According to the standard of fifteen road guards per kilometer, the South Manchurian Railway and branch lines plus the Anbong Railway, a total of 976 kilometers, that is, more than 14,600 people, these troops are divided into six brigades, which are stationed in Changtu, Tieling, Fengtian, Dashiqiao, Lianshanguan, Anshan and other places; In addition, most of the Second Division was stationed in Kwantung Prefecture, plus the Japanese troops in places such as Andong and Lushun, and the Japanese had about 31,000 troops stationed in South Manchuria, which was the strength of the Japanese army in South Manchuria. On the North Korean side, in addition to the two thousand gendarmes of six detachments, the rest is the South Korean garrison army, which has two divisions, the closest to the border is in Najin, which has about the strength of one division, and in Pyongyang, there is also the strength of one division. ”

In the war room of the General Staff, Pei Shoutong was introducing to Yang Rui the deployment of Japan's troops in the Northeast, this railway garrison brigade Yang Rui knew before, but he didn't know so much, but its name in later generations was very familiar, it was called the Kwantung Army. After listening to the introduction, he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but another situation introduced by Pei Shoutong made him a little uneasy, "According to the report of the Military Intelligence Bureau some time ago, Japan is now expanding its army on a large scale, and we estimate that according to this shape, within three years, the total strength of the Japanese Army will reach 1 million. [Note:]

"Is the message exact?" The news of Japan's military expansion was very sudden, which Yang Rui never knew.

"That's true." Liu Boyuan, who was attending the meeting on the side, said. "We have repeatedly confirmed that Japan is expanding its military on a large scale. But these expanded forces do not have official names. ”

After Liu Boyuan finished speaking, Pei Shoutong added: "Its purpose is estimated to be to deal with the Second Russo-Japanese War, once the war starts." More than a dozen Japanese divisions will land in the vicinity of the Amur region. At that time, South Manchuria will actively move north, and under siege from both sides, it should not be difficult for the Russian army to withdraw from the Far East in defeat. The difficult thing is how to deal with the millions of Russian troops from Europe who are at war. ”

"Do the Russians know about this news?" After hearing the news, Yang Rui thought about it for a while, and found that this had advantages and disadvantages for the Meihekou Railway, which was on the pass, and the main benefits were in Russia. It is economically beneficial to Russia, for example, the benefits of the South Manchurian Railway can be curbed, and at the same time militarily it is also beneficial to Russia. Once the war starts, the Russian army will have an additional passage to the south, after all, the section of the railway that is to be connected now is built on the side of the Russian sphere of influence.

"They don't know yet." Liu Boyuan said: "The Russians still haven't made any progress. In addition, they are white, so it is difficult to go deep into Japan to find out the news, and now we have relayed a lot of Japanese news to them. ”

"Then inform them right away." Yang Rui decisively said.

After Yang Rui finished speaking, Bei Shoutong, who was interrupted just now, continued the topic just now. "Now the Russian army has basically withdrawn from North Manchuria. However, in the same way, they also stationed some troops in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and other places in the name of railway guards, because their railway lines are longer, more than 1,500 kilometers, so there are more than 22,000 troops left. And in the area of Amur Vladivostok, because the navy is not superior, there are two Russian armies left. But according to our judgment, the Russian army does not want to provoke another war. Although the State Duma was convened in China, neither the economy nor public opinion supported another war against Japan. And Japan. Because they did not obtain large indemnities and land cessions, the anti-Russian sentiment of the army and the people was strict, which is also the reason why they were actively preparing for the Second Russo-Japanese War, but the Japanese economy was not optimistic, if they wanted to go to war again, they still had to be supported by Britain and other countries, otherwise they would not be able to withstand the pressure of war diplomatically and economically.

At present, our troops in the northeast are mainly divided into four parts: one is the mountain army of the headquarters, with more than 41,000 people, and the other is the patrol battalion under the name of Zhang Huanrong's patrol battalion and the Liaodong Lianzhuang Association, which has more than 4,000 people, most of whom are our people, and a small part are soldiers recruited later. Because of Zhang Rong's status as a Han banner, the Manchus had no suspicions about this army......"

"How's he doing now?" Zhang Rong's reliability is extremely important, once he changes, then the situation in the entire Northeast will be more difficult to understand.

