The south's large-scale anti-smuggling operation has troubled not only those smugglers and the foreigners behind them, but also Yuan Shikai, who is sitting in Beijing. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The efforts of the autonomous government of the southern provinces to crack down on smuggling have greatly exceeded the expectations of foreigners, and they have been unable to jump to the feet of foreigners as they watch their goods being suppressed and excluded from the Chinese market. If it were in the past, these Western colonists would have formed a so-called coalition army in a hurry and directly sent troops to suppress the autonomous government of the southern provinces.

However, now the entire Western world is in chaos, and the human brains of the great powers of various countries are about to hit the dog's brains, where is it possible to send troops to the Far East. In desperation, the legation could only pressure Yuan Shikai again, forcing him to send troops south as soon as possible.

Recently, the Beiyang Group has taken large sums of money from foreigners in loans and arms aid, and it is not at all able to stand up in the face of foreigners. Under the heavy pressure of the legation, Yuan Shikai had to gather his henchmen and generals to convene a military intelligence meeting to discuss the matter of sending troops south.

Beijing, War Department, Military Intelligence Conference Room.

One after another, the senior generals of the Beiyang Army walked into the conference room one after another, and when they saw that everyone had not yet arrived, and the meeting was estimated to take a while to start, they gathered together in twos and threes, talking and chatting in a low voice.

"You say, did the president send troops to the south when he convened a military intelligence meeting this time?"

"It's not so fast, the various departments have added so much equipment, so you have to be familiar with it, so you can be sure to send troops."

"I think most of them are going to send troops, haven't you read the newspaper, Wang Mo, that bastard, is tossing foreigners in the south again, and the foreigners must be putting pressure on the president because of this, asking us to send troops to clean up the Wang family that is in their way."

"I've heard that the South is cracking down on smuggling. Those foreigners are not a good thing, and when the south raises tariffs, they engage in smuggling. If you want me to say, you have to clean up these greedy and shameless foreigners like this! ”

"What's good, every time Wang Mo, that bastard, tosses a foreigner, the foreigner can't do anything about him, and he doesn't turn around and toss us Beiyang! Don't spread your words, the president is afraid that he will have no place to send it now. ”

......

"The President has arrived—"

As the guards at the door of the conference room shouted, the originally noisy and noisy military intelligence conference room was instantly heard, and everyone stood up in unison and saluted the figure who walked in at the door.

Yuan Shikai was obviously in a bad mood, and his gloomy face inevitably made the air in the entire conference room heavy.

When he came to the main seat and sat down, Yuan Shikai pressed his hand towards the group of Beiyang officers and motioned for them to sit down.

"Poof—"

Everyone sat down in unison, their backs straightened, and their eyes looked at Yuan Shikai intently.

Seeing the performance of these Beiyang officers, Yuan Shikai's gloomy face softened slightly, and he was also a little complacent and proud in his heart, no matter what, the military group of Beiyang was his greatest capital and confidence.

"This morning, the legations of various countries, including England, France, the United States, Spain, Portugal, and Japan, officially sent a note to the central government, demanding that the central government must send troops south within half a month to completely resolve the joint autonomous government of the south that has repeatedly confronted the international community, otherwise they will take necessary actions." Speaking of this, Yuan Shikai paused, glanced at the Beiyang officers, and then asked, "Let's talk about your opinions, does the central government need to agree to the request of the legation and send troops south within half a month, and if you send troops south now, are you sure that you will win?" ”

Although Yuan Shikai is not the kind of superior who can't hear opinions, who dares to put forward opinions easily for this kind of major decision related to the life and death of Beiyang.

Everyone's faces were grim, and no one dared to take the initiative to answer, and the conference room fell into a short silence for a while.

"Knock-knock-knock-"

Yuan Shikai knocked on the table slowly, as if every blow was knocking on the hearts of the Beiyang officers, and his heavy gaze swept from left to right.

Feeling the pressure of Yuan Shikai's pressure, everyone sat upright, and even some Beiyang officers were already covered in cold sweat on their backs.

"The president, I think that it is too hasty to send troops south in half a month. The ordnance and equipment purchased from foreigners from various countries have just been replenished into various departments, and it will take at least a month or two to adjust and familiarize themselves with them before they can truly form combat effectiveness. The various forces within the royal family are by no means comparable to the rabble of the Kuomintang. Sending troops south within half a month, I am afraid that we in Beiyang will not be sure of victory. Chen Huan, deputy director of the General Staff Headquarters, took the lead in answering and expounded his views from the military level.

Chen Eun's opinion was very pertinent and objective, and the people present still agreed with it, but Yuan Shikai's heart still couldn't help but sink, and his brows tightened more and more.

"Yes, President, it's really too hasty to send troops in half a month. As far as our current situation is concerned, if nothing else, it is impossible for the newly established Black Hawk Flying Brigade to form combat effectiveness in such a short period of time. Without the Black Hawk Flying Group and the Blue Hawk Flying Group in the south, our odds of victory would have been reduced by at least two percent. Feng Guozhang said worriedly, he can be regarded as a well-informed veteran, but apart from the aerial confrontation, he can't think of any other way to deal with the Blue Eagle Flying Brigade that blew up foreigners to cry and cry.

