…… The busiest season of the year in Baotou has finally arrived, and herdsmen from all over the world have set up tents in a good location outside the city in order to sell their cattle and sheep at a good price, and within a few days a huge free market has been formed. From Zhangjiakou, Taiyuan and Shaanxi, traders from leather goods and medicinal herbs crowded the city, and even the prices were much more expensive than usual.

Heavily armed National Guard soldiers patrol the bazaars, and because of the scarcity of civilian police in the Northwest, they are tasked with maintaining law and order. In the distance, next to the Yellow River waterway, a regimental construction unit drawn from the construction of the Southwest Railway is building a railway bridge, which is slow because it is not easy to transport cement and prefabricated steel structural components from the interior. The construction of the Corps was Yang Qiu's original idea in the southwest, and this method not only solved the trouble of concentrating forces in the time of dispatching troops in Chapter 383 of the country's construction, but also solved the problem of a large number of veterans who could not find errands after being discharged from the army in Beiyang and all over the country.

In addition to Shi Xiaolou and Wu Peifu, who arrived in advance, Peng Shouxin, commander of the 21st Brigade stationed in Shaanxi, Dai Jintang, commander of the 18th Mountain Brigade of Rehe, and the former commander of the 2nd Brigade were promoted to the commander of the newly formed 19th Infantry Division after the war and transferred to Fang Wei in the Northwest Theater.

According to the post-war summary, the Wehrmacht once again determined its establishment, including two infantry divisions and three mixed divisions among the five new divisions, and the infantry divisions continued to use the original numbers, namely the 58th, 59th, and 60th Brigades of the 19th Division, and the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Brigades of the 20th Division. The Guard Division continued to use the number starting with 10, while the mixed divisions specially prepared for the north continued to use the number starting with 12, namely the 122nd, 123rd and 124th Divisions (the original 121st Division was also a mixed division). In this way, by the end of 1919, the Wehrmacht would officially consist of 20 infantry divisions, 4 mixed divisions, 4 central guard divisions and 3 ** brigades. In the future, all reserve divisions and temporary divisions in the pre-Chapter 383 dispatch time will use the number starting with 2 to make it clear at a glance.

"Why is he here?"

Outside the conference room, Peng Shouxin was just about to drill in, when he saw a person sitting in the corner, and he was a little stunned when he saw his face clearly. Because it was actually Li Liejun, who was recognized as being abolished. He didn't expect Yang Qiu to summon him. But he was sympathetic to his plight. It is said that among so many officers of the Wehrmacht who led troops to fight, this person may not lose to anyone. It's a pity that I didn't see the situation clearly. I couldn't help but ask curiously: "You Zheng (Xu Shuzheng), didn't you say that this meeting was a division and brigade-level officer?" He's a brigade commander? ”

"Humph! People are still hardcore of the KMT, so why bother if you want me to say that the KMT is a dou who can't be supported at all. Xu Shuzheng looked down on a company commander who was abolished, he felt that compared with Yang Qiu, those Kuomintang people were not successful at all, Wu Tingfang and Cai Yuanpei were idle although they entered the cabinet, and the former were squeezed away by Wang Zhengting and Gu Weijun, even if they were estimated to be twenty or thirty years, they would not be able to turn over, so they joined the National Society early in the hope of using this identity to climb up.

Peng Shouxin doesn't like the Kuomintang very much, but he doesn't have much to say about it, so he simply keeps his mouth shut. can go in and send (the fastest update) Now Wu Peifu is not there. asked, "Why isn't the division commander here?" ”

Xu Shuzheng's expression suddenly turned over with some excitement: "I heard that Cai Songpo and Yue Peng from the Northeast Theater both came last night, and now they are having a meeting next door." Hearing that Cai Yi and Yue Peng were here, Peng Shouxin immediately frowned, and secretly said that Yang Qiu only came to inspect? Why are these two coming! Could it be that there is some big movement in the north? Russia is now very stagnant, and even the soldiers below have been ordered not to cross the border. Japan's forces in Manchu and Mongolia will not be able to organize for a while and a half after they have been cleared, and as for those Mongolian nobles in Kulen, they are even more scabies, if they don't want to violate the Sino-Russian Entente and be destroyed several times early, since they are all fine, why do they still make such a big move?

