Flipping through the map, Xuchang is Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou is Luoyang on the left, Kaifeng on the right, it can be said that the enemy is close at hand, maybe tomorrow will be under the city.

Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng, these three cities are basically at the same latitude, and they are the core territory of Wu Peifu's forces. Since the last war faux paux, Wu Peifu's territory has shrunk greatly, leaving only an incomplete Henan province to survive.

The most important thing is that the strategic location of Henan is important, but it is a poor province, there is no money if there is no territory, and there is no money to support the army, he Wu Peifu adds up to less than 50,000 troops, and the army is very good, and there are only 10,000 people who can fight, even if it is the third division that was disabled by the revolutionary army in 1924 and then reorganized, it is estimated that there is no combat effectiveness.

At this time, Wu Peifu's chief of staff, Xiao Yaonan, came in and reported: "It has been found out that it was two regiments of the Fifth Division of the Southern Revolutionary Army that attacked Xuchang. The Fifth Division, also known as the Capital Division, was stationed in Wuhan and was a heavy division equipped with a large number of artillery and machine guns, as well as tanks and armored vehicles, and had fierce firepower.

The tank suddenly came down from the Xuchang railway station, and our troops were caught off guard, and when they saw the rumbling tanks coming, they were immediately afraid! ”

Xiao Yaonan frowned when he saw Wu Peifu, and he himself felt a headache, thinking that when he was in Wuhan, his direct troops suffered a lot on the armored vehicles of the revolutionary army.

"And not long ago, the planes from the south also went around Luoyang, and they are the most difficult to deal with."

Xiao Yaonan added. Luoyang is not without Wu Peifu's own planes, but when I think of these planes, they are all old goods bought from Wuhan, and there are only about a dozen of them in number. The quality is definitely not as good as the new model of the original manufacturer.

Now the deep-pocketed revolutionary army has the Hanyang Arsenal, which will definitely produce more aircraft and artillery than it did three years ago, and there will definitely be more tanks and armored vehicles.

And relying on the half-dead Luoyang Arsenal, it is difficult to even equip the troops with machine guns, let alone artillery, let alone tanks and armored vehicles.

The enemy is menacing, and his own troops are outnumbered. As soon as Wu Peifu heard that the other party was the Fifth Division, he was discouraged.

He was confident that he would have the strength to fight against the rest of the country, but against the armies of the south, armed to the teeth and trained by the Germans. He felt a vague sense of despair.

"It seems that people are treating us as soft persimmons. If you want to pinch it, you can pinch it. Wu Peifu's eyes showed a fierce light, and he suppressed the anger in his chest. What kind of scenery did you think about the 3rd Beiyang Division back then......

Xiao Yaonan did not deny Wu Peifu's words, in fact, everyone knew that the military in the north was not the opponent of the Southern Revolutionary Army combined. It has always depended on when the Northern Expedition was launched!

Xiao Yaonan analyzed: "It is estimated that there will be more follow-up troops going north. It's up to them to eat us. Or kill Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin in the north? ”

It's hard to say how the Feng Department will be, now he is uncomfortable Wu Peifu, and people have already done it!

The more Wu Peifu thought about it, the more pessimistic he became. After being silent for a long time, Yang Tian sighed: "It seems that our direct line is about to end!"

A few days ago, I received a telegram from Cao Kun from the concession, and Cao Sange had already arranged it for himself in the concession, as long as he nodded himself, he could move in as a free apartment.

However, he Wu Peifu vowed not to enter the concession. The world is so big, where is his place?

Just when Wu Peifu was going to stay uncertainly, his old friend Mr. Kadoorie Jr. actually deigned to Luoyang.

This arms dealer, who once sold a lot of weapons to Wu Peifu, is now one of the people who speak for the US-China consortium, and this foreign devil is an out-and-out southerner!

As soon as they met, Wu Peifu didn't give Xiao Jiadao a good face, and he asked coldly: "Do you want to sell weapons to me again?" I don't have any money, although the quality of the munitions at the Hanyang Arsenal is good. ”

It sounds ironic that the southerners sold weapons from the Hanyang Arsenal to the enemy Wu Peifu.

Little Kadoorie stretched out his hands and shrugged his shoulders, and he was not angry at Wu Peifu's ridicule, he smiled slightly: "I am no longer responsible for the small business of arms, I am now the president of the Chinese branch of the American Chinese Bank, the American Chinese Bank is the most powerful bank in Asia, you know." ”

Laugh at!

Xiao Yaonan took a breath of cold air, looked at the foreign devil in front of him with wide eyes, and felt incredible, this foreign devil is big!

The U.S.-China Bank is the financier of the Wuhan central government, don't look at the Wuhan government to get a central government, but the real thing is the U.S.-China Bank, not to mention the bank that controls a large number of military railway enterprises, and the bank accounts of those high-ranking officials and generals of the Wuhan government are all opened by the U.S.-China Bank.

