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Most of the 31st Mixed Brigade of the Beiyang Army included an infantry regiment, an artillery battalion (there was only one mountain artillery company), a cavalry battalion (without horses), a baggage battalion, an engineer battalion, and a brigade headquarters battalion, with a total of more than 22 or 300 officers and men. Early in the morning of February 18, 1917, the team packed their backpacks and prepared their luggage, and the whole team left the barracks in Fengtai County. Walking to the Lugouqiao railway station in the northwest of Fengtai County, they got on the military train that had been prepared long ago, and began a long expedition that most of them did not expect.

The train dragged a long black smoke and drove forward along the south of Beijing all the way to the east, gradually moving away from the first city of the Republic of China. The soldiers of the mixed brigade were crammed into can-like personnel carriers, sitting on thick straw, bragging and farting along the way, killing time. In addition to the most common meat jokes in the ranks, it is the "battle to rebuild the republic" that ended not long ago. It was this not fierce war that turned everyone from a recruit who had never seen blood into a real soldier, and for these young soldiers who were like newborn calves, that experience was still very memorable.

However, at this moment, the high-level officials of the 31st Mixed Brigade gathered in an ordinary passenger carriage were all solemn, gathered in front of a dense military map of Shandong Province marked with red and blue pencils, and whispered about something. With them was an old man in a long robe, a horse coat, a melon-skin hat, and a big gray braid hanging from the back of his head, who was the Minister of Internal Affairs of the small imperial court in the Forbidden City. Shi Xu's face was of course the most ugly in this carriage, he listened to these Beiyang officers around him talking about the bandits in Shandong all the way, his head was already drenched in cold sweat, and even his legs and stomach were trembling slightly!

"The banditry in Shandong is also one of the best in the country, and it can be said that there is no area in Shandong Province that is free of bandits, and there is no year when bandits have died down."

"And the bandits in Shandong are more powerful than the bandits in other places, and they are more capable of fighting! Because since the beginning of the Republic of China, all the marshals like to recruit troops in Shandong, and most of the soldiers who have been dismissed for various reasons have returned to Shandong to settle down. These bandits have undergone regular military training, so their combat effectiveness is not below the regular army! ”

"Judging from the map, the most serious bandits in Shandong are the Lunan area, and the bandits in Lunan are distributed in the Yishan and Mengshan areas centered on the Baoqinggu Mountains. According to the report of the Shandong Supervision Bureau, there are more than 50 bandits in Linyi alone! There are hundreds of disciples in the small ones, more than a thousand in the middle, and more than 10,000 in the big ones! It has even developed to the point of attacking the state and plundering the county! In the fifth year of the Republic of China, the big bandits Mao Sizhong and Mao Siyu once waved their troops to besiege the county seat of Fengxian County, and attacked for seven days and seven nights! ”

"Alas, what we are going to this time is the Yishan Mountains! The bandits there add up to tens of thousands! Several times more than ours! It is estimated that most of the Red Brigade is one of the giants! There are always more than 10,000 people and guns, and I'm afraid our errand will not be easy to do・・・・・・"

"Yes! Brigadier Commander, those bandits are outlaws! Zhang Overseer's Fifth Division is uneven, isn't it a meat bun beating a dog in the past? ”

"Well, it's still a big meat bun worth 250,000 taels of gold! If the news leaks out, I'm afraid that the bandits in Shandong will attack our idea! ”

Later, the high-ranking officers and staff officers of the mixed brigade all stretched their faces and shook their heads and sighed! And our brigade commander Changda no longer has the strength to pat his chest on the Prince of Alcohol's mansion, and his face is about to turn black. In the end, he sighed, and arched his hand at Shi Xu with a look of embarrassment: "Lord Shi, you have also seen it, Shandong bandits are rampant, and our men and horses are limited, if you rush into Yishan, I am afraid that it is still a trivial matter to ・・・・・・ our team lose some of it, but if you lose the gold, your emperor will have to control Bintian!" ”

Shi Xu's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he just sighed in a low voice: "But the emperor is still in their hands, and if they get the gold one day later, the emperor will suffer one more day!" Speaking of this, Shixu's eyes were sour, and tears remained.

