of a war during the Beiyang warlord melee- the Xiang'e War.
Roughly speaking, I think the Xiang'e War is more like the Battle of Chibi.
The plot of the Battle of Chibi is: Cao Cao marched south, destroyed Liu Biao of Jingzhou, pursued Liu Bei, and Liu Bei united with Sun Wu to defeat Cao Cao.
The plot of the Xiang'e War is: Zhao Hengti of Hunan and Liu Xiang of Sichuan jointly attacked Wang Zhanyuan of Hubei, Wang Zhanyuan asked for help from Wu Peifu, and Wu Peifu marched south, destroyed Wang Zhanyuan, and defeated the Xiang army and the Sichuan army successively.
The main battlefield of the fierce battle between Wu Peifu's army and the Xiang army is roughly in the same place as the main battlefield of the Battle of Chibi more than 1800 years ago. During the war, Wu Peifu also dispatched naval forces to traverse the waters of the Yangtze River. If the Xiang Army and the Sichuan Army also had water armies, then the Xiang'e War was simply a low-grade version of the Battle of Chibi.
For the convenience of understanding, we may wish to make the following analogies: Wu Peifu is compared to Cao Cao, Wang Zhanyuan is compared to Liu Biao, and Zhao Hengti and Liu Xiang are compared to Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
01
Before talking about the Xiang'e War, I first knew one person, Wang Zhanyuan.
In 1861, Wang Zhanyuan was born in a poor rural family in Guantao, Shandong, his parents died at a young age, life was very difficult, he could only mix in the countryside as an ancient puzzle boy, and then he was exiled to Handan, once joined the beggar gang, after several turns, settled in a shop as a buddy.
In a chaotic world, the most direct and simplest way to get ahead of the grassroots is to join the army.
When it is developed, it earns, and when it is killed, it does not lose. It was originally a grain of dust, and the dust was about equal to cannon fodder.
Around 1880, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, recruited troops, and Wang Zhanyuan used the shop owner as a shopkeeper to join Liu Mingchuan's troops.
After joining the army, Wang Zhanyuan's life was like opening a hanging.
Give me a trust and give you a hope. Welcome to Huaijun!
In 1886, Wang Zhanyuan was sent to the Tianjin Wubei Academy for his excellent performance. Those who can enter this school are the elites and potential stocks in the Huai Army, where Wang Zhanyuan got to know Cao Kun, Li Chun and others.
During the Sino-Japanese War, Wang Zhanyuan participated in the Battle of the Yalu River with Song Qing, and fought alongside Zhang Huaizhi, Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin and others. Many of the big men in the Beiyang period participated in the Sino-Japanese War, but most of them were middle- and lower-ranking officers at that time and did not emerge.
Chicken Soup Cloud: If you want to get to know a person, just go and see his circle of friends.
Looking at Cao Kun, Li Chun, Zhang Huaizhi, Zhang Zuolin, and other people, we know what position Wang Zhanyuan is, and it is only a matter of time before he debuts.
After the end of the Sino-Japanese War, Wang Zhanyuan joined Yuan Shikai's newly formed army at Xiaozhan and became an old Yuan's man, and has since made steady progress. By the time the Wuchang Uprising broke out, Wang Zhanyuan had been promoted to the second town of the Beiyang Army.
Beiyang Army Autumn Exercise
Take Cao Kun as a reference.
At that time, Cao Kun served as the commander of the third town of the Beiyang Army, and later the town was changed to a division, with Wang Zhanyuan as the commander of the second division and Cao Kun as the commander of the third division. In 1916, Wang Zhanyuan and Cao Kun both became princes of one side, with Wang Zhanyuan serving as the overseer of Hubei and Cao Kun as the overseer of directly subordinate to him.
Wang Zhanyuan, together with Li Chun, the overseer of Jiangsu, and Chen Guangyuan, the overseer of Jiangxi, followed Feng Guozhang, known as the "Three Governors of the Yangtze River" in Jianghu, and was an old direct descendant.
