October 22, 1915, Beijing, Generalissimo of the Army and Navy of the Republic of China.

"The Japanese army in Shandong has been completely wiped out." Duan Qirui, Minister of the Army, pointed to the map and said to Yuan Shikai, "After the news of Qingdao's liberation came, the morale of the northern army and the people was greatly boosted, and the Dian army, the Feng army and the Chaharrehe army counterattacked together, and now the Japanese army has been expelled from Chengde. ”

"Sure enough, it's the end of the strong crossbow, and it can't be worn by Lu Min." Yuan Shikai's face showed satisfaction, and after he heard Duan Qirui's report, he thought about it and asked again, "Can you take this opportunity to recover Fengtian in one fell swoop?" ”

Today's Yuan Shikai's fat face is full of red, and the sorrows and doubts of the past few days are now gone.

The frequent good news on the Shandong battlefield made Yuan Shikai regain his former self-confidence.

"If there is enough food and ammunition, there should be no problem." Duan Qirui replied affirmatively.

"Even if you borrow money, you have to win this battle." Yuan Shikai understood what Duan Qirui was worried about, and said to the military and political dignitaries in the room, "Yesterday I also had a secret conversation with Zhu Envoy (that is, the British Minister Zhu Erdian), and I told him bluntly, I am just smashing the pot and selling iron, and I will take all the kù heads out, and I will win this battle, guess what he said?" ”

"It should be said that Britain and Japan are allies, and they lend us some unjustifiable excuses to fight Japan, right?" Liang Shiyi replied.

"Either that the British government is willing to intervene in the conflict between our country and Japan, on the condition that it wants our country to join the Entente camp to fight against Germany and send its army to Europe to fight the war." Duan Qirui replied.

Yuan Shikai nodded and shook his head again.

"Zhiquan is only half right," Yuan Shikai smiled slightly, and said, "The British actually relented this time, and Zhu Envoy vaguely expressed the meaning that he agreed to secretly lend us money to fight the Japanese, on the condition that Zhiquan just said, we join the Entente and send the navy and army to fight against Germany." ”

Hearing Yuan Shikai say this, the surrounding military and political dignitaries all showed surprise on their faces.

After Japan launched a war of aggression against China, Yuan Shikai repeatedly begged the British minister Zhu Erdian to urge the British government to come forward to stop the Japanese aggression, and Zhu Erdian also tried his best to explain the situation in China to the British government, but the British government was indifferent and resigned itself to Japan's aggression against China. Yuan Shikai and some Chinese officials, who had great hopes for Britain, were very disappointed by Britain's political attitude, and Britain's unbridled behavior of allowing Japan to invade China also caused resistance and hostility among the Chinese people to Britain.

But now, as the tide of war gradually turns in favor of China, Britain's attitude has suddenly taken a 180-degree turn. For Yuan Shikai and most Chinese officials, though, the change in British politics has not yet made them comfortable with it.

"It looks like the alliance between Britain and Japan is coming to an end." Duan Qirui sneered and said.

"The British may now see the true face of the Japanese," Lu Zhengxiang said, "Japan, an ally, patronized and picked up cheap, not only did not contribute at all in the war, but also always stabbed in the back." What is the use of such an ally? ”

Lu Zhengxiang's words were not echoing Yuan Shikai, in fact, Britain and its allies were already tired of Japan, an ally who was not interested in the war in Europe at all and was always playing tricks behind his back.

The original purpose of the Anglo-Japanese alliance was to allow Japan to contain Russia in Asia, but with the establishment of the Anglo-French-Russian Entente bloc, the significance of the Anglo-Japanese alliance has become less significant. After the outbreak of World War I, in the face of the threat of the German navy, Britain urgently needed the help of Japan, which had a strong navy, to take care of its backyard, but the behavior of the Japanese disappointed the British. Due to the sluggishness of the Japanese, the main force of the German East Asian Fleet in Qingdao easily rushed into the Pacific Ocean, inflicting huge losses on the British rear.

