Chapter 253: Explanation 6

Act Six: Momentum Like Splintering Bamboo, the Legend of "Hands in Pockets"

(Scene: Animation of the Northern Expedition's advance. Highlights the Third Division's route: capturing Tingsi Bridge, Hesheng Bridge, and pressing straight toward Wuchang.)

Narration: After the Northern Expedition began, Li Yuxuan's Third Division, as the vanguard, performed spectacularly. In the crucial battles at Tingsi Bridge and Hesheng Bridge, facing the elite troops of Beiyang Warlord Wu Peifu's forces, whose solid defenses relied on terrain and waterworks, the Third Division's assault displayed unprecedented precision, swiftness, and a varied rhythm.

Narration (specific tactical description, reflecting the German Regiment Commander):

It was not a traditional wave of infantry, but a Guderian‑style "focused breakthrough": concentrating the division's artillery and automatic weapons to unleash devastating bombardment on a selected narrow front, then having a specially reinforced assault battalion (equipped with numerous light machine guns and grenades) swiftly tear open a gap under a smoke screen.

Once the gap opened, a Rommel‑style "flanking infiltration" unfolded immediately: elite infantry squads, without waiting for the enemy's reaction, rapidly swept along both wings of the breach, widening it, and then penetrated into the enemy's depth command posts and artillery positions, creating total chaos.

Throughout the process, Karl Dönitz's assistance in planning the "logistics and communications support" proved effective, ensuring continuous ammunition resupply for the assault troops and smooth information flow between front and rear, allowing this high‑intensity, fast‑paced tactic to be sustained.

Li Yuxuan himself displayed superb operational‑level coordination: he accurately timed the deployment of reserve forces, coordinated flank allies to follow up, and could decisively adopt or adjust the German Regiment Commander's advice according to the battlefield's rapidly changing conditions.

(Scene: Third Division soldiers cheer the capture of the fortress, Li Yuxuan listens to the victory report in the division headquarters, expression calm. The animation can humorously show him truly "hands in pockets" standing before a map, with a faint smile that says everything is under control.)

Narration: The result was that the Third Division, in a series of hard‑fought battles during the early Northern Expedition, crushed the enemy, achieving consecutive victories and opening the way for the entire Northern Expedition army's triumph. Its speed of advance, tactical novelty, and splendid results drew the attention of other Northern Expedition units and left the Beiyang Warlords bewildered. The saying "Li Yuxuan with hands in pockets, unaware of any opponent" is an exaggerated later literary description, yet it truly reflects the Third Division's effortless, dimension‑reducing tactical superiority on the Northern Expedition battlefield.

Narration (summary and impact): This successful "network borrowing" was of great personal significance to Li Yuxuan. It not only proved the value of his overseas studies, but also tested and integrated the world's advanced tactical thought of the time in actual combat, greatly solidifying his standing in the principal's mind and establishing his image in the National Revolutionary Army as a general "adept in both literature and warfare, with knowledge spanning East and West." For the principal and the Kuomintang, the Third Division's victory was the most dazzling proof of the Huangpu Establishment's achievements. As for those German officers, did this brief Huaxia experience perhaps provide some distant inspiration or validation for the "blitzkrieg" and "desert assault" tactics they later developed in World War II? That is left to military historians to imagine.

(Scene: A montage of historical footage of the Northern Expedition's victorious advance, ending with a freeze‑frame of Li Yuxuan in military uniform, full of vigor.)

Narration: Returning from Germany, he received the character "Jingxing" from Duan Qirui. While lying low in Sanxiang, he brushed past future giants. He went on official business to the United States, forming ties with political stars. Returning to the Huangpu Establishment, he secured the esteemed title "Director"; at the outset of the Northern Expedition, he borrowed the expertise of European talent, letting his brilliance shine and shocking the world. Li Yuxuan's early career can be described as a step‑by‑step campaign, each link connected, turning "networks" and "knowledge" into tangible historical momentum.