After the death of Feng Guozhang and Li Chun, the old direct line was basically abolished, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu rose, and Cao and Wu were called the new direct line.
There is an intersection but not overlap between the new and old direct families, and they do not feel very much about each other, Wang Zhanyuan's seniority is no less than That of Cao Kun, and there is no reason to recognize Cao Kun as the community speaker. This kind of relationship between the two people laid the groundwork for the new direct family to get rid of Wang Zhanyuan.
Training of the Beiyang Army from 1913 to 1915
In 1921, Wang Zhanyuan ushered in the peak of his life.
In order to solve the dilemma, the Beiyang government invited the three giants to Beijing to hold a meeting to discuss the state of the country: the three giants were Shi Caokun, who was inspecting Shi Caokun in Zhiluyu, Zhang Zuolin, the envoy of the Three Eastern Provinces, and Wang Zhanyuan, who was on the tour of the Two Lakes.
Wang Zhanyuan is the weakest, but he is old, high-ranking, and shoulders the heavy responsibility of contacting the six southwestern provinces (southwest warlords) to return to the central government, and has a lot of say.
It often takes decades to reach the peak of life, and falling from the peak is a matter of blink of an eye.
Wang Zhanyuan returned from a meeting in Beijing, and something happened in Hubei.
02
The wind rises at the end of Qingping and ends between the grass.
The fierce wind that brought Wang Zhanyuan down from power was actually brewing long ago.
Wang Zhanyuan and his people have a very obvious shortcoming, greed, in today's words, that is, the pattern is not enough.
He was in charge of Hubei and had two big slots: one was to engage in nepotism, and the other was to withhold military salaries.
In this land, in that era, it was not normal not to engage in nepotism, but Wang Zhanyuan went too far.
Wang Zhanyuan is a native of Shandong, and he frantically arranged shandong people in the OfficialDom of Hubei, in his own words: Of the 69 counties in Hubei, we Shandong people account for 49 county chief positions. However, he was not satisfied and wanted to change the governor of the province to a Shandong native.
My territory is in charge
After the Zhiwan War, Hubei Governor He Peirong was dismissed on suspicion of colluding with the Anhui clan, and Wang Zhanyuan recommended his compatriot and in-law Sun Zhenjia to serve as the governor of the province, which was approved by President Xu Shichang.
When the news came, public opinion in Hubei made a big uproar: Hubei County Governor Shandong people accounted for more than half of it, and now the governor also wants Shandong people to be the governor, so has Hubei not become a colony of Shandong?
The agitated Hubei people launched a campaign to reject Sun Zhenjia, not recognizing Sun Zhenjia, who believed that they had wang Zhanyuan's support, did not care about public opinion, and electrified them to accept the post of governor, and the contradictions intensified even more intensely.
The bane was here in Wang Zhanyuan, and the rejection of sun movement gradually evolved into the exorcism movement and the Hubei autonomy movement.
Hubei gentry merchants and local power factions wanted to expel Wang Zhanyuan and emulate the Hunan autonomy movement to achieve the rule of the Eren people.
After talking about nepotism, let's talk about withholding military pay.
Stills from "Wings In Escape"
Perhaps in the early years, Wang Zhanyuan was poor and afraid, and Wang Zhanyuan attached great importance to money. After dominating Hubei, he wantonly exploited the merchants and the people, and also extended his hand to the military salaries, and the army's arrears became the norm, and some troops owed salaries for eight or nine months, and even the salaries of the troops of the concubines were still deducted.
Unpaid wages are bound to provoke a mutiny.
From March 1920 to June 1921, more than 20 mutinies broke out in various parts of Hubei, of which the two Yichang Mutinies and the Wuchang Mutinies were the most sensational and tragic, and a large number of soldiers rushed into the city in the name of demanding wages, robbed and set fires to people, and the impact was very bad.
