Feng Guozhang leaned back in his chair with a tired expression, looked at Zhang Lianfen and Li Chun and others who retreated from Dazhimen with half-squinted eyes, and didn't say a word for a long time ().

The air was filled with the smell of defeat, and the Beiyang soldiers who were brave and good at fighting a few hours ago seemed to have been refreshed all of a sudden, just numbly gathered around the bonfire and ate dry food that had become cold and hard, and even the most elite artillerymen could not lift their spirits, sitting in a daze in the pile of yellow-orange-orange bullet shells.

Beiyang is defeated?!

Li Chun gritted his teeth: "Military commander, give the order ()!" While the palace guard still doesn't know the situation here, let me be a pioneer and fight again, and it will take two days for Yang Qiu to return to the division no matter how powerful he is! We will take Hankow in two days! ”

"Yes, I don't believe it, look at how that little cub still guards!"

"I'll go too..."

"Let's go together!"

The officers were excited, but Feng Guozhang was expressionless. As the most proficient tactical officer among the three heroes of Beiyang, he can actually feel the weakness of Hankou, starting from Xiaogan to defeat again and again, has knocked out all the morale of the other party, really gritted his teeth for a day and a night He was sure to take the Dazhi Gate Cannon Rack Hankou on the head, but one. What if you take it? Since Yang Qiu dared to withdraw the frontal encirclement and suppression of Wang Yujia, it means that he had already prepared to give up Hankou! So he will definitely go straight to Xiaogan from Jingshan. Wang Yujia lost in arrogance, if he found out that he was surrounded and abandoned Xiaocang Mountain to break through with all his might, how could he make Beiyang ashamed and even arrest himself? Although he saw through Yang Qiu's tactics and chased and fought as hard as possible to compete for time, in the end it was still a line of chess.

Sitting there, in front of him was the experience of Wusheng Pass, if the earth-shattering explosion after seven days of bloody battle was just the beginning of the edge, then Chen Jiaao's night attack to stabilize the army's heart showed Yang Qiu's ability to grasp the army, and he used the northward advance to lay out Dahongshan in advance, and finally backhanded the attack on Jingshan Yi. It showed his courage and determination.

After fighting for half his life, but in front of a young man who has never heard of it, he is also very uncomfortable and unwilling! I also want to simply wave the army to attack Hankou, but now that Yang Qiu has won a big victory, the morale of the troops is high enough to offset the exhaustion, I have just lost a town on my side, and the morale has been severely defeated, and the sergeants have no heart to fight again, and they have really fought the remaining towns and two associations, which is equivalent to cutting off nearly half of the strength of Beiyang, not to mention the Jinghan line, even the Jinpu line may not have troops to protect it, what else to deal with the Lianghuai and Southern Army?

Thinking of this, Feng Guozhang sighed, he knew that this time he had to stop and waved his hand: "Paper can't hold the fire, Lianfen, you go and send a telegram in person." Take me to tell the palace guard, Hua Fu. Disappointed by the heavy trust and the shame to continue to command the army, he resigned from the post of military commander, and asked the palace guard and the emperor to go to. Let's choose another meritocracy. After saying these few words, it was like draining all his strength, and the whole person seemed to be old all of a sudden.

Zhang Lianfen also sighed, and walked towards the telegraph room with a telegram destined to set off a storm ().

When the radio purchased from the United States began to tick, Yuan Shikai was kneeling at the feet of the Empress Dowager Yulong with a heavy face and a painful face behind the Palace of Raising the Heart in the Forbidden City, and next to him, Zaifeng and Prince Su Shanqi glared at him with angry faces, and only Xiao Dezhang, who was beside Yulon, kept making his eyes seem to tell him that the Empress Dowager was in a bad mood today.

