Chapter 27 26. Cai E raised the banner of "protecting the country"

Just as Yuan Shikai was happily preparing to ascend the throne, Cheng Yaojin suddenly appeared on the way... Oh, it wasn't Cheng Yaojin, he was much more handsome than Cheng Yaojin.Who is this person? "Flying General" Cai E is also. Cai E, courtesy name Songpo, was born in Shaoyang, Hunan in 1882. He was a scholar at the age of 13. At the age of 15, he was recommended by Hunan Xuezheng Xu Renzhu to study in Hunan Current Affairs School.The current affairs school was a new school established by reformers Tan Sitong, Tang Caichang and others to propagate reforms, and it was also the headquarters of Hunan reformers at that time.Later, Liang Qichao, a prominent figure in the reform movement and a great talent, was also invited to come to the School of Current Affairs as the chief teacher of Chinese.After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Liang Qichao went into exile in Japan, Tan Sitong was killed, and Hunan Current Affairs School closed down.After Liang Qichao learned that Cai E and other students were looking for him, he managed to summon them to Japan and entered Tokyo Datong High School where Liang Qichao was the principal to continue their studies.It is also a rare story in the history of the Republic of China that famous teachers produce outstanding apprentices.

In 1900, Cai E secretly returned to Hunan to participate in Tang Caichang's self-reliance army uprising, but the uprising failed as soon as it started, Tang Caichang was killed, Cai E also sneaked back to Japan again, and transferred to Chengwu School to study military affairs. In 1903, Cai E was admitted to the third phase of the cavalry department of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy, and graduated with honors in the second year. He was also known as the "Three Masters of Chinese Non-commissioned Officers" along with Jiang Fangzhen and Zhang Xiaozhun who enrolled at the same time.

When Cai E graduated, it happened to be a good time for the Qing government to vigorously promote the New Deal, and the training of the new army was the top priority of the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, many graduates who studied military affairs in Japan were reused after returning to China It became the object of competition among the provinces (Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army directly hired many German and Japanese instructors, and did not pay much attention to the graduates of military schools who returned from Japan. This is one of the reasons why the Beiyang Army was relatively stable during the 1911 Revolution).After returning to China, Cai E taught or trained the new army in military training schools in Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and other provinces. Due to his novel ideas and outstanding abilities, he quickly emerged in the southern military circles and became an important general of the new army. .

According to General Li Zongren's later recollections, when he was studying in Guangxi Army Primary School, what he admired the most was Cai E, the head of the school at that time.He said that every time Principal Cai rides a horse, he does not turn the saddle on the horse like ordinary people, but gallops from behind the horse, and jumps onto the horse's back in the way of a wooden horse. For the gods.In fact, how did those young students know at that time that this heroic and unattainable "parachutist" was a genuine returnee who graduated from the cavalry department of the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy.

A few gossips here, Cai E and those who studied abroad in the early days are different from those who flocked to Japan to study in large numbers after 1905. Most of the people who went there later were fooling around in the Chinese circle in Tokyo. There are many people who have not learned much Japanese. Among them, there are many revolutionaries, but there are not many real ones.Compared with students studying in the United States and Europe, the students studying in Japan at that time were obviously inferior. For example, in the examination for foreign students held by the Qing court later, the top five were all students studying in the United States and Europe, and none of the students studying in Japan pass.Because Japanese things were not authentic at that time.

After Cai E returned to China, he stayed in Guangxi for the longest time. However, due to the rejection of Guangxi officials, he was invited by the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou Li Jingxi in the spring of 1911 to serve as the 37th Association of the 19th Town of the New Army in Yunnan. He also served as the instructor of the Yunnan Lecture Hall (the later founding marshal Zhu De graduated from here).During this period, Cai E also devoted himself to military research and wrote a "Quotations from Zeng Hu Zhibing", which was not only appreciated by Yuan Shikai, but also by Chiang Kai-shek.

More importantly, Cai E had become a military leader with real power at this time.At that time, most of the key officers of the Yunnan New Army were graduates of non-commissioned officer schools who were prone to revolution, and Cai E was the oldest non-commissioned officer graduate among them. He joined the army early and was a leader, so he was promoted as a senior brother.After the Wuchang Uprising, the Yunnan New Army then responded to the revolution. After Li Jingxi, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, escaped, Cai E was promoted as the governor of Yunnan. He was only 29 years old at the time (the experience of Li Liejun, the governor of Jiangxi, was quite similar).

