Since the end of the "Ding Wei political tide", Yuan Shikai finally breathed a sigh of relief. Cixi finally recognized the face of hypocrites like Cen Chunxuan, who called themselves "Qingliu", and the Qingliu who was selling fame and reputation in the court was almost swept away. And after Yuan Shikai went on the fold of self-defense, Chen Ke's matter can be regarded as being exposed. Although Cixi's jealousy of the Beiyang Group was almost open, three of the five military ministers were non-Beiyang, or "anti-Beiyang", and Yuan Shikai was forced to hand over many part-time "errands". Yuan Shikai can accept this change, this is just the normal performance of the rulers of the past dynasties, any court with such a strong group as Beiyang, the monarchy will instinctively suppress it.

On August 1, 1907, as soon as Yuan Shikai got up, the housekeeper came in with a strange look to pay a visit. Yuan Shikai knew that the housekeeper must be in a hurry, so he simply freshened up and sat upright in the small living room. Yuan Shikai has such a habit, no matter where he is, whether he is a Taishi chair or a sofa, he never likes to lean there, but sits with his back straight. Coupled with the long-term experience of bearing, even at home is majestic.

The housekeeper didn't dare to say much, he presented a piece of paper taken off the wall, and said cautiously: "Master, there are a lot of such notices posted in the capital this morning. ”

As soon as Yuan Shikai opened it, his eyes immediately widened. In his life, he has seen a lot of big scenes, seen a lot of absurd things, and heard a lot of unashamed or arrogant nonsense. But today, he really knows that there are still things in the world that are beyond his imagination. The name of this proclamation is very excessive at first glance, "Open Letter to the Manchu Qing Gang". This is the notice of the BJP. The content is not special, it is in the vernacular, and the first half is to tell the whole country that Zhang Zhidong, the dogleg of the Manchu bandits, ordered Li Yuanhong, a Manchu bandit gangster, to lead the Hubei New Army to attack the People's Party base area, and now the 7,000 Hubei New Army has been wiped out. In the second half, the People's Party declared that this was the great victory of the people's revolution, and that this victory would follow one after another until the people's revolution completely eliminated the Manchu bandits.

At the end of the announcement, the People's Party is telling Cixi, the female bandit leader of the Manchu bandits, Yuan Shikai, the lackey and thug of the Manchu bandits, Zhang Zhidong, and others that the victory of the people's revolution is a historical inevitability, and advises Cixi, the female bandit leader, to recognize the situation and surrender quickly. The People's Party will try and liquidate the crimes of the Manchu gangs in a fair and open manner, and give them the fate they deserve.

I don't know how many people scolded Yuan Shikai for being a living Cao Cao this year, and this is the first time that Yuan Shikai has been called a lackey and a thug. Yuan Shikai was surprised on the one hand, and on the other hand, he actually sorted out a summary of the people's party's name. The Manchu regime was called the Manchu gangsters by the People's Party, the Manchu civil officials were called the gang lackeys, and the Manchu military attachés were called the gang thugs. As soon as Yuan Shikai grasped the military and politics, he was honored to accept the honor of lackey and thug. The People's Party seems to have a very high opinion of Yuan Shikai, and actually makes Yuan Shikai the second person in the Manchu gang. It was only under Cixi, the female leader of the Manchu bandits.

According to the People's Party notice, Zhang Zhidong's 7,000 members of the Hubei New Army were all wiped out in four days? Yuan Shikai didn't believe it too much. Not long ago, Wang Shizhen made such a prediction, believing that Li Yuanhong was not an opponent of the People's Party. But Wang Shizhen and Yuan Shikai both thought that this would be a tragic battle, and the People's Party might be very capable of fighting, but Li Yuanhong led 7,000 people. The two sides are bound to engage in a bitter battle in which both sides will be defeated. Yuan Shikai knew the strength of the Hubei New Army, which was one of the few new army units in the country that could compete with the Beiyang New Army. Since Hubei is able to build its own weapons and equipment, the equipment and training of the Hubei New Army are quite impressive. Not to mention the 7,000-strong Hubei New Army, even 7,000 pigs could not be killed in four days.

As soon as the announcement was put down, the servant at the door came to report, "My lord, someone at the door has come to deliver an urgent document. Yuan Shikai immediately had an ominous feeling in his heart.

