But why did Yang Du and Jiang Fangzhen rush to see Xiao Zhenlei overnight? It was only because Jinan was successfully attacked by the cavalry brigade that the remnants of Jin Yunpeng's fifth town in Beiyang had been cut off from retreating, and the Qing soldiers who had fled in a hurry from Jinan City rushed to report to Jin Yunpeng, and they learned that the retreat had been cut off, and if they didn't immediately find a way to get Xiao Zhenlei to stop the attack, Jin Yunpeng's fifth town would be in danger of being wiped out.

Yang Du was taken to a farmhouse near the headquarters by Jiang Fangzhen to rest, and soon Xiao Zhenlei came over after the meeting just happened to meet Wu Shiyou, who went out to relieve himself, and asked about the situation only to know that Yang Du came with Jiang Fangzhen, Xiao Zhenlei had heard a little about Yang Du, and after thinking about it, he decided to meet Jiang Fangzhen first, so he asked Wu Shiyou to lead Jiang Fangzhen to his lounge to meet, and he went back to the lounge to wait.

After returning to the lounge, Xiao Zhenlei did not wait for Jiang Fangzhen, but first waited for a telegram from Nanjing, Song Shijie said on the telegram that the ammunition produced by the arsenal in the past year had been exhausted after ordinary training and this period of war, and the remaining ammunition could only last for a week at most.

Seeing this telegram, Xiao Zhenlei was a little caught off guard, originally he thought that if he attacked Shun Lì this time, the marching speed was fast enough, and before the North-South peace talks reached an agreement, he used the Third Division of the Soviet Army Liu Chenglong and the Fourth Division of the Zhejiang Army to meet the Second and Fourth Towns of Beiyang in the west, and he personally led other troops of the coalition army to encircle and annihilate the remnants of the Fifth Town of Beiyang, and then quickly went north. You can arrive in the capital within a few days to start a decisive battle with the first town of Beiyang. In one fell swoop, he took the capital.

But I didn't expect the battle to come to this, and there was a big problem with my logistics. This was something he hadn't thought about before, he thought about it. This is also to blame for not thinking of this problem in advance, and in this Northern Expedition War, the combat consumption of ammunition was too strict, there was almost no moderation, artillery shells were smashed on the opponent's position like no money, and his secret arsenal in Zhenhua Company was not large after all, and it was difficult to bear the supply of ammunition for such a large-scale war, so this caused problems in ammunition supply.

It seems that he can only compromise with Yuan Shikai in the north, but the lack of ammunition must not let Lao Yuan's people know. Otherwise, Lao Yuan would definitely find a way to suppress the benefits given to him, and after ordering the staff officer who sent the telegram to keep it secret, Xiao Zhenlei burned the telegram and asked the staff officer to send a telegram to Song Shijie, so that Zhenhua Company could quickly expand the scale of the arsenal, and at the same time all the machines and workers of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau were mobilized to produce ammunition day and night.

Not long after the staff officer left, Wu Shiyou came with Jiang Fangzhen, and Xiao Zhenlei saw Jiang Fangzhen appear at the door. Hurriedly laughed and walked over with open arms and said, "Brother Baili, I haven't seen you for a long time, but your demeanor is still the same!" ”

Both of them hugged happily, and Jiang Fangzhen smiled: "I'm not as moisturized as you." You see, you are now the governor of the capital, and the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, commanding the military and political power of several provinces in East China. also beat Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army to the point of urine, which was really high-spirited. The limelight is unbeatable for a while! I'm different, don't look at me in the capital. But he did some trivial things all day long, and he had to throw his sleeves and make a thousand moves when he saw the big officials, this day is really embarrassing! ”

Xiao Zhenlei hurriedly instructed Wu Shiyou to find someone to pour two cups of hot tea, and invited Jiang Fangzhen to sit down, and the two began to talk, "Brother Baili, aren't you preparing for the reception of the German crown prince?" How did you get here? ”

Jiang Baili smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Hey, don't mention anything about the German crown prince, after the matter of the Sino-American and German Triple Alliance was known by the Japanese, it was destroyed by the Japanese in a way, this matter has passed, and the German crown prince will not come over, but a German prince will come over, there is nothing to do with me!" ”

"I see!" Xiao Zhenlei nodded when he heard this, "It seems that the Japanese are ahead of us in many aspects, not only in terms of comprehensive national strength, scientific and technological development, army building, political affairs, etc., but also in intelligence work!" By the way, how did you get here? Didn't you come to persuade me to stop attacking on behalf of Yuan Shikai? ”

Jiang Baili smiled when he heard this, and after taking a sip of tea, he said, "Yes and no!" ”

"How?"

