Yangzhou, Jiangsu, the command of the new Beiyang Army Cao Kun.

"Teacher Commander, it's not good!" Wu Peifu pushed open the door of Cao Kun's command with a document. At this time, Cao Kun was frowning and staring at the map with bright red marks marked on the map. Those marks have basically covered several northern provinces. It was a situation where the Southern Army was constantly reorganizing the remnants of the Beiyang New Army. Now most of the Zhili has fallen into the hands of the Southern Army.

Among them, including the northeastern Shandong and southeastern Henan have been included in the sphere of influence of the Southern Army, and even the southeastern Anhui has been slowly eroded by the Southern Army. The map shows that Jiangsu and Anhui provinces have basically been surrounded by the Southern Army.

Although there are still dozens of Beiyang New Army troops in Shanxi and other northwest areas, they are far apart and do their own affairs. The Southern Army allows these dozens of Beiyang New Army troops to exist in the northwest at this time. It is not that they don’t want to deal with them, but that the time has not come. It is estimated that the Southern Army is gathering heavy troops and preparing to wipe out the scattered soldiers from all over the northwest in one fell swoop.

When Cao Kun was upset, Wu Peifu took a document into his command center.

"What's so panicked?" Cao Kun asked with a frown.

"You are the Grandmaster, I just received a message!" Wu Peifu walked to Cao Kun's desk and opened the document.

Just a moment of looking, Cao Kun's face changed: "Is the situation true?"

Wu Peifu nodded affirmatively: "I have confirmed it, the situation is absolutely true!"

Cao Kun angrily swept away all the documents and pens on the table and cursed: "Wang Zhanyuan, you despicable villain, you have clearly agreed to live and die together, but he dared to contact the representatives of the Southern Army in secret. It was obviously a ill-gotten plot!"

Wu Peifu asked worriedly: "Teacher Commander Wang Zhanyuan's headquarters is the right wing of our army. If he really surrenders to the Southern Army, then our right wing will be out of our way. If the Southern Army launches a large-scale attack, we will not be able to resist!"

Cao Kun asked: "What? Is there any movement from Sun Wanling?"

"Yes, division commander, recently the frontier sentry found that many troops in Sun Wanling's army were being mobilized frequently. This is a sign before they launch an attack!" Wu Peifu said.

"Damn it, why haven't the general moved yet?" Cao Kun was in a mess. He still didn't admit that Yuan Shikai was dead. In his impression, Yuan Shikai was omnipotent and could not have been defeated by the Southern Army so easily.

Even if Beijing fell, Cao Kun believed that Yuan Shikai should have prepared a way out. At this time, Yuan Shikai might have fled to the north and was preparing to make a comeback!

However, what made Cao Kun very worried was why Yuan Shikai had not stood up yet, and when did he hide, or was he really executed by Tang Jian? When he thought of this, Cao Kun didn't dare to continue thinking about it.

At this time, Wu Peifu asked tentatively: "Teacher, will the general have encountered an unexpected situation? Is Tang Jian's words true?"

"Nonsense!" Cao Kun scolded, "The Grand Marshal cannot die so easily. He is the commander of the 200,000 Beiyang New Army. The Grand Marshal must have hid somewhere in the north and was accumulating strength and preparing to make a comeback. As long as we defend Anhui and Jiangsu provinces well, we wait for the Grand Marshal's order to counterattack together."

Wu Peifu didn't say anything, just stood quietly in the same place.

After Cao Kun vented, he felt a little upset. Seeing that his most proud general stood there with a depressed and aggrieved look on his face, his tone slowed down and he asked, "Are you not optimistic about this battle?"

Wu Peifu nodded indifferently.

"Tell me what you think?" Cao Kun asked.

"First of all, the Beiyang New Army is now in a low morale and its combat effectiveness is not as good as before. Moreover, the general's life and death are unknown. No one in the army can take on the great responsibilities and gather other troops. Secondly, when the general was still alive, the Beiyang New Army could no longer defeat the Southern Army, not to mention that the general's whereabouts were unknown and he would not be released for a long time. Finally, the southern army was in great power and the Beiyang Fleet helped him. It would be difficult to defend Jiangsu. Therefore, for the words of humble duty, we have no chance of winning in this battle!" Wu Peifu revealed his thoughts.

Cao Kun listened to Wu Peifu's analysis and his fists gradually clenched. In fact, he also knew his current situation.

However, he fought with Sun Wanling for a long time, and his hands were stained with blood from the Southern Army soldiers. He did not think that Tang Jian would let him go after he surrendered. Instead of surrendering and death, it would be better to fight hard. Maybe Yuan Shikai will make a comeback and he will also gain a good reputation.

Cao Kun sighed heavily and said, "Forget it, you go out first, I want to be alone and quiet!"

"Yes, division commander!" Wu Peifu gently helped Cao Kun to the door of the command center, and then quietly retreated out alone.

Wu Peifu, who walked out of Cao Kun's command, looked up at the cloudless blue sky, and saw a bird passing by silently in the sky.

