Cai Guodong got the command of the 1.5 million people of the coalition army in the Balkans, but the problem came again, he did not have a general who could be sent to command the 1.5 million people, and he could not personally command, so he could only send a report to the country and ask the base camp to send a competent commander.

After receiving the telegram, Xiao Zhenlei thought for a long time, and also searched for the list of generals to find a general who could command an army of 1.5 million and was a foreign army.

Only Cai Ye and Xu Shaozhen's qualifications and abilities can be competent, but Xu Shaozhen's health is not very good, since he was sick last time, his spirit is not as good as before, and he is currently recuperating, and if Cai Ye is allowed to command the 1.5 million army, then it is bound to make Cai Ye subordinate to Cai Guodong, even if Cai Ye himself is willing, considering the problem of unity, Xiao Zhenlei can't do this, but if Cai Ye is not allowed to go, then who will go?

After thinking for a long time, Xiao Zhenlei had to ask the members of the staff group and the members of the military committee to come over for a meeting, and Jiang Baili, Cai Yi, Xu Shaozhen, Ma Hanlong, Sa Zhenbing and others were all notified.

Xiao Zhenlei took the telegram and said to the participants: "Cai Guodong has given us another problem, the command of the 1.5 million people has been obtained, the problem is that he has no generals who can command the 1.5 million people, he sent me a telegram, asking the country to send a commander, he is also stumped at this time, I don't know who to send, who do you think should be sent to command the 1.5 million people?" ”

There was a lot of discussion in the conference room, and Liang Qichao whispered to Yang Du: "Our current generals are too young. There are too few generals to command large-scale operations, and even fewer are competent! ”

"Yes, yes!"

Tang Shaoyi whispered to Yin Changheng: "Don't say commanding one hundred and fifty foreign troops. Even if you command 1.5 million national defense forces, except for a limited number of people who have this commanding ability. The other generals are not competent, but there are still a few people who are competent, but they are all from the Kuomintang side, and I am afraid that the president will not be reassured."

Xiao Zhenlei saw everyone discussing, but no one stood up to speak, so he said, "What? Don't you all have nothing to say, can't I find a general in my huge country who can command an army of 1.5 million? ”

At this time, Cai Ye stood up and said: "If the president doesn't think I am incompetent, I will recommend myself as the commander of the Balkan coalition forces!" ”

There was another round in the conference room, but soon everyone looked at Xiao Zhenlei. Xiao Zhenlei looked at Cai Yi: "You? You can't do it in Songpa! Maybe my meaning is wrong, I mean, it's not that you don't have enough ability, it's that you can't go, in order to unify the command, this commander's position must be placed under Cai Guodong, so ??????".

Cai Ye immediately said: "President, Ye doesn't care about these false names, as long as he can fight." Even if I am reduced to a small soldier, I will have no complaints! ”

Xiao Zhenlei listened to Cai Ng's words and thought for several minutes, he wanted to agree to Cai Ng, but he finally shook his head and vetoed it. "Matsuha, you don't care, but what will others think?"

"Great President. He doesn't care what others think??????" Cai Ye said immediately.

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand: "I know you don't care about this, and you don't care what others think." But I don't want only one Cai Guodong in our country to be able to take on the big responsibility, and I can understand your feelings. You have only been in the European theater for less than half a year, and you have only stayed in the Eastern Theater for less than three months before Japan surrendered, I know you are not satisfied, but you can rest assured, the battle still has to be fought, and the time for your expedition is not far away, I hope you can prepare before the expedition! ”

Cai Ye was pleasantly surprised: "What does the president mean?" ”

"It's too early to tell!" Xiao Zhenlei changed the topic after saying this, "Okay, back to the topic we just had, who are you going to send to command the 1.5 million people of the Balkan coalition army?" Guys, can't you find a suitable candidate? ”

At this time, Jiang Baili stood up and said: "President, now that the Seventh and Eighth Army Corps have arrived in Europe, and the Tenth Army Corps has also begun to load ships, it will be ready to leave in a few days, and the Second Army Corps can already withdraw to the country for rest, why don't you let Zhang Xiaozhun take over the 1.5 million people?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei smoked a cigarette and thought about Jiang Baili's recommendation, Zhang Xiaozhun's ability is undoubted, and it is indeed no problem for him to command the one and a half million, but Zhang Xiaozhun has been in Europe for three years, and he has never been back in the past few years, and there is news from Europe that Zhang Xiaozhun's health is not very good, and it is estimated that it is caused by being too tired after being away from war all year round.

