The Beiyang Division had six towns and twenty towns since the Qing Dynasty. The first six towns were Yuan Shikai's starting troops known as the six towns in Beiyang. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Army Department changed its name to the First to Sixth Divisions and the Twenty Towns to the 20th Division, and also expanded the 7th to Thirteenth Divisions, as well as the 15th, 19th, 27th, and 28th Divisions to the local army. Later, it successively added the 16th, 30th, 31th, 32th, and 33rd Divisions in Sichuan, the 17th Division in Guangxi, the 30th Division in Guizhou, the 35th Division in Shaanxi, etc. After the establishment of the Ministry of National Defense, the National Defense Forces had the first reorganization of the national defense force. The National Defense Forces had a total of 38 reorganized division numbers, plus seven temporary divisions, a total of 45 divisions.

The first reorganization of the National Defense Forces was completed one after another, followed by the second expansion of the army. According to Fang Zida's plan as a blueprint, the Ministry of National Defense began to form a group army based on the First to Sixth Divisions, Eighth Division, Ninth Division and Fifteenth Division. Later, due to Japanese reasons, the former 27th Division and 28th Division were temporarily expanded to the 27th and 28th Group Army. These troops, plus the three new armies under formation in Fang Zida, can be said that China's military strength has reached nearly one million for the first time since the late Qing Dynasty.

The expansion of the central government's strength not only greatly increased China's power, but also further suppressed the scope of the original remnants of local forces. From the perspective of the entire country, except for a few remote areas with inconvenient transportation, after experiencing local military, government and civil affairs reform and national defense force construction, central government decrees have been basically passed across the country. Even if there are still some "local emperors" in some places in the northwest and southwest, they cannot have any impact on the central government in terms of strength, scale and status. It can be said that the Song Jiaoren government joined forces with Yuan Shikai to resolve local separatism.

Shandong Qing*dao.

Wu Peifu, the commander of the 15th Army, was originally in charge of Ji*nan. On the one hand, he was stationed in Shandong, and on the other hand, he helped Fang Zida quickly train the new army. In name, Wu Peifu was just the commander of an army, but in fact he was almost the commander-in-chief of four army. In addition to his 15th Army, he was temporarily responsible for the 37th, 38th, and 39th Army, which had begun to take shape, was also temporarily responsible for the organization and command of the army. This cannot be said that Fang Zida trusted and reused him.

Wu Peifu is indeed a famous general. He is not only good at fighting, but also has a way of training new troops. From the 8th Division to the later 15th Division, it can be said that without Wu Peifu, it would be impossible for him to become a real strong army in a very short time. In Fang Zida's view, there were only two masters who could lead troops in the early days of the Republic of China. One was Feng Yuxiang, who was known as the Christ General, and the other was Wu Ziyu and Wu Peifu. Compared with Feng Yuxiang, who had a serious parental style, Fang Zida valued Wu Peifu more as a scholar. The two were comparable in training troops and leading troops. But in terms of being a person, Wu Peifu

He is much better than that "patriotic general". If we use the old saying, Feng Yuxiang is born with a brain-like bone. He seems loyal on the surface, but he is actually cunning and fickle. He has the "beautiful name" of "Feng Huanzhang". He turns his face faster than flirting with books, and is even more good at turning against others. Fang Zida dares not use such a person, because no one wants to stab his own people in the back at a critical moment. Therefore, until now, although Feng Yuxiang has made a lot of contributions to the northwest suppression of bandits, he is still the commander of the first division to defend Xi*'an. He has not been included in this plan and has been transferred to the east.

A while ago, Wu Peifu suggested to Fang Zida that he would replace Zhang Zuolin to defend Fengtian and fight against Japan. Although Fang Zida was really moved by this suggestion, the central government finally rejected the suggestion to appease Zhang Zuolin, and did not want to cause the situation in Fengtian to be unstable due to the mobilization. Afterwards, although Wu Peifu was a little unhappy, he didn't say anything. According to Fang Zida's arrangement, he quickly went to Shandong.

These days, Wu Peifu led the 15th Army to station in Shandong and stepped up the training of the new army. However, he did not relax his attention to Japan and kept paying close attention to the situation. Not long after Fang Zida received the news of Dashanyan's death from the intelligence department, Wu Peifu, who was particularly sensitive to military affairs, soon discovered the abnormal movements of the Japanese. The Japanese Second Fleet suddenly left Lushun and went south to spy on the Jiaozhou area at all times, which made Wu Peifu extremely alert. Based on his understanding and analysis of the Japanese, the Japanese army and the navy planned conflict were immediately concluded. In order to confirm this, Wu Peifu personally went to Qingdao to inspect the south, and mobilized the 15th Army to start building fortifications in the Qingdao area to prevent the Japanese Navy from launching a sudden attack on Qingdao. At the same time, Wu Peifu also took the initiative to report this situation to the Ministry of National Defense, General Staff and Fang Zida, and put forward his views on the changes in the war situation.

