Chapter Eighteen: The Turning Point Beyond History

  Just saw that a book friend gave a reward on the 20th, thank you here, thanks!

  For Gao Yang, the most important thing is to get energy points. How to get energy points? Try to change what happened in history! In history, Lu Yongxiang lost the Jiangzhe War, so Gao Yang must make him win. Of course, if helping the Zhili clique win the Zhili-Fengtian War would be better, but Gao Yang doesn't have that power yet.

  The troops had crossed the Wan River, with no boundaries or edges in sight. Moreover, they were still leading new recruits on a night march. Gao Yang had no doubt that if the marching column was ambushed at this time, these new recruits would definitely panic and flee. It's just that within Anhui Province now, there are no longer any troops capable of doing so.

  The mercenaries and biochemical warriors were all constrained by the troops to maintain their formation, and the 200 best-trained soldiers who raided Tonggu were carefully selected. Under the leadership of dozens of mercenaries and biochemical warriors, they approached Tonggu under the cover of night.

  No matter how they were trained, new recruits had to go through the baptism of the battlefield in order to become seasoned soldiers. Gao Yang was prepared for the worst-case scenario, and he could accept any losses, whether in personnel or equipment.

  Gao Yang was sitting on a horse-drawn carriage following the troops. The entire Feng County couldn't find a single car, and the local roads weren't suitable for cars either. Gao Yang felt helpless, even the rural roads in his original time were better than this place's roads.

  Because they were all newly recruited soldiers, there were no old soldiers to pass on some bad habits in the army, and their salaries were always paid on time and in full. They had three meals a day, and their equipment was excellent and well-trained. None of them had any warlord habits like opening fees or anything else, let alone German mercenaries who had never heard of being paid to go into battle.

  The earliest group of people who followed Gao Yang from Beidu to Fengxian County, after reorganization, some took the money given by Gao Yang and went home, while others turned to civil affairs to do police work. Gao Youcai became the director of the Fengxian Police Bureau. Gao Yang did not treat them unfairly.

  Yang Dong, who was originally low-key and inconspicuous, had been following Gao Yang all along. This time, Yang Dong also played an important role, as he was a local of Bengbu and his old home was in the city. Before the action, Yang Dong had already brought several boxes of silver dollars into the city and successfully bribed the commander of the troops guarding the city gate!

  Wei Ke arrived beside Gao Yang to report, "The Special Task Force has taken over the city gate without alerting anyone inside." Gao Yang got down from the carriage and took out a night vision device to look towards the distant Bao Du City. It was quiet all around, with only faint human shadows flickering at the city gate.

  "Enter the city and act according to plan. Order the garrison troops to maintain military discipline, and immediately arrest anyone who disobeys." Gaoyang said to Wekes.

  Inside the city, in the office of the governor's secretariat, Chen Qirui, the younger brother of the governor, had not yet rested. There was always a feeling of palpitations, as if something was about to happen. Because he had been in contact with Gao Yang several times and had gone to Feng County several times, Chen Qirui understood Gao Yang's strength and character far better than Governor Da. Now, almost all the troops that could fight within the province had already been transferred to the Jiangsu-Zhejiang front line. If Gao Yang, who was staying in Feng County at this time, made any moves, it would be disastrous.

  Chen Qirui knew what the supervisor was thinking, and after winning the Jiangzhe war, he would definitely turn back to deal with Gao Yang's little rascal. However, now that the old nest is empty, if Gao Yang makes a move at this time, what can be done? Can only hope that he doesn't notice this opportunity.

  Chen Qirui put down his teacup and was about to go back to the bedroom to sleep when suddenly a crisp gunshot rang out, so loud in the quiet night! He quickly turned around, feeling cold sweat all over his body. Before he could react, dense gunfire erupted continuously, like firecrackers on New Year's Eve, instantly plunging the entire city into chaos!

  He kicked open the door and shouted loudly, "Where's the shooting?" The guard in front of the door hadn't had time to say anything when he saw several huge flames bursting out of the garrison camp, followed by a massive explosion!

