In order to ensure the smooth recovery of Shandong, Xiao Yimin still tried his best to meet the various orders and demands issued by Duan Qirui, and also maintained rare restraint in the differences in major policies.

In November, Duan Qirui sent another telegram to Xiao Yimin, informing Xu Shuzheng that he wanted to evacuate Kulen in the spring of next year and move south to Pingjin, and asked the Nanjing camp to obey the orders of the central government, to carry out the necessary repairs and restoration of the Russian consulate in Nanjing as soon as possible, and to hand it over to the Russian diplomats who were about to go to Nanjing to start work.

After repeated analysis, Xiao Yimin and his think tanks finally saw the shadow of himself hidden behind Duan Qirui's series decisions through many appearances.

Although Xiao Yimin was quite relieved about Duan Qirui's national stance and style, Yang Du and the generals did not trust the many pro-Japanese generals and officials of Duan Qirui's group, and unanimously agreed that even if they paid a greater price, they could not give up the large areas of Mongolian land that had been pacified with great difficulty, otherwise they would not only lose their previous achievements, but also help to increase the long-planned ambition of invading China and dismembering China.

In accordance with the readjusted overall action plan, Xiao Yimin, who was as good as a stream, telegraphed Bao Jiqing, commander of the Chengdu General Headquarters, to immediately take action, and with the First Corps of Engineers stationed in the Chengdu area and the military logistics and transportation units of the General Headquarters as the main force, go all out to deliver weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies to the Yulin Military Base and various military stations in northern Shaanxi, so as to ensure that the two infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades of the Yulin Group Army will successfully complete the important task of going north to take over the defense of the Kulun area in February next year.

At the same time, in the name of the commander-in-chief, Xiao Yimin sent a telegram to Deng Xihou, commander of the Yulin Group Army, and other generals: First, immediately mobilize the 50,000 soldiers under his command and the newly recruited Ganshan recruit division to overcome the severe cold, defy difficulties, and vigorously carry out winter training; Second, the headquarters of the Yulin Group Army should collect as many war horses as possible, form two cavalry brigades and conduct training; Third, it is recommended that the quartermaster logistics units of the Yulin Group Army leave behind all the rubber-tyred trucks that transport supplies from Sichuan and Hanzhong to the various military stations of the Yulin base, and form two baggage battalions directly under the headquarters of the group army; Fourth, order the Yulin military base and all military stations to hand over as soon as possible the 8,000 pack horses and 15,000 ploughing cattle that had been exchanged for salt, tea, industrial products, and obsolete weapons from various Mongolian tribes over the past few months to be brought back to the rear of Sichuan by the military logistics and transportation troops.

The order was issued, everything was going on quietly, and Xiao Yimin replied to Duan Qirui in a hurry, saying that after repeated discussions by the Nanjing Xingying Military Committee, it was decided to send two infantry divisions and a cavalry regiment of Deng Xihou's group army stationed in the Jiuyuan area before April next year to go north to Kulen to take over the defense of Xu Shuzheng's department.

Duan Qirui finally breathed a sigh of relief when he received Xiao Yimin's callback, although Xiao Yimin's response was a potential threat to the direct control of the Chahar and Rehe regions, but it was definitely the only effective way to keep a large area of territory in Mongolia that had been regained with great difficulty.

Therefore, no matter how Wenwu accused Xiao Yimin's group of wolf ambitions, and repeatedly reminded Duan Qirui not to be deceived by Xiao Yimin's so-called "righteousness", several pro-faction think tanks even shouted out that they would rather give up Kulun than let Xiao Yimin's group sit on the throne.

In this regard, Duan Qirui still adopted the method of patient persuasion, and conveyed to everyone the three telegrams from Xu Shuzheng and the 20,000 soldiers in the north that they must not give up an inch of the country, saying that at this time of internal and external troubles, they must no longer make a strong enemy, and should open their minds and strive to maintain good relations with Nanjing, and then explained in detail that since Xiao Yimin is willing to take over the defense of Kulun, it is tantamount to taking the initiative to bear the pressure that Russia and Russia are constantly exerting on the central political axe because of the interests of Mongolia, and the huge troubles that may be brought about by this. With the current financial resources and manpower of the central government and the headquarters, it is really beyond the reach of the whip, and those who should give up must give up.

After Duan Qirui's clear position was repeatedly explained, he finally withstood all the pressure from inside and outside with difficulty, and then put aside the Kulun issue and turned all his energy to North China and the Central Plains.

Xiao Yimin, who was unable to participate in it, attached great importance to this, secretly used all the means that could be mobilized, and took out a large amount of funds to bribe and win over and divide the figures at all levels of the two factions, and through the many pieces of information secretly sent back by the Yanjing Station of the Military Intelligence Bureau, he paid close attention to the transfer, supply, requisition and internal mobilization of the Feng army in Shenyang, Jinzhou, and other places, and finally came to an important conclusion:

Zhang Zuolin, who has received the support of his own army, will never collect his troops and return to the camp when he has found nothing, and from the current analysis of the replenishment of military materials from Shenyang, Lushun, Jinzhou and other places that are constantly transferred to the front line of Shanhaiguan, a major war is inevitable and is likely to break out suddenly around the Spring Festival.

What is ridiculous is that Duan Qirui and others still think that Zhang Zuolin is bluffing, threatening Chen Zuolin with 100,000 soldiers, and exchanging his political interests for nonsensical negotiations, but under the strong mediation of himself and the investigation team of the League of Nations, the 100,000 Feng troops on the front line of Shanhaiguan will have to withdraw to the customs sooner or later.

