Fengxian Jiangshan

Zhou Zijian nodded excitedly, and hurriedly led the army south, starting from Xuzhou, all the way south, Suzhou, and Bengbu fell into the hands of Feng Jun one after another.The army fought all the way to Pukou on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Across the surging river, the city of Nanjing was opposite.

The Feng army landed in Haizhou on February 11, and it took less than five days to reach the edge of the Yangtze River. This speed stunned the world.

Those guys who thought that Feng Jun only talked about it and didn't practice it were slapped thoroughly, and their faces were swollen.Feng Jun is nothing but a blockbuster.

Now the bustling and bustling inter-provincial self-government has been slapped heavily. Xuzhou, which is heavily garrisoned, can't last a day. With such a group of useless people, there is no way out. Those who sit on the wall have seen through the situation, so hurry up Be a turtle, otherwise there will be no good end.

Only those who have already jumped out, it is difficult to turn back now, especially Cao Kun, who sat on the presidential throne just now, after hearing the news of Xuzhou's fall, suddenly collapsed in his position, Almost scared to death.

It's true that he wants to be president, but he doesn't want to be the shortest-lived president in history. Right now, Qi Xieyuan's subordinates have suffered heavy losses, and the Jiangsu governor has already lost half of his life.Cao Kun could only invite Cai Chengxun, Xiao Yaonan, Zhao Hengti and others.

"Big fellows must also know the current situation. If you have any good ideas, you should tell them quickly. If it's too late, Feng Jun will come in.

All of them lowered their heads silently. Feng Jun's fighting power was far beyond his imagination. If he wanted to fight Feng Jun, it would be like hitting a stone with an egg. It would be his own death.

Xiao Yaonan thought for a while before saying: "President, the only way out for now is to ask Wu Ziyu for help. As long as his army goes south and cooperates with us in defending Jiangnan, there is still hope."

Cao Kun also nodded: "Hey, that's all there is to it, but it will take time for Ziyu's army to go south. I'm afraid that before his army goes south, the Feng army will have already broken through Nanjing!"

Just when Cao Kun was looking sad, suddenly his subordinates ran over and shouted excitedly: "President, good news, great news, two British warships bombarded Fengjun's ship near Zhenjiang." Dozens of people died in a camp, and it is said that there are corpses everywhere."

When Cao Kun heard this, he looked up to the sky and laughed: "Good job! The British Empire has finally made a move. With the help of the British, the Yangtze River is like iron. I don't believe it. If the war fails, we can finally sit back and relax!"

After Cao Kun finished speaking, there was a burst of wild laughter, and the brows of other people also relaxed, and they laughed together. The British made a move, giving them unprecedented confidence.It's just that in the eyes of these people, there are no soldiers who died at all.

Chapter 724 Breaking the Paper Tiger

The Yangzhou hospital is overcrowded and anxious people are everywhere.

Just one day ago, on February 23, 2, this day happened to be the second day of the Lunar New Year. Although the people had a difficult life, they were still enjoying the rare New Year time, but who knew that an unprovoked disaster had befallen them. superior.

Five British warships suddenly bombarded the city of Yangzhou. Huge shells exploded among the houses, and countless houses were destroyed.

The bombardment lasted for more than half an hour. The British poured hundreds of shells into the city, killing more than 2000 people and injuring more than 5000. In the ensuing fire, tens of thousands of people Homeless, Yangzhou City instantly became a hell on earth, filled with grief.

In fact, just before the British warship bombarded Yangzhou, they had already bombarded a Fengjun camp.Zhou Zijian led the Feng army, and after seizing Pukou, he collected ships in the north of the river and made preparations to cross the river to attack Nanjing.

A troop just arrived at the front line of Yangzhou. When the ships were being collected, the British fleet sailed by and fired at the Chinese ships. Three fishing boats were sunk, more than 20 soldiers died, and the camp on the shore was also bombarded. There were more than 50 soldiers in total. Two soldiers died in the shelling.

