What worried these generals was what Lu Liang had publicly said: all feudal remnants were the target of the revolutionaries. The emperor must be a feudal factor, and if he is called the emperor, he will be eliminated, Lu Liang is not a good man and a woman, and if he says it, will the southern revolution kill fewer people? Wang Shizhen doesn't want to be next.

Before deciding whether to surrender or run away, the Japanese in the direction of Zaozhuang came with desperate news that the Chinese army surrounded the Beiyang Army north of Xuzhou! I was still counting on the reinforcements over there, but I didn't expect it to be such an ending, so what are you waiting for, hurry up and run!

The north gate was not yet surrounded by the Chinese army, Wang Shizhen first went to the defense line to quickly inspect the circle, encouraged the soldiers and middle and lower-level officers to resist to the end, and then led a company of guards to ride fast horses through the north gate, leaving behind his soldiers and fleeing in embarrassment.

After the Third Division of the Eighth Army set up its attack position, it saw that the city gate was wide open, and dozens of Beiyang Army soldiers with their hands raised came out, led by a second lieutenant officer in front.

"The officers are all running! We surrender! ”

The defensive line, which claimed to be able to withstand the Chinese army for half a year, collapsed in three days, leaving only more than 40,000 soldiers of the Beiyang Army between the north of Xuzhou and the Zhou camp, led by Wu Fengling, the commander of the Third Army.

"The 2nd Division and the 1st Division of the 2nd Army broke through the Zhou camp at all costs, and opened a breakthrough in two days, the 1st Division defended against the attack of the Chinese Seventh Army on the east side, and the remaining troops defended against the attack of the Chinese Army in the south. Brothers, whether you live or die depends on this battle, and when you return to Jinan, you will never be stingy when you add an official to the palace, and if you want to live or climb up, you will fight me to death! After Wu Fengling finished speaking, the officers promised loudly that the Third Army was an old unit that Wu Fengling had been operating for many years, and the officers were all old men from the Beiyang Department, and most of them were promoted by themselves. He is very loyal to himself and Yuan Shikai.

And Wu Fengling himself is the son of Yuan Shikai's servant, who grew up in Yuan's family since he was a child, and has a deep relationship with Yuan Shikai. Inside Beiyang, Wu Fengling was a close confidant of Yuan Shikai's cronies, so he was ready to sacrifice for Yuan Shikai.

Both the Chinese offensive to the south and east was temporarily halted, and a large-scale offensive meant the consumption of a large amount of ammunition. Logistics is stepping up the transport of supplies to the front line and raising ammunition for the offensive. The defensive position of the 3rd Division of the Zhou Battalion became the place where the fighting was fiercest on the battlefield in Xuzhou, and the Beiyang Army and the Japanese launched a fierce attack from both sides, although the position was still in hand, but the ammunition consumption and casualties were very large.

On the frontal battlefield, officers use the loudest voice they can make to convey orders, otherwise they will be suppressed by the sound of gunfire, resulting in poor command transmission.

"Da Zhou, with two machine guns to reinforce the right flank line. Hurry up! ”

"Xiao Jiang, call for artillery support in the rear and point out the direction of the artillery to the artillery brothers!"

"Platoon commander, if the distance is too close, it will accidentally damage our position!"

"I can't manage so much, don't be verbose, convey orders!"

"Lao Gao, help carry the injured brother down! Handsome Hu. Go to the battalion headquarters to pick up machine gun ammunition, hurry. Brothers, wait for the rice to go to the pot! Xiao Mao, don't stop the mortar, hurry up and put it on me! ”

Lao Gao bent down and ran to the platoon leader Fat Hong, and blurted out a mouthful of Shandong dialect: "I said platoon commander, it's better to shut up, and talk about Ha Qi (go on)." The intestines are all leaking out! ”

Another hygienist, Xiao Yao, helped cover Fat Hong's wound, tears were about to flow out, Lao Gao knew that Fat Hong's life was not in danger, and beckoned Xiao Yao and said, "Help carry the stretcher, I'll come here." If the company commander has three longs and two shorts, my boss will be jointly and severally liable, which is likely to affect his career! ”

The 3rd Division was in urgent action, and there was a shortage of necessary materials for the barbed wire and other fortifications, because the time was short, the trenches were not perfect, and the enemy's offensive did not end after the artillery shells were basically exhausted, but the enemy's artillery fire stopped earlier, and the fighting was more intense on both sides without artillery support.

The situation on the battlefield of Zhouying improved after two hours, and the Seventh Army sent reinforcements from one division, along with a second batch of fifty trucks of supplies, so that the defense line was completely secured. and launched a counter-charge against the Japanese army in the north, eliminating more than 3,000 Japanese troops and forcing the Japanese army to withdraw to Zaozhuang.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 19th, the Third Army of the Chinese Army launched a general attack and compressed the remaining forces of the Beiyang Army in the area of Hanzhuang on the southeast bank of Weishan Lake before nightfall. After ordering all officers and soldiers to surrender to the Chinese army, Wang Shizhen took out the pistol given by Yuan Shikai and committed suicide.