Although the general public doesn't know much about it, the mention of American-Chinese Bank always feels powerful and mysterious. The situation in China has changed so much, and the reason why the Wuhan Zhi Gong Dang government is so strong is not because it has the support of this bank behind it that it is invincible in China?

The American-Chinese bank's people are more energetic than the HSBC bank's Taipan, and Wu Peifu has dealt with the British, what does the identity of Little Kadoorie mean in the way of nature.

"How can you say that you are too emperor of the southerners? I'm going to bow down to you. Wu Peifu's tone was still cold.

He looked at little Kadoorie, his face was calm, he just didn't want to say anything more, as if he didn't care. Well, even if the other party is a too emperor, a bullshit banker, he doesn't want him to bow his head. What's even more odious is that Song Ziwen actually sent a foreigner over?

He Wu Peifu has no other skills, even if he is unwilling to bow his head in front of foreigners.

The two looked at each other for a while, and little Kadoorie knew Wu Peifu's hard temper and decided to be open and honest: "From Nanyang to Guangzhou, then to Wuhan, and now to Luoyang, every step of the expansion of the revolutionary army is inseparable from the support of the American-Chinese Bank. In this operation, the Bank of America and China provided a military guarantee of 100 million fiat currency.

Of course, I am not too emperor, and I also have a boss behind me, but you don't know, he is also Chinese, otherwise the United States and China would not invest heavily in China. ”

"Song Ziwen is really rich in the world." Wu Peifu suddenly realized, and his heart was cold, it was 100 million yuan in military spending, and he was actually understated by this foreign devil.

Not to mention 100 million yuan of fiat currency, one-tenth is enough to buy those generals under him, right?

"Song? No, no, no. He's not my boss, he's just a level above me. Of course, he could also be said to be my boss. ”

Little Kadoorie said a little vaguely, and accidentally leaked some heavenly secrets. Song Ziwen is just a little lucky, in terms of talent, little Kadoorie thinks that he will not lose to Song Ziwen.

Little Kadoorie's words finally aroused Wu Peifu's interest, from Xiao Kadoorie's words, he vaguely felt that there was someone else behind Song Ziwen, who was he? What kind of mysterious person laid out such a big game?

Wu Peifu was very curious and had the heart to ask. However, little Kadoorie resolutely did not go any further.

Wu Peifu himself did not think that he could withstand the revolutionary army going north. Little Kadoorie rushed here and revealed this secret to himself, what is his intention?

But since little Kadoorie came over in person, he and the southern government should have a chance to negotiate, right?

Wu Peifu thought to himself. Then he asked, "So much." What the hell do you want? Go ahead! ”

"Wuhan sent troops this time, the reason is very simple, it is to seize Henan's coal resources. Meet the industrial needs of the South. ”

Little Kadoorie spoke out.

"Huh? Just for coal? Wu Peifu was dumbfounded when he heard it, damn, these southerners dispatched aircraft and artillery just to come to Henan to dig coal.

Just say no? I, Lao Wu, didn't let you dig coal! Wu Peifu suddenly felt very aggrieved.

Xiao Yaonan, who was next to him, was also puzzled after listening to Xiao Kadaoie's explanation: "Isn't there a Pingxiang coal mine in the south?" ”

Little Kadoorie shook his head: "Pingxiang Coal Mine is only Pingxiang Coal Mine, far from meeting the market demand, in addition to Pingxiang Coal Mine, we have also invested in Liupanshui Coal Mine in Guizhou and Hongji Coal Mine in the north of Annan. However, none of this is enough. Song and his government thought that Henan was rich in coal mines, so—"

"So you're coming to grab my territory?" Wu Peifu said.

"Hmm. It seems so. Little Kadoorie said, and then said, "Compared with Henan, I am personally most optimistic about Shanxi's coal." This exposes the ambitions of Wuhan, Henan is only the first step for them to obtain resources from the north, followed by Zhili Shanxi.

Seeing that Wu Peifu and the others still did not quite understand, little Kadoorie felt that it was necessary to explain the important role of coal in the industrialization of the south.

"We are ready to invest 5 to 1 billion yuan to build a number of thermal power plants, and the demand for coal is hundreds of millions of tons. In order to develop Henan coal, we are also preparing to renovate the Henan section of the Jinghan Railway. At the same time, in order to develop Henan, a number of large-scale industrial and mining enterprises were built in Luoyang or Zhengzhou. All in all, it's big business. I mean, you get the idea, right? ”

Little Kadoorie winked at Wu Peifu as he spoke, looking a little proud, and continued, "In recent years, the industrial construction in the south has been fruitful, while more and more people in the north have fled south, and the calls from all walks of life for the Northern Expedition have become higher and higher. ”

"Sounds like you're not happy to come and beat us, are you forced to do so?" Xiao Yaonan said sarcastically. But I have to admit in my heart that the military industry in the south is developed and can arm a large number of troops, and its strength is much more than that of the direct family.

