Weihaiwei, an excellent ice-free military port in northern China, is surrounded by mountains on three sides in the harbor, the mouth gate is to the east, and Liugong Island is in front of it, forming two channels to the east and north and the entrance and exit, and the islands of Yuedao, Huangdao, Yashi and other islands are listed on both sides of Liugong Island, constituting a natural barrier in the harbor area, and the situation is dangerous.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, Russia, claiming that it had made a contribution to its intervention, forcibly demanded Port Arthur from the Qing court, and felt threatened by the British, who had always been very jealous of Russia, so it asked the Qing court to lease Weihaiwei to the British. The more enlightened officials in the Manchu court, too, sensed the danger from the north, so they hit it off with the British and leased Weihaiwei to the British to curb the Russians' southward movement.

The most enlightened ministers of the Qing court understood diplomacy as little more than a trick of "using razing to defeat raze".

According to the "Lend-Lease Weihaiwei Article", Weihaiwei Military Port could be used not only by the British, but also by the Chinese Navy. According to this treaty, Chai Dongliang ordered most of the ships of the Yangtze River Fleet to sail into Weihaiwei Military Port to preserve its strength.

Fleet Commander Tang Xiangming was still cruising on the Yangtze River with the three sea ships "Hairong," "Haichen," and "Haixin," the four ironclad cruisers "Feihong," as well as three or five small river gunboats, and Deputy Commander Cheng Biguang took the remaining dozen ships to hide in Weihaiwei. In fact, Chai Dongliang doesn't care about these broken ships that have been in service for more than ten years, more than 20 years, or even close to 40 years, even if they are all sunk as target ships or used to make steel, they will not feel distressed, but those sailors are his treasures, and there are only a few people in China who can drive warships, and everyone's losses cannot be made up in a short time.

It will take at least two years for the "Jiujiang Naval University" with the navy master Ma Han as the president to produce the first batch of qualified graduates, where can Chai Dongliang be willing to let the navy fight a war with Yu himself?

The "Dengyingzhou" is a wooden-hull ironclad gunboat with a displacement of 1,100 tons built by the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau more than 30 years ago.

Of course, this old and broken ship is also in Weihaiwei, this ship once made a war exploit during the Xinhai Revolution, Chai Dongliang ordered it to Wuchang to prevent Feng Guozhang from crossing the river, and it was very majestic in the face of the raft used by the Beiyang Army to cross the river. But if it is used to fight a naval battle with himself, I am afraid that at the beginning of the war, he will be sent to the bottom of the sea to see the Dragon King.

Captain Liu Guangtai is a typical Fujian man, the sea breeze blew his face black and red, standing on this old ship, looking at the British [***] ships flying around with rice flags, looking at the British sailors who were pointing and laughing wildly, he held the railing of the ship's side and was silent for a long time.

"Captain, go back to the cabin, it's getting dark, it's cold outside!" The first mate took an overcoat and put it on him.

Liu Guangtai rudely pushed it away, gritted his teeth and said, "What a fucking shame!" ”

The first mate smiled bitterly and said: "Who let our navy be raised by the stepmother, they can't trust us Fujianese!" ”

Liu Guangtai spat at the surface of the water and was silent. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the navy has been the Fujian gang covering the sky with one hand, and the needle cannot penetrate the water, and Li Hongzhang has wanted to break this situation since the beginning, but he has returned in vain; although this has ensured the interests of the officers of Fujian nationality, it has also virtually pushed them to the opposite side of the ruling party.

Since the establishment of the Jiujiang Naval University, all the officers of Fujian nationality have been in danger, and they all feel that the good life will not be too long, and after the graduation of those students, it will be their last day??? Otherwise, why did Chai Dongliang, who had deep financial resources, refuse to add battleships to the navy? The Shanghai Guanghua Shipyard would rather build the latest heavy cruisers for the "Chilean Navy" than build warships for the Yangtze River Fleet. Doesn't this mean that Chaithu doesn't trust the navy?

If it is the Army, the commander can still walk away if he doesn't trust it, and there is no place to stay here, but who can the Navy go to? The whole country, apart from the Jianghuai Army, who has the ability to raise such a large fleet?

Even if the Yangtze River Fleet does not purchase a warship, just the maintenance and training costs of the harbor and the fleet will cost tens of millions of silver dollars every year.

