The details of Li Chun's defeat reached Jinan, and it was the middle of the month of La, and it was Yuan Shikai's copywriter Tang Shaoyi who brought the news to Situ Jun.

"Liheng, Li Xiushan lost again, so you are unfortunate to be hit. Come with me, Futai wants to see you. Tang Shaoyi grabbed Situ Jun's sleeve.

Situ Jun smiled coldly and did not speak. He had already expected the ending, but the bandits' way of fighting to cut off the enemy's way back from Fei County still surprised him a little, and it also added respect to this group of bandits who repeatedly humiliated Yuan Shikai, "Mr. Tang, I'm just a staff officer, and Yuan Futai is the head of a province, what's the matter with me?" ”

In Shandong Province, except for the foreigners who are empty-eyed, who dares to ask what happened to Futai Summons? Remembering the last time he sent troops to plot against this person fiercely and not giving Yuan Weiting face, Tang Shaoyi couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking to himself, this kid grew up overseas and didn't know my Chinese etiquette, but fortunately, Weiting didn't care, "Liheng, of course it's to discuss the military situation." Don't look at the jokes. Futai-sama regrets not listening to your advice. ”

"Mr. Shaochuan, military is a science, the most precise science. Lord Yuan does not listen to the advice of professionals, and failure is inevitable. If I played the same way I did last time, the probability of winning was 70%. But this time, I'm afraid it's going to change. Moreover, it must be fast, and the bandits cannot be given time. ”

Last time, Situ advocated the gathering of heavy troops and the two-way attack, Tang Shaoyi was clear, but he was more aware of Yuan Shikai's hardships. And, when will the military issue be separated from political guidance? The Germans claim to be the number one power in Europe, so is Germany's military command completely free from political interference? After knowing each other for three months, Tang Shaoyi always felt that this young man was not Chinese at all.

The Chinese, who graduated from the German Military Academy, was educated by his classmate Feng Murphy. Seckert was stimulated and resolutely returned to China. It was originally a joke, but it stabbed Situ Jun's heart. Although his father, who had succeeded in business, had German citizenship and successfully entered high society, Situ always considered himself Chinese. Chinese with yellow skin and black eyes. Even with excellent grades at the Berlin Military Academy, even if he had already acquired German citizenship, he was Chinese. Moreover, always Chinese. The arrogant and conceited Germans in their bones will not give a yellow-skinned and black-eyed guy a bright future in the army. So, Situ Jun made an important decision to return to China!

Before leaving, Situ Jun's German classmates feasted for him, and the eternally cold Seckert also participated. Seckert lamented Situ Jun's talent, believing that he would have no use in returning to today's China. Seckert believes that compared with the armies of European countries, the Chinese are not at the same level at all, and even Japan, which was the first in Asia to learn from the German army and made great progress, has not really glimpsed the Tang Ao of army construction. Not to mention China. In other words, I still hope that Situ Jun will stay. The Berlin Military Academy is the highest military academy in Germany, and its graduates will not be unemployed.

Szeto resent the conceit and arrogance of the Germans. It was this that stabbed him. He told the students that as early as 2,500 years ago, the Chinese had written the "Art of War," a military philosophy work that is still not outdated, and the guiding principles of war established by it are not outdated now and will not be outdated in the future. There is no reason why a country that can give birth to such outstanding military ideas should be left behind in the military field for a long time. It is the decay of the political system that has led to China's backwardness and being beaten, and nothing else. Emphasizing that war is a political continuation, Clausewitz was the principal of the Berlin Military Academy, the predecessor of the Berlin Military Academy, and his "On War" was one of several books that Situ Jun had repeatedly read on his desk.

Seckert gave him a letter asking him to forward it to the German minister in China. Seckert said it was a private letter, but it was actually a letter of recommendation, asking the minister to help Situ Jun as much as possible. Seckert did not specify that the Minister and his father had been friends for many years.

Situ Jun said goodbye to his parents, returned to China by boat alone, and found Yuan Shikai on the recommendation of the German minister. Because the German minister said that Yuan Shikai's troops are the most recently modernized army in today's China, and they are the best in terms of equipment and training. Of course, it simply cannot be compared with the German Army, which is unique in the world.

