Yizhou was besieged, and the news of the imminent war in southern Lunan immediately spread throughout Shandong, and the counties of Yizhou were at a loss, and the Germans and British followed this imminent war with great interest. Hans, the manager of the Rhine & Co., who had set out from Jiao'ao to Zhengjiazhuang to negotiate with Long Qian on the purchase of weapons, did not stop in Jinan, but hurried to Fei County to observe the clash nearby in order to fulfill the order given by the governor Tolpar. Governor Tolpar told Hans that he would take advantage of this opportunity to observe the right flank of the Wasion Army, the Manchurian army that had suddenly emerged, their strength, combat effectiveness, and political attitudes, and to determine whether there was any hope of raising up a pro-German military force. Now that the weight in Germany's hands is weapons, didn't the Wasion Army send a young man with deep ties to Germany to seek to buy weapons?

The British, on the other hand, had a different attitude from the Germans. The British Empire is also the most powerful country on the planet, with the flag flying all over the world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and the navy of the Promised Empire is across the seven seas, and the colonies of the British Empire are all over the world. While India was a core British interest in Asia, in East Asia, the British Empire had an increasingly important interest in China. Shandong's location was so important that it was so important to connect the north and south, and in the face of Germany's rapid expansion in Shandong, the British Empire would never allow any country to monopolize Shandong. Therefore, the British Empire was most concerned about the situation in Shandong. For this reason, the British consul went from Weihai to Jinan to understand the attitude of the governor of Shandong, Yamen, towards the situation in southern Lunan, and demanded that the Shandong provincial government calm down the situation as soon as possible, ensure north-south communications, and never endanger any interests of the British Empire.

In fact. The Great Powers have always welcomed any form of civil war in China – as long as it does not jeopardize their interests in China.

The capital city of Yizhou was finally besieged and the water was impassable. On the second day after Tang Shaoyi left Yizhou to find a way to a peaceful solution, Zhou Yi joined forces with Cheng Erhu's troops from Yixian County and surrounded Yizhou from the west and south.

The siege is not to line up the soldiers hand in hand in an iron bucket formation, as long as the size of the road out of the city is controlled, the siege of the city is completed. One or several men can cross the wilderness and climb the mountains to break through the encirclement, but an army carrying weapons, ammunition, and supplies must not do that.

Li Chun didn't expect Long Qian to disregard his old nest and plot Yizhou City with all his might. Many of the officers under his command were angry because of the casualties of the soldiers and asked to break through the siege and fight to the death, but Li Chun stopped drinking. Li Chunzhi said that he must not fight this battle. It is not only the difference in military strength, but more importantly, the political situation does not allow it. When Li Chun learned that the Mengshan army was testing artillery in the north of the city. He really regretted it. Long Qian was originally a thief. As soon as the battle broke out, the most common result was the reraising of the rebel flag. But I can't do it myself, the cards in my hand are too few and too small. The battle began. Even if he doesn't die in the two armies. The future is completely over.

I knew it was so. It was time to listen to Tang Shaochuan's persuasion and lead the army to evacuate Yizhou.

The army could give orders, but the merchants in the city were unstable. Yizhou is located at the throat of north-south traffic. There were many merchants, the city was besieged, and the traffic was cut off, and the business of the merchants was greatly affected. In the past few days, more and more merchants have gone to the prefect's yamen and the town guard yamen to petition for the early lifting of the blockade of Yizhou. Tang Shaoyi ran out of the city, and these merchants all came to see Li Chun, which made Li Chun very annoyed. Later, I realized that these businessmen must have been instructed or instigated by others, and even had the intention of blaming the Yizhou army in their words. Li Chun was furious, and immediately ordered the detention of several businessmen with fierce words, and after the persuasion of his staff Li Xiaolin, Li Chun released those businessmen the next day. By the way, he found a stubble and scolded Li Xiaolin. Li Chunzhi said that Li Xiaolin and Zheng Cheng had a great relationship, and Zheng Cheng colluded with the gangsters who had escaped the net to plot against Long Qian, and Li Xiaolin must have been involved. Although Lee Hyo-lin flatly denied it afterwards.

