For the Manchu, Qing and Beiyang systems in the north, there are many ways to convince them and attack them, but for the south and the Shanghai Army, they are all revolutionary comrades, and sometimes it is much more difficult.

If nothing else, to achieve this strategic goal, when the entire south is unified, the first step is to integrate the army and unify the government.

The Wuchang regime is strong, while the southern and Shanghai armies are weak, so it is really difficult to balance the situation. If it is not done well and causes internal strife, it will be tantamount to endangering the enemy and doing a disservice.

Things are so complicated that it is difficult to sort them out at the moment, so we can only take one step at a time.

…

Early spring in February.

The Yangtze River and the coastal areas have begun to thaw, and the accumulated snow mountains have begun to decompose into snow water flowing down the river. The warm sunshine is caressing the earth, the spring breeze is pleasant, and it is a good time for early spring.

Although there are still small pieces of ice raging in the river and sea, on the embankments on both sides, the green grass tenaciously pokes its head out, swaying softly in the spring breeze.

Looking from a distance, the earth seems to have been put on a colorful dress, with patches of green and patches of yellow.

At the deep-water dock of Chongming Port of the East China Sea Fleet, Ding Changdong, deputy commander of the fleet and commander-in-chief of the Navy in the Xuzhou Campaign, squatted on the bank of the Yangtze River, watching large and small ice blocks passing by not far in front of him, and the water splashing on his body.

, he seemed unaware.

He was very anxious. The command of the Republican Army Headquarters regarding the Xuzhou Campaign had been issued. Luo Erhu's troops had already penetrated and assaulted the enemies in the Xinyang area. Xinyang would be captured soon and they would advance deeply into Henan and Anhui.

According to the plan, the five cruisers of the East China Sea Fleet's task force were to be ready to set off, protect the five large landing ships that Song Xiaoniu was riding, arrive at Lianyungang and Rizhao as soon as possible, and launch an attack on the coastline from the sea, cooperating with Luo Erhu.

The troops entangled the main force of the Manchu Qing army entrenched in Xuzhou.

But this year, Lingxun arrived much later than before. It was already early February, and the narrow section of the Yangtze River had just begun to thaw. However, Song Xiaoniu and his group's landing ship traveled slowly and did not arrive at Chongming on time.

"Damn it, this kind of crazy weather!" Ding Changdong cursed bitterly, turned around and asked an old man in black clothes beside him, "Mr. Cheng, when do you think this torture will end?"

Mr. Cheng is an aboriginal old man on Chongming Island. He has lived by the Yangtze River for a long time, but he is very aware of the bad news here.

"General Ding, looking at the weather, I'm afraid it will take another ten days or so, and it won't be until the middle of the month that the trial will be completely over." Mr. Cheng said respectfully.

Ding Changdong angrily kicked a small stone from the shore into the river and shook his head helplessly.

At this time, the Yangtze River had a spacious surface, so large ships could pass through it without any problems. However, in narrow areas, or under the shade of mountains that were sheltered from the sun and cold, there was still ice. When large ships passed by, they encountered sharp ice cubes, causing damage to the hull.

Fatal destruction.

All we can do is wait and wait for the end of the trial.

…

Xinyang, Henan.

Zhang Biao, the commander-in-chief of the southern theater of the Qing army in Henan and Anhui provinces, was also very anxious at this time.

It has been two years since Chen Tianhua started his uprising in three towns in Wuhan, and the development of the war is far from what they originally expected.

As expected, the Beiyang Army's lightning encirclement by land and water turned into a protracted war of attrition, and the resistance of the rebels was unusually fierce.

The battlefield situation in the later period was getting worse and worse for the Qing soldiers, and the balance of victory was tilted towards Chen Tianhua's rebel army. This was already quite dangerous for this local war, but also for the entire chess game in the world.

As expected, the Beiyang Army was forced to withdraw, and Zhang Biao was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the southern Henan-Anhui War Zone. He led 20,000 remaining troops to confront the Republican Army based on the Dabie Mountains.

During this year and a half of confrontation, the Qing army occupied the entire defense line in the Henan and Anhui regions, expanded its army, and replenished a large amount of military supplies and ammunition.

This is entirely due to the secret agreement between the Beiyang government and the East Asian island country, which resulted in loans and large amounts of military aid from the other party's government.

According to the Beiyang Army's advance plan, Zhang Biao's expanded Qing army was ordered to launch an attack on the Xiaogan area on the border of Hubei Province.

After fighting several times, although they initially occupied some county towns, they were eventually counterattacked by the opponent and returned to their original position.

And the further you go, the stronger the opponent's resistance becomes. Who says the Republican Army has insufficient soldiers, but their firepower is powerful.

Now, every step forward had to pay a huge price. Zhang Biao simply stopped ordering the Qing army to continue attacking Hubei. It was good enough to hold on to his own defense line.

After spending the painful winter, Zhang Biao received military intelligence that showed that the Republican Army on the opposite side was rapidly transferring troops and equipment and was likely to launch an attack on the Henan-Anhui border.

Damn it, it only took Chen Tianhua and the others a year and a half for the Republican Army to go from strategic defense to strategic offensive.

Zhang Biao's life was difficult, but his boss, Duan Qirui, Minister of Army of the Beiyang Clan Government, was not much better off either.

Although through secret agreements, the Beiyang government received huge loans and large quantities of military aid at the expense of selling the mineral resources of the three eastern provinces, it was a drop in the bucket and the Manchu dynasty's treasury was vacant. The hole dug was too deep and too big.

Eighty-eighty percent of the money is required, plus the army is expanded by hundreds of thousands, where will the money come from?

Last autumn and winter, the Qing army in Beiyang had just completed its expansion and its weapons and equipment had been replenished. Duan Qirui wanted to use Jin Tianlong's Taihu Allied Forces to launch the Southern Jiangsu Campaign and ordered his troops to attack Yangzhou.

Yangzhou is a checkpoint for the Northern Army to attack southern Jiangsu. After defeating it, the road to southern Jiangsu is a smooth road with no obstacles. Even if they want to attack Jiangning Prefecture, there is only Zhenjiang as a barrier.

If Yangzhou City can be captured, it will further enhance the Northern Army's determination to unify the south of the Yangtze River, obtain more military aid from the Japanese island governments, and become more convincing.

But what Mr. Duan never expected was that this inconspicuous Suzhong city would firmly block his progress.

Fortunately, it was just an exploratory military action.

There is only one Class A regiment stationed in Yangzhou City, with a strength of nearly 2,000 people, more than half of which were from the former Beiyang New Army who surrendered. The combat effectiveness should not be that strong.

What Duan Qirui didn't expect, and what frightened the attacking Beiyang Army, was that the Yangzhou City defenders were so well-equipped as never before.

The firepower of heavy artillery, mortars, light and heavy machine guns, etc. was more than three times that of the Northern Army attacking the city.

Tell me, how can we fight this battle?

The firepower configuration is almost the same if it is reversed.

More than 10,000 siege troops were held back by Yangzhou City for half a month, but they still failed to break the city, so they had to retreat in despair.

From then on, Duan Qirui no longer had the luxury of actively attacking the Jiangnan Republican Army.

Years ago, a unit of the East China Sea Fleet of the Republican Army visited Huludao in Northeast China and scared the shit out of the big guys in the Beiyang Department.

Is this a naked threat to the Shandong Peninsula?

It also made Duan Qirui feel even more imminent danger, as the Jiangnan Republican Army intended to conduct a Northern Expedition.
Chapter completed!