Back to the Republic of China as a commander

In Nanjing, Feng Guozhang’s mansion had just changed the door and hung the signboard of the Tour Envoy of the Five Provinces. Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen, who stayed to help, did not speak. Both of them looked at the big map on the table with solemn faces.The news that the youth army launched an attack on Hubei and Jiangxi at the same time reached Nanjing by telegram this morning, which made Feng Guozhang, who was still mobilizing the army, very passive.

"Hua Fu, I'm afraid this battle will be difficult. Hubei and Jiangxi don't have the kind of army that can survive to the end. The youth army is now in full swing. I'm afraid we won't be able to stop it." The tone of voice said such a fact.

Feng Guozhang nodded and said: "Wang Zhanyuan sent me a telegram a few days ago, saying that Hubei can't hold it, so it's better to withdraw the second division as soon as possible, so that at least we can save a little spare energy for the future. Fortunately, I didn't agree to him right away, and now it seems that the strength of a division close to their second division will not be able to defend Wuhan. But if Wuhan is easily lost, I will not be able to explain it to the President."

Wang Shizhen shook his head and said: "The battle has reached this point, it is not a matter of gains and losses for one city and one place at all. Huafu, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the big heads of taxation, and they are the lifeblood of my Beiyang. As long as we hold here, What is lost now, we can still regain it. So for the Second Division, let them go by water and withdraw as soon as possible. As for the army in Hubei, it is the right way to give them more benefits and let them stick to it."

As soon as Feng Guozhang heard it, he knew what Wang Shizhen was up to. He wanted to use the Hubei army to consume the energy of the youth army and buy some time for his side.

Feng Guozhang nodded and said: "At present, it seems that this is the only way to go. The President has to ask Brother Qing to explain. In addition, please transfer the First Division and Zhang Xun's Dingwu Army as soon as possible. As for the [-]th Division and the [-]th Division In my opinion, it is better to stay in Xuzhou. In this war, the more soldiers the better, the more troops come, the greater the demand for various materials.”

Wang Shizhen did not speak, but nodded in agreement.

At this time in Anjiang, something Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen didn't know about was happening. If they knew the inside story, they wouldn't have let the Second Division withdraw from Wuhan so quickly.

"I've heard about the name of Marshal Wang for a long time, and now I see him today to know what it means to be young and promising. He's going to transform himself into a dragon, and his name is Jiwu." A middle-aged man who is over forty, not tall, and with a goatee greets us very politely. Wang Zhenyu's classmate.

"So it's Chairman Tang, I've admired him for a long time!" Wang Zhenyu naturally knew who Tang Hualong was, so he naturally greeted him politely.

"There is still a speaker there, even the Congress is gone, Tang is just a commoner now, no, he came here to seek advice from Marshal Wang." Tang Hualong's self-familiar personality really suits Wang Zhenyu's taste.

"Mr. Tang is the founding father of [-]. It is also an honor for Wang to receive Mr. Wang. I hope Mr. Wang does not need to be too humble." Wang Zhenyu is not in a hurry to talk about things, so let's go around slowly. This is also his experience after dealing with many politicians in this era.

Tang Hualong was also a well-known figure in the Republic of China, the leading figure of the constitutionalists, before he was assassinated and killed by the Kuomintang, this man was not left behind in almost all major political events in the Republic of China.During the Revolution of [-], it was Tang Hualong who pushed Li Yuanhong to be the governor of the Hubei military government. After Hanyang fell, he went to Shanghai with Huang Xing, and naturally participated in the formation of the Nanjing Provisional Government.After the North-South peace talks, he was in it again. Before the second revolution, he and Liang Qichao tossed a Progressive Party, and he was at odds with Yuan Shikai.During the second revolution, he sent a telegram to oppose the violent revolution. Of course, it was not because he supported Yuan Shikai, but because he felt that the revolutionaries had made a mistake.Facts have proved that if the revolutionary party did not engage in a second revolution and directly intensified the contradictions, Yuan Shikai would not have dared to dissolve the Congress and abolish the provisional agreement so recklessly.

After the Second Revolution, Tang Hualong also took advantage of the east wind of the war to actively expand the Hubei family, not only won the territory of Hunan, but also won some power for the central government.It's a pity that Yuan Shikai played a trick to draw salary from the bottom of the pot, and then Zhang Zhenwu's case tricked Li Yuanhong into Beijing to become a nominal vice president, and then the Beiyang army occupied Hubei and stationed troops in Hunan.The Hubei department, which was originally full of vitality, was immediately brutally suppressed, but Tang Hualong did not feel depressed.When Yuan Shikai decided to proclaim himself emperor, Tang Hualong felt that his chance had come.

He, Liang Qichao and Xiong Xiling had been hiding in the concession in Tianjin before, discussing the changes in the situation in secret.Don't look at the banner of the National Socialist Party on Wang Zhenyu's side, but in fact, in the north, the name of the Progressive Party is getting bigger and bigger.Cai E was a student of Liang Qichao, and Wang Zhenyu's uncle and nephew were also under the name of Xiong Xiling, so the two were also regarded as the main leaders of this war to protect the country for a while.In particular, Liang Qichao personally drafted and released the provocative document on Yuan in Tianjin. From the perspective of politicians in Beijing and Tianjin, the Progressive Party is the general backstage of this war.

