Guam.

In the vast Apra Bay, more than a dozen cargo ships of different shapes and hedgehogs were gathered together, which were the trophies of the special task force during this time, and because of the large cash on delivery in Honolulu, so that the fleets that passed through the South Seas during this period of time were like crossing the river, and they also made a small fortune.

On the dock, Long Guozhang's eyes did not stay on these freighters too much, his eyes were still focused on the four mackerel-class submarines that were resting here leaning against the shore.

Due to the excellent operation of the previous two submarines, the General Staff sent all four submarines to the South Seas for exercise, and the Apra Military Port has also become a temporary base camp for the submarine force, and what makes him even happier is that the four larger and newer submarines of the second generation have also been quietly launched in Honolulu, so Qin Shou also deliberately ended the training and rushed back to Honolulu to accept the new boat.

Yan Fu, who came from Luzon to discuss the next plan, also had stars in his eyes, he had also heard that some countries were engaged in warships that could dive underwater, but he didn't expect that when others were still experimenting and groping, the Pacific Army had already put it into actual combat, and he didn't expect that this was designed by Li Mo again!

He really couldn't imagine why Li Mo, who was not yet twenty years old, understood everything? It seems that there is nothing in this world that can stump him, is it true that the legend in the army that Young Master Li was sent down from heaven is true?!

Yan Fu couldn't help but laugh dumbly at his absurd idea, shook his head and said, "Brother Guozhang, you, the commander, are getting fatter and fatter. Scratched by someone, Long Guozhang laughed unabashedly, he did have reason to be proud, the four modified heavy cruisers can enter service in a few months, and the submarines have increased by two, and the original eight capital ships have also completed the replacement of the main guns, and at this moment the replacement of the power of the four light cruisers has also entered the end, as long as there are three months, the combat effectiveness of the fleet will step on a big step!

And the most important thing related to Honolulu's future Jinghai plan is finally coming out after two years of waiting, although it is not a battleship, or even a heavy cruiser, but the addition of a 10,000-ton light cruiser with high speed and large endurance can greatly improve the fleet's control over the Pacific Ocean.

As long as we can get past the reorganized navy that has exhausted all the country's financial resources and incurred huge foreign debts, the young master's bold words about supporting the Pacific Ocean when he built the army on Masti Island will be half completed.

But when he thought of the new navy that had swelled again, even he, the commander of the navy, was still a little worried, and the smile on his face gradually shrank, even he himself was not too sure about this battle, and what surprised him even more was that the young master had not mentioned the guidance on how to deploy and how to fight this war.

How to fight? It has become the most discussed topic among the officers and men of the fleet at the moment.

"Mr. Yan, you." Long Guozhang was just about to open his mouth to ask about Luzon, when a shrill brake sound suddenly sounded from behind, and at the same time that the two immediately turned their heads, the communication officer with a hurried face had already rushed to the front.

"Report, the General Staff Department sent an urgent telegram, asking the commander and Mr. Yan to return to Lushun immediately."

"Oh? In such a hurry? What's the matter? ”

The communications officer swallowed his saliva and handed the telegram to Long Guozhang at the same time, his voice suddenly sank: "The young master was assassinated and injured!" ”

"What!" ――

"What!"

Hearing the news brought by the counselor, Ogner almost poured coffee into his nose, stood up from his chair with his mouth wide open, and rushed to the front to confirm again: "Whose news is this?" Was Li Mo really attacked? ”

The counselor nodded affirmatively: "The news has been confirmed, and the German ambassador who is on business in Lushun has checked Li Mo's injury, and according to him after he came back, the injury is not light." ”

"Damn it!"

Ogener slammed the coffee cup on the table and asked fiercely, "Russian or personal?" ”

"Ben!"

The counselor smiled bitterly, he couldn't understand why he chose to make a desperate bet at this time, if the assassination was successful, it would be over, but didn't he give the Pacific Army a reason to go to war now?

Ogna slowly sat down again, as an outstanding diplomat, he had the ability to deduce the meaning behind a small matter that must be mastered, so he was not surprised that he assassinated Li Mo, but he was a little puzzled by the timing of this choice.

The four capital ships ordered from the United States are about to return to Japan, and the Americans have also sent warships to protect them, unless the Pacific Army is hot-headed and willing to go to war with the United States, otherwise they can only watch these warships return to Japan.

