Kawamoto Daisa wanted to cry without tears, it was the first time in his life that he had seen such stupid tactics and enemies. The 2,000 men of the advance army, in addition to the cavalry, were artillery, and the tactics were extremely simple. The artillery was incessantly bombarded, and the cavalry was scattered on both flanks, and whenever they saw soldiers fleeing from the array, they were dealt with with rifles and sabers.

Bang!

There was a loud bang behind the river itself, and he looked back to see that his last cannon had also been blown into parts, and the artillery had turned into gas, and the cannon had been blown into the air, killing several soldiers around him. From the arrival of the main forces of the advance army, Kawamoto was dizzy by the incessant shelling. He organized several charges, all of which were blown back by the machine guns of the advance army and a strange small cannon. The rain of machine-gun bullets cut the soldiers of the Kawamoto Brigade to pieces, and they could not lift their heads from the whips of the flames. However, it is not safe to lie on the ground, as long as you and the advance army are within 400 meters, they will be blown up by the overwhelming grenades. Sixty-four prefabricated fragments and steel balls embedded in the grenadiers' special grenades fell from the sky, each of which covered a space of ten square meters. In this unsheltered open field, the grenadier is the nightmare of the infantry.

At a distance of four hundred meters, it was still very difficult for the army's Golden Hook rifle to aim, and most of the shots were in vain, except for a few sharpshooters whose character outbursts could occasionally hit a few shots. And as long as the grenadier explodes within a three-meter radius of the soldiers, they can take their lives.

The 2nd Railway Garrison Brigade fell into the embarrassing situation of being beaten passively and unable to fight back, and Kawamoto Daisa was helpless. The advance army was surrounded on three sides, and only a hole was opened in the south, but Mukden was in the east. This is the most traditional Chinese art of war, and Kawamoto Daisa dares to conclude that somewhere to the south, there is still a powerful army in ambush. If you want to withdraw your troops at this time, the troops will be in chaos. The infantry in the chaos is the favorite opponent of the cavalry, and the cavalry chasing after the tail is like chopping melons and vegetables. And the army, which does not know where the ambush is, will carry out the most brutal blow to the fleeing Kawamoto brigade. It must be like this, and in the Chinese's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", such examples abound.

Kawamoto regretted his impulsiveness, if he had gone directly to Mukden just now, he would definitely be in the mountains now, and the narrow roads and mountains on both sides would be his best allies. The high mobility of the cavalry will be lost on the rugged mountain roads, the power of the artillery will be greatly reduced, and the quality of individual soldiers will be used to the limit.

There is no regret medicine in this world, and the Kawamoto brigade finally couldn't hold on under the high-intensity shelling of the other side, and many soldiers began to flee to the south. One, two, ten, one hundred??? The desperate rout of Kawamoto had begun, a sight he was familiar with, and that was the case with the Qing army back then. It's just that this time it's the turn of the army. After all, the Kawamoto Brigade is just a local garrison, and it is not easy to hold out for so long under the enemy's shelling.

Kawamoto closed his eyes in despair, and he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his temple??? It is extremely dishonorable for an officer to commit suicide, except in the form of caesarean section. But this is the battlefield, and he was not given time to cut his stomach calmly.

"Your Excellency, you can't do this!" The guards snatched his pistol and pinned him to the ground.

Kawamoto Daisa roared angrily: "Let go of me, let go of me!" ”

The deputy captain roared at him, "Your Excellency is the owner of the Emperor's saber, how can you make such a choice?" Please take us to the breakout. ”

Kawamoto seemed to have been drained of his essence, and said weakly: "Then break through." ”

The army sounded the trumpet of breaking through the encirclement, and the soldiers who were lying on the ground waiting for death ran to the south where there were no enemy troops. Kawamoto Daisa took the lead, and gradually he ran from the center of the array to the front. The defeated soldiers of the army stepped on the bodies of their companions and trampled on the bodies of the wounded, and ran out of more than three miles in one breath, turning a deaf ear to the begging of their companions, and they were still sweating tired on the cold day, and they were leaning against the trees and panting. The high level of stress has not only exhausted their spirits, but also caused them to drop their physical strength rapidly. Sweat soaked the uniforms, and everyone shivered after the cold wind blew.

Kawamoto Dazuo beat his horse and whipped up his horse and ran out for more than ten miles in one go, and when he looked back, only a few guards on horseback were still following behind, and the others were thrown away by them and had long since disappeared. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the leaves were blowing, and Kawamoto was trembling and at a loss.

Defeated, defeated completely! But Kawamoto was very unwilling to lose, and the opponent's tactics were lackluster, and it was just those two tricks over and over again. If you change the terrain of a complex point, Kawamoto Daisa will have countless ways to deal with it. However, that terrain is the most suspenseless open land, and the two sides have no other way than to fight head-on firepower and courage.