Situ Jun spent a month in Beijing and then came to Jinan. During his month in Beijing, Situ Jun, who lived in the German Legation, gained his own understanding of the political structure of his homeland, and his parents' mother tongue gave him this convenience, allowing him to meet many Chinese bureaucrats in the German Legation. Situ Jun was disappointed in his heart, they were ignorant, unscrupulous and greedy. They only look at the face of the imperial court, the empress dowager, who had been regained power by a palace coup a year and a half ago. The likes and dislikes of that supposedly unusually shrewd woman are the only criterion by which bureaucrats do things. They do not care about the future of the country, do not care about the general trend of the world, and turn a blind eye to the abnormal phenomena in which the foreign powers are increasingly influencing the political situation of the country. They seem to only pay attention to the promotions and resignations of officialdom bigwigs, calculating their own future. They speak openly about prostitution as a form of elegance to show off in front of their friends.

Situ Jun, disgusted by Beijing's foul political air, came to Jinan and met Yuan Shikai, who had succeeded as governor of Shandong. The former governor Yuxian was deposed because of his connivance with the Boxers, which aroused strong resentment in Germany and Britain. Yuan Shikai admired Situ Jun very much, and in just one week, he invited Situ Jun twice, which surprised his subordinates. Yuan Shikai appointed Situ Jun as a staff officer of his Wuwei Right Army, but rejected Situ Jun's request to lead troops at the grassroots level.

Before they met, Yuan Shikai's name was already "thunderous", and Situ Jun revealed mixed feelings in his diary about the commander of the new army, who was already among the few military strongmen in China today: he was a small middle-aged man, just turned forty years old. If it weren't for the deterioration of the situation in recent years, which has made military leaders more valued by the imperial court, it is unlikely that he would have been the governor of a province at this age, given his seniority and origin. He is a soldier who does not pay much attention to his appearance, and he is only one meter and a little over five meters, and he cannot show the might he should in any way. He retains some backward customs, such as wiping his mouth with his sleeve after a meal, even though a snow-white napkin is placed in front of him. His subordinates respected him, and he was concerned about the situation abroad, with an undisguised shrewdness in his conversation, and a sense of emptiness. I don't know what he is relying on. For this military general, I don't know if he can take on the heavy responsibility__

Shandong Province was one of the most powerful provinces in Germany, and the Germans had surpassed the British to become half the masters of Shandong. Two and a half years ago, the church conflict in Juye led to the German occupation of Jiaoao. As in the past, the Chinese still adopt the practice of swallowing their anger against the aggression of foreign powers. Not only did they lose an excellent port in Shandong, but the Germans increasingly invaded the hinterland of Shandong. Now, the construction of the Jiaoji Railway has begun, and once it is completed, the Shandong Peninsula will become a German colony.

Situ didn't believe that Yuan Shikai didn't understand this situation. But when he mentioned it several times, Yuan Shikai adopted an attitude of Wang Gu talking about him. This kind of Chinese profundity disgusted Situ Jun very much. He also found many problems in his "inspection" of several units of the New Army, and it is said that these units are the most elite army units in China today, which made Situ Jun, who was familiar with the current situation of the German Army, even more disappointed.

Fortunately, he soon had a specific errand - Yuan Shikai sent him to Yizhou, a mountain city surrounded by mountains, geographically close to Jiangsu. There was a war going on, the regular army was defeated by a gang of bandits, and the official army, the regular army under the leadership of Yuan Shikai, was planning a retaliatory operation. Yuan Shikai gave him the task of understanding the situation of the last defeat and helping the garrison generals to formulate a new battle plan.

The trip to Yizhou greatly shocked Situ Jun, not only on official business, but also on his understanding of the current situation in China. In Beijing and Jinan, Situ Jun saw a completely different situation from Yizhou, his home country was so vast that a Shandong province was comparable to a unified Germany. And she was so poor and backward that the capital of a state was nothing more than a jumble collection of bungalows, protected by ridiculous-looking walls. There is no modern industry, only a few shops and taverns. The man he saw was an impression: gray and black clothes, a ridiculous braid on the back of his head, and an eternal wooden expression, as if everything in the world had nothing to do with him.

