Chapter 47 Yuchen's Victory

The river wind blows towards you, and the waves splash on the deck.

The British and Jiangbei fleets were still confronting each other and heading towards Ezhou. Both sides were getting nervous, but they were always waiting for orders.

Lieutenant Colonel He stood in the command cabin and still couldn't make up his mind for a long time. He had already telegraphed the Far East Fleet Command of Shanghai's Far East Fleet Command, but the other side still remained silent. He didn't give him a reply. Do you really have to make his own decision?

He didn't know that the British Consulate General in Shanghai is now in chaos. The Chinese servants who served in the Consulate General have not seen these foreign masters so uncool for a long time.

When a servant brought milk tea and snacks into the conference room, he saw Kent shouting in a frightening manner: "Since Yuchen dared to send his fleet to the peace-keeping fleet of our British Empire with artillery! In any case, we must also crack down on his despised authority! Otherwise, the prestige of the Rice Flag on the Yangtze River will be defiled! Even if he dares to do this in a small local warlord, how can we implement our policies?"

The commander of the British Far East Fleet was an old gentleman with gray hair. He also had the title of a nobleman. According to Kent's unkind comments, he seemed to be in a state of tranquility.

He smiled and took the teacup from the servant, lowered his head and tasted it lightly, without any expression. His adjutant stood behind him, waiting for the orders given by Lieutenant General Huatull at any time.

Kent controlled his emotions slightly: "Are you worried that the four gunboats there are now not opponents of the Jiangbei Fleet? Our Far East Fleet has powerful warships! You can beat them into scrap iron at any time!"

Kent was questioned a little rudely, and the old general just felt that he was not like a diplomat. He should have been sent to South Africa to accompany the wealthy businessman who only regretted that he could not colonize the moon. To be precise, their thinking belongs to the last century.

"The authority of the British Empire is not reflected by the tonnage of gunboats, but by the country behind these brave little gunboats. Sometimes we may tolerate because of the situation, but it is definitely not because of fear." General Huatul said slowly.

"And there seems to be some gap in opinion between the Consul and the Minister of Beijing. I have to say that the Consul may have lost his calmness and become paranoid. The Far East Fleet is a guarantee for the implementation of Far East foreign policy, not a tool in the hands of diplomats. This must be recognized clearly."

After he finished speaking slowly, he lowered his head and continued to drink tea.

Kent didn't know what to say, he was a product of the fanatical Victorian era. The glory of the British Empire is now gradually declining, making him increasingly unable to tolerate other people's challenges to the British Empire in his position as a diplomat. But the old man's fleet commander said this. Can he still force him to order the gunboat to fire? The envoy of Zhuerdian in Beijing seemed to have retreated from his original position. He and the old man now emphasize the existence of the fleet on the Yangtze River, rather than firing.

"All of them are weak guys! As long as I am still in the position of Consul General in Shanghai for one day, Yuchen will not expect to obtain the friendship of the British Empire!" He really felt that all this happened meaninglessly, and the ending was even more meaningless. The old fox Zhu Erdian was slightly pushed and took a step in the actual steps of aiding Yuan Shikai. But with the death of one hundred Chinese people, they immediately shrank back. Are the lives of these Chinese people so important?

He suppressed the anger in his heart and nodded to General Huatuoer, then left the living room with his cane. He needed to calm down.

Hua Tuoer finished his last sip of tea, stood up slowly, and smiled at his young adjutant: "My child, the tea on land is never as good as the warships... Go back to our home immediately. In addition, send a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel He Bo, we give up, the Far East Fleet has shown their existence. There is no need to officially open fire with the Chinese army for an emergency. They dare not really challenge our authority... Let the children rest. Here are what diplomats should do."

He Bo finally received the telegram he had been waiting for for a long time, and at this time he had been confronting the Jiangbei army's fleet for almost five hours. When the news of the Far East Fleet ordering them to retreat to Hankou came, his first reaction was to be relieved, but his second reaction was to be angry. The British Empire's warships retreated in front of the Chinese navy for the first time!

He was in a complicated mood and kneaded the telegram into a ball, muttering in his mouth that he didn't know what he was reciting. Suddenly, he ordered the staff officer beside him: "Order the entire squadron to advance to Hankou............ Before we leave, we will walk around in front of them!"