You can't fight, and you are worried that you won't be able to defend it. In case Long Qian's gang has a long-term siege, Yizhou does not have much grain in stock, resulting in civil unrest, and Li Chun will definitely be finished. Therefore, in the days before Tang Shaoyi returned to Yizhou, Li Chun was anxious, caught and scolded whom, and his eyes were red like rabbits.

Tang Shaoyi returned to Yizhou four days later and informed Li Chun of the talks with Long Qian. Tang Shaoyi, who has always been elegant and elegant, couldn't help but scold Long Qian. Different from Lu Shan's naked explanation, Long Qian insisted that the purpose of the right wing of the Weisheng Army this time was not aimed at Yizhou, but to suppress bandits and exercises. When to end this absurd "exercise" that resulted in two deaths and three injuries of the Yizhou army, Long Qian has no timetable. told Tang Shaoyi that there were too many recruits, and the combat effectiveness was worrisome. I was afraid of living up to the high hopes of the Queen Mother, so I had to pull them out by suppressing the bandits and making them suffer a little and be a little tired. Anyway, at present, the earth is springing, and the days are getting warmer day by day, and people can't freeze to death if they squat on the top of the mountain and sleep in the open.

Tang Shaoyi didn't expect Long Qian to be so "tricky". Bandits? Are there bandits who surround a city and are not allowed to communicate with each other? Tang Shaoyi knew that Long Qian hated the Yizhou Road incident. And it's no wonder. If it weren't for the fate, he would have died at the hands of bandits. It's impossible not to hold grudges. So he patiently explained that the Yizhou Road incident did not involve Li Chun in any way. Zheng Cheng may be suspected of it, but this person is by no means Li Chun's subordinate. And since he took over the prefect of Yizhou, he has never seen this person. For this reason, a detailed investigation was done, and it was said that this person had already left after the Spring Festival. What is the patrol battalion, you think about it clearly. There is a serious shortage of personnel, and there is no training, so how can there be any military discipline? I promise you that if you capture this person, I will hand him over to you at your disposal.

Long Qian was surprised, and said When did I say that Li Chun was implicated in that incident? Didn't you? If I thought that Li Chun did it, I would have gone to Yizhou to explain it a long time ago. Wu Yong's prefect was shot, and Lord Zhang Lianfen was almost killed. The two adults personally participated in the interrogation of the captives, and it was the captives who confessed that they were soldiers of the Yizhou patrol battalion. Rao is like this, I don't want to believe that the regular army of Yizhou is involved in this matter, and I have a lot of persuasion to Zhang and Wu. Unbelief? You can go to Mr. Zhang and ask.

Long Qian didn't admit that it was revenge, but blocked Tang Shaoyi with nothing to say. As for the skirmish that just happened in the north of Yizhou City, Long Qian expressed regret. The merits of the matter can't be listened to by you Tang Shaochuan alone, you can investigate. If my soldiers are at fault, I will punish them severely. Regarding Tang Shaoyi's request to hold him accountable, severely punish the murderer and pay a bereavement pension, Long Qian blocked it with a light move.

"Brother Xiushan." Tang Shaoyi suggested, "For today's plan, we must also focus on withdrawing troops." Why don't you lead your troops out of Yizhou. set a date, inform him of his route, and forgive him Long Qian did not dare to mess around. ”

"It's easy to say! What if? I have my brothers in charge of it. Li Chun did not dare to withdraw in the encirclement of the Mengshan army. And so things froze there.

When the news of Yizhou's emergency was delivered to Jinan, Yuan Shikai had already gone north to Beijing to meet him. Xu Shichang, who was temporarily in charge, summoned several generals under Yuan Shikai to sum up, and unanimously agreed that Li Chun and Long Qian should not talk about the merits first, and they must not erode Lunan and even the whole province at this time. In order to calm the situation, Li Chun's troops must be strictly ordered to withdraw from Yizhou as soon as possible.

