The port of Nagasaki is bustling with hundreds of ships from all over the world, and the docks are filled with vendors, passengers, goods, and workers...

However, the most striking thing in the entire port of Nagasaki is a few large transport ships, a large group of soldiers wearing khaki military uniforms, and hundreds of artillery pieces being loaded onto the ships...

"Mikami-kun, I really don't understand what those people with political axes are thinking? If it's just a ship with arms, isn't it okay in Sasebo? What to do in Nagasaki! ”

As the workers worked together to load a Meiji 38-style 105mm field gun onto the ship, a young officer in an khaki military uniform complained to his companion beside him.

It could be seen that this topic was very much in line with the minds of the other officers, so before the officer named Mikami could answer, the other officer had already taken the lead.

"yes, what's the difference between those who do that and those who cover their ears and steal the bell?"

Looking at the reactions of the two companions, the officer named Dongxian smiled bitterly. At this time, a little girl in a kimono happened to run over, and after turning sideways to give way to the little girl, the young officer named Mikami spoke.

"It's better to cover your ears than not to come at all, politics is sometimes so hypocritical. Moreover, although the bureaucrats of the political axe are quite happy about the war in China, they also have to think about their future relations with China. If the final winner of this civil war of the Chinese is not Yuan Shikai, but the warlord surnamed Yan, the bureaucrats of the political axe can use this reason as a fig leaf to perfunctory. ”

Although he sided with Yuan Shikai, it was clear that he was not optimistic about his future, so after making the decision to provide military aid, he used a commercial port for transportation instead of the more convenient port of Sasebo. In this way, even if the final winner is Yan Guang, there is a perfunctory reason for the political axe―――――― military aid to Yuan Shikai is purely a commercial transaction, you see, I used a commercial port at the beginning...

Of course, it doesn't matter if the new Chinese political axe does not accept this perfunctory reason, anyway, this political axe is not afraid of China. However, it is a good thing to maintain the relationship on the surface, after all, I don't know when the long-awaited European war will break out, and even whether it can break out is undecided...

Sure enough, after hearing Mikami say this, the faces of those companions all showed disdain. Apparently dismissive of possible pressure from China. In fact, if it had been 20 years ago, these young officers might have thought twice in the face of pressure from China, but now nearly 20 years have passed since the First Sino-Japanese War, and 10 years have passed since the Russian War. Pressure from China? It's been a long time since I've considered such a thing.

Mikami's disdain for China was evident in his companions' disdain, but he didn't say anything about it, because he didn't think there was anything wrong with his companions' views. Last year, on the eve of the outbreak of the Second Revolution in 1913, Mikami, as a member of the military exchange group sent by the Masamoto Axe, had inspected the Beiyang army at that time.

In Mikami's view, the gap between the six towns of Beiyang in the middle [***] team and the army in terms of quality and equipment is not very large, but the other armies are...

At this time, not only did it have a powerful navy that China could not match, but even there were as many as 19 army divisions and regiments that were stronger than the Chinese [***] team in terms of combat effectiveness. Mikami does not dare to say about the future, but at least for now, China is not qualified to threaten the company. (At that time, there were 18 standing divisions, namely the Guards Division and the 1st to 18th Divisions, while the 19th and 20th Divisions were established on December 24, 1915, after the formal annexation of Korea.) ）

While Mikami was talking to his companions, the 105m field gun had been loaded onto the transport ship by the workers. Looking at his watch, feeling the hunger pangs coming from his abdomen, Mikami and his companions waved their hands, and several people walked towards a tavern in the distance.

In addition to these companions of Mikami, the biggest opinion on the political axe is probably the "horse manure" of the army.

In order to prepare the artillery and other heavy equipment required by Yuan Shikai as quickly as possible, when it was definitely too late to make it, he had no choice but to directly order the equipment in active service to be loaded and shipped to China from the army units.

In addition to the Kumamoto Division, which was closest to Nagasaki, all the divisions near the ports of Osaka, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima, and Kanazawa were damaged.

I am afraid that only Maozi after the collapse of the Soviet Union can understand ―――――― feeling of selling the weapons he is using to other people?

In any case, those "horse manure" of the army finally hated the bureaucrats who said that this political axe, as for the reason why this political axe would do this? If these "horse manure" could have understood, not so many things would have happened later...

However, Yuan Shikai wanted to thank the "bureaucrat" of the political axe, because the 432 artillery pieces supported by the political axe can not only make up for the losses of Beiyang, but also make the strength of Beiyang artillery to a higher level, after all, the 105mm caliber field artillery is not equipped by the Beiyang army in the past―――――― although the cannon equipped by the opposite national army in addition to the 75mm light artillery, the lowest level is also 120mm, and in order to obtain these 432 artillery, Yuan Shikai himself also paid a lot of price...

