Chapter 236: The Dispute Between the North and the South

Before Tai and Feng Ru went abroad, Zhao Bei asked them to think about the design of this new aircraft ~ people to see if they could paint a scoop according to the gourd and create an avant-garde fighter for the Republican Army. However, after a little study, Feng Ru told Zhao Bei that unless he had a more powerful engine, it would be impossible for the fighter on the sketch to rise into the air, which was not surprising to Zhao Bei, "Fiat CR-32 bucket aircraft is a product of the thirties of the twentieth century, when aero engine technology has made great progress, but now is the beginning of the twentieth century, this era may be difficult to find a better substitute than that kind of engine, in fact, Feng Ru and Xie Tai's trip to Hong Kong, One of the tasks was to buy some foreign car engines and study the technology of internal combustion engines.

However, this sketch was not drawn in vain, Feng Ru got a lot of useful inspiration from it, such as the fairing on the front landing gear of the aircraft, which can reduce the drag of the aircraft a little and increase the flight speed, and the simple and smooth wing design is also impressive, so on the way to this business trip, Feng Ru carried this sketch with him as a treasure, and sat down to study it carefully when he had free time, and modified it while studying to see if he could reduce the weight of the aircraft structure without changing the shape.

"Designed by the military? This is a bit unexpected, especially a medium ** person. Morrison shrugged. As far as I know, only the Republican Army seems to be very interested in aircraft among the Chinese military at present, and I have heard that in the Sichuan Campaign, they used aircraft to fight and carried out destructive attacks on ground targets. ”

Xie Tai and Feng Ru exchanged glances, the rumor that the Republican Army sent planes to bomb Chengdu had already spread, and they heard a lot of people talking about it along the way, because there was no official report, only relying on foreign newspapers and gossip, the result became more and more bizarre until a few bombs razed half of Chengdu City.

"Your Excellency is a reporter, could it be that you were also in Sichuan at that time?" Xie Tai asked tentatively.

Morrison shook his head in frustration and said: "The Republican Army forbade foreign journalists to enter Sichuan during the war, so I didn't catch up with the Sichuan Campaign and didn't see the plane bombing with my own eyes, all the news I know is through those American counterparts, it is said that there were American businessmen who witnessed the whole bombing process at that time, I can't imagine, after all, Americans love to brag the most, especially when their patriotism is overflowing, in fact, it is not only the Wright brothers who invented the airplane, the French and the British are making similar attempts, And the Germans are the progenitors of all this, without the research of the Germans on the glider, there would not be a powered aircraft, and it would be another feat of human aviation to hear that a Frenchman was recently trying to fly over the English Channel. ”

When it comes to airplanes, Feng Ru is like a different person, and he "learned" with Mo Lixun Unfortunately, Mo Lixun is just a reporter, although he has a wide range of knowledge, but he has a shallow taste, and his understanding of the aviation industry is not even as good as Xie Tai, but this person is talkative, and he talked to Feng Ru for half an hour, until Xie Tai chewed slowly and ate lunch, and bought a cup of hot tea, the two did not stop discussing.

Xie Tai wiped his mouth, stood up and said to Feng Ru: "You talk slowly, I'll go to the dock and see if there are any other foreign ships going to Wuhan." ”

"Where are the two gentlemen going? As far as I know, there will be no foreign ships going to Wuhan for the next few days, except for warships. I had just been disembarked by the army, and even through the British Consulate, there were no civilian vessels, and only a French merchant ship went to Wuhan, but it was full and could no longer carry passengers. Morrison said, tilting his head.

"In this way, then we can only stay in Beijing for a few more days, I don't know when the Beiyang Army will return the ship? Maybe make another telegram and ask the Wuhan side to find a way to send ships over and bring back the machinery and equipment. Xie Tai sat back down.

"If you are in a hurry to go to Wuhan. Maybe there's a way. Morrison looked at the two of them again. Brought out the characteristic cunning of journalists. "In the afternoon, a British ** ship will go to Wuhan to take over the duty. If the British Consulate is willing to vouch for it. Maybe we can take a ride with the wind. ”

Xie Tai glanced at Feng Ru. said: "Can you bring the goods?" We carried many boxes. It's all machines. And airplanes. ”

"Airplanes? You have planes with you? Where are you serving the Republican Army? Morrison's eyes lit up.

"Forget it. Or wait a few days. We are not serving the Republican Army. We just went to Wuhan to sell our planes and machines to the Republican Army. ”

Feng Ru suddenly interjected. Flatly denies his true identity. And he glanced at Xie Tai. The two had a tacit understanding. Relations between the IRA and the British are now stale. Although it is not enough to meet each other in battle. But no one dared to guarantee that the British would not seize machines and planes. Before I left Wuhan. Zhao Bei specially told him in the telegram. Unless you do. Don't take a British ship. Instead, American and German steamers should be the first choice. Because these two countries have the clearest attitude towards China. He was also the first to express his willingness to recognize the republican zhèngfǔ. Together

The relationship is also relatively harmonious.