After Japan joined the Entente bloc and declared war on Germany, Japan took the lead in attacking Qingdao, and after the Japanese army landed on the Jiaodong Peninsula, it was not in a hurry to attack Qingdao, but was busy dividing its troops to seize the cities along the Jiaoji Railway and putting Shandong in its beak. In addition, after the start of the war, Japan sent the battleships "Katori", "Kashima", and "Satsuma" and the battlecruiser "Kurama" to form the "Special Southern Detachment" and the "Second Southern Detachment" to go south to the Pacific Ocean to seize the former German islands, and by October 19, 1914, Japan had occupied all the German Pacific islands north of the equator, including the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and the Marshall Islands. And ironically, as early as September 12, 1914, Australia had already declared its occupation of the islands,

In addition to these islands, Japan also seized the Palau archipelago and Yap, the undersea telegraph center in the Pacific. What made the British even more annoyed was that every time the Japanese army occupied an island, they erected the Japanese flag and established a military administration in that area, as if they regarded these places as Japanese territory. For example, on October 14, 1914, when the Japanese Navy's battleship "Katori" occupied Saipan Island, the largest of the Mariana Islands (the Japanese called it "Saifan Island"), the Japanese even "enshrined" the "main god of Keitsu" in the shrine of the ship "Katori" on the island, and built the "Katori Shrine" near the lighthouse originally built by the Germans

The behavior of the Japanese made the British very unhappy, but at this time, the European battlefield was in a state of gelatinization, and the British also wanted to borrow Japan as an ally, so they could not tolerate the behavior of the Japanese. After the Japanese army captured Qingdao, Japan immediately proposed to China the "21 Articles" in a vain attempt to annihilate China; after being rejected by the Chinese government, Japan brazenly launched a war of aggression against China in spite of Britain's difficult war in Europe.

The Japanese behavior became increasingly unbearable for the British, and at the outset of the war they warned Japan against military action in their sphere of influence in China and adjacent areas, and soon the United States, Russia, and France issued the same warning to Japan. The Japanese government did not dare to ignore the warnings of the Western powers, so they confined the battlefield to Mukden and Shandong, and the plan to land and fight in Tianjin was abandoned because of the scruples of the foreign powers' interference.

With the continuous expansion of the scale of the war and the escalation of the intensity of the war, Japan invested more and more naval and army forces in the Chinese battlefield, and became less and less enthusiastic about the war in Europe, the Japanese Navy reduced the anti-submarine combat forces participating in the escort, and the Japanese Army also postponed the plan to send troops to Europe indefinitely. In this context, it is understandable that there has been a radical change in the UK's attitude towards China.

"It's not just about seeing through the true face of the Japanese." Admiral Liu Guanxiong said, "This time, we have choked the Japanese enough, showing the great powers the military strength and popular sentiment of our China, which is also an important reason for Britain's change of attitude." ”

"Yes, this time, the officers and men of the Navy and the army and the patriotic people went forward one after another and bravely resisted the enemy, which is really singable and crying." Yuan Shikai sighed, "From now on, the Taixi countries should not dare to covet my China anymore." ”

"In this battle against the Japanese invaders, the sacrifice of the front-line soldiers and civilians is very sad." Lu Zhengxiang reminded Yuan Shikai, "At present, although our navy and army have won many victories, the overall situation is still that the enemy is strong and we are weak. Now that Britain and Japan are at odds, Japan might as well take this opportunity to ask Britain and the United States to mediate and force Japan to cease war with other countries. ”

"Yes." Yuan Shikai nodded and agreed with Lu Zhengxiang's opinion, "Although our army has won many victories, the military and civilian power have been greatly consumed, and the country has not recovered at present. ”

"If peace talks are resumed, it is imperative to recover all the land and rights that Japan had previously usurped." Duan Qirui looked at Yuan Shikai and said.