Even so, the British were still dissatisfied. They went upstream and bombarded innocent civilians. The major hospitals in Yangzhou were overcrowded, and they ran out of trauma medicine, burn medicine, and surgical equipment.Many people had to have surgery without anesthesia.

The shrill cry is the best accusation!After Yang Yuting and Liang Qichao came to the hospital, they immediately frowned, and they were also stunned by the situation in front of them.

The morgue of the hospital is already full of corpses, and many corpses can only be placed outside.There are children aged three to five, and elderly people aged six to seventy, with hideous wounds on their bodies, distorted faces, and painful expressions written all over their facial features.

"It's not as good as a beast!" Seeing this scene, Yang Yuting immediately raised his eyes: "Zhou Zijian, come here!"

Zhou Zijian hurriedly came to Yang Yuting: "Report to the minister, the humble position is here."

"Why don't you open fire and let the British attack our people?"

When Zhou Zijian heard this, his face flushed immediately.He bowed his head in pain: "Humble, humble and incompetent."

"Linge, you are leading the troops, so you are confused!" Liang Qichao said from the side: "Brigade Commander Zhou and the others just arrived at the riverside, and they didn't keep up with the heavy weapons. How do you tell them to fight back?"

Yang Yuting shook his head: "War will not break out when you are all ready. The war has already begun since the bombardment of civilians by British warships. As a soldier, you have to use the weapons in your hands to defend the people. It is dereliction of duty to allow the British warship to retreat calmly!"

I heard what you said, Yang Yuting.Zhou Zi's body was also shocked. He had already heard something different from Yang Yuting's words.

"Minister, are we going to war with England?"

"Declaration of war is a matter for the vice president to decide, but as a soldier, we must reciprocate. Any provocative actions must be fought back, and the murderer must be punished!"

"Understood, I'll get ready now."

Yang Yuting nodded, and said, "I also brought two bomber squadrons this time. Don't think that there are a few broken ships, so you dare to run across the Yangtze River. We are not wimpy Manchus!"

In fact, in order to deal with the British warships, not only the air force was dispatched, but the army also urgently mobilized twelve 240 mm coastal defense guns. At this time, they were on the train going south. In addition, Fengjun's underwater forces were also dispatched. , six submarines left Jiaozhou Bay and headed for the mouth of the Yangtze River.

These submarines all carry mines, and they are even ready to block the mouth of the Yangtze River.As China's most important golden waterway, once the Yangtze River Estuary is blocked, China will definitely suffer serious losses.But at this time, the dignity of the country is the most important thing. The British warship that caused the accident must not let them escape easily, otherwise they will not be able to explain to the people who died unjustly.

Of course, this order was also issued by Zhang Tinglan himself. Based on Jun Jun's historical experience, Zhang Tinglan knew very well that once the Feng army set foot in the south, it would inevitably arouse the fear of the great powers.A unified China is not what they want.

During the Northern Expedition in history, the great powers also jumped out, the Nanjing tragedy, the Hankou tragedy, the Jinan tragedy... The armies of the great powers desperately slaughtered the Chinese people, and their crimes are too numerous to list.

The United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy all participated, and everything they advertised became pale and powerless in the face of bloody facts.It's just sad and deplorable that a certain Qiangu perfect man with a blank space in the front and back actually apologized to the murderer who killed his compatriots, and prostrated himself at the feet of the powerful.

Zhang Tinglan is not at all surprised that the British created the Yangzhou tragedy. In fact, since he seized Weihaiwei and cleaned up pro-British forces, there will be a contest between China and Britain sooner or later.It now appears that the temporary concessions made by the British at the negotiating table were not genuine surrender.

This was just a tactic for them to delay their troops. In the north, close to the base camp of the Feng army, the British were weak and there was no benefit in resisting. Therefore, the British chose the Yangtze River as the battlefield.

"We still have to fight!" Zhang Tinglan hastily called Tang Shaoyi and others over. The important members of the cabinet gathered together again. Everyone's faces were a little dignified. It takes great courage and courage to compete with the world's boss. Everyone present, All are apprehensive.

