Outside the city of Cangzhou, there are many saline-alkali land, looking at it from afar, the saline-alkali flats as white as snow are boundless, and occasionally there are large areas of wild grass forming a snow oasis, as far as the eye can see, there is no village, only a piece of sparkling water shining in the sun. From time to time, a strong wind swept by, and pieces of white dust and mist swept from the salt-alkali water beach seeping out of the vast barren grass, and there was a sense of horror.

In the saline-alkali land overgrown with shrubs and weeds such as dwarf thorns, a group of shirtless young men are sweating like rain desperately digging big pits, and every dozen zhang on the compacted saline-alkali ground, there are groups of people digging pits, and around the pit are standing Beiyang New Army with loaded guns.

Today's Beiyang New Army is not the same as in the past, the neck-length hair scattered behind the military hat seems to mean a little ominous, these new officers and soldiers have cut off their braids, and the people who are sweating and digging the pit in the pit are wearing braids, their sweaty faces are full of fear, but they dare not stop working, and dozens of corpses on the edge of the pit seem to remind something.

"Brother Ziyu, brother...... There is an old man in the brother's family, and he is small, so please ask Brother Ziyu to let my brother go as a fart! ”

From time to time, the man kneeling on the ground kowtowed his head, and from time to time blood came out of his forehead.

"That brother, it's not that Peifu doesn't want to let you go!"

Wu Peifu sighed and shook his head.

"It's really hard to do military orders!"

Saying that, Wu Peifu turned his head to look elsewhere, ignoring the crying and complaining about Na Lijie, the commander ordered that all the 1,264 banner people in Zuo Town should be killed, not only that, but all the banner people in the two towns of Beiyang should be killed.

Vote for the name!

Sighing in his heart, Wu Peifu commanded the soldiers next to him.

"Let them take a breath and smoke a cigarette!"

And in front of a pile of weeds not far away sat several officers who were tied up with flowers, some of them were Wu Peifu's superiors, some were his colleagues, and now they were all "ropes", and as soon as the gaiters that gagged their mouths were removed, one of them shouted.

"Wu Ziyu, the court treats you well, why do you want to rebel!"

"You are full, I am Han, the grace of the court is just personal kindness, Peifu needs to guard the national righteousness!"

The righteous and stern answer did not pause, and Wu Peifu walked towards the man as he spoke, he looked at Rickha who was sitting on the ground, Rickha looked at him directly, there was no anger in his eyes, only the calm face of calm, both of them had entered the Kanto to spy on Russia in the past, and they had also supported each other along the way, and now they ...... "You will kill me today!" ”

"Where the military life is, please forgive Brother Rui!"

"Can you spare the brothers?"

Wu Peifu shook his head.

"When you enter the Guangfu Army, you need to use the head of our banner as a vote!"

"No, you don't!"

"Then does the rebellious court need my flag and everyone to sacrifice the flag!"

"No, you don't!"

"Then why don't you want to let go of the brothers?"

"Marshal's Order!"

"Why did the marshal kill us!"

"Er is full, I am Han!"

"Full ...... Hanman is already a family, how can he say that he will be killed! ”

"The husband is counted by the nationality of the people, the number of Manchurians, and the number of Han people is one hundred, and the number of those who serve as officials is equal to me, and there is no such thing as injustice between the world! The excuse of the husband is that he does not distinguish between the Manchus and the Han, and he holds the important position, which belongs to the private interests of his clan. ”

Wu Peifu coldly used the topic on "Guangfu Bao" to contradict, and then his voice sank.

"It's not that we want to punish you, and it's not that the Han people want to be full of ......."

"It's just that the handsome man needs to vote!"

Following Wu Peifu's words, Rickha sighed bitterly and stopped talking, while a sergeant walked over to report.

"Sir, the pit has been dug!"

Wu Peifu turned and walked towards a carriage full of wine jars, took a large bowl that was poured over, and walked to Rickhar.

"A bowl of water and wine, and please go all the way to Brother Rui!"

After Rickha, who didn't say anything more, drank a bowl of wine, Wu Peifu was blushing and staring, and his eyes that seemed to be calm showed a little bloodshot.

"Brother Ziyu, if he says that when you trap Kejingshi, please ......."

"Brother Rui, rest assured, as long as Ziyu goes to the capital, he will take care of Brother Rui's family!"

"Please Ziyu to be handed over to the ruler, there are also martyrs who are loyal to the country in the banner millions, and please show mercy to him!"

