Chapter 125 One Two Four, Duan Qirui hit a wall in Hunan

After Duan Qirui formed a cabinet for the second time, he was determined to realize his dream of unifying China by force. This was his ambition to surpass Yuan Shikai. This ambition was more active especially when he was behind in borrowing.His enemy is the army of the Southwest, which includes the five provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangdong and Guangxi.Duan's military plan is to attack Yunnan and Guizhou from Sichuan, and Guangdong and Guangxi from Hunan.Hunan is the closest to the occupied area of ​​the Beiyang faction, and its own strength is not strong, so it is an ideal place for false roads.Duan planned to attack Hunan from Hubei and Jiangxi. He originally planned to send Wu Guangxin as the governor of Hunan.Later, because Duan Zhigui's proposal to succeed Duan Zhigui as the governor of Jiangsu did not work, Lu Yongxiang was not transferred.At this time, the people of Hunan sang the slogan "Hunan people rule Hunan".Famous people from Hunan in Beijing, such as Xiong Xiling and Fan Yuanlian, also advocated that Hunan people rule Hunan, maintain the status quo, and oppose the northern army's entry into Hunan. In addition, Tan Yankai was the governor of Hunan and also the governor of Hunan, which was quite supported by the people of Hunan.

In response to this situation, Duan Qirui adopted a tricky approach, that is, to send one of his cronies who is from Hunan to be the governor of Hunan. Fu Liangzuo was the governor of Hunan, and still ordered Tan Yankai to be the governor of Hunan. At the same time, he said that although Fu Liangzuo supervised Hunan, he would not bring northern soldiers into Hunan.When Fu accepted the new appointment, he also announced the "three major policies for governing Hunan": (1) The people of Hunan governed Hunan; (2) the military and civilians divided and ruled; (3) no northern troops were brought into Hunan.

Fu Liangzuo is from Gancheng, Hunan, but his relationship with Hunan is too shallow. He has always followed Duan Qirui, grew up and worked in the north, so he is not a Hunanese at all in the eyes of Hunan people.As for Duan Qirui's guarantee that he would not bring northern soldiers into the country, it is hard to believe. Yang Shande had made the same guarantee when he went to Zhejiang in the past, but after the fait accompli, the northern soldiers entered Zhejiang one after another.When Duan and Fu Liangzuo both swore to the sky that they would not bring northern soldiers into Hunan, the 20th Division stationed in Baoding (teacher commander Fan Guozhang) was ordered to transfer to Hunan.

Prior to this, Lu Rongting had sent a telegram to Feng Guozhang, requesting not to change the military and civilian chiefs of the southwestern provinces within three years. Feng replied and agreed. Please Feng Lu fulfills his promise, withdraws his order, and advocates designating Hunan as a buffer zone between the northern and southern armies, maintaining the status quo in Hunan to ensure peace.But it was difficult for Feng to answer.Because he had exchanged Hunan and Sichuan with Duan for Jiangsu and Jiangxi, he had no choice but to give Lu this telegram to Duan for an answer. On August 14, Duan replied to Lu in the name of the State Council:

"Governor Tan is clear and cautious, diligent in government and loving the people, but the military is not so good, so he is dedicated to civil affairs. Today, literati cannot use soldiers, which has become a common practice in all countries. It is military planning, Hunan Province planning, and organization security (Tan Hao) ) plan, it is appropriate to specialize in civil affairs. Xiangsu is strong, as respected, and if it is used well, it will be a powerful army to defend the country; Control and control. Hunan Province is easy to be handsome, good is not a last resort, with Fu Yitan, Gai has also been prudent. Fu Benxiang is a native of Hunan, and his feelings are well-connected. How can I express my gratitude for the long-term commitment and attention. I hope to convey this intention to the commanders of the Southwest."

