Although Xiao Yimin's three letters brought a lot of good impression to Tang Jiyao and Cai Yi, who swore to the Northern Expedition for the bloody alliance, the actual effect was only to increase their understanding of each other.

The resolute and ambitious generals of the Yunnan Army could not immediately change their aspirations and the overall plan they painstakingly formulated because of Xiao Yimin's few words and a few seemingly humble words, and the officers and men of the Yunnan Army would never forget the humiliation and hatred they suffered during the anti-Qing war four years ago.

At the military meeting urgently convened by Tang Jiyao and Cai Yi, the true face of Xiao Yimin, a "political speculator" and "counter-revolutionary warlord", was ruthlessly exposed by the participants.

Xiao Yimin, an arms dealer who flattered foreign people, was insidious and shameless in the Baolu Movement and the Chengdu Mutiny, took advantage of the ignorance and anger of the Sichuan military and civilians, incited the profit-hungry gangs, seized the mistakes and contradictions of the Sichuan Revolutionary Party, and got rid of his teacher Zhao Erfeng by killing people with a knife, and achieved the ugly goal of controlling the Sichuan border army. The capitalist forces of the United States and other powers, as well as the major feudal forces and capitalists in Sichuan, gradually encroached on the revolutionary army and revolutionary achievements, and finally became the great warlords who seized Sichuan.

In particular, the so-called special operations launched by Xiao Yimin throughout Sichuan to "suppress bandits throughout the territory" and "fight corruption, promote clean government, and punish bullies" recently launched by Xiao Yimin's counterrevolutionary clique were completely the frenzied suppression and massacre of the Sichuan revolutionary party and progressives by Xiao Yimin's counterrevolutionary clique, and nearly half of the more than 5,000 people who were brutally slaughtered and exiled to Xikang were non-governmental armed forces that formed associations to protect themselves, and many of them were local armed forces led by revolutionaries, and hundreds or even thousands of revolutionaries and members of the old league were raided and sentenced to prison and exiled by their families.

What is particularly disgusting is that Xiao Yimin, who has successfully stolen the military power in Sichuan, has completely controlled public opinion and deceived the broad masses of the people by the despicable means of confusing right and wrong and reversing black and white.

The military meeting quickly reached a consensus, and most of the generals and colonels present at the meeting did not attend the reception banquet that followed, and immediately left Kunming to return to the various ministries and launched military operations in full swing according to the original plan.

Liu Bing, who took a shower and changed into a clean suit, came to the banquet hall first, and found that Cai Yi and others had disappeared, and only Tang Jiyao, Dan Maoxin, Cheng Qian and four military and political officials warmly greeted them.

After greeting each other, Tang Jiyao apologized and explained: General Songpa and others entrusted him to apologize on their behalf because they had to hold a meeting on food supplies with local officials.

Liu Bingxian, who had already been tempered, was still smiling, but he was secretly complaining in his heart - he was keenly aware that this trip would not change anything at all, and the unprecedented unity and high morale of the Dian army would not change the set goal, and the only gain was to meet Cai Ye and many long-lost students.

Tang Jiyao was very elegant and enthusiastic, and Dan Maoxin, Ren Kecheng and others, who were also leaders of the Kuomintang branch, also frequently raised their glasses to Liu Bingxian, who was well-known in the revolutionary party.

When the wine was half-drunk, Tang Jiyao, who was kind and pleasant, suddenly changed the topic and asked Liu Bingxian a half-joking and half-serious question: "Brother Zicheng, before General Liu Yunfeng stated to me and General Songpo Brother Zicheng's views on the Sichuan-Yunnan army, we are deeply inspired, but there are still a lot of unfinished points, I wonder if Brother Zicheng can give advice?" ”

Liu Bingxian, who no longer had any hope, simply let go of his mind:

"Don't dare to teach, let's learn and make progress together! I dare to conclude that within three days, the first echelon regiment of the left wing of the guard [***] will definitely drive to the north of Yanjin, and then it will be stationed at Gao. The Sichuan army in the county launched a tentative attack; The forward units of the two brigades of the first echelon of the [***] regiment will also drive to the Bijie line in western Qianxi, in an attempt to capture Luzhou through Xuyong.