Cai E’s political stance was mainly influenced by his teacher Liang Qichao. To be precise, he was not a revolutionary but a constitutionalist. For example, after Guizhou’s independence, due to the chaotic situation, Cai E sent his subordinate Tang Jiyao to lead troops into Guiyang at the invitation of the Guizhou constitutionalist. , Then the revolutionary party was killed, and Tang Jiyao was appointed as the governor of Guizhou.In the "Second Revolution", Cai E claimed to be neutral on the surface, but in fact he also stood by Yuan Shikai's side and supported Yuan Shikai's "counter-rebellion".

After the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai implemented the division of military and civilian rule and abolished the governorship in various provinces. At this time, Cai E and the military circles in Yunnan also had conflicts, so Yuan Shikai transferred Cai E to Beijing, and Tang Jiyao was replaced as the acting governor of Yunnan.When Cai E arrived in Beijing, Yuan Shikai attached great importance to it, because as early as 1906 during the Zhangde parade, Yuan Shikai, as the minister of military parade, had already discovered this young talent (Cai E was the referee of the exercise at the time).After the Republic of China, due to the surrounding powers, the Beiyang Army was getting weaker and its strength was not as good as before. Yuan Shikai tried to reform the Beiyang Army by forming a "model regiment" and conducting the second "small station training". What I fancy is Cai E, who has excellent military talents.

At that time, both Cai E and his teacher Liang Qichao had illusions about Yuan Shikai, and hoped that China would produce a strongman to lead the country to become stronger. Therefore, they were grateful for Yuan Shikai's kindness. At that time, Liang Qichao organized the Progressive Party to compete with the Kuomintang. honeymoon period.It's a pity that this relationship lasted for a short time. After the Kuomintang was disbanded, the party politics advocated by Liang Qichao disappeared virtually, and Yuan Shikai's attempt to make Cai E the head of the model regiment was strongly opposed by the Beiyang faction. Resist, and finally can only give up.