A gust of wind blew, and Kawamoto couldn't help but shiver, and he was suddenly horrified to find that his imperial sword was gone!

??? Dividing line ???

The water vapor blowing from the sea made the air start to become clammy and cold, and there was a faint fishy smell in the air, and black clouds drifted over people's heads, and the wind became colder.

Zhang Shuyang led the soldiers of the forward battalion to collect the wounded, many seriously wounded saw that they could not be saved, and more than half of the casualties of a cavalry battalion were killed, and Zhang Shuyang was distressed and dripping blood. Gu Nanshan rushed to the aid of Fengtian with the main force, and Zhang Shuyang's forward battalion was changed to a guard battalion, which was responsible for treating the wounded and collecting the corpses of his comrades. There were no conditions for surgery here, so the health soldiers could only do some simple bandaging, stop the bleeding, and then send the wounded to Xinmin Mansion.

If a unit is reduced by one-fifth, it will basically lose its combat effectiveness, and the forward battalion, with more than 200 light cavalry against more than 1,000 troops, has suffered more than half of the casualties without collapsing. With a great spirit of sacrifice, he dragged the Kawamoto brigade and persevered until the arrival of the main force.

But the losses are undoubtedly huge, although everyone in the advance army has war horses, but to be precise, it is actually mounted infantry, and the enemy still has to dismount and fight, and there are not many cavalrymen who really have the ability to fight on horses. Moreover, in the establishment of the Jianghuai Army, only the advance army and the first division have completed the regular training, and each soldier is an extremely valuable asset. Seeing so many casualties in the robes, the soldiers of the advance army were like knives, and those wounded soldiers who still had a breath became their punching bag. Zhang Shuyang led the cavalry to make up for those who were not dead and sent them to see Amaterasu.

Crackling raindrops fell and smashed on people's bodies and faces, knocking holes in the dust on the ground. The raindrops gradually intensified, and Zhang Shuyang led people to hurry up their movements. They covered the carts with tarpaulins to cover the bodies of the wounded, while they themselves shivered in the autumn rain in Manchuria.

Gu Mazi's main force was also uncomfortable, the dusty official road was muddy by this sudden heavy rain, the wheels of the gun carriage fell into the mud, and the soldiers shouted the horn and pushed the gun carriage with difficulty. The officers rode back and forth on horseback to cheer up the soldiers.

Gu Mazi deeply understands the current situation. Once the war began, the situation changed so that the most thorough preparations before the war would be a dead letter. The principle on the battlefield is to try to take the initiative on the battlefield, and no casualties or casualties are consumed, and in the final analysis, soldiers can be recruited and trained, officers can be trained, weapons can be produced and purchased, and to be ruthless, they are just numbers. But the initiative on the battlefield is once missed, but never back!

An army that gains the initiative can win even if it is small in number. And once the army loses the initiative, no matter how large the number is, it can only passively deal with it, waiting to be beaten. The advance army is marching towards Mukden, and it is expected that one or more armies will also be marching towards Mukden at this moment. If the advance army arrives in Mukden before the reinforcements of the Yue army, they can rely on the strong city defense to stand for reinforcements, and once the reinforcements of the Yue army enter Mukden first, they can build the city fortifications and extinguish the resistance in the city at the same time. If this happens, with only two thousand people in Gu Mazi's hands, it will be extremely difficult to take Fengtian again. What's worse is that if you can't enter the city, it is very likely that even the retreat route will be cut off by the reinforced army, and it will be quite difficult to return along the same route.

The situation is quite sinister!

But Mukden can't help it, this is the center of the whole of Manchuria, if he really gives up, the hearts of the 30 million Northeast fathers and elders will really be cold, and he can calmly digest the occupied areas, and even support the puppet regime. In Kwantung Prefecture, many Manchu widows and young people have long been ready to move, so they will not mind having multiple emperors on their heads, as long as they can restore the life they used to live without hard work, they do not hesitate to call themselves ancestors.

The loss of Manchuria by the Republic of China in Zhaoxing will be a fatal blow to this nascent regime, and neither the South nor the North can bear this result. For the soldiers holding the iron-blooded eighteen-star marine battle flag and the blue sky and white navy flag, it is an unacceptable shame!

The advance army lit pine oil torches, a fire dragon winded on the mountain road, and the mud thrown up by the hooves of the war horses made the military uniforms of the surrounding soldiers dirty, but no one complained, and the soldiers hurried silently but firmly, with only one goal: to enter Fengtian City one step ahead of his own reinforcements.

??? Dividing line ???

