Chapter 240 Age of Chaos

At present, there are three military systems in the three eastern provinces. The first is the Central Army with official numbers. They are the 3rd Division, the 9th Division, the 10th Division, the 4th Mixed Brigade, the 5th Mixed Brigade, and the 1st Cavalry Brigade. The numbers of these units are all the 1st Division and the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Central Army.

The second type is the provincial army, such as the 7th Mixed Brigade, the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and the 1st Division. Their official numbers are the XX Division and XX Brigade of the Army of the three eastern provinces.

The above two are the troops of the field army, and the composition is the same, but there is a difference between the central army and the provincial army. In fact, there is no actual difference between the two.

In addition, there is a third type, that is, the patrol force. The official number of the patrol force is the first patrol regiment in the three eastern provinces, and there is no brigade, division, or army prefix.

Although Zhao Dongyun can also ask for the number of a central division from the Beijing division, the central government does not pay the number, and it will also expose the scale and speed of his army expansion. It is better to directly adopt the number of the provincial army to avoid the outside world from discovering the real strength and staffing of the Feng army.

Zhao Dongyun said the number, and then said, "You can't relax. The news came from the Beijing that Wang Yingkai's two new editors are also dissatisfied with the progress, and they have trained two regiments. Your first division must become an army within half a year."

Fangbi Yongdao: "We have rich experience in training the new army. As long as we follow the procedure and form a division within half a year, there will be no problem!"

This is not bad. The expansion of the Feng army under Zhao Dongyun has been experienced. Since 1905, it has begun to expand rapidly. A year later, it was expanded to three divisions in 1906, and half a year later it was expanded to three divisions and five brigades. Now the three divisions and five brigades have just become an army, and half a year later, there will be another division. To be honest, this expansion is no less than the speed of Yuan Shikai's formation of the Beiyang Standing Army in those years, and even faster.

Of course, the expansion of other warlords in Beiyang cannot be slow. Wang Yingkai only had only one division at the end of last year, and now he has two and a half divisions, and it won't take long to have four divisions. Duan Qirui also developed from one division to three brigades.

And the faster is the Southern Federation, whose number of new troops at the end of last year is handful, but today, it is said that there are more than 30 'town'-level numbers and more than 30 mixed association numbers. According to Zhang Zhidong and Duanfang and Tieliang, the three armies of the Northern Expedition of the Southern Federation have More than 800,000 troops.

Of course, this number is very watery, but there are still more than 200,000. At least there are at least 100,000 troops in the three towns of Wuhan, and there are more than 100,000 troops in Nanjing and Zhenjiang.

However, the combat effectiveness of these newly expanded troops of the Southern Federation is generally poor. They can fight several old troops formed in the pre-Qing era, mainly a few troops such as the eighth town, the ninth town, Jiangbei Mixed Association and the 21st Mixed Association of the former Qing Dynasty. Most of the others are lack of soldiers and weapons, especially extremely In the absence of heavy weapons, the Southern Federation has purchased a large number of German arms in the past six months, and with the output of the two factories of Hanyang and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, this light weapon is still not lacking, but the gap between artillery is very large.

If these newly formed troops were all expanded according to Zhao Dongyun's strict establishment, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen would have been driven back long ago, and they would not be defeated by the Southern Federation, which could still be fought.

For example, in Hefei, Anhui, since Bengbu was conquered by the Beiyang army, Duanfang has relied on Hefei and other cities to continue to resist Duan Qirui's southward offensive, which finally led to the outbreak of war between the two sides in Hefei in early May.

More than 20,000 troops fought fiercely with Zhang Huaizhi's fifth division in the two towns under Duanfang's command. Six days later, the two towns under Duanfang's command suffered more than 3,000 casualties. Finally, they fled to Anqing. After Zhang Huaizhi successfully conquered Hefei and continued to lead the army south to Anqing.

At this time, in addition to Anqing, which is still controlled by the Southern Federation, many areas north of the Yangtze River have fallen into the hands of the Northern Ocean.

There is no doubt that in May 1907, the situation was very good for the Northern Republican government. In the direction of Hubei, the second army led by Wang Shizhen has arrived at the three towns of Wuhan. Zhang Huaizhi in the direction of Anhui has conquered Hefei and is about to attack Anqing. In the direction of Jiangsu, Duan Qirui led the fourth division of the direct line to conquer Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong and other places. In the direction of Shanxi, Wu Fengling also conquered most of Shanxi after a few months of military expansion, and personally led the second division to surround and annihilate Zhao Erxun's mixed association in Linfen, which caused Zhao Erxun's troops to be severely damaged and forced to withdraw from the southwestern part of Shanxi and retreat back to Shaanxi.

At this time, there were also some changes in the navy. Many naval vessels previously led by Sa Zhenbing to the Southern Federation quietly left Nanjing, and then went to Shanghai to declare a republic, including the Haiqi.

In this way, the Southern Federation in the direction of the two rivers will be even more tragic!

Today, the north-south occupation and development may be difficult for Wang Shizhen to make a breakthrough in Hubei, but in the southeast direction, in the face of several defeats, Duan Qirui's first army across the Yangtze River is already within reach.

However, this good situation has made many people in China frown.

Jingshi Jurentang, Wang Yingkai frowned: "The federal troops in Nanjing and Zhenjiang have really reached the final desperate situation?"

