90028983 Chapter 41: The Hearts of the People

※The purpose is the representative of the warehouse of Zhang Renjun, the governor of Guangdong. Wang Xuan Dengbu said, "Sea chips, attached." was invited to the captain's room by Cheng Biguang, and the two quickly cut to the chase.

For Wang Xuan, this person. Cheng Biguang didn't know much about it, and after talking for a while, he realized that this Wang Xuan was not a layman in military affairs, and not only knew the strategic situation of Guangzhou's offensive and defensive sides, but also knew that the "Haishen" and "Haichou" he brought over were German-made cruisers, and even knew that the former captain of the "Haishen" was Lu Ping, who was currently the deputy director of the Nanyuan Army and Navy Joint Staff Office.

This time, he rushed to the "Haichou" ship to meet Cheng Biguang, this Wang Xuan did not come empty-handed, he also brought a military map, which marked the positions of the attacking and defending sides, and according to the scale above, it was completely possible to measure the position of those positions from the naval ships, with this military map, the task force could completely carry out long-range surpassing shooting.

However, in Cheng Biguang's view, even without this military map, the navy is fully capable of defeating the Gui army outside the city. Now that the naval task force has arrived at the battlefield, the collapse of the Gui army is only a matter of time, but the "Guangdong Incident" is not just a military issue, but it is also a political issue.

In fact, before leaving for the south, Zhao Bei, the president of the Republic of China, specially took a secret telegram to Cheng Biguang and put it on the telegram. Zhao Bei clearly told Cheng Biguang that the task of the navy in this southward trip to Guangdong was not only to cooperate with the Guangdong military government to quell the rebellion, but also to assist the central government in "rectifying" Guangdong's political arena.

Since the revolution, the Cantonese military junta has been outside the effective control of the central government, and even during the last Great War of the North and the South, the Cantonese military junta has maintained what it calls "outside neutrality." "Neither helping the Beiyang Center nor ignoring the United Front's co-optation, it is completely detached from political disputes.

Relying on Zhang Renjun's group of Manchu bureaucrats, they could not have this kind of "outside neutrality" confidence, behind them, there were people to support them, and it was the British and French who supported Zhang Renjun.

Guangdong is located in the coastal region of South China, which is very close to the Indochinese colony of the French, and has always been regarded by the French as their sphere of influence, but at the same time, the British power in Guangdong is also very strong, so the current Guangdong is actually "protected" by the British and the French. France even owns a "Guangzhou Bay lease" on the Leizhou Peninsula. And on the outskirts of Guangzhou, there is also a so-called "public concession."

Now that Zhao Bei is the president of the Republic of China, and is rapidly moving closer to Germany, this has aroused the alarm of Britain and France, and as a means of counterattack, Britain and France have decided to jointly support a new agent in South China. Even if it is not possible to control the central power, it must at least establish a foothold in South China, a monitoring point, to remind the Chinese central government not to get too close to Germany.

As a result, Britain and France took a fancy to Zhang Renjun and tried their best to support this governor of Guangdong, trying to create a new situation in Guangdong through him, and to fight against the central government.

However, the cooperation between Britain and France is not tacit, Zhang Renjun's own strength is also very limited, coupled with the containment of Long Jiguang's Guijun forces, this new situation in Guangdong has not been established, if Britain and France are given enough time, Zhang Renjun may not be able to be the "king of Guangdong." "But the problem is that the Japanese made a move, and it was a big deal." Guangdong secondary leather

。

No matter what the purpose of the Japanese is, the fact is that Guangdong is now in chaos, and the "new situation in Guangdong" painstakingly managed by the British and French governments is far away, and the original balance of power has been completely broken.

It was also on this rare opportunity that Zhao Bei decided to consolidate the power of Guangdong in one fell swoop, and the central government directly controlled this rich southern province to serve his entire strategy.

This time, Cheng Biguang led the naval task force to Guangdong, not so much to assist Zhang Renjun in quelling the rebellion, but to solve Zhang Renjun's forces for the center, Zhao Bei's attitude was very clear, after the "Guangdong Incident" subsided, Zhang Renjun must step down.

Got it. I also understand why Cheng Biguang rejected Wang Xuan's just now. The proposal of "land and sea coordination" operations.

According to that proposal. The navy will be under the direct command of the Guangdong Governor's Office, and will assist the Cantonese army to go out of the city to attack the besieging enemy forces. Cover the attack of the Cantonese army with the artillery fire of warships. This proposal was not only Wang Xuan's suggestion, but also Zhang Renjun's idea, which was wishful thinking that he would use the cover of naval fire to eat the Gui army in one fell swoop, so as to enhance the strength of the Guangdong army and stabilize Zhang Renjun's position as the governor of Guangdong.

However, this proposal is contrary to the instructions of the center, and it is not beneficial to weaken Zhang Renjun's prestige, so Cheng Biguang refused, and this excuse is also high-sounding, that is, the naval task force set off in a hurry, did not carry enough shells, and there was no problem in assisting the Guangzhou side to defend the city.

Wang Xuan couldn't figure out what Cheng Biguang really meant, but he could see that this General Cheng "Chen Renjun didn't have a good feeling." And it's no wonder. Last Civil War. Zhang Qin has no intention of watching the tiger fight, and now the United Front does have a lot of opinions about this person, even if Beiyang wins, Zhang Renjun may not be welcomed, but Zhang Renjun has the support of Britain and France behind him, and Beiyang may not dare to touch him.