"Shandong has now recovered, and what is missing is Fengtian." Yuan Shikai understood what Duan Qirui meant, and said, "If it is difficult to recover with troops, only Xu Yingmei will use his privileges to urge him to exert pressure on Japan." ”

"The three eastern provinces are located between Russia and Japan, and if we want to restore our territorial sovereignty, we will have to work harder," Lu Zhengxiang sighed.

At this moment, an official from the political hall hurriedly walked in and gave a report to Yuan Shikai, who noticed that the official seemed to have a happy face, and couldn't help but feel a little strange.

"What's going on again?" Yuan Shikai asked.

"There is a large-scale plague in Japan," the official said with some emotion.

Listening to the official's report, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but be taken aback, he took the report with a somewhat trembling hand, and couldn't wait to read it.

"God bless me China" Duan Qirui heard the news and couldn't help but nod and sigh.

He knew that now there should be no need for the intervention of Britain and the United States, and China could regain the lost land.

In October 1915, a large-scale outbreak of plague began in Japan, first in coastal areas, and in November it spread to major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe, and then spread like a river bursting its banks, not only across the island of Honshu, but also in Korea and Hokkaido. In many areas, one person falls ill and the entire family dies soon after. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the Japanese government sent a large number of soldiers and police to estimate the burning of houses and corpses in the hard-hit areas, but the plague also quickly spread to the personnel on the mission, and many people contracted the disease and died. For a time, all parts of Japan, from cities to villages, were shrouded in the shadow of death. ,

After the emergence of the plague, the Japanese government immediately ordered all localities to prevent the spread of the epidemic, promulgated various epidemic prevention regulations, and adopted various measures such as isolating the epidemic area, establishing a large number of isolation areas, organizing manpower to incinerate the bodies of patients, and strictly disinfecting the epidemic areas, but due to the rapid spread of the epidemic, the Japanese government was unprepared in advance, resulting in a large number of deaths, and many people fled Japan by boat to avoid the plague, which inevitably spread the epidemic to North Korea and Hawaii, where a large number of Japanese immigrants lived.

Due to the ferocity of the plague, after it spread to North Korea, the Japanese army based in North Korea was also infected, many soldiers were infected, and the Japanese army was seriously attritional.

On December 7, 1915, all the Japanese troops retreated into Korea, and the squadron recovered the entire territory of Mukden and confronted the Japanese army across the Yalu River.

On December 9, 1915, under the joint mediation of the British and American governments, China and Japan declared a ceasefire on the same day.

On December 27, 1915, when the plague epidemic was discovered in Mukden, Dr. Wu Liande, secretary of the Chinese Medical Association, led a medical team to inspect and investigate, and was awarded full authority to command and coordinate epidemic prevention by the Beijing government to extinguish the plague. Chinese provinces have organized medical personnel to travel to Mukden.

On February 7, 1916, thanks to the efforts of the United States, the epidemic in Hawaii was extinguished, and according to incomplete statistics from the United States government, about 30,000 people died of the disease in Hawaii.

On March 12, 1916, the Chinese government announced that the epidemic in Mukden had been completely extinguished, and it was determined that 2,543 people had died from the disease.

On May 2, 1916, the Japanese government announced the elimination of the plague in its territory, and the death toll was officially announced at 133476. According to some foreign experts involved in the epidemic prevention work in Japan, Japanese officials deliberately concealed the death toll for political purposes, and foreign experts conservatively estimated the death toll at more than 500,000.

Shandong, Qingdao, Máo Qishan Fort.

"Why did you get here?" Yang Shuoming looked at his brother-in-law Huang Shengyun, who was dressed in military uniform, and patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "You were actually promoted?" ”

"After the battle, I took a leave of absence, and came over to see my brother-in-law." Huang Shengyun, who had already become a lieutenant in the army, smiled embarrassedly, and his eyes immediately fell on the distant fort.

"You want to see the sunken Japanese warship, right?" Yang Shuoming guessed his mind and said with a smile.

