Jagged Warlord

Seeing that Zhu Erdian and Kandi were silent, Li Mohan said again: "Not long ago in March, the February Revolution broke out in Russia, and Nicholas II, the last emperor of the Romanov Dynasty, abdicated. Although the Russian Provisional Government The war continues, but what is more terrible than Russia's withdrawal from the war is the Red Russian Party."

As soon as the Red Russian political party was mentioned, Zhu Erdian and Kandi immediately showed a reaction like an electric shock. The British and the French were very aware of Russia's plight, so Zhu Erdian and Kandi said that they had the right to stop paying Boxer indemnities. It is [-]% sure to persuade the domestic parliament to agree, but they cannot guarantee the return of tariff autonomy.

In addition, Li Mohan also discussed with Zhu Erdian and Kandi the handling of German and Austro-Hungarian civilian and military personnel in China, as well as the matter of China receiving German and Austro-Hungarian assets in China, etc.

Finally, Li Mohan also raised a point, that is, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, Russia's main cities in the Far East, are not peaceful. Li Mohan suggested that China can form a joint force with Britain and France to station in the above-mentioned areas to help Russia stabilize the rear, so that they can fully Fight the Germans on the Eastern Front.

Zhu Erdian and Kandi agreed to such an approach in principle, but it was only out of diplomatic procedures and they had to report to their own government.

After seeing off Zhu Erdian and Kandi, Li Mohan immediately drove to the presidential palace. The guards at the gate of the presidential palace saw Li Mohan and immediately saluted and let him go.It was already 11 o'clock in the evening, and Li Yuanhong was sitting in the study with his clothes on, reading a book, not feeling sleepy at all.As soon as he heard that Li Mohan was coming, he hurried out to greet him.

"Mohan, how are you talking with Zhu Erdian and Kandi?" Li Yuanhong asked

"It's still rewarding." Li Mohan told Li Yuanhong about his conversation with Zhu Erdian and Kandi.

Li Yuanhong was very happy. In his opinion, being able to stop paying the Boxer indemnity is already a big gain. As for taking back the customs power, it still needs to be discussed in the long run.

Li Mohan said: "Our first priority now is to organize and train the participating army. Of course, in my opinion, this army may not wait to go to Europe to participate in the war. The war of the foreign faction."

Li Yuanhong asked, "Why did you say that?"

Li Mohan said: "Even if we recruit troops now, how can we form an army without more than half a year of training? According to my speculation, Europe will be over by the end of 1918 next year at the latest. How can we do it in just one year?"

Li Yuanhong thought about it for a while, then he suddenly realized, and said: "We just use the reason of participating in the war to expand the army. When we are strong and strong, we can appease the local area. Mohan, you are a good way to build plank roads and hide warehouses."

Li Mohan smiled and said, "Then ask the president to use his seal tomorrow."

Li Yuanhong asked: "It's natural. Besides, since we are going to send troops to Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, who should go?"

Li Mohan thought for a while and said, "There is a suitable candidate - Song Huanzhang."

Li Mohan's plan was to send the Ninth Division of the Army stationed in Nanyuan, Beijing to form a detachment stationed in Vladivostok. The commander of this division turned out to be Duan Qirui's confidant Wei Zonghan, who was also one of the culprits who forced Jiang Fangzhen to commit suicide.After Duan Qirui could not escape, Wei Zonghan also ran away.For a moment, the Ninth Division was distracted.Li Mohan's plan was to promote Song Huanzhang, head of the No.30 Third Regiment of the division, to the division commander, and the rest of the generals, Zuo Quan, to be promoted to a higher rank.Afterwards, Liu Chuntai, commander of the first brigade, and Su Bingwen, commander of the second brigade, led by Song Huanzhang entered Russia in the name of the Chinese detachment of cavalry, artillery, engineers, heavy soldiers, and machine guns as a multinational peacekeeping force.

