An hour later, the rumbling sound of artillery sounded one after another on the artillery positions of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the shells flew towards the Japanese positions with a piercing whistling sound in an endless stream. This was followed by a continuous burst of explosions, and the entire Japanese position was instantly covered by artillery smoke.

At the same time, the Korean troops in the northeast of the Japanese position also launched the most intense artillery bombardment against the Japanese army. This heavy artillery bombardment lasted for half an hour.

Subsequently, under the loud horn of the charge, tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers could not wait to rush to the Japanese position. The suppressed anger in the hearts of the Chinese soldiers completely broke out at this moment, and the soldiers rushed towards the position of the little devils like crazy, and broke through the defensive position of the Japanese army in an instant with lightning speed, and strangled the remaining little devils on the position. At the same time, the North Korean army dispatched more than 30,000 soldiers to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese position.

The Japanese army was already demoralized due to successive defeats, and the Japanese army on the Kurume line had been surrounded, so almost no support had been cut off. Because the Huaxia fleet continued to strengthen the blockade of the coastal areas, and the Japanese ships became more and more difficult to break through the blockade of the Huaxia fleet with continuous losses, in this case, it was simply impossible to provide sufficient support to the garrison on Kyushu Island. Under these circumstances, the morale of the Japanese troops on the front line was even lowered. Completely different from the Japanese army, the morale of the Chinese army at this time was extremely high, and the momentum of the war was to fight, and now the Japanese army has lost its momentum, and the Chinese side occupies an absolute advantage, and has lost any chance to win.

The fierce battle lasted less than two hours, and tens of thousands of Japanese troops completely collapsed. Faced with the flanking attacks of the Chinese army and the Korean army, in just two hours of fighting, the Japanese army left at least 20,000 corpses. The surviving Japanese troops were also completely reduced to a rout, and one by one they panicked and scrambled to the north to flee for their lives, trying to break through the enemy's encirclement, rush to the coastal area, and then return to the island by boat.

But the Crusade will not give them any chance. The most elite troops are all laid out here, waiting for them to throw themselves into the net! There was a strong enemy in front and a chasing army in the rear, and the Japanese army could not escape the fate of being completely annihilated. The battle lasted from noon to night, and the 40,000 Japanese troops were completely annihilated, except for a few who fled into the nearby mountains and old forests to hide. At this point, the last main force of the Japanese army on Kyushu Island was completely annihilated, and the Eastern Expeditionary Army of the Chinese Empire had basically controlled Kyushu Island.

At the same time, the Second Squadron of the North Sea Fleet was ordered to go north and directly blockade Tokyo Bay, causing a shock in the Japanese government and the public.

Morning of October 6, 1902. The Second Detachment of the North Sea Fleet broke through the mine blockade outside the Japanese port of Yokosuka, broke through the port of Yokosuka, shelled the port of Yokosuka, the naval factory of Yokosuka, and the station of the Marine Corps, and directly destroyed the Yokosuka naval base, causing heavy losses to the Japanese army.

"Song Laohu!" In the auditorium of the headquarters of the First Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Army of the Chinese Empire, the army commander Hu Guangde shouted loudly with a stern face.

"Here!" Song Laohu got up and replied loudly.

"Song Laohu fought bravely and made many achievements. A Golden Dragon Medal of the Empire, a steel helmet and a bonus of 5,000 yuan. Hu Guangde announced loudly. After the establishment of the Huaxia Empire, the Huaxia Imperial Bank began to issue a large number of banknotes. And it was promoted on a large scale throughout the country to replace the original copper coins, silver dollars, and even silver and other currencies. The bonus I just mentioned is 5,000 yuan. It is this newly issued banknote that is collectively known as the Chinese currency.

Song Laohu strode forward with an excited face, and then stood up and saluted Hu Guangde with a military salute. Hu Guangde returned a military salute, and then hung a gold medal on Song Laohu's chest, "Thank you Emperor Xià, for serving the empire, and never giving up!" Song Laohu said loudly.

Hu Guangde nodded with satisfaction, and then took a tray from the soldiers beside him, there was a steel helmet and an envelope on the tray, and the envelope contained a bonus, this Song Laohu knew, but this strange steel helmet in front of him, Song Laohu saw it for the first time, and couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "The military commander is wearing this thing on his head?" ”

"Of course, this is the latest steel helmet developed by our military factory, and wearing it on the head can effectively avoid the killing of artillery shells and bullets." Hu Guangde said with a smile.

"In other words, if you wear this thing, the enemy's bullets can't penetrate it?" Song Laohu then asked.

"It depends on what kind of gun is used and how far it is, it is difficult for ordinary pistols to penetrate at close range, and as for rifles, if they are far away, they can generally be blocked, and if they are close, they can also penetrate. It is said that the main function of this steel helmet is to prevent the killing of artillery shell fragments. Hu Guangde explained with a smile.

In the original history, the modern steel helmet was not invented by General Adrian of France until World War I. It is said that the invention of the steel helmet, there is also a small story, one day, the German army suddenly launched a fierce attack on a French position. Suddenly, the French positions were filled with smoke, and the kitchens of the accompanying troops were not spared. A soldier on duty in the kitchen saw this and wanted to go to the front line to fight, but shrapnel, stones, and branches fell on his head, and he was afraid that his head would be injured, so in a panic, he picked up a frying pan and buckled it upside down on his head. After the battle, he was wounded, but his head was intact, and he became the only survivor of this position. One day, the French general Adrian came to comfort the wounded and learned about the soldier's experience. Looking at the wok on the head of the soldier on duty, the idea of "making a steel helmet" flashed in his mind. So, according to the instructions of the general, the French engineers designed a military steel helmet and named it "Adrian helmet". The following year, every French soldier wore this steel helmet on his head.

As a traverser, Ren Chao naturally knows the important role of steel helmets for soldiers in future wars. According to statistics, 75% of the casualties of soldiers on the battlefield in future wars are caused by fragments of artillery shells, grenades, mines and bombs. The speed of these fragments is only l/2 of the speed of a bullet, and it can be protected with a steel helmet. Ren Chao did not order the development of steel helmets before, because at that time, the number and power of the enemy's artillery equipment were far less than that of later generations, and the domestic steel industry was just in its infancy. Ren Chao temporarily shelved this idea, and then because there was no major war in the past few years, Ren Chao gradually forgot about this matter, until later he suddenly remembered this matter, so he ordered the military industry department to be responsible for the development of steel helmets, at this time the domestic steel industry is developing rapidly, and it is fully capable of producing a helmet with quite good performance, which is the helmet in front of him. (To be continued......)