After Liu Bingxian secretly went south, Xu Xiaogang returned to Chengdu to assist the chief of staff Bao Jiqing, and Wang Lingji led his generals to return to the Wanxian Headquarters, guarding eastern Sichuan and monitoring the direction of Hubei and southern Henan.

Sun Zhaoluan also immediately led the generals and colonels to the south of Syria, transferred troops and sent generals, and blocked the Sichuan-Yunnan border area to prevent the Yunnan army from going its own way.

Xiao Yimin, who was sitting in Yucheng, stared at Yunnan with one eye and Chengdu with the other, and was busy until late at night every day, dealing with official affairs and intelligence gathered from all directions, until seven German instructors, including Karl, the chief instructor of the military academy, led 50 cadets of the staff department to Yucheng to observe and practice, and Xiao Yimin breathed a sigh of relief.

Most of the 50 cadets in the staff department are middle- and low-ranking officers with actual combat experience, and many of them graduated from the former Sichuan Army Accelerated School and the Baoding Army Accelerated School, and their quality is very good.

After a long talk with Xiao Yimin, Carl and other instructors divided the 50 trainees into five staff groups, which were supplemented by Xiao Yimin's combat group, intelligence group, telecommunications group, and quartermaster logistics group.

I don't know what method he used to prompt the provincial political axe and the special session of the parliament to pass a series of decisions, and in just 10 days, under the overwhelming propaganda and guidance of public opinion, he launched a "clean-up operation" that shook the entire territory of Sichuan, and combined it with the vigorous suppression of bandits throughout the territory.

Under the accusations of many ironclad evidences and more than 100 bitter masters from Zizhou, Yang Wei, the director of the police department, became the target of the people of Sichuan to vent their dissatisfaction, and the good reputation he had in the past suddenly disappeared, and he almost became synonymous with "corrupt officials" and "bullies and inferior gentry" in the mouths of the Sichuan people.

Yang Wei and his two deputies, who were suddenly attacked, saw that the general trend had gone, so they could only take the initiative to resign and seek self-protection, and Bao Jiqing also generously opened the net, and Yang Wei and others were able to take their immediate family and their own property and flee Sichuan in embarrassment.

Immediately afterwards, 42 wealthy but unkind families were uprooted in Sichuan, and as many as hundreds of ambitious and dissident "gentry and celebrities" were imprisoned.

A large number of correspondence and criminal evidence were found from the residences, companies, and clubs of these people, involving crimes such as fornicating with the party, secretly forming bandits, illegally arming, oppressing the people, embezzlement and framing, seeking money and killing people, and so on.

Under the vigorous and relentless crackdown of the military and political authorities, one after another major and important cases that caused a sensation throughout the province were made public, and hundreds of victims who had been wronged rushed to Chengdu to tearfully accuse corrupt officials and bullies of their crimes, and wept of gratitude to the political axe and the army for making decisions for the people.

The people of Sichuan were in high spirits and cheered, the opposition forces in the whole province, the annihilation of all parties that had been hidden for many years, and the corrupt officials at all levels were arrested one after another, and everyone in Sichuan officialdom was in danger, and the neutral factions who swayed left and right and speculated and drilled into the camp quickly died down, and everyone was in danger, and a large number of honest and honest officials with a firm stand and determined to forge ahead were vigorously promoted, and the social atmosphere and political atmosphere of the whole Sichuan were completely new.

In this clean-up operation that shocked the whole country, the five major families of Sichuan, including the Deng family, the Cao family, and the Wu family, unswervingly stood on the side of Xiao Yimin and Zhang Lan, and also benefited a lot from mutual assistance and compromise.

On January 15, 1916, when the Sichuan High Court began to adjudicate many cases, Zhang Lan, the Sichuan Governor, officially announced to the whole province:

In the new year, the political axe will invest a huge amount of 2 million yuan to establish a large-scale provincial Sichuan University with advanced facilities in Wangjiangting, Chengdu, and establish 12 provincial middle schools in 12 prefectures in Sichuan.