"The matter has come to this, as your friend, I, respected Mr. Kadoorie, strongly recommend that General Wu and your army take the initiative to withdraw from Henan, and Wuhan is willing to compensate you in terms of materials."

Little Kadoorie made a condition. In fact, there is no need for him to deign to come to Wu Peifu for negotiations this time, but Wu Peiyi is his close friend, and he is still a good general, so Xiao Jiadao is willing to make a trip, by the way, to inspect Henan's coal and iron resources and the investment in the Henan section of the Jinghan Railway double-track project.

Little Kadoorie's words made Wu Peifu and Xiao Yaonan hesitate, and neither of them spoke for a while.

"Think about it, I'll visit you tomorrow."

After Little Kadoorie left, Wu Peifu and Xiao Yaonan looked at each other, and the two were silent for a while, digesting the information brought by Little Kadoorie.

They're finally getting their hands dirty!

Wu Peifu touched his smooth head, and when he thought of the planes and rumbling tanks and armored vehicles rushing over, his head was faintly numb, and he said depressedly: "How do you feel a little wronged?" ”

"yes." Xiao Yaonan nodded, "Those people in Wuhan do things differently, the former Qing Dynasty or Yuan Gongbao will do it, how can they work so hard to build factories and build railways?" It seems that we are in the way of other people's money. ”

"So, what kind of power plan is the thermal power plant, is it true? How much coal do you have to dig up? Is there so much coal in Henan? How did I not know? ”

After a few questions, Wu Peifu shook his head while asking, always feeling a little strange.

"Fortunately, people didn't want our lives, they just wanted to take us away. For today's plan, there is only one way to go east to Shandong, north to Zhili or west to the northwest. ”

Siu Yiu South Road.

To the north is Feng Yuxiang's traitor, and further north is Shanxi, listening to little Kadoorie say that the southerners still value Shanxi's coal, it is conceivable that if you go north, you must first defeat Feng Yuxiang. If Wu Peifu could clean up Feng Yuxiang, he would have done it a long time ago, so why wait until today.

If you go east to Shandong, it will be a temporary choice, but there is a bastard named Zhang Zongchang in Shandong, and it is not easy to provoke, and the revolutionary army has a heavy army stationed in Xuzhou, who dares that a qiē in Henan today will not be repeated in Shandong?

Wu Peifu is a person who governs the army, and he has probably seen it clearly in the past few years, don't look at Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin, even if they add themselves, they are not the opponents of those people in the south, but they have Hanyang Iron Works with an annual output of one million tons of iron?

"Shandong's strategic location is important, no less than Henan in the Central Plains, and the same is true for Zhili, and perhaps only the remote northwest can make me wait for a long time." Wu Peifu sighed, thinking that Xiao Jiadao didn't point out the direction of the direct retreat just now, their minds probably also wanted to take them to the northwest!

Of course, if he and Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin get involved, the Wuhan gang would also be happy to see such a result, and maybe they would end the warlords in the north in one pot.

"In this case, it is better for us to simply dominate the northwest, like that Shaanxi, Gansu and Ma, non-our race will have different hearts, as long as we hold high the banner of defending the frontier and advance westward, Wuhan will not only be happy to see it, but it is estimated that it will also be supported, right?"

Xiao Yaonan gritted his teeth and said.

"Dominate the Northwest?" Wu Peifu's eyes lit up, and he vaguely might be able to fight a bloody way. Since it is impossible to unify the whole country, then for the country's borders, as a soldier, Wu Peifu does not object.

As Xiao Yaonan said, there is nothing left in the northwest to leave the warlord, and he Wu Peifu is the king of the mountain, like what Shaanxi horse and Ganma, Wu Peifu doesn't pay attention to at all.

Avoiding the Central Plains and the northwest, letting the north and the south fight, and sitting on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, is both a helpless and not too bad choice, but the northwest is bitter cold, can you survive it?

Wu Peifu secretly beat the drum in his heart.

At the same time, he was a little confused in his heart, and sighed to Xiao Yaonan: "In the past few years, I have worked hard to maintain order in Henan, watching the construction of the south become stronger day by day, I think that Gongbao will not have such ambition in the next life, and those guys in the Kuomintang can only talk about cannons, and they will not be able to build well." Wuhan should be destiny! ”

"Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin in our north must be more anxious than us, and they will soon have to endure this kind of fearful days!"

Siu Yiu South Road. After speaking, the two looked at each other and smiled, and it felt like being neighbors with those people in Wuhan. (To be continued......)