The sun never sets

Chapter 374 Direction

The People's Party stationed troops in the Central Plains and eyed the south of the Yangtze River. Yuan Shikai felt his scalp tingling. He had an army of more than 300,000 soldiers, most of whom were equipped with British weapons. He was strong and powerful. If it were ten years ago, with so many elite soldiers and generals, why would Yuan Shikai run away from Korea? Even if the Japanese came, he would dare to fight them!

But it is not 1894 anymore. The arms race in East Asia has been going on for three or four years. Three hundred thousand troops are good and powerful, but the People's Army on the other side has more than one million! This does not include the local night raid groups: six hundred and forty-nine, three hundred and sixty-one③ five police and militia forces. This is just like many cartoons. Military power depreciates too fast. With three hundred thousand troops, Yuan Shikai did not feel safe at all. Looking at the map, the People's Party has half surrounded the National Government. One million troops, Yuan Shikai felt that the one million troops claimed by the People's Party were exaggerated, but even if it was discounted by %, it would still be ... This is a replica of the story of Cao Cao's troops going south!

I just don’t know who Liu Biao is, and who are Liu Bei and Sun Quan?

Yuan Shikai calculated and calculated, but he still felt unsafe, so he sent someone to invite Ambassador Jordan again to discuss the signing of a military alliance. The British Far East Fleet was very good and powerful, but the Yangtze River was so long, how could a dozen warships cover it? Moreover, it was said that the People's Party had seized a lot of large-caliber fortress guns in Korea. If those cannons were dragged to the Yangtze River, would the British warships still be so unscrupulous?

Although he had not led troops in person, he had compiled military drill manuals and read many battles at home and abroad. He had some understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the navy, and he also knew Nelson's famous saying. If the People's Party really blocked the Yangtze River, how much effect would the British warships have?

The People's Party was very good at recruiting troops, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, and then to millions. Yuan Shikai couldn't sleep when he thought of so many mud-legged people waiting covetously across the Yangtze River.

But Jordan did not come, even though Yuan Shikai sent people to invite him again and again, Jordan still did not come. Because of the Far East Fleet, the People's Party suspended the import of machine tools and machinery from Britain, which was a deal worth millions of pounds. And this was just one of the Sino-British transactions, and many other commercial exchanges were also temporarily suspended. Before, the Chinese bought food from British colonies, but now they don't. The hateful Americans took the opportunity to occupy this market and stabbed the empire in the back.

Downing Street was very dissatisfied with his work in China, and there were rumors that he would be replaced. Jordan was now busy communicating with Taiyuan. British goods were so much higher than American and German goods that it was hard to tell where they were. Why buy American goods? The British Empire had everything! Even if they wanted to buy battleships, the Empire could sell them by the dozen!

After the Germans came up with the "dreadnought", they announced that they would build a super-dreadnought battleship, and also released some rumors and gave some data in the newspapers. The "Kaiser Wilhelm-class" super-dreadnought battleship has not yet appeared in the world, but the standard displacement on paper has reached 30,000 tons, and the full load displacement will reach an astonishing 35,000 tons, which is twice the tonnage of the dreadnought!

British engineers all thought that the Germans were exaggerating. According to the German shipbuilding level, it was impossible to build a "Kaiser Wilhelm-class" battleship. At least it was impossible to build it now. Everyone knows that the thicker the gun barrel, the better, and the thicker the armor, the better, but knowing is one thing, and making it is another. Before the technology reaches that level, it cannot be done. If the armor is piled too thick and the power cannot keep up, it will be the same as the Combined Fleet in the Tsugaru Strait.

Different countries have different choices on how to choose between mobility, armor, and firepower. The British had large colonies that needed warships to protect, so their choice was to reduce armor and increase firepower and speed. In order to suppress rebellions in various colonies, British warships needed to run fast and far enough. Because of hundreds of years of naval tradition, the Royal Navy pursued the ultimate firepower output, leaving many hidden dangers unattended.

