Although the military factory can produce a large number of howitzers, the artillery of the Fuxing Army, from Lieutenant General Cheng Zhizhen to the commander of the artillery company at the bottom, has no good impression of howitzers, especially after studying the effects of the artillery bombardment of the Russo-Japanese War, everyone disdains the howitzers, it can neither break through trenches, nor can it blow up barbed wire, the only thing that can be done is to explode in the air and shoot shotguns, killing and injuring skirmishers without cover, and this also requires accurate timing of the signal tube. However, in actual combat, because the angle and distance of artillery firing often change, the timing signal tube may not be able to accurately explode in the air at 15 meters, and these aerial shotguns are either blown high or low, and even some do not explode after landing, so the artillery who does not worry about shells has always only liked grenades, not grenades.

In a morning's battle, the divisional artillery regiment did not fire a single shot, not because it did not find an opportunity, but because the infantry regiment commander stationed in this section demanded that their mortar shells be fired first, and it was always troublesome for the infantry to transport these hard-earned shells. It's just that when the whole wing of the Japanese army is pressed, the artillery regiment can't help it.

With Zhang Xianpan's sentence 'put! The silent artillery position behind the ridge suddenly roared. According to the artillery discipline, the 75 guns can shoot eight shells per minute, but because the intensity is too high, this rate of fire can only last for three minutes, and to shoot continuously for more than an hour like the Japanese artillery, no matter how high the maximum rate of fire of the artillery is, it can only fire two shells per minute - this is actually the reason why the Japanese Sany rapid-fire gun is designed to have a maximum rate of fire of three rounds per minute.

Because the parameters are calibrated according to the area in advance, there is no need for a test launch, accompanied by a sharp and loud noise in the air. Within three minutes, 1,296 shells fell on the ramping trenches of the Japanese hoarding soldiers. Although the target area is as wide as 1,200 meters, according to the number of bombs dropped per hectare according to the code of conduct. It took 170 rounds of 75 shells per hectare to kill and injure half of the soldiers in the trenches, but the shelling still achieved good results, and the more than 1,000 Japanese who entered the front line to storm the trenches were immediately reimbursed by 30 percent, and the remaining 70 percent were bombed with no morale, and even the wing commander Migen Saburo Nakasa, who had escaped by luck in the trenches, was pale and trembling all over. Although he was a veteran of many wars, it was the heaviest artillery fire he had ever seen in his life, and Lucia's artillery was nothing more than firecrackers compared to that.

Is it a new tactic of independence? Nakasa only thought about why the artillery fire of the Shina army could be so fierce, and did not even try to appease the already panicked soldiers. In fact, it was useless to appease, and more than 30% of the casualties caused by this shelling were killed. Coupled with the casualties of the previous two impacts, the entire wing has completely lost its combat effectiveness, and if the Chinese army bravely assaults at this time, the entire wing will collapse on the spot.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the 21st Wing took over the position, and the Wing Commander Osawa Tsukimine Nakasa did not communicate anything with Sangen Saburo Nakasa, and politely sent him away before arranging the attack. By this time, however, the Japanese artillery had learned their lesson, and the shelling was concentrated only on a small section of the enemy's trench in order to open the gap. After more than an hour of shelling. When the sun had completely set and the sky was dark, more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers rushed out of the front line to attack the trenches and the back of the ridges.

Night was the biggest reliance on Osawa Tsukimine Nakasa's arrangement of this attack, but he didn't want the Japanese army to rush halfway through, and the dark sky was illuminated by flares. Under the combined strangulation of machine guns and mortars, this time the pig burst was tragic again. It was only at three o'clock in the middle of the night, without any artillery preparations, that the Japanese troops rushed into the enemy trenches on the west side of the Yalu River. By this time, however, the enemy was gone, and there was nothing but mines in the trenches.

Lieutenant General Yoshihisazo Otani, commander of the 5th Division, who had already arrived at the front, worriedly inspected the enemy's trenches and the county town of Ji'an under the lights. It was extremely pessimistic to find that the Chinese army not only walked very calmly, but also destroyed it completely. There is no house with a roof in the county, even if it is the Guandi Temple that the people of China revere the most, the roof is also empty, only the red-faced Guan Gong is holding a big knife, standing alone in the empty temple, glaring at the invading army from afar.

