In the past few days in late November 1918, there was a jubilant atmosphere in the Northeast Anti-Russian Army Headquarters in Mukden City. On November 20, Jiang Jishi summoned the generals of the Fengjun army and announced to them that he had reached an agreement with Xu Shuzheng to release Zhang Zuolin! On the condition of letting the Beiyang Army of the Fourth Division under the command of Xu Shuzheng enter the customs, Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the Fengjun Army, the deputy chairman of the National Government and the commander of the Northeast Security!

Hearing this news, these old brothers of Zhang Zuolin in the Fengjun were naturally overjoyed, and they celebrated one after another, and they also respected Jiang Jshi a lot in their words. And Jiang Jshi was indeed a good friend, and ordered a large amount of money on the territory of the entire Fengtian Province to raise the so-called "anti-Russian salary". An additional year's land tax was levied on each acre of land, and the commercial tax of the shops was also doubled, and the two or three million yuan raised naturally became the silver 217th North to resist Russia, and the death bullets and meat bullets of the ten Zhang Zuolin hit the generals of the Feng army!

And the place where the original Marshal Zhang Zuolin's Mansion was converted into the Temporary Northeast Anti-Russian Army Headquarters in Fengtian City was even more feasting. There are also dance ladies and famous prostitutes invited from Shanghai, Tianjin, and Beijing to accompany the wine and dance, Wang Bailing, Dai Jitao, He Chengjun, Jiang Jishi's staff, and they are accompanied by the generals of the Fengjun Army to rub mahjong and push pai gow, and the banknotes are exported one by one! In a few days, Jiang J Shiguang had more than a dozen brothers.

However, after these Fengjun generals came to the headquarters of the Northeast Anti-Russian Army today, they unexpectedly did not see the banquet and card table, and the beauties of those warblers and swallows disappeared. The Tiger Hall had been arranged to look like a conference room, and some of the generals of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army, as well as some of the generals of the newly formed First Army (both armies had not yet arrived) sat in strict uniforms.

He was just released by Xu Shuzheng and surrendered to Guo Songling under Jiang Jshi's office at the door of the conference room. The generals of the Fengjun army who came to the meeting were all brought to their respective seats. When the people were almost there, they heard: "Commander-in-Chief Chiang has arrived!" Roll call. All the officers in the room, regardless of system, stood up straight. At the door, the 217th northbound anti-Russian Ten Zhang Zuolin's death boots were loud, and it was Jiang J Shi with a stern face who walked in!

Old Jiang strode to the front seat in the middle of the conference table and sat down, and whispered to the officers standing solemnly on both sides of the conference table, "Please take a seat."

Two young staff officers who followed him in pulled back the curtain in front of the large map on the wall of the conference room. On the map, blue arrows stretch from Mukden, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces to Harbin.

Jiang Jishi's sharp eyes glanced around the room. Take in everyone's expressions. Most of the generals of the Feng army furrowed their eyebrows. Because they have seen that the blue arrows represent their own army!

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have received a report from General Xu Youzheng from Harbin that his four divisions have packed their bags. You can change your guard at any time and go south. In other words, General Zhang Yuting will soon be released. I invite you to come here today to discuss the matter of taking over Harbin...... Their Beiyang Army is going back to Guannei. But the Russian invaders in Qiqihar have not yet left! The mission of driving these invaders out of the country is now on the shoulders of all of you. Jiang Jshi's tone was light, and his complexion was also light. As soon as his words fell, the generals of the Feng army in the conference room began to buzz and discuss.

"Will the surname Xu be untrustworthy? If we let go of his four divisions like this, will he bring the commander back to Beijing? ”

"Lao Maozi has 60,000 soldiers in Qiqihar! The total strength of our three armies is only about 60,000, I'm afraid we can't beat them......"