In the telegram, Duan described the change of the governor of Hunan as "choosing people for the sake of things", but concealed his own selfishness, and described Fu Liangzuo and the governor of Hunan as "good as a last resort", which is really insincere. After receiving the "official" telegram from Duan Qirui in the name of the State Council, Lu Rongting knew that he had no emotional intelligence, so he signaled Hunan to resist by force and expressed his willingness to support it with strength.Tan Tingkai convened a secret military meeting to prepare to resist the Northern Army, and at the same time he sent a telegram to all provinces to send troops to "assist Hunan".Tang Jiyao, the military governor of Yunnan, immediately replied, suggesting that the troops stationed in Guangdong and Yunnan be dispatched to Hunan.Lu Rongting agreed, and on August 16 he sent a telegram to the southwestern provinces saying:

"The governor of Hunan has changed people. The suspicion of the Southwest in the north has been clearly revealed. The lips are dead and the teeth are cold. They are trying to deal with it urgently. The troops stationed in Guangdong and Yunnan are dispatched to help. They express their disdain and approval." The Yunnan Army stationed in Guangdong was led by Li Liejun, who came to Guangdong and Guangxi to prepare for the Northern Expedition through Hunan during the period of defending the country against Yuan.During the period of protecting the country, Yunnan was the base for launching, so the army was formed as much as possible. One was led by Cai E from Sichuan, and the other was led by Li Liejun from Guangdong.After Yuan's death, the situation changed drastically. The Yunnan army in Guangdong and Sichuan became a big problem. They were unwilling to withdraw to Yunnan, and Yunnan could not afford it. Residing in Sichuan and Guangdong, the Yunnan Army encountered this problem.

The Dian army led by Li Liejun was stationed in Beijiang, Guangdong. At that time, Guangdong was under the influence of the Guangxi faction. Of course, they did not want the Dian army to stay there, but they only hoped that the Dian army would leave Guangdong. When they urgently asked Chen Bingkun (Guangxi faction), the governor of Guangdong, to urge the Yunnan army to set off quickly, but the Guangxi faction refused to send the Yunnan army the military expenses and ammunition necessary for the battle, and the Yunnan army was unwilling to take the lead, so it was just a bluff , with no actual action.

The Southwest reinforcements are still being discussed on paper, while the Northern Army's entry into Hunan is imminent. Naturally, the Hunan Army is unable to resist alone, so the Hunan Army itself is divided.Chen Fuchu, commander of the Second Division of the Hunan Army, Zhu Zehuang, commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Second Division, and Li Youwen, commander of the First Brigade of the First Division, expressed indifference to the resistance to the Northern Army at the military meeting.Chen Fuchu had already been wooed by Duan, so Tan could control less than half of the Hunan Army, and of course he was even more powerless to resist.

