Shandong Licheng. Duan Qirui's temporary headquarters.

"Prime Minister, we have already contacted Vice Minister Fu Liangzuo. Chief Fu has gathered the rout and built a new defense line in Yucheng County. Commander Fu said that there will be a delaying battle in Yucheng, and I hope that Prime Minister you will have enough time to deal with the attack of the Northeast Army. Ni Sichong, who served as Duan Qirui's temporary chief of staff, said.

"Yucheng County, there is not far from Licheng, and from Yucheng to Jinan is basically a plain of Pingchuan, there is no natural danger to rely on, this battle is not easy to fight!" Duan Qirui looked at the map and said in a deep voice.

"If it's not a fight, you have to fight. The Northeast Army's attack was too sharp, and it was necessary to delay their advance as much as possible. Ni Sichong sighed and said.

"What is the situation of the Licheng coalition army? It's been five days. The provincial coalition forces have arrived one after another, right? Duan Qirui said in a deep voice.

"At present, the total strength of Beiyang in the Licheng area has exceeded 100,000 people, and General Xu Shuzheng has just been contacted, and General Xu Shuzheng's army will be able to arrive in two days at most. At that time, our Beiyang troops in the Licheng area will reach nearly 200,000 people. It's no problem to deal with 100,000 people in the Northeast. Ni Sichong said.

"Inform Xu Shuzheng and let him speed up the pace of progress as much as possible. Ryosa didn't last long. Duan Qirui said in a deep voice. The current form is not optimistic about Beiyang, but it can be said that in a short period of time, the vast area north of the Yellow River in Shandong has fallen into the hands of the northeast. Now the total strength of Beiyang in the Licheng area has reached 100,000 people, but Duan Qirui has little confidence, because these troops are all coalition troops drawn from various provinces, and their combat effectiveness is uneven. In the face of the imposing Northeast Army, the results were not optimistic.

"How's the situation in Naoli?" The two battlefields are interdependent, and the defeat of one battlefield will have an unimaginable impact on the other battlefield.

"It's not optimistic, the front of Zhili has been compressed by the Northeast Army to the Shijiazhuang area. Now the Northeast Army is besieging Shijiazhuang, and I am afraid that the local defenders will not be able to hold out for long. Ni Sichong said.

"What about Zhu Jiabao? He didn't have tens of thousands of people in his hands, how could he let the Northeast Army advance so fast? Duan Qirui's face became even more gloomy.

"According to the news of Zhao Qi, the overseer of Henan, Zhu Jiabao, the overseer of Zhili, can't be contacted, and now I'm not sure about his specific situation!"

"Waste, it's all waste. Before the war, one was more powerful than the other, and at the beginning of the war, they were all beaten into shrunken turtles! Duan Qirui scolded. I don't know if he scolded Zhu Jiabao, the overseer of Zhili, or Feng Guozhang, the acting president of Beiyang who escaped faster.

"Prime Minister, now Zhao Kui's troops have moved to the territory of Hebei. Wu Peifu's elite army has also crossed the Yellow River, and it is believed that it will not be long before it will be able to reach the battlefield. At that time, our troops in the Zhili area will surpass that of the Northeast, and the situation of the war will be reversed. Ni Sichong said.

"Hey! I am now worried that by the time Wu Peifu's army enters Zhili, I am afraid that the entire Hebei Province will have fallen. ”

"Prime Minister, we shouldn't think so much about it now, and do our best to obey the fate of heaven!" Ni Sichong said.

Among the two major systems formed in Beiyang, the power of the direct line at the top is not as good as that of the Anhui system, and Feng Guozhang's influence is not as high as Duan Qirui. This also led to the reason why Li Yuanhong, who was directly supported by the government, was never able to resist Duan Qirui during the dispute between the government and the court. However, the direct strength in the army is not weak, but in this sudden and inevitable war, the Anhui system has shown the courage to fight. And the direct lineage, which has always been brave, more often chooses to compromise and retreat.

"What's going on in Nanjing?" Duan Qirui said Nanjing, his face became joyless and sad, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"It's not good, it's financially difficult, and the new cabinet can't do its job because of the lack of finance." Ni Sichong gloated. To tell the truth, these high-level Anhui officials are very awkward about the Beiyang government in Nanjing. Although the Nanjing government was established by Feng Guozhang, the acting president of the Republic of China, Feng Guozhang's performance was too poor during the Battle of Beijing. made the generals of the Beiyang Army criticize him a lot. What's more, when Beiyang withdrew from Beijing, the wealth he carried was basically in the hands of Duan Qirui. Nanjing's Beiyang government can be said to be an empty shelf.

"Divert part of the property from the original treasury and transport it to Nanjing." Duan Qirui said.

"Prime Minister, you know, who is responsible for the fact that we are at this point. Why do you still want to help them? Ni Sichong said dissatisfied.

"Now is not the time to care about personal interests, now that we are at war in the north and northeast, we need a stable rear. If the Nanjing government collapses at this time, our Beiyang army will really become rootless. Therefore, even if Duan Qirui complains about Feng Guozhang and them in his heart, he must protect the Beiyang government in Nanjing as much as possible.

"Yes!" Ni Sichong said admiringly.

