Years of the Republic of China 1913

The situation in Russia became less and less optimistic. After the Serov incident, both sides made adjustments. The originally dominant Russian imperial government suffered a triple blow in terms of morale, material and politics as they withdrew from the Serov area.The Soviet government took advantage of the severe cold to quickly stabilize the political turmoil that occurred after the death of the supreme leader, coupled with the "liberation" of the Serov area, and the constant bombing of political propaganda, sweeping away the shadow of the previous defeat in the Siberia campaign , became morale high.

At the beginning, apart from these superficial phenomena, the difficulties faced by the Soviet government were still numerous.There are mutual suspicions and contradictions among the military and political leaders internally. Everyone knows exactly what is going on with the "liberation" of Serov claimed in the external propaganda. The Soviet government has strong dissatisfaction and vigilance, and even some "hearsay" from Serov has led to instability in the Soviet-ruled area where resistance broke out, causing Stalin to deliberately mobilize a group of soldiers from Moscow in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating and affecting the spring campaign. It took an army to suppress this sign.

With the gradual arrival of spring, the war in central Russia seemed imminent.

Thousands of miles away from the vortex of war in Beijing, China, the General Staff is conducting war games against the upcoming war in Russia.The host of the deduction is Wu Peifu, commander of the Zhili Military Region and deputy chief of the general staff.Over the past year, Wang Shizhen, chief of the general staff, has been in semi-retirement due to frailty and sickness, and the specific work is basically shared by the two deputy chiefs of general staff, Wu Peifu and Feng Guozhang.

As the commander of the Zhili Military Region, Wu Peifu is now the most dazzling general in the Chinese Communist Party, and his limelight is unparalleled.Since he was taken away from Cao Kun by Fang Zida and came to the Eighth Division, he has been promoted step by step, from the eighth division's deputy division commander, division commander, army commander, group army commander, front-line commander, military region commander to deputy chief of staff.The rank was also promoted from Major General to Major General.It can be said that except for Wang Shizhen who has not completely retired, the original three masters of Beiyang are already under him. Even Cao Kun, the old superior at the time, is really not as good as Wu Peifu now, let alone everyone Everyone knows that Fang Zida values ​​Wu Peifu.They all believed that once Wang Shizhen stepped down, there would be no one other than Wu Peifu to replace him.

"Deputy Chief, this is the result of the deduction..." In the large deduction room, Wu Peifu sat on the sofa in the corner with his eyes closed and rested. After an unknown period of time, a staff officer came to him with the result, leaned over and said something .

He reached out to take it, looked at Wu Peifu for a few moments, then frowned, got up and strode to the sand table with his hands on his waist, and looked at the densely packed flags on it.

A few minutes later.Wu Peifu picked up the baton that was set aside and clicked on several positions on the sand table, and shouted: "Here, and here! Especially the Siberian railway line, why didn't you take all these factors into consideration when you deduced? Do you think the commanders of the Red Army are all fools? Will you fight according to your ideas? Can’t be flexible? Or think that the generals of the Russian Imperial Army are all good fortune-tellers?

Throwing the baton on the sand table angrily, Wu Peifu turned and left without even looking at these staff officers.The staff officers were so frightened that they all looked at each other in blank dismay, at a loss.After a while, seeing that Wu Peifu left the room and never came back, a colonel staff officer secretly wiped his sweat.This invites everyone to re-deduce.

Back in the office, Wu Peifu poured a glass of cold water and drank it in one go.Putting down the water glass, he couldn't help but shook his head and sighed.

He was very disappointed by the staff level and capabilities of the General Staff Department. It stands to reason that, as an important military staff organization of a country, it should reflect the country's highest military level.Unfortunately, he didn't see this.

Say something bad.The level of staff in the Operational Staff Section of the General Staff Headquarters is not as good as that of the staff when he was the commander of the group army. Not only is his ability insufficient, but his thinking is rigid. Not enough to hold the current position anymore.Just taking a simple deduction as an example, Wu Peifu was able to pick out a lot of faults. This is the result of him holding back the fire and letting them simulate repeatedly. Unexpectedly, he finally came up with something that is just on paper. Such a thing It's almost as good as deceiving children, but in the eyes of a veteran of many battles, he is really full of loopholes.

"No, what can we do if this continues?" Wu Peifu is a wise general, but he is also a straightforward soldier.Before that, he was only the deputy chief of staff, and the general staff was controlled by Wang Shizhen, so he only needed to consider his own one-acre three-point land.But now, as Wang Shizhen gradually retreated to the second line, Feng Guozhang was free on his own territory, only holding the vacant position of deputy chief of staff, and he could only take over Wang Shizhen and take care of the work of the general staff. It was also Fang Zida's special arrangement so that he could fully take over the General Staff in the near future.

Picking up the phone, Wu Peifu called Fang Zida directly, and asked Fang Zida that when Fang Zida was in the State Council, he didn't say much. He hung up the phone, put on his hat, and left the General Staff Headquarters to go to the State Council.

