Because this battle was related to the future and fate of the Beiyang group, Yuan Shikai had been waiting for the results of the battle between the two sides since noon, but it was not until the evening that Cai Chengxun sent a telegram. The message stated:

President Junjian:

War Department and General Staff Headquarters:

At about 10 o'clock last night, he received an urgent telegram from the War Department and the General Staff Headquarters, ordering our army and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade to join hands to meet the invading bandits. After receiving the order, our army immediately dispatched to build strong fortifications in the area of Taola Temple and Harawusu River in Wanquan County, and held on to the danger and waited for the battle.

Before noon today, the bandit army dispatched hundreds of warplanes to bomb our position on a large scale, and it lasted for three hours. At that time, the planes were like clouds and bombs, shrapnel flew sideways, and the flames rushed into the night, and the fortifications we had built were turned into powder in an instant, and the whole army was exposed to the wilderness. Just when our army was suffering, the army of bandits was covered, and the number was about more than 10,000. In particular, there is a kind of chariot, which is invulnerable to iron knives and guns, and there are artillery machine guns on it, which are invincible.

Our army will fight bulls with morale, fight to the death with the bandit army with a fearless spirit, and fight again and again, killing the enemy without calculation, until it is dark. More than 2,000 bandits were killed and more than 500 were captured alive, not counting the rest of the wounded, and four mountain artillery, more than 10 machine guns, more than 300 rifles, and a mountain of ammunition of all kinds were captured. Our army also lost 1,340 killed and wounded, more than 3,000 wounded, and its combat strength was reduced by 34 out of 10.

In order to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the enemy after the great victory, our army withdrew overnight and defended the danger. Tomorrow, we should rectify all the departments and go out to fight again, so as to eliminate the bandits as soon as possible, so as to calm the overall situation and comfort the system. Special news. Cheng Xun Cheng.

Although the telegram was written in a splendid manner, as if it had won a great victory, Yuan Shikai had been in the horse for twenty or thirty years, how could he not see that the telegram was boring? It is said that it is a big victory, but where does it come from "repeated defeats and battles" and "overnight withdrawal"? It is said that "more than 2,000 bandits were killed and more than 500 were captured," but the 47th Brigade was only 6,000 or 7,000 people when it was fully defeated. The most critical thing is that until now, Zhang Jiuqing, the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, who is the vanguard of the whole army, has not heard from him. It is estimated that there is already a lot of bad luck!

Yuan Shikai shook his hand and put the telegram on his pillow, did not hand it to Cao Kun, Tang Tianxi and others, and then asked in a hissed voice: "Although Cai Huchen (Cai Chengxun) said in the call that the division had won a great victory, according to the old man's estimate, the two sides should still be in a stalemate. In particular, the 47th Brigade was newly equipped with a kind of combat vehicle, which was completely invulnerable to iron knives and guns, and artillery machine guns were erected on it. Attacking and defending, the 1st Division and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade suffered considerable losses. With this in the current situation, what do you think? ”

Duan Qirui is a veteran general in the army and is in charge of the War Department, so he has seen the telegram before, so he naturally knows what the specific situation is. He replied immediately: "Now that the situation between the enemy and us is stalemate, and our army is temporarily helpless against the new chariots, in order to preserve the strength of Gongwei Gyeonggi, it is better to order Cai Huchen to defend the danger." In addition, Jiangxi was only defended by Li Xiushan's (Li Chun)'s Sixth Division, and its strength was already slightly overwhelmed, and the surrounding Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Hunan were all eyeing Jiangxi, and they would fall into a situation of isolation and helplessness if they were not careful. In the following opinion. The land in Jiangxi Province is barren and the people's livelihood is difficult, and the people of Jiangxi have a lot of affection for Li Xiehe (Li Liejun), and they are not happy if they get it, and they are not worried about it if they lose it, so it is better to order Li Xiushan to lead his troops to withdraw to Jiangbei, which can cover Anhui and Jiangsu in the east, and Hubei and Henan in the west to ensure that the land in Jiangbei is as stable as a rock. What does the marshal think? ”

Cao Kun did not know that the 1st Division and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade had already suffered defeat and suffered heavy casualties. Hearing this, he immediately retorted: "What Chief Zhiquan said is wrong! Jiangxi is located in Wutou Chuwei and Guangdong Huminting, which is a district of shape and victory, and it is also a wedge for our army to finally break into the south of the Yangtze River. In order to capture this place, the Sixth Division did not know how many soldiers were sacrificed and how much military expenditure was spent! I believe that with Li Xiushan's ability, in time, we will be able to peep into Fujian in the east, attack Hunan in the west, and take Guangxi in the south. How can we abandon it now because of the phrase 'not enough to be happy, not enough to be worried'? “