In fact, needless to say, Yuan Gongbao also knew that Yulon was in a bad mood, and now he was in a good mood in this situation. Yulon is holding the six-year-old Pu Yi, this is her life! asked in a low voice: "Comfort Ting, it's not that the mourning family doesn't know your difficulties, but now the mourning family and the emperor's orphans and widows are not rich, and the money collected by the court over the years has also been paid to foreigners. Is it really that urgent? ”

Yuan Shikai came today to raise military expenses, because the war has not stopped for a long time, the two Huai salt taxes will not be available for a while and a half, and the Hubei side is spending money like water, and the situation is undecided, and many domestic bank numbers are unwilling to borrow money, not only the 1 million military funds allocated to Yinchang have already been used cleanly, but he has also pasted several million. Fortunately, Liang Shiyi gave him an idea, saying that there were still five thousand taels of gold in the royal treasury, so he hurriedly came and hoped to use the foreign government to force out this money to solve the urgent need, and at this moment, he heard that the tone of the queen mother who imitated Lafayette and listened to the government seemed to have a turn, and his heart was happy and hurriedly said: "The queen mother can not believe in the comfort pavilion, but she should always believe in the regent and the prince of Bide Yuanyi, it is better for them to talk about the situation at the moment."

Yulon's eyes twisted, and Zaifeng also looked ugly. The Internal Affairs Office does have a few thousand taels of gold, but that is the last family of the Qing Kingdom and the emperor? Although his son was given away, he had to kneel down when he saw him, but after all, he was connected by blood, and he couldn't help but think about his future, and immediately said: "Back to the Queen Mother, the situation outside is really not good, but this is all Yuan Gongbao's ineffectiveness in suppressing bandits, Yiyi." ”

Before Zaifeng finished speaking, Yulon's eyes turned red, knowing that there must be a big mess outside, otherwise Zaifeng would not care about him, so he interrupted and continued to ask: "Weiting, there are no outsiders today, you might as well tell me the truth, is this Qing Dynasty a country?" ”

No matter how bullish Yuan Shikai was, he didn't dare to say anything rebellious at this time, and said with a few tears: "The south has become a prairie fire, Hubei has not yet been pacified, and the chaotic party gathered tens of thousands of people yesterday to attack Nanjing. ()。 ”

"That's an exaggeration, isn't it? Half of the six towns in Beiyang have not been opened in the north. Shanqi, who didn't speak for a long time, suddenly interjected coldly: "If Gong Bao hadn't delayed their work and let them go south to suppress the bandits as soon as possible, how could those chaotic parties be today?" ”

Yuan Shikai and Shanqi have always been at odds, and when they heard him accuse him of using soldiers, he had already scolded in his stomach, and he also said coldly: "Prince Su doesn't know, the south is certainly a big disaster, but is the north stable?" Shanxi and Shandong are not very peaceful, if these places are not leveled as soon as possible, you and I can still stand here and talk? ”

This kind of question couldn't fight him, so he had to turn around and say: "Queen Mother, the treasury of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is very important, and this is the last family foundation for you and the emperor." ”

Of course, Zaifeng didn't want to see the treasury of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Yuan Shikai's hands, and he was just about to exert pressure with Shanqi, but there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside, and Xiao Dezhang immediately hurried out a few steps and shouted: "Who is making noise here?" I don't know where it is. Without waiting for the shrill voice to finish, Zaitao, who personally led the first town to guard Beijing, rushed in, and saw that his face was panicked and completely unruly, Zaifeng immediately asked: "What's wrong?"

Zaitao saw Yulong and hurriedly knelt down, glanced at Yuan Shikai and cried and reported: "Queen Mother, Regent." Oh no! Just now there was news from Hubei, Feng Huafu led the troops to the disadvantage, causing the fourth town to be surrounded by Jingshan and Pu at noon today. Yang Qiu, the leader of the chaotic party and bandits, disarmed and Daifushui Okura Yamashita! Only more than 3,000 escaped back to Xiaogan, and the rest are all ink! The ruler of the king Yu Jia is also one. Captured. ”

"What!"

Yuan Shikai's face changed suddenly, if it weren't for the fact that he had cultivated a little confidence over the years without being frightened, I am afraid he would have turned around and gone long ago! He thought that Wang Yujia would be defeated, but he didn't expect that he would be defeated so badly, and even Wang Yujia was captured!

