Although the Battle of Shandong involved most of the energy of the Qing court, and the great changes in the north made the Qing court even more desperate, the War Department and even the Military Aircraft Department still devoted a lot of energy to the southern battlefield.

Because the Southern Army is the main force of the Mengshan Army, where is Long Qian personally commanded.

After the fall of Hengyang, the defense of Changsha became the focus of central controversy.

According to Yuan Shikai's plan, he was going to abandon Changsha. At the first meeting of the War Department when Yuan Shikai went out of the mountain, it was decided that the main force of the eighth town would go out of the front line of Xianning and Puqi, relying on the terrain to build strong fortifications to ensure the safety of Wuchang.

However, the governor of Huguang, Ruizi, and the governor of Hunan, Cen Chunbei, both expressed opposition to the abandonment of Changsha. In particular, Cen Chunbei continuously called the center, believing that the abandonment of Changsha without a fight would greatly damage the prestige of the imperial court and lead to the instability of Jiangxi, Anhui and other neighboring provinces, which was really the next policy. Cen Chunbei further pointed out that abandoning Changsha is a matter of international outlook and will bring about serious consequences that are difficult to predict. He suggested that the eighth town should be transferred south to Changsha, cooperate with the various units of the Hunan Provincial Army, and fight a decisive battle with Longqian's Southern Army in Changsha and defeat it in one fell swoop.

The report enumerated Hunan's military strength, pointing out that there were no less than 30,000 patrol battalions in Hunan, and there was a well-trained new military standard, and if it was helped by the Eighth Town, it would be able to break the enemy under the city of Changsha.

Cen Chunbei used the word "Xiangzhu", hoping that the Changsha war would be based on himself and supplemented by the guest army.

Cen Chunbei's character Yaojie, once served as an envoy in Hubei, helped Zhang Zhidong implement the new policy, and handled the Lianghu Supervision and Training Office, which has a certain influence in the eighth town. This person is known as a butcher in Hunan, and his governance is harsh, and he belongs to the iron-fisted category. He was reluctant to give up the provincial capital. Naturally, he was planning for himself, despite the decision of the center, he was not considered to run away, but Hunan fell, and his future was over. Brother Cen Chunxuan has faded out of the political arena, and if he finishes himself, the Cen family will be completely finished.

The suggestion of Ruizi and Shum Chunbei shook the Central's determination. If you can break the enemy in Changsha, it will be a good thing. Since Long Qian's "survey and electricity," Guangxi, Guangdong, Jilin, and Heilongjiang have fallen, and the entire south has been shaken. The southeast is fine. The three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan in the southwest all show signs of instability, especially in Yunnan, which is shocked three times a day, and there are constant rumors that the new army (Yunnan has two new armies) will make trouble. Frightened, the authorities even confiscated all the bullets of the Forces nouvelles. The situation in Sichuan is even worse. Some anti-Qing party organizations seem to have forgotten that Long Qian forcefully suppressed and banned the Hui party. Under the influence of the Mengshan army, the governor of Sichuan uncovered the conspiracy one after another, and cut off twenty-four heads in Chengdu at one time. It is enough to reflect the tension of the situation in Sichuan. If the center gave up Changsha without a fight at this time, it would mark the Manchu Qing's abandonment of Jiangnan, not only the southwestern provinces would be more turbulent, but also the neighboring Anhui and Jiangxi, and the overall situation would be completely eroded.

Therefore, at the same time as the fall of Hengyang and the start of the Battle of Dezhou, Zaifeng convened the Military Aircraft Department to study and decided to adopt the suggestions of Ruizi, the governor of Huguang, and Cen Chunbei, the governor of Hunan, to transfer the main force of the eighth town to the south to defend Changsha, and break the main force of Longqian's southern army in Changsha.

For this reason, Zaifeng sent his seventh brother Zaitao to Hunan to supervise the war on the spot.

This is tantamount to changing Yuan Shikai's plan. In order not to affect Yuan Shikai, who was fighting in Texas, this decision was decided without even informing Lao Yuan.