For this reason, Xu Shichang went to Fei County to discuss with Long Qian about the removal of the siege and the withdrawal of the army. Xu Shichang believes that his status is precious. He also had a one-sided friendship with Long Qian. At the beginning, Zhang Qiancun negotiated the integration of the Mengshan Army as the Qinwang detachment of the Wuwei Right Army, and he also calculated his strength. This time he came to "mediate", Long Qian will definitely give himself a face. Unexpectedly, when he arrived in Fei County, he couldn't see the senior leader of the Mengshan Army. He was received only by a newly transferred staff officer from the General Staff Office. Said that the commander went to the front to inspect and did not return. Ask when you will be back. The staff officer said he didn't know what to do. Xu Shichang asked Ning Shijun where he was, and the staff officer said that Chief of Staff Ning was receiving guests from the German Foreign Bank and had no time to see him.

Xu Shichang was furious. knew that this was completely Long Qian's revenge on Yuan Shikai for treating Ning Shijun slowly. But Yuan Shikai was respected as a governor. It's not rude not to see the chief of staff under one of your adjutant generals, but I, Xu, am not under Long Qian, so I deigned to come this time, and I didn't even show up as an officer in charge, isn't it too much? Long Qian's guy is really rampant, no wonder Yuan Weiting said that this person is never credible, and sooner or later it will be a big disaster for the imperial court. It's really accurate.

On the night of staying at the post station, Fei County ordered Zhao Muying to set up a banquet for Xu Shichang to receive the wind. Zhao County Ling knew some about the situation, saying that Long Qian was indeed not in the county seat, and he saw Long Qian take people out of the city with his own eyes. And Fei County did come with two foreigners, and a few Chinese attachés, who lived in the temporary headquarters of Long Qian.

Xu Shichang didn't want to lose his temper in front of a county magistrate, so he asked what the Germans were doing here? Could it be that the British, like the British, are they also worried about the cut off of transportation in Lunan? I was half asleep and half awake in depression and spent the night all night.

In the early morning of the next day, before he got up, the door was slammed, "Lord Xu, Lord Xu!" I'm back in a hurry to have breakfast with you. ”

Xu Shichang heard Long Qian's voice, and hurriedly got dressed and got up, "General Long, what a great official." ”

"Lord Xu, do you blame me for disturbing your dreams? As soon as I received the news, I drove dozens of miles back overnight to listen to the instructions, where is there any official authority to speak of! I'm afraid that Lord Xu has never regarded the right wing of the Weisheng Army as the army of the imperial court. ”

Xu Shichang was reluctant to quarrel with Long Qian anymore, and he felt that he had lost his identity, "Okay, since General Long is back, I will ask you, what is the reason why your ministry has besieged Yizhou for no reason?" ”

"For no reason? When His Majesty Long resigned, the Empress Dowager and her old man personally instructed Long to completely eliminate the bandits in Lunan and return the people of Lunan to a peaceful world. Long was favored by the Queen Mother, and Jane pulled out the grass, hating to break his bones to repay the Queen Mother. That's why they sent troops to suppress the bandits and annihilated Tao San's main force in one fell swoop, but the rest has not yet been wiped out, and we must continue to work hard. How can Lord Xu say that our department is causing trouble for no reason? ”

Under the gaze of the entourage on both sides, in the courtyard of the post station, Long Qian and Xu Shichang quarreled.

The right wing of the Weisheng Army was not under the jurisdiction of the Yamen of the Shandong Governor, and Long Qian sent troops to suppress the bandits, of course, he did not need to ask Jinan. Xu Shichang didn't want to lose his identity, "General Long, should we find a place to talk alone?" ”

"Okay, Long has an opportunity to fulfill the friendship of the landlord, and he is very happy. Please come with me, Lord Xu. ”

Connected Xu Shichang to his temporary requisitioned mansion, breakfast had been prepared, Ning Shijun and Situ were both present, Long Qian invited Xu Shichang to take a seat and accompanied him to eat. Finally got to the point.

