"Surprise attacks and quick attacks are combined to strike the enemy like lightning! It can demoralize the enemy under a sudden threat, so that it will collapse immediately at the first huge blow! In this offensive, the revolutionary army showed a very bold tactical use, under the cover of airships and ironclad vehicles, two elite mixed brigades penetrated deep into the enemy's depth, smashed the enemy's headquarters, and paralyzed and panicked the enemy. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The revolutionary army's concentration of airships to attack the enemy's important military targets and inflict losses on the enemy's supplies, morale, and equipment also appeared to be very effective. It is strange that the tactics of a weak country attract the attention of the great powers. ”

Excerpt from German military adviser Kenhausen's "My Six Years in China"

The sound of guns and cannons became one, the smoke of gunpowder and the smell of gunpowder filled the battlefield, and the ironclad car was like an invincible monster, spitting the flames of death all around, roaring, roaring, condescending on the high railway embankment, moving, using machine guns, artillery, slaughtering the soldiers of the Beiyang Army who were scattered and fleeing.

In fact, when the Beiyang Army was bombarded by unprecedented artillery bombardment and airship bombardment, and the majestic and murderous ironclad car suddenly appeared in front of the Beiyang Army, everyone was blindsided. In this way, the ironclad car spat bullets and shells, wantonly slaughtered, and stabbed a hole in the defense line of the Beiyang Army.

And the ironclad vehicles swarmed in from the breakthrough were two mixed brigades from the battle-hardened southwest base area, and their goal was to move forward, to the north, and to storm and rush. The Hunan Army, the Hubei Army, the Jiangxi Army, the Sichuan Army, and the Guizhou Army, more than 20,000 revolutionary coalition troops, which had been gathering momentum for a long time, had been attacking in an all-round and ferocious manner for a long time, and after achieving a breakthrough in the middle, it was not something that the Beiyang Army could stop.

In addition, the artillery was forced to move its position because it was evading aerial bombardment, and it was difficult to enter the battle in a hurry, and several airships were still dropping bombs in the air, and the morale of the army, which had been constantly declining, was finally completely lost. After barely holding on for an hour. The hastily organized defensive line of the Beiyang Army began to completely collapse.

The soldiers who have lost their will to fight are like a group of sheep who have fled in the wilderness, and there are only two words left in their minds: fleeing.

Throw away guns, backpacks, cartridge boxes. Throwing away the burdens on their bodies, as well as the dignity and bravery of the soldiers, the soldiers of the Beiyang Army were like sheep chased by vicious wolves, and they did not even have the courage to turn back, and fled north in panic. Behind him were the soldiers of the revolutionary army who were in pursuit, the constant sound of gunfire, the shining bayonets dripping with blood, and the shouts of killing that shook the four wilds.

Defeated, it's over. Wang Zhanyuan, under the protection of several guards, fled to the north, and his heart kept lamenting. From time to time, the defeated soldiers with fast legs passed by, but no one paid any attention to him as an assistant.

The situation changed greatly, and the revolutionary army used this time to strengthen its training and organization, replenish enough ammunition, and finally launched a fierce offensive after luring the enemy into depth.

And the Beiyang Army did slack off a little during this time. Moreover, Feng Guozhang's first army still feinted, and he did not expect to be attacked violently. The fortifications were not well built and were not strong. The sudden appearance of the airship also made the Beiyang Army extremely uncomfortable, and the supply was also intermittent because of the bombing of Xiaogan and the destruction of the railway from Xiaogan to Wushengguan. And the originally superior artillery was either destroyed by airships, or forced to frequently shift positions, making it difficult to form group fire in a short time.

these cases. As the generals of the vanguard, Wang Zhanyuan and Chen Guangyuan did not report to Feng Guozhang, but the order they received was still to enter Wuchang. It's ridiculous, I am burdened by the false name of the first strong army, and I don't know my confidant. Well, I don't even know my own strength.

Trench warfare, air raid warfare, harassment warfare, ironclad vehicle impact warfare, psychological propaganda warfare, and land-air coordinated warfare are very unfamiliar to the Beiyang Army. The first strong army, bullshit! The neat and orderly movements in the drill, coupled with the well-equipped and fierce artillery fire, are these enough alone? Wang Zhanyuan walked numbly under his feet, but this question couldn't help but arise in his mind.

Of course, the theory that weapons win is not true; And only the spirit wins, and it is not comprehensive. The criterion for a strong army should be complete in both aspects, and the elite troops invested by the revolutionary army should be more superior in spirit and will. To put it simply, the middle- and lower-ranking officers who are for their ideals and beliefs are like wolves and tigers, and the soldiers below are usually brave and fearless.