On the contrary, Zhang Tinglan looked very relaxed: "Everyone, it is true that Britain is very strong, but as the saying goes, when the water is full, the moon is full and the moon is full, the British have already exceeded the limit of expansion. The battle a few years ago, if not for the support of the Americans , Britain’s painted skin has been punctured a long time ago. Don’t look at them showing their teeth and claws, but they are just paper tigers, so don’t care at all.”

"We have two main tasks now. The first is to express a tough attitude to the UK and make them pay for the tragedy; the second is to use this tragedy to fully expose the conspiracy of the Southern Federation of Self-Government. They are just lackeys of foreigners. , under the banner of inter-provincial self-government, to split the country, this point must be clearly seen by everyone!"

As a mature politician, he would naturally not miss any opportunity to completely defeat the opponent.The self-government of the southern provinces is under the banner of public opinion, but in order to fight against public opinion, Zhang Tinglan can only use the banner of maintaining national unity.

However, with the direct intervention of the British, the nature of this matter changed again, and Zhang Tinglan could stand on a more favorable moral high ground to attack the southern province.In front of the bloody afterimage, who would believe that they can represent the public opinion, they can think of the common people!

These smart people in the cabinet also quickly understood Zhang Tinglan's intentions, and secretly applauded, this is indeed the best way.The cabinet moved quickly, and the Ministry of Propaganda and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly took action to reveal the truth of the tragedy, mobilize the people to carry out anti-British demonstrations, and put pressure on the British government.At the same time, they tied these people in the southern province with the British, claiming that they used the influence of foreigners to massacre their compatriots.

Of course, these lively wars of words are just to create momentum, and the real solution to the problem is powerful force. If you can't kill the British fleet and cross the natural danger of the Yangtze River, everything is for nothing.

For this reason, Zhang Tinglan also transferred a large number of troops to the south. The main force of the first division in Shandong is still going south with all its strength. Ma Zhanshan's cavalry divisions, No. 12 and 13, have also quickly moved south. In addition, Zhang Tinglan transferred a bomber brigade And two independent artillery brigades, all rushed to Jiangbei.

Yang Yuting was also promoted to the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and Jiang Deng was elected as the deputy commander-in-chief. These two generals will be responsible for the crusade against the southern province. The army will fight with all its strength.

Zhang Tinglan put on a posture, the tiger and the fly were fighting together.The staff officer Rong Zhen who has been with Zhang Tinglan has a different opinion.

"Vice President, all these troops have been transferred to Jiangsu. There is only one Sixth Division left in the Beijing-Tianjin area. I am worried that the troops will be empty and there will be danger!"

Zhang Tinglan didn't care: "Liaodong and Shandong are under our control. The troops of the big powers can't get in, and Yan Xishan is watching over Shanxi, so nothing can happen. It's enough to have a main force in Dongjiaominxiang."

Although Rong Zhen still had some doubts, seeing Zhang Tinglan was so persistent, he couldn't say anything.

In fact, the British also know that the Fengjun is not what it used to be. In history, they can intervene in the Northern Expedition, but they are still afraid of the Fengjun. In fact, it is not only the British, but also other powers. They did not act together with the British, and France and Italy were unwilling to wade into the muddy water. They just waved their flags behind and cheered for Britain.

The British had no choice but to recover the face they lost, and the southern army was too bad, so they had to rush to the front line.After the five warships bombarded Yangzhou, they did not withdraw immediately. They still patrolled the river confidently.

After replenishing food and fuel in Nanjing, they continued to come out. The time happened to be February 23. Cao Kun had already sent a telegram to the British, hoping that they could help defend the Feng army from going south and fight for the dispatch of troops for the southern province. At that time, the British also agreed to this request.

On the morning of the 23rd, the British warship appeared on the river again, but today's situation is a bit different, the river is eerily calm, as if the world suddenly fell silent.

But suddenly, there was a roar in the air, and the British sailors suddenly raised their heads, and a huge fleet of aircraft appeared in the distance.

"Airplane!" A voice of exclamation came out.