Chapter 354: Embattled (II)

Embattled.

Cen 'Chun' Xuan described it well, and now Yuan Shikai is indeed embattled and unprecedentedly isolated.

The annihilation of the Second Army of the Beiyang Southward Advance in southern Henan not only exposed the true combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army's foreign strong and middle-class cadres, but also swept away the prestige of Yuan Shikai, the supreme commander of this army.

In the face of the embattled critical situation, if it is not handled well, this battle of Xinyang may be Yuan Shikai's Waterloo.

In recent days, Yuan Shikai has been restless, and his anxiety is now not only on the military, but also on politics.

After the news of the defeat in southern Henan, the reactions of all parties gradually became clear:

Abroad, although Britain and Japan continued to support Beiyang to dominate China's central power, they stuck Beiyang's neck economically, cut off financial loans to Beiyang, and made it very difficult for the Beiyang Army to raise military salaries. Obviously, in the stance on China, the differences between the great powers have further expanded, if in the past the great powers had only one Beiyang bloc to choose from, then now, they have a new "agent" candidate, that is, the United Front, if the Beiyang bloc cannot satisfy their greedy appetite and ambitions, then they will definitely support the United Front, this is an international political struggle, and it has nothing to do with "friendship" and "diplomatic relations," but only with national interests.

In the country, Yuan Shikai's enemies because. Rejoicing at the great military victory of the United Front, the United Front has risen rapidly as a new powerful military and political force, and is rapidly expanding its political strength, although the United Front has repeatedly claimed to hold peace talks with the Beiyang bloc, but their military operations have not stopped, not only the Henan front is still fighting, but the RUF troops in other directions have also significantly intensified their attack attempts; On the other hand, as Yuan Shikai's former political allies, some people saw the wind and steered, ready to draw a line with Yuan Shikai, and even planned to seize power, the representative of this group of people is Sheng Xuanhuai, they are plotting to carry out an "internal struggle", using "peaceful means" to oust Yuan Shikai from power, and replace another Beiyang leader, and the candidate they chose is Yuan Shikai's brother Xu Shichang; What worries Yuan Shikai the most is that the original wall-riding faction also began to fall to the united front because of the defeat of the Beiyang Army in southern Henan, and Jiang Guidi, the governor of Anhui, and Zhao Wei, the governor of Henan, have successively sent telegrams, announced an "uprising", joined the united front, and armed against Yuan, and the actions of these people not only further strengthened the military and political strength of the united front, but also played the role of a weather vane, even those who are not very sensitive to political smell can see Yuan Shikai's current predicament.

Foreign and domestic political dilemmas are added to one. In just a few days, as if he had aged more than ten years, the whole person looked haggard, and even the daily state affairs meeting was not 'fine' to preside over, and they were all entrusted to Zhao Bingjun, Cai Tinggan and others to preside, and he himself basically stayed in the small study of the presidential palace and discussed with several other cronies how to deal with the situation in front of him.

The most important question at the moment is how to eliminate. Only by eliminating the "internal troubles" and eliminating the internal troubles can the Beiyang be as solid as a rock, and if the internal troubles are not eliminated, the Beiyang will be a plate of scattered sand, but before that, the most urgent thing is how to deal with the Northern Expeditionary Front of the United Front.

Yuan Shikai gritted his teeth at the betrayal of Sheng Xuanhuai and others. Now that the Beiyang collective has reached a critical time of life and death, those people not only don't think about how to help the leader tide over the difficulties and help Beiyang tide over the difficulties, but think about how to fall into the well and kick Yuan Shikai away, so as to protect their vested interests and avoid losses.

Judging from the information obtained so far, Sheng Xuanhuai's gang is wishful thinking. The plate is to "punish" Yuan Shikai as the culprit of the north-south war, that is, to sacrifice Yuan Shikai and protect the interests of most people in Beiyang.

