45 wind and snow like sunshine

Xi'an, the wind and snow are as clear as snow.

The last batch of Anxi Army led by Li Xiang held an entrance ceremony. All the officers and soldiers, wearing brand-new military uniforms and carrying shiny weapons, gathered outside the South Gate, lined up in a three-way column, sang the song "Three Disciplines and Eight Attentions", entered from the South Gate in angrily and august manner, and then turned to the East Gate. More than 100,000 hot-blooded young people from Xi'an rushed to the streets, beating gongs and drums, shouting the slogan "to carry out the revolution to the end", and warmly welcomed the Ezhou revolutionary army into the city.

Xi'an Consultation Bureau, there are more than a dozen senior generals of the Anxi Army, some standing in front of the eaves, some whispering, and some looking to the northwest at the open triple door, waiting. The former Shaanxi general Zhang Fengsuiyu, Zhang Yunshan and others are thinking about how to deal with Li Xiang's question, while being curiously waiting to see Li, who has been passed down. The handsome face.

Accompanied by three generals, Lin Tiechang, Song Que and Zhao Youcheng, Li Xiang walked in majestically. The slightly frowned eyebrows, the young enviable handsome face, naturally showed the evil spirit and domineering spirit from the sea of corpses and blood.

Zhang Feng Suiyu, Zhang Yunshan, etc. were instantly convinced by the temperament of Li Xiang, and a word suddenly popped up in their hearts: a generation of heroes! They put away their eyes and despised him. They silently waited for Li to enter the door.

"Everyone knows about the Battle of Xianyang." Li wanted to sit down. When the generals entered in turn and saluted, he said bluntly, "The battle of Xianyang typically reflects the command characteristics of the generals in the revolutionary army. The enemy is unexpected, brave, and the results in the early stage are rich." He calmly took a sip of hot tea that had just come in, and said, "But this kind of combat command is rough and all kinds of feelings. What's more, it's not well thought out, and it's often a tiger's head and a snake's tail. When we open the map and take a look, we can see that the main force of the Anxi Army is inserted into Baoji from Shaanxi to the west. It is very risky. Ma Anliang is really willing to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. As a result, not only Sheng Yun reacted quickly, but Ma Anliang's whole army also went out to suppress it with all his strength, forming a north-south attack. After beating Baoji, even if the revolutionary army blocked Shengyun, it could not get rid of the passive situation of the battle. It's just that because Ma Anliang refuses to increase "investment", Shengyun and Ma Anliang can't cooperate together and the coordination is not good. Of course, Lin Tiechang also had meritorious skills, responded quickly, and resolutely defended Xianyang. It happened that the last group of Anxi army led by me had just entered Xi'an and quickly reinforced Xianyang before repelling the Ma's Western Army, so that the main force got rid of Shengyun and Ma Anliang's attack and returned to Shaanxi.

Lin Tiechang was shocked by the war in Xianyang. He stood up and blamed himself and said, "The revolutionary army has suffered a lot in this war. I should bear the main responsibility."

Although the damage of the Battle of Xianyang was much smaller than that of the Majiaxi Army that attacked the city, it was really painful for the Anxi Army, which had just been formed, with a small total strength and a weak foundation.

"Of course, the responsibility should be investigated. The housekeeper still learns lessons from mistakes, gains experience, and don't make the mistakes of consent. Courage is a good thing. Revolutionaries never lack courage, but courage is not a good thing. Lixiang is not a mean person, but he still needs to be trained. He said melancholy, "Before I came, I made specific arrangements with the staff officers of the military department on the march of the Anxi army. The task given to the Anxi army is to march to the northwest, eliminate the enemies in the northwest, and restore and operate the five provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet and Mongolia. It is very urgent to require the occupation of Gansu and Xinjiang by the end of 1911. Then the army is divided into two routes: one is led by Lin Tiechang, while operating Xinjiang, he is ready to recover Outer Mongolia at any time; the other is led by Zhao Youcheng into Qinghai to prepare for the restoration of Tibet and Xikang provinces.

Although Li Xiang looked melancholy, he said it very generously, and the generals were all creepy.

Zhang Yunshan said loudly, "I thought it would be a little difficult to defeat the Qing army Shengyun, Chang Geng, Ma Anliang, Yuan Dahua and Zhirui's allied forces at the end of 1911!"