The news announced by Zhang Lan immediately aroused the applause of the Sichuan people, and the Sichuan cultural circles, who were panicked during the crackdown movement, finally relieved themselves when they saw Zhang Lan give this signal to stop the movement, and they all regrouped their spirits and shouted for Zhang Lan and the provincial government.

A "clean-up operation" that resulted in more than 3,000 people being beheaded and sentenced to exile came to an end amid cheers from all walks of life in Sichuan, and Xiao Yimin's faction, which controlled the mainstream of the army and public opinion, finally took advantage of the chaos and war clouds across the country under the banner of justice to successfully eradicate dissidents and establish the unshakable political position of the group

Liu Bingxian, who secretly entered Yunnan, was warmly received by Liu Yunfeng in Zhaotong, and Liu Yunfeng learned of Liu Bingxian's intention and mission, and did not have any delay at the moment, and personally accompanied Liu Bingxian to Kunming.

On the way from Zhaotong to Kunming, Liu Bingxian saw the various units of the Yunnan army going north and east, and he couldn't help but be secretly anxious. When Liu Yunfeng pointed to the Yunnan army marching on both sides of the highway and asked Liu Bingxian how he felt, Liu Bingxian, who came to eliminate the Sichuan-Yunnan War, replied truthfully: "Judging only from the equipment and the mental outlook of the officers and soldiers, the Yunnan army is not as good as the Sichuan army. ”

Liu Yunfeng, who was both wise and brave, knew Liu Bingxian's straightforward temper, although he was not angry in his heart, he did not argue about it, but asked humbly: "Brother Zicheng thinks the gap between the two armies is mainly reflected?" ”

Liu Bingxian sighed: "Originally, the junior brother shouldn't have said anything, since the junior brother came specifically to eliminate the misunderstanding between the two families this time, he can only tell the truth to show his sincerity: judging from the marching formation of your army, the officers and soldiers are disordered, the formation is loose, and the items such as guns and bullet bags are sparse and stumbling, and at a glance you can see that there is a lack of adequate training." ”

Liu Yunfeng nodded honestly:

"Brother Zicheng is really careful, lack of training is indeed a major disease of our army, although in the past six months under the call of the Tang Governor Army has been greatly improved, but still not well solved, our Yunnan army departments have not completed the unification of training methods and methods, in this regard, we still admire the Sichuan army very much, but also admire your commander-in-chief Xiao, if it were not for his persistence and promotion for five years, there would be no today's Sichuan army."

Liu Bingxian smiled slightly and continued:

During this 50-kilometer journey, the younger brother saw that the officers and men were equipped with a wide variety of rifles, including four kinds of rifles: legal, French, German, and British, plus the pistols issued by officers at all levels, which required at least six or more kinds of ammunition, which was very cumbersome.

As early as the end of last year, all units of the Sichuan Army completed the unification of weapons and equipment, equipped with German-made or imitation German-made rifles, completed the unification of rifle calibers, and completely used sharp-tipped bullets with better surnames, thus greatly reducing the burden of logistical supply and enhancing combat effectiveness.

"With this alone, the Dian army lost a lot to the Sichuan army! The elder brother has experienced a hundred battles and knows the important surname of ammunition consumption and replenishment on the battlefield, and the younger brother has the courage to say bluntly that under the condition that the number of officers and soldiers and the number of equipment are the same, your army will not be able to defeat the Sichuan army, not to mention that the Sichuan army has gathered 28,000 well-trained troops in southern Sichuan alone. ”

Liu Yunfeng nodded again and again, looking out of the car window and gradually falling into deep thought.

Liu Bingxian shook his head slightly, sighed, and then closed his eyes and stopped talking

At four o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th day of the first month, Liu Bingxian finally arrived at the base camp of the Yunnan army in Wuhua Mountain, Kunming, and more than ten generals such as Tang Jiyao, Cai Yi, Li Liejun, Cheng Qian, and Dan Maoxin, who received the news in advance, came out to greet them in person.