Germany did not have that many colonies, and the few small islands in the Pacific did not produce much either. Their choice was to strengthen the armor, which reduced the endurance. However, the eight main guns on the design drawings of the "Kaiser Wilhelm Class" were really impossible to build. Wilhelm II summoned the senior officials and engineers of the Navy many times, and the response he got was the same, "

"If it can't be made, it can't be made." In the whole of Germany, there is no factory that can process the 381mm 42-caliber naval gun barrel. The Minister of the Navy vowed that not only Germany can't make it, but even the British can't make it. "The Chinese have come up with a flashy fantasy" and "It's impossible to make it!"

Britain has spies all over the world, especially in Europe. Since the "Dreadnought" came out, the number of spies sent to Germany has increased sharply. Soon, the British got the main data and parameters of the "Emperor Wilhelm Class" super dreadnought, and also knew that the Germans could not make a 381mm 42-caliber main gun. After some verification, the British felt that the "Emperor Wilhelm Class" super dreadnought was simply tailor-made for Britain. The caliber of 381mm is 15 inches. The Germans could not make it, but the British could. The British Empire has been the world hegemon for so many years, and its technical reserves have always been the world's number one. There was no development of 15-inch caliber naval guns before, because there was no need. As the caliber increases, a larger launch platform is needed, which requires more funds. In the end, it's because there is not enough money. Now it is necessary, and Congress is willing to allocate funds, so everything is not a problem.

Downing Street was determined to build a British "super dreadnought" to rival the Kaiser Wilhelm class. There was no rush to build it or not, just come up with the design first. Maintaining naval superiority was the most important thing. Secondly, British gentlemen wanted to know how the Germans designed the Kaiser Wilhelm class super dreadnought. Obviously, the Kaiser Wilhelm class was too advanced. Not only were the eight 381mm 42-caliber main guns impossible for Germany to build, but there were also many subsystems that Germany could not build.

British spies got some intelligence, and the clues all pointed to China in the Far East, but this was too ridiculous. The Chinese couldn't even build a "dreadnought", so how could they design a "super-dreadnought"? With China's industrial level and naval tradition, it is estimated that they didn't even know how to design a warship. However, the Germans did lead the world in the navy twice in a row, which could not but attract the attention of the British.

Out of caution, Downing Street decided to let Jordan have more contact with the People's Party to find out whether the warship design drawings were obtained from the Chinese.

Chapter 375: Look Ahead and Look Back

"Juldien still not coming? Where's Sullivan? Not in Nanjing? Why don't you send someone to look for him?!!!"

Yuan Shikai was still angry and remembered what Zhang Zhidong had said, "The British are unreliable!" But who else could he rely on besides the British? The French or the Americans? After pacing around the lobby for a few times, Yuan Shikai came up with another idea, "Go ask Mr. Morison to come over!"

Morrison was an Australian and a reporter for The Times. He was also responsible for certain diplomatic tasks and also did some intelligence gathering. Enlai should have been stationed in Beijing and Tianjin, but the People's Party was very cautious about foreigners. No matter where Morrison went, many people would treat him like a thief, unlike in the south where he was treated like an emperor, so he came to southern China and often ran around Guangzhou, Jinling, Yunnan and other places. Morrison spoke well and ran fast, so he naturally established a good personal relationship with Yuan Shikai. Many things that British diplomats were not convenient to say were conveyed privately by Morrison. Many things that British diplomats were not convenient to do were also handled by Morrison.

During the Nanjing military coup, Morison traveled around as a reporter, helped Yuan Shikai a lot, and persuaded Yuan Shikai to sign the Nanjing Treaty many times, and gained a lot of benefits from it after the treaty was signed. After all, Morison was not an international fighter, and he came to China to make money. He could get money from British arms dealers and the British government, and he could also get money from Yuan Shikai. He was able to get the best of both worlds.

Yuan Shikai sat down to think about the current dilemma. After a while, Morison did not come, but Duan Qirui came first. Duan Qirui is back? Yuan Shikai frowned and asked someone to invite his generals in. "Zhiquan, why are you back?"

Duan Qirui stopped, saluted Yuan Shikai, and said, "Mr. President, the People's Army in Jiangbei is very active, and their spies have appeared in many places. I am worried..."

Yuan Shikai was shocked, but his expression remained calm. "With the British warships here, the rebels dare not come over!"

Duan Qirui shook his head repeatedly, "Many signs indicate that the People's Army is about to attack us!"

