"Recruitment work has also met the target. This March, the last batch of 400,000 new recruits was successfully enlisted. Including the reserves, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army now has a total of 3 million troops." After Chen Ke finished his prediction regarding Beiyang, Minister of Defense Hua Xiongmao began to recount the state of war preparations. "We have organized a total of 20 armies and 80 divisions. At full strength, this totals 2 million troops, with over 1.1 million field troops. The navy and air force total 50,000. Frontline troops number approximately 1.2 million. Railway Corps 400,000, Engineering Corps 600,000, and other reserve forces 800,000. The Military Commission's plan has been completed."

Over 60% of the Party delegates attending the Fourth Plenary Session had military experience, so the comrades had some concept of troop numbers. The total strength of the Beiyang Army was twice that of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's field troops, but this ratio was not enough to give the Beiyang Army an absolute advantage. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's base areas were linked together, and the war preparations over these years had not been in vain. In the base areas, 300,000 Railway Corps soldiers had been building railways like their lives depended on it, and all key strategic locations were now connected by train and shipping. Theoretically, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could transport an army of 100,000 troops along with their equipment from the northernmost north bank of the Yellow River to Hunan in about six days. Then, it would take another ten days for the troops to march to the coast of Guangxi. Or, in about the same amount of time, an army could move from Lianyungang on the shores of the East China Sea into Xi'an, Shaanxi. Traversing most of China from north to south or east to west in half a month—in the China of 1915, only the People's Party could accomplish this. With such mobility, and facing the Beiyang heavy troop groups divided into two major military regions, the numerical disadvantage was actually not obvious.

Having finished speaking about troop preparations, Hua Xiongmao began to discuss equipment. "Weapons and ammunition production and stockpiling have also been completed. For the War of Liberation, we have prepared 200 million rounds of ammunition. Spread across the Beiyang Army, that's about 100 rounds per person. The only issue is that our number of heavy artillery pieces is less than Beiyang's. Apart from 100mm caliber heavy guns, the number of mortars, 37mm guns, and 75mm guns in our forces exceeds that of the Beiyang Army. Utilizing the marching advantage from our troop training, the Beiyang Army's heavy artillery simply cannot catch up with our marches."

"Are we going to implement the tactic of 'strengthening the walls and clearing the fields' to lure the enemy in deep this time?" a Party delegate asked.

"Tactical luring of the enemy in deep is inevitable, but strategically, we will not retreat at all. We will fight on the border with Beiyang and annihilate the enemy's attacking forces," Hua Xiongmao answered.

"Why not adopt a strategy of striking first?" At this question, many delegates perked up.

"Chairman Chen has already explained very clearly that the Beiyang Army is facing a great many problems. Every day they delay fighting, the difficulty increases. If they drag it out until next year, the Beiyang Army will collapse on its own. A strategy of striking first certainly has its benefits, but looking at the overall picture, we have already grasped the strategic initiative. As time passes, our initiative will only grow. We can choose to start the war at any time; we can fight today, or we can fight tomorrow. But with each passing day, Beiyang's life gets a little harder, and their range of choices for starting the war will only get smaller. The more they want to prepare perfectly, the more they will find the situation developing in a direction even less favorable to them." Facing the current situation, Hua Xiongmao was very confident.

"Then according to our estimates, when exactly would it be most advantageous for the Beiyang Army to make their move?" a delegate couldn't help but ask. As soon as such an untimely remark was uttered, it immediately attracted quite a few glares. But the delegate didn't care about this; being able to question the Military Commission on such matters was in itself deeply satisfying.

Hua Xiongmao actually didn't care much about this. When the Military Commission discussed specific issues, they not only had to consider when it was advantageous for the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to fight, but also discuss how the Beiyang Army could attack the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army effectively. If they couldn't know themselves and the enemy, and only blindly exaggerated their own advantages, it would be purely seeking their own death. So Hua Xiongmao answered frankly, "Their best opportunity was this March. But the Beiyang Army didn't seize that opportunity. Now it is already early May, and we will not give them any more chances."

While Hua Xiongmao was introducing military preparations to the Party Congress comrades in Wuhan, the Beiyang Army Ministry far away in Beijing was also conducting pre-war mobilization work. Wang Shizhen was a person who never complained; for a figure of his stature, he had long since thoroughly understood that complaining was useless. Yet at the Beiyang Army military conference, Wang Shizhen still couldn't help but say, "We have completely miscalculated this time. Originally, we thought Chen Ke would take the initiative to send troops to seize Zhejiang, but the People's Party has remained still. During the purge in Zhejiang and other places, it was chaotic, making it impossible to send troops. If we send troops now, the People's Party is waiting in full battle array, and I fear there is no opportunity to exploit."

