On 19 September, a telegram was sent to the headquarters of the Chinese Army in Bucharest, and a staff officer of the Communications Office took a telegram to the office of Wu Peifu, deputy commander of the Second Army.

"Report!"

"Come in!"

The staff officer walked into the office, came to Wu Peifu and stood up and saluted: "General Wu, the Supreme Military Council is calling!" ”

"Read!" Wu Peifu turned around with a magnifying glass.

The staff officer opened the folder and read: "Order Wu Peifu, deputy commander of the Second Army Corps, to return to the Supreme Military Council to report on his work on the second day at the latest since receiving the telegram. Supreme Military Council, Xiao Zhenlei, September 19, 1917 A.D."

Wu Peifu's face changed when he heard this, and he immediately took the telegram and looked at it himself.4 The telegram has Cai Yi's signature behind it, obviously this telegram was first sent to Cai Yi's commander's headquarters and then turned over, Wu Peifu sighed secretly after reading it, took out a pen from his pocket and signed his name on the telegram, and waved his hand after returning the telegram to the staff officer: "Okay, you go!" ”

The staff officer closed the folder and saluted Wu Peifu before leaving.

Wu Peifu thought about it, picked up the military hat on the desk and put it on, walked out of his office, and came to the office of the corps commander Zhang Xiaozhun.

"Report to the commander, General Wu Peifu is here!" The adjutant reported to Cai Ye.

"Let him in!" Cai Yi waved his hand.

Wu Peifu soon came to Cai Yi's office, and when he saw that Cai Yi and Zhang Xiaozhun were there, he immediately stood up and saluted: "Commander, corps commander!" ”

Cai Yi smiled and beckoned, "Oh." It's General Wu, come and sit! ”

Wu Peifu came to sit opposite the two. Cai Yi said: "General Wu is here to report back to Beijing, right?" ”

Wu Peifu nodded and said, "Yes, Commander." The telegram from the Supreme Military Council told me to leave for China tomorrow at the latest, so I went to the corps commander to resign, and only after I went did I know that the corps commander was here, so I came, and it happened that the two generals were there, so I resigned to the two of you here, and I asked the two generals to show me how to hand over the work matters! ”

Wu Peifu is Zhang Xiaozhun's deputy, and his work is separate from Zhang Xiaozhun. The division of labor is different, so this time I have to hand over the work to Cai Yi, after all, Cai Yi is his and Zhang Xiaozhun's top boss.

Cai Yi thought for a while and said: "The above has not sent the person who will take over your work, and you are in a hurry to return to Beijing, so let's do it, Yunnong, General Wu's work will be concurrently served by Chief of Staff Yang for the time being, and it will be handed over after someone is sent from above, General Wu." Since the above is urgent, you should go back immediately and prepare, and take a special plane back to China early tomorrow morning."

"Yes!" Wu Peifu and Zhang Xiaozhun agreed at the same time.

Just as the two stood up, there was a knock on the door. Cai's adjutant walked in and saluted: "Commander, the Supreme Military Council is calling!" ”

"Say what?" Cai Yi got up and asked.

"With immediate effect, Cai Ye will be removed from the post of commander of Eastern Europe. And immediately return to Beijing to report to work! The Eastern European Theater Commander's Headquarters is temporarily presided over by Cai Guodong! After Cai Guodong arrived in Bucharest, he immediately handed over the work. And immediately return to Beijing to report to work! Supreme Military Council, Xiao Zhenlei. September 19, 1917! ”

Cai Yi's face changed when he heard this, Zhang Xiaozhun and Wu Peifu also looked surprised, and the two looked at each other, what is going on? If it is said that the above asked Wu Peifu to go back to report on his work, it may only be a report on his work, but the removal of Cai Yi from the post of commander of the Eastern European Theater is already a very bad sign, is there something wrong in the middle? You must know that Cai Ye has been in the post of commander of the Eastern European Theater for less than half a year, and in this less than half a year, he has commanded a major campaign, almost won a complete victory, and exceeded the established strategic goals, and the current southeast defense line needs to maintain the stability of the defense line, and the troops need to restore combat effectiveness, all of which are inseparable from Cai Yi. It's incomprehensible!

A few days ago, a telegram was sent from above asking for his opinion on the formation of the Balkan Theater and on the selection of the commander of the theater, and he agreed when he called back, and recommended Cai Guodong, and now the telegram sent above shows that a decision has been made, but he cannot be transferred back to China, how to say that the position of deputy commander of the Balkan Peninsula Theater should also be given to him!

Wu Peifu frowned and said: "That's not right, it's just that the above told me to go back to report on my work, at most, leave me in the capital, and then send someone else to take over my work, but there is a problem with removing the commander's position, the commander has not only been Wu in the past six months, but has made great contributions in commanding operations, and there is no reason to remove the commander from his position!" ”

Zhang Xiaozhun wondered: "Is there something wrong in China?" ”

Cai Yi raised his hand to stop them from continuing to be suspicious, and said: "There is no problem, a few days ago, a telegram was sent in China saying that it was ready to merge the Eastern European Theater and the Southeast European Theater, which will be called the Balkan Theater after the merger, since we joined forces with the First Army Corps, you have all seen the drawbacks, and now it is time to merge and carry out unified command, at this time it is normal for the top to transfer me back, and the next two theaters will be presided over by General Guodong, and the theaters will be merged, At that time, some people's positions may also be adjusted! ”

The adjutant was still puzzled: "But why did the above transfer the general back, instead of transferring General Guodong back?" Besides, the general must be much more familiar with this place than General Guodong, right? Logically, it should be the general who presides over the merger of the two theaters! ”

Cai Yi waved his hand and said: "Okay, don't be suspicious, there are naturally above considerations, and it's not something that a small adjutant of yours can suspect without authorization." Let me inform you and let Zhou Chuandong, the commander of the Fifth Army Corps, and others come over for a meeting, I must finish the work during this period before I leave, and as soon as General Guodong arrives, I can easily hand over the work."

