Yanjing, Jurentang, the Supreme Command of the Republic of China.

The Supreme Command of the Republic of China is located at the former site of the Generalissimo of the Navy and Army, and the Generalissimo Generalissimo's Office is a product of the Yuan Shikai era, and this time in order to unify and coordinate the forces of all walks of life in the country to deal with the invasion of Yuben, at the suggestion of Yang Shuoming and Cai Yi, the Republic of China Political Axe changed this place to the Supreme Command, and the combat command center was also located here.

The Supreme High Command included not only the senior generals of the War Department, the Navy Department, and the General Staff, but also some of the principal officials of China's political axe, including the ministers of various departments.

At this time, in the center of the operational command hall of the Supreme Command, there was a huge map, which was covered with various small labels indicating the military deployment of the warring sides. In the surrounding area, there are communication rooms, in front of the radio stations, officers wearing headphones are constantly busy, from time to time news comes, an officer in front of the microphone loudly announced.

"The 'Minsheng' number is calling! The 1st Combat Squadron has successfully passed through the Tsushima Strait! Nothing to lose! ”

Hearing an officer's report, some officers in the combat command hall applauded happily, Zhang Xiaozhun, Cai Yi, and Yang Shuoming glanced at each other, Zhang Xiaozhun's face was a look of relief, Cai Yi's eyes flashed, and Yang Shuoming was still as calm as usual, as if he had known that this would be the result.

"Didn't you run into a warship?" President Feng Guozhang, who had just arrived, asked with some anxiety.

"The warship didn't dare to fight us, and ran away after a few shots." Yang Shuoming took a copy of the telegram, looked at it, and handed it to Feng Guozhang.

After reading the telegram, Feng Guozhang's anxiety was not completely eliminated, "This is just an old ship, and it is possible to escape without a fight, what if I run into my capital ship?" I've heard that my capital ships have increased again. ”

Seeing Feng Guozhang's worried appearance, Yang Shuoming knew that in the heart of this Beiyang general, the negative impact of the First Sino-Japanese War had not been completely eliminated, and what he had to do now was to strengthen his determination to fight this battle.

"President, please look."

Yang Shuoming took Feng Guozhang and others to a square table covered with a huge map, and said: "In this European war, the Navy was unwilling to go all out, and the result was a lot of losses, not counting some old ships, and the main ships it lost were 'Tsukuba', 'Kurama', and 'Ibuki'. However, although the country made all-out efforts to rush the work, by the end of last year, only four battleships had been built, namely 'Nagato,' 'Mutsu,' 'Kaga,' and 'Tosa,' but these four ships had not yet completed their training and could not participate in the battle. ”

Yang Shuoming said, pointing to the direction of the Port of Arthur on the map, "For our country, the main ones that can pose a threat are the four battleships 'Fuso', 'Yamashiro', 'Ise', and 'Yuxiang' and the four battlecruisers 'Kong', 'Hiei', 'Bangna', and 'Kirishima', of which the two ships 'Fuso' and 'Yamashiro' have been stationed in Lushun for a long time to deter our country, and the remaining six ships are stationed in the mainland. In order to prevent the invasion of our country and before the end of the war in Europe, the Admiralty first transferred six 'Glorious' class battlecruisers back to China as a precautionary measure, and in order to give full play to its combat strength after the battlefleet returned home, the Admiralty reorganized all the capital ships and their direct frigates and set up three combat fleets, each with two battle cruisers and two battleships as the core, plus cruisers and destroyers and other direct frigates to form a battle group. In this way, each battle group has the ability to attack and defend, and can fight both alone and in a concentrated fleet decisive battle. Originally, it was arranged that the 1st Operational Detachment would be stationed in Dagu to defend the Beijing Division to prevent a surprise attack by the Lushunkou Naval Detachment, the 2nd Operational Detachment would be stationed in Qingdao, and the 3rd Detachment would be stationed in Shanghai to deter the mainland. The battlecruiser "Glorious" of the 1st Operational Detachment escorted the army to Vladivostok and stationed there in the harbor, because the Vladivostok Army suddenly attacked our troops, the 1st Operational Detachment escorted reinforcements to depart, and the 2nd Operational Detachment has now moved to Dagu and is ready to cooperate with the submarine force and the 1st Fleet in Vladivostok to blockade the coast of Vladivostok. If the main force of this fleet is all out, we can concentrate the second and third fleets to fight a decisive battle. If he attacks our coast with a single ship, our fleet can also arrest him. ”

Hearing Yang Shuoming say this, the worry on Feng Guozhangzhang's face gradually faded.

"And this time, our navy will cooperate with the submarine force with the surface fleet to carry out a naval blockade and break diplomatic relations on the mainland of the country, and force the country to submit to a truce." Yang Shuoming continued.

"Naval blockade and disruptive operations?" Feng Guozhang, who was born in the Beiyang Army, was not very familiar with naval affairs, and he was obviously even more unfamiliar with these new terms spoken by Yang Shuoming.

