Chapter 162 Infinite Future

The military camp of Beiyang Zuo Town happened to be near Baoding. The presence of these big-headed soldiers a few years ago did not bring disturbance to the place, but brought a little prosperity. At least the business in the fireworks alley and pub was much better because of their existence. After pulling out the winter, the Western-style barracks suddenly became deserted.

But in less than ten days, with the return of the officers and soldiers of the brigade's infantry artillery battalion, the deserted ten-day barracks once again made a scene. In the barracks dormitory, there are many dormitories where no one lives, and all of them are full of dust. The door suddenly opened and a group of soldiers poured in. Zhou Shaoqi is also among them. More than a year of military career restrained his wild spirit and showed a sense of heroism. With a tired face, the soldiers threw down their guns and luggage and scolded.

"Grandma, I'm finally back!"

"Damn it, grandpa is practicing in the ground in the cold winter. Isn't there even a cleaning person at home?"

"It's such a life to be a soldier, and it's useless to scold!"

At this time, an officer came in. It was Lei Zhenchun. The soldiers were immediately silent and stood upright.

Lei Zhenchun, who entered the barracks, looked calm and obviously heard the soldiers' complaints.

"The thing the dog said is just the sixth day in winter, but it screams bitterly!"

As soon as he saw the standard, he seemed to want to be angry, and Zhou Shaoqi took a step forward to salute.

"Report to Lord, brothers just said a little tired words, but they never complained when they practiced."

looking at Zhou Shaoqi, Lei Zhenchun's face slowed down. This week, Shaoqi gave a long face to the front of the left association.

The position of Chief of Staff in Beiyang is very low. Generally, young non-commissioned officers who are familiar with military business are the assistant chief. Zhou Shaoqi was appointed as the former chief of staff officer because he had just graduated from Beiyang Express School. In winter, who thought that the commander-in-chief would suddenly come to the standard camp and directly ask the officials of the standard camp.

"How many people have been marked in front of the Left Association? How many people are left behind? How many patient numbers are there? How many mild diseases? How many serious illnesses? How many tents have come? How many horses have come?

As a standard, Lei Zhenchun couldn't answer a word. He blushed and had to say, "I can't remember." Ask others again, at most, that is to say, "These have accounts to check, and you will know when you check the accounts." In the end, it was Zhou Shaoqi, who was only 22. He said every question asked by the commander, and there was a question-and-answer. At that time, everyone saw the commander's appreciation of Zhou Shaoqi. It happened that the former team battalion asked for leave due to the death of his mother, and immediately appointed his former team battalion agent.

"Zhou Tong, come out with me!"

"Yes! My lord!"

As soon as he left the barracks, Lei Zhenchun, who had a straight face, smiled.

"Kunjie, you showed your face in front of the general this winter!"

"The whole series of standard adults are good at training! Shaoqi dare not take credit!"

Zhou Shaoqi, who didn't know what the standard meant, hurriedly said something.

"Well, Gongjie, this time you showed your face in front of the commander-in-chief, and the commander-in-chief also wrote down you. Well, yesterday's training office came to write a text, and you went to the staff camp office of the supervision office as a staff officer! The future is unlimited!"

Zhou Shaoqi was stunned, the staff officer of the staff office! And Lei Zhenchun just smiled, with a smile on his face and a smile in his heart. This week's Gongjie showed his face in front of the general, but it also made Lei Zhenchun lose face. Going to the staff office is basically equivalent to retirement!

Before entering Baoding City, Zhou Shaoqi found that the atmosphere in Baoding City today seemed to be a little different. The patrol battalion with live ammunition at the gate checked the people in and out of the city. Even if he was wearing a Beiyang military uniform and holding the order of the supervision office, he was also checked before being put in. In the city, you can see the Beiyang Army carrying guns in and out of the alleys and searching for hotels and restaurants everywhere in the city.

"What's the matter?"

