The strategic position of Hubei, a place of balance between nine provinces, was well known to all the Beiyang officers attending the meeting. What's more, Hubei is the logistics supply base of the 2nd Division and the 6th Division currently fighting in Jiangxi, and Wuhan is stockpiling a large number of firearms, ammunition, and other military supplies transported from the Jinghan Line.

Once Hubei loses, the consequences ......

"President, I thought that the 2nd and 6th Divisions in Jiangxi should be temporarily withdrawn to Hubei immediately to avoid being cut off from the back road, falling into isolation, and losing logistics supplies!" Yang Du said first.

Withdraw the 2nd and 6th Divisions to Hubei? Isn't this a way to abandon the hard-won good situation that is about to wipe out the Southern Kuomintang?

Yuan Shikai frowned, and reflexively wanted to reject this proposal, but reason made him finally force himself to listen to the opinions of others first.

Yang Shiqi immediately retorted: "Are you making too much of a fuss? Just because the Sichuan army is advancing eastward into Hubei, we have to withdraw our troops from Jiangxi and give up the good situation of the people's party that is about to sweep away? ”

"I don't agree with what I said, how many people died and how many supplies we spent on breaking through the Hukou fortress before. If the 2nd and 6th Divisions are withdrawn to Hubei now, and the Hukou fortress is surrendered again, and the attack is repeated again in the future, how many more people will have to die and how much military expenditure will be spent? Chen Huan said that as the deputy chief of the General Staff Headquarters, he was very aware of how much the Beiyang Army spent on sending troops to the southern provinces.

When it comes to military spending, Yang Du, who advocates the withdrawal of troops, also frowned, and the high-level officials in Beiyang know that the military expenses for sending troops this time are largely dependent on the big loans for the aftermath. It is really difficult to say whether we will be able to raise enough military funds if we withdraw our troops and fight again.

Despite this, Yang Du still insisted: "If the troops are not withdrawn, in case the Sichuan army captures Wuhan and cuts off the retreat of the 2nd and 6th divisions, without logistics supplies, they will be in danger of annihilation!" At that time, we will not be a question of how much military spending will be spent, but how to maintain the overall situation of the whole country from collapsing! ”

After the founding of the Republic of China, although the Beiyang Army was repeatedly expanded, it was limited to many conditions such as weaponry and military spending, and it only had the strength of 8 divisions adapted from 8 towns including 20 towns and 23 towns of the old Beiyang Six Towns, as well as the newly formed 192728 Division, a total of 11 divisions.

The 1st Division was originally a banner town, and its position tended to be neutral after the Republic of China, and it could not be regarded as Yuan Shikai's real descendant troops.

The 3rd Division is Yuan Shikai's elite guard unit, but it has to sit in Gyeonggi, which is the last trump card and cannot be moved lightly.

The 19th Division was formed by the 13th Mixed Association of the Provisional Army stationed in Jiangbei of the former Qing Dynasty, and was formed together with the local patrol battalion after the Republic of China.

The 23rd Division was the original 23rd Town, stationed in Jilin; The 2728th Division was reorganized from the Fengtian Patrol Battalion and was stationed in the surrounding area of Mukden.

As for the 7th Division, which is now under preparation, only a brigade has been formed, and the 8th Division has been reorganized from the front road of the Gongwei Army and some other units, and these two divisions are not at all useful at present.

It can be seen that the troops dispatched by the Beiyang Army to encircle and suppress the southern provinces this time are basically all the mobile troops that Beiyang can use.

To make a vivid analogy, the 1st Army in Jiangxi and the 2nd Army in Jiangsu are like the two pincers of the big crab of the Beiyang Army.

Those present were all high-level officers who were familiar with the inside of Beiyang, and they could not understand the serious consequences of the annihilation of the 2nd and 6th Divisions.