Among them, the Yichang mutiny robbed foreign businessmen and caused diplomatic disputes. In the Wuchang Mutiny, Wang Zhanyuan trapped and executed more than 1,700 veterans of the Second Division, shocking China and foreign countries. During the mutiny, Wang Zhanyuan also used the pretext of suppressing the rebels, apportioning and extorting military expenses, and the merchants were miserable.
Stills from Kung Fu
At the same time, Wang Zhanyuan aroused the extreme dissatisfaction of foreigners, Hubei gentry merchants, and the army, and the voices demanding that Wang Zhanyuan step down rose and fell, and Li Yuanhong, Zhou Shumo, and other figures in the political circles of Hubei nationality actively ran to appeal for the central government to depose Wang Zhanyuan.
Wang Zhanyuan was a little flustered, and he took the initiative to resign in order to retreat, but it was not approved.
The Beijing government did not move him because Zhang Zuolin was supporting him—Zhang Zuolin and Cao Kun were fighting for hegemony and needed to win Wang Zhanyuan over. The two men, one south and one north, can strategically attack Cao Kun and Wu Peifu.
Wang Zhanyuan has some people with guns and big guys to support him, and no matter how big the storm of public opinion is, he can't move him. Once the hot spot passes, or another big melon is exploded, Wang Zhanyuan may be stable.
Peaceful exorcism of the king is not feasible, can only be solved by force, and the Hubei people who advocate the expulsion of the king do not control the army, and in desperation, some people think of borrowing troops to drive the king.
Stills from "Ancient Puzzle Boy"
03
Borrowing soldiers to fight back to their hometown has a long historical heritage.
In 506 BC, Wu Zixu led the Wu army to attack the State of Chu, captured the Chu capital Ying, and exhumed the tomb of King Chu Ping.
Shen Baoxu, the minister of the State of Chu, came to the State of Qin and asked the State of Qin to send troops to help Chu.
Qin Aigong did not agree, Shen Baoxu cried under the court wall for seven days and seven nights, the water and rice did not enter, and finally touched the Qin state, the Qin state sent troops to help King Chu Zhao repulse the Wu army.
This scene is a classic in Chinese history, "weeping Qin Ting", and the cry of Qin Ting has also become synonymous with asking other countries for rescue.
More than 2,500 years later, this scene was staged in the homeland of the Chu Kingdom.
After the Yi and Wu mutinies, a group of influential Hubei people, such as Jiang Zuobin, Kong Geng, Li Shucheng, he Chengjun, and so on, came to Changsha to imitate the "Cry of Qin Ting" and demanded that Hunan send troops to aid Hubei.
Zhao Hengti
At that time, the ruler of Hunan was Zhao Hengti, who was very influential in Hunan in carrying out the United Provinces Autonomy Movement.
Autonomy means that Hunan is neutral, and Hunan and Hubei have signed the Treaty of Joint Defense between Hunan and Hubei, stipulating that the two provinces will not infringe on each other.
Morally speaking, Zhao Hengti had no reason to send troops to Hubei.
In order to dispel Zhao Hengti's doubts, the Hubei people who lobbied in Changsha listed the various advantages of sending troops.
First of all, the premise of the autonomy of the provinces is that the provinces must be autonomous, and Hunan province alone can easily be stifled, and as the initiation of the autonomy movement, Hunan should promote the autonomy of the provinces (similar to the export revolution) like the role played by Hubei in the Wuchang Uprising.
Secondly, Wang Zhanyuan was unpopular, and the Ejun army was floating and vulnerable. In the end, Wang Zhanyuan hooked up with Zhang Zuolin, and his direct family would not stand up for him.
As long as Xiao Xiang's strong brigade is dispatched, Hubei fathers and elders will eat pot pulp to welcome the wang master.
Of course, what really moved Zhao Hengti was that after the fact, Hubei assisted the xiang army in the military expenditure of the 2 divisions, and the arms of the Hanyang Arsenal were open for supply to Hunan.
Hanyang Arsenal imitates the American Browning M1917 heavy machine gun
Old Zhao also had difficulties.