"But judging from the current comparison of the strength of the two armies of Sichuan and Yunnan, General Songpo, who served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, will be very contradictory, and dare not rush north, the Yunnan army is already at an absolute disadvantage in terms of equipment and numbers, if it continues to divide the troops into three ways and adopt the strategy of multi-front attack, this battle will be defeated!

"And I dare to say that if this battle is not fought, as long as it is fought, it will be a war of annihilation without any suspense, and the Dian army will be devastated from then on."

The audience was stunned, Tang Jiyao "chuckled" in his heart, looked at Cheng Qian, who was full of melancholy, and suddenly laughed heartily, and waited for everyone's attention to focus on him before thanking Liu Bingxian:

"Thank you Brother Zicheng for being outspoken! However, although our Dian army is lagging behind the Sichuan army in many aspects, it is probably too early to say that it will be defeated! Haha......"

Tang Jiyao naturally made a calm gesture to several angry generals, turned to Cheng Qian beside him, and asked with a smile: "Brother Songyun, you used to be the chief of staff of the Sichuan army, and now you are the chief of staff of the former enemy headquarters of our Yunnan army, what do you think?" ”

Cheng Qian, who originally planned not to express his opinion, hesitated for a moment, put down the napkin, and said seriously:

"The younger brother has been away from the Sichuan Army for many years, and he lacks enough understanding of the current Sichuan Army, and only knows some from various public reports and some reports. According to the analysis of the current training level and equipment of the two armies, what Brother Zicheng said is not an exaggeration, and in addition, the Sichuan army, which is twice as strong as our army, is waiting for work under the advantages of geography and people, and this battle will be very difficult to fight.

"In addition, I personally think that Brother Zicheng's plan to concentrate troops east out of Guizhou is more feasible, at least we don't need to spend precious troops on the border line of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, if we can concentrate our forces to take Wuhan is the most ideal, take a step back, take Hunan, Guangxi, and connect with the friendly forces in Guangdong, it is also a good situation."

When everyone heard Cheng Qian say this, they lost their temper, and they all knew that the biggest purpose of attacking Sichuan was to solve the problem of huge military spending, and only by occupying the rich Sichuan could we get a key supplement from financial and human resources, and only then could we continue to grow the revolutionary ranks, but judging from the current situation, the situation has become very grim, Xiao Yimin's Sichuan army has completed the suppression of bandits in southern Sichuan ahead of schedule, and batches of Sichuan revolutionary armed forces hidden in various parts of southern Sichuan waiting for the arrival of the Yunnan army have been exterminated, and the Sichuan army that has boosted morale has been achieved through the suppression of bandits. Having completely occupied the strategic points in the Sichuan-Yunnan border area, the central and left routes of the Yunnan army, which had lost its internal response, were currently in a dilemma, and it was only in order to boost morale that they had to continue to move north, maintain military pressure on Sichuan, and then win the political and strategic initiative.

Tang Jiyao and others organized the Northern Expedition can be described as exhaustive, many generals of the Yunnan Army sold their ancestral houses and land for the revolution, raised military funds to protect the country and begged Yuan, Tang Jiyao spent nearly a year with hard work and frugality, and was even willing to bear the infamy, monopolized the opium smuggling channels in nearly half of Yunnan and northern Burma, and levied high taxes and fees on opium and salt, so he purchased more than 30,000 new guns and a batch of French artillery and heavy machine guns to protect [***].

In order to ensure the supply of weapons and ammunition for the Yunnan army, Tang Jiyao gave key support to the Yunnan Arsenal for two consecutive years, spent a huge amount of money to recruit talents, and introduced European technical experts and advanced technology, so that the chaotic arsenal had a new look and a great increase in output.

However, compared with the Sichuan military industrial enterprises that have been developing steadily for five years, whether it is manufacturing technology and industrial scale, or the number of industrial workers and product quality, the Yunnan Arsenal, which has just begun to recover, can only be compared to the dust, which is also where Tang Jiyao admires Xiao Yimin the most, although Xiao Yimin has always been the enemy of Tang Jiyao and the soldiers of the Yunnan army.