When the two thought about it, Zhan Tianyou, who arrived together last night, was explaining to Yang Qiu the plan of the Baotou-Kulun railway, and the construction of the railway, Cai Ye and Wu Peifu and others did not understand very much, and asked: "Mr. Cheng, we don't understand what you said very well. I just want to ask, if the Baotou-Kulun railway is to be repaired. How long does it take? ”

"There are three things that a railway must have: manpower, resources and topography." Zhan Tianyou was originally in Chengdu to supervise the southwest railway network, but suddenly received news that he rushed to Baotou, so he came here from Sichuan overnight. He is now the Minister of Railways, and he is in charge of all the railways of the country. In particular, in the first five-year plan proposed not long ago, it was required to complete the entire southwest railway network within five years, and to complete the reconstruction of several trunk roads and branch lines north of the Yangtze River. At this moment, in the face of inquiry, he analyzed head-on: "There is no problem with manpower, and the lack of northwest can be transferred from the Central Plains." The terrain of the Baoku line is generally flat, and it is basically a desert and grassland after passing the Yinshan Mountain Range out of Baotou, and there is no great difficulty in terms of technology. It's resources...... He knows that the biggest problem that restricts the development of the northwest and the north is resources and transportation. At present, the country's steel production is far from keeping up with the demand, the cement plant has been built one after another, but it is still insufficient, and the road to the north is difficult, and it is difficult to imagine that tens of thousands of tons of steel rails and necessary materials can be transported without a railway.

"The construction of the Zhengtai line from Taiyuan to Baotou has already begun, and it is planned to be completed in three years, and even if the manpower and resources are doubled, this section of the mountain road will be completed in at least two years. The extension of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line to Baotou has also started, but the road there is more difficult, and four years is already the shortest period. Zhan Tianyou is not an ordinary engineer who only cares about the railway, he understands that national construction must meet the needs of national defense, and the Baoku Railway and the Longhai West Line are related to the safety of the northern part of the country, since Yang Qiu suddenly came to him, it means that something big must happen in the north, think about it and say: "In fact, it is not impossible to quickly open up Baotou to Kulun, but that plan is too wasteful." ”

He said: "If you don't count the cost, you can use the narrow gauge in the same way that Japan built the South Manchurian branch line, because the narrow gauge traffic efficiency is low and the cargo transportation volume is small, so the pressure on the roadbed is very small." In order to rush the work, Japan also directly used hay mixed with soil to build the foundation, and put the sleepers on it, which reduced the amount of crushed stones and cement, and only needed to transport the sleepers and rails. It is only more than 800 kilometers from Baotou to Kulun in a straight line, and it can be completed in two and a half years at most according to Japan's 400 kilometers a year at that time. If you change to a standard track, it is estimated that it will take four years. It is also necessary to solve the transportation of large items such as cement and stone crushers. ”

Spending tens of millions of dollars to build a railway that is destined to be abandoned is something that the Republic of China can't afford, not to mention that Baotou will be built into a heavy industry base in the future. The narrow gauge can't support such a huge transportation volume at all, so Yang Qiu vetoed the narrow gauge plan, but he didn't say why he suddenly wanted to speed up the construction of this railway, and after thanking Zhan Tianyou, he took the lead and walked towards the officer's conference room. Cai Yi followed behind him and looked at his back and frowned secretly, he knew that Yang Qiu had always done things in a planned way, and he often started to deploy a few years in advance, and this time he suddenly proposed to speed up the construction of the Baoku Railway, could it be said that he was ready to use troops against Russia?

