In Yanjing City, Duan Qirui, chief of staff of the Beiyang Army, became the commander here, responsible for commanding the Beiyang Army of ten towns and the Northern Army of the Ten Mixed Concords for a decisive battle. Although, the total number of troops is only 180,000. But relying on the strong walls of Yanjing City, it is not impossible to hold it.

All the gates of Yanjing City have been closed and sealed with sandbags to prevent the northern military from blowing them open with explosives. The city walls were also full of machine-gun fire points with accumulated sandbags, and artillery positions were hidden inside the city.

It's just that Yuan Datou and the high-ranking officials of the Beiyang government fled Yanjing City, which dealt a great blow to the morale of the troops. It is very difficult to defend Yanjing City in such a situation. Duan Qirui also knew this truth, and he also wanted to persuade Yuan Datou. However, after becoming the emperor, Yuan Datou was no longer the original commander of Beiyang. Instead, he became greedy for life and afraid of death. In the case that Yuan Datou was determined to evacuate Yanjing City, Duan Qirui had no choice.

Duan Qirui knew that Yuan Datou actually didn't have any confidence in this battle, so he wanted to escape. He also knew that Yuan Datou's thoughts were nothing more than that after escaping to the south, he would find foreigners to come forward, hoping to mediate the contradictions between the Beiyang and northern governments. However, even if the foreigners put pressure on them, will the northern army be afraid? The Northern Army was different from other local Chinese powers. How could they, along with Japan and Russia, which were among the great powers, dare to fight and win, and have won victories? What's more, there are also countries among the great powers that support the Northern Army. Duan Qirui believes that if Yuan Datou's plan is not good, it will be a complete failure, and then it will be a bamboo basket for nothing.

Even as a senior general of the Beiyang Army, Duan Qirui has to admit it. The combat effectiveness of the Northern Army is indeed much stronger than that of the Beiyang Army. After experiencing a major war with the armies of the great powers, the Northern Army has been completely transformed and has become a world-class army. On the other hand, the Beiyang Army. It's just a rabble. The northern government is also doing much better than the Beiyang government. The government in the north ruled in a clean and honest manner, and the common people under its rule lived and worked in peace and contentment, and supported the government. What about the Beiyang government? Fighting for power and profit, greedy and bending the law, only knowing how to oppress and scrape the people. With such a government, how can the people support them?

In terms of external affairs. The northern government is also doing far better than the Beiyang government. They were able to withstand the pressure of the great powers, defend their rights and interests, and win foreign wars again and again. On the other hand, the Beiyang government, in order to gain the support of the foreign powers, did not hesitate to betray the country. The Beiyang Army did not even have the courage to go to war with the armies of the great powers. From these aspects, the Beiyang government is far from being comparable with the northern government.

Duan Qirui took a young officer to inspect the city defense on the city wall of Yanjing City, but the more he patrolled, the more ugly his face became. Although the soldiers of the Beiyang Army were building fortifications. But those fortifications, no matter how you look at them, look like they are fooling people. But is the Northern Army easy to fool? As soon as the heavy shelling of the Northern Army began, and the shells fell overwhelmingly, these fortifications would inevitably be completely destroyed. When the time comes, the Beiyang Army, which is hiding inside, will undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties. In addition, the morale of the troops has almost fallen to the bottom. Such troops. How to fight against a hundred battles of lions like the Northern Army? Before he fought, Duan Qirui seemed to have guessed the final result.

"Alas. You Zheng, do you think we have any hope of winning the Northern Army? Duan Qirui asked.

The young officer who followed him was silent, although he wanted to comfort Duan Qirui, but he couldn't tell such a lie.

"Forget it, I know if you don't say it. Do you also think that Beiyang has no chance at all? Duan Qirui said helplessly.

"Chief of Staff, if Your Majesty does not leave Yanjing City, and all the soldiers in Beiyang are determined to fight the Northern Army, maybe we still have a chance. But right now, it's really hard for us to win. The young officer said. He is Xu Shuzheng, a graduate of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, and is now Duan Qirui's adjutant. It's just that the timing of his return to China is not appropriate, and now is the time when Beiyang is facing a life-and-death crisis.

Duan Qirui nodded and said no more.

On November 25, the main forces of the Northern Army appeared under Yanjing City one after another, with ten infantry divisions, three cavalry brigades and three heavy artillery brigades on the east road, and six infantry divisions, two cavalry brigades and one heavy artillery brigade on the west road, approaching Yanjing City from the east and west respectively. After that, Yanjing City was surrounded again.

After encircling Yanjing City, the Northern Army did not immediately attack. Four heavy artillery brigades, more than 500 155-mm heavy howitzers, divisional artillery battalions of 16 infantry divisions, more than 500 105-mm light howitzers, and more than 400 75-mm field guns were all pulled out, and the muzzles were aimed at Yanjing City. A total of more than 1,500 artillery pieces brought a great shock to the defenders in Yanjing City. made the morale, which had already fallen into a trough, suffer a heavy blow again. If it weren't for the fact that the city gate of Yanjing City had been completely closed now, perhaps, there would have been deserters a long time ago.

