The Prussian military theorist Clausewitz famously asserted in his "On War" that "war is nothing but the continuation of politics by another means." The essence of this sentence is that war should be the continuation of politics -- only such a war is a meaningful war. There are still many wars in history that have been dizzy, and often wars have been dizzy, and it is the military that advocates military first during the war, but is dissatisfied with the use of politics to interfere with military operations during the war.

Soldiers have the advantages of military thinking, but they also have their narrowness; often military personnel think about a problem from the perspective of tactical purposes and ignore strategic issues, but any war must have a clear strategic purpose, and even every campaign must have clear political and economic considerations.

In the end, any strategic or tactical issue must be subordinated to one point, that is, it must be based on the economic, military, and other strengths of the side, otherwise the so-called strategy will turn into crazy delusions.

For China, although the bitter lessons of history have made the soldiers eager to regain their national prestige through World War I, any sane soldier knows that China is far from having the economic and military strength to realize this dream, although as soldiers, they also agree with the view of military first in war, and do not want to see political interference in military action, but for the young generals and colonels of the Imperial Guard, although they are young and impulsive, it does not mean that they have no brains.

The limited purpose of the campaign and a certain strategic return are the fundamental starting point for their approval of this war, and strength will always be the most crucial factor in determining the progress of the war.

Even on the third day of the "Neutrality Campaign", Jiang Fangzhen, who was the chief of staff of the Imperial Guard, when he met Foreign Minister Liang Dunyan, the first thing he said was, "Is there a possibility of peace now?" ”。

Once the war starts, the biggest question is how to end it!

In this respect, both for the two countries in the East, there is a striking agreement, and China reports this idea to Russia, and China reports this kind of method to the book.

It was precisely this kind of thinking that the Guards did not have the idea of completely crippling the Japanese army from the very beginning, otherwise after the initial campaign objectives were achieved, it would not have become mainly a trench siege battle.

The purpose of turning nearly 300,000 troops into protons in the "trench siege" is to create an opportunity to end the war.

March 22, 9:31 a.m.

On the eighth day after the outbreak of the "Neutral War," negotiations between China and the United States were unsurprisingly launched under the supervision and mediation of Britain and the United States.

"Minister Liang, Dean Ito!"

Although Zhu Erdian was not the host, he was the best moderator to coordinate the interests of China and China in this meeting, and Britain, as the most powerful country in the world, has a certain influence in both China and China.

"China says that the conflict between the two countries over the issue of neutrality is something that Britain, the United States, and any civilized country do not want to see, and in order to maintain peace in East Asia, Britain has resolutely assumed the responsibility of presiding over this meeting, and this minister hopes that both countries will be able to uphold the heart of peace and end this war as soon as possible."

When Zhu Erdian made this speech, he did not cast his eyes on the two civilian officials, Ito Hirobumi or Liang Dunyan, but on the other two, one was the deputy chief of staff of the General Staff Headquarters of the Saimoto Oka Gaishi who was wearing the military uniform, and the other was Wang Shizhen, the deputy chief of staff of the Imperial Guards General Staff Headquarters, who represented the military and directly negotiated the ceasefire.

In Zhu Erdian's view, the most important issue now is that China and China must immediately cease fighting, especially the attack of the Chinese [***] team on the Yalu River Army, and this battle is directly related to whether the war between China and China can be stopped at the negotiating table, rather than a big fight between the two countries at any cost.

In this war, the squadron [***] has already shown his combat effectiveness, and Jurdian has already received a report from the military observers sent to the 1st Corps.

"The combination of an astonishing number of machine guns and small improvised artillery makes the Chinese army have offensive and defensive advantages that are difficult for any other country to match...... The firepower, sufficient, even ten times that of the enemy's firepower, allows them to tear through the defense line of any army in the shortest possible time, but the Chinese defense line composed of barbed wire, mines, and machine-gun trenches is not something that his [***] team can break through! ”

No matter what the observers sent said about "first-class equipment, second-rate will, third-rate officers, and the harshest military discipline", at least the squadron is now fully capable of achieving their campaign objectives in Fushun, and they are attacking there in accordance with the campaign objectives.

