Guangxu didn't sleep well for a few nights because of the excitement of signing Nikola Tesla, a scientist, but the doubts in his heart became bigger and bigger: At this time, the Qing Kingdom was backward, ignorant and poor in the eyes of Westerners, what made Tesla choose to come to the Qing Kingdom? Guangxu didn't ask Tesla, if he asked Tesla about the sore spots, would he let him go?

It was a long time before Guangxu learned that the reason why Tesla came to Qingguo was caused by Guangxu himself. Guangxu's frenzied procurement of experimental equipment regardless of the cost and without considering the actual needs is only a secondary reason for Tesla to come to Qingguo. The main reason is that Guangxu opened up the development of the Northeast Railway and mining industry in the Qing Dynasty, so that wealthy American businessmen can find a way to make a fortune faster than investing in research and development, coupled with Edison's unrelenting slander, so that Tesla could not find businessmen in the United States who were willing to invest in his experiments. As soon as he got the patent for the "star oscillator of the resonant transmitter", he had already declared bankruptcy, and no one invested, but there was a crazy emperor on the other side of the sea, and there were many reasons for Tesla to leave the United States and try his luck in Qingguo.

Guangxu thought to himself that it was good that you came, or I would have to trouble me to send someone to tie you back. At the same time, a list drafted by Guangxu was newly released. handed it to Zhou Qin and told him again and again: "Everyone on the list must be stared at to death, not only that, but anyone who has a skill cannot let them out of your sight, no matter the cost." ”

Zhou Qin saw that the emperor handed over such an important matter to him, which was a reuse move, but he was dumbfounded when he opened the list. The list contains only names, nationalities, places that may appear now, and the only useful thing is the work that these people do. Because they are all industry experts, it shouldn't be a big deal to inquire more. But these people are distributed throughout Europe and the United States, and the problem is out, not to mention people, there is no plan to arrange people at the same time, and Zhou Qin, who almost cried, can only start to select people. Half a month later, the five people who memorized the list each boarded a ship to Europe and the United States.

The Forces nouvelles have also drawn up the basic items for training.

According to Horst's request and Guangxu's will, after coordination with the General Staff, on February 25, Ouyang Zhenhua, the commander of the new army, was officially folded. All the two towns of the New Army will begin long-distance training from 1 March, starting from the capital through Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou to Fengtianhou, and the troops will go all the way east through Lianshanguan to the Yalu River, and then go down the river and take a boat to Weihai to land in Weihai on the sea surface of Dadonggou. All the way south to Lushun, the same boat to Yingkou to land, and then wait for the arrival of another army before returning to Beijing together. Not only did all the new troops participate in this exercise, but also the Beiyang Naval Division should cooperate and participate. After Lang Wei, the commander of the Beiyang Navy Division, learned that he had to cooperate in participating in the training, I don't know what he said to move Li Hongzhang, and the two actually folded together. In the name of it, it is a naval exercise plan to cooperate with the army's training. As a result, the officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division were also happy, and finally they did not need to shoot training ammunition, and all live ammunition were used in this exercise.

Some people are happy and some are worried, for this training budget, a total of 2.3 million taels of silver and as many as 800 tons of various materials were consumed, just preparing and arranging the dispatch of such a large number of materials made Zhou Qin and Lin Qizhao very sad. In the end, it didn't make it until March 1. There are two reasons for this: first, there are not enough reserves of logistical supplies including food, clothing, ammunition, etc., and the temporary training cannot quickly prepare so many materials, and even if enough materials are prepared, there is no special transportation team; The second is that China's rudimentary roads cannot carry the rapid maneuvering of heavy artillery. You must know that Guangxu purchased a total of 20 Krupp 75mm mountain guns for the new army, and that one weighed 2 tons. In China, where there are no concrete roads and still rely on mud roads for transportation, it is impossible to make heavy artillery move quickly, and it is not possible to rely on long guns alone. What to do? For the first time, the ambitious Horst doubted the expertise he was proud of, and he made such a reckless decision without taking into account the actual circumstances of the Qing Kingdom. Therefore, on 2 March, in the name of Shi Duo, the Minister of Training of the New Army, all the senior officers were convened to discuss the reasons for the failure of the training and the countermeasures. The General Staff headed by Michael also made a profound review.

On the innermost wall of the conference room is a map of the northeast of the Qing Dynasty, marked with various arrows and various symbols, marking the route and content of the exercise. In the center was a long table, on which everyone sat on either side. As the Minister of Supervisor and Training of the New Army, Shi Duo was sitting under the map, indicating that he was the first person in the New Army, but it was Guangxu sitting at the bottom of the opposite of him. Of course, Shiduo wanted to push it away, but Guangxu disagreed: this was the plenary meeting of the New Army, of course, presided over by the Minister of Supervision and Training of the New Army, and I was not a soldier in the New Army, so I could only attend as an observer, and naturally I would sit at the last seat. Let Shi Duo get the limelight, Guangxu glared, and Shi Duo could only sit down honestly.

"Everyone is here, let's talk about it." Prince Shiduo stood up, and the first meeting of all senior officers of the new army officially began.

The first to speak was Michael from the General Staff: "First of all, on behalf of all the General Staff, I would like to say that I will take the main responsibility for the failure of this training. As a military staff officer, without taking into account the logistics and supply, he rashly launched this training exercise, which ultimately led to failure. The General Staff is duty-bound. ”

"I'm the one who is primarily responsible." Horst stood up: "Because this training is my idea." ”

"According to military regulations, every movement of the army must have an order from the General Staff, and this training was approved by the General Staff." Michael retorted: "Besides, being a military staff officer and not thinking about supplies is a dereliction of duty in itself." ”

“……”

"Okay, don't always express your mistakes, who said that this training has no effect." Guangxu's words made everyone wonder what they meant for a while: "The original intention of the training is to check the army's reaction capability and evaluate its combat capability." Although the inspection of the army was not accomplished, through this temporary training, a problem more serious than that of the army has emerged. ”

"A country's ability to respond to war, including its ability to mobilize and its ability to reserve supplies."

