"Judging from the current situation, our army is safe in the south bank of the Yangtze River, which extends inland from Shanghai, although the Eighth Division of the Beiyang Army has some troops in the direction of Nantong, but it is known through intelligence that the number is not much, Zhang Xun concentrated the main force of the Eighth Division on the opposite side of the Yangtze River in Zhenjiang, trying to cooperate with the Beiyang Fifth Division in Nanjing to capture Zhenjiang. Moreover, the naval forces of our army, under the leadership of General Sa, have already controlled the Yangtze River, and have now sent a fleet to the Zhenjiang area. Liang Xunqin, director of the Operations Department, explained the battle situation to the many generals present.

Originally, the navy could have advanced along the west of the Yangtze River a long time ago, but the Jiangyin Fort along the Yangtze River was not controlled by the Nationalist Army, and Sa Zhenbing did not dare to break in for the sake of insurance, and waited until the First Division of the Nationalist Army sent troops to capture the Jiangyin Fort, and the defenders on the Jiangyin Fort realized that the world was really going to change, and then surrendered quickly, and after the Nationalist Army controlled the Jiangyin Fort, Sa Zhenbing took the fleet to continue westward.

Liang Xunqin continued: "With part of the strength of the Fourth Division and the naval blockade, it is impossible for Zhang Xun's troops to cross the Yangtze River east of Zhenjiang. ”

Chen Jingyun also nodded, then glanced left and right, and then found Wu Shizhong, the commander of the aviation wing, and immediately said: "Colonel Wu, how is the aviation unit doing, when will we be able to provide intelligence support to the troops!" ”

Chen Jingyun's words were heard in Wu Shizhong's ears, as if it had become a question, he was a little nervous when he participated in such a high-level military meeting for the first time, but now letting Chen Jingyun ask such a question immediately made Wu Shizhong's face a little red. Since the aviation unit has not yet established a separate branch of the army, it is only under the general staff, strictly speaking, it is the army aviation unit. Therefore, in peacetime, some high-level military conference aviation units are not close to each other, but Chen Jingyun has always attached great importance to the aviation unit, so he specifically asked Wu Shizhong, commander of the aviation unit, to refer to the high-level military conference in the future.

Therefore, Wu Shizhong appeared in a large group of generals, looking around at the officers present, they are basically generals above the major general, and there are only a few school officers, and several of these school officers belong to the audit surname, and they have no capital to speak at all, let alone be asked questions by Chen Jingyun in person, so Wu Shizhong, a colonel, is more or less dazzling.

Even though he was a little nervous, Wu Shizhong immediately replied to Chen Jingyun's words: "Report to the commander, the two squadrons under our aviation wing have been stationed at the Lishui base yesterday and are now able to carry out reconnaissance operations, and our department is already preparing to set up a second base in Jiangyin, and it is expected that the transfer work will be completed in two days!" ”

"This is a bit slow, you have to urge them to speed up their actions and set up a base in Jiangyin as soon as possible. In addition, the aviation unit in Lishui should also speed up the reconnaissance of the surrounding area to ensure the source of intelligence for our army! Chen Jingyun was a little dissatisfied with the actions of the aviation unit, which had been going on for so many days, but the aviation unit had not yet come up with an effective reconnaissance report.

However, this cannot be blamed on the aviation unit alone, although the aircraft equipped in the national army air wing are now divided into reconnaissance planes, fighters and bombers, but their prototypes are the same, and the approximate flight coefficient is also about the same. The speed is about 150 kilometers, and then the endurance time is three hours, which is about three or four hundred kilometers. And when this flight was originally set up in Hangzhou, the aviation base could not cover the vast southern Jiangsu region at all. Because the range of 400 kilometers is only 200 kilometers if the combat radius is changed, and whether it is reconnaissance, combat or bombing, etc., it is not enough to fly straight over and then fly back, and generally stay in the air over the destination for a period of time to complete various tasks. Therefore, the base in Hangzhou was too far away from Zhenjiang and Nanjing.

Faced with such a situation, the aviation unit quickly opened up an aviation base in Lishui, anyway, the requirements for the take-off and landing of aircraft in these years are very simple, as long as there is a flat open space, the trouble is supply and the like. Therefore, it didn't take two days to complete the base on the historical side, and then a reconnaissance squadron and a mixed squadron were transferred over, and as for Jiangyin, we have to wait a while, after all, the national army has occupied Jiangyin not long ago, and the time to open up an aviation base is a short time or two.

"Commander, rest assured, our aviation unit will definitely be able to complete various tasks!" Wu Shizhong played the package ticket.

Chen Jingyun didn't say anything about Wu Shizhong's packing ticket, just smiled and motioned for him to sit down again, but everyone analyzed the battle situation in Zhenjiang and Nanjing on the other side, and generally speaking, there were not too many variables, and the National Army and the Beiyang Army had not started any large-scale battles at present.

The vanguard of the 11th Regiment of the First Division of the Nationalist Army on the Zhenjiang side had already arrived on the afternoon of the 24th, and the follow-up main forces of the First Division had also arrived one after another.