Li wanted to think for a moment, leaned over and asked, "You might as well say it clearly." Li is so eager. He just wants to end the Western Expedition before the Qing Emperor's abdication, so as to avoid being taken by others, and there will be a lot of unnecessary trouble. And as long as he is based in Gansu and Xinjiang, he will still be conquering Mongolia or Tibet. When the independence of Mongolia and Tibet opens, he can only encourage public opinion, and he will definitely do things and do it gloriously. Back to the national hero. These ideas cannot be made public with great fanfare. After all, the north-south peace has not yet come out, and the abdication of the Qing Emperor is even more ridiculous.

Zhang Yunshan was stunned and didn't know what Li Xiang was thinking. After a long time, he said, "In the battle of Xianyang, you should know the strength of the Western Army. The Qing Army in the northwest is a capable army, which is really difficult to deal with."

Lin Tiechang suffered a loss in Xianyang and wanted to avenge this arrow, but he was just criticized by Li Xiang. At this time, he knew that as soon as he opened his mouth, he must implement his brave and resourceful assertion, and he was silent. Li Sang's direct line did not open his mouth. Although the generals who had just defected to Shaanxi were willing to be rewarded, they refused to show this limelight. For a moment, the air in the hall seemed to be frozen, solidified, and as silent as death.

Li wanted to drink tea quietly, glanced at the generals present, and said with a smile, "The Battle of Xianyang has dealt a major blow to Ma Anliang's Western Army, which will make it have to shrink its troops and retreat to Gansu."

Li Xiang cleared his throat and continued: "You may not be very clear that in terms of the development of revolutionary forces in Gansu, the revolutionaries have infiltrated schools, armies and gangs in different ways. Young students are active and have a deep understanding of the nature of the dark rule of the Qing government. At that time, some progressive students, inspired by books such as "Ten Days in Yangzhou" and "Jiading Three Tu" and others, took the world as their own responsibility. The revolutionaries have worked very effectively among them. Many enlightened young people, such as Lv Xiyou, Zhang Zanting, Yan Boting, Chen Haishan, Shen Xiangting, Su Zhengqing, Guo Han and others from Lanzhou Wubei School, joined the League organization one after another, further strengthening the revolutionary force. Chen Zongda, a native of Wenxian County, after accepting the revolutionary thought, organized the organization of "Guanlong Yingqing Society" in Tianshui, put forward the program of "the wisdom of the people, the people's livelihood, and the power of the people", and published the Guanlong Morning Bell News, which has a wide influence in society, and many people have joined the organization. The New Army is the focus of the revolutionary activities. During the promotion of Yundugan, the garrison in Gansu had a governor's army and a continuous reserve army. The former is stationed in Lanzhou, the provincial capital, and the latter is stationed in various places. There are horse teams, tachments and artillery in the establishment. In the first year of Xuantong, in order to implement the new army, Changgeng reorganized part of the Gansu army into a standing army, with a total jurisdiction over the horse and the four standards. The new army recruited by all the battalions. The vast majority of them are local bankrupt farmers, craftsmen and urban poor people. The revolutionaries have promoted revolutionary ideas and are very effective.

They all know what Li wants to say, but now the war is tense and they can't be contacted at all. Zhang Yunshan once used chicken feathers to urge the Ningxia revolutionaries to quickly oppose the Qing uprising, but he has not been able to wait for a reply.

"Under the encouragement of the revolutionary party, Zhou Wuxue was the first "success" in the third battalion of the Zhongwu Army. The Wang Zhizuo Movement Jianwei Army Chai Hongshan and the artillery team led Liang Guozhang, and the Li Zhaomei Movement's urban defense army stationed in Qinzhou were all successful. The fifth battalion of the continuing army stationed in Ningxia also said that they would support the revolution. In addition, some people in the Green Camp and the Return Army also keep in touch with the revolutionaries through gangs. These are all the secret forces that Li Xiang got from Huangxing to deploy the northwest of the Central Alliance. "Huang Yue, a native of Nanning Township, Hunan Province, is in Gansu. Chang Geng, the governor of Gansu, and his father, the former Xinjiang Admiral Huang Wanpeng are old, so they have gained trust and are appointed as the military staff of the supervision office and the prime minister's military equipment. He used his legal identity to strengthen contact with the revolutionaries Zhou Kun, Lu Shijuan, Li Zhaomei and others who had previously arrived in Gan, and formed a meeting with the Shu people to advocate new knowledge and call on comrades to actively engage in revolutionary activities.