"Captain, I heard that there are two new cruisers built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be delivered in the past two days, plus the Feihong, we already have three new warships, or you and the deputy commander will talk about it, even if you die in battle, it is much better than nesting in Weihaiwei and hiding in the crotch of the British!" The first mate boldly suggested.

Liu Guangtai snorted: "They are all ships of three or four thousand tons, and they can still show their prestige on the inland rivers of the Yangtze River, and they will be the target of others when they go to sea, and if they can build a giant ship of 10,000 tons for the United States, they can't add two battleships to the navy?" ”

If it is capable of building a 10,000-ton civilian steamer, it is capable of building an 8,000-ton warship, and the largest oil tanker that the Shanghai Guanghua Shipyard is currently building for the United States has reached 16,000 tons, which shows that the Shanghai Guanghua Shipyard is fully capable of building a 10,000-ton battleship.

Guanghua Group has world-leading technology in the smelting of special steel, and even the American Bethlehem Steel Company has to import technology from there, and the artillery manufactured by Guanghua Arsenal is also top-notch, and the quality even exceeds that of Krupp, Armstrong, and other large European arsenals. The Guanghua Group had the technical capability to build battleships, including large-caliber naval guns and other ancillary weapons.

The Anqing Military Advisory Office has the money to carry out land reform, free education, welfare for the common people, and money to arm the army to the teeth, but whenever the navy asks for additional battleships, Chai Dongliang's answer is always two words: no money!

Where is there no money, it is clear that the Fujian people who can't trust the navy!

"Captain, the deputy commander is here!" The first mate pointed to the sea.

On a sampan, Deputy Commander Cheng Biguang stood on the bow of the ship and sailed to the "Dengyingzhou".

"Deputy Commander, why are you here?" Liu Guangtai asked.

Cheng Biguang took a look at the extremely delicately trimmed French-style beard with his hand, and said with a smile: "What about scratching your hair?" Behind my back, you say bad things about me and Chai Dudu? ”

Liu Guangtai's eyes widened angrily: "Which son of a bitch raised the maggot behind it?" ”

Cheng Biguang scolded with a smile: "It's Lao Tzu who guessed, I don't know your temper yet?" ”

Liu Guangtai snorted angrily: "Deputy commander, I feel aggrieved!" What's the matter? You and Chai Dudu talk about it, I can't speak lightly, you have to make the decision for us. ”

Cheng Biguang said noncommittally: "What are you doing?" Am I holding back here, too? The Governor has his plans! ”

Liu Guangtai said angrily: "What are you going to do?" Hiding in the crotch of the British, but they didn't treat us like birds! Look at the look in the eyes of the British, I'm fucking panicked! ”

Cheng Biguang smiled indifferently and said, "Don't worry, we won't stay here for long!" ”

Liu Guangtai's eyes lit up: "Let's also go out to fight with Xiao Yueben?" Lao Tzu is suffocated to death! ”

Cheng Biguang looked at the sea and said expressionlessly: "I didn't say anything." ”

Liu Guangtai nodded like a chicken eating rice: "I haven't heard anything either." ”

After that, he turned around and left with a smile, and Cheng Biguang shouted: "Come back!" ”

Liu Guangtai asked with a hippie smile: "What other orders does the deputy commander have?" ”

A smile appeared at the corner of Cheng Biguang's mouth: "Early tomorrow morning, you and I will take someone to Shanghai." ”

"What are you going to do in Shanghai?"

"Give your kid a good boat!" A hint of irrepressible joy appeared in the corners of Cheng Biguang's eyes.

??? Dividing line ???

Chai Dongliang, the adviser of the Anqing Army, had a copy of the "Shuntian Newspaper" published by himself on his desk, and the newspaper was torn to shreds by him.

In the last few days, I have been restless, and since I have been a hundred years ahead of this era, I have been able to inherit the "Bethlehem Contract" by luck. For a long time, Chai Dongliang has also been accustomed to good times, and he should regard himself as the darling of God, just like a spoiled child, who suddenly encountered difficulties and was a little unbearable.

Yuan Shikai gave him a headache, originally he didn't plan to compete with Beiyang before the First World War, but the times were pressing, Yuan Shikai used force to force the election, and blatantly dissolved the National Assembly and the Kuomintang, which made the heavens angry and resentful, and offended the country's elites at once, and Beiyang also fell apart.