"If there is no big accident, they can't defend southern Jiangsu, in a short period of one month and a long period of March, and the end will be defeated!" Wang Zhanyuan also doesn't look very good.

"What about Zhang Huaizhi? How is the situation in Anqing? Wang Yingkai asked again.

"There are about 20,000 defenders in Anqing now, and most of them are defeated. If the Fifth Division launches an attack, they will definitely not be blocked!" Wang Zhanyuan Road.

"It seems that things are a little out of control!" Wang Yingkai turned around and looked at the map of China on the table. After thinking about it for a long time, he said, "Your seventh division is ready!"

Wang Zhanyuan was slightly shocked after hearing this: "Oh, is this going south?"

Wang Yingkai shook his head: "No, you go to Shandong!"

"I'm going to Shandong? In this case, Zhang Zizhen's side..." Wang Zhanyuan looked worried. He didn't want to go to Shandong, but Shandong is Zhang Huaizhi's territory. Although Zhang Huaizhi has now gone to Anhui to fight, everyone knows that Shandong is Zhang Huaizhi's territory.

"Don't worry about Zhang Zizhen. He is now in Anhui, and Anhui has just been fought. No one can control it. I will let him also be the governor of Anhui. As for you go to Shandong, you can only station troops and not be the governor!" Wang Yingkai said so.

Wang Zhanyuan is a smart man. He suddenly guessed Wang Yingkai's idea. It's nothing more than that Duan Qirui's progress in the south is too smoothly. Duan Qirui is about to go south to Jiangsu, Anhui and even south of the Yangtze River. At that time, Duan Qirui will have the land of two rivers and rely on the south of the Yangtze River. The district can quickly grow into the richest warlord in China, but at that time, Wang Yingkai and others' opponents were not the Southern Federation, but Duan Qirui.

So although Wang Yingkai drove Duan Qirui to the two rivers, he did not think about letting Duan Qirui take the two rivers smoothly. According to his assumption, it should be that Duan Qirui should go south and Duan Fang to fight for both sides, and then train several divisions in the north before going south to clean up the mess. At that time, he will accept Duan Qirui at one stroke. With Wang Shizhen's remnants, the provinces of the Southern Federation will basically fall with the wind. After calming down the south and dealing with Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, Wang Yingkai will gather the main force to march outside the customs and fight against Zhao Dongyun.

As long as Zhao Dongyun is defeated in the end, he will be able to truly unify the North Ocean, um, along with unifying China.

However, this strategic idea is trapped because the troops of the Southern Federation are too scum. Now Wang Yingkai's newly expanded troops have not been formed. The 11th Division and the 12th Division will not be formed until the end of the year, but now Duan Qirui is going south to the two rivers, which is not what he wants to see.

If Zhang Huaizhi is also a governor of Anhui, although it will improve Zhang Huaizhi's strength and influence, it will also greatly weaken Duan Qirui's strength, which is good for Wang Yingkai.

As for letting Wang Zhanyuan go to Shandong is to control Shandong militarily, and it can also prevent Duan Qirui from suddenly going north to Shandong. As for not letting Wang Zhanyuan serve as the governor of Shandong, it is also to attract Zhang Huaizhi. Although Zhang Huaizhi has turned to Wang Yingkai, she also has her own small plan. If she complete Shandong Take it away, I guess Zhang Huaizhi will turn against him!

Of course, Wang Yingkai is not enough to do these things alone. He has to pull another person. Who? Zhao Dongyun!

"Well, I don't want Duan Qirui to get bigger. Naturally, Zhao Dongyun doesn't want to!" Wang Yingkai knows very well that Zhao Dongyun, like himself, is full of wanting to be the boss of Beiyang and unify Beiyang. It is not in Zhao Dongyun's interest for any of the Beiyang warlords to rise.

As for letting Duan Qirui grow up and then attacking Wang Yingkai in the north of Yunnan with Zhao Dong, once Duan Qirui grows up holding the land of the two rivers, he will be able to control the southern provinces such as Zhejiang, Fujian and even Guangdong. Such a Duan Qirui will replace Wang Yingkai and become Zhao Dongyun's number one. At that time, Zhao Dongyun will not unite with Duan Qirui to fight Wang Yingkai, but with Wang Yingkai to kill Duan Qirui first.

In fact, those who control the two rivers and southern provinces, whether it is the Southern Federation, Duan Qirui or others, will become the common enemies of Zhao Dongyun and Wang Yingkai.

"Give a telegram to Shenyang and ask what Ziyang means!" After Wang Yingkai waved his hand, he asked Wang Zhanyuan out and looked at the map of China on the table. Many provinces on the map are of different colors, and it can be clearly seen that contemporary China has actually been torn apart. There is Zhao Dongyun in the northeast, Wang Yingkai in Shandong, Wu Fengling in Shanxi, and Zhao Er in Shaanxi. Xun, there are Zhang Zhidong in Hunan, Hubei, Duanfang, Tieliang, Duan Qirui in the north of the Yangtze River, Zhang Huaizhi in Anhui, Wang Shizhen in Hubei and Henan, and Wang Ruxian in northern Henan.

A big China, with a republic in the north and a federation in the south, and dozens of large and small warlords holding real power!

This is an era of chaos!

Looking at the chaotic map, Wang Yingkai felt a deep sense of powerlessness!

Unification, why is it so difficult!