Insufficient balance

  In the year of Xin Hai, a Wuchang uprising triggered a wave of turmoil across China. Under such circumstances, Chen Jingyun naturally followed suit and, like other powerful military leaders in southern provinces, took on the title of revolutionary party leader, then proclaimed himself as the governor, keeping a close eye on the situation between north and south while also casting naked ambition at surrounding areas.

  At the time when the peace talks between the North and South had not yet succeeded, many of the governors in the South were still not thinking about contending for dominance over the nine provinces, but rather were thinking about expanding their power and later hoping to have a place for themselves in this great change, with most of them seeking to occupy territory and expand their armies.

  This idea is not unique to Chen Jingyun, as the various power holders across the country are basically following the same pattern. Some people take bigger steps, some have smaller courage, some just want to maintain their current power, while others yearn for more. Although the warlords of the Xinhai Revolution had not yet appeared on China's historical stage as a political group, they had already begun to take shape. For example, Cai E in Yunnan, Lu Rongting in Guangxi, and Chen Jingyun in Fujian. Among these three, Chen Jingyun sent troops south and north, dispatched troops to Chaozhou, southern Zhejiang, while Cai E led his army independently, first sending Xie Juyi and Li Hongxiang to lead troops to Sichuan, forcing Sichuan Governor Zhao Erfeng to declare independence under pressure. He ordered Luo Peijin and Kang Enqiu to lead an army to conquer the south, ordered Li Genyuan to lead an army to sweep across Yunnan Province, and later sent Tang Jiyao to advance on Guizhou, with actions that far surpassed Chen Jingyun's. It was precisely Cai E's series of military actions earlier that allowed the Yunnan Army to control the southwest in a short period of time, laying the foundation for the Yunnan Army's repeated attempts to conquer the Central Plains and dominate China.

  Compared to Chen Jiongming and Cai E's big moves, Lu Rongting of Guangxi was much more low-key. Although he also dispatched troops everywhere, they were all concentrated within Guangxi. After integrating Guangxi, he found that there was no direction for external expansion. To the east was Guangdong's Hu Hanmin and Long Jiguang, to the west was Yunnan's Cai E, and to the northwest, Guizhou had almost been taken over by Tang Jiyao. In the northeast, Hunan had experienced a military upheaval, but Tan Yankai was not an ordinary person. With the support of a large number of constitutionalist gentry and military officers, Tan Yankai quickly controlled the situation in Hunan. As a result, Guangxi's path for development on all sides was cut off, and it could only stay in Guangxi to train troops and wait for opportunities.

  Apart from these three provinces, several other southern provinces are also in a state of disarray. Guangdong is embroiled in internal strife due to the power struggle between Hu Hanmin and Long Jiguang, while on its eastern border, the Third Brigade of the National Army is eyeing it covetously, and on its western border, Lu Rongting is waiting for an opportunity to strike. It can be said that Guangdong no longer has the strength to influence national affairs in the short term.

  Jiangxi is also in a state of chaos, with Nanchang, Jiujiang, and Ganzhou all having been recaptured and each pushing their own military governor. Although a Jiangxi military government has been established on the surface, the internal situation remains unstable, and for the time being, they are busy with internal power struggles.

  Anhui's position is somewhat awkward, as although it was not late in being recaptured, it is sandwiched between Wuchang and Nanjing, and at this time, Anhui does not have a large-scale army. The several people within the military government are busy with internal power struggles while also surrendering to the Nanjing faction, having already lost the initiative.

  As for Sichuan, there is no need to mention it, as it currently has two opposing military governments in Chongqing and Sichuan, with Cai E secretly fanning the flames on the side. Both sides have already begun to engage in small-scale battles, marking the beginning of a period of intense warfare among hundreds of warlords large and small in Sichuan.

  The remaining Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the front lines against the Beiyang government. Hubei is controlled by Li Yuanhong, but it has already lost more than half of its territory, and from a military perspective, there is little chance left. Jiangsu is even more complicated, Nanjing has Huang Xing, and it is also the base camp of the Northern Expedition Army and the revolutionary party people. In northern Jiangsu, Xuzhou has Zhang Xun's Jiangsu Navy and the Fifth Division stationed there, making it one of the most intense areas of military confrontation in the country. The Jiangsu Military Government is basically an empty shell and doesn't count for much.

  The situation in Zhejiang is not simple. Before the recovery of Zhejiang, Chen Jingyun had already sent troops to Wenzhou, and later, under the name of the Southern Allied Army, he marched northward, reorganizing the old army in Zhejiang. Currently, the Nationalist Army has deployed two mixed brigades, one artillery regiment, and two local defense brigades in Zhejiang. If a war breaks out, the Nationalist Army can continue to send troops northward for reinforcement. Although on the surface, the local governments of various prefectures and counties still take Hangzhou as their superior, from a military perspective, southern Zhejiang, including Shaoxing and Jinhua, has basically been controlled by the Nationalist Army, which has secretly collected military taxes from various prefectures and counties under the name of the Nationalist Army Command. As for the situation in northern Zhejiang, it is also unclear. When the military government was first established, the Tongmenghui and Guangfu Hui in Zhejiang vied for power, neither submitting to the other, until they finally had to elect the renowned Zhejiang scholar Tang Shouqian as the governor, while the actual power was held by the revolutionary party. Tang Shouqian once joked that the orders issued by the Governor's Office were discarded before the ink was dry. Moreover, the main new army in Zhejiang was originally sent to Nanjing to join the Southern Allied Army and was later incorporated into Huang Xing's forces, leaving northern Zhejiang without any powerful military force. The tens of thousands of troops near Hangzhou are newly recruited and can only watch but not fight.

