On October 26, 1912 in the Western calendar, the nineteenth day of the ninth lunar month was already bright, and the sky in the distance was white, the soldiers of the advance army packed their backpacks in an orderly manner, the baggage soldiers loaded machine guns and mortars on the carts, the 75-millimeter mountain guns and field guns were installed on the artillery carts, and the cavalry had already eaten breakfast, and were nervously placing the saddle sheath and adjusting the horse's belly belt. The entire battalion was quickly dismantled, and the movements were skillful and unhurried, but the efficiency was quite amazing.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Wu Junsheng, who was sweating profusely, stammered: "Feng, Fengtian, danger, danger??" Dawn?? Dan??"

Gu Mazi was anxious for him: "It's in danger!" ”

Wu Junsheng nodded and said, "Yes, the danger is at stake!" Please, please, please ???"

Gu Mazi once again said the whole thing for him: "Please send rescuers!" ”

"That's it, that's it, that's it!"

When the officers of the advance army heard Wu Da's tongue speak, they couldn't help but be anxious. But the meaning is already very clear, Fengtian City was attacked by the Yue army, and the city was about to be broken, so he asked the advance army to rescue.

"Please lead Wu to go down and rest, and I'll discuss it with you." Gu Mazi said politely.

After Wu Junsheng retreated, the staff officers and officers of the advance army suddenly became lively, and they were all talking about everything.

Gu Mazi waved his hand: "Say it one by one." ”

Zhang Shuyang, the commander of the reconnaissance battalion, said first: "Deputy commander, something is wrong!" If Fengtian was attacked by Yu himself, it should be the Fengtian Governor's Mansion who asked for help, why didn't I see them send a telegram? Even if the situation is more critical, there is always a chance to send a telegram for help! ”

"What Camp Commander Zhang said makes sense!"

"We don't know this surnamed Wu, who knows if he is really in command of the patrol battalion? What if he's an impostor? What if it's Xiao Yueben's annihilation? Don't be careful! ”

Everyone has heard that there is a big tongue of Wu in the Fengtian patrol battalion, this guy also led the patrol battalion to fight the horse bandits in Wutai, and set up a cannon to bombard Gegen Temple, but no one has ever seen him, so it can't be said that every stutterer is Wu Junsheng, right? During the Russo-Russian War, Yue himself used many bandit mountain and forest teams by means of sprinkling money everywhere, formed a flower horse team, attacked the supply lines of the Russian army everywhere, destroyed the communication facilities of the Russians, and even many people simply pretended to be Chinese and joined the bandits. I said that I have coveted Manmeng for a long time, and the wiring is very wide and very deep!

The advance army knew these situations very well, and they didn't dare not believe all the words that Wu Junsheng, who claimed to be the commander of the patrol battalion, but they didn't dare to believe it all. In case he is said to be his own annihilation, believing him will be unlucky!

"Let's think of going to Mukden, the fastest is to take the official road, but the opposite is said to be myself, if I don't fight a battle, I will definitely not be able to pass, if I take a detour, there are mountains on both sides, at least two days to get to Fengtian, if Fengtian is beaten by myself, two days of hard work, I not only occupy Fengtian, but even the defense is done! When the time comes, we will attack the fortified city, and the losses will probably be not small. The international investigation team is in Xinmin Mansion, in case the news is fake, we rashly hit the railway garrison brigade, it will cause big trouble! ”

"Why don't you ask Governor Chai Du and Commander Kuang?" A staff officer asked.

Gu Mazi shook his head and said: "Governor Chai Du is far away from thousands of mountains and rivers, Commander Kuang is still in Mengjiang, the situation here is unknown, you let them make a decision, isn't it embarrassing for them?" It's a pity that Chief of Staff Gu Weijun is not here, he understands the foreigner's things best! ”

Zhang Shuyang suddenly patted his head and said, "Deputy commander, I remember!" Didn't we send someone to send a manuscript to the newspaper in Mukden a few days ago? Those newspapers all have wireless telegraphy, and if you send a telegram to them and ask them, you will know whether the loss of Mukden is true or false! ”

In order to fight a war of words with himself, Chai Dongliang organized a lot of propaganda talents, and published a lot of news about the Xinminfu bombing in the newspapers, especially specifically pointing out that those dead Mongolians had Russian rubles on their bodies. Gu Mazi also cooperated with Chai Dongliang's propaganda offensive here, and also organized several manuscripts to be sent to the Fengtian newspaper office.