"Retreat! Xu grew up as a teenager for you, so he asked you to call you a cousin. You are so nonsense, aren't you afraid of losing a reputation in the court for supporting the army and being self-respecting and domineering? ”

"Lord Xu. I hope to take back these eight words of comment. There is another person who supports the army and is self-respecting and domineering, and it is by no means Long. To tell the truth, when Yuan Shikai recruited my department, what kind of heart was An, Long was not a three-year-old child, how could he not know? But when the national disaster was at hand, Long had no hesitation. And Lord Xu and Lord Tang came to Zhengjiazhuang to negotiate Zhao'an, but they were honest, and Long did not forget Lord Xu's kindness. At the beginning, the detachment of King Qin went north to Gyeonggi, regardless of the heavy casualties. played a great victory in Xigu, fought for the face of the imperial court, and won the honor of Yuan Shikai's small station new army. can be regarded as repaying Lord Xu. Imagine, if Long Qian retains his strength to avoid the foreigners, can he Yuan Shikai become the governor of Zhili today? As for later, the right wing of the Weisheng Army was a new army built by the Empress Dowager, and it was the will of the imperial court to return to Lunan, what did Yuan Shikai do? Long Qian is not a person who does not know the importance of the court, he takes the overall situation of the court as the most important thing and tolerates everywhere. Li Chun and Cao Kun's troops did not retreat. Long Qian waited and waited, restrained his subordinates, and did not take a step out of Zhengjiazhuang! But in exchange for what? Yizhou Dao almost killed Long! Zhang Lianfen and Wu Yong testified about this matter, how dare Long lie! Rao is so. Long still didn't want to turn his face with Li Chun. No replenishment of ordnance. Long Qian endured. The imperial court clearly ordered that Shandong would not pay our army's military expenses, and Long Qian also endured it! However, to suppress the bandits in Yimeng Mountain, our department does not occupy Yizhou. How to fulfill the order of the Queen Mother? Long Qian was favored by the Queen Mother, how could he dare to neglect his duties, and where would he put the Queen Mother? For this reason, Long sent Chief of Staff Ning Shijun to Yizhou to meet Li Chun in person, hoping that he would understand current affairs, take into account the overall situation, and hand over Yizhou to our ministry as soon as possible. But what is the result? Today, Lord Xu came to reproach Long Qian for coming to Hulai, and Long Qian didn't dare to take it! Hu is Yuan Shikai, not Long Qian. This lawsuit is fought before the Queen Mother, and Long Qian is not afraid. ”

Long Qian spoke at length, his face still resentful.

Xu Shichang was reprimanded by Long Qian instead. He knew that Long Qian's words were generally true. He bites the will of the Queen Mother, that is, he occupies the height of morality, which is really difficult to say.

"Retreat, since you are the envoy of the two states appointed by the imperial court, Yizhou and Yanzhou are all for you. Yuan Futai had already ordered the garrisons of Yizhou and Yanzhou to withdraw from their places one after another. But it is not easy to march the army, and there must always be a time. You are the one who leads the troops, this should be understood. As for the ordnance you mentioned, Shandong really doesn't have any extra weapons, so you can't blame Lord Futai. Military expenses, they will be given to you. ”

Thinking of this, Xu Shichang continued, "Lord Yuan has entered Beijing, the imperial court has just suffered a great disaster, and Shandong must not be chaotic. The Queen Mother has high hopes for you, and we, as courtiers, cannot but understand the difficulties of the court. Do you think it's going to stop there? "The topic has been clarified, what kind of bandits, don't mention it," what do you think? ”

"Lord Xu, what you said is too insincere, right? Even if Long Qian is willing, he must give an explanation to his thousands of officers and soldiers, right? ”

"You get out of the siege first. Li Chun's department, evacuate Yizhou within five days! Xu Shichang finally made a substantial guarantee.

"What about Yanzhou?"

"Cao Kun's department left all parts of Yanzhou within half a month." Xu Shichang agreed.

Yuan Shikai took over as the governor of Zhili, according to the predetermined plan, the main force of the right army of Wuwei stationed in Shandong will go north to Zhili, anyway, to shrink the force, Cao Kun and Li Chun can no longer stay in Lunan, so it is okay to give Long Qian a satisfactory answer.

"That's very good. But Shandong paid the military expenses of the headquarters, did Lord Xu put it aside and no longer pay attention to it because Yuan Futai was the head of the Xinjiang ministers? Long Qian pressed forward step by step.

