The newly listed Jiangbei Military Government's yamen was brightly lit, and Zhang Jian began talks with the heads of various ministries to discuss the future development of the Jiangbei region. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info In the office building of the former Jiangbei Protector Mansion and now the Jiangbei Army Headquarters, a counterattack plan against the Beiyang Army is also being hotly discussed.

Whether the decisive battle with the Beiyang Army was inevitable under the recovery of Jiangbei, and whether the Beiyang Army would take the initiative to attack or defend itself, became the focus of discussion. The so-called active attack is the Northern Expedition, and the so-called active defense is to delay Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army and negotiate with it.

Everyone was cautious about the strategic choice, but all forms were not as fast as the change, and a few days ago everyone had no choice for the Beiyang Army to go south, and now at least for them, there was a better chance.

"I think we must first know what Yuan Shikai thinks, and only by understanding his intentions can we make better choices and avoid losses." Feng Heng, chief of staff, stood up and spoke, "As we all know, this person is scheming and calculating, and he has absolutely no loyalty to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and this time the Beiyang Army went south, just because he hoped to delay the situation, and after he overthrew the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the future, he could become the founding president of China and go down in history." ”

"Agreed." Han Linchun said.

"I agree with that." Wei Dao air duct.

Wang Yongan said in his heart that he didn't want to be the president, but wanted to be the emperor - the same as his own naïve ideas - but now Yuan Shikai was teased by Sun Yat-sen, and he was given a fatal blow by himself, I don't know how he feels at this moment.

"So if we find out his intentions, we will be able to do it, and Yuan Shikai will definitely not dare to go south after Jiangbei is restored." Feng Heng said optimistically.

"I basically agree with the chief of staff, but I don't think we can wait for Yuan Shikai to make a decision on how to deal with it passively." Luo Yinxian, who was newly promoted to the Minister of the Army, said with a tough attitude.

"I support Vice Minister Luo." Han Linchun said in a loud voice, "Why do we have to look at Yuan Shikai's face? We can take them away, and let Yuan Shikai taste the taste of worrying. ”

"Hahaha......"

Everyone laughed, Wang Yongan also smiled and nodded, seemed to agree with the Northern Expedition, Luo Yinxian said excitedly: "So the decisive battle is inevitable, we should wave the Northern Expedition to directly take the Beijing Division, overthrow the Manchu Empire, and establish our New China." ”

Feng Heng said cautiously: "The Northern Expedition is too risky. ”

"But the Northern Expedition was able to put the initiative on the battlefield in our hands." Luo Yinxian argued.

As the chief of staff, Feng Heng knew the real comparison between the two armies, and counted carefully: "The Beiyang Army can invest a total of seven towns and twelve mixed brigades, one town of the Beiyang Army has seventy-two artillery pieces, and one army division of our Jiangbei Army only has twenty-four artillery pieces. On another point, I would like to remind you that the soldiers of the Beiyang Army are basically veterans of more than three years, and they have been training for many years, while the formation of our Jiangbei Army has only been two years, and in particular, the recent reorganization has increased the number of recruits who have only been trained for four months, so that if they fight against the wind, they will only be able to fight against the wind, and if they fight against the wind, I am afraid that we ourselves cannot anticipate the consequences. ”

Everyone turned their heads and talked about it, Wang Yongan also frowned and thought about it, he had to admit it, he said: "Chief of Staff Feng is reasonable, I have been worried about this matter before, my Jiangbei Army is good at fighting tailwind battles, and has not encountered real bitter battles, which is also the reason why we avoid direct frontal war with the Beiyang Army." But now the situation is different, the enemy has been overwhelmed, and we just don't want to fight hard. He looked at Li Shirui and wanted Li Shirui to speak.

Li Shirui had just arrived by boat from Pukou, and the soldiers stationed in Pukou were now being transferred to Hefei under the leadership of the deputy division commander. After receiving Wang Yongan's indicative eyes, Li Shirui got up and said: "Everyone, listen to me, although I support the Northern Expedition, I can't really do it at the moment. Yuan Shikai has not yet reacted to the recovery of our Jiangbei, and our rash northern expedition is very likely to make the Beiyang army angry and then loyal to the imperial court. Tomorrow morning at the earliest, tomorrow night at the latest, Yuan Shikai will definitely make a decision, whether to force the Manchus to abdicate or be loyal to the Manchus to crusade against Jiangbei. Even if he wants to continue the crusade against Jiangbei, with the preparations that our army began last year, the Beiyang Army will not succeed overnight if it wants to defeat Jiangbei, so why not wait a few more days? ”

"It's not like your style." Wang Yongan said.

Li Shirui said: "Another point, I heard that Britain, France, Russia, Germany, the United States and other countries have terminated arms deals with our Jiangbei, although we have stored enough ammunition before, but once we fall into a protracted war with the Beiyang Army, our arms logistics will become a big problem." Nowadays, our arsenal is only capable of reloading bullets. The foreigners have terminated their cooperation with us at this moment, which shows their attitude, and our opponents are not only Beiyang, but also foreigners. That's why I cautiously said that I was waiting for Beiyang's attitude, so I supported Chief of Staff Feng's suggestion not to take the initiative to prepare for war. ”

When it comes to foreigners and their own arsenals, everyone knows this, the excited officers who were stimulated by the Jiangbei recovery calmed down, and Wang Yongan also smiled bitterly, this kid can poke a knife and directly pierce the heart. If we talk about Jiangbei's weakness, the biggest weakness today is the arsenal, which can only produce some gun parts, assemble rifles, reload bullets and produce grenades, and even artillery shells, let alone cannonballs.

Han Linchun, who was in charge of the arsenal, tried all kinds of methods, but it seemed that he had little effect, and foreigners were constantly monitoring and suppressing China's military industrial development, especially military technicians, and they strictly guarded against military technicians from coming to work in the Jiangbei Military Factory. After the Hanyang Arsenal fell back into the hands of the Beiyang Army, Yuan Shikai even established the Gongxian Arsenal in Gong County, Henan, and transferred most of the technicians of the Hanyang Arsenal to Gong County.

The development of Jiangbei's military industry is progressing slowly, and Han Linchun is at a loss, and when he mentions the arsenal, Han Linchun smiled bitterly and said, "This is my responsibility." ”

"It's not your responsibility, if you don't do it, you will definitely be hostile if you do it." Wang Yongan explained for his in-laws, "People have long let us go, and the foreign devils have let us go, so I don't blame you." The development of the military industry cannot be overnight, as the so-called Rome was not built in a day, and our military industry still needs time. At the very least, our grenade factory can be unique in the country, and that is success. ”

Han Linchun smiled helplessly and nodded, this is the only thing worth gratifying.

Wang Yongan frowned and said: "Prepare for three days, and after three days, if there is no feedback from Beiyang, all troops can start the Northern Expedition!" We gave Yuan Shikai three days, three days was enough time for him to think clearly, and at the same time contacted the Wuhan side and told Li Liejun that our army was about to take the Beijing division directly, and if he wanted to win the war with Feng Guozhang, he could take the opportunity to attack the Beiyang Army, and I promised him that he would have unexpected surprises. ”

"Yes!" The generals said.