The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 821: Central Plains War
The next morning, Yu Dafu boarded a train from Peking to Nanjing, heading south to mediate.

The storm is brewing, and the war between the northern and southern warlords is about to begin in the Central Plains. Behind this war is the support of European powers and Japan.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the great powers had to continue their business in China, so they had to find their own agents.

According to the convention of this era, before the fight officially begins, there must first be a war of words.

Verbal battles were the main form of war among warlords. When they actually went to the battlefield, the fighting was mainly for show, with the casualty rate being less than 10%.

In contrast, in the Battle of Verdun between France and Germany, which was called the "human meat blender", both sides deployed more than 100 divisions, totaling more than 200 million soldiers, and the final number of casualties reached 75, with a casualty ratio of nearly 40%.

Telegraph warfare is a form of warfare favored by warlords. Through "telegraph warfare", warriors can create an image of themselves as "scholarly generals" who cherish peace and prefer fighting with words rather than with weapons.

Peace and reunification were the most desired goals for the Chinese people at the time, and they also represented the ultimate "political correctness." All factions understood this clearly: once they grasped the righteousness of war and portrayed themselves as patriotic generals seeking true peace and reunification through war, they could truly bring their opponents to their knees, a far more effective means than simply killing and wounding them on the battlefield.

In the First Zhi-An War, the two sides only fought with real weapons for a few days. Before that, the telegraph war had been going on for more than three months, with everyone accusing each other of being immoral and trying to seize the moral high ground.

On April 1922, 4, Marshal Zhang's father, in the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the Zhenwei Army, sent a telegram to the whole nation:

"If unification is not achieved, the country will never find peace. If obstacles are not removed, unification will be impossible. Therefore, Jian led his disciples and teachers to enter the border and station there, hoping to use force to support unification."

On the 21st, Marshal Wu responded with a telegram, stating, "They rely on force, while I lead with justice. Those who are righteous will have many supporters, while those who are unrighteous will have few. ... Public opinion will be the judge, and merits and demerits will be determined. Unless these traitors are eradicated, there will be no peace. We must safeguard the dignity of the Republic and preserve the dignity of the Chinese people. All of us comrades have a duty to eliminate violence and uphold justice, and we will do so without hesitation."

On the 25th, Marshal Wu and others jointly issued a telegram, denouncing the Fengtian clique's "Ten Major Crimes": (1) stealing sacred artifacts and obstructing unification; (2) recommending the culprits of the monarchy and employing the culprits of restoration, doing perverse things and endangering the national system; (3) harming the country and colluding with foreign powers, destroying Qing and Jiao; (4) recruiting bandits as soldiers and "blaming friendly countries"; (5) monopolizing political power and undermining laws and order; (6) harassing the capital and allowing bandits to harm the people; (7) coveting more than they had and showing off their military prowess; (8) looting supplies and weapons, acting like bandits; (9) recruiting refugees and traitors; and (10) killing their own kind. They declared: "As long as Zuo Lin is not killed, the bandits will not stop. As long as the bandits are not driven away, unification will be difficult to achieve."

Most of the telegrams sent by warlords were written by old scholars. They were written in parallel style with neat parallelism, righteous words, rich emotions, and full of justice and humanistic temperament. The themes were nothing more than talking about democracy and republic, demanding the implementation of constitutional government, advocating civilian politics, opposing militarism, demanding the abolition of governors and disarmament, and calling for national unity.

The trigger for this Central Plains War was the memorial ceremony for Mr. Sun.

At that time, Marshal Chiang, a follower of Mr. Sun, wailed loudly, pounded his coffin in grief, and announced that the country would reorganize and disband the warlords' troops.

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere exploded.

After the Northern Expedition, Marshal Chiang, Marshal Feng, Marshal Yan and Marshal Gui were in power. Marshal Chiang wanted to weaken the other factions, but the other factions naturally disagreed, and a war was inevitable.

