Chapter 131 130. Duan Qirui was reassigned as supervisor of war participation

The Zhi and Anhui lines split openly over the issue of the Hunan war.How is the situation in Hunan?After the Northern Army withdrew from Changsha, Zhao Hengti, the commander of the First Division of the Hunan Army, entered Changsha. After he arrived in Changsha, he received a telegram from Cheng Qian, the commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army, ordering him to wait for the joint commander. This so-called joint commander, It is Tan Haoming, Commander-in-Chief of the Hunan-Guangdong-Guangxi Allied Forces.Then Cheng Qian arrived in Changsha and took over as Governor of Hunan on November 24, 6.However, Tan Haoming also sent a telegram telling him: "Don't make any establishments without authorization, and cause disputes." On December 8, Cheng Qian was relieved of his part-time job as Governor of Hunan. On December 12, Tan Haoming arrived in Changsha. On the 18th, he announced that he would "temporarily take charge of Hunan's military and civilian affairs in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Hunan-Guangdong-Guangxi Allied Forces."

Tan Yankai was forced to resign when Fu Liangzuo entered Hunan. Before he stepped down, he made preparations. He could be reinstated when the Guangxi army assisted Hunan and tricked the Northern Army into leaving the country.It turns out that the warlords of the Guangxi clique have always supported Tan Yankai.Zhao Hengti was a general of the Hunan Army who supported Tan, and the Provincial Assembly at that time was mostly supported by Tan members.Zhao Hengti's first visit to Changsha may support the provincial council to telegraph Tan's reinstatement, or re-elect Tan as the military governor.Cheng Qian's call to stop the announcement of any name, and Cheng later arrived in Changsha not to be the governor but to be the governor, is because the decision will be left to the "coach" Tan Haoming after he enters the province.Unexpectedly, after Tan Haoming entered Changsha, he unceremoniously "led Hunan's military and civilian administration".This means that the Guangxi clique wants to incorporate Hunan into their sphere of influence.In the situation at that time, there was no harmony within the Hunan Army, and there was also no harmony between the Hunan and Guangxi armies.

In order to protect the gates of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Gui army aided Hunan and started a war. The Hunan army was in front and the Gui army was behind.At that time, Commander Yue Fang was Wang Jinjing, commander of the Second Division to which Wang Zhanyuan belonged.The Guangxi faction believed that attacking Yuezhou would destroy the alliance between the Zhi and Guangxi factions, which might lead to the separation of the Zhi and Anhui factions in the north.If you don't attack Yuezhou, you can use the direct line to contain the Anhui line, thus reaching a peaceful compromise with the north.This is of course contrary to the opinion of the Hunan Army. The Hunan Army believed that it would not be able to defend Changsha unless Yuezhou was recaptured. The Guangxi Army refused to support the Hunan Army in recapturing Yuezhou.Tan Haoming, the "co-commander" of the Guangxi faction, not only refused to listen to the opinions of the Hunan Army, but also signed a non-aggression agreement with Wang Jinjing, the Northern Army stationed in Yuezhou.

The people of Hunan demanded to expel all the Northern Army to withdraw from Hunan, and the Hunan Army also repeatedly asked to attack Yuezhou from the north. The governor has long been broken, because Cao Kun, the governor of Zhili, is already the commander-in-chief of the South Army. It's not that the Guangxi faction doesn't know it, but this method is to perfuse the Hunan army. This was all before the warlord's meeting in Tianjin. At this time, Feng Guozhang still wanted to facilitate the peace talks between the North and the South, and ordered Li Chun to contact Lu Rongting directly, advocating that Hunan should cease the war first. The Southern Army will not attack Yuezhou, and the Northern Army will not counterattack Changsha. Liu Renxi, an old man in his seventies, was the governor of Hunan.All issues are left to the peace conference.Feng hinted that this was the maximum he could do, otherwise he would not be able to stop the Anhui faction from advancing.

The Guangxi family urged Feng Guozhang to issue a truce order in order to achieve peace.Feng Ze did not reply for a long time. On November 26, Lu Rongting first issued a truce order, and Tan Haoming issued it on the 28th, prohibiting the Hunan Army from advancing.Lu Rongting also called the immediate four governors and said: "A truce has been ordered ahead, please Ji Feng (referring to Feng) to quickly issue a truce order." Why wasn't Feng's truce order published?It turned out that Feng's truce order had already been drawn up, and suddenly he received news that the Overseer Corps was meeting in Tianjin.Then Cao Kun and ten others jointly signed Dianfeng and demanded a crusade against the southwest.In this way, of course, the truce order could not be issued. In December, Feng issued an order, which was neither an truce order nor a crusade order, but Tan Yankai was re-appointed as the governor of Hunan Province and the superintendent of the army.

