Wu Peifu sat in the guest room of Baoding's Zhilu Yu Patrol Envoy and Zhili Overseer's Office. One after another, he smoked the bank brand cigarettes produced by the Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company. Although the domestic situation in recent years has been chaotic, thanks to the European war, China's national industry, especially light industry, has made considerable progress, and this Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company is a typical example.

After the "anti-imperialist struggle" some time ago, their products almost expelled British American Tobacco cigarettes from the Chinese market, and now they are the largest tobacco company in China! And Master Wu, who has always flaunted nationalism, has never smoked Nanyang Company's cigarettes, but it is the first time that he has smoked so fiercely as today.

The door was gently pushed open, and a figure entered, turning on the lights. Wu Peifu saw his old boss Cao Kun standing at the door with a calm face, holding an envelope in his hand.

He immediately stood up and raised his hand to salute: "Zhong Shuai, you are here." ”

Cao Kun didn't reply, and after entering the room, he found a chair and sat down, handed the envelope in his hand to Wu Peifu and said, "Ziyu, there are no others here, so don't give any military salute in front of me, sit down and talk..... This is a personal letter from the president, and he asked you to go to Beijing. ”

After receiving the order from the War Department to "march north into Manchuria and suppress the red," Wu Peifu's Third Division immediately rushed north with his Third Division in Hubei. On the train heading north, more than 10,000 officers and men of the Third Division sang the military song "Looking North to Manchuria," which was written by Wu Peifu himself, which seemed to be impassioned and their morale was high. However, they did not drive all the way to the northeast, but were stopped by Cao Kun in Baoding. Wu Peifu was also invited into Cao Kun's marshal mansion, and he lived for several days, not saying anything, and Master Wu, who lived there, was a little depressed. Now I heard that President Feng Guozhang was going to invite him to Beijing, and I felt even more strange.

He sat down next to Cao Kun, took the envelope, opened it, and took out the stationery inside to read it. There was nothing substantive, just inviting him to Beijing Zhongnanhai to meet and have a meal or something. Although this President Feng Da is the nominal direct leader, his actual authority is not too great, and he does not have much binding force on the following overseers and division commanders.

Probably the commanders of the first and old divisions brought by Li Chun and Feng Guzhang, the overseers of Jiangsu, were more obedient. The commander of the third division was promoted by Cao Kun, and he has nothing to do with this empty president, so it's best not to have anything to do with it. …．．．

He just wanted to refuse, but Cao Kun opened his mouth first: "Ziyu, you still have to go to the president's place once..." Cao Kun's tone seemed to be a little low, and his brows were furrowed tightly as if he had something on his mind: "Also, this mission to Manchuria is very unusual!" Both the president and I are a little undecided, and now that you are the commander of the 3rd Division, we all want to hear your opinion. ”

Wu Peifu glanced at Cao Kun suspiciously: "Zhong Shuai, I know that those red brigades are not easy to deal with, but the combat effectiveness of our third division is there, and there are only a few bandits......

"Not bandits, not bandits." Cao Kun waved his hand, lowered his voice and said to Wu Peifu: "It's White Russia!" Duan Zhiquan went crazy, and he wanted to take a risk and take back the Eastern Railway to mortgage it to borrow money from the Japanese...... The task of recovering the Eastern Railway will be handed over to your third division and the president's personal soldiers, Wang Ziming's sixteenth division! This is a knife licking blood business! ”

Hearing this, Wu Peifu was also stunned, although he has always flaunted patriotism, does not enter the concession, and does not use foreign goods. But if it really involves the abolition of unequal treaties and the resumption of concessions, he is still very cautious...... Historically, the Soviet Red Army invaded and captured Mongolia during the reign of him and Cao Kun! He, the lover of **, also adopted a policy of non-resistance against the invasion of Soviet Russia!

