WWXOM Chapter 208

Compared to the British army, the Belgian army was much happier, they had sluices. Within 24 hours of the war, the Belgian army was on the verge of collapse, and at the moment of crisis, Belgium opened the floodgates and released water to stop the enemy. The flood ferociously submerged thirty German tanks and flooded the path of the German infantry.

The British troops north of Ipar were not so lucky, the Germans attacked rapidly, with 300 tanks rushing forward and machine-gun artillery firing wildly. After a day of fierce fighting, the Germans successfully routed the British army, and the Belgian army saw that the situation was not good, and immediately retreated. Ipar, where there have been three battles in history, the outcome of the first battle was completely reversed. Hundreds of thousands of British troops did not hold out for a day, and were crushed by German tanks. Although the battle lasted for a week, the outcome was decided on the first day.

The brilliant victory of the German army at the Battle of Ipar caused panic throughout the Entente. In particular, the British army had no way to deal with the tanks, and after the German tanks were invincible in the battle, and after the infantry approached, the British army's advantage in rifle firepower was gone. The reason is very simple, the German army is equipped with a large number of mortars, light machine guns, submachine guns, and the fastest rate of fire in the British army's actual combat rotary pull-back bolt rifle Ying 77 (Lee-Enfield rifle), in the face of the German army's very level of firepower, is simply scum.

The Germans were overwhelmed, and after defeating the British army, they launched a fierce pursuit, and at the moment of crisis, a large number of French troops rushed to the battlefield, and with the help of fortifications and a sudden rainstorm, the Triple Alliance barely stopped the German offensive without tanks. In addition, a large number of trenches were constructed by taking advantage of the heavy rain to wash away the roads.

Despite this, the British army still lost 100,000 men at Ipar, and the small British army, which relied on a professional standing army, was considered to have suffered blood and bones. The only way to do this is to intensify the reinforcement of troops from within the country and maintain the last front in Belgium.

After the Germans captured Ipar, the follow-up was weak, and the Russian army increased its forces on the Eastern Front, and the Germans were forced to stop the offensive. The two sides are locked in a confrontational situation of trench warfare. At this time, the General Staff of the German Army once again made a strategic mistake and decided to deal with the Russian army on the Eastern Front first, instead of taking the opportunity to stabilize itself and turn to the Western Front after the great victory on the Eastern Front.

This strategic mistake gave the British and French armies an important respite.

"Modern warfare is the product of physical energy and political and strategic impacts, and the Japanese Army has been studying advanced military affairs and infiltrating China in recent years. Far from enough. The person who spoke was Genjiro Akashi, and during the Russo-Japanese War, the deputy chief of the general staff of the Japanese army, Nagashi Oka, said: "Akashi Daisa alone is equal to ten divisions." This is an affirmation of his genius, and it is not known whether it is exaggerated, but during the Russo-Japanese War, Genjiro Akashi did the impossible. Objectively, it helped the Japanese army to achieve that difficult victory.

"Many of us, still immersed in the glory of the victory in the Russo-Japanese War, are completely unaware that in China, a young military and political genius is doing so at a dazzling pace. Putting China on a path of rapid development. "I can swagger in front of Youpeng in Shanxian County, with Erlang's legs crossed. Lying on his side, the person who doesn't pay attention to his posture at all is probably only Akashi Genjiro.

Genjiro Akashi, the current deputy chief of staff of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters, a soldier known as a genius, helped Yamayama Aritomo take advantage of the Siemens incident at the beginning of the year to overthrow the Yamamoto Gonbei cabinet, known as the "father of the navy". The Okuma Cabinet, which came to power, was actually at the mercy of the Army. The struggle in Japanese politics has always been fierce, between the navy and the army. It never stopped.

"Why didn't Akashi-kun speak at today's meeting?" Yama County Aritomo tolerated Akashi Genjiro's presumptuousness, according to records, once Akashi Genjiro went to see Akashi Yama Senseo, talking about wanting to pee, and didn't look for a toilet, just stood in place and urinated, and wet Yama Yama Senseo's shoes. Even so, Yama Prefecture Aritomo still admires and trusts Akashi Genjiro very much. It can be seen that a group of political figures that emerged during the Meiji period in Japan are all remarkable figures. In contrast, during the Taisho and Showa years, there were too many fools with no strategic foresight.

"It doesn't make sense, so I won't talk about it. In fact, we have lost this war. When our attention was slightly diverted, Shina quietly rose. What is certain is that even if the empire carries out a general mobilization and dispatches a million troops to fight this war to the maximum extent, there is no possibility of winning it. In that case, why not accept the result calmly? "As an important think tank in Yama Prefecture, Genjiro Akashi is known for his calmness. Perhaps it was precisely because of this calm temperament that he was alone in Europe during the Russo-Japanese War, stirring up internal turmoil in Russia.

"What does Akashi-kun mean, do you want to keep the Okuma cabinet first?" There are many wrinkles on the face of the old man in Shanxian County, and this will be all folds.