At this time, Feng Guozhang of Xiaogan was like an ant on a hot pot, pacing around the headquarters. The sudden interruption of contact with the front line, and the fact that it had not been restored for a long time, made it impossible for him to figure out what the battle situation was at the front line, so he could only send cavalry to inquire about the news, and ordered his Beiyang Army to step up its guard.

Xiaogan, as the base camp of the First Army of the Qing Army, of course, did not let go of this goal by the airship of the revolutionary army. The first air raid blew up the baggage warehouse; The second was a night sneak attack, which caused great confusion in the barracks, which had no concept of light control at all; The third time he got accurate information and carried out a beheading operation on Feng Guozhang's headquarters, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful, but it also killed and injured many officers, which made him personally feel the difficulties of the front-line officers and soldiers.

The threat was not only from the air, but also the harassment and attacks of several small armed groups also caused Feng Guozhang a great headache, and he had to spare some men to ensure the railway and ensure the smooth supply line of the army. However, the railway from Xiaogan to Wushengguan was frequently blown up, and the railway workers who were transferred were unable to repair it, which seriously affected the combat capability of the First Army.

Is this how the battle is fought? In the past few days, Feng Guozhang has been thinking about this problem non-stop. Heaven and earth, everywhere, he has never seen or heard of such a mode of warfare, but the pressure on his own side is real. Heavy artillery, can the transfer of heavy artillery, which only the Praetorian Guard is equipped with, turn the tide of the war? I am afraid that the threat in the air is enough to make the heavy artillery useless, and he has tried his best to deal with it, but he has not thought of a countermeasure.

The most frustrating thing in war is to see the enemy, but not to fight. Feng Guozhang walked out of the headquarters and took a deep breath of fresh air, trying to stabilize his emotions. Fearing the bombing, his headquarters had moved out of Xiaogan and was now in the woods on a small hillside outside the city.

The old marshal certainly did not believe these situations, and while he was focused on peace talks and preparing to accept the presidency, he did not know that the strength and morale of both sides of the war had changed. Feng Guozhang rubbed his hands and looked to the south, what kind of new weapons did the revolutionary army not come up with. This war has changed from a flat to a three-dimensional, and some of us underestimate the enemy, some are negligent, and some are even outdated.

A sudden puff of black smoke rose in the distance, and it was getting closer. That's the railway line. It should be a train, a train from the south, Feng Guozhang was a little puzzled. But before he could think too much, a shrill whistle sounded from the wooden watchtower built for air defense. Airship, damn airship again.

Feng Guozhang stretched out his hand to take the telescope in the hand of a staff officer who hurriedly walked out of the command headquarters, and looked at the sky.

The three airships were flying along the railway towards Xiaogan at a very fast speed, and with the sharp whistle sounding everywhere, the Beiyang Army began to hide and hide, and several bombings also gave them some experience in air defense.

Suddenly the sound of cannon fired. This was followed by a dense fire of machine guns, which, judging by the black smoke emitted from the train, slowed down, but it was there that fierce battles seemed to break out.

"What's going on?" Feng Guozhang stretched out his hand and pointed and said sharply: "Go and see it immediately." ”

Without waiting for the staff officer who had gone to inspect the situation to come back and report, an officer with a bloody face rushed over with the support of several guards. Hoarsely reported: "Lord Commander, the mark is Zhou Meng of the cavalry team." Suddenly attacked by the rebels in front—"

"How many enemies are there?" Feng Guozhang was taken aback, interrupted Zhou Meng's words, and asked directly.

"Well, it's a train, oh, it's all a train made of iron plates. There's a machine gun in there, there's artillery—" Zhou Meng described, gesturing.

Feng Guozhang frowned, and suddenly shouted, "Ironclad car? What you see is an ironclad car—" As if he had thought of something, Huo Ran turned his head and stared in the direction of the gunfire.

………………

No matter what the outside world says. It is a simple fact that Feng Guozhang and his First Army were defeated. Defeated by the shock of ironclad cars and airships, defeated by the strong attack of the two most capable brigades of the revolutionary army, defeated by the artillery bombardment of the revolutionary army that was rapidly reinforced through the railway line, and defeated by the guns of the revolutionary army that fought back with all their might.

However, before retreating, he hastily sent a telegram describing the general situation and blew up a section of railroad to block the ironclad cars. Even so, in the fierce pursuit of the revolutionary army and the continuous attacks of small armed forces, the Beiyang Army still suffered heavy losses and had to withdraw from Hubei and hold on to Xinyang, Henan.