"There is nothing that has changed at the moment, that is, his father was promoted to the provincial council, and depending on this meaning, it is still possible to finally enter the parliament." Liu Boyuan said. "We suspect that he still has some expectations for Guangxu to open the Congress, because he has a special identity and is not easy to carry out his ideological work."

"Is anyone staring at him?" Yang Rui asked again, Bei Shoutong and Xu Jingxi were very high-level in the war room, so Yang Rui asked questions here.

"Yes! Although there is no guarantee that it will be foolproof, we can still detect if his condition changes. Liu Boyuan said that important people are surrounded by people from the Military Intelligence Bureau, which is the established rule of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

"Good!" Yang Rui said, and said to Bei Shoutong: "You go on." ”

"The third part is the railway escort team of the Tonghua Railway Company of 2,000 people, which is the number approved by Zhao Erxun before, but now the new Fengtian general Zhirui wants to reduce the number to about 1,000 people, and the jurisdiction of these troops is on the patrol side; The fourth part is the peasants and soldiers of the agricultural reclamation company, which are very numerous, 185,000 people, but the overall quality is very poor, and they have only touched the guns after the start of the military factory last year, but the training in white-knuckle combat, physical training, civil engineering work, and bomb throwing training have been carried out. It's just that these people are trained during the slack time, and even if the accompanying troops are trained, they can only be regarded as reserve troops.

In terms of armaments, the output of explosives in military factories can still be increased, but it is more difficult to increase the number of bullets and guns because of the number of machines; even if the new workers who are now trained take up their posts and work day and night, the output of ammunition is estimated to be 2 million rounds per month, and the output of rifles is about 2,000. Another problem is that it has been almost a year since the start of the arsenal, because the production cost is about 800,000 yuan, which has exceeded the previous budget of 3 million, and the less than 500,000 yuan is subsidized by the railway company. If the arsenal increases production, then the money spent will be doubled, and will the railway companies be able to pay for these increases? Pei Shoutong did not know much about the financial situation, and began to worry about the increasing military spending. Is it financially endurable?

"This can be supported!" Yang Rui said. "The railway has been opened, and the proceeds from the sale of coal can be subsidized. But it can only maintain the existing troops, and it is impossible to expand the army. "Money never seems to be enough. Yang Rui scratched his head at this. At present, military spending and education expenses are two very large, and the military expenditure was budgeted at 3 million before, but now the budget of South Africa is 1.5 million, and the Kannai does not spend money now, but once the base area is built, although it can be 'borrowed in advance' from the gentry and levied on the people, it still needs to invest various resources. For example, the airship unit spent 10 million marks, or 2.5 million US dollars, and the maintenance cost was about 200,000 yuan a year. There are also military factories, which should cost about 2 million yuan a year if they are fully produced, and the budget for officer training and intelligence is 500,000 yuan, and finally there is a large one. It's the submarine side. The budget for these years was five million dollars, or twenty million marks, including two submarines of three million marks, and fourteen million marks for various expenses.

Together, the annual cost is 5.2 million dollars, and the total amount of airships and submarines is 30 million marks, which is 7.5 million dollars when converted into dollars. In addition to the fifteen million marks that Zhong Guan had worked hard to exchange for synthetic ammonia and radio, the remaining 15 million marks. That is, $3.75 million will be taken from today's U.S. financial crisis, excluding the China Coal & Iron Works & Mines Co., Ltd., which merged with Hanyang Iron Works. At present, Tianzihao, Tonghua Railway, and the earliest listed shortening add up to nearly $20 million in stocks, and more than $3 million can be made when the stock market plummets. However, even so, the military expenditure of 5.2 million yuan is 2.2 million more than before, and the continuous increase in R&D investment adds up to about 14 million yuan a year. However, because the Gengzi refund in the United States can send 400 international students every year, the cost of studying abroad can be reduced by about 1 million yuan, so the final total amount is still 13 million yuan.

