Jiang Baili has a good reputation in Beiyang, and naturally there are no rumors about Jiang Baili winning the first place in the Japanese Military Academy and being awarded a saber at this time, in fact, his grades are not down. The status of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School is simply not comparable to that of the Army University, and it is even more unlikely that a student of the Non-commissioned Officer School will receive the Emperor in person. The most important thing is that the grades of Japanese students and international students at the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School are separated and not counted together.

Even so, having studied in a regular Japanese military academy and graduated normally, at least Jiang Baili did a good job in terms of academic qualifications. So originally Beiyang wanted Jiang Baili to be the principal of Baoding Military Academy, but Yuan Shikai needed a military attache who was proficient in Japan, so he transferred Jiang Baili to the president's attendant military attaché.

Zheng Wenjie knew that Jiang Baili was more arrogant, and he himself colluded with the People's Party in private, so he was naturally a little weak-hearted, and he still wanted to be more active in such major matters. If Jiang Baili revealed to others that he had asked Jiang Baili about the current situation, it would be very beneficial to Zheng Wenjie. So Zheng Wenjie said sincerely: "Baili, you are a hero in my Beiyang Army, and you have always been praised by everyone. At this time, please show my brother and me the way, so that when I ask from above, don't let my brother and I can't answer anything. ”

Jiang Baili felt that this was very appetizing, but he still wanted to be a little reserved, after all, he was Yuan Shikai's attendant military attaché, and he followed Yuan Shikai every day, which was also very different among his peers. "Brother Zheng, you naturally have high opinions on such things, why bother to ask me."

Zheng Wenjie has seen a lot of such a reserved mentality, and most of the people in Beiyang are such goods. He hurriedly laughed in a low voice: "Baili, you have a high personality, you never went to invite guests to drink before the eldest son's bad event, but then the eldest prince really did something bad." However, this matter is a major matter in my Beiyang, and as a member of the intelligence department, I know that Baili has checked some things about food. Now food is the top priority in Beiyang, and you still care about these points in Baili. So brother, I really beg you, brother. Brother, although I can also come up with some methods, but they are all some methods without a head and tail, and I can't look at the battle. Baili was born in a military academy and excelled in academics, so you naturally have a complete idea to come out. I hope you will tell my brother about it. ”

Seeing that Zheng Wenjie knew him so well, Jiang Baili was a little surprised in his heart, but what Zheng Wenjie said was something that Jiang Baili felt quite satisfied with. Whether it was to see that Yuan Ke was going to do something bad first, or to see that Beiyang grain was going to encounter major problems, Jiang Baili could be regarded as grasping the key. And Zheng Wenjie put his figure so low, Jiang Baili also felt the need to give Zheng Wenjie some help.

"Brother Zheng, don't you know what the general idea is in the War Department?" Jiang Baili asked first.

Zheng Wenjie replied: "In this ......, Baili naturally knew that the People's Party once invaded Hebei in the name of horse bandits, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty immediately collapsed. Now the War Department still feels that it is necessary to ensure that there are no mistakes on the front. From Jinan to Handan, Beiyang must first hold the front. ”

"It's good that there can't be a gap in the front, but as far as I know, the People's Party didn't have a front when it was fighting with us in Beiyang. They are just a few points, Handan, Qingdao, Jining, Anyang. Rather than sticking to one front, we should fight against the People's Party. The People's Party is besieging Handan, why don't we adopt the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao? ”

When Zheng Wenjie heard this strategy, he couldn't help but clap his hands and praise: "Wonderful! ”

When Wei besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao, Qi did not directly send troops to relieve the siege of Handan, but suddenly sent troops to attack if they could go out of the Yellow River to coerce Kaifeng, an important town of the People's Party, not only the siege of the Handan group in Beiyang was immediately relieved, but the Beiyang Army could even carry out a counter-encirclement of the troops of the People's Party going north. At that time, the People's Party had to hurriedly return to the south, and the Beiyang Army could pursue and kill all the way. Under such a strategic situation, it is not entirely impossible to completely annihilate the People's Party.

"Baili is really talented!" Zheng Wenjie hurriedly praised.

"But there's one more point." Jiang Baili continued, "Back then, the State of Qi did not immediately raise troops to attack Kaifeng, but first attacked Xiangling, that is, Linfen. Let Wei think that the Qi army was just going to attack the important place of Linfen in order to drag the strength of the Wei army. That's why the defense of Kaifeng was relaxed. If we want to use the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao now, we must find this Xiangling. ”

"Wonderful!" Zheng Wenjie didn't read much military books, originally he thought that besieging Wei and saving Zhao was a simple direct attack on Daliang, the capital of Wei, to force the Wei army to return to the army, but he didn't expect that there were still these twists and turns. So Zheng Wenjie put away the little underestimation in his heart, and began to ask Jiang Baili for further advice.

