108921908 Far East Maniac Chapter 4 enters Beijing

I am the only one. What a slogan from this one. Duan Qirui is the arrogance and madness that the revolutionary officers and soldiers reveal in their bones.

Without this frenzied energy, the United Front would not have been able to win this victory, and without this brilliant victory, the officers and men of the revolutionary army would not have been able to have this arrogance, and these officers and men were qualified to be arrogant, and this arrogance was not only based on a strong will to fight, but also on the basis of sufficient war preparations, and the armored train in front of us was the best proof of the revolutionary army's sufficient war material preparations.

In contrast, what war materials did the Beiyang Army prepare? However, they went to Britain and Japan to buy some guns, and some people took kickbacks, Beiyang has been mixed in the Manchu officialdom for so many years, and it is basically a shrunken Manchu officialdom, and the stereotypes and bad habits have corroded this military and political clique to the point that there are thousands of holes, so half of the poor military spending can really be invested in war preparations. Count on those people to have some advanced strategic vision. It's tantamount to a fool's dream.

For China's current situation, the national strength is weak and it is unable to develop new weapons on its own, so it can only rely on foreign imports, but this kind of thing is not something like armored trains that can be imported by importing, not to mention, no one in the Beiyang Group has ever thought of equipping the Beiyang Army with this new weapon, and for those high-ranking generals, machine guns and artillery are enough to deal with all enemies in a war at home.

A modern army cannot do without new weapons, as well as new strategic and tactical thinking, and the Beiyang Army cannot do this, but the united front has done a good job.

Therefore, the defeat of the Beiyang Army by the United Front on the battlefield is not only a victory for new weapons. It is also the victory of new tactical thinking, and Duan Qirui is unforgettable for this understanding.

"Fire, speed, armor."

Looking at the armored train in front of him, Duan Qirui repeatedly pondered the slogans and slogans painted in his heart, and his heart was full of mixed feelings, and then he recalled the RUF planes that flew to Beijing from time to time to conduct reconnaissance some time ago, and he had a completely new understanding of modern warfare.

Just when Duan Qirui was standing on the platform and wandering, on the platform not far from him, the acting minister of the United States to China, Stade, and the German minister to China, Rex, also admired the masterpiece of the industrial age in front of them with great interest, and they all felt a little strange that the Chinese could make armored trains on their own, although this armored train looked a little rough, but it was enough. After all, this is an agrarian country.

"Mr. Rex, it seems to me that there is still some future in this country, and this armored train shows that the engineering and technical personnel of this country are still very capable, and as long as they are supported, they can imitate any machine." Stade said to Rex.

Rex just nodded with a straight face. But he didn't speak, which made Stade and the person next to him a little boring.

"I heard that Germany is planning to sell the Jiaoji Railway to the Chinese government?" Stade changed the subject. He himself was interested in the topic, and he believed that Rex was equally interested.

Sure enough, Rex's interest was piqued.

"Mr. Stade, on this issue. I've heard about it, too, but as a diplomat. I don't know much about this purely commercial matter, and it should be corrected that the Jiaoji Railway was not sold to the Chinese government, but to a Chinese consortium, and it does not seem to be state-owned. ”

"Actually, I'm curious, how can the Chinese scrape together such a large sum of money to redeem the railway?"

Stade is really curious, because according to the information he has obtained, the investment in the Jiaoji Railway is more than 50 million German marks, the vast majority of which is German, China only accounts for a very small part, considering the strategic value of the railway, if the railway is sold, the German side must be a lion mouth, what kind of "Chinese consortium" has the strength to eat this deal?

In fact, if the Chinese can't bear this deal, American businessmen don't mind extending a "helping hand." Now Stead's main task is to seek opportunities for American consortiums and financial circles to invest in railways in China; not long ago, he sent his assistant Marven south to Shanghai, just for the redemption of the Jinghan Railway; if everything goes well, the American consortium will own part of the equity of the Jinghan Railway, which is a very meaningful progress for the American businessmen's dream of "world railways."