  Chen Qirui suddenly sat down on the ground, muttering "It's all over, it's all over." That was the sound of cannonballs exploding! At this moment, within a hundred miles of Bengbu City, there were only cannons in Fengxian County's Gaoyang. Before departing, Director Chen had specifically instructed Chen Qirui to lead two battalions of elite troops to guard Bengbu City and keep an eye on Gaoyang.

  Late at night, a surprise attack was launched and they have already entered the city. Judging from the intense gunfire, there are at least several thousand of them!

  Two guards rushed to Chen Qirui's front, propped him up and ran out. The city couldn't be defended and people couldn't get trapped here. Director Du still valued this younger brother of his.

  The next morning, Gao Yang walked into the secretariat. The battle went very smoothly, and most of the elite troops from those two regiments were captured without even having time to put on their clothes. As for the other police and scattered armed resistance, they disappeared like ripples in the ocean. After smoothly controlling the Bengbu railway station, the Tianjin-Pukou Railway was under Gao Yang's control. This was his biggest goal, aside from pulling out those two regiments' nails.

  A proclamation was issued to pacify the people, announcing that the whole city would be temporarily under military control, and Li Zheng was appointed as the acting mayor. Afterwards, he went to the square to watch the execution of the constabulary. In last night's chaos, more than a dozen soldiers and many rascals who took advantage of the chaos to loot and rape were all arrested by the constabulary.

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

  The greatest gain from occupying Bengbu is not the wealth of the secretariat, but those hundreds of prisoners and tens of millions of people around! Gao Yang had already recruited almost all young people who could be soldiers in Feng County. After occupying Bengbu, there was finally a new source of troops.

  The supplementary troops left behind in Bengbu established a new recruit training camp, threw all the captives into it and started recruiting soldiers throughout the city.

  The train action moved very quickly and arrived at Pukou by dusk. Along the way, they were all swept down without encountering any decent resistance.

  The troops defending Pukou all escaped across the Yangtze River and fled to Nanjing. Gao Yang led his troops to rest in Pukou for a night, and early the next morning, he left Weiss to lead the second division to defend the crossing point and wait for the follow-up heavy artillery units to seal off the river surface. Gao Yang led the main force all the way to Anqing.

  Just as Gao Yang captured Bengbu that night, a fundamental turning point occurred on the Jiangsu-Zhejiang battlefield. If it weren't for Gao Yang's sudden appearance, Lu Yongxiang would have been doomed to defeat.

  On September 8, the situation on the Jiangsu-Zhejiang battlefield took a drastic turn. On this day, Zhang Guowei, the commander of the artillery regiment of the Second Division of Zhejiang, was a former classmate of Sun Chuanfang at the Japanese Army Officer School, and the two had a good private relationship. Zhang Guowei originally held a concurrent post as the director of the Zhejiang Survey Bureau, but Lu Yongxiang wanted to install his own trusted followers and used an excuse to remove Zhang Guowei from his concurrent post, making Zhang Guowei extremely dissatisfied with Lu Yongxiang. On the eve of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang war, Zhang was ordered to guard the strategic pass between Zhejiang and Fujian - Xianxia Ridge. To avenge Lu Yongxiang, Zhang secretly presented the defense map of the Zhejiang army at Xianxia Ridge to Sun Chuanfang, allowing Sun's troops to enter the province smoothly and putting Lu Yongxiang in an unfavorable position of being attacked from both front and back. The Fujian-Guangdong allied forces easily occupied Xianxia Ridge thanks to Zhang Guowei's contribution of the defense map.

  After the outbreak of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War, Sun Chuanfang deliberately did not take a unified step to launch an attack, but instead observed the changes in the situation, trying to wait until both sides were exhausted before taking action, so as to reap the benefits. When he saw that the two sides were locked in a stalemate, and the main force of the Zhejiang army was tied down by the Jiangsu and Anhui armies, he suddenly launched an attack from the side and rear, entering Zhejiang.