"Before 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the Yalu River Army will be completely annihilated!"

This also means that Zhu Erdian must help China stop its attack on Fushun before noon!

Therefore, for the sake of lasting peace between China and Syria, and also to create a good atmosphere for negotiations, this minister hopes that China and Taiwan will be able to achieve a ceasefire on the battlefield today! And take the initiative to retreat a certain distance! ”

"It can't be!"

Without a trace of hesitation, Wang Shizhen immediately vetoed this proposal, and now that the Guards are transferring troops to North China and are preparing to launch a new round of offensive in another direction, how can they stop all this because of Zhu Erdian's words.

"General Wang, the Emperor Ben [***] team will not always maintain this kind of calmness, if your country insists on going its own way, then all the consequences need to be borne by yourself!"

Nagaoka Gaishi suppressed the anger in his heart and said coldly.

"Are you a threat?"

Wang Shizhen, who stood up in front of foreigners for the first time, looked at Nagaoka Waishi coldly.

"If this is a threat, I think we can speak with guns in the Northeast Theater!"

"Haga" cursed in his heart, Nagaoka did not speak, he had received a telegram from the chief of staff of the Manchurian Army, who was also his teacher, Kodama.

"In any case, the war with the Chinese army in the northeast must be stopped...... In the battle against Lu, the Manchurian Army, which suffered heavy losses and was short of ammunition, simply did not have any ability to resist poison gas and tear open the defense line of the Chinese army! In order to avoid losses in the present and to preserve forces for a turnaround in the future, it is imperative that a ceasefire be achieved......"

Reality does not allow him to be rash, but he does not want to see the arrogance of these despicable Chinese, who, a few years ago, could not even protect their own capital.

"General Wang, I think that we are sitting here today to resolve the dispute between China and China through negotiations, not to continue this war at the negotiating table! This is the fundamental starting point of this negotiation! ”

Ito Hirofumi took over Nagaoka's words and took the initiative to show favor to Wang Shizhen.

"Just as Minister Zhu Erdian said, now that a ceasefire on the front line is realized, and the Chinese army takes the initiative to withdraw its troops, it is the only choice to ensure permanent peace between China and the two countries, and any delay may lead to the further expansion of the war! I don't think that's what His Majesty the Emperor wants to see! ”

Wang Shizhen glanced at Liang Dunyan, and then said, "It is impossible for us to withdraw from the front!" ”

Seeing that Zhu Erdian and the others were a little puzzled, he immediately added.

"This point is not to be discussed, this is for the sake of battlefield security, and it is also the only option to maintain the dignity of the country, and, judging from the line from Tieling to Siping, Count Ito, what is the depth of our army's defense? If our army withdraws and your army attacks the Russian army again, then we will have to be forced to re-engage in the battlefield, and the fundamental motivation for this war is to maintain the neutral position of our country! Thank you for your understanding. ”

Zhu Erdian looked at Wang Shizhen, he understood why the Chinese insisted on this, in fact, for the Chinese, the 240,000 Yue troops in Mukden and Tieling, to a certain extent, were simply Chinese hostages, as long as they wanted, they could use poison gas to attack these two besieged Yue troops, as long as the main force of the Yue army was still in their encirclement, the Yue army would naturally throw a rat trap, so as to ensure that it did not attack to the south.

"Then let's achieve a ceasefire on the battlefield!"

"There must be a prerequisite for achieving a ceasefire on the battlefield, and the empire must break its promise to the international community and not expand the war to the area south of Shanhaiguan."

As soon as Zhu Erdian's voice fell, Liang Dunyan first put forward his own conditions.

"And guaranteed by a British endorsement!"

This supplementary condition made Zhu Erdian embarrassed, and it was impossible for Britain to endorse and guarantee anything, even if the "British Treaty of Alliance" was in Zhu Erdian's view, Britain was also playing word games there, let alone China.

