Chapter 1: Joining the War to Save the Country?

When Xu Shuzheng asked these two questions, his expression was already stern, and his eyebrows gradually twisted, as if he was also thinking hard. Although the question of whether China was going to participate in World War I was written in the history books as a topic of "government struggle", Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng, the two parties concerned, did not consider it from the standpoint of the country and the nation at all. However, Lieutenant General Xu Da, the vice minister of the army, must not have read such a history book, so his thoughts will inevitably deviate from the main tone of history.

Yang Zude, the principal of Baoding, also had a stern expression, as if he was also thinking about joining the war. Due to the instigation and advocacy of Chang Ruiqing, a "student leader" and a backbone of the Iron and Blood Comrades Association, the hottest topic in the Baoding Military Academy at the moment is probably to participate in the war, after all, everyone has chosen the path of a professional officer, and naturally has a natural interest in such topics.

Chang Ruiqing seemed to have expected Xu Shuzheng to ask such a question, he smiled slightly, thought for a while, and then talked eloquently: "Vice Chief Xu, your two questions are actually the same thing, to put it mildly, China is still the largest foreigner at the moment, and the key to whether the central government can send troops to Europe is whether the local government obeys and whether the central government has sufficient financial resources." And these two points are the most critical to the financial resources of the central government, because our current Chinese army is actually mercenaries, not compulsory soldiers like Europe and Japan, and all the soldiers who are paid are hired, so if there is money, there will be an army, and as long as the central military is abundant, the local government will naturally not dare to disobey. ”

Speaking of this, his thick eyebrows tightened, revealing a trace of solemnity, sighed, and said: "And the money of the central government is now in the hands of foreigners. Since the Republic of China, the state has been in turmoil, and most of the provinces have withheld taxes, so that the central government has gradually dried up, mainly relying on tariffs to maintain, while our Chinese tariffs have been controlled by the foreign powers, not only the tax rate is extremely low, but also a huge amount of money has to be deducted every year to repay various foreign indemnities, so that the central government cannot make ends meet, and there is almost no money to raise soldiers. The central government has no money to raise troops, and of course its control over the local government has declined...... If the British and French powers really want us to send troops to help the war, of course, they can't let the central government run out of money and soldiers, as long as they can agree to us suspend the payment of Gengzi indemnity, and then let us levy several times the tariff, the central government can earn more than 10,000 silver dollars a year, right? If they were all used to raise soldiers, there would be almost twenty or thirty divisions! If there are no soldiers who participate in the war, maybe the local authorities will be able to be submissive because of this, and the national situation of our Republic of China will be saved. ”

After listening to Chang Ruiqing's words, Xu Shuzheng wrinkled his eyebrows for a while, and finally nodded silently: "The truth is good, but this wishful thinking is only afraid that it will not be easy to fight, and the locality, especially the south, will not be able to see through the key?" Even in the central government, I'm afraid there will be people who oppose us. ”

Chang Ruiqing smiled faintly and replied: "It's up to people, the key depends on how determined Zhi Lao (Duan Qirui) and the deputy chief can make." After more than two years of hard fighting, Britain, France, and Russia have all reached the verge of exhaustion, especially the heavy losses of personnel to the extreme, and the ongoing Battle of Verdun has been fought for six months, causing millions of casualties, but the winner has not yet been decided; In July, Britain and France launched a new offensive in the Somme region in northern France, and Russia also launched a summer offensive on the Eastern Front. But how many people are there in those countries? Russia has more, Britain and France are only about 40 million, less than a fraction of our China, where can they withstand such consumption? Now Britain and France have already sent teenage children and dozens of half-old men to the front! Russia heard that it is also preparing to mobilize female soldiers! It can be seen that there is an extreme shortage of soldiers, if we can take the initiative to send hundreds of thousands of troops to participate in the war at this time, can Britain and France not be moved? That's exchanging our lives for theirs! Now that Japan is supporting Shiba among the great powers, and they have also declared war on Germany, if Britain and France support Shiba again, no one will dare to oppose it, whether it is local or central, right? ”