At that time, in Gansu, the urban and rural areas withered, the number of unemployed and unemployed people increased, and there was a new development in the folk secret association. It turned out that the Gansu Brother Association began when Zuo Zongtang was in Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, there were many members of the elder association of Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and Sichuan in the Hunan army. After being discharged from the army, they were transferred to various places in the northwest. Some turned into political careers and some were engaged in industrial and commercial farmers, but most of them later became unemployed and became brave with the concentration of land. Up to the end of Guangxu, Gansu Province, from Guasha and Xining in the west, to Huanqing in the east, to Yinxia in the north, and Taomin in the south. There are no footprints of the Brother Association. Its ethnic composition includes Han, Hui, Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu and other ethnic groups. On the eve of the Xinhai Revolution, with the support and liaison of the revolutionaries, the number of members was increasing, and the development of the Elder Brother Association was in full swing. This has had a far-reaching impact on the strengthening of revolutionary forces.

During the uprising, the revolutionaries also paid special attention to adjusting the strategic layout according to the changes in the situation, and timely chose Ningxia as the first place for military purposes. Over the past few years, through the hard work of the revolutionaries, the revolutionary forces in Lanzhou have gradually been organized. However, due to the careless actions of the revolutionaries, the matter was detected by the local authorities in Gansu. The governor, Geng, secretly ordered the civil and military offices and defense forces in various places to capture them, and closely monitored the three battalions of the Zhongwu Army controlled by the revolutionaries, which caused several setbacks to the revolution. In this way, the original plan to be the first in Lanzhou can no longer be realized. However, the revolution ** is coming, and the revolutionaries did not retreat under the serious threat of the enemy. They analyzed the situation in the whole Gansu at that time and believed that Ningxia was the main traffic road of Qingting North Road, and it was full of mountains and rivers, rich in products and no need of food. In addition, compared with the provincial capital Lanzhou, the counter-revolutionary forces in Ningxia are also weak. Therefore, the Northwest Revolutionary Alliance decided on a strategic shift. In order to realize the established policy, the revolutionaries Liu Xianzhi, Lv Xiyu, Chen Haishan, Yan Boting and others were sent to Ningxia to carry out work. During their Ning period, they took advantage of various social relations and took the opportunity to develop 57 people from all walks of life to join the alliance organization and establish the Ningxia Revolutionary League branch. At the same time, the revolutionaries also secretly contacted the party in various forms. In order to meet the needs of the struggle, Liu Xianzhi and Lv Xiyu, the heads of the branch, also joined the elder brother's association and were elected as the leaders of the party. There are also many members of the elder brother's association who join the alliance. In this way, the Ningxia Alliance and the Elder Brother Association have achieved unity in terms of organization and become the backbone of the revolution.

"Ningxia is known as "Guanzhong barrier, Qinlong throat", and its strategic position is very important. If the revolutionary party is righteous in Ningxia, what will it represent? Li wanted to ask his own question, and then said, "First of all, Xi'an Guangfu cut off the South Road from the Qing Court to the northwest. The Ningxia Uprising was successful and cut off the only north road traffic at that time, which effectively shook the Qing government's rule in Gansu. As long as the Ningxia uprising, the Qing army attacking Shaanxi had to divide the troops to fight back, dispersing the military force to attack Xi'an, and constaining the military strength of the northwest of the Qing Dynasty, making it difficult for it difficult to achieve the goal of eliminating the Shaanxi people's army to welcome the Qing Emperor, and establishing a base to counterattack the whole country and restore the Qing Dynasty. In particular, it will be a great blow to the morale of the Qing army. This is not only extremely beneficial to the annihilation of the former Admiral Zhang Zhixing's Zhuangkai Army, the former Gansu Admiral Ma Anliang's elite Western Army and Lu Hongtao's Zhenwu Army, but also creates conditions for the occupation of Gansu and Xinjiang at the end of 1911.