"Lizheng—"

After a loud military order, the 20,000 soldiers of the Fengtai battalion stood neatly. Still blown by the cold wind, standing still.

"Colonel Horst, you see if these cadets have the potential to be trained." On the field, Guangxu said to Horst with a smile.

Just after the New Year, the 45-year-old iron-blooded instructor of the Berlin Military Academy in Germany, Horst, arrived in the capital. After a brief banquet and an evening of communication with the commanders of the various ranks of the Forces nouvelles. The next day, under the leadership of Guangxu, he came to Fengtai Camp. Horst was officially appointed as the chief instructor of the Great Fresh Army.

"IMHO. Although these trainees have been trained for nearly half a year, although they all have strong bodies and know how to obey orders. But they still can't be called soldiers. Horst's words were short and blunt. But it made the three German [***] officers standing on the side, including General Michael, blush.

Thinking of the investigation information on Horst that he saw a few days ago, Guangxu smiled secretly. The Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, Helmut Karl Bernhardt von Moltke, was the soul of the German [***] team that advocated and vigorously promoted military reform, and Horst was also his ardent admirer. Horst wrote to von Moltke, admiring von Moltke's ideas and making a number of suggestions. Thus, with the help of von Moltke, he rose from a lieutenant to a colonel. However, because he spoke too bluntly and never saved face, even von Moltke was unable to step down from the stage by him. Horst, who eventually lost von Mao's support, was shunted out as an instructor at the Berlin Military Academy in Germany. Michael once told Guangxu that once Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the Military Academy in Berlin, and because he did not notice in advance, Horst accused him in front of Wilhelm II of disrupting all the teaching plans. Fortunately, Horst's professional business ability helped him to stay in office, but he has not been promoted in the past ten years. In fact, when Guangxu saw this, he really thought that Germany had sent top military instructors to the Qing Dynasty in order to increase the discourse power in the Far East, but it turned out that he was just sending a trouble.

But it has to be said that Horst was a real military man. Integrity, bravery, iron-blooded, fanatical and wise, just like the first time he saw Guangxu, the only condition he put forward was not a material requirement, which he did not need to consider, the treatment given to him by this emperor was enough to satisfy the dignity of his heart. His demand was that no one else should be allowed to interfere with his teaching, not even Emperor Guangxu. Almost all the middle and senior officers of the new army opposed this, and Ouyang Zhenhua even said that Horst was arrogant and unreasonable. But Horst got Guangxu's support, not only did Guangxu not ask himself, but also asked all senior officers, including Ouyang Zhenhua, to fully cooperate and obey Horst's orders. This made Horst's military pride infinitely satisfying.

In fact, for what Horst just said, Guangxu also agrees with it from the heart. Because Guangxu did not see bloodthirsty desire in the eyes of these people. But Guangxu still said: "A soldier's duty is to obey, isn't this already the basic quality of a soldier?" ”

"Your Majesty, you are wrong." Horst didn't care about other people's feelings: "A soldier is a kind of person who exists specifically for fighting, I don't see in their eyes the desire and passion of a soldier for fighting, without this kind of ** soldier, they can't have the confidence to win in future wars." ”

Guangxu's eyes turned white, and sure enough, he was the one who even the Kaiser dared to accuse to his face: "Indeed, the army is a kind of monster fed with victory." As long as you can continue to win, the monster of the army will be infinitely stronger. Without victory, the monster dies instantly. Guangxu nodded: "Then Colonel Horst, do you think these people can meet the requirements you said after studying?" ”

Horst was silent and did not speak. In fact, in his heart, he really thought that these people were not worthy of cultivation, because what he saw was that the eyes of these students were full of hollowness, and there was a trace of blindness. Just last night, he asked Michael about the composition of the cadets, and when he learned that almost all of them were peasants who had just laid down their hoes, and that they had come to the military academy for the purpose of stuttering food and a good income, Horst was discouraged. It was also Michael's words that made him curious, the monarch of a closed and weakened country had a heart to work hard.