Last year, the revival association because of the small number of overseas students, embezzled the balance of the Japanese and Russian debts, the account was flattened, but this year it is estimated that it will be a loss, Shanghai last year's profit of 7 million, up to 8 million, Hong Kong's business is growing very fast, 1 million is no problem, the silk chain stores in the United States are still losing money, shortening sold 6 million pounds in the United States last year, and Europe is only a small-scale test sale, only less than 2 million pounds, adding up to 150 yuan, these money just pasted to the silk shop, I just don't know how this year, The last thing that can be counted on is to sell coal in the Northeast, and if two million tons of coal can be sold, then the account will not only be flat but also profitable. But can the railway transport two million tons of coal, and what if the Japanese do something?

When Yang Rui was thinking about the general ledger of the Fuxing Society, Bei Shoutong and Xu Jingxi of the General Staff had already changed the map, and the rest was mainly about the defense of Tonghua in the event of a war.

"On the Chinese side of Tonghua's defense, it is mainly in Huairen, Xinbin, and Hailong, while on the Korean side, it is mainly in Chushan, Manpu, Cicheng, Zhongjiang and other places. Now the eighth and sixth towns of the new army are besieging the Yanzhou base area, and the third and fourth towns are chasing the headquarters of the Liaodong guerrillas, and the remaining new army is unlikely to be mobilized to Tonghua, and even if there is, it can only be the fifth town, so there is no need to worry. On the Japanese side, the local army in the northeast is mainly along the South Manchurian Railway, and the Antongmei Railway is a Russian track, once the war starts, all the wagons will be transferred back to Tonghua, and at the same time, the bridges and tunnels in Kuandian and other places will be destroyed, and the Japanese army will advance and logistics will be more difficult, and on the Korean side, although the transportation is inconvenient, the distance is too short, the distance from Cicheng to Tonghua is only 80 kilometers, and the distance from Ji'an to Tonghua is only 100 kilometers. Manpo and other places have stored military supplies in advance, and then sent large troops, that is, more than six divisions and regiments, to fight across the border, then we estimate that Tonghua is very likely to be occupied by the Japanese army. Xu Jingxi, the person who is now commentator, saw that he was very worried about the Japanese attack from Korea, and there were many marks on the map on the North Korean side.

Xu Jingxi's statement somehow made Yang Rui think of the war against Vietnam in later generations, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops reached Hanoi in a month, but the war against Vietnam mobilized five or six hundred thousand people, can the Japanese do such a thing? Thinking of this, Yang Rui had no choice but to look at Liu Boyuan, he shook his head when he saw this and said: "According to our reconnaissance, in Zhongjiang, Cicheng, and Manpu, except for Manpu, which can guarantee the supply of one division, it is difficult for the other two places to maintain a division and regiment to fight. If the Japanese hoarded supplies in advance. Then the people we set up on the North Korean side will also be very easy to find the problem. ”

Liu Boyuan stopped when he said this, he looked at Yang Rui, and after seeing Yang Rui nodding, he continued: "The infiltration of North Korea began in 04. In the past two years, the Military Intelligence Bureau has done a lot of work, and after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan forcibly signed the Okmi Treaty with Korea, making Korea a protectorate of Japan, and the whole country is sad. It is impossible to hide what Japan wants to do on the other side of the river. And now we have contacted many Korean rebels in it, and we are currently in the process of integration, if the Japanese army attacks Tonghua. Then they will do everything to disrupt the logistics of the Japanese army. ”

Liu Boyuan is not very detailed, in fact, the penetration of the revival will into North Korea is divided into three aspects, one is the bureaucratic system, because all the North Korean qiē are imitations of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, at that time, in order to imitate the holy decree of the previous Ming. The North Korean side sent people to contact them, but only a few pro-Chinese officials, and did not extend further to Gojong; The second is the volunteers from all over the country, these are actually the army of hundreds of people, dozens of people in a group, at the beginning of the value, but with the signing of the Treaty of Otomi, these army began to become hundreds of people. This is valuable for wooing, but most of the activities of the volunteers are in the central region of Korea. As long as a few are in Ping'an Road and Cijiang Road, although the number is small, it can be regarded as a force; The third is some of the enthusiastic scholars of the DPRK, although their number is small, but their agitation and revolutionary spirit are good, and they can still reap miraculous results by spending some printing costs.

"If six divisions of the Japanese army attack, then how can we defend against it?" Yang Rui asked, the North Koreans are at most just early warning and troublemaking, and they still have to rely on themselves to fight.

