On the one hand, the three principles put forward by Nanjing, on the other hand, Yuan Shikai suddenly said that he would return to his hometown to continue living in seclusion, and the constitutionalists also jumped up and down to fight for interests. The governors and armies in the south were even more dissatisfied with the fact that they wanted to give up the presidency to the north, and Guangzhou and other places expressed their intention to continue the northern expedition. The strange thing is that this time, Yang Qiu, who was nicknamed the most limelighted by everyone, did not say anything, only Zhang Taiyan learned from him and published five signed articles in the newspaper in a row, scolding Nanjing to the point of blood, and the name of a madman resounded throughout the country.

When the scolding wars and disputes were endless, Wushengguan, known as the Central Plains Barrier, was still in full swing, and it seemed that it had not been affected by the disturbances of the outside world. A brand new 75-mm Krupp field gun was aimed at the shut, and the two different armies had been facing each other for more than a month. In the distance of the artillery position, the soldiers of the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division dressed in sand yellow uniforms were like a group of marmots, undergoing geotechnical training, and more than 4,000 soldiers were flying up and down with freshly purchased German sapper shovels, and the scene was spectacular.

"It's too slow!"

"No, you need to dig a machine gun gap every twenty meters, how many meters do you measure?"

"Fool, the sand must be piled up in the direction of the enemy as a shield, where are you turning? Take your class and dig three hundred meters for me! If you don't dig well, you don't have to eat at night! ”

Qin Zhangshu, the commander of the first brigade, held a thin horse whip in his hand, repeatedly patrolled in the trenches, due to the lack of suitable engineer shovels in the defense of Hubei, the geotechnical training of the troops was seriously lagging behind, so that he was driven by Beiyang all the way from Xiaogan to Dazhimen, so this time after the purchase of German engineer shovels arrived, the first and second divisions took the lead in carrying out the corresponding training, and all the teaching materials were also from Jiang Fangzhen and Yue Peng and other officers who studied in Germany, and it is said that the commander also participated in the formulation of teaching materials ().

Qin Zhangshu doesn't know how to ride a horse, and it's not fashionable to take a horsewhip, in fact, the officers and soldiers now have numb skin and flesh when they see the horsewhip, and there are not a few people who have been taught by it. "Don't stop, all speed up, the opposite side is Wusheng Pass... It's Beiyang! We haven't won yet. Now you're not training, it's a tough defensive battle, just like Okurayama! Tell me, what are the essentials of defensive warfare? ”

"Build fortifications, erect barriers, block at layer, and hold on independently!" The soldiers struggled to dig and dig fortifications ... Panting and answering in unison, the sound shook the four fields.

"What is the essentials of digging fortifications?"

"Bend over and don't bend your head, rub shoulders and walk for two people, set a point at ten meters, twenty machine guns, the levels should be clear, prominent and strengthened!"

"What if the enemy attacks?"

"Dodge the cannon first, then shoot the gun, the machine gun barrel 300 meters away, 50 meters, grenades, and white blades to grit their teeth!"

"What should I do if I lose my flank and neighbor positions?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on!"

"What if you're surrounded by enemies?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on!"

Qin Zhangshu used a horsewhip to train a few unlucky ghosts with soft voices, but in his heart he was very satisfied with the overall performance of the troops. Although he has no foreign background... But after experiencing Mt. Kocana, he felt that he was not enough to take the initiative to learn from Yue Peng and others, and even found a commander. He always remembered the commander's words, the army is a well-organized group, and different levels have different concepts that need to be instilled into it. The brigade is the main combat unit of military operations, and officers also need to stay on the front line for a long time, and they need to constantly learn... Constantly encourage soldiers to take on greater responsibilities. Commands, obedience, and training, must be done at all times... Only by going deep into the bone marrow and soaking the spirit hun can you create a real trump card, not as simple as hanging a black skull on your mouth.

The sun rises higher and higher, and a brigade-level defensive position is gradually appearing in front of you, artillery positions, reserve bunkers, sortie positions, machine-gun bunkers, breakout support points, etc., behind the dense layers of ravines... It is the fruit of months of hard training ().

