In China's Bohai Sea, more than 100 nautical miles from Tianjin, the Japanese fleet is cruising. It is said to be cruising, but there is simply not enough cruising vigilance for this fleet, which consists of three cruisers as the main force. This cannot be blamed on the fact that the Japanese navy is not serious enough, the People's Party does not have a navy, and the navy of Beiyang has already withdrawn south to Fujian. There is no trace of Chinese warships in the whole of China south of the Yangtze River at all. The so-called cruises can only encounter British merchant ships. Loaded with cargo from ports other than Tianjin, the merchant ships sailed leisurely toward southern China. Their destination was British ports in the Pacific and even the Indian Ocean, and ultimately, war-torn Europe.

After five or six days of heavy snowfall, the sky finally cleared. The originally gray vision is now extremely clear. Under the clear blue sky, the merchant ships spewing smoke from the chimneys were extremely clear in the observation glasses of the Japanese fleet. Although these British merchant ships sailing leisurely on the sea were not hostile to the Japanese fleet, the officers and men of the Japanese fleet looked at the British merchant ships with malicious eyes. The continued trade between China and Britain meant that the People's Party was still in fierce competition with Japan in foreign trade, but the Japanese fleet did not dare to intercept them, or even take any action to hinder them. This could not but annoy the Japanese fleet, which had temporarily seized control of the seas in Northeast Asia.

In the captain's room of the flagship of the fleet, high-ranking officials of the Japanese Navy gathered. Just according to the ranks, they should have met on the battleship. However, the navy is a gold-eating beast, and even if you don't fight, each voyage will cost a lot of money. Against the People's Party, which has no navy at all, dispatching battleships will inevitably outweigh the losses.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Prime Minister has put forward the plan for an all-out war proposed by the War Department this time, and if the plan is proved to be feasible, he will agree to it. I hope you can give your opinions on this matter! Navy Minister Yuzaburo Kato said.

"The People's Party does not have coastal targets worth attacking, and even if it were to attack Qingdao, it would lose more than it gained." Immediately there were naval officers who made their own point of view. After these days of cruising along the northern coast of China, this is the same opinion of the Admiralty officers.

The life of the naval guns in this year is only 200 rounds, and the salvo of 10,000 guns seems to be majestic and magnificent, but the price behind the majestic grandeur is also expensive and terrifying. China under the People's Party is hard-lined, not even like the Chinese. Not to mention that the Army horse manure has never been able to win a land battle. If it does not have tangible and reliable benefits, it will simply make the war an endless war of attrition, and Japan will not be able to maintain a long-term combat posture.

"Your Excellency Kato, I heard that the War Department has not yet put forward a military plan for an all-out war, is this true?" The naval officers were quite concerned about this matter. Leaving aside the contradictions between the army and navy, the War Department, which advocates an all-out war against China, cannot come up with a plan, and the war with China will not be able to enter into a real breakthrough.

Yuzaburo Kato listened to the officers of the Admiralty asking the War Department to formulate a plan for a full-scale invasion of China, and his heart was full of mixed feelings. Japan has not yet received a plan to break through China, and they have achieved a "breakthrough" in their relations with other European countries in the stationing of troops in China.

The current troops stationed in China are all the countries of the Eight-Nation Alliance, which have themselves split into the Entente and the Allied Powers, which are incompatible. Japan did not have to count on the support of Germany and Austria. As for the British garrison representatives, they simply demanded that the Japanese troops not threaten the safety of the British and French headquarters in Tianjin. The attitude of the countries is almost unprecedented: "Japan needs to take matters into its own hands against China." There is no need to expect the support of other countries, as was the case before. ”

When it comes to the heroes of the Russo-Japanese naval battle in the Sea of Japan, everyone will think of the commander of the Combined Fleet, Heihachiro Togo. There is no doubt that this naval battle decided the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, and it was precisely because of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War that Japan became a world-class country and attracted the attention of all countries. Therefore, Togo is known as the god of the army, and was given a state funeral by the emperor of Japan after his death. But Yuzaburo Kato, who worked closely with Togo on the same ship, served as chief of staff of the Combined Fleet and was the number two man in the fleet. He was an artillery specialist, and the proper use of Japanese naval artillery was an important factor in achieving victory.

The Russo-Japanese War was indeed ended by military victories, but diplomacy played no less role than selfless fighting on the battlefield. Without the financial intelligence of the United Kingdom and the full support of the backing, Japan would not have been able to win. Not to mention that even now in 1915, Japan still owes Britain a foreign debt of 600 million pounds due to the Russo-Japanese War.

Yuzaburo Kato knows very well that the navy cannot defeat the current China. For Japan, the rise of the People's Party is nothing short of a nightmare. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers and tens of thousands of technicians of all kinds appeared in the backward country of China. The reason why the Admiralty supported and coerced Tianjin was very simple: cutting off the Beijing-Tianjin Railway could stifle the transportation lines of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to the greatest extent.