Gu Mazi raised his thumb and praised: "Boy, the brain is very smart, I don't care if the Mongolian princess wants to marry you!" ”

Zhang Shuyang was a little embarrassed by what he said, and lowered his head and smirked.

"Go, send a telegram to several newspapers in Mukden, and ask about the situation in Mukden. Then send a telegram to the Governor and Commander Kwong to inform us of the situation here. Gu Mazi commanded.

The adjutant wrote it down in a notebook, and then immediately sent it to the telegraph room for the telegraph operator to send it out quickly. While waiting for the news, Gu Mazi ordered the whole army to prepare for battle.

The advance army had a total of 6,000 people, and Gu Mazi brought more than 2,000 people to Xinmin Mansion, as well as the same number of people. Not far from them, there was the second garrison of the railway. The army stationed a complete division and six railway garrisons along the South Manchurian Railway. The Hiroshima Division stationed in Kanto Prefecture has quite good combat effectiveness, and although its equipment is not as perverted as that of the advance army, it can be regarded as first-rate in Asia. The second garrison brigade was much worse, with only six artillery pieces and even fewer machine guns in a brigade of 1,200 men, and only one squadron of cavalry, and the rest were infantry. But it was such a local garrison that dared to show off their might and force Gu Mazi to surrender his gun and accept their investigation.

If it weren't for Chai Dongliang's three orders not to provoke a war without authorization, Gu Mazi would have ordered the advance army to serve them even in the pot!

The staff officers repeatedly compared the strength of the two sides, and the strength of the advance army on paper was much stronger than that of the Second Railway Garrison Brigade, and the strength was almost twice that of the commander, and it was basically cavalry, artillery and other technical arms. The advance army had 36 mountain guns of 75 mm caliber, 12 field guns, 30 improved Gaoping dual-purpose Makqin heavy machine guns, and more than 50 mortars of 60 mm to 120 mm caliber. War horses have been replenished in Mongolia and Xinjiang, with a total of 3,600 horses, almost two cavalrymen, more than 600 chariot horses, and more than 400 pack horses.

It is not a problem to defeat the Yue army on the opposite side, the question is how long it will take to defeat them, and the bigger problem is the official road leading from Xinmin Mansion to Mukden, which is surrounded by foothills on both sides and is easily ambushed by the enemy. What if the extremely weak-looking army on the other side was a decoy?

To fight or not to fight, and if so, how to fight? Do you fight now or wait for Kuang Haishan's main forces and the 1st Division from Anqing to converge before fighting? What are the consequences of fighting, and what are the consequences of not fighting? Everyone is thinking about the same thing.

The staff officers and officers of the advance army are basically just graduates, and they have received a short-term military accelerated education, to put it bluntly, they are a group of rookies, and it is certainly not a problem to deal with the Manchu [***] to the hopeless patrol battalion and horse bandits like Wutai, but the enemy in front of them is the Yue army, which has defeated China and Russia in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. It is recognized by the world as the strongest army in Asia.

The advance army did not have the slightest understanding of his real combat effectiveness, and it was just a rumor of hearsay. Everyone had a vague feeling that they should have a bigger conspiracy. Maybe there's a trap ready somewhere, waiting for the rookies of the advance army to crash headlong into it.

As the minutes passed, the pocket watches on everyone's chests ticked, and everyone's hearts were heavy.

"Report!"

"Come in!"

A scout hurriedly ran in: "Report to the deputy commander, the second brigade of the Yuben Railway Garrison two kilometers away has signs of pulling out the camp, and we are still continuing to investigate." ”

"Oh, the Oriental ghost is running away?"

At this moment, the translator hurriedly came in and took a telegram that had not yet dried the ink: "Deputy Commander, the "Mukden Chronicle" run by the Germans called back that Mukden was frantically attacked by the Yue army, the northern and southern camps were broken, the patrol battalion was crushed, and almost escaped without resistance. Now that he is robbing and killing people in Mukden, the newspaper asks the [***] team to enter Mukden as soon as possible to stop his atrocities! ”

"Deputy Commander, the French "Manchurian Tribune" replied that this army is a pack of wild beasts, they are not fighting, but slaughtering, carrying out frenzied slaughter of prisoners and ordinary residents who have laid down their arms, and at the same time they are setting fire to the whole city, and the lives and property of foreign citizens are already threatened, I beg you to protect Mukden immediately and stop the spread of chaos!"

