On the wharf of Anqing's West Gate, groups of coolies are wearing dirty blue coats and a handkerchief with an unrecognizable color on their shoulders, waiting for their work. As soon as someone shouted for someone, a group of people immediately surrounded him. There was already work to be done on the trembling springboard suspended in the air, carrying large bags on their shoulders, laboriously transporting them to the dock warehouse. On the river, the warships of the Yangtze River Fleet formed a long snake formation, and groups of officers and men of the Jianghuai Army lined up in a neat line to board the warships, and were about to embark on the road to Manchuria.

I don't know why, Chai Dongliang was inexplicably upset today, and always felt that something was going to happen, and he was running into a fly in the Military Advisory Mansion, and then the surname Suo went out with Qingyu and a few guards to the river.

The Banshan Pavilion of Xiaogu Mountain is the best place to watch the scenery of the Yangtze River, and Fang Qingyu opened a vermilion lacquer food box. Inside were a couple of side dishes and a jug of wine.

"Mu Chen, sit down and have two drinks with me." Chai Dongliang greeted.

Fang Qingyu sat down silently, filled two cups, and drank with Chai Dongliang. After just drinking two cups, Chai Dongliang couldn't sit still again, and his hand climbed the railing of the pavilion and looked around. After more than half a year of governance, Anhui's economy is absolutely outstanding among the inland provinces, especially the industry and commerce have begun to take shape.

The maple leaves of Xiaogushan began to turn yellow, shining with brilliant golden light in the sun. It is already the end of autumn, and in half a month it will be the general election of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which will be of national concern, and the history of the Republic of China will also turn a new page.

"Mu Chen, what time is it today?" Chai Dongliang asked casually.

Fang Qingyu thought for a moment and said, "September 18." ”

Chai Dongliang was taken aback: "Ninety-one-eight? ”

On that shameful night, the army occupied the city of Mukden at a small cost of two deaths, capturing tens of thousands of rifles, 2,500 machine guns, 600 artillery pieces of various calibers, and 260 aircraft, and the people of Fengtian suffered countless losses of public and private property.Chinese

Eight hours, just eight hours, the 70,000-strong army garrisoned in Fengtian was occupied by a mere 700 soldiers, and the deputy commander Zhang, who was eating, drinking, gambling, and smoking all kinds of drugs, was able to hold his little wife and watch the play and smoke a big cigarette as if nothing had happened.

The Northeast Army, which was armed with 70,000 planes, tanks, and artillery, completely collapsed within eight hours. What is even more unimaginable is that many of these 700 soldiers did not have weapons at all, including the second squadron of the Yueben Reading Garrison, who scared away the oncoming more than 1,000 Northeast troops with their bare hands.

There is no shame in being defeated, but it is shameful to be defeated in this way, even if it is 70,000 ducks for Yu to catch himself, it is not so easy.

"Isn't that right? It's October! Chai Dongliang suddenly woke up.

Fang Qingyu said with a smile: "Dudu, I'm talking about the lunar calendar. ”

Oh, Chai Dongliang suddenly realized that people in this era usually use the lunar calendar, and only they are used to using the Gregorian calendar.

Ninety-one-eight, this is too sensitive!

After the explosion of Xinmin Mansion, the Second Brigade of the Railway Garrison sent someone to ask Gu Mazi to surrender his gun and wait for the Imperial Consulate to send someone to investigate. But he seems to be thundering and raining, Gu Mazi waited for half a month, and he didn't see any movement from them. At Chai Dongliang's appeal, the legation in Yanjing formed an international joint investigation team and went to Xinmin Mansion, and it has been seven or eight days now, and the results should come out immediately.

Minister Lin Quanzhu also had many contacts with Yuan Shikai, and he even called on both sides of the conflict to deal with it calmly and not to escalate the situation. Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to Chai Dongliang, telling him not to be impulsive and avoid escalating the incident. Chai Dongliang repeatedly demanded, and offered thirty votes from Jiangxi Province in exchange, and Yuan Shikai reluctantly agreed to allow the Jianghuai Army to send another division of troops to Manchuria to strengthen the defenses there. However, he was still repeatedly instructed not to take the initiative to provoke a war, which undermined the aftermath of the big loan and the upcoming elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives.

It seems that the aftermath of the Xinminfu bombing is about to be over, and everyone thinks that this matter will become a mess. The focus of the provincial governors and councils has been drawn back from Manchuria to Yanjing, and they are gearing up to gain more benefits in the general elections of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

But I don't know why, Chai Dongliang's mood is more irritable than before, and he seems to have an ominous premonition. And the name of 918 has increased his feeling that something is going to happen.

It may be that I am nervous, and I say that my current policy is to squeeze out the interests of Manchuria, rather than openly occupy South Manchuria in the face of the world's condemnation. The current Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang is not a madman, so he should not do such a stupid thing. The bombing of Xinmin Mansion may still be an opportunity for himself, and now he has sent another division to Manchuria? If it weren't for the indignation of the whole country caused by his aggressive posture, I believe that Yuan Shikai would not have acquiesced in Chai Dongliang's dispatch of 12,000 additional troops to Manchuria.

