"Returning to your lordship, the Ryukyus counter-said that the allied army Shang Ming had sent someone to send a reply, agreeing that the Ryukyu would help the Ryukyus form a political axe in exile, but-"

Zhang Feng was halfway through his words, looked at Shang Tai next to Wang Chenhao, and stopped talking.

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Zhang Feng, even if you say that as long as it is about Ryukyu, we will never hide it from King Shangtai!" ”

Shang Tai immediately nodded at Wang Chenhao and saluted, for Wang Chenhao's words, Shang Tai was very grateful.

Zhang Feng paused, and then said: "Shang Ming said that he was willing to come to Tianjin to form the Ryukyu Exile Political Axe, but his requirement was that Shang Ming should be the king of the Exile Political Axe. ”

"This—"

Wang Chenhao was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect this Shang Ming to make such a request at this time, which really made him unhappy.

"How unreasonable!"

Wang Chenhao couldn't help but get angry, but Shang Tai suddenly laughed a few times, turned his head to Wang Chenhao and said, "Lord Wang, don't worry about this!" ”

Wang Chenhao asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Shang Tai touched his beard, and although he looked a little depressed, he said, "I am already old, so I should naturally give way, not to mention that I am still an exiled king." If he likes it, the king will give it to him. ”

Wang Chenhao frowned and said, "But, I promised you?" ”

Shang Tai smiled: "Lord Wang, don't worry, Shang Ming is also a descendant of the royal family, he just wants the throne of the king, as for the agreement between us, Shang Ming will definitely abide by it." ”

Wang Chenhao was a little relieved.

It turned out that Wang Chenhao took Shangtai to Tianjin for a purpose. On the surface, under the banner of helping Ryukyu restore the country, in fact, Wang Chenhao did not want Ryukyu to become a bridgehead for the southward invasion of China. Because of its geographical location, the Ryukyu Islands are very important, and they hold the passage from the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea to the Pacific Ocean. In Wang Chenhao's time, Ryukyu was the first island chain blockaded by the United States against China, and Wang Chenhao felt that Ryukyu was an important surname, so he wanted to take advantage of the current situation when the country's national strength was weak.

Wang Chenhao did not plan to occupy the Ryukyu Islands, because the Qing Empire would not allow it, and international public opinion would be unfavorable to Wang Chenhao's occupation of the Ryukyus. Therefore, Wang Chenhao came up with this strategy to restore the Ryukyus, and the restoration of the Ryukyus could become a bridgehead to contain the capital. And Wang Chenhao can indirectly control the Ryukyus, making them his strong ally.

Shangtai promised Wang Chenhao that as long as Wang Chenhao helped him restore the country, the Liansheng Peninsula east of Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyus, would be leased to Wang Chenhao. On both sides of the Liansheng Peninsula that Wang Chenhao wanted, to the north was Jinwu Bay, the largest commercial and civil port in Ryukyu and the main port of Ryukyu's foreign trade. To the south is Zhongcheng Bay, a natural naval base, where the famous U.S. White Beach Naval Base is located, which can not only dock large warships of any tonnage, but also is a natural station for amphibious forces and seaplanes.

One is a natural large commercial port, the other is a natural large military port, Wang Chenhao only needs to get a winning streak to control the two economic and military powerhouses. At the same time, the peninsula extends to the west to Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyus, which is of great significance for the control of the Ryukyus.

Thinking of this, since it does not affect Wang Chenhao's strategic plan, then Wang Chenhao does not mind whether it is Shang Tai or Shang Ming.

"In that case, then Zhang Feng, you should immediately send someone to inform Shang Ming!"

"Yes, sir! Let's do it! ”

After Zhang Feng left, Wang Chenhao continued to discuss countermeasures with everyone, Shang Tai was almost eighty years old, and he was tired after listening to it for a while, so he left early.

After Shang Tai left, Wang Shizhen said: "My lord, let Shang Tai be the king, he will not live for a few years, and after he dies, he will control the Ryukyus with us." But if Shang Ming is allowed to be the king, I am afraid that in the future, he will be full-fledged, will he also be like the opposite? ”

Yang Shixiang also said: "Yes, my lord, this has to be guarded against!" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, although he felt that Wang Shizhen and Yang Shixiang's words were reasonable, but the plan couldn't catch up with the changes, and he couldn't help it. At present, Shang Ming controls more than 3,000 Ryukyu underground forces, which is a powerful force, which is of great help to the restoration of the Ryukyus, and can save Wang Chenhao a lot of effort.