The main battle party ignored Feng's orders and still actively arranged military operations. Feng Nai told Duan Zhigui that everyone should wait for the central government to make a decision and take concerted action.But the main combat faction said: Only by issuing a crusade order can we achieve concerted action. If there is no crusade order, we will also march. On December 15, 6, Feng Guozhang invited Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen to the presidential palace to hold a meeting.Duan Qirui said that there is no other way but to issue a crusade order.Wang Shizhen was perfunctory on both sides, did not show left and right, and completely hit the sky.Feng thought that he could join forces with Wang Shizhen to persuade Duan Qirui during the meeting, but he didn't know that Wang Shizhen was too cunning, but he was intimidated by Duan instead.

On December 16, Feng Guozhang issued a telegram, appointing Cao Kun and Zhang Huaizhi as the first and second commanders-in-chief.This personnel order is not issued by order, but by telegram, which is Feng's way of avoiding the important ones.Feng believes that the president's order cannot be contradicted, but the telegram can be changed at any time.In this way, the main fighters can be perfunctory, and the south can also be forgiven.In fact, it is really a big joke to send two commanders to fight against the south without issuing a crusade order. After Feng's telegram was published, Cao Kun and Zhang Huaizhi immediately asked for 2 million yuan in military expenses for the Southern Expedition.The warlords of various provinces also pressed for military pay under the big hat of using troops to the south, withheld tax revenue, and recruited troops to expand their force.Feng gradually made concessions to the main combat faction. On December 18, 6, he specially appointed Duan Qirui as the supervisor of participating in the war, and Duan Zhigui as the chief of the army.On the same day, a warrant was issued, and all matters related to participating in the war will be handed over to the supervising office for participating in the war, and there is no need to submit it to the government or the court.As a result of Feng's private intentions, he and Duan divided the sphere of influence, and dealt with external issues with Duan, while internal issues were presided over by him, hoping that each other could get their own place and live in peace.Why is Duan willing to be a war supervisor?Because he knew very well that the warlord regiment was a combination of interests and benefits, Zhang Xun's restoration can be used as a lesson, if he has no soldiers to use, everything is empty, and as a war supervisor, he can secretly build his own army and use Japanese ordnance and borrowing.

After Duan Qirui took office as the supervisor of participating in the war, the supervisory office was formally established, with Jin Yunpeng as the chief of the staff department, Zhang Zhitan as the chief of the confidential department, Luo Kaibang as the chief of the armament department, Chen Lu as the director of the foreign affairs department, and Wei Xingwu as the chief of the military department. Chief of Deputy Chief.And hire the heads of various ministries as counselors, and the deputy ministers as counselors.This supervisory office is a government other than the cabinet. In fact, Duan is not interested in sending troops to fight abroad, but wants to use the name of sending troops to train a participating army that he can control.Just as Yuan Shikai compiled and trained the model army as his new military force during the Hongxian period, today Duan wants to organize and train the participating army to establish a direct line of troops for himself.You must know that China declared no war against Germany. Is there anyone in the world who declares war first and then trains the troops to join the war?

As for Feng Guozhang's original intention to limit Duan Qirui's power to external issues, the result was just the opposite.The War Participation Supervision Office is not affiliated to the cabinet, and all his decisions can be directly sent to the relevant ministries for handling. Internally, he can issue orders to mobilize the army, and externally, he can directly obtain foreign aid through this agency.As a result, he still seized the military and political power.Therefore, since the establishment of the War Supervisory Office, the cabinet has existed in name only, and all Feng's efforts to deprive Duan of his power and step down one by one have come to naught.

It is said that there was a secret agreement between the Zhili and Guangxi cliques, that is, the Zhili clique overthrew the Duan cabinet in the north, and the Guangxi clique overthrew the military government protecting the law in the south.The Zhili lineage abolished the provisional Senate in the north, and the Guangxi lineage abolished the extraordinary parliament in the south.Then the north and the south converged to convene a new congress, and the new congress elected Feng Guozhang as the president.This is the wishful thinking of the political collusion between Zhi and Guangxi. After the downfall of the Duan cabinet, the Zhili clique could not control the situation in the north, and the Tianjin meeting made the main fighters arrogance. As a result, the Guangxi clique had to wait and see about the abolition of the French-protecting military government and the extraordinary parliament in Guangzhou.