Horst's silence did not last long, he walked to the front of the stage, and with the assistance of the interpreter, he said to the 20,000 people in the audience: "Just now, your emperor asked me, do you have any potential to cultivate? I can't answer. So, now, I ask you. Do you think you have the potential to cultivate? Can anyone answer me? ”

Maybe unexpected, maybe expected. No one in the audience answered. Horst smiled contemptuously.

Guangxu next to him looked at everything in front of him, frowned, and quickly stepped forward and said loudly: "You are carefully selected by me from this country, and I think you are all the best." But what do I see? You don't even dare to answer a single question. Is it your fault, or is it my fault? After 5,000 years of China, has it been reduced to the point that it doesn't even have the courage to answer questions? This is Colonel Horst, whom I have brought in from Germany, and will be your chief instructor from now on. Tell him if you have the potential to cultivate. While Guangxu said, he was uneasy in his heart. But he also made a decision, if no one answered, Guangxu decided to disband the new army on the spot, and such an army should not be wanted. As for Jiawu, there was at least one soldier.

The new army could not be disbanded, and before Guangxu's voice fell, someone replied: "Yes." ”

Guangxu smiled gloomily: "It seems that I am wrong, only one of the 20,000 soldiers I carefully selected has the potential to cultivate." Anything else? ”

"Yes." It's a little louder.

"Anything else?"

"Yes." It's louder and louder.

"Is there any?"

"Yes."

"I can't hear you." Guangxu shouted loudly.

"Yes." Twenty thousand voices gathered into one, and the shouts shook the sky.

"But what you say doesn't count." Horst took a basin of cold water on his head.

"Don't underestimate people." "Why do you say we can't?" "You're old." The ......soldiers in the audience were angry, and all kinds of accusations were voiced.

"Then do you dare to prove it to me." Horst's face was pale.

"Dare."

"Very well, now I give the order in my capacity as your highest military commander. The 72-hour extreme training started at the beginning and arrived in Tianjin. Horst turned around and saluted and said, "General Ouyang, General Michael, it's my first time in Qingguo, can I ask you to be my deputy?" ”

"No problem." Ouyang Zhenhua and Michael returned the salute.

On the contrary, it was Guangxu who pulled Horst: "Colonel, you just came." Do you want to take a break and understand the situation? ”

"Your Majesty, you promised not to interfere with my teaching." Horst was furious.

"No, no, no, I don't mean to." Guangxu hurriedly waved his hand: "I mean that I haven't prepared anything, will it be too rushed." ”

"If there is a war today, will you tell the enemy that I am not ready to fight a few days later? Your Majesty, war never gives anyone time. After saying that, Horst continued to order: "Turn left and run forward." ”

"First mark, turn left and run forward." "Second mark, turn left, run forward." "Third Bid ......" and "........."

One standard after another, people ran out of the Fengtai camp against the cold wind, neat queues, neat steps. At this time, Horst turned back to Guangxu and said, "In Chinese terms, these people are all talents that can be made. With that, he ran into the queue.

When the last soldier ran out of the gate, the once crowded Fengtai camp seemed to be frozen by the cold wind in an instant. Guangxu looked around, except for a few guards who went out, there was no one else. "Sure enough, it was the one who dared to accuse the German emperor to his face, and in the Qing Dynasty, I am afraid that only the Germans with strict surnames dared to put me aside and ignore it. But I like it. Guangxu smiled as if self-deprecating: "The Fengtai camp is a military powerhouse, and even if all the troops are transferred, someone must be on duty." Qi Yide led the palace guards to guard until the army returned. ”

