Beijing, Zhongnanhai Jurentang, Yuan Shikai almost sleepless all night with his staff to study the military deployment of this crusade against King Cai's rebellion. But it was only at this time that Lao Yuan realized that the Beiyang Army, which he was proud of, had been scattered across the vast land of the south. You must know that this situation is a taboo thing for soldiers, and once you encounter the enemy's superior forces, the possibility of being broken by each is very high.

The division in Beiyang at this time was formed by Yuan Shikai by drawing on the Japanese troops, and the division was under the jurisdiction of brigades and brigades, with each division having 18,000-25,000 people. 5000-8000 people per brigade.

At this moment, there are seven divisions of the Beiyang field troops:

Cai Chengxun, commander of the 1st Division (concurrently serving as the commander of Rehe), the troops were stationed in Zhangjiakou;

Wang Zhanyuan, commander of the 2nd Division (concurrently serving as the overseer of Hubei), was stationed in Wuhan;

Cao Kun, commander of the 3rd Division, was stationed in Yuezhou, Hunan (now Yueyang, Hunan);

Yang Shande, commander of the Fourth Division (concurrently serving as the envoy of the Songhu Protector), the troops were stationed in Shanghai;

Zhang Huaizhi, commander of the Fifth Division, was stationed in Zhenjiang;

Ma Jizeng, commander of the Sixth Division, was stationed in Li County (historically originally stationed in Nanchang, Jiangxi, because of the butterfly...... Zhang Jingyao, commander of the Seventh Division, was stationed in Beijing, and there were also troops such as Li Jincai's Gong Guards and Lu Yongxiang's 10th Division, although these armies were also formed according to the regular establishment, but I am sorry, they were all new troops, and if they were pulled up to fight, I am afraid they could not compare with these seven old troops.

Now there is a more serious problem in front of Lao Yuan, that is, even in the south, the main force of the Beiyang Army is not in Hunan, Sichuan, these provinces that are facing rebellion, but is concentrated in the Nanjing area. For example, the fourth, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth divisions are all stationed in the Yangtze River Delta region at the moment. There is a very tricky problem here, Yuan Shikai doesn't know what means to use to transfer these pampered places, and go to the southwest to fight against Cai Yi and Wang Zhenyu's rebels. You must know that you can get a lot of benefits by staying motionless in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and according to the habits of these soldiers, the possibility of disobedience is quite high.

After Wang Shizhen, known as the head of the three heroes of Beiyang, explained the situation, Yuan Shikai sighed silently, it has been too difficult in the past few years, the central government has many financial difficulties, and the military leaders in the south do not consider the overall situation at all, and they are trying to make money, but they don't want to strengthen their armaments. And what worries Yuan Shikai the most is that Feng Guozhang has not expressed any opinion on his claim to be emperor until now, and it is likely that the army under his control will not move at all, but firmly occupy Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and other rich places to sit and watch the situation. If it really comes to this point, Yuan Shikai feels that he may be about to be tragic.

But Yuan Shikai didn't dare to think about the bad at the moment, as the core, he must maintain a sense of confidence and mystery, otherwise how could the people below have confidence. He pretended to smile and said: "Well, it doesn't seem to be a big problem, I think the focus of this operation is in Sichuan, as for Hunan, when Wang Zhenyu and his rabble climb out of the ravines and ravines in Xiangxi and Guangxi, it is estimated that Cai Ye has finished playing." At that time, China will truly complete its reunification, and everyone will be able to enjoy peace in peace. ”

Hearing Lao Yuan say this, the Beiyang high-level executives present all let out a relaxed and knowing laugh, but such a hearty laughter could not dispel the haze in Yuan Shikai's heart.

It was when Beijing was busy deploying troops and was anxious to quell the rebellion. Wang Zhenyu, who has no consciousness of a rebel leader, has been working in the large conference room of the General Staff Department for more than ten hours in a row. The large Siemens telegraph of the communications group next door was ticking and ticking, and from time to time a staff officer hurriedly walked in with a telegram and handed it to Chief of Staff Yang Wangui.

"Marshal, Xu Yuanquan, the commander of the First Army, reported that the troops of the First Army have reached the designated assembly location, and all the cargo ships transported by the Yuanjiang Shipping of the Xiangxi Development Company are also in place, and he asks you for instructions on the next move." Yang Wangui reported honestly.

Wang Zhenyu glanced at the sand table and smiled: "Let them act, pay attention to concealment." In addition, I would like to ask Liu Xing of the Second Army, to what extent have their preparations been carried out? The inner line in Beijing sent a very important news, Ma Jizeng's Sixth Division was missing a brigade, and then Lao Yuan actually asked him to attack Changde, haha, it's a lot of fun now. ”

Yang Wangui also smiled and said: "According to the information provided by the military intelligence department, the Sixth Division itself is not fully staffed, and the actual number of soldiers is less than 20,000, and a team of 5,000 people has been allocated to follow into Sichuan to find trouble with Cai Yi and them." With 15,000 people to attack Liu Xing's more than 70,000 people, and it was an elite army equipped with a large number of heavy equipment, this is no different from letting Ma Jizeng commit suicide. ”

Wang Zhenyu nodded and said: "I'm not worried about the Hunan battlefield, the Beiyang Army has such a small number of troops, Cai Yi is also famous, and our impression of Lao Yuan is estimated to be a poor and remote country, and the strength is very limited." Otherwise, they would not have drawn troops from Ma Jizeng and asked him to attack Changde, and they would actually point to these 15,000 people to take down the entire Xiangxi. If it is really more than 20,000 Beiyang troops nested in Li County, I am afraid it will be a bit difficult for us to gnaw down. Now it's okay, they took the initiative to come out, and Liu Xing is going to make a fortune this time. Moreover, the third division has also been transferred, Changsha is basically an empty city, and the ones we really have to guard against at that time are probably Cheng Qian and Lin Xiumei in southern Hunan. ”

Yang Wangui also echoed with a smile on his face: "What the marshal said is true, there is indeed no problem in Hunan. It's just that there is a question about whether it is appropriate for a division of the First Army to undertake the attack mission in the Baoqing area, and they are the first to contact the people's army in the southern Hunan area, this is not only a military battle but also a political battle, this candidate is very important. ”

Wang Zhenyu stood up with his hands behind his back and said: "Let Tao Zhiyue lead the troops, think about it, it is the most suitable for him, where is their first division now." ”

Yang Wangui looked at the sand table and said: "We have completed the assembly in Jingzhou, according to the original battle jihua, they will board the ship after the start of Changde, and then the troops will be divided into two roads, all the way to Suining, all the way to the entrance of the cave." ”

Wang Zhenyu nodded: "Let Yang Yongtai go with Tao Zhiyue, if Secretary General Yang is there, this errand will not deviate." What I'm most worried about now is Guangxi, although it is not a hard battle with Long Jiguang, but we must be careful, Sun Wen They have been operating in Guangdong for many years, so that Delin and Jiansheng are cheering up, don't play until Zuihou got Long Jiguang but made a wedding dress for others. ”