Insufficient balance

  Since Han Chenxu took office as the head of the Supervision Department, the political situation in Fujian has been turbulent. Newspapers have been releasing big news from time to time, saying that certain officials have resigned, and certain officials have been prosecuted by the Supervision Department. Behind this turmoil is naturally the open and secret struggle between various parties. Zheng Zuyin, Lin Wenying, and Chen Jingyun are using their resources to engage in underground political maneuvering. It's hard to say who will win or lose for the time being, but on the surface, it seems that Chen Jingyun has gained the most.

  Through the downfall of Qu Lin Yang, Chen Jingyun successfully pushed out Han Chenxu. Although so far Han Chenxu has not shown any intention of surrendering to him, from what Han Chenxu is doing now, it is extremely beneficial to Chen Jingyun. Due to the high-pressure investigation by the Supervision Department, a large number of mid-to-high-level officials in the military government either resigned or were dismissed, and some even ended up in prison. Although it was impossible to shake the powerful figures such as the department heads and deputy heads in a short period of time, many positions of power were vacated. The officials Chen Jingyun had gathered during this period gradually took control of the actual power.

  The open and secret struggle in Fujian can be said to be a microcosm of the entire southern province at present. Almost like the Fujian military government, there are also intense contradictions within the military governments of various provinces, mainly between gentry merchants, military personnel with real power, and revolutionaries. The most intense and obvious example is the assassination of Tan Yankai in Hunan.

  The case of Hunan is almost the best representative of the contradictions between revolutionaries and gentry-merchants! After the revolutionaries, gentry-merchants, and military leaders with real power joined forces to revolt, all sides began to fight for power. In some places, the revolutionaries won, such as in Jiangxi. In other places, the gentry won, such as in Hunan, while in still others, great power fell into the hands of high-ranking military officers, such as in Fujian and Guangxi.

  Some are still in the midst of struggle, such as Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.

  Among them, the struggle in Guangdong was the most intense. The contradictions between Long Jiguang and Hu Hanmin and the leaders of the people's army became more and more fierce, which also led to chaos in Guangzhou City. The city was filled with evil people's armies, burning, killing, looting, and plundering everywhere. On November 21 alone, more than 50 people were killed by the people's army in the city, including a family of over 20 people who were brutally slaughtered, even a three-year-old child was not spared. The reason is that the Guangzhou Military Government could not come up with enough military expenses to fill the stomachs of the people's army. It is worth noting that there are more than 100,000 people's armies and bandits in Guangzhou City, all claiming to be revolutionary heroes, demanding formal military expenses from the Guangzhou Military Government. The leaders of the people's army also opened their mouths wide, asking for tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars. How could Hu Hanmin come up with so much money?

  There was no money to settle these militia bandits, so they naturally went on a rampage of burning, killing and looting in the city.

  The only one who had the ability to maintain order in Guangzhou and drive out the civilian army bandits, Long Jiguang's troops, was standing still, and the reason was simple: Long Jiguang wanted to control all of Guangdong's military power, just like Chen Jingyun did in neighboring Fujian. Hu Hanmin would not let Long Jiguang control the military government, not only holding onto the purse strings tightly, but also grasping the position of Minister of Military Affairs and refusing to let go.

  While the three sides continued to consume each other, the battles on the front lines of Hubei and Jiangsu were still ongoing! Xu Shaozhen led the Southern Allied Army's various units, which had been gathering from all directions towards Nanjing, and small-scale skirmishes had already broken out on the front line. According to current trends, within three to five days, the Southern Allied Army would be able to gather around 25,000 troops in Nanjing. These tens of thousands of people were not new recruits, but rather the original New Army from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places, with combat effectiveness far surpassing that of the militia on the Hubei side. If commanded properly, Zhang Xun, who was defending Nanjing, would find it extremely difficult to resist.

  Whether Zhang Xun can hold Nanjing largely depends on Yuan Shikai's intentions. If Yuan Shikai is determined to defend Nanjing, it would be easy to dispatch a mixed brigade from the Fifth Division along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway to support Zhang Xun and defend Nanjing. However, Yuan Shikai does not intend to defend Nanjing.

  Since Shandong declared independence, Yuan Shikai ordered the Fifth Division to return to Shandong immediately. At the same time, the Zhili Mixed Brigade also moved south towards the Shandong border. A few days later, just as the vanguard of the Fifth Division returned to Jinan, Sun Baoqi announced the cancellation of independence. The Fifth Division then searched for and arrested revolutionaries under Yuan Shikai's orders. At the same time, a group of gentry and merchants who had advocated for independence were also suppressed. Under the strong suppression of the Fifth Division, the restoration of Shandong lasted less than five days before it was declared a failure. A large number of revolutionaries were captured and killed, and only a few escaped to various parts of Shandong. However, from a broader perspective, this was no longer a concern.

  The unrest in Shandong made Yuan Shikai more cautious, and he began to severely suppress the revolutionary parties in the northern provinces. The main forces also temporarily suspended their march southward to guard against the unrest in the north. Under such circumstances, the Fifth Division could only be stationed in Shandong, sending only one battalion to Xuzhou to prevent the situation in Jiangsu from deteriorating irreparably. As for Nanjing, Yuan Shikai had already made up his mind to abandon it, and had even secretly given Zhang Xun a confidential order that if they could not hold onto Nanjing, they should retreat towards Xuzhou.

