The Battle of Cihu River, also known as the 'Battle of Cihu River' in the future, not to mention how this battle was written about by historians in the future, at least at this time, this originally very ordinary river was indeed famous throughout the country because of this battle.

Before the final battle broke out on March 15, the world thought that this conflict would not be too ugly even if Bai Wenwei could not win. After all, Bai Wenwei really has too much advantage in terms of numbers, not to mention that there is also the Nanjing Alliance behind him—————— although in public opinion, the Alliance has always asked Bai Wenwei to withdraw his troops, but it is just talking, so almost everyone can see that this conflict between Bai Wenwei and Yan Shao has been tacitly approved and supported by Nanjing.

Even if Bai Wenwei lost in the early stage and lost some soldiers and horses, as long as there is the support of Nanjing, this loss can be replenished at any time.

However, neither Nanjing nor Yuan Shikai in Beijing expected that the largest conflict since the Wuchang Uprising would end in such a result.

Bai Wenwei died in the chaos, and more than half of the army led by Yan Shao was also absorbed by Yan Shao, and Yan Shao himself took this opportunity to become the third largest force in the country.

In other words, after paying a huge price, this alliance not only did not get what he wanted, but helped Yan Shao in disguise, as if it had become a model for losing his wife and breaking his army...

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In the town of Mulong. Xu Baoshan, who finally fought for his life from the chaotic army, sat in the county office, and a few pro-soldiers next to him were making food and tea, and another brought a basin of water and a towel to him. Let him wipe something from his face.

Perhaps because Mulong Town already belonged to Jiangsu Province, or Nanjing, after breaking away from the Cihu River, neither Ying Shan and Bi Gao, who had defected, nor the Anhui Revolutionary Army that had crossed the Cihu River, pursued them.

It is not surprising that although Yan Shao also wants to take advantage of the situation to bring down Nanjing, the situation in Nanjing is a bit complicated after all. If he really does this, nothing else will be counted, and it is difficult to say whether Yuan Shikai will continue to remain silent...

Although Beiyang and Yan Shao's side are different, if you really want to fight. First of all, a large amount of money was paid for the promotion (this is also a common problem of the Chinese army at this time, and from a certain point of view, perhaps only the Chinese army has this problem during this period. But who dares to guarantee that Yuan Shikai really can't make up this money?

Anyway. Now Yuan Shikai is already the president. If Yan Shao really decided to attack Nanjing, no matter from which point of view, Yuan Shikai would not be able to sit idly by...

After getting the towel from the hands of the soldiers and wiping it indiscriminately, Xu Baoshan threw the towel aside.

At this time, two officers came over, and like Xu Baoshan, they all looked embarrassed to go home.

"Commander, what should we do now?"

"yes. Bai Wenwei's guy must be a dead ball, what should we do now? ”

Hear your subordinates ask. Xu Baoshan took a breath, lowered his head and pondered for a while before speaking. "Let's go back to Yangzhou!"

"Back to Yangzhou?" Hearing this answer, both of them were stunned.

"That's right." Xu Baoshan nodded affirmatively, took the tea handed to him on the side, and took a few sips.

"But—" After a moment's hesitation, one of them asked, after all, they had just lost the battle, and they should go back to Nanjing first anyway.

However, hearing the words of his subordinates, Xu Baoshan sneered. "If we win, forget it, the problem is that now we are the generals of the defeated army, and this time the snatching of Anhui has failed again, someone must stand up and take this responsibility, Bai Liewu is estimated to have died in Cihu River now, and now we go back Wouldn't it be in the hands of the Alliance?"

After all, he was born as a salt lord, and Xu Baoshan saw this very clearly.

There was already a great deal of disagreement within the League about the war with Anhui, at least Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren were opposed to this. In this case, if Bai Wenwei and they can win, then everything will naturally be fine, but now that they have lost, someone must stand up and take responsibility.