Jiang Baili said: "You also know that now Tang Shaoyi is being entrusted by the Qing court and Yuan Shikai to conduct peace negotiations with the southern revolutionaries, and the Qing court is forced to want a result of dividing the river between the north and the south because of the current situation, but Yuan Shikai has other plans, he doesn't care about the constitution or the republic, if he wants to establish a constitution, his requirement is that he form a cabinet and serve as the prime minister of the cabinet, if it is a republic, of course he hopes that he will be the president, there was no accident, Lao Yuan and Wu Tingfang have talked about it, But your side of the offensive is too fierce, so that Yuan Shikai and the Qing court rushed to a huge worry, in order to solve the trouble on your side, the Qing court and Yuan Shikai want to send someone south to immediately contact you to negotiate conditions, as long as you give up the idea of continuing the Northern Expedition, you can mention any conditions, I was in a panic in the capital, and I was worried that there was no chance to escape, after hearing about this incident, I recommended myself as your old friend Xiao Zhenlei, so the Qing court and Yuan Shikai arranged for me to follow Yang Du to meet you! ”

Xiao Zhenlei's heart moved when he heard this, and he clapped his palms and smiled: "Brother Baili won't go back when he comes out this time, right?" It just so happens that I have tens of thousands of troops here, and there is no helper around me, I am really physically and mentally exhausted when I am busy alone, if Brother Baili can stay, I will be much easier, as long as Brother Baili is willing to stay with me, I can do without mentioning any other conditions, one Jiang Baili is enough to be worth 100,000 troops! ”

"You're looking too highly of me!" Jiang Baili said with a smile, and continued: "This time I came out under the guise of being a lobbyist, how can I go back?" Since returning to China last year, in the past year and a half, I have also seen it, it seems that you were right at the Beijing Railway Station, I don't plan to leave today, you just drive me away, I won't go, so you have to arrange a place for me! ”

Xiao Zhenlei was overjoyed: "I finally looked forward to you, I said at the beginning, if you are willing to come." I'm willing to automatically give way to Xian, and the position of commander-in-chief is up to you. I'll be your assistant! ”

Jiang Baili hurriedly said: "Don't don't, don't you, aren't you hurting me?" I have no roots in the army. The generals don't know me, and it will definitely be a mess to make me the commander-in-chief, you can just arrange a regiment commander or battalion commander for me! ”

Xiao Zhenlei shook his head when he heard this: "That's not good, dignified Jiang Baili, the military masters who have been praised by the German Marshal Hindenburg are regiment commanders and battalion commanders here with me, and others will say that I have a problem with my eyes, so let's do it, if Brother Baili is really unwilling to be the commander-in-chief, you will be my chief of staff." In the revolutionary army, except for the officers I have cultivated and trained, the other officers of the new army are almost all your juniors, you have a reputation, you come to be my chief of staff, and the others must only be convinced, what do you think? ”

Jiang Baili smiled: "Okay, I'll be the chief of staff!" This time, Yuan Shikai sent Yang Guo to negotiate a truce with you, what do you think? Follow your current blade. There is no need to be afraid of the Beiyang Army, if it is planned properly, it is very likely to attack the capital, which is completely different from compromising with Yuan Shikai."

Xiao Zhenlei picked up the cigarette case from the table, took out two and handed it over, Jiang Baili took it, and the two lit the cigarette and smoked. Xiao Zhenlei took a few puffs and said, "You're right, but you're looking at it from a military point of view." From the perspective of politics, the balance of politics has been completely tilted in favor of Yuan Shikai. Most of the revolutionary parties in the south and those bureaucrats who advocate constitutionalism have already agreed that Yuan Shikai will be the president, as long as the republic is realized, including Mr. Sun and others in the League, if I insist on going my own way now, even if I win militarily, I will be defeated in politics, maybe when I face off with Yuan Shikai, those revolutionary parties and bureaucrats who advocate constitutionalism behind me will stab me in the back, and the ammunition left in our army will not last long. If according to the rate of ammunition consumption during the day today, it is estimated that there will be a logistical supply problem if it does not last for a week, so although I am not reconciled, but the reality makes me have to compromise, what I want now is to take the whole territory of Shandong as quickly as possible, control the provinces of East China, and get the benefits in my hands first, tomorrow I will order the Third Division of the Soviet Army to rest for two days and then wave the Fourth Division of the Zhejiang Army to the west, enter Anhui, and then transfer a division from Jiangxi to Anhui, so that there is only one Fujian left in the East China provinces that needs to be solved. I have been prepared for this for a long time, as long as I firmly control the provinces of East China, no matter how much Yuan Shikai tosses, I have enough capital to deal with him, and when I negotiate with Yang Du tomorrow, I have no other requirements, I only need East China."