Now Wu Peifu's heart is like a mess, he lowered his head and was silent for a long time, Cao Kun looked at him with frowns, and only after a long time did he sigh and said slowly: "Ziyu, this errand is not without a little reliance...... The Japanese have already promised to support us, and Cao Runtian and the Japanese minister Lin Quanzhu have also signed a secret agreement, if the Russians dare to invade the Northeast because of our repossession of the Middle Road, they will send troops to support us! ”

Hearing that the Japanese were willing to send troops to help, Wu Peifu's brows tightened: "Zhong Shuai, I'm afraid the price of letting the Japanese take action is not low, right?" Let's not steal chickens this time. ”

Cao Kun smiled bitterly: "The president, Wang Pingqing, and Duan Zhiquan certainly know that the Japanese are not easy to borrow. But the current situation in our Beiyang is waiting for death..... When Sun Yat-sen and Chang Ruiqing have trained their soldiers, if we can't raise salaries, then we will play everything! So the president also wants to give it a go. ”

Wu Peifu quietly looked at Cao Kun's face, this well-known honest man in Beiyang was now embarrassed. Of course, Lao Maozi is also afraid, but no matter how fierce Lao Maozi is, he won't hit Zhili, right? The same is true for the Japanese, who could not threaten their position as the governor of Zhilu and Yu. However, the Nationalist Government was different, so Cao Kun was in favor of taking a risk on the issue of the Middle East Road, but he was still a little reluctant to take the risk with his old Third Division.

Wu Peifu naturally couldn't be clearer about what his old boss was thinking, he took a deep breath and smiled: "Zhong Shuai, I understand what you and the president mean...... I'll pick up this errand! It's not that I'm boasting. Look at the whole Beiyang. The one who can pull it out and touch the armies of the great powers is our third division! As for the counterattack of the White Russian army, I also have a way to deal with it, if things go well, I may be able to defeat them without the help of the Japanese! ，．

Wu Peifu said that having a way does not mean that there really is, his mantra is "think slowly, there will always be a way,,, if there is no way, he never says." Of course, Cao Kun also knew his old subordinates, he smiled faintly, stood up and patted Wu Peifu on the shoulder: "In our Beiyang. Even if you and Xu Youzheng have more methods, you can discuss it with him when you get to Beijing, there will always be a way. Way? Now, what else can be done except to bite the bullet? Wu Peifu really regretted colluding with GCD at this time to cause such a big deal of right and wrong.

And Chang Ruiqing, the initiator of this trouble, seems to be completely unconcerned about the big drama that is about to be staged in the Northeast these days, except for preparing for the Western Expedition, which is to reorganize and equip the hundreds of thousands of recruits.

On the large playground of the Beiguan camp in Guangzhou, a group of soldiers discharged the standard company horizontal team, and stirred up dust in the sky with fairly neat steps. Each soldier was already fully equipped, with an earthy yellow uniform, a backpack, black shoes with mille-feuille soles, and a Type 38 rifle with a bayonet on his shoulder.

These soldiers were the recruits who were sent to Guangzhou in July by being tied up with ropes! After more than a month of training, it finally looks like an army now. Although Lan Tianwei, Lu Yixuan, and the two of them, as well as the more than 3,000 officers and sergeants who led the team under them, they had already tried their best to be scared and deceived when they were training, and there was inevitably corporal punishment with sticks and sticks, but after all, with only such a little time, who could expect to train any elite soldiers? I can't talk about the tactics and military quality of any troops, but if I can show it to others, Chang Ruiqing is already very satisfied.

That's what he wants, just use the mighty momentum of an army of more than 100,000 to scare the opponent. By the time this battle to pacify the southwest is over, these recruits can be regarded as having felt the atmosphere of the battlefield, and if they have honed their skills, they can barely be regarded as the elite of ""battle-hardened."

In short, there is no fixed pattern for such things as training troops to fight, and the key to the use of elite soldiers and weak soldiers is whether our Changda military strategists will use it!

After watching the queue drill for a while, Chang Ruiqing turned his head and said to Lan Tianwei and Lu Yixuan with a smile: "General Ji Hao and Zixiu, the two of them are really talented, they actually trained the soldiers in such a little time, that is more than 100,000 people!" ，．

Lu Yixuan waved his hand with a smile: "What is the practice, it's all a showmanship, and it can't stand up to anything if you really go to the battlefield, Yaoru, I'm afraid that this time to fight the southwest still depends on our original veteran backbone!" ，．

Chang Ruiqing smiled and nodded: "We are a battalion full of recruits, and Guicao is full of veterans, and they are unwilling to contribute without a lot of military salaries, and the number is only more than 20,000...

