As soon as the news spread that the Northern Expeditionary Army had landed in Tianjinwei and successfully raided the Beijing Division within one day, the world suddenly shook, and Feng Guozhang's department, which was besieged in Jinan, and Cao Kun's department, which was confronting the middle route army of the Northern Expeditionary Army on the front line of Xingtai, learned the news two days later.

Xiao Zhenlei ordered the Cai Yi Division of the Western Route Army to march quickly from the north of Shanxi to the Beijing Division on the second day of the 22nd Division's full control of the Beijing Division, supporting the 22nd Division in the Beijing Division, originally the Beijing Division had 22 Divisions and the remnants of the Yi Army and Gong Guard Army that had been absorbed, but Xiao Zhenlei was still not very relieved, those surrendered Yi Army and the remnants of the Gong Guard Army could not let Xiao Zhenlei be completely reassured, after all, the 22nd Division had to control the two cities, and the troops were too scattered, and once something happened, there was no reliable army that could be reinforced in time.

Since the success of the 22nd Division's raid on the Beijing Division, Nanjing has released news that it has controlled the Beijing Division and Tianjin Wei, and captured Yuan Shikai and a group of Beiyang henchmen, and the former Qing abdicated Emperor Puyi was safe, and the Northern Expeditionary Army did not restrict his personal freedom. The news was spread all over the world in just a few days, the Beiyang Army and the armies in the sphere of influence of the Beiyang Army all stopped acting, Yuan Shikai's capture made the generals of these armies dare not act rashly anymore, this is not only for Yuan Shikai's safety, more Beiyang Army generals are thinking about their own future, after all, the current situation, fools know that Beiyang is over, and the East China Army will replace Beiyang to control China's political situation. But at this time, some people have a fever in the brain. Something very puzzling was done.

On September 15, Secretary Xiao Gao reported to Xiao Zhenlei: "President, the Military Intelligence Agency has sent an urgent message. Two hours ago, the Wuwei Front Army stationed in Baoding was rapidly advancing in the direction of the Beijing Division! ”

Xiao Zhenlei was shocked when he heard this, "Whose troops is the former army of Wuwei?" ”

Xiao Gao said: "It is Zhang Xun's troops, in order to show that he is still loyal to the Qing family, Zhang Xun forbade his subordinates to cut off their braids, people call them 'braided handsome', and the department is called the braid army!" ”

Listen to Xiao Gao's introduction. Xiao Zhenlei remembered that Zhang Xun's reputation in the original history was not small. During the second revolution in history, he was ordered by Yuan Shikai to lead his troops to Nanjing to suppress the Yuan army, plundering and slaughtering thousands of people. Xuan was awarded the title of General of the General's Mansion by Yuan Shikai. He was appointed as the overseer of Jiangsu, transferred to Xuzhou, transferred to the Yangtze River patrol envoy, and moved to Xuzhou. In 1915, Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor and was named a first-class duke, but he was still bent on defending the Qing court. After Yuan Shikai's death, he disguised himself as a mediator between Li and Duan in an attempt to reap the benefits. At the same time, the Beiyang Seven Provinces Alliance was established in Xuzhou, and soon he was appointed as the overseer of Anhui Province, expanding to the Thirteen Provinces Alliance. Pieced together strength and actively planned the restoration of the Qing Dynasty. After Zhang Xun was restored, he was quickly defeated by Duan Qirui's "rebel army" and fled to the Dutch embassy, Pu Yi abdicated again, and Zhang Xun was wanted. Then he fled to the German concession area of Tianjin. Soon, the Beiyang government reasoned that "current affairs are difficult and talents are rare". Amnesty will be granted to the culprits of Hong Xian and the culprits of the restoration of the braided marshal. Zhang Zuolin proposed to Xu Shichang to restore Zhang Xun to the post of Yangtze River patrol envoy and Anhui overseer, but Zhang Xun refused. Later, Xu Shichang even asked him to serve as the national forestry superintendent, but he was still indifferent. He was living in Songshouli in Tianjin, and one day, a guest advised him to be aware of current affairs and cut off his braids. Zhang Xun pinched the braids with his hands and learned Yang Xiaolou's Peking Opera recitation: "I am powerless to return to heaven, and I can still be alone." The head is there, and the braid does not fall off! Zhenwu is the minister of the Qing Dynasty". After Zhang Xun's death, political and cultural celebrities have called to mourn, memorial texts, lamentations and elegiac couplets are countless, or enemies or friends, people with different political positions almost all praise him, for no other reason, only because of his loyalty, whether he is a die-hard loyalist, foolish or loyal, in short, his loyalty to the Qing court is a lot of Manchu royal family can not be compared, in that era of warlord melee, loyalty can be described as a rare thing, so no matter what he did during his lifetime, he still received countless praises after his death.

Zhang Xun's local complex is very strict, perhaps many big people have extremely contradictory hearts, this Zhang Xun is no exception, he suppressed the second revolution when the army looted, slaughtered thousands of people, but he was very good to his hometown, after he made his career, he missed his hometown fathers, where the hometown of Chitian Village, Zhang Xun gave each family a big tile house, what is missing, as long as he speaks, Zhang Xun is in charge. Jiangxi people who studied in Beijing during the Republic of China, Zhang Xun gave scholarships one by one; As for the college students in Fengxin County, the cost of food and clothing is all covered by Zhang Xun. He donated money to build a guild hall in Beiping, which supported Jiangxi students and poor people in Beijing, and many later prominent figures in the early Republic of China were funded by him, and he also used food money to help local disaster victims, orphans and widows in Fengxin.

