In the headquarters of the coalition forces in the capital, McMah said to the generals of the coalition forces: "Ladies and gentlemen, Colonel McSon personally participated in the defense of Wuhan, and he provided a detailed battle situation that shocked and woke us up. The Northern Expeditionary Army broke through the Wuhan Yangtze River defense line in just six days, and the newly equipped Daqing Army was still defeated, which shows that although the Great Fresh Army has changed its guns, it is still not a modern army, and this battle proves that the Qing Army is not the opponent of the Northern Expeditionary Army at all. ”

McMahon continued: "The strong attack power and cohesion of the Northern Expeditionary Army once again proved that the Northern Expeditionary Army has become a strong modern army. Their combat mode, combat effectiveness, and rapidly improving military tactics all embody the military thinking of modern warfare, and it can be said that the Northern Expeditionary Army has become equal to us, and even surpassed us in some aspects. ”

"Two years ago, the French army suffered heavy losses in Annam, and now it can be fully proved that it was the Northern Expeditionary Army that surpassed us in the performance of individual weapons, which was the main reason for the defeat of the French army in Annam." McMahon casually picked up a rifle on the table and said, "You see this is a standard rifle used by the soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army, which was obtained by Colonel McSon during the defense of Wuhan. ”

Everyone's eyes were on the rifle, but they couldn't see anything special about it. McMahon looked around and continued, "On the surface, this rifle is no different, not much different from our new Remington repeater. However, after being appraised by German weapons experts, the performance of this rifle not only far exceeds that of our Remington rifle, but also identical to a new rifle being developed in Germany. Gentlemen! What a terrible thing it is. ”

"What's even more terrifying is the construction and performance of this weapon. German weapons experts appraisal, Germany successfully developed manganese steel, the Guangzhou military government has used this weapon, this rifle service life is more than twice that of the Remington rifle, and the range accuracy is more than our standard rifle. By extension, the Guangzhou military government had a group of excellent weapons experts, who developed a new type of steel a few years ago or even earlier, and it is certain that manganese steel has been used in artillery. ”

The whispers below are unbelievable. McMahon picked up another grenade and said, "This is a single-soldier, melee offensive and defensive weapon, we call him a grenade." This is the grenade that the Northern Expeditionary Army is equipped with by individual soldiers. According to Colonel McSon, this individual grenade makes up for the lack of firepower in offensive and defensive operations, and is very powerful in defense and attack. German weapons experts were also shocked that the grenade was so simple that it could be mass-produced with rudimentary equipment. And the most terrible thing is that the other side used a new type of gunpowder. ”

McMahon looked at the dumbfounded general below with his mouth wide open and continued: "The Chinese have a proverb that knows that we know that we will not be defeated in a hundred battles, but we only know ourselves and do not know the other, and we did not expect that our enemy has become so strong. The Chinese also have a proverb called "mending the dead". We now have time to make up for it, and the German arsenal in Tianjin has already begun to produce new rifles and artillery. ”

"Considering that individual weapons cannot be replaced for the time being, in order to make up for the lack of firepower, we must increase the number of artillery on a large scale, especially French machine guns. In addition, it is easy to imitate grenades, and the next step is to make grenades in large quantities. In addition, according to Colonel McSon, the Northern Expeditionary Army used a new type of infantry heavy artillery in the Wuhan River Crossing Operation, and the explosion power was close to 76 mm naval guns. The amount of heavy artillery invested by the Northern Expeditionary Army was not large, and it was estimated that it was in the Shiyan stage. ”

McMahon continued: "To sum up, the poor state of the Qing army cannot be solved by replacing it with new weapons. Therefore, we had to fight against the Northern Expeditionary Army. Gentlemen, I have telegraphed to Queen Victoria, Bixia, explaining in detail the state of the Qing Dynasty, requesting that an additional 50,000 British soldiers be redeployed, bringing the total number of soldiers in the British Empire to 150,000. ”

