"Boom !!"

The shell of a 280mm heavy howitzer landed on the outer position of the Japanese army, and the explosion of the 260-kilogram shell set off a huge column of dust on the Japanese army's position.

After the shells fell, the army was naturally killed and wounded, and some of the underground fortifications in the position also collapsed because of this 260-kilogram shell. But these are not known to the gunners who are 9 kilometers away.

All they know is that they can kill more enemies with a single shell than an infantry can kill in a lifetime. And all they have to do is take out as many enemies as possible.

"Good!"

The gunners of the heavy howitzer couldn't see what was 9 kilometers away, but Jin Yunpeng, who was beside them, could see it clearly―――――― when he had a telescope in his hand, not to mention that the dust column kicked off by the shell was almost as high as several floors, and it was difficult for Jin Yunpeng to think about it.

However, seeing the tragic situation of Yue himself, Jin Yunpeng did not have the slightest sympathy.

There is no other reason, these words say that I have indeed suffered heavy casualties, and the expeditionary force of more than 100,000 is now only more than 70,000. And if this continues, I am afraid that the number of 70,000 will not be kept. However, his Jin Yunpeng's troops also suffered heavy losses, and they were wounded and killed, and the attrition in the troops reached almost 30%, not to mention those who were slightly injured and went into battle.

At this point, although he is obviously worse than Jin Yunpeng no matter how he looks at it, Jin Yunpeng still hates himself with itchy teeth.

"Here, give those little devils another cannonball to taste!!"

Thinking of the heavy casualties of his own troops, as well as the tragic scene of the field hospital still lying full of wounded, Jin Yunpeng shouted loudly to the gunners beside him.

I heard a division commander shouting so hard, although the gunners were already a little exhausted from carrying the 260-kilogram shell. But they did their best.

"Good!"

It's just that just as they were about to muster up their spare strength and come again, a few people suddenly galloped in the distance.

"Stop, don't fight yet!!"

"Huh?"

The voice of the person who came was full of energy, so even if the people on the field now have a little tinnitus (the reason is clear to everyone), the voice of the person present can still be heard clearly.

"Hanchen?"

Originally, Jin Yunpeng was still a little curious about who the person who came, and he dared to shout like this, but when he saw the appearance of the person who came―――――― he was even more confused.

"Hanchen, why are you here? Didn't I say don't come to me if there's nothing to do? ”

After the comer stopped his horse at the periphery of the artillery position, he turned over and dismounted, walked a distance of almost a few dozen meters, and walked in front of Jin Yunpeng.

"Division commander, don't fight yet, the order just issued from above, let's all suspend firing!"

As he spoke, the man also took off his military hat from his head, and shook off the dust on it.

Before he could continue, several officers and soldiers of the guard company who were following Jin Yunpeng at this time had already opened their mouths.

"Chief of Staff."

"Chief of Staff Sun."

It was the chief of staff of Jin Yunpeng's division, Sun Zongxian, and Sun Hanchen.

Sun Zongxian, the word Hanchen, a native of Nanjiajiazhuang, Xilonghuyu Township, Zunhua County, is a subordinate of Jin Yunpeng, and has served as the chief of staff of the division in Jin Yunpeng's division since 1912, and Jin Yunpeng has a deep friendship―――――― by the way, he once belonged to Zhang Zongchang (that famous poet) in history, and served as the commander of the Fourth Army of the Zhilu Allied Army. In March 1927, he drowned in a battle with the Northern Expeditionary Army in Nanjing, that is, drowned.

As the number two person in Jin Yunpeng's department, those individuals around Jin Yunpeng naturally hurriedly responded.

And Sun Zongxian walked up to Jin Yunpeng, and after waving his hand to the people around him, he said to Jin Yunpeng.

"Commander." Then, before Jin Yunpeng could say anything, Sun Zongxian had already said to the artillery commander on the side. "Tell the order, don't fight yet..."

After listening to Sun Zongxian's words, the artillery commander ―――――― didn't respond!

Because Sun Zongxian is only the chief of staff of Jin Yunpeng's division, indeed, this is already the number two person in Jin Yunpeng's division, and the commander of the artillery regiment of Jin Yunpeng's department must also be under Sun Zongxian's management.

But the problem is that this artillery commander is not under the control of Jin Yunpeng.

That's right, some of the main divisions of the Wehrmacht, after being strengthened in terms of heavy firepower, such as artillery regiments or something, are equipped with 120mm caliber guns. But at present, it is only a 120mm diameter.

Although there are now 150mm, 210mm, 240mm and 280mm heavy guns in the Wehrmacht sequence, these heavy guns are equipped in artillery brigades and future artillery divisions. The average infantry division is not equipped with such a large-caliber artillery, at most it is 120mm.