After Zhao Hengti came to power, the Xiang Army had a total of 2 divisions, 10 mixed brigades and 2 regiments, with a total strength of 60,000 people.
The number of soldiers was too small, the equipment and salaries of the Xiang Army were extremely short, and the division commanders and brigade commanders withheld taxes from time to time, fighting among themselves and fighting among themselves, which affected the unification of Hunan's military and government and finances, and Zhao Hengti was troubled by this.
When the internal problems are serious, it is a good idea to look for living space outside. The generals of the Xiang Army believed that Hubei was rich and had the Hanyang Arsenal, and taking Hubei would solve the problem of equipment and military salaries. They constantly encouraged Zhao Hengti to send troops to aid Hubei.
At that time, the situation around Hubei was like this: the powerful Wu Peifu in the north, Zhao Hengti in the south, and Liu Xiang and Xiong Kewu in the east.
On the Sichuan side, Xiong Kewu, the former governor of Sichuan, personally went to Changsha to talk with Zhao Hengti and reached a consensus that Sichuan and Hunan would each send 5 mixed brigades to support the Hubei autonomy movement.
Why is Sichuan involved?
Because Sichuan also has interests in Hubei - Sichuan Yan Chu'an.
Sichuan is rich in well salt, and during the Qing Dynasty, salt sales in the Upper Five Provinces of Hubei (Jingzhou, Xiangyang, Yichang, Yunyang, Shinan, and wuchang, Hanyang, Huangzhou, De'an, and Anlu) were allocated to Sichuan salt.
After Wang Zhanyuan took charge of Hubei, he introduced huai salt with lower costs, which impacted the sales of Sichuan salt.
There are many warlords in Sichuan, and warlords large and small rely on salt taxes. Wang Zhanyuan cut off people's financial paths, such as killing their parents. Liu Xiang openly declared: Chu'an is a must for Wuchuan!
In addition to the salt market, Sichuan Army also wants to resolve the internal crisis through external expansion.
After the Sichuan army drove out the Beiyang forces, there was a situation in which Xiong Kewu and Liu Xiang coexisted, and in the long run, the two major systems must be infighting, so Xiong Kewu came to Zhao Hengti and wanted to divide the cake in Hubei together.
Stills from God Eater
At this time, Zhao Hengti was still waiting, waiting for the attitude of a key person.
04
After the Zhiwan War, Wu Peifu sat in Luoyang, reorganized his army, and accumulated strength for the unification of China.
Wu Peifu wanted to use force to mix with Yi Yu, which determined that he was naturally opposed to the autonomy of the provinces, and he once said: With me Wu Peifu present, we will never allow the establishment of a joint provincial autonomous government!
Wu Peifu was very dismissive of the Hubei people's exorcism and autonomy movement: If the military and government of each province were under the control of the provinces themselves, wouldn't China have become a five-hu and sixteen-country country?
Wu Peifu trained troops
The Xiang'e issue, for Wang Zhanyuan and Zhao Hengti, is a local issue, but here in Wu Peifu, which is at a higher level, it is a national strategic issue and must be studied in the context of the overall situation of the straight system and China.
In the north, the direct family faced a strong challenge from Zhang Zuolin's family, and in the south, the six southwestern provinces were separated from the Beiyang government.
Wu Peifu (stills)
Hubei, which Wang Zhanyuan occupied, was a key point, and to the north, together with the Feng clan, it formed a clampdown on the direct forces occupying the Central Plains, and to the south, it was the forward base for the direct line to drink the Yangtze River and sweep away the south.
In addition, taking Hubei could suppress the self-government movement in full swing in the south and create momentum for the implementation of military reunification.
Obviously, on the issue of Xiang'e, the immediate family must make a difference.
In mid-July 1921, Cao Kun was at the Baoding Congress to discuss countermeasures, and the generals at the meeting decided: aid E'e and not aid Wang (you can ignore Wang Zhanyuan, but you must take Hubei).