"I can't think about it that much yet! The Imperial Court has decreed that it will not interfere in the affairs of the Ryukyus, so it is almost impossible for us to send troops to the Ryukyus to help restore the Ryukyus. Therefore, this Shang Ming's 3,000 armed forces have become the only way at present, anyway, as long as he agrees to give us the concession of the Liansheng Peninsula, the rest of the Ryukyus will be of little value to us anyway. ”

Zhang Peilun said: "My lord, then we can't directly send troops to Ryukyu, so shouldn't we support Shang Ming with some weapons, after all, although Shang Ming has 3,000 weapons, it's a pity that the combat effectiveness is not as good as our domestic Eight Banners old soldiers." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "That's right!" You should have some weapons to support them! However, we have to see how Shang Ming's attitude is? ”

Three days after ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※, Shang Ming personally rushed to Tianjin and had a secret meeting with Wang Chenhao.

Through negotiations, Wang Chenhao and Shang Ming reached an agreement, and Wang Chenhao supported Shang Ming to become the king of the Ryukyus and helped him form the Ryukyu government-in-exile in Tianjin. At the same time, in return, Shang Ming agreed to all the conditions that Shang Tai had promised Wang Chenhao before.

However, Shang Ming was more shrewd than Shang Tai, and he asked Wang Chenhao for the lease fee for the Liansheng Peninsula in the concession, and Wang Chenhao replaced him with arms, and provided Shang Ming's armed forces with 5,000 Mauser 95 rifles, six Makqin heavy machine guns, six 80 infantry guns, as well as a large number of guns and ammunition, as well as grenades and other advanced weapons, and provided a 22-person instructor advisory group to help Shang Ming's subordinates train and teach them to fight.

On March 15, under the deliberate arrangement of Wang Chenhao, Shang Ming and Shang Tai established the Ryukyu Provisional Political Axe in Exile in Tianjin, and Shang Tai gave way to Shang Ming, and Shang Ming became the king of the Ryukyu Political Axe in Exile. At the same time, on the day of its establishment, Wang Chenhao invited ministers and consuls of various countries to participate, but said that the minister refused to participate in protest.

But Wang Chenhao didn't care whether he participated or not, and at his instigation, Shang Ming expressed his stance to defend the interests of the great powers in the Ryukyus, so the consuls of various countries successively recognized Shang Ming's Ryukyu exile political axe.

Under pressure, the Qing government abandoned the Ryukyu Kingdom back then, and now it is no longer possible to deny Shang Ming's exile political axe. However, the Qing Zheng Axe immediately declared its neutrality and strictly ordered Wang Chenhao not to interfere in the war between the Ryukyu exile Zheng Axe and the Yue Ben.

Wang Chenhao also knew that the imperial court gave him a vaccination in advance, and if he sent troops to help Shang Ming privately, it would be tantamount to resisting the decree, and Guangxu would justifiably clean him up at that time.

Wang Chenhao was honest and didn't make any moves, because Wang Chenhao knew that Shang Ming's 3,000 men were more than enough to deal with the garrison of Okinawa Prefecture after being armed with his sophisticated equipment, so he was not in a hurry. And Guangxu was happy to see that Wang Chenhao did not move, but he was more disappointed, and he still wished that Wang Chenhao would resist the decree, so that he would have the opportunity to repair him.

But Guangxu also knew that this Wang Chenhao was as cunning as a fox, and it was difficult to catch him.

After Shang Ming and Shang Tai established the Ryukyu Exile Axe in Tianjin, Shang Ming quietly returned to Naha with the advanced weapons and equipment and military advisors given to him by Wang Chenhao, preparing to wait for an opportunity to attack the Japanese army in Shuri Castle.

On March 23, Shang Ming was already a little impatient, his subordinates had just received the advanced weapons provided by Wang Chenhao, and before they could wait for a few days of training, Shang Ming was pulled out to officially attack the Okinawa army.

At this time, the army stationed in Okinawa Prefecture had only one garrison, with less than 1,000 troops. However, the combat effectiveness of this thousand people is not weak, much stronger than Shang Ming's army.

