On October 17, the last remaining force of the Qing Dynasty's Shandong garrison, seven battalions of the original Huai Army, launched a tentative attack on Jinan. The so-called revolutionary army outside Jinan was actually as armed as the Boxer Rebellion in the previous time and space.
Quite. Although their fighting will was stronger than that of the ragtag Boxer Rebellion, they had not received any military training, had no officers, and had basically zero level of organization. Therefore, they quickly fell into a situation where they fought independently and were defeated by the Qing army one by one.
But soon, the revolting Qing army and the volunteer team composed of revolutionary patriots came out of Jinan. Most of the Qing court's Shandong garrison was Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang's old background, and their military literacy was naturally excellent. Although the revolutionary volunteer team was a single soldier
The tactical literacy was not good, but the officers were all young people who graduated from the Japanese Army Corps. The officers were of extremely high quality. With these troops as the core, the collapsed militia groups were organized again and quickly surrounded the attacking Qing army, plus the Shandong soldiers who had turned to the revolutionaries.
With the great help of Shenji Camp, the last organized Qing army in Shandong was eliminated in southwestern Shandong.
When the news came that Wu Zhaoyou, the commander-in-chief who led the Qing army to launch a counterattack, had died for his country, Yuan Shikai and Tang Shaoyi and other confidants were studying the situation in North China on the map. After listening to the report, Yuan Shikai put his hands on his back and slowly left the map table.
, walked to the desk on the other side of the study room, carelessly caressed the cover of the thread-bound book on the table, and did not speak for a long time.
Finally, he sighed, and the commander of the Beiyang New Army said in a heavy tone: "When I was under the Qingziying sect, I received many cares from my two seniors Wu Zhaoyou and Zhang Guangqian. Later, I made great achievements in North Korea and won the imperial court.
Later, Zhang Guangqian died in the Sino-Japanese War, and I cried bitterly for three days. But after all, he was lost at the hands of the enemy. As a soldier, it is a great honor. Today, Wu Zhaoyou, an elder, died at the age of seventy-one in the rebellion.
Hand, it’s a pity, it’s a pity.”
The other people in the study looked at each other in confusion, no one knew how to answer the call - what if the commander-in-chief was actually feeling secretly happy in his heart?
In the end, it was Tang Shaoyi who said that he was Yuan Shikai's best friend, "Commander, please forgive me and submit to him."
"Well, it's no use crying at this point." Yuan Shikai raised his head and looked at the ceiling, and sniffed a few times, as if he was really weeping for his deceased friend just now, "The key is, how to make Jinan's
Chaotic parties pay the price."
Wang Shizhen has already stood up.
"Commander, our unit has sufficient food, grass and ammunition, and our soldiers are highly motivated to fight and are willing to be the vanguard."
Yuan Shikai glanced at the tall and thin man, waited for a while and then said slowly: "Don't be anxious. Of course the battle has to be fought, but how to fight it needs to be considered. Shizhen, you are the most stable person at ordinary times.
, it’s not like you to take the initiative to ask for a fight this time.”
"Commander," Wang Shizhen replied in his usual calm tone, "the Japanese are standing behind this rogue gang. The Japanese aggressors and I are at odds with each other."
In the last time and space, Wang Shizhen first came to prominence during the Sino-Japanese War. This later leader of the Three Beiyang Heroes, in order to show his loyalty to the Qing court, he also dismounted and returned to his fields. Later, he sat and watched Yuan Shikai's betrayal, warlords' melee, and the devastation of the entire Qing court.
He behaved like an old man. But at that time, he was indeed fighting with passion on the front line against the Japanese army.
Here, the performance of the Qing army in the Sino-Japanese War was generally higher than that of the previous period. In Korea, Wang Shizhen also made a great contribution by taking the initiative to ambush the vanguard of the Japanese army's Shanxian Youpeng regiment. Later, he personally supervised the army in Lushun and defended the fort for seven days and nights, forcing
The Japanese army had to change the direction of attack and outflank Wang Shizhen's troops.
After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Wang Shizhen was planning to die for his country. Just then, Yuan Shikai came to him on the recommendation of Wang Shizhen's mentor. With the words "It is easy to die for the country, it is difficult to avenge shame", he took this fierce general into his sect.
Therefore, if Wang Shizhen does not seek a fight at this time, Yuan Shikai will feel that there is a problem...
Now that Wang Shizhen raised his head, Yuan Shikai took it over calmly. He looked around at everyone in the study. Tang Shaoyi, Duan Qirui, and Feng Guozhang were all figures who would become all-powerful in northern China in the future. There were three batches of generals in modern Chinese history.
The group of Liu Yongfu and Nie Shicheng were considered one group, and the group before and after Huangpu was the third group. Most of the generals in this second group were concentrated in the hands of Yuan Shikai.