This division was handed over to Kuang Haishan for command, and when all of them were under command, he would have a regular army of 18,000 men under his command, and the level of equipment was also better than that of the Yue army, especially in terms of heavy weapons. Although the strength of the army is still inferior to that of the Kwantung Army, it is not as disparity as the previous one-to-five.

With 18,000 people, almost all the elites of the Jianghuai Army were transferred to Manchuria, which was almost all of Chai Dongliang's family background, and the other two divisions had too many recruits and insufficient training, and their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the first division. In particular, in the training of middle- and lower-ranking officers, the Second and Third Divisions are at an absolute disadvantage. Although Barnes and others had sufficient experience in training illiterate and semi-literate soldiers and officers, the time was still too short for them to form combat effectiveness within three months, and it would take at least six months to a year of training and running-in for them to reach the level of a division.

Chai Dongliang looked at the rolling river and said to himself: "I hope my judgment is wrong!" ”

Looking at Chai Dongliang's restless appearance, Fang Qingyu said in a low voice: "Governor, go and see the eldest lady of the Wu family, listen to Wu Jintang, she is very haggard now." ”

Chai Dongliang couldn't help but smile bitterly, he had forgotten her completely in the past few days, too many things to deal with by himself, too heavy a burden on his shoulders, and every time he trembled, he was like walking on thin ice, for fear that a mistake would cause him and the Jianghuai Army group to fall into the abyss and fall to pieces.

Politicians may not be suitable for romance, and love stories between big people often turn into disasters for all people in the world. And the woman next to a wise politician always ends in a tragic story. This kind of thing is endless.

"Okay, I'll go see her." Chai Dongliang said lightly, but there was a bitterness in his voice that was difficult to hide.

??? Dividing line ???

Fengtian City is the land of Longxing of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the center of the old city is the Fengtian Antiquities Exhibition Center, which is the imperial palace before the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs. Not far from the palace, there are his own foreign goods store, Chinese grain shop and leather store, North Korean smoke house and Ji Yuan, Russian café and bakery, Chinese and foreign customs are strangely blended together, and Chinese-style buildings live next to each other.

The flow of people on the streets, the old Kanto customers with their wool on the inside and sheepskin on the outside, shouting at the cattle with long whips, the Northeast girls with feet bigger than men and dry tobacco pouches in their mouths, and the rickshaws coming and going, the people in kimonos, the employees of the South Manchurian Railway Co., Ltd. in strange costumes, and the lazy Chinese policemen wearing white leggings. Sometimes there were soldiers of the South Manchurian Railway Garrison, carrying guns on their backs, and arrogantly marching through the streets of the city.

As the capital of Fengtian Province and the seat of the government offices of the former governors of the three eastern provinces of the Qing Dynasty, Fengtian City is undoubtedly the most prosperous and densely populated city outside the Guan. However, since the establishment of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Han people in the Guannai were not allowed to go to Manchuria to make a living, and the wicker side was built for more than 200 years, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, the wicker side was opened, and the Han people were able to pour into Manchuria, and Fengtian City also became prosperous and lively.

However, Zhao Erxun, the governor of Fengtian, was a sworn friend of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he hated Yuan Shikai's move to force Xuantong to abdicate, and his younger brother Zhao Erfeng died at the hands of the revolutionary party. Zhao Erxun and the political axe of the Republic of China can be regarded as hatred in one day and two places, and hatred in three rivers and four seas. Although he nominally belonged to the political axe of the Republic of China, he never relented in killing the revolutionary party. He bribed Zhang Zuolin, Wu Junsheng and others, who were born in bandits, and squeezed out the revolutionary Lan Tianwei, and after mastering the gun, he commanded Zhang Zuolin and others to kill, and the revolutionary party and ordinary people in the three eastern provinces were killed by him, and even the three-foot boy did not let go.

The Republic of China only retained the right to rule in Manchuria, and Yuan Shikai's Yanjing political axe had little influence here, on the contrary, because of the existence of the South Manchurian Railway, he enjoyed the right to garrison troops along the railway, but he could run rampant.

In the Fengtian Patrol Camp, Wu Junsheng, nicknamed Wu Da Tongue, was drinking with several old brothers such as Zhang Zuoxiang and Tang Yulin. His mood was almost complicated beyond words. And the person who made him haunted was his brother Zhang Zuolin. At the age of seventeen, he ate the imperial grain and became a horseman in a raiding camp, and three years later became a cavalryman. Because of his bravery in battle, he was injured five times and made meritorious service seven times, and was promoted to the rear commander of the patrol battalion, the alternate commander-in-chief, and the well-known second-class military position. At that time, Zhang Zuolin was just a small pipe band, and when he saw that he had to hand over the notebook, he said "marked" and "humble". Later, Zhang Zuolin exterminated the bandit Du Lisan, became famous, and was named the commander of the front road of the patrol battalion, and he was on an equal footing with himself.