Jiang Baili taught Zheng Wenjie in detail the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao, and it took more than an hour. But the War Department meeting was still not over, and seeing that it was getting late, whether to continue to wait or just go back. Jiang Baili felt quite embarrassed.

Zheng Wenjie said with a smile: "Baili, I am in charge of the intelligence department, and we got the news first in this intelligence." You might as well go back today and come back early tomorrow morning. At that time, I first told Lord Wang and Lord Duan about this, and if you go to them again, I want them to meet you. Even if they don't see you, they'll give it an account. What do you think? ”

Zheng Wenjie is willing to contribute so much, Jiang Baili naturally can't ask for it, "Then there is Brother Lao Zheng!" ”

The next day, Jiang Baili arrived at the presidential office early in the morning, and before he left for the War Department, he received an order from Yuan Shikai to "prepare for a military meeting." ”

The participants were all high-ranking officials from Beiyang, the civil officials were not bad, and most of the generals had red eyes, and it seemed that they were afraid that they had not rested well last night. On the large military map in the conference room, the offensive and defensive situation of the two warring sides is clearly marked. To the north of the Yellow River, more than a dozen armies, large and small, gathered. The Beiyang Army lined up its troops with Beijing as the core, and a large number of troops were stationed in Handan, Xingtai, Dezhou, Jinan and other cities at the forefront. On the other hand, the People's Party moved from south to north, and its main direction of attack was Handan and Jinan. Compared with the pre-war plan of the Beiyang plan to take the initiative to attack Henan, the People's Party was clearly in an offensive posture.

First of all, Wang Shizhen gave a brief introduction to the battle situation, and Yuan Shikai asked coldly: "As far as I know, many people are afraid of the planes of the People's Party, and if a few planes drop some bombs below, the troops will not be able to move. Can a small bomb be more ferocious than a cannon? ”

As soon as Jiang Baili heard Yuan Shikai's words, he understood why Yuan Shikai had banned the foreign military observation group from suffering heavy casualties in the People's Party air raid. He immediately felt uneasy in his heart, although Zheng Wenjie promised to tell the members of the War Department about the ban. But whether Zheng Wenjie did it or not, that's a matter of God knows.

Duan Qirui spoke, "President, the soldiers were frightened enough to choke on the march, and the officers were also frightened. We now do not have the weapons to reach the planes of the People's Party, and if we blindly let the officers and men brave the bombing to advance, I am afraid that the morale of the army will be unstable. ”

Hearing that Duan Qirui did not use the matter of the foreign military observation group as an excuse, Jiang Baili breathed a sigh of relief.

"Humph!" Yuan Shikai sneered, but did not speak.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai was extremely dissatisfied, Duan Qirui also replied with a serious expression: "The key point at the moment is to engage the People's Party as soon as possible and defeat them. The subordinates felt that they might as well use the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao. ”

Jiang Baili was taken aback, this was what he talked about with Zheng Wenjie, could it be that Zheng Wenjie told the people of the War Department about this plan overnight?

Duan Qirui didn't care about the change in the expression of Jiang Baili, the attendant military attaché, and he continued: "Send a force to attack Anyang behind the People's Party and cut off the back road of the People's Party. When the People's Party returns to the army, we will chase and kill the troops in Handan and Xingtai all the way, which will inflict a heavy blow on the People's Party. ”

As soon as Duan Qirui finished speaking, Cao Kun got up and spoke: "President, the minister's views are different from those of Duan Dashuai. The People's Party still has troops in Henan, and even if we copy Anyang, the People's Party's forces in Handan are unmoved, but send other troops north. At that time, not only will we not be able to encircle the People's Party, but the troops sent to Anyang will be surrounded by the People's Party. This was too risky, and the minister felt that it was better to hold on to the spot and wait for the People's Party to consume a large number of troops when the siege of the city was carried out, and the morale was also very low. After all, Handan is a big city, and General Wu Peifu is also a famous general, so it will not be so easy for the People's Party to defeat Handan. ”

Jiang Baili could see that this controversy was by no means new to the present, and when Cao Kun opposed Duan Qirui's plan, although Duan Qirui's face was ugly, he did not have a surprised expression.

Cao Kun didn't stop there, he continued: "If our army wants to use the siege of Wei to save Zhao, then it is better to let the army of Shaanxi and the army of Jiangnan attack at the same time. The main force of the People's Party is in Hebei, thousands of miles away from Jiangnan. The Shaanxi troops attacked Shaanxi County, and as long as they could take Shaanxi County, they could attack Luoyang. If they can succeed, the People's Party's Henan troops will inevitably go to Luoyang to defend, and at that time, the People's Party's troops did not have the support of Henan, and then sending troops to attack Anyang was the best strategy. In fact, if one of these two roads succeeds, the People's Party is afraid that it will withdraw its troops. Isn't this better than taking a big risk and attacking Anyang directly? ”

