Chapter 341 Can't Stop

Zhao Dongyun did not have much recognition of Fang Biyong's proposal to suspend the war in the direction of Bengbu, because Zhao Dongyun's consideration of the problem requires not only from a military perspective, but also from a political perspective.

From a military point of view, the Feng army has gone through several wars since it entered the customs. At this time, it can be said that it has reached the point of exhaustion. It urgently needs time to restore the establishment of the troops, replenish the lost soldiers and officers, supplement the ordnance, food, etc., and more importantly, give the front-line troops a vacation.

Soldiers and officers are also human beings. They can't keep fighting on the front line, and the previous battle in northern Jiangsu has made them fight for more than three months, which is a great torture for their spirit. Under normal circumstances, the operation of the troops will be stopped for a while. Generally speaking, after the front-line troops have been fighting on the front line for more than a month, they need to withdraw and rest.

In the First World War in history, the British army generally rotated three troops on the western battlefield to guard the same position. One unit is located in the front trench, one unit is located in the second position as a reserve, and one unit rests in the rear. Each unit will not fight continuously in the front trenches. More than half a month.

Although the environment of the contemporary domestic battlefield is not as cruel as those on the Western Front of World War I, after three months of continuous combat, it is actually a huge test for soldiers. This test is not only physical, but also spiritual. If you continue to fight, there will be many collapses due to mental pressure. The defeated soldier.

Most people only know that the two world wars caused many deaths and injuries, but few people will know that these two world wars created many mental patients!

So whether from the perspective of logistical supplies or other perspectives, the front-line troops of the Feng army have reached a large-scale and long-term rest.

This is also the reason why Fang Biyong and many other military generals proposed to suspend the Bengbu offensive against Zhao Dongyun.

However, Zhao Dongyun did not agree. On the contrary, he personally crossed the order of the staff to Meng Enyuan and asked the First Army to conquer Bengbu as soon as possible and then control the whole Anhui area north of the Yangtze River.

The reason why he forced the troops to continue to attack south despite the hard work of the troops is also his concern.

Fang Biyong and others said that the Feng army was exhausted for three consecutive months, but the situation of Duan Qirui's fourth division in Bengbu was also not good. The fourth division fought with the Feng army in Xuzhou for more than two months, and it was defeated and escaped, which had a greater impact on the morale of the army.

From a military point of view, now the vast Jiangbei areas such as northern Jiangsu and central Anhui are extremely empty. After the Anhui army suffered a series of fiascos, the strength in Jiangbei region is very limited. Now is the time for the Feng army to beat the water dog. If he rests for ten days and a half months, Duan Qirui will also recover. When they come, the reinforcements from Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places will arrive, and then they will form the situation of the war in northern Jiangsu. At that time, even if the Feng army can still seriously damage the Anhui army, they don't know how much they need to pay.

So at this time, Zhao Dongyun can't stop the troops. He wants to let the troops fight all the way to the Yangtze River. If possible, he even dares to cross the Yangtze River before the reinforcements of the Anhui army goes north. At that time, the so-called Yangtze River will naturally not break through.

These strategic considerations are ignored by many generals. Those generals usually don't look so far. In their opinion, the Battle of Northern Jiangsu has been won. As for taking the whole Jiangbei region, it is still too far for them to cross the Yangtze River.

In addition to the consideration of military strategy, Zhao Dongyun also took into account some political reactions. Nowadays, both at home and abroad are closely watching the progress of the war in Jiangbei region. Domestically, everyone is looking at whether Zhao Dongyun can completely take Jiangbei and clean up Duan Qirui, and internationally, especially several are negotiating with China. The countries that take care of the loan are also keeping their eyes open. As long as Zhao Dongyun shows a slight decline, they will quickly give up the negotiation of the loan to Zhao Dongyun. Are you kidding? You Zhao Dongyun are going to be defeated. How can they waste tens of millions of pounds?

Nowadays, the after-care loans negotiated by Beiyang republicans and other countries can also be regarded as an investment by the great powers in Zhao Dongyun to some extent. Only when Zhao Dongyun's power is stable can the great profits be obtained from these loans.

The previous battle of Xuzhou and the whole war in northern Jiangsu, and even the subsequent war process and victory or defeat of the whole Jiangbei region have directly affected Zhao Dongyun's subsequent development of power, which is particularly important for several international powers, especially those who want to make a lot of money on aftermath loans.

Since there are great powers watching their performance behind their back, even if Zhao Dongyun knows the hardship of the troops, he can only grit his teeth and continue to go south. As long as there is another overwhelming victory, or the whole Jiangbei region, then from a strategic point of view, he will occupy it in the future Chinese unification war. The great strategic advantage will also attract the great powers to bet on themselves at that time.

And once they bet on themselves, when the tens of millions of pounds of after-of-care loans arrive, they will be supported by at least 200 million military spending. At that time, who else can stand in the pace of unifying China?

