Years of the Republic of China 1913

In Fang Zida's office, the telegram sent by Zhang Huchen was placed on the table, the cigar in his hand was burning with green smoke, and the tea beside him had cooled down.After pondering for a moment, he glanced at the content of the telegram again, and sighed softly. Fang Zida knew that what should come had finally come.

It has been a few days since Li Liejun, the former governor of Jiangxi, sneaked back to Jiangxi. Originally, he planned to wait for Lin Hula's team to join him before raising troops. Who would have thought that Lin Hu would be executed suddenly by Fang Zida before he had time to leave Nanjing, and the entire independent regiment would also be violent. Split and reorganize except for two.Fang Zida did not do a bad job of keeping secrets. After Lin Hu was executed, he suppressed the news for a few days in the name of reorganizing the Eighth Division, but after all, such a big matter would eventually be known.Although the Eighth Division gave another explanation for Lin Hu's death, this kind of nonsense can only deceive ordinary people, and it is absolutely impossible to hide it from Li Liejun and others.

After learning of Lin Hu's accident, Li Liejun was shocked, and immediately made a final choice. Just last night, he summoned the old troops, consisting of Li Mingyang's 10th Regiment, Zhou Bijie's 9th Regiment, Zhuo Renji's Machine Gun Brigade and Fang Shengtao's The new brigade was the main force and captured the Hukou Fort. A few hours ago, it was electrified to form the Jiangxi Dispute Yuan Army and issued a call for Yuan Yuan, announcing Jiangxi's independence.

Fang Zida had anticipated Li Liejun's move, but he didn't expect that Li Liejun, who lacked the support of Lin Hu's independent regiment, dared to raise his troops so quickly. It was a bit surprising.Li Liejun launched such a sudden attack, it is estimated that the governors of other provinces will not be able to sit still, except that Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu, has fallen into the control of the Eighth Division, and the governor of Jiangsu, Cheng Dequan, is powerless. Are Anhui, Shanghai, Hunan, and Guangdong Will one after another declare independence?Fang Zida couldn't help worrying about this.

Zhao Hengti, Wang Xiaozhen and Huang Kaiyuan had just left, and they came to discuss this matter, but the result of the discussion disappointed Fang Zida.Let's not say that Huang Kaiyuan is not good at leading troops. To put it bluntly, his brigade commander is just a decoration, and he has no idea at all except bragging and pandering.Wang Xiaozhen did talk about some opinions, but Fang Zida could understand the forward-thinking meaning in the words. It is really difficult for Wang Xiaozhen to be so-so in the Eighth Division's support scene. It is really difficult for him to be alone. How can the leader of the army be so hesitant? Undecided?We must know that there has been a history of an incompetent general exhausting the three armies, relying on Wang Xiaozhen's help is absolutely unreliable.

As for the teacher Zhao Hengti, Fang Zida was becoming more and more unable to see through this person.No matter what Fang Zida wants to do or what he wants to do, he, Zhao Hengti, will fully support him, and he usually puts on an unusually low-key posture, as if Fang Zida is the real leader in the eighth division. people.At first, Fang Zida was very happy, and even thanked Zhao Hengti in his heart. If he hadn't cooperated so well, he wouldn't have grasped the Eighth Division so quickly, but after calming down and thinking carefully, Fang Zida felt that something was wrong. No matter how lofty the state is, how noble the character is, Fang Zida absolutely does not believe it.People have selfish desires, which is human nature. A noble person like Lei Feng can only exist in fantasy or political propaganda. Fang Zida has been in the mall for many years, and he has seen many different kinds of people. It is common practice to do another trick behind one's back, smile and turn around and stab a knife in front of one's face, Fang Zida has to be on guard.

The situation changed suddenly, Fang Zida was not worried about the Beiyang Army, but worried about the "comrades" behind him.To the south of Nanjing is Shanghai, to the west is Anhui, and to the southwest is Jiangxi. Now that Jiangxi Li Liejun has declared independence, the government must take decisive action. Yuan Shikai, who has long been prepared for force, will never sit idly by.What's more, Song Jiaoren, who took over as Prime Minister, also opposed this "re-revolution." According to Fang Zida's judgment, the central government's rebellion order will be issued in a short time, and the Eighth Division, which is at the forefront of the storm, will also bear the burden. Pressure from all sides.