Several small warships built with the help of Austria-Hungary and Italy also returned to Yuben earlier, and the strength of the Benben Navy was slowly recovering, so why did he still assassinate Li Mo at this time? Don't they know what it means to fail?

No!

He said that he was not a fool, so he naturally knew what it would mean in the event of a defeat, and he did it now when the naval strength was about to recover, didn't this give the Pacific Army an excuse to go to war? Once the war starts, except for the four capital ships of the United States, the rest of the capital ships that are beginning sea trials in Britain will face the possibility of not being delivered due to domestic laws prohibiting the supply of weapons to belligerents.

If you don't get those eight capital ships, it is impossible to win this battle, and even a three-year-old child knows this truth, so why should he do it?

Could it be!

Ogna's face changed suddenly, and there was only one possibility left for him to make such a desperate move at this time, that is, there was a big problem in his own country!

It must be so!

As a politician, he knows better than anyone that war is the best means to divert some fierce contradictions!

If the Pacific Army starts a war under the pretext of assassination at this time, then all the attention of the country will be shifted to war, the people will share the enemy's hatred, and all forces will be concentrated on fighting the enemy!

Ogna let out a long breath, although he figured out the reason for his desperate move, another problem faintly surfaced, that is, the confidence of the country to win this war was rapidly disappearing, so he was in a hurry to assassinate Li Mo! If we don't even have confidence in this, how will the action to contain the Pacific Army end? Is it really necessary for the Royal Far East Fleet to also be involved in this war?

Ogna's brows became tighter and tighter, was the plan to use the book to contain the Pacific Army too hasty? Maybe the last time I persuaded Yuben to march into Uiju, North Korea, it was a mistake at all!

"Your Excellency, what should we do now?" Ogner's silence made the counselor quite anxious, and said: "According to the intelligence, the Pacific Army has gathered along the Yalu River, and if it can't be stopped, they will be able to complete all the preparations in ten days at most, and then. ”

"March to North Korea!"

The words made Ogner wake up suddenly, and shouted: "Contact the Minister of Honolulu quickly, I need to see Li Mo immediately!" ”――

The terrible north wind carried the snowflakes flying all over the sky, and sprinkled them one after another. The Yalu River in the distance has long been frozen and scaled, and when you look down from the top of the mountain, you can see a snow-white patch in front of you.

The sound of whipping and whipping continued to be heard on the road in the distance, and the not wide Madao Mountain, four horses walked side by side, all dragging a heavy cannon behind them.

The 105-millimeter cannon with a 25-fold barrel is currently the largest mobile artillery equipped by the Pacific Army, and although some countries are equipped with cannons of more than 200 millimeters, in Li Mo's opinion, it is simply a chicken rib.

Even if the barrel is shorter and the weight is reduced, the weight of artillery with a caliber of more than 150 mm will exceed two tons, which may still be able to play in a flat Europe, but in the Far East, where there are not even a few railways, it will be a disaster.

Therefore, when planning the army artillery, Li Mo kicked away the bastards who wanted to compare the caliber with the navy, and decided to use two calibers, 75 mm and 105 mm, as for the 152 mm caliber in the plan, although a sample gun has been come up, it is also a chicken rib when the car is not solved.

In fact, the 75 mm caliber artillery is actually not much equipped in the army, mainly because the howitzer has not yet appeared in this year, and artillery operations still rely on direct visual fire, and the 75 mm gun and the 60 mm mortar, which is the most popular among officers and soldiers, have conflicted, so the artillery has not been able to really dominate the battlefield.

It was not until the first batch of 105 mm guns that rolled off the assembly line, with a maximum firing range of 7,000 meters, and the new hydraulic garrison artillery arrived in Lushun recently, that the artillery really stepped up the ladder and became a sweet spot that all divisions were vying to prepare.

Even if it is a new type of artillery, the weight of one and a half tons is enough for everyone to have a headache, so most of the war horses captured at the beginning were requisitioned by the artillerymen, and even the cavalry regiment almost did not have enough war horses.

The four horses and the reins can only be dragged, especially the rugged roads in the Andong area, so the soldiers need to rely on people to push and carry them to barely pass.

