The train full of officers and soldiers went eastward at a galloping speed, and if you stood at a very high place, you could see that in the vast central plains of North America, all trains were speeding eastward.

On the vast plains

There were also endless marching troops, like long snakes that snaked across the border to the set targets in Ohio.

In the dining car, Major Lei Xiao, the leader of the cavalry chariot group, was wearing a standard cavalry officer's uniform and was sitting face-to-face with the two captains of the chariot brigade for dinner.

He dined with grace, ignoring the strange gazes of the officers around him.

"Wow...... Man, it's really weird that you have a black lump on your cavalry armband, huh...... Is there a second or third such wagon brigade in Detroit's 1st Separate Cavalry Chariot Brigade? ”

A cavalry major officer and a few of his companions sat down at the table next to them, and then, surprised to notice the difference in the cavalry captain, asked in a playful tone.

The dining car is where the officers' dining hall is located, and there are many officers coming and going, which is not unusual.

The standard cavalry armband is the armband of the horse's head, which is marked with the division to which it belongs, and the troops with a glorious history also have specific symbols.

For example, the famous San Francisco cuirassiers regiment in the Royal Praetorian Guard, at the top is the curtain of the crown, which is a distinctive symbol of the Royal Janissary.

Below are the seven characters "The 1st Division directly under the Praetorian Guard", and below is the horse's head badge representing the cavalry, and the infantry is a cross pattern of rifles and bayonets.

Unlike ordinary cavalry units, the San Francisco Cuirassier Regiment has a mane embroidered with money on its horsehead, representing the glorious history of the Ace Cavalry Regiment.

The circle below the horse's head coat of arms reads "St. Francescoci's Regiment" and is surrounded by olive leaves and ears of wheat.

Major Lei Xiao's armband was different, it was a silhouette of a black ironclad chariot, no wonder the cavalry officer was a little fussed.

This officer deliberately described the "Independent First Cavalry Chariot Brigade" as a "wagon fleet," which caused many officers in the dining car to laugh.

As a country on wheels, there are many freight cars running on the urban and rural roads of the Tang Empire, which is a very common social scene, and no one is unfamiliar with it.

On Major Lei Xiao's youthful and energetic face, there was an old man who was not commensurate with his age, and he was not angry in the face of the provocation, but just smiled indifferently and responded;

"Lawyer Detroit, Captain Lei Xiao, Major of the 1st Cavalry Combat Tank Brigade, I am leading a new type of unit that you have never seen before, and there is only one brigade in the entire Northern Army.

But I firmly believe

In the future, there will be more and more cavalry and chariot brigades, which will be the first and main force of the Royal Army in the siege of the city, and I have full confidence in this. ”

First-class workhorse?

What a big breath!

Ge Jiabao stood up with a solemn expression, raised his hand and saluted;

"Meet Ge Jiabao, the major of the first brigade of the 105th Zhangzhou Third Cuirassier Regiment of the Division.

as everyone knows

My unit was one of the trump cards of the Northern Army and even the entire Royal Army, and in the early years, I had followed His Majesty the Holy Emperor in the southern and northern wars, and made great achievements. ”

Major Ge Jiabao looked at Major Lei Xiao, who also stood up and saluted in return, and was surprised that this person was tall and tall, but he still continued to ask with pride;

"Even so, I dare not boast that I am the number one main force of the Royal Army, and I dare to ask His Excellency the Major how can he do?

Dare to call yourself the first-class main force, isn't it too big? ”

In general perception

The main force of the Royal Army was the four famous ace divisions in the early years, namely the "103 Tieliu Division", "101 Great River Division", "104 Hongyan Valley Division" and "205 Fire Division", collectively known as the Four King Kongs.

During the Second North American War, four new ace divisions emerged, known as the "Eight Heavenly Kings", of which three were subordinate to the Royal Praetorian Guard.

All of these are the first-class main divisions that have made a name for themselves in the bloody and vicious battles, and they have been awarded honorary titles by His Majesty the Emperor himself, and they are recognized as the first-class main forces of the whole army.

