Chapter 360: Warlords and Politicians (Part II)

Henan, northern Henan, peach 'flower' valley.

Because one of the piers of the Taohuayu Yellow River Railway Bridge was blown up by the retreating Beiyang Army, the entire Jinghan Railway was interrupted, and the train could no longer pass, and the "traffic" on both sides of the Yellow River returned to the original state it used to be.

Wooden boats and sheepskin rafts are the main means of communication on both sides of the Yellow River in Taohuayu at present, and a large number of United Front troops have used this backward means of communication to cross the Yellow River and continue to march northward, and the logistical baggage is also transported from the south bank to the north bank in this way, and because of the serious shortage of railway wagons on the north bank, even on the north bank, they must rely on mule, horse and carts for logistical support.

Now the Taohua Yu people shouted horses neighing, a lot of noise, because the railway opened to traffic and lost the use of the Yellow River ferryboat came in handy again, those boatmen who had lost their skills for many years were also called back, continue to shout on the Yellow River for thousands of years, now is the flood season, the Yellow River is turbulent, otherwise, the United Front even plans to erect a pontoon bridge over the Yellow River.

The United Front had intended to erect a pontoon bridge based on wooden boats and planks next to the railway bridge, but when the Italian bridge technician learned of it, he immediately stopped the action, and he used calculations and sketches to convince the officers that it was possible to erect a pontoon bridge on the Han River, but that did not mean that the Yellow River could also be painted like a gourd, and that the engineering units of the United Front were seriously lacking in the engineering equipment and machinery of the European military powers, and could not be brutal during the flood season.

Now, the Italian bridge mechanic was directing the workers and technicians to work on the railway bridge, both to repair the bridge and to earn a handsome honorarium for Mr. Melinado, who had even set up a tent on the bridge instead of five thousand pounds, and had even set up a tent on the bridge as his bedroom, where he ate and lived.

Now, when it was time for lunch, when the trumpet sounded, Mr. Merinado had to leave a few of the workers to look at the freshly poured soul soil on the pier, measure the temperature of the soul soil with a thermometer, and then tell the other workers to hurry to the shore to eat.

After the workers left, Merinado was not reconciled. He also left the pier and boarded a wooden boat, and the soldiers who were responsible for protecting him rowed their oars and rowed the boat to the south shore.

When we arrived at the ferry, it was already crowded. Linardo glanced anxiously at the watch, and then ordered the soldiers to row the boat to the reeds, from where he was to go ashore, and then go to the bridge for dinner.

Apparently someone was doing the same thing as Melinado, so when Mai. After Linado's ship sailed into the reeds, another wooden boat followed, and almost at the same time ran aground on the shallows.

Melinado turned his head to look at the wooden ship and saw that there were several on board. Hawkers dressed as men, this is incompatible with the atmosphere here, since the war between the north and the south, this kind of shoulder-carrying hawkers have almost disappeared in northern Henan, and now the war is actually not over, how can these hawkers have the courage to come here to do business?

As an Italian bridge technician, Melinado only cares about technique. He didn't understand the technical problems and commercial issues, so he didn't waste time on the hawkers, and after going ashore, he took two personal bodyguards and walked in the direction of the approach bridge, and the hawkers also followed Melinado until they approached the approach bridge before they separated and walked in the direction of the railway bridge management office.

These few hawkers to. At the railway bridge management office, he was immediately stopped by the soldiers, searched and taken to the ferry headquarters.

The commander of the ferry command was a colonel staff officer sent by the General Staff, and when he saw the hawkers, he only talked a few words, and then approved the slip and asked a staff officer to lead them to the station.

Leaving the Zhengzhou Railway Station, the staff officer led the hawkers to the city defense headquarters first, and then accompanied by an adjutant, he took the hawkers to a barracks in the north of the city.

Now, this barracks is heavily guarded, because the commander-in-chief Zhao Bei is here to inspect and comfort the officers and soldiers, so these hawkers can only wait outside the barracks, which is more than half an hour, until a personal guard of the commander-in-chief arrives, and these hawkers are brought into the barracks.

"This chief, when we meet the commander-in-chief, should we be called 'commander-in-chief' or 'chairman'?" One of the vendors, who looked like the leader, asked the guard, and this opening was a Shandong accent.

The guard scratched his ears and cheeks, thought for a while, and said: "It's okay to call it 'chairman', although you are soldiers, but now you are not from our united front, and it seems inconvenient to call you 'commander-in-chief'." ”

The peddler hurriedly 'touched' a few pieces of Yingyang from his coat, stuffed them into the guard, and said with a smile: "My brother has just arrived, and he is not familiar with the place, and he still hopes that the chief will bring him a lot. ”

The guard hurriedly pushed the vendor's hand away and said, "This is not to be done. Our Republican Army is strictly disciplined, which is different from your Beiyang Army. ”

The peddler hurriedly retracted Yingyang, still with a smiling face, and said, "Brother doesn't understand the rules, where he offends, Sir Haihan." Actually, our 17th Division can't be regarded as the Beiyang Army, our division commander said, we are now the skin of Beiyang, the heart of **, otherwise, we would not have sent a few of us to kowtow to the chairman. By the way, I don't know what to call the chief? Listening to the accent, it seems to be a Sichuanese? ”

"My name is Qin Sihu. Don't say 'sir', just call me 'Second Lieutenant Qin'. The guard snorted.