"Well done." There was the sound of horses' hooves behind him, Qin Zhangshu turned his head to look, not only the two division commanders and chief of staff were here, but even Jiang Fangzhen from the National Defense University came.

This kind of training is no wonder that He Xi and Yue Peng are no longer strange, after the arrival of the German sapper shovel, the 1st and 2nd divisions took the lead in launching intensive training tasks in this regard... It was carried out from the squad to the brigade and even the division level, but Jiang Fangzhen was more excited, walking along the trenches and communicating with the soldiers from time to time.

A young soldier with a Guangxi accent piqued his interest: "What's your name?" You look like you've studied in a military school, and you have a Guangxi accent, why did you come to Hubei to be a soldier? ”

"Report to Colonel (Jiang Fangzhen was awarded the rank of colonel)." The young soldier set up the sapper shovel, wiped the ashes off his face and saluted: "My name is Bai Chongxi, the word Jiansheng, I heard the first righteousness of Wuchang, and came to Hubei with the Guangxi Army Primary School Support Group.

Seeing that most of my classmates had gone to Nanjing after the war, I joined the boot camp and was just assigned to the army last month. ”

"Oh?" Jiang Fangzhen was curious: "Why don't you go to Nanjing to stay and be a soldier?" ”

"Report Colonel, Chongxi has liked soldiers since he was a child, and one,." The young Bai Chongxi hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm going back." ”

Jiang Fangzhen understood that the number of Hui people in Guangxi was not large, and this young man would definitely not get along with other partners in the Guangxi aid group, so he simply stayed and served as a soldier. "Got used to it here?" ”

"The commander strictly ordered that the Wehrmacht have no nationality, only their own people and enemies! After enlisting in the army, the commander and his brothers took care of him a lot, and Chongxi was determined to inspire national defense, and he had no regrets in this life. ”

"Well said!" Jiang Fangzhen slapped his face and continued to ask: "I heard you all talk about defensive warfare just now, I will test you, what if you attack Wusheng Pass now?" ”

"The infantry company is a unit, wait for the artillery to suppress the enemy and launch an attack, open the skirmish line with a gap of four meters, advance alternately along the mountain in layers, protect between squads, find cover first when encountering fire resistance, wait for suppression and then advance, after entering the pass, the terrain is open, you need to walk close to the city wall, and use grenades to open the way when encountering bunkers and dark bunkers ()." Bai Chongxi said quickly, Jiang Fangzhen was also very satisfied, and asked more questions when he was interested: "Is this your own idea?" ”

"The company commander has led everyone to conduct targeted training."

"Then let me ask you again, what if there is a well-defended fortress or pass on the offensive line of the troops?"

Bai Chongxi was a little dizzy, he was just a small soldier, what was this guy muttering for a long time? But who made the family a major, and replied neatly: "Get ready, ask your superiors." ”

"Haha." Jiang Fangzhen laughed, pointed at Bai Chongxi and turned his head and shouted: "Division Commander He, I want you soldier, let him report to the National Defense University in a few days." ”

Defense Army?!

Bai Chongxi's eyes widened in astonishment... The comrade-in-arms next to him shook his arm fiercely to congratulate, and secretly sighed why this colonel didn't ask him, Jiang Fangzhen had already returned to Yue Peng and the others with a smile. He Xi smiled: "Brother Baili, you won't make a special trip to my Lao He here today to dig people, right?" It's not okay to ask for one... At least 50 places for our second division will be given for further study. ”

When the National Defense University was first established, the matter of recruiting cadets was already in an uproar in the three provinces and in the army, and the General Staff Headquarters even issued an order to all units to select good seedlings and send them to the university, so that the officers were desperate to pull all their troops over to receive formal training.

"That's not going to work... This year's enrollment has been decided. In addition to the technical arms, there are a total of 300 command majors, with 30 places in each division, and the rest must be open to the children of the three provinces. If Master He feels that it is not enough, the crash course is available. How can the crash course be compared with the professional National Defense University, not to mention that this time ten instructors and veterans were invited from Germany, but Yang Qiu didn't even interfere in the daily affairs of the school, so He Xi could only stare dryly.