  After a careful analysis, it can be seen that on the surface, the North-South peace talks are united, but in reality, each province is acting on its own and no one has good intentions. In comparison, although the various warlords of the Beiyang government have different thoughts, with Yuan Shikai as the big boss, those with real power like Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, and Cao Kun have to behave themselves. When Yuan Shikai says go east, they dare not go west. The example of the Luanzhou military coup shows that with a single order from Yuan Shikai, all the high-ranking officers involved were killed. Similarly, when Feng Guozhang disobeyed Yuan Shikai's hint and insisted on taking down Hankou, Yuan Shikai immediately called him back to Beijing, and Feng Guozhang did not dare to resist, returning to Beijing immediately. Historically, the decline of the Beiyang government was after Yuan Shikai's death, when it split into several factions, including Zhili, Anhui, and Fengtian, which fought each other in several wars over a decade before finally declining. Even after being defeated by the Northern Expeditionary Army, the Beiyang system still had Yan Xishan and Zhang Zuolin left.

  If it weren't for Yuan Shikai being fixated on the position of Grand President, the Beiyang would have already conquered all the provinces in the south, and there wouldn't be any time wasted on negotiations!

  It was precisely this sense of urgency that prompted Chen Jingyun to rack his brains thinking about how to expand his own strength, and before the 6th Brigade had even formally taken shape, Chen Jingyun had already secretly mapped out a plan for expanding his forces to division level.

  If it's said that we need to expand the military, then it's simple, just directly upgrade the existing troops to divisions, as long as there is money, weapons and people, expanding the military is a matter of course.

  But Chen Jingyun is now short of money and military equipment, so what he said to Lin Chengkun and others about expanding the Guards Brigade into a division is just talk, giving them something to think about. On the other hand, it's also hoping to tie them to their own war chariot, letting them support their own expansion plans. They have to know that if they want to be promoted to division commander or army commander, they need to expand their troops, and expanding troops requires territory to maintain, and getting territory requires external expansion.

  After giving Lin Chengkun and others another idea, Chen Jingyun proposed some tactics combining barbed wire, trenches and heavy machine guns. This standard tactic of World War I has not yet taken shape, although machine guns have already shown their power in the Russo-Japanese War a few years ago, but the tactical system of trench warfare is still immature. At least all the officers present were confused, so Chen Jingyun had to draw a diagram and explain it personally.

  Half a time later, Lin Chengkun said: "If this iron wire mesh can be used, it should be procured on a large scale immediately!"

  Chen Jingyun said: "I'll arrange this freely, when the time comes, I'll let Ou Yangtian from the Equipment Department send a batch over to you, you try it out first, then summarize the key points for promotion throughout the army."

  "General, rest assured, I will not disappoint your expectations!"

  "Good!"

  After inspecting the guard regiment, Chen Jingyun returned to the governor's mansion on the way and passed by Huaxiang, so he also went to Linfu. After seeing Lin Yun last time, Chen Jingyun also had some memories in his heart, thinking of the woman wearing a purple cheongsam with a high collar and a skirt that was tight at the chest.

  When Chen Jingyun arrived, the people from Lin's residence quickly came out to greet him. On this day, Mrs. Lin was also present, and Chen Jingyun had to accompany her for a few words. Perhaps having met several times before, Mrs. Lin now spoke with him without being too reserved, although she still spoke cautiously, no longer requiring Chen Jingyun to take the initiative to start conversations. After chatting for a while, Lin Yun came from the inner hall to the front hall.

  She was wearing a Hanfu, just like the first time he saw her, rather than the everyday Dajin worn by women nowadays. She had a fox-fur cape draped over her shoulders and when she saw Chen Jingyun, her eyebrows relaxed and two shallow dimples appeared on her face.

  Mrs. Lin was a perceptive person, she knew that Chen Jingyun was the governor and at such a busy time, he squeezed out his schedule to come to the Lin's residence, not to chat with her, an old lady, but to see Lin Yun.

  So he smiled and beckoned Lin Yun to come over, saying: "As soon as the supervisor arrives, you're all smiles!" He then sighed and said: "Alas, a girl's reputation is hard to preserve!"

  "Mother..." Lin Yun couldn't hear the teasing tone in her mother's voice, so she immediately shook Lin Madame's arm and lowered her gaze that was originally on Chen Jingyun, afraid that her mother would say something embarrassing again.

  "All right, all right! You young people talk among yourselves, I'll go to the back hall to worship Buddha!" Mrs. Lin smiled and stood up to leave, leaving only Lin Yun and Chen Jingyun behind.

  Jin Yun still lowered his head, Chen Jingyun walked two steps closer and said: "Just went to inspect the military camp, on the way back, it just happened to pass by here, so I came along!"

  After saying this, Chen Jingyun felt that his words seemed to be an excuse for why he had come, and it didn't seem quite right.

  Lin Yun then raised her head again: "Oh! It's very cold outside!"

  "It's nothing!" Chen Jingyun and Lin Yun sat down again, with Chen pouring tea for Lin while continuing to say: "We're all in the city, not like we don't have clothes to wear, I'm not cold!"

  As she watched him pick up the teapot, Lin Yun was still a bit puzzled, but when he poured himself a cup of tea, a hint of sweetness arose in her heart. She took the teacup from him, her red lips slightly parted as she took a small sip, feeling that this tea tasted more refreshing than usual.