After arriving at the conference room, all the officers stood up, Yang Qiu glanced at Li Liejun in the corner and sat down, and without waiting for everyone to speak, he made a gesture to Cai Gongshi, who was accompanying him: "Let's listen to the situation first." ”

Cai Gongshi took out the European war report compiled during this time, walked to the map and pointed to it: "The latest news." Five days earlier, German troops had reached Compiègne, France, about 30 kilometers north. Less than 100 kilometers from Paris, Britain and France had lost more than 130,000 troops although they had secured their defensive lines, and Germany had begun to draw more troops to this side when they saw an opportunity. There is already definite information that the German General Staff plans to launch a general offensive on the Western Front before the end of the year, so the onslaught on the Russian army has recently begun. It is hoped that the Russian army will be driven out of Poland and Galicia before the onset of winter. So during this period of time, Russia was very chaotic, and there had been a total of hundreds of strikes and uprisings, large and small, and Minister Lu Zhengxiang sent back a telegram saying that because the front line was not good, Nicholas II had considered a personal expedition at the end of the year! ”

"The Emperor's Imperial Expedition?!"

Wu Peifu and all the officers gasped, and even Li Liejun in the corner frowned. The royal conquest is never a trivial matter, and no one would gamble so much if it is not a battle to win or a precursor to the death of the country. The Russian army does not have an advantage on the Eastern Front, and there have been strikes and riots in the country again and again.

Cai Yi had been paying attention to Yang Qiu, and suddenly frowned when he heard this. Xindao: Is he going to take advantage of the opportunity of Nicholas II's personal expedition to send troops to Cullen to recover the land in one fell swoop? Isn't that a blatant violation of the Sino-Russian Entente? What will Britain and France think? There are many people who have the same idea as him, but Xu Shuzheng, a staff officer of the Northwest Theater, is the opposite, clenching his fists. Seeing that the stability of the country is almost no major event, only Kulun's heart disease makes many officers salivate, if he can take this opportunity to make this contribution, he should also wear a star on his shoulders, right?

Thinking of this, he was just about to introduce himself, but Yang Qiu suddenly turned to Li Liejun, who was speechless: "Li Liejun." ”

"Here."

After hearing the roll call, Li Liejun stood up. All eyes were on him. As one of the few officers loyal to the Kuomintang in the National Defense Forces, Cai Ye is very familiar with him, but he also feels a lot stranger when he sees him again after two years, and his dark complexion is not to mention that he has almost become a stuffy jar. sighed in his heart, I don't know if he can come out, after all, he is still above Chen Eun and these people in terms of talent, and if he collapses from now on, it will be regarded as a loss to the country.

"The president and the National Assembly have passed a proposal to send 200,000 laborers to Russia, and at the end of October they will leave for work in Ufa and Yekaterinburg." Yang Qiu also looked at him, his face made no one see any inner thoughts, and said lightly: "The General Staff has officially decided to promote you to major, and the Tangnu Wulianghai Company will be expanded into a ** regiment, and all the required soldiers and equipment will be replenished within two months." In addition, I have sent someone to protect your wife and children to Baotou for a reunion, give you two months of vacation and rest, and then your group will set off with light equipment and laborers, and will be responsible for their safety. ”

Li Liejun's eyes moved, he had already looked down on Jin if he was not promoted, and his two-year career as a frontier guard made him figure out a lot of things, but he didn't expect Yang Qiu to bring his family to reunite. For the first time, I realized that this person was not as ruthless as he was when he treated him and the Kuomintang, so he thanked him gently. Even Cai Ye was happy for him, the regiment commander was already a front-line officer of the National Defense Army, not to mention that he would also take on the task of leaving the country to protect laborers, if he could complete it well, he might be able to take on a big task in the future.

Only Xu Shuzheng was secretly annoyed, and he didn't understand what Yang Qiu liked about him!

"I just said a lot, I know you all have doubts in your hearts, and now I can tell you." Yang Qiu didn't notice his expression, and waved his hands on the table with a serious expression: "I have already decided to send troops to Europe by the end of 16 years at the latest, so I hope you are all ready!" ”

Cai Ye was stunned suddenly, even though many people speculated that Yang Qiu had plans to send troops to Europe, but when he took the initiative to say it, there were still a lot of worries and doubts. He is not against sending troops, as Yang Qiu said before, these people must put aside the idea of the Heavenly Empire and take the initiative to participate in the world, helping foreigners to fight seems to be worthless but can bring them closer. But his idea is to send troops to France, because you don't have to worry too much about logistics when you go to France, if you send troops to Russia and the Baoku Railway can't be repaired, you have to rely on the South Manchurian Railway and the Middle East Railway, what about logistics...... To be continued...... rq！！！