Duan Qirui said: "What Master Zhong Shan said is very reasonable, why doesn't Duan know the importance of Jiangxi? It's just that the present tense has changed. We had to quickly retreat the Sixth Division with the decisiveness of a strong man breaking his wrist, otherwise it would be easy to be broken by Sun Baixi one by one. 'If there is a man who has lost his land, he will save all his land; If the land is lost, the land is lost. I don't think Master Zhong Shan won't understand, right? ”

Cao Kun's expression changed: "Chief Zhiquan, have we reached the point where we can't have both man and earth?" ”

Yuan Shikai coughed a few times, and then replied in place of Duan Qirui: "The situation is not bad to that extent, but at the moment, Sun Baixi is aggressive, and public opinion is very unfavorable to our Beiyang group, so it is best for us to preserve our strength and avoid it for the time being." As long as we have 100,000 elite soldiers in our hands, where in the world can we not go? Don't say it's Jiangxi, it's not a problem to sweep the entire Jiangnan! ”

Cao Kun saw that Yuan Shikai's attitude was the same, so he had no choice but to say: "The handsome man is taught!" ”

Yuan Shikai glanced around at everyone and said: "Since you have no objections, Zhiquan will send a telegram to Xiushan later, ordering him to withdraw the Sixth Division to Jiangbei as soon as possible, and then decide on the specific direction after seeing what changes Sun Baixi has." Of course, the most worrying thing at present is the situation in Zhili, the 47th Brigade is directed at Zhangjiakou, which has forced the First Division to take a defensive position; If the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Shanxi Army stationed on the front line of Taiyuan and Niangziguan goes out of Jingcheng and goes north along the railway, the Gyeonggi area will be exposed to the enemy on their backs, and the army's morale will be in chaos. So we have to plan ahead! ”

Duan Qirui nodded: "Handsome and high!" Zhao Xingzhi and Sun Baixi not only have the grace of master and servant, the friendship of master and apprentice, but also the relatives of Uncle Lang, which can be described as hardcore confidants. Moreover, more than half of the 47th Mixed Brigade were rebels of the Praetorian Guard back then, and their combat strength was still so brave, and the 1st Mixed Brigade in Shanxi should not be underestimated. ”

As soon as the words fell, Tang Tianxi took the initiative to ask Ying: "I have been grateful for the grace of the marshal's thirty years of teaching and promotion, and I have not been able to repay it. However, due to negligence, he couldn't think about it, and repeatedly corrupted the important things of the commander, and he couldn't help himself with guilt. Now that the situation in Gyeonggi is tense, I implore the marshal to allow the lowly to lead his troops south, intercept the enemy from Shanxi, and ensure that not a single soldier from Jin Province will cross the Niangzi Pass! ”

"Yun Ting wants to lead his troops south?" Yuan Shikai was quite stunned, but immediately shook his head: "Yunting is full of heart, the old man naturally understands, but now there are still thousands of troops approaching the capital at any time, and the old man can't be without guards by his side." Yunting might as well stay and watch the house! ”

Tang Tianxi fell to his knees, kowtowed and begged: "Shuai, the student army of Jingshi University is just a disease of scabies. If the defense is more than enough to attack, the commander only needs to dispatch the 10th Division of the Army stationed in Beiyuan to be on guard; The first mixed brigade in Shanxi that goes east to Niangzi Pass at any time is the heart of the capital, and a slight fall will cause a monstrous disaster.

"The humble position used to be just a play, thanks to the love of the handsome to have today's achievements, such a generous virtue is difficult to repay even if the grass title ring, Tianxi can only always remember it. At present, the day when the country is in trouble, it is the time for heaven to repay the favor. He was willing to raise 6,000 elite soldiers under his command. Thousands of miles to help Zhengding, even if the liver and brain are killed on the battlefield, Tianxi is also willing. I beg you to be perfect! In the end, I burst into tears.

