Walking for a hundred steps after meals is a relatively healthy lifestyle habit.

Just like in the past, after dinner, Li Zicheng took a walk in the courtyard alone.

At that time, the setting sun had set and twilight was creeping in. The lawn in the backyard of the Prime Minister's residence had turned into a dark green. After a day of exposure to the scorching sun, the tall and lush pine trees exuded waves of rosin fragrance, and

The fragrance of flowers and plants in the garden is particularly enjoyable.

The footsteps on the cobblestone road between the gardens were silent. A person's life experience can be reflected in the places where he has lived. And the various houses that Li Zi has lived in can be said to be diverse.

And the difference between them is probably far beyond the imagination of outsiders. But what impressed him most was probably in another time and space, the old house at home, the small river in front of the house that was used as a swimming pool when he was a child... and the simple student dormitories in the school.

... Of course, it is inevitable that there was the cramped ant nest-style dwelling... Of course, there were also the single dormitories provided by the company later... Of course, the most comfortable thing was the villa where I lived in Lianyungang, and this.

He has lived in this official residence of the Prime Minister for more than a year. All these houses not only illustrate his life experience, but also reflect his career development and success to some extent.

The Prime Minister's Residence, this guest house built in the Qing Dynasty to welcome Prince William, was first the Provisional Presidential Palace and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the Republic of China. Now it is the official residence of the Prime Minister - this symbol of power has been moved to Li Zi

Cheng. So, will his external and internal enemies be willing to accept this?

No, of course they will not accept it, and Yuan Shikai will not accept it either...

Li Zicheng is very clear about this. He is too familiar with China's history. He also knows very well about the president who seems to be working closely with him. All previous compromises are just political and temporary.

, forced to compromise, in the end. All compromises are accompanied by deepening conflicts. As the conflicts deepen, eventually, the two may break up. I hope...

But before that, what should I be wary of first? More than a year ago, he told the senators and representatives in Congress: If China wants to truly become prosperous and strong, it must formulate a constitution and implement constitutional government... Who would

Anyone who feels that constitutionalism has nothing to do with it will not be able to achieve political success, and the country will be in a passive position in this process.

Perhaps, to the outside world, formulating a constitution and implementing constitutional government has always been Li Zicheng's dream, but that dream was just a product of competing for power with Yuan Shikai, but just to maintain his own power, just like now, the Constitutional Assembly

When the meeting was about to begin, Li Zicheng continued to conduct a series of "side activities" in an attempt to use his power to buy some people, so as to avoid the constitutional meeting being delayed due to differences. He had to get ahead of Yuan Shikai, to be precise.

He was the one who got there first...

While walking in the back garden of the Prime Minister's residence, the green leaves of the trees were whispering in the evening breeze, and the flowers in the flowerbed had already given birth to a batch of delicate flower buds. However, this breathtaking scenery made a sound come out again and again.

...Be careful, Li Zicheng said to himself again.

We must not feel relaxed because of temporary achievements. There are still many problems in the country that have not been resolved. In addition to the disputes at the center, the semi-independent state of the southwest has not yet ended. The local forces in the provinces have also not been able to

Really weakened, and the close neighbor in the East is still trying to survive, they are waiting for the opportunity... At this time, we must be more careful, the more this time comes, the more careful we must be. Especially now, the main force of the Jiangsu Army has been transferred to Europe

Already….

"Expeditionary Force..."

At this time, Li Zicheng remembered the secret message he received in the afternoon. The expeditionary force was preparing to conduct a large-scale battle, a large-scale mobile war. If successful, the war situation in the entire Europe would be changed...

No, it can be approved! It should be...

But another voice told him that this plan should be approved, this plan should be approved, because this plan can fundamentally change the world's impression of the Chinese and the Chinese Communist Party, and...

"The Somme..."

Reciting these three simple words, perhaps the Chinese people now just saw the name of the Somme in the newspaper, but for Li Zicheng, he has a far deeper understanding of these three words than others.

.

