Chapter 13 Section Thirteen

The Japanese army's plan to appease the red beard had already become a reality with Yuan Shikai's support. As early as April, Banxi organized the three battalions of the "Justice Army" under the command of Feng Linge, Jin Shoushan, and Du Lishan in Chaoyang.While Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he ordered Feng Yukun, who was stationed in western Liaoning to maintain neutrality, to provide secret support. Therefore, the identity of the "righteous army" was very subtle. They were both mercenaries of the Japanese army and side branches of the official army.

In fact, the Japanese army crossing the Yalu River from Uiju, North Korea, and entering Fengtian through Andong, has as many as ten divisions. The Guards Division was successively organized into four armies. The first army was organized into the First Army, and the commander Heimu was Zhen, and they were distributed in Jiulian City and Phoenix City. The Second Army, led by Army General Ao Baogong, landed at Piziwo, a non-freezing port in the northeast of Lushun, divided the troops into two groups, and occupied Pulandian all the way to the west. In the back road of Lushun and Dalian. The commander of the third army was named Naimu Xidian, who specialized in Lushun.Don't send Lieutenant General Yejin Daoguan to land on Gushan at the mouth of Shaozi River, west of Dadonggou, march northward along the main road, overcome Xiuyan, and join hands with the First Army to capture Ximu City in the southeast of Haicheng.However, Ao Baogong defended Jinzhou with the first division, and counterattacked with the second and fourth divisions along the South Manchuria Railway, entered Xiongyue, broke Gaiping, and defeated the Russian army at Dashiqiao. Can no longer keep.The entire Liaodong Peninsula is roughly under the control of the Japanese army.

It was at this time that the Manchuria General Headquarters was established. Planned by Kodama, the First Army was the right wing and went out to the northeast of Liaoyang; the Fourth Army was the left wing and the west and northwest of Liaoyang; , more than 17,000 Japanese soldiers died. However, this victory was not entirely due to the Japanese themselves, and the "Justice Army" also contributed to containment.However, although the Russian army was defeated, its strength was not damaged. The commander of the Russian Far East Army, Krubatkin, estimated that Liaoyang would be difficult to defend. Out of the southeast of Liaoyang, a legion is the reserve team.Among them, the move to the southeast of Liaoyang was the most ruthless. The attempt was to block the return of the Japanese army and surround them.

As a result, the Japanese army must do its best.Therefore, Banxi discussed with Yuan Shikai and asked for extra support.Yuan Shikai sent Duan Zhizhi, the chief of staff of the Zhili Supervisory Office, to accompany Banxi to Liaoyang to deal with it. At the same time, Feng Yukun also received a secret order to assist the Japanese army as much as possible in secret. When they arrived in Liaoyang, they agreed to send Feng Yukun's team officers to act as spies for the Japanese army and spy on the military situation. Meng Enyuan, Wang Huaiqing, Liu Menglan, etc. were selected. About a dozen people were selected. Going to see the situation of the horse, infantry, artillery, and labor battalions of the Russian army, you will not be ignorant.It's just that no one can pick up what's written in the pen. If you get something out of spying, if you can't write a report back, what's the point?

It happened that Duan Zhigui's father, Duan Youheng, the governor of the battalion, went from Xinmin, west of Shenyang, to Liaoyang to see his son who was out of customs on business. He is from Penglai, Shandong, and he was born as a scholar. He is very suitable for this job." It turns out that Wu Peifu, named Ziyu, was from Penglai, Shandong.The family was poor and had great ambitions. At the age of fourteen, he joined the Dengzhou Prefecture Navy Camp as a student soldier. In his spare time, he studied hard. The twenty-seven students who entered the school are the "prime minister root seedlings" scholars.

I don't want to cause trouble at home in the second year, offend the local gentry, not only get dismissed as a scholar, but also be wanted.As a last resort, he sailed to Tianjin and joined Nie Shicheng in the Wuwei Qianjun Army. Because his physique was too weak, he only added the name of a handyman.Soon, the Gengzi rebellion broke out, Nie Shicheng was martyred, and the entire Wuwei army was disbanded. Wu Peifu moved to Kaiping and was admitted to the Wubei Academy. After that, the Wubei Academy moved to Baoding. The little instructor scolded, feeling embarrassed. Therefore, Wu Peifu joined Duan Youheng's subordinates and served as a Ma Bian.Duan Youheng always takes it as a matter of pride to have such a talented scholar to support him, and because Wu Peifu is proficient in literature and ink, it is convenient to go there, so he goes in and out with him and gradually becomes a confidant.

With such a relationship, he can be trusted, and Duan Zhigui is also happy to honor his relatives, promote him, and send him to the staff office with a monthly salary of 50 yuan. So Wu Peifu, together with Meng Enda and others, either carried burdens on their shoulders, pretended to be peddlers, or led monkeys and sheep, pretended to be tricksters, and approached the Russian army's camps and positions separately to inquire about the movement. Before long, written reports poured in.Everyone worked hard, and one person wrote. Fukushima, the staff officer of the Japanese Manchuria Army General Headquarters, and Banxi, who were in charge of this part of the liaison work, only knew the name of Wu Peifu. Seeing his report in detail and occasionally attaching a map, it was quite essential. Promoted this person.

