The exact news reached Shandong through an increasingly efficient intelligence system, causing an immediate uproar.

The official letter or decree has not yet arrived. But the leaders at the top of the Mengshan Army all knew the news, including Zhou Yi, who had just returned from Zhangde. Everyone urgently asked to see Long Qian, but they were all blocked by Ouyang Zhong - the commander was uncomfortable and needed to recuperate.

Obedience or confrontation? The imperial court has attacked the Mengshan army! What to do must be an idea as soon as possible! It's just that Long Qian is sick, and even Ning Shijun and Situ Jun can't see Long Qian.

There seemed to be an ominous atmosphere, and the backyard of the headquarters was strengthened by guards. Without permission, no one can pass the level of Gu Xiaolin, the commander of the guard battalion.

Is the commander sick or is he really sick? Ning Shijun, Situ Jun and Fang Shengyuan were extremely anxious, and they asked the medical director Qi Shangming, who himself was an extremely skilled Western doctor, but Qi Shangming couldn't say it clearly, because Long Qian had never summoned him. So Ning, Situ and Fang could only look for Chen Chao, and Chen Chao's demeanor couldn't see anything special - he was indeed sick, but he occasionally felt a cold, it didn't matter, it would be fine in two days.

Until Wang Mingyuan and Feng Guozhu rushed to Jinan from the station, Chen Chao was entrusted by Long Qian to convene a meeting of the main officer corps of the Mengshan Army, and the personnel were said to be designated by Long Qian, a total of twelve people: senior senator Fang Shengyuan, deputy commander of the patrol army (acting commander) Ning Shijun, chief of staff of the fifth town Situ Jun, Wang Mingyuan, deputy assistant commander Feng Guozhu, deputy assistant commander Zhou Yi, deputy assistant commander Feng Lun, intelligence director Jiang Yun, logistics director Song Jinguo, 19th standard commander Ye Yanbing, Long Qian's adjutant Ouyang Zhong and senior senator Chen Chao who was appointed to preside over the meeting.

It was November 1 in the Western calendar, and there were a few drops of light rain. The venue is the Fifth Town Command Conference Room. The entire building is heavily guarded, and no unrelated personnel are allowed to approach the venue.

Except for Chen Chao's pigtails with the Manchu logo, the rest of the people shaved off the pig's tail, and Chen Chao seemed a little unaccustomed to presiding over such a meeting for the first time.

"You are all generals appointed by the commander, and the content of today's meeting is top secret. Except for Adjutant Ouyang, who is responsible for recording, the rest of the people are not allowed to record. In the first item of the meeting, Jiang Yun reported the news obtained from Jingshi. ”

Less than 200 meters away from the conference room, Long Qian's back house, Long Qian was holding his second son Xinghua in his arms and talking to his wife Chen Shu.

"How can you do that? But such an important matter is entrusted to my uncle? ”

"Shu'er. I took the soldiers and left. Uncle must stay in Shandong, and he can't even hold a meeting, so how can he do it? ”

"You've finally decided?"

"Yes. Now is not the time for a showdown. Patience must continue. And it's not an opportunity......"

"Do you think the imperial court won't let you return to Shandong?"

"The people in the imperial court can't deal with external troubles. A good player who engages in infighting. I can't even think of such a plan. How did it get mixed up like that? ”

"The troops are gone. What should I do with this big stall in Shandong? ”

"That's what I've been thinking about over and over again." Long Qian's gaze cast his eyes on the courtyard through the window, "Don't go with me this time." With two children, it was too hard. There's no need to bump around all day. I'll pick you up when I'm settled. ”

"Settle down? Where to settle down? Hunan or Jiangxi? In the past two days, Long Qian has been studying the map, and Chen Shu has already seen the two provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi next to him.

"Maybe it's Liangguang. There the imperial court was most worried. ”

"It's really impossible not to go?"

"It's really a wrong step to get to this point...... Xinghua struggled, and Long Qian put him on the ground.

Conference room. The meeting moved on to the second item, where what to do was discussed, and the crowd began to argue.

The basic tendency is not to accept reassignments. The intentions of the imperial court may as well be worse, and there is no doubt that the tiger will leave the mountain. The main force of the Mengshan Army is heading south, will the hard-built Shandong base be lost? The foundation has been here for several years, and the generals of the Mengshan Army who have tasted their own territory can't imagine the scene of leaving the base camp.

Soldiers, food, salaries, weapons, garrisons...... As well as family members, everything is not a problem in Shandong. The main force is going south, will it return to Shandong? What should I do if I am not allowed to come back? At that time, they did not know that the real decision of the Lu Dao Imperial Court was to use them to quell the rebellion after Yongzhen Tiannan.

