Duan Qirui stayed in Chengdu for as long as 10 days, during which he spent two days visiting famous places such as Wuhou Temple, Thatched Cottage and Qingyang Palace in the company of Hu Jingyi and others, and spent the remaining eight days in non-stop inspections.

Bao Jiqing, chief of staff of the border army, and Duan Qirui have known each other for a long time, and the two are very happy to meet, plus Xiao Yimin, commander-in-chief of the border army, is inspecting outside, and Bao Jiqing, who is the second person in the Sichuan border army, naturally accompanied him throughout the whole process, and Duan Qirui can naturally meet many requirements when inspecting the border army.

On the first day, when he inspected the North Campus of the Border Army Headquarters, Duan Qirui sighed everywhere he went, and sincerely praised the neat and beautiful Sichuan Border Army Headquarters Camp as the most well-equipped and reasonably laid out barracks he had ever seen.

The two sets of huge placards set up on both sides of the wide battlefield, "Raise vigilance, protect the family and defend the country", "sweat more in peacetime, and shed less blood in wartime", as well as the "Ten Military Regulations" on the eye-catching bulletin boards in each camp, made Duan Qirui feel a lot of emotion, and at that time such a thought surged in his mind: Although the Sichuan border army is poorly equipped, it has gone to the front of the Beiyang armies in terms of training and education!

When he saw the newly completed West Daying again, Duan Qirui was even more surprised.

From the outside, the new barracks, surrounded by wide defensive trenches, hidden among green trees and green bamboos, seem to be no different from other barracks in the south except for the vast area, and after entering the camp through a heavily guarded small stone bridge, a brand new barracks with a height of two stories and a length of tens of meters come into view.

The whole camp is divided into two areas, east and west, by a three-zhang wide cement pavement, and there are as many as 26 large and small buildings, all of which are Western-style buildings with blue bricks and green tiles.

The camp in the west covers an area of more than 150 acres, there are mountains and ponds, and there is a cavalry training ground that sets up many obstacles, rows of blue bricks and gray tile horse rings, forage warehouses are distributed around the horse farm, a clear artificial river surrounds each horse circle, flows quietly, and the cavalry regiment of the border army that has made outstanding achievements in the battle of Sichuan and Yunnan is stationed here.

In the eastern area next to the western city wall, there is a large camp that is exactly the same as the camp of the border army headquarters.

In addition to the football field in the middle of the field and the green belt composed of trees and flowers, there is almost a flat cement floor all around, and six square arcade-style teaching buildings are located in the north of the field, and the basketball courts and cement tables for playing table tennis are neatly distributed between the teaching buildings.

Duan Qirui asked half-jokingly: "Is there a military academy here?" ”

Bao Jiqing replied truthfully: "Yes! The border army is rigid in thinking, very backward in technology and tactics, and only knows how to rush and fight fiercely, and if it does not run military academies to train some new-style talents, I am afraid that it will not work, and more than 2,000 veterans will die in the first battle of Sichuan-Yunnan, and if we do not strengthen new-style education, I am afraid that it will be difficult to continue in the future! ”

Next, Duan Qirui took a look at the flowers, passed through a reinforced concrete bridge in the northeast corner of the camp, crossed the moat outside the west city wall, passed through the newly excavated arched doorway on the west city wall, and returned to the border army headquarters in the north school field.

The two walked dozens of steps side by side, and Duan Qirui split his head and asked, "Why do you want to run such a big military school?" Where did such a large sum of money come from? ”

Bao Jiqing replied with a smile: "Brother Zhiquan, have you forgotten our Commander Xiao's old business?" Although I don't dare to say that I am rich, hundreds of thousands of oceans can still be handled. As for the reason, Brother Zhiquan asked knowingly, haha! ”

"Brother Fuchen, are you Commander Xiao really going to fight against the Northern Division?" Duan Qirui's face was serious. In front of his old friends, he didn't mean to hide it at all.

Bao Jiqing stopped smiling when he heard this, and looked at Duan Qirui with the same seriousness:

"It's over, it's over! Our border army, from Commander Xiao to ordinary soldiers, all supported the leadership of Yuan Dashuai, otherwise how could we force the forces of the Alliance out of Chengdu and Sichuan? If you insist on talking about the battle between Sichuan and Yunnan, the Central Political Axe and the War Department will be even more unreasonable, and to put it nicely, it is also blatantly and openly protecting the Yunnan side

"Brother Zhiquan must know very well that the entire Sichuan and the entire Sichuan army have been counting on the salt wells and iron mines in southern Sichuan for hundreds of years, but the Yunnan army does not want the Sichuan army and people to live, and under the pretext of going north to revolution, they have been occupying and not leaving, and they have been inexhaustible in the pursuit of tyranny and greed, resulting in complaints, and the people are not able to make a living.