Zaifeng and Shanqi also glanced at each other, and at first thought that this was Yuan Shikai's bitter plan, and deliberately asked Feng Huafu to send a telegram back from Hubei to perform this play, but he didn't think he was really in a hurry, regardless of his demeanor, he grabbed the telegram and looked at it carefully, and the two of them suddenly shouted in their hearts that it was not good-Yulong was obviously going to be persuaded just now, if Hubei was really defeated, I am afraid that he would have to take out the family background of the Internal Affairs Office, and if he fought again. If you don't get this fire right, it will really burn to the north.

Seeing that the faces of several men changed, Yulon's heart was also chuckled, although she didn't understand military affairs, she also knew how big it was to finish a town, not to mention Hubei, which was the first to riot, if the rebel party took this opportunity to fight north along the Jinghan line, even the Forbidden City would be finished, so he hurriedly said: "Military affairs are urgent, go back first, and the mourning family will explain to the Internal Affairs Office in a while." This exhausted middle-aged woman finally couldn't bear it anymore, and mourned: "Now the orphans and widows of the mourning family depend on you. Let's find a way to make peace. ”

At this time, if you don't make peace, you have to make peace! Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly in his heart, and hurriedly kowtowed and left the Heart Cultivation Palace, and when he left the palace gate, he saw that Yang Shiqi was already waiting outside, and hurriedly asked: "I just reported when Zaitao entered the palace, Hua Fu's side." ”

Yang Shiqi had already smiled bitterly: "Gong Bao don't doubt it, I still gave him the news of Zaitao, Wang Yujia was captured, and the fourth town lost most of it, and now Huafu has ordered the troops to retreat to Liujiamiao." Xiaogan also called just now to say that Yang Qiu and a mixed association had arrived in Yunmeng, and he had the intention of cutting off Huafu and them coming back in one fell swoop.

"Yang Qiu!" Yuan Shikai gritted his teeth coldly and spit out two words and got into the carriage, Yang Shiqi saw the uncertain look in his eyes, knowing that he was killing Yang Qiu, and his heart was also slightly nervous, not that he had any good feelings for Yang Qiu, but like Yuan Shikai, he thought that Yang Qiu would be a big trouble sooner or later, but now he really can't fight! The fiasco of the Fourth Town must have greatly boosted the morale of the party, and the voice of the Southern and Northern Expeditions will definitely become more and more turbulent, and Nanjing will not be able to see it, if the two armies go north along Jinpu and Jinghan together, then the situation may really get out of control. But now he didn't dare to say much, only reminded: "If Gong Bao wants to fight, transfer the third town in Shanxi, and then transfer a coup from the second town, then he will definitely win, but in this way, there will definitely be a gap in the Jinpu line and the back." ”

Yuan Shikai really felt a little tired leaning on the carriage, and closed his eyes with a long sigh, this time it was really a complete mess.

Only one night later, countless telegrams began to be sent from Hubei to the whole country, and even in order to speed up the transmission, the Wehrmacht opened two radios for the first time for the use of military reporters. When everyone was stunned by the series of defeats that started from Xiaogan, when the news of Huang Keqiang's successive defeats in commanding the army was poked out, and when he saw that even the "God of War" of the Alliance could not defeat Beiyang, and secretly shouted that it was unmatchable, the news of Kokurayama's victory swooped like a tsunami, which caught everyone off guard.

Since the Wuchang uprising, the newspaper office in Wangping Street in Shanghai has been in full swing, and one after another reports on the current situation and the republic have stimulated the attention of the whole of China, so when Dai Tianqiu's "Tianduo Bao" took the lead in publishing the news of the great victory of Kokura Mountain again, it was immediately reprinted, and the "Minli Bao", "Declaration", and "North China Jiebao" shouted for Hubei's tragedy and determination, and even said that the party should take the opportunity to seize the opportunity to let Yang Qiu, who was outstanding in military ability, take over as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army and launch the Northern Expedition to overthrow the decaying Manchu Dynasty in one fell swoop. Even the British-backed "News" also published the news of Okurayama's victory in detail for the first time, of course, it did not forget to question Yang Qiu's possession of a large number of German ** fire of unknown origin, and launched ill-intentioned speculation about it.

As these newspapers collectively described the background and results of Okurayama's victory, the whole of South China fell into a frenzy.

