Beiyang reactionaries

They can be regarded as the four giants of the military department of the current border supervision agency.Needless to say, Duan Xun is the Minister of the Military Department.As the Minister of Military Affairs, Xiong Kewu single-handedly holds the power in all aspects of the assessment of the promotion of military officers and the appointment of officers.Especially as Duan Xun trusted Xiong Kewu more and more, Xiong Kewu's power increased greatly.For this reorganization of the army, most of the officer appointments were drawn up by the Ministry of Military Affairs, Duan Xun only changed some, and others agreed with Xiong Kewu's opinion, which greatly increased Xiong Kewu's prestige in the army.And Xu Yongchang is the chief of staff of the General Staff Department, and all combat plans of the troops need to be confirmed, affirmed, and then approved by Xu Yongchang.Yang Jie is the secretary-general of the military department, and Yang Jie is in charge of the daily affairs of the army.

For example, Yang Jie was in charge of holding the regular military department meeting to listen to the work of various departments of the military department.Then make a report and hand it over to Duan Xun.

Therefore, the four usually meet frequently on some major matters related to military issues.

Duan Xun called them this time to discuss the idea of ​​setting up an infantry reorganization division in Hulunbuir.When Xiong Kewu heard Duan Xun's proposal, he immediately guessed what Duan Xun meant.

There is Hulunbuir.

Although Hulunbuir is a semi-independent autonomous region, not to mention Heilongjiang, even the Beijing government has no control over Hulunbuir.But Hulunbeier's ability to self-government is not because of the strength of Hulunbeier's local strength, but because of the support of Russia behind it.At that time, Russia even sent more than 2000 troops to Hulunbuir to support the Hulunbuir Autonomous Government.The Beijing government did not want to conflict with Russia, so it agreed to Hulun Buir's request for autonomy.Without Russia's backing, or even aboveboard support, a regiment of the Chinese army could easily wipe out the Hulunbeier Autonomous Government.

So as long as there is a brigade of troops, Hulunbeier can be easily controlled.However, because there are Semyonov's White Russian troops in the north of Hulun Buir, and Zhang Zuolin's troops in Heilongjiang, some troops are needed to be stationed.

But to be honest, the troops currently entering Hulunbeier are sufficient.

Li Yunlong's cavalry division, and Tian Yujie's brigade of the infantry No. 14 division, the two troops add up to tens of thousands of people.The entry of these two troops into Hulunbuir is enough to control the situation.Don't say that Semenov dared not do anything, even Zhang Zuolin's troops would not do anything.There is absolutely no need to add the designation of an infantry reorganization division.

After all, Duan Xun's infantry reorganization division is completely different from the divisions of other warlords, even larger than their army.That was an establishment of 4000 people.

And Duan Xun insisted on adding an infantry division, the meaning is already obvious, it is for the northeast.But Xiong Kewu completely disagreed.Where is the Northeast, that is Zhang Zuolin's lair.

At present, Zhang Zuolin has 8 to 20 troops in the Northeast, nearly [-] troops, what role can an infantry division and a cavalry division have.

"What do you think of Fengjun's strength?"

"I think it shouldn't be bad. The Fengjun has always been supported by Japan, and the weapons used by the Fengjun to expand the army at the beginning were all new weapons ordered by Feng Hejian (Feng Guozhang) from Japan. The weapons and equipment of the Fengjun are currently in the country. It shouldn't be too bad."

Xiong Kewu replied immediately.

The rise of Fengjun actually occurred during the First World War.Although Zhang Zuolin was powerful in Fengtian before, Zhang Zuolin at that time still had to look at Beijing's face.

Regardless of whether it was Yuan Shikai or later Duan Qirui, they were all colossal figures to Zhang Zuolin.If he really focused on dealing with Zhang Zuolin, Zhang Zuolin couldn't stand it at all.

But with Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui began to support Zhang Zuolin in order to fight Feng Guozhang.Speaking of which, Zhang Zuolin has one of the biggest advantages, that is, being close to Beijing.Zhang Zuolin's rise to support Duan Qirui in the northeast is far more powerful than Duan Xun's support for Duan Qirui in the southwest.