"It can only be a step-by-step defense, but the troops are completely insufficient, and the strategic depth is not enough. Unless fortifications can be built at key points along the border, with an increase of 80,000 troops and a reinforcement of artillery, it will not be able to resist. "The countermeasures given by Xu Jingxi are not unexpected, but these are not feasible except for the ability to increase artillery to the troops.

"You can go and see the fortifications first, but there is no ash, and large-scale construction will definitely attract attention from all walks of life. It is not impossible to increase the number of troops, but we still have to find ways to raise military funds, and at present we can only increase the training of the militia. Artillery can be increased, but only mortars, mainly six and eighty, of which six can be placed to the platoon, and the machine guns are now not produced much, but eventually to the company. The troops are not enough firepower, and if you still occupy Tonghua to the Japanese, then you will kill yourself. "There is not enough money in the budget, so Yang Rui can only increase his firepower. He didn't believe that he would not be able to hold Tonghua with the explosives that he basically didn't need money.

"Sir, if the border is not good for building fortifications, then the stronghold near Tonghua New Town can still be repaired." Pei Shoutong added, "Moreover, the transportation in these places is more convenient than Tonghua, and we can produce our own ash, so it will not cost too much to build." In addition, the consumption of mortar shells is extremely large, and if you can reserve a part of it in advance according to the distance and proximity of each place, it is also extremely beneficial for defense, and the same is true for barbed wire, and it is best to store it in advance on each key node of zài, in case of need after the start of the war. ”

Everyone knew the benefits of barbed wire during the Russo-Japanese War, but at that time the Russian army itself was not enough, only after the Mukden War when it was defended Siping, it was only issued when it was defended after the Mukden War, and after the war, the Tonghua Iron Works was completed and produced, and the General Staff focused on the study of the barbed wire, and determined several layout schemes, and found that the roof-shaped barbed wire was the best, with 75mm artillery, if it was aimed directly, it would take more than 100 rounds to open the gap, and if it was an intermittent sight, it would take nearly 300 rounds; And the 150mm artillery, not to mention whether it can be dragged from the North Korean side, is dragged over, and it takes one or two hundred rounds to be effective, consuming so many shells, I believe that after breaking through the barbed wire, the Japanese army's big run is basically set up.

"Okay, you draw up a plan, where are the fortifications to be built? What is the scale of construction? How to build to hide? How much does it cost? Let's write it all down and hand it in as a report. Another is that the military factory now produces mines, and you should also study this thing carefully to see how to use it. "Although this is another large amount of money, but be prepared, once Tonghua is ended, the loss will be even greater, and the money will still be spent.

In the morning, Yang Rui had already met the commanders of the troops, plus the current staff meeting, the military affairs of the troops were basically reported, in fact, the current state of the troops is good, but there is no war, and the soldiers are panicked, but fortunately, the training is hard. At the same time, the soldiers have become families, and the military spirit is extremely stable. In the purge some time ago, ordinary soldiers were basically not involved on the side of the troops. And it is only for the graduates of the last few phases of the military academy, but these people have been in the army for a long time, and the army has a political commissar, and they are basically unscathed. Only the agricultural reclamation, agricultural trade, and general chemical industry systems were affected somewhat, but considering the importance of Tonghua, the purge of the intensity of Xiangyanzhou did not take place, because once it was strictly rectified. Then there is the possibility of taking refuge in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, for the sake of Tonghua security, Fan An is still more cautious in handling it many times.

The matter of the General Staff is finished. Next is the matter of the Military Intelligence Bureau, this time I came to Tonghua, Liu Boyuan meant that there are some people Yang Rui still has to meet, one is the smoke bomb Han Dengju of the Fuxing Army. This place was originally an inherent territory outside the Korean border. Later, Han was recruited outside the border, and counties were set up everywhere to govern, although so, there were still many places that were not under the jurisdiction of the Qing court, and the Fuxing Army took advantage of this loophole to stay here. However, for Han Dengju, he was shocked at the time, but he saw that people did not compete with him for profit, and he was far away from his gold mine. Later, I will be relieved. However, this person Yang Rui has not seen, so it is better to see it.

Except for Han Dengju. The other is the visitors from North Korea, and now they are in the northeast.