"Our esteemed allies, the French Empire, have decided to recruit another 80,000 soldiers, bringing their total strength to 200,000. Our powerful Russian Empire decided to send another 50,000 soldiers to the hinterland of the Central Plains by sea in the Far East. Our ally, the German Reich, currently has 5000 soldiers ashore in Tianjin. The German government announced that its arsenal in Tianjin would make every effort to meet the needs of the Allied forces for arms supplies and weapons replacement. The next step of the German Empire was to open a concession in Qingdao and deploy 10,000 soldiers, which would be a great boost to the morale of the Allied forces. ”

McMahon seemed a little excited, probably because of the unfavorable situation, and the Western countries were more united and sympathetic to each other. Perhaps speaking of excitement, McMahon confidently continued: "Our ally, the United States of America, has decided to increase the war budget by an additional $2 million, and our traditional allies, Austria, Spain, Portugal, etc., have decided to increase the war budget on a large scale. Therefore, the General Headquarters of our coalition forces decided to implement a new strategic deployment. ”

"Considering the incompetence of the Qing army, I decided to deploy 50,000 British troops on the front line of Tongguan and pull them to the front line of Funiu Mountain in Henan Province to fortify, and the 8th, 12th, and 15th divisions of the French army to fortify on the front line of Tongbai Mountain. In addition, the Russian cavalry unit was pulled to Zhengzhou to defend it. Our aim was to block the Northern Expeditionary Army from entering Henan, which was a strategic point in the hinterland of the Central Plains of the Qing Dynasty and must not be lost. In addition, the Japanese troops in Suizhou were ordered to retreat to the front line of Tongbai Mountain to assist the French army in defense. McMahon did not expect that the order was issued to the Japanese troops in Suizhou, and it was already eight springs late, and the Japanese troops were wiped out.

On rainy nights, the roads were muddy, and the troops were trudging with difficulty. From time to time, the command "keep up, don't be left behind" came out in the dark. This is the troops of the 10th Division marching rapidly on a rainy night, and the soldiers are advancing in two columns against the drizzle of Feifei. "Attention, pass back and prepare to cross the river!" There was a low shout from the front, and the shouting was transmitted to the back. A small river appeared before the soldiers, and without a superfluous word, the soldiers pulled up the storehouse, put the rifle strap around their necks, and the rifle was draped over their shoulders, and then carried their grenade bags into the river.

The deepest part of the river was about waist-deep, and the soldiers scrambled to cross the other side in straggler lines. After crossing the river, the troops divided into two columns and continued to advance, and the follow-up troops kept repeating the same movements into the river, the rain was still falling, and the army marching in the dark was like two black dragons, squirming forward. The east showed the whiteness of the fish's belly, and suddenly the trumpet sounded, and the troops stopped advancing. The order was given to rest in place, and the soldiers did not care about the wet dew on the ground, and lay on the ground one after another, and some soldiers soon fell asleep.

Under a big tree, dozens of war horses were tied, and a dim horse lamp flashed with ghostly light. A stone was paved with a military map, "Division commander, this is Miaoling, which is located 15 kilometers northeast of Suizhou." "A combat staff officer circled Miao Ling with a red pencil." When it was almost dawn, people were immediately sent to get in touch with the 12th Division, and the troops rested for two hours, and then outflanked Suizhou. The commander of the 10th Division commanded.

At dusk, on the road to Suizhou, the 4th and 8th Field Divisions of the Northern Expeditionary Army and the 2nd Artillery Brigade of the Independent Artillery Division, under the leadership of Deputy Commander Li Tianxiang, advanced towards Suizhou. They marched with great fanfare, the purpose of which was to tell the Qing army and the Japanese army in Suizhou that the Northern Expeditionary Army was going to attack Suizhou. The odious rain caused the artillery units to move slowly, and gradually the distance between the artillery units and the forward units widened.