"Mr. Stade, your curiosity is indeed a bit heavy, but unfortunately, I did not directly intervene in the negotiations on the Jiaoji Railway, so I don't know what method the Chinese will take to redeem the railway. But one thing must be made clear: German businessmen will never lose money in this deal, and Germany's commercial power in China will further develop with the success of this deal, and the friendly relations between China and Germany will be further strengthened. I'm confident, and I believe it. Mr. President, who is about to take up his post in Beijing, must also agree with me. ”

Although Rex still kept a straight face, his words still revealed the excitement in his heart, indeed, Zhao Bei is now the president of the Republic of China, and his united front also controls the Senate and House of Representatives, no matter from which aspect, it is very beneficial to the development of relations between China and Germany, as long as Zhao Bei's pro-German stance does not change suddenly, the balance of power in the Far East will definitely change dramatically. Of course, in order to win over Zhao Bei and make him move closer to Germany, the necessary benefits must be given sufficiently, and the Germans certainly would not believe the verbal promises of a military strongman, and Rex had already received orders from home. According to this decree, if the situation permitted, it was necessary to sign a new Sino-German trade treaty with Zhao Bei, which would expand Germany's commercial influence in China and give China some benefits in exchange for Zhao Bei's favor.

Rex's words made Stade ponder for a few minutes. As a diplomat, Stade also knows very well that Germany's bet is right, and after Zhao Bei comes to power, he will definitely continue to get closer to Germany. As for whether it will form an alliance with Germany, it still needs further observation, after all, the balance of international forces is not conducive to Germany, since Zhao Bei can defeat the Beiyang clique and grasp the central power in one fell swoop, then he is definitely not a simple politician, in order to balance international forces, it is not enough for him to rely on Germany alone, he also needs the support of other countries.

In addition to the United States, which country can the "other re-home" be? The relationship between Britain and Japan was very stiff, and it was impossible for them to support the United Front, because they were both members of the Entente group with Britain. It is unlikely that Zhao Bei will be given full support, so the only remaining countries will be the members of the Allied Group and the United States.

The U.S. government has issued a formal order to Stade, ordering him to seek "cooperation" with Zhao Bei no matter what, and first of all, the starting point of cooperation between the two sides should be the railway issue, and even if it cannot achieve satisfactory results on the railway issue of the three eastern provinces, at least the problem of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway and the Sichuan-Han Railway should be solved first.

And this is also the main reason why Stade went to the railway station with the German minister to China to greet Zhao Bei, as for diplomatic etiquette is only secondary, Stade wants to give Zhao Bei a catty. Good impression, although the two have met in Wuhan a long time ago, and discussed the issue of the Guangdong-Hanzhou railway. Even an agreement was reached, but so far, a formal contract has not been signed.

Now, Zhao Bei is the president of the Republic of China. And Stade has also become the acting minister of the United States to China, and the prerequisites for signing a formal contract have been completed, and all that remains is to fulfill the formal signing procedures; Moreover, Steder also wanted to take this opportunity to further consolidate his position as a minister, and Mr. Secretary of State has even made it clear that as long as the Guangdong-Hanzhou railway issue is resolved, Stade will not only become an official minister to China, but also that it is not impossible for him to enter the US State Department as long as the time is ripe.

Stade and Rex were eager to stand on the platform, which was slightly different from the envoys of other countries in China, because those people were still in the waiting room, and they did not come out to greet Zhao Bei at all, only the Italian and Austro-Hungarian ministers to China stood at the door of the waiting room, some of them still holding the pipa and half-covering their faces, not as enthusiastic as the German ministers. Nor is it like the British minister

At this moment, the armored train had already completed its turn in the railway station and had stopped. The doors of the carriages were pulled open from inside, and a number of RUF soldiers in grey uniforms and armed with rifles jumped out of the train and lined up on the platform following the orders. And those soldiers of the Beiyang Army who were originally guarding the platform also made corresponding tactical moves under the command of the officers, and for a while, the atmosphere in the railway station was a little tense and a little weird.

An RUF officer and an officer in the uniform of the Beiyang Army jumped out of the armored train, walked straight to the platform, and stood in front of Duan Qirui.

Lead, Xu! You're finally back.

