The president is the position that Yuan Shikai has dreamed of all these years, and it is also the talisman he relies on for his survival now, but he was cut off so lightly by Ruan Zhongshu. At that moment, eating meat was no longer enough to express Yuan Shikai's anger, and he couldn't wait to cut Ruan Zhongshu all over the door and cut the corpses of the Nine Clans into thousands of pieces!

Of course, all of this, the premise is to be able to catch Ruan Zhongshu.

Although the blood vessels near the temples were still beating suddenly, Yuan Shikai quickly calmed down: "Zhiquan and Yunting, because the old man was careless, he has lost all the games now. Now the public opinion in the whole country is turbulent, and the old man has become the finger of thousands of people, and the situation is erosive and irreparable! Fortunately, 'actions speak louder than words', and only by asking Beiyang Paize to work together on the battlefield to completely defeat the invading enemy, so that the people can close their eyes and save the decline a little. Otherwise, if there is a slight decline, the southern provinces will definitely end at both ends, and our Beiyang group will be doomed! ”

Tang Tianxi agreed: "Dashuai is extremely right! Above all words, there is only force, our previous mistake was to compete with Sun Baixi in the Congress, who doesn't know that Sun Baixi was born in a school, and what he is best at is demagogic and deceitful words? With my shortness and the enemy's strength, do you have a chance of winning? The foundation of our Beiyang group is the elite of the six towns trained by the marshal in the small station, and it is more than enough to conquer and win the battle, not to mention Sun Baixi's student army? ”

Duan Qirui also said: "Indeed, as the marshal said, if we can win the battle, even if all the contradictions cannot be solved, there will be room for maneuver." But if this battle is lost, Sun Baixi will certainly take advantage of the victory to pursue and directly force the Jingshi, but I am afraid that my Beiyang group will also collapse without a fight! ”

Before Yuan Shikai could answer, Tang Tianxi frowned: "What is Chief Zhiquan talking about!" I have been in the Beiyang army for nearly 20 years, although I can't boast that I am invincible in sweeping the world, but it should not be a problem to be proud of those grass bandits in China. ”

Duan Qirui did not answer Tang Tianxi's question, but quietly waited for Yuan Shikai's orders.

Yuan Shikai said: "We should not be arrogant, but there is a clear precept in ancient times, 'not thinking about victory.'" Think about defeat first', what Zhiquan said is not without purpose, so the old man must concentrate three times the force to meet the invading enemy. If this is the case and he still can't win, Yuan will bow down and wait to be killed! ”

Sun Yuanqi also agreed to attach great importance to this life-and-death battle, which Yuan Shikai regarded as life-and-death at stake, not only because it was not only the first time that the tank was put into actual combat, but also the first head-on conflict between his soldiers and the veteran Beiyang powerhouse. Winning or losing will largely determine the future direction of the country.

February 14, 1914, Valentine's Day in the West, is destined to write a stroke in modern military history.

As soon as the sun rose, two reconnaissance planes took off from Datong Airport and began to carry out close reconnaissance of the 1st Division and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade of the CSKA several hundred miles away. Cai Chengxun, commander of the 1st Division, and Zhang Jiuqing, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, received orders from Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui yesterday evening to make pre-war arrangements overnight to meet the invading 47th Mixed Brigade. But these adjustments can't hide from the surveillance from the air!

Zhao Jingxing and Yao Baolai, who are sitting in Datong, are both graduates of the military academy. According to the photographs taken by the reconnaissance plane, the other side saw through the intention of the adjustment at a glance, and immediately notified the 47th Brigade on the march to quickly prepare for battle, and the 1st Regiment, equipped with 40 tanks, immediately formed a cross formation and approached the enemy's position. At the same time, more than 100 fighters that had been transferred to Datong and Taiyuan also quickly adjusted their operational direction and concentrated all their forces on intensively bombing the artillery positions and defensive positions of the 1st Division and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade of the Central Army.

It should be said that this was the largest air group operation in history. More than 10 air force aviation regiments, with their air brigades as units, carried out non-stop bombardment of enemy positions at different times and in batches. More than 10 tons of explosives were dropped in just a few hours, and almost every inch of land within a radius of several kilometers was ravaged by shrapnel and flames. The originally open plains, winding and horizontal trenches, and deep and orderly positions seemed to be dusted by raindrops, leaving only terrifying craters and scattered dust.

The 1st Division and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade of the Central Army had never fought such a war, and they had not seen a single shadow of the enemy, and they were bombed so that they could not find the south, south, and northwest, and the heavy weapons were almost completely damaged, and their morale fell to a low point. -- Within a few hours of the plane's arrival, the officers and men of Beiyang were like sitting on a bumpy sea ship playing the death wheel. If you don't pay attention, you will lose your life. What's more, the enemy beat himself to pieces, and he didn't have the slightest power to fight back, so he could only let the opponent rub and pinch him. Is there anything more demoralizing in the world?

On the battlefield, from division commander Cai Chengxun, brigade commander Zhang Jiuqing to ordinary soldiers, they have never been so eager for the enemy to appear in front of them!

