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Chapter 466 Battle for Shaanxi

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    As the situation of the Fengtian clique in the north gradually stabilized, Shaanxi, located in the hinterland of the northwest, was gathering forces from all sides. Both the Zhili and Fengcheng cliques wanted to use this to delineate the actual spheres of influence of both sides.

    For a long time, the main troops stationed in Shaanxi include: the Yingguo Army, the Shaanxi Aid General Headquarters headed by Xu Lanzhou, the Shaanxi National Defense Army headed by Chen Shufan, the governor of the Anhui Clique, and the Henan Zhensong Army headed by the governor Liu Zhenhua.

    Among these forces, although the Yingguo Army is not the strongest, it has a strong background.  Also in September 1917, when Sun Yat-sen established a military government to protect the French in Guangzhou and took office as the navy and army general, he launched a war to protect the French against Duan Qirui.  Cao Shiying and Gao Jun in Weibei and upright in Xi'an responded to Sun Yixian's uprising and raised the banner to overthrow Chen F Duan.  Afterwards, Hu Jingyi and Cao Shiying also rushed to Sanyuan, and the two armies joined forces to form the Shaanxi Jingguo Army.

    With a fierce offensive, the Jingguo Army destroyed Chen Army's defense line in the western suburbs of Xi'an and surrounded Xi'an from the west and south.  Under attack from the east and west armies of the Yingguo Army, Chen Shufan panicked. On the one hand, he appealed to the Beiyang government for reinforcements; on the other hand, he asked Liu Zhenhua in western Henan for help as promised by the provincial governor.

    Liu Zhenhua was originally a careerist with both ends of the spectrum, and he had long been dissatisfied with the fact that he was entrenched in a corner of western Henan.  Chen Shufan's request for help is like a man beating a dog when he is full, which just suits Liu Zhenhua's ambition.  Therefore, Liu Zhenhua personally led 5,000 troops, known as the "Henan Zhensong Army", and marched into Tongguan.  Liu Zhenhua's entry into the customs was very detrimental to the Jingguo Army, but Liu Zhenhua also stayed in Shaanxi from then on.

    Hu Jingyi sized up the situation and ordered the Yingguo Army to withdraw from Xi'an.  The West Route Army retreated to Sanyuan, Jingyang, and Fuping, using the Jinghe River as its defense line.  The East Route Army returned to its original station in Weibei to rest and recuperate.

    Although the Yingguo army fought bravely, it lacked unified command, which was a taboo for military strategists.  Hu Jingyi, Cao Shiying, Liu Yuncheng and others discussed and decided to invite Mr. Yu Youren in Shanghai to return to Shaanxi to lead the army.  In August 1918, Yu Youren returned to Weibei from Shanghai and served as the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi Jingguo Army. Zhang Fang, who returned from Beijing, served as the deputy commander-in-chief, and the entire army implemented a unified organization.  The headquarters of the Yingguo Army was established in Sanyuan to expel Chen Shufan, the governor of the Anhui clique.

    The divided Jingguo Army has since had a unified command, but the Jingguo Army is still surrounded by Chen Shufan and is still in a very dangerous situation.  Hu Jingyi decided to develop towards the east, which was weakly surrounded by Chen's army.

    Hu Jingyi went to Weinan Gu City to find his old friend Jiang Hongmo. Jiang Hongmo suggested that he negotiate peace with Chen Shufan. Hu Jingyi accepted Jiang Hongmo's suggestion.  But surprisingly, Chen Shufan had no sincerity in peace talks at all.  Taking advantage of the peace talks, Hu Jingyi was kidnapped back to Xi'an and detained.

    In November of that year, the Beijing government appointed Xu Lanzhou, the division commander of the Fengcheng Department, as the commander-in-chief of aid to Shaanxi, and commanded the Gansu Army, Sichuan Army, Jin Army and others to enter Shaanxi to "encircle and suppress" the Shaanxi Jingguo Army.  Zhang Zuolin's wings were not yet full at that time, so he naturally obeyed the orders of Duan Qirui's government.  The Feng army was well-equipped and well-trained. General Xu Lanzhou and Li Jinglin were good at fighting quickly and won three victories in three battles.