"Signs? What signs are there?" Yuan Shikai said unhappily, "Don't believe the rumors in the tabloids."

"Mr. President, those are not rumors!" Duan Qirui raised his voice, "Four divisions of the People's Army have appeared across Nanjing, and we don't know how many there are in other places. I heard that Lin Yongchang has left Taiyuan..." At this point, Duan Qirui's voice trembled a little, "Mr. President, the People's Army's attack is imminent."

Yuan Shikai frowned deeply, "Lin Yongchang is just a person, are you afraid of him?"

Duan Qirui thought, isn't this nonsense? Baldy Lin is famous and ruthless. He will do anything he wants without hesitation. After defeating the Russian Empire, he turned around and attacked the Japanese without any scruples. Who wouldn't be afraid of such a person? Not only was he afraid, Feng Guozhang was also afraid, and even Yuan Shikai was nervous. He was silent for a moment and whispered, "

The soldiers on the front line are divided into different units without a unified command. If the enemy launches a surprise attack, I am worried that the units will not be able to take care of each other and will be defeated one by one."

Yuan Shikai's suspicion grew stronger. "So what do you think we should do?"

Duan Qirui was inspired, "I think we should immediately set up a front-line command to unify the command of the troops along the Yangtze River. Since the defense line from Wuchang to Shanghai is too long, it can be divided into two major war zones, which Hua Fu and I will respectively..."

Yuan Shikai looked gloomy, as if he was listening to Duan Qirui's opinion, but he was actually thinking about something in his mind. Did Duan Zhiquan want military power? What did he want to do?

Zhao Kuangyin launched the "Chenqiao Mutiny" for fear that those who followed would follow suit, so he "released military power with a cup of wine" and removed the power of the generals to control and mobilize the army. Looking at history, those who have won the world will always be on guard against those who come after them. Yuan Shikai has not yet won the world, but his paranoia is already very serious. He came to power with the support of the British and launched a military coup, so he did not allow his subordinates to have much contact with foreigners, especially the generals who held military power. Contact with foreigners was his taboo. In addition, Yuan Shikai was also worried about letting a general control too many troops. He divided the military power into small pieces. Even short-term ghosts and confidants like Feng Guozhang could only control the strength of a division. Even if there is a need to form a large corps, it is a temporary deployment of troops. When things are over, they can still only control one division.

Only Yuan Shikai himself had the power to unify the command of all the troops. Now Duan Qirui came to ask for the command of the army... He admitted that the current situation was a bit tense, but was it really time to delegate military power?

Previously, Yuan Shikai used loyalty and righteousness to demand loyalty from his generals and officers, but he broke the rules first and forced Zhang Zhidong to step down by force. How could he still use loyalty and righteousness to restrain the people under him?

After listening to Duan Qirui, Yuan Shikai thought for a while and said, "There is still hope for peace. There may not be a war. I will send someone to Jiangbei to discuss it with Lin Yongchang. We are all Chinese, and Chinese people do not fight against Chinese people!"

".............", Duan Qirui's face was full of astonishment. He didn't understand why Yuan Shikai was so wise in the past, and he became like this now? Hesitant and fussy! The enemy was already sharpening their knives, but President Yuan Shikai was still saying something like "Chinese don't fight Chinese"?

Seeing Duan Qirui's surprised look, Yuan Shikai felt it necessary to appease his generals, so he said: "I will transfer Duan Zhigui, Wang Zhanyuan and Wu Guangxin to your command. Be prepared first, lest those people in Jiangbei really look down on us! But don't go too far, lest you provoke the people over there. If a fight really breaks out, whether we win or lose, it won't look good!"

"............", Duan Qirui wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Yuan Shikai. "Zhiquan, I know what you mean, but you also need to know my difficulties. The government has been running out of money for a long time. If we want to break the impasse, we can only do it in the south, not in the north. We must stabilize the People's Party first, so that we can spare some time to solve the problems in the south. Only by unifying the south can we have the strength to fight back!"

"But......."

"No buts, it's settled! Okay, Zhiquan, you can go back now. I have to meet my British friends later."

What else could Duan Qirui say? He stood up and saw Yuan Shikai drinking tea slowly. He could only sigh, saluted the president, and then walked out with heavy steps.