"Yes!"

Now the news that Xu Shaozhen is sick and unable to preside over the Third Army has not yet reached here, and Cai Ye and others do not know the real intention of transferring him back in China, but even if they know the news of Xu Shaozhen's illness. I'm afraid I can't guess Xiao Zhenlei's intentions.

Wu Peifu took a special plane to return to China on September 20, September 23. Cai Guodong rushed to Bucharest with a team of members of the Southeast European Theater Command.

After the special plane stopped at Bucharest Airport, Cai Guodong and others stepped off the plane. Cai Ye and Zhang Xiaozhun, Zhou Chuandong, Yang Jie and others were already waiting at the airport.

After Cai Guodong and the others came down, Cai Ye greeted him, and the two sides saluted each other, Cai Ye stretched out his hand to hold it and said with a smile: "Finally waited for General Guodong, the journey went smoothly, right?" ”

Cai Guodong shook hands with Cai Ye and said with a smile: "It's very smooth, I've been tired of General Songpo for a long time, I'm really sorry!" ”

Cai Yi said: "We haven't been here for long, and your accommodation has been arranged." After the handover is done, I can return to China with confidence, General Guodong, you are tired from flying for so long along the way, why don't we go to the residence first? ”

"Okay, then trouble General Songpa!"

The handover work was smooth and fast, and after the handover was completed, Cai Guodong officially presided over the work of the two theaters. He also presided over the merger of the two theaters, and Cai Ye returned to China by special plane on September 24.

The capital, the presidential palace.

On September 26, Wu Peifu came to the presidential palace. He has been returning to China for a week, and he was only notified yesterday that he should come to the presidential palace today to report to the president.

When he came to the Presidential Palace, Wu Peifu didn't expect to see Cai Ye here. "General Matsupa? When did you come back? ”

Cai Ye turned his head and saw that it was Wu Peifu, and said with a smile: "Yesterday afternoon." General Wu is also here to report on his work? ”

"Yes, I received a notice last night," Wu Peifu said to let his adjutant out.

The two waited in the lounge for more than ten minutes. I saw Chen Bui, deputy director of the president's chamberlain, come over and said, "Two generals, the president is invited, please come with me!" ”

"Director Lao Chen leads the way!"

The two followed Chen Bui to the door of the presidential office, and Chen Bui handed the two to Xiao Gao, the president's secretary, and then left, and Xiao Gao brought the two into the presidential office.

Cai Ye and Wu Peifu walked into the president's office, came to Xiao Zhenlei's office desk and stood up and saluted: "President, Cai Yi (Wu Peifu) was ordered to return to China to report on his work, please give the president instructions!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei sat on the chair behind the desk, crossed his hands on the desk and said, "Then please ask the two generals to report on their work and thinking during the period since they took office, General Cai, you come first!" ”

"Yes!"

In the next hour, Cai Ye and Wu Peifu respectively gave a detailed report on their work and thinking during the period from their trip to Europe to the present.

Xiao Zhenlei sat on the chair and didn't move, watching and listening to the reports of the two with high concentration, and his eyes never took his eyes off their faces for a moment.

It wasn't until an hour later, when both of them had finished reporting, that Xiao Zhenlei got up and said, "Very good, let's sit down and talk, come, talk to the rest area!" As he spoke, he picked up the secretary's phone and said, "Xiao Gao, send three cups of tea!" ”

Xiao Gao quickly brought the tea, Xiao Zhenlei sat opposite the two and said: "I can see your work a while ago, the whole army and all the people can see it, you have done a good job, this time you are not recalled because you have made mistakes, but there is new work for you to do, and there are more important burdens for you to bear!" ”

Cai Ye and Wu Peifu looked at each other, and at the same time stood up and said: "Yes, please give the president's order, we promise to complete the task!" ”

"Sit, sit, sit!" Xiao Zhenlei pressed his hand, and after the two of them sat down, he continued: "There is a situation that you may already know, General Xu Shaozhen is sick and is currently being treated in a hospital in the capital, according to the doctor's diagnosis, his condition can not continue to preside over the work of the Third Army for the time being!" After thinking about it, I decided to let General Wu take charge of the work of the Third Army, and the current situation in Russia may change dramatically, and our opportunity has come, and after General Wu arrives in office, he immediately begins to prepare for the attack on the Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku, so as to prepare for the capture of Siberia by our army. General Songpa, at present, in addition to the Third Army Corps attacking the Japanese mainland, we also have the Fourth Army Corps that have been confronting the Japanese army in Siberia, I think that our two corps fighting against Japan cannot do without a unified command and dispatch, if we set up an Eastern Theater Commander's Command, it can greatly reduce the pressure on me, the president, and now I appoint Cai Ye as the commander of the Eastern Theater of Operations, with full responsibility for the affairs of the war against Japan and the control of the Third and Fourth Army Corps."

Cai Ye and Wu Peifu immediately stood up and saluted: "Yes, President!" (To be continued......)