Jiang Baili had a good reputation within the Beiyang Army. At this time, there were naturally no rumors about him receiving a ceremonial sword from the Japanese Emperor for graduating first in his class at the Japanese Military Academy; in reality, his grades were merely good enough to not fail. The status of the Japanese Military Academy simply could not compare to the Army War College, and as a student of the Military Academy, it was even less likely for him to be personally received by the Emperor. Most importantly, the grades of Japanese students and international students at the Japanese Military Academy were calculated separately, not together.

Even so, having attended a formal Japanese military academy and graduated normally meant that, at least in terms of academic qualifications, Jiang Baili was doing quite well. Originally, Beiyang had intended for Jiang Baili to be the principal of the Baoding Military Academy, but Yuan Shikai needed a trusted military officer who was proficient in Japanese affairs, so he transferred Jiang Baili to serve as the chief military aide to the President.

Zheng Wenjie knew that Jiang Baili was quite proud. Coupled with the fact that he himself had privately colluded with the People's Party, he naturally felt a bit guilty. In such major matters, he still wanted to appear more active. If Jiang Baili ever revealed to anyone that he had once asked Jiang Baili for advice on the current situation, it would be very beneficial for Zheng Wenjie. So Zheng Wenjie said sincerely, "Baili, you are a hero in our Beiyang Army, always praised by everyone. At this time, please point out a clear path for your older brother here. At least when the superiors ask, don't let me be unable to answer anything."

Jiang Baili found these words quite to his liking, but he still wanted to be a little reserved. After all, he was Yuan Shikai's military aide, following Yuan Shikai every day, which made him very different from his peers. "Brother Zheng, you naturally have high opinions on such matters, why come to ask me?"

Zheng Wenjie had seen plenty of this kind of reserved attitude; most people in Beiyang were of this sort. He quickly lowered his voice and laughed, "Baili, you have a lofty character. Back when the Eldest Young Master invited people for drinks before he ruined things, you never went. Later, the Eldest Young Master indeed ruined things. But this matter is a major event for our Beiyang. As someone from the Intelligence Division, I know that you, Baili, have investigated some things regarding grain. Now grain is the top priority for Beiyang, and Baili, you still care about these key points. So your older brother is sincerely begging you, my brother. Although I can come up with some methods, they are all ideas with a beginning but no end, unable to look at the overall war situation. Baili, you are from a military academy background with excellent academic performance, so you naturally have a complete train of thought. I hope you will definitely explain it to your older brother."

Seeing that Zheng Wenjie understood him so well, Jiang Baili was a bit surprised in his heart, but what Zheng Wenjie said were all things Jiang Baili felt quite satisfied with. Whether it was foreseeing that Yuan Keding would ruin things, or seeing that Beiyang's grain would encounter major problems, Jiang Baili could be considered to have grasped the key points. And since Zheng Wenjie had humbled himself so much, Jiang Baili also felt it necessary to give Zheng Wenjie some help.

"Brother Zheng, I wonder what general ideas the Ministry of Army actually has?" Jiang Baili asked first.

Zheng Wenjie answered, "This... Baili naturally knows that the People's Party once invaded Hebei under the name of bandits, and the Manchu Qing immediately collapsed. Now the Ministry of Army still feels that securing the battle line must not have any leaks. From Jinan to Handan, Beiyang must first protect the battle line."

"It is naturally correct that the battle line cannot have gaps, but as far as I know, when the People's Party fights with our Beiyang, there are no battle lines. They just have those few key points: Handan, Qingdao, Jining, Anyang. Instead of us sticking to a battle line, we might as well attack the People's Party. The People's Party is besieging Handan, so why don't we adopt the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao?"

Hearing this plan, Zheng Wenjie couldn't help but clap his hands in praise, "Wonderful!"

The current war situation was almost completely identical to the historical situation of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao." Back then, the State of Wei besieged the State of Zhao's capital, Handan. The State of Qi did not directly send troops to lift the siege of Handan, but instead suddenly sent troops to launch a surprise attack. If they could send troops out of the Yellow River to threaten the People's Party's important town of Kaifeng, not only would the siege of Beiyang's Handan Group be immediately relieved, but the Beiyang Army could even implement a counter-encirclement against the People's Party troops moving north. At that time, the People's Party would have to hurriedly return south, and the Beiyang Army could pursue and kill them all the way. Under such a strategic situation, completely wiping out the People's Party was not an impossible thing.

"Baili is indeed a great talent!" Zheng Wenjie quickly praised.

