In the spring of 1906, it came earlier than usual, although it was only March, but the warm breeze in the early spring had already made the trees in Nanjing more green, and the spring breeze with a little warmth caressed people, and the spring breeze and the delicate sun could always make people feel the beauty of spring.

In the morning, when Jiaoyang was at the head, Chen Moran, as the emperor of the empire, stood quietly in the garden alone, quietly looking at the small lake in the palace.

Occasionally, a few bubbles will boil on the surface of the mirror-like lake, and the bubbles will emit ripples.

At this time, everything in the garden is quiet, and the occasional birdsong seems to remind people that spring has arrived.

"Your Majesty"

The voice behind him did not make Chen Moran turn back, he still looked at the lake.

Today is an extraordinary day, and it should have been prepared to start five days ago, when Germany accepted China's request to include Britain in the prescriptive provisions.

According to the agreement agreed between the two countries, the two countries will publish the Sino-German Alliance Treaty in ten days, although the content of the treaty will not be published, but eventually, the British will know the content of the treaty through their channels within a few weeks.

Because of this, the stumbling block that had been preventing the army from attacking the Japanese mainland was finally removed, and the army needed to launch military operations before the treaty was announced.

"I heard that we have an alliance with Germany"

Ji Li, who was wearing a pale yellow Confucian dress, looked at her husband in surprise, China and Germany formed an alliance, which was somewhat unexpected to her, if it wasn't confirmed by Zhang Zhidong, she didn't believe it was true at all.

"The British can't ......"

Without waiting for Chen Moran to finish speaking, Ji Li shook her head and said.

"I know that Britain cannot be an ally of China, but ......"

Then, she looked at her husband.

"In any case, Xianggong, you must understand one thing, China can only be friends with the winner, and ......"

"I understand"

smiled, interrupted Ji Li's words, turned his head to look at Ji Li, the delicate face was as beautiful as in the past, and looked at her quietly for a while, but Chen Moran sighed in his heart.

"The Army is about to be dispatched"

Well?

Ji Li's beautiful eyes opened slightly, and then she nodded and said.

"I'll go to the church and pray for them"

In a word, it shows Ji Li's attitude, no matter when and where, she will support her husband and support the country.

"Thank you"

When thanking him, Chen Moran gently conceived his wife's slender waist, perhaps, after this battle, China ......

"Hurry, get ready to get on board......"

On the simple wharf made of steel beams and steel piles at the Army's comprehensive training base in northern Jiangsu, whistles and shouts continued to echo in the air, and the army soldiers lined up in a line, following the orders of officers and sergeants, were going to the boat along the side of the climbing net and moored on the "armed troop carrier" next to the trestle, and the small crane lifted the cars, war horses, and ammunition boxes onto the ship, while the soldiers on the trestle stepped on the arm-thick climbing net that was laid down on the side of the ship.

Each of them was given a small sign, and when they got on board, they had to follow the signs into the cramped cabins, where they waited for the final moment of landing, after of course they had to wait for several long voyages before they reached their destination.

"This is a steamboat."

On the beach, the soldiers with rifles on their backs looked at these steel-hulled steamboats in amazement, many of them were making steamboats for the first time, and even saw this kind of steel-hulled steamboats for the first time.

"Good boy, this ship is really big"

The soldiers lamented the sheer size of the steel-hulled ships, but they did not know that these armed troop carriers were small ships of up to 3,000 tons, and when they sailed to the open ocean, the slightest small wave would shake violently, and almost all of them would suffer during the next few days of the voyage.

And they also did not know that in China's maritime industry, there were only 457 steam ships, and the total tonnage was only 381,809 tons.

Jiang Fangzhen, as the chief of staff of the army, was troubled by this matter before the war. If you can't transport soldiers, you can't fight if you want to, the army is different from the navy, the navy has at least a few troop carriers, and the army doesn't even have a sampan.

Moreover, in order to keep the Army's plan of action confidential, the Army specifically requested that the Maritime Administration take into account the issue of confidentiality when preparing the ships.

In the end, it was a midshipman staff officer of the Navy who made a "reasonable suggestion" -- to borrow a ship to carry out a naval blockade of Japan. ,

It was in this name that the Navy marked ten steamboats in red on the list, and then sent an official letter directly to the Maritime Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce.

"The boats on the list immediately want to borrow and use, so that these boats can be gathered in Sanduao within a week"

The shipping companies that received the notification only answered.

"Got it"

Subsequently, under the coordination of the Shipping Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, all 36 cargo ships were requisitioned and assembled in Sanduao within the specified time, and the crew members were then put on active duty, while those foreign captains were placed under "semi-house arrest" at the Sanduao Naval Base, and until the armed merchant fleet sailed out of Sanduao again, the Navy's Sixth and Seventh Blockade Fleets were still hanging, and the task they were to carry out was to "go to the waters off Japan to carry out the naval blockade mission."