Of course, Chai Dongliang refused to let go of this kind of God-given opportunity, so the Jianghuai Army was fully mobilized and ready to dominate the world, but he didn't expect Yuan Shikai to take advantage of public opinion and turn over, which caught Chai Dongliang off guard.

Yuan Shikai put Okuma Shigenobu together, but the lame prime minister is not a vegetarian, and he also incited public opinion, and three monks of the Lotus Sect were killed, which made the whole country boil, and Okuma Shigenobu issued an ultimatum to the political axe of the Republic of China, asking Yuan Shikai to hand over the murderer within ten days, otherwise he would meet in arms.

This was originally a ghost made by himself, where did Yuan Shikai find a murderer for him? Moreover, at this time, once Lao Yuan admits intimidation, his aura of national hero will be eclipsed, at this juncture, he can only be a dead duck with a hard mouth, and at the same time sacrifice the magic weapon of "razing to raze", hoping to enforce the contract, but the Westerners say it sounds, and at the critical moment, they all lay soft eggs, including Zhu Erdian, the British minister who had a good personal friendship with Yuan Shikai and wore a pair of pants and was too fat, all avoided Yuan Shikai and refused to see him.

Chai Dongliang hated Yuan Shikai's itchy teeth, but he had to wipe his ass for him, so he couldn't sit back and watch himself burn, kill and loot in China and be indifferent, right?

First of all, the Second Fleet of the Combined Fleet is now cruising in the Bohai Bay, and its commander is Yuzaburo Kato, who once served as Vice Minister of the Navy, and he leads this huge fleet that may land at Dagukou at any time. What's even worse is that according to the "Xinchou Treaty", the forts at Dagukou have been flattened, and those Krupp and Armstrong cannons have also been blown up.

The Dagukou Fort is already in ruins, there is no danger to defend at all, and after the Gengzi State Change, from Yanjing to Tianjin, there are garrisons, and the nearest one is Wanping City in Gyeonggi.

In this situation, if the Chinese army defends Dagukou, it is very likely to face an attack from behind, and the army is likely to stab the defenders in the back.

Of course, the Jianghuai army can preemptively move south from Mukden and Mongolia to directly wipe out the Yue army between Tianjin and Yanjing, and the Jianghuai army in Manchu and Mongolia has two armies, a full 60,000 troops, and it is not a problem to deal with the Yue army of more than 5,000 people. The question is, can Yuan Shikai's political axe allow the Jianghuai army to go south? If Chai Dongliang didn't take into account Yuan Shikai's attitude, the Jianghuai Army would have to fight with the Beiyang Army before he started a war with Yue himself.

Chai Dongliang's intestines were blue, if he knew that there was today, he should have smashed Yanjing City a long time ago, killed Yuan Shikai in advance, and saved himself from getting in the way!

Chai Dongliang ordered Gu Nanshan to closely monitor the movements of the Kwantung Army and the Korean Army, and never allowed them to go south, if it was found that the Kwantung Army and the North Korean Army had the intention of attacking North China, the Jianghuai Army could strike first. At the same time, he ordered Kuang Haishan's troops to be ready to meet Gu Nanshan at any time, and once the battle in Manchuria broke out, the whole army would be dispatched to encircle and annihilate the Hiroshima Division stationed at Lushunkou in one fell swoop with superior strength and strong firepower.

Just yesterday, the consul in Wuhu met with Chai Dongliang, hoping to sign a secret agreement with him, and in the Sino-Chinese war, the Jianghuai army remained neutral, and Chai Dongliang threw him out at that time.

Yama County Youpeng, Okuma Shigenobu, and Inu Yangyi are all old foxes who have become fine, and they are smarter than monkeys when they are stained with hair, not to mention that Chai Dongliang is impossible to sit idly by, and even if he has this mind, he doesn't dare to sign a secret agreement similar to Gengzinian's "Southeast Mutual Insurance??? If he made the secret agreement public, then Chai Dongliang's political life would be completely over!

Many things are not what you want to do, but you have to do it, otherwise, God will give you the opportunity to cross and have a meaning of life, is it just to make one more warlord in Chinese history?

??? Dividing line ???

Dagukou, east of the Bohai Sea and west of the Haihe Plain, as the key place of the gateway of Beijing and Tianjin, since the Ming Dynasty Chengzu two years have been built to set up a guard, to the Qing Dynasty after the Daoguang period after the strategic location is more important, at most there were 25,000 troops stationed, with 99 artillery pieces of various calibers.