Under such circumstances, Tan had no choice but to not resist the order to mobilize the warlord, and sent Wang Yunting, the guard of Lingling, to Beijing to welcome the new warlord to take office as soon as possible, so that he could hand over as soon as possible.Someone asked him if he would like to stay on as the governor. He said, "How can I be a daughter-in-law when I am used to being a mother-in-law?" Wangyunting was an insider of the Beiyang faction in Hunan. The government's obedience is also to divert the tiger away from the mountain. After Wang set off, Tan immediately sent Liu Jianfan to act as the guardian of Lingling.Liu Jianfan is a native of Liling, Hunan, whose name is Kuntao, and graduated from the Japanese Military Academy.When the Hunan army expelled Tang Xiangming, Huang Xing introduced him to Hunan to take up a military post. Since there was no suitable position, Tan Yankai appointed him as the director of the camp clearing department.This time Tan auctioned off a large amount of public property to raise military expenses. He performed the task very seriously, so he was appointed to act as the guardian envoy of Lingling, and took over the battalions of Xie Guoguang, Luo Xiankai, and Liu Xuexuan.At the same time, Tan transferred Lin Xiumei, the commander of the second brigade of the first division, to take over Mount Hengshan to show that Changsha would not be defended, but the implication was to concentrate forces and retreat to southern Hunan to wait for reinforcements from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Tan Yankai was already very popular in Hunan, and now he is even more happy to form good relationships. He auctioned off a large amount of public property to expand military expenditures, and proposed a part of it as a gift to civil and military officers and soldiers.The staff of the Military and Civilian Administrations all raise their salaries for one month in order to buy people's hearts.At this time, people at all levels in Changsha, from the county chief, section chief, department chief, and dean, submitted their resignations, expressing that they would "advance and retreat with Wei Gong (Tan)"; Officials at all levels held public banquets to bid farewell to the public.This is an unprecedented scene in Changsha official circles. On August 26, Fu Liangzuo, the governor of Hunan sent by the Beijing government, set off from Beijing to the south. He detoured through Jinpu Road, first went to Nanjing to meet Li Chun, then took a ship to Wuhan to meet Wang Zhanyuan, and then stopped at Yuezhou.Before Fu Liangzuo took office, he visited the Zhili Warlord, which indicated that the Anhui Clique was still seeking the cooperation of the Zhili Clan, hoping to have a consistent pace with the Southwest.After he arrived in Hunan, he did not go directly to Changsha, but stopped in Yuezhou, because he was wary of the Hunan army.In Yuezhou, he ordered the Northern Army to advance to the "soldier-free zone" north of Xiangyin. At the same time, the Beijing government transferred Wang Ruxian's troops of the Eighth Division stationed in Machang to march into Yuezhou. Xiong Xiling, a Hunan celebrity living in Beijing, and others proposed a compromise plan to the Duan government, please designate Yuezhou as the residence of Governor Fu Liangzuo, and Changsha as the residence of Governor Tan Yankai.This is the old tune of the division of the army and the people. The governor and the governor are not stationed in the same city, so Duan ignores it. On September 2, the generals of the Hunan Army issued a joint telegram stating that they had no objection to Fu Liangzuo's supervision of Hunan, but hoped that they would not bring troops into Changsha. Lu Rongting also called Feng Guozhang to prevent the northern soldiers from entering Changsha. On September 9, Fu Liangzuo took the first battalion of elite soldiers to Changsha to take over the task.This army lieutenant general, with the rank of General Fu, was forbidden to set off firecrackers when he entered Changsha. Changsha people have no nostalgia for this new governor. , and also Duan Qirui's brother-in-law, who has served as the deputy chief of the army for a long time, which is exactly the same as Tang Xiangming and the deputy governor of the navy. Although Tan Yankai had the ambition to fight against the north, he was powerless. He counted and calculated, and the only available soldiers were the first division of the Hunan Army. The division commander Zhao Hengti was returning to Hengshan with Ding You at this time. This division had two brigades under its jurisdiction, led by Li Youwen and Lin Xiumei. The brigade commander, Li Youwen's acting division commander, his heart is northward, and as a result, there is only one brigade in the troops who really support Tan.After Fu Liangzuo entered Hunan, if he could move forward calmly and digest slowly, Duan's goal of devouring Hunan could be achieved.Unexpectedly, this "flexible" Fu Dushuai was anxious and aggressive. After he took office, he came down without any arrangements, and issued two orders: (1) The commander of the second brigade of the first division of the Hunan Army Lin Xiumei was dismissed and Zou Xubin was sent to take over. (2) Liu Jianfan had no choice but to act as the guardian envoy of Lingling, and Chen Yuzhang was appointed as the guardian envoy of Lingling.Chen Yuzhang is from