"Commander-in-Chief Chiang, can you wait for the first army of your national revolution army to arrive before letting the Beiyang army enter the customs? When the time comes, let's go north together and beat Lao Maozi out! ”

Listening to the words of these Fengjun generals, Jiang Jshi smiled faintly: "What is the current situation in Guannai, I believe you all know very well!" It is our national government and the Beiyang government that are fighting for the world...... It's only a matter of the year to tear your faces on both sides! At that time, will I, the commander-in-chief of the anti-Russian army appointed by the Nationalist Government, still be able to let the four divisions of Beiyang enter the customs? Even if I'm willing to say yes. Mr. Sun and the Standing Vice Chairman will not agree, so it is unrealistic to wait for our army to gather and then let Xu Youzheng enter the customs. For the safety of General Zhang Yuting, we only have to take one risk! But please rest assured, I, Jiang, will not casually sacrifice my brother (he and Sun Liechen, Zhang Zuoxiang, and Wu Junsheng have already worshipped). With the Russians, I have my own way of coping. ”

Most of the Fengjun generals present did not say a word when they heard this. Only Yang Yuting asked lightly: "What is the commander-in-chief's plan?" Let's hear it. ”

Jiang Jishi glanced at him coldly: "The method of dealing with the Russians involves some international arrangements, which are still in a state of secrecy, so I can't tell you." Now let Chief of Staff Wang issue an order. ”

Yang Yuting frowned, and did not entangle with Jiang Jishi on this issue. As for the order for the transfer of troops, there is no need for Wang Bailing to say that he can see it from the map. The two divisions of the Feng army in Mukden (expanded from the original 27th and 28th divisions) all went to Harbin to deploy defenses! There are only a small number of local armed forces left here in Fengtian Province, and there are also the first army of the National Revolutionary Army and the newly formed first army that have arrived one after another.

But now, he has no way to raise objections. The reason is very simple, this involves Zhang Zuolin's safety! The Feng army was established by Zhang Zuolin, and to put it bluntly, it was the private soldiers of the Zhang family, and most of the division commanders, brigade commanders, and regiment commanders of the Feng army also attached more importance to righteousness. Now if anyone dares to say that they don't want Zhang Zuolin, I'm afraid that they will eat them alive, right? Now there is only one way to save Zhang Zuolin.

……

The night gradually began to envelop the northeast land, and the whole city of Harbin was dark, except for the lights around the Harbin railway station on the edge of the Songhuā River. The soldiers of the Beiyang Army were lined up in a neat line, silently waiting for the order to get on the bus. Compared to the chaos they had when they left Beijing, the soldiers had now learned to follow order.

Xu Shuzheng walked on the platform with Wu Peifu behind his back, and a large group of staff members were followed not far behind. The two men walked quietly. They all frowned and didn't say a word, and walked for a long time, almost at the end of the platform, Xu Shuzheng stood still, hugged his arms and asked Wu Peifu: "Ziyu, have you thought about it?" ”

Wu Peifu seemed to be stunned for a moment, as if he was pulled out of his thoughts by his sudden voice. It was easy to come back to his senses, nodded and said, "Youzheng, the preliminary plan has been made...... Troop forces must be reduced. The Yangtze River was thrown to the south, and the battlefield of the decisive battle between the north and the south could only be placed in the Central Plains. ”

"Why?"

"The advantage of the south is in the number of troops, and the national mobilization system they have established in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong in just a few months. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been provided for their national revolutionary army, plus the troops from all over the country who have taken refuge in their dependence...... The forces that the South can use in this future Armageddon will be more than a million! At most, we have only three or four hundred thousand available troops in Beiyang, and we have to set aside a considerable part to guard against Jiang Jshi in the northeast and Yan Xishan in Shanxi. Therefore, in terms of the number of troops, we are at an absolute disadvantage in Beiyang, so we must concentrate our limited forces and place them in a convenient place for the movement of the army. That is, in the Central Plains, taking advantage of the convenient transportation there, the troops were quickly mobilized to break the southern army of the northern expedition along the two railway lines of Jinpu and Jinghan, one by one. ”

Xu Shuzheng smiled faintly: "Then what if they don't go on the Northern Expedition for the time being?" Ziyu, you also know how powerful their national mobilization system is...... If they advance to the Yangtze River line later. Instead of going north immediately, we should use the system of Fujian and Guangdong to rectify the south and establish a military and political dictatorship and a national mobilization system. When the south is well governed and then the northern expedition is carried out, we in Beiyang will probably have to face two million or three million national revolutionary troops...... At that time, we probably had to surrender, right? ”