But for these terms, the surrounding admirals are obviously very familiar.

"That's right! Naval blockade and diplomatic breakdown! Yang Shuoming's face showed a slightly cruel smile and said, "It is said that this is an island country, and this kind of battle is perfect for them!" ”

Yang Shuoming explained to Feng Guozhang the situation of the naval blockade and the operation to break diplomatic relations, and Feng Guozhang seemed very pleased after listening to it.

"This is the weakness of the island country without depth, this is the death hole of the book, as long as we can get the point, they don't want to win." Yang Shuoming said.

As a Beiyang warlord like Duan Qirui, who fought the "21st Article" when he was forced to sign the "21st Article" to China in the past year, Feng Guozhang did not lack blood in his bones, if the statement on the question of whether to go to war in the presidential palace a few days ago was still a little contrived, now he can be said to have really made up his mind

"Vladivostok was a deliberate provocation by the Tsushima Army, and this time in the Tsushima Strait, the Navy fired artillery first, which shows that the military has decided to put aside the political axe and insist on going its own way. This big war is inevitable, and from now on, we can no longer have any illusions. Feng Guozhang said, "Although the political axe has not yet declared war on Yu Ben, this is only a diplomatic strategy, and the whole army should be determined to win and fight to the death with the Japanese invaders!" ”

The reason why Feng Guozhang really made up his mind this time is because he has already seen the hope of victory from now on.

In the first world-wide war in human history, which had just ended, the British Empire, which once dominated the seven seas, was almost defeated by Germany's "unrestricted submarine warfare" and the sabotage combat attacks of surface ships. The cruel and ruthless fact that Germany's maritime operations and submarine warfare exposed the weakness of the British island nation have attracted the attention and study of various experts.

With regard to the gains and losses of the previous naval battles in World War I, the top leaders of the Chinese side also seriously pondered and summed up the hypothesis that war between China and Japan was likely to break out again. The Chinese General Staff and the Admiralty have conducted internal exercises on more than one occasion, and finally came to the conclusion that the best way to defeat the Yueben archipelago is to strangle the sea transportation line of the Yueben Islands by combining surface assault warfare with submarine strangulation.

The current deployment of the Chinese Navy against the Yueben Navy is based on this assumption.

At this time, with the busy figures of the officers in the combat command hall, the prelude to an unprecedented major war between China and the two countries slowly opened.

March 26, 1921, Shanhaiguan.

George in a crisp military uniform? Smith? Barton walked down the quaint alley with his head held high, and he was about to go to the restaurant he liked to go to.

When he came to China, he was already deeply fascinated by Chinese food culture.

For Patton, however, what he misses more is the idea of fighting in Europe with the Chinese whom he had previously despised.

The end of the war was a nightmare for a soldier who believed to be reincarnated from many famous and warlike military roles of different eras, such as the Carthaginian commander Hannibal, the Roman legionaries, the marshals of Napoleon, the hoplites of ancient Greece, the cavalry of the Eastern Roman general Belisarius, and the Stuart highlanders.

Barton was born in San Gabriel, Southern California, the son of George ? Smith? Patton was a district attorney who graduated from the Virginia Military Academy in 1877. Many of Patton's family members have fought in important wars in American history, and many have died in the line of duty for their country. Influenced by his family environment, Patton admired General "Stonewall" Jackson, a Confederate general during the Civil War, and many members of the Patton family served under Jackson. These men were brave, well-commanded, confident, and promising, and became a model for Patton to follow.

Patton was admitted to the Virginia Military Academy in 1903 and later entered West Point, graduating in 1909, and in December 1911, Patton was transferred to the U.S. Army General Staff. After the United States participated in World War I, Patton went to France with Pershing as the adjutant of General Pershing, in France, Patton was deeply attracted by the tank troops in the Chinese [***] team, and he took the initiative to ask to participate in the war with the Chinese [***] team, and Patton performed bravely in the battle, not only won the "Distinguished Service Cross" issued by the American political axe and the "White Eagle Medal" issued by the Chinese political axe, but also gained a lot of useful experience. This laid the foundation for Patton, who was later responsible for forming and training the first tank unit of the U.S. Army. Patton later served as commander of this tank unit, commanding it in battle against the Germans.

Patton's surname was irritable and irritable, but he was brave and tenacious in battle, decisive in command, and full of offensive spirit, and won unanimous praise from the officers and men of the Chinese and American tank units. Patton loved war, and he believed that his special and limited talents were destined to dedicate his life to it. As a professional soldier, Patton has no hypocritical humility, he has abundant strength and superhuman energy, and greatly appreciates the belief in traditional Chinese culture that "it is better to be broken than to be whole", which is also one of the important reasons why he has won the favor of his Chinese colleagues.

Barton came to the restaurant, found a table and sat down, the shiny medal he wore on his chest soon attracted the attention of the people around him, the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper saw him, and immediately greeted him with a smile on their faces, and before he could tell him, the shopkeeper brought his favorite mutton steamed bun himself.

