Pu Guanshui had seen Yuan Shikai, and he appreciated Yuan Shikai's straight demeanor at all times, which is the demeanor that soldiers must adhere to. As Pu Guanshui, who is determined to become a professional soldier, he naturally imitates this approach. But at this time, Pu Guanshui did not sit straight like Yuan Shikai. He rested his elbows on the table, his fingers crossed, and his chin rested on his thumbs together. On the wall opposite Pu Guanshui hung a military map of Anhui Province, and although Pu Guanshui's eyes fell on the map, he was completely blind.

From the moment the war against the Manchu government began, it was clear to the Military Commission that the war between the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and the Beiyang Army was only a matter of time. Since then, the Central Military Commission has begun to collect information on Beiyang and make various targeted operational plans. Pu Guanshui was born in the Beiyang Army and provided quite a lot of information.

This morning, the news of the dispatch of the Beiyang New Army had been sent to the Military Commission, and Pu Guanshui felt an extreme sense of boredom in his heart for no reason when he saw the familiar names on the copied documents. Although he wanted to continue working, Pu Guanshui was so emotional that he couldn't calm down. After trying a few times, he still couldn't continue to do his work, so Pu Guan Shuiren simply sat here and started to stay.

Pu Guanshui is now the deputy commander of the 104th Division, and everyone didn't bother him when he saw that he was stunned.

"Master Pu, what are you thinking?" Finally, someone said next to Pu Guanshui.

Pu Guanshui raised his head and saw He Zudao standing next to him. Although he wanted to cheer up, Pu Guanshui's voice was still a little weak. "Commissar He, what's the matter?"

"You received a notice that the Beiyang Army was dispatched, right?" He Zudao asked.

Pu Guanshui nodded, but did not speak.

Looking at Pu Guanshui's performance, He Zudao was a little puzzled, the other comrades in the army were in high spirits because they were going to fight a big battle, and Pu Guanshui's depressed mood was very special. "Do you have any concerns?" He Zudao asked, he looked around at his gaze, "Why don't we go out and talk." ”

Pu Guanshui didn't want to move, but when he thought about his troubles, he would have to say it sooner or later, and it was the most appropriate thing to talk about it with He Zudao, so he reluctantly stood up, "Political Commissar He, let's go out and talk." ”

The two stood still in a secluded place, and Pu Guanshui said: "Political Commissar He, I am not going to talk about my understanding of Beiyang at this military meeting. ”

He Zudao did not show any surprise, but listened to Pu Guanshui's words seriously. This attitude made Pu Guanshui feel a lot better, and he continued: "I have been away from Beiyang for almost two years, and I don't know a lot about Beiyang. Especially some of the information I provided later, I speculate that there is a lot of content to summarize. This may not be in line with the actual situation in Beiyang. I have to think about the problem from the perspective of the revolutionary army now, and I can't always simulate the Beiyang. ”

"Hmm." He Zudao nodded, "What you said makes a lot of sense. Our strategy and tactics and the mode of war are different from those of Beiyang. Beiyang fights Beiyang, we fight ours. I support your idea. In this case, at this meeting of the Central Military Commission, I will first raise this issue. What does Master Pu think? ”

Pu Guanshui thought for a moment before replying, "I'll say it first." ”

"Then I will continue to express my support for Master Pu." He Zudao said with a smile.

Pu Guanshui breathed a sigh of relief and felt much better.

He Zudao continued: "But Master Pu, if you have any concerns and thoughts about fighting Beiyang, you can communicate with me first. Pre-war preparations are to solve everyone's ideological problems, and when it comes to war, there is no time to think about it so much. ”

Pu Guanshui touched his forehead, he did have an idea in his heart, "I feel now that I really want to fight with Beiyang, I really want to fight with them and win them." ”

He Zudao nodded, although the political commissar was in charge of the military and political work of the army and was also the person in charge of the party branch in the army, he did not particularly want to target the combat object, and He Zudao did not particularly understand Pu Guanshui's enthusiasm for fighting. But he won't dampen that enthusiasm either. "Then let's play the demeanor of our workers' and peasants' revolutionary army, and we will definitely be victorious."