"If the Chinese army deliberately retreats, the losses of our army will be even greater!" The chief of staff of the division, Zenjiro Ishisaka, said that in a single day's attack, one and a half wings were incapacitated, and the enemy did not seem to have suffered much losses, and this kind of thing happened only during the battle for the 203rd height.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, if the artillery of the Chinese Army cannot be eliminated, then the casualties of our army will be very large. In the mountainous and forest areas, as long as the artillery positions of the Chinese army are arranged behind the ridges of the mountains, our side cannot suppress them, and this can only be eliminated by relying on the rapid assault of the infantry and capturing or blowing up its artillery before it completely withdraws from its positions. "The commander of the division's artillery wing, Nagata Kameosa, said." In addition, I asked to increase the number of light curved guns, and if the rear could not be produced in time, they could build some of their own first. This artillery is extremely effective in mountain warfare, and several charges of our troops today are heavily killed by this artillery. ”

"Yo Xi!" Lieutenant General Otani Kikuzo listened to the different opinions of the two subordinates, and his face was full of sternness. As the main division of the 2nd Army, it is the established policy of the base camp to advance rapidly to occupy Tonghua, and even if the entire division is wiped out, it should not hesitate. "Nagata-kun immediately notify the military station, as long as there is a curved artillery, they will send it over."

"Order the 21st Wing to rest in place, the 9th Brigade is responsible for tomorrow's attack, we must be like the Japanese in the war, we must pursue the Chinese army closely, as long as they can not breathe, then they will not be able to arrange artillery positions, nor can they withdraw artillery, and our army's losses can be reduced." Lieutenant General Otani Kikuzo said again that he was the chief of staff of the 6th Division during the Sino-Qing War, and the 6th Division attacked Weihaiwei at that time, but he knew about the war on the Korean side, and the Qing army was crushed for a thousand miles at that time, and now what he has to do is not to let them crush a thousand miles, but to collapse 200 li.

"Hay!" The chief of staff, the commander of the 9th Brigade, and the commander of the artillery wing all shouted in unison, and after a while, several people left, leaving only the chief of staff, Zenjiro Ishisaka, still standing in awkwardness.

"You go down too, and be sure to report today's battle situation in detail to the commander, General Kawamura." The division commander said and sent the chief of staff away.

The Baath Army retreated from noon. After that rapid fire, the artillerymen began to pack their bags and prepare to retreat. For a division. The most troublesome retreat is the artillery regiment, and for the artillery regiment. The most troublesome thing about the retreat was not the artillery, but the ammunition. Three hundred rounds of shells for one artillery would require six ammunition trucks, and more than 300 for a division, and in the past, these ammunition trucks would need more than 700 horses, and the entire artillery would need nearly 1,000 horses. But this is in the past, since the first year of Shenwu, the artillery regiments of each division began to remove horses and replace them with tractors. This thing is dozens of times more expensive than horses. But the cost of use is low, the key is that the tractor is faster and more powerful than the horse, as long as the motor sounds, no matter how big the slope, it can immediately rush up without panting, this is the fighter.

Amid the roar of tractor diesel motors, the artillery regiment was the first to retreat, but they had only retreated fifteen kilometers before stopping at the preset position in the rafter ditch. This will be the second line of defense in the direction of Ji'an, and after knocking out a few more Japanese wings here, the troops will retreat again, leading the Japanese army step by step into the mountains.

When the security troops had just settled down at night. Qi Qingyuan in the Shenyang headquarters had not yet slept, he did not care about the battle on the front line, but wanted to figure out the entire deployment of the Japanese army. Judging from the current situation, the Japanese army has been organized into four corps. In the direction of Ji'an was the 4th Army, and the commander was General Keiaki Kawamura. It has the 5th, 8th, 19th, and 20th divisions under its jurisdiction, and the task of this army is to advance north to occupy Tonghua, and in the direction of Andong it should be the Japanese 1st Army and the 3rd Army, the commanders are Kuroki Weizhen of the 1st Army last time and General Terauchi Masahiro, the governor of Korea, and the divisions under their jurisdiction are not known for the time being, but there is no doubt that these two armies will have two offensive directions, one is to attack Tonghua along the Tonghua Railway, and the other is to attack Shenyang along the Anbong Railway in cooperation with the Japanese 2nd Army from Yingkou to the north.