However, this endorsement guarantees that some articles can also be made on the text.

"This condition is reasonable, do you think? Your Excellency Ito! ”

"Minister Liang, can China guarantee an immediate ceasefire and retreat at least fifteen kilometers from Fushun!"

Ito's focus is still on Fushun, where the most dangerous places could be destroyed at any time.

"So will Ben be able to guarantee a retreat in Dalian?"

When Ito proposed Fushun, Liang Dunyan brought Dalian out, saying that the top management cared about Fushun, and China also cared about Dalian, Dalian was defended for eight days with a brigade of soldiers, saying that he wanted to protect the Yalu River Army, but the middle wanted to keep the only brigade in Dalian.

After reaching a ceasefire on the front lines in Fushun and Dalian, in the following time, the two sides continued to entangle the ceasefire in several other battlefields in the northeast, just like the instructions they received before the talks, Liang Dunyan and Wang Shizhen constantly shifted each other's attention to Tieling and Mukden, and even did not give the other side a chance to breathe.

"Why did they make the ceasefire on the battlefield so detailed?"

Compared with Ito Hirobumi's situation of caring about the battlefield, Zhu Erdian noticed a strange smell from the negotiations, Liang Dunyan, especially Wang Shizhen's request, like a conspiracy!

"Whether it's refining the armistice area, or the armistice, it's actually all about fighting another battle after a while!"

In the operational map room of the Army General Staff Headquarters, Cai Yi, who was lying in front of the ground pattern, opened his mouth and said, and then he took a pen and used a soft ruler to connect the points on the Northeast Combat Map, and the points were the military stations of this war.

Good logistics for the Guards is not only an adequate supply of ammunition, but also a food supply for the soldiers. The staff officers of the Guards who studied in this book, like himself, believed that the ability of soldiers to endure hunger and cold in wartime was trained by peacetime, and that only when people were half-starved and half-fed could they have the courage to be aggressive, aggressive, and diligent in their work. Although this is the words of the Yue Jun, it is very appreciated by the Chinese people, whether it is Jiang Fangzhen or Cai Yi or other officers who studied military affairs in Yueben, most of them appreciate it very much.

They saw that the soldiers usually drank cold water and took cold showers, and each meal always consisted of only a few thin pieces of pickled fish, a little vegetables, and a small iron box of white rice.

However, in peacetime, the army uses seven points of fullness to train soldiers to "endure hunger and cold", so that in wartime soldiers can be more hungry and cold-tolerant, in wartime, the combat units of the Guards will get the best food and logistics support within the conditions permitted, as long as the conditions permit, they can eat large pieces of meat, eggs, white rice, steamed buns and buns, etc., of course, when marching and fighting, in addition to fried noodles and fried rice, they can also get fish or canned beef. The abundance of food is anything but unusual.

This change had another unexpected effect, as the soldiers were more eager to live in the war zone than in peacetime, and although they could lose their lives at any time, the abundance of food made them willing to take the risk.

The General Staff of the Guards also calculates the amount of materials consumed and procured locally for each soldier during the war, so as to provide the most adequate logistical support. Winning or losing is determined not only by firepower, but also by logistics, and the root cause is the station. Although the Guards were to some extent subordinate to the Commanders, the Guards attached great importance to the role of the Garrisons, unlike the Commanders, who despised the stations.

"The truce, even if it is a three-day stop, is beneficial to us, from the 13th to the 22nd, nearly 300,000 Guards, consuming 150,000 rounds of mountain artillery shells, 780,000 mortar shells and 3.45 million grenades, 38.64 million rounds of ammunition, according to this way of fighting, it was originally calculated to support two months of supplies, only enough for one month, and it may even be shorter, the front line needs more ammunition, more materials, three days of armistice, we can send at least 10,000 tons of materials to the front line!"

Jiang Fangzhen nodded approvingly.

"Last month, 100,000 horses and 10,000 grooms requisitioned from Mongolia have been put in place, and if the truce can last for ten days, it will be possible for us to maintain the logistics support for the troops to fight in North Korea in the future!"