Therefore, this artillery commander did not need to listen to Sun Zongxian's orders, because although Sun Zongxian's military rank was higher than him, Sun Zongxian could not control him. This artillery commander will come here, and it is only because Jin Yunpeng ran to the artillery brigade to see the excitement, so he also came over to take a look.

Seeing that the artillery commander ignored Sun Zongxian, Jin Yunpeng was also afraid that the two of them would get into a fight, so he hurriedly stood up and said before the atmosphere became embarrassing.

"Old Sun, you said you want to stop, what's going on? Also, didn't I let you stay in the division, didn't it matter if you didn't come to me? ”

Now the expeditionary force has been forced into Huang County, and it can't even get out. As long as the Wehrmacht wanted to, it would only be a few days to push them into the sea. So now the commanders of the divisions under Cai Yi are very idle, after all, now that they have shrunk into a ball, they don't need to plan any tactics and strategies, they just need to wait slowly.

This is also why Jin Yunpeng came to the artillery regiment, because he was too idle to have nothing to do.

As he spoke, the 280mm gun next to him fired another shell.

Seeing that the artillery commander didn't listen to him, Sun Zongxian was also a little embarrassed, but after hearing Jin Yunpeng's question, Sun Zongxian hurriedly replied.

"Division commander, the order that has just been passed down by the commander says that all the artillery regiments and artillery brigades of all divisions have ceased fire. I rode here because you happened to be here, Commander. What Sun Zongxian didn't say was that he rode over in the hope that he would receive a few more shells, otherwise it would not be the era of cold weapons, and if he wanted to contact the artillery unit, did he still need to ride a horse?

Jin Yunpeng and the artillery commander didn't think about it so much, and after listening to Sun Zongxian's words, Jin Yunpeng just said strangely.

"What's going on? Why did you suddenly stop fighting?! ”

At this time, Jin Yunpeng was convinced of Sun Zongxian's words, firstly, it was impossible for Sun Zongxian to deceive himself for such a thing, and secondly, and most importantly, that in addition to their artillery brigade, other places where artillery was present seemed to have gradually ceased fire...

And it is obviously impossible to stop all the hundreds and nearly 1,000 artillery pieces of various types (not counting mortars and 37 infantry guns) of the Wehrmacht in Shandong without Cai Yi's order.

However, Jin Yunpeng is still a little hot, you know, he was beaten according to himself, this is the first time in Jin Yunpeng's life.

"I can't figure it out either, but before leaving, the commander already said that he was going to negotiate peace..."

As soon as Sun Zongxian finished speaking, Jin Yunpeng, the artillery commander, and the artillery brigade commander who rushed over after hearing the news were all stunned.

"Going to make peace?"

"That's right." Sun Zong nodded first. "It's time for peace talks."

――――――――――

That's right, peace talks are coming, and as the first step in peace talks, a complete ceasefire in Shandong is the first thing.

And Kato Takaaki, who was in Shanghai, saw the few newspapers that Gu Weijun took out, and saw the photo of himself crying and sad on the front page of the newspaper. The few emotions that were hard to come out of luck have all disappeared...

Just for a moment, after seeing the photos in the newspaper, Takaaki Kato had already fallen into the disadvantage in the confrontation with Gu Weijun.

Not long after, Kato Takaaki and Gu Weijun had already begun to negotiate peace, of course, Kato Takaaki has been emphasizing that it is negotiation. However, even if it is a negotiation, the army in Huangxian County will not be able to resist for long after all.

So not long after he emphasized it, Kato Takaaki and Gu Weijun had already started "negotiations", ――――――you know, he didn't emphasize here for a minute, and the army in Shandong was going to die a few...

After the start of the peace talks, Takaaki Kato had already begun to negotiate with Gu Weijun on a series of matters.

At the beginning, Kato Takaaki naturally followed the meaning of Okuma Shigenobu and others to ask for a sky-high price, as if you did not compensate for the loss of more than 100 million yuan, I would never give up.

This is also why Kato Takaaki sees Gu Weijun's youth, so he puts on this posture, but because of the failure of the newspaper and the expeditionary force just now, he has a little bit of confidence.

To be honest, if this kind of posture was sitting in front of Kato Takaaki at this time―――――― it might be really possible, after all, the Manchu Qing Dynasty really did this kind of thing.

You know, the Manchu Qing Dynasty is as strange as Italy...

However, sitting in front of Kato Takaaki is Gu Weijun, a young man who is young, but he is definitely not inferior to Kato Takaaki in terms of ability, and may even exceed a few points.

Although he is young, Gu Weijun is not afraid of Kato Gaoming's bluff, after all, it is Yu himself who is now at a disadvantage in Shandong, not him Gu Weijun.

So in just a while, Gu Weijun had already debunked Kato's clever bluff.