But now it is the United Front that holds the central power, and that President Zhao Da is even more famous as a "madman in the Far East." "Beiyang didn't dare to move Zhang Renjun, and President Zhao didn't dare to move Zhang Renjun, and this time" Guangdong incident. The whole of Guangdong was in a mess, and the battle in Guangzhou further caused Zhang Renjun to lose the support of the people, and if President Zhao Da chooses to attack Zhang Renjun now, then this may be a good opportunity.

Wang Xuan is a smart person. It is impossible not to see the impact of the "Guangdong Incident" on the entire Chinese political situation, although Zhang Renjun is a good master, but compared to the center. Wang Xuan is more optimistic about the union

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Therefore, when Cheng Biguang refused to cover the Cantonese army in Guangzhou with artillery fire to launch a counterattack, Wang Xuan immediately made up his mind. It was decided to change the court and take refuge in the center.

"Since there are not many shells. The navy could not cover the counterattack of the Cantonese army, and this was deeply contemptible to the people

Wang Xuan didn't dwell on the matter of coordinated operations by sea and land, and changed his words and said, "The contemptible people came to visit General Cheng this time. There was also a personal letter to General Cheng, which was written by Zhang Hanzhai, the speaker of the Guangdong Provincial Assembly. Also look at General Cheng at a glance

"Zhang Hanzhai?. Cheng Biguang was a little puzzled, this name was indeed a little unfamiliar.

"It's Zhang Mingqi, the former governor of Guangxi, who is now the speaker of the Guangdong Provincial Assembly," Han Zhai. It's his nickname. Wang Xuan took out the letter, put it on the table, and handed it to Cheng Biguang.

"It turned out to be Zhang Jianbai. Did he know that it was me who led the task force to Guangdong this time? Cheng Biguang took the letter and opened the envelope.

Wang Xuan said with a smile: "The telegram from the center did not mention General Cheng's name. Naturally, this letter was not handed over to General Cheng by name. It's just a letter of loyalty to the center. ”

Cheng Biguang hurriedly glanced at the content of the letter a few times, and quickly understood Zhang Mingqi's intentions.

Wang Xuan was right. This is a letter of loyalty to the center, in the letter, Zhang Mingqi listed Zhang Renjun's various corruption and illegal affairs since he took office as the governor of Guangdong, and the articles are listed, and all the personal and material evidence are complete, if the center wants to take Zhang Renjun, this letter from Zhang Mingqi is a beacon to guide the way. That's why. If this letter falls into the hands of Zhang Renjun, 1 Zhang Mingqi is afraid that it will be a dead note, and if he doesn't want to die, he can only escape.

"Zhang Jianbai is a straightforward person. He's not in the city of Guangzhou now, is he? Cheng Biguang put away the letter and asked Wang Xuan.

Wang Xuan said: "Zhang Jianbai lived in the Shamian Public Concession before the Guangdong Incident, and now he no longer walks around the city of Guangzhou, but with the help of foreign firms, he often has contact with Zaixia. ”

The meaning of Wang Xuan's words is very clear, Zhang Mingqi is ready to break the boat, this person is either aware of current affairs, or he has received a hint from someone, Cheng Biguang even suspects that it is the United Front that hints at Zhang Mingqi, maybe it was planned by the president of the Republic of China himself.

From this point of view, the central "reversal" operation is already on the line, and what is lacking is nothing more than a military victory.

"Mr. Wang, you will go back to the city of Guangzhou and tell Zhang Dudu that although the naval task force cannot assist the Cantonese troops in launching a counteroffensive, it can harass the rebel positions and bombard the rebel headquarters. I hope that in the shelling of the rebel positions, the Canton side can assist in guiding the changes in the rebel positions, and in order to facilitate communication, I will send several naval officers ashore and they will communicate with the fleet in the language of the flag. In addition, Mr. Wang said just now that the Guangdong Naval Division is still under the control of Zhang Dudu, so I would like to ask Zhang Dudu to hand it over to the unified command of the naval task force for convenience

"It's better to assist General Cheng on the warship, and send someone back to Governor Zhang. In addition, the 50,000 taels of silver is a little bit of the heart of the people of Guangdong, which is also a support for the center and the navy, and I hope that General Cheng will accept it with a smile

Wang Xuan took out a bill of exchange from a French bank and presented it to Cheng Biguang, in fact, this was Zhang Renjun who ordered him to bring to buy the naval fleet, but now, since he has decided to change the court, then naturally this silver can no longer be handed over to Cheng Biguang in the name of Zhang Renjun.

Wang Xuan's thoughts. Cheng Biguang can also guess a few points, he understands that since the other party has already participated in the "reverse Zhang" operation as Zhang Mingqi's messenger, it is indeed a little inappropriate to return to Guangzhou City now, in case the news is leaked. Zhang Renjun may not let him go Wang Xuan, it's not that he doesn't trust Cheng Biguang.

Ordering an adjutant to take Wang Xuan down to settle down, Cheng Biguang held Zhang Mingqi's letter of allegiance in one hand and the French bank draft handed over to him by Wang Xuan in the other, which was also emotional.

Now Guangdong. It is the same as the situation in the Beijing-Tianjin region some time ago, various political forces are divided, combined, and then unified under the command of a strong figure.

Perhaps, this is the so-called "people's desire".