After winning the war, Anhui is naturally jubilant, but Beiyang is...

The sky is falling, and it can only be described in this way...

This is true not only in the Iron Lion Hutong, but even in the entire city of Beijing. Apparently everyone knew exactly what was going to come for them next.

In Yuan Shikai's official residence, a large group of Beiyang high-level officials were gathering in front of a small courtyard, almost everyone's faces were gloomy, and their eyes were even more dazed, obviously not knowing where their future was.

Not long ago, because he learned of Feng Guozhang's defeat, Yuan Shikai, who was already a little sick, suddenly fell into a coma. As a result, they haven't been able to wake up until now, and without the backbone, the high-level officials in Beiyang also panicked, and they all gathered outside Yuan Shikai's door to wait for news.

For them, Yuan Shikai must not fall now, after all, Yuan Shikai is the controller of the Beiyang group, and he has been supporting the group for so many years.

Let alone...

A living Yuan Shikai is also their bargaining chip.

To be honest, at this point, there are very few people in Beiyang who still believe that they can win. Even the British and Japanese, after hearing the news of Feng Guozhang's defeat, terminated their aid to Beiyang. Even Duan Qirui begged to go to the door, but people didn't give him a good look.

There is no way, originally people were only Yuan Shikai's for profit, who knew that he was actually defeated now, and the defeat was so ugly. It won't be long before the name of the Beiyang government, the central government, will be lost. In this way, the support of Britain and Japan for Yuan Shikai can be said to have been lost. How could they possibly give Duan Qirui a good look?

Without the support of Britain and Japan, Beiyang obviously has no need to struggle...

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"Well, how did it come to be..."

"Who knows? I heard that the front line collapsed all at once, and now there are only about 10,000 of the more than 70,000 people left..."

"Ten thousand? How is that enough? ”

"Who said it wasn't, I heard that the troops in Outer Mongolia had already hurried back, and I didn't know if the road was too late, and some troops in the northeast and several other directions were also transferred over, and there were almost twenty or thirty thousand people..."

"Twenty or thirty thousand? Counting the troops who came back from Outer Mongolia, it should be enough, right? ”

"It's enough for a fart, don't you see that more than 70,000 people in front of you have collapsed? What's more, those 20,000 or 30,000 people were all disabled on the front line. I am afraid that the combat effectiveness of the troops transferred back to the rear to replenish will not be even 30% of the original one, and it will not be of much use at all..."

"So what now? Throw in the towel? ”

"This ...... It's a last resort. I'm afraid that's all I have to say..."

Whispering, whispering, now almost everyone is very pessimistic about the future of Beiyang, and they are talking about the future in the corner. In this regard, Duan Qirui and they also have some friction. But it doesn't even mean to take care of it.

Husband and wife were originally birds of the same forest. When the catastrophe comes, they fly separately.

It may seem a little off, but that's what it means.

Beiyang was originally an interest group, and it was not for the belief that the country or the nation was maintained, but interests, simple interests.

So when the Beiyang is smooth, they can swear allegiance to the Beiyang, but now the Beiyang has reached the edge of the cliff, as long as someone pushes it slightly behind the back. This group, which once dominated China and even overthrew the Qing court, will be pushed off a cliff. Break your bones...

At this point, they naturally won't continue to be loyal to the group.

“…… How's the work I told you to do? Ignoring those guys who were whispering and discussing a way out, in the corner of the courtyard, Duan Qirui was pulling Lu Jianzhang to talk about something.

"I've already sent someone to their house..."Lu Jianzhang's face was a little ugly, Yuan Shikai was seriously ill, Feng Guozhang was leading the troops and had just suffered a fiasco, the current Beiyang Duan Qirui can be said to be the leading figure, Lu Jianzhang naturally did not dare to disrespect. The people of Yan Meng's family are here, but the people of Lu Chuan's family are all gone, and it seems that they have left Tianjin by boat, I'm afraid..."