"It's nature!"

After taking another bowl of wine, Wu Peifu and Rickhar made a bowl of wine, and with a wave of their hands, these people were escorted to the big pit dug over there, some people walked like Rickha, but some people were already paralyzed, and even their legs were already wet, who wants to die?

"Put!"

With the officer's command, the gunfire rang out in the wilderness outside the city of Texas, and hundreds of flag soldiers who had been stripped of their military uniforms standing on the edge of the pit fell to death with the sound of gunfire, and those who did not fall into the pit were kicked into the pit by the soldiers who cut off their braids.

As soon as a group of people finished their execution, another group of people was dragged and pushed towards the big dirt pit, and some of them stood on the edge of the pit, some of them knelt there crying and begging, and some of them looked righteous and awe-inspiring.

"Raise your gun!"

"Aim!"

"Shooting"

Rows of gunshots rang out on the saline-alkali ground, the ownerless corpse was lying in the pit, but the sky was sunny, and finally the gunfire stopped, looking at the corpses in more than a dozen big pits, Wu Peifu shook his head helplessly and sighed, although he was unwilling to kill his colleagues, but all this was unavoidable.

In Baoding City, the Beiyang guards with loaded guns patrolled the street, on the high platform of the street, ordinary people were cutting their braids in front of everyone, after the braids were cut off at the root, the students in the new school next to them shaved off the person's hair with a shaving clipper, most of these people had about half an inch of hair on their foreheads, this was to save money, and most of the students who were responsible for shaving their heads would cut their hair into half an inch long, which looked somewhat similar to the Liberation Army in the south.

"As soon as the braids are gone, the big man will regain his face, and a bowl of noodles will be rewarded!"

The guards next to him shouted with a braid in their hands, and the people who cut off their braids immediately went to the side and lay on the table to eat a large bowl of noodles. More people were watching from the crowd, but an old man in the crowd in an unreplenished official uniform scolded.

"How can the law of the ancestors be lost, and the heavens will punish the thief!"

After that, he was about to hide his face and flee, but he was suddenly grabbed by the patrolling guards.

"Chief, there's a ...... here"

"Cut his braids and see what he does!"

The head of the shed shouted, whether the people next to him wanted to cut it or not, but it would look lively and cheered, and the people loved to watch the excitement.

"I don't cut my braids! I don't cut braids......"

The old man, who was dragged to the stage by the soldiers, shouted loudly with his hands in his braids, but the head of the shed drew his bayonet.

"Hold it down for me!"

The old man was forced to press in front of the stage by the two, the bayonet was cut hard along the braid, except for the braid, the old man who was struggling was struggling to move, his lips trembled slightly, and there was no trace of blood on his face, but the students on the stage jumped down, and after a while, he pushed off the residual hair on the back of his head, and after shaving his head, the old man who was released suddenly collapsed to the ground, but there were old tears on his face, and no one could hear what he was saying.

At last the old man even struggled to get up, and prostrated himself to the north, with sin in his mouth and old tears on his face.

The young students on the stage looked at the old man who was kowtowing in the direction of the capital, his eyes were full of disdain, and finally he said something again.

"Scum who can't be a slave enough!"

"Cutting off the braid doesn't mean changing from a slave to a benevolent!"

In the governor's palace, Yuan Shikai, who was wearing a German-style military uniform, sighed helplessly, today he issued a military order, to use military law to braid, this province of the recovery of braids, braids are a symbol of recovery, even if the number is from Jiangning, naturally follow the braids, but this matter is his turn, but he can't help but hesitate.

Next to him, Yang Shiqi, who had already cut off his braids by himself last night, said with a smile.

"Dashuai, cutting off the braids doesn't mean changing from a slave to being sincere, but if you keep the braids, don't you want to continue to be a slave of Suolu!"

Listening to his persuasion, Yuan Shikai reluctantly shook the braid that had been cut, and his face was full of unwilling expressions.

Although there are all kinds of reluctance, this braid still has to be cut, and Yuan Shikai is more worried about another thing than this braid.

"Xingcheng, what do you think ......?"

Before he could finish speaking, Yang Shiqi received a sentence first.

"Dashuai, are you worried about the Dashuai in the south!"

Yang Shiqi shook his head.

"Dashuai, when we discussed last night, I already mentioned that the marshal is now at the beginning of everything, and there is nothing more important to him than the rapid recovery of China, and now you are the first person in China to raise troops to respond to the recovery, if the ruling party treats you poorly, I am afraid that what will follow will inevitably be a protracted war of arms, and this is probably not what the ruling government wants to see."

