The 1st East China Division, the 2nd East China Division, the 3rd East China Division, and the 4th East China Division (Artillery Division) began to march towards the Yingtan area. Jiangxi Yingtan is still a place where there are no people at this time, and Xia Jun put the place where the troops are trained there.

As far as mountain operations are concerned, several divisions are quite good at it, because they started from Fujian, which is a mountainous terrain, and they still lack experience in plain operations.

Thirty Fokker fighters took off from the airfield and flew to the next transit field airfield, and the weight of the planes in the early stage was relatively light, and the field airfield was sufficient, and the requirements for the airfield were not high.

The training in Yingtan was mainly a combat drill on the plains, as well as a practice of tactics such as infantry and artillery coordination, air artillery coordination, and air foot coordination.

In the future, there will be a war with the Ben, and the likely surname to fight in the plains and hilly areas is the greatest.

During the month-long tactical coordinated training, engineers, logistics and other units also fully participated, and all residents in the military exercise area in Yingtan have been evacuated, and this area of about 200 square kilometers will be used as a special training site in the future.

Xia Jun personally rushed to Yingtan to preside over the all-army exercise.

At this time, Yuan Shikai in the north still did not completely control the power of the Qing court, because the Qing court still had the last trump card - 20,000 Praetorian Guards!

Of the 20,000 Praetorian Guards, most of the soldiers were Manchu and well-equipped, while most of the officers were Manchurian.

After the defection of the Beiyang Army, Liangbi and other Shaozhuang factions secretly formed the Imperial Clan Socialist Party, and soon planned a mutiny, that day Yanjing City was full of gunfire, the Praetorian Guard took control of the streets and alleys of Yanjing City, and the soldiers shouted to hang Yuan Shikai and other cabinet members on the city gate. Yuan Shikai didn't dare to go home that day, so he had to hide in the Qingwang Mansion in Yixuan.

Yi Liang was the iron hat king appointed by the Qing court, and could enter and leave Yanjing City at any time, and Yi Liang soon met with the Empress Dowager Longyu, saying that the consequences of the mutiny, saying that it might cause confrontation among Han officials and allow the revolutionary party to take advantage of the situation.

As soon as she heard that the revolutionary party was going to enter Beijing, she immediately summoned Liangbi, the leader of the imperial clan and the social party, to summon him into the palace, and scolded Liangbi for a bloody head.

The next day, the Praetorian Guards had to withdraw from Yanjing one after another, and Yuan Shikai had a plan at this time, proposing that the national crisis should be at the head, and the imperial family should lead a part of the Praetorian Guards to the south, and named Zaifeng's younger brother Zaitao, the minister of war, as the commander.

Zaitao is a fan of drama, acting in monkey dramas is famous all over the country, but his surname is as timid as a mouse, as soon as he heard that Yuan Shikai named him handsome, he was immediately frightened, and hurriedly ran to Yixuan to intercede, to resign from the post of commander of the Praetorian Guard.

Zaitao's request was exactly what Yuan Shikai wanted, and he immediately proposed that Feng Guozhang be appointed as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, Feng Guozhang was Liangbi's brother and an acceptable figure for the Manchus.

Feng Guozhang was relieved of his military power in Hankou, and after returning to Yanjing, he did not go to Chahar to take up the post of governor, let alone visit Yuan Shikai.

A few days later, Yuan Keding came to visit suddenly, took Yuan Shikai's Lanpu that accepted Feng Guozhang as his protégé, called him the fourth uncle, and said that in the future, my father would take the fourth uncle as a brother, and never forget the friendship of the small station training back then.

Yuan Shikai is the prime minister of the cabinet, and he actually pleaded for peace with him, Feng Guozhang was psychologically comfortable, Yuan Shikai knew Feng Guozhang's surname well, this person was often able to act vigorously and resolutely in small things, known as Feng Manzi, but he was indecisive and hesitant in major matters.

Yuan Shikai demanded that Feng Guozhang must control the Praetorian Guard at this critical juncture, because the Beiyang Army's operation to force the Qing court to abdicate would soon begin.

Previously, Xia Jun had telegraphed Yuan Shikai and asked him to force the Qing court to abdicate as soon as possible in order to stabilize the situation in China.

Yuan Shikai understood that he could only follow the route delineated by the East China Provisional Political Axe, and the military strength of the East China Provisional Political Axe was far higher than that of the Beiyang Army.

However, to Yuan Shikai's rejoice, the East China Provisional Political Axe was eager to stabilize the situation in China and could make concessions to him.

At the same time, a joint meeting of the governors of the southern provinces in Wuchang had also been held, and after the revolutionary army had successfully defended Hehanyang, the meeting was filled with the sound of the Northern Expedition.

However, the representatives of the East China Provisional Political Axe were silent, and the representatives of the various provinces talked for a while, and all of them focused their attention on the representatives of the East China Provisional Political Axe.

Without the support of the East China Provisional Political Axe, it would be difficult for the Revolutionary Army to go on a Northern Expedition, and the strong strength of the East China Provisional Political Axe has been fully proved in the Hanyang Defense Battle, and only the East China Provisional Political Axe Army can compete with the Beiyang Army.

"I want to remind you that this has gathered heavy troops at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and if it is a war between the north and the south at this time, it will inevitably compete with each other for profit, so that you can take advantage of the situation. At the meeting, the representative of the East China Provisional Political Axe said, "What China needs at present is stability as soon as possible, and only the most correct choice is to negotiate peace with the Beiyang Army and force the Qing court to abdicate in conjunction with the Beiyang Army." ”

Under the statement of the representative of the East China Provisional Political Axe, the meeting of the southern provinces was hastily concluded, and no one mentioned the Northern Expedition again, and with the strength of the revolutionary army, it was obviously impossible to defeat the Beiyang Army.

