As soon as Xiao Yimin's words fell, the door of the lounge was pushed open from the outside, and the chief of the general staff, Zeng Chaoran, walked in quickly and closed the door with his hand, without the slightest intention of urging the meeting.

"How's it going?" Xiao Yimin sat down again.

Zeng Chaoran stepped forward and handed the telegram to Xiao Yimin: "This is the official battle sequence and request telegram just sent by General Wu Peifu. ”

Xiao Yimin quickly finished reading it, raised his head and was surprised: "When did Sun Chuanfang defect to Wu Ziyu?" ”

After Zeng Chaoran took office, he inspected various units of the army for more than three consecutive months, familiarized himself with the situation, consulted a large number of archives and the performance of various units in combat and training over the years, and it can be said that he was already very familiar with the generals and divisions under his command, the equipment and combat effectiveness of each division, but he was relatively unfamiliar with Wu Peifu's department, which had never been there and was relatively proficient, so he could not answer the question raised by Xiao Yimin.

However, Yang Du, who knew all the domestic forces well, understood the general situation, he took the message and read it, and smiled slightly: "It is not surprising that Sun Xinyuan defected to Wu Ziyu. First of all, the two are fellow villagers in Shandong, and they worked together in Yuan Dashuai's Beiyang New Army Barracks Office back then, and they had a very good relationship with each other;

"Secondly, after Wang Zhanyuan, the overseer of Hubei, went into the field, Wu Ziyu immediately took over Wang Zhanyuan's big mess, although Sun Xinyuan, who served as the commander of the provisional division in the Hubei army, was transferred to the Yanjing Army Headquarters, but before leaving, he handed over all the more than 5,000 recruits under his command to Wu Ziyu, remember that you didn't go to the meeting alone, I guess I don't know about it."

"Besides, Sun Xinyuan is a very smart person, a good leader of the troops, and he is quite conceited to be ambitious, and he will not easily take refuge in any party, so he has been in the Yanjing Army Headquarters for two years, and he still can't get the reuse of Duan Zhiquan and Feng Huafu, this time it must be Wu Ziyu who invited him, and he is very serious, and he even gave Sun Xinyuan the dual titles of chief of staff and chief instructor of the headquarters."

Ma Gang saw Xiao Yimin turn his head to look at him, his old face was red, and he felt quite uncomfortable in his heart, such an important intelligence and military intelligence bureau did not even notice it, and it had to be said that it was a major work mistake.

Zeng Chaoran reminded: "Regarding Sun Chuanfang's appointment, we can put it aside for the time being, what is important is the change of the Jinan army mentioned in General Wu Peifu's telegram. Originally, our intelligence believed that the army stationed in Yantai was a brigade, but now a brigade of the Yantai army has been reinforced to Jinan, and with the important strategic position of Yantai, the army must have troops stationed there;

"Secondly, the tense atmosphere in Jinan is intensifying, and judging from the fact that the Jinan army expelled our soldiers and civilians from the embassy and the overseas Chinese area and imposed martial law, the army is pressing on us step by step, and it seems that they are bent on fighting with us."

Xiao Yimin extinguished the cigarette butt with his strength: "With the strength of three infantry brigades, a cavalry squadron, an engineer brigade, and half a baggage brigade, the army wants to defeat us in Jinan?" Hum! It's a fool's dream! I want to see how the army plays! Let's go, hold a mobilization meeting, and after the meeting, we will discuss the specific response plan, Wu Peifu estimates that he has just arrived on the west bank of Dongping Lake, and there are still two days to prepare. ”

……

At 11:40 p.m., Shandong, on the west bank of Dongping Lake, Dai Temple, Wu Peifu Department Middle Road Headquarters.

Six generals, including Wu Peifu, the overseer of Shandong, Zhang Qiqi, chief of the general staff of the overseer's office, and Sun Chuanfang, former chief of staff of the enemy headquarters and commander of the 35th Division, gathered together again.