Wu Peifu made a concluding speech, he said: Because Wang Zichun (Wang Zhanyuan, Zichun) is an old man in Beiyang and is good to us, I am a little embarrassed to take Advantage of his crisis to take Hubei over. Since this is the meaning of the commander and everyone today, let's decide it like this.
Stills from "Black Gold"
Wu Xiucai likes to sell fame and reputation - saying that it is you who can't bear to send troops, you are the most fierce when you fight, and afterwards Hubei also put it in your pocket, and said that this is the meaning of the marshal and everyone.
The direct family decided to send troops to intervene, but Zhao Hengti did not know, he sent someone to listen to Wu Peifu's tone, Wu's attitude was ambiguous, saying that Hubei personnel let Hubei people handle Yunyun themselves.
Zhao Hengti thought this was the default.
Similarly, the Sichuan side also sent people to consult Wu Peifu, and Wu also did not object.
The two provinces of Xiangchuan and Xiangchuan are ready to do a big game, but they do not know that Wu Peifu is secretly playing a big game.
On July 26, 1921, Zhao Hengti held a meeting to aid the Hubei Oath Division, and the Xiang army soldiers came to Hubei in three ways: the middle road was commanded by Lu Diping, attacked from Yuezhou and Linxiang to Puxi (present-day Chibi, Hubei), the left road was commanded by Tang Rongyang, from Li County to Gong'an and Songzi, and the right road was commanded by Ye Kaixin, and from Pingjiang to Tongcheng.
Lu Diping vs Sun Chuanfang
Wang Zhanyuan also attacked in three ways: Sun Chuanfang on the middle road, who set up three lines of defense at Yanglousi, Puxi, and Xianning respectively, With Liu Yuelong on the left wing, Tongcheng and Chongyang on the right, wang Duqing on the right, and Public Security and Shishou on the right.
Wang Zhanyuan also sent a telegram to the Beijing government, saying that the war was a matter of life and death for the Beiyang clan, not just Lao Wang's own territory, and asked the central government to fully assist Hubei.
The military situation was urgent, and Wu Peifu sent Xiao Yaonan's 25th Division and Jin Yun'e's 8th Mixed Brigade to march south along the Beijing-Hankou Railway according to the established plan, and the follow-up troops were also pulled out one after another.
Hunan, Hubei, and direct army have all moved, but what about the Sichuan army?
The Sichuan army was closed to information, coupled with Liu Xiang's delay, and it was not until late August that the army was dispatched, when the war was nearing its end.
05
Wang Zhanyuan's troops were the old foundations of the six towns in Beiyang, but many mutinies caused the army to deviate from Germany, and the combat effectiveness of the army was seriously declining, and the rest of the troops, except for Sun Chuanfang, who was more capable of fighting, were garbage.
Sun Chuanfang was fierce, but it was difficult to support alone, and after eight days and eight nights of bloody battles with Lu Diping in the Area of Yanglousi, he finally retreated because he ran out of ammunition.
The E's army was no match for the Xiang army, and Wang Zhanyuan urged Xiao Yaonan three times a day to ask Xiao Yaonan to take a shot, but Xiao Yaonan did not move and watched from the sidelines.
Wu Peifu played a mantis flycatcher, yellow finches behind. He was embarrassed to drive away Wang Zhanyuan, so he sat back and watched the Xiang army drive away Wang Zhanyuan, and then he defeated the Xiang army and took Hubei, which seemed justified.
Wang Zhanyuan directly asked Cao Kun for help, and Cao Kun replied lightly: The second brother of Zichun can rest.
One sentence made Wang Zhanyuan feel cold.
The general trend has gone, and Wang Zhanyuan voluntarily resigned on August 5.
When he left Hubei, he cried to the people who sent him off: I am an old man in my 60s, and I can't imagine that I will still be on people's big dang today!
Innocent at an old age? Virtue is thin and dignified, wisdom is small and big, strength is small and the task is heavy, and it is rarely enough.