Thinking of what Zhang Xun did in the history of his previous life, Xiao Zhenlei couldn't help but have a headache, this Zhang Xun's loyalty to the Qing court is simply indescribable, this person led his troops north to the direction of the Beijing Division, no need to ask, there must be an ulterior purpose.

Sure enough, Xiao Zhenlei listened to the secretary Xiao Gao again: "Zhang Xun's pigtail army has about 10,000 people, which is equivalent to the size of a division, and the soldiers and officers are no different from other Beiyang troops except for their braids. ”

Xiao Zhenlei knew that this Zhang Xun was only afraid that he would really go to Beijing to protect the emperor at this time, and if possible, this person would also launch a restoration, after all, there are still many old and young people of the Qing court, and many people still have military power!

Xiao Zhenlei immediately walked to the wall and opened the curtain, looking at the big map on the wall, Baoding is not far from the Beijing Division, less than two hundred kilometers, if the marching speed is fast, it can be reached within a few days, but now there are only 22 divisions, Gong Wei Army, and the remnants of the Yi Army around the Beijing Division, after thinking for a while, Xiao Zhenlei said: "Order: First, send a telegram to the 22nd Division, order the chief of staff Deng Jiaming to lead the 22nd Division to guard the Beijing Division, and order the division commander Yao Chengcheng to lead the Gong Guard Army and the remnants of the Yi Army to the south to meet Zhang Xun's pigtail army, The remaining artillery unit of Tianjin Wei was ordered to immediately send someone to send artillery and ammunition to Yao Chengcheng.

Second, he ordered Cai Yi's troops to speed up the march and enter the territory around the Beijing Division within 7 days to block the southward movement of the troops from Chahar, Suiyuan and other places.

Third, he gave Cai Guodong an order to order the 21st Division to bypass Jinan and quickly go north to support the 22nd Division.

Fourth, send telegrams to Cai Guodong and Xu Shaozhen respectively, and ask them to send people to Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun to send a message, and order these two people to lead their troops out of the city and surrender unconditionally within three days, otherwise they will launch an attack on all fronts after three days, and they will bear the consequences! ”

After Xiao Gao finished recording, he stood up and saluted and turned to leave.

To Xiao Zhenlei's surprise, since the 22nd Division successfully raided the Beijing Division and controlled it, the envoys of the great powers in China have collectively remained silent, and even the Japanese Minister to China has not come to the door in the past few days, which makes him a little uneasy, he immediately picked up the phone and dialed the phone of Hu Weishan, director of the Internal Affairs Investigation Bureau.

"Hu Weishan, what is the movement of the embassies of the great powers in China, it has been too calm these days, I am a little worried!"

Hu Weishan's voice came from the other side of the phone: "President rest assured, there are people on our side who are always keeping an eye on the embassies of the great powers in China, according to the information we have, since the 22nd Division took control of the Beijing Division, the envoys of the great powers in China have successively received domestic telegrams, let them wait and see what happens!" ”

"Oh?" Xiao Zhenlei was quite surprised by this, and then said: "Okay, I know, report anything at any time!" ”

"Yes, President!"

Xiao Zhenlei pondered in his mind for a while, thinking that all the great powers must know that the Beiyang Army is coming to an end, Yuan Shikai's capture means that the Beiyang Group will completely withdraw from the stage of history, although these powers are unwilling, but there is no way for the time being, now the countries are holding each other back, and the whole body is affected, no one dares to act rashly, even if the neighboring Japan has the ability to send troops to intervene, the forces in Japan will not be able to reach an agreement for a while, even if an agreement is reached, There was a lot of time to prepare for starting a war, so Japan did not act rashly, but waited for the situation to develop.

Three days later, Zhang Xun led the pigtail army and Yao Chengcheng led the Yi army and the remnants of the Gong Guard Army encountered near Zhuozhou, the two sides immediately started a big battle, the pigtail army went north to protect the emperor in the name, morale was high, and the Gong Guard Army and the Yi Army in order to leave a good impression in front of Xiao Zhenlei, the new master, also used their strength, these two armies were the troops of the Beijing Division, the military quality of the officers and soldiers was naturally not bad, and the equipment was also extremely sophisticated, it used to be the old army of Beiyang, and now it has switched to Nanjing, The weather immediately became different, and Yao Chengcheng mobilized all the officers and soldiers of these two units before leading the army to the expedition, and also promised to pay full salaries from now on, and rewards were issued according to military merits, which made the morale of the sergeants rise immediately.

After two days of fighting, Yao Chengcheng's side had ammunition and military supplies sent from Tianjin from afar, and he didn't have to worry about logistics at all, while Zhang Xun's side was in a hurry, and he carried less military supplies, grain, grass and ammunition, and after two consecutive days of fighting, there was a shortage of ammunition, coupled with extremely heavy casualties, so that the morale of the army fluctuated and morale dropped sharply.

Yao Chengcheng found out about this situation, and immediately commanded the army to break through the defense of Zhang Xun's troops in one go, and most of them were defeated, Zhang Xun escaped desperately under the protection of some horses, but at this time the Beiyang regime had fallen, and the surrounding land would soon be taken over by the Northern Expeditionary Army. (To be continued) R466