Yang Yongtai nodded and said, "That's right!" Although the Mongols have lost their fierce and brave blood under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism, their strength should not be underestimated, especially in the vast steppe Gobi, which can give full play to the Mongolian horseman's ability to ride and archery, and pose a huge threat to infantry and logistics. Moreover, according to intelligence, the Tsarist War Department ordered the Irkutsk Military District to hand over 15,000 rifles, 15,000 sabers, and 7.5 million rounds of ammunition to the Outer Mongolian separatist group half a year ago; He also sent a battalion of infantry and hundreds of Cossack cavalry to Kulen in the name of strengthening the defense of the consulate to help train the army in Outer Mongolia, and it is estimated that it can barely go into battle now.

"Originally, for us, in the run-up to the parliamentary election, sending troops on an expedition could greatly win the favor of the people and win the votes of the electorate. However, our army currently has two brigades on its way into Tibet, two divisions and one brigade in Hubei, and one brigade stationed in Datong, Shanxi, which has put extremely logistical pressure on Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, and the strength of the troops is also slightly insufficient. At present, many of the garrisons in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces are recruits who have just joined the army and have never experienced battle formations, and if two divisions are sent north, it will not only be difficult to have a chance of victory, but will also easily cause a void in defense. Furthermore, if Yuan Xiangcheng sent our garrisons from Hubei or Shanxi to the north, how should we deal with it? promised him that the Beiyang Army would take advantage of the situation to seize territory; If he doesn't agree to him, he will create public opinion and ruin the reputation of adults.

"The most important thing is the consequences that may result from sending troops. Outer Mongolia is a tasteless piece of food and a pity to abandon chicken ribs, even if we put down the rebellion, it will be difficult to garrison troops there for a long time. Outer Mongolia has been plotting rebellion for a long time, and now it has the support of Tsarist Russia, both openly and covertly. Once our troops withdraw, the rebellion is likely to recur. Moreover, the provinces of Jin, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Xin were adjacent to the Mongols, and if their cavalry divided into units to invade the south. It will be a big problem for us! ”

Sun Yuanqi let out a long sigh: "Yuan Xiangcheng is afraid that he also hopes that I can take the initiative, right?" In the final analysis, Yuan Xiangcheng is still a nationalist or democrat, and he hopes in his heart to build China into a powerful country ruled by him, and he never wants to be established externally. However, he was also soberly aware that Tsarist Russia was a behemoth and could not be provoked by China at the moment, so he strongly advocated a peaceful solution. However, his attitude of compromising and seeking perfection made Tsarist Russia and Outer Mongolia feel weak and deceitful, and they became more and more arrogant and arrogant. Therefore, he hoped that I would take the initiative to teach them a lesson.

"As you said, there are several advantages if we send troops. First of all, the provinces of Jin, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Xin are adjacent to Mongolia, and there is no need to worry that we will take the territory of the Beiyang Army, and the supply lines are relatively short. Secondly, we have relatively abundant food and weapons. He will not open his mouth to him. Third, we are local forces. Even if he really fights with Tsarist Russia, he has room to turn around as the central government. Of course, the best he hoped for would be a lose-lose fight between us and Waimeng, and then he could profit from it. ”

"My lord, how are we going to deal with this?" Yang Yongtai asked.

Sun Yuanqi groaned: "Yuan Xiangcheng hopes that we can take the initiative to jump out, so naturally we can't fall into him and let him be satisfied." But now is the critical moment of the campaign, and the superficial article still needs to be done. In the name of the Central Committee of the New China Party, we might as well electrify the whole country. Support President Yuan Da and the State Council in resolving the Outer Mongolia issue at an early date with the aim of not losing territory and sovereignty; He also said that Shaanxi, Gansu, Jin, Xin, and other border provinces will actively organize and train the people's army. Once the matter broke down, he responded to the call of the central government to send troops to the Northern Expedition. ”

Yang Yongtai was a little puzzled, and asked tentatively: "My lord, do we really want to train the people's army, or do we blude and perfunctory Yuan Xiangcheng?" ”

Sun Yuanqi said: "Of course it's true! It can be said that the princes of Outer Mongolia have been vainly trying to achieve independence for a long time, and now that Tsarist Russia is behind them, I am afraid that it will be difficult to ease the means through peace talks, and even if they die down for a while, they will still make a stir after all, and we must be prepared to put down the rebellion by force as soon as possible. Once things can't be done, no matter what happens to Yuan Xiangcheng, we must send troops. ”

As a traverser, Sun Yuanqi naturally knew that Outer Mongolia eventually became independent and became a buffer zone between the two great powers, China and Russia. Although he does not know how many rights and wrongs he has experienced from the time of lip and tooth attachment to parting ways, Sun Yuanqi still hopes that China's territory can maintain the shape of begonia leaves at present, rather than being gnawed into a rooster by foreign powers. If the opportunity is right, it is not even ruled out that the old hair will be a little bit.

Yang Yongtai hesitated for a moment and then said: "My lord, the last time we rashly marched into Tibet, we had already caused great displeasure to the British government, so we dispatched British troops in India to escort Thubten Gyatso from Kalimpong back to Tibet. Fortunately, the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi do not have a border with Britain, and although Tibet is adjacent to India and is separated by lofty mountains and mountains, it is not dangerous for Britain to use its strength. Now the adults are preparing to send troops to Outer Mongolia again.

