Chapter 136 Family Affairs and State Affairs and War (IV)

"You're off topic. What I want to talk about today is the issue of successors."

After a brief surprise, Liu Yun decided not to comment on Wen Yi's suggestion for the time being.

"You think carefully, I'm not trying to do anything, it's a fundamental part of the country's future..."

"I will consider it. It is because it is of great importance that we must be treated with caution. As for the issue of successors, I think so. Before the system of veterans and important officials is realized, the full power of government affairs will be temporarily entrusted to Zhang Zhigao and military affairs will be entrusted to Yang Zhengjin. We both serve as prime ministerial advisers to guide us, and naturally become the first batch of veterans."

"I mean that too. To be more specific, in terms of personnel, I plan to return Zeng Jizela to be the Foreign Minister and take down the burden of Zhang Zhigao's concurrent role. Yang Zhengjin can serve as acting Secretary of Defense on your behalf, and Hook will replace Yang Zhengjin as Chief of General Staff."

"That's it."

After saying this, Liu Yun suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness that penetrated his bone marrow, as if the substance of death hidden under the smell of disinfectant water was being peeled off, crushed, and boiled layer by layer. He knew that this had nothing to do with Wen Yi. He thought that Wen Yi must also be surrounded by this sudden collapse of rapid decay. The apocalyptic consistency of the two people from birth to death was ravaged nakedly in this bright ward, which made people feel a different kind of immoral pleasure.

He thought that from now on, with the two people as the stage, a scene of abandonment will be staged in a scene of the five declines of heaven and man. The key to the problem is that there is no need for audiences, nor does it require cheers... That is the only repertoire that is not performed for others.

May 26, Beijing, Zhongnanhai Villa, Base Camp Conference Room.

Liu Yun was not present, Wen Yi was not present, and the base camp was still running as usual, temporarily.

At this time, General Hook, the former General Staff Operations Director, reported military information to Emperor Guangxing, who had already recovered from his health for the first time as the Chief of Staff. At least in terms of etiquette, no one has forgotten that this is a constitutional monarchy with Aisin Gioro as the emperor.

"...I received four frontline telegrams this morning. The first one was sent by the Western Front Command, which reported that General Zhong Xiahuo had been re-appointed as commander of the front and requested to allocate 20 aircraft squadrons and several airship squadrons to prepare for counterattack against the e-army. As of 6 o'clock this morning, the battlefield situation was as follows: The Lu Kaiping Sixth Army in the southern section of the front was severely damaged, and the enemy's divisions had entered the army and the Mongolian Front in the south wing, causing a huge gap of more than 20 kilometers deep and more than 30 kilometers wide. Due to the large reserve troops and insufficient weapons, the army had no obvious effect on the enemy's multiple counterattacks. The Fourth Army in the north was not seriously injured, and the main positions were still unmoved for many days. The Fifth Army in the Zhaominhe North continued to rise to the north.

Affected by the enemy's superior force and firepower, a gap of more than ten kilometers was opened, causing the army to separate the frontiers of the Fourth Army on the southern wing, and the flanks of the two armies were exposed in front of the enemy. The north of the Fifth Army was Xiao Lieri Second Army. The army organized effective counterattacks many times, and the enemy was unable to shake the defense line for the time being. Commander Zhong Xiahuo's scheduled counterattacks are as follows: use part of the Imperial Guard to support the weakest Sixth Army, and at the same time use the main force of the Imperial Guard to attack the enemy in front of the fifth army in two ways, striving to annihilate several enemy divisions, threaten the enemy's core base Ulan-Ude, and at the same time, the Fourth Second Army was ordered to use attack as a defense and counterattack on the whole line, driving the enemy back to the Wuda River and the other side of the "Se'lingge River" to ensure the normal progress of the Chita strategy..."

The emperor's eyes swayed between Prime Minister Zhang Zhigao and Acting Prime Minister Yang Zhengjin. Although he was a little worried about the fact that Liu Wen and the two of them retreated behind the scenes, Zhang and Yang were not disrespectful. They were still among the important officials, and their trust in them was not much weaker than their predecessors.

