In the rear headquarters, Feng Guozhang sat behind his desk and gently pressed his fingers on his temples to relieve his headache.

On his left and right, several senior generals of the Beiyang Army were talking to each other, whispering something, as if it was because Feng Guozhang was sitting there and didn't want to disturb him. Just looking at their appearance, their faces are very ugly.

At this time, those standing in the headquarters can almost be regarded as the backbone of Beiyang.

For example, Jin Yunpeng, the commander of the Fifth Division, Li Chun, the commander of the Sixth Division, and Lei Zhenchun, the commander of the Seventh Division, etc. It may be an exaggeration to say that one person is below ten thousand people, but it is not much different.

After all, in this era, this kind of general with troops is far more valued than ordinary ministers or deputy ministers. If they want, they can even wave their troops to lay down a piece of land and sit as a soil emperor themselves.

It can be said that there are few people in this world who can embarrass them, including Yuan Shikai, and there are only a handful of things that can stump them, but now they all look helpless.

And the cause is the white wolf bandit army that is raging in the rear.

The White Wolf Bandit Army, since there is a bandit word, it is naturally no different from a rogue in the eyes of the world.

In fact, Feng Guozhang also despised the white wolf precisely because of this.

After all, Feng Guozhang is known as the first capable general in Beiyang, and the number of battles he has fought cannot be counted, although it is indeed a little annoying to have an extra stream of rogues in the rear, but it is just annoying, and Feng Guozhang does not regard it as a threat.

However, what he didn't expect was that this tributary would actually cause him such a big trouble.

First, Tang County was captured. Then he captured a number of counties and towns one after another.

However, even at this point, Feng Guozhang still didn't pay attention to these rogues, because at the moment, he still needed to deal with these enemies in front of him.

For Feng Guozhang, the National Socialist Army that is fighting with him in front of him is far more important than the white wolf behind him.

What's more, the Nationalist Army is now attacking urgently. The White Wolf Bandit Army is not something that ordinary officers and soldiers can solve, even if Feng Guozhang wants to clean up the White Wolf, he doesn't know where to draw these troops from.

In the end, he could only ask Yuan Shikai for reinforcements while letting the white wolf wreak havoc behind him.

Because in his opinion, after all, they are just some rogues, even if they are raging everywhere and harming the people, as long as the Zhengzhou and Jinghan railways, which are the most important to him, are not hindered. It's nothing. Who would have thought that not long ago, there was news that many counties and towns had been captured and looted by bandits. Then there was the large-scale destruction of the Jinghan Railway, not only the ordinary railway, but even the bridge needed for the railway was blown up...

The railroad thing, you say it's easy to shop. He's really nice to shop. For example, when the United States was building the Pacific Railroad, local Chinese workers could build one kilometer in a day. But if you say that it is difficult to pave, sometimes a kilometer of railway, I am afraid it will take you a year to build.

This involves the topography of the railway, the terrain is simple, the repair is also simple, and the terrain is difficult. It's hard to fix.

Places like rivers may seem like nothing, but they need to be bridged. Therefore, it is not easier than ordinary dangerous sections, which means that if a bridge is blown up, then Feng Guozhang is afraid that it will take a month or more to repair it, not counting the time required for other sections.

Naturally, as the most famous general in Beiyang, Feng Guozhang could not ignore the protection of these places. It's just that the Jinghan Railway is so long, Feng Guozhang can't send troops to guard it without a position, there are people there on the bridge, but there are only a few dozen or a hundred people there at most, how can the white wolf come with one or two thousand people?

As a result, the bridge was blown up and the railroad was disrupted.

At present, the consumption of the Beiyang Army on the front line every day is extremely large, and it can almost be said that it is completely possible to maintain logistics with this railway, and now this situation is making trouble...

If you don't think about it, I'm afraid you'll fall into a desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food.

It's just that at this point, where can Feng Guozhang think about it...

And these are not the most important things, what makes Feng Guozhang feel the most chilling is...

"Ordinary rogues will never attack the railway, even if they destroy, at most it is to destroy the railway they pass through, and will not specifically destroy a certain section of the road, this time the railway bridge was bombed, those rogues are clearly going towards the bridge, obviously, if no one instructed them, they would not have done this, and now there will only be one person who will direct them in this matter......... Yan Shao..."

"If there is no Yan Shao's command, with the nature of these bandits, it is impossible to waste time to loot local counties and towns, and run to bomb some railway, if this is really the case, then the situation we are facing now is no longer as simple as having heavy pressure in front and bandits in the back..."

As long as he thought of the rogues who were raging in his rear, and actually colluded with the Nationalist Army that was fighting with him, Feng Guozhang felt chills all over, because he knew very well what this meant.

On the other side, while Feng Guozhang was pondering in his heart, Li Chun, Jin Yunpeng and others were also discussing this matter.

“……… The railroad and the bridge were blown up, and although the communication was not lost, I am afraid that the situation will be..."

"The most important thing now is to rebuild the railway, otherwise the food and drink of these tens of thousands of people alone is a big problem, and those rogues must be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise even if we can repair it, I am afraid that they will be able to blow it up again..."