"The chief's surname is Qin? That's a coincidence, I also have the surname Qin, I heard my ancestors say, our ancestors were from Sichuan, and they moved to Shandong during the Tang Dynasty. ”

The peddler is almost, Qin Sihu didn't take it seriously, he has been following the commander-in-chief for so long, he has learned some of the history of China, not to mention anything else, that is, the Tang Dynasty and the present, the distance is not five hundred years, but he is not the 'sex' personality of the chatterbox, and he did not talk to the peddler, but he led the way in front of them and led them all the way to the commander-in-chief.

Zhao Bei was now standing in front of a 'door' of the new German-made mountain cannon, talking to several artillery commanders, and Qin Sihu led these hawkers to wait aside, until Zhao Bei glanced at him, he walked over with a few hawkers.

"You're going to see me?" Zhao Bei looked at the hawkers, he also knew that this was not the place to speak, so with a wave of his hand, he ordered Qin Sihu to lead them into a tent.

Zhao Bei then also entered the tent and ordered that the tent was tightly guarded, and unrelated personnel were not allowed to approach.

Zhao Bei chose a chair to sit on, and then pointed to the other chairs, motioning for the hawkers to sit.

But the hawkers knelt down in front of Zhao Bei first, kowtowed a few times in a proper manner, and then sat down on the chairs.

"What do you mean by kowtowing to me? Didn't you salute the 17th Division of the Beiyang Army in accordance with the Beiyang Army salute? ”

Zhao Bei was not surprised, after all, the 'door' of his intelligence department was not idle, and he also knew a little about the origin of the new 17th Division of the Beiyang Army.

The new 17th Division of the Beiyang Army is Feng Delin's troops, this Feng Delin is also called Feng Linge, this is a local Ya 'Gate' in the western Liaoning region, black and white, black and white, and later colluded with bandits to be exposed, in the Ya 'Gate' soul can not go down, so the "sex" simply pulled a vote of people to fall into the grass to become bandits, because he fell into the grass earlier, and has an official background, in the green forests of the entire Northeast region, this Feng Delin's seniority is very high, and the rampant Liaoning West Bandit Du Lishan, Jin Wanfu, Han Dengju, Tian Yiben and others are his juniors, when Zhang Zuolin was accused of colluding with bandits, was pursued by the government, nowhere to go, this 'jade' defected to this Feng Delin, but was not accepted, so he had to pull another lever, but unexpectedly achieved his own career, like Feng Delin, all from bandits to soldiers, became the minions of the Manchu Qing government, in the north and south of Liaoxi, sitting on the ground to dominate, and later the republic was established, they were incorporated by Yuan Shikai as the Beiyang Army, the numbers were the 16th and 17th divisions.

Therefore, the new 17th Division of the Beiyang Army is a unit adapted from bandits, and these hawkers who came to kowtow to the commander-in-chief may be the bandit leaders who roared in the white mountains and black waters back then, and they can be sent by Feng Delin to kowtow to the commander-in-chief, even if they are not their right and left hands, I am afraid they are also cronies.

"Back to the chairman's words, we Feng Division Commander said, our 17th Division is not adjusted, it is the skin of Beiyang, the heart of **, the rules of the Beiyang Army are not welcome in our 17th Division, we still talk about the righteousness of the rivers and lakes, these three kneels and nine knocks are the number of courtesies for the big boss, one kneel and three knocks are the number of courtesies for the military division, just now we gave the chairman of the committee one kneel and nine knocks, this is what the division commander specially told us before we went out of the 'door', which means that although the chairman is not our 17th division, but this status is not under the big boss."

The leader of the team replied in a proper manner, and the others also nodded again and again, trying to make an expression that was neither humble nor arrogant.

"I see. So, isn't that the master of your family? What did he want to do when he sent a few of you here this time? Zhao Bei took out an official tone.

"Replying to the words of the chairman. Our division commander sent a few of us here to surrender, and in the words of your army, it was an 'uprising'. The other party's answer was not what Zhao Bei expected.

A few days ago, the brigade commander Li Houji of the Beiyang Army also sent someone over to convey his sincerity to the United Front, and now Division Commander Feng has also made a wise choice, which shows that the United Front is what everyone wants. I heard that now your 17th Division is stationed in Zhangde, if you can revolt in Zhangde and cooperate with the ** army to occupy there, you will have made a great contribution to **, and in the future, if you succeed, Division Commander Feng will also be rewarded for your merits. ”

Zhao Bei first said a few perfunctory words, and then immediately got back to business.

