The fall of the Hongxian Empire can be described as a few joys and sorrows, Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong, Xu Shichang, and Feng Guozhang all want to take the throne and take over Lao Yuan's position. However, each of these people has its own advantages and disadvantages, and all parties are tense, and the contradictions have become extremely acute.

Yuan Shikai, who had just faded out of people's sight, suddenly deteriorated uremia at this time and was admitted to Beijing Hospital, coupled with the fact that Yuan Shikai never revealed the situation of his successor during his administration, all parties naturally refused to give in to each other, and they all believed that only they were suitable to be the president of the Republic of China, and this dispute greatly aggravated the split of the Beiyang Army. The division of factions within the Beiyang Army, which was still somewhat vague, gradually became clearer. The Anhui warlords led by Duan Qirui inherited most of the strength of the Beiyang Army, and coupled with Duan Qirui's far higher prestige than Feng Guozhang, the Anhui system began to gain the upper hand within the Beiyang Army. The direct line headed by Feng Guozhang showed signs of withdrawing from the all-out dispute of the central government, and tried their best to win over the powerful factions in various places, and gradually developed into the second largest military force in the Republic of China while the Anhui faction was busy with the power of the central government.

Now Duan Qirui has grasped the military power by virtue of his position as the chief of the army of the Beiyang government, and controls most of the Beiyang army, and even Feng Guozhang, another giant in Beiyang, has chosen to retreat, not wanting to touch its edge. But it is definitely not easy for Duan Qirui to ascend to the position of president of the Republic of China, because his reputation is not as good as that of Li Yuanhong and Xu Shichang. Li Yuanhong was the first governor of the Republic of China, and now he also holds the post of vice president of the Republic of China. It can be said that Li Yuanhong's presidency is justified. Li Yuanhong will definitely not let go of this status at the pinnacle of the Republic of China.

Xu Shichang is regarded as Yuan Shikai's confidant, after Yuan Shikai dissolved the empire and restored the republic, he served as the secretary of state of the Republic of China government, a high and powerful position, and a powerful candidate to inherit the president of the Republic of China. But the biggest weakness of both Xu Shichang and Li Yuanhong is that they do not have their own army in their hands, and the troops that Li Yuanhong originally served as the capital of Hubei were all absorbed by Duan Qirui. If it weren't for Feng Guozhang's containment in the army, I'm afraid Duan Qirui would have completely controlled the government by now. However, with Feng Guozhang's concession, it is only a matter of time before Duan Qirui takes control of the government.

In the face of the contest between the Beiyang giants in Beijing, the domestic anti-Yuan forces are extremely concerned, in this period the local powerful faction is more to get greater benefits in this political storm that swept the country, now that Yuan Shikai is down, the new government is about to be elected, it is time to share the cake.

But there are also a few careerists who see hope for restoration. They believe that the fall of Yuan Shikai's empire was because Yuan Shikai was originally a slave of the Qing Dynasty, a clown who stole the throne. As long as the Emperor Xuantong is welcomed back to the throne, it is impossible to say that he can recast Sheji and become the father of the restoration of the country! Since the farce of Yuan Shikai's proclamation as emperor, many Manchu widows have this idea, but they have not yet united, let alone a strong leader. Therefore, the clouds of restoration are only brewing, and Mukden Province, as the place with the highest concentration of Manchu aristocrats, has long become the center of the Manchu relics in various parts of the country. The Manchu princes, who were eager to move to the northeast, could stand up and contribute to the restoration of the Qing Dynasty.

However, because of Young Marshal Feng, the Manchu nobles were destined to be unable to get into trouble. In another time and space, although the Manchu restoration was led by Zhang Xun, Feng Delin, who was depressed in the Northeast, also participated, which eventually led to Feng Delin completely fading out of the competition for power in the Northeast and becoming a loser. At that time, Feng Delin's situation was extremely difficult, although he still had soldiers and horses in his hands, he was far from being Zhang Zuolin's opponent. At that time, Zhang Zuolin, as the overseer of Fengtian, had already received strong support from the Japanese. Most of the three eastern provinces have also surrendered to the iron hooves of Zhang Zuolin's army. Feng Delin, who was hiding in the corner of Fengtian and survived, had to choose to support Zhang Xun's restoration farce in order to survive, hoping to save his precarious position.

But in this time and space, because of Feng Yong's strong rise, although Zhang Zuolin's forces in Fengtian were strengthened during the same period, because of Feng Yong's secret operation, Feng Delin received the righteousness of Fengtian's overseer. Feng Delin is also a very skillful person, although the 28th Division is at an absolute disadvantage in Fengtian's ranks, but Feng Delin asked Zhang Zuolin, the overseer of Chahar, to leave Mukden in the name of righteousness, otherwise Feng will devote all his strength to a decisive battle with Zhang Bu. Of course, this Feng Department also includes Feng Yong, who occupies Jilin and Heilongjiang.

