"The last general thought that although the new and old armies together in Beiyang could mobilize no less than 100,000 front-line mobile troops, in the field, it was still not optimistic to fight with Japan." Seeing that everyone stopped talking, Ye Zhichao, the direct commander, naturally wanted to make a start.

"So you mean the city is fortified? Where is it? Pyongyang? Ye Zhichao's words made the originally high-spirited Lao Li very displeased, although the Japanese army could mobilize 200,000 people, but there were not many troops that came across the sea and began to land, if they could rely on the might of the First World War to make Japan retreat in difficulty, it would naturally be better.

"The Japanese will not go to war until they are ready." Peng Yi said.

"Really? Then I'm going to watch the Japanese increase their troops in Beiyang? Ma Yukun said very unhappily.

"Lord Ma, in the treaty, both Japan and the Qing Dynasty have the right to garrison Korea, Japan increases its troops, we can naturally increase our troops, but what about the increase? The maximum number of troops that can be transferred over Beiyang will not exceed 60,000, what about Japan? More than 150,000, how to fight? Peng Yi asked.

"I don't know if the old man heard it wrong, why can the mobile force of the entire 100,000 people be lined up to less than 60,000 in North Korea?" Li Hongzhang said coldly.

"I would like to ask, can Beiyang find enough recruits and livestock to provide logistical assistance for the expedition of the Beiyang army? A division of 20,000 Japanese troops can be divided into more than 20,000 conscripts. I wonder if Beiyang has enough money and ability to match 100,000 porters? And now it is 100,000 people, and it is only 100,000 after the completion of the assembly of the three major armies in Beiyang, and the loss and supply of these 100,000 people is not a small number. Peng Yi said.

"When the time comes, the imperial court will naturally allocate funds." Li Hongzhang said with some embarrassment.

"The Qing State only earns 80 million taels of silver a year, and half of the flag is thrown away, even if all 40 million taels of silver are given to Beiyang, it is enough for the Second Beiyang Naval and Land Division to fight for a few days? Take a 1-pounder rapid-fire gun, for example, 400 shells a minute, 6 shillings 6 per shell, which is 90 pounds of ammunition if you shoot for a minute, which is nearly 600 taels of silver when converted into silver. There are also machine guns, with a rate of fire of 500-600 rounds a minute. This is the silver. If you don't have money, how can you get out? AND THIS TRANSPORT, A 120MM CANNON REQUIRES AT LEAST 6 HEALTHY HORSES TO PULL. In terms of the road situation of the Qing Kingdom, there are no 20,000 horses, how do you support the logistics of this 100,000 army? Peng Yi said unceremoniously, he is different from Liu Mingchuan and the generals of Beiyang, he has no direct affiliation with Lao Li, and the Chinese and Beiyang are only equal cooperation, so he dares to say, it's a big deal to quit, what can you Li Hongzhang do? You must know that more than half of the taxes in Beiyang are provided by Chinese businessmen.

"It is indeed difficult for these tens of thousands of troops to go out of Korea, and the low combat effectiveness of the Chinese army will inevitably lag behind, although the new army has strong combat effectiveness, it is extremely dependent on logistics support, and the ammunition stored in our Beiyang is not very sufficient. I am afraid that the outcome of a fight against the Japanese Army, which has absolute superiority in foreign countries, is difficult to predict. Nie Shicheng said carefully.

"Then do you think that my Beiyang can only guard the Yalu defense line and ignore the safety of the vassal country?" Li Hongzhang said angrily. He really didn't expect that with the new army and new equipment, his subordinates would be less courageous!! "Before the army was expanded, you were still clamoring for a decisive battle with the Japanese people, why are you cowardly now that someone has a gun?" Li Hongzhang blushed and pointed to everyone in front of him and said.

"The so-called ignorant are fearless, back then everyone did not know the reality of the Japanese people, and now after knowing themselves and knowing the other, they found that the difference between the Qing Dynasty and Japan is not only the military strength, the national strength system is the biggest problem, the Japanese people can be 40 million can make out 200,000 army, 200,000 conscripts to participate in the war, and I Qing Dynasty, the population is several times that of Japan, and the tax is only equal to Japan, and the military strength is only 100,000 combatable army. Or is it my Beiyang thrift and the support of my Nanyang compatriots squeezed out of between my teeth! The manpower and material resources for transporting ammunition actually have to be raised by Beiyang itself. With such a situation, how dare I fight a decisive battle with the Japanese people outside the country? Behind my Beiyang army are only you, Li Zhongtang and Nanyang compatriots, and behind the Japanese army are the whole of Japan and 40 million people. Nie Shicheng said sadly. Xu Jie's arrival opened a window for the top level of Beiyang to understand the world, and Nie Shicheng and others in addition to reading through foreign military forces, but also studied the system and system education. The people's wisdom has not yet been developed, the system is backward, and the industrial base is weak, and in terms of national strength, the Qing Dynasty is not half a point behind Japan. …,

"If it doesn't work in North Korea, it doesn't work in the Yalu River, so where is it? Lushun? Or in Shanhaiguan or Tianjin? Li Hongzhang's tone was full of mockery.

"It's okay to send troops to North Korea, and it's okay to defend the defense line of the Yalu River, but it won't be too long, and we don't have such a strong logistics in the north to transport military supplies from Zhili to the front line. From the point of view of the navy, the overall strength of our Beiyang Fleet is inferior to that of the Japanese army, and I am afraid that it will be very unsafe for sea transportation. Therefore, the final decisive battle site can only be in Weihai, and our Beiyang can concentrate 50,000 capable troops to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese in Jinzhou, Dalian, and Weihai with the fortified bunkers built over the years and with sufficient ammunition supply. After eating some of them, you can slowly draw them. Yang Sihong said in a low voice.

