As soon as he entered the main entrance of the base camp, Du Qifeng greeted him.
Lin Youde didn't wait for him to speak and immediately asked: "How is the situation?"
"Jinan Station was hit last night, and now they have dismantled the radio station and are moving it. Yantai Station does not have a high-power radio station, so it can only risk sending news back through the telegraph office. There are Japanese warships docking in Yantai to unload cargo, and a large number of firearms have been distributed to the uprising.
the masses."
Lin Youde nodded to show that he understood, and then asked: "How is the person who went to the telegraph office to send the letter?"
"After the shipment, we boarded an American ship and were out of danger."
At this time, the group of people entered Lin Youde's study. Ba, who had been waiting there for a long time, reached out and pressed the books on the bookshelf next to him, so the secret door hidden in the bookshelf retracted into the wall, revealing the elevator room behind.
Lin Youde and Du Qifeng walked into the elevator without hesitation. Sophie hesitated and followed suit.
Lan Chong waved to the people in the elevator and said, "I won't join in the fun" and turned around to leave, leaving Josephine alone in the study, neither leaving nor going in.
At this time, Du Qifeng spoke: "Sister-in-law, why are you hesitating? Brother Lin treats you as one of the family, and we are one family."
So Josephine entered the elevator, but the expression on her face was still a little subtle.
A moment later, the elevator sounded the bell that it had arrived at its destination. The elevator door was opened from the outside, and the central command room of Lin Ji's base camp was revealed to everyone. In the center of the command room was a giant sandbox, which contained seven or eight table tennis tables.
So big, the sand table simulates the terrain of most of China except Qinghai and Xinjiang. Because the sand table is so huge, the designer of the command room had to design a suspended movable platform above the sand table to use it to move the sand table.
Place chess pieces on it.
Now the Shandong area is filled with small blue flags representing the revolutionary party.
There is a stand for senior officers on the second floor of the command room. On the stand, He Yuzhao, the first town commander of the Nanyang Army, and Chen Hongda, the white feather fan of the town army, were discussing something in a low voice.
As soon as Lin Youde and his entourage entered the command room, the orderly soldier guarding the door announced loudly.
So everyone in the command room stopped what they were doing, turned in Lin Youde's direction, stood at attention and saluted.
Lin Youde responded with a casual salute, then climbed onto the stand, holding the railing of the second-floor stand in the command room with both hands, overlooking the sand table.
"What is the current situation of Yuan Shikai's troops?"
"The red ones are," Du Qifeng pointed to the red flag of the Zhili generation in Shapan. "Before, the Beijing Station reported that Cixi was moving differently. Yuan Shikai's troops and the Wuwei Army were also moving towards the capital. After the Shandong Uprising, these troops were all stationed in place.
"
After speaking, Du Qifeng glanced at He Yuzhao and Chen Hongda.
He Yuzhao did not say anything, but Chen Hongda took over: "Yuan Shikai's main force is still deployed along the railway line from Beijing to Tianjin, especially several general camps, which still remain in their original positions and have not moved. But we are convinced that a unit of Yuan's army has already been deployed.
Advance to Cangzhou. Since most of the Shenji Battalion originally stationed in Jinan have defected to the Revolutionary Party, Yuan Shikai's troops will probably carry out defensive operations and will not attack rashly before receiving the support of the Shenji Battalion from the Qing court."
As he spoke, Chen Hongda turned to Shandong: "From all indications, the revolutionary party in Shandong is gathering towards Jinan. They do not have enough weapons. The weapons coming ashore from Yantai will not be delivered to them for a while, so there is no way to launch an offensive immediately.
"
Lin Youde nodded, indicating that he understood.
He looked down at the sand table and felt a little emotional about the red and blue flags that were confronting each other in North China. First there was the German-Dutch marriage, and now Kangliang's reform has not yet gone bankrupt, and the revolutionary party has raised it so close to the capital.
raised the flag of rebellion.
In the last time and space, Yuan Shikai took control of Shandong because of the Boxer Rebellion, and has since turned Shandong into his own territory. This time and space revolutionary party channeled and utilized the patriotic sentiments of the Shandong people, and relied on the support of the Japanese to raise the banner of uprising.
Lin Youde knew that the general direction of history would not change, and there would only be some discrepancies in details, but he did not expect that the discrepancies would be so big...
Facing the sand table, Lin Youde's brain was running at high speed.
The great powers will not sit back and let the Japanese dominate. In theory, they will support Yuan Shikai, but the conflicts between the great powers are much greater than in the previous time and space. At least Britain and France will not stand on the same front as Germany - Yuan Shikai's
The new army uses German standards, hires German instructors, and has weapons provided by Germany. Therefore, Britain and France should support Yuan Shikai on the surface, but have no concrete actions and only use words. As for Germany, it is still busy digesting the Netherlands.
