"Duan Qirui has caused quite a lot of harm in Shanxi. If he surrenders, we have to guarantee his personal safety at any rate. It would be better to fight into Shanxi, arrest him, and then behead him. That would be an explanation to the people, and an explanation to the brothers who rose up in the Boxer Rebellion before," Hua Xiongmao said to Chai Qingguo.

Wu Xingchen remained silent all the time. Hearing Hua Xiongmao say this, he couldn't help but speak up, "Minister Hua, the Boxer Rebellion ended after it failed. The current revolution has nothing to do with the Boxer Rebellion. Even if we don't let Duan Qirui go, so many soldiers from Hebei in the Beiyang Army are just obeying orders to eat. If we can make them surrender, it will be good for everyone. Even if we eliminate Duan Qirui, it is best to only eliminate Duan Qirui and his die-hard followers."

Hua Xiongmao actually wanted to fight. Although he was the Minister of Defense and in charge of military orders, the powers of the Ministry of Defense were increasingly divided by the Military Commission, the General Political Department, the General Staff, and the General Logistics Department. The Ministry of Defense was increasingly becoming a nominal institution. Facing such changes, Hua Xiongmao became more and more anxious. When he was anxious in his heart, he naturally became impetuous, and his gaffes in speech became more and more frequent.

However, the opinions of the Military Commission were easily unified. Everyone first asked Chen Ke how long the Russian Civil War in the north would roughly last. Chen Ke knew that historically, 1919 was a difficult stage for Comrade Lenin. At that time, he shouted to the Beiyang government at the time and began to fool the Beiyang government. But in this time and space, Chen Ke couldn't guarantee what would happen. The People's Party was too big a variable parameter. Speaking from a small point, historically, Russia also had an army composed of Chinese laborers in Russia, numbering tens of thousands. Due to the emergence of the People's Party, the phenomenon of Chinese people running to Russia to work on a large scale did not occur. Needless to say, this Chinese legion definitely could not appear in the battle sequence of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

Seeing Chen Ke hesitant, Hua Xiongmao simply asked: "Chairman Chen, when do you think we must reach the border line at the latest?"

Now Chen Ke had to answer: "At the latest, today next year."

"One year?" The comrades of the Military Commission looked at each other. Based on clear strategic expectations, the opinions of the attackers easily reached a consensus, "Strive to solve Duan Qirui in half a year, and control the border line in half a year. And push the border line north to the position we desire."

"The problem of the frontier does not lie in fighting, but in whether it can be stabilized." Chen Ke had already let go and let the comrades of the Military Commission do it; he only managed strategic planning. In actual combat command now, Chen Ke believed that he could at most rank in the top one hundred.

"That means we still have to build railways?" For the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, this couldn't even be considered an idea; it was just the most common common sense.

During the break in the middle of the meeting, Hua Xiongmao found Chen Ke, "Chairman Chen, I think Comrade Wu Xingchen can serve as the Minister of Defense now."

Chen Ke could understand Hua Xiongmao's thoughts. Among many high-ranking commanders, Hua Xiongmao's military achievements could be said to be the lowest. "Then what do you want to do?"

"Before I became the Minister of Defense, I was at most a division commander. I can still be a division commander," Hua Xiongmao replied.

"Zhenglan, you are cunning enough." Chen Ke couldn't help laughing loudly, "I think you can be a corps commander."

Seeing that Chen Ke agreed with his idea, Hua Xiongmao immediately replied excitedly: "Corps commander or division commander is actually fine, but let me fight battles. Otherwise, sitting with everyone, I feel ashamed."

"How about going to Inner Mongolia?" Chen Ke asked.

"No problem." Hearing that there was finally a battle to fight, Hua Xiongmao immediately expressed agreement cheerfully.

As a result, after the break ended, Hua Xiongmao put forward his idea. Which comrade in the Military Commission was not a smart person? They understood what was going on as soon as they heard it. Wu Xingchen didn't want to be this Minister of Defense either; such a position with a big name but little actual work was really not attractive. He suggested: "How about we let Comrade Pu Guanshui be this Minister of Defense?"

As the commander of the Northeast Military Region, how could Pu Guanshui be interested in being the Minister of Defense? He immediately declined modestly: "I think Comrade Wu Xingchen or Comrade Chai Qingguo are very suitable. I am really not suitable."

A group of people refused to be the Minister of Defense. At this time, everyone remembered the benefits of others and began to recommend each other vigorously. Really unable to recommend, after seven or eight comrades recommended Xiong Mingyang, Xiong Mingyang simply proposed a nonsense suggestion in desperation, "Let's draw lots."

Chen Ke was so angry that he almost went up to kick Xiong Mingyang. Even if the position of Minister of Defense was not valued, it was not the turn to decide this position by drawing lots. Was this a group of warlords choosing a spokesperson, or an organized revolutionary army choosing a cadre?

Finally, Chen Ke suddenly thought of a good candidate, "Let's let Comrade Yan Fu be the Minister of Defense, right?"

This suggestion was immediately approved by everyone in the Military Commission. Yan Fu was currently rectifying the navy in Fuzhou and did not attend this meeting. Moreover, if Yan Fu became the Minister of Defense, besides having sufficient qualifications and prestige, it could also reassure the navy that defected from Beiyang, and could have a considerable positive effect on inducing the Beiyang Army to surrender in the future.