Yuan Shikai was also moved by the tears of his good friend, and sighed and said: "You have been with the old man for nearly thirty years, although you are called a subordinate, you are actually like a family. The old man really can't bear you to leave. It's just that you have such intentions, and it's inconvenient for the old man to stop it. Since this is the case, the old man ordered the 3rd Division to go south to Zhengding to intercept the 1st Mixed Brigade in Shanxi, with Zhong Shan as the full command and Yun Ting as the deputy. What do you think? ”

Cao Kun and Tang Tianxi replied in unison: "Obey orders!" ”

After a few more moments, they took their leave. As soon as he walked out of the dilapidated gate of the presidential palace, Duan Qirui sighed repeatedly. Shi Er, who was in charge of the confidential affairs who followed him, often felt that the second monk was confused, so he asked curiously, "Why is the chief man sighing?" ”

Duan Qirui shook his head and said: "It is said that 'bitches are ruthless and unjust', it seems that this statement is true, Tang Yunting is afraid that he will never return!" ”

"Why did the chief say that?" Shier is often more curious.

"You can't see that?" Duan Qirui turned his head and glanced at him, "Although Tang Yunting doesn't know anything about military affairs, he was born in a pear orchard, and he is still outstanding in observing words and emotions and figuring out other people's thoughts. Obviously, he had seen from the look and behavior of the big handsome that the Beiyang group was crumbling at the moment. Therefore, I am eager to leave Beijing with the troops, the purpose is to have more bargaining capital when changing the court! ”

Shi Erchang was even more surprised: "What? My Beiyang group is crumbling? ”

Duan Qirui said: "The encirclement of the Congress is the first major failure in the life of the marshal, resulting in the complete political defeat of our Beiyang group. After that, the attack on the headquarters of the New China Party, the signing of the "Sino-Japanese Treaty of the Third Republic of China", and the shooting of parliamentarians were even more wrong, until they stepped into the abyss of no return. If the Beiyang Army can achieve a few big military victories in the future, things may not have room for turnaround, at least we can sit at the negotiating table with Sun Baixi to spend a long time. But now that we have been defeated even by the most fundamental means of force, how can we bargain with Sun Baixi?

"We may not be able to see our decline now. But smart people have been able to get a clue from it, such as Tang Yunting and others. When we have suffered a big defeat in politics and military and the defeat is obvious to all, how can no one within the Beiyang group have different aspirations? The key now depends on who is the first to stand up, perhaps Su Governor Jin Yiqing (Jin Yunpeng). Maybe it's the Gan Governor Li Xiushan (Li Chun), or even the direct governor Feng Huafu (Feng Guozhang)! ”

"Huh? These people are all the henchmen and cronies of the big handsome, how can they betray? Schell is often decidedly unconvinced.

Duan Qirui sneered: "Confidants? Is Liang Yansun considered a confidant? Is Zhao Zhi'an considered a confidant? There are also Ruan Douzhan and Tang Yunting, and Young Master Yuan is the eldest son! Don't they all lead the next step in the North Ocean to a dead end? ”

Shi Er Changqi said: "Then why did the chief minister transfer Li Xiushan's department back to Jiangbei?" Li Xiushan is the governor of Jiangxi Province, once he crosses the river, all the hard work he has paid for it before will be in vain, how can he be willing to cross the river? Could it be that the chief minister wanted to force Li Xiushan to declare independence by transferring the army? ”

Duan Qirui shook his head: "If Li Xiushan obediently transfers the troops back to Jiangbei and sets an example for others, I still have a glimmer of hope for Beiyang to come back to life." That is, all the troops south of Henan and Shandong will be withdrawn, and the hedgehogs will gather in the surrounding provinces of Zhili to fight to the death with Sun Baixi. Sun Baixi has a weak temperament, and he will definitely refuse to carry out such a large-scale decisive battle, and will only solve the problem through negotiations. In this way, I can finally have a place to stay in Beiyang.

But if Li Xiushan doesn't listen to the order, he will also set an example for the governors, division and brigade commanders of other provinces, and the collapse of Beiyang will appear in front of him soon. Of course, this is better, it is more pleasant than hanging half-dead. It has been 20 years since the formation of our Beiyang army, and although the civil war occupies most of it, there is no lack of glory during it. Duan would rather him die happily than have him bend for a long time! ”

Shi Erchang didn't know whether the "he" in Duan Qirui's mouth meant the Beiyang group or Yuan Shikai, but he was more concerned about another question: "Once our Beiyang group falls apart, how will you deal with yourself?" ”

"Me?" Duan Qirui smiled, "I have always been the chief of the army in the cabinet!" (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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