Xiao Zhenlei shook his head and said: "Zhang Xiaozhun has been fighting outside for too long, I heard that his physical condition is not very good, let him come back to rest and rest!" Guys, is there anyone else you can recommend? ”

At this time, Yang Du stood up and said: "President, Du recommends a person, this person should be competent, but I don't know if the president dares to use it?" ”。

"Say, as long as he is a talent, as long as he cares about this country, even if he has different political views from me, what's the matter?"

"Good!" Yang Du said: "President, it is Wang Shizhen who is recommended!" ”

Wang Shizhen? Isn't this Wang Shizhen, the head of the three heroes of Beiyang? There was another round of excitement in the conference room. Wang Shizhen currently holds the post of senior military adviser in the Supreme Military Commission, but has no substantive work.

The problem is that Wang Shizhen used to be an important figure in Beiyang and was Yuan Shikai's descendant, but in the war to overthrow the Manchu Dynasty, Wang Shizhen did not participate in the battle, and refused Yuan Shikai's invitation, and even after the Northern Expedition began, Wang Shizhen also refused Yuan Shikai's invitation to command the army to fight against Xiao Zhenlei's army. With Wang Shizhen's ability, he is absolutely competent, and the key is whether Xiao Zhenlei will let him go with confidence.

Xiao Zhenlei took a few puffs of cigarette and said, "Please come to General Wang, today's meeting will be held here, and the meeting will be dismissed!" ”

Everyone was stunned for a while, and many people were thinking, could Xiao Zhenlei really rest assured that Wang Shizhen would command the 1.5 million army?

Wang Shizhen, a veteran, does have the ability to command the army, compared to Cao Kun and Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen is better at military, not political, Cao Kun and Duan Qirui spent much more time in political research than in the military, at the time of domestic chaos, Wang Shizhen chose to retire on the grounds of illness, Yuan Shikai invited him to go out of the mountain many times, he did not agree, and Xiao Zhenlei appointed him as a senior military adviser after the establishment of the new government, but there was no substantive work, which is also Wang Shizhen happy to see.

Wang Shizhen, who received the notice, quickly rushed to the presidential palace, and Wang Shizhen, who was already gray-haired, was wearing a lieutenant general's uniform and military boots, and he was still walking like a fly.

When the presidential secretary saw Wang Shizhen coming, he quickly stood up and said with a smile: "General Wang, you are here, the president has been waiting for you for a long time, please come with me."

"Thank you, Secretary Gao!"

Xiao Gao took Wang Shizhen to the president's office, "President, General Wang Shizhen has arrived!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei looked up and saw Wang Shizhen coming over and saluting: "Report to the president, Wang Shizhen came to report, please give the president a lecture!" ”

"General Wang, please sit here!"

"Thank you, President!"

After the two sat down, Xiao Zhenlei asked: "The general must be very confused, I asked the general to come over, I want to invite the general to the battlefield!" Now we have a foreign army of 1.5 million troops in the Balkans without a command, although there are many generals in our army who can fight well, but there are really not many generals who are capable of commanding an army of 1.5 million. ”

Wang Shizhen stood up and said: "If it was in the past, I would definitely not receive the order, but now it is different, now it is a foreign war, the president has an order, and my king naturally has to obey as a soldier!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei smiled when he heard this, "Very good, General Wang has this kind of awareness, I'm very happy!" General Wang's leadership this time is different from the past, and it is also different from others, others have made our own soldiers, and what you want to command and command is foreign soldiers, Zhang Xiaozhun's situation is similar to yours, but it is different, after all, the Second Army Corps under his command are all Asians, and the people you want to command are all Westerners, if you have any requirements, you can put it forward, while you are still in the country, I will solve it for you."

Wang Shizhen said: "President, it can't be me, a bare-bones commander, who commanded 1.5 million Western devils, right?" No matter how capable I am, I can't play it! ”

Xiao Zhenlei thought for a while and nodded: "That's true, so let's do it, allow you to draw officers and staff officers from our army's active army and the 1.5 million army to form your headquarters, and from the Seventh Army Corps, a total of 100,000 people from two armies will be your supervision team, if anyone in the coalition forces of the Balkan countries escapes in battle, disobeys your orders, or violates military regulations and military orders, you can be killed, you don't need to look at anyone's face, I will bear it for you if something happens!" ”

Wang Shizhen said in a deep voice: "With the words of the president, I have the bottom in my heart, Wang will never disappoint the hope of the president!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei got up and shook hands with Wang Shizhen, "General Wang will arrange things at home in the past two days, and set off for Europe in three days, and there will be a special plane to send you over then!" ”

"Yes, President!"

Three days later, Wang Shizhen flew from Beijing to Southeast Europe on a special plane prepared by the Ministry of National Defense, this time with Xiao Zhenlei's sword above, in the Balkan Peninsula, except for Cai Guodong, he did not need to obey anyone's orders. (To be continued......)