On the 15th day of January 1915, Zhong Ying, who had been acquitted, finally bid farewell to the capital that made him extremely sad and had no nostalgia for him, and took four wives and concubines who were like flowers and jade, five young and ignorant children, as well as more than 50 generals and more than 200 family members who swore to follow him to the death, followed Bao Jiqing to Tianjin together, and boarded the China Merchants passenger ship that had been chartered in advance to rush to Shanghai that night, and then transferred from Shanghai to Chengdu.

The day before leaving the capital, Zhong Ying personally went to the hotel where Luo Changqi's family accused him of murder, and sincerely apologized to Luo Changqi's wife, children and brothers.

At the behest of Yuan Shikai, the news of Zhong Ying's acquittal was not announced, and it was not until Zhong Ying and his entourage arrived in Shanghai that the Chinese and foreign media in Yanjing learned that the "Zhong Ying case" had made a verdict of acquittal, and Zhong Ying and his family had left Yanjing and moved to Chengdu, Sichuan.

Over the past few years, a large number of troops and landless and proletarian people have poured into the grasslands, one grassland after another has been reclaimed, and one county town and military camp after another have risen from the ground, and the charming scenery of the wind blowing and grass can no longer be seen.

Therefore, Guanwai is no longer the homeland that Zhong Ying and his followers yearn for, but the Chengdu and Xichuan areas where their parents lived, which are more worthy of their nostalgia and yearning, where there are not only tens of thousands of Manchu and Mongolian people who have settled for two or three generations, but also the most traditional and well-preserved Manchu and Mongolian armed "Tai'an Battalion" in China, and a great savior who has never discriminated against them and has always helped them - Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the border army!

As long as they saw the chief of the general staff of the Sichuan border army and the Mongolian eagle General Bao Jiqing, Zhong Ying and his followers felt safe and cordial, and they were infinitely grateful and devoted to their service.

There have been many follow-up reports on the "Zhong Ying case" from the outside world, and various analyses and comments have been boiling, some of them believe that this is a means for the central government and Yuan Shikai to appease the Sichuan army, while others say that it is the result of Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Frontier Army, interfering in the administration of justice.

In any case, everyone clearly saw the influence that Xiao Yimin exerted in the "Zhong Ying case", and it also confirmed that Xiao Yimin was a person who was "extremely protective of his shortcomings" and "attached great importance to love and righteousness", but the major newspapers basically said this, and did not deeply discuss what changes would happen to Zhong Ying's release, let alone what kind of follow-up actions Xiao Yimin would have.

Only the British-controlled "Beijing-Tianjin Times" boldly predicted this:

One of the biggest reasons why Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Frontier Army, spared no effort to rescue Zhong Ying was to show his strength and military presence, and to win the respect and support of more Sichuan troops again by saving Zhong Ying.

The British who had been coveting the Tibetan province and the Yunnan-Burma border area for a long time were very sensitive, and their greatest concern was not spoken, that is, whether Zhong Ying, a Manchu general who had been very brutal in the battle to suppress the Kang-Tibet rebels, would make a comeback under the impetus of Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Frontier Army?

Will Zhong Ying, who is immortal in the catastrophe, continue to exert his tremendous influence and deterrent power in the Kang-Tibet region, once again gather the Manchu, Mongolian, Miao, Yi and other ethnic forces in western Sichuan, and under the command of Xiao Yimin, the commander-in-chief of the hard-line border army, and march into Tibet Province in a grand manner?

The British were worried about what Xiao Yimin and all the patriotic and enthusiastic generals under his command were going to do, and on the day they learned of Zhong Ying's release, Chengdu in western China was already full of joy.

At the celebratory banquet held by the border army headquarters that night, Xiao Yimin issued a death order to He Chengliang, chief of the quartermaster's department, Qi Luo, commander of the First Mixed Brigade of the First Mixed Brigade stationed in Kangding, Tang Wulin, commander of the cavalry regiment directly under him, and Lu Chuanfang, head of the teaching regiment, and other generals and colonels, and explicitly instructed to recruit as many young and strong men of the Manchu, Mongolian, Miao, and Yi ethnic groups as possible, and to vigorously collect the retired veterans of the Tibetan Army led by the former General Zhong Ying who were in the Chuankang area, and that all weapons and equipment must be completed within one month. Concentrate on training at the Ya'an training base.

