Chapter 18

(Just saw that a reader gave a reward on the 20th, I would like to express my gratitude, thank you.)

For Gao Yang, energy points are the most important. How to get energy points? By changing historical events as much as possible! Historically, Lu Yongxiang lost the Jiang-Zhe War, so Gao Yang must make him win. Of course, helping the Zhili clique win the Zhili-Fengtian War would be even better, but Gao Yang currently doesn't have the capability.

The troops numbered in the thousands, with no end in sight. Moreover, they were conducting a night march with new recruits. Gao Yang had no doubt that if the marching formation were ambushed, these new recruits would panic. However, there were no forces in Anhui Province capable of doing this at the moment.

The mercenaries and bio-warriors were doing their best to maintain the formation. The 200 best-trained soldiers were carefully selected to lead the assault on Bengbu, advancing under the cover of night with the guidance of dozens of mercenaries and bio-warriors.

No matter how much training the new recruits received, they had to be baptized by battle to become veterans. Gao Yang was prepared for the worst, ready to accept any losses in personnel or equipment.

Gao Yang was riding in a horse-drawn carriage, following the troops. There wasn't a single car in Feng County, and the local roads were unsuitable for cars. Gao Yang was also helpless; even the rural roads in the original timeline were better than the ones here.

Since all the soldiers were newly recruited, there were no veterans to pass on bad habits. The military pay was always paid on time and in full, with three meals a day, excellent equipment, and rigorous training. There were no warlord practices like "mobilization fees," and the German mercenaries had never heard of needing to be paid to go to war.

The earliest batch of people who followed Gao Yang from the capital to Feng County, after reorganization, some took the money Gao Yang gave them and went home, while others transferred to civilian roles, such as becoming police officers. Gao Youcai became the police chief of Feng County, and Gao Yang did not mistreat them.

Yang Dong, who was originally unassuming, had always stayed by Gao Yang's side. In this operation, Yang Dong played an important role. He was a local from Bengbu, and his hometown was in the city. Before the operation, Yang Dong had already entered the city with several boxes of silver dollars and successfully bribed the commander of the city gate guards!

Weixi came to Gao Yang to report, "The special forces have taken the city gate without alarming the people inside." Gao Yang got off the carriage and took out a night vision device to look at the distant Bengbu city. It was quiet, with only faint human figures moving at the city gate.

"Enter the city and act according to the plan. Order the military police to maintain discipline, and arrest anyone who violates the rules immediately," Gao Yang said to Weixi.

Inside the provincial governor's office, Chen Ruqi, the brother-in-law of the governor, had not yet gone to bed. He had a vague feeling of unease, as if something was about to happen. Having had several interactions with Gao Yang and visited Feng County several times, Chen Ruqi was much more aware of Gao Yang's strength and character than the governor. With almost all the capable troops in the province already deployed to the Jiang-Zhe front, if Gao Yang made a move from Feng County, it would be disastrous.

Chen Ruqi knew the governor's thoughts: after winning the Jiang-Zhe War, he would definitely turn his attention to Gao Yang. However, with the base now empty, what if Gao Yang made a move? He could only hope that Gao Yang wouldn't see this opportunity.

Putting down his teacup, Chen Ruqi was about to go to bed when a sharp gunshot rang out, loud in the quiet night! He suddenly turned around, feeling cold sweat pour down his body. Before he could react, a series of dense gunshots erupted, like New Year's Eve fireworks, instantly plunging the entire city into chaos!

Kicking open the door, he shouted, "Where are the gunshots coming from!" The guards in front of the door hadn't even had time to respond when several huge fireballs erupted in the garrison camp, followed by massive explosions!

Chen Ruqi stumbled and fell to the ground, muttering, "It's over, it's over." Those were artillery shells exploding! At this moment, within a hundred miles of Bengbu, only Gao Yang from Feng County had artillery! The governor had specifically ordered Chen Ruqi to bring two battalions of elite troops to guard Bengbu to keep an eye on Gao Yang.

Being ambushed in the middle of the night, and with the attackers already inside the city, the dense gunfire indicated at least several thousand people!

Two guards rushed to Chen Ruqi, lifting him and running out. The city could not be held, and he could not be trapped here. The governor valued his brother-in-law highly.

The next morning, Gao Yang entered the governor's office. The battle went smoothly, and most of the two battalions of elite troops were captured before they could even get dressed. As for the other scattered police and armed resistance, they disappeared like waves in the sea. After successfully controlling the Bengbu railway station, the Tianjin-Pukou Line was under Gao Yang's control. This was Gao Yang's main goal besides removing the two battalions.

He issued a proclamation to reassure the people, announced temporary military rule, and appointed Li Zhengcheng as the acting mayor. He then went to the square to watch the military police execute the criminals. During the chaos of the night, several dozen soldiers and many hooligans had looted and raped, all of whom were captured by the military police.

The loss of over a hundred lives greatly shocked the new recruits. After reiterating military discipline, Gao Yang led the main force by train to Pukou.

The greatest gain from occupying Bengbu was not the wealth in the governor's office, but the hundreds of prisoners and the surrounding population of hundreds of thousands! Gao Yang had already recruited all the eligible young men in Feng County. After occupying Bengbu, he finally had a new source of recruits.

He left the supplementary regiment in Bengbu to establish a new recruit training camp, throwing the prisoners into it and starting recruitment throughout the city.

The train moved quickly, and by evening, they had reached Pukou without encountering any significant resistance along the way.