Since the beginning of the first uprising, what the southern army has faced is nothing more than some patrol battalions and second-rate new troops, and everyone has been worried about the elite six towns in the hands of the strongman in the north, for fear that one day there will be a brave and fierce Beiyang army at their doorstep to strangle the life of the revolution, so Cai Yuanpei and others continue to lobby that person through newspapers and pieces to respond to the republic, in fact, they hope to drag Beiyang from going south.

The every move of such an army that made the Southern Army jealous and even sleepless at night naturally attracted much attention Wushengguan's return to the horse gun had already made South China crazy once, and this time the more heroic Okurayama victory was almost comparable to the nuclear bomb explosion in later generations!

The first impression of everyone who gets the news is that this is fake news, but with the steady stream of news, everyone began to be dumbfounded, it was a Beiyang Fourth Town! It was more than enough to sweep the two Huai, but they were defeated in Kokura Mountain, and even the commander Wang Yujia became a prisoner! What's more, this big victory is only four days after Huang Keqiang's consecutive defeats! For a time, all of South China was shouting a name and an army.

Yang Qiu and his Wehrmacht!

Beijing couldn't sleep peacefully, Zaifeng held a cabinet meeting overnight to find countermeasures, and the Zongshe Party headed by Liangbi pointed the finger at Yuan Shikai, believing that he was ineffective in suppressing bandits and advocating peace talks in an attempt to overthrow the imperial court, and should step down immediately.

In the same way, the famous embassy area of Dongjiaomin Lane is already surprisingly lively, transactions, co-optation and betrayal are no longer staged all the time, ministers from various countries are worried about the victory of Ogurama and the subsequent situation of South China independence, for them Yuan Shikai is to find a person who can take over the Manchu Qing Dynasty, continue to continue the preferential treatment of various countries to ensure the interests, and slightly curb the Japanese forces that want to monopolize the interests of the Far East, but as the war grows bigger and bigger, they are worried that China will fall into a long-term division · The call for the interests of countries can no longer be guaranteed is getting louder and louder ().

In this trend, the British minister Zhu Erdian has attracted much attention, and he called for Yuan Shikai, and he was also the hardest hit in the South China tide, as an old man in his fifties, an authentic national general, and also a big foreign supporter of Yuan Shikai, his every move in the Far East can affect the direction of European policy toward China.

In addition to his daily work, his eyes have been hovering over the Yangjiang River in the past few days, and of course he hopes that Yuan Shikai can stabilize the situation in the south as soon as possible, but with the independence of various places along the Yangtze River, especially the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai regions, which have seriously threatened the interests of Britain, the victory of Kokurayama has completely subverted the situation of the southern army's unbearable war, if the situation continues to deteriorate, I am afraid that even Whitehall will feel worried.

Today, he no longer has the calmness to lead the heroic countries to pick up Yuan Shikai, and the Russian bear has signed a secret treaty with Japan, and the two countries seem to be going to make moves in the Northeast. The interests of the British Empire are not in the north but in the Yangtze River, but a young man and an army that is getting stronger and stronger suddenly appeared in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River! Of course, no one has yet dared to challenge the authority of the British Empire. What about the future? As a veteran diplomat, he needs to think longer.

What's more, for him, a more serious threat has already begun to emerge, and that is ······ Germany!

Picking up a few copies of today's newspaper from the table, the front page of each newspaper was a photo of Okurayama Daitsu and a man, except for the chaotic news of independence from various places. A young man who was unexpectedly not on that list at all, Yang Qiu!

At the age of 22, he rose mysteriously, and it is said that he was originally just a heavy soldier of the Eighth Division of the Chinese Army, but now he has become the commander-in-chief of the Hubei Revolution National Defense Force, and the most dazzling general in the entire South China! And one. There are also young people who have an unclear relationship with Germany.

On the surface, it seems that there was only a pure arms deal between him and Germany, but Jurdian did not believe it. Because yesterday news came that Germany had not only bought the Madsen machine guns that Russia had stored in the Far East and resold them to him, but the most strange thing was that it had actually mobilized a large number of complete sets of military manufacturing equipment and munitions from China, and was rushing to Shanghai non-stop, and the entire amount was said to be as high as hundreds of thousands of pounds!