They had just been intimidated by Britain, France, the United States, and Lin Youde in Nanyang. They probably would not rush to send troops to intervene, but would only provide weapons and financial support to Yuan Shikai.
Russia has long had ideas about Northeast China and will definitely take the opportunity to do something.
Although the conservative forces represented by Cixi are dissatisfied with the reform, they should not be so dissatisfied that they cannot see the formality. At this time, turning to support the reform is the most beneficial counterattack against the basic principles of the revolutionaries launching an uprising.
Therefore, the situation in the north is likely to evolve into a conflict between the Qing court that supports the reform and the revolutionaries who want to overthrow the Qing rule with force and establish the Republic of China. On the other hand, this conflict can be interpreted as loose in the international context.
, the conflict between the European powers with different intentions and the Japanese militaristic regime may later evolve into a conflict between the European powers and Japan and Russia.
Although Britain, France, and Russia formed an alliance in order to restrict the new Germany, this alliance seemed to be incompatible with each other. After all, the two sides clashed twice in the Balkans, and this feud is not so easy to forget. Therefore, if Germany does not say anything about China's affairs, Russia, Britain and France will completely
They may butt heads with each other in the name of alliance.
No matter what, a war in northern China is inevitable.
At this moment, Josephine suddenly spoke: "What are those gray flags in South China?"
Chen Hongda glanced at Lin Youde, who nodded slightly and then explained: "That is a fully armed force that we can organize within a week. Each flag represents a mixed association."
The mixed association of the Nanyang Army is called "Brigade" in English, which was personally designated by Lin Youde.
"Eight brigades, if fully armed means reaching the level of the First Division (the translation of town is also directly division, author's note), this is indeed a terrifying force, using this force to control the entire South China and deter the entire Yangtze River
It’s not a problem in the south.”
Josephine's words made Du Qifeng a little embarrassed. Chen Hongda was the chief official of the first town, so he didn't know the specific content. He, the general manager, was different. He knew the situation in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian very well. After the eight mixed associations were organized,
It is an armed force at the level of a township regiment. Now the weapons supply of the Nanyang Army cannot even guarantee the replacement of the second town. Where is the time to arm and prepare troops on the mainland?
On the other side, Josephine continued: "However, these eight brigades have enough training and organization to ensure that they can maintain a complete organization and sufficient combat effectiveness after traveling thousands of kilometers to participate in the battle in northern China.
Fight? I know your regular army can do this, but I doubt whether these eight brigades can do it. Then, do you have enough logistics to supply an army for an expedition across half the country?"
Lin Youde's officers looked at each other. In fact, another problem the Nanyang Army is facing now is the shortage of officers. The young people sent to military academies such as West Point for training have not yet returned. Graduates from various military armament schools from China and Japanese
The young people who graduated from Japan's military service and came over after their studies have been raised several levels to be used. People who originally only had a platoon quality are now leading battalions. If it weren't for the American military officer advisory group and the Japanese exiles who came here
Leftist officers, the combat effectiveness of the Nanyang Army's first town will be greatly reduced, let alone the temporarily organized troops...
Josephine got the answer from everyone's looks, so she concluded: "You don't have any at all now..."
Josephine paused suddenly, and corrected it after a moment: "We don't have the power to directly intervene in the war in the north now. There is no point in worrying about the formation of troops on both sides? It would be better to conduct a war game as a drill subject of the staff department.
It has its value. It is possible to judge the superiority of the two warring parties based on the outcome of the actual war. This opportunity is quite rare. However, it is unnecessary to make various considerations based on direct intervention."
After finishing their conversation, Lin Ji's senior officials fell silent.
Among the senior management of Lin Ji, a kind of "confidence that I can control the world" has gradually spread. Now Josephine's wake-up call has made everyone, including Lin Youde, wake up from a dream.
"It's not that I can't interfere at all." Lin Youde spoke first, and Josephine looked at him with encouraging eyes. She was telling Lin Youde with her actions: Western women also know how to find husbands.
"We have money." Lin Youde said, "Lin Ji's branch on the Yangtze River was ordered to start snapping up strategic materials, especially food and clothing. The revolutionary party has not been operating in Shandong for a long time, and it is impossible to have a stable food supply. This year is
In drought years, the harvests in Shandong Zhili were not good, and both Yuan Shikai and the revolutionary party needed food to supply the army."
Yes, Lin Ji did not have the power of the Northern Expedition, but he could use the money and materials in his hands to control the thick war clouds in the north.