After deploying the strength of the six infantry divisions in Shandong, Yan Guang also brought two of the three artillery brigades to Shandong. Of course, it is impossible to hide such a big action from the Germans and themselves, after all, they are not blind and deaf, and the 280mm heavy howitzers are pulled and two are still invisible.

To be honest, at this time, even the Germans and themselves were muttering in their hearts.

Neither of them understood why Yan Guang had gathered so many troops in Shandong.

You must know that although the war clouds are now in Europe, there is still a lack of a medium that can detonate the whole war. After all, Britain and Germany had been preparing for decades for a war that would change the whole of Europe, and indeed the whole world, and such a long effort could not have happened because of a trivial matter, or even the idea of a single person. (According to German predictions, the war would break out around 1920, when Germany's naval strength would be on a par with Britain...) ）

So before the European war took place, no one was capable or dared to challenge Germany―――――― even the Americans, except for the British.

That's right, China in the past did have a "fierce man" who declared war on all countries in the world, but no matter how you look at it, the current Yan Guang doesn't look like a madman.

And anyone with a discerning eye can see that Yan Guang has a very good relationship with the Germans, which not only does he know, but even the British know it, at this time, with so many troops gathered in Shandong, who does Yan Guang want to deal with?

Could it be that he is really insane and wants to challenge the authority of the Germans?

It's just that although he covets the rights and interests of the Germans in Shandong, after all, the European war has not broken out yet, and he does not dare to challenge the interests of the Germans, so he can only put away his curiosity.

However, just because I don't have the courage to ask doesn't mean that the Germans don't have the guts either.

Just like now, the German minister Marzan is sitting in front of Yan Guang.

“……… So, Yan, I hope you can explain..."

Sitting in front of Yan Guang, Marzan said with a serious face.

Seeing that Yan Guang had placed so many troops in Shandong, the Germans also muttered in their hearts.

Out of Caucasian arrogance, the Germans in the Qingdao Fortress did not look down on these troops who were transferred to Shandong by Yan Guang, even though Marzan, who had seen the Wehrmacht, had already told the Governor of the Jiaozhou Bay Leased Land, the commander of the Qingdao Fortress, and the Colonel Meyer? Valdike.

"These Chinese are at least second-rate in Europe."

Before the outbreak of the Battle of Qingdao, Meyer? Valdike once said to his subordinates.

"Those who say that if they want to capture the Qingdao fortress, they will need to pay at least 40,000 people."

However, when Yan Guang gathered the forces of six infantry divisions in Shandong, Meyer? Valdike said to his men. "If these Chinese want to take the fortress, they must be mentally prepared to kill 100,000 people."

Six infantry divisions, all added up, are only close to 100,000 but less than 100,000, so Meyer? Valdike never worried, and every day he ate well and slept well.

But...

When Yan Guang also transported two 280mm caliber howitzers to Shandong, Meyer? Valdike urged Marzan to quickly ask "the Chinese's intentions." ”

Because with the two 280mm howitzers that came to Shandong together, there are also 240mm howitzers that have increased to 12 in the past half a month...

Of course, when meeting Malzan and asking him to ask the Chinese earlier, Meyer? Valdike was still very stiff-mouthed.

"I'm not afraid of those Chinese, I'm just worried that those heavy artillery will bring too many casualties to the soldiers of the empire."

But look at Meyer? Valdike, but Malzan snickered in his heart.

"If you're not worried? What are you doing running to me all day long? ”

To be honest, Marzan was not worried about Yan Guang doing anything that threatened the German Empire, not only because he had a good relationship with Yan Guang, but more importantly, the agreement.

Meyer? Valdike was the governor of the Jiaozhou Bay lease and the commander of the Qingdao Fortress, but to be honest, although the Germans did not have as many colonies as the British, they were definitely not a lot, so Meyer? Valdike's status is still a little lower, that is, Meyer? Valdike didn't know what that agreement was about...

"At the outbreak of the European War, the leased land of Jiaozhou Bay and the Qingdao fortress will be returned, and if it does not happen, it will be returned unconditionally in the tenth year after the signing of the agreement..."

With such an agreement, Marzan was not worried that Yan Guang would launch an attack on the Qingdao fortress―――――― provided that Yan Guang did not lose his mind.

However, Malzan was really curious about Yan Guang's gathering of so many troops in Shandong, which is why Malzan came to Yan Guang.

However, looking at Malzan in front of him, Yan Guang smiled bitterly in his heart.