In a strange heart, after walking for a while, Zhou Shaoqi went to the Beiyang Superintendent's Office. When he entered the office, he also went through a lot of inspection. There were several neat rows of red brick barracks behind the Superintendent's office. The barracks were German-style barracks, which seemed to be different from the front pavilion. In the staff camp behind the barracks, after he explained his intention to one person, he was received by an officer who was a few years old but with the rank of colonel.

"Is it Zhou Shaoqi?"

"Yes."

"I'm Li Jiaping, and my name is Pingyuan! It's a great honor for the staff officer of the staff to know a young and successful brother like Gongjie.

The two shook hands, and Li Jiaping laughed, regardless of the surprise on Zhou Shaoqi's face. In the Beiyang New Training Army, everyone knows Li Pingyuan's name. The German instructor once mentioned that Li Jiaping was the real staff officer. In terms of plans and maps, it is unmatched in the whole Beiyang. Naturally, the commander-in-chief also praised him. Therefore, when the right town was first built last year, the commander-in-chief intended to go to the right town to manage a standard force, but Li Jiaping said that he was not suitable to be the head of the army, only suitable for the staff to plan for the commander, and missed the opportunity in vain. Although he is not the head of this staff office, he is also an influential staff officer, and ordinary staff can't be compared with it.

"Brother Gongjie, come on, follow me."

With that, he took Zhou Shaoqi into a room. This is a lounge, but from the interior layout, it is more like a war room. There are battle maps hanging on the wall and on the table, exuding the strong atmosphere unique to the military staff office everywhere. The wooden floor on the ground and the brown leather cushion on the seat have a strong foreign flavor.

However, under the wall, there were several Western-style oil paintings with war themes. When he walked to the oil painting, Zhou Shaoqi stopped. From these oil fields, he saw that one of them was Yuan Shikai's oil fields to quell the Korean rebellion. Obviously, this was deliberately done by the painters and hangers, and what he did was nothing more than to meet the horse.

Li Jiaping laughed and pointed to the chair beside him.

"Please sit down. No one will take care of you these two days!"

"Huh? Sir, why is this?

Zhou Shaoqi frowned in a scumben. Is it because the Spring Festival is coming? No way! This is not a green camp.

"Yesterday, someone intended to assassinate the commander!"

After seeing Zhou Shaoqi sit down, Li Jiaping sat down opposite him.

"Attassination of the marshal?"

Looking at Li Jiaping in surprise, Zhou Shaoqi couldn't imagine who dared to assassinate the commander in Baoding. When he came, he only thought about why there were Beiyang soldiers everywhere in Baoding City, and he didn't think about someone who assassinated the general at all.

"It was done by the revolutionary party. When you came here, you didn't see that there were three sentries outside the training office, and the bullets in the camp were also distributed to people. Who knows if the revolutionary party would drop a bomb at this training office?"

Laughter, a little sarcasm between Li Jiaping's eyebrows, who Zhou Shaoqi didn't notice.

"Come and have a cup of tea first."

"Thank you, sir!"

Zhou Shaoqi, who was extremely shocked, nodded and didn't notice that his identity as an official was actually asked the officer to pour tea for himself.

"Son, did the assassin catch it?"

"It doesn't matter whether you can catch it or not. The important commander is not injured. Isn't that the most important thing?"

After looking at Li Jiaping strangely, Zhou Shaoping nodded and said.

"Yes, sir! The most important thing is that the general was not injured!"

"Speaking of which, those revolutionaries are stupid enough!"

Li Jiaping took a sip of tea and looked at the snow outside the window.

"I heard that you were selected into the staff office in the winter because you answered questions that could not be answered by the standard?"

Li Jiaping's smile was infectious. When he smiled, his whole face, especially around his friendly eyes, there were layers of ripples. Anyone who met for the first time would be moved by his frankness.

"It's just a number that some staff officers must learn."

Zhou Shaoqi replied modestly, and at the same time, he had some good feelings for the life of welcoming him in person.

Listening to his answer, Li Jiaping shook his head.

"I can't remember those numbers, and no one in the whole staff office can remember them!"

With that, he took a document form from the table.

"After the commander-in-chief came back, he had been to this school for everyone. No one could report those numbers at once. The commander-in-chief said that such a talent as Gongjie is exactly what the staff office needs, so you came here. How can you be disappointed?"