"What do you think of Lord Bingxiong?" Zhang Zhigao, who was the host of the base camp meeting, did not want the emperor to wait for a long time, and he did not want to waste his precious time.

Yang Zhengjin responded concisely with his usual sleepy tone: "Commander Zhong's countermeasures are feasible and should be implemented quickly and decisively. However, the "bee swarm" plan for Vladivostok is imminent, and most of the aerial and floating troops have been sent to the eastern front. He told him that the requirement of adding the aerial and floating troops cannot be met. Up to 3 aircraft squadrons and 1 airship squadron can be transferred from the teaching troops. In addition, he told him that within the next month, the country will add 1 permanent infantry division, 4 reserve infantry divisions and 2 reserve cavalry brigades to the western front. Before that, the front army is required to maintain the front at all costs and once it is conquered Chita Fortress, it can be transferred to a powerful attack on Baikal's enemy."

No one expressed his objection, and the senior staff officer behind Hook began to write an order on Yang Zhengjin's instructions.

Hooken's second telegram came from the Mongolian Front Command, which was the good news for the Second Cavalry Army of Sutadlentai to recover Kobdo.

Since the war started, the Mongolian front army led by the Mongolian Prince Xiang Lan, led by Lieutenant General Xiang Lan, has been in a situation of food and ammunition scarcity due to the long supply line and lack of railway transportation support. Faced with the superior forces of the e-army, it is not only unable to go deep into the enemy's border to carry out a crackdown on the enemy's railway line, but also difficult to defend against the long border line. From mid-April, the e-army invaded western Outer Mongolia in large numbers, and by the end of April, it successively captured the important towns of Kobdo and Ulya Sutai in western Mongolia. In May

At first, the main force of the Mongolian Front Army was organized into the First and Second Cavalry Army, of which the First Cavalry Army was in charge of the 1st, 2, 4, 6th Mongolian Cavalry Brigade and the Independent Third Cavalry Artillery Group. According to the organization, a total of 28,500 people were directly commanded by Lieutenant General Xiang Lan to cooperate with the western side of the Mongolian. The Second Cavalry Army was in charge of the 3rd, 5, 7th Mongolian Cavalry Brigade and the Independent Second Cavalry Artillery Group, a total of 22,000 people were in charge of the recapture of Mengxi.

On May 7, Sutadlentai tribe set out from Checherlege in central Outer Mongolia and advanced west in three directions. Along the way, he gathered the defeated border guards and militias from western Mongolia. Within three days, he rode his horse and relaxed more than 400 kilometers on the grassland. The main force encountered the outpost of the e-army on May 11. The Mongolian cavalry rushed forward. After a hand-to-hand melee, dozens of Cossack cavalry were captured. On May 13, the troops expanded to 30,000 but only equipped with 57 cavalry cannons, the Sutadlentai tribe attacked Ulyasutai and did not stop. So he monitored the city with a small amount of troops, and one of them intercepted the enemy's supply line. The main force attacked Kobdo 450 kilometers away at night. Two days later, he encountered Kobdo's enemy who attempted to reinforce Ulyasutai. The Sutadlentai tribe

Attacking the e-army on three sides with lightning speed, the e-army could not support it, so it dropped several 76 field artillery and a large number of ammunition and drugs to retreat into the Kobudo Fortress. Suta Delentai ordered the troops to rotate the field artillery with backup horses. The main force quickly rushed back to Ulya Sutai and launched a general attack on Ulya Sutai on May 19. The enemy's morale was low and he gave up the fortress and ran north. As a result, he was wiped out by the Mongolian cavalry brigade familiar with the local terrain. In this battle, more than 3,000 enemies were killed and more than 4,700 captured. The Su tribe did not stop and arrived at the city of Kobudo with the captured 76 field artillery and 152-height howitzers. The e-army was invincible and abandoned the baggage and fled overnight. Kobudo was resurrected.