"How so? I can't say that in a few months, it is likely that a Serbian young man will kill the crown prince of Austria-Hungary and then detonate the European war a few years earlier? I am now gathering troops in Shandong, just to take over the Qingdao fortress as soon as the European war breaks out, and by the way, I have to do it hard with myself? ”

Is that okay? Of course not...

If Yan Guang said this, Malzan would not think that Yan Guang's troops in Shandong were plotting against the Qingdao Fortress―――――― but he would think that he was crazy, that was for sure.

Fortunately, Yan Guang had already thought of a reason when he did this, although the reason was a little reluctant...

"Look at this..."

As he spoke, Yan Guang placed a map in front of Malzan...

Malzan was a little confused, but took the map anyway.

The map that Yan Guang handed over to Marzan is the distribution map of the seven military regions in the future.

Of course, it's just a rough distribution.

The affairs of the seven military regions are not secret, even if they have not been made public yet, they will be officially disclosed to the public after a while, but the detailed distribution of the seven military regions (such as the distribution of sub-military regions) is confidential, so Yan Guang provided Malzan with a rough version, and there is only the distribution of major military regions and provincial military regions.

Looking at the map that Yan Guang handed him, Malzan also nodded.

This map provides a justification for Yan Guangtun's move in Shandong, although it is not very sufficient...

However, if Yan Guangtun's troops in Shandong wanted to capture Qingdao, Malzan would rather believe this reason...

"It's just..."

Looking at the calm expression on Yan Guang's face, Malzan always felt that he had something to hide from him.

However, Malzan didn't want to delve into it, firstly, the personal relationship between the two was good, a bit similar to Yuan Shikai and Zhu Erdian in the past, Malzan did not want to destroy this relationship, and secondly―――――― what happened to the official who prevented the old ship designer from going abroad in the end, and finally was harassed by the capitalists and nobles in Berlin and Hamburg, Malzan remembers it clearly.

If in the past, Yan Guang was just a Chinese warlord in the eyes of German businessmen and aristocrats, and in the ugly way, just a yellow monkey, then after sprinkling an order of 10 million pounds, Yan Guang was definitely the guest of any German capitalist...

If Yan Guang is willing to sprinkle five million, no, even if it is an order of three million pounds, just to replace Malzan, I'm afraid that those guys in Berlin will do this for Yan Guang...

Just as Marzan was still sighing for the unruly capitalists in the country, there was a sudden commotion outside the presidential palace.

"Huh?"

After listening intently for a while, Malzan was somewhat puzzled.

Leaving aside the fact that the National Society Avenue where the Presidential Palace is located is only in its infancy, you must know that in a country that has just gotten rid of the imperial system, the president is the same as the emperor, and the presidential palace is similar to the imperial palace. Having lived in China for so many years, Malzan still knows the Chinese very well.

So...

"What's the difference between making a noise outside the presidential palace, and making such a loud noise, and looking for death?"

Thinking so, Marzan looked at Yan Guang.

"What's the sound outside?"

Malzan didn't know, but Yan Guang did.

"Banner Man..."

――――――――――

May 1st, International Labor Day, is the day when the flag people in the capital agreed to "make trouble".

Therefore, as soon as the day arrived, at least 30,000 or 40,000 banner people had gathered outside Guoshe Avenue. While shouting slogans, these bannermen poured into the Guoshe Avenue, wanting to go to the presidential palace in Yanguang to "make money".

However, although Guoshe Avenue is not a forbidden area, it is impossible to let these 30,000 or 40,000 people go in and make trouble, so these "troublemakers" have not yet arrived at the entrance, and they have already been stopped by the guards stationed in Yanjing at the entrance.

And looking at the muzzle of the gun held by the Guards Division, although the bannermen who were "making trouble" made a noise, but in the end, no one dared to move forward...

To be honest, they still dare to make a fuss about this kind of thing of "making trouble", but when they rush at the muzzle of the gun―――――― when they make trouble in the past, no matter how these flag people make trouble, the people of the Internal Affairs Office do not dare to attack them, and it is even more impossible to point a gun at them, but now these Han people...

"What a bunch of guys who don't have enough to do and more to lose..."

Looking at this group of people, no matter how they shouted, they just didn't rush forward, and Tie Liang and the other nobles who were mixed in the "trouble" banner people were also angry and gritted their teeth.