However, the huge artillery bombardment, and the sacrifice of the Marines in fighting and dying did not cut off the railway. On the contrary, because of the Japanese invasion, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army occupied Tianjin. With amazing courage, those Chinese braved the Japanese artillery fire to drive the front of the Tianjin railway station to a safe place. It wasn't until they got a report from the intelligence officers that the Japanese remembered that they should destroy the front of the cars with artillery.

However, this opportunity has been lost at this time, and since then, traces of Chinese trains have appeared again on the Beijing-Harbin line. The skirmish of the Japanese marines in an attempt to cut off the railroad was initially somewhat successful. However, the interruption of the railway did not last long, and the Chinese quickly repaired the railway, and the train was still running well. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army also set up ambushes against the marines, and the navy was unwilling to bear such losses after losing thousands of men one after another.

"In order to be able to get its plan passed, the War Department is now using all its forces to make plans, but the actual military operations are very limited." Yuzaburo Kato replied. For the War Department, whose cowhide was blown into the sky, Minister Kato expressed his dissatisfaction with it with such words.

"Is the War Department going to wait until next spring to fight?" The admirals and colonels of the Admiralty were very dissatisfied with this, "There is a lot of snow in Manchuria in winter, but isn't this a good opportunity for us to use our transportation advantage to encircle and annihilate the enemy?" ”

This view was immediately supported by the admirals and colonels, and in the face of the People's Party, which had no maritime strength at all, the Japanese Admiralty agreed with the concept of land warfare could be said to be firm in the concept of campaign and clear in tactical thinking. That is to completely annihilate the living force of the BJP. If the commander of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had been in attendance, he would have agreed with it.

After listening to the discussion of the Japanese admirals for a while, the Minister of the Navy, Yuzaburo Kato, interrupted the discussion in a loud voice, "Gentlemen, what you are discussing is a war with the goal of occupying Northeast China. I don't want to say what's wrong with what you think, but the War Office is now aiming for a war to bring down the BJP. Personally, I can understand the War Department's distress, and the People's Party will definitely not give up the Northeast easily, and even if it loses in the Northeast, they will not give up easily. If this happens, the war will be prolonged. And we, the Great Japanese Empire, are not capable of withstanding this protracted war. ”

"As long as we wait until the war in Europe is over, the Entente will definitely support us." The admirals and colonels were well-informed, and they immediately put forward this absolutely correct viewpoint.

"How long will the war in Europe be fought? A year? Half a year, or two years? "As a military expert, Yuzaburo Kato did not blindly consider what was beneficial to Japan. The duration and intensity of the war in Europe has been much greater than Kato Yuzaburo expected, "If this European war is fought for another two or three years, what will we do?" Do you think we can afford a protracted war for two or three years? ”

A naval colonel said tentatively: "It is impossible to fight a war in Europe for that long!" ”

"Then how do you prove that a war in Europe cannot be fought for that long?" Yuzaburo Kato asked rhetorically.

No one dared to continue, and no one in the Japanese Admiralty dared to brag about such, boldly predicting the course of the war in Europe.

"And what do you mean, Your Excellency?" The generals and colonels of the Admiralty are kind of unified in their minds and are willing to fully support Yuzaburo Kato.

"I don't mean anything, I don't see any reason for the Admiralty to support a full-scale war, but in the near future it is necessary to carry out a military strike of annihilation against the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in northeastern China. Take full control of Northeast China first, which is the bottom line of all our future military operations......"

While Yuzaburo Kato was expressing his opinion, a signal came from the microphone, and the observers at the observation post spotted a People's Party reconnaissance plane in the sky. Navy observers are selected for their best eyesight, and some of the most eye-catching ones claim to be able to see the stars in broad daylight. It's not a joke, it's not that there are no stars during the day, it's just that the stars aren't visible because of the strong sunlight. In the Russo-Japanese War, it was precisely because a Russian warship did not close its porthole and was discovered by Japanese naval observers that the Japanese army had the advantage of being the first to attack. Since the Japanese Navy observers said that the People's Party plane had been discovered, the People's Party reconnaissance plane must have been discovered.

The Admiralty generals, including Yuzaburo Kato, were silent. The air force of the People's Party did surpass the air force of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. During the siege of Qingdao, the planes of the Japanese Navy were so beaten that they did not dare to take off. Because those who dared to take off were shot down by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. It was also an excuse for the War Office to ridicule and even attack the Admiralty.

The lack of air supremacy is also an important reason for the Navy's reluctance to send Marine Corps troops on a large scale. The navy did have great mobility at sea, but on a clear day, the naval landing would be detected by the air force of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. In weather that is so bad that the Air Force cannot be dispatched, the landing of the Navy is also faced with great difficulties and even dangers, and this danger is sometimes even more than that encountered by the Air Force. Even in the face of the enormous superiority of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, the Japanese Navy itself was well aware that they were not really able to have an unshakable superiority everywhere.

"Gentlemen, you don't have to deal with the People's Party's Air Force first, what do you think about the future direction of the war?" Yuzaburo Kato said in a solemn tone.

"We support your ideas!" Admirals and colonels said one after another.