When Duan Zhigui returned to Tianjin from Liaoyang, the first thing he did was, of course, go to see Yuan Shikai and report on his trip. Xingyuan, Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Minister, was destroyed by the Gengzi Rebellion. The new site was originally intended to be the palace for the emperor's military parade. However, the coup d'etat of 1898, the military parade ceremony was not held. Yuan Shikai estimated that the emperor would never come to Tianjin again, so please change it to Beiyang Minister Xing Yuan.The Yuwu in the east, as the supervisor's office, is full of stars, but few people can see Yuan Shikai. Even Duan Zhigui has to be notified before he can enter Yuan Shikai's signing room.

The houses in the west area are full of flowers and trees. It is the seat of the shogunate. The grand occasion is not far from the time when Li Hongzhang opened the mansion.In addition to Yu Shimei, an old man from Beiyang, there are also Fu Zengxiang and Yan Xiu in Hanlin, and there are also many students who were "born as imperial scholars". There are more than 20 people in total. As for Yuan Shikai's most trusted aide, he is the lowest in seniority. He is a Suzhou native named Zhang Yilin. , Send Shuxiu sixty taels of silver a month. The status of the shogunate is usually equal to that of the host, so the shogunate in Beiyang often doesn't even pay attention to the secretary.Only Zhang Yilin was different. He finished his duties every day, locked himself in the study and studied hard. The books he read were eclectic, mostly practical.For several months, I had never met Yuan Shikai in private once, let alone asked for anything, so when mentioning Beiyang's "Master Zhang", they all looked in awe.Gradually Yuan Shikai also found out that he trusted Zhang Yilin most of the articles of association and memorials for organizing the New Deal.

On this day Duan Zhigui came to visit, Yuan Shikai had already ordered, "Please come in"!But since Zhang Yilin happened to be invited, he took care of him and waited until he finished talking with Zhang Yilin. "Zhong Ren," Yuan Shikai said, calling him by his nickname, "I have something to ask you today. I know you are very busy, so I shouldn't bother you any more. Think about it, and ask for a big pen." "Yes." Zhang Yilin asked: "I don't know what kind of entertainment it is." "Zhang Xiangshuai's 70th birthday, it's time to send a birthday screen, and I want to ask you to do an article on 'Four Six'."

Zhang Yilin looked troubled.Like the identities of Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong, this longevity screen should be written in sixteen pieces, with two to three thousand characters of "Four Six", even if it is completed by the sacrifice, it will take several days.It was difficult for him to spare a whole day, let alone several days. "Zhongren, you are reluctant!" Hearing what the palace master said, Zhang Yilin had no choice but to answer: "I will do my best." "Please, please!" Yuan Shikai said: "After you finish the manuscript, you don't have to send it to me. I don't understand it. Please hand it over to Zhang Xunzhi to write it!" Zhang Xunzhi is the general office of the Zhili Official Newspaper Bureau, and he is known as a good book. Zhang Yilin nodded and said, "Yes!" "Zhong Ren, please sit down for a while, and take care of something." Yuan Shikai said to the servant: "Please Mr. He." This Director He is He Zonglian, the general manager of the coaching office of the Supervisory Training Office, whose name is Chunjiang, from Pingyin County, Shandong Province, and a top student of Tianjin Wubei Academy, but not long after he arrived, he did not know Zhang Yilin.It's just that He Zonglian felt that being able to sit comfortably in the governor's signing room must have a lot of background, so after saluting Yuan Shikai, she also nodded to Zhang Yilin to show respect. "What do you say about this infantry drill?" Yuan Shikai asked as he took out a thick manuscript from his desk with many uneven labels inside. "Returning to the Commander-in-Chief, after careful scrutiny, this exercise manual has been translated from Japanese, and there is nothing wrong with it. The original signature was a bit picky, so I had to reject it one by one. " "You martial arts masters, what do you know about literature and ink!" Yuan Shikai said with a downcast face, "Do you know who the original signer is? This is Mr. Zhang Zhongren!" Embarrassed, He Zonglian hurriedly turned around and cupped her hands, shouting repeatedly: "Old Master, Old Master!" The guilt was beyond words. "Don't dare, dare not!" Zhang Yilin also stood up and returned the salute, "This manuscript was ordered by the commander-in-chief, and I have to do it. However, although there are corrections, they are nothing but embellishments on the text, and there is no difference in the original meaning. I dare not force it. I don’t know what I don’t know.” "Did you hear that? Mr. Zhang won the first and second place in the Special Section of Economics, and you are still not convinced?" Yuan Shikai said unceremoniously: "The more ink in the belly, the more humble a person is. Only half a bottle of vinegar is available. Only then will it sway. Take the manuscript back, read it carefully, and ask Mr. Zhang for advice." "Yes! Yes!" He Zonglian took over the manuscript with both hands, tapped the heel of her leather boots, then turned around and asked Zhang Yilin, "I wonder when the old master will be free?" "That's hard to say. However, I don't go out very often. Please come over anytime and we can talk." "Yes! I'm going to visit the old master in the afternoon." "Okay, I'll wait." So He Zonglian turned around and asked, "What else does the commander-in-chief have to say?" "I think the new army should hold a big exercise. You might as well plan it first." "yes!" After a pause, Yuan Shikai had no more words, and He Zonglian withdrew the manuscript of the Infantry Exercise Code.Zhang Yilin waited for his back to disappear, and persuaded Yuan Shikai: "The commander-in-chief's words seem to be too harsh." "There is no way! You can't pretend to use words for this generation. Especially you can't let Wu overwhelm Wen. Otherwise, there will be a day when you will hurt yourself." "Wu can't overwhelm Wen", this sentence inspired Zhang Yilin deeply, and he felt that Yuan Shikai's success may be due to this.