As soon as Liu Boyuan said that since the North Koreans were in the Northeast, Yang Ruiqi said: "How did you bring it in, it won't leak the news, right?" ”

"Those who came in with their eyes tied, in fact, some of these people touched Hailong and ran a private school there, and they were discovered by our people, and they probably wanted to develop their influence among the Koreans in the northeast." Liu Boyuan said.

"What's it called? What organization? "North Korea's independence party at this time, Yang Rui only remembers Kim Jiu and An Chonggen, and he is curious if he will meet these two people.

"It's a guy named Li Huirong, he said he was a member of the Xinmin Association, and the leader of the club was a guy named An Changhao, there were about dozens of them, Li Huirong's family was well-off, and the money for running a private school was all the income from the sale of his property, I think this person is trustworthy, so I brought him in." Liu Boyuan said.

Hearing that he sold his family property to make a revolution, Yang Rui's impression of this person was better, at least he was motivated, as for whether he was smart or not, he had to look at it again. So he said, "Then let's see them in the evening and see what they are going to do." ”

Li Huirong is a middle-aged man in his forties, not at all the young and vigorous appearance that Yang Rui imagined, he was originally in contact with the people of the Fuxing Society to deal with arms, and was later targeted by the Military Intelligence Bureau, after a brief conversation, he decided to come to meet the leader of the Qing Revolutionary Party, in addition to further ensuring the source of ammunition, more importantly, he wanted to see how the Qing people did the revolution.

The first meeting between the two was in a room at the outpost of the headquarters, and because they didn't want to take him to the headquarters, Li Huirong had been here these days. He was actually very curious about an anti-Qing organization that sold weapons, because the rifles he purchased were basically Japanese-style 30-year-old military rifles, all of which were active equipment of the Japanese army, so he couldn't figure out how to sell such a good weapon.

"Mr. Li, this is our leader, Mr. Wen." When they met, Liu Boyuan introduced Yang Rui, but he said a pseudonym.

"Luck, luck!" Li Huirong is very fluent in Chinese, and he lowered his gaze after looking at Yang Rui for a few moments.

He said that he was lucky, and Yang Rui could only say that he had admired it for a long time, but he didn't want to be so polite, so Yang Rui said after looking up for a long time: "Your country has now become a protectorate of Japan, do you want to raise troops to overthrow the rule of the Japanese?" ”

Unexpectedly, Yang Rui asked about the soldiers as soon as he came up, and Li Huirong didn't know how to answer for a while. As a matter of fact, there is another thing being prepared in the DPRK at present, that is, to attend the Second Universal Peace Conference to be held in The Hague. When he went to the Northeast to run a private school last year, he still wanted to develop his power and hold an armed uprising, but with such an opportunity, his heart for an armed uprising stopped.

"We are now trying to get support from abroad to help North Korea gain the possibility of independence. If you don't get help, then you can only mobilize volunteers to drive out the Japanese. Li Huirong replied after half a sound, but his words were more vague.

Yang Rui didn't think that the Goryeo stick was still prepared with both hands, but he thought about it, Korea was different from China, they had just been swallowed by Japan, and they had not yet swallowed it completely, so they had the idea of attracting foreign powers to seek independence, and China had been ruled by the Manchus for more than 200 years, and there was no other way but revolution. They are pitiful to themselves, and perhaps they are pitiful to themselves. Thinking of this, Yang Rui wanted to laugh, but he felt that it was not good to laugh, so he had to hold back his laughter and said: "I remember that after the Russo-Japanese War, your country wanted to ask the United States for help to gain independent status, but Roosevelt abandoned you. Now you still want to find justice from the abbot of the foreigners, don't you know that the Second Anglo-Japanese Treaty has already been signed, and the British have signed an entente with the French, and the Russia you expect is now in a mess in its own country, and it is impossible to support you. Under such an international situation, the only way to want Korean independence is to rely on the guns in your own hands. ”

Li Huirong was a little sweaty by what Yang Rui said, in fact, he also knew that it might not be useful to ask for help from the great powers, but the opportunity was in front of him, so he had to take a risk. In this case, he could not say anything but nod. After Yang Rui finished speaking, seeing that everyone did not agree with each other, he ended the meeting after a few words, and he felt that he still had to rely on those integrated volunteers as his help on the North Korean side. (To be continued......)

PS: Note: Outline of the History of Japan-Russia Diplomacy, p995