When it came to military issues, Pu Guanshui immediately became enthusiastic, "We must reasonably apply the tactics mastered by our troops, Beiyang is not like the Hubei New Army, in the general battle, they still dare to give you desperate." ”

"Then let's go back to the conference room." He Zudao suggested.

When the two returned to the conference room, several senior military and political cadres were already sitting at the table, and they were also enthusiastically discussing the upcoming war. Seeing He Zudao and Pu Guanshui, everyone stood up and saluted. After He Zudao and Pu Guanshui returned the salute, everyone's topic went straight to the war.

said that he didn't talk about the military situation in Beiyang, but Pu Guanshui just didn't want to report to everyone like a prisoner. And he also knows that his report will not be really strategically underpinned until it can be confirmed. Now in this normal discussion, he still unconsciously said what he knew. "Beiyang is fed with silver, and whether or not enough money can be paid during the war actually determines Beiyang's will to fight. In this regard, the Beiyang Army and the Hubei New Army are very similar, and the will of the commander has a great influence on the troops. Li Yuanhong's original attitude was very negative, so the march completely relied on the mode of training, and we carried out targeted combat deployment, and Li Yuanhong was immediately beaten passively. ”

The military academy training in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army is now only at the platoon level, and the training at the platoon level has not been fully completed. In terms of military literacy and theoretical analysis, Pu Guanshui is now ranked after Chen Ke, Yan Fu is the navy, and in terms of army command alone, Pu Guanshui is by no means under Yan Fu. Other comrades had their own strengths in specific combat command, but they still listened to Pu Guanshui a lot during the pre-war analysis.

"What kind of commander is that Duan Qirui?" Gao Yujie, deputy chief of staff of the General Staff, asked.

"Actually, I'm not worried about Duan Qirui, I'm worried about Wang Shizhen. I don't know how Wang Shizhen can behave in the face of a strong enemy, but this person is thoughtful and observant. Never take things lightly, and be extremely decisive. Duan Qirui will definitely take the lead, with Wang Shizhen behind him, this battle is not easy to fight. ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Gao Yujie frowned and thought for a while, "Well...... then we might as well put Duan Qirui into the base area first, and then concentrate our forces to kill Wang Shizhen." After all, we have so many ships, we have the advantage of inland river mobility, and the old troops still have the experience of running thousands of miles by water. In the Manchu control area, we can march on a large scale, and now we are on our own territory, and the efficiency of the march is only high. ”

Pu Guanshui's mind was full of thinking about how to solve Duan Qirui's third town, and he originally thought about how to complete the "closing the door and beating the dog" of Duan Qirui's third town. Gao Yujie's military plan made Pu Guanshui's eyes shine. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's main tactical training is now sports warfare, and the use of large-scale waterway maneuvers to conduct long-distance movement warfare is absolutely unimagined by Duan Qirui. Once Wang Shizhen is annihilated first, Duan Qirui is trapped in the base area and has no backup, which is a complete shutdown and dog.

"The farther away you are, the less controllable you are." He Zudao expressed a more cautious attitude. This is not to deny the strategic deployment proposed by Gao Yujie, but to allow Gao Yujie to come up with more detailed ideas.

Gao Yujie knew this, and he smiled: "By this time, you will know that it is difficult for our staff. There is definitely not one military plan, and it takes a lot of time to formulate each plan. Looking at the notice, Beiyang will go to Xuzhou within a month, and this battle is estimated to be fought in 40 days. There must be fifteen days to prepare, and you wait for our staff to play with you first, and if you still have breath, the logistics department will continue to play with you. ”

"Beiyang is not easy to fight." Pu Guanshui said this again.

The other comrades couldn't help but nodded, after all, the Beiyang Army was the trump card in the hands of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, if it could annihilate Duan Qirui's third town, and at the same time eliminate the Jiangbei Governor Wang Shizhen's department, then the vast area from Anhui to Xuzhou would be completely open to the People's Party. In particular, the People's Party was able to completely control a section of the canal. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal includes multiple ends, 1. Tonghui River. (2) the North Canal; (3) South Canal. (4) Lu Canal; (5) Middle Canal; (6) Li Canal; (7) Jiangnan Canal. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, between Xia Zhen (now Weishan County) and Qingjiangpu (now Huai'an) of Weishan Lake in Shandong, the canal projects such as the Kaiyukou Canal, the Tongji New River and the Zhonghe River were carried out in the middle of the Yellow River, and the Yuehe River was excavated between the Jianghuai River and carried out the project of separating the lake and the Cao. After the victory of the People's Party, the fleet departing from Yangzhou did not want to go north without the consent of the People's Party. This was a fatal blow to the Manchus.