Feng was in a dilemma, because the war faction threatened and clamored for him to order a crusade against the south, while the Guangxi faction urged him to issue a truce order.In the dilemma, he came up with a clever plan. He secretly ordered Li Chundian to persuade Lu Rongting to cancel the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi. In view of the fact that Duan’s cabinet was defeated in name but not in reality, and the voices of the main war faction were endless, they insisted that the Beijing government first issue a truce order as a definite guarantee that the north would not attack the south, and then hold a north-south peace conference to achieve north-south reunification.Lu Rongting told Li Chun: As long as the Northern Army withdraws from Yuezhou, the Guangxi Army can also retreat from Hunan and return to Guangdong. In order to express his concession to the Guangxi faction, Feng ordered the appointment of Li Jingcheng as the governor of Guangxi on December 21.This is also what Jiang Shun Lu Rongting meant. Li Jingcheng was the chief of staff of the Guangxi Governor's Office. Lu intended to promote him to the governorship, and Feng announced it in advance.Li Jingcheng recommended Zhang Derun to the Beijing government as the Minister of Government Affairs, which means that the Guangxi faction has actually canceled its independence. The dispute between the Zhili and Guangxi cliques is a question of priority. The Zhili clique hopes that Guangdong and Guangxi will cancel their independence first, and then the Beijing government will issue a truce.The Guangxi faction hopes that the Beijing government will first order a truce, and then Guangdong and Guangxi will announce the cancellation of independence. The Guangxi faction not only issued a truce order first, but also indirectly stated that they would not continue to fight. "Lianshuai" Tan Haoming especially emphasized and stated that the southern army would never invade Hubei and Jiangxi in the telegrams replied to the two chambers of commerce in Hankou and Nanchang. In order to cooperate with the actions of the Guangxi clique, Wang Zhanyuan, the Hubei governor of the direct line, also asked the Beijing government to allow him to transfer back to the second division. partnerships are being actively strengthened. Feng Guozhang had published a telegram before, indicating that he was also a main combat faction. He said: "Because of the failure of the Hunan incident, I wanted to use the name of the armistice to free up time for military preparations." The army set off separately.During this period, everyone in the Beiyang school was making a fuss in circles. The direct lineage was "containing war in peace", and the Anhui school was "containing peace in war". On December 26, Feng suddenly announced the truce, which made the main combat faction look pale.However, he was still going around in circles in the official documents. On the one hand, he expressed to the Guangxi faction that he accepted their request for an armistice order; Can be changed at any time.He described the "truce announcement" as "armed peace", and if the South was not obedient, he would still continue to fight against the South. The Guangxi faction was satisfied with Feng Guozhang's truce announcement. Lu Rongting suggested that Cen Chunxuan be appointed as the general representative of the southern peace talks, and hoped that the north would also appoint peace representatives to hold the North-South peace talks. On December 28, Lu Rongting sent a survey telegram to the southwestern provinces, stating that he had no opinion on the issue of the Congress: "Please decide by the majority, but call it as soon as possible."In this telegram, the protection of the country and the Dharma have already been thrown hundreds of thousands of miles away.This telegram was not sent to Sun Yat-sen. On December 31, Cao Kun, Zhang Huaizhi, Zhang Zuolin, Ni Sichong, Yan Xishan, Chen Shufan, Yang Shande, Zhao Ti, Meng Enyuan, Bao Guiqing, Li Houji, Jiang Guiti, Tanaka Yu, Cai Chengxun, Lu Yongxiang, Zhang Jingyao and other 16 people from the main combat faction published the World Electricity, firmly opposed to the restoration of the old Congress.He believes: "The old Congress was convened twice, and the two were disbanded. The results were unknown, the reputation was lost, and there was no reason to restore it. Please, the President, urge the Senate to quickly implement the election and organization laws proposed by the government. The new National Assembly." This telegram was a demonstration to Feng, because Feng planned to conduct elections for the new National Assembly in accordance with the old National Assembly Organization Law and the Law on the Election of Members of the Two Houses after the reunification of the North and the South was realized and the old National Assembly and the Provisional Senate were abolished at the same time. , and then the new Congress will conduct the presidential election, and the Anhui Department cannot control the election of the new Congress. The Anhui faction opposes the restoration of the old Congress and the North-South peace talks, and attempts to use the provisional