young marshal spring and autumn

After receiving the strength of 5 mixed brigades of the old Anwu Army, Zhang Hanqing's troops in Anhui now have 2 divisions and 7 mixed brigades. Such strength is enough to deal with Qi Xieyuan in Jiangsu.As long as Qi Xieyuan is cleaned up, not only can Wu Peifu be completely encircled, but also rely on the rich conditions of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai to open up the situation in the south.This is the north-south pincer plan that he has been pursuing.

But Wu Peifu was destined to be a hero of the generation, he was not willing to sit still, and made a big move in the north when Zhang Hanqing entered Anhui.

April 4rd is Wu Peifu's 3th birthday.In the name of celebrating his birthday, Wu Peifu invited more than 49 warlords, large and small, from five provinces directly affiliated to Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi to gather in Luoyang, planning to form an alliance of immediate affiliates to discuss matters concerning response to Feng.Although it is grand, it cannot be compared with the momentum gathered by 5 provinces in the same period in history.

Tian Zhongyu from Shandong, Qi Xieyuan from Jiangsu, and Chen Guangyuan from Jiangxi were all under the direct threat of the Feng faction, so they were very enthusiastic about Wu Peifu's proposal.In order to deal with the common enemy, they also abandoned their past suspicions, and the family was very lively.Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan also sent envoys to discuss the policy of "protecting the environment and the people", and made a non-aggression agreement with Zhili.

This meeting has almost turned into an oath meeting between the direct lineage and the Feng lineage.The participants uttered the voices of "rejecting Feng and willing to return to Wu Peifu's command" and "persisting in fighting Feng to the end".This greatly strengthened Wu Peifu's determination to be tough on Feng.

At the meeting, Cao Kun sent his younger brother Cao Rui to celebrate his birthday by name to see the trend. Seeing Wu Peifu's aggressive posture, he knew that war was inevitable.Brother Cao Kun, the leader of the Zhi line, has always believed that the Zhi line has just defeated the Anhui line, and it is quite exhausting. At this time, it is not appropriate to fall out with the Feng line; and Wu Peifu, who thinks highly of himself, does not look down on Zhang Zuolin, who was born as a barbarian, and advocates a head-on blow to the Feng line. .

In this case, Cao Rui wanted to pull Wu Peifu to Baoding, and asked Cao Kun to dissuade him.But Wu Peifu was determined not to go.The various ministries of the direct line detained the vehicles on the Jinghan line, quickly deployed the troops in Changxindian, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, and Zhengzhou, and ordered the 24th Division Zhang Fulai to travel eastward along the Longhai line to Xuzhou.They also forcibly intercepted 328 million yuan from Jinghan Road as military expenses.

Zhang Zuolin has always looked down on Wu Peifu, the "little division commander". Now that the Feng family is strong and strong, he is thinking about how to unify the world, so how can he be half-tolerant?His attitude towards Zhili also became tough immediately. In the name of changing defense, he mobilized a large number of Fengjun to enter the customs.

On April 4, Zhang Zuolin sent a telegram suggesting that a peaceful reunification conference be held.The telegram said: "Unification is indefinite, and the country will never have a peaceful day. If obstacles are not removed, reunification will be indefinite. It is simple to lead teachers and apprentices, enter the pass and station, and use force as the backing for unification." This is to explain Fengjun The reason for entering the customs can be described as high-sounding.Then he pointed directly at Wu Peifu: "Anyone who harms the people and sickens the country, forms a party for private interests, interferes with government and discipline, and plunders state funds will be regarded as an obstacle to peaceful reunification. How to conduct a unified meeting, how to open the meeting, how to determine the system, should be discussed by senior citizens and political celebrities from all over the country, and Zuolin dares to participate in the final discussion."

The next day, Zhang Zuolin called Xu Shichang to preside over the National Unification Conference. If anyone dared to object, he would use force.This telegram is actually a letter of challenge to Wu Peifu.

The Cao brothers panicked and wanted to calm down.Cao Rui went to Fengtian to meet Zhang Zuolin in person, and Zhang still treated him as before, being intimate, talking and laughing.However, when it comes to military and political issues, Zhang Zuolin "just cares about him" and does not give Cao Rui a chance to talk about serious matters.After staying for nearly five days, he had no choice but to return to Beijing to inquire about news from Sun Liechen, an important minister of the Feng Faction.Sun asked jokingly: "Our commander-in-chief would like to ask the fourth master, is it a subordinate or a relative?" The subordinate refers to Wu Peifu, and the relative refers to Zhang Zuolin, Cao Kun's son and daughter.