The complaint on Wang Shizhen's lips was far less than the dissatisfaction in his heart. In fact, as early as the beginning of the year, Wang Shizhen had suggested attacking the People's Party's territory north of the Yellow River with elite troops in March, and taking the opportunity to cross the Yellow River and drive a wedge south of the river.

Even though Wang Shizhen was the Minister of the Army and theoretically could order anyone in the army to lead a charge, the subordinate warlords almost collectively opposed this military plan. In the past, Beiyang had been defeated repeatedly when facing the People's Party. Although the warlords commanding weak brigades were not particularly weighty figures, they all had self-knowledge; if these weak soldiers went to attack the People's Party, it would be purely sending them to their deaths. Didn't Duan Zhigui die in the end after being defeated in Henan?

The weighty figures were even less willing to court this disaster. Whether they could defeat the People's Party was already a difficult thing to say, and even if they won, it was destined to be a pyrrhic victory. Wu Peifu's Fourth Army had been greatly sapped of its vitality after a bloody battle with Japan. The Beiyang Army quickly replenished Wu Peifu's troops, but during the large-scale drills Wu Peifu conducted at the beginning of the year, officers from various units who went to observe privately couldn't help but shake their heads in secret. Judging by the performance in the drills, the standard of Wu Peifu's Fourth Army had plummeted.

This was even with the People's Party fully treating nearly two thousand surplus seriously wounded soldiers and sending this group back to Wu Peifu, considering that he had fought the Japanese and counted as an anti-Japanese hero. Among them, more than seven hundred wounded who healed relatively quickly rejoined the ranks, which was the only reason Wu Peifu could organize large-scale drills. Without the addition of so many veterans and officers, Wu Peifu probably wouldn't have been able to hold large-scale drills at all.

It was particularly ironic that this was the first time the Beiyang Army had seen its own force's recovery capability with their own eyes. In past battles, the People's Party's wars of annihilation simply didn't give the Beiyang Army a chance to recover. Watching a powerful army capable of fighting a bloody battle at Rizhao and expelling the Japanese army lose its combat effectiveness after just one battle—such a rapid transformation from strong to weak could not help but make the various warlords exceptionally "cautious."

But the one in the Beiyang Army who could truly call the shots was Yuan Shikai, and the reason Wang Shizhen gave Yuan Shikai was very "special." His strategic planning point was not Beiyang's strength, but targeting the People's Party's "weakness." Wang Shizhen's suggestion was simple: "From January to April every year, the People's Party has relatively less military training. Various units do their utmost to help the common people build water conservancy projects. At this time, their forces are most dispersed. If we can send troops, the People's Party will be forced to concentrate its strength, making it difficult to implement their actions of buying popular support throughout Henan. This would also be of great benefit for our future attack on Henan."

It couldn't be said that this idea was wrong; at any rate, Wang Shizhen had grasped the most traditional aspect of the People's Party. At all times, develop productive forces; at all times, be closely linked with the masses. However, Yuan Shikai's view was completely different. "Pinqing, our preparations are not perfect. Since the People's Party won't attack on their own initiative until April, we can instead fully prepare for war."

Wang Shizhen rarely argued with Yuan Shikai, but if they went by the standard of "everything is ready except the east wind," Beiyang was never perfectly prepared, while the People's Party seemed to always be able to respond calmly and with ease. While officers at all levels of the Beiyang Army were sweating buckets, punching and kicking to train their troops, the People's Party still had leisure time to help common people everywhere with farm work.

Yuan Shikai's hometown, the Xiangcheng area, belonged to the ancient Chenzhou region. Water transport was developed, and grain production was huge. It was just that centuries of bad governance by the Manchu Qing had caused this good place to gradually decline. The People's Party had occupied Henan for only three years, but after land reform, tens of thousands of troops were dispatched every year to engage in water conservancy infrastructure construction together with the local people. According to intelligence from Xiangcheng, all the land in Zhoukou had been transformed into irrigated land. Patches of level farmland were surrounded by river channels. When the spy spoke of Zhoukou's current state, he obviously had a dazzled look. He solemnly guaranteed that with Zhoukou's current state, there could absolutely be no famine.

"President, the People's Party has bought popular support to this extent; we cannot let them continue to work so comfortably." Wang Shizhen made a concluding statement.

The changes in Xiangcheng were a sore point for Yuan Shikai. He was still the President, yet he had lost his hometown. Through land reform, the People's Party had completely controlled the entire Henan in their hands. If not for various spies and reports, Yuan Shikai would never have imagined that there was such a method of annexation in the world. Being able to disrupt the People's Party's pace was certainly good, but Beiyang simply couldn't afford to lose right now. Yuan Shikai feared that any failure would cause the British to abandon their support for Beiyang. "International prestige" was no joke.

