The news of the war between Tohoku and Japan was shattering. The whole world was shaken, and the focus of the whole country was focused on the three eastern provinces. At the same time, there is also a more detailed report on the current situation in the three eastern provinces. The performance of the Northeast Army on the battlefield and the current state of the three eastern provinces were also reproduced throughout the country. Faced with this situation, domestic newspapers have broadcast the war situation in the northeast with front-page headlines. Various domestic forces even sent military observation teams to reconnoiter the firepower of the Northeast Army. For the observation of various forces in the country, the Northeast Army did not stop it. The development of the Northeast is not replicable. If other forces want to reach the strength of the Northeast, it will be impossible in a short period of time. Another point is that the Northeast wants to take the opportunity to show its strength and deter all domestic forces. After all, the combat effectiveness shown by the Northeast Army on the battlefield was not the same as that during the Central Plains War. The Northeast Army's new weaponry and powerful firepower have made all forces in the country gasp in their hearts. Among them, Beiyang, which has fought with the Northeast, is the worst.

Nanjing, Presidential Palace.

The top brass of the Beiyang Army and the top brass of the War Department were all invited. Duan Qirui's face sank like water, no one knew what he thought, since Duan Qirui came to Nanjing, the dragon fight that was about to happen in everyone's eyes did not happen. Both Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang are extremely calm. Duan Qirui didn't even express any opinion before staying in the Army Chief's Mansion, which was prepared for him by the Beiyang government. This also disappointed the careerists who wanted to see the excitement.

The meeting started at 7 a.m., which was before the government had even started its work! This also proves that this meeting is not trivial.

Because it was all the military's forces, Prime Minister Wang Shizhen did not come to participate. The Beiyang government in Nanjing is also gradually separating the military from the government. I want to restore the power that has been severely weakened by the Northeast through reform.

At the top of the conference table was Feng Guozhang, president of the Beiyang government. Sitting in the second seat was Duan Qirui, who was expressionless. It can be seen that after coming to Nanjing, Duan Qirui's mental state has not improved much, because he vomited blood several times, and his body is not as strong as before. Sitting in the third position was Zhang Xiaozhun with an indifferent face. From this point, it can also be seen that Feng Guozhang attaches great importance to him. The rest were high-ranking officers of the Northeast Army. Fu Liangzuo, with the status of deputy commander of the army, only sat in the fourth position. Behind him was Xu Shuzheng, who looked dissatisfied. It stands to reason that Xu Shuzheng led an army of 70,000, and he should be a giant in Beiyang. Unfortunately, because of the weakness of the Anhui system in the government, the government's finances did not tilt towards them, but most of them flowed into the new army trained by Zhang Xiaozhun. Xu Shuzheng also approached the Ministry of Finance for this matter. It's a pity that when Duan Qirui was in power, Xu Shuzheng was too arrogant and offended many people, many of whom were direct cadres. Now that the Anhui system is in decline, there will naturally be no shortage of fallen stones, which has made his troops withdraw for a long time. The necessary supplements have not yet been obtained.

The meeting was naturally chaired by Feng Guozhang.

"Come on, everyone must have seen the intelligence of the Military Observer Group! All of you share your thoughts, and I hope you can speak freely. "For such a big matter, Feng Guozhang can't be arbitrary.

Feng Guozhang's eyes looked at Duan Qirui, who seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, and his thoughts were also very complicated. In his mind, Duan Qirui would have a dragon fight with him when he came back, and even in order to prevent this, he had already started to lay out before Duan Qirui signed a treaty with the Northeast Army. Wu Peifu, who vigorously expanded his strength in Luoyang, Henan, and Cao Kun, who succeeded in Fujian, were his brilliant moves. It's a pity that Duan Qirui's performance was far beyond his expectations. Duan Qirui's calmness made him feel bottomless. He knew that in the battle with the Northeast Army, Duan Qirui had been hit hard, but this blow was probably not enough to make him so slumped. Duan Qirui can become the leader of Beiyang, and he will definitely not be as fragile as ordinary people. Therefore, Feng Guozhang thought that Duan Qirui must be hiding something, so he was extremely wary of him.

Seeing that Duan Qirui didn't mean to speak. Zhang Xiaozhun, who was behind him, was the first to speak: "The strength of the Northeast is very different from what we imagined. I didn't expect the Northeast to hide so many elite soldiers in Liaoning Province. In particular, the equipment level of these troops is not weaker than that of the Japanese Imperial Army, and even has a slight upper hand, such a thing happened to the Northeast less than two years after its rise, which is really elusive. Zhang Xiaozhun said. There was no fear in the words, but a hint of excitement, after all, the stronger the Northeast, the greater the hope of defeating Japan. Although he is an international student studying in Japan, unlike others, he has no special affection for Japan. What happened at the non-commissioned officer school made him feel helpless. At that time, he originally graduated from the non-commissioned officer school with the third name, but because Japan suddenly demoted him to fifth in order to maintain his own face, in the eyes of the world, his ability was far inferior to Jiang Baili and Cai Yi, who overwhelmed their Japanese classmates at the same time. Zhang Xiaozhun was very shameful about this behavior of the Japanese military. But I have to say that the Japanese did this, which seriously affected his career.