The Air Force is a new branch of the armed forces, and even in the world, there is no means of air defense to speak of. Think about the Anglo-Japanese coalition not long ago, the air has a strong strength, but the Blue Eagle Flying Brigade is helpless, and can only be blown up to ashes and suffer heavy losses.

A group of Beiyang officers couldn't help but shudder when they thought that after sending troops south, they would have to face the bombardment of the Blue Eagle Flying Group all the time. The loss of troops is still secondary under the bombing, and the fatal thing is that this kind of bombing alone cannot fight back, and the blow to the morale of the troops is immeasurable.

Seeing that everyone was very worried about this issue, Yuan Shikai said: "There is no need to worry about this matter, the ministers of various countries have agreed that nearly 100 experienced pilots from Western countries will be sent as mercenaries to join our army's flight group to fight together. ”

The joint dispatch of nearly 100 experienced pilots by various countries was not much in the past, but now that the war in Europe is in full swing, especially when the Allied air war is retreating one after another, it is really a bloody investment, which shows the firmness and urgency of the foreigners to strangle the royal forces.

"Even so, half a month is still too short, and the assembly and deployment of troops will take ten days and half a month." Lei Zhenchun, commander of the 7th Beiyang Division, said.

Many generals of the Beiyang Army nodded one after another, and they still agreed with Lei Zhenchun's words. Now the soldiers under the Beiyang Army are not as easy to call as they were when they were trained at the small station, and even if they pay enough to pay for the promotion, it will take a lot of time to assemble and send troops.

"Recently, I don't know if you have heard of the exclusion and suppression of foreign goods in the south? The various measures taken by the south really forced the foreigners to be anxious this time, otherwise they would not have directly sent pilots to participate in the war. Speaking of this, Yang Shiqi turned to look at Yuan Shikai and said, "President, I'm afraid that Western countries won't give us much choice, I suggest that it is better to send troops south as soon as possible." ”

Yang Shiqi's words made Yuan Shikai's heart sink, he knew best how tough the attitude of Western countries was, and the ministers of various countries were almost threatening to force him to send troops south. If we do not send troops as soon as possible, it is difficult to guarantee that foreigners from all countries will not choke the neck of loans and arms aid and coerce Beiyang to send troops.

"If you send troops, you will send troops, we are not well prepared in Beiyang, and the royal family in the south may not be fully prepared! Since the training of the small station, our Beiyang Army has been afraid of who is coming! Cao Kun, commander of the Third Beiyang Division, said a little arrogantly.

Yuan Shikai looked at Cao Kun and nodded in appreciation, whether it was right or wrong, Cao Kun's spirit and confidence are always worth encouraging.

"Yes, we may have rushed to the south, but the southern royal family must not have completed the preparations for war!"

"Division Commander Cao is right, I heard that most of the troops in the south are still being reorganized, except for the elite of the Fourth Division of the Sichuan Army and the Yimeng Autonomous Alliance Army in Shandong, the rest of the troops are mostly rabble that are not to be worried!"

"It is precisely because of our lack of preparation in Beiyang that the south did not expect that we would send troops south at this time, just to catch them by surprise!"

Perhaps because of Cao Kun's encouragement, or perhaps because they were aware of Yuan Shikai's attitude, a group of Beiyang officers expressed their support for sending troops south.

Although there was no certainty of victory in sending troops south in such a hurry, Yuan Shikai knew very well in his heart that he and the entire Beiyang power group had no other better choice.

This time the foreigners were really anxious to jump to their feet, and the pressure exerted was very great, if the Beiyang Army still dragged its feet and did not send troops, it was difficult to guarantee that the foreigners would not abandon Beiyang and cooperate with the southern royal family instead. Although Wang Mo has always been hostile to the powers that encroach on China's interests, if the foreigners are willing to make certain concessions, Wang Mo may not stubbornly continue to confront the powers of other countries.

Of course, it is quite unlikely that foreigners will abandon Beiyang and support the Wang family instead. It's just that even if there is a slight possibility, Yuan Shikai is never willing to gamble, because this is related to the life and death of the entire Beiyang.

Yuan Shikai's implicit support for sending troops south as soon as possible made the next military intelligence meeting change from a discussion on whether to send troops south as soon as possible to how to complete preparations for war better and more quickly, and these core generals of the Beiyang Army reported on the combat readiness of various departments one after another.

After several hours of military intelligence meetings and a series of overall planning and distribution, it can be regarded as a preliminary plan for preparing troops for dispatch.

At the end of the meeting, Yuan Shikai swept the Beiyang officers in the conference room with sharp eyes, and said: "Pass the order, from now on, all the officers and soldiers of all departments will return to the camp, all assembled, and be ready to fight in the south at any time!" ”

Syllable!

All the Beiyang officers stood up in unison and replied solemnly: "Yes, I will obey the decree of the president!" ”

With Yuan Shikai's order, the huge war machine of the Beiyang Army was quickly activated, and various troops began to assemble on a large scale. (To be continued.) )