Within a week, 14,000 refurbished rifles, 2,500 pistols, and 5 million rounds of ammunition were quietly shipped out of Chengdu and sent to Guangyuan in northern Sichuan.

After completing the task, the 550 officers and men of the battalion will stay in the three counties in northern Sichuan until the end of the year to help Zhang Yuan and others form and train the militia regiment.

Xiao Yimin emptied the warehouse and immediately brought his right-hand man Luo Fat to visit the two general managers of the Chengdu branch of Deutsch-Hua Bank and the Chengdu branch of Standard Chartered Bank, and easily signed three short-term and three-year huge loan contracts in just three days.

Deutsch-Hua Bank did not want Xiao Yimin to repay last year's loan in advance, but under Xiao Yimin's sincere persuasion, he finally agreed, and in the next signing of the 4 million marks loan contract, the German side added a special clause: if the lender repays the loan in advance during the three-year loan period, it must pay the three-year interest stipulated in the contract in full.

The Germans were really unwilling to give up this huge loan profit, and the money was still entrusted to the Deutsch-Hua Bank, and all of it was used for the purchase of German weapons and equipment within three months.

In this way, not only will Deutsche Hua Bank receive 2 percent of the management costs, but the German industry will benefit the most, and if it were not for the maximum loan limit of 4 million marks, which requires back and forth from the headquarters, they are willing to grant more loans to their best collaborator, Xiao Yimin.

The loan negotiations with Standard Chartered Bank were also very smooth.

British bankers did not care about the contradictions between the British political axe and Xiao Yimin, they were interested in the vigorous development of Sichuan industry and commerce, attached importance to the important pricing power of Sichuan's export commodities held by the young Sichuan entrepreneur Luo Fa, and took a fancy to Xiao Yimin's prominent political status, strong economic guarantee, and strong military guarantee, so they very happily issued two loans to Sichuan Huaxi Industrial Company at the middle interest rate.

A 10-month short-term loan totalling £300,000 for the purchase of special steel, three sizes of seamless steel pipes and seven sizes of high-quality canvas fabrics produced by three British steel companies, which was then transferred to the Shanghai headquarters of Jardine Matheson, a partner of Huaxi Industrial Corporation, as part of a series of contracts.

Xiao Yimin also entrusted Standard Chartered Bank to be responsible for the management and settlement of the whole transaction, and paid 2% of the management fee to Standard Chartered Bank as usual; Another three-year loan totaling 500,000 pounds will be transferred to the account opened by Huaxi Industrial Corporation in Standard Chartered Bank within three days, and as for how to use it, it is Xiao Yimin's freedom.

The plan to make a fortune came to an end, so Xiao Yimin changed into a military uniform, took the chief of staff Bao Jiqing, and went to the Governor's Mansion to meet the Governor.

Hu Jingyi, the metropolitan governor who was overwhelmed by the crazy public opinion, returned to Chengdu three days ago, he summoned him twice and visited him in person once, but he didn't see Xiao Yimin, who was busy with affairs, so no matter how much Xiao Yimin trusted, he couldn't continue to wait for the governor to visit again, and at least respect was still needed.

Officialdom has the rules of officialdom, and everything cannot be done too much.

With Zhang Peijue's voluntary resignation, Finance Minister Kuang Youmin was nominated by more than half of the parliamentarians, passed by a high vote in the special election meeting of the provincial council, and reported to the Yanjing Central Political Axe for approval, and officially assumed the post of Sichuan Provincial Civil Affairs Governor.

In the next few days, Hu Jingyi, who had learned the hard way, separately met with Speaker Dong Xiuwu, Vice Speaker Zeng Shouwu, Kuang Youmin, the new Minister of Civil Affairs, and various ministers, listened to everyone's opinions with an open mind, and repeatedly explained his stance and good intentions in the Sichuan-Yunnan peace talks.