Although Chen Weihua was very disgusted with his behavior, he had no choice but to let the troops take over the defense line, and appeased Dong Hong and said: The corresponding supplies of the National Army will arrive soon, and the Fourth Division of the National Army will also arrive soon on the road, which made Dong Hong let go of his worries.

After the 1st Division arrived at Zhenjiang, Zhang Xun on the opposite side seemed to notice that he quickly retracted his troops, so Zhenjiang became calm again.

As for Nanjing, Feng Guozhang also arrived in Nanjing on the evening of the 24th, and he was accompanied by Cao Kun's Third Division. In this way, the two divisions of the Beiyang Army arrived in Nanjing, which added up to nearly 30,000 troops.

After the Beiyang Fifth Division occupied the city of Nanjing on the 23rd, Feng Guozhang ordered Jin Yunpeng to continue southward, so the Fifth Division sent the vanguard south to the vicinity of Lishui, and the main force of the Fifth Division followed. On the twenty-fourth, the 3rd Division also arrived in Nanjing, and after starting to integrate its troops, it sent troops in the direction of Zhenjiang.

However, at present, the Nationalist Army has not had a large-scale exchange of fire with the Beiyang Army, that is, there have been some small-scale exchanges of fire between the two sides on the Lishui side, which is far from affecting the situation.

The Beiyang Army also needs to transfer a large number of supplies from the Jinpu line, and it is very irrational to conduct a large-scale operation before the supplies are in place, and the Nationalist Army is because the second division is still waiting for reinforcements from the seventh division, and they are now on defense, and the first division on the Zhenjiang side has just arrived, and the fourth division is still on the way.

So I won't be able to fight for a while.

Although there has not yet been a large-scale firefight, public opinion in the country has turned upside down at this time. When the war was getting closer and closer, Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang and others didn't have the heart to pay attention to any public opinion trends, while Chen Jingyun was also busy formulating various battle plans and so on, and he didn't have the heart to deal with any public opinion.

When the Nationalist Army and the Beiyang Army were preparing for a big war, various newspapers in China were full of messy news, one would say that Chen Jingyun was going to be defeated, the other would say that Yuan Shikai was going to step down, and even more outrageous said that Sun Wen was very dissatisfied with the war between the two sides and intended to restore the provisional political axe in the south.

Originally, all kinds of news were chaotic, and the various false news specially spread by the Propaganda Department of the Military Investigation Bureau of the National Army made the war in Jiangsu even more confusing, after all, the relevant movements of the National Army and the Beiyang Army were not a secret to the senior generals of both sides, but it was difficult for outsiders to know the real situation. Even Huang Xing has been running for two days, and no one outside knows about this situation, and many people still think that Huang Xing and Chen Jingyun are fighting side by side.

Ordinary people don't know about these situations, but it's not a secret to the diplomats of other countries, and in Dongjiaomin Alley, Zhu Erdian is holding a drinking party with a group of diplomats.

It is said that it is drinking and dancing, but it is basically not so simple for diplomats to hold a drinking party, especially now that the situation in China has deteriorated further, Zhu Erdian has just gotten rid of the entanglement of a blonde, and then walked to the US Minister to China Jia Leheng and the Minister to China, Ijiin Hikoyoshi, with a wine glass.

"What are you talking about?" Zhu Erdian took a sip of red wine as he spoke.

Jia Leheng said: "Oh, we were just discussing the possible impact of the war in the south of Jiangsu! ”

Ijiin Hikoyoshi said: "The war that broke out in Jiangsu has worried many people! ”

Zhu Erdian said: "I don't know what the two of you think about the war in Jiangsu?" ”

Ijiin Yanji said: "I'm not very familiar with Fujian, but I've also read some information about Chen Jingyun and the National Army, and I personally think that the National Army in Jiangsu may bring great trouble to the Beiyang Army!" ”

"Oh?" Zhu Erdian said: "Do you think that the National Army is capable of defeating the Beiyang Army?" ”

Ijiin Hikoyoshi smiled and said: "I didn't say that, now everyone's general opinion is that the Beiyang Army is the strongest, but before the war is decided, who can determine the result!" ”

Facing the words of Hikoyoshi of Ijiin, Zhu Erdian only smiled and then turned to the side of the American Minister Jia Leheng: "Mr. Calhoun, do you also think that the National Army can defeat the Beiyang Army?" ”

Jia Leheng said with a smile: "Well, it's hard to say, one is an old powerhouse and the other is a new star, it's really hard to say who wins and who loses!" ”

Zhu Erdian said: "We'll talk about the victory or defeat later, but now the war between the two sides in Jiangsu has had a great negative impact on the interests of various countries in China, so I don't know what the two of you think about this?" ”

"Japan has always maintained a neutral attitude towards the internal affairs of other countries, and although changes in China may affect the interests of China, Japan has always respected the sovereignty of other countries, especially China, so I say that this empire will take a cautious attitude of observation of internal conflicts in China. ”

Jia Leheng said: "The United States has always pursued neutral diplomacy, and this time is no exception! ”

Hearing the standard appearance of these two people's answers, Zhu Erdian was not angry or depressed, but smiled and talked about some gossip and anecdotes from Paris.