While Pu Guanshui and others were talking, other comrades of the Central Military Commission kept coming, and soon all the members of the Central Military Commission, including Hua Xiongmao and Yan Fu, arrived. Hua Xiongmao clapped his hands, "Comrades, Chairman Chen is holding a Politburo meeting now, and he will not attend the meeting of the Military Commission first. We are now drawing up a military battle plan and will review it together when Chairman Chen comes. ”

Although Gao Yujie jokingly said that the work of the General Staff Department is heavy, in fact, the General Staff Department has already had several preliminary plans, and the strategic arrangements are similar, all of which are to lure the enemy into the depths and adopt the mode of mobile warfare to close the door and fight the dog. The difference between these plans is how far the BJP allows the enemy to go deeper. One of the core characteristics of Manchu warfare was that it relied on lines of communication. Railways, roads, and shipping were the core of Manchu warfare. The People's Party, on the other hand, has a wider space for movement because it has mastered the countryside. If the Manchus did not detach themselves from the main roads, then their lines of communication and transportation would be extremely fixed and fragile. If they leave the main road, it will only be possible to operate in small forces. It was impossible for the Manchu army to march into the countryside at will, and tens of thousands of people were in the fields under unknown circumstances, not to mention fighting, and drinking water alone was a big problem.

After saying a few basic ideas first, the eyes of the comrades invariably fell on Yan Fu. Inland waterway shipping was the key in this battle, and Anhui's dense waterways and the capture of the ships of the Hubei New Army made the People's Party's inland waterway troops strong. Therefore, Duan Qirui will either have a decisive battle with the People's Party on the inland river first, and destroy the inland river troops first. Not to mention whether the Beiyang Army has the strength of this naval force, many ships are not small in size, and once the inland river fleet sinks in large numbers, even if there is no artificial obstacle artificially created by the People's Party, just cleaning up the river will be enough for the Beiyang Army to be busy for several months.

The majority of the staff were from the army, but after several meetings, everyone discussed the details of these naval forces. If Duan Qirui wanted to fight quickly, he would only have to go by land. Then Yan Fu, as a naval expert, his opinion is particularly important.

Looking at the eyes of the young comrades, the handsome old man Yan Fu smiled and said, "If I were Duan Qirui, I would definitely not attack the base area." ”

Listening to the jokes of the old handsome guys, the young comrades couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Yan Fu's personality was originally very serious, but since he joined the People's Party, the smile on his face has become more and more day by day. In fact, Yan Fu is not a stereotypical person, the handsome old guy was quite active when he was young, but it was the surrounding environment that made him have to be "serious and stereotypical". In the base areas, however, the army stresses "seriousness, earnestness, nervousness, and liveliness." The old handsome guy and these vigorous young revolutionary soldiers are together, and everyone has the same ideals, and there is no internal strife, let alone factional struggle, and Yan Fu could have achieved the first three of these four points. Since there is no need to bother with any officialdom issues, the fourth article also naturally emerged in Yan Fu.

After listening to Yan Fu's words, Hua Xiongmao smiled and said, "Then in the final analysis, we still have to discuss the enemy's strategic deployment?" ”

It is said to be lively, but in fact it is not the nonsense of the comrades. Although they were also laughing, Hua Xiongmao and Yan Fu didn't talk nonsense.

