On February 10, 1905, the Independent Army finally received the official order of the group army, that is, the whole army was ordered to assemble at Sifangtai, 50 kilometers west of Fengtian. Although it was cold, if the first division came to walk more than 50 kilometers, it would be a day to grit your teeth, but with Zhang Zongchang's second division, the march dragged on, which made the whole army extremely slow, and it took a day to reach Shaling Fort, that is, only less than 20 kilometers, that is, Zhang Zongchang and his group were still tired enough, and when they set up camp, the first division had already settled down, hundreds of tents were neatly arranged in the snow, the camp was silent, and only sentries could be seen patrolling everywhere.

People have to die more than others, and goods have to be thrown away, even no matter how optimistic people are, they all shake their heads at the second division, which is a big burden. Zhang Zongchang is also an acquaintance, and he came to accompany him that day, and kept saying that he was illiterate and uneducated, so he dragged down the army. Yang Rui slowly understood his temper, he was a gangster, and he was righteous, that is, he did not take heavy responsibility for him, but sent an officer corps to the second division according to his request, bypassing Russia. Officers help the troops train and set up camps. In order to better train them, the remaining thirty kilometers of the journey, Yang Rui miraculously walked for three days on this road, and the time spent was also rewarded, at least the second division of the second division began to look a little like the routine of marching and camping. The 50-kilometer journey took four days, but fortunately the day after receiving the military order, the road was long, but it was within the regulations. Marching is actually one of the best ways to train troops, and if it weren't for the military order, he would still want to go on.

On the evening of February 16, the pre-war conference began. The commanders and chiefs of staff of the Eighth Army, the Tenth Army, and the Independence Army were all present at the headquarters of the Second Army, and Lieutenant General Missichenko of the Cavalry Corps was also going to participate, but he had already been ordered to lead his troops to harass the rear of the Japanese army in order to prevent Nogi's Third Army from moving north, so there was no regular meeting. Yang Rui was not in the scope of the meeting's notice, but considering that the intelligence against Japan basically came from the cavalry battalion of the Independent Army, and this army was going to launch a second wave of attacks, and if the army was not coordinated before the war, he could only command by phone once the war started, so he was also notified. It was surprising that there was a yellow man in his twenties among the participants in his forties and fifties. The generals swept their eyes over from time to time, some of them were puzzled, some were disdainful, and some were more uneasy.

Yang Rui was unmoved by these gazes, for a traverser, the Russian army was too old, and the generals here were extremely old-fashioned. They fought for three days, the first day digging trenches. The next day was artillery shelling. The third day was a dense charge; If it can't be hit, then shell again, and then rush again. Yang Rui estimated that under the same firepower, one division of the mature Renaissance Army would eat two Russian divisions, and two divisions would eat five Russian divisions. The premise, of course, is a full-fledged Renaissance Army. Mature, mature, it's really hard to endure when this is raised.

General Billygellinger was an old soldier with a long beard, a Cossack wildness in his eyes, and a short and powerful speech. The action is strong, and every sentence is projected like a dagger. The content of this meeting is different from what Leo said last time - that is, after the various divisions occupied Shendanbao, Heigoutai, and Sanjianbao, the Russian army and the cavalry army went east together to occupy the junction of the reserve tun and Dadongshan fort, and then attacked the Shili River; At the same time as the troops attacked the Shili River, the Third Army would begin to launch a frontal attack, capturing Fort Linsheng and Fort Hongling, and finally advancing to the high ground in the background.

Yang Rui knew the map of Shenyang's right flank well during this time, and only felt that such a plan seemed to be coordinated with the Third Army, but the premise of the Third Army was that the Second Army was attacking Shilihe, which was already the core position of the Japanese Second Army, and the Japanese Second Army was not the 8,000 people of the Akiyama detachment, but 50,000 people, and the attack on Shilihe must occupy Dadongshan Fort, which was the left flank of the Japanese Second Army, with at least one division in strength, and the Japanese army of one division was waiting for work. How can the Russian army win the battle for a long time, it seems that Billy Gerlinger was fooled by Kuropagent in the name of corps cooperation, if according to the previous opportunity, directly let Missichko's cavalry army mess behind enemy lines, the results will be better than now.

