The situation in Hankou is becoming more and more tense. Not only the rabble within the Beiyang Military Reform Commission, but also the committee's "chairman" Cao Kun himself is very clearly aware that he has to bid farewell to the political stage completely now, and even
They are all still worried about their lives. He had predicted from beginning to end that as long as he delayed enough time, he would be able to win the final victory of this confrontation, but he did not expect that the time he had delayed until now was still not enough to make it happen.
.
Perhaps he overlooked one thing, that is, the principle of "one waxes and wanes." As the Central Guards became more and more energetic on the front line and gradually gained some advantages, even though the little stars throughout the country did not know the so-called
The people are still shouting "anti-imperialism" despite the wind and rain, but the bourgeoisie, the bureaucratic class, and a small number of intellectuals who are hidden behind the whole society and really control the power of the whole society, in their eyes, everything seems to be far from satisfactory.
So simple.
After all, China's current social structure is still very backward. Only those who control society want to change can this "reform" action really be possible. Ordinary people? These people are just bystanders. Just like back then.
What's the use of shouting loudly about the "1898 Reform" and the like that the Qing court encountered? If the gentlemen who really control all aspects of power don't nod, everything will be like fetching water from a bamboo basket.
Cao Kun now really has the feeling of being criticized by the public. He never expected that as a person who has experienced it, he would have missed such a simple and obvious truth. This is why the Chinese Revolutionary Party has
Such a high-profile campaign will ultimately have a mediocre impact. If you want to overturn Yuan Shikai's Beiyang government, apart from public opinion, the most important thing is to control the entire society. Unfortunately, some things are not so easy.
The people's wisdom is not yet enlightened, so it is impossible to exert the power brought by "mnzhu" now.[
It is precisely in view of this that Cao Kun has been very upset these days. Sometimes he thinks that he made such a decision too hastily, sometimes he hates himself for missing the most important point in his calculations, and sometimes he sighs "Oh my god."
Not helpful”.
This is true for the actual helmsman of the Beiyang Military Reform Commission, let alone the rabble below.
Seeing the disastrous defeat of Xiaogan, with only a few thousand of the main force of more than 50,000 people escaping, Hankou was defeated in terms of momentum and strength. Even though they have been meeting every day for the past few days, the meeting has always claimed that
Shaanxi and Jiangxi provinces have already taken some actions. Yes, yes, there are indeed some actions, but they are all negligible and like ant-like actions. People's hearts have long been dispersed, so what is left is to take advantage of the last moment.
The final decision.
Starting from July, some problems began to appear in the administrative units under the Beiyang Military Reform Commission. At first, it was just those low-level officials who often failed to ask for leave. There were rumors in private that many people were already preparing to flee Hankou.
.As for the supervising officials above, they also believed that these small officials were originally just idle people, and now it doesn't matter whether they stay or leave.
However, precisely because of the precedent set by these people, this kind of situation where everyone was in danger and wanted to find a way out soon began to spread to the top levels of the committee. Not only those military and political officials, but also those who originally supported Beiyang
The big Hankou businessmen and wealthy people of the Military Reform Commission also immediately tightened their pockets and quietly used various methods to transfer their property to the south, or better yet, to the north.
As the chaos within the Beiyang Military Reform Commission became more and more serious, the social order in the three towns of Wuhan became more and more chaotic.
Many soldiers began to despair, and this desperate atmosphere was as contagious as a plague. They soon believed in their bones that Hankou would be lost soon. Even if they, the soldiers, knew that the war would be a failure, they could not However, they still couldn't escape easily at this time, and when the war came, they had no choice but to go to the front line and serve as cannon fodder. It was precisely because of this resentment, coupled with the original loose military discipline, that the first people to bypass the order of Wuhan Instead, it's these big-headed soldiers.
By mid-July, reports of soldiers gathering in groups to gamble, smoke, and drink alcohol could be heard almost every day. These situations were considered trivial matters, and could even be regarded as trivial matters that could be completely ignored. Compared with important matters, , there were frequent incidents of soldiers entering the city to rob, steal, eat king's meals, beat each other at will, and even rape, murder and other bad incidents.
At first, Cao Kun ordered rectification, but within a few days, the situation became increasingly out of control. Not to mention that there were not many people who could carry out the orders, even middle-level officers in the army all participated in those bad behaviors.
Regarding the situation in Wuhan, the special attack team that had been lurking in Hankou quickly reported to Xinyang.