That's the benefit of being close to the political center.

Just look at Cao Kun.

Originally, Cao Kun was nothing in the immediate army.Regardless of qualifications or strength, he is actually no better than other big shots in his direct lineage.But because the Zhili was close to Beijing and happened to be in Baoding, after Feng Guozhang stepped down, he naturally became the leader of the Zhili.As for Feng Guozhang's other direct troops, they are too far away from Beijing to be the leader.

Zhang Zuolin also has this advantage.With the support of Duan Qirui, Zhang Zuolin rose rapidly.In this process, in order to support an obedient man in the Northeast, Japan gave Zhang Zuolin a lot of support and gave him a large number of weapons.Fengjun's weapons, Fengjun's advisers, and even Fengjun's training and establishment are all based on the words of the Japanese advisers.

Therefore, many weapons from Japan were also obtained.

So in Xiong Kewu's view, Fengjun's strength should be good.Many troops in the direct line of the Beiyang Army used German and Japanese weapons, while most of the Fengjun used Japanese weapons.Compared with other Chinese warlord troops, most of them are made in Hanyang.It was used by Duan Xun's troops, only about a quarter were German weapons and Japanese weapons, and the rest were made in Hanyang and Sichuan.

Weapons make a difference.

However, Duan Xun shook his head and said with a smile: "Fengjun is the most typical army that has been defeated by others. Zhang Zuolin's old brothers are currently high-ranking generals in Fengjun, but they are all bandits. They know how to fight, especially how do they know how to fight with a large army. Commanding a thousand or 800 people to charge, they are good at running, and commanding [-] troops has already made them dizzy. Let alone commanding tens of thousands of troops Fighting. Their troops have good weapons, but the troops are still bandit troops in essence, and they also fight bandit tactics. The tens of thousands of troops, not to mention commanding and fighting, they estimate how the company marches, cooperates, and sets up camp. I don’t know. The larger the number of such troops, the more chaotic they will be, and the faster they will be defeated in battle. Look at the generals used by Zhang Zuolin, such as Tang Yulin, Li Jinglin, Zhang Zongchang, Zhang Jinghui, Ji Jinchun, Xu Lanzhou, etc. , They can also fight? Moreover, Zhang Zuolin's army is full of various bandit officers, drinking and eating meat together is okay, but how can they organize a war? Only Sun Liechen and Zhang Zuoxiang are a little capable, Wu Junsheng can lead the cavalry, and the others, hmph. "

Duan Xun looked down on Zhang Zuolin's Fengjun troops.

Fengjun looks powerful on the surface, with nearly 20 soldiers and good weapons and equipment, but in fact it is nothing.In fact, Duan Xun was most afraid of Cao Kun's troops, especially those of Wu Peifu and Feng Yuxiang.As for Zhang Zuolin's troops, Duan Xun really didn't pay attention.Because Zhang Zuolin's army is actually the same as Lu Rongting's army, which is full of bandit armed forces. Troop training and officer promotion are all bandit models.The organizational ability is very poor, the will to fight and the tactics of the troops are very poor.

How can such an army have combat effectiveness.

Just look at the first Zhifeng war in history.Zhang Zuolin aggressively brought 10,000+ people into the customs, preparing to defeat Cao Kun in one fell swoop and control the Beijing government.But Zhang Zuolin, including those old brothers under him, was commanding so many troops for the first time.

There is no plan for how the troops will march, and the troops have not yet fought, and their own troops have already begun to appear chaotic.

When Wu Peifu sent a surprise soldier to hit the tail of the Feng army, the entire Feng army was in chaos and completely defeated.Feng Jun didn't know how to organize an attack, how to organize a defense, or how to organize a counterattack. They were all helpless.They were beaten so badly by Wu Peifu that they didn't even know how to run for their lives.If it weren't for the troops of Sun Liechen and Zhang Xueliang who resisted Wu Peifu's troops, Zhang Zuolin's 10,000+ troops would have been left outside the pass.