Qiyang, Hunan Province. He was the former director of the Hunan Water Police Department and Duan Qirui's brother-in-law (Duan Zeng has been reborn many times). Tan Yankai returned to his hometown of Chaling as early as September 1 to "visit his relatives". In Chaling, he telegraphed his resignation to the governor of Hunan, and then quietly left Hunan in disguise. On September 18, Lin Xiumei was in Hengyang, and Liu Jianfan declared independence in Lingling at the same time.Fu Liangzuo was not alarmed, because Lin Xiumei, who declared independence, had only one brigade of troops, and Liu Jianfan had only a few battalions of local garrison troops.Other Hunan troops did not join.As for the Northern Army, the troops were well-armed, and it would not be difficult to defeat them at once as long as the troops were ready. At the beginning, Fu Liangzuo wanted to use the Hunan people to solve the Hunan people, so he sent Li Youwen, the acting commander of the first division, to lead the first brigade to Hengshan to recruit Lin Xiumei's second brigade, claiming that the officers and soldiers would not pay attention to the past. The first brigade of the Hunanese was "consoled" by Lin Xiumei under the slogan that the Hunanese did not fight the Hunanese. On October 1st, Commander Li fled back to Changsha alone. Fu Liangzuo had to pretend to be calm and declared: "We have all disbanded." It was no longer feasible to use the Hunan Army to fight the Hunan Army, so Fu Liangzuo transferred the Northern Army to fight. Wang Ruxian, the commander of the Eighth Division, was the commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army, and Fan Guozhang, the commander of the 28th Division, was the deputy commander-in-chief. He ordered three routes: the Eighth Division and The 20th Division attacked Hengshan head-on, the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Hunan Army attacked Baoqing from the right, and the Anwu Army transferred from Anhui attacked Youxian County.The promise not to bring troops into Hunan was broken, and the Hunan issue became the third Civil War (the first was the Second Revolution of Gui Chou, and the second was to defend the country against Yuan), and it also became the fuse for the downfall of the Duan cabinet. Although Zhu Zehuang, commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Second Division of the Hunan Army, was from Hunan, he was willing to serve the Northern Army. He led the Hunan Army from Yongfeng and Jieling to occupy Baoqing. The Beijing government immediately announced that Zhu was the guard envoy of Changbao. lieutenant general. On October 6, Wang Ruqin, the 15th Brigade of the 8th Division of the Northern Army, who was in charge of the front, captured the undefended Hengshan on the 11th.Duan Qirui felt relieved in Beijing.It is believed that Hunan is just around the corner.At the same time, a large number of gifts were sent to the front line to reward the soldiers. As for the Hunan Army, when Zhao Hengti was living in mourning in Hengshan, due to the large-scale invasion of the North by the Northern Army, the officers and soldiers of the First Division of his old army asked Zhao to return to the army quickly. The Xuanzhou River, 50 miles to the southwest, and Liu Jianfan's department and the Xiangshui River were fortified.Wang Ruxian and Fan Guozhang led the attack. The battle between the two sides lasted for more than 40 days. Huang Yue, the commander of Liu Jianfan's department, was afraid that the severe winter would be approaching and his ammunition would be exhausted. The Northern Army was frightened, and the Hunan Army seized the opportunity to counterattack. The Northern Army failed to support them, and they collapsed. The Hunan Army captured a large number of ordnance and ammunition. There was a battle at the tea garden shop on Henggong Road, and the Northern Army retreated to Changsha. Duan waited for more good news and better news from Hunan, but he didn't know that a month had passed, but there was no news.Just when the battle situation on the front line was quiet, suddenly there was a thunderbolt from the blue sky, and there was a joint telegram from Wang Ruxian and Fan Guozhang of the Northern Army, advocating a truce and withdrawal of troops. The telegram said: "Natural misfortune to China, fighting in the same room, the government uses soldiers, sticks to their own opinions, and goes to extremes with each other. It does not hesitate to put millions of lives in one desperate attempt. It provokes the bad feelings of the North and the South, competes for private interests, and uses the excuse of the people. What is the extravagance of the people? For the country, it is appropriate to harm the country. If you are patriotic and have the heart to benefit the people, you will sacrifice your personal opinions and obey the public opinion. An incident occurred in Lingling, and they insisted on a peaceful settlement. In order to calm things down, this time Hunan was independent, in the name of protecting the law, and denied the cabinet. However, although the current cabinet was not established according to the law, it is actually a temporary last resort. Even if there are differences, it has not begun There is room for negotiation. In the Southwest, if you call yourself a patriot, how can you be willing to be the leader of the army and lose your life? The two sides should