Senate to formulate a new Congress Organization Law and a law on the election of members of the two chambers. Taking advantage of the disunity between the North and the South, they hold elections for the new Congress in the North and arrange them by appointment. Elections in the five southwestern provinces.Therefore, the "political overthrow of Feng" and the use of troops to the southwest are complementary. The direct line counterattacked the 16 members of the main combat faction Anhui faction jointly named Shidian. Yu sent a telegram (January 4, 7th year of the Republic of China) and advocated the dissolution of the provisional senate. On January 12, Feng agreed that once the provisional senate passed the The Amendment to the Organic Act will lead to elections for a new Congress. The controversy between the Zhili and Anhui lines has spread from the main peace and main war to the debate on the Congress. Faced with the complex situation between the North and the South, the ineffective Prime Minister Wang Shizhen shook his head. He felt that it was not only difficult to unblock the South, but also difficult to unblock the North. He begged Feng to retreat. , let’s go together.” "Going" is not an easy task.This is the horror of politics. It is not easy to get out of the political fire pit.Especially in the Beiyang era, when Yuan Shikai was so old and cunning, strong and resolute, he could not get out of the presidency.Like Li Yuanhong who can swallow his anger, is gentle and cowardly, and still becomes a high-level political prisoner, so how can Feng Guozhang be an exception? The main combat faction responded to the main peace faction with actions. Cao Kun sent Wu Peifu to lead the third division to go south from Jinghan Road, join Zhang Jingyao's seventh division, and attack northern Hunan through Hubei; Going south on Jinpu Road, they joined up with the 20th Anwu Battalion dispatched by Ni Sichong, and attacked eastern Hunan through Jiangxi.However, these two routes of troops must pass through the three provinces of the Yangtze River. Since the three governors of the Yangtze River are in charge of peace, they will naturally be blocked from sending troops to the main battle. Li Chun, Governor of Jiangsu, and Chen Guangyuan, Governor of Jiangxi, both sent local groups to call for peace and rejected the guest army's hypocrisy.Wang Zhanyuan, the governor of Hubei, was in a difficult situation, because Hubei was close to Hunan and adjacent to Sichuan, and it was the main route for the main fighters to attack the southwest, and there were both northern and southern armies in Hubei, so Wang Zhanyuan could not openly adopt an attitude of rejecting guest troops , Therefore, Wang instructed the Hubei group to include in the telegram calling for peace that if war is inevitable, the three towns of Wuhan should be drawn out of the war zone. The war faction believes that Li Chun is the head of the three governors of the Yangtze River and the second in the direct line, so they concentrate on attacking Li Chun, calling Li a scum of destroying the Beiyang faction.Among them, the one who scolded Li Chun most harshly was Zhang Jingyao who was pulled out by Li Chun.Zhang Pingsu called Li "Xiu Shuai my wife" in the telegram (Li Chun's name is Xiushan), and now Zhang actually spread a rumor saying: "The extraordinary Congress will move to Nanjing for its meeting."Li was so angry that he didn't see any guests in the new year.On January 11, he formally resigned from the Beijing government, and Qi Xieyuan, Chief of Staff of the Supervisory Office, was appointed as his acting representative. At this time, Li Chun added a trump card in his hand, which was Feng Yuxiang. Feng Yuxiang's brigade was transferred from Langfang to Fujian to attack Guangdong after the downfall of the Duan cabinet, but they couldn't stay after arriving in Pukou.Feng Yuxiang's uncle, Lu Jianzhang, who was behind the direct lineage, also arrived in Nanjing at this time.Li Chundian, the governor of Jiangsu, asked Feng Guozhang to allow Feng Guozhang to stay in Pukou and return it to Li himself to control and dispatch. This was an important step in preparing to prevent the Second Route Army from going south by force if necessary. The Second Route Army of the "Southern Expedition Army", Shi Congbin, marched from Jinpu Road to Chuzhou, but Feng Yuxiang, who was stationed in Pukou, stopped them from advancing.This is a new tense situation, and the attention of all aspects of the country is focused on Pukou, because if Shi Congbin really continues to advance, a war will break out. This war is a war between the main war faction and the main peace faction within the Beiyang faction. The Anhui faction of the main combat faction wanted to crusade against the south and deal with the direct lineage of the main peace faction in the north at this time, which made the Anhui faction's army angry. On January 8, 7, the warlord regiment headed by Cao Kun held a meeting in Tianjin again. Some people proposed to punish Li Chun and Chen Guangyuan, but no unanimous agreement was obtained.Feng worried that the war faction was becoming more and more extreme, so he secretly informed Li Chun: "All