Hearing Cao Kun say this, Wu Peifu was almost furious, and he said in a strong mocking tone: "Far water does not quench the thirst of the near, if it is according to General Cao's intentions, then we might as well ask Britain to go to war immediately and send warships to attack Wuhan." Chen Ke is said to be in Wuhan, which is no better than anything else. ”

The strong sense of ridicule in these words could not be more clear, but Cao Kun, nicknamed "Cao San Fool", did not react angrily to Duan Qirui's ridicule at all, only to see Cao Kun scratch the back of his head, "It would be a great thing to say that the British could be mobilized to send troops." If a fight breaks out in Wuhan, the People's Party will definitely withdraw its troops. ”

Without waiting for Duan Qirui's angry rebuttal, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but shout: "Enough!" ”

Duan Qirui was indignant, and Cao Kun was pretending to be stupid, and the two parted their faces from each other.

Yuan Shikai no longer had the heart to teach the two of them, so what was the use of teaching them? At present, if the two of them are unwilling to remove their posts, Yuan Shikai will have to rely on these two people to command their respective troops. As if he had not seen the dispute at all, Yuan Shikai said: "Since the People's Party has sent it to the door, we might as well fight with them." I heard that the general of the People's Party in Hebei is called Chai Qingguo, who used to escape from our Beiyang men in Shandong. Now that he has 300,000 people under his command, let's see if this Chai Qingguo can escape with his life against the millions of people in our Beiyang Army this time. ”

Hearing that Yuan Shikai meant that he was actually going to dispatch all his troops to fight a decisive battle with the People's Party in Hebei, the expressions of all the commanders of the troops became serious. These days they have not been idle, and the battle plans have been drawn up one after another. However, there is something wrong with these plans, that is, the troops of the other factions are invariably tasked with thankless tasks, and the troops of this faction are at least given the best tasks in the military plan. So the leaders of each faction want their own military plans to be passed, and they are clearly opposed to other people's military plans.

Now it seems that Yuan Shikai is going to personally command the war, and all the military leaders are no longer silent. Everyone can oppose the other Overseers, but everyone dare not oppose Yuan Shikai.

At this time, Wang Shizhen spoke, "There is something I am afraid that I need to do before sending out the army. Recently, grain shops in many places in Hebei have not even sold grain, and if the people can't even buy grain, the people's hearts will definitely be in chaos. So somebody has to come out and fix this. ”

Everyone at the meeting had probably heard of this matter, and many people were a little surprised to see Wang Shizhen raise this issue at such an important meeting. Wang Shizhen continued: "I am only afraid that there are people involved behind this matter, and it is not very convenient for other officials to handle this matter. I recommend Yuan Kewen, the second son of the president, to supervise this matter. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces changed. Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, was forced to go abroad because of his stupid recruitment to assassinate Chen Ke. And Yuan Shikai's second son Yuan Kewen naturally took over Yuan Keding's position. Now Wang Shizhen suggested that Yuan Kewen come out to supervise this matter, which is not a bad choice. Everyone will think that Yuan Kewen represents Yuan Shikai's attitude, if you really want to solve the food problem on the market, you really need a talent like Yuan Kewen.

But Yuan Kewen is a real thorn in the hearts of many people.

Sure enough, Wang Shizhen continued: "The second son came out to check the matter of this grain, and he had to bring someone, so he might as well bring a model group to handle this matter." ”

Almost everyone's faces have become more difficult to look at, Wang Shizhen is really "not avoiding relatives"! Yuan Kewen and the model regiment are the thorns in the hearts of the Beiyang generals.

The Beiyang New Army was single-handedly raised by Yuan Shikai, but after Yuan Keding was forced out of the country because of his bad things, Yuan Shikai began to let his second son Yuan Kewen start to train a "model regiment" new army. This was not the result of Yuan Shikai's sudden whims, Yuan Kewen had always wanted to imitate the German emperor's Praetorian Guard to form an army, which mainly recruited the children of nobles and officers. The Kaiser's aim was nothing more than to build interest groups more closely. It was easy for the senior generals of Beiyang to understand this, but Yuan Keding's purpose of wanting to do so made the Beiyang generals feel unacceptable. The German Imperial Guard is the Emperor Gongwei, and now Yuan Shikai is not the emperor, what is the purpose of Yuan Keding's doing?

Therefore, the new army of the "model regiment" led by Yuan Kewen, led by Duan Qirui, was coldly ignored. However, the group of people who supported Yuan Shikai to become emperor strongly supported it.

Wang Shizhen never expressed his views on this kind of thing, and he did not give special preferential treatment to this "model regiment" new army. However, at this critical moment, the generals felt very unacceptable to the matter of letting the "model regiment" new army handle the food, but they really couldn't find a more suitable candidate. Up to now, the new army of the "Model Regiment" really represents Yuan Shikai's personal attitude.

Everyone looked at Yuan Shikai, but Yuan Shikai was silent for a moment before replying: "Just do it according to the intention of the secretary!" ”