On the European theater, the war between the Central and Entente powers had entered a white-hot state.

In Laiyang, although the scale is not as large as that of Europe, it is by no means inferior to Europe in terms of intensity.

If it is said that the European side is beating the head and breaking the bloodstream, then here in Laiyang, it is the liver and brain... To put it simply, here in Laiyang, at least nearly a thousand people lie down every day, and this level is only true of some secondary battlefields in Europe.

And since Terauchi Zhengyi sat on the front line of Laiyang, he saw that at least 1,800 people died on the battlefield every day, and he also deeply felt the cruelty of the war situation. It's not that he doesn't want to open up another battlefield to break through the current predicament, it's that the strength of the expeditionary force has been dragged by the national defense force in Laiyang.

If you really want to divide the troops, and then capture Weifang or Jinan and other places, if you divide the troops with few troops, then things will definitely not be done, but if you divide too much... Obviously, you definitely don't want this vital place in Laiyang.

And after arriving on the battlefield, Terauchi Masashi also found that the strength of the Wehrmacht was very different from what was described in the military department's intelligence beforehand.

According to the intelligence of the military department, the Wehrmacht is nothing more than a rabble with sophisticated weapons but no fighting spirit and no training, just a new group of "Qing [***] teams".

However, after going to the battlefield, and even risking to stay on the front line for a period of time, Terauchi Masayi found that these "Wehrmacht" on the opposite side may not be as good as the Yue Army in many places, but they can also be called well-trained, coupled with sophisticated weapons, many times on the battlefield can actually suppress and fight the Yue Army.

If it weren't for the fact that there was still a big gap in training between the two sides, the equipment of the Wehrmacht alone would have been enough to push the Japanese army from Laiyang all the way down to the sea..."Fortunately, land warfare is not as good as naval warfare, and even if there is a big gap in equipment, as long as the training is good, there is still hope of victory..."

Thinking so, Terauchi Masaki looked at the Wehrmacht position opposite with a telescope.

For this war, in fact, Terauchi Masashi is not very worried—————— of course, there is still a little bit.

However, Terauchi Masashi can also see that these national defense forces in Shandong at the moment are likely to be the elite troops of the national defense army, and maybe all the elites in the national defense force have been transferred. If China's elite troops are only more than 100,000 in front of them, then as long as these troops in front of them are defeated, then China will naturally be powerless to resist.

I have to say that Masashi Terauchi saw it well.

That's right, the Wehrmacht is fighting very well in the Laiyang Battlefield now, but in the entire Wehrmacht, there are only more than 200,000 troops that can fight. And now in Laiyang, nearly half of them have gathered.

What's more, if you can fight, it is also easy to divide the grades, if you are in Beiyang, it is naturally the core of the six towns of Beiyang, and in the case of the National Social Army, it is the first ten divisions. The remaining troops, such as the new army left over from the former Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xun's Wuwei front army and Tan Yanmin's Hunan army, etc., although their combat effectiveness is also very strong, they are finally one line behind the more than ten divisions above... In other words, there are actually only so many troops that China can fight.

Unlike China, there is a fairly complete military service system in China, which cannot be compared with the current China. At the same time, there are also quite a number of retired veterans, and with a little mobilization, hundreds of thousands of troops can be recruited.

Just like the 19 standing divisions (Guards Division + 1st to 18th Divisions), there are actually many divisions and regiments that only maintain an establishment of more than 10,000 people in peacetime, but in wartime, they will be strengthened to more than 20,000 after mobilization.

Where did all these increased forces come from? Nature comes through mobilization.

Before World War I, what was the total strength of the army? But after the outbreak of World War I, the number of mobilized troops reached more than 500,000... These more than 500,000 are not comparable to the Wehrmacht, and the Wehrmacht is indeed capable of fighting a lot of troops, and the total number of zeros and zeros is almost more than 200,000.

But what about the rest?

The rest of the people are good at oppressing the people, or suppressing the strike movement, but they have to go to war? I'm afraid I can only shout classic lines like "For the sake of the party-state, pull the brothers~~~".

If you really want to shout such lines, defeat is small, and loss is big... However, even so, there is no need to worry, because with the current national strength of Yuben, it will be enough to fight in Shandong for three or two months, and if it is longer, if it is a year and a half, Yuben's national strength will not be able to support it for so long.

After all, Ben is still a debtor country, and it will take a long time to become a debtor country after the First World War.