The commander of the Okinawa garrison, Nona Osa, immediately led his troops to meet the battle, but because the garrison lacked heavy weapons, Shang Ming's troops carried heavy machine guns, infantry guns, and other heavy weapons provided to them by Wang Chenhao, and their firepower was very fierce. In addition, Shang Ming's troops have always been small fights, and they have not been able to achieve a climate, and at the beginning, it was said that the commander of the military garrison, Nona, was a little light on the enemy, and as a result, he suffered a big loss.

Fierce fighting broke out between the two sides in the vicinity of Beizhongcheng, and the army was outwhelmed, with more than 100 casualties as soon as the battle began. Nona didn't expect Shang Ming's weapons and equipment to suddenly improve a lot, and they were more advanced than the equipment of the army, so he didn't dare to underestimate the other party anymore, and chose to retreat rationally.

The army was forced to retreat after holding out for less than an hour, and Shang Ming won the first battle and immediately ordered the march.

On March 24, the army retreated to the North Valley and built fortifications to continue the resistance.

At this time, Nona already knew that Shang Mingbu had fierce firepower, so he gave up the frontal confrontation and chose to keep retreating, pretending to be defeated every time, but in fact there were not many casualties.

Nona is deliberately paralyzing Shang Ming and making Shang Ming a strong enemy.

Sure enough, Shang Ming saw that the army had been defeated repeatedly, and his confidence skyrocketed, and he ordered the whole army to advance quickly, in order to take Shuri Castle in one go.

Shang Ming had a military advisory group sent by Wang Chenhao by his side, and the adviser Cui Shangwu persuaded Shang Ming many times, pointing out that it must be a deception for the troops to retreat again and again without breaking their bones, and asked Shang Ming to slow down the attack.

But Shang Ming was so happy that he couldn't listen to the words of persuasion at this time, and his subordinates were also carried away one by one, and they jointly encouraged Shang Ming.

As a result, Shang Ming rejected the advisory group's suggestion and ordered the whole army to pursue Nona's Yue army troops.

Nona's company retreated, but the speed was getting faster and faster, and the Shang Ming Department was in hot pursuit, and soon the artillery units of the Shang Ming Department fell behind, and within a few days, the heavy machine gun company was also far away from logistics, and the heavy machine gun was seriously damaged and could not be repaired because it was far away from logistics and fired for a long time at any cost and without rules.

On April 2, Nona led more than 700 troops to retreat to Shuri Castle, and at noon on the same day, Shang Ming led his troops to catch up, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides under Shuri Castle.

However, the army no longer retreated, fiercely counterattacked, Shang Ming's department did not have the fire support of the artillery company and the heavy machine gun company, although the offensive was still very fierce, but the lack of heavy weapons to break the city, there was no way to take the army.

The two sides fought fiercely until dark, Shang Ming's troops suffered more than 1,000 casualties, while the Yue army suffered less than 100 casualties, and the battle loss ratio of ten to one made Shang Ming jump like thunder.

As night fell, Shang Ming's troops stopped attacking, and Shang Ming sent people to urge the artillery companies behind to hurry up and converge, and the heavy machine gun companies also rushed to converge after repairing their weapons.

That night, on the one hand, he sent a letter to the base camp of the army, asking the army department to send reinforcements, but on the other hand, he quietly went out of the city from the north gate, bypassed the west gate of Shuri, and took advantage of the night to raid the Shangming military camp.

Shang Ming's troops were caught off guard, and the motley troops without formal training could not organize themselves to resist when they were suddenly attacked.

Shang Ming's troops fought separately, but they were broken by 500 troops and were defeated overnight.

Naomaki was killed in the battle, the other Ryukyuan killed and wounded more than 1,000 people, another 300 people were captured, and less than 400 escaped.

Cui Shangwu knew that Shang Ming would be defeated, so he restrained the heavy machine gun company and artillery company in the rear, urgently repaired the heavy machine gun, and collected the old Shang Ming troops that were scattered, and organized the defense from the new.

When Nona led the army to kill, Cui Shangwu decisively organized a counterattack. The army was afraid of the Makqin heavy machine gun weapon in Cui Shangwu's hand, so after the two sides held each other for a day, Nona saw that he could not take advantage, so he retreated to Shuri and held on to help.

Cui Shangwu had only a few hundred people left in his hands, and there was no hope of attacking the city, and when he learned that the reinforcements of the Yue army had arrived, he immediately ordered a retreat and hid in the nearby mountains, and at the same time sent someone to report the situation to Wang Chenhao.