(Before the European War, the artillery establishment of the army was 3 artillery brigades (battalions) with 3 companies and 6 guns, plus 1 field artillery brigade (battalion), with a total of 54 mountain and field artillery and 18 field heavy artillery―――――― this field heavy artillery was the Meiji 38 type 105mm field artillery →_→)

――――――――――

When Yuan Shikai and Yue himself reached a deal, and when Yuan Shikai and Yue himself had just ordered all divisions and regiments to load and transport their main battle equipment to Shanghai, Zhu Qinglan and others had already been reminded by Yan Guang.

"More than 400 guns?" After reading the contents of the telegram, Zhu Qinglan handed the telegram to the others. "It's not small, but it's a pity that the color is a little worse..."

Hearing Zhu Qinglan say this, everyone else also laughed.

"yes, a 105mm light gun? I am embarrassed to take it out! ”

The artillery regiments under the jurisdiction of the infantry divisions of the National Social Army were originally equipped with 72 75mm mountain and field artillery, but after the Sichuan Arsenal was put into production, the National Social Army also organized a direct heavy artillery battalion in the infantry division like the Yue Army, but unlike Yue himself, he was equipped with 18 105mm field guns, while the National Social Army was equipped with 120mm long-barreled cannons...

There is no way, for the 105mm "light" gun, not only Yan Guang can't look down on it, even the Germans can't look down on it, there is no 105mm field gun in the German artillery list at all, so there is no so-called 105mm field gun in the drawings of various caliber artillery purchased by Yan Guang, some are just 105mm howitzers―――――― by the way, Yan Guang is ready to carry out a new round of reorganization of the Nationalist Army after defeating Yuan Shikai and the Kuomintang. First, the existing 15 infantry divisions were expanded to 63 and divided into two categories, A and B. Among them, the artillery regiment belonging to the 33 divisions of the first division in addition to the 54 75mm field guns remained unchanged, 18 75mm mountain guns were all replaced with 105mm light howitzers, in the future 75mm mountain guns will only be equipped in the B division, as for the 120mm cannons directly under the heavy artillery battalion will remain unchanged, after all, the 150mm caliber cannon is still directly equipped with the artillery brigade or artillery division is more suitable, as a division-level suppression artillery 120mm cannon is enough in terms of power and range...

"But Ziqiao, it's better for us to take Hankou as soon as possible, after all, if the cannon arrives before we take Hankou, it will cause us a lot of trouble..." But these people are really enthusiastic, and they actually directly took out the active equipment of the army and sold it..."

Hearing Yang Shan say this, Zhu Qinglan shook his head.

"There's nothing enthusiastic about it, it's just that I'm happy to see us fight. However, the offensive against Hankou must be carried out as soon as possible, otherwise it will not be easy to cross the Han River under the cover of more than 600 artillery pieces. ”

"yes." Yang Shan nodded approvingly. "But as long as Hankou is taken, Wuchang will become an isolated city, and it will be a simple matter to take Wuchang at that time..."

Since Feng Guozhang dismantled the Hanyang Arsenal, there were only two sources of supply for the Beiyang Army, one was the Jinghan Railway in Hankou, and the other was the Yangtze River waterway. Taking Hankou is equivalent to cutting off the Jinghan Railway, and if the Sichuan Naval Division cooperates with the artillery brigade to completely annihilate the Beiyang Naval Division in the Yangtze River waterway, it will be very difficult for the Beiyang Army to return to the north.

However, the latter may be difficult to achieve, after all, it is really to that point, and the Beiyang Navy will not be able to fight hard with the Sichuan Naval Division, you must know that if the Beiyang Navy is defeated, Beiyang will have to pay the price of total annihilation of the army...

"By the way, how is the ship's problem solved?"

"It's pretty much settled." As he spoke, Yang Shan nodded to his adjutant, and after a while, the young adjutant with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes walked back with a document.

After holding the document in his hand, Yang Shan faced Zhu Qinglan and Peng Xiu and the others.

"During the Battle of Qianjiang, didn't we collect more than 1,000 large and small boats in Jingzhou and Changhu to cross the river? Now Qianjiang is trying to find a way to send these ships to Hanyang. At the estimated speed, it will take at least 3 days for all of these 1,000 ships to arrive..."