Since the bluff failed, Takaaki Kato will not continue to make trouble.

And in the conversation just now, coupled with the initial dismount, Kato Takaaki also felt that the young man in front of him didn't seem to be so easy to deal with.

So when the formal negotiations began, the two men quickly began to negotiate around a series of practical matters.

In the process of negotiations, Kato Takaaki made no concessions except for Zaiman's interests, and almost all other painless areas made concessions.

For example, it is said that there are some concessions in China, such as the Hankou Concession and so on. There is also the army stationed in China...

In the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), the Manchu government was forced to sign the "Xinchou Treaty" to obtain the privilege of stationing troops in China. Among them, in addition to the embassy guards in Yanjing, there were troops stationed in Shanhaiguan, Qinhuangdao, Luanzhou, Changli and Tianjin, called the Qing garrison army, with a total of 1,650 people. Among them, Tianjin has the largest garrison because of the concession, and the headquarters is located in Haiguang Temple.

In the third year of Xuantong (1911), the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and the number of troops stationed in Tun was increased, and the Qing garrison army was changed to the Chinese garrison army (commonly known as the Tianjin garrison army), and the headquarters was still located in Haiguang Temple, with the rank of commander and major general.

And the most important requirement put forward by Gu Weijun this time is that all the troops stationed in China must be withdrawn, and none of them will be left...

This was also a request made by Yan Guang in Yanjing, after all, almost all of the foreign powers' garrisons in China were stationed in important areas, such as Yanjing and 12 strategic points along the line from Yanjing to Shanhaiguan.

As the capital of China, Yanjing and its surroundings were strategically important, and were supposed to be the most central garrison area of China, but they were home to the vast armed forces of Yuben and other powers. As long as he thought that there were still so many people lying under his bed, Yan Guang really couldn't even sleep well.

What's more, these foreign garrisons stationed around Yanjing often make trouble, and the Chinese political axe is not capable of sanctioning them...

Wretch!

Therefore, taking advantage of this opportunity, Yan Guang wanted to first eliminate all the troops stationed in China by the great powers.

As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already begun to discuss with the great powers about the withdrawal of troops stationed in China.

Among them, because the German troops stationed in China have all laid down their arms and accepted the protection of the Wehrmacht, there is nothing to do with the Germans. And without the Germans, then the rest would naturally be only the Entente's ...

At this time, the Entente and the Central Powers were fighting fiercely on the Eastern and Western Fronts, and the intensity of it was unimaginable. Today, on the two battlefields of the Eastern and Western Fronts, nearly 10,000 lives are devoured almost every day...

After watching the war situation in Europe transmitted by the Military Intelligence Agency, Yan Guang has been amazed, no wonder the population of France has always been so tragic when playing games in later generations...

In the contacts between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign powers, Britain, France, Russia, and other countries also had the idea of withdrawing their troops stationed in China.

After all, in Europe, no matter which power, there is a desperate need for the population to go to war, especially France.

Moreover, after the war in Shandong developed to this situation, in the eyes of the great powers, China, an ancient country, also had a little bit of revival. Although it had been in close contact with Germany some time ago, it was now in contact with the Entente countries―――――― and at this time, if it kept the troops stationed in China, which was actually not very useful, it would only increase China's bad feelings towards the Entente.

After all, after China's Wehrmacht defeated the Yue Army in Shandong, even the British and French powers did not believe that a small number of troops stationed in China could deal with nearly 100,000 Wehrmacht troops around Yanjing.

It's just that there is still a difficult point in this matter, so although the Entente countries have the intention of relenting, but until the end of the year, Britain, France and other countries still did not let go.

That is, Ben did not let go.

You must know that Ben is also a member of the Entente, and it is also a country with a large number of troops stationed in China. At that time, the "Xinchou Treaty" was a treaty signed between the great powers and China as a whole. Although Germany has disappeared in this, if Ben does not let go―――――― then Britain and France and other countries will not be able to let go.

Therefore, as long as the opportunity of the Shandong Campaign is followed and the mouth of Yue himself is opened, then it will not be impossible to withdraw all the troops stationed in China by the great powers.

In fact, although Kato Takaaki struggled a little about the garrison of troops in China, he only struggled a little. After all, the world is not up to anyone, and now he can't help the army to fight so badly in Shandong, so after struggling for a while, he found that there was a sense of compromise in the country, and the ministers of Britain and France and other powers in China did not stand on his side, Kato Takaaki also compromised...

Since they have all compromised on the matter of stationing troops in China, it is natural that the issue of the concession in Hankou and other places will not be mentioned.

As for the question of the garrison of one of the divisions in the northeast and Lushun ...

"It's a pity, the chips aren't big enough..."

That's right, the more than 70,000 troops are indeed not a small number, especially when these more than 70,000 troops also represent five of the 19 standing divisions and regiments.