cease fighting. I implore the President to order, solicit the opinions of the northern and southern provinces, make an equal agreement, organize a legislative body, and decide on the fundamental law, so that the future To be free from disputes forever is what I hope for! I am hereby calling you." On the night when Wang and Fan Han called for a truce and withdrawal of troops, Fu Liangzuo issued a special martial law order in Changsha, cutting off traffic in the city.In the dim night, Fu and the acting governor Zhou Zhaoxiang secretly boarded the warship and fled to Jinggang, 60 miles downstream of Changsha. Wang Ruxian and Fan Guozhang's truce was a fatal blow to the Anhui faction.Because both of these divisions have deep ties to the direct lineage.The Eighth Division is the main force of Duan's fight against the adversity. This division helped Duan to quell the rebellion of restoration. As a result, all his bows and bows were exhausted. Division commander Li Changtai was relieved of his military power. Duan promoted brigade commander Wang Ruxian to division commander. This difference caused him to stumble. After Wang and Fan Han sent telegrams to Beijing, Feng Liansheng said: "Send it to the hospital quickly, send it to the hospital quickly." During this period, Feng often used the words "responsible cabinet" verbally.Others asked him, "What should I do if the Hunan problem becomes serious?" He replied, "What can I do? There is a responsible cabinet." Someone asked, "Wang and Fan have a power call to stop the war without permission. This trend is unstoppable. What does the President think?" He also said: "Ask the responsible cabinet." These words reached Duan's ears, and Duan said angrily: "Ask me, I have only one way, resign!" After Wang and Fan sent out the telegram, they immediately retreated to Changsha. After arriving in Changsha, they stopped retreating and issued a notice: "I don't want to engage in civil disputes, and I advocate peaceful settlement of North-South disputes." All walks of life in Changsha quickly formed "Hunan Temporarily Maintains Military and Civilian Politics" Office." Wang and Fan served as the deputy directors, and the selfish intention of these two division commanders was to succeed Fu Liangzuo and Zhou Zhaoxiang as military governors and governors. But on the 17th, the Hunan army in ragged clothes suddenly came to Changsha City, and Wang and Fan also became fleeing generals. On the 18th, there were no more northern troops in Changsha. People from all walks of life sent telegrams to welcome the rapid arrival of the southern army, and recommended that Peng Tingheng, the general manager of the martial arts hall, maintain order. Beijing did not know that the situation was changing so quickly, so it issued two orders on the 18th—— One is: "Fu Liangzuo, Governor of Hunan Province, and Zhou Zhaoxiang, Acting Governor, left their posts without authorization. They are to be dismissed first, pending investigation! This order." The second is: "According to Wang Ruxian and other telegrams: Governor Fu carried his seal on a wheel on the 14th day and night and disappeared, and the governor also went. Maintain the order now, say peace and tranquility, and come here for punishment according to your own request. Fu Liangzuo and Zhou Zhaoxiang left their posts without authorization, and today there is an order to dismiss them for investigation. Changsha is an important place, and it cannot be presided over by no one. Wang Ruxian was appointed as the commander-in-chief to supervise the army on his behalf. Governor Wang Ruxian and Fan Guozhang are fully responsible for all the local security in Changsha. Zha Wang Ruxian and others are reposted as commanders, and they have no way to control them. As a result, the former enemy retreated, and they sent telegrams without authorization and talked about peace. It is not unreasonable to ask for punishment. This time to maintain the provincial capital of Changsha, we can still take the overall situation into consideration, and we are temporarily exempt from discussion. Wang Ruxian and others should deeply understand the central government's intention of abandoning flaws and recruiting, strictly enforce restraint, intensify the soldiers, and expel them from Hunan. Rebelling against the army is to atone for the past. If you retreat again and delay the military opportunity, the military law is in place, and you must be cautious." When these two orders were issued, Wang and Fan had disappeared. It turned out that the northern soldiers in Hunan were a patchwork army, the command was not unified, and the soldiers were very war-weary.For example, the mixed brigade in Shanxi was led by the brigade commander Shang Zhen to open Hunan, but when they set off, they were ordered to go to Hubei to strengthen their defenses. How did they know that they would open Yuezhou when they arrived in Hubei, and then open Changsha when they arrived in Yuezhou? So when the Hunan army attacked, they The Anwu army itself was divided into old and new. The new Anwu army surrendered to Ni Sichong after Zhang Xun was defeated, and there were many internal contradictions.More importantly, the Northern soldiers had a bad record in the Hunan Army, and the Hunan people had long hated them to the bone. Therefore, after the start of the Hunan War, the Northern Army failed without fierce fighting at all.