"The navy should reach a compromise, and only by reaching a stable and compromise first can we go all out to meet the challenge of China. The General Staff Headquarters planned to land from Tianjin with three divisions and go north to threaten Beijing. What a stupid idea! The National Defense Force in China has a total of 64 infantry divisions, more than a dozen infantry divisions under construction, and security regiments in various places, with a total strength of more than 2 million. What can three divisions do? To add to the achievements of the China Defense Force? Until now, these people have not accepted the reality that the equipment of the China Army has greatly surpassed the reality of the Imperial Army, and there are still people clamoring for a sea of corpses and blood. Yesterday, Nagata-kun brought me a report, which was supposedly rummaged out of the garbage heap. This report clearly indicates that a division of the Chinese army is equipped with more than 100 artillery pieces, light machine guns up to the squad level, and submachine guns per squad. According to the report of the Minister Ijiin, the Chinese army used a weapon called a tank in the Pingdu battlefield. Coincidentally, just yesterday, observers from the European side sent back information that the British army had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Ipar. The reason was that the Germans attacked first and used tanks in large numbers. According to the feedback from the battlefield, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army is very strong. Even the courage to die that the imperial samurai were proud of, they lacked nothing at all. Akashi Motojiro's tone was heavy, and the face of Yama Prefecture Youtomo on the other side became much more difficult.

"What else is there?" Yama Prefecture Aritomo let out a long breath imperceptibly, and Akashi Genjiro continued: "Also, there are large iron and steel enterprises in Chongqing, Wuhan, and Ma'anshan, and their total output is expected to reach one million tons of steel by the end of the year. And the empire has lost Daye's high-quality railway sources, as well as pig iron from the Hanyang Iron Works. Once our army landed in Tianjin on a large scale, the strength of the fifteen to twenty divisions deployed in the extreme periphery of Shenyang would most likely move south. North Korea plus the surroundings of Arthur, our army adds up to only two divisions. According to the calculation that the ten infantry divisions of the Chinese army can fight against the four divisions of our army, the situation is more serious than we imagined. ”

"As long as the navy agrees to the establishment of twenty standing divisions, don't get caught up in the sinking of two warships. North Korea and Lushun, let's increase troops appropriately. The Okuma Cabinet issued the most severe warning to the Shina government. "Yamaguchi Aritomo finally made a decision very unwillingly, in fact, from the beginning, Japan did not plan to fight a full-scale war. It can be said that the Japanese military and government are unprepared for defeat. It is not that it is impossible to carry out a general mobilization and start a full-scale war against China. Once this happens, the Japanese government's finances will not be able to support it for half a year.

For a long time, the navy occupied the lion's share of Japan's military spending, and finally seized the opportunity to overthrow Yamamoto Gonbei, but unexpectedly, the army suffered a crushing defeat in Qingdao. Of the more than 40,000 people who escaped, only 3,000 escaped, which is an unbelievable result. Fortunately, two battleships of the Navy were sunk, otherwise the Cabinet of the Navy, which had been overturned with great difficulty, would have made a comeback.

There is another very important reason, the two know it. That is, the three giants of the Entente, and the dissatisfaction with the Japanese government is heating up. There were even ugly words coming from Whitehall that wanted the Japanese government to do everything they could to put an end to "this boring war." ”

Historically, Japan was still very willing to cooperate with the Allies at the beginning of World War I. After the stalemate between the two sides reached a stalemate in the middle of the period, the Japanese government's attitude changed, and it refused to send troops to Europe, so it sent some people. At the present stage of the European war, the belligerents who have not yet fought have suffered a great deal of damage, and the Japanese government must be cautious about the joint hints of the three countries. The fake one also joined the Entente, originally went to the interests of Germany in China, and never wanted to lift a stone to shoot himself in the foot, and the combat effectiveness of the squadron was beyond imagination.

It was also Japan's desire to catch up with the European and American powers. Regardless of the fact that an expansion of the war with China will seriously affect Japan's economy, the United States on the other side of the Pacific Ocean would most like to see a full-scale Sino-Japanese war, right?

Although it was decided to cease the war, it was still necessary to do what should be done, and what could not be obtained on the battlefield should be obtained at the negotiating table.

"What the Japanese could not get on the battlefield, they would never get at the negotiating table." Fang Jianxiong returned to Beijing, and Sun Baoqi and Tang Hualong both came. The ministers of the three countries proposed to mediate the Sino-Japanese war, and these two have already been informed, but they can't be the masters.

"Of course, first of all, we still have to base ourselves on winning on the battlefield, so we must not relax our combat readiness in the slightest." Fang Jianxiong said this, Tang Hualong's face turned into a bitter gourd when he heard it. I'm going to fight!

As soon as the three-person meeting began, someone from outside came to report: "British Minister Zhu Erdian, urgently ask to see you." ”

Fang Jianxiong listened to what he was saying, and his first reaction was to ask Yang Yongtai: "Is there any information from Zhao Yu's side?" ”

Yang Yongtai said in a low voice: "Zhao Yi is waiting outside the door." Fang Jianxiong nodded, and said to Sun Baoqi and Tang Hualong: "See Zhao Yi first, I estimate that the British have been beaten in Europe." ”

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