Wu Peifu took out a letter from his pocket, took it to his eyes and looked at it, then sighed and put it back in his pocket. The moment Wu Peifu put it back in his pocket, the signature on the kraft envelope was Feng Yuxiang's handwritten signature.

...

Beijing Zhong, Prince Zhong Mansion.

"How is it? Is there any news from Cao Kun?" Tang Jian asked.

Feng Yuxiang shook his head and said, "Wu Peifu has already replied to me. He said that Cao Kun insisted on resisting to the end and had no intention of surrendering. He was still suspicious of Yuan Shikai's death."

"Haha, this is normal. If he surrenders so easily, will I look down on him?" Tang Jian said with a smile.

Nie Shicheng, who was standing beside him, asked, "Oh? Does the commander mean to recover?"

Tang Jian asked: "General Nie, let me ask you, Cao Kun was once your subordinate, you should have some understanding of him, right?"

Nie Shicheng nodded and said, "He has been in my Wuwei Army for a while. Cao Kun has the talent to command troops. I believe the commander has also seen it. General Sun and Cao Kun of the Eastern Army have been confronting each other for a long time and rarely get a good deal in his hands. On the contrary, General Sun has suffered a lot of his losses. The Battle of Jinzhou is your best proof. Cao Kun is a talent, but at the same time he is stubborn by nature. Generally, what he believes in is difficult to change. This is the reason why the commander failed to persuade him to surrender!"

"Yes, I value his ability to command troops, so I have a love for talents and the best way to surrender, so that I can avoid many casualties. After all, his tens of thousands of new troops are not the old, weak and disabled soldiers in the north, and their strength is extraordinary. If they really can't do it, they can only use some means." Tang Jian said.

"Indeed, it will take some time to conquer Cao Kun!" Nie Shicheng sighed, "Listen to the commander, has the commander already made a plan?"

"Haha, wait and see!" Tang Jian smiled strangely.

Next, the war between Anhui and Jiangsu gradually calmed down, and the main direction of the Southern Army turned to the northwest. A few days later, after rest and recuperation, the Southern Army began to fight in the northwest. This time, Nie Shicheng was still in charge. Nie Shicheng led 10,000 southern troops from Beijing to Shanxi, joined forces with 50,000 southern troops in Jinzhong, and began the Western Expedition.

Tang Jian's purpose was very simple. He used these 60,000 southern troops to enter Shanxi from Zhili, then headed north from Shanxi, passing through Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, and finally returned to Hubei, defeating each of them, and clearing out dozens of Beiyang New Army remnants who were all big and small.

At the same time, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui led 30,000 southern troops to station in Shanhaiguan to prevent the Russian army from taking advantage of the situation. Other southern troops began to take Zhili as their loyalty and followed Shandong and Henan to recruit the surrendered Beiyang New Army.

On the contrary, the war between Anhui and Jiangsu seemed particularly calm. Sun Wanling received Tang Jian's secret order and had to defend Nanjing to prevent Cao Kun from going south.

In this way, a strange phenomenon appeared between the north and south provinces, and there were battles of all sizes of other provinces, but Cao Kun's troops were in no war at all.

This made Cao Kun very frightened. If Tang Jian led his troops south, Cao Kun would not be so frightened. However, Tang Jian obviously had the power to fight, but he didn't attack him. Even Sun Wanling, who had been ready to move, stopped and adopted an active defensive attitude.

All the abnormal actions of Tang Jian made Cao Kun feel that an invisible mouth was gradually swallowing him, but he did not have the power to counterattack. Over the past few days, Cao Kun has been restless. He wanted to figure out what Tang Jian was conspiring, but he couldn't think of any reason even after he wanted to break his head. He couldn't think of it. He had no choice but to strengthen the defense of the station while restless.

...

On the deck of the Longwei, Tang Jianzheng was lying comfortably on the chair, savoring coffee while holding a fishing rod on one hand and catching fish on the sea.

When fishing on the main battleship of the Beiyang Fleet, Tang Jian was probably the only one who enjoyed this treatment. Tang Jian was about to raise a glass to drink a sip of coffee. At this time, Zhu Lianjie and Piao Tian Wenxue were idle and asked: "Young Master, you said that the Beiyang Fleet has been anchored on the outer sea of ​​Jiangsu for three days. Every day, I sleep and sleep. My Marines are almost growing fat."

Ye Zugui also took over the conversation and said, "Yes, Commander, we have all arrived outside Jiangsu. As long as you give your order, it will be no problem to defeat Cao Kun in one fell swoop with General Sun Wanling of Nanjing's Eastern Route Army and the Water and Land Alliance!"

"Shh!" Tang Jian made a booing gesture and whispered: "No hurry, I'm fishing!"

Ye Zugui asked in confusion: "Commander, now the northern and southern provinces are encircling and reorganizing the remaining Beiyang New Army. The only one with a little threat is Cao Kun's army. Why not act together and take advantage of the situation to unify the whole country? But... Commander, you are so leisurely to fish on the Dragon Power!" Ye Zugui mustered up the courage to express his questions.

ps: Today's second update. After watching it, I'll throw some flowers!
Chapter completed!