The first division of the Songjiang Army was stationed near Nanqiao, and the second division was stationed near Qingpu. The day before the scheduled meeting, the commanders of the regiments and battalions had already rushed to Shanghai to attend the military meeting the next morning.

Corps Commander Hua Er, Deputy Corps Commander Daniel Zhang, and two division officers, Forrest and Bai Qiwen, were the first to arrive at Qinchaxingyuan, followed by regimental officers Iksang, Jiang De, and Zheng Guokui of the First Division, regimental officials Ji Cheng, Wu Jianying, and Zhan Donglu of the Second Division, as well as dozens of Chinese and foreign battalion officers, all arrived one after another. The people outside the legion are Ding Shijie, the governor of Jiangnan, Ding Ruchang, the chief soldier of the Navy Division, and Liu Xunjiao, the chief grain station of the Xuan Army.

After not seeing each other for nearly three months, these officers felt intimate when they saw Guan Zhuofan, and greeted each other in the chaotic sound of spurs. At the beginning of the meeting, the atmosphere became quiet, and no one dared to talk nonsense anymore.

"Hua Yuancheng," Guan Zhuofan looked at Hua Er with a smile, "Please say it." ”

"Yes!"

Wall answered, stood up, and according to his custom, the general Rong sorted it out slightly, and then took out the official document and read it aloud.

"The entire Songjiang Corps is scheduled to embark at Wusongkou on September 15 and set off on September 17."

"The artillery of the whole army is only allowed to carry twenty-one breech cannons, and the rest of the field artillery will be sent to Qibao and handed over to Admiral Ding Shijie for disposal."

"Only 8,500 breech guns and ammunition are allowed to be carried in the whole army, and the rest of the guns will also be sent to Governor Ding for disposal."

"There are 2,400 horses in the legion, and 3,000 horses are allowed to be led."

"The first foreign regiment and the gram regiment of the first division, and the second foreign regiment and the first regiment of the second division. Formation of six battalions. Three thousand one hundred each. ”

"The German character regiment and the kuizi regiment of the first division. The Jianzi Regiment and the Luzi Regiment of the Second Division were organized into four battalions, each with 2,200 people. ”

"The whole legion, two divisions, one horse team, one guards regiment, and one long-term husband's regiment, a total of 27,200 people!"

I finished reading it here and gave a military salute. Guan Zhuofan nodded, invited him to sit down, and looked at everyone himself. He spoke, but his tone was very gentle.

"This time in the war, everyone must know in their hearts, it is different from the past. There are three different places. He looked at Daniel Zhang who was sitting first, "The first one is to take a sea boat." When you first came to Shanghai from Wuchang, you Daniel Zhang complained about Yufu Li Henian, saying that he had caused you not to sit on a sea boat. Now I'll let you sit down for a while, knowing that you know it's amazing. ”

Daniel Zhang was slightly embarrassed. still muttered in a low voice: "It's nothing bad." If the foreign devil sits down, I can naturally sit too. ”

He said this. made everyone laugh quietly, and the nervous mood in everyone's hearts was relieved a lot.

"That's a good point, to the point!" Guan Zhuofan smiled approvingly, "If the foreign devil can sit, we will naturally sit too." There is another sentence, that is, foreign devils come to get it, and we naturally go to it, which is the second place I want to talk about. This time, we are going to fight with foreigners, but foreigners also have two arms and two legs, what's the big deal? Look at Fu Devil and Lao Bai, who has three heads and six arms? ”

So everyone turned their heads to see Forrest and Bai Qiwen, as well as a dozen foreigner camp officers, which made them laugh and cry.

"The third one, it's not a joke." Guan Zhuofan's face turned serious, "Thousands of miles away from home, unfamiliar with life, the soldiers below can't be without fear in their hearts." With this fear, what should I do? ”

Seeing that he was glancing at everyone, Ixan stood up and replied: "What the boss said is that although there are many eager people in my regiment, there are really people who hide in the military tent and cry every night, afraid that they will never come back in this life. ”

"It's hard to leave your homeland." Guan Zhuofan nodded with emotion and motioned for Ixan to sit, "This is not a brave or not thing, but human nature!" Don't talk about them, even you, even me, dare to say that you haven't thought about it? ”

The dozens of regimental officers and battalion officers below were silent.