"That's right. We also didn't expect that the Northeast Army, which was entangled with us in Shandong, turned out to be not their elite. And the Northeast actually has so many heavy weapons. Based on the financial resources of the Northeast government and the current prices in the international arms market, I judge that their arms should be produced in-house. Everyone has seen the rifles produced in the Northeast. It is not inferior to our Hanyang manufacturing, and even in terms of design, it is more in line with the characteristics of the Chinese, and the performance is also good. It is surprising that the Northeast was able to achieve self-sufficiency in weapons under such circumstances. Now what I want to say is that we in Beiyang must also make a move. Otherwise, when the Northeast withdraws its hand from the Japanese war, there will be no good fruit for us to eat! Fu Liangzuo said loudly. There was no shame in the slightest because of his defeat on the Shandong battlefield. Now he hopes that Beiyang can escape the fate of destruction.

"Development is necessary, and now the government and the army are reforming, but it is impossible to achieve the same effect as the Northeast in a short period of time. President Benda is also preparing to develop military enterprises in the coming period. Strive to make our Beiyang Army's weapons self-sufficient. Feng Guozhang said. But he didn't say too much. At present, in the jurisdiction of Beiyang, only the Hanyang Arsenal and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau can produce advanced rifles, but these two arsenals are also facing the problem of aging equipment and insufficient production capacity, and it is not easy to rectify. After all, business in the international arms market is booming now, and every arms production line is a hen that lays golden eggs, and it is naturally much more difficult to get it than before. However, Beiyang has experienced a series of major wars, and the army has shrunk seriously, and the large and small warlord troops are removed, and the troops that really need to be built by the Beiyang government are only 300,000 or 400,000. It's more than half as it was when the war began.

"Compared with the gap in weapons and equipment, the difference in the military system is even more fatal. I have heard that the system and training methods of the Northeast Army were created by four people, and now the names of each of these four men are resounding throughout the country. Zhang Xiaozhun said. Everyone's eyes were drawn to him.

"You should all know that I and General Jiang Baili and General Cai Yi are classmates and friends. During the Protectorate War launched by General Cai Ye, I also went to the southwest. General Cai Yi said that the training and drill in Northeast China was completed on the basis of the proposal of Feng Yong, the young marshal of the Northeast and Li Jun, the president of the Northeast Political Affairs Yuan, and was supplemented by General Jiang Baili and General Cai Yi. The biggest difference between the Southwest New Army and the Northeast Army is that the Southwest New Army does not implement the political commissar system that is briefly mentioned in the training plan. I don't know what the political commissar system that Feng Shaoshuai insisted on implementing was. But it is undeniable that in addition to this puzzling place, this infantry training drill can be said to be the best cultivation drill in China at present. Thanks to the love of the President and all of you here, the contemptible people are responsible for the training of the Beiyang New Army. But after all, the training of the new army cannot be completed overnight. Our time at ease is full of uncertainty. If our forces in Beiyang are not concentrated before the armistice between the Northeast and Japan, the Northeast will definitely not let us continue to grow. So, in this case, a two-pronged policy must be adopted.

First: the pace and scale of recruit training has been accelerated. The Northeast Army far surpasses us in terms of scale. If we are far from the Northeast in terms of scale, once the Northeast frees up its hands in the future, we will be in danger.

Second, all units in Beiyang will be reorganized in a unified manner, and then unified training will be carried out in accordance with the new infantry drill code.

Third: the selection of younger and more powerful officers. The Northeast has been able to achieve today's achievements, and the young officers are also a factor. Young people have the courage to take risks, which is the most lacking in our Beiyang system.

Fourth: vigorously rectify the military factories in Beiyang. Strive to achieve self-sufficiency in our own weapons. At the same time, on the basis of the existing conditions, we will design our own rifles. Then complete the standardization of weapons.

Fifth, the implementation of the reserve system, the original security regiment system because of the ineffective training of local institutions, so that the army can not be supplemented by excellent soldiers in battle, which is very unfavorable to the continuous operation of the Beiyang army.

"These are my thoughts now, and the others are not yet mature." After finishing his thoughts in one breath, looking at the contemplative crowd, Zhang Xiaozhun stopped talking. To be honest, seeing that the Northeast is so strong, he has a lot less confidence in his heart. After all, the miracle of the Northeast cannot be replicated. If you want to be reborn in the twilight of Beiyang, I am afraid that it will take no more energy than to rebuild a force. But as the so-called grace of knowing is what Yongquan wants to repay, Feng Guozhang gave him the stage he wanted, and he naturally wanted to show his value.

(To be continued)