"But there is one more point." Jiang Baili continued, "Back then, the State of Qi did not immediately raise troops to attack Kaifeng, but first went to attack Xiangling, which is Linfen. They made the Wei army think that the Qi army only wanted to attack the important area of Linfen, in order to tie down the Wei army's forces. That was why they relaxed the defense of Kaifeng. If we want to use the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao now, we have to find this Xiangling."

"Wonderful!" Zheng Wenjie didn't read many military books. Originally, he thought besieging Wei to rescue Zhao was simply directly attacking the State of Wei's capital, Daliang, to force the Wei army to return. He didn't expect there were these twists and turns inside. So Zheng Wenjie put away the little bit of underestimation in his heart and began to ask Jiang Baili for further advice.

Jiang Baili spent more than an hour teaching the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao to Zheng Wenjie in detail. But the Ministry of Army's meeting was still not over. Seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Baili felt quite torn about whether to continue waiting or just go back.

Zheng Wenjie laughed, "Baili, I manage the Intelligence Division. We still get news first regarding intelligence. How about this, you go back first today and come again tomorrow morning. By then, I will have spoken to Lord Wang and Lord Duan about this matter first. If you go to find them then, I presume they will see you. Even if they don't see you, they will pass this matter down. What do you think?"

Since Zheng Wenjie was willing to put in such effort, Jiang Baili naturally couldn't ask for more. "Then I will trouble Brother Zheng!"

Early the next day, Jiang Baili arrived at the President's Office. Before he could set off for the Ministry of Army, he received an order from Yuan Shikai, "Prepare for a military meeting."

Those attending the meeting were all high-ranking Beiyang officials. The civil officials were okay, but most of the military generals had red eyes; it seemed they hadn't rested well last night. On the large military map in the conference room, the offensive and defensive situations of both warring sides were clearly marked. North of the Yellow River, more than a dozen armies of various sizes were gathered. The Beiyang Army deployed its forces with Beijing as the core, and massive numbers of troops were stationed in the frontline cities of Handan, Xingtai, Dezhou, Jinan, and others. In contrast, the People's Party was moving from south to north, with their main direction of attack being Handan and Jinan. Compared to Beiyang's pre-war plan of actively attacking Henan, the People's Party was clearly in an offensive posture.

First, Wang Shizhen briefly introduced the war situation. Yuan Shikai then asked coldly, "As far as I know, quite a few people fear the People's Party's airplanes like tigers. Just a few airplanes dropping some bombs down there, and the various units can't move. Can small bombs be fiercer than cannons?"

Hearing Yuan Shikai's words, Jiang Baili finally understood why Yuan Shikai wanted to impose a gag order on the matter of the foreign military observation group suffering heavy casualties during the People's Party's air raid. He immediately felt uneasy in his heart. Although Zheng Wenjie had profusely promised to inform the bigwigs in the Ministry of Army about the gag order, whether Zheng Wenjie had actually done so was something only Heaven knew.

Duan Qirui spoke up, "President, suddenly encountering such fierce bombing during the march, the soldiers were scared out of their wits, and the officers are also still in shock. We currently have no weapons that can reach the People's Party's airplanes. If we blindly make the officers and soldiers advance under bombing, I'm afraid it will make the army's morale unstable."

Hearing that Duan Qirui did not use the foreign military observation group incident as an excuse, Jiang Baili breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Hmph!" Yuan Shikai gave a cold laugh but did not speak.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai was extremely dissatisfied, Duan Qirui also replied with a solemn expression, "The current key point is to engage the People's Party as soon as possible and defeat them. This subordinate feels we might as well use the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao."

Jiang Baili was startled. This was the matter he had discussed with Zheng Wenjie. Could it be that Zheng Wenjie had told the people in the Ministry of Army about this plan overnight?

Duan Qirui completely ignored the change in expression of Jiang Baili, the military aide. He continued, "Send a force to circle around to the rear of the People's Party and attack Anyang, cutting off the People's Party's retreat route. When the People's Party returns their army, our great armies in Handan and Xingtai will pursue and kill them all the way, and we should be able to inflict heavy damage on the People's Party."

Just as Duan Qirui finished speaking, Cao Kun stood up to speak: "President, this minister's view is different from Commander Duan's. The People's Party still has troops in Henan. Even if we raid Anyang, the People's Party forces in Handan might not be moved, but instead send other troops north. At that time, not only will we fail to surround the People's Party, but the troops sent to Anyang will instead be surrounded by the People's Party. This is too risky. This minister feels it is better to defend firmly on the spot. Wait until the People's Party consumes a large amount of troops attacking the city and their morale is low before we strike. After all, Handan is a major city, and General Wu Peifu is also a famous general; he won't let the People's Party take Handan so easily."