Zhou Yi, Feng Guozhu, Feng Lun, and Song Jinguo advocated armed resistance. They believed that the imperial court might not dare to force the Mengshan army to go south by force. In this regard, Feng Guozhu made an analysis, and he believed that if the imperial court used force, it would be the four towns of Beiyang that could be used. If Lushan makes the necessary cooperation outside the pass, the four towns of Beiyang cannot come with all the troops, and they must prevent the Lushan Department from breaking through the pass, even if they come to the three towns, it is only about 40,000 people, and the fifth town of Shandong plus the patrol battalion has a total strength of more than 30,000, and if the veterans who are mobilized and demobilized to return to their hometowns and assigned to Huayuan and Zhongxing, the number can be increased by 5,000. Equipment training is not a problem, and it is an internal battle, and it is completely possible to pacify Beiyang in a battle - since the imperial court has done it to us, it is better to confront it head-on.

Fang Shengyuan, Wang Mingyuan, Jiang Yun, and Ye Yanbing did not agree to decide the outcome by force, and hoped to adopt another method to force the imperial court to retract its fate. For example, creating a mutiny to blackmail the imperial court. The actual situation is that almost all the officers and men of the Fifth Town are from Shandong, and it is difficult to go south to Hunan and Jiangxi far from their homeland, and the officers and men have an extremely strong sense of locality, and once provoked, there may really be a mutiny.

The opinions of Wang Mingyuan and others were opposed by Zhou Yi and others, and the two factions quarreled together. Zhou Yi had the right to speak after participating in the Zhangde Autumn Exercise, believing that the Beiyang Army was not fearful and could completely defeat them militarily.

Chen Chao noticed that Ning Shijun and Situ Jun both looked solemn and didn't say a word, so he coughed lightly and raised his hand to stop everyone's argument, "What does Shi Jun think?" Let's put it bluntly. ”

Although Chen Chao didn't care about military affairs, he was a senior senator officially appointed by Long Qian, and his status was special, so the venue immediately quieted down.

"I'm conflicted. I understand everyone's anger, and I want to fight it out. However, our army may not be able to completely defeat Beiyang in one battle. This is one of them. Second, there is also the issue of considering the post-war period, and the conquest of the world since ancient times. What is important is that the division is famous, and the bend turns too fast, not to mention that other domestic forces do not support our army, even within the Mengshan army, it can't be said that there is no problem at all, right? What's more, if we don't think about winning, we will first think about defeat, in case we fight with Beiyang, and resist the whole country with Shandong Province, and be left and right. If you are prepared, you will be left behind. Doing everything is doing everything. As long as an enemy army penetrates deep into the hinterland of Shandong, there will be a big problem with the morale of the army. The stakes are high, and you need to think twice! ”

"What the Chief of Staff said is very true! I couldn't agree more. Situ Jun has always called Ning Shijun the chief of staff, "but militarily speaking." The Lushan Department is far away in Jilin. Far water is not enough to cure thirst. And. The composition of Lushan's department is complex, and the internal problems are bigger than ours. At such a critical time, we cannot rely on the troops outside the border. And. Beiyang mobilized more than three towns, the first town will play a role in this situation, not to mention, seven and eight, Beiyang can at least use more than 50,000 regular troops, and the ninth town of Nanyang can at least attack Lunan along the north of the Grand Canal to make strategic countermeasures. Lunan is an important place for our military industry, and there is no room for error. Therefore, the risk of an all-out war is extremely high. In addition, the attitude of the great powers needs to be taken into account. As soon as this war began, it was a crisis of annihilation for the imperial court, and they occupied much more diplomatic resources than ours, and it was not surprising that even troops were sent to intervene, such as the German army attacking Jinan along the Jiaoji Railway, and our army was attacked on all sides, and the situation was worrying. Looking at logistics again, although our army already has its own relatively complete logistics supply system, the ammunition reserves are not enough to deal with a full-scale war, and the stock of ammunition will be exhausted in less than ten days. I don't think that the Shandong military and civilians have completely sided with the Mengshan army. Therefore, it is still necessary to wait for the right time to be in order. ”

"You didn't get it through, everything? What's the perfect way? Wang Mingyuan asked.

"The commander is not going, send someone to act as the commander to command the main force of the fifth town to go south. As long as the commander stays in Shandong, everything will pass. After speaking, Situ Jun sat down.

This is exactly what Chen Chao said last night, and he didn't do any communication with Situ Jun, and the two thought of it together.

"Good idea. I would like to take the Ninth Association south. Aren't they just a few rebels? Little thief, don't worry. Wang Mingyuan relaxed.

"Mr. Chen, I agree with Situ's idea, the commander can't leave." Feng Guozhu said loudly, "If he stays in Shandong, the imperial court will not send troops in." ”

Inner house.