But in Yuan Shikai's opinion, this is Sheng Xuanhuai's gang of Yuan faction. It's just wishful thinking. The United Front is completely different from the previous Manchu officialdom forces, this is an emerging force, this political force and the Beiyang group basically have no interest cementation, the demise of the Beiyang Group is what the United Front is happy to see, so even if Yuan Shikai is overthrown by the Yuan faction, the United Front will never stop marching into the center, Beiyang will eventually be wiped out, the "Wu faction" will be finished, and the "Wen faction" will also be finished, because the United Front not only needs guns, but also money, and left the "Wu faction." The Beiyang "Wen School" has become a fish 'meat' on the chopping board, which can only be slaughtered by others.

Yuan Shikai is really. I can't figure it out, why Sheng Xuanhuai's 'shrewd' "Beiyang God of Wealth" can't understand this, why does he have to set off a 'tide' of Yuan frenzy at this time, although the relationship between the two is not good, but it is not to the extent that you live and die, why Sheng Xuanhuai must 'force' Yuan Shikai to a dead end?

After thinking about it, Yuan Shikai could only blame Sheng Xuanhuai's behavior on his financial 'obsession', because the general office of the 'Jiaotong' Bank originally intended to let Sheng Xuanhuai do it, but Yuan Shikai finally 'handed over' this position to Xiong Xiling and Liang Shiyi, in this regard, Sheng Xuanhuai could not have no opinion, in addition, in order to raise military spending, Yuan Shikai also ruthlessly dealt with Sheng Xuanhuai's steamship China Merchants Bureau, which had been in charge for many years, and a large number of Sheng Xuanhuai's promoted general office, conference office, assistant office, and committee members were pulled down. And the 'flower' shares in the China Merchants shares controlled by the Sheng family have also "evaporated" in this officialdom game, can Sheng Xuanhuai not hate?

Interests, this is always the most concerned issue of people, when the interests of two people conflict, that is when they go to confrontation.

In order to fight against Yuan Shikai, Sheng Xuanhuai chose a good time to take advantage of the defeat in southern Henan to counterattack Yuan Shikai, and the most important weapon in his hand is money, but this money is not Sheng Xuanhuai's own pocket, behind him, there are a large number of Yuan Shikai's political enemies, among these people, some are Yuan Shikai's old political enemies, and they have long been looking forward to Yuan Shikai's end, and some people have the same purpose as Sheng Xuanhuai, all hoping to avoid being implicated by Yuan Shikai's "willful behavior" and maintain their vested interests.

All these people joined forces to form the "inverted Yuan faction", they have no army in their hands, they can only use political resources, they are not as good as Yuan Shikai, but they are not fighting alone, the united front actually acts as their allies 'color', just yesterday, news came that Zhengzhou has fallen into the hands of the united front, even Yuan Shikai's cousin Zhang Zhenfang was captured alive, and also took a telegram to the presidential palace to ask Yuan Shikai to recognize the situation.

An internal enemy, an external enemy, under this internal and external attack, Yuan Shikai is already unable to parry, and the haggard strength of his heart can only be experienced by the people around him, but everyone is also powerless, and now, even his own future is slim, where can he still take care of Yuan Laoshuai?

"President Junjian! On the other hand, on the side of the United Front, they have now switched to the offensive, where to attack and when to attack, this decision is in their hands, our army is passive defense, which requires sufficient strategic reserves, but at present, the first army of Beiyang southward is still stranded in the southeast, and the overall strength is overstretched, and it is really impossible to defend such a wide front. ”

Zhang Xiaozhun held a bamboo whip, pointed to a large-scale military map hanging on the wall of the study, and recounted his views expressionlessly, now the Beiyang Army is insufficient, but Yuan Shikai still plans to defend everywhere, this is simply self-defeating, Zhang Xiaozhun began to suspect that Yuan Shikai did not understand modern warfare at all.

