On May 31, 1905, the Russian Pacific Detachment set out from Canton and headed for Vladivostok, and although British and French warships accompanied them along the way, they signaled from observation ships, and even though they knew that they would inform the Japanese, Winsky could not order them to be expelled.

The naval battle has been artificially postponed, and the rest of the port of Guangzhou provided by Lu Liang will bring unpredictable changes to the naval battle, and it is conceivable that the Japanese Combined Fleet will accept a more severe challenge than the original history. In response to China's provocative acts, the Japanese side knew that verbal protests had no effect, and that the British were dragged into the quagmire of Burma, and that they had little energy to punish the new country. Therefore, Japan informed Yuan Shikai of the news of China's preparations for a large-scale ground war, hoping to bring a little pressure to China through the Beiyang military group.

As early as March 1904, the Zhenguo Army began to prepare for war, and a large number of troops were assembled along the Yangtze River, especially in the middle and lower reaches. The military build-up and logistical preparations signaled that China was about to cross the Yangtze River and continue the Northern Expedition, and the Beiyang Group was greatly alarmed and sent a large number of detailed workers into the south to obtain information.

The intelligence of the Japanese is not necessarily more detailed than that of Yuan Shikai, and the intelligence shows that Hua Guozhen has been organized into three group armies, two of which have been concentrated along the Yangtze River, eyeing the north bank. Lü Liang knew that a large number of troops must be invested in the use of troops against Japan, and that the preparations in the early stage could not be completely concealed, and that in order to achieve strategic goals, certain deceptive means must be adopted, and the Qing court in the north, which had not yet been overthrown, became the most obvious target.

It is not an exaggeration that the movements of the Zhenguo Army made the Manchus jump up and down, and they did whatever it took to ensure the rule of the Manchus. Even Yuan Shikai knew that it was impossible for his Beiyang Army to confront the Zhenguo Army. Now the power in Yuan Shikai's hands is amazingly large, half of the cabinet is Yuan Shikai's people, and the military power is also held by Yuan Shikai, and he firmly controls the five provinces of Zhili, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi, which are the core of the north. Cixi's old ladies are still breathing, and she is trying her best to hold Yuan Shikai to such a high position, she understands very well. Without Yuan Shikai, without his Beiyang group, the Manchus would cease to exist.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai, who enjoys the supreme desire for power, will never simply give up the right to get it, for more than a year, he feels that he is the emperor and is intoxicated by it. Now that he got the news that the Zhenguo army was about to cross the Yangtze River, he was more anxious than anyone else, and he didn't need an order from the imperial court. He came up with a solution.

Duan Qirui's third town has always been on the front line of Hubei and Henan, although the Zhenguo Army did not penetrate into the north bank of the Yangtze River in Hubei, and the Beiyang Army still controlled the vast area north of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, but it was an irrefutable fact that the Beiyang Army was on the defensive, and Duan Qirui did not want to block the Zhenguo Army in the Yangtze River, so most of the troops were deployed in the dangerous area at the junction of Henan and Hubei.

Wang Yingkai's second town was transferred from Zhili to Hefei, Wu Changchun of the fourth town also arrived from Zhili to the north bank of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu, and Yuan Shikai gathered heavy troops near the Yangtze River. Make a posture of fighting to the death. In fact, he did not intend to confront the Zhenguo Army militarily in September 1904. Yuan Shikai's envoy Liang Dunyan secretly arrived in Shanghai by boat, and transferred to a river steamer in Shanghai to reach Wuhan.

"Huizi, have you ever seen the police of Huaguo in the port of Shanghai?" On the river boat, several guards guarded the surroundings, and Liang Dunyan and Yang Du leaned on the railing to watch the beautiful scenery of the Yangtze River.

"I didn't see it, I was hiding in the cabin. When changing ships, I was also in a hurry, where did I come from to see the scenery of the port! "This time he came to Ming Ming to be Liang Dunyan's secret envoy, but in fact, Yang Du has been pretending to be Liang Dunyan's guard, and came together after disguise. This secret negotiation concerns the future and life of the Beiyang Group and Yuan Gongbao, and cannot be sloppy. And Yang Du was the smartest and most strategic person in Yuan Shikai's staff, so he became a secret envoy in secret.

"I was in the harbor for a short time, and one thing happened to happen to me. It was in the unloading area of the port, a British merchant ship docked, and in the process of unloading, the British captain rebuked a person in charge of Huaguo, who was too far away for me to understand the reason for the quarrel. At the beginning of the argument, I saw a Chinese man run away, and ten minutes later brought a few Chinese policemen, by this time the British captain and sailors had already fought with three Chinese people, and the three Chinese people were outnumbered, but they were very stubborn and did not stop resisting. Speaking of this, Liang Dunyan suddenly became a little excited, and his hands clenched the railing tightly.