"Sir, Premier Song's latest telegram!"

Zhang Huchen hurried in and presented Fang Zida a telegram he had just received. After reading the telegram, Fang Zida stood up abruptly, walked around the office slowly, frowned and thought about it, and decided to call Tao Deyao.

"Deputy Commander Fang, Tao Deyao, head of the 31st Regiment, came to report!"

"Captain Tao, please sit down." Seeing Tao Deyao come in to report, Fang Zida raised his hand as a military salute, pointing to a chair for him to sit down.

"Deputy Master Fang, you are looking for me...?" Tao Deyao sat upright and asked directly.

Tao Deyao is Zhao Hengti's favorite general, and his regiment is also the main force of several regiments second only to the original Linhu regiment in combat effectiveness. Although it has been reorganized, its strength has not weakened. On the contrary, because of Zhao Hengti, Fang Zida has given some care. A little stronger than before.

"Bai Qing, I want your 31st Regiment to leave for Shanghai overnight, what do you think?" Fang Zida asked.

"Leaving for Shanghai?" Tao Deyao felt overjoyed after being taken aback for a moment, Shanghai is a golden place, and the 31st regiment's going to Shanghai is not only not harmful, but it is a good thing that they can't wait for.But after thinking about it, why did Fang Zida suddenly send his regiment to Shanghai to garrison?Is there any other reason here?Just as Tao Deyao was about to say yes, he couldn't help hesitating when the words came to his lips.

"Hehe, take a look at these telegrams first." Fang Zida saw his thoughts at a glance, picked up several telegrams and handed them to Tao Deyao, and after he read them, he said directly: "You understand the situation now, Shanghai is far away from Nanjing. Not far away, Li Liejun rebelled in Jiangxi, and Shanghai will definitely take action. In order to stabilize the situation, your 31st regiment rushed to Shanghai to garrison as soon as possible, and you must suppress Chen Qimei and others so that they do not dare to act rashly."

"This...does the master know?" Tao Deyao asked anxiously with excitement flashing in his eyes.

"Master Zhao and the two brigade commanders Huang and Wang discussed together just now. Master Zhao will fully support the 31st Regiment. Therefore, the situation in Shanghai depends on your regiment, Bai Qing. Can you do this task?"

"No problem! Deputy Master Fang, just take a good look at me, Tao Deyao promises to complete the task!" Hearing this, Tao Deyao immediately stood up and replied loudly. Fang Zida was very happy to see him like this, and nodded to let him go back to gather the team immediately , Immediately go south.

Xuzhou, located at the junction of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui, has always been a battleground for military strategists throughout the ages. Since the Manchu Qing abdicated, after the founding of the Republic of China, the weather has been smooth in recent years. It is rare for Xuzhou people to have such a peaceful and good life. Who would have thought Suddenly on this day, the people of Xuzhou City found a group of troops with braids behind their heads coming far away from the city. They thought that the Qing Dynasty, which was destroyed at first glance, had returned. The troops of Zhang Xun, the former army of Shandong Wuwei.

"Military Gate, Xuzhou City is almost here." Wei Debin, the first battalion commander of the forward department, came running quickly, reined in the reins, and happily reported to Zhang Xun.

Man Qing was gone early in the morning, and Zhang Xun was unique. He not only forbade his soldiers to cut their hair braids to show their continued filial piety to the Qing Dynasty, but also asked his subordinates to call themselves "junmen" or "Marshal" is to commemorate the days when he was an admiral in the south of the Yangtze River.

"Pass me the order! The vanguard marches directly into Xuzhou City, and anyone who disobeys on the way will be killed!" Zhang Xun, who was sitting on a tall horse, raised his binoculars to look at Xuzhou City, which was already faintly visible in the distance, and gave the order with a flash of light in his eyes.

