Nanjing, Feng Guozhang's official residence, which had just changed the door and hung the signboard of the five provincial patrol envoys, Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen, who stayed to help, did not speak, and both of them looked at the big map on the table with solemn faces. The news that the Youth Army was launching an attack in the direction of Hubei and Jiangxi at the same time reached Nanjing by telegram this morning, which made Feng Guozhang, who was still mobilizing his troops, very passive.

"Huafu, I'm afraid this battle will be difficult to fight, Hubei and Jiangxi don't have the kind of army that can survive to the end at the moment, the youth army is now in full swing, I'm afraid we can't stop it." In the middle of the ring, Wang Shizhen said such a fact in a rather sad tone.

Feng Guozhang nodded and said: "A few days ago, Wang Zhanyuan sent me a telegram, saying that Hubei could not hold it, so it was better to withdraw the second division as soon as possible, so that at least a little spare strength could be saved to plan for the future." I was lucky enough to agree to him immediately, and now it seems that the strength of one division close to their second division will not be able to hold Wuhan. But if this Wuhan is easily lost, I will not be able to explain it to the president. ”

Wang Shizhen shook his head and said: "The battle has come to this point, and it is not a matter of gaining or losing one city or one place at all. Huafu, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the bulk of taxes, and they are the lifeblood of my Beiyang, as long as we hold here, we can still take it back if we lose it now. So on the second division's side, let them take the waterway and hurry up and withdraw. As for the army in Hubei, it is the right way to give more benefits and let them stick to the stubborn defense. ”

Feng Guozhang knew what Wang Shizhen's idea was when he heard it, that is, he wanted to use the army in Hubei to consume the spirit of the youth army and buy a little time for his side.

Feng Guozhang nodded and said: "At present, it seems that this is the case, the president has to ask Brother Pingqing to explain, and please transfer the first division and Zhang Xun's Dingwu army as soon as possible, as for the fifteenth and sixteenth divisions, I think it is better to stay in Xuzhou." This war is not about the more soldiers there are, the more troops there are, the greater the demand for all kinds of materials. ”

Wang Shizhen didn't speak, just nodded in agreement.

At this time in Anjiang, something was happening that neither Feng Guozhang nor Wang Shizhen knew, and if they knew the inside story, then they would not have let the Second Division withdraw from Wuhan so quickly.

"I have heard the name of Wang Dashuai for a long time, and today I know what it is to be young and promising, in the next soup to turn into a dragon, and the word Jiwu" A middle-aged man who is over forty years old, not tall, and has a goatee greeted our classmate Wang Zhenyu who was sitting in danger very politely.

"It turned out to be Speaker Tang, look up for a long time!" Wang Zhenyu naturally knew who Tang Hualong was, and naturally he was polite.

"What kind of speaker is there, even the parliament is gone, Tang is now a cloth cloth, no, he came to Wang Dashuai to ask for ideas." Tang Hualong's self-cooked character is indeed very good for Wang Zhenyu's taste.

"Mr. Tang is the founder of Xinhai, and it is also an honor for Mr. Wang to receive Mr. Wang, and I hope Mr. does not have to be too humble." Wang Zhenyu is not in a hurry to say things, and he will go around slowly, which is also his experience after dealing with many politicians in this era.

Tang Hualong is also a well-known figure in the Republic of China, the head of the constitutionalists, before he was assassinated by the Kuomintang, almost all the major political events in the Republic of China This benevolent brother was not left behind. During the Xinhai Revolution, it was Tang Hualong who promoted Li Yuanhong as the governor of the Hubei Military Government, and after the fall of Hanyang, he followed Huang Xing to Shanghai, and naturally participated in the formation of the Nanjing Provisional Government. After that, the north and south made peace, and he was in it again, before the second revolution, he and Liang Qichao tossed a progressive party, and Yuan Shikai was very uneasy. In the Second Revolution, he telegraphed against the violent revolution, of course, not because he supported Yuan Shikai, but because he felt that the revolutionaries had made a mistake. Facts have proved that if the revolutionary party had not carried out a second revolution and directly intensified the contradictions, Yuan Shikai would not have dared to dissolve the National Assembly and abolish the provisional covenant law so unscrupulously.

After the Second Revolution, Tang Hualong also took advantage of the war to actively expand the Hubei family, not only won the territory of Hunan, but also won a part of the power for his own side in the central government. It's a pity that Yuan Shikai played a trick to draw salary, and then Zhang Zhenwu's case tricked Li Yuanhong into Beijing to become the vice president in name only, and then the Beiyang Army entered Hubei and also garrisoned troops in Hunan. The originally vigorous Hubei system was immediately brutally suppressed, but Tang Hualong did not despair. When Yuan Shikai decided to become emperor, Tang Hualong felt that his opportunity had come.

He, Liang Qichao and Xiong Xiling had been hiding in the Tianjin concession and secretly discussing changes in the situation. Don't look at Wang Zhenyu's side, the banner of the Kuomintang is shaking the sky, but in fact, in the north, the name of the Progressive Party is getting bigger and bigger. Cai Ye was a student of Liang Qichao, and Wang Zhenyu's uncle and nephew were also under Xiong Xiling's name, so for a time the two were also regarded as the main leaders of this Protectorate War. In particular, Liang Qichao personally drafted the Yuan Yuanwen of the Protector Army and released it to the outside world in Tianjin, so in the eyes of politicians in the Beijing and Tianjin areas, the Progressive Party was the general backstage of the war.