Yuan Shikai's style of play, that is, the continuation of the Hunan army's kind of "hard village, dumb battle" in the past, this kind of tactics has long been outdated, and it is okay to deal with the peasant rebel army, but if it is used to deal with the united front, it will be too child's play, because according to the current front-line war report, the united front is gathering troops, concentrating on sweeping northward, to deal with such an enemy, it is the most stupid to disperse troops to defend, if you want to defend the Beijing-Tianjin area, the best choice at present is to shrink back and wait for help.

On the one hand, he has completely seen the essence of the Beiyang Army, which is an old-style army dressed in new military uniforms and 'drilling' new weapons. The sooner the colorful army is finished, the better it will be for the country, but on the other hand, as a senior military adviser to Yuan Shikai's side, it is Zhang Xiaozhun's duty to give advice to Yuan Shikai, otherwise, it will really be like what those Beiyang generals said, he Zhang Xiaozhun is "only eating and not working".

"Then, in your opinion, how should our army be armed?" Yuan Shikai was obviously also shaken and set his sights on Zhang Xiaozhun.

Zhang Xiaozhun sighed in his heart, and with a finger of the bamboo whip, he moved to the southeast corner of the map.

"According to the humble opinion, the best plan now is to transfer the First Army of Beiyang Southward Advance from Shanghai to Nanjing back to the north, even if not all of them can be transferred back, at least some of them should be transferred north to Xuzhou to hold this strategic place, in any case, we must also ensure the smooth flow of 'communication' between the north and the south by land, even if we give up the southeast, we must also hold Shandong and Jiangsu."

"The southeast is a land of wealth, how can it be easily abandoned? I have sent the cruiser fleet south to Shanghai, and now Tang Xiangming has led the Jiangfang fleet to flee to Jiujiang in disarray, and the situation in the southeast is very good, it is the time when our Beiyang First Army counterattacks Hangzhou, how can we withdraw the first army to the north at this time? Even if Beijing and Tianjin cannot be defended, as long as the southeast is occupied, our Beiyang can still make a comeback. Yuan Shikai was unwilling.

"Beiyang is not in the southeast at all, but in Zhili, Beijing and Tianjin, as soon as Beijing and Tianjin are lost, Beiyang will lose its righteous name, that is, the dog that has lost its family, the united front can occupy the southeast, but Beiyang cannot occupy the southeast, this is the current situation, but also the hearts of the people."

Zhang Xiaozhun sighed, looked at Yuan Shikai, and then looked at Duan Zhigui who was standing on the side.

Move the capital, this proposal is what Duan Zhigui just put forward, and judging from Yuan Shikai's words, he is obviously also moved, but in Zhang Xiaozhun's view, this proposal has no feasibility of implementation, because it is too late in time, and the United Front has also placed a heavy army in Hangzhou, although it is not as good at fighting as the Republican Army, but inspired by the victory in southern Henan, they may not have the courage to fight a decisive battle with the first army of Beiyang South.

In the final analysis, the strategy of "defending the east and attacking the west" formulated by Yuan Shikai was wrong from the beginning, if Yuan Shikai could know himself and the enemy, he should not have attacked Henan at all, he should have solved the United Front troops in the direction of Hangzhou first, and strategically isolated the United Front troops on the Western Front, even if he could not defeat Zhao Bei, at least he could avoid the current embarrassing situation. Of course, this strategy is not foolproof, and with the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army in the battle of southern Henan, the First Beiyang Army may not be able to conquer Hangzhou before the troops of the Western Front United Front hit Beijing and Tianjin along the Jinghan Line.

Again, strength determines everything, and with the strength of the Beiyang Army, it is impossible to unify the North-South Decree by force, let alone eliminate the United Front.

"Zhang Xiaozhun, what do you mean by that? You are growing the morale of others and destroying your own prestige. Duan Zhigui glanced at Zhang Xiaozhun.

Zhang Xiaozhun put down the bamboo whip, walked up to Yuan Shikai, bowed, and then 'touched' a letter from his pocket and presented it with both hands.

