Years of the Republic of China 1913

() Let’s not talk about Shang Zhen’s matter, judging from the distance, it will take a month at the earliest to get news. It’s up to people to plan and make things happen. Fang Zida has done everything he should do, and the next step is to wait for the result.

Compared with international affairs, domestic affairs gave Fang Zida even more headaches.This is not about his business plan or financial work, but the cabinet held a meeting in the past few days. At the meeting, someone suggested that in order to better promote the construction of the national defense force, it was suggested to implement the reserve service plan in advance.

As soon as this proposal was submitted, Fang Zida was stunned. From the perspective of the situation, except for the war in Europe, after the Sino-Japanese armistice, there will be no more large-scale wars in China for the time being, and after several years of reorganization of the National Defense Forces, its national military strength has exceeded The number is in the millions, and this does not include some local troops and guards, militias, etc. that are not organized by the National Defense Forces.

The reserve service plan was formulated by Fang Zida during Yuan Shikai’s time. However, because the main tasks of the country in recent years are to develop national strength, reorganize the army, and implement constitutionalism, not to mention that the reserve service plan requires a solid social foundation and local support. It is not easy to implement. It's so simple. In Fang Zida's original plan, he planned to wait until the end of the First World War and then slowly implement it. Who would have thought that someone would suddenly bring it up at this time. . .

"I am afraid that the implementation of the reserve service is too early? Although the constitutional government has been implemented well in various places after many years of hard work, there are still many places where the people's wisdom is not enlightened, the government orders are inconsistent, and the mass base is insufficient. If it is fully implemented now, it may be counterproductive."

"I don't think so." Seeing Fang Zida's objection, Zhang Jian put down the teacup in his hand, cleared his throat, and said, "I, Mr. Zhang, don't know much about military affairs, but as the head of agriculture and commerce, I still have the right to speak on some issues. Director-General Fang said that in many places, the people's wisdom is not developed, and the government orders are inconsistent. The mass base is insufficient, and these sounds are too general. If I think of a country as big as China, it is impossible to cover everything, let alone a year or two. I am afraid that in ten or twenty years, we will not be able to reach the level required by President Fang. However, if this is the case, the reserve service plan will not be implemented? Don’t you think it is a pity? Look at all the powerful countries in the world. Which country has only a regular army and no reserve service? It’s okay That’s all, what should I do if something happens? I don’t need Zhang to say more about the benefits of the reserve service plan, you all know it well, not to mention that Chief Fang was the one who set up the plan at the beginning, but now he is obstructing it, so Zhang doesn’t understand gone."

"Brother Ji Zhi misunderstood, Zida is not obstructing this matter, but thinks that it is too late to implement it, this is a big event after all. I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, it is better to be safe." Fang Zida explained with a smile.

"Oh, that's because Mr. Zhang misunderstood Mr. Fang." Zhang Jian got up and cupped his hands to apologize to Fang Zida. It's also a strategy of honesty and sincerity, so how about going steady and steady as President Fang said?"

"Hehe, Brother Xie Jizhi." Fang Zida smiled and nodded.But I have a bad feeling in my heart, Zhang Jian has always been at odds with me, why is he so easy to talk to today?

Before Fang Zida could figure it out, Defense Minister Duan Zhigui said, "The words of Zhang Ming and Ji Zhi are all good words. As the Minister of National Defense, I feel the same way. It is much stronger. Especially in recent years, the reorganization of the National Defense Forces has made the army's combat effectiveness increase rapidly. This is an irrefutable fact. Otherwise, those little guys in the mid-day war would not have given up so easily and signed with us with ashen faces. There's an armistice."

As soon as Duan Zhigui finished speaking, everyone laughed.Speaking of the armistice between China and Japan, this is the first foreign war since the founding of the Republic of China. Although there was no winner in this battle, the people of the country were very excited to be able to force Japan to sign the armistice agreement. It is the victory of the National Defense Forces after reorganization. As a Chinese, especially a member of the cabinet, who is not proud of this matter?

When the laughter subsided, Duan Zhigui said again: "But then again, the old man is the one who leads the troops. Whether this army is elite, whether it can fight, whether it can defend the country, is not only the general's command ability, What's more important is the quality of the soldiers. Although our National Defense Forces are good at fighting, don't forget the iron-clad soldiers! If you don't advance, you will retreat. If there is no solid reserve force, within three to five years, the National Defense Forces will be destroyed. It will continue to decline, so this old man thinks it is better to implement the reserve system as soon as possible..."

As he said that, seeing that Fang Zida seemed to be about to speak, Duan Zhigui quickly smiled and said, "You don't need to be in a hurry. In fact, the old man also knows that this matter should not be rushed. If you are in a hurry, it will be counterproductive. However, in my opinion, can it be implemented in some areas first?" What about the reserve system? For example, economically developed places such as the coastal areas, so that the retired and reduced soldiers will not bring too much pressure to the localities, and the implementation of constitutionalism in these areas is much better than that of the inland provinces. When the time comes, point to point, How about gradually promoting it and trying to implement it nationwide in about ten years?"