However, in the order issued by the Military Aircraft Department to the Hubei New Army from the War Department, it was clearly stated that Wuchang was important and that it was necessary to re-engineer it, and the eighth town should be transferred to the south, and the 21st mixed association of Li Yuanhong would be formed in Wuchang to assume the heavy responsibility of guarding.

The infantry of the two standards of the Lebanese department also has artillery, engineering and other units, which are well-equipped and trained, and have strong combat effectiveness. At present, the great enemy will either move all of them to the south to concentrate their forces to defeat the incoming enemy to the greatest extent, or shrink south of Wuchang and take the defense of Wuchang as the strategic goal. The center's plan to put an elite hybrid in a useless place is clearly wrong. However, the Military Aircraft Department was stunned to give such an order, which was really unscrupulous.

The arrival of the main force of the Eighth Town in Changsha greatly encouraged the confidence of Yu Mingyi, the commander of the Hunan Patrol Battalion, in defending the city. Taking stock of the defenders, in addition to the more than 14,000 people in the Eighth Town, the Four Standards, the Second Standard, and the patrol battalions concentrated in Changsha, there were also more than 15,000 troops. Yu Mingyi, on behalf of Governor Cen Chunbei, told Zhang Biao that with the elite of the eighth town under Zhang's control, the children of Sanxiang would have more confidence in defending their townships.

Hunan was originally a backward and isolated province in the central part of the country, but since the rise of the Hunan army, Hunan has become a major military and political province in the country, and a group of talents have been produced, and the Hunan people have become an extremely important force on the political map of the late Qing Dynasty.

Cen Chunbei not only seriously prepared for the war, but also made full publicity. How to get the word out? Cen Chunbei used the old tactics of Zeng Guofan forty years ago to portray Long Qian's southern army as a new generation of "long hair": ...... The dragon bandit is a long-haired evil species, destroying my Chinese ethics and morality for thousands of years, without a father and a king, and his crimes are too numerous to write. Where the dragon bandits cross the border, people have to open the knife, the stone has to go over the fire, and the famous cities in southern Hunan such as Chenzhou and Hengyang are all destroyed by the thieves...... My Sanxiang children uphold Zeng Wenzhenggong Yu Yong, how can they be submissive to the dragon bandits? When everyone is brave and fights to the death against the dragon bandits!

Zaitao, who supervised the battle in Hunan as a Qincha, sent a telegram to the center on August 12, "Hunan Province has the same hatred and hatred, and the overall situation can be expected. ”

The officers and men of the Hunan Patrol Battalion embraced the idea of defending their hometown, and their morale was boosted. Only the equipment is not enough, and the training is very poor. After the Eighth Town went south to Changsha, a batch of weapons were presented to the patrol battalion led by Yu Mingyi, which greatly improved the equipment of the patrol battalion and made Cen Chunbei and Yu Mingyi more confident. But they didn't notice another big problem, that is, there were a large number of "quasi-revolutionary parties" hidden in the new army built by Zhang Zhidong in the Eighth Town.

During the advance of the 1st Division of Feng Guozhu from Hengyang to Changsha, it had reported more than once that it had been attacked and harassed by the township soldiers, and the interrogation of the captured township soldiers made Long Qian realize that Hunan was not easy to handle. What he wants is to seize the world, not to wash Hunan in blood. After the intelligence of the eighth town's southern transfer was confirmed, Long Qian was happy and worried. The good thing is that the eighth town is not a bad thing to transfer to Changsha, if the eighth town is annihilated or defeated in Changsha, the pressure on Wuchang in the north will be much less, even if the ninth town is transferred to Wuchang in the west, it is not enough to worry. However, Hunan showed a strong sense of resistance, which deeply worried Long Qian.

