Compared with the horsetail industrial system under the control of Qin Kai, the industrialization process carried out by Japan's silk reeling factories and silk factories ignores some sadness, and the French silk reeling machines and looms introduced in the early years have long been steam-powered, but based on Japan's industrial base at that time, they found that the use of steam power was very difficult to maintain, and often the entire factory could not be started because of the problems of the steam engine.

So that there are many factories to dismantle the steam power, changed to a very primitive water conservancy transmission, although the power is poor, but the stability of the dìng greatly improved, but in the past three or four years, the Japanese have made a lot of progress in the maintenance of steam power, such as the Sumitomo chaebol under the silk reeling factory, the use of Italy to purchase the four-line single-strand silk reeling machine qì, has all used steam power.

In these large Japanese factories, engineers from the producing countries were mainly hired, and for these foreign technicians the Japanese were hired at a great price, and Du Ping, as a comprador of a foreign firm, accompanied Smith to visit a silk reeling factory owned by the Sumitomo Zaibatsu, of course, in the name of buying raw silk.

In this era, European merchants were naturally welcome to purchase silk reeling factories that were almost entirely exported. But what surprised Du Ping was not the European technicians hired here, but a group of workers from China, who were found to be mainly from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai.

The Japanese consortium found that from the Chinese factories that have completed the technological enlightenment, they can find skilled workers who are willing to come to Japan to work, and the skills mastered by these skilled workers, although they cannot be compared with the engineers hired from Europe, but they have other advantages, for example, they are more able to endure hardships, they are far more diligent than European technicians, they can teach technology with Oriental thinking, and the commission is far lower than those European technicians

The only difficulty is that Chinese workers have a great psychological barrier to staying away from their homeland, and few are willing to leave their homeland, after all, even in the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, they have a salary that can make ends meet, and Du Ping observes that the arrival of Chinese workers played a very key role in the very primitive Japanese industry of this era.

After discovering this problem, he immediately sent someone to investigate the Kobe Iron Works that Instructor Qin had special care for, since Crabber became the owner of Kobe Iron Works, the old manager Hagen began to take a back seat, only responsible for internal management, and Crabber immediately played his adventurer nature, this British-funded small shipyard that only produced 600 tons of iron-hulled wooden ships - Kobe Iron Works submitted an order to the Japanese Admiralty for the production of iron-hulled warships.

In view of the current situation in Japan, the last shelling of Japanese ports by the Chinese Nanyang Navy Division not only destroyed the Sasebo military port and a large number of large ports, but what was even worse was that the newly developed Nagasaki Shipyard and Kobe Shipyard were also completely baptized with artillery fire.

The Minister of the Navy, Saigo Tomichi, was very interested in the shipyard that could provide warships for the navy under Japan's current conditions, and he was surprised that the shipyard was going to build new ships with iron hulls, and that Japan's relations with the British Empire were at a delicate stage, and Japan urgently needed the support of the world's largest naval power.

A month ago, after bargaining, the British government agreed for the first time to Japan's issuance of Japanese government bonds in the British bond market, and although the annual yield of 7 Japanese government bonds is slightly higher than other bonds, sales have been dismal due to Japan's recent defeat, but with the support of the British government, the first 5 million yen has now been raised for Japan.

According to the agreement between the two sides, Japan had to use the money to invest in the British market, but in return, the British generously agreed to order warships at the famous Vickers shipyard, and after a field visit, with reference to the amount of Japanese national debt, they were initially ready to order two British ironclads of the latest model and two armored cruisers, but the cost had exceeded the budget of 5 million yen.

Yagyu Jubei Daisa, who was sent to negotiate, immediately telegraphed to the Minister of the Navy, Saigo Tomichi, that the average cost of the two new ironclad ships was 1.6 million yen, and the cost of the two armored cruisers was also more than 1 million yen.

Now that he had heard that the British-run shipyard was able to provide iron-hulled warships for the Japanese army in Kobe, he immediately assigned his powerful confidant and military staff officer Hidesashi Yoshida to inspect the situation of the Kobe Iron Works Works, and it was clear that the shipyard, which was not large in scale and had 10 European skilled workers, 30 Chinese workers, and 450 Japanese workers, was quickly approved by Yoshida Hide.

At this time, the adventurer Kraber was already embarking on another of his adventures, and after completing the recent business of a 600-ton merchant ship in Tsukaki, he immediately ordered materials from Europe for the manufacture of all-steel warships.

The Chinese workers in the factory, but earlier Crabbert went to Shanghai to recruit, and even some of them were dug directly from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, originally he hoped to recruit some workers from the Jiangnan Shipyard or Mawei Shipyard, but the result was very unexpected, the Jiangnan Shipyard is said to have been demolished and merged by the Qing Dynasty government, and there is nowhere to find it.