According to the information obtained from the interrogation of the Beiyang Army prisoners of war, Feng Delin's 17th Division was originally planned to drive to Zhengzhou and join Feng Guozhang's Beiyang Southward Second Army, but because of the insufficient capacity of the railway, until the Beiyang Second Army was wiped out in southern Henan, the 17th Division did not drive to the south of the Yellow River.

"**'s heart" That's, what kind of fighting spirit can this bandit army have, ** is a two-pronged approach to destruction and construction, and bandits will only destroy, not build, and at the end of last year, the alliance will instigate green forests in the northeast to respond to the south**, which Feng Delin and Zhang Zuolin not only did not respond, but followed Cao Kun to step on the flame of **, this is not ** action; The 17th Division just put on the uniform of the Beiyang Army and picked up the rifle of the Beiyang Army, and it is still the green forest armed force in its bones, whether it is from the perspective of combat effectiveness or military discipline, this 17th Division is the cannon fodder sent by Yuan Shikai to the battlefield in Henan, but Feng Delin is lucky, and the small abacus is also 'fine', which avoids the end of the whole army.

For the United Front, this 17th Division is a dish, it is easy to eat, and the General Staff has even included the division in the next military strike plan, after all, if you want to go on a northern expedition, you must first occupy Zhangde, which is not only an important 'communication' hub on the Jinghan Line, but also in the south of Zhili' More importantly, now Bao Guiqing's troops are arranging defenses south of Zhangde, if Feng Delin can defect in Zhangde, it is tantamount to a stab in the back of Bao Guiqing, which can further reduce the resistance of the ** army.

Now, Feng Delin took the initiative to send people to show goodwill, which was of course his need for speculative politics, but for the United Front, if it could take Zhangde without blood, it would greatly speed up the process of the Northern Expedition, and might even have a far-reaching impact on the entire war situation and strategy.

"The chairman of the committee is right, we have always been the head of the Feng, the alliance will establish branches in the three eastern provinces, our division commander has also contributed, if it were not for the Japanese and Russians, after the ** was launched in the south, our division commander also planned to pull the flag and rebel, but that Zhang Zuolin sent someone to threaten, saying that if our division commander rebelled, he would bring people to fight, plus Yuan Shikai soon launched a mutiny, but our division commander did not do it in the end."

The leader of the team had a good voice, and while greasing and powdering Feng Delin, he gave Zhang Zuolin rotten 'medicine'. At the beginning, Zhang Zuolin defected to Feng Delin in vain, but later he made a career by himself, and now he is the commander of the Beiyang Army with Feng Delin, and this military strength is also comparable, in this regard, Feng Delin in addition to regret, the rest is jealousy, this time he sent someone to get in touch with the United Front, and he did not forget to give the other party a rotten 'medicine', no matter what the future is, at least for now, Feng Delin is seizing every opportunity to slander Zhang Zuolin as a competitor, except for the United Front and the Commander-in-Chief's side of rotten' In addition to medicine, on the Beiyang side, he also stumbled on Zhang Zuolin at the same time.

That is to say, the current Feng Delin not only got in touch with the United Front, but also continued to maintain the contact with the Beiyang side, he wanted to bet on both sides and watch while walking, but compared with Beiyang, he was still more optimistic about the United Front.

The current Feng Delin is not so much a warlord as a politician, and he will move closer to whichever side has a better chance of winning, which is not only a strategy for survival, but also a strategy for development.

If Yuan Shikai had not fallen ill, Feng Delin would not have courted the United Front so quickly, but with the announcement of Xu Shichang's appointment as "acting president", Feng Delin immediately sent a liaison envoy to convey his sincerity to the United Front.

Because he is not optimistic about Xu Shichang, he has been 'dealing' with Xu Shichang for two years in the three eastern provinces, Feng Delin has seen the bottom of Xu Shichang clearly, that Xu Shuai in the East China Sea can play 'tricks' political tricks, but if it comes to turning the tide, it is difficult for some strongmen, although Xu Shichang is known as the "veteran of the Beiyang New Army", but Feng Delin has understood a truth from the subtle relationship between Cao Kun and Xu Shichang: Xu Shichang can't command the Beiyang generals, so Xu Shichang is just a Beiyang politician, and he has no direct force in his hands. For the control of the Beiyang Army, Xu Shichang is far inferior to Yuan Shikai.

Henan was defeated, Yuan Shikai's prestige was greatly reduced, and now Yuan Shikai is seriously ill, and he can't say when he will die, if Yuan Shikai dies, with Xu Shichang's current prestige, it will be difficult to unite Beiyang, which has some people disheartened.

To complicate matters further, the war between the North and the South has not yet ended, and in the face of the aggressive 'pressing' united front, the Beiyang bloc is likely to be torn apart or even completely collapsed.

Now this situation can not be solved by political means, only military means can be solved, Xu Shichang is not a warlord, he is a politician, Zhao Bei is not only a politician, he is also a warlord.

Warlords against politicians, von Tak Lin buys warlords to win.