August 15th. The Battle of Texas was still in full swing. Long Qian held a military conference on the capture of Changsha in Lukou Town, which was close to Changsha, and after introducing the situation of the defenders of Changsha, Situ Jun, chief of the General Staff, explained the deployment of the Southern Army to capture Changsha: Attack the main force of the 1st Division of Fengguozhu head-on, attack Changsha City head-on along Lukou-Zhuzhou-Huilongtang, take the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division as the left route army, seize Xiangtan in the first step, and then enter the west of Changsha, seize the commanding heights of Yuelu Mountain, and attack Changsha with the 1st Division. The 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division, the Headquarters Special Brigade, the Headquarters Engineer Regiment, the Baggage Regiment and a part of the Cavalry Regiment that had been marching on the right side of the main force had occupied Liling, and marched north to occupy Liuyang. Then capture Yong'an. Advance along the left bank of the Laotang River to copy the road behind Changsha and cut off the connection between Wuchang and Changsha.

The 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division was still in Guilin, carrying out Long Qian's order to clear Guangxi, and the headquarters was to assemble the 7th Brigade of the 3rd Division in Shaoguan as the general reserve. Head south now. With a thick mid-lane force.

Situ Jun thinks. The total strength of the eighth town will not exceed 15,000 people, the patrol battalion will be 20,000 at most, and the total strength of the enemy army will be about 35,000. Taking into account the current state of training and weapons of the patrol battalion. That's 30,000 people (this estimate is quite accurate). And what about our army? The 3rd Brigade and 9th Regiment of the 1st Division have a total strength of 33,000 troops, and the 4th Brigade has 7,000 troops, plus the strength of the directly subordinate teams, the total strength is about 46,000. Considering the disparity in weapons, it is estimated that there is no need to wait for the arrival of the 7th Brigade for our army to achieve the goal of capturing Changsha and annihilating the 8th Town in central Hunan.

Situ Jun emphasized that our main enemy is the Eighth Town, and defeating this new army is a victory.

The officers of the 1st Division, the 2nd Division, and the 4th Brigade were all gearing up and eager to try. Since the Northern Expedition of Shaoguan, except for the first brigade that fought a decent battle under the city of Hengyang, all the way north, it was all a march (the harassment of the township soldiers was not considered a war in the eyes of officers above the regiment commander). The Shandong Army firmly held Dezhou, and the Northern Army had sought Fengtian, in contrast, the Southern Army, which was the main force of the Mengshan Army, did not have a good record.

Feng Guozhu immediately stated that the first division would seize Changsha within seven days, and he was willing to issue a military order.

The distance from Lukou to Changsha is one hundred and fifty miles, and Feng Guozhu's attitude is resolute enough. Feng Guozhu's attitude also has another meaning, that is, the auxiliary forces of the east and west roads are not needed, and he can lead the two brigades to seize Changsha.

Long Qian spoke the last, and his tone was much lower. He first talked about the latest news of the battle situation in Shandong and outside the Guanwai, and then pointed out the difficulty of the battle of Changsha, "I don't want to sign the military order of Changsha on the seventh day of the division commander." Otherwise, you lost your head in a daze, and I can't bear it. He coldly glanced at the somewhat embarrassed Fengguo Pillar, "Yes, in terms of the comparison of forces, our army has the advantage. But the land is good for the people, but it is not in me! If we do not pay attention to these two points, our army will lose the war. You should not be stimulated by the battlefields in Shandong and outside the Guan, let alone have the idea of fighting for merit, and you must firmly remember the ancient precept that arrogant soldiers will be defeated. Since the Northern Expedition, our army has not officially fought a tough battle, and it has marched hundreds of miles north in a few days, and it seems that it has been driving straight into the country like a bamboo, but how many guns have you surrendered? How many captives were captured? I noticed that the Hunan Patrol Battalion was very stubborn in its fighting will, and they regarded us as enemies who had invaded their hometown, which was very difficult to do. If the military policy is not in place and the people of Sanxiang are angered, we will be in big trouble! The Eighth Town's excellent training has been proven in the Zhangde Autumn Exercise three years ago, Wuchang is the second only domestic arms base in Shandong, and the Eighth Town has no ammunition, which can be called a formidable enemy. ”

Long Qian took a sip of water, "As for our army, except for the fact that there are more people than the enemy army, everyone else is at a disadvantage!" On the march in the scorching heat, the number of sick people increased, and the logistics line became longer and longer, making it difficult to replenish supplies. There are many new recruits, and the combat power needs to be tested urgently...... Master Feng, these factors are combined, do you still insist on going to Changsha for seven days? ”

Feng Guozhu lowered his head and didn't say anything.

