Early October 1904

The Ocean Empire launched a vigorous campaign to "build a beautiful new countryside", which is a long-planned national action aimed at abandoning bad habits, extensively educating and cultivating good hygiene habits, building a clean, tidy, beautiful and hygienic new countryside, and spreading civilization and new customs to every corner of the countryside.

The rapid development of the economy has led to social progress, and the general implementation of polite language, good hygiene habits, and the creation of a beautiful and clean urban environment in the city have achieved great results over the years.

However, as an important part of society, in remote villages and some agricultural villages and towns in overseas prefectures, there are generally dirty and disorderly environments, illegal construction, cross-flow of cattle and sheep feces and sewage, and open defecation.

The "Building a Beautiful New Countryside" campaign is to carry out targeted education and improvement work across the country, and to blow a new wind of civilization in every corner.

Newspapers and public opinion began to warm up and publicize a series of articles, reporting that they were listed as typical villages and towns of "beautiful new countryside", including fishing villages near the coastal mountains, villages in the mountains, demonstration villages and towns in agricultural areas, and demonstration villages and towns in pastoral areas, all of which are characterized by clean and tidy environment, hygienic environment, removal of private buildings, unified resettlement of garbage, manure into biogas digesters, clean and hygienic roads, and occasional planting of flowers, green trees and fruit trees, and the villagers jointly create a livable environment.

The investment in the "Beautiful New Countryside" campaign is not large, and the key is to mobilize the villagers to work together to create a better environment in their hometown.

The government subsidizes the construction of biogas digesters by private individuals, builds some waste dumps, prohibits littering, prohibits open defecation, advocates a new style of civilization, neighborly harmony, and awards honors such as "five good family plaques", "good gentry" and "civilized pacesetter", encourages the advanced, spurs backward and lazy elements, severely punishes village tyrants and street goblins, cracks down on villains who have nothing to do, and creates a harmonious and stable social environment.

This is a persistent movement, which needs to continue to instill the concept of civilization and new style in the villagers, organize everyone to visit and study in model villages and towns, feel the charm of the beautiful new countryside, and consciously and voluntarily participate in this activity.

At the same time, the battle of Liaoyang in the three northeastern provinces was in full swing, and flesh and blood were flying, showing an extremely tragic scene.

From the beginning of July 1904, a total of 136,000 troops of the First, Second and Fourth Armies of Fusang rushed to Liaoyang in three ways, and occupied Liaoyang at the end of September.

The Russian army participated in the Battle of Liaoyang with more than 240,000 troops, far more than Fusang, and the generals in the front were seriously lacking in willingness to attack.

Compare it to

The Japanese army under the command of Marshal Dashanyan had a strong desire to attack, and for the Japanese army, the occupation of Liaoyang was the opening of the gateway to Mukden, which was of great significance.

During the battle, the Japanese army resolutely carried out the offensive order regardless of the heavy casualties, and used the initiative to attack the right to gather local forces, and constantly attacked the Russian army, forcing it to retreat step by step, and finally lost the battle.

After the occupation of Liaoyang, Marshal Dashanyan did not order the troops to pursue the Russian army to Mukden, but stopped the advance and the whole army was reorganized.

It's not that he doesn't want to do it, it's that he can't continue.

After two and a half months of high-intensity fighting, the troops were sleepy and lacking in men and horses, suffered heavy losses in soldiers, and the number of dead and wounded was as high as more than 25,000.

In this battle, the Tsarist Russian army suffered 27,000 casualties, accounting for one-ninth of the total strength, and did not suffer major injuries.

The Japanese won a crushing victory built on the accumulation of corpses, but the fierce momentum of its offensive left a serious shadow on the hearts of the Russian army.

Zema stood outside Liaoyang City

Captain Li Jianyang looked at the corpses everywhere after the fierce battle, lying crooked in the field, and in the trenches, the large and small charred shell craters were scattered with the shattered corpses, and he felt numb.

I looked up

The observation balloon of the Japanese artillery floated in the air, and before it could be withdrawn, a few crows in the distance were hovering with their mournful chirps, adding to the tragic atmosphere of the post-war period.

"Li, how do you feel about witnessing this fierce battle?" It was Major Jean-Pierre of the French Observation Corps, a former son of a French aristocracy.

Li Jianyang sighed and replied; "It affects my appetite for dinner, Mr. Major."

"Oh God, what a good man, this war is like a fist-to-flesh boxing match, and I was very impressed by the fighting of the Fuso people, and surprisingly...... I didn't expect the Russians to lose so badly. ”

"The Russian army retreated quickly from its carefully constructed positions, and it was the only thing that caught people's eyes."