After pondering for a while, Yuan Shikai replied, "Pinqing, since Cai Yuanpei in the south is already preparing to purge the Party, and the People's Party has long coveted the south, if they send troops to Zhejiang, we could take the opportunity to move south."

Wang Shizhen was extremely disappointed with this tendency within Beiyang to wait for the right moment to act. After nominally unifying China, he didn't know when Beiyang's dashing spirit had been constantly worn away. Back in Shandong, when facing hundreds of thousands of rebelling peasant armies, the Beiyang Army dared to fight and struggle, wiping them out like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Now the People's Party's army was constantly expanding, and their recruits were all peasants, yet at this time, the Beiyang Army was becoming timid and overcautious.

It was just that Yuan Shikai didn't want to send troops, plus those warlords in the army were also thoroughly opposed to sending troops, so Wang Shizhen had no way to deal with so many people alone. Although extremely regretful, Wang Shizhen had to face reality.

After giving up the opportunity to attack the People's Party in March, the south did descend into chaos from April. The People's Party, sure enough, did not move at all, just as Wang Shizhen had predicted. According to the obtained "quotations" of People's Party Chairman Chen Ke, Chen Ke always insisted on "you fight yours, I fight mine, I maintain the initiative" in military affairs. This time, Beiyang pinned its hopes on Chen Ke being tempted by temporary benefits and sending troops to the south, which now proved to be a huge mistake. After a bout of water conservancy construction at the beginning of the year, coupled with a good harvest year, the People's Party had a bumper harvest in sight and continued to be in a leading position in war preparedness.

Hearing Wang Shizhen's complaint, the various warlords attending the Army Ministry meeting didn't think much of it. Ninth Army Commander Cao Kun said loudly, "Duke Wang, as soon as this summer harvest is complete, we will go south to exterminate the rebel party."

"Is Commander Cao wanting to lead the vanguard?" Wu Peifu said coldly. Beiyang had 14 armies in the north, totaling 1.4 million troops. Wu Peifu and Cao Kun were both army commanders, so it was normal for them to rival each other. Moreover, Wu Peifu just couldn't stand Cao Kun's boasting style.

"Once we go south, if I am asked to lead the vanguard, I will naturally obey orders." Cao Kun changed his attitude of firmly opposing sending troops a few months ago. "With our more than one million men all going south, we can crush the People's Party to death just by piling on them."

Wang Shizhen was quite dissatisfied with this kind of boasting in his heart. He glanced at the people attending the meeting. Duan Qirui was now the Vice Minister of the Army Ministry, and once war started, he would be the commander-in-chief of the frontline. The rest—Wu Peifu, Cao Kun, Li Chun, Wang Zhanyuan, Tian Zhongyu, Zhang Huaizhi, Lu Yongxiang, Chen Guangyuan, Cai Chengxun, Zhao Yuke, Wang Huaiqing, Jiang Yanxing, Zhang Shaozeng, Lu Jin—these fourteen people commanded the 1.4 million true core troops of Beiyang in the north.

Looking at Cao Kun very seriously again, Wang Shizhen said, "Everyone, the military plan has been finalized. We must send troops this year no matter what, and we absolutely cannot send troops in winter. My intention is the sooner the better; it would be best to send troops in May. I wonder what suggestions you all have?"

Cao Kun never expected Wang Shizhen to want to send troops so soon; he had thought sending troops would be after August, which was why he had talked big. Seeing Wang Shizhen and the other officers all looking at him, Cao Kun subconsciously asked, "Does the President know about this plan?"

Duan Qirui swept a cold glance at Cao Kun. "Commander Cao, when fighting a war, you must listen to the orders of the Army Ministry. The President attends to ten thousand matters of state every day; how could he have time to deal with these details? Do you have to report and ask for instructions from the President for every single thing when you fight?"

Wu Peifu had been personally promoted by Duan Qirui. Hearing Duan Qirui reprimand Cao Kun, he wanted to sneer, but he restrained himself slightly, only turning his head away to give Cao Kun an arrogant profile.

Cao Kun knew he had accidentally shown weakness. At this point, he had no other choice. Cao Kun answered loudly, "Duke Wang, Duke Duan, for this battle, I, Cao Kun, am willing to be the vanguard!"

Seeing that Cao Kun was no longer talking nonsense, Wang Shizhen didn't want to pursue it too much. "There is a military plan for who leads the vanguard. But in our meeting today, what we need to discuss is when to send troops. My idea is very simple: no matter what, we must send troops in May."

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