In the marching army, dozens of war horses walked on foot. "Deputy commander, the roads are muddy, the artillery units are moving slowly, I'm afraid they can't be put into the battlefield at the first time." An operations staff officer worried. "Don't worry, as long as we pass the siege of Suizhou, the Japanese dwarf slaves can't escape. We have time, we can wait for the artillery units to come up and launch a general attack, and the goal of the headquarters is to eat little Japan. ”

"Deputy Commander, the headquarters warned us that the spirit of bushido in little Japan is tenacious, let us pay special attention, is it really so evil that Bushido?" An operational staff officer made an inquiry. "I've heard of bushido, but I've never seen it. Since it is a request from the headquarters, we must take it seriously and ask what position the forward troops have reached. "Soon the news came that the forward troops were still 80 kilometers away from Suizhou. Li Tianxiang ordered that the forward troops must rush to Suizhou City in the morning tomorrow.

At about midnight, the general soldiers of the Qing army guarding Suizhou received a report from the reconnaissance cavalry that a large number of Northern Expeditionary Army were coming to Suizhou. The general army was shocked when he heard this, and on the one hand, he quickly sent people to report to Xiangfan, and on the other hand, he notified the Japanese troops to prepare to defend the city. The Qing army defended the south gate and the west gate, and the Japanese army defended the east gate and the north gate. This chief soldier did not expect the Northern Expeditionary Army to come so quickly, let alone that the Northern Expeditionary Army would attack Suizhou first.

After the defense line of the Yangtze River in Wuhan was breached, Xiaogan was captured. Suizhou, which was invisibly in the rear, was exposed, and for several days, not only the chief soldier was panicked, but the Japanese troops were also panicked. "My lord, tens of thousands of Northern Expeditionary troops are flocking here, and Suizhou City can't hold it at all. Don't look at Little Japan, but there are only 8,000 people, so it doesn't make a difference," one of the aides said worriedly.

The chief soldier said helplessly: "Without the order of the governor, we have to stick to the city, I hope that little Japan can bring us good luck and order the troops to go up the city wall." At midnight, the commander Watanabe Kawao received an order from McMahon: the Qing army was incompetent, so he led his troops to withdraw to the line of Tongbai Mountain, and assisted the French army to hold the defense line of Tongbai Mountain. Watanabe Kawao, who had been apprehensive, was overjoyed when he received the order to retreat, and the gloomy mood immediately disappeared.

The uniforms of the Japanese troops were almost copied from the British uniforms, but the color of the uniforms was yellow and not so fancy. At that time, the Japanese were poor, so the military uniform was relatively simple and practical. The Japanese units received an order to retreat and began to prepare. About an hour later, Watanabe Kawao received a notification from the Qing army that a large number of Northern Expeditionary troops were coming to Suizhou. "Your Excellency General, what shall we do?" A subordinate with a five-short stature asked. Watanabe Kawao rolled his eyes and said: "Now that the situation is critical, we can't take care of them, let's retreat quietly, let them cover!" ”

After daybreak, the 10th and 12th Divisions made contact and outflanked them from the northwest and northeast. The vanguard of the 4th Division on the south side reached the city of Suizhou, and the follow-up troops began to disperse and surround Suizhou after they arrived. At dawn, the gate of the north city gate of Suizhou was opened, and the vanguard of the Japanese army went out of the city in an orderly manner, and in the middle was the artillery brigade and the logistics brigade, and Watanabe Kawao rode a high-headed horse and also marched in the middle of the queue. Since the Japanese began to prepare for retreat at midnight, they appeared very calm.

On the southern city wall, the general soldier of the Qing army was checking with a telescope, and at this time he had already seen the figure of the Northern Expeditionary Army. "My lord, I didn't see the artillery of the Northern Expeditionary Army, it seems that their artillery has not come up, and it is impossible to attack immediately." The chief soldier nodded and said, "Why hasn't the liaison officer of the Japanese army arrived yet!" Damn, it's hard for them to still sleep! "At this moment, one of his subordinates climbed up the city wall with a rolling belt." Report to my lord, no, the Japanese troops are retreating! ”

"What did you say?" The chief soldier thought that his ears had heard it wrong. "My lord, little Japan is fleeing, and their vanguard has already left the North City Gate!" "Fucking Japanese monkeys are ruining me!" "What about adults? Hurry up and get an idea! The general soldier's face turned red and said: "Pass my order and retreat from the west gate immediately." It's little Japan's treachery, and the Governor can't blame me. ”