During the Qianjiang Campaign, the Nationalist Army had collected more than 1,000 large and small ships to cross the Dongjing River, but these ships were naturally useless after the battle. However, Zhu Qinglan and others at that time did not return the boat to the people along the coast, but stayed. Because the Dongjing River is connected to the Han River, in other words, when the Nationalist Army was carrying out the battle of crossing the river, it did not even need to re-collect ships, but only needed to transport these ships to Hanyang along the Han River, which is why Zhu Qinglan did not return the ships to the people.

"Three days..."

Seeing Zhu Qinglan's appearance, Yang Shan knew what he was thinking.

The Beiyang Army was newly defeated, and this was a good time to take advantage of the victory to pursue. But if they stop for three days in Hanyang, as long as Feng Guozhang and them adjust a little, I'm afraid the next battle will not be so smooth...

However, Yang Shan couldn't do anything about it, after all, when Hanyang was still occupied by Feng Guozhang, they couldn't drive the ship over―――――― and if they drove one, wouldn't they have to be burned by Feng Guozhang?

So Yang Shan could only comfort.

"After more than ten days of fighting, the officers and soldiers below are also very tired, so take this opportunity to take a good rest, anyway, three days will not delay anything..."

Although Zhu Qinglan was unwilling, he also knew that there was no other way to think at this time, so in the end, he could only sigh and nod.

"Okay, just wait three more days..."

Although they waited for another three days, Zhu Qinglan and the others were not idle in these three days.

In any case, in the past ten days, the Socialist Army of the Heavenly Kingdom still fought a tough battle, and the casualties and losses were not small, so in these three days, Zhu Qinglan gave them a preliminary rest and recuperation of the troops below. As a result, the combat strength of the troops that were originally somewhat exhausted was restored a little.

――――――――――

After three days of preparation, the Nationalist Army began its combat mission to Hankow.

It's just that there is a Han River lying there, so although the staff officers of the headquarters have thought of a lot of ways in three days, in the end, there is only one way to attack except for the strong attack...

So with the firing of 10,000 cannons, the Nationalist Army began its assault on Hankow.

In the face of a strong attack, more than half of the artillery of the Beiyang Army was destroyed by Hanyang, and the latest Meiji 38 75mm field artillery was even more lost, so with the support of heavy artillery, the National Socialist Army only transported a division of troops to the opposite side on the first day, and established a very firm position on the beachhead.

"My lord, can't you still let the people of the navy come to your aid?"

Although Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang seemed to be much haggard because of the unfavorable war, looking at the dust pillars constantly rising on the position of his army, Li Chun still said sadly to the two, you must know that it is the people of his sixth division who are being shelled on the position now...

However, hearing Li Chun's words, Duan Qirui didn't look at him, just said lightly there.

"No, the navy must not be used in this battle..."

That's right, absolutely not to be used.

Although the Beiyang Army is no longer the opponent of the National Social Army, the Beiyang Navy can overpower the Sichuan Navy Army, but if you count the two artillery brigades...

Seeing that Hankou may not be able to hold on for long, and it is very likely that it will not even hold out until the arrival of his own military aid, if the Beiyang Navy is also sent in this case, the result is likely to be that the Beiyang Navy will be severely damaged and the capture of Hankou by the Nationalist Army will only be delayed for a few days...

No Hankow, no navy? At that time, it is likely that there are only two paths left in front of Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui, one is to hold on to Wuchang and then wait for the order to annihilate the whole army, and the other is to abandon Wuchang and return to the north by train through the Jinghan Railway before Hankou is lost...

And these two choices, no matter which one of them, are not acceptable to Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. Therefore, even if the artillery fire of the National Social Army is fierce now, Duan Qirui cannot let the Beiyang Navy come up to support, because the Beiyang Navy is the last trump card to retreat to Shanghai by water when Duan Qirui can't hold Wuchang. As long as the Beiyang Navy is still there, even if Hankou and Wuchang are all lost, Duan Qirui is sure to withdraw most of the Beiyang Army to Shanghai.

In this way, at least he can leave some family foundation for Beiyang, and it is not in vain that Yuan Shikai has treated himself well for many years.

After understanding that Duan Qirui really had no intention of letting the Beiyang Navy come to aid, Li Chun was also helpless, but it was impossible for him to continue to stay here and watch his troops being bombed. So after stomping his foot, Li Chun could only retire on the grounds of physical discomfort.

Duan Qirui didn't care much about Li Chun's retirement, after all, not everyone can stand the feeling that their subordinates are constantly being killed, and they can only watch it.

So nodding, Duan Qirui agreed to Li Chun's retirement.

However, just as Li Chun rode back to the bedroom in the division headquarters to take a rest, he found a tall and thin young man in a horse coat standing in his bedroom looking at him with a smile.