Originally, after mobilizing these people, Tie Liang and the other nobles just wanted to watch the excitement from the sidelines. But in this situation, if they don't go down to add fuel to the fire, I'm afraid that these flag men can only shout slogans and play at this entrance today.

Thinking of this, Tie Liang covered his face with his sleeve and shouted loudly to the bannermen around him.

"The surname Yan not only wants to cut off the emperor's offering, but also our salary, it's useless for us to shout here, everyone follows me and rushes inside!!"

Saying that, Tie Liang made a move to rush.

Those who followed Tie Liang were almost all some of Tie Liang's accomplices or genealogies, and now that the boss is shouting like this, he naturally learns them one by one.

And these people also shouted according to Tie Liang's orders.

"The law does not blame the public, we people, these Han people will not shoot at us."

"Rush away from these Han dogs, let's go inside and talk to the one surnamed Yan!"

There were almost thirty or forty thousand banner men at the scene, and among the banner people, the Manchu Qing Zonggui and their subordinates and servants were almost three or four hundred.

Three or four hundred people, if only one or two people called it like this, maybe those flag people would still be indifferent, but three or four hundred people shouted like this, and the meager courage in the hearts of the flag people was finally stimulated...

"Rush, !!"

I don't know which flag-man made a shout, and the flag-men present rushed towards the entrance, which seemed very narrow for the flow of people. The barricades along the way were also demolished by these flag men.

Seeing that so many bannermen were about to rush over the barricade, a guard officer behind the barricade was also in a cold sweat.

As a guard officer, he has also participated in many battles, and none of the three battles in the three towns of Wuchang has fallen, but seeing so many bannermen rushing over, I don't know why he has a feeling of powerlessness.

And after seeing that the banner man finally rushed towards the guards as he wished, Tie Liang and the other Manchu nobles who had been left at the back also sneered, wanting to see how these guards people dealt with the current scene?

Did you let them rush into the national community avenue without any reaction? Or is it a direct shooting to suppress it, resulting in a bloody case?

In the former, the prestige of the National Socialist Party and Yan Guang will definitely be dealt a big blow, and the latter? Tie Liang has already contacted Minister Yueben, and as long as the bloody case is caused, Minister Yuanben will help him contact the ministers of other powers and put pressure on Yan Guang together.

At that time, the restoration of the Manchu Qing Dynasty will definitely be impossible, but it is absolutely fine to get many benefits from Yan Guang.

And as long as he thought of the benefits that he was likely to get, Tie Liang was feverish.

It's just that when Tie Liang was still there fantasizing about the benefits, the guard officer who was still in a cold sweat just now waved his hand.

Just when Tie Liang thought he was about to give the order to shoot, a number of soldiers suddenly poured out behind the guards officers, and they also had many strange things in their hands―――――― of course, compared to the things in their hands, the things they wore on their faces, like masks, were obviously stranger.

Tie Liang didn't know what these people were holding, and the flag men who were still rushing towards the entrance didn't know, but when the strange things in these people's hands fired some black goo winter things into the crowd like a grenade, some people with a little insight exclaimed.

"Grenades!"

No wonder they call it that, it's just that these black gooy things are too similar to grenades. Of course, in all seriousness, in fact, they are more like grenades, but these people are only a little knowledgeable, and it is already a great thing to know about grenades, and a few people can know about grenades.

And when he heard the name of the grenade, Tie Liang, who was hiding behind, also turned pale.

In Tie Liang's opinion, there are only a few endings to this incident, and the worst is just to shoot and suppress it, but he never thought that Yan Guang would be so ruthless, so ruthless that he even threw a grenade.

Of course, it doesn't matter how many people die when a grenade is thrown, what matters is that ―――――― fucking grenade actually flew towards me...

Seeing a black goo thing flying to his feet, Tie Liang was really shocked to go out of his body and ascend to heaven, as a rare soldier among the banner people, he knew how powerful the grenade was.

It's just that when Tie Liang fell to the ground in fright, when the black goo thing fell to the ground, it emitted not fire and shrapnel, but a cloud of orange-red smoke...

"Strange, is it poison gas in it?"

However, just as he was thinking this, Tie Liang suddenly felt as if someone had poured chili water into his eyes and nose, making his tears and snot flow down...

Not only Tie Liang, but almost all the flag people at the moment feel this way, this kind of painful feeling...

"Tear gas..."