"Well, yes, it's not easy." Chang Ruiqing also frowned, and secretly glanced at Wu Shi on the side. Wu Shi snorted, and opened his mouth very politely: "It's better to suffer one more day of sin than to lose your life!" Lord Shi, what is at stake in this matter is not the life of your little emperor alone! Don't you think about the lives of more than 2,000 soldiers in my mixed brigade?"

"So, that, what's that going to be?" Shi Xu's head is a little big, I thought that I would be able to welcome back the emperor by going to Shandong and paying the ransom, but I didn't expect that Chang Ruiqing, who was quite capable of fighting in Beijing, was actually afraid of the bandits in Shandong! How is this good・・・・・・ do you still have to "ask for troops" from Xuzhou and Jinan? It's not the Qing Dynasty right now! As an official in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is not easy for him to be outside the Forbidden City. If you want Zhang Wensheng and Zhang Huaizhi to send troops, it will be another huge amount of money! Now the treasury of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is empty, where is the silver for them?

At this moment, Lu Yixuan, the chief of staff of the mixed brigade, suddenly coughed lightly, and reminded: "Brigade commander, why don't we go to Xuzhou first, and expand the team there・・・・・・ Dingwu Army is now cutting troops, let's just take the opportunity to recruit some soldiers from the original Wuwu Army to enlist, and then go to Shandong to grasp it." ”

"But ......" Shi Xu stayed on the spot, he has also been an official for many years, after listening to Lu Yixuan's words, he already felt that this was Chang Ruiqing and others making a show for himself, but what was the purpose? He slowly turned his gaze to Chang Ruiqing, the corners of Chang Ruiqing's mouth moved, and he smiled bitterly: "Lord Shi, brothers are also in love, although the brothers' mixed 31 Brigade is famous, it is actually a regiment of soldiers, but there are more than 2,000 people, and they can't withstand the consumption at all...... That's the capital of Chang and a brother, so I have to be careful! ”

Shi Xu kept cursing in his heart, but he only nodded slowly at Chang Ruiqing on his face. After a long time, I heard Shi Xu's embarrassed words: "...... The brigade commander's difficulties, my brother also knows, or ...... Let's ask Xuzhou for troops. After all, Zhang Wenzheng has also received the emperor's favor, and he will always think of the friendship of the old master...... Of course, the matter of recruiting soldiers is handled by the old man, and the other ...... The old man tried to raise a sum of money, which was regarded as a hardship fee for the brothers, and he only hoped that the general could send troops as soon as possible. ”

These words were almost pleading, but the warlord Chang Da didn't care, and he shrugged his shoulders: "Then ask Lord Shi to send a telegram to the War Department and the Xuzhou Town Guard Yamen." The brothers' 31st Mixed Brigade was stationed in Zaozhuang first, and while expanding, they waited for a response from General Zhang Wenzheng and the War Department. At the same time, the brother sent Deputy Brigade Commander Wu and Mr. Meng to Yishan to explain the situation to the left leader of the Red Brigade...... Presumably, he doesn't want gold to be robbed of it, right? Do you think this is the way to go? ”

According to the original plan, Chang Ruiqing's 31st Mixed Brigade was to take the train south to Zaozhuang County, Shandong, and then walk to Linyi County, after arriving in Linyi County, Meng Li would take Wu Shi, the deputy commander of the 31st Mixed Brigade, into the Yishan Mountains to connect with the Red Brigade "entrenched" in that area, and discuss the specific location of the gold delivery and the troops to escort the gold. However, this plan was just used to deal with Qing Room and Xu Shuzheng, and Chang Ruiqing had no intention of sneaking into the Yimeng Mountains with gold at all...... In this matter, it is still necessary to confuse the water, so that the warlords of Shandong and Xuzhou are involved, and the whereabouts of the gold will be unclear at that time.

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