At this time, more than 10 months had passed since the Southern War. During this period, Yuan Shikai had been recruiting troops and preparing for war. However, he was still very restrained in expanding the army and trying his best to maintain a balance between the expansion of the army and social development. Yuan Shikai was a wise man and knew that blindly expanding the army would not last long. Therefore, Yuan Shikai's army now has about 160,000 people, and a total of 8 towns and 7 associations were organized. In contrast, the army of Deyou court had expanded to nearly 400,000, while the Fengde court, which only occupied a province in Fujian, now has nearly 100,000 troops.

After obtaining the guarantee of weapons and arms supply from the East China Government, Yuan Shikai also had enough confidence. In fact, facing Deyou and the Fengde court's two-front attack, Yuan Shikai had already formulated a tactic to deal with, namely, attacking the north and defending the south. On the northern front, that is, when fighting with the Deyou army, the main force was dispatched to defeat Deyou army in one fell swoop; on the southern front, when fighting with the Fengde army, he only dispatched a small amount of troops, mainly focusing on defense restraint.

Although the territory and population of the Deyou court had an absolute advantage over Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai believed that the Deyou court had not yet been completely stable, so once the war was unfavorable, there would inevitably be conflicts within it. In terms of total military force, the Yuan army was not as good as the Deyou army, but his army was well-trained and well-equipped, and had an absolute advantage in the navy. Therefore, relying on the attack of the Yangtze River, it was not difficult to defeat the Deyou army. Moreover, after defeating the Deyou army, capturing Hunan Province in one fell swoop can also expand its territory. The Fengde court only had Fujian Province, with a narrow land and few people, which was not worth worrying about, and there was no benefit to beat them.

So, the battle on the northern line was commanded by Yuan Shikai, and he would dispatch 6 towns and three assistants, totaling more than 100,000 troops, including the navy and Yangtze River Fleet that Yuan Shikai had just formed. The core was 6 300 tons patrol boats purchased from the East China Government, and more than 10 modified merchant ships; on the southern line, Yuan Shikai invested the troops of one town and three assistants, totaling about 30,000 people, led by Wang Shizhen, and divided the troops to station in Shaowu Prefecture, Tingzhou Prefecture, Yanping Prefecture and other areas to fight with the Fengde court. Defence was the main focus, and during the armistice, Yuan Shikai built a large number of fortifications at the key points of the Guanjian Road in Shaowu Prefecture, Tingzhou Prefecture, Yanping Prefecture and other areas, because the last Southern War proved that the perfect fortifications was quite difficult to break. There was also a town and one cooperative as a reserve team.

After the troops were distributed, Yuan Shikai immediately commanded the army and took the initiative to attack, divided the troops into two groups, attacking Liuyang County, Changsha Prefecture and Pingjiang County, Yueyang Prefecture and the troops of both sides first met near Liuyang County, launched a fierce battle, and also opened the curtain of the Second Southern War.

The result of the first battle was as Yuan Shikai expected. Although the strength of the Deyou army was nearly twice that of the Yuan army, the training of the Deyou army was still not high after more than 10 months of preparation. Under the command of the commander Duan Qirui, the Yuan army successfully launched a wave of artillery-step and collaborative attacks, which immediately defeated the Deyou army. The Yuan army took advantage of the victory to capture Liuyang County, and the Deyou army had to retreat to Changsha and set up defense lines around Changsha.

At this time, the Yuan army on the other side, under the leadership of Feng Guozhang, defeated the Deyou army guarding Pingjiang County and occupied Pingjiang County. At the same time, Cao Kun also led an army and took a boat to the river. Under the cover of the Yangtze River Fleet, he landed on Chenglingji and landed on one fell swoop. The fleet immediately entered Dongting Lake and stationed in Junshan.

At the beginning of the Second Southern War, Yuan Shikai's performance was much more active than the last time. He launched a fierce attack on both the water and land lines, and achieved significant victory, forming an encirclement of the east and north against Changsha. This was also the experience of the last time. Although the Yuan army's combat effectiveness was stronger than that of the Deyou army, it was at a disadvantage in terms of population and resources. Behind him, there was a Fengde court that was restrained, so he could not withstand a protracted war. He had to attack with all his strength at the beginning, hurt the Deyou army severely and seize the battlefield as soon as possible.

After suffering a head-on blow, Deyou's army could only shrink its forces and defend Changsha to the death, and at the same time mobilized a large army to reinforce Changsha.

Of course, the beginning of the Second Southern War did not attract much attention for the East China Government. After all, the main energy of the East China Government is still on the epidemic in the Northeast. The Military Commission only ordered Zhejiang, Hubei and other provinces adjacent to both sides to strengthen the defense of the border to prevent the war from spreading into the East China Government. Of course, no one thinks that Yuan Shikai, Deyou, and Fengde will push the war into the East China Government unless it is crazy.