    Guo Jian and Ye Quan of the Eighth Army of the Yunnan Jingguo Army worked together to resist Xu Lanzhou's Xinglin Town between Wugong and Fufeng. After a stalemate for more than two months, they were defeated and retreated to Fengxiang; they were besieged for several months, with transportation blocked and the city running out of ammunition and food.  Absolutely, the army and the people are in trouble.

    Guo Jian fought bloody battles for years and lost many of his strong generals. He was exhausted, so he discussed with Zhang Fang and Fan Zhongxiu and decided to "join Xu to defeat Chen" and negotiated a peace with Xu Lanzhou. The first and second routes of the Yingguo Army accepted and were reorganized into the Shaanxi Aid Army.  With the 10th Brigade of the Army, Xu Lanzhou obtained a large area north of the Wei River and was appointed by the central government as the garrison envoy of northern Shaanxi.  After that, the remaining troops of the Jingguo Army retreated to the northern Shaanxi border area.

    After the Zhijiang-Anhui War broke out, the enemy and our camps were divided again.  Because the former Shaanxi governor Chen Shufan refused to hand over power, Xu Lanzhou led his troops south to the Weihe River according to the agreement between Zhili and Fengzhi. He fought with the Anhui governor Chen Shufan's troops in Xianyang and gradually occupied Baoji and Hanzhong.  After the Yingguo army rested and reorganized, the entire army returned and restored the ground east of northern Shaanxi.

    In September, Yan Xiangwen was ordered to use Feng Yuxiang's 16th Mixed Brigade stationed in Nanyang, Henan Province as the main force to attack Lintong and go straight to Xi'an, and use Wu Xintian's 7th Division stationed in Hubei Province to enter Shaanxi from Wuguan and Zijingguan to flank Xi'an; he personally led the attack  The 20th Division marched westward with Feng Yuxiang's advance troops, preparing to receive it by force.

    After Chen Shufan learned about the Yan army's westward march, on the one hand he expressed to Cao Kun and Wu Peifu that he was willing to give up his position as governor of Shaanxi. On the other hand, he actively mobilized troops and generals in order to fight a decisive battle with the Zhili army and maintain the Anhui clique's rule in Shaanxi.  In order to change the unfavorable situation, he decided to make peace with the Jingguo army on the condition of releasing Hu Jingyi.

    In this way, Hu Jingyi ended his nearly three years of imprisonment, returned to Weibei, and served as the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi Jingguo Army.  Liu Zhenhua, who was the governor of Shaanxi Province at the time, fawned over both sides, but actually secretly supported the Zhili Army and demolished Chen Shufan's power; Fengjun, who had persisted in the anti-Chen struggle for many years and had occupied a large area in Weibei, belonged to the Shaanxi Jingguo Army.Changes¡ª¡ªZhang Hanqing was about to clean up the territory in Shaanxi, how could he succeed so easily?  Now that Zhang Hanqing has the support of Gansu, Shaanxi is a piece of fat on his lips. How can he let the Zhili clique succeed?

    Although the top leaders of the Jingguo Army, headed by Yu Youren, follow Sun Yixian as their leader, this group has Yu Youren in literature and Hu Jingyi in military affairs. They are all famous heroes of the moment. If they can be summoned under their command with the national righteousness of national unification,  , which is self-evident for the enhancement of Fengjun's strength.  Moreover, the People's Party uses the slogan "Three dishes to cook justice", which is similar to Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang. It seems that between the Zhili and the People's Party, Yu and Hu Hui would prefer the latter.

    He had already telegraphed Han Linchun stationed in Lanzhou to send a representative to contact Yu Youren, and also telegraphed Xu Lanzhou to co-manage northern Shaanxi with the Yasukuni Army in the form of an alliance.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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