After all, for this matter, public opinion can almost be said to be one-sided in attacking the Alliance, for which the Alliance has paid a huge price, and the reputation that was already damaged because of Tao Chengzhang's incident has plummeted. Coupled with the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses lost this time, no matter how you think about it, you have to find a scapegoat to come out and carry the black cauldron.

Originally, this responsibility should have been borne by Bai Wenwei, after all, the matter of 'crusading' Anhui was advocated by him. However, Bai Wenwei obviously knew very well that if he returned to Anhui, this responsibility would definitely be his own, so he simply stayed in the army and decided to fight to the death—————— anyway, even if he could save his life, he would definitely not have any future at all, so it was better to stay in the army and fight with Yan Shao.

And since Bai Wenwei has died in the army, then Xu Baoshan has become the second in line to be the scapegoat. After all, in the formation of the Yan army, except for Bai Wenwei, his status is the second highest, just suitable for carrying this black cauldron, and the most important thing is that this time Xu Baoshan's troops suffered heavy casualties, after rushing out of the chaotic army, there were only more than 4,000 troops left in the two divisions, that is, a brigade, whether it was for the alliance or for others, there was no use value at all.

Xu Baoshan even dared to assert that as long as he returned to Nanjing, he would definitely be arrested immediately by the provisional government that had not yet been dissolved (in history, Sun Yat-sen only officially left office in April, which was also for the relationship that Sun Yat-sen still had the right to sign a provisional treaty after the abdication of the Qing dynasty and Yuan Shikai's inauguration as president, of course, this right is still very controversial).

Although with Xu Baoshan's crimes, even if he was shot ten times, there would not be a single grievance, but Xu Baoshan still wanted to live a little longer after all. So...

After listening to Xu Baoshan's explanation, his two subordinates also nodded. "In that case, let's go back to Yangzhou. As long as we go back to Yangzhou, no matter who it is, even if it is President Yuan, we can't do anything..."

"That's right! It's a big deal, let's continue to sell our salt, and take care of them..."

While Xu Baoshan's two subordinates were still scolding there, Xu Baoshan himself looked out of the yamen through the open door.

Ying Shan and Bi Gao are going to rebel against the water, this Xu Baoshan has more or less guessed something. But what Xu Baoshan couldn't understand was that Yan Shao's people didn't come to him...

"And. The loss this time is so big, even if I go back to Yangzhou, I am afraid that the position of the governor of Yangzhou will take some effort to sit firmly..."Just think of those lost soldiers and horses. Xu Baoshan was in pain.

Although like Bai Wenwei, his divisions are all dissatisfied divisions, but the two divisions together have more than 16,000 people, and now there are more than 4,000 people left from more than 16,000 people. Another half were injured. This is called how Xu Baoshan could not feel distressed.

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Things are indeed as Xu Baoshan thought, Nanjing is indeed thinking about how to find a scapegoat, and the preliminarily identified candidate is Xu Baoshan.

The loss of the alliance this time is really too great, not to mention the loss of prestige for the time being, the loss of 80,000 or 90,000 horses alone is not something that the alliance can easily bear. What's more, after a large number of troops defected, the League also gave the Nationalist Socialist Party a much stronger one...

It's just that when the alliance will wait for Xu Baoshan to come back, and then detain him. But someone came over to report that Xu Baoshan had led the army back to Yangzhou directly, and he had no intention of returning to Nanjing at all.

In other words. The Alliance's plans were bankrupt before they even began.

"If you send troops directly to Yangzhou, I'm afraid it will only make the current situation worse, then..."

In the office of the Nanjing Presidential Palace, many people's eyes became much stranger when they looked at Jiang Zuobin.

From a certain point of view, Bai Wenwei's ability to gather eighty or ninety thousand people so smoothly is not unrelated to Jiang Zuobin's help. So since Bai Wenwei is dead and Xu Baoshan has run back to Yangzhou, it is obviously a good idea for Jiang Zuobin to come out and carry the black pot...

At least this choice is much better than letting the top ones come out and embarrass people...

And after noticing the strange eyes of other people in the office, Jiang Zuobin's forehead broke out with a lot of sweat...