Jiang Fangzhen said when he heard this: "The cake you want is not small, East China is the richest region in China today, Yuan Shikai is only afraid that he will not agree lightly, and Shandong is the gateway barrier of Gyeonggi, I guess Lao Yuan will not be willing to give Shandong to you, just from a military point of view, if you occupy Shandong, you can go north at any time to fight under the capital, Yuan Shikai is not so stupid!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei took a puff of cigarette, thought for a while and said: "What you said is true, Lao Yuan estimates that he can give up Anhui, but it is impossible to give up Shandong, it seems that we can only give up Shandong, but I must catch Fujian!" ”

Jiang Baili thought about it and thought it was feasible, "It's only like this, if you master Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian, you don't have to worry about Yuan Shikai's perverse behavior, if he has any misdeeds, we can also completely confront him!" ”

The two discussed for a while, and Xiao Zhenlei saw that Jiang Baili hadn't eaten dinner yet, so he asked the guard to go to the room immediately to get a few side dishes, and then find Yang Du, and the three of them drank wine together and chatted about side dishes.

Yang Du was originally going to negotiate with Xiao Zhenlei on the truce, but Xiao Zhenlei stopped him from saying that he would only talk about friendship tonight, not about business, which made Yang Du very depressed, he was careful about the safety of the remnants of the fifth town, and after tonight, maybe Xiao Zhenlei would order an attack tomorrow morning to annihilate the remnants of the fifth town in one fell swoop, and then Xiao Zhenlei could wave his troops north, drive straight into Hebei, and it was very likely to kill the capital to threaten Jinggi, he wanted to talk, but Xiao Zhenlei didn't talk about it, and the three of them dispersed after drinking, Xiao Zhenlei arranged rooms for Jiang Baili and Yang Du to rest.

The next morning, Xiao Zhenlei really ordered Yao's adult troops to attack the remnants of the turtle cowering in Zhangjia Town, and the Yi'an Temple in the east was taken in the attack in the morning, and the flank of Zhangjiazhen was completely exposed to Yao's adult soldiers.

After Jinan was raided, Jin Yunpeng's supply has been cut off, even if he can hold Zhangjia Town, it is estimated that he will not last a few days without supplies, but Xiao Zhenlei will definitely not give Jin Yunpeng the opportunity to escape back and re-establish the fifth town, only by eliminating the fifth town can he have enough right to speak.

Due to the war, the residents of Zhangjia Town ran away as early as these days, Xiao Zhenlei did not have any worries, he negotiated with Yang Du, while ordering the troops to attack, and ordered artillery to carry out large-scale artillery strikes on Zhangjia Town, at the end of the day, the entire Zhangjia Town became a piece of rubble.

That night, Jin Yunpeng, who really couldn't hold on, led the remnants of more than 3,000 people to raise the white flag and surrender, Jin Yunpeng thought that Xiao Zhenlei didn't talk to Yang Du at all, and detained Yang Du, otherwise how could he launch an attack during the negotiations? Therefore, in desperation, he chose to surrender.

By dawn, the Soviet Fourth Division had completely taken over the prisoners, and the matter of cleaning up the battlefield was taken over by the reserves, this time 4,470 people from the fifth town of Beiyang were captured, and thousands of Qing troops fled in the battle, and most of these fleeing Qing soldiers were soldiers of the patrol battalion.

For the captured Beiyang Army soldiers, of course Xiao Zhenlei could not put all these people back, if they were put back, it would be equivalent to returning them to Yuan Shikai and the Qing court, he was not so stupid, he asked these Beiyang Army prisoners to be broken up and reorganized, and officers from other units were transferred to serve as officers for training, and then thousands of patrol battalion soldiers from Shandong were mixed in to form a new Shandong division to be transferred to Fujian to station.

Yang Du, who was negotiating with Xiao Zhenlei, saw that he wanted to stop him, but Xiao Zhenlei ignored him completely, and he was so angry that he screamed.

With Jiang Baili as the chief of staff, Xiao Zhenlei was indeed a lot easier, and many things in military affairs were handed over to Jiang Baili to handle, and he was also relieved, in a short period of time, Jiang Baili set up a staff department and began to replan the reorganization of the army.

The 3rd Division of the Soviet Army and the 4th Division of the Zhejiang Army had been transferred to the direction of Anhui, on the one hand, to block the 2nd and 4th Towns of Beiyang, and on the other hand, to take over Anhui after Yuan Shikai's negotiations reached an agreement. (To be continued......)