Qi Meng was not interested in this dog-eat-dog war, but in order to complete the Yingkou Dragon Subduing Mission, he needed to ensure that Liaodong was under the control of Marshal Zhang. In other words, he had to stop Marshal Zhang from leading his troops into the pass. Historically, Marshal Zhang transferred his main forces into the pass, resulting in a lack of defense in Liaodong, which also gave Xiaozizi the opportunity to invade Liaodong a year later.

~~~~~
Qi Meng moved his family to Nanluoguxiang in Dongcheng District.

Nanluoxiang is undoubtedly a "rich area," home to many high-ranking officials and dignitaries. During the Qing Dynasty, many royal palaces and mansions were built here. Princes strolling in the alley are as numerous as dogs. It is truly a place of great wealth and nobility.

Qi Meng bought a small Western-style house in Nanluoxiang for three thousand dollars.

Hu Niu was sent to Nanyuan to take care of her aunt who had suffered a stroke.

Xiao Fuzi moved into the western-style building. She cleaned the huge room every day, dressed herself up beautifully, and then stood on the windowsill of the small western-style building like a waiting stone, waiting for Qi Meng to come home.

Qi Meng has no time to go home.

Now, he has become a big shot under Marshal Zhang, who appreciates him very much and often consults him on both military and civil affairs.

As the war was imminent, Marshal Zhang's camp was stationed in Wanping City outside the city of Peking.

At noon that day, Xiao Fuzi's younger brother Dazhuang came downstairs. Xiao Fuzi saw him from a distance and asked anxiously, "Where is your boss?"

Da Zhuang’s boss is naturally Qi Meng.

"He's sending a telegram on behalf of Marshal Zhang cursing Marshal Chiang." "What did he do?"

"Damn you Baldy Jiang, you bastard, you deserve a beating!"

Xiao Fuzi chuckled. She didn't know that sending telegrams to curse each other was just an appetizer before the warlords' melee.

"Which Marshal Zhang?"

There are so many great generals, how can Xiao Fuzi know who is who?

"His father was killed by Japanese pirates two years ago. Now that they have entered the country, all the cities are under his control."

Xiao Fuzi nodded blankly. Although she didn't know who Marshal Zhang was, her intuition told her that another war was about to begin.

"Is there going to be a war?"

"Oh, wait a month, until the telegraph war is over."

Da Zhuang said perfunctorily, took out some money from his pocket and said:
"Sister, this is what Brother Qi gave you. He said you must spend three hundred dollars a month, otherwise he will scold you. Just let the maid do the laundry and cooking. Don't worry about it. He paid the nanny to do the work."

Xiao Fuzi carefully took the money and nodded vigorously.

Looking at her brother's receding figure, she said loudly:

"Da Zhuang, don't rush to the front in a fight. You need to cherish your life."

~~~~~
The train rumbled across the plains of North China, and Wanping City gradually became clearer from afar.

The train whistled long and hard, and the train began to slow down. Qi Meng raised his binoculars. Not only the sorghum and corn, but even the buckwheat, which matured the latest, had been harvested. The plain had become even flatter.

As far as the eye can see, there are only gray villages and large tracts of woods. It seems that there are only some withered grass and yellow soil that likes to fly in the wind on the ground.

"Brother Qi, Wanping was hit by a locust plague last year, and the people had no harvest."

"Oh, no wonder there are so many new graves." Qi Meng nodded.

This is a great place to fight a war.

"Brother, what does Marshal Zhang want from us?"

Qi Meng pointed at the Northeastern soldiers marching along the railway.

"What could it be? Of course it's about the war."

The crops in the fields had been harvested, and the distant peaks clearly drew bright blue curves against the blue sky.

"Marshal Jiang's troops have reached Xuchang. They are very good at fighting, with many guns and artillery, and I heard they also have planes. I'm afraid Tongguan can't be defended."

Qi Meng laughed and said, "You can't even read a single word, and you know Tongguan?"

Da Zhuang grinned and said, "When I was little, I listened to a storyteller singing on Tianqiao. The story was about Sun Chuanting leaving Tongguan."

(End of this chapter)