Chapter 72 Countermeasures (First Update)

  It is undeniable that many of Sun Yat-sen's subordinates in the military are from Guangdong, including Xu Chongzhi, the two regimental commanders and battalion commanders of the Guard Regiment, Ye Ting, Xue Yue, Li Zhangda, and Ye Shuai. To Mao Fengzhu, these are all talents, all brave generals!

  After Dai Jitao sent the telegram to Sun Yat-sen, Sun Yat-sen still discussed it with his colleagues. Sun Yat-sen believed that Xu Chongzhi was the only troop he could directly control and also the most trusted armed force of the party, which should not be wasted on fighting against Mao Feng's troops. Moreover, it would be better to win over Mao Feng and make him surrender without a fight, as this would be the best strategy.

  Sun Yat-sen decided to send a coordination team to Chaozhou to coordinate the relationship between Mao Feng's and Xu Chongzhi's troops, preventing accidental conflicts. However, the members of the coordination team could not be unified!

  Sun Yat-sen finally decided to send a coordination team of five young officers, with Tao Zerong as the leader and Lin Zhimian, Dai Jitao, Xue Yue and Ye Ting as members. Mao Feng looked at this list and also agreed with it.

  After Mao Feng agreed to send electricity, he and Yang Yongtai sat in his office to discuss. Yang Yongtai said: "Tao Zeran is a wealthy businessman from Malaysia who later joined the Tongmenghui and has been supporting Sun Wen financially. He seems to be the head of the Guangdong branch now and has great prestige there! Lin Zhimiao was very successful in establishing a party branch in the Americas, Chen Jiongming betrayed him, and it is said that this person was also one of the attendants who personally escorted Sun Wen onto the warship. Xue Yue and Ye Ting are both from Sun Wen's guard team and are rare tiger generals. They were all leaders who escorted Sun Wen onto the warship. If not for these two men, it would be a question whether Sun Wen could have boarded the warship safely!"

  Mao Feng was quite familiar with Xue Yue and Ye Ting, but he didn't know much about Tao Zerong and Lin Zhimeng. After listening to Yang Yongtai's introduction, he also had a general understanding of the abilities of these two people!

  Mao Feng's murmured words were: "It seems that Sun Wen attaches great importance to me! He is really afraid that I will fight with Xu Chongzhi, and even sent this coordination team over. This can also be seen as Sun Wen being extremely eager to eliminate Chen Jiongming!"

  Yang Yongtai said confidently: "This is inevitable. Since the last time he reluctantly escaped from Guangzhou, which made the Northern Expedition end in vain and lost a good opportunity, Sun Wen has been thinking day and night about how to return to Guangzhou. Chen Jiongming was really ruthless. If Xu Chongzhi hadn't seen through it quickly and withdrawn from Guangdong to Fuzhou, the Second Army would not have existed! Think back to when three armies launched the Northern Expedition, how magnificent it was! How could this not make Sun Wen gnash his teeth at Chen Jiongming?!"

  Maofeng stroked his chin, thinking to himself: "In that case, Sun Wen seems to still want me to join him, and won't rashly use military force! Hmm, then I'll wait another half month!"

  Yang Yongtai shook his head and said, "Now in my opinion, it's better to wait for the coordination team to arrive before letting them go! We can let Xu Chongzhi attack Dongjiang from Meizhou, while Commander-in-Chief leads the army to attack Huizhou! At the same time, put pressure on Sun Wen and order him to command the Yunnan-Guizhou troops to intensify their attack on Huizhou!"

  Mao Feng's expression turned solemn as he said: "Chen Jue Ming is indeed formidable, but what's even more frightening is what happens after his downfall. What will happen next? I don't want to be the one who ends up being targeted!"

  Yang Yongtai said, "No way! Sun Wen won't turn against him. If the commander can defeat Chen Jiongming, Sun Wen will be grateful to the commander and won't have time to spare. His goal is still the Northern Expedition! The Zhili clique, the Fengtian clique, and Sun Chuanfang in the east! As expected, Sun Wen's next target is to connect Guangdong with Shanghai, making it a unified whole. Shanghai is the largest city in China and also the most prosperous one! So Sun Wen won't deal with the commander for no reason!"

  Mao Feng's expression changed quickly, and he looked at Yang Yongtai with appreciation, saying: "After all, it's Yongtai, just like I thought, this is a perfect match!"

  Yang Yongtai only then understood that this was Mao Feng's intentional move, which made Yang Yongtai cry and laugh at the same time. Mao Feng said with a smile: "Can't I test Yongtai just because Yongtai can test me?"

  Following Mao Feng's words, he said: "Now I have nearly 20,000 troops. As long as things go well, after fighting Chen Jiongming, my troops will be at least one army corps, right? I always believe that only through the test of battle can this army grow! Isn't this what my army lacks?"

  Before Yang Yongtai could speak, Mao Fengzhi said to him: "Letting Xu Chongzhi attack Dongjiang is actually letting him understand that if he can't even take down Dongjiang, then he shouldn't think about other things. And I'm taking the initiative to attack Huizhou, which completely eliminates the unfavorable impression of negotiating with Sun Wen earlier. If I defeat Chen Jiongming and take down Huizhou, it will make Sun Wen value me even more! With this environment, would I still be who I am now? I'm afraid that by then, I'll be the strongest military force under Sun Wen!"

  Yang Yongtai reminded: "Don't forget Zhu Peide and the Guangxi clique!"