Yan Fu nodded, "So the investigation work still has to be done well." Moreover, our army cannot let the Manchus block us in the Huai River now, and the enemy is not stupid, they know that we have captured the gunboats of the Hubei New Army, and they will definitely worry about our fleet. If the Beiyang Army marches along the river, it is not sure that it will be shelled by our gunboats at any time. They can't accept that this happening. Therefore, the Beiyang Army must at least consider blocking us in the Huai River, and will not copy their back road. Duan Qirui is not incompetent, and Wang Shizhen is known as the dragon of the Beiyang, and he is very careful in considering the problem. They wouldn't have thought of it. ”

The comrades of the Military Commission all nodded yes, and it was a very troublesome thing to predict the enemy's movements, unless the enemy had his own people within him, or knew the enemy very well. Otherwise, it will definitely not work if the enemy's ability is expected to be low, and it will not work if the enemy's ability is expected to be high. Moreover, the more incompetent the enemy is, the more they know how to gather intelligence and observe and judge changes in the situation on the battlefield. It is not easy for such an enemy to easily fall into the trap set in advance by the BJP.

"Then how did Chairman Chen predict Li Yuanhong?" This question was asked.

Hua Xiongmao replied: "Chairman Chen has repeatedly emphasized this matter that he did not predict it, but let Li Yuanhong have only one choice to do. Now there are still many options for the Beiyang Army. ”

"I know that the Beiyang Army has a lot of choices, so let's carefully analyze them one by one and eliminate them one by one."

This suggestion was endorsed by the comrades.

Gao Yujie saw that everyone was about to discuss this issue, and this problem was definitely not something that could be solved in a while. He hurriedly said: "Please wait a moment, I have a strategic idea. Let's not fight Duan Qirui first, but annihilate Wang Shizhen behind Duan Qirui first. No matter how you think about it, the enemy will think that we will hit Duan Qirui at the front first, and Wang Shizhen will be behind, so there will be fewer precautions. We don't care what tricks Duan Qirui plays, or even whether Duan Qirui takes the lead or Wang Shizhen takes the lead. As long as we annihilate the Manchu troops in the rear, and the Manchu troops in the front line are trapped in the base areas, it is only a matter of time before they are destroyed. ”

This idea opened up many comrades at that time, and Yan Fu and Hua Xiongmao both showed smiles of approval on their faces. Pu Guanshui hurriedly said, "I was born in the Beiyang Army, at least when I was in the Beiyang Army, I definitely didn't know what the people's war meant. If I'm a striker, I have to retreat even if I can't beat it. I also think that the vast countryside can be passed freely. ”

Hearing this, almost all comrades burst into laughter. Yes, before everyone studied the people's war, everyone also thought that the vast countryside could be passed at will, that there were no people's fields, and that villages and towns where supplies could be obtained, and that they had to retreat, but it was impossible for the enemy to fly into his head with wings. And now, the revolutionary soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army have been cleared, and when a non-people's army enters the vast countryside, they are simply to death in the face of the people's war. If they rely on the lines of communication to break through regardless of life or death, there is a slight possibility of survival.

"We don't know what to do with the Beiyang Army, but do you have any ideas about which strategy to choose?" Seeing that his suggestion was well received, Gao Yujie then asked.

"What about the Hubei New Army and the Jiangnan New Army?" Pu Guanshui asked. He was very concerned about the dynamics of the two forces.

Hua Xiongmao replied: "Although it is necessary to take precautions, Chairman Chen's meaning is very clear. The Hubei New Army absolutely refused to repeat the mistakes of the past this time. Through the attack of the small detachment, the Hubei New Army is only afraid that it will attack Anqing this time. The strength of the Liberation Society in the Jiangnan New Army is very strong, and Chairman Chen has sent someone to contact the Liberation Society. He didn't want the Restoration Society to stop the Jiangnan New Army from dispatching, nor did he want the Restoration Society to incite the New Army to rebel. As long as he is relieved, he will publicize one thing in the Jiangnan New Army, and he will stand by. ”

The comrades of the Military Commission nodded their heads again and again when they heard these arrangements, and Chen Ke's attitude was actually very clear, that is, to defeat the strongest Beiyang Army. As long as the Hubei New Army and the Jiangnan New Army can be temporarily stabilized, after the People's Party annihilates the Beiyang Army, these two armies will immediately choose to retreat. It's a given.

"So, what do you think?" Gao Yujie then asked.

The comrades of the Central Military Commission looked at each other, and Yan Fuxian said: "I agree with Comrade Gao Yujie's plan. ”

"I'm in favor of it too." Hua Xiongmao then made a statement.

After voting, the Central Military Commission approved Gao Yujie's plan to fight the back first and then the front.