Compared with Liang Qichao and Xiong Xiling, Tang Hualong does not have many cards to play. However, Hubei people are famous for their nine-headed birds, and what they are best at is fighting landlords, and what they play is to be small and big. And there is a small king in Tang Hualong's hand, and this card is easy to play.

As soon as the war starts, it means that all kinds of political shili will have to reshuffle and take sides. Tang Hualong is no exception, he quickly negotiated with Xiong Xiling and Liang Qichao, once Yuan was finally forced to go into the wilderness, then he would support Li Yuanhong as president, Xiong Xiling would be reinstated as prime minister, and Liang Qichao would be the chief financial officer, and he would be the chief minister of the interior or speaker. Now that an agreement has been reached on the distribution of benefits after the war, the next question is easy to say, and everyone's goal is how to make Yuan Shikai fall as soon as possible.

There is a sentence in Clausewitz's book "On War" that is absolutely correct, military is just a means of continuation of politics, but when Wang Zhenyu and his youth army showed strength enough to overthrow Yuan Shikai and Beiyang Shili, Tang Hualong's mind came alive again. He changed his original Jihua, no longer through Xiong Xiling, but personally went to Wang Zhenyu to discuss cooperation. So he came to Xiangxi and Anjiang at great risk. At this time, Li Yuanhong had already begun to flee south to Hankou.

Since he was asking for someone, Tang Hualong decided to go straight to the point after going around for a while: "Wang Dashuai, this fight against Yuan is a righteous battle, and Your Excellency has made great contributions, but I don't know what Your Excellency's plans are after the war or after overthrowing Yuan Thief." ”

Well, to get to the point, Wang Zhenyu smiled lightly and said: "Then what long-term jihua can be, what kind of long-term jihua can we lead the troops, that is, to defend the country and appease the people, defend justice and peace, and have no other ideas?" That's all big stuff. ”

Tang Hualong rolled his eyes in his heart, lie to the ghost, he raised no less than 200,000 troops, and made a National Socialist Party its own leader, if you just want to defend justice and peace, it will be a joke. However, he said without any fluctuations: "Wang Dashuai's love for the people makes Tang admired, but I think Wang Dashuai also knows that Vice President Mr. Li Yuanhong does not approve of the imperial system, and he is also stubborn about the prince named by Yuan Thief, since Yuan Thief is not worthy of the position of president, according to the provisional law of the day, it should naturally be appointed by the vice president." ”

Wang Zhenyu squinted his eyes and glanced at Tang Hualong's goatee, thinking to himself, is it usually difficult to clean up with such a beard?

Damn, distracted, Wang Zhenyu hurriedly replied: "Yes, yes, Mr. Tang is really the speaker, and he is very familiar with this law, this is not like me." But Mr. Tang, let me tell you the truth, I don't care who is the president, because it won't be my Wang's turn when it's a turn, I'm still more concerned about the things in front of my eyes. ”

This is not rough, Tang Hualong is happy after pondering it carefully, which is equivalent to talking about the conditions directly.

"Indeed, what is Wang Dashuai most concerned about in front of him? I also hope that the handsome man will look at Tang Moujie's cloth clothes and be credible," Tang Hualong said with a smile.

"It's not a secret, I always feel bad and unsafe in Hunan, and I can't serve the people wholeheartedly, weishenme? I think about it, just because Hubei and Jiangxi in the neighboring provinces are Lao Yuan's reactionary army, my main concern at the moment is to take Hubei and Jiangxi and destroy the reactionary army here. Wang Zhenyu saw that the other party was on the road like this, so he was naturally unceremoniously cute.

Tang Hualong was angry and funny: "Things in Hubei are easy to do, many of the generals there are old subordinates of Vice President Li, let them raise troops against Yuan, that's just a matter of one sentence, but I don't know how to settle them afterwards." ”

Wang Zhenyu waved his hand: "Mr. Tang, don't worry, this matter is simple, isn't Vice President Li the president after the incident?" What's the use of these troops loyal to the president staying in Hubei, of course, they went to Beijing to protect the president, it's hard to understand whether the president can be the emperor? As for military salaries, we don't have to worry about it, we also need someone at the top to take care of it at the local level, and we will pay taxes to the central government every year in accordance with the rules. ”

Speaking of which, Wang Zhenyu's meaning Tang Hualong fully understood:

First, he supported Li Yuanhong to replace Yuan Shikai as president, but on the condition that he wanted the territory of Hubei;

Second, if the first point is satisfied, then after Li Yuanhong becomes president, he will financially support the central government, but in terms of subordination, he will listen to the tune and not listen to the announcement.

Tang Hualong is also acceptable to this point, after all, this phenomenon already exists, and if you want to solve it, you can only slowly figure it out after mastering the center.

Tang Hualong felt that the purpose of his trip had been achieved, but he was still very curious and asked Zuihou a question: "Tang has something unclear, I don't know where Wang Dashuai Zuihou is going to fight?" ”

Wang Zhenyu smiled slightly: "When our Vice President Li becomes the president, I will withdraw the troops, Mr. Tang, is this a statement?" ”

Tang Hualong was stunned for a moment, and then nodded knowingly in approval.