The strategic intentions of the Japanese army are clear, and now it is nothing more than one more Tonghua than the Russo-Japanese War; And because of the fear of the threat of submarines, the Japanese soldiers only transported by the Guò Gyeonggui line, and the sea route mainly transported war materials, but the sea could only use the Korean and Lvda docks, and the Andong seaport, which had just been occupied by the Japanese army today, had been completely destroyed, except for some key dock facilities that were demolished, the rest of the dock facilities were blown up, and even the waterway was blocked by sunken ships.

"Is there no movement on the Navy side?" Qi Qingyuan did not think of the submarine's battle plan, but logically speaking, the submarine could still interfere with the enemy's ship transportation, especially the submarine in the Huludao Military Port in the Bohai Sea.

"There was a telegram saying that a submarine had sunk four Japanese transports, but they were all under the British flag." The chief of staff, Major General Huang Fujin, remembered the telegram during the day, and shook his head as he spoke, "The British are going to be furious again." ”

Taking over the Shanghai-Hangzhou and Shanghai-Nanjing railways, occupying the Japanese concession, and sinking British merchant ships, these things added up to make Zhu Erdian, who has always regarded himself a gentleman, furious, but he did not rush to the prime minister's palace single-handedly, but asked the Belgian consul to lead all the ministers in Beijing to the Yin'an Palace and protested to Yang Rui in unison. In addition, the forcible occupation of the Japanese concession and the sinking of British merchant ships also aroused the anger of the ministers of various countries, all of whom said that the Chinese government's move violated the Beijing Protocol and international law, especially the latter, the Chinese Navy submarine sank the merchant ship money, did not check whether there were prohibited items on board, and did not properly arrange for the crew to escape, which was considered inhumane and cruel.

Yang Rui was not afraid of the siege of more than a dozen foreign envoys, he had long known that these foreign hairs would make a fuss, he had to affirm again that this was a war, Shanghai-Hangzhou, Shanghai-Nanjing and other railways must be managed by the military regardless of the background, if there is any damage during the military management, the government will compensate, and the transportation costs incurred during the period will also be paid by the military one by one, if everyone is not satisfied, then the government can redeem it in advance;

As for the occupation of the Japanese concession, China and Japan have already declared war on each other, since they are in a state of war, why can't the concession be occupied? As for the final accusation of sinking the British merchant ship, Yang Rui took out the note sent to various countries in the morning, pointed to the above article and told all the ministers that the waters near Lushun, Dalian, and Andong were already war zones, and that there would not only be submarines infested here, but also mines everywhere, and that the Chinese government had fulfilled its obligation to notify all countries in advance whether the British merchant ships were sunk by mines or by submarines, and he could only express his deep regret that they were sunk now.

If the eyes could eat people, Yang Rui would have been eaten by Zhu Erdian, and China would have used war as an excuse. Constant offending to the dignity of Great Britain was never tolerated in the past. It's just that China really didn't point the finger at Great Britain and went to war once it started. Great Britain's vested interests would suffer heavy losses, and the situation in Europe was tense, so Britain only shouted and did not declare war; As for the Japanese Government, London circumvented Article 2 of the Treaty of Alliance, which stipulates that 'if any one of the two Contracting Parties is attacked by one or more Powers for the sake of the stated interests of defence, the other Contracting Parties shall immediately fight together with military assistance until peace is made, regardless of the place where the attack takes place'.

Early redemption of the railway, that can only be calculated according to the current income. It will be impossible to make a profit, and at most it will be able to recover the capital, and Britain, Belgium, France, Russia and other countries will not do it at all. The railway not only makes money, but also controls the economic lifeline of China, so Yang Rui's redemption was rejected by the other countries. Although refused, the ministers of these countries also demanded compensation, arguing that the military control had caused damage to the commercial operations of the railway companies; Zhu Erdian also mentioned that the British merchant ship sunk by Yì also needs China to compensate the shipowner for the loss.

Yang Rui agreed in principle to the former, and handed it over to the Ministry of Households; The latter, on the other hand, is resolutely not opposed. This is because under public international law it is a violation of public international law to sink a merchant ship in war without inspecting it and properly accommodating its crew. However, it is not illegal for a merchant ship to be sunk by a mine, and there is no evidence to prove whether the merchant ship was sunk by a mine or by a torpedo, so there is no way to talk about compensation for the merchant ship. In addition, merchant ships appear in the area of engagement, which is at risk of being sunk, and this is the situation. Only the insurance company insured by the merchant shipping is responsible for the compensation, and the Chinese government is not responsible for this.