"Also, don't forget to ask the Nanjing government in my name to pay attention to the situation in Fujian, and absolutely not allow the Kuomintang to occupy Fujian." With 3,000 party troops, it was able to cause such a big mess in Fujian Province, and the influence of the Kuomintang can be seen from here. If they are given a place to base themselves and then develop for a few years, I am afraid that the Kuomintang will be another thorny enemy. Regarding the influence of the revolutionary party, Duan Qirui has always been jealous and inexplicable.

Plains County. Temporary garrison of the Great Army in the Northeast.

"Commander-in-chief, the army has been resting for half a day. Isn't it time to attack? According to our intelligence, Duan Qirui gathered 100,000 people in the Licheng area, and there was also a defense line composed of 30,000 defeated soldiers in Yucheng County. We must not give Duan Qirui a chance to reorganize the army. I suggest that the army attack Licheng in one go. Destroy the Beiyang Army. Guo Shanhu, commander of the Southwest Military Region, said.

"Mountain tiger, you can't be in a hurry to fight. Although the current form is beneficial to us, Beiyang's strength in Shandong is still not weak. At the very least, there are more troops than us. Although our army is strong in combat, after many consecutive battles, the soldiers are extremely tired. If such a high-intensity battle continues, it will be a heavy burden for the entire army. Therefore, the most important thing for us now is to let the troops recuperate. Jiang Baili said with a smile.

From Rehe Chahar to Shandong and Hebei in one go, in just over half a month, the Northeast Army fought thousands of miles and fought to the death with the Beiyang Army. While destroying a large number of enemies, its own losses and consumption are also very serious, and the elongation of the battle line makes it gradually difficult to supply logistics and baggage.

"Commander-in-chief, the enemy's reinforcements are still heading north, I heard that the elite Xu Shuzheng of Beiyang has set foot on the land of Shandong, if they rush to the battlefield, won't our pressure be greater?" Guo Shanhu didn't understand why Jiang Baili was not in a hurry. You must know that when Xu Shuzheng arrived, the strength of Beiyang in the entire Shandong region reached 200,000 people, far exceeding the military strength of the Northeast.

"I know this very well, the more we face this situation, the more we must calm down and keep the troops in a state of peak, otherwise, when the enemy's elite troops are put into the battlefield, we are afraid that we will immediately fall from the upper hand to the lower hand. What's more, our consumption of weapons and ammunition is also very serious, and if we want to fight, we have to wait until the supplies are replenished! ”

When the two sides were still accumulating strength on the Shandong battlefield, but on the Jizhong Plain, the ancient city of Shijiazhuang had been surrounded by the Northeast Army.

"Is Zhu Jiabao still refusing to surrender?" Zhang Zuolin said with a gloomy expression. The hardness shown by Zhu Jiabao, the overseer of Zhili, gave Zhang Zuolin a headache. As a fortified city, Shijiazhuang is simply a fortress on the Jizhong Plain. Like Jiang Baili's department, the troops of the Northern Military Region also left behind the heavy weapons that were attacking the city in order to increase the speed of the march, which made it impossible for the heavy weapons to feel on the battlefield in a short time.

"Yes, the enemy is indifferent to the letter of surrender that we shot at the head of the city. And the city is still preparing equipment to defend the city. If we attack hard, we will lose a lot. Zhang Zuoxiang said.

"I see. Now immediately organize death squads. Even if it is blown up with explosives, we will blow up the city wall of Shijiazhuang. In the present form, we must not be stopped by the gains and losses of one city and one place to stop the momentum of the army's victory. Zhang Zuolin said in a deep voice.

The original Feng Army, and now the Northern Military Region of the Northeast Army, are still under the command of Zhang Zuolin. Regarding Zhang Zuolin's ability, Feng Yong never doubted how the king of the Northeast in his previous life could be a straw bale. In addition, the building of the political commissar system has been basically completed within the Northern Military Region, irreversible changes are taking place in the thinking of soldiers, and Zhang Zuolin's influence in the army is being weakened. Zhang Zuolin also understood that the army would be surnamed Feng from now on. Therefore, he has no ideological pressure at all to lead a large army to fight, and the Northeast has prepared sufficient military supplies for this war, and he does not have to worry about logistics. If you want anything, report to the Northeast, and the logistics department in the Northeast will definitely distribute the full amount. Of course, Feng Yong, who has a political commissar system in control of the overall situation, is not worried at all that these military supplies will fall into the private pockets of those officers who have just surrendered.

Boom Boom Boom ...... Hundreds of artillery shells of the Northeast Army ran away, and hundreds of heavy machine guns were intertwined into a firepower network, covering the death squad soldiers rushing to the city wall of Shijiazhuang.

Da Da Da ...... Fierce gunfire rang out from the city walls, and some of the death squad members who didn't have time to cover their bodies were shot.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the explosives on one of the daredevils were blown off by enemy bullets. Before he could react, several of the daredevils around him were smashed into a sieve by the firing stones.

"Damn it! Be sure to break through the past! The commander of the Feng army at the front clenched his fists tightly. At present, the military commanders of the entire Northern Military Region are basically officers of the original Fengjun, and the military adjutants in the original Fengjun have all been selected by Feng Yong and still go to the military academy in Changchun for further study. Although Feng Yong showed no malice, many old officers in the Feng army who were not young were also taken away by Feng Yong, which had to make some of them panic. Therefore, the officers of the entire Northern Military Region are holding their breath and want to make contributions to the change of court!

(To be continued)