The expansion of the Northeast Army made the pressure on Beiyang even heavier. Feng Guozhang came to Duan Qirui's mansion again. The two are still shielding everyone.

In Duan Qirui's study. The two giants of Beiyang sit opposite each other.

"Brother Qirui, how are you thinking about things?" Feng Guozhang said in a deep voice. There was a hint of anxiety between his brows.

"President, do you think Beiyang can win?" Duan Qirui raised his head, and there was a touch of sadness, a touch of apprehension, and a touch of expectation between his eyebrows.

"Yes! Absolutely! Feng Guozhang said firmly. After speaking, he unconsciously clenched his fists, not knowing whether he said this to himself or to Duan Qirui.

"I've heard that the Beijing government has given two more provinces, including Shanxi, which we can't think of. Even Henan partially fell into the hands of the Beijing Defense Forces. With the current Beijing government, we in Beiyang may not be an opponent. Duan Qirui said clearly. Although during the Beiyang government, he was the army chief of the Beiyang government, and now he is the deputy governor of the Beiyang Governor's Mansion second only to Feng Guozhang, but Duan Qirui knows that he is just a decoration. During the period of the Beiyang government, it was Feng Guozhang who encircled the puppets of other factions in the Beiyang Army except for the direct family. In the current Beiyang government, he is a pawn used by the Beijing government to divide the Beiyang interior, and he is also a puppet to be used. Duan Qirui is not an ordinary person after all, after decades of ups and downs in the sea and all kinds of emergencies, he once ruled the entire country behind the scenes, and his courage is not comparable to ordinary people. He understands that in the current Republic of China, there is no stage for him Duan Qirui to display his ambitions. It's not that he Duan Qirui is not confident in his ability, but now that the general trend of China has been cultivated. Needless to say, the Beijing government said. China deserves to be a giant. The reunification within Beiyang has almost been completed, and even if Beiyang cannot become a giant like the Beijing government, it will definitely become a first-class power in China. And the southwest has been a scattered sand since Cai Yi's accident. The new rising power of Liangguang is somewhat interesting, but they were born at the wrong time, and even if they achieve some achievements in Liangguang, it will be difficult for them to make a difference in other parts of China. After all, under the pressure of the war of the giant Beiyang, the Beiyang government is no longer the original comfortable Beiyang. Although there are still many rotten things in Beiyang now, the people in charge have begun to know how to work hard for the development of Beiyang. This is a huge step forward for Beiyang. After all, the Beiyang heritage is still deep.

"I don't know if it's an opponent. But Beiyang will not surrender without a fight. Beiyang is a place we have fought for all our lives, and I will not give up no matter what. Feng Guozhang said firmly. Their generation from the time Yuan Shikai Tianjin small station training should have become Beiyang people, these years with the prosperity of Beiyang and the world, everything in Beiyang has been integrated into the bones, Feng Guozhang has never thought of giving up, even if he knows that he is invincible, he must strive for a glimmer of life for Beiyang. That's why Feng Guozhang is so persistent.

"Brother Huafu! Please accept my salute, and Beiyang will entrust it to you. Duan Qirui stood up and bowed very sincerely.

"Brother Qirui, ...... you" Feng Guozhang was stunned for a moment, and then a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.

"Although I haven't seen through all this, but with your brother Huafu here, Beiyang still has a chance! It's just a pity that we are in Anhui. Duan Qirui sighed and said.

"Brother Qirui, please rest assured, I will definitely treat the Anhui generals well!" Feng Guozhang assured very solemnly.

"No need. Although the Anhui system also took another way out for the sake of Beiyang, we went wrong from the beginning. We should not pin our hopes on foreign countries and ignore our own strength. The defeat in the last war with the Northeast and the loss of the capital proved that the concept of our Anhui system was wrong. Fortunately, in addition to the Anhui lineage, we in Beiyang also have a direct line. I don't know if the path you took is right, but from the experience of the Anhui system, I understand that whether Beiyang can survive for a long time is the strength of Beiyang itself, which foreigners can use, but cannot rely on. Duan Qirui said in a deep voice.

Regarding Duan Qirui's words, Feng Guozhang's expression became serious, he knew that Duan Qirui had recognized his position as the leader of Beiyang, so the integration of Beiyang's forces would be much smoother in the future. Although he and Duan Qirui have been fighting endlessly for the supreme power in Beiyang, they still know each other's roots, and it is precisely because of their understanding that they still admire each other.

"Brother Qirui, please rest assured, the reason why we took over the assistance of the Japanese is just to use each other, and our Beiyang core army will never let the Japanese army get involved in the command." Feng Guozhang said firmly. He himself did not have a good impression of Japan, after all, the history of Beiyang was not just Yuan Shikai's training of the new army. Li Hongzhang's era was also an extremely glorious era in Beiyang, and it can be said that the reason why the Manchu Qing Dynasty was able to continue its rule into the 20th century was due to Beiyang. And Li Hongzhang's glory ended in the hands of the Japanese. In Beiyang, many people do not have a bad feeling towards Japan, that is because he does not pay attention to Beiyang before Yuan Shikai in his heart. However, Feng Guozhang attaches great importance to it, so he has always been reluctant to contact Japan. If it weren't for the increasing pressure from the Beijing government, he would not have compromised on this matter. After all, the strength of the Wehrmacht is related to the life and death of Beiyang. Based on the principle that the enemy of the enemy is a friend, Feng Guozhang finally agreed to contact Japan.