"Why do you have to go? Can't you send Wang Mingyuan or Zhou Yi? Didn't Zhou Yi even defeat the Beiyang Army this time? What's not to worry about? Chen Shu was puzzled.

"If you were Cixi, would you let me stay in Shandong?"

"I don't understand. The old lady Cixi didn't catch your handle again. ”

"You don't need a handle. Strength is the handle. ”

"Is it Yanbing that they won the battle in Henan but did something bad?"

"That's not the main factor. Moreover, the damage to the morale of the troops is enormous. The better Shandong does, the more uneasy the imperial court is. Actually, I've been in Shandong for too long...... The autocratic court is like this, it doesn't matter whether the economy is good or not, it doesn't matter whether the soldiers are well trained or not, and it doesn't matter whether the people's lives are good or not, but the courtiers must not be allowed to sit big. ”

"Such a court is such a bastard."

"Just now? It's a shame that you've read so many books over the years. Long Qian looked at his wife and chuckled.

Conference room.

"Do you think the imperial court will keep the commander in Shandong? It's their plan to kill three birds with one stone! not only put down the rebellion, but also transferred a tiger out of the mountain, and after the worst of all, it also forced the commander to turn against the Qing forces. It was Fang Shengyuan who spoke, "The question now is not only whether the commander will leave, but also how to fight." If the Mengshan Army came forward to wash Hunan and Jiangxi in blood, anti-Qing organizations such as the Alliance would completely turn their faces. ”

"Turn your face and turn your face." Feng Lun said loudly, "I don't expect a few scholars to succeed. To overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty, we have to rely on the guns of our Mengshan army! ”

"It's not that simple," Situ Jun frowned, "Sun Wen and his party have been fighting against the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, and they have gathered a lot of contacts. Now that the people are disgusted with the Qing Dynasty, the commander's appearance to suppress the anti-Qing forces will cause great damage to the commander's reputation. ”

"That's it. That's why it is said that this move is vicious and difficult to resolve. Fang Shengyuan nodded to Situ Jun, thinking that the chief of staff who refused to join the Youth Army Alliance still saw very far, and he didn't seem to object to Long Qian's seizure of the country, "Whether the commander personally goes out or sends the general to the south, the day he sends the troops will stand on the opposite side of the alliance." ”

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that." Wang Mingyuan said, "Even if we turn against the Manchus in the future, if we kill the Manchus, will we let Sun Wen form a republic?" . ”

"That's what Brother Mingyuan said." Feng Guozhu said loudly, "We have worked hard all these years, for what?" In the future, the world can only be surnamed Long. ”

Chen Chao was shocked in his heart, and the words were finally spoken, which was also a good thing.

"I think so," Ning Shijun stood up, "Since the commander told us people to come up with a charter." I think it is up to the commander to speak or not to fight, to go or not to go. We have followed the commander from Mengshanzhai, step by step, and it is all the commander's plan. The history of the Mengshan Army is such a history. ”

"That's what Shi Jun said." Zhou Yi also stood up, "Mr. Chen, in terms of grasping the general trend of the world, we who play with guns together can't catch up with the commander." You tell the commander that he is in charge, and we will obey the command. ”

"You may be seated. As for military politics, Chen did not know anything. It was really difficult for me to convene everyone to discuss it. You all know the way of retreating, he has always paid attention to brainstorming. How to deal with the current situation, we must come up with a charter. Chen Chao said with a smile.

"Let's ask Chief of Staff Situ to speak." Wang Mingyuan looked at Situ Jun.

"Let me say a few things. First, immediately ask the commander to order the assembly of troops, including the patrol force, whether they are fighting or leaving, to concentrate the troops. Second, the Logistics Department immediately made all preparations and ordered Huayuan and the relevant factories of Zhongxing to produce arms and related military materials at full speed day and night. Thirdly, the Intelligence Department and the Judge Advocate General's Office are fully operational to ensure the stability of the armed forces and society, especially the safety of the arsenal, so as to prevent forces with ulterior motives from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. Fourth, the General Staff Office began to formulate relevant plans for the commander's decision-making. Fifth, the Intelligence Department will notify the customs as quickly as possible so that they can be prepared. Situ Jun said so much in one breath, "Of course, these decisions need to be approved by the commander. ”

As a matter of fact, under his auspices, the General Staff Office has been working day and night for two days, respectively formulating plans for the main force to march south and to wage war against the Beiyang.

"I think that's good, so I'll do it." Everyone thinks that the five points that Situ Jun said are good.

"That's good. I followed the few reports summarized by Situ and thought about it. Generals pay attention to secrecy, and perhaps after a day or two, they will make the most difficult decision. Chen Chao announced the adjournment of the meeting. (To be continued......)