At this time, the 18th Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, which was far away in Panjin, was also completely facing the snow. The snow entering December did make it extremely difficult for the troops. After a heavy snowfall, the temperature in Tohoku drops below -10 degrees Celsius. According to the meteorologists' measurements, the minimum temperature was already below minus 17 degrees. And it often blows strong winds, and even if they change into thick winter clothes, the fighters feel extremely unaccustomed. The current enemy is no longer the Japanese, but the harsh climate of Tohoku.

After Mu Husan determined the temperature, his worried look was finally eased slightly. The Central Military Commission has repeatedly stressed the need to pay attention to the difficulties of surviving the winter in the northeast, but when they really faced this situation, the comrades really understood what it meant to be a "bitter cold land." When you get a little water on your hair, your whole hair freezes and hardens in no time. When I peed on the ground, the heat floating in the air had not yet dissipated, and the water on the ground would freeze in an instant. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, the comrades would have thought it was a joke to say so.

Of course, the CMC will not only make demands and warnings to the comrades, but also put forward all the proposals within the scope of its capabilities. For example, in terms of garrison camps, there are not enough houses in the Panjin area to garrison troops. The houses built in a hurry were not enough to live in. One of the reasons why the Japanese army was able to entrench in Mukden, or dared to entrench in Mukden, was that Mukden had enough places for troops to live.

The "snow plows" obtained by the 18th Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army finally came in handy at the moment, and in the areas that had already been selected, igloos were built in imitation of the Eskimos. Without the cold of Tohoku, this kind of camp construction would not have been possible, and even then, it was not possible to make snow into usable materials by manpower. With specialized tools, construction work can be carried out truly efficiently.

Originally, the soldiers of the 18th Army felt that Mu Husan's "cloudy and sunny" look may be because Mu Husan was driven crazy by the current situation, and when everyone lived in the snow house, the comrades knew that sometimes after the temperature was low to a certain extent, they might be able to use "things must be reversed" to describe the change of situation.

The low temperature does not mean that it is completely unbearable, but the important thing is the whirring wind. The chill to the bones blew into every crevice of the soldiers' clothes, or simply blew through the clothes, causing the body temperature to drop rapidly. The military tents swayed back and forth in the strong winds of the night, so that the comrades might not be able to sleep well all night.

After having a house made of ice and snow, the cold wind was blocked at first, and a tent was set up inside the igloo, and the temperature inside the tent could be as low as seven or eight degrees, which was already as warm as spring compared to the outside. Moreover, these ice and snow camps can also be located in strategically important places, but there are no people at all, which is more beneficial for war. Although they are still not accustomed to the material of these "barracks", the comrades of the 18th Army no longer complain about the current conditions. With such a camp, it is very beneficial for the comrades to get used to the weather in the Northeast.

The troops also had to get used not only to the weather in the northeast, but also to combat. Before the onset of winter, the comrades began to cut down the trees and make a lot of sturdy chips and poles. At that time, the soldiers did not understand this, and it was only when the wood chips and poles were used for sledding training that everyone knew what they were for. No longer have to spend a foot in the thick snow, and during the ski lessons, the troops' marching speed begins to increase considerably.

Mu Husan conducted a full range of training in accordance with the recommendations put forward by the Central Military Commission for winter, including winter firearm maintenance and adjustment, as well as various temporary solutions. The things that need to be done are piling up.

"Are we going to fight in the winter?" The chief of staff from northern Jiangsu was very concerned about this. It wasn't that he was afraid, but in such an environment that was completely unimaginable before, war was not the most important option.

Mu Husan knew that this was not the chief of staff's question alone, and the comrades in the army were worried about this, so he said loudly: "Isn't everything we do preparing for war? We are human beings, and Japanese people are human beings. Now we're competing to see who gets used to this winter first. Whoever can exert his fighting power this winter will definitely win. ”

In January 1916, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had not only initially adapted to the weather in the northeast, but also selected the first batch of soldiers to fight in the snow.

"Comrades, we are not going this time to fight a war, but to prepare for a follow-up operation. Our goal is here and here! The commando leader focused on the location of Anshan and Dandong on the map. And outside the camp of the commandos, the sound of barking dogs can occasionally be heard. It was the barking of an Alaskan Malamute that Chen Ke bought from the United States.

These big dogs with royal blue eyes look similar to wolves, and they have a rather cold temperament, and they don't like to bark when they have nothing to do. Sledding in the snow, and even tracking, is excellent. The dog trainers were from Shandong, which was the most "cold" area that the People's Party could offer at the time, and in the northeast, the pedigree of these dogs allowed them to adapt to the climate earlier.

"When are you leaving?" The blood of the warriors is boiling, and such an endless snowfield is indeed a good place to show your strengths.

"I repeat, we are not going to war, we are going to find our way. There is time to fight, but there is no way to march, which will definitely get twice the result with half the effort. The commando commander stressed again.

"Got it!" The fighters replied immediately.

"Then let's get ready to leave tomorrow." The commander replied with great satisfaction, and when he said this, he said again, "The white satin is used for cover, you try not to stain it!" ”