readx;?“ Commander, good news. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Kang Jie, commander of the 12th Division, not only repelled the attack of the officers and soldiers, captured all the artillery of the artillery battalion and most of the light and heavy machine guns in a town, but also took Shanhaiguan, captured more than 4,000 officers and soldiers, and captured a large amount of materials at Shanhaiguan. Sun Liechen took the telegram sent by Kang Jie and reported to Yang Xingguo with an excited face.

Yang Xingguo replied with a satisfied face: "It seems that it is more than enough to let Kang Jie be the commander of the main division, and he will play well!" Taking Shanhaiguan, our defenders in the Shanhaiguan direction can be directly reduced from a division to a regiment. ”

"Chief of Staff, you immediately send someone to the Twelfth Division to take over the capture and capture, and determine the losses of the Twelfth Division. And then let the 12th Division reach full strength in half a month, I will be useful! ”

It didn't take too long for Li Zhilong and Wang Hu to also send good news from Fengcheng and Tongliao.

The Japanese army and the officers and troops of the two towns in the direction of Tongliao retreated one after another after not taking advantage of the two armies.

As soon as he saw these two telegrams, Yang Xingguo understood that the imperial court was completely out of temper by himself this time.

Not only did they lose the Beiyang Army of the Six Towns, but also the New Army transferred from the south of the Nearly Three Towns. It also lost Shanhaiguan, and lost more than a dozen large and small ships of the Beiyang Fleet and a county king.

In this case, no matter how strong the foundation of the imperial court is, it cannot withstand the trenches.

What's more, the Qing Dynasty in front of him, after decades of tossing, has no foundation to talk about.

Therefore, Yang Xingguo was sure that the imperial court did not have the courage and strength to continue to fight with him. And the best way for the imperial court to end this conflict, and the best way to save the face of the imperial court, is only one, and that is to negotiate.

What Yang Xingguo didn't expect was that it was not the imperial court that was the first to be anxious, but Yuan Shikai, who was eager to expand his strength.

Just two days after the end of the battle, Yang Xingguo, who had returned to Mukden, saw Sun Liechen walking in with a mysterious face.

"Commander, guess who's coming outside?"

"Could it be that the imperial court sent Qinpai? According to our inference, in less than five days, even if the imperial court sent a messenger, it would not be able to reach us. Yang Xingguo asked rhetorically with a frown.

"It's not the imperial court, it's Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai sent a standard commander with a radio station to the entrance of the headquarters, and he wanted to see you by name! Sun Liechen replied.

It seems that Yuan Shikai, who lost six towns, is also in a hurry. Not surprisingly, Yuan Shikai must have sent someone to negotiate for the sake of our captured Beiyang Army captives. As far as I know, the Beiyang Army of these six towns almost accounted for more than sixty percent of Yuan Shikai's henchmen and talents. If you don't get them back, there won't be three or four years, and the Beiyang Army won't be able to develop at all! Yang Xingguo said with a sudden realization.

Sun Liechen's eyes lit up and he suddenly proposed: "Commander, according to the current development trend of the Liaodong Army, it is certain that it will enter the customs in the future. At that time, the Beiyang Army will definitely become our opponent again. Since these people are so important to Yuan Shikai, can we just detain these people without negotiating! ”

"In this way, it will be very difficult for the Beiyang Army in Yuan Shikai's hands to restore the scale of the Nine Towns."

Yang Xingguo was also moved at first, but when he thought of the conditions he had promised tens of thousands of Beiyang Army prisoners to join the Liaodong Army, Yang Xingguo could only shake his head with a wry smile and answer: "What about the families of tens of thousands of Beiyang Army prisoners." That's nearly a million people, and if Yuan Shikai doesn't agree and cooperate, even if the imperial court finally agrees, we can't get them out of the gate. ”

"I almost forgot!" Sun Liechen suddenly reacted and replied.

At this time, Yang Xingguo's brows suddenly furrowed, and then he asked Sun Liechen rhetorically: "That's not right, you just said that Yuan Shikai sent just a standard." Negotiating such a big matter, how could Yuan Shikai hand it over to a standard? ”

After Sun Liechen thought about it, he shook his head helplessly and replied: "I don't understand either, if you let him in first, you'll know when you ask." ”

Biaotong, who was brought to Yang Xingguo, also knew that he was not qualified to negotiate, and as soon as he came up, he said Yuan Shikai's idea of letting Xu Shichang serve as the negotiator of the Beiyang Army.

Yang Xingguo was not so easy to fool, and asked with a sneer: "You Lord Yuan are calculating, Xu Shichang is the highest official I captured, and he is a member of the imperial court." I'm also going to use him to exchange money with the imperial court, and you Lord Yuan want me to release him with a word, which is also a good calculation. ”

Beads of sweat the size of beans immediately flowed from Biaotong's forehead because of nervousness.

Hurriedly asked Yang Xingguo: "I don't know what Commander Yang wants, so I am willing to let Lord Xu go, and let Lord Xu serve as the negotiator of our Beiyang Army, and negotiate with Commander Yang on behalf of our commander." ”

Yang Xingguo also replied cautiously at this time: "Lord Xu is a great official of the imperial court, and he is also the right-hand man of your Lord Yuan. However, the war has been fought for so long, and I don't want to fight again. Therefore, I will not open my mouth widely, 500,000 taels of silver, as long as I give me 500,000 taels of silver, I will let you Lord Xu go. ”

Yuan Shikai didn't know what Yang Xingguo's careful thoughts were? In addition, Xu Shichang is very important to Yuan Shikai, and apart from Xu Shichang, Yuan Shikai really has no other suitable candidates. Yuan Shikai, who didn't think too much, bargained with Yang Xingguo through radio remote control, and finally pressed 500,000 taels of silver into 200,000 taels. ”

Although the price was suppressed by more than half, Yang Xingguo also showed a very unhappy expression on his face, but Yang Xingguo finally agreed.

When the opposite Biao Tong's face couldn't help but show a happy face, he didn't know that Yang Xingguo was even happier than him at this moment. Because, the price of 200,000 taels of silver just now was a big pit dug by Yang Xingguo for Yuan Shikai, and when the real negotiations began, Yuan Shikai would understand that this big pit made him want to commit suicide.

Two days later, the 12th Division defending Shanhaiguan successfully received 200,000 taels of silver from Yuan Shikai.

Xu Shichang, who was entertained by Yang Xingguo's delicious food and drink, was then sent by Yang Xingguo to the residence of the negotiator sent by Yuan Shikai.

When Xu Shichang learned that Yuan Shikai had given the Liaodong Army 200,000 taels of silver for him, he immediately swore to Yuan Shikai who was far away in Tianjin through the radio that he would definitely complete the negotiations, bring back all the officers captured by the Liaodong Army, and reorganize the Beiyang Army in the Six Towns. ”

After less than a day of rest, Xu Shichang, who knew Yuan Shikai's bottom line, found Yang Xingguo and wanted to negotiate to redeem all the Beiyang Army officers and soldiers captured by the Liaodong Army and the captured weapons and equipment.

Yang Xingguo agreed very quickly, and promised on the spot that as long as Yuan Shikai offered the right price, the cannons captured by the Liaodong Army could be returned to the Beiyang Army.

Xu Shichang, who didn't know that Yang Xingguo had dug a big trap for Yuan Shikai, saw Yang Xingguo talking so well, and became more and more confident in the next negotiations. (To be continued.) )