Xu Shuzheng pondered for a long time, and finally said slowly: "Yaoru, right?" Chang Ruiqing hurriedly stepped forward and said with a humble face: "The student is here." Xu Shuzheng nodded: "I know that you are talented, and you can devote yourself to the country's vision, the central government needs a young talent like you, now is the moment of Baoding's third phase of graduation, Yaoru, do you have any plans for your future?" Do you want to study abroad at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School? ”

With Chang Ruiqing's historical knowledge, of course, he knows that the Japanese non-commissioned officer school in Xu Shuzheng's mouth was the cradle of China's senior generals in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China! Including the Xu Shuzheng in front of him, as well as Yang Zude, the principal of the Baoding Military Academy, Yan Xishan in Shanxi, Tang Jiyao in Yunnan, Li Liejun in Jiangxi, Sun Yat-sen's confidant Xu Chongzhi, and a large number of warlords who rose up in the early days of the Republic of China were all graduated from Japanese non-commissioned officers, and even Jiang Jishi, the number one villain of the Republic of China in the future, was also claimed to be born as a Japanese non-commissioned officer. Therefore, Xu Shuzheng's proposal to let Chang Ruiqing go to Japan for non-commissioned officer gilding, obviously meant to carry him. However, it's not the beginning of the Republic of China now! The golden sign of the Japanese non-commissioned officer is obviously lower, that is, it is stronger than his own Baoding Phase III, and if you want to study this Japanese non-commissioned officer, you will not be able to return to China in three years, and you will have to miss a lot of opportunities at that time!

"Students, thank you for your cultivation!" Chang Ruiqing stood upright, gave Xu Shuzheng another military salute, and the title in his mouth changed from the second chief to a closer "Zheng Gong". He looked at Xu Shuzheng with a solemn face, and said word by word: "Students don't want to go to Japan." ”

"Don't want to go to Japan?" Hearing this answer, Xu Shuzheng and Yang Zude were stunned, the two glanced at each other, and Yang Zude asked in a deep voice: "Yaoru, why?" ”

Chang Ruiqing bowed respectfully to the two of them: "Gong Zheng, principal, the students know that you two intend to cultivate students, but the students also have some ideas of their own. As he spoke, he glanced at the two Beiyang generals again, and said in a sincere tone: "This time, the students united some classmates and friends, and rashly wrote to Duan Zhi Lao and Zheng Gong, advocating to participate in the war to save the country. As the initiators, students and those classmates who participated in the book are naturally obliged to take the lead in serving the country on the European battlefield as a Chinese ** person, even if it is a horse leather shroud, they will not hesitate! ”

When a room full of Beiyang soldiers heard this, they were all secretly taken aback! There are more complicated looks in the eyes, some regret, some admiration, some disdain, and more suspicious eyes. Is this someone real, or is he telling a lie? Looking at this righteous and awe-inspiring appearance, if you tell the truth, you are a fool who is not worth mentioning! If you're telling a lie, you're going to be a man in troubled times! That's worth making friends......

"Yaoru, are you saying that the twelve non-commissioned officers and students of the third phase of Baoding who signed the "Theory of Participating in the War and Saving the Country" have already made up their minds to fight in the fire of the European war?" Xu Shuzheng said quietly.

"Exactly!" Chang Ruiqing unhurriedly took out a "letter of request" jointly signed by twelve people from his pocket, took it with both hands and handed it to Xu Shuzheng.

"Good! Good! Sure enough, it is the back waves of the Yangtze River that push the front waves! It's not easy to pinch twelve people together. Xu Shuzheng took the "Book of Petitions" and glanced at it a few times, then smiled and put it away. "Yaoru, since you can do this, then I might as well give you another hand." As he spoke, he paused slightly, "I haven't gotten a word about participating in the war, let alone organizing and training the army to participate in the war." However, during this time, the Gyeonggi Gong Guard Army was being expanded into the 13th Division, and the position of company commander and platoon commander was still a lot, how about it? It's not a condescending talent, is it? ”

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