Cai E stayed in Beijing for three years. Although he also served as a clerk in the General's Mansion, participated in politics in the Senate, and supervised the Economic and Trade Bureau, they were all empty positions. Depressed, especially in the process of negotiating the "21", Cai E was extremely disappointed with Yuan Shikai.According to the Romance of Barnyard Officials, Cai E often indulged in wine and sex during this period, was nostalgic for prostitution, and got acquainted with the famous lady Xiaofengxian in Goulan. Xiaofengxian is the top girl in the eight major alleys in the capital. Let alone her looks, the key is that she is quite chivalrous, with a pair of discerning eyes that can recognize heroes in the world.After Cai E met Xiao Fengxian, the hero and beautiful woman cherished each other, and General Cai often indulged in Xiao Fengxian's gentle hometown.After getting along for a long time, Xiao Fengxian also saw Cai E's depression and aggrieved.Especially after the imperial movement became more and more rampant, Cai E sighed and sighed all day long, so Fengxian girl tested him: "General Cai, the petition movement is becoming more and more prosperous, and some of my sisters also want to form a group to participate. How about this?" ?” After Cai E heard this, he couldn’t help being irritable, so he didn’t answer in a muffled voice.Seeing Cai E's reaction, Xiao Fengxian already guessed seven or eight points, and said: "General Cai, I think you are also a person with ambition, why don't you stand up and do something big?" Hei Hei, even though I have the intention of killing thieves, I'm in the capital, and I'm in prison, there's no escape!" Xiaofengxian said, "Since the general wants to, then I have a way here." After speaking, Xiaofengxian said After whispering in Cai E's ear for a while, Cai E was overjoyed after hearing this, and then acted according to plan. Cai E first went to Liang Qichao to ask his teacher's views on the imperial movement. After learning that the teacher was determined to oppose Yuan, he told the teacher about Xiaofengxian's plan to get him out, and Teacher Liang also agreed.Afterwards, Liang Qichao left Beijing and published the famous article "Oddly, the so-called problem of the national system", while Cai E deliberately ridiculed Mr. Liang's pedantic and fallacious in public, and had a heated fight with the imperialists. Joined the imperial camp. Cai E was originally a leading figure in the southern military circles, and a well-known Mr. Liang wrote articles for him, and the Progressive Party, which was favored by Yuan Shikai at that time, also cited him as the backbone. Never gave up fighting for him (because Huang Xing and Cai E have an excellent personal relationship).Such an eye-catching figure straddling the military and political circles, his influence is nationwide, and the imperialists naturally dare not be careless. Regarding Cai E's movements, Yuan Shikai sent spies to follow him very early. He did not dare to believe Cai E's sudden change easily, but strengthened his surveillance.A few days later, the spies heard a sudden violent noise coming from Cai E's house.It turned out that Cai E's original wife had been fooling around with Xiao Fengxian recently, but after a few words of persuasion, Cai E took advantage of the situation and wanted to divorce his wife and beat him back to his hometown.After this matter got to Lao Yuan's ears, he couldn't help but be amused.Later, Cai E took the opportunity to send his wife back to his hometown. In fact, this was also part of Xiaofengxian Jinchan's plan to escape. After his wife left the capital, Cai E hung out with Xiao Fengxian all day long, and the detectives gradually relaxed their vigilance when they saw that Cai E was indulging in sensuality.One day, Cai E and Xiao Fengxian went to the first stage to watch a play, and the detectives naturally followed behind as usual.After Cai and Feng entered the box, there was no movement. Cai E also took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, so that people outside could see clearly.When the detectives saw Cai E's coat hanging outside, they were much more relaxed, and they didn't have to keep spying on it.After the middle of the play, Cai E suddenly got up and went to Xiaojie, but the detectives saw that the coat had not been taken off, so they didn't care.Unexpectedly, the show was over, but Cai E never came back. The detectives knew that something was wrong. When they caught up with Xiao Fengxian and asked Cai E's whereabouts, Xiao Fengxian said with a smile: "My lords, I am A man in the world, what business does General Cai have, is it something we can ask and know?" The detectives shouted that they were fooled, but they had no choice but to admit that they were unlucky. In fact, by the time the detectives woke up, Cai E had already boarded the train to Tianjin.While the detectives were still searching everywhere in Beijing, Cai E had already crossed the sea with the help of his friends and sneaked to Japan.After arriving in Japan, Cai E sent Yuan Shikai a power call, saying that he had a throat disease and was being treated in Japan.The treacherous and cunning Yuan Shikai couldn't believe it at this time, he immediately ordered the local officials along the coast, especially in Yunnan and Guangxi, to strictly arrest Cai E, and not allow Cai E to return to the country.As expected of Lao Yuan, he was much better than those stupid detectives. At this time, Cai E was indeed on his way to Yunnan, and he entrusted his friend to send this telegram after he left Japan. On December 19, 1915, a week after Yuan Shikai accepted the monarchy, Cai E arrived in Kunming, Yunnan via Vietnam.After the Revolution of 1911, the forces of the Beiyang Army had never been involved in Yunnan, so it became the area with the best revolutionary foundation at that time.Tang Jiyao, the general of Yunnan at that time, although he was one year