This is a secret weapon that Yan Guang ordered the Sichuan Arsenal to develop earlier, but it is a pity that although the development cycle of this weapon is very short, but when it was tested and put into mass production, the battle against Beiyang and the Kuomintang had already been completed―――――― by the way, the test of the poison gas bomb was completed very quickly, but this thing is the same as the incendiary bomb, it is too cruel, and it must not be used on Chinese, so in the end, the only ones who can try it are Yue himself and the Europeans...

Tear gas was first developed in response to trench warfare.

After all, it is too difficult for enemy soldiers to hide in the trenches, but if you can make the 40mm runner-type grenade launcher also fire tear gas, you can force the enemy soldiers out of the trenches with tear gas.

Of course, it can also come in handy in other ways in the later stage, such as riot control or something, just like now...

――――――――――

Looking at the banner men who were still menacing just now, now they all howled and ran around as if they were crazy, and the guards behind the barricades were also startled.

When they first received these weapons, they were only told that they should never be touched unprotected, and as for anything else...

"His grandmother's—" Looking at the wailing bannermen, an officer of the Guards Division spat and foamed at the ground. How did the guys at the Arsenal come up with this? That's too fucking damn, isn't it? ”

Fortunately, it has been made clear in the instructions for use that these things only make the victim temporarily lose his eyesight, otherwise I am afraid that many guards and soldiers would have thrown the tear gas in their hands far away.

It's just that although those bannermen have lost their sight and smell, and even lost the ability to resist, the officers and soldiers of the Guards Division did not just let them go, because the order to deal with this incident had been issued from above a long time ago.

So after firing the tear gas, a platoon of guards officers and soldiers also stood up with guns.

"Ready..."

It was only after the officers and men below aimed their guns at the flagmen like headless flies that one of the first colonel officers shouted.

"Fire!"

Rows of gunfire flashed through the muzzle of the gun, followed by the sound of gunfire and bullets flying out of the muzzle...

These bullets hit the flagmen without hindrance, and the flagmen ―――――― screamed...

"Rubber bullets..."

If tear gas was developed for war, rubber bullets were developed purely for riot control. Fortunately, this weapon is extremely simple, and no one will say anything even if it is used in this day and age, so...

Rubber bullets are still very useful, not only can they hit people very painfully, but as long as they are used carefully, there will be no casualties.

Of course, there are also troubles, for example, after hearing the gunshots, those flag men who have been blurred by tear gas still think that those Wehrmacht people have already opened the killing ring with guns, so they all flee in the direction they have identified.

If it continues like this, maybe a bad one is a large-scale stampede, this kind of incident often happens to the third brother in later generations, and one carelessness is dozens or hundreds of casualties...

Fortunately, in addition to these banner men who had been "blinded" by tear gas, there were more than 10,000 people from the Guards Division at the scene. Of course, they are not used to maintain order, but to...

It is used to wield batons and take this opportunity to clean up these flag men.

After being "blinded" by tear gas, these flag men were already in a state of panic, at this time there was a burst of gunshots, and those flag men who couldn't even open their eyes naturally thought that it was the Wehrmacht people who opened the killing ring, and at this time thousands of guards officers and soldiers wearing gas masks poured into the crowd, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep...

"Matchless Flurry..."

The officers and men of the Guards Division here beat the flag men with rubber batons, and the officers and men of the other division carried the wounded flag men down to avoid any fatalities.

After more than half an hour, all the bannermen who came to "make trouble" were driven away with batons by the guards division. And in the normal "salary" activities, no one died. There were quite a few wounded, and most of them were injured by the Guards Division...

The normal farce was soon reported to Yan Guang and Malzan, who were waiting for news in the presidential palace, Yan Guang was naturally smiling when he heard it, but Malzan was dumbfounded after hearing it.

It's just that Yan Guang was still there, thinking.

"No one died in a normal farce, it depends on what you use to play at that time." When...

Marzan, who was sitting opposite Yan Guang, suddenly stood in front of Yan Guang and said with a serious face.

"Strict !!"

Looking at Malzan's serious appearance, Yan Guang also couldn't help but say.

“…… What's up? ”

It's just that just when Yan Guang thought that Malzan was going to protest against this matter, Malzan spoke...

"Sell me the exclusive license to tear gas and rubber bullets in Europe..."

This is the Age of Enlightenment for the general strike, and after the inducement of "sickle and hammer doctrine", strikes often occur in European countries. Of course, if it's just a strike, it doesn't matter, but at the same time as the strike, those striking workers will also gather and launch demonstrations, and sometimes one of them can't control it...

So in Malzan's view, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters are really an epoch-making product...

(To be continued)