The four gunboats all raised the boiler to a pressure of six and a half. The warships suddenly accelerated and kept approaching the Jiangbei Army's fleet. The muzzles were still swaying left and right in demonstration, and they rushed forward with snow-white waves.

Xie Guanchao's expression became even more nervous, and his body almost completely plunged outside the podium. The voices of the staff beside him changed: "Commander, do you think you will open the fire immediately?"

Xie Guanchao said loudly: "Don't fire! Let's not fire the first shot! The brothers ordered to keep calm. They are small boats and they can't hit us!" His voice was so loud that even the officers and soldiers in the gun positions on the entire front deck heard it.

Four British gunboats crossed in front of the fleet, almost ten yards away from the opposite warship. British sailors whistled and cursed here on the deck, and some even threw potatoes over. The soldiers of Jiangbei Army were not willing to be outdone and responded to the past with the national swearing of the south and the north. Some of them were very vital and spit on each other. There was a noisy and noisy sound.

There were only two senior officers standing on the bridge, looking at each other coldly when the warship was wrong.

Four British gunboats circled around the fleet and formed a row to accelerate upstream. When they could only see four faint smoke pillars in the distance, the naval soldiers of the Jiangbei Army reacted. The cheers resounded across the river. All the military caps were thrown up. Some people hugged each other and jumped.

This is the first time the British fleet has made concessions on the Yangtze River! How come this will not make these naval soldiers who sailed with the will of death ecstasy?

Even the staff officers beside Xie Guanchao hugged each other and cheered in the bridge. Xie Guanchao seemed to have used all his strength to sit on his chair. He smiled and looked at the young officers' screams that could not tell what they were.

The commander wanted to find out where the British supported Yuan Shikai, but it was really that way. Only then did he feel that the relaxation after his spirit was tense was so beautiful. He whispered to the officers beside him: "Send a telegram to Commander Yu, we continue to advance towards Ezhou, and the British warships on the river... have retreated."

"Commander, Commander! Great news! The British fleet has retreated! Let our fleet arrive in Ezhou! The telegram signed by Commander Xie himself is absolutely true!"

When Wu Cai personally rushed into the war room with the telegram, Yuchen felt his body shaking. He finally stood firm. It would be fake to say that he had made the decision to send troops to Hubei and Ganzhou and forcefully reinforce the Gan army in Ezhou on the river, it would be fake. He had never known what kind of agreement Yuan Shikai reached with Britain, and to what extent the Wuxue shelling incident was an emergency. If Britain really supported Yuan Shikai, it would be difficult for him to stand between Hubei and Ganzhou.

However, things finally progressed similar to what I expected. Britain had some support for Yuan Shikai. However, this support was based more on the good personal relationship between Yuan Shikai and Zhu Erdian! Otherwise, there would have been no longer recognizing the fact that Yuan Shikai's central government and large loans are still in negotiations.

With this, things are much easier! He stood at the map table, and the eyes of the people around him turned into a bit of admiration. Jiang Baili coughed: "Commander Yu...... This time I made you a accurate judgment again, which is really amazing. It seems that our knowledge is really worse than you."

It is really not easy for everyone to say this military strategy. Yuchen was smiling there, and there were still cold sweats flowing on his vest. They may not have a clear understanding of the great powers at that time due to historical limitations. But he clearly knew the direction of the future! Thinking of this, he nodded to Jiang Baili: "Brother Baili, in fact, he was lucky this time, but the brothers were unwilling to bow to foreigners. This bad temper, I don't know when it will be changed... Your opinions are still very steady, and we will put forward more in the future."

He turned to Tao Ding and said: "Surve the difficulties, I will help me draw a power supply immediately! The general meaning is that I hope the central government can negotiate with the UK on the Wuxue incident as soon as possible and carefully consider the various treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty and various countries. The Jiangbei army will wait for the aftermath and absolutely respect the central opinions. Although the unfortunate incident of Wuxue occurred, Jiangbei, as a local autonomous region, still adheres to the policy of opening up the door to foreign countries. This unfortunate incident will not affect the wide commercial interests of Jiangbei and all countries. As long as all countries can respect our sovereignty, Jiangbei will still welcome all countries!.........That's all, please carefully consider the text. After the news of our victory confrontation with the British warships this time, we will send out the power supply immediately!"

Everyone smiled knowingly. The commander slapped someone else and immediately stuffed a sweet date. He really refused to eat anything he lost. He even forced Yuan Shikai to the Central Committee to be so sinister.