"If there is a war at this time, even if we can win a decisive victory on the battlefield. As long as the other side does not give in and uses time to support us, the army that has lost its ability to supply will lose the ability to continue fighting, and then there is only one final result - defeat. ”

"Therefore, from now on it is necessary to strengthen the reserve of strategic goods."

"In the future, the logistics of the army will be fully responsible for Prince Li. Lord Wang, you are also the Minister of Supervision and Training of the New Army, so you can say a few words. ”

It was the first time that Prince Rite had attended an internal meeting of the Forces nouvelles, and he was extremely uncomfortable with this Western-style meeting mode. But he could see clearly that the entire conference room except for him, including the emperor, was sitting straight with his hands on his knees. When speaking, he also stands straight. So he also learned from everyone to stand more straight: "Don't worry, everyone, you carry guns to defend your home and country." The court will never let you go hungry. The imperial court will definitely have a sufficient supply of food and ammunition. ”

The words of the official are useless at all. Playing official here, it can only be disgusting. Guangxu continued: "Since there is a promise from the prince, there will naturally be no problem, let's discuss the content of the training." ”

Although he didn't understand many military terms, he couldn't understand the scene in front of him. He is afraid that he will no longer be able to command this new army. Regardless of the size of the official position, objections can be raised, and the face of Ouyang Zhenhua, the supreme military commander, or a German instructor, is even more transparent. Facing opposition and all kinds of wild ideas, this makes the experienced Shiduo seem to be incredible, but all this is what Guangxu wants. Before a decision is made, everyone involved can have a different opinion, but once a decision is made, it must be resolutely implemented.

Cixi quietly listened to the contents of the meeting of the new army in its entirety, and did not speak.

"Don't worry Lafayette." Sun Yuwen took over on the side: "The servants heard that the more than 100 banner men who were selected, as well as the guards selected from the palace, are now mostly officers in the new army, as long as these individuals are there, they can have no worries." ”

"Lord Sun is bad." Shi Duo shook his head: "Today, all the people who come and go are high-ranking officers, and there is no flag man in them. As far as the minions know, although the guards are all officers, their training performance is rarely comparable to that of the Han Chinese. Therefore, there are many voices of dissatisfaction under the mark. In the long run, it may be difficult to take on a big responsibility. Therefore, the minions formed a separate battalion of the remaining bannermen. Please rest assured that this camp will only be engaged in Lafayette's will. ”

Cixi said tepidly: "A battalion of people? How many people are there in a battalion? The new army of the entire Fengtai battalion is 20,000 people! The mourning family has already reminded you that you don't just care about the glamorous set on your face, if you can really manage things. Usually let you pay more attention, and when it is critical, you will make a demon moth for the mourning family. You, let the mourners say what is good for you. ”

"The slave is incompetent, please punish Lafayette."

"And what kind of reconnaissance unit directly under the central government that the emperor is doing in the military academy, what's going on?"

"Back to Lafayette, the slave has already arranged people in according to the queen mother's wishes. It's just that no one is coming out of it now, so there's no news yet. Shi Duo looked at Cixi's face becoming more and more gloomy, and hurriedly said, "Lafayette, you are not a slave and incompetent." The emperor strictly decreed that the inside was a forbidden area, and if there was no emperor's will, all trespassers would be shot on the spot, and they had already been shot. As he spoke, Sedor's voice was already whimpering.

Sun Yuwen's mind turned: "Even so, as long as the prince firmly grasps the supply of this new army, what worries does the army without food, drink and ammunition have." ”

While he was talking, the emperor came up to invite An.

"Oh, Prince Li is here, and the son is trying to report to his father about the meeting of the new army. Since the prince is here, it also saves the tongue of the sons. After speaking, Guangxu said to Shi Duo: "Lord, I've said it all." ”

Shi Duo nodded: "Back to the emperor, the slave has roughly explained." ”

"Rough is not enough, it needs to be explained in detail. The Queen Mother Lafayette works hard for state affairs, if you don't explain it as a slave, how can this make the Queen Mother decide. New father, if there is anything you don't know, you can ask your son. ”

"Prince Li has already made it very clear." Cixi smiled slightly.

Seeing this, Guangxu talked about some interesting stories in the military academy. In the eyes of Shiduo and Sun Yuwen, he is really like a mother and a son.

On 1 April, the two towns of the New Army, which had been well prepared, gathered in the main camp. Guangxu didn't go to see him off, but just took a few guards to watch from afar. In the telescope, what Shi Duo said on the stage was too far to be heard, but the 20,000 people at the same time issued "Loyal to the Queen Mother, Defend the Qing Dynasty" were heard so truly from afar. The first two words that the new army learns are "emperor", and the first word that can be written is "loyal to the monarch and defending the country", and on the military regulations that are pasted on the bedside of each recruit, which one does not have Guangxu's name printed? The Queen Mother and the Imperial Court are just a distant name for these recruits.

Horst in the telescope waved his hands, and the 20,000 recruits left the camp in an orderly manner. Guangxu looked at the flow of people composed of summer yellow khaki cloth and rolled forward. Jiawu, it won't be that Jiawu anymore.

Because there is still me, return my new army, my army.

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