A huge protest. In the end, only the British minister was not satisfied, and it was useless for Jurdian to shout. The British forces in the Far East were only enough to protect the expatriate, and they tried in vain to attack Beijing, fearing that they would be routed as soon as they left Tianjin. As for the Navy, the fleets cruising on the Yangtze River and off the coast of China are directly under the threat of Chinese submarines, and the only thing that can be done now is an embargo. After the ministers returned, Zhu Erdian convened a meeting to discuss the embargo on military supplies again to punish the Chinese government for violating the Beijing Protocol and public international law. Logically speaking, as long as Qingdao is open to the Chinese government, the embargo is impossible, but the German minister Hahausen paradoxically agreed to the British proposal, only the American minister Ruinz righteously opposed this proposal, he believed that as an invaded country, it should be sympathized with by the civilized world, not embargoed it, but he was alone, and the British mention was fully approved by the ministers present.

The note from the Minister on the embargo was quickly sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Xie Jintai took the note and hurriedly came to the Prime Minister's Office, "Actually, this situation seems to be wrong?" The Germans actually agreed to this embargo? ”

"Didn't you discuss it before? What is there to be afraid of the embargo, we are not an island country, we lack nothing but nickel. Yang Rui said disapprovingly, he was not as sensitive to the changes of the German minister as Xie Jintai.

"No, I'm not talking about the embargo, I'm talking about the attitude of the Germans." Xie Zhangtai said: "I just went to find a Hahausen, he said that this is because he does not want to arouse the opposition of the ministers of other countries, and now all countries think that China and Germany have formed an alliance, and this is just the right time to face the fact that the German government and the Chinese government have no secret agreement." That's not right. When did the Germans think so much about us, standing on the German standpoint, in order to create momentum, they would say that there was no secret treaty. ”

"Is it really that strict?" Yang Rui immediately understood the meaning of Xie Zhangtai's words, Germany and France are on one side, this is a strange news in the world, for so many years, it and France have been working against each other in China, and now they are actually together. "The submarine we built in Germany has been completed," Yang Rui thought about it, and then rang the bell and said to the secretary: "Please Mr. Hua Feng come over." ”

Seeing Yang Rui's arrangement, Xie Zhangtai said: "Are you worried that Germany will sell us again?" ”

"Hmm!" Yang Rui replied in a dull voice, "The submarine is back, but now a lot of technology is being transferred to us on the German side, as long as Germany repeats it, then these things will be gone." ”

A quarter of an hour later, Xu Huafeng, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, came, and Yang Rui waited for him to sit down and said, "Is there anything unusual on the German side?" ”

"Anomaly?" Xu Huafeng said in surprise, "What is abnormal?" ”

"Is there anything unusual about our researchers in Germany accepting German technology?" Yang Rui said, he used to light a cigarette when he was worried and thinking, and when he waited for Xu Huafeng to arrive, he had already smoked two.

"I haven't received the telegram yet." Xu Huafeng didn't expect to call himself over in a hurry because of this. He looked at the silent Xie Jintai and Yang Rui, who kept smoking, and asked, "There is a problem on the German side again?" ”

"I don't know. Chong'an felt that they were a little weird today, so I was worried about the technology acceptance on the German side. We bought so many submarines and spent so much money, we can't afford to get back any technology. Yang Rui replied.

"Would you like to send a newspaper to the German side?" Xu Huafeng also understood the importance of the matter, and mentioned it at the moment.

"Send it. Let the technical teams pay attention to speed up the progress, and some minor things can be put aside first. Yang Rui said. and Xiao Xu's side, if he has time, let him visit Kaiser Wilhelm once, don't forget everything as soon as he studies abroad. ”

"Understood." Xu Huafeng got up and wanted to leave, but when he stood up, he thought of another thing, "It's done." If things really change in Germany, what will happen to our Tinder plan? There is also a shortage of talents in the domestic military industry, and if you really send people over and learn nothing, then ......"