However, because Yuan Su himself had not returned from Kaifeng during this period, and the previous plans formulated by the headquarters were all based on rest and reorganization after the war in Xiaogan. Therefore, even though he knew that this was a good time, he still could not immediately take military action. Action. Even if this report was sent to Jiang Baili who was reorganizing armaments in Xiaogan, after a series of discussions and tests, he did not feel that it was appropriate to launch an attack at this time.
The so-called timing does not just refer to another temporary turmoil within Hankou. Since there is such turmoil, it fully proves that the Hankou rebels have lost hope of holding on. In other words, the situation in Hankou has already It is certain that things will get worse as time goes by. Since the enemy no longer poses any threat, there is no need to rush to end the war now.
Also during this time, Jiangxi and Shaanxi provinces were very nervous about the situation of the Beiyang Military Reform Commission.
Although they have always hoped that Cao Kun could continue to persist for a while, or that the domestic situation could become clearer, so that they, the surrounding warlords, could have enough judgment to make decisions. But in fact, they also knew it very well. , Cao Kun has definitely tried his best since he started the Hankou uprising. However, as warlords, they do not hope to obtain maximum benefits from the beginning to the end, but to obtain as many benefits as possible. Therefore, even if Mingming They knew that the situation in Hankou was getting worse and worse, and the war situation was getting worse and worse, but they still held a wait-and-see attitude.
Whether it is Li Chun or Chen Shufan, from their standpoints, it is very risky to participate in this great reshuffle within Beiyang. There are many different victories in Shaanxi Province, no matter how big or small these forces are, But it is a hidden danger after all. For Chen Shufan, if he expresses his attitude too early, it is likely to arouse divisions in the province. You must know that Lu Jianzhang is still watching in Shaanxi Province.
The situation in Jiangxi Province was the same. Li Chun was not without ambition or courage. It was just that he could not figure out what Feng Guozhang's attitude in Jiangsu was, whether it was towards the monarchy or this decisive battle in Hubei. The Beiyang old man never expressed his position from beginning to end, as if he didn't know about these things at all.
Although Li Chun did not follow Feng Guozhang's orders, firstly, Feng Guozhang was his old boss, secondly, he was nominally a close confidant of Feng Guozhang, and thirdly, Feng Guozhang's army was stationed in Jiangsu and he had no idea of his attitude. If something went wrong, Feng Guozhang would be along the river. When I went up, I immediately cleaned myself up.
All in all, the current situation in China is only clear to those who are familiar with it. It is not only the internal contradictions in Beiyang, but also the contradictions between Beiyang and the Southern Revolutionary Party. The grassroots people are also the various contradictions between the monarchy and the republic, and the emperor and the mnzhu. But in fact, many things are hidden behind the curtain. Speculators have been reluctant to reveal their positions easily. The National Guard and the Chinese Revolutionary Party have been clamoring fiercely, but in terms of strength, they have not intervened at all. Without the war between the Beiyang warlords, let alone taking advantage of others' danger, the only thing we can do is to watch the war from the other side, hoping to reap the benefits.
Nowadays, there is a lot of noise in the country, but very few of them really play a substantial role. It is just the revolutionary party taking the opportunity to create public opinion everywhere, carry out some assassinations, sabotage behind the scenes, and incite demonstrations.[
Therefore, for Li Chun and Chen Shufan, their delay in moving was due to their inability to move. No one expected that under such a turbulent situation in the country, Yuan Shikai, a man with half a foot in the coffin, would actually still Can hold on to the situation to the death. Perhaps the country accepted the imperial system first, which allowed Yuan Shikai to gain a firm foothold at that time, which made him unwilling to let go now.
The situation in Hubei, Jiangxi, Shaanxi and even the provinces of South China has fallen into a strange circle.
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Only those who can truly see through the situation understand that the entire internal struggle in China is actually in a state of stalemate.
This situation lasted until early August. Even though the guards and the warlords in various provinces knew very well that if they could not think of a way to solve the current predicament, sooner or later the central guards would become dominant. But even these warlords knew that this was the case. A little, but there is nothing that can connect them together. The Hu** is a coalition of warlords from several southwestern provinces, but internal conflicts have emerged in endlessly from the beginning. Naturally, it is impossible for the Beiyang warlords to get together with the Hu**, and here The internal chaos in Subbeiyang itself is also very complicated. It is by no means as simple as supporting the imperial system or opposing the imperial system.
The Northern Warlords and the Southern Warlords are truly mortal enemies. People like Cao Kun who try to establish contact with the Protectorate are either playing with fire, or they think they are smart and can leverage their strength. But as an old-school person, As far as the warlords are concerned, the south is the south and the north is the north. They have different interests and different positions, so naturally they cannot get along with each other.