However, Duan Qirui still said with some disapproval: "Isn't it a little too alarmist, you must know that Hubei not only has Li Yuanhong's troops, but also our 2nd Mixed Brigade is stationed in Wuhan. Does the Sichuan army have the strength to capture Wuhan? Don't be shocked by the Sichuan army's move to Hubei, and raise the strength of the Sichuan army. ”

Yes, the Sichuan army only raided and captured Yichang, which was defended by a garrison regiment, and it did not necessarily have much combat effectiveness.

All the Beiyang officers secretly scolded themselves for being stupid, and they subconsciously thought that the Sichuan army was strong just because the Sichuan army entered Hubei.

Thinking of this, even Yuan Shikai was greatly relieved.

People have habitual thinking, for example, if you always think that 1+1=2, and suddenly tell you that 1+1=3, will you gladly accept it?

The tofu dregs-like turtle Sichuan army suddenly transformed into a powerful army comparable in strength to the Beiyang Army. This kind of fantastical thing, a group of Beiyang officers can't accept it, or the Sichuan army sneak attack with an absolute superiority of troops, and it is more reliable to capture Yichang by luck.

Seeing that the Beiyang officers still habitually despised the Sichuan army, Yang Du always felt faintly inappropriate in his heart, so he said: "President, according to the information provided by the Japanese that day, the current Sichuan Army is not only completely standardized in rifles, equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns, but also equipped with dozens or hundreds of artillery pieces with at least seven and five calibers. With such powerful weapons and equipment, the strength of the Sichuan Army should definitely not be underestimated, and Li Yuanhong's Hubei Army and the 2nd Mixed Brigade may not be able to hold it. ”

Seeing the inquiring eyes of the Beiyang officers, Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "That's right, the Japanese did send such information to remind me to be careful of the Sichuan army. ”

"The Japanese intelligence is not necessarily accurate, not to mention that rifles are completely standardized, and heavy weapons such as light and heavy machine guns and seven-five caliber guns can be bought with money? Even if the Sichuan army has land to buy, how much money can it make with the poor countryside of Sichuan? Yang Shiqi smiled disdainfully, "It's not that you don't know the expensive price of heavy weapons, we only got some of it by smashing pots and selling iron in Beiyang, how much can the Sichuan army afford with only the finance and taxes of Sichuan Province?" ”

The rest of the Beiyang officers agreed with this statement, and the Japanese's seemingly absurd information was really not credible.

Seeing that Yang Du had a tendency to be besieged and refuted, Yuan Shikai didn't want to embarrass Yang Du too much, so he said: "Okay, I'm still the same sentence, no matter when, it's not a bad thing to be more cautious." No matter what the strength of the Sichuan army is, since they have already entered Hubei in the east, then we must be ready for battle, and we must not take it lightly! ”

Chen Eun immediately chimed in: "What the president said is very true, and he thinks that he should immediately telegraph to Commander Duan in Wuhan, ordering him to lead the 2nd Mixed Brigade into combat readiness, and at the same time order Li Yuanhong to mobilize the Hubei Army to jointly defend against the attack of the Sichuan Army!" ”

At this time, Yang Du could be regarded as having figured out Yuan Shikai's thoughts, it was impossible to withdraw troops from Jiangxi, he thought about it and said: "In this case, President, I suggest that Cai Songpo be ordered by telegram in the name of the Central Committee to order the Yunnan army to break through the defense line of the Sichuan army within a time limit, and then go straight to Chengdu!" ”

Yuan Shikai was overjoyed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Okay, this idea is good, as long as the Yunnan army attacks, no, as long as it approaches Chengdu, I don't believe that the Sichuan army that has entered Hubei will withdraw to Sichuan in a hurry!" ”

Duan Qirui also suggested: "President, I think the 2nd and 6th Divisions can also increase their attacks, as long as the Jiangxi Kuomintang bandits are completely wiped out, it will be useless for the Sichuan army to toss again." ”

"Zhiquan is right, as long as the Kuomintang bandits are swept away, and the Sichuan army is merely wiped out, we can clean it up. Telegraphed to Xiangyan in Wuhan (Duan Zhiguizi, commander of the First Army), asking him to urge the 2nd and 6th Divisions to strengthen their attacks, and to completely wipe out the Jiangxi Kuomintang bandits within half a month! "In Yuan Shikai's eyes, the real danger is still the People's Party, and the Sichuan army is at best just stirring up trouble and adding a little chaos.