"No, it won't!" Wu Peifu smiled coldly: "The national government has been in just a few months. From a local regime in Fujian and Guangdong, which swept most of the land of China, how could Sun Yat-sen and Chang Ruiqing not be carried away by this brilliant victory? And they still have a dispute within Chang Jiang now! Isn't it because of the contradiction between Chang Jiang and our four divisions that our four divisions were able to enter the customs? You Zheng, you are worried that they have managed the south and launched a few million troops to the north again, and he Chang Ruiqing must also be worried that Jiang Jishi will wave his army into the customs to grab the big cake of Beijing City with him after he straightens out the northeast! ”

Xu Shuzheng shook his head slowly. His brows furrowed slightly: "Ziyu, do you think that Jiang Jishi is making his own decisions that we can enter the customs this time?" I can't see it...... If Chang Ruiqing must stop it, there must be a way! I have a feeling that Chang Ruiqing deliberately asked us to go back to Guannai...... He may have a way to defeat us! ”

Wu Peifu smiled disapplausively: "Brother Zheng again, you are too worried." I admit that Chang Ruiqing is a good hand in politics, diplomacy, and economy! Ten Wu Peifu is not as good as one Chang Ruiqing. But if he wants to see the real chapter on the battlefield with real knives and real guns, he is still too tender...... He graduated from the Baoding Military Academy for just over two years, and he did not go through any major battles. The battlefield experience of their national revolution army is also not comparable to that of our Beiyang Army, they are just some new soldiers! I, Wu Peifu, have 300,000 soldiers, which is enough to defeat Chang Ruiqing's 1 million army! ”

Xu Shuzheng knew how high Wu Peifu's military talent was, he smiled with satisfaction, turned around and walked with Wu Peifu to a huā car attached to the military column. At this time, I saw Zhang Zuolin, escorted by more than a dozen officers and soldiers of Xu Shuzheng's guards, also came to the railway station and got on the huā car.

Wu Peifu frowned and said to Xu Shuzheng: "You Zheng, how did you arrange for him to sit in a carriage with us?" Isn't it embarrassing? ”

Xu Shuzheng shook his head with a smile, leaned into Wu Peifu's ear and whispered: "It's not embarrassing, it's just a little infiltrating!" At the time he spoke, a finger-wide hemp rope was already tightly strangled around General Zhang Zuolin's neck!

……

Because of Chang Ruiqing's butterfly effect, some people left this world in a daze with grief and regret. There are also people because of Chang Ruiqing's ...... Physiological needs have come to this world.

"Congratulations, Commander! Congratulations! ”

This morning, as soon as Chang Ruiqing walked into his office in the Military Commission, some people who were already waiting there stood up and congratulated him. Chang Ruiqing was not as strict as in the past, but nodded at everyone with a smile on his face, and said with a smile: "Tongxi!" Rejoice! "It turns out that our Changda warlord's third aunt, Taipan Xiaoqian, gave birth to a baby boy weighing seven pounds last night, and Chang Ruiqing finally became a father!

However, these people gathered in this office early in the morning did not come to Chang Ruiqing to say hello. It was for the death of a person who was called by Chang Ruiqing to a meeting by phone.

This office was originally the study of Lu Rongting, the envoy of the two Guangxi patrols, and it was very spacious and bright, and now it is not crowded when seven or eight people are squeezed in. The people who came here for the meeting today are all Chang Ruiqing's henchmen, Wu Shi, Jin Yongyan, Lu Yixuan, Ren Yijiang, Meng Li, Xu Zuyi, Sun Hong and others. Bai Chongxi, Wang Junhao, Yan Hao, Xu Tingyao, and Zhang Zhizhong are all leading troops now, so there is no way to rush back to Guangzhou to discuss things with Chang Ruiqing.

After a few people said goodbye to Chang Ruiqing, they sat down separately. The atmosphere in the office has also become solemn. Chang Ruiqing sat down behind the large desk and threw a report sent to his home overnight by the Military Intelligence Bureau on the table. said with a wry smile: "I really didn't expect that Zhang Zuolin was a hero and died so unexplained...... But Jiang Jshi's wrist is really smart! ”

Wu Shi sighed. took over the topic: "Brother Yaoru, why do you think that Zhang Yuting was eliminated by Jiang Jishi?" It doesn't seem to be written in the MIA report, right? As the deputy chief of the army and the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, the report of the Military Intelligence Bureau will naturally be sent to his house. So he got the news of Zhang Zuolin's death almost at the same time as Chang Ruiqing.