Zhong Ying and his entourage arrived in Chengdu on February 9, and were warmly welcomed and congratulated by the Sichuan Army Generals, when Zhong Ying and more than 50 generals under the leadership of Xiao Yimin, lived in a new large compound covering an area of more than 80 acres in the south of the North School Field, Zhong Ying, a fierce general with a stubbled beard, suddenly hugged Xiao Yimin and cried bitterly, and more than 50 generals and more than 200 of their families behind him all bowed to Xiao Yimin, and kowtowed to Xiao Yimin with tears in their eyes. Dozens of generals and nearly 1,000 people of the Manchu and Mongolian ethnic groups on the side shed tears.

That night, the grand dust-washing banquet was held in the newly completed courtyard, hundreds of generals and colonels from the border army and the Sichuan army, and hundreds of settled Manchu and Mongolian leaders were drunk for the most part, Zhong Ying and his more than 50 generals were almost wiped out at the wine table, and Xiao Yimin, the commander-in-chief of the border army, was also carried home by the guards, and it was already the morning when he woke up.

Knowing that Chief of Staff Bao Jiqing, Director of the Political Department Wan Lianfeng, Chief of Staff Lu Yixuan, and Adjutant Chief Zheng Changze had been waiting for a long time, Xiao Yimin hurriedly took a cold shower, changed into a military uniform, went down to the big study, and took a few telegrams handed by Bao Jiqing to read carefully.

There was silence in the study, and everyone was waiting for Xiao Yimin's decision.

Xiao Yimin picked up the teacup and tasted it silently, and finally spoke after a few minutes:

"Since Zhou Jun did not call to ask for support, nor did he notify General Wang Lingji stationed in Neijiang nearby, and General Hu Jingyi's Overseer Mansion did not greet us about this, it shows that Zhou Jun and Hu Jingyi have reached some kind of tacit understanding, or that Zhou Jun has completely surrendered to Hu Jingyi, hoping to deal with it through their own strength, so my opinion is: hold the army and wait and see."

Chief of Staff Lu Yixuan hurriedly stood up:

"Commander, although Zhou Junbu is known as an army, but after being stationed in Yichang, there is no shortage of personnel, the whole army only has more than 12,000 officers and soldiers, and they are scattered in six counties along the Yangtze River, plus Zhou Jun is arrogant and conceited after occupying Yichang, the army is not strictly disciplined, and the style of luxury and greed in the army is like a trend, and the officers at all levels are either busy doing business, or they are busy looking for flowers and asking Liu Cheng's family to take concubines, and they can't withstand the attack of the Hubei army of two brigades and the Hunan army of Chen E's division! What's more, the two regiments of Zhang Junbu in southwest Henan have always occupied the old estuary north of Yichang, if Zhang Fang really betrayed the Kuomintang and took refuge with Yuan Shikai, I am afraid that Zhou Junbu would not even have a chance to resist. ”

Wan Lianfeng, the director of the political department, immediately stood up: "Commander, what Brother Yixuan said is true, the situation is extremely urgent, presumably the various intelligence stations we have set up in the Sichuan-Hubei region will soon send more detailed reports, if we don't support Zhou Junbu, I'm afraid Yucheng will also fall into the hands of foreign troops." ”

Xiao Yimin motioned for everyone to sit down, looked at Bao Jiqing with a calm face and asked, "What is the opinion of the chief of staff?" ”

Bao Jiqing put down the teacup: "It is only a matter of time before Zhou Junbu is driven out of Yichang, since Zhou Jun and others are willing to take refuge in Hu Jingyi, we have no obligation to help them, and it is more in our interests for the First Army to be defeated and dispersed." As the commander said, a self-confident but short-sighted veteran of the Sichuan army like Zhou Jun will be eliminated by history sooner or later, so I think that since Zhou Jun and others are hopeless, it is better to let him fail as soon as possible, I believe that Hu Jingyi, the overseer who has already taken refuge in Yuan Dashuai, thinks about the same as us, and he will never give the defeated Zhou Jun and others any chance to make a comeback, which is good for us, although it may lose Yucheng in the short term, and even lose the rich tax revenue of the artesian well, but it has no big impact on us, These things should be a headache for the provincial government axe and the parliament, and the bombastic civil servants have been a little bit unreasonable lately, and it is necessary to let them suffer a little blow. ”

"Chief of Staff, really let Yuan Shikai's army enter Sichuan? What will the officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Army think? Lu Yixuan asked anxiously.