Zhou Shaoqi smiled again.

"Shui officer, it's not a disappointment, it's not bad in the staff office!"

"The staff office has no power, and the status of the staff officer is not high. Unless you can win the title of the chief officer, you will never come out in the staff office."

Li Jiaping held the teacup in his hands and put an insincere expression on his face.

And Zhou Shaoqi laughed instead.

"If so, why does Brother Pingyuan stay in this staff office? Everyone knows that you..."

"Do you know I didn't go to the right town?"

Li Jiaping smiled and then looked at Zhou Shaoqi seriously.

"Do you know that Zuozhen will be supplemented by the "strong people" selected from the flag soldiers now?"

"Huh? I just heard about one or two!"

"After the Spring Festival, the left and right towns may be changed to one or two towns. At the time of the boundary, one town will be the imperial guard, which will be unified by the flag officers. As for the right town, which is also the second town... Can the staff officers like me compete with the officers who have been with the commanders since childhood?"

Li Jiaping's answer only surprised Zhou Shaoqi, and he was too frank.

"It's better to stay in this staff office than that, isn't it?"

Li Jiaping said with a smile that in fact, there were some other considerations why he did not serve as the head of the army.

"The German army ordered the staff, and the new army will be trained in the future. It is logical to set up the staff headquarters."

He took a serious look at Zhou Shaoqi.

"And the commander-in-chief to the Xide system, and the staff office will prepare for the establishment of the staff headquarters. When the staff headquarters is established in the future, the military order comes from the staff headquarters, so staying in the staff office can also be said to have a promising future!"

It was not until this time that Zhou Shaoqi understood Li Jiaping's intention. He told himself in another way that since he came to this staff office, he should calm down. The future of this staff office is boundless.

The future is boundless!

People have different understandings of these four words. Zhou Shaoqi just smiled and didn't say anything.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Li Jiaping stood up and walked towards a desk, with his back to Zhou Shaoqi. He turned over the paper roll on the table for a long time, and then went to the table and spread a newspaper that had turned yellow for a long time with his broad palm.

"Kunjie, take a look at this newspaper!"

After taking over the newspaper, Zhou Shaoqi saw the report in the newspaper that "Russia negotiations are deadlocked again". This is not news. It is said that the two Russian powers have been negotiating on the issue of "Manchuria and North Korea" for half a year, which is a great shame for the Qing Dynasty. The two powers are talking about there. The land of Qing, but all the countries of the land, do not express any opinions.

"Last month, the Russians proposed to sell us the southern branch line of the South Manch and the Middle East Railway at a price of 250 million rubles, while the main lines of the North Manch and Middle East Railways directly annexed by Russia..."

"What!"

When Zhou Shaoqi heard the news, he was shocked and angry. He didn't expect that there would be such a thing.

"Don't be angry. Although the court is extremely stupid and weak, it will only be compensated after losing the war. What's more, Britain and the United States say that the three powerful countries are supported, so it's just the fantasy of the Russians!"

The officer's words made Zhou Shaoqi shake his body, as if he had just woken up from a dream. He wanted to understand the meaning of the officer's words.

"S sir,"

Li Jiaping just continued.

"It seems that the battle between Japan and Russia is settled! Just fight in Manchuria!"

"S sir, then we..."

Zhou Shaoqi was surprised and worried again.

"Is the court ready to reject Russia!"

"Hmm..."

His answer almost made Li Jiaping laugh out loud. He suppressed his laughter and even looked at Zhou Shaoqi with a helpless sigh in his eyes, and then asked back in a sarcastic tone.

"When do you think our Qing Dynasty has this backbone?"

Then he affirmed again.

"Well, the three of them have this backbone. When the old lady went crazy and declared war on the thirteenth, such courage was really difficult for ordinary people, but that battle lost the last bit of backbone of the Qing Dynasty!"

"Yes...yes!"