"Although Outer Mongolia is slightly richer than Tibet, it is also lackluster, not happy enough, not sad enough, and Outer Mongolia has the support of Tsarist Russia behind it. Tsarist Russia did not pretend to be gentlemen like the British who were salivating but pretended to be gentlemen, and they had always been simple and rude and admired killing, which annoyed them and feared that it would not be the blessing of the Northwest. With a corner of China and the two major powers in the world, I'm afraid that some-"

"I'm afraid it's a little unwise?" Sun Yuanqi sighed before continuing, "Actually, if it is possible to resolve the territorial dispute peacefully, I don't want to make enemies with Britain and Russia, but is this possible?" These two countries were only the size of a booger earlier, and it was through all kinds of despicable means that they continued to devour and encroach on them to become such vast empires as they are today. In their eyes, China is like a treasure in the hands of fools, which should be kept by them, and we Chinese should not and have no right to refuse their kindness.

"It is useless to be gentle and frugal in such banditry, and peace negotiations can only drag on for a while, but not for a lifetime. The best thing to do is to muster up the courage to harden your heart and smash the claws of the thieves who came in so hard that they don't dare to reach out again. Although Tibet and Outer Mongolia are making a lot of trouble at present, they are still China's territory after all, and it is justifiable for us to send troops to quell the chaos. As long as we can put down the rebellion with lightning speed, even if Britain and Russia are not happy, they will not dare to blatantly send troops to intervene. ”

Seeing that Yang Yongtai wanted to speak and stopped, Sun Yuanqi comforted again: "Changqing don't worry too much! I will carefully consider the matter of sending troops to Mongolia, and I will not act rashly. At present, we are still mainly pinning our hopes on the peace talks in Yuan Xiangcheng, and the formation and training of the people's army in Shaanxi, Gansu, Jin, Xin, and other border provinces is just to make preparations for another hand, just in case, and the formation of the army will have to be at least half a year later. For now, our priority remains to run for Congress. ”

Yang Yongtai was relieved.

Sun Yuanqi can Yang Yongtai be calm for a while, but the upsurge of foreign conquest and resistance to Russia is rising wave after wave, which is far from being able to be suppressed by Sun Yuanqi. At the beginning of December, there was an almost simultaneous run on the Chinese Daosheng Bank in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai. In Beijing alone, as much as 2.5 million yuan in cash was withdrawn in just three days, with the result that shops everywhere did not dare to accept Daosheng Bank's banknotes, and the bank's banknotes found could not even be circulated in the market.

Sun Yat-sen was not willing to be lonely, and for a while advocated that the "Russian-Mongolian Entente" should never be recognized, and that it must be adhered to to the end; For a while, he advocated that the Russian-Mongolian Entente could be completely ignored for the time being, in order to observe the actions of the Tsarist Russian government; For a while, he advocated reforming the currency system, solving financial difficulties, and persisting in long-term resistance to Russia until victory; For a while, he advocated the formation of a Sino-Japanese alliance to jointly confront Russia. In short, have a lot of fun in the newspapers.

Huang Xing also wrote to Yuan Shikai, stating his own counterinsurgency proposal, asking each province to transfer 4,000 elite soldiers to form an army to conquer Mongolia, and the 22 provinces could get a total of 88,000 people. He even relied on his half-military level to outline the route of the expeditionary army to the north, that is, from Beijing out of Zhangjiakou, through the Inner Mongolia Ulanchabu League, the Yikezhao League to Kulen in the northwest of the Tushetu Khan Department. Li Yuanhong, who listened to the opera and walked the birds in the capital every day, also advocated the use of troops to enter Mongolia.

At a time when everyone was disturbing and preaching the conquest of Mongolia to resist Russia, Sun Yuanqi was confined to his own reasons and could not directly send troops to the Northern Expedition, nor could he openly support the use of force to quell the chaos, so he could only sit back and watch the situation change, which was the fundamental reason that troubled him.

Fortunately, Sun Yuanqi is not the only one who is in trouble, but also Yuan Shikai and the cabinet. For Yuan Shikai, he was not willing to easily use his old Beiyang Army for expeditions, nor could he tolerate the meritorious growth of dissident armies through the conquest of Mongolia, and he was even more afraid that taking military action would cause all kinds of disputes in diplomacy and be unfavorable to him.

Of course, it is not Yuan Shikai who is under the most pressure, but Liang Ruhao, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Not long after taking office, the new section chief encountered such troubles, and when public opinion was in an uproar throughout the country, he had no choice but to go to the Tsarist Russian embassy in China and ask Tsarist Russian Minister Kupensky to telegraph to the Russian Government to quickly cancel the "Russian-Mongolian Entente." Kupensky did not even consult the Russian government, and bluntly refused: I'm sorry, the treaty has already been signed and published, and it will be difficult to cancel it!

It is said that "a weak country has no diplomacy", which is extremely true. President Yuan Shikai advocated doing his best to resolve the issue by peaceful means, and Premier Zhao Bingjun adopted the doctrine of peace and amity in his foreign policy. At most, it is to put down face and go to the embassy to negotiate. Now that he had failed to negotiate with the embassy in person, and was afraid of being criticized by public opinion, Liang Ruhao submitted his resignation and left Beijing on the same day.

At this time, it was a critical moment in diplomacy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be left without an owner for a day, and Zhao Bingjun thought about it for a long time, so he had no choice but to use Lu Zhengxiang, the former general minister who was extremely familiar with Russia. -- Lu Zhengxiang voluntarily resigned that day because he believed in Catholicism and refused to join the Kuomintang, which hindered the formation of the Kuomintang's "pure party cabinet." At this time, Lu Zhengxiang was invited back, and there was no doubt that the Kuomintang's pure party cabinet, which had only been in power for two or three months, was bankrupt! (To be continued.) )