"Xu is a senator of the Right Army, not in the governor's yamen, Xu can't promise this matter." Xu Shichang touched the neatly trimmed beard on his upper lip, "Think about it, can you continue to negotiate with the Yamen of the Governor of Shandong." ”

Yuan Shikai's main task when he went to Beijing was to seek a candidate for governor of Shandong. This is the key to whether Shandong can firmly control it. Xu Shichang is of course the best candidate, but he still lacks qualifications, so Yuan Shikai's other plan is to recommend Yang Shixiang to take over as governor of Shandong. But it is still unknown whether it will be successful. Xu Shichang thought, even if Yang Shixiang takes over Shandong, I'm afraid that you, Long Qian, won't get a tael of silver from the Shandong Domain! Lunan is barren, see how you feed a wing of the army!

"It seems that the weapons are also gone. Since this is the case, Long Qian had no choice but to find a way to complete the mission of the imperial court by himself. Well, for the sake of Lord Xu's golden face, Long Qian will order to let go of Yizhou North Avenue. ”

"Retreat! If your troops don't leave, how can Li Xiushan withdraw his troops with peace of mind? ”

"It's okay, please sit in Yizhou and urge Li Chun to withdraw his troops. Long Qian is an official of the imperial court, how can he be as ignorant as Li Chun? ”

Nor was there any written agreement. Xu Shichang even forgot to ask about the Germans' plot to come to Fei County, and Ning Shijun accompanied him to Yizhou that day. The Mengshan Army's troops in the north of Yizhou were ordered to withdraw and make way for the road from Yizhou to Feixian. Zhou Yi's subordinates also retreated to the base area along the official road from Yixian to Yizhou. A turmoil in Lunan disappeared invisibly.

On the third day of Xu Shichang's entry into Yizhou, Li Chun's troops withdrew from Yizhou one after another, and Lushan's troops immediately took over the city. With the withdrawal of the Yizhou garrison, the Yanzhou garrison also left the important places in Yanzhou, and Zhou Yi entered Yanzhou on the ninth day of the fourth lunar month.

The Mengshan Army finally completed the strategic development.

Hans and others, who witnessed the turmoil in Yizhou, made a judgment on this, believing that the right wing of the Wasion Army was another armed force that was not controlled by Yuan Shikai. Hans, who was born in the military, was accompanied by Long Qian to visit a military exercise carefully prepared by the Mengshan Army during the negotiation with Long Qian about the purchase and sale of weapons. In that exercise, Long Qian mobilized the most elite Fengguo Pillar Battalion of the first standard, which had subjects such as column, field construction, and squad attack and defense, showing the military strength of the Mengshan Army for Hayes.

Hans's written report to Governor Tolpar gave a detailed account of what he had seen and heard, and concluded that the right flank of the Wasion Army had good military training no inferior to that of the Right Guard. The chief officer of the ministry, General Long Qian, was originally a Chinese-American, with a broad vision and friendly feelings for Germany. It is hoped that the whole army will be equipped with German-made ordnance and that retired German officers will be hired for military training. Investing in this army is fully in line with Germany's interests in China.

After Hayes and Mengshanjun negotiated the variety, quantity, payment method, and delivery time of the ordnance purchase, Hayes also had a pleasant exchange with Long Qian on cooperation in other aspects. On April 13, Hans returned to Jiaoao (Qingdao) with Situ Jun with the preliminary agreement between the two parties. For the convenience of writing, the following text will be referred to as Qingdao), and reported to the Governor of Tolpar, which was approved by the Governor. The first batch of ordnance (1,200 rifles, 1,450,000 rounds of ammunition and four 57mm field guns) was officially shipped to Lunan, and these ordnance were all drawn from the German army in Qingdao. Subsequent ordnance will be shipped by Germany to Qingdao and delivered one after another.

Governor Tolpar's telegram to the Kaiser regarding the full support of the Mengshan Army as one of his spokesmen was approved by the Kaiser. Yuan Shikai's pro-British position is difficult to change, and Germany needs to seek powerful partners in China. After the Kaiser replied to the telegram, Situ Jun's proposal to recruit retired German artillery and engineer officers to serve as military instructors of the Mengshan Army was naturally settled, and the German General Staff would select outstanding retired officers to come to China to serve the Mengshan Army. Tolpar even said that as long as the Mengshan Army uses German-made weapons as the only supplementary channel, the price of the next batch of ordnance can be reduced by 20% from the base price of this purchase. (To be continued......)