"Smack..."

The match slashed across the phosphorus surface, and after igniting the match head, a white officer lit a cigarette in his hand with a burning match.

"Rodro, are you smoking those inferior cigarettes provided by the Chinese again?"

Watching his companion smoke there, a white man who was standing at the window and looking outside complained.

"Don't you know how bad this smoke really smells?"

The officer, named Rodro, did not stop smoking because of the complaints of his companions, but walked up to him.

"Dans, don't complain so much, the Chinese only have this kind of "cloud smoke" produced by the Chinese themselves in their hands, not to mention that some of them are already very good in this kind of place. ”

As he spoke, Rodro and his companion Dans looked out the window, where a group of SNS soldiers in gray training uniforms had just passed. However, when a lieutenant [***] officer in a pure black military uniform walked by, Rodro smiled at Dans.

"In any case, these Chinese's military uniforms are indeed very beautiful..." said Rodro took a big puff of the cigarette in his hand, and waited until he spit out all the smoke in his lungs before saying to Dans. The war is over, and the city is about to return to calm, I hope those vendors will come back soon, otherwise I will not be able to stand the Chinese cigarettes. ”

Hearing Rodro say this, Dans's face changed, and he snatched the cigarette from his hand and crushed it in the ashtray next to him.

"If you can't smoke it, don't smoke it!"

Seeing the appearance of the two people, the other whites and several yellow people in the room laughed.

After a while, when the two of them had had enough, a person who seemed to be the leader stepped forward and spoke.

"Alright, Dans, Rodro, you two don't make any more noise."

Dans and Rodro listened very much to the man who came forward, and when they saw him come forward, they replied.

"Yes, Colonel Mutter."

Danse, Rodro, and later Colonel Mutter, as well as everyone in the room, were all part of the Foreign Observer Group. Of course, the so-called foreign military observation group is only composed of Britain, France, and Taiwan. Moreover, the current foreign military observation group is only in Britain and China, and the French have already gone to the French consulate in Hankou to attend the ball after the ban is lifted...

The Foreign Military Observation Group is an organization that appeared in the late stage of the Second Revolution, and its mission is not only to observe whether there has been an "inhumanitarian" phenomenon on the battlefield in China, but also to observe the combat capability of the Beiyang Army—————— although European observers believe that the war between the Allies and the Entente will not happen until at least about 1920, but it is indeed necessary to find some help to take precautions, and Yuan Shikai's Beiyang is one of the forces that can be relied on in the eyes of the British.

After all, Yuan Shikai himself had a very good personal relationship with the British Minister Zhu Erdian, and his relationship with Yue himself was also okay, and after the outbreak of the European war, Yuan Shikai was likely to stand on the side of the Entente.

However, it is impossible for the British to casually draw Yuan Shikai to their side, after all, the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army is also a matter worth considering. You must know that the Chinese [***] team has not left a very good impression on the British in history, and if the quality of the Chinese [***] team is too low, then it is not asking for trouble to bring them to Europe?

That's why the Entente sent an observation team to China, wanting to inspect the combat strength of the Chinese [***] team, and if it really doesn't look at the use, then let China join the Entente as a country that does not send troops to provide resources or manpower for the Entente.

To be honest, after the Entente foreign military observation group was integrated into the Beiyang Army, the officers of these Allied countries still had a good impression of the Beiyang Army.

In the eyes of the Entente officials, although the strength of the Beiyang Army was not as good as that of the European army, it was at least much stronger than the colonial army, and if it was to be said, it was even close to the level of the second-rate army of Europe in terms of strength.

The only pity is that there are very few troops close to the second-rate level of Europe in China, only about 100,000. There are a lot of third-rate or non-mainstream troops, about a million, of course, this refers to the whole of China's army...

After observing the Beiyang Army's operations against the Northern Expeditionary Army in the Second Revolution, the members of the observation group even made a report.

"It is recommended that some military assistance be provided to China, and in the event of a war in Europe, 500,000 troops may be provided..."

In the opinion of the members of the observation group, since Beiyang can train 100,000 troops close to the second-rate level in Europe, it will not be difficult to train another 500,000 troops as long as a certain amount of assistance is provided, after all, Beiyang already has a foundation in this regard.

As for the Kuomintang Northern Expeditionary Army that the Beiyang Army had to face at that time? In the eyes of the Mission, with the exception of the Eighth Division in Nanjing, which might be able to rival the Beiyang Army, all the rest were just third-rate armies that were slightly stronger than the colonial army.