Moreover, it is also different from China in terms of finance, because it has more income and more expenditure, after all, the army and navy are too big. It's just like the second-generation 88th Fleet, it's all money... And the funds needed for the war are by no means a small amount, just like the First Sino-Japanese War, the book is actually a bit bankrupt, but then the Manchu Qing Dynasty offered a lot of silver, so that the book survived, and there was a lot of money.

It's just that this profit was then spent in the Russo-Russian War.

Moreover, after the Russo-Russian War, although he won the war, he ended up with a lot of debts and became a debtor country completely. In the end, the only one who won was the British themselves.

Under his scheme, Russia failed, not only lost a lot of things, but also greatly reduced its prestige. And because of this, I have to rely on the UK, which is really a win-win... China, on the other hand, does not have as much income as the capital, but it also does not spend as much as the capital. In addition, it was the First World War, and Allied merchants were waving cheques all over the world to purchase important supplies needed by the Entente.

Material... This is China's strong point, and although the vast land and resources have become a joke to some extent, it is not entirely ridiculous. What's more, Yan Guang has been operating in Sichuan for many years, and I don't know how many factories have been set up, and many factories can be ranked in Europe and the United States.

In this case, according to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Finance, it is no problem for this year's fiscal revenue to exceed 700 million. Even as the fighting in Europe intensified, the Allies needed more and more supplies, and there were more and more factories on Chinese soil, and this number could be even higher..."Send a telegram to the country, and ask them to send as many reinforcements as possible..."

Inside the headquarters, looking at the Wehrmacht position that was in a quiet state on the opposite side, Terauchi Masashi said to the adjutant on the side.

At present, although there are quite a few troops in Shandong, it is still not enough to break the deadlock, and it is just at this time that the initial mobilization in the territory of Yueben has ended.

If the country can send more troops to help Terauchi Masatsuki, then Terauchi Masayi will have absolute confidence to defeat the Wehrmacht in front of him.

It is said that the army is large and flat, while the national defense force is small and fine.

Skirmishes are both a strength and an advantage of the IDF.

If we continue to fight in Shandong like this, the Wehrmacht will still have enough food and shelter.

But if there are enough troops in Shandong, so many that the Wehrmacht sends all the elites, and even has to send those rabble to make up the numbers, then the opportunity for Terauchi Zhengyi will come.

In the Wehrmacht, those so-called elites are actually similar to the reserve of the Japanese army, and only a very small number of elite troops can be compared with the main divisions of the Japanese army.

As for the rest of the scum... Terauchi Masatsu's telegram was very fast, and it soon reached Shigenobu Okuma.

】

It's just that unlike last time, last time Okuma Shigenobu and they quickly agreed to the decision to send reinforcements to Shandong, but this time... Send again? If you send it again, money will be a big problem... After all, it is still a debtor country, and it has to repay a lot of interest every year, and it is very difficult for it to afford to send another 180,000 troops to Shandong. After all, the consumption of ammunition and supplies for nearly 200,000 troops is by no means a small number, and China also relies on Yan Guang's personal finances to support it.

And Ben has always been a poor country, and many things have been accumulated by the whole country by shrinking clothes and dieting... There are only two ways to make Ben spend a lot of money like the Wehrmacht... One is to find a person like Yan Guang in this book, and take out a lot of money from his wallet to donate to the political axe—————— this method is too difficult, not to mention where the lack of heart will donate his money to the country without return, and it is so much money.

It's not easy to find someone as rich as Yan Guang.

Yes, there are indeed many rich people in this world, but the difference between fixed assets and working capital is also quite large.

Yan Guang's hundreds of millions of belongings may not be comparable to some tycoons, but all of Yan Guang's assets are liquid, and he can spend whatever he wants. The only trouble is some of the bank's procedures.

But Ben here—————— where are they going to find a business that makes money like an oil field?

Even if there are people like Yan Guang, they go to Mexico to exploit oil, but there is a problem, that is, Tampico, Mexico's most famous gold belt, is already Yan Guang, even if they can find another oil field, it is difficult to say how much oil they can produce.

Unless, suddenly, a man ran out of the crossing, and then went to the Middle East to exploit the oil fields.

But if that's the case, then the oil field may not be anyone's in the end.

There is a second way, which is relatively simple, and that is to borrow.

Borrowing from Britain, like France, or simply from the United States, as long as the money is borrowed, the war will naturally be fought. It's just that if you really want to do this, there will be a problem, that is, after the end of World War I, it may not be possible to change from a debtor country to a debtor country..."

