Master Yuan, start!

If I don't go all out north to guard against Li Hongzhang, and Heilongjiang falls into Russian hands, then what's the difference between me and the Qing Dynasty that ceded territory?"

Yuan Shikai was not worried about the Jiangnan region being occupied. Even if it was occupied, it would at most be some hilly areas in Jiangxi and southern Zhejiang, and it would not be able to reach the core area of ​​Jiangnan, the Three Wu Plain, in a short period of time.

Of course, in addition to this, Yuan Shikai also had countermeasures. For an old man like Li Hongzhang who cared about his reputation after his death, preparation in public opinion was also essential.

"Comrades, we can't act without a reason and let people think we are a rebel army!" After drinking tea, Yuan Xiangcheng continued to give orders.

"We must make it clear to everyone in the world that we are not plotting to seize power or usurp the throne, but are standing firm against the imperial court that is betraying our country and the national scum who are betraying their ancestors for personal gain!

Write down this message and spread it throughout the country!"

"Yes!"

Mingye quickly took out a pen and paper and started to take notes.

"China is divided between the north and the south, and the two sides are hostile to each other. Trade routes are cut off, and official careers are blocked. This is the sin of the Manchu Yehenara clan's love of power. Fortunately, the benevolent emperor Guangxu assisted him to drive out the evil queen.

Since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the country has worked hard to govern, the emperor and his ministers have been in harmony, and there has been a scene of hard work. However, although he wants to revive the foundation of China, he is unable to stop the treacherous people in the court.

The Eight Banners assassinated the emperor in the past, shocking the world. It was unheard of that the princes colluded with foreigners and murdered the meritorious officials.

The north and south are in turmoil, and the nine provinces are discussing the establishment of a responsible cabinet and the promulgation of a constitution to guide public opinion. However, the despicable actions of the Manchus have lost the trust of the world.

Yi D regarded China as nothing, and wanted to protect the Qing Dynasty and destroy China for his own selfish desires, and oppress the Han people. Every time Xiangcheng thinks of this, everyone is heartbroken.

The only solution now is to clarify the world, restore justice to the world, and comfort the hearts of Chinese people in the north and south.

China is not the Eight Banners of the Manchu nobles, nor is it the Qing Dynasty of the Aisin-Gioro clan. China is the China shared by 400 million people in the world.

Tang and Wu's revolution followed the will of Heaven and responded to the will of the people. Revolution is to follow the will of Heaven.

The Russians went south and changed the National Defense Army into the Revolutionary Army.

Revolutionaries, revolutionaries!

Abolish the Mandate of Heaven of the Manchus, abolish the Russian Tartars, and restore our Han Chinese nation and our Chinese nation!"

Yuan Xiangcheng clapped his hands fiercely, making a crisp sound, and said loudly:

"Mobilize the Dong-A Ilbo, Shenbao, and all the local newspapers controlled and funded by the Red Confucian Society to publish this telegram!

Tell them that the Manchus are Tartars, and the Russians are also Tartars!

"We must drive out one Tartar, and drive out more than one Tartar. We must make everyone in the world stand on our side!"

Chapter 292 This Is Not a Letter of Submission

The National Defense Army was renamed the Revolutionary Army not for the revolution of one family or one surname, but for the revolution of all Chinese people.

Therefore, after the temporary meeting, at Yan Fu's suggestion, the connotation of the revolutionary army was expanded and its full name was "National Revolutionary Army" to highlight its original intention of serving the country and the people.

Time was running out and there was no time to create a new military logo.

The National Defense Force stationed in the Korean area hurriedly found a few pieces of cloth, wrote the four big words "National Revolution" on them, and rushed to the front line.

...

Going back in time, a few days ago, the area north of the Songhua River was in a purgatory on earth of blood and fire.

The Heilongjiang defenders had never expected that the Russians would march south in large numbers. Both Aihui City, where the defenders fled, and Chikle City and Wuyun City, where the main generals took the responsibility of defending against the enemy, were breached by the sudden attack of the Russian army.

After the three cities fell, the garrisons in various places fled in all directions, and the news of the Russian invasion finally spread slowly. After receiving the news, people of all ethnic groups packed up their bags and planned to run to the surrounding mountains to avoid the limelight.

The Russian army also knew that taking three cities was nothing, and planned to pursue the victory.

However, after capturing three cities in a row, the Russian army had consumed a large amount of supplies prepared in advance, and they had to stop and wait for resupply before setting off again.

