While the two were talking and laughing, they suddenly heard someone knocking on the door: "Master, there are 100,000 urgent confidential requirements!" ”

Sun Yuanqi's heart moved, he quickly got up and took the letter, and after reading it hurriedly, his face became cloudy, obviously because he was in a hurry to learn that something big had happened, and his heart fluctuated for a while. Seeing this, Yang Du hurriedly asked, "Baixi, what happened?" ”

When Sun Yuanqi heard this, he handed the letter to Yang Du: "Yuan Xiangcheng looks quiet on the surface, but in private, he has begun to secretly lay out and is ready to take action against the Southern Revolutionary Party at any time. I don't know if he plans to strike first? Or do you want to leave us alone? ”

Sun Yuanqi's attitude towards the southern revolutionaries was somewhat contradictory: on the one hand, he hoped that they could tolerate each other for the sake of the country, value peace in everything, and try to solve problems through legal means to conserve the vitality of the country, instead of electrifying the whole country, rallying to protest, and even assassinating and rioting; On the one hand, he hoped that they would make a bigger fuss and dance more happily, so that he and Yuan Shikai could join forces to exterminate these universalists who only knew about democracy and republics and did not know how to become a country as soon as possible.

Who knew that when he hesitated, Yuan Shikai had already sharpened his knife to the pig and sheep. The letter I just received was a transcript of the minutes of the meeting in which Yuan Shikai secretly convened a military meeting and deployed the strategy for the southern expedition.

"Originally, the Beiyang Army was overwhelmed, but Yuan Xiangcheng actually dared to adopt the strategy of marching on three routes, it seems that he is ready to make a desperate bet!" While reading the letter, Yang Du took a pen and sketched on the map: "The land route is divided into two routes, and one way uses the Luhan line to concentrate to the south, with Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui as the target of attack. The troop arrangement was based on the first part of the Beiyang Third Division stationed in the three towns of Wuhan, the rest as the main force for attacking Jiangxi, and the Henan First Division and the Henan Mixed Brigade as the reserves. Ni Danchen (Ni Sichong), Zhao Zhouren (Zhao Wei) of the Yi Army, and the Second Beiyang Division concentrated in the area of Yuncheng, Henan, and launched an attack on the Anhui Governor Bai Liewu (Bai Wenwei). The First Division of the Jiangnan Liuhu Army with Li Fuchen (Li Tiancai) and the Praetorian Guard of Lei Chaoyan (Lei Zhenchun) moved to Wuchang and Jingzhou to defend Hunan.

"The other road concentrated southward along the Jinpu line, targeting Jiangning and Suzhou in Jiangsu, and incidentally responding to Anhui's actions. The troop arrangement was based on the Beiyang Fifth Division and Zhang Shaoxuan's (Zhang Xun)'s Wuwei Front Army as the main force, and the Beiyang Fourth Division as the reserve. In addition, the Shandong Mixed Brigade was used to defend Jinan, and the headquarters of Xu Laohu (Xu Baoshan) of the Second Army of the Northern Expedition stationed in Yangzhou was used as a containment force to disrupt Jiangsu.

"In addition, there is a strange army on the sea route. Prepare to enter Shanghai with the Ministry of Min Governor Sun Hui'an (Sun Daoren); In the event of an accident, it is planned to replace it with the 1st Division of the 3rd Division stationed in Seolung, Namwon, and Jeongju in Gyeonggi, and transport it to the south by seaway, but the landing site is temporarily designated. made such a big move quietly, obviously Yuan Xiangcheng wanted to settle half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop, and then compete with Baixi you. His heart is unpredictable, and his ambition is small! ”

Sun Yuanqi's face sank like water: "In the past few months, various divisions of the Beiyang Army have purchased mortars from the Beiping Iron Works in small batches, and rifles and ammunition from the Hanyang Arsenal on many occasions. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, I just thought that the troops were changing their outfits after the military reform, and it turned out that Yuan Xiangcheng had already planned it! It seems that not only our subordinate arsenals have received orders, but I am afraid that the Beiyang Manufacturing Bureau, the Texas Manufacturing Bureau and the Fujian Manufacturing Bureau are all working day and night to make guns and transport them to the Beiyang departments, right? ”