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On the road leading to Yangzhou from Mulong Town, Xu Baoshan rode a horse and bowed his head and pondered.

I didn't know that the Alliance had begun to look for a third scapegoat, and what I was most worried about now was that even if he returned to Yangzhou, he would still be approached by the people of the Alliance.

Although the losses of the alliance this time were very large, almost all of the eighty or ninety thousand horses were lost—————— including his twenty thousand.

But even so, there were still more than 100,000 civilian troops in Nanjing, and his more than 16,000 soldiers and horses were now only more than 4,000 left. Even if he can really escape back to Yangzhou, I am afraid he will not be able to resist the punishment of the Alliance.

After all, he is not Yan Shao, and he doesn't have such good equipment, even if he is separated by a Yangtze River, it is impossible to stop the Alliance.

"So the most important thing now is to find an ally, or a backer..."

Thinking of this, Xu Baoshan's first thought was Yuan Shikai, but after a little consideration, he gave up this choice. Because Yuan Shikai is too far away from Yangzhou, what does the alliance really want to do to him, the people from Beiyang haven't left yet, I'm afraid he has already had to abandon the city and flee.

And after putting aside Yuan Shikai, the second candidate is...

"Lee Seop and..."

After occupying Shanghai, Li Xiehe took advantage of Shanghai's relatively abundant financial resources to recruit troops, and now the Liberation Society has become a relatively strong force in the whole country. In addition, almost everyone knows that Tao Chengzhang, the original leader of the Liberation Society, was assassinated by the League, and the contradictions between the two revolutionary organizations are very deep...

If you surrender to Lee Seop-he, the chances of being betrayed in the end are very small...

As for Yan Shao, Xu Baoshan didn't think about it, but when he thought of the Battle of Cihu River, Yan Shao even contacted the miscellaneous troops such as Ying Shan and Bi Gao, but after not contacting himself, Xu Baoshan already instinctively felt that Yan Shao was probably not very kind to him.

Xu Baoshan didn't know when he had offended Yan Shao, but since Yan Shao didn't want to see him. He doesn't plan to take the initiative to come to the door with a hot face and a cold ass...

"Xiao Liangzi..."After making a decision, Xu Baoshan seemed to be much more relaxed.

And after hearing Xu Baoshan's shout, a middle-aged man who looked like an officer soon ran over. "Commander. What do you command..."

Bowing his head and groaning, Xu Baoshan said. "Later, I will write a handwritten letter, you take a few people, take this handwritten letter to Shanghai, and give the letter to the Li Xie and Li Dudu in Shanghai..."

Due to the urgency of time, Xu Baoshan wrote on horseback.

It didn't take long for a letter to be written. Although the handwriting was very sloppy, Xu Baoshan looked at it and confirmed that there was nothing wrong, and hurriedly handed him over to the officer named Liang Zi. Then said solemnly. "Remember, you must give the letter to Li Xiehe, is it clear..."

Seeing Xu Baoshan's appearance, Liang Zi also knew the importance of this letter. So I'm keeping the letter away. Liang Zi said solemnly. "Don't worry, Commander, I won't let you down..."

After saying that, he turned around and called a few trustworthy brothers, and hurried in the direction of Shanghai.

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In his own mansion, the short and fat Yuan Shikai was walking back and forth in the courtyard.

When the news of the battle of Cihuhe reached Beijing, Yuan Shikai's surprise was indescribable.

Originally, he thought that after this battle, even if Yan Shao would not lose, at least he would lose both. Who would have thought that the result would turn out like this, after annexing more than half of the soldiers and horses of the original Yan army. Yan Shao has become the third major force after the Alliance and Beiyang, and in cooperation with Anhui's finances, Yan Shao's threat to Yuan Shikai is even greater than that of the Alliance...

After walking around the courtyard twice, Yuan Shikai looked at the people on the side. "What, Xingcheng hasn't come yet?"

After getting the news, Yuan Shikai had already sent someone to invite Yang Shiqi, and now that Yang Shiqi had not come, Yuan Shikai was inevitably a little anxious.