"The Northern Army actually mobilized so much heavy artillery? How can this battle be fought! Duan Qirui's face was ugly and a little scary. Although there are ten towns and ten mixed associations in Yanjing City, they only have more than 200 artillery pieces. Moreover, most of them are small-caliber guns like 57-mm camp guns, which are very powerful and cannot be compared with the large-caliber heavy artillery of the Northern Army.

"Chief of Staff, the artillery of the Northern Army is extremely powerful in East Asia and even the world. In the war with the Japanese back then, they used heavy artillery to destroy the Japanese. Xu Shuzheng said. At the beginning, he was still studying in Japan, but he also knew how powerful the artillery of the Northern Army was.

"Again, does the Northern Army really have so many heavy artillery? Or do you want to intimidate us? Duan Qirui asked.

"Chief of Staff, it's not like a fake. Most of the artillery pieces of the Northern Army were heavy guns with a caliber of more than 100 mm, and many of them were heavy howitzers with a caliber of 150 mm. I knew that the Japanese would lose so badly. In terms of artillery, the Japanese simply could not be compared with the Northern Army. Xu Shuzheng said.

Xu Shuzheng sighed very much, he never thought that China would have such a powerful army. However, it is a pity that now he is the enemy of this terrible army.

Duan Qirui's face was already gloomy and a little scary, the Northern Army used more than a thousand heavy artillery, which was undoubtedly a fatal blow to the Beiyang Army left behind in Yanjing City. If the Northern Army carries out a strong attack, I am afraid that just relying on these heavy artillery will be able to raze Yanjing City to the ground. This battle is no longer fought.

However, what made Duan Qirui a little puzzled was that although the Northern Army pulled out so many heavy artillery, it did not fire at the first time. This left him a little confused.

"Young marshal, the Beiyang Army must have been frightened. With so many cannons being targeted, those guys must have been scared. Lieutenant General Shi Tianhan laughed. Although, not being able to storm Yanjing City made him feel a little pity. However, he also knew that if he could persuade the 180,000 Beiyang troops in the city to surrender, it would undoubtedly be the best result. If Yanjing City is in ruins, it will need to be rebuilt in the future. Leaving a complete Yanjing City is also conducive to the Northern Army to set the capital here after unifying the whole country.

"Well, that's what I want. The Beiyang Army already knows our strength, so I am afraid that they will have to weigh it carefully if they want to continue fighting. If they don't know each other, even if they blow Yanjing City into ruins, I will launch a strong attack. Wu Haoxuan said. Duan Qirui's evaluation in later generations is also quite good, and he is famous for his "six non-prime ministers" who do not smoke, drink, prostitute, gamble, be greedy, and do not occupy.

The most commendable thing is that Duan Qirui maintained his integrity in his later years and did not cooperate with the Japanese invaders. After the "918" incident, Japan supported Pu Yi to establish the puppet state of Manchukuo, and the spy leader Kenji Dohihara went to Tianjin many times to secretly visit Duan Qirui. In order to avoid the coercion of the Japanese, Duan Qirui moved his family to Shanghai and publicly expressed his anti-Japanese attitude. In an interview with the reporter of "Declaration", he said: "Japan's violent behavior has reached a point where it cannot be felt and reasoned incomprehensibly. Our country can only work hard with one heart and one morality. Yuyun: It is better to seek others than to seek yourself. The whole country is actively preparing and working together to deal with it, but even if there are ten Japan, why be afraid? "The patriotic government and the opposition are unanimous, and the only way to save the country is to save oneself."

If Duan Qirui can recognize the reality clearly and lead the Beiyang army in the city to surrender, it will undoubtedly be the best result. Wu Haoxuan also didn't want to have too much Chinese blood on his hands. Although there are many Chinese, every Chinese is precious. Even if you want to die, you have to die in the foreign national war, not in the civil war.

There are 180,000 Beiyang troops in Yanjing City, and after eliminating the old and weak and those ruffians, there are also more than 100,000 people. The reorganization of five infantry divisions, that should be no problem. Although, the total strength of the Northern Army now has more than 900,000. But to hold on to such a large homeland, especially in Siberia, it is necessary to maintain at least a standing army of more than one million. Therefore, recruiting soldiers from among the troops of the Beiyang Army is undoubtedly the most time-saving and labor-saving.

On the evening of November 25, Wu Haoxuan issued an order asking the person in charge of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Yanjing City to go and persuade Duan Qirui to surrender, hoping that he could make a correct choice at this time in order to end this meaningless civil war as soon as possible. (To be continued......)

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