With the successful completion of the large-scale military clean-up operations in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces, and the end of the largest civil war with the largest number of troops since the founding of the Republic of China, the enthusiasm of Chinese and foreign public opinion has not weakened, but has set off round after round of upsurge.

The raging war that spread across several provinces was extinguished after only burning for more than 20 days, and this result greatly exceeded everyone's expectations, whether it was the two major hostile political axes of the north and the south, or the European and American powers and local warlords in China, they were all deeply shocked by this, and a pair of incredible but complex emotions of the eyes all looked at the city of Nanjing, which was standing on the dragon plate, and threw themselves on the young political commander Xiao Yimin.

Chinese and foreign politicians and military strategists are keenly aware that a brand-new and powerful military and political force has inexorably stepped onto China's highest political stage, and that its tight political party organization, strong economic strength, huge and powerful military system and advanced equipment, as well as a huge tolerant and aggressive military system, have all been clearly displayed in front of the world along with the course of the war and the establishment of the camp in Nanjing, and its comprehensive strength is far above that of any military and political force in China, and in China's military and political structure, and even in the political pattern of Asia as a whole. It will inevitably change because of the rapid rise of Xiao Yimin Group.

The 100,000 male soldiers of the eight divisions claimed by the Beiyang rebels fell apart in the blink of an eye under the merciless blows of the 200,000 allied troops of the five provinces commanded by Xiao Yimin.

With the promulgation of one policy after another and one resolution after another, a large number of local army generals disarmed and returned to the fields, and thousands of old bureaucrats in the provinces south of the Yangtze River resigned and went into hiding.

After this war, Xiao Yimin, the young military and political commander, displayed an extremely excellent view of the overall situation and amazing military talent, established his high prestige and showed strong leadership skills, and at the same time established his solid political position as the supreme military and political leader in the south in one fell swoop, and showed a strong deterrent effect to the local forces in the southern provinces of "Shunchang rebelled against the fall."

The chaebols and political forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, who were originally on the sidelines, finally bowed their arrogant heads to Xiao Yimin in the face of the cruel choice of fate.

On April 27, another sensational news spread throughout the country: Henan Provincial Governor Zhao Qi resigned by telegram, and immediately left Zhengzhou and moved his family to Tianjin to live in seclusion; The next morning, Wu Peifu led his troops into Zhengzhou without firing a single shot, and officially assumed the post of Henan overseer in a high-profile manner!

The sudden change in the situation in Henan meant that the contradiction between Premier Duan Qirui and Wu Peifu became public, and Duan Qirui had appointed Wu Peifu as the overseer of Henan a few months ago, but was opposed by Xu Shuzheng, Wu Guangxin and other confidant generals.

Duan Qirui, who was in a dilemma, knew that Xu Shuzheng and others had always had prejudices against Wu Peifu, and to put it bluntly, he was jealous of Wu Peifu, who was extremely good in all aspects, but in order to appease Xu Shuzheng and other generals and maintain the unity of the group, Duan Qirui could only make a choice, so he made a stupid move: agreed that Zhao Qi, who had secretly taken refuge, would continue to control the overall military and political situation of Henan as the commander-in-chief of the Henan army and the governor.

With the support of Xu Shuzheng and others and the approval of Duan Qirui, Zhao immediately transferred the only two divisions under his command to Zhengzhou and Luoyang, and then wantonly incorporated local armed forces and green forest heroes to form two more divisions to block Wu Peifu, who was ordered to go north to take over the defense, south of Xuchang.

What's even more excessive is that when Wu Peifu led his troops into southern Henan, Zhao Kui emptied all the grain in Xinyang, Luohe, Zhumadian and other southern Henan areas, and collected taxes in southern Henan for three years in advance, leaving Wu Peifu with a depression and complaining southern Henan, as well as the general disgust and hostility of the people in Henan.

