In just two days, the commissioner sent by Chen Huan to Chengdu successfully got in touch with the senior officials of the Commander-in-Chief of the National Defense Army. Including Cai E, Wang Wenhua, Xiong Kewu and others, the commissioner had met these people and
Various ways were used to express Chen Huan's meaning. Even when talking to Cai E, the commissioner carefully emphasized that Chen Huan himself had reservations about the imperial system. This was only due to the momentum within Beiyang and the voice of the people in the north.
Only then did he agree to support the monarchy.
These words brought some relief to the generals of the National Defense Army. Even though it was rumored by the outside world that Chen Huan was Yuan Shikai's most direct confidant, and he was the image figure that the Central Military System highly praised after Yuan Su. But before
Judging from the military situation in Sichuan Province for a month, everyone in the National Guard Army could easily see that Chen Huan deliberately gave up the advantage and assumed a retreat posture.
With this major premise, Xiong Kewu not only breathed a sigh of relief, but also laid a foundation of trust for this secret meeting.
From the bottom of his heart, Cai E naturally would not completely believe what the commissioner sent by Chen Huan said. He had some contact with Chen Huan when he was in Beijing a few years ago, and he had a clear idea of this person's temperament. However, as far as Chongqing is concerned,
According to the defense situation, even if the strength of the National Guard Army is superior to that of the other side, on the one hand, these three echelons in hand are the entire capital of the National Protector Army, and on the other hand, there is no guarantee that Chongqing can be captured in a short time.
Once the war in Chongqing reaches a standstill, reinforcements from Hunan and Hubei will come in a steady stream. By then, the three echelons of the National Guard Army will be completely exhausted on the Chongqing line.
Now that Chen Huan has taken the initiative to declare a truce, he has somewhat avoided the risk of a fierce battle in Chongqing. For Cai E and the National Guard Army, it is nothing more than the loss of this crossing to the north.
Moreover, in the past few days, the Revolutionary Army in Hunan and the fourth echelon of the National Protectorate Army in Guangxi have frequently reported emergencies. If the rear cannot even be stabilized, let alone the momentum for the Northern Expedition!
Although the National Protectorate Military Government and the Army Headquarters had formulated the illusion of the Northern Expedition from the beginning, the expected route of the Northern Expedition was to reach Hankou at most, and no further than Xuchang. This was due to the current military strength of the National Protector Army and the Southwest Warlords themselves.
The result is limited by strength. The primary purpose of this Northern Expedition is the same as that of the Great Revolution, which is to awaken the people of the country to understand the shortcomings of the imperial system and oppose the imperial system. The revolution cannot be achieved by just one army and a few warlords. The key is to
Mobilize the masses.
After some secret exchanges between Chengdu and Chongqing, Cai E and Chen Huan hit it off, and the National Guard Army soon expressed its willingness to withdraw from Sichuan. But after all, considering that they are now at war, they are enemies and need to be careful no matter what.
.So the National Protector’s Army has not given Chen Huan a definite answer on when to withdraw its troops. The fear is that after all the main forces of the National Protective Army leave Sichuan, Chen Huan will suddenly change his mind.
At the high-level military meeting of the National Defense Army held in Chengdu, Cai E formulated a detailed strategy of "building a plank road to cross Chencang secretly". Even if many of his generals believed that Chen Huan did not attack from the beginning, he would definitely not attack in the future.
If you dare to take any action easily, there is no need to work so hard. But the way of using troops is constantly changing and you should be cautious.
According to Cai E's wishes, the process of negotiation and dialogue with Chongqing was continued on the surface. However, the first and second echelons quietly crossed the province from southern Sichuan and advanced towards Hunan.
As time enters late November, the scale of this war to protect the country has undergone some wonderful changes. The scale and momentum of the war have naturally become more and more intense. However, most of the news and public opinion in both the south and the north are adding additional reports.
Regarding the situation in Sichuan, civil society believed that Sichuan was the main battlefield for the conflict between the north and the south. Hearsay was followed by what others said, and many newspapers were not responsible at all, so that soon there were reports of a fight between the north and the south in Sichuan.