Cao Rui swears to the sky that their brothers will never do anything unfavorable to their relatives.Speaking of this, Sun Liechen put forward three conditions: "First, the direct army will be withdrawn to the original defense area; second, the two ministries of Zhifeng and Bong will jointly manage the Jinpu line; third, respond to the voice of the people and abolish the military governor system in the provinces directly under it." In return, Sun Liechen also revealed that Zhang Zuolin was willing to support Cao Kun as the vice president, and ensured that his post would not change as a patrol envoy to Shandong, Henan: "Marshal Zhang objected only to Wu Peifu."

Wu Peifu did not expect the backlash of the Feng faction to be so strong, so he had to send a telegram on the 13th, expressing his position: "The central political situation has been completely controlled by Feng Zhang for many years, and Pei Fu has never interfered. Even the Cao envoy has never made an absolute claim. Today people are returning to the Jiaoji line, and bandits in Lu are rampant. Wu, as the deputy envoy of Zhiluyu patrol, should put the safety and security of the people and the environment as the top priority, and send troops to quell the bandit chaos. The department should have nothing to do with the people If you commit a crime, you will repay your hometown."

Under heavy pressure, Cao Kun also decided to resign from his position as the military governor of Hebei, and advocated that all provinces directly under the direct control should respond to public opinion and make early decisions, which opened a "good start" for all warlords.In terms of military affairs, the Cao brothers adopted a method of retreating step by step to Fengjun's advance.All direct troops stationed in Tianjin withdrew to Baoding to avoid direct contact.Before the Fengjun marched into Dezhou, Cao Kai, the seventh younger brother of Cao Kun who was stationed in Dezhou, and the commander of the No. 20 Sixth Division of the Zhijun Army, quit his job and ran away.Cao Kun sent Zhang Guorong to act as the division commander and withdrew the division to Zhengding.Cao Kun also ordered the direct troops along Jinpu Road not to resist the Feng army, and all barracks and Dezhou arsenals should be handed over to the Feng army.

Zhang Zuolin also cast a smoke screen at this time: "Zhifeng belongs to one family, and the Beiyang group has no reason to break up." He also issued a warrant to strictly prohibit Tianjin Fengjun from harming Cao's family. On April 4, Zhang Zongchang, the former Fengjun army, led the "Foreign Corps" to take the lead in entering Dezhou and entering Shandong Province.

Zhang Hanqing is also gearing up for a new round of victory.In his view, the acquisition of the Jinpu Railway and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai Railway will effectively integrate the northern and southern Feng armies and change the strategic situation of the Feng faction as a whole.

All of this was clearly seen by the counselors of Zhilian, and they were anxious about it.Reluctantly, Zhang Hanqing seized Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei and Anhui, and the People's Army has become a major trend; Zhang Zuolin sits in the three eastern provinces and the four districts of Re, Cha, Sui, and Xing, as well as Inner and Inner Mongolia, and preemptively strikes.Although the direct lineage was originally strong, it was divided into three factions, and the leader Cao Kun wavered from side to side.

In Wu Peifu's view, the Feng faction is using "boiled frogs in warm water" to slowly eat away the power of the direct line.However, Cao Kun, the spiritual leader of the Zhi line, was slow to respond. He was unwilling to give up the good situation and fight against the Feng line. Only in Henan province (although Zhao Ti is named as the governor, he is not in his eyes at all and can be replaced at any time), the development potential is relatively small; one of the "three governors of the Yangtze River" in the direct line has gone (Wang Zhanyuan of Hubei), and the rest of Jiangxi and Jiangsu are different. Yes, the interior is chaotic.At this time, if we can't work together, we will be in danger of being exhausted.

After Fengjun entered Shandong, Cao Kun also came to his senses.He claimed to be inferior to Wu Peifu in military affairs, and in order to show that he was a family member of the direct lineage, he voluntarily gave up his military power, and he planned to devote himself to the political arena, and wholeheartedly fulfilled the role of the spiritual leader of the direct lineage.Therefore, the military affairs of the three provinces of Zhi, Lu, and Henan belonged to Wu Peifu.After the unified command, the direct lineage has rejuvenated and become an extraordinary force in the north.