After introducing the battle plan, the chief of operations announced that in order to support the attack, the headquarters had specially sent four additional siege artillery companies over. The distribution of the four companies was also announced: the Tenth Army, which was responsible for suppressing the Japanese at the top of the arc, was assigned one company, and the remaining three companies were all given to the Eighth Army. Thinking that although these siege artillery companies also use howitzers, their power is limited, but after all, they are 150mm guns, Yang Rui immediately whispered a few words in Madlidov's ear, and then the colonel said to the commander: "Your Excellency General, after the Eighth Army occupies Heigoutai, is it possible to mobilize a company of siege artillery for the independent army to use......" Seeing the ridiculed eyes of everyone, Madlidov immediately said, "We only need one day, and then the artillery company will be returned immediately." ”

Before Madlidov's words fell, Major General Rusanov, commander of the 14th Division of the Eighth Army, laughed and said, "Andri, these yellow-skinned monkeys have walked for four or five days in 50 kilometers, can they go to the three-pointed bubble in one day, I think the siege artillery company will give you ten days, otherwise you will return the artillery company to me before the artillery is fired." And they all burst out laughing.

The attack plan for the three-pointed bubble has long been prepared, and there was no idea of hitting a 150mm gun, but now Yang Rui is happy to see the hunt, and wants to get a few 150mm guns to open the eyes of the students, so he asked Madlidov to come forward and ask for it, who knows that this guy is too soft, as long as he doesn't say it for a day, he will be laughed at by others. Seeing a bearded man talking and laughing, Yang Rui couldn't understand Russian and only heard the word "monkey" in the words, and after the translator translated his words, he gritted his teeth, Yang Rui stood up and said to Rusanov lightly: "If Your Excellency thinks that the Independence Army has no combat effectiveness, then we can make a bet that whoever loses will admit that he is a monkey." ”

The translator was stunned for a long time before translating the words under Yang Rui's staring gaze. Hearing a yellow man speak wildly, the eyes of a room swept over, including General Billy Gellinger, Yang Rui continued to say lightly, "According to the plan, the Eighth Army will not attack until the Eighth Army occupies Heigoutai. Then I'll bet on the time to occupy Shendan Fort and occupy the three-tip bubble, whoever is slow is a monkey. "Yang Rui is obviously in the pit, the farming detachment stationed in Sanjian Pao was originally responsible for the defense of the Heigoutai area, but the Fengbian detachment on the side of Shendanbao, and this team also has a few artillery. In other words, the Independence Army faced a half-crippled detachment, and the Eighth Army had to face a new detachment after a hard battle.

Rusanov seemed to feel that something was wrong, but before he could sort it out, he was caught in Yang Rui's fluttering words again, "If Your Excellency doesn't dare, then let's bet on the time to occupy Heigoutai and the time to occupy the three-pointed bubble." Whoever is slow is a monkey. ”

Once again, he was invited to gamble by a yellow-skinned monkey, and he questioned him for being timid, and this time the condition was that he had the advantage - the first attacker had suddenness and the second attacker did not. Rusanov shouted: "Okay, let's bet, whoever loses is a monkey." ”

See this guy on the set. Ignoring everyone's strange gazes, Yang Rui sat down happily. Madelidov next to him asked. "King, why read it with him, if you lose......"

Yang Rui smiled, "It's okay if you lose, don't you all already think that we are monkeys, losing is the same as not losing; If you win, you've earned. ”

The colonel couldn't understand Yang Rui's logic. "You're such a strange Qingguo."