Major Ge Jiabao's 105th Division is indeed very strong, and the qualifications of the 3rd Cuirassier Regiment of Zhangzhou are also very old, but they are not among the Eight Heavenly Kings, so they dare not claim to be the first-class main force.

In the face of questioning, Major Lei Xiao smiled slightly, looked around at the officers in the dining car with confident eyes, and said loudly;

"Whether it works or not, we will see on the battlefield.

The 1st Independent Cavalry Tank Brigade is an experimental unit of the Royal Army, with 24 ironclad chariots and an investment of up to 100,000 yuan, which is enough to equip a cuirassier heavy cavalry regiment.

The top brass of the military department had high hopes for this, and Lei was fortunate enough to serve as the commander of this experimental tank unit, so he naturally had to do his best to hand over a perfect answer sheet.

Emperor Napoleon once said; A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier.

There is no evidence, so I would like to ask all my colleagues in the military present to be a witness today;

Let's see if the performance of our independent 1st Cavalry Tank Brigade in the war can be called the first-class main force of the Royal Army. ”

These words were full of confidence, and the officers in the carriage gasped.

A cavalry chariot brigade has invested tens of thousands of yuan, which can be called a large sum, and there must be strong support from the military giants behind it! Otherwise, it would never be possible.

Although I have doubts in my heart, I don't dare to underestimate it.

At this moment, a colonel officer at the nearby table stood up and commanded in a faint tone;

"It's good to be ambitious, but you have to do it until you talk about it, so let's hurry up and eat now. After eating, he went back to control his troops, and after dawn he was going to start the combat operation. ”

"Yes, Sir."

Major Lei Xiao and Major Ge Jiabao turned around and saluted in unison, and then sat down separately, and the dining car also returned to its previous calm.

The columns galloped eastward along the Great Plains of Central North America, throwing the scenery out of their windows into the rear, and after passing over the vast expanses of barren fields in Indiana, ranch farms gradually appeared.

Look at this scene, it has entered the territory of Ohio......

Major Lei Xiao, who had returned to the carriage, looked out the window, his young face with a deep look in his eyes, and occasionally flashed a hint of longing for victory and glory......

He is the 71st son of the emperor, His Royal Highness Tang Li Yi, who entered the army anonymously, a son of the royal family who has listened to his father's brilliant achievements since he was sensible, and is one of the soldiers who fanatically worships His Majesty the Holy Emperor.

With the division of the feudal states, the top twenty-one princes have their own places to go, and the twenty-odd duke's mansions on the side of Longshouyuan Yuwan are empty, which is much more deserted than before.

The princes went to the domain, and some princes who had always been close to or had a compatriot went to help, hoping to accumulate some social practice experience and prepare for possible future vassalization.

Pinch your fingers and count, there are about 40 royal highnesses left.

In addition, there are several princes who went to study in Europe, and more than a dozen princes who served in the army or various government departments, and there are only a few unsuccessful princes who really travel all day long, listen to songs, banquets, and dances.

The Duke's Palace, which was now vacated by the Dragon Shouyuan, was taken back by the Royal Interior Office, and was successively rewarded to the adult princes who were at the bottom of the list according to His Majesty's will.

His Royal Highness Tang Li Yi, the 71st son of the emperor, also owns a duke's palace there, which is a large mansion covering an area of 2.21 acres, with a total of five courtyards before and after, as well as a garden pond, a theater, a garage, and stables.

His Royal Highness Don Li Yi is a very ambitious person, and he joined the army because he wanted to break through a situation without relying on his royal status.

He was very good at thinking, and this Detroit Independent 1st Cavalry Tank Brigade was a new gadget he had concocted himself, and the exact effect was yet to be confirmed on the battlefield.

His Royal Highness Don Li Yi was inspired by the British to come up with the idea of building an armored car.

As early as 1855, the Englishman J. Cohen installed a machine gun and armor on the chassis of a steam tractor, made a wheeled armored car, and patented it.