In the seventh year of his reign in Hubei, Wang Zhanyuan looted more than 10 million huge sums of money and a large number of fine soft and antiques, and before leaving, he ordered the production of more than 100 large wooden boxes to load their belongings. That way you can walk away, thank goodness.
The pit left by Wang Zhanyuan was filled in by the new direct family — Wu Peifu took over the patrol of the two lakes, Xiao Yaonan was the overseer of Hubei, and Sun Chuanfang was the commander-in-chief of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River (Sun Peifu was absorbed by Wu Peifu).
The Xiang army vigorously drove away Wang Zhanyuan, but the fruits of victory were picked by Wu Peifu, so how could he give up?
The general of the Xiang Army called Xiao Yaonan and asked to participate in the aftermath of Hubei and share a piece of the pie, the tone was very strong, and it seemed that he did not agree to the war.
Although the Zhi army had marched into Hubei, but the strength of the troops was limited, the Xiang army had won successive battles and victories, morale was booming, and if the Xiang army launched an attack at all costs, it was unknown whether Xiao Yaonan would be able to withstand it.
However, Zhao Hengti feared Wu Peifu's prestige and did not want to engage the strong and strong direct family, Wu Peifu knew that the direct army was unstable, instructed Xiao Yaonan to negotiate with the Xiang army, and showed goodwill to Zhao Hengti.
Stills from "Underworld 2 Is Precious with Peace"
After receiving Wu Peifu's goodwill, Zhao Hengti ordered armistice negotiations.
On August 12, Wu Peifu arrived at the Liujiamiao Station in Hankou, personally sat in the two lakes, stepped up the mobilization of troops, and sharpened his knife.
In fact, Wu Xiucai only wanted to use the negotiation as a pretext to implement the strategy of delaying the army, and when the Zhi Army was properly arranged on the 16th, he ordered the arrest of the negotiators of the Xiang Army and denounced the Xiang Army for undermining the overall situation of peace.
Wu Peifu suddenly turned his face, which surprised Zhao Hengti, and the generals of the Xiang Army thought that they had been tricked by Wu Xiucai and asked for battle.
On August 18, the two armies went to war.
Wu Xiucai played a consistent standard, continuing the myth of the Beiyang Double Flower Red Stick, commanding Ruoding, haunting, invincible.
He first broke the embankment at Jinkou, flooded the Xiang army, abolished the left wing of the Xiang army, and then personally supervised the middle road and defeated the main force of the Xiang army at Tingsi Bridge.
Concession, concession
The Battle of Tingsi Bridge was fought fiercely. Soldiers of the Xiang Army and officers made a contract of "life and death without retreating", officers retreated, soldiers could be killed, soldiers retreated, officers could kill, and officers above the brigade commander level must go to the line of fire to supervise the battle.
Wu Peifu also organized the supervision team, which was only allowed to advance and not retreat.
This scene is similar to the Battle of Tingsi Bridge in the Northern Expedition 5 years later, He Zeng, in the later Battle of Tingsi Bridge, Wu Peifu organized a large knife team to supervise the battle, and even personally killed the retreating officers and soldiers, but failed to resist the sharp spirit of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
But now is different from the future, at this time Wu Xiucai is in the ascendant period, everything is handy, although the Xiang army is brave, but in the end it failed to block Wu Xiucai's repeated onslaught, forced to retreat.
At the same time, a brigade on the right wing of the Xiang Army defected, causing the entire line to be shaken and basically abandoned.
The left, center, and right roads were all victorious, and Wu Xiucai was overjoyed and launched a fatal blow to the Xiang Army -- the Zhi Army dispatched 7 warships, full of troops, and under the cover of Japanese warships, sailed from the Yangtze River into Dongting Lake, raided Yuezhou, the headquarters of the Xiang Army, and shelled the Guangdong-Han Railway Bridge, cutting off the Xiang Army's return route.
Zhao Hengti, the commander-in-chief of the Xiang Army who commanded the battle in Yuezhou, was almost captured alive, and because the railway was cut off, he had to escape in a palanquin at night.