parties gather troops in Ning, hoping to remedy the long-term suspicion." Li Caicai sent out his resignation telegram. During this period, there were also some commotions in the occupied area of ​​the Beiyang faction. On November 25, 6, Ye Huanzhang, the brigade commander of the Zhejiang Army, and Gu Naibin, the guardian of Ningtai, announced their independence in Ningbo, and promoted Jiang Zungui as the commander-in-chief of the autonomous army. On December 1, Shi Xingchuan, the commander of the Hubei First Division, announced his independence in Jingzhou, and on the 16th, Li Tiancai, the commander of the Hubei Ninth Division, announced his independence in Xiangyang. On January 4, 7, Wang Tianzong, the leader of the Henan People's Army, declared independence in Ruzhou.Ningbo's independence, due to the lack of cooperation within the Zhejiang Army, Tong Baoxuan, the commander of the First Division of the Zhejiang Army, sent troops to fire a few shots at Cao'e across the river, and the generals of the autonomous army fled. The independent armies of Jing and Xiang were the commander-in-chief of the Hubei Yasukuni Army, and Shi Xingchuan was the commander of the First Army of the Hubei Yasukuni Army.Jing and Xiang independently made Wang Zhanyuan's position extremely difficult.He is one of the members of the North-South Adjustment, and he is unwilling to be an enemy of the Southwest. However, he found an independent army acting in concert with the Southwest within his jurisdiction, and it was inconvenient to ignore them. Therefore, he calmly advised them to cancel their independence, and promised not to report to them. Launch a military offensive.In addition to opposing the Beijing government, the Autonomous Army did not speak ill of Wang Zhanyuan. Although Wang Zhanyuan did not attack the independent army, there was another army belonging to the Anhui faction in western Hubei, which was Wu Guang's new army that had retreated from Sichuan to Yichang.Wu Guangxin was defeated in Sichuan, and he really wanted to recover Jing and Xiang and make meritorious service to atone for his crimes.Wu Guangxin's forces are not strong, but the independent armies in Jing and Xiang are geographically isolated from each other, and they conduct their own affairs and are not comparable to each other. This gives the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of.Wang Zhanyuan himself did not want to attack the autonomous army, nor did he want to use others, especially Wu Guangxin, because if Wu Guangxin suppressed the autonomous army, it would be a great threat to him.However, he could not openly oppose Wu Guangxin's attack on the autonomous army, so Wang was in a very awkward position. The independence of Ruzhou in Henan has added to the complexity of the problem. Although Zhao Ti, the governor of Henan, is listed as the main combat faction, he is not orthodox in the Beiyang faction. Ruzhou is located in the southwest of Henan and adjoins Xiangfan in the northwest of Hubei. The confluence of the independent army is also a threat to Zhao Ti. The independence of Jing and Xiang has brought troubles to the Guangxi faction, especially Tan Haoming, the joint commander of the aid to Hunan, because the militiamen in western Hunan have asked to go to western Hubei to integrate with the independent army.And the Autonomous Army is in harmony with the Southwest, so Tan Haoming has no reason to refuse.However, the march of the Xiangxi People's Army to the west of Hubei was a hostile act against Wang Zhanyuan. Wang Zhanyuan was the main peace faction in the Beiyang faction, so he had to try his best to stop it.He called the Beijing government and said: "If the northern army attacks Jing and Xiang, the southern army will also attack Yuezhou." At this time, the third division of the Zhijun Army had already arrived in Guangshui, ready to attack Hunan.Due to the fierce struggle between the main war faction and the main peace faction in the north on the South China issue, Cao Kun also had concerns and wanted to stop the army in Hubei for a while before making a decision.So Cao Kun, Zhao Ti, and Wu Guangxin held a discussion. They decided to eliminate the Jing and Xiang autonomous armies before attacking Hunan, and at the same time asked Wang Zhanyuan to send troops to assist them in order to form a four-sided siege.Wang Zhanyuan could not refuse this plan. The situation was not favorable for Li Tiancai (commander-in-chief of the Yasukuni Army in Hubei), commander of the independent armies in Jing and Xiang.Shi Xingchuan, the first commander of the Yasukuni Army in Hubei, did not want to be subordinate to Li, so he separated from Li and changed his name to the National Defense Army in an attempt to get closer to Tan Haoming.Li Tiancai was isolated because of this, and Wang Zhanyuan kept asking him to give up his independence by means of persuasion, so he arrested and killed the former commander of the Eighth Division of the Hubei Army Ji Yulin and brigade commander Guan Long who instigated this autonomy.This time, the activities of the independent armies in Jing and Xiang became short-lived, and they would have collapsed before the Northern Army attacked.