"Zhang is incompetent and can't solve the dilemma of this strategy for President Yuan, and he is really ashamed of his trust in President Yuan. This is Zhang's resignation, please ask President Yuan for approval. ”

Yuan Shikai was a little surprised, he didn't take the resignation letter, turned his head and glared at Duan Zhigui, and then turned around and looked at Zhang Xiaozhun.

"What are you doing, Runnon? Now that the center is in a difficult situation, how can you not do it? Why, do you also want to learn from Sheng Xuanhuai's gang and fall into the well? ”

Yuan Shikai first reproached a few words, and then changed his words.

"I have decided to form the Gyeonggi Garrison Command of the Beiyang Army, and now there is a shortage of commanders, if you want, this commander will let you do it!"

As soon as Yuan Shikai said this, everyone present was shocked, Duan Zhigui wanted to speak, but was glared back by Yuan Shikai with a blank eye, and the study was eerily quiet for a while.

Zhang Xiaozhun was quite surprised, he didn't know if this was Yuan Shikai's temporary intention, or he had already planned to do so, to be honest, he didn't want to grasp the real power that was fake, since he arrived in Beiyang, he has been sitting on the cold bench, although Yuan Shikai is courteous, but the Beiyang generals don't respect him very much, but now, Yuan Shikai plans to appoint him as the commander of the Gyeonggi garrison, in principle, this is equivalent to 'handing' all the defense matters in the Beijing-Tianjin region to him to deal with, even Beiyang veterans like Duan Zhigui are under his command.

But theory is not equal to reality, as long as Yuan Shikai is still in Beijing and Tianjin, then this Gyeonggi garrison commander is an ornament, which Zhang Xiaozhun quickly figured out.

However, before Zhang Xiaozhun could refuse the appointment, Duan Qirui, the acting chief of the War Department, had already hurried into the study and presented a copy of a telegram to Yuan Shikai.

"What? Tongguan lost? Yuan Shikai was shocked.

"This morning, the troops of the Southeastern Shaanxi Army stormed Tongguan, Wu Guangxin led his troops to fight bloodily, but the enemy offensive was very fierce, the artillery fire almost destroyed the Tongguan fortifications, our army suffered more than half of the casualties, and could not get reinforcements from the direction of Luoyang, so we had no choice but to cross the Yellow River and withdraw to Pujin, Shanxi."

Duan Qirui's words made Yuan Shikai even more angry, raised his hand and pointed at Duan Qirui's nose, and asked, "What did you say when you promoted Wu Guangxin?" Loyal and brave generals! What a loyal and brave general! ”

Duan Qirui didn't argue, just waited for Yuan Shikai to finish speaking, and then took out another telegram and said: "This is a telegram just received, the person who took the telegram is Li Houji, the commander of the Ninth Division, and the telegram said that he has declared 'neutrality' in Gong County, Henan, calling for a truce between the north and the south, peaceful coexistence, and the joint construction of the country." Li Houji acted like this, I am afraid that this is the reason why Luoyang did not dare to send reinforcements to reinforce Tongguan. ”

"Lee Houji is reversed?"

Duan Zhigui jumped out, grabbed the telegram, glanced at it a few times, and scolded: "This bastard is really the opposite!" Yesterday I telegraphed to him, and he also vowed to be loyal to Beiyang, but he changed his face today. ”

"Porphy!"

When Yuan Shikai heard the news, the world suddenly turned, and as soon as it was dark in front of him, he fell backwards and hit the desk, only to be held by his eldest son Yuan Keding.

Everyone hurried to find the doctor, but Yuan Shikai still fainted.

For an embattled person, Yuan Shikai's reaction couldn't be more normal.

Yuan Shikai, who was unconscious, was quickly carried out of the study, and the military meeting was interrupted.

Zhang Xiaozhun followed everyone out of the study, stood by the corridor and glanced at the sky, only to find that a drizzle had fallen at some point, and it was drifting obliquely with the wind.

"It's stormy."

Duan Qirui walked past Zhang Xiaozhun with his hands behind his back and sighed.