This disastrous defeat made Zhang Zuolin understand how vulnerable his troops were.

Therefore, Zhang Zuolin immediately began to reorganize his troops. In just a few months, he abolished more than 7 former Fengjun troops.Because these troops are useless.It can be seen how strong the Feng army was during the first Zhifeng war.

If he really got into a fight with Zhang Zuolin, Duan Xun would not be afraid of him at all.

"And I never thought about letting them attack the three eastern provinces directly. I'm not that optimistic. I think this small amount of troops can take down the three eastern provinces. I just want to leave an army behind Zhang Zuolin, and when Zhang Zuolin reveals some loopholes , This army is a surprise soldier."

"But General, that place is too far away from us, logistical problems..."

Xiong Kewu still hesitated.

Hulunbeier is too far away from Duan Xun's control area.

It is not so easy to control.Moreover, logistics will also become a big problem. It is impossible to send things from Kulun to Hulunbuir all the way.The food consumed by the transportation team alone is astronomical.

"Eat the mountains by the mountains, eat water by the water. Eat the railways by the railways, they will not starve to death."

"But, General, the railway?"

"Since the autonomy of Hulunbuir is to be cancelled, then everything is not a problem. Moreover, the Russian Civil War is raging, and I estimate that it will take a year or two to decide the outcome. They will not have the energy to manage the Middle East Railway in a short time. Things. Moreover, the center of Russia is in Europe, and their strength in the Far East is limited. We will occupy it first, and then talk to Russia slowly. I heard that the railway line there is still very busy. It is estimated that there will be no shortage of money relying on the railway. Pai One person is in charge of the railway, and half of the army’s salary can be solved. As long as you have money, you are not afraid of having nothing.”

The Middle East Railway happens to pass through Hulunbuir.

What do you eat if you don't eat railways.

Would you still be hungry if you had a railway?Especially Manzhouli, where Sino-Russian trade is very developed.

"General, it is not easy to expand the army now. Whether it is the supply of weapons or the training of recruits, it is the same."

"It's not the expansion of the army. The expansion of the army is simply too late. What I mean is to transfer an army into Hulunbuir."

"Which army is the general referring to?"

"Sixth Bandit Suppression Division. Cancel the designation of the Sixth Bandit Suppression Division, transfer the Sixth Bandit Suppression Division to Hulunbeier, and reorganize the Hetian Yujie Brigade into the No. 20 Fourth Division of the Frontier Defense Army. Let Tang Shengzhi serve as the commander of the 24th Division. A brigade. They are Wang Yuyin, Xia Wei, and He Wenchang (Boss He) respectively."

Hulunbuir is too far away.

Being alone, Duan Xun will also send out some direct troops.Otherwise, the current strength of the former Shaanxi Army in Outer Mongolia is too strong, and Duan Xun needs to balance it out.Among the officers of Duan Xun's current lineage, Tang Shengzhi, as a direct lineage of Duan Xun's lineage, is only the commander of the bandit suppression division.

Although they are direct descendants, Duan Xun also has to take care of their emotions.

Although Tang Shengzhi is a direct descendant of Duan Xun, his promotion rate has been slow in recent years.Duan Xun was also worried that Tang Shengzhi would have some emotions.And more importantly, Tang Shengzhi's promotion speed was a bit slow, but his troops were the best of the best.

When the Sixth Bandit Suppression Division was still the sixth mixed brigade, it was a mixed brigade with more than 6000 troops, and it was very powerful.Only by transferring such elite troops to Hulunbeier can they become rare soldiers.

Can serve multiple purposes.

"Cichen (Xu Yongchang), do you think canceling the designation of the Sixth Bandit Suppression Division will affect the bandit suppression work?"

"It has little impact. Recently, the main job of the Bandit Suppression Headquarters is recruiting. When the troops start to suppress bandits again, if the number of troops is not enough, you can apply to the General Staff. We can mobilize some front-line troops to participate in the bandit suppression."

"That's good. Minister Xiong, what do you think?"

"can."