Hu Jingyi knew that although he had the great backer of President Yuan Shikai, he still could not reverse the current unfavorable situation, not to mention that the president had already sent secret telegrams twice, asking why the five provinces of Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang had launched a fierce attack on the Kuomintang army, so why did Sichuan alone stay still? Do you need to wait for the crusading army to wipe out the Kuomintang troops in the remaining five provinces, and turn around and march into Sichuan to quell the rebellion?

Yuan Shikai's secret telegram was far more serious than the criticism of the local political forces, but Xiong Kewu, who occupied Yucheng, had already keenly discovered the movement of Zhou Jun's 1st Division, and with the support of the Kuomintang Central Committee and the local forces in Yucheng, he quickly mobilized more than 9,000 officers and men of nine regiments to occupy various strategic points and wait for the battle.

Zhou Jun's raid plan has since failed, and the more than 8,000 officers and soldiers of the division are really difficult to quickly solve Xiong Kewu's department, and it can be seen that the cunning Zhou Jun is unwilling to fight a tough battle, in order to preserve his own strength, Zhou Jun did not move, and handed over the problem to Hu Jingyi, the governor of the capital.

Hu Jingyi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot at this time, and after repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, he knew that in order to quickly change the current unfavorable situation, the key was to obtain the understanding and support of Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the border army, so when he saw Xiao Yimin and chief of staff Bao Jiqing take the initiative to come, the annoyance in his heart immediately disappeared, and he enthusiastically welcomed Xiao Yimin and Bao Jiqing into his office.

Xiao Yimin first sincerely apologized, saying that he had frequently gone out to inspect various units of the border army recently, and had not been ordered to come in time to ask for forgiveness, and then asked Hu Jingyi to retreat, leaving only the adjutant chief and the two senior staff members of the Governor's Mansion to come to the map together and begin to discuss with their hearts.

Two hours later, Hu Jingyi, who was full of red faces, personally sent Xiao Yimin and Bao Jiqing downstairs, smiling all the time, and watched the two ride away.

The following morning, the Governor urgently convened a core meeting of the military and political forces, and after a great deal of persuasion, finally obtained the consent of the participants, and passed two important military resolutions:

First, from now on, the headquarters of General Wang Lingji of the First Division of the Frontier Army was renamed the "Fifth Division of the Sichuan Army", officially separated from the sequence of the Frontier Army, and came under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office and the Provincial Political Axe Military Affairs Department; Second, Metropolitan Governor Hu Jingyi proposed and unanimously approved by the Military and Political Council to abolish the former Military Senate, re-establish the Provincial Political Axe Military and Political Department, and appoint Lieutenant General Xiao Yimin, Commander-in-Chief of the Frontier Army, as Deputy Military and Political Minister of Sichuan Province and Acting Minister as Temporary Acting Minister.

On the morning of 3 August, the Sichuan Provincial Military and Political Enlargement Conference was solemnly convened, and under the chairmanship of Hu Jingyi, the governor of the capital, the meeting officially announced the launch of the "reunification movement in Sichuan" and adopted a resolution on "dismissing Xiong Kewu, the military and political envoy of Chongqing, Sichuan."

On the morning of 4 August, 7,800 officers and men of the Wangling Base of the Fifth Division of the newly formed Sichuan Army held an oath to march in the eastern suburbs of the camp, and for the first time raised the roar of "eradicating the rebellion and reunifying Sichuan!"

Hu Jingyi, the governor of the capital, and Kuang Youmin, the chief of civil affairs, respectively delivered important speeches, encouraging the officers and men of the Fifth Division and all units of the Sichuan Army to make concerted efforts to forge ahead bravely and work hard for the reunification and prosperity of Sichuan.

After the oath was over, the Fifth Division immediately marched eastward, and Xiao Yimin, deputy military and political minister and commander-in-chief of the border army, and Wang Lingji, major general and commander of the Fifth Division, talked for a long time and reluctantly waved goodbye.

At two o'clock in the afternoon of 4 August, Xiong Kewu, the former governor of Chongqing Town, sent a telegram to the whole country, announcing his official appointment as the governor of Sichuan Province and commander of the Yuan army, and holding a huge swearing-in ceremony.