Chapter 376: War Madness

"Chairman Lin!"

"marshal!"

"The President!"

Lin Yongchang smiled and shook hands with everyone waiting at the station, saying hello one by one, and then said to Li Dayan: "This time, you are the front commander of the central route of the crossing of the river. I just came to Henan to inspect the spring farming situation."

Li Dayan didn't say anything, just nodded. Lin Yongchang introduced Wu Peifu, Xu Wuji, Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin and others to Li Dayan, "You have all met in Taiyuan, so I won't introduce them to you. Wang Hu is Commander Wang's nephew, your junior, and you are familiar with him. You know some of the other commanders and fighters, and some you don't. Regardless of whether you know them or not, they are all the people's soldiers. This time we are going to cross the Yangtze River and liberate the entire country in one go... Well, considering that the matter in Sichuan will not be dealt with until the second half of the year, it is impossible to liberate the entire China in one go, but you have to fight all the way to the Sino-Vietnamese border, and you may even have to fight in Vietnam. I hope you are mentally prepared for this."

"Don't worry about what's happening in Henan, just focus on the war. Production and development are important, but we must win first before we can develop with peace of mind. But don't be impatient," Lin Yongchang said to the shining generals on the platform: "We are stronger than Yuan Shikai. As long as we don't make mistakes, he will definitely lose! We are ready. Even if the British join the war, we must liberate all of China. This is the mission entrusted to us by history! All Chinese people cannot accept another Northern and Southern Dynasties!"

Li Dayan still didn't say anything, but nodded heavily. Wu Peifu, Wang Hu and others responded loudly: "Yes! We guarantee to complete the task!"

"We will never let the Chairman down!"

Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin were the most active and enthusiastic. Cao Kun was once a member of the Beiyang Army. After switching to the People's Party, he suffered a lot.

He fought many hard battles and made progress little by little through his military exploits, and was able to command an entire brigade of the People's Army. Now that he had to fight against his former employer, he did not flinch at all, but took this opportunity to show his loyalty. The rules of the People's Party were very strict, but there was a bright future ahead. As long as you were willing to endure hardships and did not violate various rules and regulations, you did not have to worry about your achievements being swallowed up by others.

Because he had worked in the Beiyang Army, he was well aware of the gap in combat effectiveness between the Beiyang Army and the People's Army. In his opinion, Marshal Lin was too cautious. There was no need to go to so much trouble to deal with those scumbags in Nanjing. They could just gather the troops and attack them directly!

An army that wins every battle is very scary. Since its establishment, the People's Army has been fighting every year, and every battle is a great victory, with extremely high morale. The People's Army even defeated the Russian Empire, let alone the Beiyang Army in the south? Although they are no longer called the Beiyang Army, but the National Army, they are essentially no different from the previous troops. Cao Kun has been in the People's Army for four years and has understood why the People's Army is so powerful. The old-style army of the National Army is definitely not the opponent of the People's Army!

If it weren't for the British fleet, Cao Kun would have dared to ask for a battle to capture Yuan Shikai. Now, he looked at Li Dayan, who had a serious expression, and many thoughts turned in his mind. Many people knew that Li Dayan was the sworn brother of the Grand Marshal, and many people also said that this "Crossing the River Campaign" was just to give Li Dayan military merits. Many generals, such as Wu Peifu, were very dissatisfied with Li Dayan, believing that this corps commander was not qualified to command their elite soldiers and generals who had fought bloody battles with the Russians and the Japanese.

But Cao Kun is not Wu Peifu. He is not so arrogant. Instead, he is very good at dealing with people. He will not go against the Grand Marshal when he knows what the Grand Marshal means. But he is not too satisfied with letting Li Dayan be the commander-in-chief of the enemy. What battles has Li Dayan fought? What military exploits did he have? He, Cao Laosan, fought with the Russians in the snowy forests of the Northeast for countless times, and even fought with the Russians with bayonets while holding a rifle!

He wanted to see if Li had the ability. If he did, that would be fine. If not, then it would not be Cao's fault!