"Crack? To make it clear, now there are already seven or eight thousand of those rogues, if they fight face to face, I can clean them up with one regiment, but if they run away, you can kill without 30,000 people? In the current situation, where do you ask us to find 30,000 people to come out..."

This is also Feng Guozhang's biggest headache, if he sets up troops and fights face to face, Feng Guozhang is confident that a regiment of men and horses can clean up these rogues.

But the rogue, the rogue...

The rogues are originally some bandits who are wandering around, and the most important thing to clean up such opponents is not their combat effectiveness. It's their ability to flow, or rather, their ability to shift strategically.

Even if you're good, you can beat them. If you can't hit it hard or annihilate it in one fell swoop, there's no point, what's more...

You may not be able to catch up with others...

Generally speaking, if you want to exterminate a group of rogues, you can't do it without three times the number of troops, even if you are stingy, you can only do it with more than twice the number of troops. To put it simply, it is 250% of the force, which is already the limit.

But the problem is. Where did Feng Guozhang get so many troops out now?

The battle has been fought for almost two months, and it is good to say that if both sides do not move, as long as there is action, at least thousands of casualties will be killed. Played for two months. Casualties on both sides are approaching 100,000.

Such a large casualty. The reserve strength of both sides has already been exhausted, and now Yan Shao's side is okay, after all, the mobilization system is quite perfect, and hundreds of thousands of people can be mobilized to participate in the war at any time, but the Beiyang side has now begun to catch strong men.

In order to exterminate the rogues in Henan this time, Yuan Shikai even began to consider using the troops stationed in Zhili, but you can imagine how embarrassing Feng Guozhang's situation is now.

"Now we can only look at the president's side, if the president can bring in reinforcements in time. Maybe things can turn around this time, if not..."

I thought so. Feng Guozhang had already begun to think about retreating.

Now that the logistics line has been cut off, if there is no way to connect in time, I am afraid that these tens of thousands of Beiyang troops will starve to death on the front line. In this case, it is better to simply withdraw the direct subordinate, so that at least it can be logistically simpler...

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At the junction of the three provinces, Feng Guozhang had pinned all his wishes on Yuan Shikai, but what could Yuan Shikai do at this time.

Iron Lion Hutong, the political center of North China. More than two months ago, everything in this hutong was so dazzling, because this is the political center of all China, no matter who he is, no matter where he is, no matter how powerful he is, as long as he is still in this country, he must obey the orders issued here—————— even if they don't want to obey in their hearts.

Almost every day, I don't know how many officials come and go from here, maybe this is not the most prosperous hutong in Beijing, but it is definitely the most important hutong in Beijing...

Now, however, as the fighting in Henan has gotten worse and worse, the original dazzling light here seems to have dimmed. Although there are still many people who come and go here, their faces are no longer as happy as they used to be, and even the appearance of people is no longer so glamorous...

There is never a secret in officialdom that can be kept, and officialdom can also be said to be the place with the fastest flow of information. Now that the situation on the front line is getting worse and worse, how can these people who are mixed with officialdom not know what to do...

After all, although the railroad was blown up, the telephone pole of the telegraph office was not cut down by the rogues.

What's more, even if it is cut down, don't forget, Yuan Shikai still has the wireless telegraph given by Yan Shao at the beginning. So far, what Yuan Shikai and Feng Guozhang have lost is only material contact, and there is no big problem in terms of communication...

However, if the things on the front line are not properly handled, I am afraid that even this may not be guaranteed...

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In Yuan Shikai's official residence, it can be said that the high-level leaders of Beiyang in Beijing almost gathered together at this time.

Yang Shiqi, Liang Shiyi, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, Duan Zhigui...

And so on and so forth, even Yang Du, who Yuan Shikai has gradually become estranged, is among them...

The reason why these people gather here is also very simple, because now Beiyang has reached the brink of danger, if you don't think of a way, I'm afraid that the status of this group will not be guaranteed...

Maybe it's because of his age, or maybe it's because of the bad news that keeps coming back from the front line, so that Yuan Shikai's already not particularly strong body has become worse, although this meeting is related to the life and death of Beiyang, but Yuan Shikai still leans on the chair, his face is full of twilight that matches Beiyang...

If it weren't for the importance of this meeting, I'm afraid there would be a few maids to serve on the side.

Seeing Yuan Shikai like this, Duan Qirui, Xu Shichang and the others all frowned slightly.

It's not surprising, after all, the situation is critical now, and Yuan Shikai, as the leader of Beiyang, is like this, how can this not make Duan Qirui and others feel upset...

On the other hand. Standing in front of Yuan Shikai, Yang Shiqi was also narrating the things on the front line.

“……… The casualty report that has just been counted is from the beginning of the war to the present. Our army has lost more than 27,000 casualties, and more than 40,000 have been wounded, of which more than 13,000 are seriously wounded or disabled by their wounds, and at present there are less than 80,000 wounded fighters on the front line..."