At least until the fleet reached northern Jiangsu, all the crews thought it was their task.

At this time, on the temporary dock of the army training base in northern Jiangsu, any crew member who saw these army soldiers who were loaded with guns and ammunition and were ready to board the ship could faintly guess what they were going to do.

"I'm going to attack the Japanese mainland"

The crew whispered in their hearts or mouths, and the Army soldiers were still on board.

After a day's voyage, there were all kinds of peculiar smells, because of the ventilation pipes, in the compartment, no one knew where the loud speech came from, and occasionally the popping sound of the engine would come, and even in the middle of the night, someone could hear someone kicking the guns and equipment on the ground.

Lying on the bed, Wei Ze looked calm, his eyes were closed, his rifle was held in front of his chest, his steel helmet and backpack were placed at the head of the bed, and most of the past three days, he looked like he was recuperating with his eyes closed.

“*（―…… （*”

From time to time in the compartment, you can hear the interpreters in the company teaching the soldiers to learn Japanese, nothing more than some Japanese such as raising hands and lying on the ground, and of course, some deterrent Japanese.

However, there seems to be little interest in it.

"What to learn, one is assigned to one translator, one is connected to four translators......"

Of course, this is just an excuse, just a reason, just a reason and an excuse for the soldiers not to learn.

"The simplest deterrence on the battlefield is to enter with a white knife and come out with a red knife"

Almost every officer and soldier of the Imperial Royal Guard knows this eternal truth, that deterrence is not built on the mouth, but on the muzzle.

"Sergeant Major"

The words coming from the side of his head only made Wei Ze twist his head slightly, but his eyes still didn't open, he knew that now, he had to take advantage of the calm sea to take a good breath.

"Take advantage of the moment to get a good night's sleep, otherwise, the waves will rise, and you won't have a chance to sleep if you want to"

Wei Ze confessed again, and then continued to sleep himself, but the voice next to him didn't seem to be willing to let him go.

"Sergeant Major, you say, is it really as the commander said......"

"Huh?"

Wei Ze, who opened his eyes slightly, glanced at Wu Zhenhua, who was sleeping in the bunk next to him, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, he was the first batch of compulsory soldiers in the Chinese Empire, and now China implements a compulsory military service system.

Veterans are exempt from taxes, this is the biggest difference between China's compulsory military service and other countries, sometimes I think that a soldier can benefit two families, and sometimes Wei Ze himself even thinks about whether he should contact his hometown to see if he can ......

"The Japanese are all enemies?"

When the young Wu Zhenhua spit out this sentence, there was a hint of doubt between his eyebrows, this is what the commanders said, the Japanese are all enemies.

What to do with the enemy? As a soldier, Wu Zhenhua understands that there is only one way to deal with the enemy, and that is to kill them.

It's all enemies

Wei Ze was stunned for a moment, this was a direct order from the commander, a verbal order, and the order was issued very clearly, and it was necessary to use the most resolute and decisive action to completely cut off the Japanese trying to resist.

And at the operational arrangement meeting held in the battalion, the battalion commander said even more bluntly, as for the rules of engagement...... In other words, as long as you see fit, the front-line officers and soldiers can use any means, as long as they can effectively attack the enemy.

And what does this command mean?

As a veteran, Wei Ze knew better than anyone what this order meant, which meant that the commanders were relieved of the actions of the big guys, and once they attacked, everyone could do whatever they wanted, killing any enemy at will, regardless of whether the other party was a civilian or a soldier. ,

"As long as you can win, say it"

Saying this to himself in his heart, Wei Ze didn't show any emotion.

As for whether he can win, Wei Ze does not doubt it, at most he just doubts, whether everyone has done it, if there is anything learned in Alcatraz, I am afraid that there is no "impossible" in the army. As long as you do it, you can do it, and if you don't do it, you don't have the idea of "trying it out". Having learned from army life, Wei Ze has long learned to be patient, and he has also learned that "as long as you do it, you can do it", and he also knows that this is where the combat effectiveness of the Guards lies.

"Stop, obey orders, try to do your own thing, and that's it"

While speaking, Wei Ze turned over, turned sideways, and saw that Lian Li's Chen Translator was lying on the small bunk and seemed to be writing something, and Chen Translator was a student in Japan. Originally, he was supposed to teach the soldiers to learn Japanese, but now he is just writing on the bed, the soldiers are not willing to waste time learning Japanese, and the officers have no clear requirements, anyway, they are all enemies, and for the enemy, the way the guards treat them is very simple, kill them, even if they are dead, do you still need to talk to them?

"Maybe I'm writing letters to my family."