Relevant geographic location
The rear road was cut off, the commander lost contact, the Xiang army on the front line was leaderless, the soldiers were defeated like mountains, and the provincial capital of Changsha was in danger.
06
Zhao Hengti planned to withdraw to western Hunan to continue the resistance, and the British consul stationed in Changsha stepped forward to express his willingness to mediate the war between Xiang and Zhi.
Although Wu Xiucai defeated the Xiang army, he did not have a good time, because Zhang Zuolin's pressure on his direct family was increasing, and he clamored to send an army south to aid Hubei; the Sichuan army went down the Three Gorges and the army was directly approaching Yichang; on the Shaanxi side, the direct family also had to divide part of the army to besiege Chen Shufan.
These bad things involved Wu Peifu's a lot of energy, making it impossible for him to expand his achievements and take Hunan.
Therefore, Wu Peifu asked the British to come forward and invite Zhao Hengti to negotiate, and the place of negotiation was chosen on Wu Peifu's warship in Yuezhou.
On September 1, the negotiations took place in a cordial and friendly atmosphere (both called it a misunderstanding), and the two sides recalled their traditional friendship over the years (Wu Peifu had cooperated with the Xiang Army when he garrisoned Hengyang), exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, and reached a temporary armistice agreement.
After Wu Peifu signed the armistice agreement, he rushed to the next field and concentrated all his strength against the Sichuan army.
The Sichuan army entered western Hubei, the soldiers divided into three roads, and killed Yichang, and the Yichang zhi army looked like it could not resist, at this time the foreigners came forward again.
Yichang is an important city in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, with foreign consulates and warships stationed, in order to protect the overseas Chinese, the British, American and Japanese consuls expressed their willingness to mediate in the Sichuan-Zhizhi War.
Foreigners can't help but give face, so let's talk about it.
Wu Peifu seized precious time, mobilized reinforcements, and rushed to Yichang day and night, and on September 14, Wu Peifu took a warship up the river and rushed to the front line to supervise the battle, and his morale was greatly boosted.
The Sichuan army missed the opportunity, internal discord (Liu Xiang's people and Xiong Kewu's people did not cooperate), and was unable to deal with Wu Peifu's sharp naval artillery fire--Wu Peifu cruised the Yangtze River with his navy, shelling back and forth the Sichuan army's positions on both sides of the Yangtze River, and the Sichuan army could not lift its head, and it did not last long before it retreated in its entirety.
Wu Peifu calligraphy
It is worth mentioning that the later Marshal Liu Bocheng also participated in this war and performed well, but at that time, his official rank was not high (seemingly the regimental commander), and he could not take the lead.
Wu Xiucai designed to get rid of Wang Zhanyuan, took advantage of information asymmetry and time difference, defeated the Xiang army and the Sichuan army successively, strategized one link and one link, and raised the two lakes, which was the biggest winner of the Xiang'e War.
On the way back to Hankou from Yichang by warship, Wu Xiucai faced the mighty river and Shixing Dafa:
Yiling wind and rain cave in autumn, a leaf flat boat sailed upstream.
The smoke in the northeast is still not extinguished, and the drum in the southwest is resting for a few hours.
The face of Lushan Mountain is really difficult to see, and the waves of Wuxia are accustomed to flowing backwards.
Sitting alone, thinking about the water, the sound of the river swallowed the ancient and modern sorrows.
It is a bit of a "feast on the Yangtze River Cao Cao Fu poem" meaning.
Stills from Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The northeast smoke is especially unquenched, and when will the southwest drum rest? How much time will it take to sweep away Zhang Zuolin in the northeast, cut out the southwest group, and directly unify the rivers and lakes?
【References】
"Investigation of the History of the Aid-Hubei War", "Commentary on the Xiang'e War", "Wang Zhanyuan's Study on The Governor of Hubei", "Zhao Hengti Zhixiang's Research", "The History of the Beiyang Warlords", "The History of the Beiyang Warlords"