Bao Jiqing snorted coldly:

"What do they think about us? Yixuan, is it that your home in Yucheng affects your judgment? You are also familiar with the situation of the Sichuan army, except for our border army and five army divisions, all localities have formed their own garrisons and security forces like crazy in the past two years, and in addition to the security forces in the seven counties of northern and western Sichuan, how many others are subordinate to the leadership of our commander? Well, now it's a good opportunity for a big wave to wash the sand, what's there to feel sorry for? ”

Lu Yixuan and the others were completely stupid, and they couldn't turn around for a while, only Adjutant Zheng Changze suddenly realized that he took out the notebook that had never left his body and wrote down his experience one by one.

Xiao Yimin stood up, and after giving the order for an emergency meeting, he instructed Wu San, the chief of the guard, to inform Zhong Ying, Qi Luo and other generals to rush to the headquarters to attend the meeting.

An hour later, the commanders and deputies of the regiments directly under them, Zhong Ying and Qi Luo, who were drunken and pine-eyed, all rushed to the conference room of the border army headquarters, sat around the rectangular conference table, stared at the huge map hanging on the wall, and listened to the explanation given by Bao Jiqing, chief of staff.

Bao Jiqing briefly introduced the situation of the Sichuan Army and the political stance of each department, and then explained in detail the crisis situation of the various units of Zhou Jun's First Army stationed in Yichang and eastern Sichuan...... According to the latest information, Feng Yuxiang's 16th Mixed Brigade stationed in Hanzhong has already issued an order to prepare for war, and we estimate that the brigade will go south to threaten Chengdu after the Spring Festival at the latest. In this regard, the preliminary opinion of the commander and I was that as long as he dared to come, we would not let him go back. ”

There was a cheer in the conference room, the young generals clenched their fists with excitement, Zhong Ying and Qi Luo smiled after being stunned, everyone knew that Xiao Yimin, who had been gathering momentum for a long time, and tens of thousands of soldiers in the border army could finally do a big job with their eyebrows raised.

Bao Jiqing still looked like he was not smiling, and when everyone quieted down, Bao Jiqing's baton slowly slid to the south of Syria, and finally landed on the line of the Sichuan-Yunnan border:

"This place is the quietest at present, and it is also the place where we are most worried, the Yunnan army is incompatible with us, and there are still more than 4,500 Yunnan army prisoners who are being held by us, building bridges and paving roads for us to open up wasteland and farming. Now this opportunity has come, in order to occupy the rich Sichuan, and then control the three southwestern provinces in one fell swoop, President Yuan Shikai will certainly not forget the Yunnan army that has a deep hatred for the Sichuan army, according to the information sent by Yanjing, Yuan Shikai has recently frequently met with the former commander of the Yunnan army who was under his house arrest, Cai Yi, and is likely to appoint Chen E, the deputy chief of the army stationed in Hunan and the patrol envoy of the two lakes, to serve as the Sichuan military affairs office, and together with Hu Jingyi, the Sichuan overseer who is loyal to Yuan Shikai, to control the entire Sichuan in a grand manner。 Now, let's talk about our feelings. ”

Bao Jiqing returned to Xiao Yimin and sat down, and the meeting entered the discussion time of brainstorming and speaking freely. Thanks to the persistence of Commander Xiao Yimin since the founding of the army, a good habit of pre-war analysis and post-war summing up has not only been formed in the headquarters, but has also been popularized in all battalions and companies at the grassroots level of the border army.

Zhong Ying was obviously not used to this way, what he was thinking about was how to repay Xiao Yimin and the border army brothers for their rescue virtue, and how to repay Xiao Yimin's kindness, so Zhong Ying didn't care what the general school thought at all, stood up and walked to the map a few steps, picked up the baton and began to say his thoughts out loud.

(To be continued)