Although the numbers are not accurate, there is no way to do it, after all, it is impossible to really count all of them at the statistical level of this era. Not to mention decades later. The number of casualties on the battlefield is also not so easy to count.

In addition, the system on the Beiyang side is very bureaucratic, almost all of which are inherited from the former Qing Dynasty, and there is naturally no efficiency in the process of statistics.

But even so. Such a large number of casualties still frightened the people present, and after hearing this number, although Yuan Shikai had heard it once, he still coughed involuntarily. This also made Yang Shiqi, Duan Qirui and others look at it with some concern.

looked at Yuan Shikai's sick appearance. Duan Qirui and the others couldn't help but think of the curse about the Yuan family...

That is, none of the Yuan family can live past the curse of 60 years old...

Although not everyone among these people believes in this kind of feudal superstition, they are still deeply worried about Yuan Shikai's current physical condition.

It's just that even if you are worried, the immediate matter needs to be resolved.

And the casualty report that Yang Shiqi said just now also made them feel cold.

Twenty-seven thousand were killed and more than 40,000 wounded, which means that in the past two months, their casualties have reached a staggering 60,000. Or even to the point of 70,000 people.

70,000 people, what is that number? At the beginning of the war, Beiyang and Zhang Xunbu combined were only 110,000 people. 70,000 people, which is already more than 60% of these 110,000 people...

If the casualty figure of a unit is more than 60%, if it only has 10 people, it may be nothing, but if it is a force of more than 100,000 people, I am afraid that it has collapsed for a long time.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that after the war, Beiyang had been sending reserves and troops stationed in the rear to support it, and even caught strong men in Henan and Shandong, I am afraid that Feng Guozhang on the front line would have been unable to support it.

But then again, if it weren't for Yan Shao's side also trying their best to mobilize, I'm afraid it would have been impossible to support such a large-scale war.

That's right, Yuan Shikai did have a lot of casualties, but how could there be fewer casualties on Yan Shao's side?

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Although the casualties on Yan Shao's side were definitely not small, Duan Qirui and the others didn't understand after all, and after seeing their own casualties, they couldn't help but gasp.

However, Yang Shiqi had already seen it before, so he could continue to talk calmly.

"In addition, according to the intelligence that has just been transmitted from the front, the rogue white wolf that is raging in Henan is likely to have colluded with Yan Shao, and now the white wolf department is operating everywhere on the front line of the Jinghan Railway, and has attacked more than ten counties and towns in a row, and even Zhengzhou has been harassed once, and the National Social Army in the front often launches offensives from the front, so that the generals on the front line are overwhelmed, and they can't draw out troops to solve the banditry in the rear. I hope that the president can send additional reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise..."Speaking of this, Yang Shiqi hesitated for a moment, and only after looking at the focused expressions of Duan Qirui and the others did he continue. “…… If not, please consider the idea of abandoning Henan and returning the front to Hebei..."

This is also Feng Guozhang's helplessness, the equipment of the National Social Army is already better, and Beiyang can only be supported by its stronger combat effectiveness than the National Social Army. It's just that the mobilization system of Beiyang is not as good as the National Social Army after all, and after a long time, it will inevitably fall into disadvantage.

It's just that if that's it, although Beiyang will still fail after the last round, it can hold out for at least half a year to a year, and then it will fail because —————— troops and ammunition are exhausted.

However, no one expected that there would be a banditry, a white wolf bandit that would accelerate the whole situation.

It was already very difficult for Feng Guozhang to hold on to the front line, not to mention that there were so many rogues in the rear. If it's just trouble, it's okay, but these people contacted Yan Shao again and helped Yan Shao destroy Feng Guozhang's logistics line...

As soon as the logistics line is broken, according to the intensity of the current battlefield, I am afraid that it will not be long before Feng Guozhang runs out of ammunition and food, and by that time, I am afraid that the whole army will be wiped out...

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After listening to the request of Feng Guozhang and others, even Duan Qirui fell silent.

Although he and Feng Guozhang also have some contradictions, it is an internal contradiction after all, and now Beiyang has fallen into the brink of life and death, and he is unwilling to say more.

Let alone...

If he said something to make Yuan Shikai throw him to the front line to replace Feng Guozhang...

He also understands the current situation, there is a tiger in the front, a wolf in the back, and there is no way to change anyone, although Duan Qirui thinks that he is stronger than Feng Guozhang politically, but he is far worse in terms of fighting...

At the moment, even Feng Guozhang has no choice, what can he do?

Even Duan Qirui, who likes to go against Feng Guozhang the most, is like this, and the others are silent.

After half a ring, I heard Yang Shiqi say softly.

"I believe that General Feng's predicament is clear to everyone, if you persist on the front line like this, the logistics line has been destroyed, I am afraid that soon General Feng will fall into a situation of running out of ammunition and food, and by that time tens of thousands of Beiyang troops may be in danger, so it is better to..."

Hearing Yang Shiqi's words, everyone else nodded in agreement.

After all, the current situation is already very clear, and there is no point in fighting it.

And it would be nice to have more troops back.

It's just that it is not known whether these forces are for Beiyang or for other purposes... (To be continued......)