Therefore, after discussing with Cao Kun and other generals, Duan Qirui turned most of his energy to the Sino-Chinese negotiations that were being carried out in Yanjing, and to Henan, a strategic point in the Central Plains that he was determined to win.

In the face of the ever-changing situation in the north and the huge decision-making mistakes made by the Duan Qirui Group in the political and military fields, Xiao Yimin keenly saw the huge opportunities contained in it and decisively decided to accelerate his actions.

In early November, Xiao Yimin changed his previous style of being stoic and low-key, and frequently held meetings with European and American envoys in China, financial consortia, and the Britain, the United States, France, and Italy, and held lengthy talks between 10 and 12 November with members of the League of Nations' investigation team and plenipotentiaries of the British, American, French, and Italian banking groups.

On 13 November, Wang Zhengting, director of the Nanjing Camp Foreign Affairs Committee and newly promoted deputy director of the Nanjing Camp Military Committee of the Central Military and Political Department, led a delegation of more than 30 people from Shanghai to visit the United States and European countries, accompanied by more than 20 European and American officials stationed in China.

On 15 November, the annual meeting of the Chinese Mingzhu Party was solemnly held in Nanjing, and at the same time, the enlarged military and political conference of the Nanjing camp was held in a low-key manner, and the political elites of all provinces across the country, the overseers of the southern provinces, the provincial governors, and the commanders of the garrison all gathered in Nanjing.

On 18 November, the Mingzhuo Party National Conference was successfully concluded, and the three important economic development proposals put forward by Xiao Yimin were unanimously approved by all the party representatives.

The enlarged military and political meeting of the Nanjing camp also ended, and the provincial governors and governors reached a series of secret agreements with Xiao Yimin after repeatedly weighing the pros and cons and estimating their own gains and losses.

In late November, eight sets of high-horsepower locomotives imported from the United States were transported to the Pukou Locomotive Factory, and the capacity of the Tianjin-Pudong Railway suddenly tripled.

Within 20 days, as many as 300 120mm heavy artillery pieces, 600 battalion and company-level 75mm light infantry guns, 2,000 mortars of various calibers, hundreds of millions of bullets of various types, 200,000 shells, more than 2,000 new-type light and heavy machine guns, 100,000 tons of grain, and 150,000 sets of clothing passed through the Jinpu line and were delivered to the officers and men of Wu Peifu and Zeng Chaoran's department.

This move of the camp in Nanjing frightened the Zheng Axe and the Duan Qirui group, and he immediately terminated the negotiations between China and the Chinese government, and sternly questioned the purpose of the large-scale replenishment of weapons and ammunition by the Nanjing side; Duan Qirui and the army headquarters repeatedly called Xiao Yimin and the Nanjing camp, first asking about the specific situation, and then strictly ordering Xiao Yimin to stop all actions that might provoke disputes and war.

Xiao Yimin didn't care about this, and first announced through a regular press conference in Nanjing that this move was purely a normal supply of military supplies, and that it was necessary assistance to the people in the disaster area to help millions of victims survive the cold winter, and to make all the preparations that he could for spring plowing and production, without any military targets.

Immediately afterwards, all the newspapers and magazines under the Ming Boiler Party and all the public opinion media controlled by the Nanjing camp began to set off a huge public opinion war, and they carried out all-round reports on the details of the Sino-Chinese negotiations, directly pointing out the major policy mistakes of the central political axe controlled by Duan Qirui's clique on the Shandong issue, the North China issue, the Zhifeng dispute, and so on, and launched a nationwide discussion on surnames with reasonable and evidence, and encouraged all patriotic people to participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs.

For a time, the voices of the north and south of China were boiling over, and the voices of criticism of Duan Qirui's political axe were endless, and the heated discussion caused by the large-scale military preparations of the Nanjing camp was forgotten by the vast majority of the people.

On 28 December, heavy snow covered the entire territory of Shandong, and North China was covered with snow and a cold wind howling, just when everyone thought that they would finally be able to survive safely in 1919, Zhang Zuolin's 100,000 Feng troops, who had already completed military preparations, finally launched an all-out attack.

The 120,000 troops of Zhiwan were scattered and unprepared, and the two lines of defense that were 170 kilometers long were completely broken in one day.

As soon as the first month of the first month, the left wing troops of the Feng army that hit Tangshan in one breath did not stop, forcing towards the Ninghe River north of Tianjin, and the right wing troops of the middle route army under the command of Zhang Zuolin completely occupied Yutian County and began to reassemble and coerce the capital, only the right wing troops commanded by Yang Yuting encountered the stubborn resistance of the fifth and fourteenth divisions of the Beiyang Army on the front line of Zunhua.

When the news broke, the whole country was shocked, and only the troops of the Yuanben army, which had succeeded in its conspiracy, cheered, and the three brigades that were evacuating Jinan, Yantai, and Weihai under the supervision of the investigation team of the League of Nations and the negotiation team of the Central People's Republic of China went so far as to divert to Lushun to "land and recuperate" despite any opposition.

On the 10th of January, more than 1,500 officers and men of the Yueben Marine Corps, who had finally evacuated Qingdao, also forcibly landed at the shore while passing through the waters of Arthur, and then drove a brigade from the Dalian barracks to Fengjun and stationed them in a grand manner.

On 15 January, after intense discussions and with the approval of their own political authorities, the European and American envoys in China formally announced that they would abandon armed intervention in Vladivostok and other areas in the Far East.

At this point, Red Russia finally got rid of the heavy pressure of the European and American powers in the Far East, and began to make secret contacts with the embarrassed and angry Shomoto.

(To be continued)