Seeing the appearance of the Beiyang officer who was walking behind, Duan Qirui greeted him first, that person was none other than his think tank Xu Shuzheng. Some time ago, he was sent to Anhui by Duan Qirui as a lobbyist. stabilized Jiang Gui, the governor of Anhui, and later Jiang Guidi fell to the United Front and arrested Xu Shuzheng. and sent to Wuhan to make a petition, and Xu Shuzheng has been detained in Wuhan Military Prison since then. And Wu Peixiang was a cellmate, until the United Front shot Wu Peixiang and pardoned other captured senior generals of the Beiyang Army, Xu Shuzheng returned to the north, this time Zhao Bei entered Beijing, and he also brought him over by the way, followed by the armored train battalion commander Zou Runjiao in front.

The RUF officer who accompanied Xu Shuzheng was the Ministry of Prison, and he saluted Duan Qirui.

"My name is Xi Runjiao, with the rank of colonel, and I am currently the commander of the armored train battalion of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the United Front. You're Mr. Duan, right? Now our guard units are rushing to the railway station one after another. The defense here will be taken over by our department. ”

Duan Qirui looked at the other party, surprised by the youth of Bu Runjing, and said lightly: "Protecting the safety of the president is the unshirkable responsibility of my northern and southern soldiers. Now that your ministry has arrived at the railway station, you can strengthen your vigilance, and it seems unnecessary to take over the defense. ”

The ministry was not reluctant, and saluted and retreated. Turning away, he went to set up a guard.

"Chief, I am ashamed of the trust in the chief, please punish the chief."

After the ministry left, Xu Shuzheng pleaded guilty to Duan Qirui, which was not polite, he was indeed ashamed of Duan Qirui's trust.

Yin, Xu, what are you talking about? You are ashamed of me, and I am ashamed of Beiyang. Don't say anything else, just come back, just come back, you go. I don't have a Liso person around me, and now that I'm the chief of the War Department, you're still coming back to help me with things. Let's take care of the affairs of the Army. ”

Duan Qirui was very happy, he didn't blame Xu Shuzheng, he has always been very important to Xu Shuzheng, but Yuan Shikai couldn't get used to this arrogant young officer before, plus his qualifications are also shallow, Beiyang is unwilling to reuse, now, Beiyang has disappeared, and that President Zhao has been shouting "only yes" maybe. It's time for Xu Shuzheng to get ahead.

"The commander-in-chief is very grateful for his humble position, but I am afraid that he will not be able to work in the War Department after his humble position." Xu Shuzheng was hesitant and hesitant.

Zhao Zhenhua didn't keep saying, "The only thing is to move?" Didn't he let you go so you didn't have to use those sycophants? Xiao Xu, don't worry. If he doesn't use you, I'll resign! Duan Qirui's face was furious.

"The chief misunderstood. In fact, when I was in prison in Wuhan, Zhao Zhenhua had already visited me, and he said something to me, which can be regarded as a heart-to-heart reassurance. The so-called "once a son of heaven and a courtier" now that Yuan Xiangcheng has passed away, Zhao Zhenhua took over as the president of the Republic of China, he is the leader, we are soldiers, naturally only the leader is the leader, Zhao Zhenhua has now appointed me as the "Northwest Frontier Affairs Office" and is about to go to the Northwest Frontier, I am afraid that I will not be able to give advice by the side of the chief in the future. ”

"To the Northwest? Youzheng, you're going to the northwest."

Seeing Xu Shuzheng speak like this, Duan Qirui was very surprised, in the past, Xu Shuzheng also strongly advocated attacking the Republican Army in the south and eliminating Zhao Bei, the "warlord leader" But now, Xu Shuzheng is willing to work for Zhao Bei, can it be said that Zhao Bei's identity as the "President of the Republic of China" is really so impressive?

"Mongolia and Xinjiang are both under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Frontier Affairs Office, and I plan to set up the Frontier Affairs Office in Guihua City first, and then perhaps move it to Dihua in the future, in that case, it is far away, and it is not easy to even shoot telegrams, and there are many capable people under the command of the General Chief. It's nothing less than me, but the border defense in the northwest is in vain, and now the princes on the Mongolian steppe are ready to move again, I thought about it, and finally decided to focus on state affairs, as for the kindness cultivated by the shogunate, I can only repay it later. ”

"You go to the northwest to preside over border affairs, then. Do you have military power in your hands? ”

Duan Qirui pulled Xu Shuzheng aside, and then asked in a low voice.