The junior general, Cao Rui, served as the chief of internal affairs in the Third Division and was responsible for baggage procurement, so he had a lot of banknotes in his hands for him to squander. After ten days of playing in Yangzhou, Cao Kun and Feng Guozhang led the army to conquer Nanjing, beat Huang Xing to hide in the Shanghai concession, and beat Chen Qimei to announce his retirement, and Cao Rui ended his journey to Yangzhou.

Every night in Yangzhou, Cao Rui will change the girl of the ethnic country to sleep with, foreign girls are Japanese, Filipino, British, Russian, German, domestic girls are Hui, Tibetan, Miao, and Wu'er, and the last night even found a black beautiful girl from the Kingdom of Ethiopia to fight all night, really happy like a fairy.

Before leaving, Cao Rui thanked Fang Xianwu and Han Linchun and said: "Two brothers, one day, I will die here." ”

"In fact, it can be replaced by another sentence, that is, one day, he must be the king of Yangzhou." Fang Xianwu gritted his teeth and said, "So once our Seventh Division leaves Yangzhou, the Beiyang Army will definitely plague Yangzhou." Yangzhou is our hometown, and I can't let anyone spoil her. I want to give an explanation to the people of Yangzhou, and I want to preserve the last dignity of the Jiangbei department. The implication is that it was not Fang Xianwu who betrayed the Jiangbei system, but Wang Yongan, Wang Yongan who put the Jiangbei department in danger for his own selfishness.

Han Linchun sighed, he had lived in Yangzhou for six years, and he had already regarded Yangzhou as his hometown in his heart, so he was willing to give Yangzhou to others. It is true that everyone is Wang Yongan's subordinates, and they are all from the Jiangbei department, but whether it is Fang Xianwu or Han Linchun, they all understand that if the Seventh Division leaves Yangzhou, the Beiyang Army will definitely snatch Yangzhou as soon as possible and trample the last dignity of Jiangbei under their feet.

"Fangchen, I know that you are the handsome father-in-law, so I negotiated with you first." Fang Xianwu said earnestly, he clenched Han Linchun's hand, "Fangchen, the future of our Yangzhou and our central Jiangsu region will be handed over to you, and the last dignity of the Jiangbei Department will also be handed over to you, you can make a decision." If you think we should give up and go to St. Lucas with the commander, I will immediately order the army to be drawn. If you think we have to protect Yangzhou, I will bear this infamy, I would rather be scolded by the world than protect Yangzhou. ”

Han Linchun got up and asked, "Is there still smoke?" ”

"Yes." Fang Xianwu handed over a cigarette.

Han Linchun took out one, and Fang Xianwu took the initiative to light it for him.

After a cigarette, Han Linchun suddenly said loudly: "We have given up northern Anhui, central Anhui, and northern Jiangsu to the Beiyang Department, and we can no longer give them our last Suzhong." ”

"What do you mean......" Fang Xianwu asked excitedly.

"The Seventh Division must stay, and Jiangbei must be guarded by the Jiangbei Army." Han Linchun said categorically.

Fang Xianwu was immediately excited, he finally didn't waste his words in vain, he held Han Linchun's hand tightly and said, "Fangchen, Yangzhou, the future is you and me." ”

After Han Linchun was convinced, Gong Xuewen, the commander of the 13th Brigade, and Huang Zhan, the commander of the 14th Brigade, were also quickly persuaded by Fang Xianwu.

Gong Xuewen has always had his own little abacus, the 14th Brigade is stationed in Yangzhou City, and the 13th Brigade is stationed in Jiangdu County on the other side of the canal. Although Jiangdu County is not as prosperous as Yangzhou, Jiangdu, which is known as Little Yangzhou, is not inferior to Yangzhou in terms of taxation because of a large number of industrial factories and salt companies. Although the military and government were separated and Gong Xuewen could not get money directly, as the protector of the place, the big merchants often invited Gong Xuewen and gave him a large amount of money in private, which made Gong Xuewen's pocket swell more and more, and his mood became more and more inflated.

Gong Xuewen was naturally reluctant to leave China, but he didn't have Fang Xianwu's courage to take the lead in opposition, and at this time Fang Xianwu took the lead in standing up, Gong Xuewen was in a happy mood, he first made it difficult for him, and finally was forced to "helplessly" and chose to protect Yangzhou and Jiangdu County. Gong Xuewen directly held a meeting to announce the decision of the 13th Brigade to support the division commander, and asked everyone to sign and draw a pledge to bear it together. Seeing this, Gong Xuewen ordered Mo Guchang to rest and rest temporarily, and asked Fang Xianwu for instructions to remove Mo Guchang from the post of brigade chief of staff.

Compared with Gong Xuewen's thunderous methods, Huang Zan is much more sleek, Huang Zan has a nickname Huang Pizi, and people say that he has a seven-trick heart. When Fang Xianwu found him, he tried his best to persuade him, but Huang Zan did not agree to him immediately, but called all the officers above the company level to negotiate together, and made a decision on behalf of everyone in the form of secret ballot.

The officers of the 14th Brigade finally chose to stick to Yangzhou by secret ballot, and Huang Zan then approached Fang Xianwu and said that he and all the officers of the 14th Brigade had made a decision to support him, and Fang Xianwu was happy.

Compared with Gong Xuewen's radical reaction, it was obvious that Huang Zhan's soft approach was more conducive to the stability of the army, and seven days later, two regiments of Gong Xuewen's 13th Brigade brazenly launched a mutiny and announced their separation from the 13th Brigade and defected to Wang Yongan in Shanghai, which fully proved how wise Huang Zhan's choice was.

Fang Xianwu encircled the two subordinate brigade commanders and took out Zhang Jian's telegram, in which Zhang Jian expressed his disapproval of the decision to support San Lucas again, and the sense of betrayal in Huang Zan and Gong Xuewen's hearts immediately alleviated a lot. Later, Han Linchun proposed that he should not openly oppose Wang Yongan's second plan to protect overseas Chinese, so as to avoid letting outsiders know the inside story of the Jiangbei department. After the Holy Army arrived in Shanghai, Fang Xianwu took the initiative to tell Wang Yongan that the Seventh Division had unanimously decided not to participate in the Holy Army and stick to Yangzhou.

This decision was obviously good for all sides, so when Wang Yongan led his army down the Yangtze River, the Seventh Division never moved. It wasn't until Wang Yongan and his reinforcement army arrived in Shanghai that they sent a secret telegram at the last moment that seemed to explain but was actually a notice.

Although the secret telegram was sent in the end, it was not known to outsiders, but the behavior of the Seventh Division not sending a single soldier saw through the hidden feelings of the Jiangbei system at a glance in the eyes of the smart people in the world.

After Yuan Shikai learned from Duan Qirui's mouth, he immediately dispatched He Xie to Yangzhou to collect the buyer Xianwu. He Xie was preparing to move forward, and on the other hand, he sent someone to secretly inform Wang Yongan to prepare early, if Fang Xianwu took refuge in Yuan Shikai, the situation would be even more unfavorable to the Jiangbei system. As a double agent who saw the money, He Xie was doing his best, Wang Yongan didn't even expect that he would risk sending a telegram to himself at this time, telling him the news that Yuan Shikai sent someone to win over Fang Xianwu.

Holding He Jie's secret telegram in his hand, Wang Yongan sighed and said that the comrades-in-arms who were friends of life and death in the past were not as good as the real villains who were bought.