Lying on the bunk, Chen Mingtian, who had just finished writing a diary, could clearly feel that the waves seemed to be coming, and the boat seemed a little bumpy, writing a diary was a habit developed after studying in Japan three years ago, and he had never stopped writing a diary in the past three years. To a certain extent, he has always regarded himself as a person who adheres to the rules of life, and because of this, unlike the relative resistance shown by others after receiving the call-up order, Chen Mingtian enjoys this regular life in the army.

After writing a short diary, he took out a stack of postcards from his backpack, and the color postcard on the front was Japan's "Mt. Fuji", which was sent down by the chief when everyone got on the ship, saying that when they arrived in Japan, everyone sent a postcard from Japan to relatives and friends, which was also a souvenir.

"Students, how are you? Teacher, I have the honor to serve in the army, everything is safe, I hope you will grow up quickly and serve the country......"

Chen Mingtian's handwriting on the postcard is very simple, before receiving the call-up order, Chen Mingtian was a middle school teacher, with the first grade of junior high school, although he failed to graduate when he studied in Japan, but it was enough to take junior high school.

Shouldn't we write a passionate and patriotic farewell letter to our children?

After writing a few postcards one after another, Chen Mingtian's mind came to mind those children, as a teacher, didn't he read to them the suicide notes of those soldiers selected from the newspaper in class?

Isn't that a great opportunity?

Realizing that this would be an opportunity to educate the children, Chen Mingtian hurriedly picked up the pen and wrote on a postcard.

"Children, it has been three months since I left you, perhaps, the teacher will never have the opportunity to see you again, as a Chinese, when I studied in Japan five years ago, I was called a dolphin tail slave, and I was called a slave of the Qing country, it is really a shame for men, and even more shame for my China, today, the teacher is fortunate to serve in the army, and landed in Japan with the army, every time I think that the teacher will be in the midst of this great war, the teacher only feels that his blood is boiling, so that he can't suppress his excitement, tomorrow's battle means extraordinary to the teacher and me, This is the first time in my military career to go to the battlefield and rush to the enemy's position, at this time I feel like I am favored by God, your teacher's first battle, is in such a great war, now you may not imagine this war, how much impact it will have on history, if we win, the war will end soon, our motherland will really squeeze into the world power, and teacher I firmly believe that we will be able to win......"

Although he is not a Chinese teacher, Chen Mingtian still wrote a "soldier's masterpiece" on the postcard with passionate words, and he can even see that when the children in his class receive this postcard of his, the students will continue to slide tears from their faces when they read the content of the postcard, but the most important point is that the most important point is.

They will receive a real patriotic education, and what better way to give them the most authentic and direct patriotic education than a letter from a soldier on the front line?

Thinking of this, Chen Mingtian raised his head and looked around at the crowded and narrow compartment, some of the soldiers on the bunks were napping, some were chatting there, and some were checking their weapons, this was a group of innocent and docile youths, these comrades-in-arms gave him the illusion that they were his students. ,

Maybe they should be asked to write a letter to the children

Looking at these comrades-in-arms, he thought in his heart, closing his eyes, he could even feel how excited his students would be when they received the postcards sent to them by these soldiers, after all, this was a letter sent to them by soldiers from the front line with gunpowder smoke.

For any student, this letter is undoubtedly a treasure, and it is bound to be cherished by those students, and at the same time, the students can get a good education.

"Yes, you can mobilize your comrades to write letters to the students"

Thinking about it in his heart, Chen Mingtian squeezed down from the sixth layer of bed he slept on, and there were still several soldiers chatting in the narrow aisle.

"I really want to wash my face, if I can wash my face with cold water, how happy it would be"

One of the soldiers stretched and said that fresh water was precious on the transport ship, and the last time they could wash their faces seemed to be before they got on the ship.

"Wash your face?"

It was Song Pengcheng who spoke, and this senior soldier was a recovered veteran.

"I just want to comfortably right now"

As he spoke, he pointed to his head.

"Shit in this place, it's almost like a fucking sentence......"

He was referring to the few bathrooms on the ship, which were so rudimentary that they were half-exposed to the transport ship when they unhooked them.

In short, on this troop carrier, everything is a luxury, there will be no normal life here, all life is obviously different from the land, and even the living conditions are far worse than in the field, at least on the battlefield, washing your face and relieving your hands is not a luxury.

The long journey, the cramped spaces, and the harsh air caused almost all of them to fall into an indescribable haggardness, and they lost their usual activity, and they all looked anxious, not knowing what to do.

"Hey, Senior Private Song, is there something wrong?"

Chen Mingtian, who got off the bed, asked at Song Pengcheng.

"Things? There's only one thing here, sleeping."

Song Pengcheng replied boredly.

"Oh, that's right, if it's okay, can I ask you a favor?"

"What's the matter? Say it, translator."

"That's it,"

Seeing the people around them all come to an interesting place, anything can interest them in this boring voyage.

"I want to write a letter to my students, no, I want you to write a letter to my students......."

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