"The matter of the water master, everyone can rest assured. There won't be any problems. "Li Hongzhang is not very at ease with the Lu Division, but as an insider of the Qianlong Plan, he is quite confident in the navy. Of course, I can't tell my generals about the details of this situation, first, because it is a secret, and second, because the Garibaldi-type battleship has not yet been finally completed.

"Even if the Beiyang Fleet can ensure the safety of the sea routes, the supply of that army will require a large number of merchant ships, not to mention that transporting the 50,000 troops from the south to the battlefield is an extremely heavy task. I wonder if there are enough merchant ships in Beiyang to ensure the worry-free transportation of troops and ammunition? (The Tianjin Machinery Bureau is obviously unable to supply the consumption of 100,000 troops, and part of it has to be replenished from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Jinling Machinery Bureau) Is there enough ships to ensure the smooth flow of the southern route and the North Korean route? Peng Yi asked. Although according to his understanding of Xu Jie, seeing such a large-scale expansion of Japan's navy, Xu Jie could not sit still. However, he did not understand the situation, and for the time being, he believed Li Hongzhang's assertion that the navy was worry-free.

"Ugh." Li Hongzhang swallowed a mouthful of saliva, he is completely depressed now, when he led the Huai army to fight in all directions, he also felt that it was so troublesome, why is it that once he has to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese now, there are so many things? Lao Li has also seen the new machine gun and artillery, and when Lao Li observed the "electric gun", he made a 3-word comment, which was too fast!! The first feeling of this thing to Li Hongzhang was that he couldn't use it, but now, the second feeling to Lao Li was that you couldn't afford to transport ammunition!!

"And what about your opinions?" Li Hongzhang is completely gone, whether it is the old man of Beiyang, the general of the Huai Department or the Chinese of Nanyang, this time he actually unified against his own opinions, and he still has this court in his heart, but I am afraid that among these fierce generals, they are all thinking about their own life and death, and they have already kicked this court that does not give anything to the clouds, right?

"It's okay to send troops to North Korea, and it's okay to stick to the defense line of the Yalu River. But the core of this still has to be placed in Jinzhou, Dalian and Shun. The imperial court asked us to send troops, so we could naturally send some old troops out, on the one hand, to block the enemy, and on the other hand, to buy time for the new troops in Nanyang, Liangguang and Taiwan to enter the important places in Beiyang. The provincial armies of all the new armies that can participate in the war account for more than half, and I Beiyang sent 20,000 old troops, and the imperial court absolutely can't say anything. Ye Zhichao said.

"Cope, this is naked coping!" Li Hongzhang said in his heart. However, what Ye Zhichao and others said is also reasonable, no one knows when the war will start, and tens of thousands of troops from other provinces cannot be directly stationed in Beiyang without war, the imperial court does not agree, and he Li Hongzhang can't afford it. Therefore, only with the permission of the imperial court when the situation is tense, he Li Hongzhang can transfer troops on a large scale, otherwise an idea is empty talk. And according to the reaction speed of the center, it is indeed unrealistic to want them to prepare as soon as possible.

"The last general discussed with the adults, the first line of defense will be Jinzhou as the core, the second line of defense will be Dalian as the core, and the last line will be Lushun as the core. The strength of the troops is combined with the setting of fortresses in key areas. The fortresses were connected by trenches. The whole defense in depth is composed of the outpost, the main defense area, the deep defense line, and the artillery position located in the rear, of which the outpost is arranged about 500 to 1000 meters in front of the main defense, and the defensive position will be composed of 3 continuous trenches, and behind the 3 trenches will be a 2KM wide defense system in depth, which is mainly the support point and the trench cooperate with each other, and then the back, is the artillery position. Peng Yi said. This is the result of combining the knowledge he learned in the German military academy and communicating with Xu Jie. Among them, Xu Jie even brought the trench defense system of the German army in World War I to the present. (This defense system is by no means made up by the author, you can take a look at the 88th issue of "Sea, Land, Air and Space Inertial World")...,

"Well, the idea is good, but the old man is more concerned about the issue of command. How is this fixed? Li Hongzhang said what he was most concerned about, and it was said that the strength of Beiyang in the new army was only half. It is obviously impossible for the guest army from other provinces to listen to Ye Zhichao. And Ye Zhichao's talent is not enough to lead such a large-scale army. But the dominance was given to others, and he Li Hongzhang was unwilling.

"In fact, it is possible for the new army of each province to be in charge of its own defense with complete fortifications and large firepower, and each province is responsible for its own defense line, and when it comes to matters that require the unified cooperation of everyone, it is necessary to set up an organization called the General Staff by Westerners to make a decision. But it also takes one person to coordinate the big picture. Nie Shicheng paused for a moment, and then said: "We all feel that Jishi is the person who can be trusted by all parties and has the ability to lead the whole army. ”

"Ji Shi will be the chief soldier of my Beiyang Navy's fast fleet, and I am afraid that I will not be able to catch it if I take care of the army, right? Let's talk about it then, right? Li Hongzhang said this, in fact, he was still very satisfied, after all, this protégé will take over the overall situation of Beiyang and even the Huai system for him in the future, and it is a good thing to gain the approval of his subordinates.

Thank you for the reward of the prodigal son of the book friend, everyone support it more, so that the author will be motivated~~