The troops departed from Beijing, passed through Tianjin, Shanhaiguan, Shenyang, Changchun, and Harbin, arrived at Suifenhe Station and entered Russia.The headquarters of the detachment is located in Shuangchengzi, and the [-]st Infantry Brigade is responsible for guarding the road from Shuangchengzi to Yiman Station, and from the east of Suifenhe to Vladivostok.The second brigade was stationed in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Hailanpao respectively.

Li Yuanhong laughed after hearing Li Mohan's plan, and said, "Mohan, you have planned so carefully, I think I, the president, can be the shopkeeper."

Li Mohan continued: "Since we have talked about the formation and training of participating troops, the first thing we need to do is to reform the organization. I suggest merging the original Department of the Army and the Department of the Navy, and then adding a new department - the Department of the Air Force. Combine these three Departments and all departments related to military and national defense are integrated into a new department—the Ministry of National Defense. The Ministry of National Defense is subordinate to the State Council, and its specific work is handled by the General Staff Department, the General Political Department, and the General Logistics Department.”

Li Yuanhong asked: "This change is too big, will it cause any trouble?"

Li Mohan replied: "No, this method has been practiced in our SS Army for many years, it's just a ready-made one."

"Okay." Li Yuanhong asked again: "Then how many troops should I train for the battle?"

Li Mohan replied: "Of course, the more the better."

Li Yuanhong smiled and said, "It's easy to get a thousand soldiers, but it's hard to find a general. Where can we find so many officers and instructors?"

Li Mohan said: "Students from the Baoding Military Academy can do it, and so can the students from the military academy I run in Shandong. Also, those German and Austro-Hungarian military officers who will be regarded as aliens from hostile countries by us can all be instructors."

"Is this okay?" Li Yuanhong wondered, "They have all been our prisoners, and they will train for us?"

"I have the confidence to persuade them to do so." Li Mohan was full of confidence

Li Mohan first found Liang Qichao and asked him to publish an article in a newspaper to create a public opinion atmosphere for declaring war on Germany.The main object of Liang Qichao's controversy is his old opponent-Sun Wen.

In fact, there was a fierce domestic debate on whether China should join the European War.People regard the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, the declaration of war and the eventual participation in the war as a matter of life and death for the country.Sun Yat-sen compared the issue of China's participation in the war with "the issue of China's survival".Chen Duxiu said that "the diplomatic issue with Germany this time is a matter of the survival of the country and cannot be regulated by ordinary diplomacy", "the diplomatic issue with Germany this time is the only issue of the survival of the country".Li Dazhao believes that "the fate of China's future life and death is really dependent on it." The famous newspaperman Shao Piaoping believes that "what China should do is actually related to China's life and death." Some other public opinion also believes that "the survival of China is very important." Machine also".

There are many different voices on this issue that is related to China's life and death.All factions have expressed their views one after another, among which Sun Yat-sen's firm and uncompromising attitude against participating in the war is quite eye-catching.Sun Wenfa's reason for China's participation in the First World War can be traced back to the Revolution of [-].

After the victory of the Revolution of [-], facing the extremely complicated social situation at home and abroad, Sun Yat-sen made arduous efforts for the consolidation of the Republic of China.However, due to the inherent weakness and compromise of the Chinese national bourgeoisie, the resistance to reform brought about by people's determination during the period of social change, and the interference of imperialism, the bourgeois regime fell into many crises from the very beginning. Soon it fell into the hands of the Beiyang warlords headed by Yuan Shikai.

Sun Yat-sen has always regarded the recognition of the great powers as one of the signs of the legitimacy of the Republic of China.After the outbreak of the Revolution of [-], he immediately turned to Europe to seek the recognition of the great powers.However, the great powers never recognized the Republic of China, which put great pressure on Sun Yat-sen.Sun Yat-sen met with Denny, the special envoy of the U.S. State Department twice, and asked the U.S. for recognition.McCormick, a special correspondent who came with Denny, recorded the meeting: "The diplomatic representatives of the United States told Sun Yat-sen with undoubted clarity and unquestionable emphatic tone that the United States would never recognize the Nanking government. Forcing Sun Yat-sen to see this as a destructive ultimatum from the United States; the republic that Sun Yat-sen most wanted help from, he could not do anything about it, so he turned to Beijing."