Liu Bingxian handed over Xiao Yimin's three handwritten letters to Tang Jiyao, Cai Yi and Cheng Qian, and then under the guidance of his old friend Dan Maoxin, he took his personal guards to the guest house to wash and change clothes.

After reading the letter, Cai Ye and the others immediately decided: After a little deliberation, the dinner would be postponed for an hour and a half, and a military meeting would be immediately convened to discuss it.

It was still a while before the meeting, Cai Ye sat in the deputy marshal position in the conference room, looked at Tang Jiyao, who was in deep thought in the coach's position, and asked, "Brother Xuan Geng is still thinking about Xiao Yiming's letter?" ”

Tang Jiyao, who has a resolute face and a sharp nose, nodded slightly:

"Yes! I didn't expect the legendary Xiao Yiming, and the little brother felt that the gap between Xiao Yiming at the moment was so big, I thought he was an arrogant and clever man, I didn't expect a letter to be written so plainly, the font is also respectful and chic, the attitude is humble and the words are gentle, not only did not scold and satirize the younger brother, but also called the younger brother a revolutionary pioneer, praised the achievements of Yunnan's industrial and commercial development in the past two years, and gave high praise to us to cancel trade barriers and promote the interconnection between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, which is really surprising! ”

Seeing Cai Yi nodding silently, Tang Jiyao asked in a low voice, "Brother Songpo, what did Xiao Yiming and you say?" ”

Cai Yi smiled and said: "Speaking of which, you may be even more surprised, he showed great respect for myself and the Dian army, and even called our announcement of Yunnan's action of reading power and protecting the country to fight against Yuan as an irreversible historical trend, but he disagreed with our military action plan, thinking that the time is not yet ripe, and it is still necessary to wake up the people while waiting, win the hearts of the people and lay a good foundation, and then consider the choice of fighters and the route of the Northern Expedition." Finally, he also asked me about my throat disease with concern, and advised me to pay attention to my condition and treat it as soon as possible. ”

Tang Jiyao smiled: "I'm afraid his letter to his old friend Cheng Songyun is even more exciting." ”

Cai Ye couldn't help but look at Cheng Qian, who was silently bowing his head and contemplating:

"Song Yun is the one who knows Xiao Yiming the most among us, and he has always admired Xiao Yiming, and strongly admired the training method of the Sichuan army, and he was the first to put forward the proposal to break the gap between the two armies of Sichuan and Yunnan and take the initiative to negotiate, although it was vetoed by most of our generals, but now it seems that Song Yun's opinion still has some truth.

"This time, our Northern Expedition to protect the country, at most 30,000 soldiers can be transferred, and the regular troops of the Sichuan army stationed in southern Sichuan will reach 20,000, as long as the war is ignited, the Sichuan army can mobilize at least 50,000 troops to deal with us, therefore, no matter how much we occupy the righteousness, as long as Xiao Yiming does not agree, it will be difficult for us to enter Sichuan, let alone capture Chengdu and go north to Xi'an."

Tang Jiyao smiled bitterly:

"The generals are very high-spirited, and a few envoys sent by Mr. Zhongshan are impassionedly preaching on the side, we can only agree to make a declaration according to the original plan, and now Xiao Yiming has sent Zicheng to contact, obviously showing that they are unwilling to fight between the two armies, and it is not that they have attached Yuan Shikai as stated in the national newspapers, otherwise why haven't we seen Xiao Yiming's congratulatory form in favor of Yuan Shikai being the emperor until now?"

"I'm ashamed to say it, in order to escape from Yanjing, I also had the heart to support Yuan Shikai's accession to the throne, compared with Xiao Yiming, I am deeply ashamed!" Cai Yi sighed.

Tang Jiyao waved his hand generously: "Don't think too much, who in the world doesn't know you?" It's this Xiao Yiming, I'm afraid we have all looked away, think about it carefully, the situation is still stronger than people......"

(To be continued)