Jiang Baili could see that this dispute was definitely not something that had just arisen. When Cao Kun opposed Duan Qirui's plan, although Duan Qirui's face looked ugly, he did not show an expression of surprise.

Cao Kun did not stop there; he continued, "If our army is to use 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao,' then we might as well let the armies in Shaanxi and Jiangnan launch attacks simultaneously. The main force of the People's Party is in Hebei, thousands of *li* away from Jiangnan. The Shaanxi troops can attack Shan County; as long as they can take Shan County, they can attack Luoyang. If they succeed, the People's Party's troops in Henan will inevitably go to Luoyang for defense. At that time, when the People's Party's forces lack support from Henan, sending troops to attack Anyang would be the foolproof strategy. Actually, if either of these two routes succeeds, I'm afraid the People's Party will withdraw their troops. Isn't this better than taking a huge risk to directly attack Anyang?"

Hearing Cao Kun speak to this point, Wu Peifu was almost furious. He said with a strong tone of ridicule, "Distant water cannot quench a nearby thirst. If we follow General Cao's meaning, then we might as well ask the British to go to war immediately and send warships to attack Wuhan. It is said that Chen Ke is in Wuhan; wouldn't that be better than anything else?"

The strong sarcasm in these words couldn't be clearer. However, Cao Kun's nickname was "Cao the Third Fool." He showed absolutely no angry reaction to Duan Qirui's sarcasm. Cao Kun just scratched the back of his head, "If we could persuade the British to send troops, that would be the best thing. If fighting starts in Wuhan, the People's Party will definitely have to withdraw their troops."

Before Duan Qirui could retort angrily, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but shout, "Enough!"

Duan Qirui was indignant, while Cao Kun acted like a fool. The two turned their faces away from each other.

Yuan Shikai no longer had the mind to lecture the two of them. What use was lecturing them? With a formidable enemy currently before them, if he wasn't willing to dismiss the two from their posts, Yuan Shikai still had to rely on these two to command their respective troops. As if he hadn't seen the dispute just now at all, Yuan Shikai said, "Since the People's Party has already delivered themselves to our door, we might as well fight a decisive battle with them. I heard the People's Party general in Hebei is named Chai Qingguo, who previously escaped with his life from our Beiyang's hands in Shandong. Now he has 300,000 men under his command. We might as well see if this Chai Qingguo can still escape with his life this time against our Beiyang Army of a million."

Hearing that Yuan Shikai actually intended to mobilize all forces for a decisive battle with the People's Party in Hebei, the expressions of all the troop commanders turned solemn. They hadn't been idle these days; they had drawn up one operation plan after another. However, these plans all had some problems, which was that the troops of other factions invariably bore the tasks that required effort but yielded no thanks, while the troops of their own faction at least received the best tasks in the military plans. So the head of every faction wanted their own military plan to be passed and clearly opposed the military plans of others.

Now that it looked like Yuan Shikai was going to personally command the war, all the warlords stopped making a sound. Everyone could oppose other military governors, but no one dared to oppose Yuan Shikai.

At this moment, Wang Shizhen spoke up, "Before sending out troops, there is one thing I'm afraid needs to be done first. Recently, many grain shops in Hebei are actually not selling grain. If the common people can't even buy grain, public sentiment will definitely be in great chaos. So someone has to come out and resolve this matter."

Those attending the meeting had mostly heard of this matter. Seeing Wang Shizhen raise this issue at such an important meeting, quite a few felt a bit surprised. Wang Shizhen continued, "I'm afraid there are people involved behind this matter. It would be inconvenient for other high officials to handle this. I recommend the President's second son, Yuan Kewen, to supervise this matter."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's expression changed. Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, was forced to go abroad because he foolishly recruited people to assassinate Chen Ke. And Yuan Shikai's second son, Yuan Kewen, logically succeeded to Yuan Keding's position. Now that Wang Shizhen suggested Yuan Kewen come out to supervise this matter, it wasn't a bad choice. Everyone would think that Yuan Kewen represented Yuan Shikai's attitude. If they really wanted to solve the grain problem on the market, they really needed someone like Yuan Kewen.

But Yuan Kewen was a real thorn in the hearts of quite a few people.