The facts also proved the observation team's point of view, except for the Battle of Nanjing, which took a certain amount of time, the battles in other areas were fought as if they were devastated. In many places, the Northern Expeditionary Army only held out for a few days, and the Ninth Division of the Leng Shu Division was beaten back on the day it went north, and finally had to withdraw to Nanjing under the cover of the Eighth Division's cavalry regiment.

However, just as the members of the Observation Mission were preparing to submit their report to the consulate and return to Shanghai to enjoy a "civilized" life, the two provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, which were controlled by the Nationalist Army, declared their reading power and sent tens of thousands of troops to the Northern Expedition.

After all, most of the weapons and equipment owned by the National Socialist Army were provided by the British and Germans, and only a small part were French, Belgian, and American goods. Therefore, when the two provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan announced the reading power, the observation group that had planned to return to Shanghai by boat was told to stay in Hubei for a longer period of time, and also to observe the Nationalist Army that announced the Northern Expedition.

Although the officers of the observation mission cursed a lot about the consulate's decision, they had to nod their heads in the end, after all, they were all attachés of the Shanghai Consulate General.

After all, they had already received the information from the consulate and had a certain understanding of the Nationalist Army announcing the Northern Expedition, but just as they were preparing to go to the front line, the farthest Padang had already been lost.

At that time, they didn't pay much attention to it, after all, there were only two regiments of the Beiyang Army in Badong, and the remaining Hubei army division was probably not even third-rate. What's more, there was a reason for the incident at that time, if it weren't for the division commander of the Hubei Army, Ma Bangde, who escaped from the battle, the National Social Army might not have been able to win so easily.

It's just that by the time they started working, the National Social Army had already hit Qianjiang...

In addition to Qianjiang, the remaining Hanyang, Hankou and even the Wuchang battle some time ago made a deep impression on the members of these foreign army observation groups.

Among them, the most impressive thing is the powerful firepower of the National Social Army, and this powerful firepower is not only in heavy equipment, but also in individual equipment.

"If you insist on saying it, perhaps the individual quality of the National Social Army is not as good as that of the Beiyang Army, but it is also close to the second-rate level in Europe. However, in terms of firepower, this Chinese [***] team is an absolute European standard, especially in terms of individual firepower, it is far beyond the European level..."

These Allied observers could never have imagined that in Asia, on the land of China, they could actually see the scene of thousands of artillery pieces bombarding each other. In particular, the observers of the National Socialist Army are the most shocked, because in the artillery units of the National Socialist Army, there are absolutely no fewer heavy artillery pieces of 120mm and 150mm calibers, and even the 210mm heavy howitzers actually have twenty or thirty pieces, and you must know that the current army of the Republic of China only has more than ten 240mm heavy howitzers. (In the forty-fifth year of the Meiji era, that is, in 1912, when the Qingdao War was fought in 1914, the attack on Qingdao Fortress was only to send the second wing of the field heavy artillery to carry 12 240mm heavy howitzers to participate in the battle. ）

In this book, the largest caliber of heavy artillery is a 280mm howitzer copied from Italy, which once participated in the Russian-Japanese War, and this cannon played a decisive role in the occupation of the 203 heights of Arthur Fortress or the destruction of Russian ships in the port. However, this howitzer uses a bronze cannon body, and the design is too old, so it has a big flaw in the surname. Nowadays, it is not very practical, and it is precisely because of this that I designed the Meiji 45 240mm heavy howitzer.

However, unlike other armies, in addition to the 240mm heavy gun, he did not design the caliber of 210mm, and further down, there were only 150mm howitzers and no cannons of the same caliber, and at this time, the largest field cannon in the army was only 105mm, and there was a serious lack of heavy firepower...

This lack may not be anything in peacetime, and several officers of the observation group do not think that there will be any problems with the fact that the army is inferior to the British and French in heavy firepower, but now even the Chinese have surpassed themselves in heavy firepower, which makes Yu's fragile heart a little unbearable...

(In fact, there are also 150mm caliber heavy cannons, but the weight of this cannon has reached an astonishing 26 tons in the field, you must know that the 150mm howitzer of the same caliber of the same era is only more than 2 tons, and that is only 90 kilograms more, considering this weight and the field transportation capacity of countries around the world at that time, this kind of cannon can be basically ignored in the field...) ）

Of course, unlike himself, the British and French were not concerned with the heavy firepower equipment of the National Socialist Army, but with their individual equipment.

"Mauser G98 in Germany, Madsen in Denmark, Browning M1911 in the United States..."