  The Fifth Army's temporary halt in its southward advance gave Xu Shaozhen a very important strategic opportunity, so during this period Xu Shaozhen adjusted his troops and deployed his generals with the intention of capturing Nanjing before the Fifth Army marched south, thereby laying the political foundation for the alliance of the various southern provinces.

  While the war situation in Nanjing was going smoothly, the situation on the Hubei front was getting worse and worse. Although Yuan Shikai's secret order to Feng Guozhang hinted that Feng should pay attention to the degree of control, both making the Southern Party people feel the strong pressure brought by the Beiyang Army, and not really taking down the three towns of Wuhan, but Feng Guozhang had just received a noble title from the imperial court, thinking in his heart about repaying the imperial court while also failing to understand Yuan Shikai's delaying strategy.

  In his view, it was definitely a concentrated force that would take down the southern rebels as soon as possible. Although he had received hints from Yuan Shikai, he could not mobilize troops on a large scale due to Yuan's reasons, but secretly he did not relax his pace of attack. After taking Hankou, he launched a fierce attack on Hanyang. The situation in Hankou was critical and it was already at the last moment before its fall.

  On November 24, the first division of Hunan's aid to Hubei army arrived in Hankou, but the support did not help the Hubei militia to reverse the trend of defeat after defeat. On the same day, they lost control of Shili Pu, a strategic location in Hankou, and the Hubei militia suffered a large-scale rout, with the aid-to-Hubei army being the worst affected.

  Twenty-fifth, as Hanyang was about to fall, Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren and other high-ranking leaders of the Hubei people's army held an emergency meeting, preparing to abandon Hanyang and defend Wuchang with all their might. During the meeting, Li Yuanhong and many high-ranking officials of the Wuchang military government were extremely dissatisfied with Huang Xing's previous command and battle, and they tended to push all the responsibility for losing Hankou and Hanyang onto Huang Xing.

  At that time, Huang Xing was unable to speak out. If the responsibility for the fall of Hankou and Hanyang is entirely attributed to Huang Xing, it would be inappropriate, but if it is said that Huang Xing had no responsibility at all, it would definitely be a lie.

  Huang Xing, who was extremely depressed, did not say much during the meeting. After the meeting was dismissed, he sat alone in contemplation for a long time. Finally, he issued another telegram in his own name, which was very similar to Chen Jiongming's previous telegram supporting Yuan Shikai. It simply said that if Yuan Shikai was willing to join the republic, Huang Xing would support him as the president.

  Huang Xing knew that although the military strength of Hubei's civilian army was not great, it would eventually be defeated if negotiations were not held, and considering the current strength of various southern armies, they could not withstand the Beiyang Army, so negotiations were necessary.

  After sending this telegram, Huang Xing immediately resigned as the commander-in-chief of the Hubei People's Army and fled east along the river with Song Jiaoren and others overnight, preparing to go to Nanjing.

  According to Huang Xing's intention, whether or not to negotiate, the three towns of Wuhan have already lost the capital to continue fighting. The future revolutionary center is no longer in Wuhan, but in the Southern Allied Army that is besieging Nanjing. He was preparing to command troops to occupy Nanjing. However, this idea was just a one-sided wish, and the Southern Allied Army was a military alliance launched by several powerful governors of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Shanghai, with regular troops under their command. The commander-in-chief, Xu Shaozhen, was originally a town governor, and Huang Xing would have to take over the command if he went there, but it's estimated that not many people would agree.

  In fact, so far, in the eyes of local warlords and governors, Sun Yat-sen is still okay, at least his name is loud enough, and by borrowing his name, they can recruit many young people to die for them. However, Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren are much weaker, and while they can talk smoothly, if they really want to seize power, they will probably be overthrown immediately.

  So if Huang Xing wants to come to Nanjing to take over the command of the Southern Allied Army, apart from Chen Qimei, no one else will support him! Not to mention the issue of power, even if we don't consider these factors, the Southern Allied Army is composed of original New Army troops, with a large number of high-ranking professional generals. Unlike Hubei, where there was no leader among the dragons, and the only high-ranking military officer, Li Yuanhong, was forced to become the governor by gunpoint, it's impossible for Huang Xing to command them.

  Huang Xing once again abandoned the soldiers who were fighting bloody battles and escaped, but the telegram he sent before his escape played a significant role.

  Yuan Shikai fell into deep thought after seeing this telegram.

  It's not the first time that the southerners have said they want to support him as the big president. The last time was also Huang Xing, followed by Chen Jiongming, and later several other powerful governors had sent similar telegrams, but Yuan Shikai had never received any clear news. This time, seeing Huang Xing's telegram, he finally put his mind at ease: it seems that the party members in the south are really preparing to let me be this big president.

  Yang Du also congratulated: "Mr. Yuan, what Huang Xing said this time is probably eight or nine out of ten!"

  Duan Qirui, who had just arrived in Beijing yesterday, also said: "According to the current situation, those people in the south have no choice but to talk. Although the situation in Nanjing is unstable, after the battle of Hubei, they should also know the difference between the two sides. Continuing to resist will only be futile!"

  Yuan Shikai put down the telegram in his hand, walked to the window, and saw the snowflakes fluttering outside. He was lost in thought, wondering what he was thinking about. This year's first snow in Beijing came very early, just after a light snowfall, it started snowing again.

  It wasn't until half a watch later that he turned around: "We've been fighting for so long! It's not going to work if we keep fighting like this!" After saying that, his eyes scanned Yang Du: "Zhezi, you take the trouble to go south and see what those party people mean."

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