Insufficient balance

  On November 12, Feng Guozhang, who had received orders from Yuan Shikai to put pressure on the Hubei militia, dispatched a unit from Caidian to cross the Han River and intended to attack the Hankou militia from the side and rear. Another unit was sent to bypass Huangpi to hold back the Wuchang side.

  For the deployment of the Qing army, Huang Xing pondered over the map for a long time, but couldn't find any way to break through! On the one hand, it was because the strength of the militia in the three towns of Wuhan was far weaker than that of the Qing army. On the other hand, it was also related to Huang Xing's command ability. Huang Xing was not a professional military officer, and his limited military knowledge was gained from several small-scale uprisings. In fact, most of the professional military officers who came from the New Army at the end of the Qing Dynasty in the Hubei militia were stronger than him. If Huang Xing wasn't the leader of the Tongmenghui, he wouldn't have been able to command this battle!

  But Huang Xing just didn't have any self-awareness, repeatedly defeated but still clinging to military power and refusing to let go.

  The Hubei militia had such a commander-in-chief, but it happened to be against Feng Guozhang, one of the three heroes of the Beiyang warlords. Feng Guozhang's camp also had many famous Beiyang generals, many of whom were famous generals in the decades-long warlord wars that followed. It has to be said that the Hubei militia was able to hold on until now is not easy at all.

  Huang Xing faced Feng Guozhang's two-pronged attack, and after a sleepless night, he sent out a division of militia to cross the river, attempting to launch a surprise attack on the Qing army. However, the difference in fighting strength between the two sides was too great, and as soon as they made contact, the militia collapsed, with less than half of them managing to escape back to Wuchang.

  Although the war situation on the Hubei front was unfavorable for the Southern People's Army, something big happened on the 13th!

  That's Shandong independence!

  Several days ago, Xu Jingxin, the leader of the Shandong branch of the Tongmenghui, contacted people from all walks of life in Shandong to hold a meeting and proposed an extremely radical plan for independence. Not only did he advocate for cutting off relations with the Qing government, but also encouraged all Han Chinese to take revenge on the Manchu Qing dynasty. Moreover, he refused to recognize any treaties related to Shandong, which meant refusing to acknowledge the treaties signed between the Qing government and foreign powers. Only those who were out of touch with reality would have dared to propose such a radical plan. As soon as it was proposed, it was strongly criticized by the gentry and scholars in Shandong, to the point where Xu Jingxin's words were ignored at subsequent meetings, and the influence of the Tongmenghui declined sharply.

  Later, the Shandong gentry clique proposed eight demands to the governor of Shandong after repeated negotiations: these eight articles said many things, but ultimately it was about Shandong autonomy, casually mentioning north-south peace talks! But the focus is on Shandong autonomy. If the Qing court agreed, then Shandong would be a country within a country, with legislation, military affairs, and finance all detached from the central system. It can be said that this is a specific example of how the gentry clique in various parts of modern China sought to control power and promote provincial autonomy.

  If it is said that the southern provinces are making revolution for republicanism, then Shandong's revolution is for independence. Independence is not equivalent to restoration!

  So Shandong's independence and the Xinhai Revolution itself had no direct connection, and it was completely different from the independence of various provinces in the south. It was just that the real power holders in Shandong took advantage of the turmoil of the Xinhai Revolution to seek more power.

  Of course, these treaties which were more severe than any unequal treaty imposed on China by a powerful country were unforgivable to both the Qing court and Yuan Shikai.

  The Qing court opposed the natural simplicity, just for the sake of ruling. And Yuan Shikai, who had just returned to Beijing and formally took office as Premier, was extremely annoyed by this because Shandong was not a southern province, it was his hometown, his old nest, where could tolerate the revolutionaries running wild there, let alone those chaotic independence conditions.

  Yuan Shikai immediately made a rapid response, on the one hand temporarily agreeing to most of the conditions to delay time, and on the other hand ordering the Fifth Division to suspend its southward march, turn around and return to Shandong, while also commanding the Zhili Mixed Brigade to march south to Shandong.

  Although Yuan Shikai gave a reply to Shandong within two days, the members of the Tongmenghui in Shandong did not care about these things. What they wanted was restoration, not autonomy as desired by those gentry.

  So Sun Baoqi was forced to send a telegram to Yuan Shikai saying "This is an unavoidable move!" while being pressured by the Tongmenghui to issue the Guangfu Manifesto, and the calculations of those gentry who advocated for 'autonomy in name, independence in reality' instantly turned into nothing.

  When Yuan Shikai heard the news of Shandong's declaration of independence, he was not only calm but also extremely calm in ordering the fifth division of Shandong and the Zhili mixed brigade to speed up their march towards Jinan, thoroughly suppressing the revolutionary party in Shandong. Hmm, and those gentry and merchants who wanted to take advantage of the fire and plot evil!