"You two can trust me, I can get a letter of guarantee for you, anyway, I'm going to Wuhan, it's better to go together, at least we can chat on the way." Morrison's enthusiasm was a bit overdone.

Xie Tai and Feng Ru hesitated, and were thinking about whether to accept the invitation of this foreign reporter, but they heard a few screams from the street, looking for prestige, and saw that the procession just now was breaking up in this direction.

That's right, it was a rout, because behind them was a group of Beiyang Army soldiers with big sticks, waving big sticks as they ran, beckoning to the heads and shoulders of those young people, and those who were hit were all bleeding from their heads and running away with their heads in their hands. Of course, there were still some hard bones, and some young people picked up stones and benches on the side of the road to fight with the soldiers, but after all, they were weak and only supported for a moment before they were scattered.

The scattered youths fled in a hurry along the streets, and the streets were full of downed people and scattered leaflets, and the slogans were long gone, and the small vendors on the street also packed up their stalls one after another, scattering birds and beasts, and the food and drink street that was bustling just now suddenly became unrecognizable and full of wreckage.

"Freely, go quickly! Stick long eyes! ”

Xie Tai also panicked, and without waiting for Qing to retreat, he was about to flee as soon as he pulled Feng Ru, but before the two of them could move their steps, they saw dozens of strong men in military uniforms rushing over on the other side of the street, rushing towards the group of scattered youths, many of whom were still carrying benches and bricks in their hands.

Xie Tai and Feng didn't dare to run away, so they had to hide behind the food stall with the Hong Kong technicians next to the street, watching this tragic flanking battle nervously.

But to the surprise of the two, the group of newly rushed soldiers did not go to beat the youth, but rushed up to the group of Beiyang soldiers who were chasing the youth, and after a few scoldings, the two groups of soldiers fought together.

Two young men with broken heads and bleeding heads helped each other to sit down on the edge of the food stall, and one of them tore off the hem of his robe, pulled some strips of cloth down, and wrapped the wounds of the other. Seeing this, Xie Tai and Feng Ru, who were standing aside, also walked over, helped the two young men bandage, and asked a few words of concern, only to learn that both of them were students who went south from the north, and were encouraged to participate in the march, but were beaten by the soldiers of the Beiyang Army.

It is said that once this treaty is signed, it will not only seize a large number of minerals in the northeast region, but also obtain the monopoly rights of the South Manchurian railway, and turn the Fushun and Yantai coal mines that it occupied in the Russo-Russian War into a commercial industry. The Rì Ben would also gain the authority to station more troops in Mukden, Changchūn, and other places, and together with the original South Manchurian Railway escort team and the Kwantung Army garrison in the "Kwantung Prefecture", the total strength of the Rì Army in the northeast would far exceed the local Chinese garrison.

The news spread: The whole country was in an uproar, and the constitutional representatives of all parties went to Beijing and Tianjin to petition, but before they could get Yuan zhèngfǔ's reply, another insider story was revealed by the foreign-language newspapers of the concession: once Yuan Shikai signed the treaty, the bank would secretly lend one million pounds to the Beiyang Group!

The anger of the people was detonated, and the young people began to take to the streets to express their dissatisfaction, and the Beiyang army in the north pressed the ground for the time being, and the wind was still calm, but the young students in the south organized themselves and held large-scale protests in various places.

Listening to the narration of the two young men, standing on the side of the road and watching for a while, Xie Tai and Feng Ru came to their senses, and looked at the military uniforms carefully, it turned out that the two groups of soldiers who were fighting each other did not belong to the same system, but they couldn't tell which unit the soldiers who were fighting with the Beiyang Army belonged to, but they were obviously not the Beiyang Army. Although Nanjing was conquered by the Beiyang Army, after the recovery, the revolutionary armies from Zhejiang, Fujian and other places also drove to the city, although the number was small, but they were all descendants of the Alliance and the Restoration Society, and it was by no means easy for Yuan Shikai to win over.

Morrison stood beside the two of them for a long time before he said, "I understand! The positions of these two groups of servicemen are clearly different! The soldiers of that unit were not something that Beiyang officers could command. ”

Xie Tai glanced at him, and secretly laughed at the slow reaction of the foreigner, but he can't blame the foreigner entirely, if you want to blame the foreigner for not understanding China, although the north and the south have reached a consensus on the republican system, and the constitution has been promulgated, but the armies of the north and the south are still independent and do not belong to each other, although Yuan Shikai wants to unify the military and government, but he has no choice but to turn a blind eye for the time being, and wait for the "provisional president" to become the official president, but it has suffered the people, and they don't know the "commanders" and "governors" who rule their hometowns Whether it's an impostor or not.

To sum it up in one sentence: the North-South struggle is far from over.