Zhongnanhai Huairentang telegrams and newspapers were constantly sent to Yuan Shikai's official case, and the army chief Duan Qirui, Cao Kun, Zhang Xun, Duan Zhigui and other powerful factions in Beiyang gathered here, and Yang Shiqi, Xu Shichang and other strategists also arrived. Liang Qichao, the leader of the Progressive Party, and Yang Du, a constitutional expert, also came to the presidential palace.

He said that he occupied Mukden, Zhao Erxun's life and death were unknown, and the army further launched an attack on Jinzhou, Huludao and other cities, and the Feng army was about to collapse at the first touch, and telegrams from all over the country flew to the War Department like snowflakes to report urgency.

On an unfolded military map, Yuan Shikai circled the attacked cities one by one with red and blue pencils, and after a long time, he gritted his teeth and said: "Xiao Yue wants to swallow us in one bite!" Damn, what a big appetite! ”

Liang Qichao said with an eager face: "President, Manchuria is in danger, and troops must be sent to rescue it immediately!" ”

His Royal Highness Duan Zhigui said coldly: "How to save it?" Where is the military budget for this troop? You always need guns and ammunition to fight a war, and the soldier's opening fee must not be less, right? What kind of firewood, salt and vegetables don't cost money? Pensions for dead and wounded soldiers also cost money, right? Besides, how many troops do we have to send over? Xiao said that there were more than 30,000 people in Manchuria, and there were troops transported by the South Manchurian Railway, they were waiting for work at ease, and we were an expedition of labor divisions, and the art of war was cloudy: if you run for a thousand miles, you will ??? the general."

Yuan Shikai interrupted impatiently: "Sensei is talking nonsense with me, it is now the autumn of the country's peril, and you are still talking these here." ”

Duan Zhigui was unconvinced and said: "President, this big thing is easy to say, anyone can say a lot of beautiful words, but it shouldn't be used for silver!" ”

Cao Kun hurriedly echoed: "That's right, this emperor is not a hungry soldier, the president knows, my third division was paid seventy percent of the salary last month, and the other divisions are basically like this, and some only pay half of the salary, and the Qiu Ba people below are complaining, now let them send troops, I see it difficult!" ”

A cold lightning flashed in Yuan Shikai's eyes: "Then Xiao Yueben occupies Fengtian?" Swallow the whole of Manchuria in one go? ”

Duan Zhigui drooped his head and said, "Isn't there Chai Dongliang's advance army in Manchuria!" Let them fight, we don't envy if you win, and if you lose, you just have a heart disease. ”

"Smack!" Yuan Shikai slapped his palm on the table and roared, "Bastard! What heart disease do I have? A poor man in the countryside can still take care of the home and care for a dog, and now Xiao Yue has bullied Lao Tzu, you don't even dare to let out a fart, what's the use of Lao Tzu raising you? It's better to get a dog! ”

Xu Shichang came out to play a round and said: "The president is angry, now is not the time to get angry, let's discuss how to calm down the incident, I think it's better to find the British to mediate." ”

Yuan Shikai shook his head bitterly: "Found, found!" Zhu Erdian hid in London and refused not to return, after all, the British and their allies were counting on them to come out enough. ”

Xu Shichang pondered for a moment and said, "Or, find a Russian?" ”

Yuan Shikai sneered: "If you don't look for the Russians, you will lose Manchuria at most, if you find the Russians, maybe even the newly recovered Mongolia will be lost, the Russians, that's the wolf!" ”

Liang Qichao said worriedly: "President, in ten days it will be the election of the Senate and the House of Representatives, if the political axe can't come up with a specific plan, it will be very unfavorable to us!" The loss of Manchuria at this critical time is a huge blow to the prestige of the Progressive Party and the President himself. ”

Yuan Shikai looked at the Beiyang officers around him, and a bitterness rose in his heart. If it was five years ago, with more than 100,000 Beiyang troops, he dared to fight to the death with Yue himself, if it was fifteen years ago, even if he only had 7,000 small station new troops in his hands, he would dare to send troops to Fengtian, and it was not that he had never fought with Xiao Yueben! Yuan Shikai was able to become famous because he had worked with Xiao Yuben in North Korea.

But now Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Cao Kun and others are full-fledged, and Beiyang is no longer the group he was able to use as his arm and finger to fight wherever he wanted. Beiyang is already like the Huai army back then, the twilight is deep. Yuan Shikai even doubted that if Beiyang was really transferred to Fengtian, would Cao Kun, Duan Zhigui and others be like Ye Zhichao in the first Wu year, and they would lose their troops and flee for their lives without firing a shot?

Yang Shiqi, who had been silent, suddenly interjected: "President, we must send troops in Beiyang, and it is urgent!" ”

(To be continued)