Zhou Shaoqi replied vaguely and awkwardly. His face turned red in an instant, and his hands clenched into fists. Perhaps this was a real shame for soldiers. Other countries fought on the territory of the Qing Dynasty, but the Qing Dynasty did.

"About this battle, the court is arguing, and the Beiyang is also arguing. This winter is over early, that is, the social relationship. As long as we fight, we are in the dilemma of "if we attach Russia, we will disturb my southeast with the navy, and if we attach Russia, we will divide the army to disturb my northwest". There is no way. The national situation is not as good as people. If we say we are A powerful country, do the Russians dare to take over Manchuria? Xiao Yuben dares to do it again... It's useless to say that this fart is useless! From the empress dowager to the civil and military minister of the Manchu Dynasty, who dares to say that he refuses to fight!"

Li Jiaping's words were mocking, but there was some shame and indignation on his face, so that he spoke with all cynicalness.

"Well, the court thought about it. On the one hand, it was because I was Asian, and on the other hand, it was because I promised to return Manchuria to us in the future. In order to break the situation of Russia's monopoly in Northeast China, the court decided that in this dispute between Japan and Russia, we maintained a neutral attitude on the surface, but secretly refused Russia. Therefore, the commander-in-chief and the military officer Aoki of the Japanese embassy agreed that we would provide intelligence assistance to the Japanese army.

"Intelligence help? What kind of information can I provide to you?

Zhou Shaoqi interrupted the officer's words disrespectfully and asked curiously.

After pulling out a cigarette and cigarette, Li Jiaping didn't say anything or smoke. He just thought about something quietly there, but Zhou Shaoqi could see some uncontrollable anger on his face, which was obviously unacceptable to the officer. It's not acceptable for me.

"According to Aoki's requirements, 16 capable young officers were selected from the Beiyang Supervision and Training Institute, and 31 intelligence personnel were secretly formed into a mixed detective spy team. Major Tian Liyuan, the guard of the Japanese army, led them to Lushun, Dalian and other places to spy on the Russian military activity information, especially the Russian oriental ship. The strength of the team.

After taking a cigarette, Li Jiaping looked at Zhou Shaoqi and said seriously.

"The general left this matter to me. Originally, I had selected the candidate, but now you are here, so I want to change to another person and let you follow me!"

"Your Sir, I...I..."

Zhou Shaoqi didn't expect that he had just come to the staff office and had such a task. This was by no means his favorite task. Under his own command, he carried out the activities of spying on the occupying army on his own land, and the purpose of obtaining military intelligence was to let another intruder. , defeat another intruder, and finally rely on the "generosity" of another invader to save some benefits.

"What am I, I let you go, on the one hand, to spy on the military intelligence of the Russians, on the other hand, to..."

Li Jiaping's voice was a little heavy, and his mood suddenly became a little excited.

"In the First Sino-Japanese War, the reason why people can win, in addition to the corruption of the Huai army, there is another reason why people spy on my [***], which can be said to be well known. So far, there have been no talents and institutions specializing in intelligence spying in our country. I let you go, that is to let you follow me to learn something and learn. How do they spy on intelligence? When they come back, we will use what we have learned from myself to establish our own military intelligence agency, do you understand?

Li Jiaping, with a serious expression, came to the table again and asked Zhou Shaoqi to follow. He lowered his head and spread out a map. The map was not a military map, but an ordinary terrain map with even Russian on it. However, from the topography, Zhou Shaoqi still recognized that it was a map of Manchuria.

"Look here!"

Li Jiaping drew on the map with his hand, and then stared at Zhou Shaoqi.

"Even if I win this battle, they will go to Kanto Prefecture, which is the leased land of the Russians. If I win, I will naturally accept this privilege. If the Russians win, in less than 20 years, we will have to fight for the Northeast and the Russians. At that time, we will have our own intelligence work, so You have to go to study with yourself. Whether you like it or not, you should learn from them! Do you understand?"

"Yes! Sir!"

Although he was not very willing, Zhou Shaoqi still nodded and obeyed the order after understanding the officer's intention.

"S sir, when are we leaving!"

"You will go to the capital tomorrow!"

(to be continued)