The Battle of the Somme was as cruel as the "Meat Grinder of Verdun". Verdun was a veritable meat grinder. Even the Expeditionary Force, a force that did not undertake any main tasks, was also

Tens of thousands of people were lost on local battlefields. In history, the Battle of the Somme, which lasted for four months, was more tragic than the Battle of Verdun. This battle can be said to be the most tragic battle between the Allies in 1916.

The most important military operation, the large-scale offensive on the Somme, was part of the Allied Powers' planned strategic offensive plan in 1916. It was also one of the most famous battles of World War I.

In December 1915, in the French town of Chantilly, French Commander-in-Chief Joffre and British Commander Sir Haig agreed that three French armies and two British armies would carry out a large-scale strategic offensive on both sides of the Somme River.

Strive to break the deadlock on the Western Front and create conditions for the subsequent shift to mobile warfare. They also determined that the main force to implement the Battle of the Somme would be borne by the French army.

Joffre and Haig initially formulated a plan for the Battle of the Somme. Their goal was to completely break through the German defense line and win a decisive victory on the Western Front. However, they did not expect that the German army had a similar attempt and moved faster. The difference was

What's more, the German army's breakthrough point was Verdun. The sudden German attack disrupted the deployment of the British and French troops. A large number of French army reserves were used in the direction of Verdun. Heavy casualties were suffered by the German army day by day.

The attack exhausted the French army and made it impossible to prepare for the Battle of the Somme.

Although France was facing many difficulties at this time, the reason why Joffre and Haig did not give up the Somme Battle plan was that the Allies wanted to break the deadlock on the Western Front through this battle, and more importantly, the German army at Vers

The attack in the direction of Deng has put considerable pressure on the French army, and France has devoted almost all its strength here.

According to history, because the British army had not fought major battles outside the homeland for many years and lacked heavy artillery and ammunition, General Haig continued to postpone the launch of the plan. However, as the battle at Verdun became more and more intense, Joffre continued to urge

Haig acted in advance. In May 1916, when Haig proposed that the attack time would be August, Joffre immediately became very excited and retorted loudly. If Britain did nothing by then, the French army would be defeated.

Eliminated.

It was precisely in the face of this pressure that the Allies had to attack in other areas and use offense to contain the Germans, so that they could reduce the pressure on Verdun and turn the crisis around. However, Joffre and Haig chose the Somme River as the location for their counterattack

, just like Falkenhayn in Germany, they did not fully estimate the strength of the enemy's defense. As a result, they all made the mistake of "beating an egg against a stone", and the Battle of the Somme became an unprecedented battle that failed to achieve the expected purpose.

The large-scale consumption of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, just like Verdun, also completely shattered the Allied countries' idea of ​​ending trench warfare with the help of infantry offensives.

The most annoying thing is that the expeditionary force has always hoped to assume more responsibilities. Since it wants to gain international status through World War I, the sacrifice of the army is inevitable. Since it is inevitable, it must

Xiafei, who had participated in the "Qing-French War",

But he refused outright, because he did not believe in the Chinese ** Corps, and even kept saying, "As the commander-in-chief of the French army, the biggest political issue he needs to consider is to ensure that the collapse of the Chinese ** Corps will not cause the entire front to collapse."

"Collapse", so as early as the beginning of the plan, he directly excluded the Chinese team...

"You're not even qualified to be cannon fodder!"

Chen Taoyi, who was holding the document in his hand, listened to the Prime Minister's muttering to himself and knew that the Prime Minister was worried about the expeditionary force. Maybe the State Council was not involved in the military, but after the expeditionary force was established, a base camp for the expeditionary force was also established in the capital.

The president is the commander-in-chief and the prime minister is the deputy commander-in-chief of the "symbolic institution". The reason why he is said to be a symbol is because it is just a tool for Yuan Shikai to appease people. Those who send more than one division of troops will become members of the base camp, and those who send troops next to

It was only natural for Yuan Shikai, the prime minister, to become deputy commander-in-chief.