Chang Ruiqing glanced at the two leaders of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Ren Yijiang and Sun Hong: "Of course the report of the Military Intelligence Bureau will not be written, it must be an extremely confidential matter...... If they could be inquired about by the spies planted by the Military Intelligence Bureau, Jiang Jshi and Xu Shuzheng would not be the ones who did big things! He sighed, and a trace of regret flashed on his face: "Okay, let's not talk about Zhang Yuting, he has said goodbye to our great era." As soon as he disappears, Jiang Jshi's ability to integrate the forces in the Northeast can also be much faster, right? It seems that we have to speed up the pace of the Northern Expedition, I don't want to let Jiang Jshi advance to Beijing City! ”

Hearing his statement, several staff members in charge of military affairs in the office couldn't help but frown. Lu Yixuan was the first to remind: "Yaoru." This Beijing city is only more than 300 kilometers away from the northeast, and it is much farther away from our Guangdong and Fujian. And according to the intelligence, Xu Youzheng's entry into the customs with troops this time was aimed at us...... He and Jiang Jshi have a tacit understanding, and they will definitely concentrate the main force of the Beiyang Army to fight a decisive battle with us! If this Beiyang Army is really in a hurry, it will be enough for us to drink a pot. ”

Chang Ruiqing's face sank. The voice that spoke was also extremely dignified: "We must enter Beijing one step ahead of Jiang Jshi!" Not because he wanted to compete with Jiang Jshi for power, but because he couldn't let his army leave the northeast...... If the Beiyang Army wants to concentrate its main forces and fight with us, then it doesn't matter, just defeat them! As he spoke, he swept everyone with blazing eyes: "Everyone, for the upcoming decisive battle, what can you propose!" ”

……

November 23, 1918. Just when Chang Ruiqing and a group of henchmen began to plan a decisive battle with Beiyang. Beijing, the capital of the Republic of China, also changed overnight! As soon as the four divisions of the Beiyang Army returning from outside the pass got off the train, they immediately staged a military coup. The 13th and 15th Beiyang Divisions, which were guarding Beijing, did not put up any resistance in the face of the sudden change, allowing the coup army to take over all important points in the city and besiege Zhongnanhai, where the presidential palace and the State Council are located......

At noon on the same day, Xu Shuzheng, Wu Peifu, Feng Yuxiang and others, who led the coup, entered Zhongnanhai and "pleaded guilty" to Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen in the Juren Hall where President Feng Guozhang lived.

Regarding this military coup, Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen did not show a little panic. The peaceful gazes of the two old men slowly swept over the bodies of the three coup leaders, and finally Feng Guozhang sighed and said lightly: "You Zheng, why are you suffering?" ”

Wang Shizhen also echoed: "Yes, and Zheng, the hearts of our people in Beiyang have been dispersed before Yuan Gongbao became the emperor, and you can't get anything back like this, but you have suffered the people, I think it's better to forget it." ”

Xu Shuzheng stood up and said loudly: "President, hire the old." I implore you to support the military-political and legal bill put forward by us, implement military politics, unite Beiyang, and fight to the death against the chaotic parties in the south! ”

Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen glanced at each other, and they both showed complicated expressions. If you talk about your feelings for the Beiyang group, the two of them are probably deeper than Xu Shuzheng and Wu Peifu. How could they bear to see this military and political clique founded by Li Hongzhang and which had been in the political arena of China for decades completely wiped out in their own hands? It's just that their talents are really limited, and in the face of the rapidly rising national government in the south, there is really no way to deal with it. Now that a rising star like Xu Shuzheng can take over the stormy Beiyang Group, it is probably not the worst choice, right? So when the two of them heard the news of the coup, they just turned a blind eye and did not take any precautions.

Now seeing Xu Shuzheng's confident look, Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, revealing a relieved expression.

"Again." Feng Guozhang stood up, walked up to Xu Shuzheng, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Since you have the confidence to save the current situation, then the broken ship of Beiyang will be handed over to you, and I will go to Tianjin to live in seclusion, and see how you juniors can turn the tide!" (To be continued......) !!