Although the gamble between the two major generals at the meeting was very rude, the matter developed too quickly, and the dispute over a few words ended. After that, General Billy Gellinger began to have a bad impression of Yang Rui, although he was now short of troops. He was in great need of the assistance of the Independence Army, but he still thought that the yellow race was inherently inferior to the white race, and this was God's will, and now there was an inferior person who wanted to pull the white man into the water, which was too uneducated.

Yang Rui, who returned to the barracks, didn't take the previous bet seriously, and even asked Madlidov not to tell his subordinates about this matter, he didn't want his soldiers to die in vain because of a meaningless bet. He summoned all the officers above the battalion and regimental level overnight, and then conveyed the content of the meeting, and was a little disappointed when he heard that the 150mm cannon was not coming, Yang Rui persuaded: "Play with what you have in your hand first, and then there will be any cannon in the future." Then he asked, "How is the coordination of the rifle artillery?" ”

Before the revival army was mainly mortars and flying thunder guns, these two types of artillery had a short range, and under normal circumstances, they could achieve a hundred meters of coordination without telephone or radio communication, but the range of mortars was too close, and the coordination value was limited.

Seeing that the commander asked this question again, Cheng Zhiyan was a little nervous, artillery indirect shooting is already the latest technology, and infantry artillery coordination is completely heavenly, although this tactic was used by Feng in the Austro-Prussian War. The De Tenn Tron Zào came out, but the real large-scale popularization of this technology was at the end of World War I, when the German Storm Commandos carried forward this tactic under the cover fire of machine guns. At present, although the entire artillery team is the essence of the artillery of the whole army, these people have not let go of a few artillery pieces on average. You must know that the captured Russian artillery shells themselves are not very large.

"Sir," Cheng Zhi called out to Mr. Yang Rui for mercy, "I'm not sure yet." There were too few actual battles in the artillery regiment, and too few guns were fired. ”

In addition to the infantry's courage to rush and be able to charge, the key to infantry and artillery coordination is to see how well the artillery has mastered the extended firing technology; in this era when there is no detection radar and the accuracy of artillery is not good, the only way to play this technology well is to rely on the experience of the artillerymen. Hey, the more advanced the tactics, the more advanced the talent to support, but the more advanced the talent, the more difficult it is to cultivate. It seems that this time I want to play the coordination of infantry and artillery or not, do I have to admit that I am a monkey? Yang Rui thought so.

It seemed that seeing Yang Rui's loss, Cheng Zhiyan said, "Sir, if you follow the old method, this step can still be achieved." ”

"You mean with mortars? However, the range of the mortar is too close, and if it is far away, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Although it was snowy now, the Japanese outposts were very prominent, and it was not known whether they had artillery or not, and if they were within a thousand meters of their position, the artillery would be very dangerous. Yang Rui also thought about using mortars.

"I don't have to surprise you. As soon as Heigoutai was occupied, then the Japanese army was alarmed. What we want is for the infantry to touch about 200 meters of the front line, and the artillery to advance to about 500 to 800 meters, then it will be completely possible to achieve coordination. As for the Japanese artillery. Mortars have a fast rate of fire, and ten minutes of shelling is long enough. As for the flying thunder artillery, then it was left to the infantry themselves. Cheng Zhiyu had already calculated this, and he was also forced by Yang Rui to suffer, so he had to rack his brains to find a way.

It seems that this is the only way, Yang Rui is sure in his heart, and said: "Okay, you go to drink Bei Shoutong according to this tactical arrangement, and see if there is anything to cooperate with the infantry, I hope the other party has no artillery." ”

February 20th. The exact time and plan for the attack were down, and with the order came Leo, who said goodbye to General Billy Gellinger and came to Yang Rui's side again. He carefully read the plan drawn up by the staff and did not find any forks. put the plan aside and said: "I heard that something happened to you and Lieutenant General Rusanov of the 14th Division of the Russian Army?" ”

"Lieutenant General? Isn't it a major general? Yang Rui said. He said yellow-skinned monkey in front of me. And it's very unfriendly. So I just made a bet with him. ”

"He is a lieutenant general, and he was promoted in December last year, but the military uniform or something has not yet come down. Your Excellency said you are very ...... He now regrets having included you in the Second Army. Leo said.