There was an awkward silence on the wine table, Tang Jiyao toasted Liu Bingxian with a glass of wine, and then continued to humbly ask: "Brother Zicheng thinks that what is the biggest difference between the two armies in Yunnan and Sichuan?" ”

Liu Bingxian put down his chopsticks, swallowed the delicious casserole fish fillet in his mouth, and wiped his mouth with a white napkin:

"The biggest difference is that in the treatment of officers and soldiers, the monthly salary of an ordinary soldier of the Sichuan Army is 5 yuan, and food and other expenses are no longer deducted, and military uniforms, military hats, and military shoes are issued once a year in spring and autumn; except on the battlefield and training grounds, the Sichuan Army basically achieves equality between officers and soldiers, and officers no longer wantonly beat and insult soldiers; all departments not only strengthen political education and encourage soldiers to learn literacy, but also take more care of retired and wounded officers and soldiers, and give resettlement money to those who go home to farm, and arrange for those who have skills to enter the factory. Or enter the police departments at all levels, telephone and telegraph companies, construction companies and transport companies under the management of the political axe.

"The Sichuan Army clearly stipulates that embezzlement of military salaries is a serious crime, and embezzling more than 100 yuan will definitely be shot, and it is useless for Tianwang Laozi to intercede. Therefore, the morale of the Sichuan army is high, the relationship between the officers and soldiers is very good, and they are not afraid of death when they fight, because after death, their families are well taken care of, and they will receive a certificate of honor issued by the political axe and the army, and a red plaque printed with the words "Martyrs' Home" will be nailed to the door of their homes, and political axes and civil affairs officials will send gifts and condolences every New Year's holiday.

"Let me ask, does the Dian army have such an inspiring military law, military regulations and incentive policies?"

The generals at the table were stunned, and even Cheng Qian, who was most familiar with the Sichuan army, was surprised.

Liu Bingxian continued: "I know that our Kuomintang and Yunnan newspapers have always had a very bad evaluation of the Sichuan Army and Xiao Yimin, and many newspapers have even written Xiao Yimin as a high-flying, domineering, and ruthless warlord, and a notorious political hooligan, but the fact is that Xiao Yimin is deeply loved and supported by the Sichuan people and intellectuals, and since the day Xiao Yimin founded the army, as long as he is in the barracks, he will find time every day to train with ordinary soldiers and share weal and woe with the officers and soldiers; As long as he is in the military academy, he will meet with the cadets every night to talk to each other, solve problems for the cadets, and earnestly encourage them; Xiao Yimin participates in various exercises close to actual combat in the army every year, and his marksmanship is also the best among the generals and colonels of the Sichuan Army.

"Based on these points alone, the officers and men of the Sichuan army are willing to work for him Xiao Yimin, where he points and where the officers and soldiers rush to, there is no other word, not to mention the pride he has brought to the Sichuan army over the years."

There was another embarrassing silence, and even Tang Jiyao, who was eloquent and full of articles, could only be silent.

As a military and political official at the top level, anyone here knows that political propaganda is always propaganda, a means to achieve one's own goals, and reality is often different, and any ideals and beliefs must be based on realistic conditions in order to be realized.

Early the next morning, Liu Bingxian, who was extremely disappointed, said goodbye to Tang Jiyao and others, and took a French car to Qujing accompanied by Cheng Qian, where he would have a heart-to-heart discussion with Cai Yi and Li Liejun in Qujing, and then go north to return to Yucheng.

Along the way, Cheng Qian politely asked Liu Bingxian, the junior brother of the non-commissioned officer school, various questions, Liu Bing told Cheng Qian the truth about the basic equipment level of the Sichuan army, and finally said with great concern:

"Senior brother also knows Yiming's stinky temper, if he really fights this time, I'm afraid he will leave no mercy, I even have a hunch that Yiming is likely to be angry, wave his army into the hinterland of Yunnan, and then ...... Alas! ”

Cheng Qian was shocked: "This is not what Yiming asked you to tell me, right?" ”

"No, I guess."

Liu Bingxian stopped talking after speaking, looked at the moving scenery outside the window and sighed frequently.

(To be continued)