Although he nodded, Yuan Shikaiyi still frowned, although he didn't know much about Chen Zhengzhi, but he also knew that those who made great things were all big husbands, and they were not poisonous husbands, thinking that an official from the Governor's Mansion hurriedly walked in.

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

As he spoke, the man held a telegram in both hands, but the telegram was a letter of appointment from the Jiangning Provisional Political Axe.

As soon as he received the telegram, Yuan Shikai's face changed, and it became extremely difficult to look at.

"Vice Chairman of the Provisional Political Axe Military Committee!"

Chen Moran said with a smile and said in a relatively plain tone that the official position given to Yuan Shikai was mentioned to Yuan Shikai, the Provisional Political Axe Military Committee was a fictitious institution from the beginning, for the Guangfu Army, there was the Headquarters of the Guangfu Army, the General Staff Headquarters, and for the ruling axe, there was no Minister of the Army, but the chairman of the Military Committee was concurrently held by himself, and as for the vice chairman, Yuan Shikai was the first person.

"Under one person, above ten thousand!"

Chen Moran said and laughed, on the surface, it seems that the military committee has a lot of responsibilities and powers, but in fact? Thinking of this, Chen Moran sneered in his heart.

Jiang Fangzhen did not show much emotion about this fictitious institution made by the marshal, and with the understanding of the marshal, he vaguely guessed that the biggest concern in the marshal was the army, in order to maintain his control over the army, the reuse of Huangpu students is the biggest feature of the marshal, even if the Huangpu students are divided into students from their own school and branch schools, of course, these are not what he considered.

"Yuan Shikai's training of the Beiyang Standing Army, is Yuan-centered Beiyang system, therefore, the important generals of each town are personally selected by him, the first town is under the command of Fengshan, according to Yuan Shikai's telegram, Fengshan and other flag officials have been executed, and now reigns as Wang Shizhen; The second town is under the command of Wang Yingkai, the third town is under the command of Duan Qirui, and the military co-commanders are Lei Zhenchun, Chen Guangyuan, and Li Chun. Those who served as the standard commanders included Wang Zhanyuan, Lu Yongxiang, Bao Guiqing, Wang Huaiqing, Tian Zhongyu, Yang Shande, Meng Enyuan, Tang Tianxi, Wang Zhenji, Zhao Yuke, Wang Tongyu, etc.; He Fenglin, Lu Jin, Li Changtai, Li Houji, Shi Congbin, Yan Xiangwen, etc., who served as the camp management band, are almost all from small stations, and Yuan has the grace of knowing them! ”

Nodding, Chen Moran naturally knew that this Beiyang Army was Yuan Shikai's descendant, and the reason why Yuan Shikai was able to steal the country in seven years in history was because of the six towns of the Beiyang Army.

"The Beiyang Standing Army has four new towns, well! To get rid of the Beijing Banner Standing Army, this Beijing Flag Standing Army is the last support of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, well, the Beiyang Standing Army, there is the first town, the second town, plus the third town that has just been formed with the northern section of the patrol battalion as the backbone and the new soldiers, these three towns and the new army are all the horses of Yuan Shikai! ”

Groaning, Chen Moran looked at the executed bannermen in the army attached to Yuan Shikai's telegram, Yuan Shikai took these more than 3,000 people as a vote! Even if more than one city was captured during the recovery period, the number of banner men who could be executed by the Liberation Army at one time did not exceed this number, this old thing is really ruthless.

"Lao Yuan has been training for a few years, and this soldier is also training well!"

"Marshal, the Beiyang Standing Army's combat power can be the leader of the Qing Army!"

Chen Qicai, who is a lieutenant colonel and staff officer of the General Staff, nodded beside him and praised, like the vast majority of Lu Shi graduates, Chen Qicai also served in the General Staff, and the commander of the unit was Huangpu Sheng, which was a common phenomenon in the Guangfu Army, after all, the principal of the Huangpu Military Academy was the commander in front of him, and the director of the professor's office was Xiao Xinren, the commander of the First Army, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were protégés of the Son of Heaven. That is, if you are a protégé of the Son of Heaven, you have the power of a protégé.