The vignette didn't last long, and after a few people chatted a few words, Qin Zhangshu couldn't hold back... asked, "Teacher, you won't be accompanying the principal to pick people today, right?" ”

"Whoever has time to accompany him ()." Yue Peng smiled, pointed to Wushengguan in the distance and said, "We were ordered to wait for a few friends. ”

Friend? What friends can Wu Shengguan have? Qin Zhangshu wondered... The soldiers suddenly became agitated, only to see the cavalry company patrolling the periphery protecting a small group of officers in Beiyang military uniforms walking slowly, leading them was a mustache, but dressed in Chinese style The old man in his fifties saw the people who came, He Xi and Yue Peng led the officers to immediately greet them, walked in front of them and saluted: "Yue Peng (He Xi, Jiang Fangzhen) has seen Mr. Pingqing. This title made Qin Zhangshu's head suddenly sharpened, who can be called Pingqing, and who can be supported by several division commanders, who else can there be besides the dragon of the Beiyang?!

Wang Shizhen has an extraordinary position in Beiyang, and is a key pawn for Yuan Shikai to balance Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. I didn't suffer any setbacks in a row. Seeing a few people, he hurriedly dismounted and said with a smile: "You have to welcome me from afar, an old man, ashamed, ashamed." ”

After a few words of greeting, Wang Shizhen suddenly walked to the front of the first brigade that was undergoing geotechnical training, and saw that the trenches were arranged in an orderly manner, and the soldiers had sharp shovels in their hands... Tou praised: "It is worthy of being a fierce division, this kind of defensive posture is one, not ordinary people can break it, I don't know who is the commander of the army?" Can you see it? ”

After He Xi nodded to Qin Zhangshu, he immediately walked out and saluted: "Qin Zhangshu, the commander of the First Brigade of the Second Division of the National Defense Force, has seen Lord Wang. ”

"Qin Zhangshu of the Second Division and the First Brigade." Wang Shizhen silently read two sentences, staring at the black skeleton Xiongzhang at Qin Zhangshu's mouth, always feeling how awkward this thing looked, and said: "Xiaocang Mountain is blocked by you, right?" can make Zhan Yuan and the Fourth Town suffer such a big loss, and several rounds of attacks have been deflated and delayed the breakthrough one, not bad, not bad! ”

"It's just a fluke."

"Hehe, it's such a fluke, I wish I had it every day." Wang Shizhen sneered casually, but several Beiyang officers behind him were all fierce, and they clearly wanted to keep Qin Zhangshu's appearance firmly in mind. The officers and soldiers of the 1st Brigade saw that these people were not good, and they also responded with their eyes, and if it weren't for the division commanders, they might have to fight.

Seeing the strong smell of gunpowder, Wu Zhaolin was afraid of being embarrassed and hurriedly stepped forward: "Civil engineering skills, you can't get into the eyes of Lord Wang." I've already set up a banquet at the headquarters, so let's move to sit down and talk. ”

Wang Shizhen nodded, and took the lead towards the command post, where he could see the trained soldiers along the way. This hot scene reminded him of the years when he was at the small station in Tianjin. At that time, the Beiyang Army was just established, and all of them were enthusiastic and brave, full of shame, and the soldiers were also extremely hardworking, but how many years has it been? The first war in Hubei obviously stripped off the coat of the Beiyang elite, but some people still think that it was just a fluke, and now seeing that the day of Gong Bao as the president is approaching, Duan Qirui and others only care about climbing up, how can they still look like soldiers? If we don't put things in order, I'm afraid that the day when the south wind will overwhelm the north wind is not far off.