As for the Mawei Shipyard, the people he sent out were strictly monitored as soon as they went ashore, not to mention digging the foot of the wall over there, or squatting at the foot of the wall There were a few secret sentinels staring at it, and there was no way to dig people, so he had to invite these 30 workers who had built ships from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

Now, although the all-steel battleships in the new project cannot be built because the ordered materials have not arrived, these workers have to pay salaries, especially those Chinese workers, whose salaries are not low, so he has made a very careful plan for Japanese workers to start producing parts for the new ships under the guidance of Chinese technicians, and the whole shipyard is busy.

After returning to the Admiralty, Yoshida reported on the situation of the ironworks, and Saigo was very excited, this was the only shipyard in Japan that could produce high-quality warships, and he immediately took the initiative to buy the new ship from Crabber, but only if it was delivered within a year.

Crabber was naturally overjoyed after getting the order, they were struggling in Japan for the foreign-funded shipyards finally got the order from the Japanese government, which was definitely of epoch-making significance for the Kobe Iron Works Office, and he hurriedly signed the order, and when he left, he didn't notice a sneer on the corner of the mouth of the Admiralty Yoshida Shaozo, who was in charge of signing the contract.

On September 2, 1882, more than half a month after the confrontation between Yongan and the French Expeditionary Force, just as Cen Yuying, the commander of the Qing Army's Western Road, was preparing for a decisive battle, the French Seventh Brigade in front of the battle took advantage of the night to retreat quietly.

After waiting for a day by the Lujiang River, the French Seventh Brigade retreated to the core area west of the Lujiang River and north of the Red River to garrison Fushou City.

Liu Yongfu, the Ministry of Protector of the Five Associations, took over the defense of the ferry, and soon they got Zhou Ruidong's order to go south at full speed and garrison Lu'erzhuang, 15 miles east of Hanoi Province, and the army hurried and hurried, and finally arrived at Lu'erzhuang on September 5, the situation here was very different from what they imagined.

Luerzhuang is separated by the Songdong River, the opposite bank belongs to the jurisdiction of Bac Ninh, and the other side is separated by the Red River, and the opposite bank is the territory of Hanoi Province.

When he arrived here, Liu Yongfu naturally understood what Zhou Ruidong meant, once the Qing army was defeated, Shanxi was still in danger to defend, and Hanoi was almost a flat river, with the combat strength of the Vietnamese indigenous soldiers and the Gui army and the Guangdong army, it was difficult to make a difference, and at that time, it was necessary to use this small fortress to cut off the French offensive along the Songdong River to Zhiling.

Soon, Zhou Ruidong sent a large number of newly trained soldiers from Zhiling, these soldiers had undergone two months of military training, and they happened to be incorporated into the Five Associations to supplement the combat attrition, and what made Liu Yongfu even more excited was that a closed artillery battery was built on the fortress of Luerzhuang, and at the same time 8 120mm rapid-fire guns were transported to strengthen the control of the Songdong River.

After a series of battles in Tongguò fully demonstrated their combat effectiveness, the equipment of the five associations was also greatly reloaded, and the equipment rate of AK02 reached 8 percent, and only some recruits still used Lin Mington's rear equipment during the training period. ,

Just as Cen Yuying was burying his head and rushing to Xuanhua, the war in northern Vietnam finally broke out in full force, and the location of the outbreak was unexpected and reasonable. On 6 September, the French suddenly crossed the Red River from the lower reaches of the Red River, and then attacked Bucheon County northwest of the mountains by land and water.

There is a 300-person Gui army outpost stationed in the local area, this battalion Qian Zong also understands the embarrassment of his position, this is undoubtedly the front line now, but the French forward has already crossed this place on the opposite bank, if the other side breaks through the Lujiang River, Heyue line, then it is possible to go straight to Yong'an, Fu'an and other big cities.

If the French can't break through there, then their battalion always understands that they are on the bar, so they send out the sentry scouts to investigate the men and horses 24 hours a day, which saved his life.

Hearing that the French army is countless, is constantly crossing the river, the Qing army defending Fuchuan County was the first to slip, at noon, the downstream Shanxi received the news that Fuchuan was occupied by the French army, at this time Shanxi city and outside the city of Qing army camp stationed a large number of soldiers and horses, the Guangdong army general Wu Kui led 4000 troops stationed in Shanxi City, and the general Wang Ze led 2000 troops stationed on the left slope of the hill for each other's horns.

And He Bang, the commander of the Gui army, with his headquarters, 5,000 soldiers and horses were stationed in the camp one mile behind the Guangdong army, and the Shanxi fort built on the river is now fortified by a group of 2,000 soldiers and horses led by Xu Yanxu, the commander of the Gui army......

In the end of the more than half a year of garrisoning in Shanxi, the Cantonese army erected dozens of artillery pieces on the city tower under the supervision of the general Wu Kui, and on the left side of the hill was built various fortifications to figure out with trenches, but now the situation has changed somewhat, the main direction of attack of the French turned out to be land, which is somewhat unexpected, but the side of the city tower is also arranged with artillery, but it can also provide fire support for the position of the Cantonese army.