On the contrary, the outside world mistakenly believed that the refutation incidents in Hunan, Guangxi, and Guangdong were just small-scale violent actions planned by the Chinese revolutionaries, and they could not enter the mainstream of this war to protect the country.
But in fact, since the establishment of the National Protectorate Military Government, there has been no large-scale confrontation between the north and the south. The content of the so-called anti-imperialist military operations is precisely those so-called small-scale exchanges of fire. Relatively speaking, it must be considered to be of a certain scale.
The battle still took place in the interior of Guangxi between the Rongting Department and the fourth echelon of the National Guard Army. However, Lu Rongting mobilized tens of thousands of troops, but only a few thousand people actually participated in frontal combat. Even these thousands of people,
They are also scattered very thinly, and overall it looks like a guerrilla operation.
The fourth echelon of the National Guard Army has never given up its territory around Guilin, but considering the fierceness of the Guilin Army, it is appropriate to conduct preliminary transfers at the junction of northern Guangdong and Hunan to pave a way out in advance.
On the surface, the Gui Army did not cause a major military blow at one time, but due to the complex organization of the fourth echelon of the National Defense Army, which led to many internal conflicts, it suddenly fell into a situation of internal and external troubles. Liu Guxiang and Liu Zhenhuan were originally on the same front.
However, there were extremely serious differences between the two armies in the arrangements for dealing with Lu Rongting. Liu Guxiang was an old-school revolutionary and insisted that the Guilin army should fight to the death in Guilin, even if he died in battle.
However, Liu Zhenhuan did not agree with Liu Guxiang's impulsive behavior. Even Cai E had repeatedly warned him when he was organizing the fourth echelon that the war in Guangxi and northern Guangdong could only be delayed as much as possible, and the main force duel should never be launched easily. As long as the main force can
Preserving and continuing it will lay a stable foundation for the southern part of the country for the main force of the National Protectorate Army's Northern Expedition.
Liu Guxiang still has a kind of stoic stubbornness in his bones. He was full of passion and energy during the Great Revolution. After finally waiting for such a large-scale and large-scale revolution of the National Defense Army, he can't wait to shine.
In the end, the main force of the fourth echelon was divided into two. Liu Guxiang insisted that Lu Yuguang and Tan Haoming would only bluff and would not dare to launch a large-scale attack, at least not in the short term. Of course, he was not just guessing out of thin air.
Having been active in Guangxi Province for so many years, Lu Rongting has some understanding of the interior of the Guangxi warlords. On the surface, Lu Rongting and his former brothers have a tacit understanding and have the same interests, but in fact they are secretly fighting for power and status.
In addition, what is more important is that Lu Rongting still has a lot of conflicts with Yuan Shikai because of the long-coveted Guangdong issue. In the early years, Yuan Shikai gave a lot of real money to win over Lu Rongting to support the Beiyang government.
However, Yuan Shikai's ambition was to complete the unification of the entire China, and the prerequisite was to eliminate all the warlords entrenched in various places. Therefore, Yuan Shikai secretly made many restrictions on the territorial benefits that Lu Rongting really desired.
It has to be said that Lu Rongting's biggest hatred now is not only the several small warlord forces entrenched in the province, but also Long Jiguang, who is currently the assistant military affairs officer and army admiral of Guangdong. During the second revolution, Long Jiguang's troops were originally
They were severely damaged by the local revolutionary army in Guangdong. In the end, it was Lu Rongting who sent troops to reinforce Guangdong and finally suppressed the revolutionaries completely.
Lu Rongting worked hard to suppress the Guangdong revolution, but in the end Yuan Shikai vigorously supported Long Jiguang to take charge of local power in Guangdong. Although Lu Rongting now also controls part of Guangdong's territory, Long Jiguang not only recovered his strength under Yuan Shikai's guidance
, and even became the strongest warlord in southern Guangdong. For Lu Rongting, if he wants to monopolize Guangdong and Guangdong, sooner or later there will be a conflict with Long Jiguang.
It is precisely because of these two relationships that Liu Guxiang wants to stick to the line of defense and fight a tough and strong battle to build momentum for the war to protect the country.