Dense snowflakes poured down, and soon the heads and bodies of the soldiers were stained with a layer of snow-white flour, especially the ammunition box on the carriage behind, which was completely covered with white.

Hao Jingchuan is a veteran, because he learned the cannon before joining the army, he is also one of the best players in the artillery battalion of the first division.

But this time, he didn't have the heart to show off his mouth, he carefully tugged at the reins of his horse, widened his eyes and carefully looked at the road that had become muddy after the infantry in front of him who had been covered with heavy snow, and when he cursed the ghost weather in his heart, he had already scolded the other man on the other side.

is paralyzed, and he dares to assassinate the young master, isn't this tired and crooked!

Since this new artillery has been equipped, the guys haven't opened yet, and the dog said, I'll treat those little chickens as girls and use the cannon again, and let them know who the hell is the king of land warfare!

In fact, don't say it's Hao Cannon, now the one in the Pacific Army is not red in his eyes and full of anger, even the commander of the Marine Corps, Zhang Division, it is said that the day after the assassination of the young master, he ran to the staff headquarters to ask for the Marine Division to land on the local territory of Yuben, saying that he would arrest the daughter of the emperor and bring it to the young master to boil medicine!

Appetite!

Hao Dacang licked his lips, and said that Xiao said that Ben Niangpi is the most well-behaved, how can he toss it, if the emperor's daughter boils medicine and serves tea to the young master, and then add that, will it be able to recover faster? !

Hao Cannon was thinking wildly, the artillery battalion finally arrived at the predetermined position, and the soldiers dragged the war horses to push one cannon after another into the battle position, stationed hoes, and gun mounts, and at the same time the logistics transport team also began to unload a cart of shells and fuses.

One battalion, 48 105-mm guns, plus the artillery battalions of the 2nd and 4th divisions in the other two positions, Andong gathered 144 new cannons at once in the direction of Uiju, and as for the 75-mm guns equipped with the original artillery battalion, because of the short firing range, they were not arranged in this mission.

After each gun entered the gun position, the gunner began to pull open the gun jacket, unlock the bolt, and at the same time, began to shake the handle vigorously to adjust the gun muzzle, and each cannon was propped up to the maximum elevation angle.

The loaders, who had been on standby for a long time, began to install the fuses for the shells, and when they were ready, they suddenly shoved the huge projectile into the barrel, and when the gunner closed the bolt, the gun squad leader immediately raised an orange flag.

Afterwards, each soldier looked at the red flag held high by the signal corps in front of the artillery command and waited for it to fall straight down!

But I don't know why, everyone has been waiting for a long time, the red flag has not been waved, Hao Dacang licked his lips, could it be that the staff department has changed the hexagram? Not ready to shell Uiju anymore?

As time passed, the red flag remained the same, the artillerymen stood solemnly in the wind and snow, and everyone's faces were full of anxiety and surprise.

At this moment, another yellow flag was suddenly raised by the signal soldiers, and it crossed three times in the face of the wind and snow, and every artilleryman saw the signal!

Thirty minutes of rapid shooting!

Rumble!

Boom Boom!

As Hao Cannon was the first to pull the cannon rope, the cannons around him also roared angrily, and the cannonballs hissed across the white river, hitting huge mushroom clouds on the opposite bank!

"Beat him up!" Hao Cannon rolled up his sleeves and pulled the bolt again with a loud shout.

Army artillery cannot be compared with naval guns of the same caliber, but the new 105-mm gun can still fire four shells per minute, and nearly two hundred shells can be fired in just one position in one minute!

The cannon is roaring, the fire ball at the muzzle is getting bigger and bigger, even the snow in the sky seems to be blown away by this blazing heat, and the cold gun position just now is full of heat waves and sweat droplets, reload, fire!

The artillerymen mechanically repeated their movements, they didn't care whether they hit the target or not, and the thirty minutes of rapid firing was supposed to give a warning to the garrison on the other side, because they knew that if it wasn't for a warning, then the shelling would have been three hours!

Thirty minutes passed in a flash, and when the last shell was fired, the artillerymen slowly raised their heads to check their results, and when they saw that the other side of the Yalu River was already billowing smoke and a sea of fire, they all knew that this was just the beginning! ……

(To be continued)