"Deputy commander, "Baishan Daily" called back, the Fengtian Governor's Mansion and the Fengtian Finance Department were captured by the Yue Army, and the life and death of Fengtian Governor Zhao Erxun is unknown!"

It is an unquestionable fact that Fengtian was attacked by the Yueben army, but it is impossible to judge in the telegram how many Yuetian troops attacked Mukden, and these newspapers are not clear at all, only that Fengtian City is full of scattered patrol battalions, and the fire set by himself has spread, and the fire in Fengtian is soaring to the sky.

Gu Mazi lit a cigarette and walked around the house, and after a long time, he threw the cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it with his foot: "I can't wait any longer, inform the troops, leave a battalion to be stationed in Xinmin City, and all the others will go to Fengtian with me!" ”

"Yes!" All the officers and staff officers spoke in unison.

Gu Mazi slammed the general's hat on the table, and scolded angrily: "The soldiers at the head of the fifteen battalions, even if they are all tofu scum, can kill the old sow!" Seven or eight thousand people, they didn't let go of a single shot, watching Xiao Yueben scourge his hometown fathers and elders, is this a man standing and peeing? ”

Zhang Shuyang smiled bitterly: "If it's a new army, no matter how small the number is, it will fight to the death and not retreat, patrol the battalion?" Then forget it! ”

What kind of goods are the patrol battalions, everyone who has participated in the anti-Qing revolution knows very well that the middle school girls of the women's Northern Expedition, the little girl's shouting can scare them out of their souls, and expect them to resist the army? Not only are there no doors, but there are no windows!

When he was in Anqing, He Tianshou more than a dozen cavalry captured more than 1,000 patrol battalions, and looked at the black pressure below to suppress a prisoner, which frightened He Tianshou himself.

"Deputy Commander, Chaidudu Governor has called back!" The interpreter ran in again.

"Read!"

"My brother Gu Nanshan Junjian: Fengtian was attacked by the Yue army, if the situation is true, we should rescue it at all costs, give full play to the advantage of the Jianghuai army's firepower, and give the Yue army a head-on blow??? The younger brother is in Anhui Province, the situation is unknown, and all military operations are not remote, and the elder brother can do it himself??? My brother should use the spirit of the people to raise the prestige of my Jianghuai army in the white mountains and black waters, reinforcements and required materials, and my brother should try his best to plan for his brother, and he will not make my brother overstretched and embarrassed??? Anhui Governor Jianghuai patrol makes Chai Dongliang worship for a hundred years! ”

Gu Mazi was suddenly full of confidence, walked out of the big tent with a high spirit, and roared: "Take my sweaty BMW!" ”

The guards led an extremely strong jujube horse, which was taller than the average Arabian thoroughbred, with a smooth fur like fine brocade, a narrow and light skeleton, rabbit ears, and fat, standing at the front of the jujube red horse, from the top of the bun to the highest point of the buttocks, it was a standard horizontal line.

This is an Akhal-Tekin horse from Russia, that is, the legendary sweat-blooded horse in China, which is only produced in the location of the Tekin tribe in the Akhal Oasis, and the number is only a few thousand. The advance army procured large quantities of supplies, causing competition among Russian merchants, which was a gift from a wealthy Russian merchant to the advance army. A total of one was given, and Gu Mazi planned to transfer it to Chai Dongliang, but this did not prevent him from riding it for a few days to enjoy it.

Gu Mazi rode on a horse, laughed brightly and said: "Riding a sweaty horse and killing Oriental people are two great pleasures in life!" ”

??? Dividing line ???

There are two kinds of military school education in the world, one is called military school education, and the other is called Yueben style military school education. The characteristic of this style of military school education is that it makes people unconditionally trust the words of those who are in charge. If the boss says that the fart is fragrant, the subordinate must believe that the fart is fragrant, and also give full play to his imagination to equate the chemical composition of the fart with the cherry blossoms. Kawamoto Daisa, the captain of the 2nd Garrison Railway Brigade, has a deep understanding of this point. Because he came from this stage, he is now qualified to let his subordinates carefully evaluate his fart as the scent of cherry blossoms.

Kawamoto Daisa was thirty-seven years old, with slender eyes, a face full of wind and dust, and a purple and black face, looking more like a fisherman than a soldier. He was a child of a fisherman's family, a descendant of authentic Hiroshima fishermen, and when he was a teenager, he used to shake a tattered sampan and use a small pitiful net to catch a few small fish in exchange for some moldy rice.