"What is especially incredible is that our Commander Xiao took the lead in fighting this battle and maintained the unity of the central government's decrees, and he didn't want to end up with a dismissal punishment to be honest, the little brother was very surprised!"

Duan Qirui had nothing to say, groaned, pointed at Bao Jiqing and said with a smile:

"Brother Fuchen, you are still so sharp-tongued, you will not be forgiving if you are reasonable, admire! Hearing what Brother Fuchen said, the younger brother was relieved, and when he went back, he also knew how to report to the marshal According to the situation learned during this trip, the governor of Sichuan and military and political officials at all levels were full of praise for Brother Yiming's kindness and the bravery of the soldiers of the border army.

"To put it in my heart, the marshal removed Yiming's brother from the post of Minister of Military Affairs this time, and the younger brother did not agree, whether the entire southwest border is peaceful or not, you have to rely on Yiming's brother and the auxiliary brother to take care of it, and you have to rely on 20,000 border army brothers who can fight well, not to mention that the battle of Sichuan-Yunnan is wrong with the Yunnan army, and the board falls on the ass of Yiming's brother alone, which is very unreasonable!

"But--the younger brother is soft-spoken and can't speak, so he can only invite Ying to go south to meet the auxiliary brother who he hasn't seen for ten years, so as to show the younger brother's heart."

"Brother Zhiquan, you dare to say that you are soft-spoken? You're already a dignified army chief, aren't you too big enough? Bao Jiqing asked with a smile.

Duan Qirui was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, and said with a somewhat embarrassed smile: "I know that I can't hide that you are a good person, but this appointment still needs to wait for the approval of the Senate before the junior brother can officially take office, and it is estimated that it will be almost the same after I go back!" Brother Fuchen, please rest assured, the younger brother will never do anything to be sorry for his old friend. ”

Bao Jiqing showed a sincere smile at this time:

"Stay two more days? It is estimated that in three or four days, Brother Yiming will come back, he doesn't know that Brother Zhiquan is coming, if he knows, he will definitely stay in Chengdu and wait, he admires Brother Zhiquan's chat, he once said to the younger brother in private, he only admires Brother Zhiquan in the three heroes of Beiyang. ”

"Make me happy, huh? Now his Xiao Yimin's name is known all over the world, and the first battle of Sichuan and Yunnan is even more famous general, and the handsome man is also full of praise. Duan Qirui said meaningfully.

Bao Jiqing put away his smile when he heard this, and sincerely requested:

"I also ask Brother Zhiquan to go back, and say a few kind words in front of the marshal, no matter what, Brother Yiming and the Sichuan border army will support the marshal, and will never have anything to do with the alliance, let alone do anything to support the army and respect himself."

Duan Qirui nodded happily:

"This is a matter of course, don't worry about the auxiliary brother, this time the marshal sent the younger brother here, isn't it to appease and condole? The fact that the marshal promoted the auxiliary brother and the elder brother Yiming to the first level is a good proof. ”

Bao Jiqing struck while the iron was hot: "Xie Dashuai!" Thank you also Brother Zhiquan for your love! After Brother Zhiquan went back, he conveyed to the marshal the difficulties of our border army in the past two years, and the War Department and the localities have not allocated a penny of food and salary.

"If the War Department is really in difficulty, but at least we have to say hello to the Governor of Sichuan, and I can make up for it, otherwise I really can't get by."

Duan Qirui did not prevaricate, but nodded solemnly:

"This little brother remembers this in his heart, and he has an unshirkable responsibility, he can't think about the horses running again, and he thinks that the horses don't eat grass, right? After the younger brother goes back, he will find a way, even if the War Department can't solve it for a while, he will report to the marshal and instruct the Sichuan political axe to bear the food and salary of the border army

"In the past few days, the younger brother has also seen it with his own eyes, although the border army brothers have put on new clothes and come out for inspection, but the shoes are open, many people standing in the back row are still wearing straw sandals, and their feet are full of blood blisters, in terms of weapons, in addition to the imitation pistols in Chengdu are a little better, rifles and more than a dozen artillery pieces are very old!