"There is also another news, that is, Lu Chuan is the only one who defected to the enemy, Yan Meng was killed by him before he surrendered to the enemy, which is probably the reason why Yan Meng's family did not leave..."

The defeat of Beiyang has almost become inevitable, Duan Qirui and they know this, but before the failure of Beiyang, they always have to make those traitors pay the price—————— in Duan Qirui's eyes, Lu Chuan and Yan Meng are the traitors who must pay the price.

After all, if it weren't for them, although Beiyang had failed, at least it wouldn't have been so ugly, so Duan Qirui had to pay the price—————— this was on the surface, for others to hear.

What about the actual reason...

Ever since he learned that Beiyang would definitely lose in the end, Duan Qirui had already begun to ponder about surrendering to the National Socialist Party. After all, this is the only way to maintain the rights he has now, the problem is that this kind of thing is very simple, how to get the national government to reuse him, this is the most difficult thing.

You must know that there are also a large number of people on the side of the Daoist Socialist Party, and if they really defeat Beiyang in the future, they will definitely give priority to arranging their own people to take the position. No matter what you think, it is impossible to arrange people like Duan Qirui to surrender to the past.

Therefore, Duan Qirui must have some chips in his hands.

And the more than 70,000 Beiyang troops in Feng Guozhang's hands are the most advantageous bargaining chip in Duan Qirui's hands. As long as there are more than 70,000 troops, plus a division that is returning from Outer Mongolia, although it is not impossible for the Nationalist Army to capture Zhili, it is absolutely impossible for the Nationalist Army to capture Zhili, but it is absolutely impossible without paying a huge price.

If Yan Shao wanted to avoid this, he had to come and talk to Duan Qirui about it.

This one. It was Duan Qirui's plan.

With these more than 70,000 people, Duan Qirui didn't dare to imagine that he could maintain his current status, but he believed that it would not be too much worse. After all, after getting the range of power in Beiyang, after adding the existing range of power of the National Socialist Party. The scope of the rule of the Guoshe government was definitely larger than that of the original Beiyang government.

And now the whole of China knows that Yan Shao and the Kuomintang are incompatible, especially the assassination incident, which failed to kill Yan Shao but injured his two fiancées, which made him grit his teeth.

After sweeping away Beiyang, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Yan Shao would turn his attention to the Kuomintang.

What are the territories controlled by the Kuomintang now? Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, and many places in Zhejiang are inclined to the Kuomintang, and in addition to this is Sichuan.

As long as Yan Shao solves the Kuomintang, then from a certain point of view, he will be equivalent to substantially controlling most of China. In terms of power, it is even a few points stronger than Yuan Shikai. In this case, there are many more places to be arranged than before, and it is naturally possible to give up one of them to Duan Qirui.

It can be said that Duan Qirui has already planned everything. Just wait for Feng Guozhang to bring this army back from Shandong.

Who would have thought that because of the relationship between the two traitors, Feng Guozhang's more than 70,000 people and horses were almost lost, and only more than 10,000 people were left to rush back to Tianjin like a lost dog.

There are more than 10,000 people, including troops stationed in Beijing, who are rushing from Outer Mongolia and Northeast China. All of them add up to only 70,000 or 80,000 people. And most of them are troops that have just been replenished with new recruits (strong men), and their combat effectiveness is not much at all, and it is a joke to resist the National Social Army with these people...

Duan Qirui's expected chips are also gone...

In this way, how could Duan Qirui not retaliate.

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As I just said, Yuan Shikai fell ill, Feng Guozhang led the troops and just suffered a defeat, and now the actual manager of Beiyang is actually Duan Qirui. As for Wang Shizhen? Although that person is known as the eldest of the three heroes of Beiyang, that is, the dragon of Beiyang, the problem is that he does not like to interfere in political affairs. So generally speaking, there is not much presence.