"Senior Commander Li, you've been waiting for me..."

Although it was really surprising that such a big living person appeared in his bedroom, Li Chun was not too nervous, after all, he was also a veteran general who had been in battle for a long time, not to mention that this was still his own division headquarters, as long as he screamed a little, a guard company would rush in from outside, so Li Chun just said calmly.

"Who are you? How did you get here? ”

However, the answer from the visitor surprised Li Chun, who was originally calm.

"Contemptible Li Yannian, the current head of the Hankou branch of the Military Intelligence Bureau..."

Although the tall and thin young man named Li Yannian in front of him just said that he was from the Military Intelligence Agency, who in the Beiyang Army now does not know that the Military Intelligence Bureau is the secret intelligence agency of the National Social Army? And now the head of this secret intelligence agency in Hankow is in his bedroom ...

Just when Li Chun wanted to summon the guards outside in to arrest someone, Li Yannian said with a smile.

"Division Commander Li doesn't have to work in vain, not long after you walked into the division headquarters, your guard company had already gone outside, and now the entire division headquarters dare not say that it is empty, but not many people can hear your voice..."

Of course, Li Yannian is not so good, or the Military Intelligence Bureau is not so good, but after buying off some people from the guard company of the Sixth Division, it is still possible to temporarily transfer them out of the division headquarters. Otherwise, Li Yannian would not have been able to enter Li Chun's bedroom.

Hearing Li Yannian say this, Li Chun didn't believe in evil, and still shouted outside twice with his throat pulled. However, after two sounds, no one from outside the bedroom walked in, not even the guard company responsible for keeping himself safe. At this point, Li Chun couldn't keep calm, and after quickly pulling out his pistol, Li Chun pointed the muzzle of the gun at Li Yannian.

Being pointed at with a pistol, a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on Li Yannian's back, but even so, in front of Li Chun, Li Yannian continued with an unchanged face.

"Master Li, you don't have to be nervous, I'm not here to disadvantage you, I just want to discuss a topic with you."

Although Li Chun wanted to kill this family directly, after hearing Li Yannian's words, Li Chun still instinctively asked. "What's the topic?"

Hearing Li Chun ask this, Li Yannian understood that he had already taken the bait, so after smiling slightly.

"What do you think of the topic of knowing the times as Junjie?"

――――――――――

With the strongest firepower in Asia, although there were occasional small setbacks in the face of the Beiyang Army, the Nationalist Army still maintained a long-term victory in general.

As the so-called person who knows the times is Junjie, now not only the surrounding provinces, but even many people in Beiyang have clearly realized that the failure of Beiyang is inevitable, and what is worse than this is Yuan Shikai's poor physical condition. After thinking a little about the rumor that no male in the Yuan family said to live past the age of 60, even in the Beiyang Army, many people began to look for a new owner.

At this time, is there anyone more suitable for allegiance than Yan Guang?

So after the Battle of Hanyang, the work of the Military Intelligence Bureau went more smoothly than ever. When persuading some Beiyang people to take refuge in their own side, the success rate also increased from the original 50 percent to more than 80 percent. For example, Li Chun's guard company has several leaders who have either been bribed or taken the initiative to take refuge. Li Yannian was able to blend into the division headquarters of the Sixth Division so easily, and it was only with their help that he could achieve it.

As for why Li Yannian came to Li Chun, he also talked about "life" and "ideals" with him.

This is Yan Guang's sudden idea, since the work of the Military Intelligence Bureau here in Beiyang is so smooth, why not just buy a few main figures? Although many of Beiyang, especially the six towns of Beiyang, are Yuan Shikai's trusted henchmen, the so-called people who know the times are Junjie. Seeing that Beiyang is about to decline, Yuan Shikai himself may go one step ahead of "Beiyang" at any time, in this case, it is impossible for everyone to be willing to accompany Yuan Shikai to the funeral, right?

As long as one or two core figures can be co-opted in the six towns of Beiyang, and then their subordinates can be co-opted to control one or two divisions. Then these people will be able to play a miraculous role in the next battle, and even if the Beiyang Navy has been avoiding the war at that time, Yan Guang is not unsure that he will leave all ―――――― or at least more than half of the Beiyang Army in the south.

As for whether this whimsical plan will succeed? In the later war of liberation, how many [***] generals chose to revolt when the [***] decline appeared? What's more, even if the buyout plan fails, the loss will only be some of the military intelligence bureau's manpower in Hankow, but if the plan succeeds, the harvest will be a whole forest...

(To be continued)