Wu Daji sneaked out of Hailanpao and after crossing the river, he led a group of border guards to travel day and night, intending to ride back to Qiqihar on horseback to quickly deploy defenses.

However, when crossing the Lesser Khingan Mountains, he accidentally stepped on a trap left by a hunter and injured his right foot. He finally arrived in Qiqihar under the protection of his personal soldiers.

However, what the soldiers didn't expect was that Wu Qida had to hold his breath to continue on his way despite the injury.

After arriving at a safe environment, he forced himself to send a telegram asking for help from Yuan Shikai, but then he passed out due to excessive blood loss.

While the personal guards hurriedly carried Wu Daji to the city's medical clinic, they shouted the news of "Russians invading the south", causing the whole city to panic.

With the whole city facing a leaderless situation, Longjiang prefect Xu Shiguang stepped forward to appease the people and gather the personal soldiers who fled south.

On the way, the guards heard Wu Daji's general description of the situation and told it all to Xu Shiguang, the governor of Longjiang.

Xu Shiguang was Xu Shichang's cousin. He followed Xu Shichang to take the imperial examination in Beijing. Later, he met Yuan Shichang. The two brothers followed him to Tianjin, Korea and other places to train troops.

However, compared with his elder brother Xu Shichang, Xu Shiguan was relatively unknown in his work. Because his family was poor when he was young, he taught elementary school in the countryside for several years to make a living.

In the original time and space, Xu Shiguang had always followed his elder brother as an official, supervising the restoration of the Yellow River in Puyang. In his later years, he devoted himself to charity and became the president of the Chinese Red Cross.

In this time and space, after he came across the declaration and connected it with his own childhood circumstances, he became extremely interested in establishing a world of universal peace and harmony where everyone is equal.

At that time, Yuan Shikai was "trying the Confucius Mansion" in Shandong. Xu Shiguang suddenly had an idea in his mind: if he could start with children and instill the idea of ​​equality for all into the ignorant boys in the blank outside the Great Wall, would it be more effective?

After the Red Confucian Society took root in Korea and outside the Great Wall, Xu Shiguang volunteered to go to Heilongjiang, where he expanded the Red Confucian Society and spread revolutionary ideas among the Heilongjiang border defense forces. At the same time, as a local official, he promoted the development of education.

Therefore, after understanding the situation clearly, Xu Shiguang immediately sent a telegram to ask the North Korean side how to deal with it, and then immediately ordered the people outside the city to evacuate.

The vast majority of people living near Qiqihar lived in "new-style low houses" outside the city. In order to prevent them from dying tragically under the guns of the Russian army, Xu Shiguang had no choice but to do this.

Those who had relatives in Fengtian and Jilin in the south packed their bags and went to stay with them;

Those who had no relatives took all the food stored in their homes and entered Qiqihar City.

Qiqihar is a small city that was originally built as a military fortress. Thanks to its status as a provincial capital, it has been reinforced many times over the past 10 years and is by no means comparable to the cities on the Heilongjiang River.

Wu Daji was in a coma for three full days before he finally woke up.

During these three days, hundreds of soldiers who had fled from the Lesser Khingan Mountains after being attacked by the Russian army brought news that the Russian army was marching southward.

After waking up, Wu Daji immediately started arguing with Xu Shiguang.

"The Russians are powerful and have many guns and artillery. How can they defend Qiqihar to the death?" Wu Daji endured the pain in his right foot and said worriedly, "Hailun and Suihua still have troops. They should be combined!"

There are nearly 2 border guards in Heilongjiang, of which nearly 1 are evenly distributed at the border between Heilongjiang and Russia.

Like sprinkling pepper, from north to south, sprinkle less in sparsely populated areas such as Luogu River, Mohe, and Hurma.

Sprinkle more in densely populated areas such as Heihe, Aihui, Qikele and Wuyunhe.

As for the remaining 5000 people, the governor of Heilongjiang led 3000 to garrison Longjiang Prefecture, the admiral and the general led 2000 and to garrison Kedong, Hailun and Suihua west of Lesser Khingan Mountains respectively.

In other words, after the collapse of the Heilongjiang defense line, the only people Wu Daji could rely on were the 10,000 people west of the Lesser Khingan Mountains.

So in his opinion, the best approach should be to concentrate the forces of the Heilongjiang Admiral and the General to stop the Russian offensive, rather than defending Qiqihar and waiting for reinforcements.