Barton was munching on his favorite meal when the chatter of the diners at the next table caught his attention.

"You know what? It's going to be a war again, and I heard that I burned and looted in Vladivostok, killing many of us, and now the political axe is solemnly negotiating with the party. ”

"Vladivostok? That place was originally ours in China, and the Great Qing Kingdom let Lao Maozi rob it at that time, and I'm afraid that I'm worried about it again, so this happened, right? ”

"It's hard to say, since the time of the Great Qing Dynasty, I have been thinking about our place in China, from the beginning of the first Wu year to the present, when do you say it has stopped? Not to mention, that time he forced Yuan Datou to sign the 'Twenty-one Articles', but Yuan Datou refused, and said that he called directly! Thanks to the unity of our Chinese hearts at that time, we beat them back, but their wolf ambition will not be just gone, I estimate that this matter, ten ** like you said! ”

"It is said that my heart is not dead, and the political axe is not unknown, and it is estimated that I am now deploying troops."

Because of his long time with the Chinese, although Barton's Mandarin is very blunt, there is no problem at all in listening. When he heard the words of the diners, his heart couldn't help but move.

At this time, there was a strange rolling sound on the street, and Patton put down his chopsticks and looked out the window, and immediately saw the figure of a tank.

The tank's tracks pressed over the bluestone pavement, slowly moving forward, and a lieutenant [***] officer leaned out of the turret, shouting something in annoyance, and Barton couldn't help but shake his head when he saw several children running around the tank curiously.

Barton put down the empty bowl, placed a large dollar bill on the table, and then got up and walked briskly into the street with a few adults, picking up the children from the tank.

"Hey! Big Joe! Why are you here? The lieutenant [***] officer apparently recognized Patton, motioned for the tank to stop, and greeted Patton loudly.

Barton let go of the urchin boy in his arms, looked at the familiar lieutenant in some surprise, and showed an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember who you are."

He couldn't remember where he had seen the other man, but the other party knew his nickname, and it was apparently a comrade-in-arms who had fought side by side on the battlefields of Europe.

"You're such a noble person!" The lieutenant [***] officer laughed, "The time you knocked on the edge of my tank with an iron rod, and you hurt your stomach, or did I bandage the wound for you?" ”

Patton remembered the time when he walked through the position in a hail of bullets to ask for help from the Chinese tanks, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

That time in St. Miel, Patton's headquarters was ambushed by the German infantry assault team, the tank was destroyed, and it fell into encirclement. Patton himself, however, was seriously wounded and nearly killed when he was hit in the abdomen by a German bullet when he struck the tank hull with an iron rod to send a signal to the other side.

"My God, your surname is Zhao! I've always wanted to know your name! Patton knew the identity of the other party, and couldn't help but jump into the tank in surprise and smack the other party's shoulder affectionately, "I looked for you later!" You guy, you took me to the hospital without even saying my name, and it disappeared like air! ”

"My name is Zhao Yu, Qiao, and I have just been transferred to the First Army." Officer Zhong [***] smiled and stretched out his hand and shook it vigorously with Barton, "It's a pleasure to see you here." ”

"Why are you here? Zhao? Patton remembered what he had just heard from the Chinese people and immediately asked.

"What? Don't you know? We have just been given the order to assemble here. There's something wrong with my tank, no, it's just been fixed. Zhao Yu looked at the medal on Patton's chest, as if he had guessed something, and said, "I heard that many troops are coming." By the way, are you going back to China? Then you probably don't know. ”

"Isn't the war over? Why assemble? Patton was keenly aware of something and immediately asked.

"The war of you whites is over, but the war of our yellows has begun." Zhao Yu's gaze began to become solemn, "I am going to beat us again, we will drive them all out of China this time!" ”

"Damn it!" When Barton heard the news, he couldn't help but curse indignantly.

"When are you going back? Joe? Zhao Yu said with some regret, "It's a pity that I can't send you." ”

"It's okay," Patton felt as if his blood was starting to burn again, listening to the words of his Chinese comrades-in-arms, "I was supposed to wait until the end of the vacation and go back to the United States." But I don't think I'm going back for a while. ”

"You're not going back? Why? Zhao Yu asked with some surprise.

"I'm going to be with all of you!" "I'm going to help you get me out of China!" ”

"That's great!"

Listening to Patton's answer, a flash of surprise flashed in Zhao Yu's eyes, but it quickly dimmed again, "However, I think the American political axe probably won't agree." ”

"Then I'll join the [***] team as a volunteer!" Patton, who had made up his mind, patted Zhao Yu's hand and jumped off the tank, "You get busy first!" My friend! I need some time to get through some formalities, and then I'll go to you! ”

At this time, Patton did not know that in future battles, he would meet more American "volunteers" like him.

On April 1, 1921, aroused by the righteous indignation of the barbaric invasion of China, a large number of US officers and soldiers who had returned from the European battlefield and transferred to the reserve formed the "American Volunteers for China" (also known as the American Column) to support the Chinese [***] team in resisting the invasion.

(To be continued)