Originally, Yang Du also wanted to suggest that troops be transferred to Hubei for reinforcements, but after thinking about it carefully, except for the Third Division of the Beiyang Army in Gyeonggi, there were really no troops that could be sent to use, so he had to give up.

……

Shanghai, Japanese Concession.

"Extra! Extra! The Sichuan army brazenly marched eastward, all the way like a bamboo, and has captured Yichang, Hubei, causing a great change in the war situation! ”

"Extra! Extra! Watch the Sichuan army enter Hubei in the east and go straight to Wuhan, intending to cut off the Jinghan line! ”

……

The sound of newsboys hawking along the street came and went, and the news of such a major disruption of the war situation by the Sichuan army greatly attracted the attention of passers-by, who paid for newspapers one after another.

It has to be said that with the telegraph, the speed of transmission of information was unimaginable before. Yesterday, the Sichuan Army captured Yichang, and today's newspaper has already freshly published an article on this matter.

Zhang Jingjiang happily bought a newspaper and rushed to Mr. Sun's apartment, only to find that Chen Qimei was also rushing over with a newspaper in his hand, and Mr. Sun was also reading a newspaper intently.

After a long time, Sun Yat-sen put down the newspaper in his hand, looked at Zhang Jingjianghe and Chen Qimei, who looked happy, and said with a slight smile: "You all know it too?" Sit down and talk. ”

Zhang Jingjiang said with a smile: "This is all thanks to Mr. 's planning, the Sichuan army's eastward march into Hubei is indeed the key point of the Beiyang Army, and I believe that Beijing is already in chaos at this time." ”

"I'm afraid that the Sichuan army doesn't have the strength to break through Wuhan, you know, there is a mixed brigade in Beiyang stationed in Wuhan, and Li Yuanhong's Hubei army is not dry." Although Chen Qimei was also very happy to see the Sichuan army march east into Hubei, she did not believe much in the strength of the Sichuan army.

"Even if the Sichuan army can't break through Wuhan, it shouldn't be a problem to attack the Jinghan line and relieve the pressure on Xiaru, otherwise the Sichuan army can't break through all the way and easily capture Yichang." Sun Yat-sen smiled slightly, since he learned that the Sichuan army had entered Hubei, his mood was much better than a few days ago.

Probably influenced by the exaggerated descriptions in the newspapers, Zhang Jingjiang felt that the strength of the Sichuan army was not too bad, and agreed: "What Mr. said is that once there is a problem with the logistics supply line of the Beiyang Army, then Li Dudu on the Jiangxi side will have a chance to reverse the situation." ”

Perhaps seeing the hope of turning the tables, Sun Yat-sen was a little excited, and said: "That's right, immediately telegraph Xia Ru later, let him hold on a little longer, wait for the Beiyang Army's ammunition supply problems, and then take the opportunity to launch a counteroffensive." In addition, the rest of the provinces also re-contacted and organized anti-Yuan forces, and widely spread the news of the Sichuan army's eastward march into Hubei, and dealt a severe blow to the arrogance of the Beiyang army! ”

……

Jingzhou, Yangtze River port.

A flotilla of twenty ships of various sizes was moored at the edge of the quay, and the harbor was crowded in rows.

"Hey...... Hey......"

The coolies shouted neatly together, and pulled down the heavy iron lumps from the ship in unison.

What is extremely shocking is that these iron lumps are nothing else, but a hideous and terrifying cannon, which is carried down from the ship in rows, and the scene is extremely spectacular.