"Brother Huafu, I understand your thoughts, but little Japan's assistance is not so useful. I hope you will pay more attention to this aspect. As for General Shu Zheng's side, I'll take care of it. Duan Qirui said in a deep voice.

Feng Guozhang nodded, Duan Qirui had said this, of course he couldn't say anything.

After Zhao Wei was seriously injured, Yan Xishan defected to the Beijing government, and Zhang Xun was completely eliminated, Xu Shuzheng finally felt the pressure, and his troops quickly asked the local garrison in Hubei to entangle, bypass Cao Kun's encirclement and interception, return to Hunan, and then put on a defensive posture. From this point of view, Xu Shuzheng has relented. Now it's up to the Beiyang Governor's Mansion to decide. If he chooses to fight, Xu Shuzheng will resist to the death, and with tens of thousands of elite troops in his hands, even if he loses in the end, Beiyang will suffer heavy losses. If Beiyang does not fight, it is better, they can rest in Hunan. If in the future their power is strong. There may be more such unrest. Moreover, with Xu Shuzheng's containment, Beiyang also needs to divide a not weak force to guard against Hunan, which naturally weakens Beiyang's strength in disguise.

As for Beiyang's decision-making, not only Beijing is paying attention, but foreign forces are also paying attention. It's just that their purpose is different. Regardless of whether Beiyang fights or not, it is beneficial to the Northeast. However, Japan, which was concerned about the Beiyang form, hoped that the Beiyang War would be fought and Hunan would be pacified, which would not only add a province with a large population, but also provide the Beiyang Army with more soldiers and greater war potential. It can also solve hidden dangers and concentrate the forces of Beiyang to the greatest extent possible.

While all sides were waiting for the results, the Beiyang direct army gave up the attack. To the great disappointment of the Japanese side, the Japanese ambassador stationed in Nanjing urgently made an appointment with Feng Guozhang and encouraged Beiyang to send troops to Hunan to take the opportunity to solve the internal hidden dangers.

Feng Guozhang did not pay much attention to the Japanese ambassador's request. It was just a perfunctory gesture and handed it over to the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And he himself looked at Duan Fu. Looking forward to Duan Qirui's decision.

The Japanese ambassador did not change Feng Guozhang's resolution, which made the Japanese ambassador very angry and immediately conveyed the incident to the country. It is hoped that the Imperial Headquarters will make a further decision.

On the same day, an urgent telegram came from Tokyo, asking the ambassador to Nanjing to encourage Beiyang to start a war against Beijing, and that such an unsuccessful small force as Hunan could ignore it. Japan's top brass is not confused, their purpose is to see China in chaos, but the most essential purpose is to deplete the strength of the Beijing government. Different from Feng Yong's accurate answer from history, according to the analysis of the current international situation, the Japanese top leaders believe that there will be another war between China and Japan in the future, and this war is very likely to be in the hands of the Beijing government. The horrific expansion of the Beijing government has not only alarmed the domestic forces, but also the Japanese leadership. At the same time, they were very afraid of the Beiyang government's plan to develop the navy, especially the four cruisers that the Beijing government took the initiative to contact during the Yuan Shikai government but were not delivered due to financial difficulties. and frequent contacts with the United States and Spain by Chinese businessmen. It shows a posture of vigorously developing the navy. This has made Japan even more jealous of China.

Of course, China's current actions are only to make Japan jealous. After all, the construction of the navy is different from the army, as long as there are people and money in the construction of the army, it is relatively easy to build, but the navy is different, the navy is a technical branch, even if there is money to buy ships, there are no qualified navy soldiers who do not want to gallop on the unruly sea. Therefore, Japan is only afraid of China's large-scale purchase of ships. It's simply unrealistic to talk about fear.

A few days later, the nation was shocked again. Xu Shuzheng, a general of the Beiyang Anhui faction, was summoned by Duan Qirui, the leader of the Anhui faction, and secretly infiltrated Nanjing, was detained by the Beiyang Governor's Mansion and placed under house arrest in the courtyard of the city of Nanjing. Then Duan Qirui personally came forward and demanded that the Anhui generals give up their right to rule Hunan and accept the leadership of the direct governor's office.

This series of actions directly made the theater dumbfounded. However, after the shock, the Beijing government was extremely depressed, they had just taken two provinces without blood, and Beiyang then effortlessly took the most difficult Hunan, solving the internal hidden dangers. The Japanese ambassador was in ecstasy and bewildered at the same time, although he had a deep understanding of the Beiyang leadership and Chinese culture, he did not understand why Duan Qirui was able to do this.

(To be continued)