On April 6, the 2,000 troops of the 1st Division of the Japanese Army arrived in Shuri, and at the same time, the army began to sweep around, looking for the remnants of Cui Shangwu, in order to completely annihilate them.

However, when the local people of Ryukyu learned that the Ryukyus king Shotai had fled from the city, they also began to move. After occupying the Ryukyu Kingdom, he took the king's family away and threatened the Ryukyu officials and people with the threat that if they dared to rebel, they would kill Shotai, so the people of the Ryukyus did not dare to rebel openly. Now that Shotai had escaped from the Ryukyu king, many people loyal to the Ryukyu king began to actively prepare.

When they learned of the defeat of the rebels, the people of the Ryukyus offered to help them hide and refused to inform the rebel soldiers of their movements. Therefore, Cui Shangwu and others were able to wander in the cracks of the army and escape the sweep.

The news of ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Shangming's death in battle reached Tianjin, which dealt a huge blow to the newly established Ryukyu Kingdom in exile, and Shangtai fainted on the spot, and was subsequently admitted to a British hospital for treatment.

The attitude of the political axes of various countries suddenly changed a little, and I thought that the political axes in exile in the Ryukyus could be restored with the support of Wang Chenhao, but I never thought that I had not even fought a garrison of the army, which was really unbearable.

The Russian Axe, which had a good relationship with the Rakyumoto, immediately declared the Ryukyu Axe in Exile illegal, and cooperated with the Saymoto Axe to put pressure on the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, Germany and France were also unwilling to offend Ryamoto on this issue because of the improvement of relations with him, so they also announced that they would no longer support the Ryukyu exile political axe, but considering Wang Chenhao's relationship, France and Germany did not say anything against it.

Although the United States and Britain did not say anything, the Ryukyu civil war would affect the trade between the United States and Britain in the Ryukyus, and they also hoped that the matter would be settled as soon as possible. However, they need to know Wang Chenhao's attitude, if Wang Chenhao abandons the Ryukyus, then Britain and the United States will no longer support the Ryukyu political axe in exile.

In this case, Wang Chenhao immediately promoted Shang Tai as the king of the Ryukyu political axe in exile and continued to maintain the title of the political axe in exile.

This move was extremely dissatisfied with both the two countries, and Qing Zhengaxe was under strong political pressure from the two countries, and Wang Chenhao was also ordered to resolve the diplomatic crisis as soon as possible.

The Qing government axe did not allow Wang Chenhao to use the army to support the restoration of the Ryukyus, Wang Chenhao also understood that this time Guangxu must be playing really, if Wang Chenhao dared to use the army, Guangxu would definitely have an excuse to clean him up.

Wang Chenhao will not give Guangxu any handle and truth, but he also does not want to lose the promise of the king of the Ryukyus, after all, the strategic location of the Ryukyus is important, and in the hands of Yue himself, it is the springboard for the invasion of China, and in the hands of China, it is the east gate of strategic defense.

"My lord, what are we going to do now? Even if we drag it out like this, after a long time, the court will have an excuse. ”

Wang Shizhen raised his concerns, Ruan Zhongshu, Yang Shixiang, Zhang Peilun, Zhang Feng and others also expressed their worries about this, but when they saw that Wang Chenhao was still like no one, they all had some bottom in their hearts, knowing that Wang Chenhao must have a way.

Sure enough, Wang Chenhao smiled slightly and said, "A living person can't let urine suffocate to death!" ”

Yang Shixiang hurriedly asked, "My lord has a way?" Let's listen to it with us, so that we can have a long insight! ”

Wang Chenhao looked around, smiled and said, "Don't say it, this method is indeed unprecedented!" ”

Zhang Feng said: "My lord, don't hang our appetite, just say it?" We're all dying! ”

Wang Chenhao smiled, and then said: "Since Shang Ming's idiot can't do it himself, then I decided to send troops to Ryukyu!" ”

"Sending troops to the Ryukyus?"

Everyone was dumbfounded, what kind of strategy is this! Sending troops to the Ryukyus under the pressure of the imperial court is the protest order, and the imperial court will have an excuse to clean them up.