Of course, Situ Jun did not do social research, his purpose was still military issues, which was also his interest. Because of Yuan Shikai's handwritten letter, General Li Chun, the envoy of Yizhou Town, was polite to him, but he could not agree with the battle plan they formulated. After learning in detail about the terrain and the defeat in the last offensive operation, Situ Jun pointed out that the opponent is not simple, and its troops and tactics are worthy of attention. It should adopt a two-way or even multi-way attack, and a one-way attack from Yizhou can no longer be used. Militarily speaking, it was the lowest policy to send troops from Fei County, which was under the jurisdiction of Yizhou, because the terrain limited the changes, and the main point of attack should be selected in Yanzhou, and the Yizhou garrison could only be used for suspicious soldiers and countermeasures. But Li Chun didn't listen, and Yuan Shikai didn't listen either, they didn't look down on the bandits entrenched in several villages deep in the mountains. The attack was more about saving face, and there were many factors that he didn't understand.

Sure enough, the battle was lost! And it failed badly. Less than 30 percent of the troops fled back to Yizhou.

Now, Yuan Shikai has named him, probably this matter, Situ Jun hopes that the provincial governor who holds military power can adopt his opinion.

Yuan Shikai admitted that he had underestimated the strength of the bandits, and that General Li Chun's incompetence was another major reason. Yuan Shikai told Situ Jun that Li Chun had been removed from his post and that he had appointed General Wang Shizhen, who had a high position in the Wuwei Right Army, to temporarily act as the envoy of Yizhou Town, to stabilize the situation there, and not to allow the bandits occupying Fei County to continue to develop. When he said this, he did not know that the bandits who had captured Fei County had withdrawn, and of course all the supplies they thought were useful. Yuan Shikai asked Situ if he would like to go to Yizhou to assist General Wang Shizhen in handling military affairs, and of course, he would be given a considerable position.

Situ Jun pointed out that if it is decided to completely eliminate this group of bandits by force, time is of the essence. There must be no waiting, and forces should be organized immediately to attack.

Yuan Shikai said that he could consider it, but this could not be decided until General Wang Shizhen went to Yizhou. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there are many things going on in the government at all levels, so there can be no more military problems before the holiday. General Wang Shizhen had already received a notice and was on his way back to Jinan from Qingzhou. If you can, you can go to Yizhou with him.

Situ Jun soon met Wang Shizhen, the head of the "Three Heroes of the New Army". It was a middle-aged man with a clear face, with a beard like Yuan Shikai, not wearing a military uniform, but a brown robe, a small melon skin hat buttoned on his head, and a Baoding accent. It is strange to say that Situ Jun has been in the Wuwei Right Army for several months, but he has never seen the famous Wang Shizhen in Yuan Shikai's headquarters, but he has heard a lot of his legends, especially the legend of dealing with the Yihequan after entering Shandong, and he has the temperament of a famous general who cannot be judged. But at first sight, I felt that this famous figure did not look like a soldier, but like a businessman.

Two days later, Situ Jun accompanied Wang Shizhen to Yizhou. Along the way, Wang Shizhen listened carefully to Situ Jun's views on the two battles. In fact, Situ Jun only participated in the planning before the second battle, and did not participate in the battle himself. Wang Shizhen just listened, but did not express his own opinion.

Entering Yizhou, the street was deserted, Wang Shizhen couldn't help but sigh, "It's been close in recent years, and the market has been depressed so far, which is really Li Xiushan's fault." Liheng, is there any way to make the people forget about the war and have a good year? ”

"This, it's really not my strength__"

"If you don't boost the morale of the people, you can't fight the war. Liheng, I know that you are eager to send troops, and it makes some sense that the thief army has not been rested and restored to give a heavy blow, and I also agree with your plan to send troops. However, if you look at it like this, I'm afraid that even the people can't take care of it. What's more, the Yizhou Army needs to be rectified even more. ”

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