Sima Zhan quietly extended his thumb to Wu Cai, and Wu Cai just smiled, with only pride and joy in his heart. He followed the Jiangbei Army step by step. The Jiangbei Army was able to be strong to this extent, and forced the British fleet to retreat from the river surface. This young chief of staff had a tide.

This small confrontation in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River caused a huge wave in the public opinion circle. Some newspapers commented in succession, saying that this was such a glorious thing in the Republic of China. How could the Jiangbei Army be the national force? Some newspapers have called Yudian, but they became worried at this time. They thought that Yuchen and Jiangbei Army's actions were too reckless. Should they negotiate first? There were even a small number of public opinion sarcastic and even more so. In short, the majority of those who were not optimistic about the Jiangbei Army's actions and their consequences were actually.

This was also a normal reaction to social psychology at the beginning of the Republic of China. With the awakening of the initial national consciousness, the fear of the great powers was still deeply rooted in my heart. I felt that these giants seemed to be incomprehensible. I hope someone would stand up to represent their national interests, but I was also afraid of offending the great powers. So when Yuchen's reissue of the electricity, everyone was applauding. Many newspapers immediately gave Yuchen the title of rational patriot.

The Senate of more than a dozen provinces jointly issued a telegram, hoping that the central government of Beijing would quickly handle the negotiations on the Wuxue incident. It also hoped that the Hubei and Jiangxi armies would obey the mediation of Yuchen and Chen Huan's troops, quickly end all military operations, and put them into public opinion. Yuchen's step-by-step actions and forced the palace to the north became more and more powerful.

Yuan Shikai really didn't expect that the British fleet, which he respected as a god, would stop so gently, and also issued a formal statement saying that since the Hubei and Jiangxi armies had actually ceased fire, the British fleet's mission to maintain peace in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River had been successfully completed. He did not comment or comment on the announcement of a certain Chinese force to force the British fleet to retreat on the Yangtze River. The British Empire did not need to argue with the local forces in China. What's important is that the interests of the Yangtze River Basin of the British Empire were not damaged.

Now Yuan Shikai put the third division in Hubei, consuming expenses that the central government could not afford every month. However, he could not launch an attack on the Southern Army. The soldiers on the front line were neither willing to fight, and there were few voices of support from the rear. If he did not fight, he would not be willing to admit that Yuchen had investigated and dealt with all this in Hubei. Even Sun Huang, the Tongmenghui, did not go north. Shanghai suggested that Chen Huan and Yuchen jointly investigate the matters in Hubei. After the matter was cleared, the two of them would go north. Yuan Shikai didn't understand. It was obvious that Yuchen, as a local force, sent troops to neighboring provinces privately, but in the end, it became something he had right?

The situation in Hubei was at the moment when the central government lost its voice, and the local area was talking a lot, and the two armies continued to be in chaos in the stalemate of the front line. At least now, there was no clue yet. Yuchen was already sorting out the rear of Jiangxi. It turned out that all officials from the Li Liejun era were retained, but the policies implemented in Jiangbei had begun to be implemented. The Jiangbei Inspection Envoy Office gradually had the flavor of the Yangtze River Inspection Envoy. He also promised Li Liejun that he would properly resettle the Gan army, but the war could not be fought anyway. Li Liejun tried to give him the deputy envoy of Jiangbei Inspection Envoy and continued to command the Gan army reorganized from Jiangbei. Ouyang Wu was also appointed as the governor of Jiangxi and the commander of the First Division of the Gan Army.

Yuchen's actions were much faster than Chen Huan. Chen Huan is still arguing with Li Yuanhong. Both sides are in the county magistrate, various committee members and directors of the committee. Especially in several important positions, both sides are fighting openly and secretly. Although Li Yuanhong is not the governor of Hubei, he is still the vice president. Behind the Hubei potential forces, he still has seven or eight thousand remaining troops. Moreover, in southeast Hubei, there are more than a dozen regiments of the Gan Army and Jiangbei Army. In the southern part of Hubei, there are five or six regiments of the Hunan Army and the Gan Army. If you want to clarify this situation completely, it will not take a month.

In a noisy theater in Beijing, there were water signs for Boss Tan’s play tonight outside. Before the serious story was on stage, a few unknown corners and fans were singing on it. There was a clamor in the ground. Even the gongs and drums on the stage could not be suppressed.