Zhang Qiqi put down the two telegrams in his hand and informed everyone with a smile: "Yi Shuai sent a telegram back agreeing to our action plan, ordering our army to ensure the safety of the negotiation team jointly established by Governor Zhu Qinglan, the Central Government Affairs Yuan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and put forward four supplementary suggestions.

In addition, Yi Shuai also sent a congratulatory telegram in his capacity as the Minister of Military Affairs of the Central Committee, congratulating Brother Xin Yuan on his appointment as the former chief of staff of our army and the commander of the 35th Division! It seems that our previous concerns were a bit too much. ”

The generals were very happy after hearing this, and they congratulated Sun Chuanfang one after another.

Wu Peifu laughed, raised his hand habitually, and scratched the top of his freshly shaved head: "Haha!" I guessed yes, right? What kind of character is Yi Shuai, and his mind and foresight are not comparable to Duan Zhiquan and Feng Huafu? ”

Sun Chuanfang was quite moved, he didn't expect Xiao Yimin, who had never met and had never met him, to support him so much, so he immediately stood up and thanked Wu Peifu, and then said with emotion: "Yi Shuai's mind is really admirable, and he will work hard to serve and never disappoint the expectations of Yu Shuai and Yi Shuai!" ”

Wu Peifu smiled again, let Sun Chuanfang sit down with satisfaction, turned to Zhang Qiqi and asked, "What are Yi Shuai's four supplementary suggestions?" ”

Zhang Qiqi has a good memory, and he can recite it completely without reading the telegram: "First, it is recommended that the middle and south roads of our army be combined into one, so as to reduce the command link and avoid being attacked by the enemy; 2. Assign the combat mission of the theater south of Tai'an to Xiao Fei's 53rd Division and Chen Lanting's 55th Division, which are about to go north; 3. It is suggested that our army's rearguard unit open an airstrip in Yanzhou as soon as possible, and that the Nanjing General Headquarters will send eight to 10 fighters to cooperate with our army's actions; 4. It is suggested that the Fifth Heavy Artillery Regiment attached to our army continue to march covertly, that all divisions and brigades of the main force expand the reconnaissance area as much as possible, and that civilians and businessmen are strictly prohibited from entering within 10 kilometers of the Heavy Artillery Regiment. ”

"Is Yi Shuai too worried?" Guard Brigade Commander Guo Xudong said disapprovingly.

Wu Peifu immediately sank his face: "Xu Dong, do you know how to set up the usual marching mileage and marching cordon of the ordinary infantry division of the Sichuan Army?" ”

"This ...... The subordinates really didn't pay attention. Guo Xudong was a little weak-hearted.

Wu Peifu stretched out a slap: "You definitely haven't been to the staff office during this time, so you won't know how high the level of the staff group that Yi Shuai transferred to us is, now I will tell you: The officers and soldiers of the ordinary infantry division of the Sichuan Army have a march mileage of no less than 50 kilometers under the condition of carrying a weight of 20 kilograms, and they can march continuously for ten days without resting. Ten kilometers and five kilometers, in which the second layer of alert groups is usually equipped with radio stations! You should get the idea, right? ”

At this time, not only Guo Xudong was dumbfounded, but Sun Chuanfang also looked incredible.

Zhang Qiqi laughed twice, broke the embarrassment, and explained to the newcomer Sun Chuanfang: "The reason why the divisions under the command of Yi Shuai have won all battles and are famous at home and abroad is entirely because their training, marching, stationing, combat, etc., have very strict regulations, and they have formed a habit after ten years of fighting, and this seemingly unimportant habit is the magic weapon of their invincibility. ”

Wu Peifu immediately sighed: "Don't be surprised, I also thought it was incredible before, but after many visits to the divisions under Yi Shuai's command to learn from experience, I was deeply touched and had to be in awe, so I started last year, and continued to invite instructors of various arms from Yi Shuai, and also selected more than 300 top students from the army to go to the Sichuan Army Military Academy for further study. ”

"There is another major thing that I most want to emulate, but it is difficult to do for a while, that is, the establishment of a new type of command system, which has been completely improved, and all divisions under his command have established a strong staff team, abolished the brigade-level establishment, and the division headquarters directly commands all infantry regiments, artillery regiments, engineer battalions, baggage battalions, and all logistics support units, including field hospitals.

