Did he trick the young marshal into becoming sworn brothers and then go south to Huangpu Military Ac

Faced with the teacher's question, Lin Qi did not answer immediately. He looked down at his fingers and saw that there was still some white chalk dust on his knuckles, which he had gotten from wiping the blackboard in the tactical classroom that afternoon.

He smiled, wiped it in front of him, and looked up.

"gentlemen."

"Looking only at military capabilities, the Fengtian clique is indeed inferior to the Zhili clique."

I don't deny that.

The man nodded.

"But war is never just a matter for the military."

Lin Qi stood up.

"There are too many cracks within the immediate family."

He walked to the national military map hanging on the wall.

The map is huge, stretching from south to north and from east to west, covering the entire land.

The spheres of influence of various warlords were distinguished by small flags of different colors: blue for the Zhili clique, black for the Fengtian clique, green for the Anhui clique, yellow for the Yunnan clique, and purple for the Guangxi clique.

Lin Qi's finger landed on the blue area of ​​the direct line.

"Sir, look."

"The direct line nominally controls Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding, Luoyang, Wuhan, and Nanjing, making it appear as a monolithic entity."

"But in reality, everyone has their own agenda."

The finger points to Baoding.

"President Cao was based in Beijing and controlled the central government of the Beiyang government."

The finger moved to Luoyang.

"Wu Yushuai holds considerable military power and is nominally a powerful figure in the Zhili clique. He is outwardly on good terms with President Cao, but inwardly they are at odds. Last winter, the two almost slammed their fists on the table over the distribution of military funds."

The finger then moved to Nanjing.

"Qi Xieyuan formed his own faction in Jiangsu, and he kept most of the taxes from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, giving less than 30% to the central government each year."

The finger continued to move.

"In Fujian, Sun Chuanfang and Wu Yushuai were nominally master and apprentice, but Sun Chuanfang controlled all the military, financial, and personnel power in Fujian. He even dared to delay replying to Wu Yushuai's telegrams."

"Further north."

Lin Qi's finger stopped on the Chahar area.

"Feng Huanzhang, Military Governor of Chahar."

I gently pressed my fingertip on that word.

"This is the Achilles' heel of the direct line."

The man paused for a moment.

"Feng Huanzhang?"

"Are you familiar with this person, sir?"

"He was a general in the Zhili clique, promoted by Cao Kun. In terms of seniority among the Beiyang warlords, he was Wu Yushuai's peer."

Lin Qi turned around.

"Sir, this man, Feng Huanzhang..."

"He has the appearance of Lü Bu."

The gentleman frowned slightly.

"Lü Bu?"

"A traitor who serves three masters is most adept at switching sides at crucial moments."

Lin Qi slowed down his speech.

"In his life, Feng Huanzhang has served Yuan Shikai, then opposed him; he served Duan Qirui, then opposed him; he served President Cao Cao, and now..."

"They'll soon be turning against President Cao too."

The man's expression changed.

"Wu Yushuai withheld Feng Huanzhang's military pay for a year."

Lin Qi continued.

"Chahar is a poor place and cannot support many troops. Feng Huanzhang's troops can only be maintained by central government funding. Wu Yushuai thought he was disobedient, so starting last winter, he deducted 30% of the military pay allocated to Chahar every month and transferred it to his own direct Third Division."

"last month."

Lin Qi's gaze sharpened.

"Feng Huanzhang's troops have been owed pay for two months. One battalion commander was mutinied by his soldiers and almost didn't make it back to his barracks."

The man stared intently at Lin Qi.

How did you know about this?

Lin Qi smiled.

"Sir, although I run an arsenal in Guangzhou, my sworn brother in Fengtian sends me messages from time to time."

"Moreover, I'm certain that the old marshal in Fengtian has already colluded with Feng Huanzhang!"

Upon hearing this, even Mr. Liang, with his composure, could not remain silent and hurriedly asked.

"Takumi, did your friend tell your brother about this too?"

"It wasn't Zhang Hanqing who told me about Feng Huanzhang."

Lin Qi shook his head.

"With Zhang Hanqing's personality, how could he possibly tell me something like this?"