"Didn't we make up the 25th, 26th, and 27th divisions in northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu? The first army that was not raised was ordered to advance to Henan and Shandong, and the three newly built divisions followed at the same time, well! After converging with the first, second and third towns of Beiyang, with the three towns of Beiyang as the mainstay, the governor of Anhui and Jiangsu was ordered to recruit 30,000 soldiers, and the first division and the Beiyang Standing Army were the backbone to form the first, second and third armies of the Guangfu Army. ”

Thinking of a series of ideas of "mixing sand" came out of Chen Moran's mouth, he has 50,000 people in three towns, so add 130,000 people, and disrupt the Beiyang Army in three towns into three armies.

The words of the marshal made Jiang Fangzhen frown, he had already heard of Yuan Shikai's old annihilation giant slip, how could he not see that behind this reorganization was taking away his military power.

"Dashuai, the plan is good, but Yuan Shikai is not a party, he can mix sand with sand and make up for officials and soldiers, but these people are ......"

"Yuan Shikai will definitely not be willing!"

Chen Moran raised his head and smiled.

"Baili, I dare to say that Yuan Shikai will definitely find an excuse not to come to Jiangning to take up the position of vice chairman of the Military Commission!"

Jiang Fangzhen, Chen Qicai, Wu Yuanze, Zhang Xian, Wu Maojie and others all looked at the big handsome in front of them, even if Yuan Shikai couldn't perform this position, why did the big handsome ...... Everyone's questions fell into Chen Moran's eyes, and he just shook his head gently.

"You only see that Yuan Shikai will not perform his duties, but you don't see a little, what will Yuan Shikai use as an excuse!"

"Excuses?"

"That's right, with Yuan Shikai's old annihilation, he first saved him with Xu Shichang, sent Xu Shichang to Jiangning, and reached an agreement with us, and then took the risk of killing his head to slow down the army, for the heart of An Cixi, he planned to stay in the settlement, when the Qingniwa incident happened, it was originally when he rebelled, but he didn't do it! But he used the cipher code we gave him to take a secret message of apology, saying that it was not that he didn't want to, but that this matter was important, and that Fengshan, the banner man, was under the control of a town, and in order to ensure that it was completed overnight, the incident would be postponed. At this time, it's not easy to do this! ”

Thinking of Yuan Shikai, Chen Moran couldn't help but sigh.

"Now, if he hadn't informed him before severing diplomatic relations, how could he have rebelled so easily, and even if he did, how could he not have a trace of selfishness? Yuan Shikai's ambition is far greater than you and I can imagine, coming to Jiangning is undoubtedly in the tiger's mouth for him, and the army is his only support, how can he easily hand over the military power, let me mix sand and stones, he always asks for a few tricks to protect himself! ”

Jiang Fangzhen and the others listened and kept nodding yes. After a while, Chen Moran said with emotion.

"People in the world often think they are wise, but they are often clever but they are mistaken by wisdom. After the righteousness is raised, in order to stay in the north and live in the army, what is the way to protect oneself? ”

"Hmm!"

Jiang Fangzhen frowned for a while, and after a little thought.

"Dashuai, if he wants to protect himself, he will use the pretext that Suolu has not been destroyed, and transfer the first and second towns to the north to attack Suolu, so as to protect himself according to the Beijing Division, and second, he can show his name, after seeking the Beijing Division, Yuan Shikai will definitely be the name of the first general, and then ......"

"Fame is a weapon! At that time, with the three provinces of Henan, Shandong, and Hebei, and with the merit of recovering the heavy land of Beijing, he Yuan Shikai will protect himself! ”

Saying that, Chen Moran laughed, but his mood was a little faster than before.

"The standing army of the two towns of Beiyang, if it goes north, it must be transferred to the third town to defend Henan and Shandong, and take it as a base, the third town, if he really does this, order the first army to go north to support Yuan Shikai! He is based in Jinan and Luoyang, and we need to control the two cities except for them, send officials, and reorganize the political axe, he is fighting in the front, and we will stabilize Henan and Shandong provinces in the back. ”

"But the capital!"

"Baili, it's been almost a year since the anti-Russian army was resisted!"

Dashuai's question made Jiang Baili understand why he laughed, Yuan Shikai was indeed mistaken by cleverness.

"Report, Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to the General Staff, and in order to quickly chase away the captives, he has ordered the first and second towns of Beiyang to return from Cangzhou to the north......"

At this time, the staff officer's report made laughter sound from the war room of the ruling axe staff, and Chen Moran raised his eyebrows proudly and turned his head to look at everyone.

"Alright, the big thing has been decided!"

(To be continued)