At this critical juncture, Xiao Yimin, who had an instant acquaintance with Wu Peifu and had a good relationship, extended a helping hand, not only urgently transferring rice, oil and salt to Wu Peifu by railway, but also generously gifting enough Sichuan-made Mauser rifles, imitation German-style water-cooled heavy machine guns, 12 semi-new and old 75 field guns, and a large amount of ammunition to equip one division.

Wu Peifu, who received assistance, immediately showed his sharp fangs, led two and a half divisions under his command to quickly approach Xuchang, and forced away the fourth division of the Yu Army temporarily formed by Zhao Kui, Wu Peifu set up the military supervision office in Xuchang, and issued an announcement to the armed forces of the province, and then suddenly waved his army eastward, and captured the rich strategic place of Guide with lightning speed, and collected the return to Xuchang and most of the areas to the south, and finally gained a firm foothold in Henan, and then broke away from the Duan Qirui faction that had only been attached to it for a long time.

Soon, Li Chun, Ni Sichong and others led their troops to attack Jiangxi, and Wu Peifu, who always wanted to help Xiao Yimin do something, soon received a secret telegram from Xiao Yimin.

Subsequently, Wu Peifu handed over the strategic location of Xuzhou to the Sixth Army of the Sichuan Army, and returned to Xuchang with a division of new troops and more than 300 tons of military supplies and equipment.

Zhao Kui's own ability is very limited, for several years simply could not control the unruly Central Plains, dozens of counties such as the western Henan region and Nanyang are still on their own, the local warlord forces do not listen to the tune, do not pay taxes and divide one side, and fight with each other endlessly, and the fire continues, bringing great disasters to the Central Plains.

Wu Peifu with his strict military discipline and moderate rule policy of local sympathy and appeasement, as well as the capture of Xuchang, Guide and other large areas at the snap of his fingers and the bloodless capture of Xuzhou Xuzhou, deeply shocked the powerful of all walks of life in Henan, but also won the general favor and support of the people of Henan, plus Wu Peifu through Xiao Yimin for Henan Province to win the preferential policy of tax exemption for two years, so that Wu Peifu's prestige rose sharply, and finally cast a situation of annexation of all directions, and achieved Wu Peifu's great cause of successfully entering Henan.

The shock and far-reaching impact brought about by Wu Peifu's successful entry into Henan are not inferior to the pacification of the entire Jiangnan, which not only achieved the prestige of Wu Peifu's generation of famous generals, but also changed China's political map again, making the power of Xiao Yimin's group extend to the vast area on the south bank of the Yellow River, and become the most powerful political and military force in China.

On 1 May, another important piece of news spread from Nanjing to the whole country:

Zhang Lan, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the CPC Central Committee, Zeng Shouwu, Governor of Sichuan Province, Kuang Youmin, Governor of Xikang Province, Li Hongxiang, Governor of Yunnan Province, Lu Pingshan, Governor of Guizhou, Chen Bingkun, Governor of Guangxi Province, Tan Yanhong, Governor of Hunan Province, Shi Xingchuan, Governor of Hubei, Wang Lingji, Governor of Jiangsu, Ouyang Wu, Governor of Jiangxi Province, Han Jun, Governor of Jiangsu Province, Wu Guangxin, Governor of Anhui, and Gong Baoquan, the new Governor of Zhejiang, led economic and trade delegations from various provinces to gather in Nanjing to attend the Nanjing Camp sponsored by the Central Military and Political Department. Southern Economic Development Seminar", and attended the completion ceremony of the restoration project of Nanjing Taipingmen.

Amid the enthusiastic cheers of 50,000 soldiers and civilians in Nanjing, Xiao Yimin and more than 20 military and political dignitaries from the southern provinces stood neatly in front of the newly renovated and majestic Taiping Gate, took Zhang Xiaoquan's scissors presented by young and beautiful hostesses, and cut with a smile the colorful silk that was more than 20 meters long and connected to clusters of red silk flowers.