Sitting in front of Emperor Taisho, Shigenobu Okuma and others didn't know where to get money at all.

—————————— Okuma rebelieves that they are worried, and Yan Guang and others, who are far away in Yanjing, are also worried.

Okuma believes that they are worried about money, and Yan Guang is also worried about money.

It's just that although they are both worried about money, they are worried about differently.

Okuma is convinced that they are worried, where should they go to get money, but Yan Guang is worried about it—————— of course Yan Guang is worried about not having too much money, where to spend money.

That's right, Yan Guang's money is indeed a lot, but it's not as much as that.

And there are too many places to spend money at the moment, not to mention anything else, some time ago, Sa Zhenbing took Liu Guanxiong to Yan Guang and begged Yan Guang to come forward and order a dreadnought-class battleship from the United States to supplement the strength of the Chinese Navy.

After all, the current Chinese Navy is too powerful, and the final strength is only a 4,300-ton Haiqi, which is still more than ten years old.

The "Jinghai-class" cruiser's lead ship, the "Jinghai Ship", also needs at least a month to be launched, and the displacement of the Jinghai ship is only more than 3,000 tons, which is definitely stronger than the Haiqi ship, but compared with the navies of other countries... It happened that Sa Zhenbing and Liu Guanxiong heard that Yan Guang had a lot of money, so they ran over and begged.

Just as Liu Guanxiong said..."Actually, it's not a lot of money, I have already asked the American minister, and a Dreadnought-class battleship only needs 25 million on the American side..."

Twenty-five million, and that's it... It's really not your own money, but you don't feel sorry for spending it... Twenty-five million... The monthly salary of an infantry division is only more than 100,000 yuan, and the monthly salary of the troops in Shandong is only more than 1 million. Twenty-five million is enough for a month's salary for the [***] team... Although —————— took out 25 million, Yan Guang really didn't take it very seriously.

But Liu Guanxiong's attitude at that time was too much, so Yan Guang naturally rejected his proposal.

But to be honest, Yan Guang was really a little moved by Liu Guanxiong and Sa Zhenbing's proposal. After all, twenty-five million can buy a newest dreadnought-class battleship, which can even be called a super dreadnought.

Such a ship, even if it is just one, can bring enough improvement to the strength of the Chinese Navy.

It only takes one ship to make him have enough scruples about it.

But in the end, Yan Guang was only moved, because the Fuzhou Ship Administration Bureau at that time had already completed the design of battlecruisers and battleships.

And after being revised and improved, the newly designed battle cruisers are almost the same level as the Kongo-class of the Japanese version. As for the battleships, they were designed by the old designer who was invited from Germany with reference to the battleships of the "Bavaria" class.

However, the standard is high, and the difficulty is high.

Not to mention, the Bavarian class used a fifteen-inch main gun.

Fifteen inches, that is, 380mm caliber.

And the Bavarian class still uses a 380mm/45 times diameter main gun, if it is only a 280mm main gun, this level of cannon Sichuan Arsenal can still be produced, but if it is a 380mm caliber cannon... The Sichuan Arsenal has indeed grown a lot in recent years, and 280mm heavy howitzers can be produced, and they are still mass-produced, but the 380mm caliber naval guns, at least the current Sichuan Arsenal does not have this ability, nor does it have this qualification... In the end, the direction of the purchase of naval guns can only be aimed at Britain and the United States, and there is no way to target Britain, after all, there is definitely no way to buy it like Germany now—————— although with the current relationship between China and Germany, the Germans will definitely sell it.

As for the United States, I'm really worried about the quality of American goods, and the 380mm naval guns may not be able to be produced by the Americans now... When it came to the 356mm naval gun, the Americans were a little sure.

According to the latest design of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, the new battle cruiser will use the same 356mm/45 times diameter main gun as the King Kong class, with a total of four twin turrets and a total of eight main guns, which is similar to the King Kong class.

The battleship, on the other hand, uses a 380mm/45 or 50 times the diameter of the main gun, and unlike the King Kong class, the new battleship will use four triple turrets, a total of twelve main guns, two in the front and rear.

This arrangement would not be like the relics of the Multi-Turret Cult, and there would be a danger of the ship's hull collapsing during a salvo. At the same time, it can have extremely powerful firepower... China is different from Britain and Germany, and Britain and Germany are other powers, each of which has double-digit battleships, so while considering the surname of the battleship, it is also necessary to consider the cost issue.