It is not known who the transaction partner is, but it should have something to do with this person, so he mobilized all his manpower, and even pleaded with Whitehall to mobilize the domestic intelligence service, but so far he has not been able to get the information that a baggage soldier can have so much money and can still get together with Germany. This deeply worries him, he is not afraid of a simple arms deal, he is afraid of the story behind the deal. He knew very well that the smell of fire on both sides of the North Sea in Europe was uncontrollable, and for the ambitious Wilhelm II, in addition to crushing his opponents in Europe, he would never forget to strike at his opponents on the fertile soil of the Far East.

The Yangtze River is Britain's traditional sphere of influence, and the complex waterways of the spider's web connect the richest areas of the entire Far East, not to mention Germany, even allies France and Japan are salivating, and the Americans have repeatedly demanded that the door be opened.

But even with the Far Eastern Fleet in charge, there is no guarantee that these people will take the opportunity to make trouble, and they will never give up this opportunity to cause a little trouble for their opponents, let alone the madman of Wilhelm II.

"John."

Hearing the shout, Counselor John Moen came over, he was also a China expert in China for many years, he had already guessed Zhu Erdian's thoughts, and said: "Your Excellency, I think your concern is justified, if the war is allowed to continue to expand, and even the phenomenon of dividing the river and ruling the country appears, then the interests we have maintained in China for many years are likely to be withdrawn by others, my suggestion is······ It's time to think about sitting down. ”

"Can you tell us why? John. ”

John Moen pointed to the map: "Obviously, with the independence of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and the fierce battle in Nanjing, which may fall at any time, His Excellency Yuan Shikai has to divide his troops to consider. It turned out that he was still calm, but after losing a division, his soldiers were no longer enough! And there was no hope of victory in sight at the moment, and the north was also becoming unstable because of the Mongols, and if the Jinpu line was added, perhaps he would have to recruit peasants with spears and sticks. ”

Zhu Erdian agreed with this analysis and asked, "John, do you think they will be willing to sit down and negotiate?" ”

"Your Excellency, in fact, I think you should know better about the hole cards of both of them, for these so-called Han people, it is also cannibalistic to fight fiercely, and they will not fail to understand who will gain if both sides lose ()."

"But ······." Jurdian frowned, picked up the newspaper and handed it to John Moen: "What should he do?" And do you think that through negotiations, a unified central government that is willing to undertake the contract left by the Manchurians and ensure that our interests in China are not infringed upon? ”

John Moen glanced at the photo of Yang Qiu on the headline and smiled: "It's a general, a young general!" But he is trapped in the upper reaches of the Yangzi River, and as long as we control Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, he will not be able to threaten our ······. As for your concerns, it reminds me of a famous Chinese saying. ”

"Princes and generals, it is better to have a kind of ......."

Zhu Erdian smiled slightly, John's hint was already obvious, the Chinese party had completely retreated from the midstream, which indicated that they would not be able to control so many governors and generals who held military power in the future. In traditional Chinese thinking, military power means political strength, and ambition will gradually grow with the army! Therefore, as long as negotiations can be facilitated, South China can be gradually dismantled through division and co-optation. Holding Yuan Shikai was not necessarily the best option, but his power in the north was the only option to contain Russia and Japan to the detriment of British interests, as long as he could be sure that he would lead a nominal unification of China, then the interests of the British Empire would not be violated.

"John, go and meet Yuan Shikai, tell him that we are willing to give him all diplomatic support, and I will persuade the bank group to provide the first loan as soon as possible. In addition······ It's time for us to get a representative and reach out to him. Zhu Erdian took one last look at Yang Qiu on the cover of the newspaper and threw it heavily on the table.

John Moen was a seasoned diplomat, and he knew what to do. So after he left, Zhu Erdian immediately poured himself a cup of coffee, then lit a cigar and quietly read the newspaper repeatedly. This young man has already taken initial control of Hubei and Hunan, and if Sichuan is a.. Will the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River be completely out of the control of the British Empire and infiltrated by the Germans? Perhaps, we should exchange something with him?