Compared with Lin Youde's small staff team in Nanyang, Yuan Shikai's officer corps was really too luxurious.
"Everyone, I agree with what Shizhen said. I also want to set off as soon as possible to catch all the rebellious officials and traitors supported by the Japanese invaders. But whether to send troops or not is not up to me, Yuan. This is a matter for the imperial court. As soldiers, we
, you can only follow orders."
Wang Shizhen turned to look at Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui. At this time, the three of them were as close as brothers, and they could not imagine how they would fight for power in the future. The three of them exchanged looks and agreed that the commander-in-chief was going to stay put and wait for the court to provide conditions, so
Wang Shizhen sat down quietly.
Then the whole study fell into silence.
Yuan Shikai seemed to have no objection to this silence. In front of all his subordinates, he picked up the pecans placed on the shelf and paced around the small space in the study while spinning them in his hands.
, leisurely and contentedly tight.
The generals exchanged glances with each other, and no one dared to move.
Not knowing how long it took, Xu Shichang hurriedly entered the study.
"Commander, Lafayette has just made a decision to support the new law, establish a cabinet and parliament, and propose that Mr. Li Hongzhang be the first prime minister of the cabinet."
Xu Shichang's words made Yuan Shikai slow down a little. The leader of the Beiyang Army moved the pecan in his hand to his left hand, raised his free right hand and touched his bald head without expressing his position.
Xu Shichang continued: "In response, Kangliang has agreed that Mr. Li will be the prime minister of the cabinet, but Mr. Yuan Shikai must be appointed as the Minister of War."
Yuan Shikai's pace suddenly slowed down, and then slowly returned to the original pace. He still touched his bald head and just said "hmm" in response.
Then Yuan Shikai walked around the study room twice more before stopping and turning to the people who had been waiting for a long time.
"Shichang, you have worked hard in the imperial court, but I would like to trouble you to go back to the Forbidden City immediately to find out which unit the Shenji Battalion will dispatch to cooperate with us. Try not to let Weiting and the others come back from Guangzhou, for any good reason.
If you want to do it, just say that the Nanyang rebellious party is eyeing it and may support Shandong to cause chaos in the south at any time."
Xu Shichang simply responded, turned around and left in a hurry, without any doubts about the final conditions attached. The biggest problem with the Shenji thing is the difficulty of replenishing it. The Yuan Weiting Department is the Shenji unit owned by the Yuan Shikai Group, so naturally they must try their best
Prevent them from getting involved in this war that is destined to be cruel and unusual.
"Shaoyi, you are good at foreign language and have good friendships with foreigners. Now go to the folk alleys of the eastern suburbs and see where Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia are. If you can get maritime cover from the Far East fleets of the great powers, that would be the best."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Tang Shaoyi said and stood up to leave, but Yuan Shikai grabbed his robe and stopped him.
"Also," Yuan Shikai stared at Tang Shaoyi, his face darkened, "We must understand the attitude of the Americans. I don't want American ships to dock in Yantai or Qingdao in the middle of the war and unload a large number of armed ships to the teeth.
Southern Grayskin Army.”
"Understood." After Tang Shaoyi solemnly nodded three times, Yuan Shikai let him go.
After the two writers left, Yuan Shikai turned to the military attachés who remained in the room.
"Shizhen, I asked you to go to Shandong to survey the terrain key points before. I read the report you made and it was very good. Now I want you to formulate a detailed attack plan for me within three days, is that okay?"
"No problem." Wang Shizhen stood up and saluted at attention, and answered with a sonorous and powerful response.
"Qirui, Guozhang, you two quickly rush back to your troops and prepare to leave. How far is Cao Kun's army from Cangzhou?"
Duan Qirui looked down at his watch and replied: "If there was no resistance, we should have arrived, but the telegraph lines to Shandong have been cut in many places, and we won't receive the report for a while."
"Send a cavalry order to tell Cao Kun that he must hold the Cangzhou front line. We will also transfer the 1st Battalion of General Feng and the 3rd Battalion of Horse Infantry from Dagu to support Cao Kun's troops. Once the preparations are completed, we can leave. There is no need to report to me."
"yes!"
"You all get down!"
After his subordinates all left with their military orders, Yuan Shikai walked to the large window of the study and looked out the window at the desolate garden that already looked a bit cold in the winter. Marshal Yuan, whose face had been tense from beginning to end, finally caught his eye at this moment when no one was paying attention.
The corner of his mouth raised, revealing a contemptuous smile.
"Humph, Revolutionary Party, Sun Wen. Okay, okay. If you want to fight, then fight. I have been training for four years, and I am worried that no one will fight."