"Lord Wu, it's freezing cold, and the Russians were able to capture three cities along the Heilongjiang River in one fell swoop. This is their long-planned plan." Xu Shiguang bowed and explained:

“But if we go further west, the Russian army will have to cross the Lesser Khingan Mountains, which is not so easy.

The defenders in Kedong, Hailun and other places have already received the news. They are well-rested and may be able to stop the Russian army.

If we ignore the situation and withdraw them to Qiqihar, Lord Wu, wouldn't we also be handing over the Lesser Khingan Mountains defense line to others? "

"Xu Shiguang, you...what do you mean?"

Wu Daji thought Xu Shiguang was blaming him for abandoning the land and running away, and his face immediately turned red when he heard that.

After he woke up, he knew that the Heilongjiang defense line, headed by the three cities of Aihui, had collapsed completely.

He understood that if he had stayed in Aihui to fight against the Russians after fleeing back to China instead of continuing to flee west to Qiqihar, the outcome might have been very different.

There is a high probability of losing, but the collapse may not be so fast.

"Hey, Lord Wu, I have no intention of seizing power, nor do I want to blame anyone." Xu Shiguang sighed and said, "Stop the enemy at every step, hold your ground and wait for reinforcements. This is Lord Yuan's reply."

"Yuan, did Master Yuan call back?"

Wu Daji had just woken up and was still unaware of the storms happening in the outside world. Before he fell into a coma, he only sent a telegram to Yuan Xiangcheng asking for help.

He had not yet made up his mind to expose Yi D's conspiracy to the world.

"Exactly!"

As he spoke, Xu Shiguang placed the military telegram sent by Yuan Xiangcheng in front of him.

"The National Defense Army marched north in two groups, attacking in the west and defending in the east, blocking the enemy at every level along the Heilongjiang River while awaiting reinforcements."

After seeing this telegram, Wu Daji lowered his head and stopped arguing.

"I am ashamed. As the governor of a province, I mismanaged my leadership and harmed many people for nothing."

In his opinion, he had been in Heilongjiang for more than three years without figuring out how to defend against the enemy, and had wasted the manpower of the Heilongjiang defense line.

In contrast, after receiving his own telegram, Yuan Shikai wrote only a few words and then relied on the existing troops to rebuild a defense line relying on the Lesser Khingan Mountains.

Xu Shiguang saw Wu Daji lowering his head, and knew that he was blaming himself, so logically he shouldn't say anything more.

However, as the highest leader of the Red Confucian Society in Heilongjiang, Xu Shiguang felt that he needed to do more to be worthy of the Red Confucian Society and China.

Xu Shiguang held another telegram from Yuan Xiangcheng in his hand. He took a deep breath and said with a firm look in his eyes:

"Master Wu!"

"Ok?"

"Sir Wu, since you took office as the governor of Heilongjiang, the number of immigrants to Heilongjiang has increased, commerce has flourished, and culture and education have flourished. You have been neither humble nor arrogant in the face of the Russians, and have argued with reason.

Although the Heilongjiang defense line collapsed after the Russians invaded the south, this fault cannot be blamed on Lord Wu."

Xu Shiguang suddenly spoke up, praising Wu Daji and making excuses for him, which made him a little confused.

Sure enough, Xu Shiguang’s purpose was not just to give compliments.

"If you ask me, this Russian invasion of the south was really caused by the Manchus fighting for power and profit in the capital!

Sir Wu, according to your personal guards, it was Prince Gong Yi D of the imperial court who colluded with the Russians to march south and forcibly detained Sir Yi.

"Master Xu, this is unspeakable!"

Wu Daji stood up hurriedly, but he forgot that his right foot was injured and sat back down in pain.

"Master Xu, I know you came from Master Yuan's army, and I also know that you promote the teachings of great scholars among the people of Heilongjiang, advocating universal peace, and you dislike the behavior of some Manchus.

But the Qing Dynasty has its own national conditions. Now that the country is in crisis, there may be hidden secrets within the court that we are unaware of. However, the Manchus and the Han people of our dynasty are one, and we should unite to resist the enemy. You must not utter such outrageous words again."

Although Wu Dajie was dissatisfied with Yi D, he was not in a position to directly oppose him due to the constraints of the monarch and his subjects in the feudal era.

What he wanted was to resign from his official position and retire after the matter was completed, and not to be entangled in the world of fame and fortune.

In his opinion, Xu Shiguang was a capable official, better than himself, and would be able to do more for the country and the people in the future.