The troops guarding Pukou had all fled across the Yangtze River to Nanjing. Gao Yang led his troops to rest in Pukou for the night. The next morning, he left Weixi with the second regiment to guard the crossing and wait for the heavy artillery units to arrive and seal off the river. Gao Yang then led the main force to Anqing.

On the night Gao Yang captured Bengbu, the Jiang-Zhe battlefield saw a fundamental shift. Without Gao Yang's intervention, Lu Yongxiang was destined to lose.

On September 8, the situation on the Jiang-Zhe battlefield suddenly changed. On this day, Zhang Guowei, the commander of the artillery regiment of the Second Division of Zhejiang, who was a classmate of Sun Chuanfang at the Japanese Army Staff College, had a good relationship with him. Zhang Guowei, who originally held the position of Zhejiang Survey Bureau Director, was removed from his post by Lu Yongxiang, who wanted to appoint his own confidant. Zhang Guowei was very dissatisfied with Lu Yongxiang. Before the outbreak of the Jiang-Zhe War, Zhang Guowei was assigned to guard the strategic point between Zhejiang and Fujian, the Xianxia Ridge. To take revenge on Lu Yongxiang, Zhang Guowei secretly handed over the Zhejiang army's defense map to Sun Chuanfang, allowing Sun's forces to smoothly enter the pass and put Lu Yongxiang in a disadvantageous position. The Min-Gan allied forces, due to Zhang Guowei's contribution of the defense map, easily occupied the Xianxia Ridge.

After the outbreak of the Jiang-Zhe War, Sun Chuanfang deliberately did not take unified action to launch an attack but instead observed the situation, hoping to wait until both sides were weakened before making a move to gain the upper hand. When he saw the intense fighting between the two sides, with the Zhejiang army's main force being tied down by the Jiangsu and Anhui armies, he suddenly launched an attack, entering Zhejiang from the side.

The Zhejiang army, caught between two fronts, faced the danger of collapse. Just as Lu Yongxiang was considering abandoning Zhejiang and retreating to Shanghai, Gao Yang issued a public telegram and swiftly swept through Anhui, approaching Nanjing!

The Anhui army on the front lines, hearing that their home had been lost, saw a significant drop in morale, with many troops demanding to return home, and some even leaving the battlefield on their own!

Qi Xiaoyuan and Governor Ma were stunned by Gao Yang's sudden move, and their initial joy at Sun Chuanfang's actions completely dissipated. The Anhui army's retreat gave the Zhejiang army an opportunity. Lu Yongxiang urgently redeployed front-line troops to the south to block Sun Chuanfang, leading to intense battles near Jiangshan, Zhejiang.

Qi Xiaoyuan gathered Du Xigui to lead the Yangtze River Fleet (Commander Li Junxi, including the cruiser "Hai Rong," the gunboat "Ding An," and 20 other warships), the Minyuan Fleet (Commander Yang Jiazhuang, including the cruiser "Ying Rui," the cruiser "Tong Ji," the gunboat "Jiang Yuan," and 9 other warships), and the Marine Corps Mixed Brigade to Pukou to prepare to counter Gao Yang.

On the afternoon of September 13, near Zhenjiang, Yang Dong boarded the cruiser "Hai Rong." In the officers' meeting room, Li Junxi and the commanders of the various ships were present. "President Cao has declared you rebels. Do you dare to come here as a mediator? Are you not afraid of death?" Li Junxi gave Yang Dong a warning.

Yang Dong smiled and said, "Gentlemen, I am just a messenger. Commander Gao asked me to convey to you that President Cao's unpaid naval funds will be covered by Commander Gao."

"Boom," the naval officers all exploded.

"Nonsense, even if Gao Yang had a gold mine, he wouldn't have that much money."

"Kid, you don't seem like someone who talks nonsense. Think carefully before you speak."

"Having a bit of money doesn't mean you can do everything. Do you know how much the navy's annual budget is?"

"Country bumpkin."

"An army grunt knows nothing."

Since the beginning of the Republic, the navy had been neglected, never receiving full pay. They had to resort to smuggling to make ends meet, let alone buying new ships. Money was more important to the navy than anything else!

Yang Dong didn't say anything, just smiled and listened. After a while, when everyone quieted down, Li Junxi coughed and said, "Does Gao Yang know how much the navy's annual budget is?"

Yang Dong took out a check from his clothes and handed it to Li Junxi. "Whether it's real or fake can be verified at the Citibank in Shanghai. This is the navy's unpaid funds for this year. Commander Gao said that as long as the navy doesn't cross the Zhenjiang line, everything will be fine. The Northeast's Zhang Dashi will soon enter the pass. Once Marshal Yu and Zhang Dashi have settled their differences, the navy can make its decision. Don't block your own path." Yang Dong finished and left.

By this time, Gao Yang had already occupied Hefei, and all of Anhui north of the Yangtze River was under his control. The main forces of the Zhili clique in nearby Henan, Hubei, and Shandong had been dispatched to the Shanhaiguan line to face the Fengtian army, leaving insufficient troops to defend, let alone attack Gao Yang.

The navy's refusal to obey orders left Qi Xiaoyuan stunned. Nanjing was now under the threat of artillery. Helpless, Qi Xiaoyuan redeployed most of his main forces to the Nanjing area, significantly reducing the pressure on Lu Yongxiang, allowing him to redeploy more troops to resist Sun Chuanfang.

The governor, leading the Anhui army, could not cross the river and could only wander aimlessly in the southern Anhui mountains.

On September 15, Zhang Dashi finally prepared to make his move.

Previous page AD starts

Previous page AD ends