Thinking of this, he didn't even have any interest in going to the banquet, and asked, "I don't know about them?" ”

Wu Zhaolin immediately handed Wang Shizhen the list of captured soldiers in the fourth town, and today they came to implement the matter of exchanging prisoners of war for Wushengguan, and said: "This is the list of all the brothers in the fourth town, some of them are still being treated, and some of them have voluntarily been relieved of their military duties and returned to their hometowns, and the rest are all here, and I hope that the adults will check them." ”

After Wang Shizhen took the list and read it carefully, he felt a little uncomfortable. It's not that the list isn't detailed, it's that there are a lot of people on the list! In particular, the artillerymen and machine gunners, who had been trained with great difficulty, were either classified as voluntary retirees or their whereabouts were unknown. You don't have to think about it to guess why Yang Qiu did this, the artillery and machine gunners are the real elite of the army, and these people must have rebelled and joined the ranks of the Wehrmacht. Without them, what's the use of just bringing back a few thousand lost and down-and-out infantry? The fourth town has a long way to go to rebuild and restore its original state.

Although he was dissatisfied, he did not raise any objections, after all, he would definitely do the same, and besides, everyone said that they had left or their whereabouts were unknown, so they must have already thought of an excuse, maybe these people would have been dragged to the Fourth Division in Sichuan and the Fifth Division in Guizhou. It is impossible for him to search one by one, so it is better to open his eyes and close his eyes, and say: "Thank you for being kind to my Fourth Town soldiers, but the old man has something to ask, now that the Qing family has abdicated, the war will subside just around the corner, and the presidency will be set soon, I don't know where you will go in the future?" ”

His words have an obvious sense of wooing, He Xi is older and a well-known laughing Bodhisattva, and said: "What Lord Wang said is yes, I am also very relieved that there is no need to let the brothers on both sides meet each other, but the south has not been peaceful recently, the bandits in Guizhou have become more and more intense, and the sound of riots has come out in Tibet. ”

Wang Shizhen knew that this was a perfunctory statement, or said: "I don't know what you think of Nanjing, the "Provisional Covenant" is infinitely harmful, and Inspector Yang doesn't know what his opinion is? The old man really wanted to meet him this time. ”

"We are soldiers, not political." Yue Peng immediately cut off the topic and said: "The patrol envoy has not returned to Sichuan, if you want to see you, I'm afraid you will have to wait for half a month, or you will go to Hankou for a few days, and let me wait for the friendship of the landlord." ”

Wang Shizhen didn't expect Yang Qiu's subordinates to be so slippery, and he didn't give himself a chance to test at all. He didn't dare to go to Hankou to wait for the news, the one in the north changed a lot after going out of the mountain this time, and he was quite suspicious of the following, and he didn't know how windy it would be if he had to live for ten days and a half months, so he sighed pretendedly: "The southwest bandits are indeed a headache, and some of you are going to be busy." After finishing speaking, he arched his hand and said: "After the president decides, he will definitely confer titles on you, and then we will meet again in Beijing." ”

His words are obviously telling everyone that Yuan Shikai will definitely become president, and he will not move the capital to Nanjing, Jiang Fangzhen and others are well aware of these things, and arched his hand and said: "Lord Wang invited me to wait, how dare I not go, he will definitely come to Beijing to ask for advice." ”

This sentence is tantamount to acquiescing that the Wehrmacht supports Beijing in the time of the president, so the atmosphere of the next banquet is much better. In the evening, Beiyang and the National Defense Army completed the handover procedures in front of Wusheng Pass, and after all the Beiyang withdrew from Wusheng Sanguan and retreated to Xinyang, the captured Fourth Town 5,000 infantry was released, and at the same time, the Second Division and One Brigade of the National Defense Army were stationed in Wusheng Pass, announcing that the First Xiongguan in the Central Plains finally returned to the hands of the National Defense Army after four months.

With the re-stationing of the Wehrmacht at Wusheng Pass, a large number of civilians and engineers arrived a few days later to begin restoration work. After Wang Shizhen returned to Xinyang, he immediately sent a secret telegram to Yuan Shikai, saying: Yang Qiu's soldiers can be fought after a long training, and his soldiers who are good at fighting cannot be underestimated. Shizhen thought that the two Huai in the south of the Yangtze River were just jumping Liang'er, and the trouble of the henchmen was still Hubei, so he hoped to prepare early.