older than Cai E, in terms of qualifications, he was not only Cai E's junior (the sixth artillery department of the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy, the same period as Li Liejun, Zhao Hengti, Yan Xishan, etc.), but also He was Cai E's subordinate.When Cai E served as the commander of the 37th Association of the 19th Town of the Yunnan New Army, Tang Jiyao was just his battalion management belt (battalion commander).It wasn't until after the Revolution of 1911 that Cai E sent Tang Jiyao to lead his troops to Guizhou. Tang Jiyao rose to the top and became the governor of Guizhou, implicitly equal to Cai E. After Cai E was transferred to Beijing, Tang Jiyao took over as General of Yunnan (because Tang was a native of Yunnan and was accepted by the local area). After three years of operation, General Tang at this time was already deeply rooted in the local area, which is not what it used to be.Originally, according to Liang Qichao's plan, Cai E should appoint himself the governor of Yunnan, and then lead the old department to raise the flag against Yuan, but at this moment, whether General Tang is willing to serve as the old department is indeed a question. In terms of personality, Cai E is a sharp-edged figure, while Tang Jiyao is relatively dull.Fortunately, Tang Jiyao's original intention was to oppose the imperial system at that time, and he was also grateful to General Cai E for his promotion. Therefore, after Cai E arrived in Kunming, he took the initiative to let Cai E be the governor of Yunnan and lead the anti-Yuan army. .But Cai E is a sensible person, and he also knows that he is the polished commander of the airborne, and he is no longer the General Cai of the past. The reason is that the two sides get along well. Before Cai E arrived, anti-Yuan people at home and abroad such as Li Liejun, Cheng Qian, Dai Kan, Fang Shengtao, Xiong Kewu, Dan Maoxin and others had already gathered in Kunming with the secret support of Tang Jiyao to discuss the plan to bring down Yuan. At this time, it was the climax of the activities of the Six Gentlemen of the Chou'an Society and the Thirteen Taibao Monarchy.When Cai E arrived in Kunming, the army, food, and ammunition in Yunnan had already been prepared, and Kunming became a veritable "anti-imperialist" center. On December 22, 1915, a telegram led by Tang Jiyao and signed by Cai E and others rushed to Yuan Shikai's enthronement on New Year's Day, asking him to abolish the imperial system, and punished thirteen people, including Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Duan Zhigui, and Liang Shiyi, who were the culprits of the imperial system. Xie Guoren.In the telegram, Tang and Cai asked Yuan Shikai to make a public reply within 24 hours. After several telegram exchanges, Yuan Shikai announced that he would not be enthroned until Yunnan was pacified. Li Liejun and others conveniently convened a mass meeting on the 25th and telegraphed the whole country, announcing the independence of Yunnan and raising the banner of anti-Yuan. After hearing the news, the people of Kunming burst into cheers and took to the streets one after another, holding a large-scale parade.Cai E delivered a speech at the mass meeting, saying: "What we are fighting for is not the power and status of individuals, but the national character of 400 million compatriots! We would rather die by beheading than living on our knees!" The audience listened After applauding together, the public opinion is clear.Once the trumpet against Yuan was sounded, it was out of control, and Emperor Yuan's life was not easy. After declaring Yunnan's independence, Tang, Cai, Li and others immediately formed the National Defense Army and sent troops to challenge Yuan.At that time, the National Defense Army consisted of three armies. Cai E, the commander-in-chief of the first army, led the army west to Sichuan; Li Liejun, the commander-in-chief of the second army, marched into Guangxi and went straight to Guangdong; rear. At the end of 1915, Cai E's First Army and Li Liejun's Second Army marched to the front in batches, kicking off the prelude to the War to Protect the Country.Cai E's First Army consisted of three echelon regiments and six detachments (Zhu De was the captain of the sixth detachment at the time, that is, the original commander of the tenth regiment of the Yunnan Army's infantry), with a force of less than 10,000, and only two months of troops when they set out for the expedition. Food and pay, and basically infantry, only one cavalry company and a small amount of heavy weapons, light and heavy machine guns, and insufficient ammunition, which can be described as very tragic.According to the combat plan, the First Army sent troops to Sichuan and marched towards the three targets of Syria, Luzhou and Chongqing. The Second Army led by Li Liejun has two echelon regiments and four detachments. The main generals are veterans who participated in the Ganning campaign, such as the second echelon leader Fang Shengtao and others.The second army's combat plan is to enter Guangxi first, then go down to Guangdong, and then go north to Hunan and Jiangxi to join the first army on the Yangtze River.Due to the shortage of soldiers, the Second Army recruited troops along the way to expand its strength. It was at this time that General Li Zongren joined Li Liejun's team and became a famous general of his generation. As a gymnastics teacher, after the outbreak of the War to Protect the Nation, he joined the army again, starting from the grassroots, starting as a small platoon leader. Having said that, if Yuan Shikai could have appointed Cai E as the head of the "model regiment" back then, there would have been no such troubles.Fortunately, Liang Qichao and Cai E's masters and apprentices have one article and one martial arts, and the pen and gun are used together. The emperor's dream of the old Yuan's family and the splendid country may come to naught.