Not only did the 20,000 people in the Fengtai battalion conduct 72 hours of extreme training, but all the personnel in the military academy also participated. Because there was no preparation in advance, and the army did not carry food when it set off, they slept in the open along the way. Fortunately, Li Hongzhang hurriedly prepared a batch of grain after learning about it, and sent Zhang Peilun to meet him with food. But what even Li Hongzhang didn't expect was that Horst directly refused with Yu. It was not until the second evening that the troops arrived in Tianjin that the whole army was allowed to eat. By this time, it had been 36 hours since the troops had last eaten. The food was only distributed to each person to two or two meters, and the water was collected on the spot. What's even more ruthless is that the troops were urgently assembled after only 6 hours of sleep, and the next destination was Weihai at short notice. At this time, Ouyang Zhenhua, who was obviously physically exhausted, returned to the capital and brought back the news of Horst, asking Guangxu to transport a batch of dry food to Weihai. This matter naturally fell to Li Hongzhang.

In Weihai, the troops were finally able to recuperate, heal the wounded, replenish their physical strength, and recuperate. But the food is far from being as good as the Fengtai camp. At the beginning, Guangxu considered that the army was newly established, and the training intensity would definitely be very high, so whether it was the military academy or the Fengtai battalion, there was no food, but meat was eaten every day. But after the troops arrived in Weihai, they only gave out two steamed buns. But even more unfortunate is Li Hongzhang's Marine Corps chief instructor Hannagan, in the morning when the unit was repaired, Horst watched the training of the Marine Corps, Hannagan scolded the dog's blood, including Michael, the three German [***] officers felt that it was a bit excessive, and stepped forward to intercede for Hannagan. But Horst was unmoved: "Captain Hannagan, have you forgotten that you are a proud [***] man after you have been in the Qing Kingdom for many years?" Look at the troops you trained, is there any resemblance to the powerful German [***] team? Please remember, after you go out, don't tell anyone that you trained this Qing Marine Corps. The proud German [***] team can't afford this disgrace, and you Hannagan have lost the face of the German [***] people. ”

Enraged, Horst returned with his troops after lunch, leaving an innocent Hannagan and muttering to himself: I am so unlucky. The Marines then endured Hannagan's "inhuman torture." They all shouted: We are the most unlucky.

Horst walked away with the team for six days. On the seventh day, when the troops returned, almost everyone ran back to their dormitories and fell asleep. Bathe? There was no time. They all said the same thing: we are the most unlucky. And Horst, who also didn't sleep for a day and a night, entered the palace with red eyes and huge black circles to meet Guangxu. The results of the six-day training allowed Horst to sum it up in one sentence: this is not an army, this is just a group of bandits, a group of bandits with only guns.

"In Chinese words: the soldiers and horses go first before the grain and grass are moved. But we all ran to Tianjin, but there was no team to deliver grain behind us. (Isn't Tianjin Li Hongzhang ready for you?) Guangxu asked. "Oh, hell. If the troops have already attacked the enemy's position, is it necessary for His Majesty to let the enemy prepare? ”

"Guns are a soldier's life, but all firearms are not professionally maintained."

"After three days of training, by the time we arrived in Weihai, everyone's clothes were already in tatters. But no one provided us with a change of clothes. ”

"Each soldier carried only ten bullets, which were all used up on the second day of training. However, in the past six days, not a single officer has raised the issue of ammunition supply. ”

“……”

"Your Majesty, war is not only a tactical battle of the army, but also a test of a country's logistical supply capabilities."

"I need people, and I need a lot of people to help me with these things."

Horst's words were constantly nodding: "Colonel Horst, please rest assured, whether it is personnel or materials, I will fully cooperate with you from here." Horst smiled with satisfaction: "I'll go back to sleep first, and I'll talk about the personnel and materials when I wake up." ”

Horst also said something before leaving, making Guangxu think that it was worth paying more. "They will grow into a true army in the future, because for for six days, regardless of their injuries or illnesses, they did not give up on any of their brothers."

Watching Horst leave, Guangxu remembered that he had just been "reprimanded", and he had to work together to cooperate with him: "I am the most unlucky person." ”

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