"In this way, it not only reduces the command link, but also shortens the reaction time, and the division commander can directly command the combat units at the battalion and company level at a critical time, which is very remarkable! When we settle down after this battle, we must change the existing backward situation, otherwise we will fall far behind the Yishuai and the brothers' armies. ”

Wu Peifu expressed his feelings, and finally turned his energy to the main topic, and held intense discussions on the proposal of the three-way troops and the Nanjing camp that were currently advancing at the same time, and did not come up with a complete action plan until the sky was overturned.

……

On April 13, at eight o'clock in the evening, Jinan was called the army headquarters.

More than 10 civil and military officials, including Lin Quansuke, Minister of the Chinese Army in China, General Bentaro Hongo, commander of the Qingdao garrison of the Japanese Army, who had a beard and a beard with a high forehead and a beard, and more than a dozen civil and military officials, including the consul of the Japanese army stationed in Jinan, the special intelligence officer of the army headquarters of the Japanese army, and the garrison of the Chinese army stationed in Jinan, gathered together to discuss the current discussion at the Paris Peace Conference, such as "Germany will completely return Qingdao to China," the grim situation in Shandong, the three divisions under Wu Peifu's command to take over Shandong's defense, and how to ensure the interests of the Japanese army in Shandong and the safety of tens of thousands of overseas Chinese. Hold urgent consultations.

After briefing the participants on the international situation and the relevant instructions of the Cabinet to "settle the Shandong issue as gently as possible," Hayashi Gonsuke made a brief summary and politely asked for the opinion of Hongo Botaro: "Your Excellency, please tell me the opinion of the army!" ”

Hongo Fangtaro frowned slightly, obviously quite unhappy with Lin Quansuke's knowingly questioning.

Before dispatching the Yantai Infantry Brigade to assist in the defense of Jinan, Hongo Fangtaro had telegraphed the army's opinion to Lin Quansuke, and Lin Quanzhu's hurried arrival from Yanjing was undoubtedly a temporary decision made after receiving instructions from the Cabinet, and it was obvious that he did not support the military's opinion.

Despite his dissatisfaction, Hongo Fangtaro was still able to understand the distress of the cabinet, after all, the current heavy financial pressure and declining economic situation in the country were a headache, and it can be said that the army had no plans and preparations for a hasty war with the squadron, so Hongo Fangtaro did not hide his opinion:

"From the analysis of the actions of Wu Peifu, the new overseer of Shandong, it is very unfavorable to the interests of our empire in Shandong, and there has been an abnormal movement in the army in Nanjing, in addition to the new 53rd Division stationed in Haizhou has entered a state of combat readiness, another elite division under the command of Nanjing, that is, the new 55th Division, has also stopped training and is assembling at the Pukou military training base on the north bank of Nanjing.

"From this, we can draw a conclusion: the Chinese [***] team is threatening the [***] team stationed in Shandong with an unprecedented tough posture, in order to achieve their goal of controlling Shandong and restricting the expansion of the power of the Great Emperor, and we must face everything with a tougher attitude!"

As soon as Hongo's words fell, the military attaches attending the meeting immediately shouted support, and each one spoke resolutely and looked angry, which made Lin Quansuke and several civil officials feel deep pressure.

In the face of the angry soldiers who were forcing the palace, Lin Quanzhu had no choice but to take a step back, and after gaining time for negotiations in Jinan and relatively relaxed conditions, he acquiesced to the army's adoption of a tough,-for-tat and step-by-step military arrangement.

(To be continued)