The news of victory was naturally inspiring, and the emperor also had a happy and slutty look on his face. He ordered paper and pen to write a commendation call in person. Since Nurhaci conquered Mongolia, Manchuria and Mongolia have always had close relations. In addition to the Manchus, only the Mongolians were granted princes, and there were marriages between the nobles. The famous Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the former Qing Dynasty, was a Mongolian, and it was reasonable that the emperor paid special attention to the victory of his distant Mongolian relatives.

The third telegram came from the Northwest Front Army, saying that yesterday the First Corps of the Ili side took the initiative to attack and defeated the E-E Army under the Yili Fortress, killing more than a thousand enemies and captives. The Second Corps of the Kashgar side fought with the E-E Army the day before yesterday. The war was unfavorable, with more than 3,000 casualties. The main force retreated to Kashgar, and the walls were strengthened along the way to prepare for long-term persistence.

Yang Zhengjin's opinion was: "Your Majesty, the war zone in which the Northwest Front Army is located is relatively close to the hinterland of the E Kingdom, and is barren, and far away from the domestic rich areas. The Randy Railway has not been completed for a long time, and it is very difficult to supply and reinforce. For the time being, it can only rely on the limited manpower and materials in the war zone to carry out delayed operations, and we should cheer them up. We beg the Emperor to personally write a commendation call for the First Corps of the Northwest Corps and a comfort call for the Second Corps."

Emperor Guangxing nodded and said, "What I said is so true, and the report is correct."

After thanking the emperor, Yang Zhengjin turned to Hook again: "In addition, I telegraphed Zhang Yaoqian that reinforcements can arrive in Xinjiang within the past month. I want him to act cheaply and be calm. For the time being, the key is to protect the territory."

On that day, the palace historian recorded the emperor's sigh to his attendant, the military officer: Now, Yang Bing raised his eyes and asserted that he had the style of Wuwei Gong.

The fourth telegram came from the Eastern Front Army. Although the content was expected by Yang Zhengjin and Hook, it still made them feel a little unhappy.

Since May 15, the first general attack of General Liu Bailiang's eastern front army on the second line of defense of Vladivostok fortress officially began. The battle was extremely fierce, but our army was progressing slowly. Until the 25th, it was still unable to seize a safe heavy artillery placement point to bombard enemy ships in the port. The heavy artillery shells and drugs reserved for this battle have been exhausted. Due to the huge casualties, the morale of the troops has gradually declined, and companies and even teams disobeyed from time to time. The attack was suspended yesterday, and the entire army was reorganized and waiting for another battle.

“The ‘Swarm’ program must be launched as soon as possible.”

Yang Zhengjin only has this opinion on this Eastern Front battle report.

On that day, the Vladivostok Aviation Front, led by Major General Guo Zhifei, the former commander of the Western Front Army's Aviation Floating Cluster, was officially organized. The headquarters was stationed in Artem, which was only more than 30 kilometers north of Vladivostok. The front army was under the jurisdiction of:

The First Aviation Group includes 6 reconnaissance aircraft squadrons and 6 bomber squadrons.

The Second Aviation Group includes 5 reconnaissance aircraft squadrons, 6 bomber squadrons, and 2 liaison aircraft squadrons.

The first floating group includes 9 attack airship squadrons. It is equipped with strong clouds and large attack airships.

The second floating group includes 6 attack airship squadrons and 6 reconnaissance airship squadrons. It is equipped with Qingyun light attack airship Peace Cloud Reconnaissance airship.

There are a total of 2 liaison aircraft squadrons, 11 reconnaissance aircraft squadrons, 12 bomber squadrons, 15 attack airship squadrons and 6 reconnaissance airship squadrons.

Equipped with: 121 reconnaissance aircraft of various types, 22 contact aircraft, 120 light bombers, 11 strong cloud heavy attack airships, 22 Ziyun medium attack airships, 24 Qingyun light attack airships and 24 Pingyun reconnaissance school-firing airships. A total of 263 aircraft and 81 airships accounted for 71% and 92% of the available weapons of floating troops of each aviation at that time.

The front's mission was determined to cooperate with the Army and Navy to carry out the "Swarm Bee" combat case under appropriate weather conditions from the end of May to the beginning of June.
Chapter completed!