Compared with Liang Qichao and Xiong Xiling, Tang Hualong doesn't have many cards to play.However, people from Hubei are famous for their nine-headed bird. What they are best at is fighting landlords, and what they play is to use small things to make big gains.And in Tang Hualong's hand, there is also a little king, which is an easy card to play.

Once the war starts, it means that various political forces will reshuffle their positions.Tang Hualong was no exception. He quickly negotiated with Xiong Xiling and Liang Qichao. Once Yuan was forced to step down, he would support Li Yuanhong as president, Xiong Xiling as prime minister, Liang Qichao as finance minister, and himself as interior minister or speaker.Now that an agreement has been reached on the distribution of benefits after the war, the next question is easy to discuss. Everyone's goal is how to bring Yuan Shikai down as soon as possible.

There is a sentence in Clausewitz's "On War" that is absolutely correct. Military is just a continuation of politics. Tang Hualong's mind revived again when he saw his strength.He changed his original plan, no longer through Xiong Xiling, but went to Wang Zhenyu to discuss cooperation in person.So he came to Xiangxi and Anjiang at great risk.At this time, Li Yuanhong had already begun to flee south to Hankou.

Since he wanted something from others, Tang Hualong decided to go straight to the point after going around for a while: "Marshal Wang, this fight against Yuan is a battle of justice, and your Excellency has contributed a lot, but I don't know what will happen after the war or after overthrowing the Yuan thief. What plan."

Okay, let’s get to the point, Wang Zhenyu said with a light smile: “Then what long-term plan can we have? We lead troops, that is, to defend a country to appease the people, to defend justice and peace, and have no other ideas? That’s all for big shots. matter."

Tang Hualong rolled his eyes in his heart, he is lying, he has raised no less than 20 troops, and even created a National Socialist Party to serve as its own leader. If you only want to defend justice and peace, it is a joke.But on the surface, he said without any fluctuations: "Tang is very impressed by Marshal Wang's love for the people, but Marshal Wang also knows that Mr. Li Yuanhong, the vice president, does not approve of the monarchy, and he is also adamant about the prince named by Yuan Thief." Since Yuan Thief is not worthy of the position of president, according to the provisional agreement of that day, the vice president should naturally be appointed."

Wang Zhenyu squinted at Tang Hualong's goatee, wondering if it would be difficult to clean up such a beard?

Damn, distracted, Wang Zhenyu quickly came back to his senses and said: "Yes, yes, Mr. Tang is indeed the chairman of the parliament, and he is very familiar with this method. This is not like a big bastard like me. But Mr. Tang, let me tell you something To be honest, I don't care who is the president, because it won't be my turn to be Wang, and I am more concerned about the things in front of me."

These words are not rough, Tang Hualong is happy after pondering carefully and aftertaste, this is equivalent to directly negotiating terms.

"Indeed, what is Marshal Wang most concerned about right now? I hope that Marshal Wang will tell the truth for the sake of trustworthiness of Tang, a commoner," Tang Hualong said with a smile.

"To be honest, I always feel unsafe and unsafe here in Hunan, and I can't serve the people wholeheartedly. Why? I've thought about it, and it's because the neighboring provinces of Hubei and Jiangxi are Lao Yuan's reactionary army, so now I What I am most concerned about is to take Hubei and Jiangxi and wipe out the reactionary army here." Seeing the other party going on the road like this, Wang Zhenyu naturally acted unceremoniously.

Tang Hualong was angry and funny at the moment: "The affairs in Hubei are easy to handle. Many of the generals there are old subordinates of Vice President Li. It is just a matter of saying to ask them to rebel against Yuan. I just don't know what happened afterwards. Set them up."

Wang Zhenyu waved his hand: "Don't worry, Mr. Tang, this matter is simple. Isn't our Vice President Li the President after this is over? What's the use of these troops loyal to the President staying in Hubei? Of course, they will go to Beijing to protect the President together." It’s hard to understand that it’s not enough to let the president be the emperor? As for the military salary, we don’t have to worry about it. We also need someone to take care of us at the local level, and we will pay taxes to the central government every year according to the rules.”

Speaking of this, Tang Hualong understood what Wang Zhenyu meant:

First, he supports Li Yuanhong to replace Yuan Shikai as president, but the condition is that he wants Hubei territory;

Second, if the first point is satisfied, then after Li Yuanhong becomes president, he will support the central government financially, but in terms of affiliation, he will listen to the tune and not listen to the announcement.

Tang Hualong is also acceptable to this point, after all, this phenomenon has already existed, and the only way to solve it is to gradually figure it out after mastering the center.

Tang Hualong felt that his purpose of this trip had been achieved, but he still asked the last question curiously: "There is something unknown about Tang, I wonder where Dashuai Wang will go to in the end?"

Wang Zhenyu smiled slightly: "If our Vice President Li becomes the President, I will withdraw troops. Mr. Tang, is this statement acceptable?"

Tang Hualong was taken aback for a moment, then nodded knowingly to express his approval.