Zhang Zuolin was born in the security corps, and was not much better than Cao Kun. Moreover, his fighting skills were not very good, just like Cao Kun. He was able to become the brigade commander of the main force purely because he worked hard and did all kinds of hard work without complaint. In terms of military exploits, he could not compare with Wu Peifu, so the word "acting" in front of Wu Peifu's title of acting division commander was removed, and Zhang Zuolin was still just a brigade commander.

Li Dayan could see the arrogance of the generals standing behind Lin Yongchang, and he also knew their dissatisfaction. He was angry and decided to fight a good battle to let these bastards see that he, Li Dayan, was not just a bunch of idiots! When he and Marshal Lin started the rebellion, Wu Peifu and Guo Songling were just playing in the mud!

Li Dayan served as the King of Henan for four years. He managed the army on horseback and governed the people on foot. He managed the heroes of the Central Plains and made them obedient. He was proud, but the army was a realistic place. Without military achievements, his voice would not be loud enough, and others would not be convinced. This was Wu Peifu and Cao Kun, who had lower ranks and positions than Li Dayan. If Zhao Bi and Liu Chengxiang, who had served as corps commanders, came here, they would probably look down on him.

The People's Party's political system has an unparalleled advantage in terms of development speed. In the past four years, the People's Government has built more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, established a heavy industrial system from scratch, and the annual output of steel has exceeded 1.2 million tons. The military industry has also been greatly developed, producing 120,000 to 130,000 Mauser rifles, thousands of mortars and hundreds of barreled artillery each year, and producing countless bullets and shells. The most important thing is to establish a management system that can match the industrial society. After this system was established, many people felt pain. The system, which was completely different from the past, not only made many people suffer physically, but also made people feel mentally painful.

However, after the initial adjustment period, this management system became smoother and smoother, which in turn promoted the country's progress. This is the reason why productivity and production relations restrict and promote each other.

Many people in the People's Party still don't understand what is happening, the country has developed to a level that they could not imagine before. They can only see that the country's tax revenue is increasing year by year, the output of steel and coal is also increasing, and the military's equipment is getting better year by year.

Trains were running on the railway, pulling all kinds of heavy artillery from the northeast. Before launching the crossing campaign, it was necessary to block the Yangtze River waterway. Strategically, we could despise the declining British, but tactically, we still had to pay enough attention to it. The reputation of the British Royal Navy was not blown, but built up by victory after victory.

Lin Yongchang said he was going to inspect the spring ploughing in Henan, but in fact he was also stationed in the Central Plains, ready to deal with any emergency. If the British really came to the battlefield in person, the possibility was very low, but it could not be said that it was completely impossible. If this happened, Marshal Lin would immediately put on his armor and transform into a war maniac again.

Chapter 377 It’s better to unify

Cao Kun and others thought that the "Crossing the Yangtze River Campaign" was used to gain military merit for Li Dayan, but Lin Yongchang was not so bored. Li Dayan had always been very capable.

The South did a lot of work, not only to clean up the local reactionary forces, but also to fight with the Southern Army several times, and had a good understanding of the equipment, tactics and combat effectiveness of the National Army. Li Dayan also led a large number of staff officers to formulate several versions of combat plans, preparing to wipe out the Nanjing National Government.

When the fighting in the north was fierce, it was Li Dayan and other comrades in the south who stabilized the rear and prevented the people's government from fighting on two fronts. Since they had performed well before, they should be given more opportunities. Otherwise, if the generals from the north were to become familiar with the situation, the start of the war would have to be postponed for a long time.

Seeing the imperialist powers spending money on the naval arms race, Chairman Lin felt that time was running out and that it was necessary to liberate all of China as soon as possible and then carry out economic construction. Even if the "people's line" was adopted, it would still cost a lot of money to maintain an army of more than one million.

Chairman Lin personally sat in the Central Plains, not only to support Li Dayan and inspect the spring ploughing situation in Henan and other places, and to guard against the British, but also for the newly discovered gold mines in Henan. Developing heavy industry requires a lot of money, and it must continue to be spent. In order to import machinery and equipment from the past, many things must be exported. The People's Party's medicines and chemical products are now famous, but that is far from enough. There are many things that cannot be made in China now, and it takes precious foreign exchange. If foreign exchange is not enough, hard currency must be used, and gold is the hardest hard currency.