In the earth-shattering drum music, the two uncles and nephews of Jinling Daoyin Zhu Wenshao and Mr. Zhu who stood directly below the Taiping Gate Dilou excitedly pulled the golden silk rope, and the huge silk cloth covering the central city gate hole fluttered down, and the three simple and vast characters of "Taiping Gate" were presented in front of the eyes of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and the cheers of the mountains and seas rose to the sky, wave after wave, and endured for a long time.

From Xiao Yimin's entry into Nanjing to the present, only one and a half months, gratifying changes have taken place inside and outside Nanjing, even during the period when Xiao Yimin was assassinated, there was no chaos in the whole city, let alone any robbery while the fire was fired, and even the picky literati and reclusive politicians had to express their deep admiration for Xiao Yimin's magnanimous mind and wise handling.

What makes all the people of Nanjing grateful is that Marshal Xiao's army has strict military discipline and strict work style, and the 50,000 officers and men stationed inside and outside the city not only did not have a single major disturbance or injury to the people, but in the process of repairing the Nanjing city wall and building Nanjing, hundreds of outstanding officers and soldiers who "love the people and benefit the people" and "the army and the people have fished and watered" have emerged.

The four welfare homes set up in the city with dilapidated small temples and Taoist temples have been renovated with the selfless assistance of the engineering corps, and thousands of lonely and widowed elderly people have been taken care of; After the construction of more than 5,000 engineers day and night, the two abandoned temples in the south and north of the city have now become two "hope primary schools" with complete facilities and beautiful environment, and more than 3,800 street children and beggars in Nanjing and its surroundings have put on neat school uniforms, and even thousands of poor citizens around the two schools have also benefited.

In a short period of 45 days, Xiao Yimin won the heartfelt love and support of the people of Nanjing, and countless people knew for the first time what a "people's soldier" was and what kind of army was a "people's army." Every day, thousands of young students and young adults flock to the recruiting offices at the gates of the major military camps.

Driven by Xiao Yimin and his army, the industrial and commercial industries recovered in an all-round way, new factories were opened one after another, the circulation of materials and transactions increased exponentially, and the entire Nanjing area radiated strong vitality and vitality, and Xiao Yimin's Nanjing regime won the hearts of the people and laid a solid foundation for rule.

On 5 May, the "Southern Economic Development Seminar" ended smoothly, and the military and political magnates of the various provinces left Nanjing with rich results, and the "China Times," the mouthpiece of the Xiao Yimin clique, published a special issue on the same day, openly publishing the results of more than 10 important meetings, such as the "Outline for the Construction and Development of Railways in Southern China" and the "Preliminary Plan for the Reform of the Taxation Administration in the Southern Provinces," thus thoroughly shattering the rumors of the "north-south split" that were rising to the top, winning unanimous applause from all over the country, and also firmly grasping the greedy hearts of the European and American powers.

At 3 p.m. on 5 May, envoys from various countries, representatives of multinational corporations, and Chinese and foreign journalists, who had been waiting for a long time, flocked to the Overseer's Mansion in the city to attend the regular press conference held by the Nanchang Camp Secretariat and Liaison Office.

Xiao Yimin, who was highly anticipated, attended the press conference, and the heads of various departments of the camp gave a detailed introduction to the spirit of the meeting and the work plan in their respective fields, and answered questions from Chinese and foreign reporters on the construction of the railway in southern China.

When Bruce, a reporter from the American "Time" who has extensive influence in the world, broke the rules set at the beginning of the press conference and seriously interrogated Xiao Yimin about what he thought of the southern political axe that was still resisting the Gui army in Guangdong, the audience immediately became silent, and more than 300 envoys, representatives in China, and Chinese and foreign reporters all stared at Xiao Yimin in the center of the rostrum, and Yang Du, Gu Weijun, and others sitting on either side of Xiao Yimin also looked a little nervous.

Xiao Yimin stood up slowly, slowly glanced at the audience, and read out two sentences in his deep and subdued voice: "It is advisable to chase the poor with the remaining bravery, and not to become a famous academic overlord!" That's my clear attitude! ”

(To be continued)