Unlike the cautious Wu Peifu, Zhang Zuolin, who was far away in Fengtian, was ecstatic when he learned about Dashanyan's incident. The heavy stone in his heart seemed to fall down suddenly. He felt relaxed. Zhang Zuolin, who had dealt with the Japanese a lot, certainly knew Dashanyan's prestige and influence in the Japanese army. On the eve of the war, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army suddenly died. Isn't this a great thing that fell from the sky? Without the supreme commander, no wonder the Japanese on the opposite side would become so abnormal. Perhaps because of Dashanyan's death, the battle would not be settled.

Of course, it is best not to fight. Don’t see Zhang Zuolin talking in front of his subordinates and looking righteous. In fact, he has no idea. Not even everyone knows that Zhang Zuolin has made a private retreat while advocating the confrontation on the surface. Now that Dashanyan suddenly dies, Zhang Zuolin feels so happy. When he walks, his bones are lighter. Don’t mention how beautiful it is.

There are quite a few people who have the same feelings as Zhang Zuolin. Even in the Ministry of National Defense and General Staff, many people breathed a sigh of relief after learning the news. These people all believe that Japan's cabinet has changed now, and the Minister of the Land and Commander-in-Chief Oyama Isol suddenly died of illness again. Perhaps this is an opportunity for China and Japan to avoid going to war.

At this time, from common sense, it was not a good time for Japan to launch a war. Without the supreme command, the Japanese cabinet was replacing again. The Japanese army and navy were full of conflicts, and the original plan would definitely change. In addition, many senior officials in the central government and even senior officials in the army had experience studying in Japan. From this point of view, they felt that peace talks with the Japanese were the best opportunity. Under the advocacy of these people, the view of peace talks with Japan to resolve the problem gradually gained the upper hand. Even Duan Qirui and others who originally supported them were thinking about whether to talk to the Japanese through channels.

"Can dogs eat shit instead?"

On Fang Zida's side, many people suggested that he talk to Song Jiaoren and let the government come forward to contact Japan's new cabinet, so that both sides can peacefully resolve the problem in front of him. Fang Zida sneered and asked back with a sneer, which made the other party unable to say a word.

When Fang Zida received a telegram from Wu Peifu on Qingshima, he was even more determined that the Japanese could not go home so easily. Yes, Dashanyan was dead, but according to the Japanese's character and style, he would never stop easily. He was not dead until the Yellow River. This sentence is the best mark of the Japanese mentality. What's more, the domestic situation in Japan has not improved now. A large number of troops have arrived at the front line, which can be said to be an arrow on the string and have to be fired. The outbreak of war is a matter of time. In this case, taking the initiative to lick the Japanese butt to please them can only cause trouble for themselves.

However, Fang Zida thinks this way, but others don't think so. There are many Chinese who have a good impression of Japan in the officialdom, especially the Beiyang faction that hiring Japanese consultants has a long history. These bigwigs think that the Japanese are much easier to speak than Western countries. Fortunately, although Yuan Shikai was seriously ill and unable to be in charge, one day, no one in the Beiyang faction dared to make a decision. Moreover, Song Jiaoren was different from other revolutionaries. He was very cautious about Japan as early as the Qing Dynasty, and he was one of the few sober people in the government's top leaders who saw the Japanese clearly. In this case, although the peace talks jumped and promoted Sino-Japanese friendship, everyone was friends, and it was the best remark that they could not fight or not fight, but in the upper-level government and the army, the combat readiness was not affected at all, and he became more and more vigilant as time went by.

In Japan, Ichiro Fujita's hard life lasted for several more days. Just when he couldn't stand the boring back and forth, the opportunity finally came.

"Your Excellency, are you looking for me?" Fujita Ichiro, who was in a daze in his office, walked in with swollen bags in his eyes, stood attentively, and then asked.

"Fujita, thank you for your hard work these days." It was a little different from usual. Today, Uehara Yusaki seemed very kind and said, "Thank you for your hard work." He stood up and walked to Fujita Ichiro and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hi! I'm not working hard for the service of the Japanese Empire." Fujita Ichiro hurriedly looked grateful, but cursed in his heart: "If it weren't for you, the red deer, how could I have worked so hard? I'm getting up early and going to bed late every day, and I'm almost tired like a dog, which has made me not enjoy a woman for a long time. If this continues, I'm afraid it's no different from becoming a monk."

"Yaoxi" Uehara Yusaki nodded with a smile, very satisfied with Ichiro Fujita's statement, and then asked: "Fujita-kun used to do intelligence work, how many years have he been in China?"

"Hi!" Fujita Ichiro responded, wondering if he didn't know all about his files? Why did he suddenly ask about this?

Uehara Yusaki smiled like a chrysanthemum, and then encouraged him a few words and turned back to the table and picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Ichiro Fujita: "Fuita, given your ability and experience, the Army Staff Headquarters has now been promoted to the Army Colonel, and will go to the Second Fleet to serve as a liaison officer, and take office today!"

"Nani?!" Fujita Ichiro was stunned for a moment, his eyes wide open, and he couldn't believe his ears for a moment. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!