The Beiyang Army is the strongest, at least nominally the strongest army in China, and the impact of its defeat is extremely shocking, and it affects the situation in various places. For the revolutionary army, it is a good medicine to boost the morale of the army.

In modern China, the technical level of the armed forces is almost at a relatively low level, and the difference in combat effectiveness brought about by each other's ability to organize and mobilize and the individual spirit of soldiers is far greater than other factors.

The Beiyang Army was born out of the Qing Dynasty, and its organizational and mobilization capabilities were still at the level of relying on the personal prestige of the commander and the mutual interests of officers of different ranks. It can be said that except for training and equipment, it has not changed much substantially compared to Zeng Guofan's Hunan army.

In other words, there are many old-fashioned stubborn diseases in the Beiyang Army, and they lack military spirit. An army that is sustained by money and interests and fights for no reason cannot fight a tough and vicious battle.

Of course, the Beiyang Army was the best in China at that time in terms of equipment and drills, except for the lack of actual combat experience. But the Beiyang Army also has its fatal weakness, this is because Yuan Shikai appoints private individuals, and the generals mostly use graduates of the Beiyang Military Academy, such as Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, etc. However, the quality of training in the military academy is not high, and the military skills education is very rigid.

"All coaching methods and command methods are based on the formula, and they cannot be melted in the chest and applied to the brain." The students who were taught "were very lacking in general knowledge and knowledge of the world, and as for the imagination and spirit of attacking the enemy, they were unheard of, and they did not know what was going on." The biggest flaw of this sincerity is the regret of the Beiyang Army. ”

In addition, the military discipline of the Beiyang Army, although there is no record of disturbing the people and looting, from vigor to decadence, the speed of corruption of the Beiyang Army is also very fast. The most critical reason for this is Yuan Shikai's pragmatic approach to enforcing military discipline.

For example, Yuan Shikai's henchman Ruan Zhongshu is not only lustful, but also has many bad habits, and only goes to work at three o'clock in the afternoon every day, but Yuan trusts him; Then there is a close confidant Lu Jianzhang, who was an artillery pipe band during military training at the small station, and often smoked opium, and his direct boss Duan Qirui admonished him many times, but he never changed. With the connivance of Yuan Shikai, Lu Jianzhang not only went unpunished, but was later promoted to the assistant commander of the sixth town.

Nepotism, rewards and punishments are determined by relatives, military regulations and laws are only determined by people, and Yuan Shikai is not worthy of being the head of state. This is also the reason why Chen Wenqiang looks down on Lao Yuan more and more, and does not want to give up the power of the government more and more.

Of course, the strength of the army is relative, and those who can overwhelm the Beiyang Army in terms of weaponry and spiritual will are the old troops pulled out from the southwestern base areas. The armies of the other provinces still need to be improved, but they can show some momentum if they fight with the wind.

…………

Tong, the door was pushed open, Yang Shiqi hurriedly walked in, holding a telegram in his hand, and saw Zhu Erdian in the house, and he didn't know whether to say the content of the telegram for a while.

Zhu Erdian smiled disappreciatively, put on his top hat, and said goodbye to Yuan Shikai. After talking about everything, he was no longer optimistic about Yuan Shikai, but when he parted, he still said very meaningfully: "Old friend, maybe it's a good choice to judge the situation." It's better to give in while still having some strength than to beg for nothing. ”

Yuan Shikai absentmindedly sent Zhu Erdian away, turned around and returned to the house, and asked anxiously, "Xingcheng, what's wrong?" ”

"The Hubei Revolutionary Army suddenly launched an offensive, and due to the use of ironclad vehicles, the First Army was caught off guard and retreated one after another, and Xiaogan was lost." As he spoke, Yang Shiqi stretched out the telegram in his hand to Yuan Shikai.

"Ironclad car?" Yuan Shikai was taken aback, took the telegram, and looked at it carefully, the telegram was not long, and the narrative was incomplete, and it seemed that even Feng Guozhang, who was fighting, did not fully understand what the situation was. He knew that the strength of the revolutionary army was constantly increasing, but he still believed that in a short period of time, the well-trained Beiyang Army would be able to withstand the attack of the patchwork revolutionary army. And the somewhat panicked tone in the telegram made Yuan Shikai feel bad, could it be that the morale of the army really dropped so seriously as Feng Guozhang said?

"Send a telegram asking for details." Yuan Shikai threw the telegram on the table, and said a little angrily: "How many troops does the enemy have, and he panicked without even figuring out the basic situation, is Feng Guozhang still a soldier?" ”

……………… (To be continued.) )