Sure enough, Wang Shizhen continued, "If the Second Young Master comes out to investigate this grain matter, he has to bring people. We might as well let him bring the Model Regiment to handle this."

Almost everyone's face became even uglier. Wang Shizhen really "didn't avoid relatives in internal appointments"! Yuan Kewen and the Model Regiment were that thorn in the hearts of the Beiyang generals.

The Beiyang New Army was single-handedly pulled up by Yuan Shikai back in the day. And just after Yuan Keding ruined things and was forced to go abroad, Yuan Shikai began to let his second son, Yuan Kewen, start training a "Model Regiment" New Army. This wasn't a result of Yuan Shikai suddenly indulging in wild fantasies; Yuan Kewen had always wanted to imitate the German Emperor's Imperial Guard to organize an army. This army mainly recruited nobles and the children of officers. The German Emperor's purpose in doing this was nothing more than to build a tighter interest group. The high-ranking Beiyang generals could easily understand this point, but Yuan Keding's purpose in wanting to do this made the Beiyang generals feel unable to accept it. The German Royal Imperial Guard was to guard the Emperor. Yuan Shikai was not yet the Emperor, so what exactly was Yuan Keding's purpose in doing this?

Therefore, the group headed by Duan Qirui looked coldly upon this "Model Regiment" New Army led by Yuan Kewen. On the contrary, the group that supported Yuan Shikai's bid for emperor strongly supported it.

Wang Shizhen never expressed an opinion on such matters and did not give special treatment to this "Model Regiment" New Army. But proposing at this critical moment to let the "Model Regiment" New Army handle the grain matter, the generals felt it very unacceptable, yet they really couldn't find a more suitable candidate. Up to now, what the "Model Regiment" New Army represented was still really Yuan Shikai's personal attitude.

Everyone looked at Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai only remained silent for a moment before answering, "Just handle it according to Pinqing's idea!"

As usual, news of the Beiyang Army was quickly transmitted to Chen Ke's hands through the People's Party's intelligence system, and then forwarded to Chai Qingguo at the front line. Chai Qingguo felt extremely excited in his heart, so much so that he spent a full hour barely calming this mood before the meeting.

Not long ago, he annihilated a brigade of Wu Peifu in Linzhang County, and annihilated another brigade of Wu Peifu that had advanced rashly with light troops. In the engagement with Wu Peifu, he beat back and pursued Wu Peifu's troops. In the post-war statistics, he wiped out roughly more than 40,000 men from various Beiyang units. Although he failed to encircle and annihilate the troops Wu Peifu sent out for field battle, such heavy damage could be considered to have made the Beiyang Army suffer greatly. The Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army did not pursue and attack Handan, where Wu Peifu was entrenched, with hot pursuit. After the opportunity for a war of annihilation was lost, there was absolutely no need to obsess over what had happened in the past. Rather than halting troops under a fortified city without the intention to attack, it was better not to approach the enemy at all.

Now learning that the Beiyang Army claimed they would use a million-strong army to come and annihilate him, this couldn't help but make Chai Qingguo incomparably excited. The Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army still maintained the initiative in battle; they could fight if they wanted, and leave if they wanted. Whether to engage the enemy was actually not a choice; at the moment, he only had to consider *how* to engage the enemy.

The comrades who received the news at the military meeting were also extremely excited, but most of this excitement was negative emotion. The Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army had about 300,000 troops in Hebei, among which the 18th Army, which cut off the connection between Handan and Xingtai, was an engineering unit, and it was not yet time for this unit to conduct large-scale field operations. So, 200,000 men facing an attack by a million-strong army—no matter how one looked at it, it was not a good thing that made people optimistic.

The Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army's intelligence was very detailed, including an exposition of the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao proposed by Beiyang's Wu Peifu. Chai Qingguo laughed, "'Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' states very clearly: rather than attacking a united enemy, attack a dispersed one; rather than attacking the strong, attack the weak. Attacking an enemy force that is concentrated and powerful is not as effective as making the powerful enemy disperse and weaken before attacking. Attacking the enemy's strong parts is not as effective as attacking the enemy's weak parts. The Sixteen-Character Formula talks about exactly this."

"The problem lies in the fact that the enemy is unpredictable. They will definitely implement a multi-pronged attack, but what will be the reaction of each route after being attacked by us? There is currently no way to predict correctly." This statement represented the worries of most comrades.

"The enemy is unpredictable; this is inevitable. That is why Chairman Chen repeatedly emphasizes: you fight your way, I fight mine."