Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Chapter 199: One's own strength changes the battlefield situation Hell Devil Skeleton Division

Unlike the top leaders of the Southern Government who were extremely dissatisfied with the outcome of the Battle of Shanghai, the SS Division managed to keep the entire city of Shanghai as stable as a rock under the high pressure of 200,000 enemy troops. This undoubtedly gave the Northern Frontier Central Government a great surprise.

In the President's Office of Northern Xinjiang, Yang Jiakai, with an unconcealable smile on his face, said to Duan Jinshu beside him: "Jinshu, Zhengyang told me before that the Skull Division has a combat capability that is no less than any top force in the world. I thought he was exaggerating, but now it seems that what he said is very reliable."

Duan Jinshu nodded in agreement and said, "This skeleton division entrenched in Shanghai really gave us a great surprise. In this way, Shanghai is impregnable, and the Northern Expedition Army will not be able to make any breakthroughs on the eastern battlefield. This will also reduce the huge pressure on our central and western battlefields."

"Old Yang, Mingzhou and Dongzhou have sent several more telegrams for help, urging us to immediately arrange reinforcements to support the two provinces. It seems that the 450,000 main northern expeditionary forces under Song Yuanfeng have put a lot of pressure on them."

Yang Jiakai's face darkened visibly, and he spoke in a cold voice, "Yuan Gongwang and Chen Jianshen, these two bastards, have at least 200,000 troops in their hands. If they had defended the city, erected walls and cleared the fields, and were determined to fight to the death against the Northern Expedition Army, how could they have been defeated in such a short period of time? According to the information sent back by our front-line intelligence personnel, these two forces, in the face of a powerful enemy, were still trying to preserve their own strength and kept withdrawing their main forces. This allowed the main force of the Northern Expedition Army led by Song Yuanfeng to be unstoppable and win battle after battle."

"The reason they keep urging us to send reinforcements is that they don't want their main force to suffer too much loss. These two old foxes are playing a trick on us."

"I will call the Suzhou Yang Clan and the Jianzhou Lin Clan in the name of the Central Army General Staff Office and ask them to lead their troops south to cooperate with these two groups to block the main force of the Northern Expedition Army in Dongzhou and Mingzhou."

Yang Jiakai shook his head and said, "It's not the right time yet. These two bastards are just trying to get our support troops to bear the huge pressure for them. We need to respond to them immediately. It will take at least half a month for the reinforcements to arrive at the frontline battlefield. No matter what, you have to hold on! If they dare to lose another city within this half month, I will remove them from their position as governor!"

"If we don't push them, they will always have ulterior motives and only think about preserving their own strength. If this continues, our northern border will be completely in disarray. How can we resist the southern government's northern expedition?"

In Anyang City, the capital of Mingzhou, Yuan Gongwang, who received a response from the Northern Frontier Central Government, tore the telegram in his hand into pieces with a very unpleasant look on his face.

"Fuck that old fox Yang Jiakai! I have to hold out for half a month by myself. The Northern Expedition Army that invaded Mingzhou has eight armies with 200,000 troops, including some well-equipped ace troops of the Song clique. The main force I have is only 100,000. If I really hold out for half a month, our last bit of wealth will be gone!"

Li Kecheng, the chief of staff of the Yuan clique, frowned and said after a moment's contemplation: "Governor, the central government is determined to let us do our own work and temporarily intercept the main force of the Northern Expedition Army. We can't disobey orders openly. For now, we can only bite the bullet and hold on for a while. I hope that the reinforcements can arrive at the front line as soon as possible."

"Damn it, if they really push me to the limit, I'll just lead my troops and surrender to the Southern Government! As long as I have people and soldiers, I'll be the boss wherever I go!"

Yang Jianshen of Dongzhou, like Yuan Gongwang, was so angry after receiving the reply telegram that he jumped up and down and cursed. These governors-general of the major provinces in the northern border, who were far away from the emperor, ran away faster than the other when asked to get benefits from the central government, but when it came to fighting hard battles and fighting to the death with the southern government at the cost of their wealth, they all turned into complete cowards, only thinking about preserving their own strength.

But Yang Jiakai had already issued a death order in an extremely stern tone to hold their ground, and the two provinces were their own territories, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and send their main forces to fight a bloody battle with the main force of the Northern Expedition.

Yang Jiakai's high-pressure policy really achieved a certain degree of miraculous effect. After the two major warlord forces pushed their main forces and assets to the front line without hesitation, the main force of the Northern Expedition Army led by Song Yuanfeng encountered a certain degree of huge obstacles and could no longer capture the two major provincial cities in succession on the battlefield as easily as before.

A week later, Yang Jiakai officially gave the order, and Suzhou Governor Yang Tianmu personally led an army of 100,000 to the south. Jianzhou's Lin faction also sent a main force of 80,000 people. With their assistance, the situation on the western battlefield was finally stabilized.

Just as Yang Jiakai had expected, the Wang faction of Hanzhou faced the offensive of the Fourth Northern Expedition Army led by Sun Chengwen with steady advances. They used their familiarity with the terrain to defend the city, making it temporarily impossible for the Fourth Northern Expedition Army to attack like a tiger trying to eat the sky.

Less than twenty days after the outbreak of the Northern Expedition, the two sides were completely deadlocked in four different battlefield areas and fell into a long tug-of-war. The only decisive factor was the Skeleton Division stationed in Shanghai. According to Huang Guangtai's plan, the 200,000 troops led by Bai Qigang would directly attack Feng's base camp in Huizhou after taking Shanghai. As a result, Feng's faction was unable to take care of itself and had to withdraw its troops to support Jiangzhou.

The two large corps led by Huang Guangtai himself can directly take Jiangzhou in one bite, march northward, and directly penetrate into the heartland of the Northern Xinjiang government. The Northern Expedition Army will be fully deployed, making the Northern Xinjiang government exhausted and unable to resist.

Unfortunately, due to the powerful combat capability of the Skeleton Division beyond the imagination of the Southern Government, Huang Guangtai's series of plans were completely shattered. He single-handedly changed the entire situation of the war. It is not an exaggeration to describe the Skeleton Division under Su Zhengyang's command as white jade pillars supporting the sky and purple gold beams spanning the sea.

For the Southern Government, the only chance to reverse the current situation, regain overwhelming advantage, and achieve a phased victory in the Northern Expedition is the Shanghai battlefield on the eastern front. As the commander-in-chief of the eastern front, Bai Qigang is undoubtedly facing enormous pressure.

In order to capture the two SKELETON DIGESTOEN DIVISION defensive positions outside Shanghai, Bai Qigang has used up all his assets, including two German divisions that had been trained and built at the cost of countless money and energy. Even under such stormy, wave after wave of attacks, the SKELETON DIGESTOEN DIVISION still did not lose control of the outer defense positions. There were even two times when the two German-equipped divisions of the Southern Government had officially entered the trenches of the positions, regardless of any losses and risking their lives.

But in the blink of an eye, they were defeated by the extremely tenacious Skeleton Division troops with their ferocious fighting posture.

This war, which lasted for more than 20 days and centered on Shanghai, made Bai Qigang doubt his life at one point. He even felt that what he was facing was not a normal human army, but an elite force composed of demons from hell.