But this armored vehicle failed to be practically applied and was quickly abandoned.

His Royal Highness Don-Li Yi studied the design drawings of the J. Cohen armored tractor in depth, marveled at the genius invention, and came up with the bold idea of building an ironclad chariot force.

After carefully comparing the advantages and disadvantages of tracked tractors and wheeled vehicles, His Royal Highness Don Li Yi believed;

Compared with the shortcomings of crawler tractors, such as bulky, fragile and unreliable, it is more appropriate to modify wheeled vehicles with higher reliability, and the disadvantage is poor off-road performance.

Just do it, born in the royal family is so capricious.

The so-called ironclad chariot is an ordinary BMW commercial 2.5-ton truck, which is made of some specially ordered bulletproof thin armor, and rough traces can be seen everywhere.

Don't look at it as inconspicuous, the money is really not spent.

In order to realize his dream, he specially ordered 100 tons of bulletproof thin armor from the steel mill through royal connections, which was specially produced for armored fighting vehicles, and part of the money was paid in advance by himself.

After equipping 24 ironclad combat vehicles, each combat vehicle used almost 1.8 tons of steel armor, and more than half of the 100 tons of bulletproof thin armor remained, which were piled up in the barracks warehouse.

In order to build these 24 steel combat vehicles, the BMW factory specially arranged 17 engineers and dozens of skilled workers. It has been busy for more than 4 months, and all the steel armor is made by hand, riveted piece by piece.

If it weren't for the noble status of the 71st prince, who would want to accompany him to mess around like this?

Now leading his own ironclad convoy, Major Lei Xiao (His Royal Highness Don-Li Yi) is full of ambition and is ready to show his skills in this upcoming war to quell the chaos.

On September 7, 1890

The Northern Army and the Central Army of the Tang Empire, with a total of 136,000 troops, divided into seven routes, fully invaded the turbulent states of Ohio and Pennsylvania through railways, highways and water transportation on the Great Lakes, and carried out a military operation codenamed "Autumn Harvest Plan" to survey and counter rebellion.

In just three days

The Imperial Army had taken full control of the main towns and transportation arteries in the two states, as well as the docks, railways and roads, and was soon engaged in fierce fighting with the local forces.

meanwhile

The North American Command suddenly exerted its strength, and the 6.32 army under its command poured out, and in a very short period of time, it completely occupied all major towns and wharves in New Jersey, controlled highways, railways and other transportation arteries, and began to arrest the leaders of armed groups that were active in the early stage and crack down on local forces.

If you don't make a move, it's enough, and as soon as you make a move, it's thunderous.

Such a big movement inevitably attracted great attention from Britain and France, and transatlantic telegrams from the Prime Minister's residence on Downing Street and the Elysee Palace in France came one after another.

Daming Palace

After Emperor Richard accompanied a group of concubines in the harem to listen to the play, he returned to Xingqing Palace in good spirits and heard Zheng Yuan, the head of the royal secretariat, report two good and bad news.

The good news is that the Empire's 200,000-strong military operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey are going well, and are in the process of consolidating victories and defeating local forces.

According to the Tang Empire's domineering style of "killing mistakes and not letting go", some local families with intertwined forces will be uprooted by the way, so as to reduce the obstacles to future governance.

Needless to say

The Tang Empire's battle plan and prior social background investigation were very in-depth and solid, and they would basically be cleared up at the moment of launching the reconnaissance and counterinsurgency war.

It is expected that by the end of the year, the large-scale military operation will be completed, followed by a phase of consolidation and reconstruction.

The bad news is that the former commander-in-chief of the Royal Praetorian Guard, Admiral Liu Wu, died of illness at the age of 78, which is a long life in this era.

Former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army and Commander of the Southern Military Region, Admiral Tian Mantun, a first-class brave prince of the imperial rank, died peacefully in the ducal palace of Mexico City at the age of 72 three days ago.