．．． I used seven or eight people to beat Lu Rongting one, so I was sure to win. ，．

Lan Tianwei on the side was a little disappreciative when he heard this, and he glanced at Chang Ruiqing coldly. The standard Kuomintang veteran and important ministers look high: ""Brother Yaoru is better not to underestimate the enemy, Lu Rongting has been crisscrossing the southwest for many years, and his subordinates are many good fighters, Ma Ji, Shen Hongying, Lin Hu and others are not general!" In addition, the Yunnan-Guizhou Second Army will not sit idly by and watch Guangxi fall into our hands... In my opinion, if you really want to see a high or low on the battlefield, this soldier still needs to train for a few more months. ,, the three of them no longer paraded but walked side by side along the cinder road of the large playground in the direction of the headquarters, continuing the topic as they went.

Chang Ruiqing said with a smile: "General Ji Hao, your next task as a training commander can be heavy. The second and third phases of the national mobilization order are about to be issued, and there are still more than 200,000 recruits to be trained, where is the time to waste a few more months on this phase of recruits? ，．

Listening to Chang Ruiqing's words, a complicated expression appeared on Lan Tianwei's face, the Northern Expedition plan of the National Government had already been spread, but he, a senior general of the National Revolutionary Army, had not yet seen the relevant text. I don't know if the specific Northern Expedition plan is still being kept strictly secret, or if this Northern Expedition War does not have him at all, the general's share?

Seeing his worried look, Chang Ruiqing smiled and said: "This Beibi is a big scene, ten armies, thirty divisions, and 500,000 troops, but the famous generals here in our national government are all going to lead troops to the battle, General Ji Hao is a general, and he has won the trust of Mr. Sun, and it is no problem to command an army on one front!" ，．

Hearing Chang Ruiqing's assurance, Lan Tianwei's mood was even more complicated, he was an old qualified member of the League, a highly talented student of the Japanese soldiers, and an old-timer who was the leader of the People's Army during the Xinhai Revolution. It seems that there is no strength, only fame is still not enough! Thinking of this, he suddenly smiled faintly: ""The four provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan are to be solved in this Western Expedition, right?" I wonder what General Yaoru is going to do with them? ,, Chang Ruiqing smiled: "There are also many followers of Mr. Sun in the armies of the four southwestern provinces who can act as internal responses. And they are again warlord troops. There are many factions in the team. Mutual elbows.

Beware of each other, it is not at all an opponent of the hundreds of thousands of revolutionary armies with the unity of our military orders! Ruiqing's plan is to break them all..... First break Guangxi, and then cut down Yungui, as for Sichuan, I hope that Xiong Jinfan and other comrades will repent.

Lan Tianwei stopped, looked at Chang Ruiqing and said with a slight smile: "Has General Yaoru ever thought of sending an elite army from western Hubei to go up the Jiangxi River, enter Kuimen, and go straight to Chongqing?" ，．

Chang Ruiqing was stunned for a moment, and before he could think of how to answer, Lan Tianwei said to himself: "The current situation in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces is actually intertwined. The three provinces are the richest in Sichuan, and the strongest in Yunnan, and now the situation is that Yunnan and Guizhou join forces to record Sichuan! Although the overseer and governor of Sichuan is Xiong Jinfan, his real power as an overseer and governor is very limited. Zhao Youxin of the Yunnan Army commanded the Second Army of the Yunnan Army stationed in Sichuan and served as the Sichuan Military Affairs Office: Gu Pinzhen commanded the First Army of the Yunnan Army stationed in Sichuan and Luzhou in Xufu and Luzhou, and served as the guard of Xulu Town: Ye Quan of the Yunnan Army led the Third Army of the Yunnan Army stationed in Sichuan to garrison Kuimen, Wanxian and other places, and served as the guard of Kuiwan Town. In addition, Wang Wenhua, the chief general of the Guizhou army, served as the envoy of Chongqing, turning the most important commercial port in Sichuan into the territory of the Guizhou army.