Looking forward to it, looking forward to it, in the midst of the earthquake and the shaking of the mountains, I finally found that there was a sky-high smoke in the sky, and then four columns of roaring iron bumps swooped down with black smoke. Although this iron lump reveals a bit of weirdness. But in the eyes of Zhang Jiuqing, the commander of the Third Cavalry Brigade, it is far more cute than the monsters flying around in the sky. Zhang Jiuqing did not hesitate at all, immediately turned over on the horse, pulled out his saber and pointed straight ahead: "Brothers." Come on! Avenge the death of your comrades! ”

The soldiers of the cavalry brigade had long hated the unknown death before, and when they heard the brigade commander's order, they all felt like they had been amnestied, spurred the war horses under their hips, waved the sabers in their hands, and rushed wildly towards the tanks hundreds of meters away, just like Don Quixote who killed the windmill with a spear.

The officers and men of the 1st Division in the rear also seemed to have found a place to vent, manipulating various weapons to fire at the tanks. Unfortunately, they did not know that the thick armor of the Kirin tank was enough to protect against guns below 75mm, and they did not know what anti-tank weapons were. Although the bullets sent the tank flying everywhere, the tank continued to move as if nothing happened.

When the valiant cavalry came into range of the machine guns, the two rows of tanks in front stopped, and the machine guns and artillery on the tanks began to fire heavily at the incoming cavalry. On the plain, where there were no obstacles, faced with cavalry with no knowledge of tanks and no heavy fire cover, the result was no less than the massacre of the Zulus by the British using Maxim machine guns. Even if a small number of fish escaped the hellish cage of machine guns and artillery, the armor of the "Kirin" tank was not capable of being dealt with by the cavalry's light weapons, and the result was that the 2nd Regiment of the 47th Brigade, which was in charge of the tail sweeping work, could only be slaughtered.

Four rows of tanks marched in two rows, rolling across each other and crushing forward. The 2nd Regiment, which followed behind the tanks, was responsible for catching fish through the net and preventing enemy troops from outflanking; There are also planes on it that give special care to the enemy's heavy weapons and stubborn strongholds. In less than 20 minutes after the start of the battle, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was crushed, two pairs of the six battalion commanders of the whole army died, and the remaining two were seriously wounded.

Seeing the heavy casualties of the friendly troops, Cai Chengxun, the commander of the First Division, who had been ravaged by the planes, was also like ashes, and ordinary soldiers were even more on the verge of mental collapse when they saw the monsters that could not be beaten and beaten on the opposite side. Li Kuiyuan, the commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, who has always been famous for his bravery, also lost his cool at this moment, and hurriedly asked Cai Chengxun for instructions: "Division commander, what should we do now?" ”

Cai Chengxun was already in a big mess, and when he heard this, he asked rhetorically: "Brigade Commander Li, what do you think?" ”

Li Kuiyuan said: "The time is urgent, please forgive Li's bluntness." The enemy army is bombed by planes and invulnerable to swords and guns, and although our army has a large number of people, there is nothing to be done, and a fierce battle here is completely waiting to be killed. At present, the key is no longer how to win, but how to preserve combat power! As long as we can safely withdraw the main force of our army into the mouth, it will be a big victory, and I believe that with the Great Wall natural insurance, we will be able to turn the crisis into safety! ”

Dong Shizhen, chief of staff of the First Division, interjected at this time: "How easy is it to withdraw troops? As Brigade Commander Li said, there were planes bombing on the other side, and strange cars swept underneath, and the officers and men of the whole army were terrified. If you stick to it here, you may be able to survive in a desperate battle; If you retreat now, the slightest carelessness will turn into a rout, and I am afraid that the whole army will be wiped out in the end! ”

Li Kuiyuan sneered: "Chief of Staff, what are these words? Now we are helpless against airplanes and iron bumps, and we are actually sitting back and waiting for death to hold on here. Surviving the dead? I think it's ten deaths! Now that there is the 3rd Cavalry Brigade in front of us, there is still a glimmer of life if we retreat quickly; If we wait until the 3rd Cavalry Brigade is dead and wounded before we want to retreat, I am afraid that the retreat will really turn into a rout, and then the whole army will really be exhausted! ”

Dong Shizhen retorted: "It is true that we are helpless against airplanes and strange cars, but we can still barely support it with the fortifications we built before. As long as we stay up until dark, not only will the enemy planes not be able to abuse, but the movement of the strange vehicles will also be greatly restricted. ”

Li Kuiyuan said: "Then we have to be able to stay up until it gets dark today!" The Third Cavalry Brigade has barely held out for twenty or thirty minutes, and now that it is at least four or five hours before it gets dark, does the chief of staff feel that the combat strength of our division is dozens of times that of the Third Cavalry Brigade? Or does the chief of staff think that our division can turn decay into magic when it is handed over to you? ”

Dong Shizhen was choked by Li Kuiyuan, and then he was silent.

Although Cai Chengxun was loyal to Yuan Shikai, he was the commander of the first division after all, and only with the first division did he have everything, holding the concept of "dead friends, immortal poor roads", he looked at the dying and struggling third cavalry brigade on the front position, gritted his teeth and ordered: "Retreat!" ”

This battle is often referred to as the "Battle of the Mouth" and the most famous battle of the "Constitutional War", because it was recorded in history because of the first time tanks entered the battle, the first infantry and tank coordination, and the flying tank coordination. In this battle, the casualties of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade as a foil reached an astonishing 70 percent, and even the casualties of the 1st Division of the Army, which escaped from the battle, exceeded 30 percent, basically losing its combat effectiveness. The 47th Mixed Brigade suffered only more than 100 casualties and three tanks.

It is precisely because of such a disparity in the battle loss ratio that the tank has become a star in the military circles of all countries in the world. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m.qidian. )