Beijing, Ju Ren Tang, 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'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 Japanese invasion, at the suggestion of Yang Shuoming and Cai Yi, the Republic of China Government changed this place to the Supreme Command, and the operational 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 the Chinese government, including the ministers of various departments.

At this time, in the combat command hall of the Supreme Command, in the center of which was a huge map, the east and west were covered with various small labels, marking the military deployment of both sides of the Jiāo war. 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' called the 1st Combat Detachment to successfully pass through the Tsushima Strait without any losses."

Hearing an officer's report, some of the 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 Japanese warship?" President Feng Guozhang, who had just arrived, asked with some anxiety.

"The Japanese warships did not 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 you run into the capital ship of the Japanese?" I've heard that the number of capital ships of the Japanese has 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 Japanese Navy suffered a lot of losses due to its refusal to exert all its strength, not counting some old ships, and its capital ships were mainly 'Tsukushi', 'Kurama', and 'Ibuki'. However, Japan's shipbuilding capacity was limited, and although Japan was making all-out efforts to rush construction, by the end of last year, only four battleships had been built, namely the 'Nagamén', '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 'Hyuga' and the four battlecruisers 'King Kong', 'Hiei', 'Bāng', 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 Japanese mainland. In order to prevent Japan from invading our country, and before the end of the war in Europe, the Admiralty first transferred six 'Glorious' class battlecruisers back to China after consulting with Britain and the United States, and as a precaution, in order to give full play to the combat strength of the battlefleet, the Admiralty reorganized all 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 guard ships 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 should be stationed in Dagu to defend the Beijing Division to prevent a surprise attack by Japanese ships at Arthur Mouth, and that the 2nd Operational Detachment would be stationed in Qingdao and the 3rd Detachment would be stationed in Shanghai to deter the Japanese mainland. The battlecruiser "Glorious" of the 1st Operational Squadron escorted the Army to Vladivostok and stationed it in the harbor, because the Japanese troops in Vladivostok suddenly attacked our troops, the 1st Operational Detachment escorted reinforcements to depart, and the 2nd Operational Detachment has now moved to Dagu to prepare to cooperate with the submarine force and the 1st Fleet in Vladivostok to blockade the Japanese coast. If the main force of the Japanese fleet is all out, we can concentrate the second and third fleets to fight a decisive battle with it. 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 implement a naval blockade and a breaking operation against the Japanese mainland, and force Japan to submit to the armistice." Yang Shuoming continued.

"Naval blockade and breaking jiāo 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.

"Fighting against the naval blockade and breaking jiāo" Yang Shuoming said with a slightly cruel smile on his face, "Japan is an island country, and this kind of battle is perfect for them."

Yang Shuoming explained to Feng Guozhang about the situation of the naval blockade and the battle to break Jiāo, and Feng Guozhang seemed very relieved after listening to it.

"This is the weakness of the island country without depth, this is Japan's death, 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 "Twenty-one Articles" when Japan signed the "Twenty-one Articles" to China that year, Feng Guozhang did not lack blood in his bones, if the statement on the question of whether to start a 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 Japanese Army, and this time in the Tsushima Strait, the Japanese Navy fired first, which shows that the Japanese military has decided to abandon politics 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 government has not yet declared war on Japan, this is only a strategy on the part of the foreign army, and the whole army should be determined to win and fight to the death against 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 sea and submarine warfare had brought out the weakness of the British island nation has attracted the attention and study of various experts.

As for 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 is likely to break out again. The Chinese General Staff and the Admiralty conducted internal exercises on more than one occasion, and finally came to the conclusion that the best way to defeat Japan was to strangle the sea transportation lines of the Japanese archipelago by combining surface assault warfare with submarine strangulation.

And the current deployment of the Chinese Navy against the Japanese Navy is carried out according to 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 Japan slowly opened.

March 26, 1921, Shanhaiguan.