The north-south peace talks soon began under the guidance of Zhu Erdian, and at the same time, Xia Jun's East China Provisional Political Axe opened another negotiation table with Yuan Shikai under the guidance of Mo Doma.

Yuan Shikai didn't take the revolutionary army seriously, and Xia Jun didn't take them much seriously, and the negotiations between them were the main thing.

Xia Jun understands that as long as Yuan Shikai is stabilized, the situation in China can be stabilized as soon as possible. And Yuan Shikai also understood that as long as the East China Provisional Political Axe supported him, the Southern Revolutionary Party had nothing to worry about.

Yuan Shikai and Xia Jun continued to negotiate peace, and there were some differences between Yuan Shikai and Xia Jun's representatives on what to say.

Xia Jun's condition was to elect Yuan Shikai as the president, but the three provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang in East China must be autonomous, and the National Assembly must not interfere in the East China Autonomous Political Axe, which has the right to conduct free diplomacy with foreign political axes and sign various agreements and covenants.

At the same time, Yuan Shikai must work with the East China Autonomous Government to recover the tariffs of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.

In addition, if Yuan Shikai wants to take out a loan, he must give priority to the East China Provisional Political Axe, and if Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Political Axe wants to purchase arms, all office supplies, equipment, etc., it must give priority to the products of the East China Autonomous Political Axe.

The current pattern has become more complicated, with the United Kingdom and other Western countries supporting Yuan Shikai, while the United States supports the East China Provisional Political Axe.

Britain wants to stabilize the situation in China as soon as possible, and the United States has no interest in continuing to incite China's civil war.

Britain also expressed some support for the East China Provisional Political Axe, because the East China Provisional Political Axe was working to stabilize the situation at this time, which was in line with British interests, but Britain clearly realized that the East China Provisional Political Axe was a difficult force to control, and Yuan Shikai was better able to control.

The United States does not have so many vested interests, and they value the market, so they only need the cooperation of the East China Provisional Political Axe, not control, so they support the East China Provisional Political Axe.

Yuan Shikai was very hesitant about the East China Provisional Political Axe's request for autonomy after electing him as president, as well as the need to have diplomatic rights, and the need to control the tariffs of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, and did not agree to this demand at the negotiating table.

There was no progress in the negotiations between the two sides, and Yuan Shikai still had some luck in his heart, that is, the luck psychology of pacifying the three provinces in East China after becoming the president.

Xia Jun is naturally insightful about this, but he is not too anxious for the time being, because Sun Cannon is about to return to China, and the next step should be Sun Cannon inaugurating as the provisional president of Nanjing! At that time, he fanned the flames on the side, and Yuan Shikai was in a hurry when the time came.

On the other hand, on December 18, Tang Shaoyi led a team of more than 100 people to negotiate peace with the Southern Revolutionary Party represented by Wu Tingfang in Shanghai.

Wu Tingfang, the first person in China to study at his own expense, obtained a doctorate and barrister qualification, and was the first doctor of law and barrister in modern Chinese history, and once served as a staff member for Li Hongzhang for 14 years.

The first meeting between the two sides of the North-South Conference was about an armistice between the two sides, and on the battlefields of the provinces, when and under what conditions.

Since Tang Shaoyi and Wu Tingfang are both Cantonese and have worked in the same department, the negotiations between the two sides look harmonious, more like good friends sitting together, and there is something to discuss. An armistice agreement was soon reached, and after Tang Shaoyi reported to Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai also quickly gave a positive answer.

On December 20, Tang Shaoyi and Wu Tingfang held a second meeting, which was about the issue of the national system, on the constitution or the republic, Wu Tingfang put forward a request for a republic, but Tang Shaoyi did not answer immediately, but euphemistically proposed that if Yuan Shikai was made the president, the republic could be considered. Wu Tingfang is very shrewd and spicy, of course he understands this, but he can't be the master, so he also copes with it temporarily, and Tang Shaoyi also asked to report to Yuan Shikai, so the second meeting ended quickly.

There are three people who can really make decisions between the north and the south, one is Yuan Shikai, one is Sun Yat-sen, and the other is Xia Jun.

On December 25, Sun Dacang returned to China, and thousands of people went to Shanghai to greet him, as well as various Chinese and foreign media, envoys from various countries, and so on.

As soon as Sun Yat-sen returned to China, he went to Nanjing at the invitation of Cheng Quande, who had already planned to defect to Sun Yat-sen's faction in order to prevent the Liberation Society from settling accounts with him.

When Sun Yat-sen arrived in Nanjing, he felt that the situation was difficult, and now they had to talk not only with Yuan Shikai, but also with the Baath Party, which had developed from the Liberation Society.

The revolutionary forces in the south were divided into two factions, one was the faction dominated by the Wuchang revolutionary political axe and other provinces, and because their strength was not strong, they united, and he became the leader as soon as he returned to China.

The other faction is the East China Provisional Political Axe of the Baath Party headed by Xia Jun, which controls the three provinces in the central and southern parts of East China, and is also the most powerful faction at present.

However, the East China Provisional Political Axe was not politically active, and they advocated peace between the North and the South in order to stabilize the situation in China.

Next, it is up to the three parties to get the most out of the negotiations.

Xia Jun saw that Sun Yat-sen had returned to China and knew that his opportunity had come, and his requirements were not high, only requiring autonomy, tariffs, and the purchase of arms by the political axe, which must be considered by the East China Provisional Political Axe.

(To be continued)