The hand towels were spread over the heads, and then the hookah in the soft tube was spitting out a mass of smoke. The vendors selling melon seeds and peanuts, and the military police officers who occasionally came to watch the show. This is the most common scene in the Beijing theater.

Two people were sitting on both corners of a large table wearing top hats and long robes, and were leisurely kowtowing melon seeds. They whispered from time to time. Several old men at their deskmates were closing their eyes and slapped their eyes. Who would care more about what they said.

"The boss needs the information of the newly trained troops in the north, and the list of chief officials at all levels...... In Suiyuan and Rehe, the brothers also need to do more work. The brothers who go out to carry the work should take good care of them...... There used to be many people who carry the work for the bosses surnamed Man, and those who can exercise should exercise well..."

Another thin man half closed his eyes, and seemed to be listening to the opera. After listening to the man's words, his eyes flashed faintly. He nodded. This man was Deputy Director Bai Siwen who had been lurking in Beijing for a long time. In the past, Chen Si was running for the field tasks, but now Chen Si went to Rehe, so he had to do it himself. Yuchen wanted to replenish their personnel several times, but Bai Siwen would rather develop his own external line. After all, the people coming from the south have too big goals.

"Tell the boss that the information of the new northern troops is ready. The boss is now going to Jiangxi, Hubei to buy land and property. Beijing is very angry. The old man is angry. I don't know what else to do. Please rest assured about everything. Brothers who are carrying the job outside, the shopkeeper Chen Er has already gone to the Rehe side to take care of him... The boss is doing something in the south, and we guys who open business outside are also happy......"

He patted the visitor's hand: "Tomorrow the goods will be delivered to the inn where you stay. He is a 17 or 18-year-old guy. If you ask him what his surname is, he will just answer his surname Yu. I know a lot of people in Beijing, and Lu Jianzhang also stared at me...... Let's go first."

He bowed his hand and squeezed out of the theater with the corner of his robe. When he passed by a man sitting in the back row watching a white opera, he accidentally bumped into him. He hurriedly said, "I'm sorry." He turned around and left the garden. However, the man saw his face, jumped up and pulled up his brothers around him: "Hey! That man seems to be Bai Siwen that Mr. Lu wants to capture!"

His brother stood up reluctantly: "Who Bai Siwen, who is still black? Listening to Boss Tan's play is important!" The man said anxiously: "It is Bai Siwen who used to be the captain of Zhang Renjun and incites the Imperial Guards to cause trouble! The reward number of 500 yuan!"

Hearing that the reward number was so moving, his brother immediately jumped up and became energetic. The two touched the six-sounding pistol in their arms, and their courage became three more powerful. They hurriedly followed. This was the time when the alleys in the capital were lively at night. The carriages and the popular Oriental carriages came and went. Looking around, there was no trace of Bai Siwen! The two said angrily: "It's a bargain! I'll see him again next time, I'll leave it to Mr. Lu if I'm not a scammer!"

Yang Du held up the candlelight and looked up and down the map hanging on the wall. His eyes were closely watching the three provinces where Jiangbei Army is now entrenched, and he compared with his hands there. Finally, he sighed and did not speak.

The door was knocked gently, and this was an outside house in Yang Du. There was only an old servant brought out from Hunan to sweep and serve him. He was here today, and he was also waiting for someone. When he heard the door ringing, he did not look back, but just whispered: "Come in and sit down. There is tea on the table, and everything will be done."

A voice laughed and said, "Mr. Xizi is looking at our teacher's territory so attentively, what are the plans?" Yang Du turned his head over, and the person who came took off the hat from his head. It was Bai Siwen who left the theater.

He sighed: "Brother Bai, I'm just curious. I've seen your benefactor Yuchen, too, why can't I see his speciality? Every time I act, it seems that he has predicted everything. It's fine for us domestic figures to be at ease, how can we deal with the great powers? We are so good at taking this position? We have done everything and the archway has been established... What I want to see most is, if he sits in Yuan Shikai's position, what step can he do?"

Bai Siwen smiled and said, "Brother Xizi, don't say that to our division commander. He has always been in the heart of the central government and is ready to support President Yuan to the end. When you say this, it seems that our division commander is thinking about usurping the throne all day long. How can we afford it?"

Yang Du chuckled: "Yuchen himself has always been deep. I didn't expect that your subordinate would be very proud of his face... Tell me, let me wait for you here today, what's wrong?"
Chapter completed!