Although the five cities in Harbin, Manzhouli, Qiqihar, Aihui and Changchun were locked down at this time, and nearly 100 closed villages were already dispatched to the Northeast region. More than 3,000 medical staff and a large number of supplies have been dispatched to the Northeast, various figures related to the epidemic are still increasing. At this time, the total number of people infected with the plague has exceeded 40,000, and the number of people infected with the plague for three consecutive days has exceeded 5,000, and the cumulative death toll has exceeded 8,000, and the death toll has exceeded 1,000 for two consecutive days, and the number of people being isolated and observed has exceeded 150,000. Overall, the lockdown has not had a significant effect.

However, the Ministry of Health explained that due to the spread of the epidemic in the early stage, a huge infection group had formed, and now it has reached a large outbreak. At the same time, after the city was closed, a strict investigation was conducted and a large number of plague infected people were found, which has caused the current surge in the number of epidemics. This phenomenon occurred during the SARS and the new crown epidemic in the old time and space. As long as we survive this outbreak period, the turning point of the epidemic will appear.

Moreover, at this time, a positive phenomenon has emerged in the prevention and control of the situation. The large-scale use of antibiotics and serum has also increased significantly. In the past three days, the number of cured people has been 57, 74, and 93, respectively, which has been approaching the daily healing mark.

At the same time, donations and support from various regions to Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces have not stopped. At this time, more than 50 million silver dollars and various materials worth about 20 million silver dollars have been raised.

According to the statistics of the province, Zhejiang Province, which was finally incorporated into the East China Government, performed quite well. The raising of donations was second only to Shandong Province, and overwhelmed Jiangsu Province with a slight advantage. Of course, this is also because Shanghai was not included in the statistics of Jiangsu Province. This is because Zhejiang Province was originally an economically developed region. After joining the East China Government, due to the improvement of the system, the administrative efficiency was improved, the rules were fair and notarized, and the government was honest, industry and commerce had made great progress. Although many landlords were dissatisfied with the land policy of the East China Government, the industry and commerce of Zhejiang Province were very supportive of the East China Government. Of course, the wealth of industry and commerce was far stronger than that of the landlords. The provincial government recruited donations from all walks of life to Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. These merchants naturally wanted to support them, and they could also gain a reputation of being kind and generous, so why not do it!

However, the donation operation has not stopped yet, so it is still unknown who will win. The biggest disadvantage of Zhejiang Province is that it is led by the government or founded by veterans, and most of them are in the early stages, and they are not strong enough to donate large amounts of money.

Although the donated donations represent the support of local governments for Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, and the Qingdao Executive Yuan has repeatedly issued documents to prohibit malicious competition among local governments, local governments still have some meaning of competing.

At this time, Wu Changshuo, an art master living in Shanghai, finally decided to join the Xileng Seal Society at the repeated invitation of the Xileng Seal Society. This is also a major event in the Zhejiang cultural industry. Zhejiang Governor Wang Lezhi also decided to take advantage of Wu Changshuo to come to Hangzhou to organize a charity purchase. All members of the Xileng Seal Society must take out at least two of their own works and participate in the charity purchase. Several high-quality products will be selected for filming and writing, and all the funds obtained will be donated to the anti-epidemic use of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. In this way, not only can more charity funds be raised, but also can take the opportunity to expand the fame of the Xileng Seal Society and form a win-win situation.

Wang Lezhi also wrote two characters and participated in the charity purchase. After hearing this, Wu Changshuo, who had just arrived in Hangzhou, readily agreed to the event and took out his three works, one character, one painting, and one carving work, and participated in the auction. The other members of the printing club naturally took out their works and participated in the auction. Some art masters who were not members of the printing club also sent their works and entrusted the printing club to buy them. The donations from the proceeds were included in the donation. As a result, a total of more than 300 works were collected. A total of 36 works were selected for auction, of which Wu Changshuo's three works were naturally selected, and Wang Lezhi's 6-foot-form [Qinyuan Chunxue] was also selected for the auction.

On the first day of Yipeng, it attracted nearly a thousand people to participate, including many rich merchants and wealthy merchants in Zhejiang Province, and even some rich people from Shanghai, Jiangsu and Nanjing, which are also very lively. This is firstly due to Wu Changshuo's fame. After all, this is one of the top art masters in China now. The three words "Wu Changshuo" are a golden signboard; secondly, this Yipeng was actually organized by the government, and it was a famous discussion for disaster relief and epidemic prevention, so naturally it would come to support it. Finally, there is also a point that there are indeed many famous works in Yipeng this time. Since it is Wu Changshuo's three works, it is rare to see one, so it is also a rare opportunity. If you can buy a few works of famous artists you like, it will not only bring you great rewards, but also gain a good reputation for doing good and accumulating virtue, which is really a killing two birds with one stone.
Chapter completed!