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▲ Situation map of the Northern Expedition War
In July 1926, 100,000 troops of 8 armies under the revolutionary government of Guangzhou officially swore to the Northern Expedition, beginning a victorious journey to overthrow the rule of the Beiyang warlords. Among these troops, the 4th Army, which was later known for its good at fighting hard and vicious battles, was known as the first generation of "iron army" of the Chinese army, and it was the two famous iron bridges on the Wu (Han) Chang (Sha) section of the Guangdong-Han Railway - Tingsi Bridge and Hesheng Bridge.
▲The ruins of Tingsi Bridge
Night raids captured the first gateway to southern Hunan
Tingsi Bridge is located south of the Wuchang section, the first gateway to southern Hunan, the water is deep and wide, easy to defend and difficult to attack, but if you want to reach wu Peifu, a warlord who is directly related to the two lakes, and directly pound his old nest in Wuhan, you must pass through this Tingsi Bridge. On the night of August 25, when the 4th Army was approaching Tingsi Bridge, Song Dapi, commander-in-chief of the 1st Route Army under Wu Peifu, rushed to the garrison and gathered the remnants of various routes that had retreated from the front line, totaling more than 20,000 people.
On the morning of the 26th, the 4th Army, with the 35th Regiment of the 12th Division as the vanguard and the most elite Ye Ting Independent Regiment as its headquarters, launched a comprehensive attack on Tingsi Bridge. Not to be outdone, the defenders occupied favorable terrain and deployed fierce firepower to resist desperately, "according to high-altitude fire, guns and artillery". The 4th Army fought hard for a day without progress, and on that night, Huang Qixiang, commander of the 36th Regiment of the 10th Division, suggested that "regardless of any sacrifice, carry out a full-line night attack that night and break through the current alpine positions to save the dangerous situation."
▲The Northern Expeditionary Army captured Tingsi Bridge
Huang Qixiang also took the initiative to ask for help and served as the main force to attack the stronghold. After nightfall, the officers and men of the Yellow Army quietly advanced towards the defenders' positions, and although the defenders continued to test with machine guns and rifles, the 36th Regiment rarely returned fire, but only touched forward a little. In the early morning of the next day, through a fierce white-knife battle, the central position of Tingsi Bridge was broken, the defenders retreated, and all the strongholds were immediately occupied.
▲The front line of the Hesheng Bridge operation
The Overseer Team could not stop the loss of He Shengqiao
Hesheng Bridge is located in the north gate of Xianning City, close to Wuhan, with the reputation of "six lines running through the north and south, a lake and the Yangtze River". In order to ensure his old nest, Wu Peifu personally rushed here by ironclad train to supervise the battle, and the most elite 8th Division, 25th Division, and 13th Mixed Brigade under his command, a total of more than 45,000 people, also rushed to this area to deploy defenses, build three defensive positions, and prepare to defend to the end. The Northern Expeditionary Army was inferior in strength and equipment to its opponents, but with strong morale and determination to win, it took the initiative to launch an offensive on August 30.
According to the troops defending the first line of defense, they all retreated from the battlefield of Tingsi Bridge, and seeing that the Northern Expeditionary Army was still brave, they fled one after another. However, Wu Peifu's personal visit to the front line this time was not a show, he specially organized a large knife team to supervise the battle, and he also held a large knife to stand on the bridgehead, but those who withdrew from the line of fire immediately took the head of the xiangshang with a knife in their hands, and the number of defeated soldiers who were killed at one time was as many as hundreds, including many middle-ranking and senior officers such as regiment commanders and brigade commanders.
▲ The Northern Expeditionary Army launched a charge
Looking at a large area of people's heads hanging for public display, the defeated soldiers knew that there was no way to retreat, but the Northern Expeditionary Army in front was even more overwhelming. In the end, the routs launched a counter-charge against the big knife team, "tens of thousands of people rushed by, taking the road and fleeing for their lives." Chen Jiamo, the commander of the 25th Division, who was in command, rolled on the ground and cried, and was eventually forcibly evacuated by his subordinates. On August 31, Wu Peifu, who was extremely ashamed, also re-boarded the ironclad train and fled north in a hurry. "The gateway of Natural Danger in Wuhan is all the result of our army."
▲ "Huwei General" Wu Peifu