However, for the Prime Minister, it gives him an excuse to intervene in the expeditionary force's supplies. Although the Prime Minister has always been "comfortable" in recruiting troops and other support work for the expeditionary force, but now...

"Prime Minister, we have sent out soldiers and taken things anyway, no matter what the French want to do!"

Listening to the words behind him, Li Zicheng shook his head, they didn't understand!

"Gong Yao, why, we fought well, but some people still look down on us?"

After asking a rhetorical question, Li Zicheng let out a long sigh.

"Because we lose more, because people don't believe you to the core, and believe that it's just your luck. Why do we send troops to Europe? Is it to sort out the labor force across the country? Any problem that can be solved with money can be solved

It’s not a problem. After all, we are here to build up the country’s prestige. Now, China needs the momentum of a powerful country. Only by sending troops and fighting a few big and vicious battles can the Europeans be convinced.

, only by convincing the Europeans can we achieve the goal of repairing civil rights internally and fighting for national rights externally!"

After saying these words, Li Zicheng then added.

"The status of a great power can only be achieved on the battlefield. If Japan does not defeat Russia, it will not have the respect of the great powers. Without the respect of the great powers, Japan will not have the status of a great power. Westerners have a very simple view of the status of a great power. On the battlefield

Defeat a powerful country, at least make a tie with them, otherwise... no matter how strong it is, it is not a powerful country. The Manchu Qing Dynasty has been oppressed by Westerners for more than 70 years, and it has long ago completely lost the dignity of this great country. Now we want to regain it

The only way to save face when we return to China is to fight for it on the battlefield. If we can't do that, in their eyes, we are just Qing slaves with our pigtails cut off!"

After making a mocking remark, Li Zicheng lit a cigarette and still did not look back at Chen Taoyi behind him.

"If we wait until the war to fight a big country or a powerful country, we will need to consider too many international factors, such as making allies, using diplomacy, international financing, and a series of other issues. Those issues will all require our own

But now we use the European War to fundamentally solve these problems. In this war, we can take advantage of the situation, so that it will be easier to win, and, maybe, we can get more things.

…”

"But... they look down on us!"

Chen Taoyi said with some dissatisfaction, perhaps, in terms of domestic publicity, the expeditionary force was successful in the first battle and the country's prestige was greatly promoted, but as the Prime Minister's Secretary, he knew very well that behind this so-called promotion of national prestige, Westerners were still interested in the expedition.

The discrimination of the military remains unchanged. In their view, it is just luck.

"The more this is the case, the more we must be able to think highly of ourselves, the more we must..."

Fight this battle!

With this thought to himself, Li Zicheng became determined at this moment. This battle must be fought. No matter what, it must be fought. This is not only related to China's future international status, but more importantly, only by allowing the expeditionary force to exert its full potential

The biggest role is to truly create a national defense force. Just like the German Army, the four kings' armies of Germany were transformed into the German Army in World War I. For the Chinese Army, China also needs to take advantage of this war.

Turn the private army into a national army and into a national defense force!….

"But there is no news from the president!"

The reason why Chen Taoyi came here at this time is because there was news from the presidential palace that the president did not give any opinion on whether to fight this battle!

"This Yuan Xiangcheng!"

With a snort, Li Zicheng could guess what kind of medicine was sold in Yuan Shikai's gourd without having to think about it. If he won the battle, it would be President Shengming. If he lost, that would be a matter for the Expeditionary Force Headquarters, and the Expeditionary Forces Headquarters...

…When the time comes, someone must be responsible. Who will be responsible? I’m afraid…

"Prepare the car, I'm going to meet Director Duan!"

Now, if you want to fight this war, I'm afraid the only way is to discuss it with Duan Qirui! After all...

In the pavilion in the back garden of Duan Mansion, Duan Qirui was holding a teacup and drinking tea, but his face did not show any expression. Ever since Li Zicheng saw him an hour ago, he had been expressing his affection for him.

He was polite, but Duan Qirui always maintained that attitude - without saying a word!

"Brother Zhiquan..."
To be continued...