During the Xinhai Revolution, Zhao Erxun, then the governor of the three eastern provinces, heard that the new army was about to revolt, and was so frightened that he was about to flee, but was dissuaded by his subordinates, and suggested that he transfer Wu Junsheng's patrol battalion to exterminate the revolutionary party. It just so happened that at this time, someone informed Zhang Zuolin of this important news, and he immediately made a decision, and immediately personally led all the men and horses of the 7 battalions under his jurisdiction to set off from Taonan, non-stop, day and night, and went straight to Fengtian. When passing through Liaoyuan. Wu Junsheng also took his subordinates out of the city to greet him, but Zhang Zuolin played haha with him and didn't tell him the truth.

After Zhang Zuolin arrived in Fengtian, he immediately met with the governor Zhao Erxun, and pretended to be sincerely afraid: "Because of the tense situation, I am afraid that the governor will be in danger, and I can't wait to lead the army to serve the king." If the Governor thinks that he has acted without orders, he will be willing to accept the punishment. When Zhao Erxun hired people, he felt that Zhang Zuolin came at the right time. Zhang Zuolin patted his chest again to ensure Zhao Erxun's safety. Zhang Zuolin's courageous statement won Zhao Erxun's praise. Therefore, Zhang Zuolin was not only not punished, but was praised. In addition to reissuing the re-issuance order, Zhao Erxun also ordered Zhang Zuolin to concurrently serve as the commander of the central patrol battalion to strengthen the loyal Zhang Zuolin's military strength. In this way, Zhang Zuolin commanded fifteen battalions of soldiers and horses. At this point, Zhang Zuolin was in fact the leader of the largest military force in Feng Province.

After Wu Junsheng learned the news, he was angry, although he later sent troops to Taonan to defeat the horse bandits in Wutai, which can be regarded as a great achievement, but in Zhao Erxun's mind and Zhang Zuolin, who rescued the driver in danger, he could not whisper the same thing.

Shiyi time has changed, Wu Jun has become Zhang Zuolin's subordinate, how can he not be annoyed?

"Hey, old Wu, have you heard? Zhao Dudu is resigning! Zhang Zuoxiang said with a wine bowl.

Zhao Erxun was attacked by domestic public opinion because of the massacre of the revolutionary party in the three eastern provinces, and he could not stand the pressure for a while and planned to resign. He originally served as the governor of Fengtian, and he also hoped to wait for the truth of the Manchu restoration, and he could make a lot of effort, and after waiting for almost a year, the political axe of the Republic of China is becoming more and more stable day by day. Even those banner people broke off the idea of restoration, and Zhao Erxun was even more discouraged, he didn't plan to be loyal to the Republic of China, and he didn't pay attention to the position of the governor of Fengtian.

Wu Junsheng stammered: "I, I, I listened, I heard!" What, what's the matter? ”

Zhang Zuoxiang said mysteriously: "I heard that the successor governor is our eldest brother!" ”

Tang Yulin, nicknamed Erhu, was surprised: "Is it really fake? If our eldest brother becomes the governor, we will be developed, and we will fucking get a division commander and brigade commander to do it! ”

When Wu Junsheng heard the news, he was angry, he was eleven years older than Zhang Zuolin, and now he called him "big brother" with a shy face, which was already aggrieved enough. Now Zhang Zuolin is actually going to be the governor of Fengtian and become the highest military and political governor of this province.

If it weren't for Zhang Zuolin concealing the news, how could he miss the opportunity? So isn't the position of the governor of Mukden his own?

Zhang Zuoxiang and Tang Yulin were elated, their faces reflected red by the firelight in the hot pot, while Wu Junsheng had a black face and did not say a word.

Tang Yulin suddenly lowered his voice and said, "In the past two days, Xiao Yueben has been running around the city, looking wrong, isn't he going to make trouble?" ”

Zhang Zuoxiang said disappreciatively: "It's not once or twice that Xiao Yuben has made trouble, which time has it been too big?" They are targeting the advance army stationed in Xinmin Mansion, so it hurts our buddies? Drink, drink! ”

Advance Army, hearing these three words, Wu Junsheng suddenly became excited. He had seen the advance army in Xinmin Mansion, well-equipped and imposing, and the soldiers in the patrol battalion who did not stand like they were sitting or sitting, they were really one in the sky and one in the ground.

Perhaps, the arrival of the advance army is an opportunity!

Wu Junsheng moved his mind, "It's time for the eldest brother to come back, right?" Zhang Zuoxiang muttered to himself.

Tang Yulin said with a smile: "The advance army and Xiao Yuben are tense, and the eldest brother must not reconcile?" The eldest brother sees that we are the governor of Fengtian, where can we allow others to make trouble under our noses? ”

The three of them were eating and drinking, when they suddenly heard a "bang".

Wu Junsheng, Tang Yulin, and Zhang Zuoxiang were all bandits, and they were alert, and when they heard the voice, they suddenly woke up more than half of the wine, "Where to shoot?" ”

"Boom!"

There was another sound, and Wu Junsheng was shocked: "It's not good, someone has opened fire!" ”

(To be continued)