Speaking is a very skillful thing, and in the face of Yuan Shikai's inquiry about the recent battle situation in Handan, Jiang Baili replied bluntly: "President, although Wu Peifu is fighting hard in Handan at the moment, the whole situation is still advantageous to us in Beiyang. ”

Sure enough, as Jiang Baili expected, Yuan Shikai's fat face showed a hint of relaxation. didn't ask Jiang Baili to continue to explain what was beneficial to Beiyang, Yuan Shikai waved his hand, "Hurry up and do something." Don't let those people get out of the way. ”

"Yes!" Jiang Baili answered loudly, and then went out. As soon as he went out, Jiang Baili's face became gloomy. Of course, what he said to Yuan Shikai just now was not the truth, and the battle situation in Handan, a few hundred miles away from the Great Presidential Palace, was absolutely not favorable, and the city of Beijing within a dozen miles of the Great Presidential Palace was now full of dangers. Jiang Baili, as an attendant military attaché, can consult a lot of information. After discovering that there was no grain for sale in the grain shops in Beijing, Jiang Baili retrieved some information about military rations, and Jiang Baili was frightened by the fact that this part of the information was not comprehensive at all.

After Beiyang's expansion of the army by one million, Hebei's grain was almost exhausted. Jiang Baili asked a few friends who had a relationship with the grain merchants, and their answers were exactly the same. This process is like boiling frogs in warm water, and in the face of rising grain prices, landlords and farmers have sold all the grain in their hands. At present, there is no food in the countryside at all, and everyone is waiting for this year's summer harvest.

"Since the grain has been sold, the grain is naturally concentrated in the hands of Beiyang?" Jiang Baili came to his own judgment based on the information provided by these people. This judgment is naturally reasonable, but at least it is obvious that the limit of Beiyang's hoarding of a large amount of grain cannot be seen in the official documents. Because Jiang Baili found that a considerable part of the recent official documents were official documents in the army asking for food. There are more and more official documents of this type, and some units have even sent two or three official documents asking for food transfer in a single day.

From the point of view of military organization, there is obviously something greasy in these official documents. Military rations are allocated on time, and the troops are not granaries, so it is useless to store so much grain. Before the start of the war, the Beiyang Army had statistics, and the current military food reserves were absolutely able to eat until September, and now it is only June, and some troops are shouting that there is not enough food to eat. There are only two possibilities, either someone is lying when the original plan was being made, or these troops who applied for food are talking nonsense.

Whether it is the senior officials who make the plan or the governors who implement the plan, these two people are not something that Jiang Baili can afford to provoke. Even if there were all kinds of doubts in his heart, it was impossible for Jiang Baili to question these people, let alone that this investigation was Jiang Baili's own private action. At the beginning of the war, Jiang Baili had never expected such a big problem in food before the war began.

Thinking of this, Jiang Baili's mood was extremely heavy, the food supply of a million troops was simply not something that one person could carry. Now that we have encountered such a problem, what unexpected things will continue to happen while the war continues?

There was something in his heart, Jiang Baili's reaction was a little sluggish, and he was bumped by someone rushing over in a hurry at the corner of the corridor. The man's nose hit Jiang Baili's forehead, and his eyes turned red involuntarily under the soreness. Before Jiang Baili could understand, he heard the opening scolding: "Don't you walk without eyes?" After finishing speaking, the man pushed Jiang Baili aside and continued to hurriedly hit Yuan Shikai's office.

The incident happened suddenly, Jiang Baili was temporarily confused, and he didn't even react to anger. saw that the man's back was more familiar, his hair was gray, and the color of his military uniform and epaulettes were obviously a general. The general strode towards Yuan Shikai's office, and the guards naturally refused to report it casually, and immediately stopped the general at the door. The man was also refreshed, and he shouted loudly in Jiangxi-flavored Tianjin: "President, Zhang Xun asks to see!" ”

Jiang Baili then remembered that the person was Zhang Xun. Zhang Xun came to Beijing from Jiangxi to join Yuan Shikai, although he has been idle in recent years, Zhang Xun is an officer who leads the troops to fight. Beiyang also lacked people, so Yuan Shikai also gave Zhang Xun the rank of major general. Let Zhang Xun work as an errand in the logistics department. God knows which medicine Zhang Xun took the wrong medicine and took the initiative to find Yuan Shikai.

It is naturally inappropriate to watch the excitement, and Jiang Baili does not like to watch the excitement. In any case, Jiang Baili, as an attendant military attaché, could not find Zhang Xun as a major general, let alone Zhang Xun was thirty or forty years older than Jiang Baili. Sulking, Jiang Baili turned around and continued to convey Yuan Shikai's order.

Like the Presidential Palace, the War Department is also gloomy, and as the supreme command organ of the Beiyang Army, they are always the first to get information. The faces of the soldiers shuttling around the various rooms with official documents were solemn, and Jiang Baili could see that everyone was very unhappy. If you want to ban the spread of "foreign military observation groups suffered heavy casualties under the bombing of the People's Party", you must first go to Duan Qirui, vice minister of the Ministry of the Army. As the Minister of the War Department, Wang Shizhen will definitely not be able to personally take care of this kind of thing.

However, the door of Duan Qirui's office was closed, and the guards said coldly to Jiang Baili: "Lord Duan doesn't see anyone now. If you want to see Master Duan, then wait for now. ”

No matter what Jiang Baili said, the guards said the same thing. Jiang Baili didn't know what was going on, but he heard someone behind him shouting, "Isn't this Baili?" Turning his head, he saw that the person who spoke was Zheng Wenjie, deputy director of the Intelligence Division of the War Department.

Zheng Wenjie said: "Baili, go to my office to talk first." Regardless of whether Jiang Baili wanted it or not, Zheng Wenjie pulled Jiang Baili and went somewhere else. That direction was also the direction of Zheng Wenjie's office, and when he arrived at a relatively secluded place, Zheng Wenjie said in a low voice: "I just received the news that Wu Peifu has withdrawn his troops back to Handan. Duan Dashuai is convening people to talk about this. I don't think you'd better wait. ”

"Wu Peifu withdrew to Handan?" Jiang Baili didn't expect the occupation to develop to such a point.

"Not only has Wu Peifu withdrawn to Handan, but a People's Party unit has already gone north to attack Xingtai. Now Wu Peifu's 200,000 people in Handan are surrounded. Some people in the War Department felt that they should send troops south to open up the Jinghan line. There are also suggestions to abandon Handan and let Wu Peifu withdraw. Baili, you know how to fight in Beiyang, can you give me some advice. In case the handsome man asks, brother, I also have something to say. ”

"Whether it is a breakthrough or a hold, we have to send troops south as soon as possible." Jiang Baili replied casually, and after finishing speaking, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zheng, is this news...... Make no mistake, right? ”

Zheng Wenjie smiled bitterly: "We didn't believe it at first, but the Third Army stationed in Xingtai repeatedly determined that a People's Party force of more than 100,000 people had circled behind Wu Peifu and approached Xingtai. What to do now, there is no idea in the War Department. ”

"Haven't you told the President about this?" Jiang Baili suddenly wanted to leave now, and telling Yuan Shikai such news was purely full of food. Yuan Shikai's mood could not accept such a fact.

"The situation is like this, and the War Department wants to come up with a solution first, and then report the matter to the president." After saying this, Zheng Wenjie sighed deeply.