For the Army, such divisions as the Third Division are the glory of the Army.

It's just that such chips, although heavy enough, are not big enough...

In exchange for a compromise on the issue of the concession and the garrison, it could not make Yue Ben give up their interests in Mengman and the Lushun Fortress...

As for Gu Weijun, although he didn't talk about the affairs of the Northeast and the Lushun Fortress, Gu Weijun was not discouraged. Because this matter has long been expected by Gu Weijun, Yan Guang and others―――――― in his opinion, Yue Ben's interests in Mengman, as well as the Lushun Fortress that can completely defend Yanjing, are definitely higher in weight than the more than 70,000 Yue Ben expeditionary forces.

In other words, even if all the more than 70,000 Yue troops were lost, he would not give up his interests in Mengman and the Lushun Fortress.

However, there is nothing to worry about, because the division in the northeast has only more than 10,000 people, and after mobilization, it is only more than 20,000 people. However, in the northeast, nearly ten divisions were stationed to monitor him, and he was not afraid of anything that would happen to this one division.

As for the Arthur fortress ...

The Fort Arthur was stolen by the Russians, and according to the agreement, the Fort Arthur was to be returned to China in 1922.

By 1922, it may not be possible for China to surpass Yuben in the navy, but in terms of army and industrial strength...

Therefore, there is no need to worry about the problem of Lushun, because if I am not willing to pay it back at that time, China is fully capable of taking it back by itself. As for the question of the intervention of the Anglo-French powers ...

After the end of the European war, Britain, France and other countries were already too busy to take care of themselves, not to mention that in 1922, the British and French powers would still intervene in the Soviet Union...

"The USSR ..."

This is the most important big problem, at that time, Britain and France and other countries will not have the time to take care of a small Port Arthur―――――― of course, at that time Yan Guang will also have to get involved, after all, interfering with the Soviet Union is the best opportunity to recover the Outer Khingan Mountains, and even the Sakhalin Peninsula, if you miss this opportunity, you will only have to wait for the collapse of the Soviet Union...

After dealing with these two things, there is only one thing left between the two sides, and that is because of the issue of war compensation.

In this regard, both Kato Takaaki and Gu Weijun are biting their tongues and not letting go, at the beginning, one party asked for compensation, and the other party also asked for compensation.

In the end, one party asks for compensation, but the other party only agrees to pay a face-saving figure.

However, none of this has anything to do with Yan Guang, because Yan Guang has completely entrusted this matter to Premier Xu Shichang and Foreign Minister Gu Weijun.

And he himself was busy with another extremely important business.

This important matter is to discuss with the relevant parties of the Entente to join the Entente...

It was already the end of 1914, and it was almost 1915.

At this time, the second and third ships of the Jinghai ship had already been launched, while the fourth, fifth, and sixth ships had already been put on the slipway. The first of the Asakaze-class heavy cruisers has also been put on the slipway at the same time and is under construction ...

At this time, it is also time to involve China in the war in Europe.

Of course, according to Yan Guang's wishes, that is, the current China is only an Entente country that does not send troops. Just in terms of materials and other aspects, Yan Guang is still very confident in the assistance to the Entente ―――――― in terms of materials, not to mention that now the Ma'anshan Iron Works is about to be completed.

According to China's current capacity, it will consume all the steel produced by the Iron Works, Hanyang Iron Works and Maanshan Iron Works......... At present, China does not have such capabilities.

After all, so far, only the Sichuan Arsenal, the Hanyang Arsenal and the newly built Ma'anshan Arsenal have the capacity to produce weapons, as well as a small new arsenal in the northeast.

The Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, Shanghai Shipyard, and Sichuan Shipyard cannot consume 100,000 tons of steel a year.

As for internal consumption? Rails, machinery, etc. can consume a lot, but what about the rest? I can't sharpen all the scissors and kitchen knives...

Therefore, Europe is a good breakthrough, not to mention that the war in Shandong is over, after the necessary replenishment of the national defense forces participating in the war, surplus weapons and other equipment can also be exported to Europe―――――― and the later United States did not rely on this to start?

As long as he thinks of China's development prospects after taking the European war, Yan Guang has one word in his heart.

"Beauty."

However, before the United States, it is necessary to join the Entente first.

After joining the Entente, in addition to being able to make it easier to export materials to the Entente countries, you can also talk to the Entente countries about Gengzi indemnity and customs duties, as well as some unequal treaties signed with the Great Powers in the past...

Of course, with China's current weight, it is estimated that we can only talk about the Gengzi indemnity. Customs or something is not very likely yet. However, as China's strength grew, and the blood of Britain and France in Europe gradually ran out, by that time...

It's impossible, but it's possible...

And joining the Entente is a precondition ...

(To be continued)