"Good! What Xiangyan said is true!" Zhang Jian clapped his hands and praised immediately after hearing this, and added: "In this way, it is just right to adjust and cut all the troops in these places. There is no conflict, it happens to be all resolved, wonderful! Wonderful!"

As the chief of staff, Wang Shizhen nodded slightly, thinking that Duan Zhigui's plan sounded feasible.Afterwards, Zhang Zongxiang, Cai Yuanpei and others also agreed,

At this point, Fang Zida suddenly realized that after a long time, they planned to reduce their own troops under the guise of promoting reserve service. First, the people below threw out a proposal to promote reserve service, and then Zhang Jian took the lead to draw out Fang Zida's words.Next, he made a detour to Fang Zida's objection, and cleverly made the matter like this.

These people are really good at calculating!Fang Zida squinted at Zhang Jian, Duan Zhigui, Zhang Zongxiang, Cai Yuanpei, and Wang Shizhen, wondering who was in charge of this matter.

In particular, although Wang Shizhen did not express his support for Duan Zhigui, his attitude has already shown that he approves of Duan Zhigui's proposal.Fang Zida couldn't help being startled by this accident. When did Zhigui pull Wang Shizhen over?Could it be that Duan Qirui, who was hiding behind the scenes, couldn't make a move?It can be said that Wang Shizhen's usual character and style should not be like this.

It is inconvenient for Fang Zida to directly object to this matter. After all, the other party's suggestion is based on the question he raised just now. If Fang Zida refutes it himself, he may be slapping himself in the face.In a hurry, he quickly winked at Cao Rulin who was sitting opposite, and Cao Rulin was also very clever, and immediately understood Fang Zida's meaning.

"Everyone, Mr. Cao thinks it's good to partially implement the reserve service. This plan is feasible. However, the garrisons in the coastal areas are all newly reorganized troops in recent years. Would it be a pity to cut them down? It's better to start from other places first."

"Other places? Where? Shaanxi? Northeast? Southwest?" Duan Zhigui shook his head and said, "Let's not say that these areas need to station a large number of troops to maintain stability, and from the perspective of the local economic foundation, it is impossible to support multiple troops at once. Once the cuts are enforced, accidents may happen. Didn’t Zhang Ming say that before? Because of this, I finally feel that the coastal areas, especially Shandong and the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, are the best candidates.”

"But the war in Europe is still going on now. Our Chinese expeditionary force to Europe is fighting fiercely, and we may send additional reinforcements at any time. Part of the national defense forces compiled and trained in Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces are all being dispatched. At this time, we will target them. Cao felt that the reserve and reduction plans were too inappropriate."

"Hehe, Director-General Cao is the Minister-General of Foreign Affairs. Although he is proficient in diplomacy, he doesn't understand military affairs. Yes, in the original plan of the Ministry of National Defense, most of the troops from these four provinces are the reserve force for Europe, but I am afraid that Director-General Cao is not clear about it. Just a few days ago, the Ministry of National Defense received a report on the battle situation of the European Expeditionary Force. After joint analysis by the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff, it was decided to suspend the deployment of the Expeditionary Force. The current strength and scale of the Expeditionary Force are sufficient to cope with the European war. Even if the battle situation There will be changes in the future, so it’s never too late to prepare.”

Hearing Duan Zhigui's words, Cao Rulin's face was a little ugly, and he got up and asked, "How come I, Cao, don't know what Xiangyan said? Why didn't the Ministry of National Defense file a record with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"According to the procedure, it only needs to be filed within three days. Today happens to be the third day. Did brother Runtian just say that Duan is different?" Duan Zhigui replied with a smile.

Cao Rulin was taken aback for a moment, feeling uncomfortable in his stomach. He didn't expect Duan Zhigui to play a scoundrel with him, talking about procedures and rules.He was so angry that he immediately asked again: "I just heard from Xiangyan Road that it's never too late to prepare? Isn't this a joke? The war is changing rapidly, how can you be so careless? Don't you, the Minister of Defense, not understand?"

"Understood, I said that because I understand Duan." Duan Zhigui squinted his eyes and retorted, "Brother Runtian said that the war is changing rapidly, but have you ever thought about it? How far is Europe from our land? How long will it take for our country to send troops there?" ? 2 months! It will take 2 months for the smoothest time from departure to final assembly!" Duan Zhigui stretched out two fingers and shook: "In these two months, even if there is any war, it will become old news, let alone this war It’s a Western war, and our country only needs to fulfill some obligations, so why don’t we use all our National Defense Forces as cannon fodder?”

"Your words...!" Cao Rulin's face was livid, and he was about to refute, but Song Jiaoren, who had been silent all this time, spoke.

"Okay! Sit down."

When everyone returned to their seats, Song Jiaoren exchanged opinions with Liao Zhongkai, the Chief of Internal Affairs sitting next to him, and then said: "The reserve service system is a plan formulated when the President was here, and this plan It is also beneficial to the country and the people. Although it cannot be fully implemented due to limited conditions, partial implementation of the proposal is still feasible. The specific implementation plan and the next meeting of the regional cabinet will be discussed, and that’s it, the meeting will be adjourned!” (To be continued.)