In addition to these, there are also 40mm revelor grenade launchers and 18.5mm shotguns that only appeared during the Battle of Wuchang...

After asking for several sets of grenade launchers and mortars from Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui, Mutter had to admit that the design ideas of these weapons were indeed quite unique. Grenade launchers and mortars, in particular, can be quite effective in trench warfare, which is a headache for everyone.

"With such equipment, coupled with the fact that the quality of individual soldiers is not much worse than that of the Beiyang Army, presumably the final winner of the battle will be the young man named Yan Guang, not Yuan Shikai in Yanjing..."

Thinking of those uniquely designed weapons, coupled with the large number of heavy artillery pieces possessed by the National Socialist Army, Mutter and Rodro had to think so.

And it turned out that Mutt's idea was not wrong, although the progress of the Chinese Social Army in the course of the campaign was not always smooth, but the final winner of each battle was the young National Social Army, while the Beiyang Army, which had a long history, was defeated again and again...

By the time some time ago, the Beiyang Army had even lost the important town of Hankou.

By this time, Mutt and the others had been able to determine the end of the Beiyang Army. Therefore, in addition to going to the battlefield every day to observe the battle situation of the National Socialist Army, I just stayed honestly in the air-raid shelter in the city, so as not to be killed by shells falling from the sky when I went out one day—————— and I was killed at this time, even if I died, I would die in vain...

Of course, while dodging shells and bombs, this group also saw another weapon of the National Socialist Army, the Air Force ...

In the past, the Mission's personnel have always treated the aircraft as a toy, at best useful for reconnaissance. However, after being baptized by the bombing of the Air Force, many people have changed their views on the role of aircraft, especially in the face of 100 kilograms of aerial bombs—————— Feng Guozhang may hide this matter from others, but he will definitely not hide it from the people of the observation group.

When the defeat in Beiyang was decided, and Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang all abandoned the city and fled, the members of this group of observer groups stayed in the city, and while contacting the Hankou consulate by telegram, suggesting to them that the target of the alliance should be changed to the Nationalist Army, they stayed in the residence arranged by Feng Guozhang and waited for the Nationalist Army to come to their door.

The people in the consulate naturally disagreed with the observation team's suggestion, after all, the current situation is quite clear, and it is impossible for Beiyang to hold out for much longer, and it is impossible for them to form an alliance with other people when China becomes a force of the Nationalist Army.

However, even so, they forwarded the Mission's recommendations to the Consulate General in Shanghai, after all, the members of the Observation Mission were all from the Consulate General, and the Hankou Consulate, like the Consulate in Nanjing, was only a subordinate of the Consulate General in Shanghai.

Of course, in the same way, the Consulate General in Shanghai is also under the jurisdiction of the Yenching Legation...

After asking the Hankou consulate to forward his proposal, the British, French, and Chinese observers stayed in the accommodation arranged for them by Feng Guozhang, waiting for the Kuomintang army to come to their door. And the National Socialist Army did not disappoint them, not long after Feng Guozhang abandoned the city and left, the National Socialist Army had already entered Wuchang and began to search for those Beiyang troops who did not have time to leave Wuchang.

In the process of searching, the people of the National Social Army naturally also searched the observation group.

When the people of the National Social Army saw that there were more than a dozen foreign devils living in the room, the people of the National Social Army were also shocked, but fortunately, the officer who led the team was proficient in foreign languages, so after seeing the foreign devils inside, this officer communicated with the foreign devils in foreign languages. However, when this officer was watched with adoring eyes by the soldiers behind him, the more than a dozen foreign devils on the opposite side were full of black lines—————— it was true that the officer was proficient in foreign languages, but he was indeed proficient in German, and the well-known thing was that the relationship between the British and the French and the Germans was quite bad...

So when he heard the lieutenant [***] officer in front of him ask him in German, the leading Colonel Mutter first had black lines on his head, and then he identified himself in rather broken Chinese.

When the leading officer learned that these foreign devils in front of him were all members of the observation group, the officer was also stunned, and he didn't know what this group of foreign devils had come to the battlefield to observe, but he still told his soldiers to guard the gate and not let people from other units disturb here, and then ran out to find his superiors.

The officer's superiors were also stunned when they learned that there was a group of foreign devils in the city, and like his subordinates, he didn't know what these foreign devils had come to the battlefield to observe. However, in the end, he still reported this matter to his superiors, but his superiors Wang Yaowu and Zhu Qinglan and others were busy with the military discipline of the Beiyang Army at that time, so they didn't have time to pay attention to this matter. After learning about this incident, he just sent someone to pay a visit, and then let the group of foreign military observation groups pass through at will.