"In addition, the battle of Changsha must be a war of annihilation, not a battle of defeat! What's the point of us driving the eighth town all the way to Wuchang? Shall we go to the city of Wuchang and attack again? The Qing court was confused, and it was a mistake to transfer the eighth town to Changsha! gave us a chance, Changsha City is easy to attack and difficult to defend, much easier to fight than Wuchang! Therefore, the chief of the general staff of Situ formulated a plan for the three-way march, especially the right road, which must complete the detour and cut off its return route before the eighth town abandons Changsha. Therefore, the center and left armies can make a big noise, but the right army must be silenced, so that the enemy will find out about our intentions as soon as possible! Therefore, the left side of the center must determine the degree of your attack according to the actions of the right army, attract the enemy, fight slowly, and wait for the right army to appear north of Changsha before attacking the city with all its might. Again, don't be affected by Shandong and Guanwai, the Sixth Division fought very well in Dezhou, whose troops is the Sixth Division? Mengshan Army's. The Sixth Division absorbed the main forces of the four towns of Beiyang in Shandong, which ensured that our southern army could calmly and unhurriedly advance to Wuchang. Fight for merit? What merit is fighting for? In this decisive battle that will change China's destiny, the General Staff Department knows who has the greatest credit, the General Political Department knows it in its heart, and I also know it in my heart. Capture Wuchang, we will be invincible! ”

At the end of the day, Long Qian emphasized discipline and propaganda, "The General Political Department should intensify propaganda, think of more propaganda methods, and release all the captured enemy soldiers to Sichuan!" Let them propagate for us what kind of army the Mengshan Army is! Post more slogans and distribute leaflets, telling the people of Sanxiang that the Mengshan Army is by no means a long-haired army, but a benevolent and righteous army that overthrew the Manchu Qing Dynasty and rebuilt the country! From now on, all units of the Southern Army will not occupy civilian houses and will never be allowed to harass the people! Whoever makes a mistake in this regard, will not be spared! ”

After the meeting, Long Qian asked the Intelligence Bureau to contact Guangzhou, seeing that Feng Ru's air team with three planes needed several transfers to reach Changsha, and ordered the First Division Engineer Regiment to immediately build an airstrip to welcome the arrival of the air force.

Situ Jun was a little skeptical, "What's the matter with those planes?" It's just a toy. ”

"You." Long Qian pointed at Situ Jun and smiled bitterly, "Even you can't see the magic of the plane." Can't drop bombs or drop leaflets? Sometimes a few leaflets are more powerful than a few bombs. ”

Long Qian invited Qiu Jin, who was appointed as the Propaganda Minister of the General Political Department, to talk with her for a long time, and proposed a number of propaganda methods that made Qiu Jin's eyes shine, and asked her to be responsible for the overall propaganda work of Hunan Province, so as to dispel the concerns of the people of Sanxiang about the Mengshan Army and lay the foundation for the follow-up governance work.

Because of the achievements of Shandong and Guanwai, Qiu Jin firmly believed that the war would be won. Long Qian's attention to the work of the people also made her admire, and suggested that with the advance of the Mengshan army, a provisional government should be established in the captured places, and some work aimed at the people should be better done by the government. Long Qian disagreed, believing that the Mengshan Army was still a relatively single armed group and lacked civilian officials. Second, the efficiency of military control is higher than that of civil affairs, and when Wuchang is captured, the situation in the whole country will inevitably change greatly, and a nationwide provisional government will be planned. (To be continued......)