"Master, someone has already been sent, probably already coming this way..."Seeing Yuan Shikai's appearance, the subordinate on the side replied cautiously.

Hearing him answer, Yuan Shikai snorted heavily.

At this time, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the courtyard, and then I saw Yang Shiqi walking in under the guidance of a subordinate. "Gong Bao, no, the president, you came to me...... It's for the sake of Anhui..."

"That's right." Yuan Shikai nodded, and then waved his hand again. "Xingcheng, with the relationship between you and me, let's call it Gong Bao, there's no need to learn from others..."

Yang Shiqi is a literati and his advisor, and he has no power in his hands, plus he is very 'obedient', so in terms of trust, Yuan Shikai trusts him more than others.

After all, everything Yang Shiqi gave was given by him, and if he wanted to abolish it, it was a matter of one sentence for Yuan Shikai.

Hearing Yuan Shikai's words, Yang Shiqi gave up. "Thank you Kung Pao..."

didn't care too much about greetings, Yuan Shikai hurriedly asked. "At the beginning, you offered me a suggestion, let me sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, if Yan Shao wins, then he will have a feud with the Alliance, and Anhui is surrounded by the Alliance's power on three sides, if he wants to settle down, he needs my support. If the alliance wins, Yan Shao will definitely be expelled from Anhui, but with his age, he will definitely find a way to retaliate against the alliance under his youthful vigor, and at this time, the domestic power has basically stabilized, and Yan Shao wants to find a place to make a comeback, so he can only find a force to cooperate with, and in China, the only one who is possible, and at the same time has the ability to help him, is only my Beiyang, if I can get the help of Yan Shao in financial resources, it is like a tiger for me...

And if the alliance and Yan Shao will lose both, then I can also take advantage of it, or even simply go down and eat all the two sides, so that most of China will belong to me, I also agreed with this policy at the time, but now it looks like this..."As long as he thought that because of this incident, he suddenly had an extra opponent, Yuan Shikai felt a headache.

Seeing Yuan Shikai complaining there, Yang Shiqi also smiled bitterly in his heart.

"It's all Shiqi's fault, if I hadn't been smart, I wouldn't have made it like this..."

Yang Shiqi himself is also very helpless, he is not without information about Anhui, and he also knows about Yan Shao's equipment with a large number of machine guns and cutting-edge German rifles. It's just that in his opinion, Yan Shao's troops are certainly elite in equipment, but most of them are recruits who have just been recruited for a few months after all, and their combat effectiveness may be very worrying.

As for Bai Wenwei's side, although it is also a rabble, after all, there are as many as eighty or ninety thousand, and the number is superior, compared with the two, Yang Shiqi still thinks that Bai Wenwei's chances of winning are higher. In fact, not only he sees it this way, but even Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen and others...

Naturally, Yang Shiqi also calculated that Yan Shao would use money to buy Ying Shan and others, after all, compared with Yuan Shikai and the Alliance, Yan Shao's biggest advantage is that he is rich enough, and he will definitely do this kind of thing with money to smash people.

However, even if Yan Shao gives more, it is impossible to rob more than them, if there is hope to capture Dangtu, Ying Shan They will never be bought by Yan Shao, this Yang Shiqi has absolute confidence, even if there are so many two who are bought, they will not shake the overall situation.

Who would have thought that Bai Wenwei's Yan army would actually run into a bloody encounter at Cihu River, and for more than 10 days, he couldn't even move forward, and as a result, Ying Shan, Bi Gao and others turned against each other and became like this...

Seeing Yang Shiqi blaming himself there, Yuan Shikai waved his hand. "Forget it, don't talk about it, I agree with your plan after all, I came this time to ask you, what should I do now..."

"Now..."Yang Shiqi didn't intend to really apologize, but when he heard Yuan Shikai say this, he naturally got off the donkey, and he also thought about what to do on the way here, so he hurriedly said. Gong Bao, how is the loan talking..."(To be continued......)