Yang Du frowned and said: "A few days ago, the "Gale Daily" in Shantou, Guangdong, published an inconspicuous news, saying that the War Department secretly ordered 18 field guns of various calibers, 50,000 1888-style fast guns, and 4 million rounds of ammunition from the German Krupp Gun Factory, and also purchased 14,000 1895-style Manlisha rifles from the Austrian Steyr Company. All are delivered within three months on a regular basis. At first, I thought it was a deliberately fabricated lace news by the tabloids in the hope of sensationalism. Now it seems that it should not be groundless! ”

Sun Yuanqi said: "The newspaper said that it was three months, but the nights are long and dreamy, and the days change, Yuan Xiangcheng is determined to wait so long, it is estimated that he will make waves in the next few days, looking for a reason to borrow mobile force." Half a month ago, Sun also ordered Liu Mingzhao and Yin Changheng, who were stationed on the Sichuan-Hubei border, to reorganize their armies for war. If necessary, go south to attack Hunan and other places, but the time is in a hurry, and I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve results in the short term. I don't know what kind of trick the blue son has, can delay the time of Yuan Xiangcheng's action for a while, so that our army can calmly prepare for war? ”

Yang Du replied slowly: "Since Yuan Xiangcheng has arranged it like this, he must be determined to go south, and if we want to delay time, we must start from many aspects. For example, the Beiping Iron Works and the Hanyang Arsenal delayed delivery and actively competed for the position of Su Governor, all of which should be in the question. In addition, it is necessary for us to get him stuck in the Congress, because at the moment Yuan Xiangcheng's biggest concern is not the Southern Revolutionary Party's rebellion, nor our threat, but the delay in electing him as the official president of the Congress. At the end of the day, he's just the interim president now. After the formal convening of the National Assembly, the position of 'pro tempore president' became very embarrassing, and it was not justified in doing anything.

At present, he is ready to take action against the four governors of the Kuomintang in the south, as well as Sun Yat-sen, Huang Keqiang and other important officials, but the Congress has been entangled in the assassination of Song Jiaoren and the aftermath of the big loan case. Yuan Xiangcheng has repeatedly mentioned the issue of the presidential election, which has been repeatedly raised, and has not discussed it for a long time. As everyone knows, the Kuomintang is one of the largest parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives, holding more than 30 percent of the seats. If the Kuomintang members announce their withdrawal from the National Assembly once war breaks out, it will be difficult for them to meet the requirements for the election of the president stipulated in the Provisional Treaty for a long time to come, that is, more than three-quarters of the total number of members of the National Assembly must be present. Then Yuan Xiangcheng will have to continue to act as president in a 'temporary' capacity, which he will not tolerate. ”

Sun Yuanqi said: "Now that there are Kuomintang radicals in the Congress, there is no need for our New China Party members to take action, Yuan Xiangcheng's presidential dream will be difficult to achieve for a while, and this problem is easy to solve." Is there any other way? ”

Yang Du said: "The reason why Yuan Xiangcheng dared to disregard the emptiness of the defense in the Gyeonggi area and move his troops south on a large scale is that he is sure that we will stand on the same front with him against the Southern Revolutionary Party and will not pose a threat to him. Then let's do the opposite, deliberately let the Jin-Shaanxi army close to Hubei, Henan, and Zhili mobilize, such as suddenly recruiting a large number of new soldiers, strengthening the combat readiness of various departments along the border, feints of some divisions and brigades to the east, and transferring planes to Taiyuan Datong, so that Yuan Xiangcheng does not dare to act rashly. ”

Sun Yuanqi was also a little helpless: "Yuan Xiangcheng's secret agents are really powerful, almost pervasive, except for some extremely secret places, they can easily obtain information." Now it's okay, I'm afraid that as soon as our army moves, Yuan Xiangcheng should wonder if we have set up a situation with the Southern Revolutionary Party to trick him into the urn! ”

Yang Du said again: "Yuan Xiangcheng's secret agents are really powerful, and it is estimated that our army's feints will not be able to deceive them for long, so we must be more serious." As he spoke, he tapped his finger on the location of Henan on the map, "Although Yuan Xiangcheng has drawn up a plan for a three-way southern attack, he probably doesn't have much hope for the sea route, after all, the navy is too weak, and he has no experience in transporting soldiers on a large scale, and now Chiang Kai-shek is the chief of the navy, so he really doesn't worry about handing over the Beiyang elite that he has worked so hard to train to the navy to consign."