"I originally said that it is up to my brothers to go into battle, because broken bones are still connected to tendons, and they can't be broken. When you get to the United States, who else can you count on without relying on your brothers? Therefore, everyone is a brother! After saying this, Guan Zhuofan turned to Wall and said in a deep voice: "Songjiang Army, add one more to the military regulations of the original Xuan Army - don't leave a brother!" You are alive, I will fight side by side with you, and when you die, I promise you that I will bring back your bones! ”

This is the one that boosts morale the most! Everyone looked at each other excitedly, and Daniel Zhang couldn't help but want to speak.

"I haven't finished yet," Guan Zhuofan smiled, "If I die, I will ask you to bring back my bones." ”

*

*

In the Xuan army, the Chinese soldiers' fear of navigation and the fear of that strange country can be compensated for by the foreigners in the army. Needless to say, these more than 1,000 foreign instructors, foreign officers, and foreign soldiers are all veterans who have crossed the ocean, and most of them are Americans.

After the battle in the past year or two, there is always a friendship between each other, and at the same time, because they are around, they can do a very good preaching, so the two of sailing across the sea and fighting in foreign countries have not had much impact on morale. And the original most common one, the fear of dying in a foreign land and not being able to return to his hometown, has also been greatly alleviated because of the newly promulgated military regulations of Guan Houye.

The soldiers were very simple, and as long as they were sure that the officers would not abandon them, and the brothers would not abandon them, they could be comforted enough.

The three things Guan Zhuofan said are all places that are not haode, but there are also haode.

At the same time as the military order to go to the United States was issued, a piece of gossip spread and burned the entire military camp like wildfire -- there was gold in the place we were going to!

Not only is there gold, but it is also a whole piece of dog's head gold, and if anyone is lucky, he can kick two pieces just when he goes to pee outside the camp!

One piece when you go, one piece when you come back.

Even the most experienced veterans are convinced of this statement, because the name of that place is very strong evidence.

"Are you kidding? Gold Mountain! The veterans said to the group of people around them, "In the past few years alone, there have been tens of thousands of people from Liangguang and Fujian, as well as Jiangsu and Zhejiang who used to pan for gold!" ”

As a result, the longing for that magical land turned into excitement and excitement, and it seemed that the war with foreigners in the past had become nothing to be afraid of.

Another novelty was that they received a month's and a half months' salary in advance before they were promoted.

This military salary is not silver, but some green pieces of paper.

"Sir, this is called 'greenback', it's their American money, dollars." Liu Xunji took a few banknotes and explained to Guan Zhuofan, "This is the military salary for September and October, which was collected by Pu Anchen from Standard Chartered Bank and Liru Bank, as well as from American businessmen in the concession. ”

That is, one tael of silver can be exchanged for one and a half dollars.

In other words, three dollars can be exchanged for two taels of silver.

Chinese soldiers have always believed that silver is a real thing, but because the Xuan army originated in Shanghai, they are also willing to accept foreign money, and some people think that the money of the United States is very rare, so they cherish it very much.

"Pu Anchen said that in the United States, the salary of a black soldier is ten dollars, and the salary of a white soldier is thirteen dollars plus the purchase of money, let's go, it is fifteen dollars plus the purchase of money." Liu Xun said proudly.

In other words, the soldiers of the Xuan Army can get at least ten taels of silver per month, which is four or five percent higher than their current military salary. Therefore, everyone was very excited, and it was no wonder that Liu Xunjiao was proud.

But this is actually a matter that has been discussed for a long time - the Foreign Legion is coming to fight for you, and the military salary is not high, who will?

Therefore, Guan Zhuofan just smiled, thinking that there are still things that you Liu Songyan don't know, and when you know it, I'm afraid that I won't be able to laugh.

These "greenbacks", strictly speaking, are a kind of spot notes guaranteed by government credit, with no interest, which is the predecessor of the modern dollar. Once the Northern government won the Civil War, it would have restricted the use and issuance of these notes within a year, so the depreciation rate in the future would be quite rapid.

But it doesn't matter, Guan Zhuofan thought firmly, after all, he had made an agreement, and when Xuan Jun returned to China, he would exchange these "green backs" for equivalent gold or silver.

Stimulated by these two good things, the morale of the regiment was quite high, and Guan Zhuofan was extremely satisfied after inspecting it for several days.

He thought to himself that the rumor of "gold everywhere in the United States" was an old trick of the Marquis of Huaiyin to drive the three Qin soldiers to the east.

It is still necessary to win the battle, which is the last word! As long as a battle is won, many things can be solved.

He couldn't help but be a little glad that he had chosen Shijie Shi in the first place, what a wise decision.

Lao Tzu is going to be a speculator of history again.

*(To be continued......)