Regarding the rebuke of his old opponent, Zhang Zuolin was unmoved. The 1st Brigade and 2nd Brigade of the 27th Division on the Sino-DPRK border also left the border and moved closer to Beidaying. Feng Delin was very nervous, and the Fengtian units of the 28th Division were also rapidly assembling towards Beizhen. The battle of Mukden was imminent.

Changchun City, Young Marshal's Mansion.

"Young marshal, what should we do?" Li Jun said with a frown. Zhang Zuolin's movements are obvious, he will never retreat without fighting.

"We miscalculated, we originally thought that under the pressure of us and the 28th Division, Zhang Zuolin would choose to compromise, but from now on, Zhang Zuolin is determined to fight with us." Feng Yong's face was gloomy, he had won the title of Mongolian Overseer, Feng Yong was ready to rest for a while, and went all out to enter the interior of Mongolia, and most of the forces of the assassination had already infiltrated into the interior of Mongolia. The mysterious Mongolian steppes are about to unravel their mysteries. But Zhang Zuolin's non-cooperation made Feng Yong's plan come to naught.

Fengtian is extremely important to Feng Yong's development, because Feng Yong controls the territory without access to the sea, originally Feng Delin controlled half of Fengtian Province, Feng Yong is not short of access to the sea, all kinds of business is not affected, once Fengtian is taken down by Zhang Zuolin, the first unlucky is he Feng Yong, the Jilin Provincial Government has done its best to build the industrial zone will also be coerced by Fengtian because of lack of resources. But now is the best time to enter Mongolia, and if you don't grasp it, I'm afraid there will be no such good excuse to act again. Feng Yong was not sure that the newly established Beiyang government would recognize President Yuan's final appointment.

"Young marshal, do you think the Russians will attack us at this time?" Li Jun said as he looked at the map.

"Large-scale attacks are impossible, and at present on the European battlefield, the Russians have suffered frequent defeats and losses, and although Tsarist Russia is a huge empire, its domestic industrial capacity is far from being comparable with that of the British and French powers of the same period. It is already difficult to maintain the war in Europe, and of course it will not open up the East Asian theater on a large scale. Unless the Russian tsar was a madman. Abandon the rich and prosperous European continent to invade the bitter cold land of our northeast. Feng Yong said thoughtfully.

"Since a large-scale attack by the Russians is unlikely, and the small-scale raids may not be stopped, the old Maozi Siberian governor is a greedy fellow and will definitely not let go of this opportunity. But it's just a skirmish, and 30,000 people with three brigades should be about the same! The two brigades of the 28th Division can be transferred out and let our 5th Brigade go to the top. In this way, the 28th Division, which has greatly increased in strength, can compete with Zhang Zuolin, and with our strength, it is not impossible to eliminate Zhang Zuolin. ”

A smile appeared on Feng Yong's face, and he said: "Now our public security corps seems to be huge, but after all, it has been established for too short a time, and it has not experienced any major battles, and most of the opponents are bandit troops that have just been established, and their combat effectiveness is not recognized by these regular armies. In that case, it is better to transfer the troops of the 28th Division back to Mukden, so that Zhang Zuolin will be afraid of the strength of the 28th Division and delay the outbreak of the war or simply compromise. The more Feng Yong thought about it, the more he felt that it was more likely. Thinking of doing this has always been the character trait of Feng Shaoshuai.

"Send a report to Fengtian and inform Feng Dashuai that the strength of our department is enough to guard the border of Heilongjiang, and ask Feng Dashuai to transfer the strength of the 28th Division to the south of Fengtian." Feng Yong believes that Feng Delin, who is now in a difficult situation, must also urgently need to strengthen his strength.

The 28th Division of Beizhen was stationed. Because of the increasingly tense confrontation between the Feng and Zhang families, Feng Delin had no choice but to bring all his family members to Beizhen. Although he is now the nominal Fengtian overseer, but Zhang Zuolin's Beida battalion is in the provincial capital of Fengtian, and the 28th Division's garrison Beizhen is far away from the provincial capital, and now the war between the two sides is about to break out, it is not appropriate for the family to stay in the provincial capital, Feng Delin's troops are less than 40,000 people, and Zhang Zuolin has more than 80,000 people, from the simple comparison of forces, Zhang Zuolin is in absolute upper hand.