Henan has the second largest gold mine in China. Many of them have not been discovered yet, but Chairman Lin has a plug-in, so he can find the location directly. In fact, there are many gold mines in China, such as Shandong has the largest gold mine in China. Under the guidance of Chairman Lin, it can produce five or six tons of gold every year. However, most gold mines are not easy to mine. Only when the burial depth is not so deep and the abundance is high enough, it is convenient to mine. Several gold mines in Henan are very suitable. As long as there are enough machines, it is not a problem to produce another five tons of gold every year.

With gold, more machinery and equipment can be purchased, and there is no need to squeeze the people for consumer goods. It is more cost-effective than exporting grain. In the final analysis, Lin Yongchang's heart is not as hard as Comrade Gangtie's, and he cannot squeeze out more grain in a year of poor harvest. However, this is also related to the policies of the People's Party. Comrade Gangtie's "industrialization" is promoted from top to bottom with the will of the state. The People's Party has adopted both the "top-down" and "bottom-up" paths at the same time. There is not only industrialization promoted by the state, but also spontaneous demands for industrialization by the people.

The People's Party's approach is not as efficient as that of Comrade Steel, but the funding is not that big, and Chairman Lin has a plug-in, which can use the existing system to iterate independently. The development speed in the early stage is not as fast as the steel model, but as long as there is a certain industrial foundation, it can achieve overtaking on the curve, instead of always following the great powers. Just like in chemical products, the People's Government has even surpassed the United States in some aspects, but the output is still too small, and the Germans have eaten up the bulk of it, and the People's Government can only drink soup.

The People's Army was making final preparations for the war step by step. At this time, Yuan Shikai's envoy came to Jiangbei and brought Yuan Weiting's "peace intention". Yang Shiqi had connections with several forces in the north and south, so it was perfect for him to be the envoy. Lin Yongchang was not surprised that Yang Shiqi came again, but this time not only Yang Shiqi came, but also Xu Shichang, which was a bit interesting.

"Xingcheng is an old friend. We have been together countless times, but Mr. Xu is a rare sight. What big event is this time that requires both of you to come together?"

Xu Shichang was the Minister of Finance of the Nanjing National Government. When Zhang Zhidong was president, he relied on him a lot. Now that Yuan Shikai came to power, Xu Shichang should have been more valued as he was Yuan Shikai's good friend and had worked together to prepare for the Beiyang Army. How could he come to be an envoy and lobbyist?

Xu Shichang shook his head and said, "I am not a lobbyist for Weiting." He patted his gown and said self-deprecatingly, "Now Xu Shichang is just an ordinary person who wants to be taken in by Chairman Lin."

"Oh, what's going on?"

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "It's a new trend, a new atmosphere. Wei Ting is the president and has his own ideas. We old officials have to stand aside."

The situation is certainly not that simple. Xu Shichang was certainly ignored and suspected, but the main reason he fled to Jiangbei was that he was disappointed with Yuan Shikai and could not see the future of the Nanjing National Government, so he simply resigned after Yuan Shikai came to power. Yuan Shikai dragged his feet in the military coup and was not decisive at all. Until now, he has not yet fully mastered a series of heavy industries such as Wuchang and the most important Hanyang Arsenal. Those who were sent to Hanyang did not want to increase production, but to make money in their pockets one by one, which was no different from when Zhang Zhidong was in power. Moreover, the current National Government no longer needs a Minister of Finance. All income is controlled by the British. Even if Xu Shichang does not resign, he can't control anything. He is just a decoration. It is better to take the initiative and end up with a leisurely life.

But Xu Shichang was proud of his talent and refused to go home to retire. He was only fifty years old and could work for another twenty or thirty years. Hearing that Yang Shiqi was going to Jiangbei again, he followed him.

Lin Yongchang laughed and said, "Brother Juren, are you using a self-torture tactic to send a false surrender letter?"

Xu Shichang's face changed slightly, and he said unhappily: "Since Chairman Lin thinks so, I'll take my leave!" After that, he stood up and prepared to leave. Xu Shichang had a strong desire for fame, but he was not young anymore, so he didn't need to be as smooth as before. If he was unhappy, he could just express it directly.