"Hey!" Wei Debin responded and patted his horse away, riding forward and shouting orders.

"Marshal, is this over? The President and the Ministry of the Army did not let our army directly enter Xuzhou City." Beside Zhang Xun, Tang Yiming, the Second Battalion Commander who accompanied the march and escorted him, hesitated.

"Hehe, the President didn't let our army enter Xuzhou City." Zhang Xun stroked his beautiful beard and laughed loudly: "There is a way that the general is outside, and the king's order is not granted! Today there are southern rebellious parties. If you make a rebellion, you will lose your chances. I, Zhang, have been on the battlefield for a long time, how can I miss my chance? Hehe, not only does my Lao Zhang want to enter Xuzhou City, but also Nanjing City! Hmph! Just a few anti-rebel parties , see how they can stop my army?"

Tang Yiming's heart skipped a beat when he heard that Zhang Xun's troops went south was an order issued by the Ministry of the Army, but the order did not allow Zhang Xun to enter Jiangsu from Shandong, but asked Zhang Xun's troops to bypass Xuzhou and go straight to Anhui, first to suppress the Anhui governor Bai Wenwei, In order to prevent Bai Wenwei from following Li Liejun's army to become independent, and prevent Anhui from following in Jiangxi's footsteps, after suppressing Bai Wenwei, Zhang Xun's troops will cooperate with Duan Zhigui's first army to attack Jiujiang and force Li Liejun's troops.

But who would have thought that after receiving the order, Zhang Xun marched overnight, and instead of going straight to Anhui after entering Jiangsu, he would march into Xuzhou City, and even planned to lead his army to Nanjing.Tang Yiming knew in his heart that Zhang Xun was not convinced!After the Revolutionary Party uprising that year, the official Ren Manqing Jiangnan Admiral Zhang Xun was stationed in Nanjing, and sent troops to fight the Revolutionary Party. Who would have thought that he would be beaten by the Revolutionary Party and fled in embarrassment, thus losing the entire territory of Jiangsu.Now, Li Liejun raised his troops to declare Jiangxi's independence, which made Zhang Xun, who had always been brooding about this matter, as excited as a chicken blood. As soon as the order from the Ministry of War arrived, Zhang Xun hurriedly summoned the third battalion to go south excitedly Hurry up, determined to avenge the defeat of the army back then.

Not only that, disobeying the order of his superiors and insisting on entering Jiangsu, Zhang Xun still had the idea of ​​taking this opportunity to regain power in Jiangsu. In his eyes, no status could compare to the position of the governor of Jiangsu.When the time comes, he will be able to leap into Nanjing with great power, this is his dream that he has always been yearning for.

Tang Yiming, who knew Zhang Xun's mind well, considered it again and again, and persuaded him: "Marshal, we will enter Xuzhou City as soon as we enter, but Nanjing still won't go. The Beijing Army Department called, and now the Eighth Division of the Nanjing Army has been taken by the Central Committee. Master, now Nanjing is the location of friendly troops, if our troops go to Nanjing, I am afraid that..."

"I'm afraid of what?" Zhang Xun snorted, raised his eyebrows and said, "I, Zhang, don't know who the Eighth Division belongs to? What kind of friendly army? It's all bullshit! It's obviously a trick played by the revolutionary party! Li Liejun In the rebellion in Jiangxi, if we don’t take Nanjing into our hands now, if there is a change in Jiangsu, our army will become a soft-shelled turtle? At that time, there will be chaos in front of the army, and there will be no way out. What do you think we should do?”

"But... Premier Song's side...." Tang Yiming hesitated and wanted to persuade him again, but Zhang Xun waved his hand and said, "Bah! My old Zhang only knew about the Qing Dynasty before, but now he only recognizes President Yuan, what about Premier Song? Can a white-faced scholar who relies on lip service manage my old Zhang? Come on! Let the forward troops speed up the schedule, and I, Lao Zhang, will drink horses in Xuzhou City in an hour!"