"This cannon is really exciting," Huang Shengyun looked at a new 180mm heavy howitzer, and his eyes lit up little by little, "I have never seen such a big cannon on General Cai Songpo's side." ”

"By the way, tell me about your situation." Yang Shuoming pulled Xiǎo's brother-in-law and sat down next to the cannon, "I heard that you guys have fought a lot of tough battles there, right?" ”

"I don't think it's a tough fight." Huang Shengyun shook his head and said, "Actually, we always lost the battle at the beginning, retreated in stride, lost a lot of places, and the people pointed at our backbone and scolded us at the beginning. ”

"Oh? No way? General Cai Songpo is a famous general, who studied in Japan and is known as the "Three Heroes of Chinese Non-commissioned Officers", so he should be very familiar with the tactics of the Japanese. Yang Shuoming couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard Huang Shengyun's words, "It shouldn't be like this, right?" ”

"But that's how we got it. However, I actually admire General Cai Songpo very much. Huang Shengyun smiled bitterly and said, "Because everyone is very frustrated because they always lose, General Cai found out and personally sent troops to cheer everyone up, and some officers were deflated and asked him directly: 'Repeated defeats, what are we going to fight?'" General Cai replied: "Our military strength is not as good as that of the Japanese Invaders, this is a fact, we have never fought such a battle before, and it is reasonable to suffer some losses." We are compared with the Japanese Bandits, the advantage is that we have more people, and the other is that our Chinese territory is vast, although we are now repeatedly defeated, but the Japanese Kou have also suffered great losses, their strength is weakening little by little, and the battle line is getting longer and longer, and we have been defeated and fought repeatedly, the more we fight, and we are close to the rear, the supply is easy, and there is the support of the people, the strength will only get stronger and stronger, and when the Japanese can not bear the strength, it is when we will completely defeat them. ”

"He's right." Yang Shuoming nodded, a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes, "He is worthy of being a good general, who knows how to use his own strengths and the weaknesses of his enemies." ”

From Huang Shengyun's words, Yang Shuoming has already understood that what Cai Ye adopted should be similar to Kutuzov's strategy and tactics against Napoleon.

"Yes," Huang Shengyun said, "General Cai also said: 'Taking a step back is the homeland, if we don't go to war, it will be tantamount to sending our wives and children, parents and villagers to the enemy to ravage, even if it is for them, no matter how bitter it is, We also have to fight the war' listened to the general's words, everyone's fighting spirit rose again, re-energized and fought with the Japanese invaders, when the Japanese invaders hit Chengde, finally couldn't stand it, General Cai seized the opportunity, combined with General Zhang Shaozeng and General Zhang Zuolin's troops, plus General Xu Shuzheng's reinforcements, all at once ate the front army of the Japanese Invaders, the Japanese Kou was defeated at this time, and then began to retreat, we chased all the way over, and the lost places were all recovered, and later heard that there was a plague in Fengtian City, General Cai was afraid that the troops would be infected, and ordered to stop advancing and get out of contact with the Japanese Invaders……”

"Do you mean that an epidemic was already found in the Japanese army at that time?" Yang Shuoming suddenly interrupted Huang Shengyun's narration and asked.

"yes. On the way to the pursuit, we saw a lot of dead corpses of Japanese soldiers, many of them were covered with black spots, at that time the military medical officer said that it was the plague, and suggested that the pursuit should be stopped immediately, all the corpses should be burned, and strictly disinfected, General Cai followed the advice of the medical officer, and ordered to rest on the spot. Huang Shengyun said, "Together with the common people, we burned the corpses of the Japanese for three days and three nights." ”

"Understood." Yang Shuoming nodded silently and motioned for Huang Shengyun to continue.

"Despite the strict precautions taken by the troops, hundreds of brothers contracted the plague and died, and those who were less ill were left in temporary quarantine areas established in the area to receive intensive treatment." Huang Shengyun said, "Later, when we heard that the Japanese had retreated to the territory of Korea, we continued to advance, and we regained the lost territory without bloodshed. ”