"It's really not easy for Brother Yiming to spend a lot of money to repair the barracks and run a military school in such a difficult situation!"

During the three-day inspection, Bao Jiqing happily met all of Duan Qirui's requirements, introduced in detail the recruitment, establishment and training of the border army, answered all questions, concisely and concisely, and finally introduced the cavalry commander Tang Wulin and other middle-level officers to Duan Qirui.

On the evening of the day when the inspection was completed, Duan Qirui declined the banquet of the border army and the governor's mansion, returned to his residence to take a hot bath, and immediately wrote down the book to record the inspection situation in the past three days, and the Sichuan border army left a deep impression on him.

Although the total number of officers and soldiers was only more than 20,000 people, and the equipment was poor, and the food and salary were lacking, it was more than 20,000 people, who played a prestige and made a name for themselves in the Sichuan-Yunnan War and the Kang-Tibet Counterinsurgency that were launched at the same time. If Yuan Dashuai does not do more to entrap and take it for his own use, it is likely to push this army into the opponent's camp. No matter how many medals and awards there are, no matter how many verbal appeasements there are, only real money is the most real.

On the third day after Duan Qirui and his entourage left Chengdu, Xiao Yimin, who was in the dust, returned to his home in Chengdu, received the two medals handed by Bao Jiqing, and then looked at the beautifully made lieutenant general's dress inlaid with gold and embroidery silver on the table, and couldn't help grinning, and praised Bao Jiqing for leading the brothers to skillfully deal with Duan Qirui and his party's various schemes.

Bao Jiqing lit a cigarette, sat aside and whispered:

"Don't be happy yet, I'm afraid the world is going to change color again, Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and others united all the parties within the League to form a unified party, called the Kuomintang, and a week ago, on August 13, issued a revolutionary party manifesto. The next day, the generals of the League's army, who originally claimed to uphold unity and support Yanjing's political axe, began to make public speeches again, stopping the disbandment of the five armies under the Alliance's banner, and starting to recruit troops again, among which Li Liejun, the governor of Jiangxi, was the toughest.

"It was published in the newspaper that on the day the Kuomintang issued its founding manifesto, the article on equal rights for men and women was deleted, and more than a dozen female congressmen of the League were furious, grabbing Song Jiaoren, who was presiding over the Kuomintang meeting, and beat him violently, Sun Wen announced the dissolution of the meeting in advance, and it is estimated that Duan Zhiquan also hurried back to Yanjing because of the founding of the Kuomintang, otherwise he would definitely wait for you to come back to meet him, and he has a good impression of you."

Xiao Yimin threw down the medal in his hand and sat opposite Bao Jiqing:

"Isn't that what we want? As long as Sichuan is not chaotic, we can seize the precious time of these two years, make money desperately, quietly expand, stand undefeated and then seek victory, we can't be entrenched in a corner of Bashu for a lifetime, right? I know you're ambitious. ”

When Bao Jiqing heard this, he couldn't help but roll his eyes:

"You better look at the present, Duan Zhiquan asked me, why do all the armies make five-color flags, and the cap badge also uses five-color stars, but our border army still uses its own silver five-pointed star? Then there is the collar badge, everyone else is red, but ours is dark green.

"I prevaricated that this style was still set by Zhao Dashuai when he was alive, including the flying leopard flag from the Zhenzi Battalion, and there is a reason not to forget the history of retaining it. Moreover, the replacement of badges and flags is another big expense, we are all so poor that we can't open the pot, where is there still money to repurchase? That's just barely fooling around.

"I don't think this matter can be delayed any longer, we have to make a choice early, and we can't lose a big deal because of a small thing."

Xiao Yimin thought for a while: "Then put up a few five-color flags at the gate of the camp, don't change the others, I just don't like the five-color flag and five-color star, instead of changing it just a few years ago, it is better to keep it as it is, our own military rank collar badge and badge armband are the most beautiful and scientific, so we don't need to change them!" ”

Bao Jiqing's eyebrows furrowed: "You mean, don't be optimistic about Yanjing's political axe?" ”

Xiao Yimin scratched his head in distress: "I don't know when Yuan Dashuai will fall, but at most, he will be struggling to support for ten or eight years, don't look at the Kuomintang has just been founded, as long as these people continue to fight unrelentingly, they will definitely succeed in the future, so we have to hurry up." ”

Bao Jiqing frowned, took out a cigarette again and continued to burn, smoking and pondering.

(To be continued)