"What's wrong, what happened next?"

"Hahahaha!" Liang Dunyan suddenly burst into laughter, turned his head to Yang Du and said, "Do you know, those policemen came up and pulled out their batons and fought with those British sailors, and one of the policemen also took out a pistol and pointed it at the British captain!" Oh my God! (Do you remember Xiao Yueyue?) How could the Chinese people be so tough, and what means did Lu Liang use to make the Chinese people change their appearance in a short period of time? Do you remember, in the north, how many foreigners are still powerful, the Japanese and the Russians are fighting fiercely on our land, and the dead and wounded are the common people of our country! Also, the Japanese proposed to Miyaho-sama that as long as they agreed to their terms, they could provide a larger amount of loans to the Beiyang Army. Do you see their pride, their superiority? ”

Yang Du was silent, he saw all these things, but there were some things that had to be done, not only for Yuan Shikai, but also for the entire Beiyang Group.

In Wuhan, Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Taiyan was discussing with Lu Liang about Liang Dunyan's visit. As Zhang Taiyan gradually matured, Lu Liang replaced the former Foreign Minister Lu Ze and replaced it with a more flexible Zhang Taiyan.

"President, Yuan Shikai They can't hold back, I guess they came with conditions, either to give up the whole province of Hubei, or to open mining rights, road construction rights, etc., in short, it is best to keep the north of the Yangtze River." Since Zhang Taiyan became foreign minister, he has been exposed to more and more confidential information, and he is also aware of Lu Liang's strategic fraud. Moreover, with the rapid development of China's economy, the domestic demand for resources and markets has become very eager, and the big capitalists in China are salivating for the north, and they think that Lu Liang really wants to continue in the north, and they are very active.

"Divide the river and rule, want to be beautiful, national unity is unchangeable, not only the north, but also the northeast, Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet must be completely recovered, and the Manchu Qing must abdicate. However, our goal now is not them, you can delay the negotiations indefinitely, don't refuse in one go, and don't give them too much sweetness. In short, to convince the outside world that our purpose is to continue the Northern Expedition and buy time for the war against Japan. "Yuan Shikai's person Lu Liang doesn't want to see him, and he doesn't have much time to talk to them, it's a shadowless thing, he has a lot to do!

Liang Dunyan and Yang Du came with hope, but they didn't expect that it was only the little-known Foreign Minister Zhang Taiyan who secretly received them, and the minister had been vague about the two of them asking to see Lu Liang, which made Yang Du, who was hiding behind the scenes, secretly anxious.

"Minister Zhang, the country is in danger, Japan and Russia are fighting in the Northeast, and the people are miserable, you must not start a civil war at this juncture, what is the difference between this and national sinners?" Seeing that Zhang Taiyan's oil and salt did not enter, Liang Dunyan played the bitter card.

"Mr. Liang, why deceive yourself, the imperial court has set aside a 'war zone' in the northeast, given its own territory to the two great powers to fight, and does not allow the people in the war zone to leave, such a court is the real sinner. The country is in danger, why doesn't Mr. Liang want to think about why the country has sunk to this point, look at what the current imperial court is doing, and what President Lu Liang's Huaguo is doing! "Although Liang Dunyan works for Yuan Shikai, he is also a patriot in nature, how could he not understand what Zhang Taiyan's words meant.

"Minister Zhang, the dead and wounded in the civil war are all our people, for the sake of the country, I hope you can calm down, and Lord Yuan Gongbao also hopes that the two sides can solve the problem by peaceful means."

"Peaceful means? That's not now, it's time to negotiate when China settles Japan. Zhang Taiyan secretly thought in his heart, and he had to continue to grind with Liang Dunyan.

In March 1905, the 1st Marine Division of the Zhenguo Army arrived in Ningbo, Zhejiang, and by the end of April, the entire Marine Corps would be transferred there, claiming to be preparing for the Northern Expedition, and the middle and lower rank officers thought the same.

On 10 April, Lu Bao, commander of the 1st Marine Division, held a meeting of the divisional headquarters, and except for the three regiment commanders and three regimental instructors, the rest were all genetic officers. It is rare for an ordinary person to serve as a regiment commander, but these three regiment commanders have been unanimously affirmed by the military headquarters and the division headquarters, they are Cai Songpo, commander of the first division and one regiment, Jiang Fangzhen, commander of the second regiment, and Zhang Yannong, commander of the artillery regiment. (To be continued.) )