As for the State Council Office, Fang Zida was confused by Wu Peifu's inexplicable words, and before he could ask what was going on, the phone fell silent.Putting down the phone dumbfounded, he apologized to the guest sitting in front of him.

"Whose phone is it?" The guest asked in surprise. Fang Zida is now the Prime Minister, and his power is greater than that of the nominal president. Who would call him like this?As soon as the other party asked this question, he immediately felt a little inappropriate, and quickly shook his head and said, "I made a slip of the tongue..."

"It's okay, it's Wu Ziyu, who got angry and came to me to vent. Brother Baili, look, Wu Ziyu will stand in front of you in half an hour." Fang Zida, who knows Wu Peifu's character well Jokingly, Jiang Fangzhen laughed dumbfounded after being slightly stunned, then stood up and said: "Since General Ziyu has something to do with the Prime Minister, then I will take my leave..."

"Brother Baili stay!" Seeing that Jiang Fangzhen was about to leave, Fang Zida greeted him quickly: "Brother Baili works in the Central Army Academy, but he is still a military officer after all. Ziyu has just taken charge of the General Staff, so I'm afraid he will come to see me in ten minutes." There are eight or nine things related to the General Staff. Zida often hears people say that Brother Baili is the most outstanding military theorist in China, why don't you stay and help me and Ziyu's staff, how about it?"

"This..." Jiang Fangzhen hesitated for a moment. You must know that although he is a soldier, he can only be called half a soldier at most.As a lieutenant general in the army, Jiang Fangzhen's actual job is the principal of the Central Army Academy. He has never led a soldier in his life, and what he does is only strategic research.So it is very appropriate to call him a military theorist, but he is definitely not a military strategist. Jiang Fangzhen has a reputation for self-knowledge. If it is discussed in military theory, ten Wu Peifu tied together are not his opponents, but if you want to In fact, when it comes to leading troops to fight, the three of them, Jiang Fangzhen, together can't do half of Wu Peifu.

However, Jiang Fangzhen came to see Fang Zida today mainly for the Army Academy. With the rapid development of science and technology and the drastic changes in the state of world wars after the European War, Jiang Fangzhen, as the principal, hopes to get the support of the central government. Increased investment in personnel and a series of other aspects enables it to train more outstanding soldiers who are more suitable for modern warfare.

The conversation was just in the middle of it, and Fang Zida had a pleasant chat with himself, and seemed to be very interested in the new teaching plan he proposed.At this time, Jiang Fangzhen didn't want to give up halfway. It was best to make a decision on this matter today while the iron was hot.So when Fang Zida asked to stay, Jiang Fangzhen hesitated and stayed.

As expected, Wu Peifu came within half an hour and walked into Fang Zida's office angrily. Wu Peifu was just about to scold the mother of the General Staff, but at a glance, a person sitting beside him looked familiar and behaved elegantly. The lieutenant general, who seemed to be more of a literati than a soldier, was taken aback for a moment.

"Isn't this... Brother Baili?"

"Hehe, brother Ziyu, long time no see."

"Oh, it's really Brother Baili. I didn't expect to meet you here today."

Looking at Jiang Fangzhen, Wu Peifu forgot the purpose of coming here for a moment, and even Fang Zida didn't pay much attention to the housework with Jiang Fangzhen, talked for a long time, and waited for Fang Zida to bring a cup of tea with a smile , Wu Peifu hurriedly thanked Fang Zida.

"Okay, okay, Ziyu's thank you is not so easy to bear. Seeing that you just entered the door, you looked aggressive and wanted to eat people, and your face changed really quickly. Fortunately, I kept Brother Baili here, otherwise I would This Prime Minister is not enough for you to eat."

Fang Zida's joke caused Wu Peifu and Jiang Fangzhen to burst into laughter. After the laugh, Fang Zida asked Wu Peifu why he came. Call the shots for him.

"The master? What do you want to be the master?"

"Withdraw people! Important people!" Wu Peifu replied without hesitation.

Withdrawal, this Fang Zida understands, after all, Wu Peifu is only the deputy chief of the general staff now, acting as an agent, and has not adjusted the personnel power at all levels of the general staff according to the actual rights, which must be approved by Wang Shizhen.Wu Peifu asked Fang Zida for this authorization, or to simply take Wang Shizhen's right to replace it. Fang Zida can give this right, but it is impossible to give it right away. There are many things involved in moving Wang Shizhen's power, and he must arrange everything before proceeding. .

But as for important people, Fang Zida was dumbfounded. He is the prime minister and not a soldier. Even when he was in charge of the Eighth Division, he only relied on the abilities of Wu Peifu and others. Where did he get so many qualified staff officers?Besides, some of the outstanding soldiers in his memory are already in important positions, and some don't know where they are staying. Why can't Bai Chongxi be transferred back from Siberia to serve as mere staff officers with a single order?This is not only overkill but also extremely wasteful, even if he himself is willing, Fang Zida will never allow it.

Thinking of this, Fang Zida raised his eyes to look at Wu Peifu, frowned slightly and then looked at Jiang Fangzhen who was thinking thoughtfully, his eyes lit up suddenly, and he had an idea in his heart. (To be continued..)