After receiving permission to pass freely, the first thing the French did was to go to the consulate in Hankow, and then at the banquet held by the French consul, they danced and slept with the French ladies. The British and the Nationalist Army were dutiful and took this opportunity to observe the strength and equipment of the Nationalist Army, but the former was ordered by the Consulate General to see if this group of Chinese had the strength to go to Europe, while the latter was considering whether the Nationalist Army would hinder his strategy—————— and he had always coveted China's territory, but the area covered was too large, whether it was the Russians, It is impossible for the Americans or the British to allow me to cut such a large territory in China, so now I am aiming at Jiaozhou Bay, the territory of the Germans...

After learning about the mission of the observation team, Wang Yaowu did not make many restrictions, but took the initiative to reveal a lot of things for them to see, and only made restrictions in some relatively confidential places.

Because of Wang Yaowu's cooperation, the members of the observation group quickly obtained the information they needed, and at the same time came to a conclusion about the National Social Army.

First-class morale, second-rate quality, first-class equipment...

The final conclusion is that if the Chinese can provide 500,000 troops of the same quality, then the National Army is fully qualified to visit Europe...

After the conclusion was forwarded to the Consulate General in Hankou to the Consulate General in Shanghai, the mission of Mutter and others finally came to an end. Despite this, they still have to stay in Wuchang for a while, after all, the Shanghai Consulate General has not given an order to return to Shanghai so far.

The French don't have any advice on this, after all, there are many beautiful, girded, and powdered French ladies in the Hankou consulate, and they are a little happy there, and they have no intention of going back to Shanghai. However, the British and said that he was not French after all, and it was impossible to learn like the French, so he could only walk around Wuchang City in his spare time.

It's just that because of the war, everything that can go has been almost gone, not to mention entertainment in the entire Wuchang City, and even the general shops are closed. As a result, Mutt and his family could not buy even the most basic cigarettes, let alone cigars, champagne and wine, and in the end Mutt and his family had no choice but to ask for the National Socialist Army.

However, there is no way for the National Social Army, after all, it is impossible to bring cigars, champagne and wine to the battlefield when marching, not to mention the National Social Army, not to mention the soldiers, even the generals above have not developed this habit, at most they drink two taels of white wine when they are fine. Even Yan Guang, who is at the top, only drinks more juice when he is fine, and has no interest in champagne and wine at all.

As for cigars? This kind of thing, even some generals and officers, has only seen it from the Germans, and it is completely impossible to ask for such a thing.

In the end, there was no choice but to provide some playing cards produced by the Sichuan Stationery Factory and the "cloud smoke" produced by the Yunnan Tobacco Factory to the observation group.

It's good to say that with playing cards, they can also use poker to dispel their depression, but that "cloud smoke"...

At this time, Yunyan was not a foreign tobacco introduced by later generations, it was completely local ordinary tobacco, and it could not be compared with South American tobacco at that time, so Mutt, who was usually used to other cigarettes, could hardly bear it, but there was no way, who told that almost all the shops in Wuchang were closed, and in the end there was no way to reluctantly.

——————————

Just when Mute and the others were still having fun in the accommodation provided by Feng Guozhang, looking at Yan Guang who arrived in Wuchang by boat, Wang Yaowu was also puzzled for a while.

"Governor, it's okay for those foreign devils to let them stay in Wuchang, why do you want to lift the ban on some equipment in the army to them?"

Wang Yaowu, like many officers and generals of the National Social Army, received a German-style education, and naturally has a certain sense of closeness to Germany, and naturally, he also has a sense of alienation from Britain and France and other countries.

However, hearing Wang Yaowu ask, Yan Guang shook his head.

Wang Yaowu is Yan Guang's confidant, so Yan Guang does not hide his thoughts.

"If you don't show some strength to the British and French, how can you participate in the European war in the future?"

Saying that, he left Wang Yaowu and walked towards Wang Zhanyuan and Jin Yunpeng's residence, this time he came to Wuchang to reach an agreement with Wang Zhanyuan and the remnants of Beiyang behind them, and was ready to solve most of the problems in one fell swoop.

As for Cai Ye? After being diagnosed with tuberculosis, Cai stayed in Jingzhou and would soon return to Sichuan by boat to receive recuperation at Sichuan Medical University.

In this era, although tuberculosis is not a mortal disease like AIDS, it is no different for many people, not to mention that there are at least ten years to live with AIDS, but if you suffer from tuberculosis...

It's always good to get treatment early...

(To be continued)