  News of the unrest in Shandong spread rapidly across the country, with people from all walks of life paying close attention to developments in this important northern province. Newspapers carried lengthy discussions on various aspects of the recovery of Shandong and their potential impact on the North-South talks.

  Almost at the same time, Shanghai Governor Chen Qimei, Zhejiang Governor Tang Shouqian, Jiangsu Governor Cheng Dequan, Wu Song Liberation Army Commander-in-Chief Li Xiehe, Zhenjiang Governor Lin Shuqing, and Fujian Governor Chen Jingyun all expressed their support for the Ninth Division Commander Xu Shaozhen. They immediately formed the Southern Allied Army, with each department sending troops to surround Nanjing from all sides.

  The main purpose of the Southern Allied Army at this stage is to capture Nanjing, and the chaos in Shandong led to the recall of the Fifth Town, which means that Nanjing will not have reinforcements for a short time! Such a favorable situation for the Southern Allied Army has appeared for the first time since the Wuchang Uprising.

  Anyone with a bit of military vision can see that the Southern Allied Army will have an overwhelming strategic advantage in the Nanjing area in a short period of time!

  Chen Jingyun of Fujian received a telegram from Chen Qimei and others in Shanghai to form an alliance after hearing about the matter. Chen Jingyun was originally not interested in forming an alliance, as his first division was still on its way to Wenzhou and would not be able to reach Nanjing for a short time. However, in order to give his first division a foothold in Zhejiang, he agreed to it!

  The chaos in Shandong and the battles in Nanjing did not affect Chen Jingyun's daily work. After handling the matter of forming a coalition army, Chen Jingyun went to Fuzhou South School Field as scheduled. This time he went to the South School Field not only to inspect the military camp but also to preside over the opening ceremony of the first accelerated class of Fuzhou Military Academy next to the South School Field.

  The Fuzhou Military School was originally the Fujian Martial Arts Academy, which was renamed the Fujian Army Primary School in 1906. After the Xinhai Revolution, the Nationalist Army took over this only military school in Fujian and renamed it Fuzhou Military School. Chen Jingyun served as the principal, while most of the instructors were the original teachers who remained in their positions, some were rotated from mid-to-high-level officers in the troops, and a small number were foreign instructors recruited from outside.

  After the internal consolidation of Fujian, Chen Jingyun also put his mind on military schools. Although the current National Army is expanding rapidly, qualified officers are extremely lacking. Many company and battalion-level officers were previously just section heads or deputy section heads, while mid-level officers at the regimental and divisional levels were previously only squad leaders at most, such as Ma Cheng, Li Jimin, and Yuan Fang who were all former squad leaders. Overall, the current National Army lacks sufficient middle and lower-level officers, let alone high-ranking officers.

  In order to cultivate a large number of qualified officers in a short period, Chen Jingyun had ordered the original students of Fuzhou Military School to speed up their training and fill up the 4th Brigade within half a month. Then, young students with certain cultural foundation were recruited from society for three-month short-term training classes. In addition, middle and lower-level officers with certain cultural foundation were selected from active-duty troops to start one-and-a-half-month crash course training.

  For example, dozens of Fuzhou Middle School students who joined Chen Jingyun's personal army that night, except for a few who left voluntarily to return to school, were sent by Chen Jingyun to attend short-term training classes. As for those students in the crash course, most of them were temporarily promoted, had some military background, mainly soldiers, but basically did not receive systematic military training.

  Combining these two systems, it is hoped that a large number of qualified junior officers can be provided to the National Army within half a year! As for the training of senior and high-ranking officers, it is still in the planning stage and cannot be seen in a short period of time.

  Chen Jingyun stood on the podium in the auditorium, looking at the group of students wearing olive green military uniforms below, feeling a sense of emotion. A few days ago, he had already presided over the opening ceremony of the first short-term training class, and at that time, he was facing some students, mainly from Fuzhou Middle School. The young faces were full of passion and excitement. However, today's group of active-duty military academy students had more vicissitudes on their faces, perhaps with a hint of sense of responsibility.

  "Today, everyone sitting here is the elite of various troops, and they are all military personnel with outstanding achievements. You may think that coming here will waste your time, hinder your opportunities to build merits, or feel uncomfortable because you are sitting here while your brothers are fighting against the enemy on the front line. But I tell you, you come here to learn better military etiquette..."

  Chen Jingyun's speech was moderate and square, he is a calm person, although he has experienced many speeches but never learned the way of professional politicians to stir up people's hearts, even when speaking without much passion, plain as water.

  But the students below were listening very seriously.

  "I hope you can study well, learn more and better! Because what you are learning today will not only help you defeat the enemy in the future, but also save your own life and that of your comrades! More importantly, you will use what you have learned to save this country and this nation!" Chen Jingyun took a deep breath: "You must always remember that your studies are not just for yourself, but for this country and this nation. Whether our country can establish a republic and rise in the world depends on you all!"