"Huh. It's too late to say that now. The offensive was about to begin, and if this offensive did not bear fruit, Kuropatkin would definitely have complained to the Tsar. As a friend, is that how much you care about me? No good news for me? Yang Rui said.

"Good news. Absolutely. Leo said, "Last time Carl, it was Feng. Lieutenant Colonel Deftaaf had seen our wireless telegraphy, and he reported it back to the country. Now the country has sent personnel to the Far East. They want to fully evaluate the value of the technology, and if it's appropriate, they're willing to shell out for it. ”

Someone finally took the bait, thinking that the traversers were selling technology and selling a full stomach of oil and water, but they didn't have anything to fish, and finally got a wireless broadcast, and they only got a stack of stocks before they had any money. Of course, in fact, Yang Rui thinks the price is low, and if he lets go, there are still hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. But this price is too cheap, so Yang Rui chose to hold it.

"When will they arrive?" Yang Rui asked, "Are you Germans generous?" Will it be tens of millions of marks to buy technology, to buy drawings or something? ”

"Tens of millions, tens of millions?" Leo was dumbfounded, "It's a joke. The German Army has always been poor. His Majesty the Kaiser still likes the navy a lot, and he has always been stingy with the army, and I don't think you can afford your wireless telegraphy. You should go and ask them to give you the latest Mauser rifle blueprints, or the latest IS rifle cartridges. (Chapter 44 is wrong, IP should be IS)

"What is an IS rifle cartridge, Leo?" Yang Rui asked.

"Karl told me that because the army used round-nosed bullets before, which had low muzzle velocity, short range, and curved trajectory, in order to improve the situation, starting this year, the German army will be equipped with pointed-nosed bullets." "We got the news too late, because we had ordered a round-nosed bullet production line in Germany. ”

There is also this problem, indeed, Leo said that Yang Rui only discovered that the current bullet warheads are round, and all the later generations see are pointed, he also noticed this problem at the beginning, but he doesn't know when the round head bullet became a pointed bullet. "Can we change that now? Or simply switch to pointed-nosed bullets of the same caliber? Yang Rui asked, wanting to make amends.

"No, the chamber pressure of the two bullets is not the same. And the scale of the rifle is also different. If you want to use it, the whole rifle must be changed, especially the ruler and chamber pressure must be solved in a way. Leo said.

I didn't expect things to be so troublesome, it seems that I was fooled, no wonder the Germans sold it cheaply. However, the bullet and the gun are matched, and the round-headed bullet is not a mistake, the key is that the equipment set by Germany is to produce round-headed bullets, so I don't know if it can be changed. Since there is no way to solve the trouble for another time, it can only be put aside. Yang Rui put aside the bullet issue and turned the topic to the war, "You have read all the plans formulated by the General Staff, are there any problems with such an arrangement?" ”

"About our plan is perfect, there is nothing to correct, Bey is excellent, a very good staff officer. However, it is difficult for me to understand the plan of the second division, are you going to send them to the battlefield? Leo asked.

"Yes. They also need to be tempered by the war, and I hope that after this war is over, the second division can be incorporated into the organization. For them, there is no warm-up match, only the final. Yang Rui said his true thoughts, and he didn't hide a lot of things from Leo.

"It's still cruel for a farmer who has only been trained for 10 days." Leo is different from Yang Rui, and there is less emotional color when considering the problem, while Yang Rui is not, and he has feelings for the students, so even if he has trained, he doesn't want to be sent to the battlefield, and for people who have no feelings, such as the Second Division, this is not the case.

"Actually, it wasn't us who sent them to battle, but Kuropatkin." Yang Rui defended, "Leo, this time it's just our attack, but if the attack fails—it's doomed to fail, then when the Third Army goes north, then the Japanese will attack." If the Second Division had been the way it is now, the result would have ......" (to be continued......