The official document did not mention the fate of Li Yuanhong, but only said that the People's Party had recaptured Anqing. The troops of the Hubei New Army defending Anqing surrendered and were released. Yuan Shikai was also born in the old army, and Anqing, which was hundreds of miles away from Hefei, was captured, and it was not such a way to besiege Wei and save Zhao. Li Yuanhong is only afraid that he will be more auspicious.

After putting down the official document, Yuan Shikai ordered: "Quickly send someone to find out who posted this notice." In addition, prepare a horse and go to Wang Shizhen. ”

In fact, there are not many people who post notices, and Yuan Shikai has been very unhappy recently, so the Yuan family is very alert to the wind and grass outside. Wang Shizhen didn't have this spare time, he carefully read the notice and official documents twice before saying: "Li Yuanhong is finished." ”

Yuan Shikai also knew that Li Yuanhong was definitely finished, but he was thinking about other things along the way, "Pingqing, you are about to go to Jiangbei Governor, how do you think the situation will change?" ”

Wang Shizhen couldn't assess the situation in a short time, although Yuan Shikai was in a hurry, Wang Shizhen didn't want to talk nonsense, and after a long period of silence, Wang Shizhen said: "Since Li Yuanhong is finished, Chen Ke occupies Anqing again." Either he will seize the canal and cut off the canal. Either they will leave Wuhan. No matter what Chen Ke does, it is destined not to be peaceful in the future. ”

On weekdays, Yuan Shikai agrees with Wang Shizhen's views very much, but this time he did not agree too much with Wang Shizhen's opinions. Perhaps the identities of Yuan Shikai and Chen Ke are somewhat similar, the two of them each lead a military and political group, and they always subconsciously start from the overall situation when considering problems. Yuan Shikai asked: "Pingqing, are you saying that Chen Ke wants to solve the problem of money?" ”

Beiyang controls the finances of Zhili, and the money is spent like flowing water every year. Chen Ke is in such a poor place as Anhui Province, and he was hit by floods last year. Fighting a war is a gold-swallowing monster, and Yuan Shikai can imagine how stretched Chen Ke is.

Wang Shizhen doesn't care about Beiyang's finances, and he only knows about financial problems, but he can't talk about being proficient. Yuan Shikai's question made Wang Shizhen dare not answer easily. After thinking for a while, Wang Shizhen brought up another topic, "Yuan Gong, this time the Hubei New Army lost troops and lost generals, but adults can't talk about this matter easily. However, Zhang Zhidong suffered such a big defeat, and he will definitely not give up. Although Chen Ke's article was arrogant, it was beneficial to Yuan Gong. He was very disrespectful to Yuan Gong. But in order to prove himself, Zhang Zhidong will inevitably talk nonsense to Yuan Gong. Yuan Gong needs to be careful. ”

Regarding Zhang Zhidong's possible reaction, Yuan Shikai had already thought about it, and the Hubei New Army had lost almost half of its troops. The remaining troops were at most 10,000 people. I'm afraid that these 10,000 people will not be enough to defend Hubei, if Chen Kebing leaves Huangpi Pass, he will directly hit the three towns of Wuhan. If the three towns of Wuhan were lost, or even just Hanyang on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the arsenal of the Hubei New Army would be finished. If Zhang Zhidong wants to recover the decline, he will either unite with Yuan Shikai, or he will have to put the responsibility on Yuan Shikai. After all, Yuan Shikai's "unknown acquaintance" has been made public, if Yuan Shikai had seen that Yan Fu and Chen Ke were both "anti-thieves", there would be no result today.

"I really underestimated Chen Ke." Yuan Shikai sighed, "Such people are unwilling to contribute to the country. Pingqing, since Zhang Zhidong's Hubei New Army is unreliable, I am afraid that the Beiyang New Army will have to take action to quell the rebellion. ”

Wang Shizhen is actually most worried about this matter, he also saw the Hubei New Army during the autumn exercise in Hejian. Even the Beiyang New Army is unlikely to wipe out the 7,000 Hubei New Army in Hefei and Anqing in four days. Moreover, if the Beiyang New Army is to suppress the rebellion, it will be an expedition of laborers, and there are too many unfavorable situations. God knows what Chen Ke has made Anhui look like now. When the enemy situation is unknown, it is best to be cautious. He replied, "Yuan Gong, I will go to work immediately." Then he will carefully inquire about Chen Ke's situation. And now the court is very suspicious of Yuan Gong, and Yuan Gong wants to personally lead troops to quell the rebellion, but I am afraid that it is not so easy. And Yuan Gong, even if you personally lead the troops, as long as there are small setbacks, those who have ghosts in their hearts will definitely make a big fuss. Please be careful about this. ”