During the war in Europe, more than 2,000 scientific research and military personnel were sent to work in various factories and research institutes in Germany, which was the tinder plan proposed by Yang Rui. More than 2,000 senior technicians account for the vast majority, they have to learn mainly a variety of processes - Yang Rui does not think that even if he has mastered industrial technology when he gets technical information and formulas, only by continuous practice and solving localization problems can technology be regarded as complete. For this reason, it was necessary to send 2,000 men before the war in Europe. These people may have only had a glimpse at the beginning of the war, but when Germany expanded production in the middle and late years of the war and there was a shortage of people, they would be in the main positions, and there was no better opportunity than this.

For this plan of China. The German government and companies such as Krupp initially refused, but the Chinese side repeatedly stated that these people were not laborers, but interns. There was no need for salaries, etc., and this plan was finally approved by the Kaiser. After all, China is already the equivalent of Germany's quasi-allies. It's just that there is no contract. It was easy to send personnel, and it was not difficult to obtain the consent of the German side, but it was not so easy to ensure the safety and food supply of these people in times of war, so the Chinese Legation in Berlin in Germany specially purchased a farm in the suburbs, and some people from the Ministry of Agriculture also sent it, which was prepared to grow grain and raise pigs during the war.

"No! People must be sent, as long as there is no clear opposition from Germany, these people will pass, and the first half of the year will all pass. Yang Rui decisively said. This is a seed, if we don't work in a German factory for a few years, can our industry improve quickly? ”

"I'm worried that if things change, they'll be gone. Now in the big war, our military industry is also nervous, as soon as these people are withdrawn, the output of the military industry will decline. Xu Hua sealed.

"Rather fall, rather bayonet to bayonet to bayonet with the Japanese, they are going too!" Yang Rui waved his hand very resolutely, and after he finished speaking, he felt that his tone was heavy, and he softened: "Mr. Huafeng, I will personally greet the military, as long as you understand why the output is declining, the soldiers will understand." Isn't it just to do so much for the sake of a strong new China? The defense of soldiers and the construction of workers are all for the strength of this country, and sacrifice is not terrible, I am afraid that there will not even be a chance to sacrifice. ”

"I see." Xu Huafeng was not angry, but heavy.

"And the engineering students in the university, the juniors and seniors should also send them to me, and the science students in the senior year will also go. The time of the Great War coincided with the gold rush. Yang Rui said, and instantly expanded the dispatch of hundreds of people.

"I see, I'll go back and talk to the people." Xu Huafeng said again, and then walked away with heavy steps.

After arranging the technical matters, Yang Rui suddenly put Germany's anomaly behind him and asked Xie Zhangtai to the side, "Britain did not declare war as we expected, but when we counterattack Korea, will it declare war?" ”

"Hard to say!" Xie Jintai said: "Britain can still regard the war that took place in Korea as a continuation of the war in the northeast, and believe that it is not us who take the initiative to attack Japan, but Japan who takes the initiative to attack us, so that we can avoid the alliance treaty, in fact, Britain has too many interests in our country after all, and we have all hit Korea, which means that Japan has no possibility of victory at all, and it will lose its vested interests if it starts a war, which is unacceptable to Britain." However, he has another option, which is to actually send the navy to patrol North Korea and other waters, but not actually declare war. ”

"Isn't that what the Anglo-Japanese alliance treaty is a waste of paper?" Yang Rui smiled, "The Saxons are really despicable, shameless, and cunning, Leo is right." ”

"The alliance treaty was only against Russia, and now that the dispute between Britain and Russia has eased, Japan has no practical value." Xie Zhangtai said. "It can be said that the Japanese were sold by the British, and if we beat them back this time, and even vomited out what they ate in the first day, I think there will be a major earthquake in Japan's domestic political arena, and the Taisho Emperor will probably be angry to death."

"If you are angry, you will be angry!" Yang Rui said disdainfully, "The emperor is dead, and let the chaebol be in power, just so that you can take refuge in us." ”

Yang Rui has always wanted to accept Japan as his younger brother, but Xie Jintai feels that this is unlikely, after all, China's strength cannot be said to be the Americas of the Americans, like the Americans. After Japan's defeat in World War II, it will inevitably be co-opted by Britain and the United States, and coupled with the hysterical nature of this country, it is impossible to achieve friendship between China and Japan. He said: "It will be done, let's wait and see, what will happen to China and Japan in the future, the key depends on Britain, the United States and Russia." (To be continued......)