At this time, Xiong Kewu did not know that Yuan Shikai's two armies and five divisions had defeated the armies of various places led by the Kuomintang, and successively occupied Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provincial capitals and important cities, and the two forward divisions had already reached the territory of Fujian Province.

Kuomintang leaders Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and others have fled for many years, and have fled by boat to the base camp of Yueben via Xiamen, Shanghai, and other places, where they have accepted the protection of Yue.

Hubei Governor Li Yuanhong once again issued a series of wanted warrants, vigorously pursued the Kuomintang people who had slipped through the net, raised bloody butcher knives again and again, and hundreds of Kuomintang elites were strewn across the land of Hubei.

At this time, Yucheng was already full of war clouds and crises.

Under the command of division commander Zhou Jun, the first division of the Sichuan army decisively moved due west, divided the troops into two routes, and launched a fierce attack from the northwest and southwest directions of Yucheng.

On the evening of 6 August, the 5th Division of Wang Lingji, which was held down the river, easily occupied Rongchang, where Liu Bingxian's regiment had withdrawn, and launched a non-stop pursuit, and on the evening of 6 August, defeated Yongchuan, which was guarded by four battalions of Liu Bingxian's regiment, and closely coordinated with Zhou Jun's 1st Division to complete the three-sided encirclement of Yucheng.

The various departments in Yucheng were suddenly in chaos, and the five garrison regiments reorganized from the former Brotherhood of Elders were dispersed in a hurry, and more than 10 high-ranking officials sent by the Kuomintang Central Committee rushed to board the ship and flee from Yucheng.

The Yucheng Chamber of Commerce, which had been silent for a long time, united with groups from all walks of life, shouted the slogan of peaceful reunification and obedience to the leadership of the provincial political axe, and began to organize a new local council on its own in full swing, and openly held an extraordinary meeting to decide the fate of Yucheng under the banner of "protecting the people and opposing the civil war".

Xiong Kewu saw that the general trend had gone, and Yucheng could no longer be defended, so he decisively led his three thousand descendants to break through to the south, cut a bloody road, and prepared to go south to Guibei and flee to Yunnan.

Zhou Jun received an urgent report, personally led two regiments to launch a fierce pursuit, and finally bit the exhausted Xiong Kewu department north of Lu County, and then launched an outflanking attack.

Less than an hour after the sudden battle, Xiong Kewu's troops completely collapsed, a large number of officers and soldiers raised their hands to surrender, and Xiong Kewu himself managed to escape in the night with only a few guards.

At this point, the only armed force of the Kuomintang in Sichuan collapsed, and the real reunification of Sichuan began.

Zhou Jun did not stop to rest, but shouted the slogan of continuing the offensive, led more than 8,000 people from his headquarters through Chongqing, collected all ships to the east to "pursue the victory", and successfully landed in Yichang in only three days, and launched a surprise attack on the "remnants of Xiong Kewu" in Yichang in one go.

The two battalions of the Hubei New Army, which were driven to Yichang by Li Yuanhong, had long been demoralized, and before they could rest, they were violently attacked by more than 8,000 people of Zhou Jun's army.

August 12, Yucheng Minsheng Road, Liu's compound.

On the newly widened Minsheng Road, there was one post at three steps and one post at five steps, and the officers and men with loaded guns and ammunition were lined up at the entrance of the school field in the south, and the Liu family compound, which was heavily protected by the officers and men of the Fifth Division, was even more heavily guarded.

Just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Lingji, commander of the Fifth Division, led the officers and soldiers of the guard battalion to accompany Xiao Yimin, who was wearing ordinary military uniforms, to the gate of the Liu family's compound.

After dismounting, Wang Lingji smiled and pointed to the door guarded by the sentry, and whispered to Xiao Yimin that Brother Liu had not gone out for a few days, and his old father had not shown up, and only the family members who bought vegetables occasionally came out.

Xiao Yimin shook his head and smiled, entered the courtyard with everyone, ordered Wang Lingji to remove all the sentry posts, signaled everyone to wait in the courtyard, and then straightened his military uniform and hat, and strode towards the main hall with a smile on his face.

(To be continued)