Zhang Peilun shook his head and sighed: "Forget it, I think we should all go home and pack up our things!" ”

Wang Shizhen immediately grabbed Zhang Peilun and said, "Mr. Zhang, slow down, I guess the adults have something to say, right?" ”

Ruan Zhongshu also said: "That's it! With the ingenuity of an adult, it is impossible not to think of the great sin of resisting the decree, right? ”

Wang Chenhao suddenly laughed and said, "It's still Shizhen and Zhongshu who are calm!" ”

Zhang Peilun suddenly said angrily: "I said go home and pack up my things, but I just want Lord Wang to tell his plan earlier, see?" Let's move the spirit! ”

Everyone sighed.

Zhang Feng asked, "My lord, don't sell Guanzi, tell us quickly, right?" ”

Wang Chenhao whetted everyone's appetite before he said: "I said that it is true to send troops!" But in order to avoid the court from asking for guilt, there must be a reasonable excuse for sending troops! ”

Everyone looked at each other.

Wang Shizhen asked, "My lord, there are a lot of excuses to find here?" Adults need to think twice! ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "I have a way, in order not to give the court an excuse, we will select a group of volunteers in the country to go to Ryukyu." This group of people went to the Ryukyu battlefield in the form of volunteers in order to help the Ryukyus recover. Because we occupy the moral high ground, our volunteers can be recognized by the great powers, not even themselves. As far as the imperial court is concerned, this is only a private self-organization, since the Ryukyu Kingdom is a vassal state of the Qing Empire, so in the face of morality, the imperial court can prevent the regular army from intervening in the Ryukyu war, but there is no reason to stop the civilian volunteer army. ”

"Volunteers?"

Everyone was stunned and stunned, it was the first time they had heard this term when they were so big. However, everyone quickly figured out Wang Chenhao's intentions, this volunteer army could indeed bypass international public opinion and bypass the imperial court's holy decree and directly participate in the Ryukyu restoration movement.

Yang Shixiang gave a thumbs up and praised: "My lord is really Zhuge Liang in the world, this plan is very wonderful!" ”

Zhang Peilun immediately asked: "But, have you thought about it?" What about the volunteer army formed by the people? Will the volunteers be able to defeat the devils? ”

"Of course! The volunteers can even beat the Yankees, not to mention the small one! ”

"Did the Volunteers fight the Yankees?"

Wang Chenhao blurted out and immediately regretted it, and quickly explained: "I'm just making an analogy, which means that the volunteer army is extremely powerful!" ”

Everyone also listened to Wang Chenhao's off-topic words, so they all have immunity, and they don't study when the volunteers fought the Yankees.

Zhang Peilun then asked: "No matter how strong you are, you are still a peasant and an ordinary person, how can you beat a well-trained army?" ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Peren, you are a bull!" Should be flexible! ”

Yang Shixiang asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao explained: "We can disassociate some officers and men of the Beiyang Army from the military and let them reorganize into a volunteer army as civilians, so that their combat effectiveness can be guaranteed." ”

Zhang Peilun asked again: "But can the imperial court easily allow the soldiers of the Beiyang Army to be dismissed from military status?" ”

Zhang Feng said: "The Beiyang Army is only the head of the lord and the horse, and the lord will be lifted if he says that it will be lifted, can the imperial court control it?" ”

Wang Chenhao waved his hand and said: "Having said that, this is tantamount to direct confrontation with the imperial court, which will annoy the imperial court." ”

Wang Shizhen asked, "What do you think of adults?" ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "I opened the salaries of the eight towns of the Beiyang Army, as long as I say that I have no money, let the brothers make a fuss!" ”

Ruan Zhongshu suddenly realized and said: "The imperial court has no money to spend on the Beiyang Army, so the adults have an excuse to allow the brothers to be dismissed from the military." The imperial court couldn't come up with the money, so naturally there was no excuse to stop it. In this way, the soldiers who had been dismissed from the military were reorganized into volunteers and went to fight in the Ryukyus, and the imperial court had no choice. ”

Yang Shixiang, Wang Shizhen, Zhang Feng, Zhang Peilun and others glanced at each other, bowed to Wang Chenhao, and said respectfully: "My lord is wise!" ”

Wang Chenhao laughed a few times, but he was thanking Mao Dada in his heart, because he plagiarized Mao Dada's original work again this time.

"Then let's do it! I wonder if the adults have a name for this volunteer army? A name has a call! ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said, "Let's call it the Chinese People's Volunteers!" ”

(To be continued)