In fact, the main forces of the Yunnan and Guizhou armies were stationed in Sichuan, and they were also supported by the people of Sichuan. Once Sichuan is lost, the two poor provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou will not be able to maintain many troops at all. In August, Tang Jiyao convened a coalition meeting in Chongqing and threw out a copy of the "Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces Alliance Letter" to further control and exploit Sichuan, which caused dissatisfaction among Xiong Jinfan and most of the Sichuan generals. If Mr. Sun can win over Xiong Jinfan at this time, and then send me to western Hubei to gather the old troops (the former Beiyang Ninth Division and part of the local army in Hubei), and go west to Sichuan in the name of aiding Xiong, he will definitely be able to provoke a big melee between the Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou armies in Sichuan!

In this way, the main forces of the Yunnan and Guizhou armies could only stay in Sichuan and could not get out to aid Guizhou. Without the reinforcements of Yunnan and Guizhou, General Yaoru's hundreds of thousands of troops of the Western Expedition could also frighten the Gui army, and it would be much easier to fight the two armies of Yunnan and Guizhou, which could not take care of each other. ，．

Listening to Lan Tianwei's method, Chang Ruiqing's face was already full of smiles. Sichuan is the rear and source of the two armies of Yunnan and Guizhou against the National Revolutionary Army, and if Sichuan is in chaos, it will be difficult for the two armies of Yunnan and Guizhou to take care of both the end of the tail! The Yunnan army and the Guizhou army are also warlord mercenaries, and they can't fight without military salaries! By the way, I can also propose to Sun Yat-sen that "no smoking,., cut off the cloud soil in Guangdong,

Fujian's sales channel, and then let Chang Ruiyuan find a way to temporarily destroy the sales of Yuntu in Shanghai, completely cutting off Tang Jiyao's opium wealth!

At this time, in the War Department in Beijing's Iron Lion Hutong. Wu Peifu, Wang Tingzhen,

Xu Shuzheng, as well as Army Chief Duan Qirui, and the four of them were gathering in front of a map in a war room that had been improvised in ink. This is a map of Heilongjiang Province, and there is nothing in this period" "The territory of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region ,,, Hulunbuir League basically belongs to Heilongjiang Province. The Middle East Railway almost crosses the entire Heilongjiang Province, with Harbin as the core, from Manchuria in the west to Suifenhe in the east, with a total length of 1,480 kilometers. In addition, there is a branch line connecting Harbin and Lushun, also known as the South Manchurian Railway. Part of the South Manchurian Railway (Changchun to Lushun) was transferred to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War. And now what the Beiyang government is determined to take back is the trunk line of the Middle East Railway, plus the Harbin to Changchun section of the South Manchurian Railway.

After looking at the map for a while, Duan Qirui sighed slightly, since the Red Brigade made trouble and the National Government rose, he, the army commander, really felt physically and mentally exhausted! He slowly glanced at everyone: "Taking back the Eastern Railway is our last fight in Beiyang!" But how big this basket is, I don't say that everyone understands. On the way to Beijing, Wu Peifu had already thought about this problem clearly, he smiled coldly and said: "It's nothing more than a battle with Lao Maozi!" Winning the war, our Beiyang government is a national hero internally! It's not a soft egg to be bullied externally! If we lose, we Beiyang will not be able to rule this China! Old Zhi, this time we must be based on fighting! And be sure to win! ,, Xu Shuzheng glanced at Wu Peifu and said coldly: "Brother Ziyu, we all know what you said!"

But the question is, how do you win? ，．

Wu Peifu smiled, and a little confidence appeared on his face. If he talks about strategizing, he may not be as good as Xu Shuzheng, but if he really wants to talk about war, he can think that he is the first in China! Wu Peifu said with a smile: "Since you Zheng knows that this battle cannot be lost, how come the army that left the customs only has two divisions?" Can such a small soldier beat Lao Maozi? ,, Listening to Wu Peifu's question, Xu Shuzheng was stunned for a moment, and didn't know how to answer. Duan Qirui smiled and said, "Ziyu, what do you think?" ，… Wu Peifu nodded, and said with a faint expression: "I don't dare to say anything about it, it's just some common sense." Since this war is a matter of life and death in Beiyang, there is no room for a difference. And the combat effectiveness of our Beiyang Army is clear ... The quality is inferior to the Russian army, and if there is no superiority in quantity, then what is there to fight? There is only one way for me to do it now, that is, to fight with more and less, and the troops must be in place in one step, and we must not fight into a tactic of adding fuel to the fire! ，

Fastest update, please.