Why didn't the great powers admit it?Morrison, a reporter for The Times in Beijing, put it bluntly: "I warn the republic leaders in Shanghai that it is wishful thinking to expect Sun Yat-sen, who knows nothing about China's national conditions, to win the early recognition of China by foreign powers. He said that only Yuan Shikai In order to gain the trust of foreign countries, the leaders of the revolutionary party assured Mo that they would definitely recommend Yuan as the first president.” It can be seen that the imperialists have already selected Yuan Shikai as their spokesperson in China.The big powers not only did not recognize it, but actively engaged in armed intervention.

Therefore, when the issue of China's participation in the war was raised in 1917, Sun Yat-sen immediately published an article. He believed that whether it was Duan Qirui before or the current Li Mohan and Li Yuanhong, the purpose of participating in the war was not to take advantage of the opportunity to improve China's international status, striving to forgive part of the debt and obtain foreign aid, and develop Chinese industries.On the contrary, the Beijing government controlled by Li Yuanhong is a legal government recognized by the world representing China.Under this cover, Li Shi and Li Shi can unscrupulously implement their unification plan by participating in the war.

In this regard, Sun Yat-sen knew very well that once Li Mohan and Li Yuanhong's plan succeeded, then he himself was completely hopeless, and of course Sun Wen would never support participating in the war.As early as March 1917, he called the Beijing Senate and the House of Representatives, asking the two houses to reject the motion to join the war.In the telegram, he pointed out that whether a country's status can improve depends on its own efforts.Some people think that China can become the number one power in one fell swoop and its diplomacy will be smooth since then, but that is purely wishful thinking and a big fantasy.

On the same day, he also called British Prime Minister Lloyd George, explaining why China could not participate in the war. For China's sake and for Britain's sake, he asked Britain not to bring China into the war. On the 12th, he called Duan Qirui again, opposing China's participation in the war, and pointed out that Britain and the United States might use the name of supervision to control China's finances. On May 5, he called the Beijing People's Friendship Society, the Political Science Society, the Political Survivor Club and the Senate, and the House of Representatives, reiterating his reasons for opposing China's participation in the war. In mid-May, he also sent Liao Zhongkai to Beijing to campaign against joining the war.

The outbreak of the February Revolution in Russia in 1917 strengthened Sun Yat-sen's confidence in opposing participation in the war and his determination to restore the Republic of China.He believed that the Russian Revolution was "ordered by the Russian Emperor", which was the same as the [-] Revolution he successfully led, and both belonged to the nature of a republican revolution.He even believed that the February Revolution in Russia was completely influenced by the Revolution of [-] in China.He said: "The republic of our country has been established for six years, and its achievements seem to be insignificant, but its influence on the world is so great that it is really incredible! The transformation of Russia into a republic is all due to the influence of China. The stubbornness of Russia cannot be changed by European culture. People with lofty ideals throw countless heads and cannot change it. Because of the establishment of a republic in China, the imperial government of dozens of dynasties can be overthrown in only a few days of change, and there is no change. If there is resistance, China will do it.” In addition, the outbreak of the Russian Revolution meant that the British-Russian alliance he was worried about would go bankrupt, and China would also avoid the fate of becoming “India’s second”.This is undoubtedly a great psychological support for Sun Yat-sen.

Not only opposed to participating in the war, Sun Yat-sen also used the Duan Qirui government's declaration of war against Germany as an excuse to crusade against the Li Li government.This made Feng Guozhang, who was planning to raise troops in Nanjing, a little excited. After all, he is still the vice president of the Republic of China.