  Mao Feng disdainfully said: "A water lily without roots, as long as Zhu Peide doesn't return to Yunnan, he's just an empty shell, not worth worrying about. The Guangxi clique is currently experiencing intense conflict between old and new factions, now they're thinking more about relying on Sun Wen's support! In the short term, they won't be my opponents, besides..."

  After a pause, Mao Feng's momentum surged and he said: "Having defeated Chen Jiongming, will I just sit back and watch the Guangxi clique rise again? I don't believe that if I give Sun Wen this cake of Chaozhou and Meizhou, Sun Wen won't want it. He won't compensate me?"

  Yang Yongtai was shocked and said: "The commander wants to hand over Chaozhou Fu to Sun Wen?"

  Mao Feng nodded, and Yang Yongtai exclaimed: "This is unacceptable! This is the foundation. If not, Commander will be a rootless reed, with no chance of turning over!"

  "Superficially, it seems so, but if I didn't do this, how would I gain Sun Wen's trust? To take something, one must first give! Is there a gain without sacrifice? The more you put in, the more you get out! By giving up Chao Mei Tang, Sun Wen will have to compensate me, and besides, he won't fully accept it either. Can he swallow Chao Mei Tang whole in a short time? If that's how he eats, what would others think of him, and what would they think of me?"

  Yang Yongtai lowered his head and fell into thought, while Mao Feng continued to say: "What I lack now is talent. I am very interested in Xue Yue and Ye Ting! If we can pull these two over, that would be the best thing!"

  Yang Yongtai seemed to have not heard Mao Fengzhi's words, he was still thinking. Mao Fengzhi picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip, after putting down the cup, Mao Fengzhi continued: "I also believe that when the time comes, Sun Wen will definitely know about my relationship with the thirteen families. What will he think then? He must want to use this to pull in the thirteen families, he must value their financial power! This will again make him worry about my plans!"

  Yang Yongtai finally spoke up at this time, saying: "This is a huge adventure, but if it succeeds, the gain will be too great! At least you will definitely become the most powerful general under Sun Wen!"

  "So, now I must take the next step!"

  Yang Yongtai thought for a moment, looking at Mao Fengzhi with a faint smile, and suddenly said: "Join the party!"

  Mao Feng listened and laughed loudly three times, then said: "Not bad, I should also submit my application to join the party! Thinking about who the introducer is, it's enough for Sun Wen to ponder carefully! No surprise, this introducer Sun Wen is settled!"

  Yang Yongtai said at this time: "With this doorman, with this introduction, the commander will not have any accidents in a short period of time, and this reputation must be spread out! With this to win over talents, it must be twice the result for half the work! This momentum is good!"

  Mao Feng said resolutely: "The matter should not be delayed, so I would like to ask the master to write this letter for me!"

  Yang Yongtai nodded and said: "Righteousness does not allow refusal, I am very familiar with this!"

  Mao Feng said with a hint of a smile: "Then I'll have to trouble Yong Tai!"

  Shanghai night falls, and nightlife finally begins! Sun Wen chats with Wang Zhaoming and Hu Zhantang, both of whom are very optimistic about the situation in Guangdong. Hu Zhantang says: "If Mao Feng's troops surrender to the Premier, that will be the last straw that crushes Chen Jiongming. Chen Jiongming will be attacked from both front and back, with no room for maneuver. Let's see how he defends himself then!"

  Sun Yat-sen said with hatred: "If it weren't for this man's betrayal, the Northern Expedition would have achieved results by now. Why drag on until today? This man is truly the biggest traitor!"

  Wang Zhaoming said: "If Mao Feng really surrenders, then the east will be unobstructed, and we can launch a direct attack on Dongjiang and Huizhou! It's just unknown where Mao Feng will choose to go."

  Hu Zhandang said: "It's probably the East River, and it can be completely relied on with the influence of Meizhou Hakka people, plus nearly 20,000 troops in his hands! Huizhou is Chen Jiongming's old nest, after operating for so many years, it's a hard nut to crack! Even if it can be moved, I'm afraid it will also hurt tendons and bones!"

  The other two nodded in agreement, this was an inevitable choice! At this time, the secretary came in and said to Sun Wen: "Sir, this is a telegram from Guangdong Mao Feng!"

  Sun Wen immediately took over the telegram and looked down, Hu Zhantang and Wang Zhaoming were also staring at Sun Wen, for Mao Feng, now is the most critical figure.

  Sun Wen put down the telegram and smiled: "Mao Feng's request to join the party!"

  Request? Not demand? After reading the telegram, both Wang Zhaoming and Hu Zhantang were sighing with emotion. Hu Zhantang said: "If this person is wholeheartedly devoted to the revolutionary cause, then he will be a great help. If not, his plan is indeed not to be underestimated!"

  Sun Wen said: "No, at least I have seen his sincerity now. I mentioned this request before and he verbally agreed, but this time he really did it. So we should also show our sincerity. No matter what the future holds, at least for now he is truly willing to make a revolution! I will be his guarantor!"

  "Absolutely not, sir! We are about to rectify the party's affairs. If this person is indeed a speculator, then how can you possibly rectify the party's affairs? This move will surely become one of your greatest mistakes!"

  Sun Yat-sen shook his head and said, "Revolution involves taking risks. Many comrades have lost their lives. What's the big deal about this? If we can achieve unity soon, what's the big deal about this either? Besides, judging from Mao Feng's current attitude, there is no such trend. He is still young, don't we have confidence to save a misguided young man?"