After the Gengzi Revolution, the Eight-Nation Coalition and the Qing court signed the "Xinchou Treaty", one of the important contents of which was to flatten the Dagukou Fort. This new reinforced concrete fort, built under the supervision of the Germans, is now in ruins, and the once majestic Krupp and Armstrong fortress guns have long been blown up and sent to the ironworks to make steel. Today, only wooden piles buried under the water prove that it was once an important military port.

Looking at the broken and ruined fort in front of him, Wu Peifu, a Beiyang general from Xiucai, couldn't help but feel sad.

Yuan Shikai did not give an inch but privately contacted the Western powers, hoping to force Yue himself to make concessions with the help of the hands of the great powers, like the "Three Kingdoms Intervention to Return Liao" in the first year of the First Wu Dynasty or the "Arson Case of the East Honganji Temple" in the year of Gengzi.

The Beiyang generals were also patting their chests to support Yuan Shikai at first, and when they really wanted to do it, they were all cowardly, and Duan Qirui, the chief of the War Department, even said that if he started a war with himself, he would be able to support it for twenty-four hours at most. Cao Kun, the commander of the 3rd Division, the most elite division in Beiyang, said that he couldn't get sick after taking a sum of military expenses, and the others were even more shrunken turtles.

In the huge Beiyang, there are more than 100,000 new-style armies, and not a single figure at the level of governor or division commander dares to fight to the death with Yue Ben??? Only Wu Peifu, a major general Xiucai who had just been promoted from regiment commander to brigade commander, resisted Cao Kun's pressure, accepted Yuan Shikai's order, and led his troops to Dagukou.

However, his strength was only one regiment, and the commanders of the other two regiments were Cao Kun's descendants, and he quietly ran away with his troops without a trace.

Wu Peifu knew in his heart that this time he had broken with his top boss Cao Kun, and it would be difficult to make up for the relationship in the future.

But if he is asked to choose again, Wu Peifu will still lead troops to guard Dagukou, for no other reason, just because he is a soldier, and it is a matter of course to protect his family and defend the country. Moreover, there is no need to say anything to Cao Kun, and Wu Peifu has no intention of returning to Yanjing City alive.

"Hurry up and dig it, if you don't want to die, dig a trench! Children, play our Beiyang prestige, let Xiao Yuben know that Chinese are not easy to bully! Wu Peifu pretended to be full of confidence.

A regiment of soldiers dug trenches weakly, and it was useless for the commander to exert himself. The news of the departure of the second and third regiments has already spread throughout the regiment, and with the strength of a mere regiment, can the army be held back on this beachhead? It's a dream!

In the year of Gengzi, there were 99 large-caliber guns and 8,000 infantry in the Dagu Fort, all of which did not block the landing of Yue himself.

The soldiers were digging in the soil, and they exchanged their heads and ears, saying that they only gave Beiyang the political axe a ten-day period, and they all knew it, and now three days have passed, and in seven days, the army will start fighting!

I hope God has eyes, and I don't land from here, as long as I don't start a war at Dagukou, I can fight wherever I like, and it's none of my uncle's business!

The officers and soldiers of the first regiment are scolding Wu Peifu in their hearts, this guy has taken the wrong medicine, so many governors, army commanders, and division commanders are not coming out, but you are a small brigade commander who is the rafters of this early stage, and everyone is sent to death!

This Republic of China is not your Wu family, even if you win the war, can you still be the president?

The soldiers of a regiment were under the whip and reprimand of the officer, and they built trenches in a dead and yang manner, and the trenches were dug in different depths, and there was no law in their width and narrowness, and they could only be regarded as a few earthen ditches.

There was a buzzing sound from the sea, as if a swarm of wasps had exploded a nest, and after a few moments, all the Beiyang soldiers were stunned to see two monsters with two wings let out a deafening roar and skim over the treetops.

Wu Peifu's heart suddenly tightened, this is an airplane??? Said my own seaplane!

Every move of the Beiyang Army is already under the surveillance of Yue himself, and there is no secret to speak of!

Wu Peifu suddenly had a feeling of being stripped of his clothes and standing naked on the edge of the cliff [***] to be spied on, and his heart was frozen!

(To be continued)