George in a military uniform? Smith? Patton walked through the streets and alleys of the ancient sè and fragrant, and at this time, he was about to go to the restaurant he liked to go to.

In the days since he came to China, he has fallen in love with Chinese food culture.

For Patton, however, what he misses more is the days in Europe and looking forward to fighting the Chinese whom he had previously despised.

The end of the war was a nightmare for a soldier who believed that he was reincarnated from the Carthaginian commander Hannibal, the Roman legionaries, the marshals under Napoleon, the Greek hoplites, the cavalry of the Eastern Roman general Belisarius, the Stuart highlanders, and many other famous and warlike military horns of different eras.

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 an adjutant of General Pershing, in France, Patton was deeply attracted by the tank unit in the squadron, and he took the initiative to ask to participate in the battle with the squadron, and Patton performed bravely in the battle, not only won the "Distinguished Service Cross" issued by the American government and the "White Eagle Medal" issued by the Chinese government, but also gained a lot of useful experience, which laid the foundation for Patton to be responsible for the formation and training of the first tank unit of the United States Army. Patton later served as commander of this tank unit, commanding it in battle against the Germans. ,

Patton was irritable and irritable, but he was brave and tenacious in battle, decisive in command, and full of offensive spirits, which 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 jīng power, 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 arrived at the restaurant, found a table and sat down, the shiny medal he wore in front of him quickly attracted the attention of the people around him, and 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 lamb ròu 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 the Japanese burned and looted in Vladivostok, killing many of us, and now the government is seriously involved with the Japanese side. ”

"Vladivostok? That place was originally our China, and the Great Qing Kingdom let the old man rob it at that time, and now I'm afraid that the Japanese will remember it again, so that's why this happened, right? ”

"It's hard to say, since the time of the Great Qing Dynasty, the Japanese have been thinking about our place in China, from the beginning of the first year to the present, when do you say it has stopped? Far from it, that time bī Yuan Datou signed the 'twenty-one articles', Yuan Datou refused, the Japanese directly called thanks to the unity of our Chinese at that time, stunned to beat them back, but their wolf ambition, will not be just gone, I estimate that this matter, ten ** like you said"

"Japan's heart is not dead, and the government is not unaware, and it is estimated that it is now deploying troops."

Because of his long time with the Chinese, although Patton'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 tracks of the tank pressed over the bluestone road, slowly moving forward, and the body of a lieutenant ** officer half-leaned out of the turret, shouting something in annoyance, Barton saw a few children running around the tank curiously, and couldn't help but shake his head.

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.

Patton let go of the urchin in his arms, looked at the familiar lieutenant in surprise, and smiled apologetically.

"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 are really a noble person, how forgetful" The lieutenant ** officer said with a smile, "You hit the side of my tank with an iron rod that time, and your stomach was injured, or was it the wound I bandaged for you?"

Patton remembered the time he walked through the position in a hail of bullets to find a Chinese tank for help, 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, on the other hand, 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 always wanted to know your name" Patton knew the identity of the other party, and couldn't help jumping into the tank in surprise and patting the other party's shoulder affectionately, "I also looked for you later, you guy, sent me to the hospital without even saying my name, it disappeared like air"

"My name is Zhao Yu, Qiao, and I have just been transferred to the First Army." The lieutenant smiled and stretched out his hand and shook Barton vigorously, "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. My tank has a little máo disease, no, it just got fixed. Zhao Yu looked at the medal that Barton was wearing in front of him, 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, "The Japanese are going to beat us again, we are going to drive them all out of China this time."

"Damn the Japanese" Patton couldn't help but curse indignantly when he heard the news.

"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," Barton said categorically, "I'm going to help you get the Japanese 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 government will probably not agree." ”

"Then I'll join the squadron as a volunteer" Patton, who had made up his mind, patted Zhao Yu's hand and jumped out of the tank, "You get busy first, my friend, I need some time to handle 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, in the indignation of Japan's brutal invasion of China, a large number of American 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 squadron in resisting the Japanese invasion.