He was supposed to be like his ancestors, fishing at the beach for a lifetime, then marrying a yellow-faced woman and having a child, and then passing on the fishing skills to the next generation, so that the children could continue to fish. Fortunately, he was able to go to school with free education. With diligence and intelligence, he was admitted to the Army Non-commissioned Officer School with excellent grades in all subjects. As a top student of the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, he thought that there was no problem in being admitted to the Continental University. His grades in theory classes were all excellent, but the routine oral examination was eliminated. The examiner asked him a very mentally retarded question: "You have an enemy in front of you, what should you do?" ”

Without thinking, Kawamoto replied: "I will send someone to reconnoitre, and then according to the actual situation, I will draw up a detailed battle plan." ”

This answer is both offensive and defensive, and Kawamoto thinks that he must be able to pass the test, but the examiner slaps the table and scolds him for being a soft egg. It was only later that he learned that the standard answer was: "Surround the enemy, annihilate the enemy." ”

Kawamoto almost fainted, is this the level of the Army University? If the enemy has 10,000 and he only has 100, he will also surround and annihilate? I'm afraid it's almost as if I was annihilated by others! When he had the courage to ask his own question, the instructor of Lu University was furious again: "A true imperial warrior will never care how many enemies there are, let alone scare himself with the strength of the enemy!" This question is to test whether you have the temperament and courage to attack! ”

Kawamoto was unwilling to fail like this, and made a comeback the next year, passing the oral examination, anyway, as long as he tried his best to show that he was not afraid of death, and at the same time would not care about the casualties of the soldiers, he would be qualified. The battle plan assessment stopped him from the school gate of Lu University. According to the tradition of the Lu University examination, no matter what kind of answer the candidate comes up with, the examiner will compete with the candidate. Kawamoto made up his mind to be consistent with the examiner, but he didn't know which tendon was wrong with the examiner that day, saying that he had no opinion and was not suitable to be an officer, and he was eliminated again.

Kawamoto still did not give up, and the third time he applied for the Lu University, he still relied on the combat plan, this time he did not echo the examiner, and the examiner was furious, saying that a stubborn guy like him would definitely destroy the discipline of the army.

Kawamoto was almost bewildered by this extremely nonsensical system of officer selection, but fortunately, the wing commander of his unit took pity on him and gave him a letter of recommendation. With letters of recommendation and outstanding "sword fighting" (bayonet fighting), Kawamoto was finally admitted to Lu University as he wished. Since then, Kawamoto's good luck has come from then on. Lu University students have always been the object of the great officials and nobles, he first married a Lu University instructor's sister as a wife, not only hugged the beauty but also received a large amount of rich dowry, after graduation, relying on the relationship of the eldest brother in the army, all the way to the top, at the age of 35 became a big Zuo. One day, he happened to see a Chinese novel "The Outer History of Confucianism", and when he saw the plot of Fan Jinzhongju, he couldn't help but lament that the students of the Benlu General Election were similar to the Manchu imperial examinations.

In any case, Kawamoto and Fan Jin are considered lucky, after all, they still got in, and their fate has changed dramatically since then.

But the ambitious and nimble Kawamoto of the Army cadet school is dead, replaced by a submissive and fanatical idiot.

To be precise, Kawamoto Daisa is a standardized product of this military academy education.

Therefore, when Kawamoto Daisa received a telegram from the Kanto Prefecture Governor's Office, he immediately ordered the whole brigade to go to Mukden to attack the Beida Battalion of the Fengjun patrol battalion.

And in front of the 2nd Brigade of the Railway Garrison, there were 2,000 main forces of the advance army of Zhengmeng, armed to the teeth, and Kawamoto turned a blind eye to them, completely ignoring the danger of being attacked by the advance army, and devoted himself to reorganizing the troops, so as to enter Mukden from Xinmin Mansion in the shortest possible time. According to the telegram, the Mukden patrol battalion attacked the South Manchurian Railway of the Empire and killed the staff of the South Manchurian Railway.

In Kawamoto's mind, an order is an order, and there is no need to think about whether this matter is reasonable, nor do you need to think about whether it should be executed, let alone the consequences of executing this order.

Author's words: Regarding the entrance examination of this Lu University, it is not made up by Tang Yuan, but it is a historical fact. This kind of education model can also explain why the tactics of the army are very flexible, and the skirmishes are fast and ruthless, while the strategy is lackluster. During World War II, the army was most famous for being first-class soldiers, second-rate officers, third-rate generals, and unpopular commanders.

(To be continued)