Yuan Shikai knows how many people are waiting for Yuan Shikai to make a mistake now, even Zhang Zhidong thinks the same. It's not that Zhang Zhidong wants to fall into the well, but if Yuan Shikai loses the battle, Zhang Zhidong will immediately have a reason to defend himself. At that time, Zhang Zhidong would definitely not fall into the ground, but would "support" Yuan Shikai. In that way, the so-called "law does not blame the public", Zhang Zhidong's previous failures can also easily shirk responsibility. Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but smile bitterly, at the moment of the great enemy, as an important minister of the imperial court, he could only worry about the safety of his own family, and this battle was already difficult before it was fought.

The two of them won't say much about this, Yuan Shikai is not an idler, he must be prepared for the next turmoil. And he was already suspicious, and he had too much contact with Wang Shizhen, and it was not good for Wang Shizhen.

Sure enough, as soon as Yuan Shikai arrived at the military aircraft office, he saw the other four military aircraft ministers waiting there with gloomy faces. Zhang Zhidong spoke first, "Duke Yuan, the Queen Mother ordered you and me to meet you." ”

Cixi's face was extremely ugly, although this seventy-year-old lady knew the news of the defeat, but she did not expect that as the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, she would be scolded as a "female bandit leader of the Manchu bandits" posted in the capital. Originally, the eunuchs didn't dare to tell Cixi about this, but Cixi knew this group of minions very clearly. A casual glance at her could tell the thoughts of these minions on their faces. These people were originally responsible for inquiring about the news outside, and seeing that the eunuchs in charge of inquiring about the news did not look very good, Cixi knew that something big had happened. No one dared to refuse to answer Cixi's questioning, and after a few forced questions, the eunuch told the truth cautiously and fearfully. Under Cixi's strict order, the announcement was handed up by the eunuch tremblingly. The ensuing official letter from the Ministry of War made Cixi understand what was going on.

"Lord Yuan, what kind of talent is this Chen Ke, he can make Lord Yuan value it so much and be a matchmaker himself." Cixi's words were full of malice.

Yuan Shikai originally relied on Cixi's trust to climb to his current position, and after hearing this, Yuan Shikai fell to the ground tightly. Unlike those fools who only know how to ask for sin, Yuan Shikai knew that he couldn't say that, so he replied cautiously: "Queen Mother Lafayette, Chen Ke is a disciple of the traitorous Yan Fu, and the minister has an old relationship with Yan Fu. ”

"Hmph." As a woman, Cixi did not hate or oppose such things as being a matchmaker for others. She didn't actually chase after it. However, being scolded by Chen Ke to come to the capital, Cixi did not scare and scare Yuan Shikai, and the depression in her heart could not be easily dissipated.

After asking Yuan Shikai, Cixi looked at Zhang Zhidong again. This important minister of the new policy is now relied on by Cixi, and up to now, Zhang Zhidong has been very satisfied with Cixi with his impartial and non-partisan style. Cixi originally wanted Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai to implement such a major event as constitutionalism, but they didn't expect that one of these two important ministers was to act as a matchmaker for the great rebel Chen Ke, and the other was to let the great rebel Chen Ke eliminate 7,000 henchmen. What kind of person is this young man, Chen Ke.

"Lord Zhang, can the Hubei New Army still fight?" Cixi then asked.

Zhang Zhidong was afraid that Cixi would ask this, if he said that he could fight, with the current situation, he was afraid that he would not be able to win the battle in the short term, and if he said that he could not fight, then the political credit that Zhang Zhidong had accumulated so far would go bankrupt in an instant. However, Zhang Zhidong is an old fritter in officialdom after all, and he is not too panicked when he encounters such a situation, Zhang Zhidong replied: "Queen Mother Lafayette, if you want to exterminate the bandits in Anhui, it will inevitably be protracted if you only rely on the Hubei New Army." At this time, the best strategy is to mobilize all kinds of new armies to encircle and suppress together. The Beiyang New Army fought from the south to the north, the Hubei New Army went down the river, and the Jiangnan and Jiangbei commanders were encircled and suppressed from east to west, and the bandits in Anhui could be quelled. ”

Hearing Zhang Zhidong say that "relying only on the Hubei New Army will inevitably be protracted", Cixi felt bored for a while. She has heard too much of these old fritters, and the cost of suppressing bandits is huge, if it is according to what Zhang Zhidong said, the troops of the Beiyang New Army, the Hubei New Army, and the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Governors will be used. I am afraid that more than half of the income of the imperial court this year will be used to exterminate the bandits in Anhui. The income of the imperial court was already beyond its means, and it would cost Cixi a headache when she imagined that it would cost such a huge battle.