"As for the Jinpu Road, the goal is only to capture Jiangning and Suzhou, and there is Xu Laohu as the internal response, so the troops are not very strong.

"The real main force of this southern expedition should be all the way along the Luhan line, the purpose of which is to knock on the mountains and shock the tigers, kill the chickens and make an example of the monkeys, and intimidate the southern provinces represented by Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Guangdong, in order to achieve the effect of surrendering the army without a fight, and to preserve the economic strength of these provinces to the greatest extent. If we want to delay the timing of Yuan Xiangcheng, the key is all the way to the Luhan line; And the key to the Luhan line is all in Henan! ”

"Henan?" Sun Yuanqi was a little puzzled.

Yang Du explained: "Henan is connected to the Beijing Division, and Hubei and Jiangxi are connected, and the salaries, guns, ammunition, and food and straw of the personnel who fought all the way on the Luhan Line were all transported by Henan. Once Henan is lost and the Luhan line is interrupted, the Beiyang Army, which is fighting in Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, and other places, will become a lone army without guns, ammunition, food, and pay. In time, it will surely collapse without a fight. Therefore, Henan is the seven inches of the Luhan Line all the way to the battle.

"Moreover, for us, there are several incomparable benefits to doing tricks in Henan. First, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hubei and other provinces around Henan are our territory, and it is convenient to enter and exit; Second, there is a white wolf in western Henan now-

Sun Yuanqi said: "Could it be the same as the last time the Sichuan and Shaanxi armies entered Hubei, let's disguise ourselves as white wolf bandits and add some chaos to Yuan Xiangcheng?" ”

Yang Du shook his head and said, "This matter can not be repeated!" Although it is a disguise, people with a heart can see the instigator behind it at a glance, not to mention that there are many people, it is difficult to ensure that no one takes the initiative to inform? The last time he played against Li Huangpi, he was just the governor of a province under the false name of the vice president, and it didn't matter if he was offended; But this time it is a real president, if he is so open and stubbornly against him, and he cannot be completely eradicated, there will be endless troubles in the future!

"What Yang means is that we pretend to be revolutionaries, secretly fund the guns, ammunition, food, intelligence, etc. of the White Wolf Bandit Army through Hubei, Shaanxi and other places, and then instigate them to sabotage the Luhan Railway, burn the warehouses of the Beiyang Army, and disturb local law and order in Henan. When Yuan Xiangcheng heard the news, he must first exterminate the white wolf bandit army before he dared to go south with peace of mind. Thus buying us more time. ”

Sun Yuan smiled and said: "In fact, before this, the revolutionaries were already secretly contacting the White Wolf Bandit Army and providing weapons and silver, so there is no need for us to take risks and pretend." At most, we will provide convenience for the revolutionaries to enter and leave Shaanxi and Sichuan, occasionally leak some information, and then sell some old weapons to them, so as to ensure that Yuan Xiangcheng will not be traced! ”

Yang Du finally said: "There is another point, that is, Baixi must announce his appointment as prime minister as soon as possible and start to govern and take care of things." Only when you sit on the throne of prime minister can you justify your involvement in national affairs and play a greater role when the conflict between the North and the South breaks out. Otherwise, if it continues to be delayed like this, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no variables in the middle! ”

Sun Yuanqi pondered for a moment and replied, "It's okay, Sun Mou will finish this matter in the next few days." ”

Yang Du got up and hugged his fist at Sun Yuan: "Then Yang will first wish Prime Minister Baixi smooth sailing in his administration!" ”

Sun Yuanqi hurriedly got up and hugged Yang Du: "The secretary general is too polite, please give me more advice in the future!" ”

After that, the two couldn't help but look at each other and laugh. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m.qidian. )

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