In the early morning of the second day, a French company recklessly rushed into the defense line of the Cantonese army by land, and after receiving the fire, the two Cantonese armies each sent a death squad of 500 people, with the support of guns and guns, to break through the French defense, and after killing more than 100 people, the remaining French army of less than a dozen people fled.

In the face of this sudden victory, the Cantonese army was obviously also extremely excited, and the two generals immediately pondered how to show their merits to the governor, but unexpectedly, half an hour later, the earth-shattering sound of artillery came from the front of the position, and the main force of the French expeditionary force rushed to the outside of Shaanxi, and the battle was about to break out.

In the fog of the early morning, the French launched an attack on the Qing army's position with a large phalanx of three battalions, and when the Qing army was ready to counterattack, it was immediately attacked by the French field artillery, and what made the Qing army completely unable to resist was the Habekais machine gun position temporarily built by the French in front of the position, this kind of machine gun with a range of two kilometers, tilting dozens of two-pound to three-pound shells per second, immediately completely suppressed the artillery arranged by the Cantonese army.

Although the Cantonese army desperately resisted, but completely unable to resist the infantry platoon charge of the three battalions of the French army, the front-loading rifles, guns, and guns equipped by the Qing soldiers were completely unable to form an effective firepower network, and several bulky Green guns just opened fire, they were overturned by the opponent's Haqikais machine guns, and the fierce battle lasted for more than an hour, and at 9 o'clock in the morning, the Cantonese army outside the city finally collapsed, and they crossed the positions they had built and rushed into the city of Shanxi

Wu Kui, who was holding on to the city of Shanxi, could not say anything at this time, and the French gunboats launched an attack on the fort from the Red River at the same time, which surprised him, and the Gui army stationed in the fort escaped from the outer position as soon as the fort was shelled, and he immediately asked his own soldiers to find He Bang, the commander of the Gui army...... As a result, the soldiers brought back a piece of news that made him even more directionless, and Admiral He was missing

Until now, he didn't know how many soldiers and horses the enemy had, and the direction of attack, so he could only stick to the vicinity of the city, and he was expecting friendly troops to support each other, but he didn't expect that as soon as the battle began, the Gui army would show more breath than the dead, neither attacking nor retreating, but just stationed near the large camp behind them...... This is obviously an intention to make yourself cannon fodder

Thinking of this, Wu Kui found Wang Ze, who had just come back from eating, and the two discussed, and also retreated in the city, only sending a small force to dig fortifications at the city gate to block the French army, and at the same time sent a group of soldiers and horses to dig fortifications outside the north of the city, to see the retreat, the battery by the river was stationed with an artillery to protect the **, when seeing the retreat of the Gui army, this artillery did not withdraw, thinking of the secret agreement between the two sides, Wang Ze took 1000 soldiers and horses to prepare to rush over to reinforce it, and he also paid respect. ,

But it is clear that their decision was an afterthought

Behind the French position, Gu Ba had already come to the front of the battle at this time, the Qing army did not know how many soldiers and horses he had brought, he could know everything about the Qing army stationed here, those indigenous spies who had mixed into the local area had already brought back a lot of news, and today's attack on the position of the Cantonese army was also a decision made after rigorous intelligence.

Now seeing that the other party actually took the initiative to retreat the troops near the fort, although he didn't understand why the other party would make such a low-level mistake, he didn't have the slightest idea of letting the other party correct his mistake, and immediately two battalions of soldiers and horses launched an attack on the fort from the rear of the fort in cooperation with the gunboats on the Red River.

Sticking to the fort is the two artillery squads of the first association, the commander is Lu Yi, the sentry commander of the third battalion of the first association, originally thought that with the help of the terrain here can cause trouble to the French, but he didn't expect the Gui army to take the lead in the defense, which made them angry, but now is not the time to scold his mother, Lu Yi immediately decided to implement the arranged retreat plan.

In the distance, Guba saw the infantry battalion slowly approaching the battery, and the opponent's counterattack was also very weak, and soon saw a group of Chinese soldiers fleeing from behind the battery, and the French soldiers in front immediately rushed into the battery, but the next moment, the French soldiers who rushed in shouted something in despair, and then rushed out from inside, but were blocked at the door......

That is, in a breath of time, everyone felt a slight shock to the earth, the French army in the distance and the Qing army on the Shanxi city wall felt a fierce tightness in their hearts, and the guns of the two batteries were fiercely smoky, mixed with all kinds of items, and a few French soldiers who were blocked at the door of the fort flew high, as if they were smashed on the ground in the distance like a cannonball that was fired, and they saw that there was no life.

The French army a little farther away was overturned by the air wave, and it was even more unfortunate that it was directly hit to the ground by all kinds of ** items, the worst thing was the first batch of French soldiers who rushed in, and the high temperature after the explosion immediately evaporated them directly to the world.

The explosion was only an instantaneous time, and the place between the two batteries was completely turned into a scorched black place, the debris that flew out of the explosion was still burning the raging flames, and the remnants of the military uniforms on the corpses of some French soldiers who were killed were also ignited.