But more importantly, he was very smart. He had already figured out Marshal Lin many times. He pretended to be unhappy and was immediately stopped by Lin Yongchang. "Brother Juren, I was just joking. Why take it seriously? Since you are here this time, I will welcome you with open arms!"

Yang Shiqi had been playing both sides for a long time, and he was very smart. He understood the intention of the two sides, "Are we really going to fight? There is no room for negotiation?"

Lin Yongchang did not answer, but asked in return: "For China, is it better to be united or divided?"

"Of course it's better to unify!"

"So we have to cross the Yangtze River and liberate all of China!"

Chapter 378: The Tiger and the Dragon Are More Powerful Than Before

Yang Shiqi had been in contact with the People's Party three or four years ago, and he also knew that Li Jingfang, the successor of Li Hongzhang, and many people in the Jinling government had contacts with the north. This was not surprising, as Qiu Jin, Wu Tingfang, Chen Tianhua and others were all from the south, and they were highly valued in Taiyuan, so naturally many of their relatives and friends followed suit.

In the later stages of China's war for unification, the snowball will get bigger and faster. The more prosperous the People's Party is, the more people will want to join it. Yang Shiqi has long been prepared to follow the wind and lean on whichever side is stronger. Xu Shichang is different. He is a close friend of Yuan Shikai and one of the founders of the Beiyang Army. Although he did not serve in the army later, his relationship with Yuan Shikai was still very close. Even he did not look favorably on the National Government in Nanjing, let alone others.

Lin Yongchang was not worried about the war in the south, but was worried about the British reaction. The British government had special interests in the Yangtze River Basin. Not only did it control the tariffs in the south, but it also had the right of free navigation on the Yangtze River. Now the British were trying to ease the relationship with the People's Party. If the war really started, the British would definitely not sit idly by. Even if it was necessary to suppress Germany, Russia and the United States at the same time, the British would not easily spit out the big piece of fat meat of China.

After the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River was launched, the giant howitzers that the People's Party had brought to the Yangtze River would definitely come in handy. But even without those large-caliber fortress guns, the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River was inevitable. For most Chinese people, "great unification" is engraved in their bones.

There were more and more troops on both sides of the Yangtze River, and the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense. The Nationalist government had lost hope for peace, and every now and then it asked the British for aid and security guarantees. While asking the People's Party about the "Super Dreadnought", Jordan called for "peace, not war". Jordan threatened and induced, and even said he would give the People's Party a low-interest loan, but threats and inducements were useless, and the People's Party's war preparations did not stop.

During the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea, the People's Daily published "沁园春*雪" "written" by Chairman Lin. On April 1, another new poem by Chairman Lin was published.

"The wind and rain in Zhongshan turned yellow, and millions of troops crossed the river.

The tiger and the dragon beat the past, turning the world upside down and generous.

It is advisable to chase the poor with the courage of the left, but not to be the overlord.

If heaven has feelings, it will also grow old, and the right path in the world will undergo vicissitudes of life. "

Yuan Shikai now read the Jiangbei newspaper every day. When he saw this poem, he immediately shouted, "Not good!"

Although the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, Yuan Shikai still held out hope that the British fleet could frighten the People's Army and prevent them from actually fighting. But what did he see now?

"It is better to use your remaining courage to pursue the poor bandits, not to use your reputation as an academic overlord!"

This is not a poem, but a declaration of war!

"Ding-ling-ling!" The phone rang. Yuan Shikai calmed down, took two steps to the side, picked up the phone, and then a panicked voice came. "Mr. President... It's bad... The enemy... The enemy......"

"Why are you panicking? The sky hasn't fallen yet!" Yuan Shikai shouted, "What's wrong with the enemy?"

"The enemy is attacking us!"

"What was supposed to come has finally come!" Yuan Shikai murmured to himself, "I knew this day would come, but I didn't expect it to come so soon!"

"Mr. President...Mr. President, what should we do?"

"You idiot! Do I need to teach you this? If the enemy attacks, just fight back! Are those firewood sticks in your hands?"

Yuan Shikai angrily threw the microphone to the ground. Xu Shichang's betrayal made him extremely angry. He was a close friend and they had an extraordinary relationship. He just ran away. After a period of time, his anger had subsided a lot. Now that the People's Army came to kill him, his anger was rekindled.