But China is different, the battleships of other countries are in double digits, but China does not even have second-class cruisers in double digits. So what China wants is the surname Neng, as for the cost, as long as it is not too outrageous, it is a secondary issue... After all, the largest warship built by the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau is only a Jinghai-class light cruiser (second-class cruiser) of more than 3,000 tons, and if you want to talk about battle cruisers and battleships like the King Kong-class or Bavaria-class, you must at least wait until the 10,000-ton heavy cruiser, that is, the first-class cruiser, is completed.

Cruisers of the 1st class, heavy cruisers of the Asakaze class ... 280mm/45x diameter naval gun, four twin turrets, a total of eight... At present, there are three "Jinghai-class" cruisers and three "Qinghai-class" destroyers under construction on the slipway of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau. At the same time, more slipways are being repaired and built.

As soon as some of the 10,000-ton slipways are repaired, the lead ship of the "Chaokaze-class" heavy cruiser, the "Chaofeng", will lay keels on the slipway and enter the state of construction... And after accumulating enough experience on the Asakaze-class heavy cruisers, the latest battlecruisers and battleships will be pushed onto the slipway...—————————— having said all this, there is actually only one thing that Yan Guang will worry about for money.

Of course, as I said just now, Yan Guang is definitely not worried about too much money and not knowing where to spend it. Although Yan Guang has a lot of money, he basically spends it where it should be spent, and where it shouldn't... Fill your accommodation with air conditioning, and get yourself a factory that specializes in juice or something... Ahem... What Yan Guang is worried about now is actually one word, greed... With the development, the power of the Military Defense Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau has become more and more powerful.

However, none of this would have touched on some of the internal affairs of the political axe, because these are managed by the Ministry of Justice.

Merely... After the outbreak of the war in Shandong, because of the fierceness of the war, there was no need to talk about ammunition and other things, such as food and medicine, but it was necessary for the local political axe to come forward and send it to Shandong.

Ammunition is nothing, after all, it is all produced by the arsenal, and the people responsible for transporting it are also the army. If it is something else, maybe the army may still move, but since it is the weapons and ammunition that the army urgently needs, the army responsible for transporting it will never move, not to mention that there are so many people from the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Military Defense Bureau staring at it.

But locally... As we all know, the local political axe, many of the officials in the local political axe, are actually some officials in the former Qing Dynasty. This is slightly better in the south, after all, after the Xinhai Revolution, a group of people were purged by the revolutionary army, but it is impossible to clean it up, after all, the overseers of many provinces are the former Qing Dynasty members after the Anyway.

However, compared to the south, the north is much more serious.

Because with the exception of a very few places, some officials in the north have hardly moved their nests.

After the Xinhai Revolution, the Manchu abdicated and came to power in the Republic of China, and these former Qing officials only changed their names, from officials of the Qing Dynasty to officials of the Republic of China.

Naturally, the bad habits of the Qing Dynasty also spread to the Republic of China.

And at the beginning, because of the beginning of the new dynasty, these officials didn't dare to go too far, after all, everything was different from before, and they also needed to adapt to the new life.

Then Yuan Shikai died, and Yan Guang took the position, because Yan Guang was not familiar with these officials, and he didn't have any friendship, these officials didn't dare to make any small moves, after all, they didn't know what the new president's spleen and surname were, if they didn't get it right..."Click"

Lose your head, and you won't even know how to intercede when the time comes.

But when the war broke out in Shandong... Even if they want to take care of some weapons and ammunition that are urgently needed at the front line, not to mention where you are going to sell the stolen goods, you can also ask the officers and soldiers escorted if they agree, and even if they agree, the guns in their hands may not agree, right?

But... What about the food and medicine that passed through the localities, or even the food and medicines that were collected in their local areas???

Not to mention food, medicine, cotton, gauze, etc., there are a lot of articles in this.

There is no need to be short of catties and shortages, as long as it is shoddy... It's really promising... As a result, Shandong is playing lively, and the local political axes in the south and north are also playing lively.

Merely... Perhaps ordinary corruption incidents are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, but now some of the local political axes have been related to the military... It was related to the war situation in Shandong, so soon the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Military Defense Bureau discovered some of these things, and after a preliminary search, the people of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Military Defense Bureau actually found that some of the materials collected and purchased in the local area were very few, very few and there were no problems... In the same way, some black-hearted goods, all of which were sent to the front, the bleeding front... What kind of wealth, it's not as cool as the national disaster wealth...

(To be continued)