These days, war is about fighting for money. The reason why the Anhui army expanded so fast is that Duan Qirui occupied the Jiangnan area in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Why can Zhao Dongyun pull up a regular field army of more than 100,000 yuan? Why did the Southern Federation suffer many defeats in a row? Why did their troops fight more and more? Why was Zhang Zhidong able to raise more than 100,000? Nearly 200,000 troops even launched a large-scale river crossing counterattack against Wang Shizhen, because he not only controlled Huguang, but also obtained from Sichuan and Yungui. Financial support. Why did Duanfang and Xiliang lose a series of battles like the immortal Xiaoqiang, but there were consecutive defeats, because they controlled the two rivers and Fujian and Zhejiang regions at the beginning, even now supported by Guangdong, a major financial province.

And Zhao Dongyun, to be honest, the area under his control is not small, the three eastern provinces, Mongolia, Zhili, Shandong and Henan. As for northern Jiangsu and central Anhui, northern and other regions, they are not under the complete control of the Feng army for the time being. The above-mentioned provinces under the complete control of the Feng army are almost one-third the size of China, but there is not much financial revenue in these areas that can support Zhao Dongyun's army.

For many sites under the control of the Soviet Union, the largest contribution of fiscal revenue is Fengtian Province, which has been the main pillar of Soviet finance from last year to this year. Secondly, it is the Tangshan Special Administrative Office, which is the area controlled by the Feng army after the Republic last year, including Tangshan and Chengde. Although the above two places still belong to Zhili Province in name, Zhao Dongyun established the Tangshan Special Administrative Office last year to govern the above two places. After Fengjun entered the customs, The jurisdiction of the office has been expanded again, generally including Zhili Yongping Prefecture, Chengde Prefecture, Chifeng Prefecture and other Zhili prefectures in the pre-Qing Dynasty, as well as Mongolia's Zhuosotu League, Zhaouda League and other areas, which are larger than the historical Rehe Special Administrative Region, mainly Yongping Prefecture.

Although this area is still nominally under the jurisdiction of Zhili Province for the time being, it is no longer under the jurisdiction of Zhili Province, but is directly responsible to the Cabinet by the Administrative Office.

Not to mention other places in the Tangshan Administrative Office, but Tangshan City should focus on mentioning it, because there are Fuyuan Machinery Factory, Tangshan Iron and Steel Factory and many coal and iron ore mining enterprises. Before the Qing Dynasty died out in 1906, there were already hidden regulations of the core heavy industrial bases in the north. The contribution of these heavy industries and the drive of other local industries have greatly increased the fiscal revenue of Tangshan City.

Considering specific cities alone, Tangshan City ranked first in all cities in northern provinces in 1907 in terms of fiscal revenue, more than Beijing Normal University. A single Fuyuan machine factory alone can contribute more than one million annual fiscal revenue to the local government.

However, in addition to Fengtian and Tangshan Special Administrative Office, several other provinces contribute quite first, such as Zhili. In addition to Tangshan and Tianjin, Jingshi, other places are also poor places that can't find a few taels of silver. Shandong and Henan, these two provinces are famous for having many people and few places in modern China. Otherwise, these two provinces would not have gone to the northeast to break through the east.

In short, the vast area of Zhili outside Guan, Shandong and Henan are all bitter places. Don't expect to find out how much money to support the army.

Compared with the surrounding provinces, it is really too hard. Although Shanxi in the west is not very good, people have coal. They can make a lot just by digging coal. Not to mention Jiangsu in the south, Jiangnan has been a place full of wealth for nearly a thousand years. Hubei in the southwest is not bad. Although Anhui is a famous industrial province in modern China, it depends on the Yangtze River. Jiangsu and Hubei on the border can more or less drive Anhui's industrial and commercial economic development.

Therefore, compared with the surrounding areas under control, the vast northern region under control is really unsightly unsightly. If the situation had been slightly better, his Feng army under Zhao Dongyun would have already broken through 200,000 troops and gone towards a scale of 300,000 or even 400,000. How can they still rely on the bottom in the northeast? The third division and the third brigade are supporting it.

To some extent, after Zhao Dongyun took control of these sites, he did not bring him much benefit. Anyway, he did not have much money to expand his army. On the contrary, in order to support the operation of the central government, the cost is getting bigger and bigger day by day.

So today's Zhao Dongyun has encountered the same trouble as Yuan Shikai in history: the area of the territory is not small, but they are all poor places and can't find much money!

How to expand military spending if you don't have money? In addition to borrowing it when you fall from the sky, issuing patriotic bonds is also an aspect, and it is also an aspect for foreigners to borrow in the name of borrowing aftercare loans.

In order to get a loan from foreigners, Zhao Dongyun must prove to the powers, especially the British, that Zhao Dongyun has the ability to unify China and maintain the domestic peace situation!

Based on these reasons, Zhao Dongyun once again ordered Meng Enyuan to fight bravely and not be afraid of sacrifice to conquer Bengbu as soon as possible on November 12!