So after getting Duan Qirui's orders, Lu Jianzhang didn't dare to disobey his orders. What's more, Lu Jianzhang himself hated those two traitors, so he was naturally unwilling to bypass them.

So after getting Duan Qirui's instructions, Lu Jianzhang sent his subordinates to Lu Chuan and Yan Meng's homes, wanting to teach these two traitors some lessons.

Who would have thought that after arriving there, Lu Jianzhang found that everyone had already been picked up, so there was no need to mention revenge. As for Yan Meng's family? According to the information obtained afterwards, Lu Jianzhang also learned that this incident actually had nothing to do with him...

"Picked up?" Hearing Lu Jianzhang say this, although Duan Qirui had already expected it, he was still a little surprised.

"Probably someone from the Special Affairs Bureau did it..."With a wry smile, Lu Jianzhang said helplessly.

From a certain point of view, the Special Affairs Bureau can be regarded as the old opponent of the Gyeonggi Military and Political Law Enforcement Department, but in the process of fighting with the Special Affairs Bureau, Lu Jianzhang has always lost more than he won.

There is no way, it's not that Lu Jianzhang has no ability, if he doesn't have the ability, it is impossible for him to be in charge of the Military and Political Law Enforcement Department for so many years. The problem is that the funds of the Military Administration and Law Enforcement Department have always been inferior to the Special Affairs Bureau in the past, not to mention half of it, not even one-tenth of it—————— On the issue of money, Yan Shao has always been very generous to his own women, not to mention that the money is still used for business, so naturally there is no need to be stingy.

At the same time, Lu Jianzhang did not have such generous conditions as Katarina.

Espionage warfare, from a certain point of view, is actually a kind of war for money, after all, it takes money to buy and develop informants, support the opposition, carry out subversive plans, and so on.

If you don't have money, you can't do all of the above, and it's the same, Lu Jianzhang has really suffered many losses in the past period of time...

"Special Affairs Bureau...", leaning on the wall with his hand, Duan Qirui muttered.

He could be said to have heard of this organization for a long time.

"Then, do you want me to send someone to give Yan Meng's family?"

Seeing that Duan Qirui's face was not very good-looking, Lu Jianzhang proposed on the side.

"There's no need for this..."Duan Qirui shook his head. Now that he already knows that the Tao has nothing to do with him, there is no need to embarrass his family. "The most important thing is that he doesn't have the skills.

“…… It's..."Hearing Duan Qirui's words, Lu Jianzhang nodded and said.

It's just while they're talking. Yuan Keding suddenly walked out of the courtyard.

Seeing that Yuan Keding came out, Duan Qirui and the others put down the original topic and surrounded them.

"Eldest prince, how is Gong Bao now?"

"yes. How's his body doing now? ”

At this time, Yuan Keding's face was also very ugly, and he only said one word after listening to everyone's words. "My dad is still unconscious, but he keeps muttering 'Huafu should be killed'..."

Hearing this, everyone was silent.

Although Feng Guozhang can't all be blamed for losing this battle, sometimes not everyone can look at everything objectively, at least not everyone present can't.

Seeing that the Beiyang group is about to end, everything he has in front of him will also disappear. People inevitably need to find a direction for catharsis. At this time, Feng Guozhang, the general who led the troops, inevitably became the main target.

After all, he commanded this battle, and now he has lost. It is also a matter of course that he should be held responsible.

For Yuan Shikai, there is even more to this.

Because he is now at the helm of Beiyang, the impact will naturally be greater.

"Well, forget it. Let Kung Pao have a good rest. Let's go back and deal with other things first..."Sighing, Duan Qirui patted Yuan Keding's shoulder. "The eldest prince, the palace guard will be handed over to you..."

Although Duan Qirui didn't like Yuan Keding very well, he could only hand over Yuan Shikai to him at this time.

Looking at Duan Qirui, Yuan Keding also nodded.