"This is my own judgment."

The man was stunned.

"Judgment?"

"Um."

Lin Qi nodded.

"Sir, the Fengtian clique knows perfectly well that they cannot defeat the Zhili clique."

"But in the past two years, we have been expanding our army and improving our weapons, including new rifles, artillery from the Fengtian Arsenal, and fighter jets from the Northeast Aviation Bureau."

"For what purpose?"

"This is the day we've been waiting for."

Lin Qi tapped his knuckles on the map.

"Given Marshal Zhang's temperament, he would not fight a battle he was not confident of winning. After suffering such a great loss in the first Zhili-Fengtian War, he held back for more than a year and would never rashly send troops again."

"If the Fengtian clique dares to make a move, it must be because they are confident."

"The confidence doesn't lie with his own army."

"Within the immediate family."

Lin Qi pointed back to the location in Chahar.

"A person who can turn against you at a crucial moment."

"Given Zhang's cunning, he must have secretly sent someone to contact Feng Huanzhang during this year."

"They've even already sent the military pay."

"It was all for the sake of the Second Zhili-Fengtian War, at a crucial moment."

"Feng Huanzhang stabbed a Zhili official in the back with a knife."

The study was quiet for a while.

The man did not speak.

Lin Qi continued to slide his finger across the map.

"If you trust me, sir, I'll give you a rough estimate and a drawing of what this battle will be like!"

The man suppressed the rise and fall of his chest.

"You draw it."

Lin Qi picked up a brush from the desk and dipped it in ink.

The brush lightly touched the map.

"With the start of the Jiangzhe War, Qi Xieyuan and Sun Chuanfang will attack Lu Yongxiang from both sides, and the Zhejiang army will surely be defeated."

"Lu Yongxiang can probably hold on for about twenty days."

The brush points towards Shanhaiguan.

"The Fengtian Army will surely press down from Shanhaiguan Pass; this is the first phase."

"The main force of the Fengtian Army moved south along the Beijing-Fengtian Railway, and the Zhili clique would definitely dispatch Wu Yushuai's Third Division northward to meet them."

"The main forces of the two armies will engage in battle in the area of ​​Shanhaiguan and Jiukoumen."

The writing brush landed on the north side of the Great Wall.

"The battle at Jiuguankou will be extremely fierce."

"Wu Yushuai's Third Division was indeed the best army in the world. The Fengtian Army could not defeat it head-on. The Fengtian Army fought several fierce battles on the northern slope of the Great Wall and suffered heavy casualties."

"but."

The brush suddenly swept westward.

"At that very moment."

"Feng Huanzhang".

"From Chahar."

"Turning against them."

"He secretly led his troops back and marched straight for Beijing."

The brush pen is heavier in that position in Beijing.

"Beijing is vulnerable; President Cao's guards defected overnight."

"President Cao is imprisoned in Zhongnanhai."

Lin Qi raised his eyes.

"Sir, please think about it."

"At the front, Wu Yushuai was locked in a fierce battle with the Fengtian Army at Shanhaiguan. Meanwhile, the Beijing headquarters in the rear was lost, and the President was imprisoned."

"Can Wu Yushuai's Third Division still fight?"

The man closed his eyes, and after a long while opened them, his eyes filled with shock.

"Once morale collapses, even the best soldiers become defeated soldiers."

"right."

Lin Qi nodded.

"Upon hearing the news of the upheaval in Beijing, Wu Yushuai will surely withdraw his troops south overnight."

"It's too late."

"The Fengtian Army pursued relentlessly, while Feng Huanzhang's National Army pressed in from the west. It was a pincer attack from three sides."

"Wu Yushuai led a small number of troops to break through the encirclement."

"The rest were either captured or routed."

The brushstrokes drew a retreating arc on the map, stretching from Shanhaiguan all the way to Wuhan.

"Wu Yushuai will surely be defeated and flee to Hubei."

"President Cao will definitely step down."

"Duan Hefei will return to power as interim leader to preside over the political situation in Beijing."

"This is the whole story of the Zhili-Fengtian War."

"The fighting will begin in September."

"By the end of the year."

"It's all over, that's my guess!"