For the matter of war, Cixi trusted Yuan Shikai more. She turned her head and asked, "Lord Yuan, what do you think?" ”

Yuan Shikai already had a case for such questioning, and he said calmly: "The suppression of bandits can be arranged by the Ministry of War. ”

Now in charge of the military department are the hardliners of the sect, although they can't convince the six towns of Beiyang for the time being, but they can at least reassure Cixi.

After listening to Yuan Shikai's answer, Cixi replied after a long time: "I know. ”

However, Cixi is still resentful of Chen Ke's "great disrespect", she is not from the main palace, in order to ensure the safety of her life in the long palace life, Cixi has suffered many cold words, and finally took power, and was scolded as "the female bandit leader of the Manchu bandits", this breath is really hard to swallow, "After catching Chen Ke, I will definitely escort him to Beijing." ”

Chen Ke only learned of such a meeting a few days later from information sent by Beijing, and the details were not very detailed. At least he didn't know that Cixi wanted to get herself into the capital. However, it must be said that when Chen Ke issued this notice, he knew that Cixi must want to cut himself with a thousand knives. But Chen Ke actually wanted to say something to Cixi, "When you old lady dies, I will drag you out of the grave to bask in the sun." ”

Chen Ke saw the Tanglin thieves when he was a child, and he actually did not completely deny what the "archaeologist Sun Dianying" did. Chen Ke had actually decided that in addition to Yongzheng, the other Manchu emperors, whether male or female, had a very necessary "archaeological excavation" for their graves, and after the ancient examination, those tombs could be flattened. It's an eyesore to keep these graves.

For the Manchu Qing Dynasty's encirclement and suppression again, Chen Ke can fully think of it. Before the annihilation of the Hubei New Army, Chen Ke was still a little worried about military operations, and the fall of Li Yuanhong gave Chen Ke a clear understanding of the military capabilities of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Under the strategy and tactics learned from Grandpa Mao, the combat effectiveness of the Manchu Qing can basically be described as vulnerable.

In the two small battles before and after the annihilation of the Hubei New Army, the Hubei New Army suffered more than 900 casualties and more than 2,200 wounded. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lost more than 130 killed and 313 wounded. The comrades of the Central Military Commission can be said to be extremely satisfied with such results. Hearing that the Manchus were preparing to encircle and suppress the army, most of the comrades of the Military Commission, although still nervous, were not as panicked as when they faced Li Yuanhong's subordinates.

"Chairman Chen, how do you say the next battle should be fought?" Hua Xiongmao was the first to make a statement. He is no longer ready to do any more independent campaign planning. Since Chen Ke planned better than himself, it would be more appropriate to let Chen Ke express his position first.

Chen Ke has actually never fought such a large-scale battle, but there are many battles he has studied on the Internet that are larger than this, so although Chen Ke is not a strategist, the knowledge he learned from the best strategists in human history is enough to deal with the Manchu Qing group of scum whose combat effectiveness barely exceeds five.

"In this battle, we must not let the enemy twist into a rope, we must concentrate superior forces and break through each one. So intelligence work must be done well. Whoever to hit first, and then whom, this time the order cannot be wrong. Chen Ke began to be the general planner of the campaign.

During the War of Liberation, the Party's troops were able to win more with less, and the test was how to choose the enemy. They always choose to fight the enemy who has the deepest contradictions with other forces and is the most isolated. Taking advantage of the enemy's refusal to give his life to rescue, he concentrated superior forces to fight a war of annihilation.

No one among the comrades is willing to question Chen Ke's strategic planning. Chen Ke's current situation is far better than that of Grandpa Mao. Grandpa Mao was not the core leader of the party for the first ten years, and then the revolution had no choice, and the predecessors had to admit Grandpa Mao's leadership. Chen Ke himself founded the People's Party, and since he had not made a mistake until now, the comrades obeyed Chen Ke's authority almost instinctively.

After talking about the general strategic planning, Chen Ke talked about the key to implementation, "Comrades, our troops are now in the minority, so we can only rely on our mobility and intelligence gathering. Rely on the enemy's lines of communication to isolate the enemy. So our own marching capabilities must be improved. ”