Just looking at his gloomy face, no one could guess what was going on in his heart.

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From the beginning of the defeat, Feng Guozhang led the troops all the way to Jinan.

After arriving in Jinan, Feng Guozhang began to count the troops at hand. It's just that after some counting, Feng Guozhang began to cry again.

There is no other reason, because now he has in his hands along with the defenders of Jinan. There are only about 17,000 people. And all of them were uninjured or lightly injured, not even a single seriously wounded.

What does this mean? Is it possible that there was not even a single wounded in the previous battle?

This only shows that those wounded have basically been abandoned by them.

"Commander, if there are such a few people, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold Jinan at all, so let's go back to Beijing as soon as possible..."

Seeing that Feng Guozhang was still in tears there, although he was already a little impatient along the way, Li Chun still spoke on the side.

"Yes, commander, the most important thing now is to go back to Beijing, although there are more than 10,000 people in the less, but the troops in the Northeast and Outer Mongolia are also moving to Zhili, counting our more than 17,000 people, it is also a lot of Li Liang, with the two fortified cities of Beijing and Tianjin, maybe it can be stopped..." Seeing that Li Chun spoke, Jin Yunpeng also spoke on the side.

There is no way, although they are unwilling, but now they can only continue to persuade Feng Guozhang.

————————————————————

With the persuasion of others, Feng Guozhang soon retreated to Tianjin with the remnants of the army.

On the other hand, after being in a coma for a day, Yuan Shikai finally woke up from his coma.

Knowing that Yuan Shikai had woken up, almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

It was only at this time that people noticed the importance of Yuan Shikai to the Beiyang team. Because he is the backbone of the whole team, he usually doesn't care, but if he really encounters a big event, without him, everyone is really a little flustered...

"Kung Bao, what do you think?"

Walking to the side of the bed, looking at Yuan Shikai with a sickly face, Duan Qirui and the others asked cautiously.

"It's okay..."Sighing bitterly, Yuan Shikai looked up at Duan Qirui. How is the situation now..."

Hearing Yuan Shikai ask this, Duan Qirui really wanted to answer, 'Very good', but after opening his mouth, he didn't know how to answer Lu Dao at all.

Seeing Duan Qirui's appearance, Yuan Shikai's face deteriorated a little more...

"Forget it, tell me about the losses on Huafu's side..."

"This..."Duan Qirui and the others hesitated a little, afraid that Yuan Shikai would not be able to stand this stimulation.

However, after patting the bed, Yuan Shikai spoke. "What are you afraid of, are you afraid that the old man will make me faint again? Hurry up, I'm already prepared...", but Yuan Shikai still clenched his fists.

And after a wry smile, Duan Qirui also told Feng Guozhang's loss some time ago.

After listening to what Duan Qirui said about the loss, Yuan Shikai's face turned a little blue, which also frightened Duan Qirui and the others. However, just when everyone wanted to call the doctor over, Yuan Shikai waved his hand. "Don't worry, old man, I'm not going to die so easily..."

That being said, everyone can see that Yuan Shikai's body has become worse than before.

"Alas...... I wanted to bring everyone to be rich together, but who would have thought that it would become like this..."The most important thing is my emperor dream...

However, it is absolutely impossible for Yuan Shikai to say these things to everyone, after all, he also knows very well that there is such a thing as symmetry of the emperor, and these people under him are definitely opposed.

Talking about this kind of thing now is just making yourself uncomfortable.

"Even if you are from Mongolia, many of those people transferred from the northeast are not even stable with guns, and it is simply wishful thinking to rely on them to hold Beijing and Tianjin..." Later, you can send a telegram to that Yan Shao in the south, and say that the old man wants to talk to him..."

Yuan Shikai knows very well what his current physical condition is, since he can't play with knives and guns, then he must fight for the greatest benefit for his family while he is still alive, which is much better than a complete failure and nothing falls after the last... (To be continued......)