  The Zhejiang army was in danger of collapse, facing enemies on both sides. Just as Lu Yongxiang was considering preparing to abandon Zhejiang and retreat to Shanghai, Gao Yang issued a telegram calling for the overthrow of the government and quickly swept through Anhui Province, threatening Nanjing!

  The Anhui troops on the front line heard that their hometown was lost and their morale plummeted, with many demanding to return home, and even some units leaving the battlefield on their own initiative!

  Qí Xiǎo Yuán and Mǎ Duì Lǐ were struck dizzy by Gāo Yáng's sudden blow, and the joyful mood that had just been caused by Sūn Chuán Fāng's actions completely dissipated. The Anhui army retreated on all fronts, giving the Zhejiang army an opportunity. Lú Yǒng Xiáng hastily dispatched frontline troops to intercept Sūn Chuán Fāng in southern Zhejiang, and both sides engaged in fierce battle near Jiangshan, Zhejiang.

  Qī Xiǎo Yuán led the fleet, including the Yangtze River Fleet (commanded by Lǐ Jūn Xī, with 20 warships including "Hǎi Róng" cruiser and "Dìng ān" gunboat), Fujian Yuan Fleet (commanded by Yáng Jiā Zhuāng, with 9 warships including "Yìng Ruì" cruiser, "Tōng Jǐ" cruiser and "Jiāng Yuán" gunboat) and the Marine Corps mixed brigade to Pǔ Kǒu to prepare for a counterattack against Gāo Yáng.

  On September 13th at noon, Yang Dang boarded the cruiser Hai Rong near Zhenjiang. In the officers' conference room, Li Junxi and the captains of various ships were all present. "General Cao has already declared you a rebel, how dare you come here to plead your case? Don't you fear death?" Li Junxi gave Yang Dang a stern warning.

  Yang Dong smiled and said, "Each has their own superior, I'm just a messenger. High Official asked me to inform you all that the military expenses for the navy that President Cao didn't allocate were all paid by High Official himself."

  "A large number of naval officers all blew their tops."

  "Nonsense, even if Huasang were to dig up a mountain of gold at home, he wouldn't have that much money."

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

  "With just a little bit of money, you can really do anything, do you know how much the navy's annual military expenditure is?"

  "Hick."

  "The army's muddy legs understand nothing."

  Since the Republic of China was established, the navy has been a role that is not loved by anyone, and it has never received full military pay. It can only use naval vessels to smuggle goods to make up for expenses, let alone buy new ships. Money is more important to the navy than anything else!

  Yang Dong didn't say a word and just smiled as he listened to them, after a while when everyone had quieted down, Li Junxi coughed and said "Does Gao Yang know how much military expenses the navy needs per year?"

  Yang Dong took out a check from his clothes and handed it to Li Junxi, saying "Whether it's true or false, take it to the HSBC in Shanghai for inspection and you'll know. This is the military expenses owed to the navy this year, and Commander Gao said that as long as the navy doesn't cross the Zhenjiang line, it's fine. General Zhang from Northeast will enter the pass soon, and after Yu Shuai and General Zhang distinguish themselves, the naval officers can make a decision again, it won't be too late. Don't block your own way." Yang Dong finished speaking and bid farewell to leave.

  At this time, Gao Yang had already occupied Hefei, and all of northern Anhui Province was under his control. The main forces of the Zhili clique in nearby Henan, Hubei, and Shandong provinces had been transferred to Shanhai Pass by Yu's commander to confront the Fengtian Army, leaving behind a garrison that was insufficient for defense, let alone attacking Gao Yang.

  The Navy's disobedience left Qi Xieyuan stunned, and Nanjing was already under the barrel of a gun. Under helpless circumstances, Qi Xieyuan withdrew most of his main forces back to the vicinity of Nanjing, which greatly reduced the pressure on Lu Yongxiang, allowing him to assemble more troops to resist Sun Chuanfang.

  The governor-general led the Anhui army across the river and could only wander around in the mountains of southern Anhui.

  On September 15th, Zhang Dashuai finally made his move.