Narration (closing preview): Yet the Northern Expedition's victory is only the prelude to the climax. As internal contradictions within the revolutionary camp surface and the shadow of the KMT‑CCP split draws near, how will Li Yuxuan face even harsher tests of loyalty and historic choices? What trials and transformations will his relationship with Chiang Kai‑shek undergo? We'll discuss in the next episode.

(Ending music starts, credits roll.)

Li Shi's concluding remark: Networks are not built in a day; they are the product of accumulated knowledge, character, opportunity, and sincerity. Li Yuxuan's story tells us that true "networks" are the comrades and recognition drawn to you when you possess value; they are the trust network you can mobilize and convert into real power when you need it. That may be more important than merely seeking to "know who." See you next episode.

Li Shi · Biography Series Issue 3: Jinling's Misty Lock, Badong Sword Test

— Li Yuxuan's Choices and Badong Years After the Northern Expedition Victory

Video opening: (Scene: Ink‑wash animation. The smoke of the Northern Expedition battlefield gradually clears, turning into a vague outline of Jinling City under looming clouds. The camera pushes from outside the city toward its interior, finally freezing on an office where a military map hangs, Li Yuxuan standing with his back to the camera, looking out the window. The background music blends a low cello with faint bells.)

Narration (Li Shi, voice deeper than usual): Friends, I am Li Shi. In the last episode we discussed how, in the early Northern Expedition, Li Yuxuan leveraged German friends' wisdom to lead the Third Division with unstoppable momentum, earning the praise "hands in pockets, unaware of any opponent." However, victory in war often ushers in more complex situations. When the Northern Expedition army crossed the Yangtze River, restored Jinling, seemingly reaching a pinnacle of the revolutionary cause, hidden currents began to surge. Today, let's talk about what the elite Li Yuxuan is thinking after the Northern Expedition victory, and what far‑reaching choices he has made.

(Scene: The episode title appears: "Jinling's Misty Lock, Badong Sword Test — Li Yuxuan's Choices and Badong Years After the Northern Expedition Victory".)

Act One: Under Jinling City, Underlying Currents and Dilemma.

(Scene: Time stamp: Spring 1927. The scene after Jinling's restoration, celebration and solemn killing coexisting. Interspersed are historical footage of the principal's activities in Nanchang and elsewhere, as well as images of worker movements and peasant association activities.)

Narration: In early 1927, the Northern Expedition army captured Jinling and Modu, with half of the southern realm within sight. Yet beneath the celebration of victory, the cracks in the KMT‑CCP cooperation were as clear as ice cracks on porcelain. The flourishing worker and peasant movements struck at the fundamental interests of the Kuomintang's big landlords, big capitalists, and the restructured forces of the old warlords. The influence of Soviet Advisors and the growing power of the Republic also made the Kuomintang right wing, represented by the principal, feel deeply uneasy. The ominous clouds of a "party purge" had already gathered on the southern bank of the Yangtze River.

(Scene: Back to Li Yuxuan's office. He receives a telegram marked "Top Secret." The animation shows his eyebrows gradually furrowing as he reads the document. Keywords appear: "Chiang Kai‑shek's order," "Rapidly redeploy the Third Division to defend Jinling," "Intimidate disturbances," "Consolidate the central hub.")

Narration: At that moment, Li Yuxuan received the principal's secret order: swiftly redeploy the Third Division, station in Jinling, assume "garrison" duties and assist in "consolidating the revolutionary rear." The subtext of this command was unmistakable to Li Yuxuan. Phrases like "Intimidate disturbances" and "Consolidate the central hub" were, in that context, essentially code for using force to intimidate—or even purge—the Republic and its worker‑peasant leadership.

(Scene: Li Yuxuan walks alone, cigarette smoke swirling as he repeatedly wipes his sword. A close‑up of his face shows the struggle in his eyes.)

Narration: He fell into an unprecedented dilemma.