"Hehehe...... I understand it as sarcasm. ”

"No, Mr. Major, the Tsarist army was able to withdraw in an orderly manner under the attack of the enemy, without causing great chaos, which also required good organizational skills, alas...... They threw away too many valuable supplies. ”

"That's true." Major Jean-Pierre looked at the mountain of supplies in the Russian camp in the distance, and couldn't help but smack his lips, and said with regret; "The huge franc loan was wasted, and I will highlight this in my watchman report. The commander of the Russian front, General Kuropatkin, threatened to "rather die than retreat from Liaoyang", he deceived us, the expected wonderful duel did not appear, the Russian army only suffered some insignificant losses, and ran away crying and crying, he was a coward and a fool. ”

"I have to say...... Under the leadership of stupid generals, it was difficult for the Tsarist army to win the battle. Li Jianyang was a little bit of a look, not afraid of big things, frowning and commenting; Holding on to a well-constructed position with superior forces, hoarding a large amount of supplies, only to be broken with a slight poke, to be honest, Major Jean-Pierre, your Tsarist allies are not acting reliably. ”

"It sounds harsh, but I have to admit that it's a sad fact." Major Jean-Pierre shrugged his shoulders indifferently, the French did not want Tsarist Russia to invest too much energy in the Far East, and it might be a good thing to hit a hard nail here; "I should remind you, dear Captain Lee, that this war is not over, hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers are on their way to the Far East, and in the future the Fuso people will be under even greater pressure to maintain the momentum of the offensive. Perhaps it will not be long before the Tsarist army launches a massive counterattack. ”

"I hope so, but I'm not in the mood to keep watching."

Li Jianyang turned his horse's head and walked in the direction of Liaoyang City, where the Japanese army was assembled not far away. Major Jean-Pierre was not interested in looking any further, so he knocked his horse on the belly of his horse, drove his mount to trot, and followed Captain Li Jianyang in front.

The gate of Liaoyang City

A group of high-ranking Japanese military officers stood on the edge of the city gate, taking pictures from reporters in a shameful manner, with the Liaoyang City Gate in the background, which had gone through vicissitudes.

Major General Jan Hamilton, the representative of the British command of the Japanese forces, was also here, and he openly stated; "I hope to personally experience the great last act of the Manchurian War".

Major General Hamilton greatly appreciated the victory of the Japanese army, and he asked Marshal Oyamaiwa; "Are you satisfied with the results of the Japanese operation?"

Dashan Yan said disappreciatively; "However, the Russian army has retreated too skillfully, and we have no chance to expand the results."

"I still want to congratulate you, Your Excellency the Marshal, the Manchurian War is now on the right track, everything looks very good, and we need to maintain such a high-spirited offensive momentum."

"The situation is not so optimistic, Mr. Major General, the main forces of the South Manchurian group of the Russians are still alive, and their reinforcements are constantly arriving, even if 30,000 enemies are eliminated on the battlefield, the Russians can replenish it in a month." Marshal Dashanyan was not carried away by the victory, and said with a grim expression;

"In order to deal with the Russian Baltic Fleet, we must try to stock up on three months' worth of war supplies and bring more troops ashore to ensure the dire situation we face when the sea transport lines are cut off.

At present, the 3rd Army is being dragged on the periphery of the Arthur fortress, resulting in the dispersion of our troops, which is a rather passive situation.

It is expected to be by the end of the year

The Russian army will increase to more than 400,000 people, while our army can still only maintain about 250,000 to 270,000, and the disadvantage is obvious.

The top priority at the moment is to resolve the battle of Arthur Fortress as soon as possible, draw out the forces of the Third Army, join forces with the main army, and gather heavy troops to prepare for a battle of Mukden.

To this end, it was imperative to mobilize siege artillery to break the heavy defenses of the fortress of Arthur. ”

"I can do my part." Major General Hamilton was very cheerful, and he thought about it for a moment and said; "I remember that in the Civil War of the Ocean Empire, heavy mortars with a caliber of more than 400 mm were used, and there were dozens of them, and we could get these heavy guns through official channels."

Marshal Oyama Yan was overjoyed when he heard this, and said; "Then please, the military situation ahead is urgent, if we can get this batch of siege heavy artillery as soon as possible, we are confident that we can solve the Lushun fortress within half a month."

"Your Excellency, please wait for good news." Major General Hamilton smiled reservedly.

He was a qualified professional soldier, but he was not a politician, and he did not know the unruly relationship between the Ocean Empire and the Fuso Kingdom, and the matter was far from being as simple as he said.

At this time, a cameraman came over with a magnesium lamp and a German-made Leica camera in his hand and said loudly; "Your Excellency the Marshal and the General, am I lucky enough to take a group photo of you?"

"Oh, no problem." Major General Hamilton, who was extremely tall, was in a good mood and straightened his military uniform, standing next to the diminutive Marshal Oyama Iwa, as if an adult was carrying a child, very happy.

Marshal Dashanyan held his saber in both hands, his face was black and he did not speak, and he had a stinky look.

Seeing this scene, the cameraman wanted to die.

Amaterasu! What have I done?