It is a well-known fact that the "General Staff" is His Majesty's General Staff, just as they are His Majesty's generals, and they can refute some of His Majesty's military ideas, but if it is possible for His Majesty's one of His Majesty's ideas to be realized, the only responsibility of the General Staff is to do everything possible to realize His Majesty's military ideas, just like the formulation and preparation of the battle plan for entering the DPRK.

"The war into Korea requires the supply of 12 divisions, and the battle is 360 kilometers in a straight line, and there are no good road conditions, and the only railway that can be relied on is the Anbong Railway, which I rushed to repair last year, and the Korean Peninsula is mountainous, and although the army has no heavy army group in the northwest of the Korean Peninsula, we can still expect the difficulties it may face in wartime. And the biggest difficulty is logistics, as long as it can guarantee logistics! ”

Cai Ye agreed with Jiang Fangzhen's opinion, and the reason why he drew so many dotted lines on the map was to link up nearly 100 military stations in the northeast and calculate the logistical difficulty of supporting the combat troops in Korea.

"At present, we have recruited 530,000 mules and horses and nearly 60,000 horsemen from Mongolia, the northwest and the southwest, and more than eighty percent of them have already been placed in various military stations; if we go all out to protect North Korea, then in the northeast, the troops may face certain security difficulties, but unfortunately we can't let go in the northeast, if all the poison gas stored in the northeast is used, then we can put aside any worries and attack North Korea!"

"At that time, there will be no worries about the army, we will need to consider the concerns of the navy, there are hundreds of kilometers of railways inside and outside the Guanhai Pass, plus the Yalu River estuary, these places need to directly face the threat of warships and guns, only one detachment is needed, can disrupt our logistics support in the Bohai Sea and the Yalu River estuary, according to the calculation of the General Staff, the navy threatens the railway inside and outside the Guan, the logistics supply is reduced by 40 percent, the threat to the Yalu River estuary, the logistics is reduced by 70 percent, only 30 percent of the materials are left, even food is a problem, so don't mention any more warAt that time, even if we sweep the entire Korean Peninsula, as long as the army, with the support of the navy, sticks to Pusan, they will be able to beat us back to the Yalu River! So to speak"

Jiang Fangzhen's words carried a hint of appreciation.

"Although Your Majesty is a little obstinate on some military issues, at least in some aspects it is just right, only to capture the northwest of Korea, as long as the Russian naval threat is still there, then the navy of the country will definitely stay in the military port and wait to attack the Russian navy, if we achieve results in the northwest, then the Russian army on the front line of the Tumen River will not look at us to take advantage, as soon as the Russian army moves, the army on the front line of the Tumen River will not dare to suffer the enemy on the belly and back, Reckless mobilization to stop our offensive. ”

At the mention of this, Jiang Fangzhen raised his head to look at his old friend, and squeezed out some smiles on his face.

"Now the Russians are more eager than ever to win, as soon as they find the weakest link of the army, of course they will take action, as long as the Russians are dragged into the muddy waters of Korea, it is not that we want the army to withdraw from the northeast, but that the army takes the initiative to withdraw from the northeast, and the goal of this is different from ours, what they want is to cut off the Russian mainland threat, but if Russia occupies Korea, the threat will come to the doorstep! Even if they win the naval battle, the Russians will not be able to give up Korea, at that time, the external situation in Ben is even more severe than before the war, and the possible threats faced before the war, but after the war, if the Russians control Korea, it will be a retaliation once the polar bear recovers from its injuries and will come at any time, and China will take a back seat! ”

The two of them smiled at the same time, whether in terms of campaign or strategy, attacking Korea was a clever move, that is, it could move the battlefield out of the northeast, and it could also make Russia, which had been out of the land from the land, re-involved in the war, and it could also force himself and the Russians to fight to the death, but at that time, China would be able to make full use of this situation and seek favorable conditions for itself to end the war.

(To be continued)