But although Zhang Zuolin has the ability to fight with the Feng family, but at present, it is a little difficult to ride a tiger, with the strength in Zhang Zuolin's current hands, there is no problem in the face of Feng Delin, even if Feng Yong's so-called Southern Military Region and Southeast Military Region add up to more than 40,000 people, Zhang Zuolin does not care too much. Even if all these people went south, Feng Delin only had 70,000 people in his hands, and he would not have more troops than himself. As for the combat effectiveness of Feng Yong's public security corps, Zhang Dashuai can't look down on it, after all, it is a unit from the militia group, and he can train what elite a teenage doll can do. This is also the consensus of all forces.

Zhang Zuolin was concerned about the attitude of the Japanese. The only countries that threatened the three eastern provinces were Japan and Russia, and the Russians could not reach the southernmost province of Mukden, but the Japanese controlled Korea bordering Mukden, and even displayed heavy troops on the banks of the Yalu River where Mukden and Korea met. Nominally to prepare for the attack of the Russians, but what the actual purpose was, no one knows. The military might that the Japanese built up in the Russo-Japanese War was indeed very deterrent. Zhang Zuolin did not dare to start a war rashly even if the Japanese had an unclear attitude.

Judging from the fortunes of Feng and Zhang, Feng Delin is closer to Japan. Moreover, now that Feng Delin holds the name of the Fengtian Overseer, although the government that proposed this name has fallen, no one can guarantee the validity of this position until the new government is formed. However, at present, from the perspective of righteousness, Feng Delin has the upper hand, but from the perspective of strength, Zhang Zuolin is in an absolute advantage.

The Japanese military department also felt a little tricky about the situation in Mukden. Zhang Zuolin's envoy is still lobbying in the Korean garrison and has put forward very attractive conditions, the purpose of which is to hope that the Japanese will assist him in Dubong.

Although Feng Delin did not send envoys, he also expressed his closeness to Japan on many public occasions, and Japanese ronins and enterprises were also taken care of by Feng Delin in Mukden Province. Unlike in Jilin, no matter what nationality you are, the provincial government is business-like. The proud Feng Shaoshuai couldn't keep his voice down, and he didn't have much awe of the great powers in his heart from later generations.

For Feng Yong's telegram, Feng Delin agreed very happily, he still knows some about his son, and he will definitely not be untargeted, since he said that the public security corps can guarantee the border defense in the north, Feng Delin believes that he will definitely be able to do it, not to mention that the current Fengtian form is extremely tense. Once Zhang Zuolin fights with him ruthlessly, he will definitely suffer a big loss if he has few soldiers.

Originally, Feng Delin meant that Feng Yong wanted to send tens of thousands of people south to Fengtian, and the 28th Division was responsible for improving the preparation and training of soldiers going south. However, thinking of the Japanese instructors all over the 28th Division, Feng Yong felt tired for a while, and finally did not agree to let the Public Security Corps accept the command of the 28th Division, but asked the Public Security Corps to suspend its stationing in Mongolia, making a false impression of entering the service in a big way, and delaying time. The 1st Brigade and 2nd Brigade of the 28th Division in Heilongjiang Province were transferred back to strengthen Feng Delin's strength.

"Young marshal, don't we really send someone south to Fengtian? Even if the 30,000 elites of the 28th Division return. I'm afraid that Feng Dashuai is not a sure winner. Staff Officer Xu said suspiciously.

"Don't worry! Heroes like Zhang Dashuai and his father will never push themselves to a dead end. The reason why Zhang Dashuai dared to act in Fengtian was not because the elite of the 28th Division was contained in Heilongjiang, but now that the elite of the 28th Division has returned, it should be Zhang Dashuai who has a headache! It's not suitable for us to enter now, after all, Zhang Dashuai is still my father-in-law in name. And I feel that the probability of the two fighting is not large, although we will not shoot easily, but if Zhang Dashuai is really desperate, then I can only ignore the feelings of Weng and his son-in-law. Chahar is not attractive to us, but Fengtian must not all fall into the hands of Zhang Zuolin. For the sake of Mukden, even if he gives up the plan to go west to Mongolia, he will not hesitate! Feng Yong said firmly.

No one knows better than him that a force can never develop without access to the sea. Moreover, Fengtian's resources are too abundant, and a heavy industry base can be developed with the power of a province, and Feng Yong will certainly not give up. As for the original customized plan to go west to Mongolia, it was based on Feng Delin's ability to firmly control half of Mukden. If he had to choose between Mukden and Mongolia, Feng Yong would definitely choose Mukden without hesitation. In this era, industrial resources are king, not a large land area that can be strengthened.

The soldiers of the 28th Division went south very quickly, it seems that Feng Delin's urging them was very urgent, Feng Yong covered his tracks, and called the carriage to increase the speed of advance, in just seven days, 30,000 people of the 28th Division entered Fengtian Province, so that Zhang Zuolin, who got the news, completely changed his face.

What will happen to Mukden?

(To be continued)