Since the end of the Battle of Xuzhou, it took only three days to destroy the 100,000 troops of the Beiyang Army, and achieved the biggest victory since the Second Northern Expedition. The rate of material consumption of the forward combat team exceeded the previous calculations of the logistics department, resulting in a temporary shortage of supplies. In particular, the large-scale Battle of Xuzhou consumed 30 percent of the materials stored by the logistics department, and it took time to mobilize materials from various places, and the troops on the front line also needed time to stock up on supplies.

In the three days, the Chinese army did not launch a large-scale offensive, but sporadic skirmishes continued, and in the direction of Shandong, after Weixian was conquered, the Second Army and the subsequent reinforcements of the 2nd Marine Division moved to the Qingzhou position, but the Japanese army had retreated to the southern mountains. The Chinese army also took advantage of this time to improve logistics and transportation roads and stock up more supplies in order to launch a general attack on the Japanese army in the Jinan area.

On the Qinhuangdao side, after the Cossack cavalry regiment was defeated in the Battle of Changli, the First Army of the Chinese Army retreated to the vicinity of Qinhuangdao. The units of the 1st Marine Division seized Chengde and Chifeng, cut off the northern road, and reinforcements from the two mountain brigades would arrive in three days.

However, the Second Group Army of the Beiyang Army did not attack when the Chinese army was weak, these were Yuan Shikai's last family backgrounds, and he did not plan to be sent to the battlefield. After learning that the Chinese army appeared west of Beijing and Tianjin, Kodama Gentaro ordered the Second Army of the Beiyang Army to immediately move eastward and eliminate the Chinese army, and when he came to the vicinity of Tangshan, the news that the defense line of the Beiyang Army in Xuzhou in the south had been broken through, so Yuan Shikai immediately asked the Second Army to retreat to Beijing and Tianjin, and no matter how angry Kodama Gentaro was, he would no longer advance eastward.

Liaoxi is the throat of the Japanese army and the Russian army, but it is not Yuan Shikai's retreat, he can't retreat to the northeast with the Japanese and Russians, there is no foundation of the Beiyang Army. Therefore, Yuan Shikai moved his troops to the west of the mountain and established a supply point in the Zhangjiakou area, obviously paving the way for the westward retreat.

Kodama Gentaro was very helpless, the atmosphere of unity disappeared without a trace less than a week after the Chinese attack, the internal contradictions of the Allied forces were fraught, for the sake of the remaining Japanese troops, it was necessary to open the passage of the Liaoxi Corridor, fortunately, the Russian army led by Pajerov was about to arrive in Tianjin, which was the only good news since the start of the war.

When the Japanese and the Russians were making their own calculations, Yuan Shikai was planning a big conspiracy under the help of a group of national art masters, and the successive failures made Yuan Shikai feel that things were not good, maybe he couldn't stay in Beijing for long, why not live an emperor addiction before retreating or surrendering? Even if it doesn't last long, at least it can leave a name in history, and your descendants can be regarded as descendants of the royal family!

After the idea of claiming the emperor came out, it grew like a weed in spring, and now Duan Qirui, who opposed the emperor, and other senior generals are leading troops in other places, as long as they can get General Feng Guozhang, who commands the Second Group Army, it will be enough.

On the evening of the 19th, Yang Du, who jumped up and down for Yuan Shikai to claim the title of emperor, invited General Feng Guozhang to his mansion to listen to the play, and people in the circle could see at a glance that there was something wrong with this matter. There is no friendship between Yang Du and the senior generals of the Beiyang Department, those big old and rough people are not used to Yang Du's sour chirping appearance, Yang Du also disdains to be in the company of those big old and rough people, he who claims to be a literati has inherited the tradition of despising military generals, and his heart is higher than the sky, he didn't even hide his opinions through his expression, and the relationship between the two sides can be good!

At this time, Feng Guozhang was no longer a simple soldier, he was considered the smartest of the three heroes of Beiyang, and he had long seen that the little Jiujiu in the boss's heart was only forced by the pressure of Duan Qirui and others to stand on the side of the generals. As for whether to be the emperor or not to be the emperor, Feng Guozhang believes that as long as it does not threaten his rights.

Therefore, Feng Guozhang gladly accepted Yang Du's invitation, and the best opera troupe in the capital was invited to the house by Yang Du, and the drama explained everything - the yellow robe was added!

"General Feng, this troupe is famous in the capital, it is really a pleasure to hear them sing with your own ears, the war is tense, maybe there will be no time to listen to the opera so leisurely with General Feng in the future!" Yang Du changed his previous demeanor as a Japanese literati, and his attitude towards Feng Guozhang was even a little flattering.

Seeing Feng Guozhang nodding noncommittally, Yang Du said without words: "Why do you say that this quintessence of the country was denounced as a 'feudal tumor' by Lu Liang in the south, and he also banned Peking Opera again and again, isn't it nothing to do?" Which one of the people singing is hindering the revolution? (To be continued.) )