Hua Xiongmao got his wish and became a corps commander, responsible for the march into Inner Mongolia along the Beijing-Suiyuan line. Mu Husan prepared for the march into eastern Outer Mongolia and the Nerchinsk line, and Chai Qingguo was responsible for marching into Shanxi from the east. Before the military strike, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army implemented the final persuasion to surrender to the Beiyang Duan Qirui forces.

To persuade Duan Qirui to surrender, the best candidate was Wang Shizhen. Duan Qirui might not be very loyal to Yuan Shikai, but he almost obeyed Wang Shizhen implicitly. At least when encountering trouble, he was still willing to listen to Wang Shizhen's advice. The Military Commission immediately telegraphed the comrades in Hebei to start persuading Wang Shizhen to help.

Li Runshi, the current acting Secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee, immediately paid a visit in person.

Beijing was also engaging in large-scale construction now, fully building residential communities. The southern part of Beijing, mainly inhabited by the poor, had become a big construction site at this time, while the residential areas of those rich people in the north had not been touched for the time being. Wang Shizhen's home was in this area.

Although there was no time to engage in community construction, the neighborhood committee and the owners' committee had started construction anyway. When Li Runshi saw Wang Shizhen, the old man was sweeping the street with a big broom. According to the suggestion of the neighborhood committee, every family had to provide labor to sweep the street. At this time, the living standard of the masses was not high, and it was obviously not time to organize property management companies. Seeing Wang Shizhen sweeping the floor, Li Runshi admired him quite a bit. Wang Shizhen didn't sweep very cleanly, but Wang Shizhen swept every place on the street.

Li Runshi didn't care so much either. He picked up an idle broom next to him and joined the ranks of labor. The two obviously had a very consistent attitude towards sweeping the floor. Sweeping the hutong from this end to that end, there was no dead corner, nor any place swept very differently. After sweeping the first time, the two tacitly swept some places that needed sweeping again.

Wang Shizhen put away the broom and said to Li Runshi: "May I ask who this is..."

Li Runshi hurriedly replied: "I am Li Runshi, the current Secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee."

"Oh." Wang Shizhen looked Li Runshi up and down before saying, "Please come inside to drink some water and rest."

After sitting down in the room, Li Runshi told Wang Shizhen his purpose directly. Wang Shizhen was not surprised either, "Chen Ke asked me, an old man, to persuade Duan Qirui to surrender. Is Chen Ke not afraid that Duan Qirui will resist stubbornly after knowing the news?"

Li Runshi explained: "If we persuade Duan Qirui to surrender directly, I'm afraid he will resist stubbornly. If Duke Wang is willing to come forward, those willing to fight will naturally still fight, but those who want to surrender will presumably surrender."

Wang Shizhen naturally knew the meaning in Li Runshi's words. He said politely: "I know your purpose. Let me think for three days. I will give you an answer in three days."

After Li Runshi left, Wang Shizhen closed the gate and sat under the eaves in the courtyard. He actually knew very clearly that if Duan Qirui did not surrender, he would definitely not have a good end. When Wang Shizhen advised Duan Qirui to withdraw to Shanxi, firstly he knew that Duan Qirui really had the heart to annex the world, and secondly, Wang Shizhen did not think the People's Party had such powerful strength.

However, as before, Wang Shizhen still misjudged the strategic direction of the People's Party. He originally thought that the People's Party would pursue Duan Qirui relentlessly, but unexpectedly, the People's Party let Duan Qirui go, turned to fight the Japanese in the Northeast, and drove Japan out of Northeast China.

Now, even if he still didn't like the People's Party, Wang Shizhen had to admit that the People's Party's magnanimity indeed had the appearance of an emperor. Similarly, Wang Shizhen also saw Chen Ke's consistent cunning and craftiness. Back then, after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at Guandu, he did not wave his troops to march into Hebei. Instead, he waited for internal strife within Yuan Shao's group. After Yuan Shao died and Hebei was in chaos, Cao Cao easily took Hebei. Chen Ke was undoubtedly the same.

The People's Party first defeated Japan, colluded with the United States, and joined the Entente Powers. While solving the biggest external trouble, Duan Qirui's forces in the northwest had fallen into great chaos.

After fleeing to Shanxi, Duan Qirui originally thought that the People's Party would pursue victory, so he could only vigorously expand the army and prepare for war. As a result, the People's Party happened to stand still, and Duan Qirui soon fell into a financial crisis. The warlords of the northwestern provinces not only did not unite but, on the contrary, internal contradictions intensified. Fortunately, Duan Qirui was considered tough-handed. He suddenly waved his army into Shaanxi and seized control of Shaanxi. With the land of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, Duan Qirui could stabilize his situation.

Wang Shizhen saw clearly that the war between the People's Party and the Beiyang northwestern provinces had already determined the winner before it was fought. In terms of military strength, equipment, training, and even control over local areas, the People's Party completely overwhelmed Duan Qirui. If the People's Party really persuaded surrender, it would be a good opportunity for Duan Qirui and those people in Beiyang.

But some things still made Wang Shizhen feel uneasy. The killing of Cai Yuanpei had already shocked the world. Duan Qirui also had a lot of blood of the common people on his hands. If the People's Party pursued responsibility like they did with Cai Yuanpei, Duan Qirui would certainly have no reason to survive. Wang Shizhen was very worried about whether the People's Party would pardon Duan Qirui's crimes.