The two founding fathers died one after another, which made Emperor Richard sigh for a while and ordered a thick burial.

During his lifetime, Admiral Liu Wu was awarded the title of Marquis of the Empire, and ordered that his son, Major General Liu Zhongguo, who is currently the deputy chief of the General Staff of the Southern Military Region, inherit the title of Marquis and mine the fief.

His Majesty the Emperor issued another decree;

After the funeral was completed, Major General Liu Zhongguo was ordered to resign from his current position. He was transferred to the position of Major General of the 101st Dahe Division of the Royal Praetorian Guard, and was in the forbidden center of the Wu Imperial Palace to show his favor.

Time flies, and decades pass by in a hurry.

Emperor Richard now recalls the events of that year, and a vivid memory emerges little by little, making him feel a different emotion in his heart.

In the past few years

Some old courtiers have passed away one after another, and some of the concubines in the palace have also died of illness, and they are buried in the royal mausoleum in the depths of the Holy Emperor Mountain, which makes people feel that once the new person changes the old person.

The tide of thought in my heart is overflowing, and I still have to face the reality.

Emperor Richard saw the thick stack of folds on the plan, as well as a few separate transoceanic telegrams, which were obviously different from the domestic regulations of folding, so he asked; "Which countries are these letters?"

Director Zheng Yuan had already seen them one by one, so he replied after giving a respectful salute;

"Back to Your Majesty's words;

There are five letters written by Queen Victoria of Great Britain, British Prime Minister William Hasser, French President Francis, German Emperor Wilhelm II, and Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I.

It is said that Qingyundai has just received a letter from the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, and he has not yet had time to deliver it to the Imperial Minister, and it is estimated that he is also concerned about the situation in North America. ”

"Salty and don't worry about radishes, see that they are not idle, how can the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I care about North American affairs, this is not compatible with the Habsburg Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty, Weichen is more inclined to say that Austria-Hungary wants to make its voice heard in international affairs and show its presence."

"Bored, what about Kaiser Wilhelm II?"

In his letter, Kaiser Wilhelm II expressed his mixed feelings of congratulations and concern, but he recognized the dominant power of the Tang Empire in North America and called it "the North America of the Tang Dynasty". ”

"Huh...... This feeling is very accurate, and it captures the desire of the Germans. Emperor Richard smiled when he heard this, he had a special grasp of Wilhelm II's thoughts, knowing that this was an ambitious and reckless fellow who had completely fallen out with German Chancellor Bismarck.

In March of this year, Prime Minister Bismarck was officially dismissed by Wilhelm II, comfortably named Duke of Lauenburg, and rushed home to eat old rice.

From now on

Wilhelm II, who was no longer on his back, began a process of frenzied death, and Germany began to colonize Africa and Asia on a large scale, launching a series of military campaigns.

German expeditions have even landed in the Americas, appearing in Chile and Peru, testing the possibility of fishing in troubled waters.

After a little thought

Emperor Richard left Kaiser Wilhelm II behind, and now the power of the imperial navy of the Tang Empire has surpassed that of Germany, and it is on a par with France or even slightly superior.

Maintaining and strengthening the absolute dominance of the Americas, there is no need to care about the petty actions of Germany.

French President Francis's concern does not need to be asked, but it must be the issue of international debt restructuring.

So, Emperor Richard asked again; "What about British Prime Minister William Hassell, what is he trying to say?"

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister William Hassel is deeply concerned about the Empire's abuse of regional dominance, and wants the Imperial Government to clearly state the objectives of the war. He expressed strong opposition to the latter, believing that it would substantially harm the stability of the international order. ”

"Huh...... There are really a lot of new terms, and he really deserves to be a British guy known as a-stirring stick, and it seems reasonable to meddle in North American affairs, and he has a stinky virtue that I am good for you. "Emperor Richard's evaluation of the British Prime Minister is not high, full of sarcasm.

Zheng Yuan, the head of the secretariat, didn't dare to interject, but just stood with his hands hanging on his side, turning into a transparent person at the right time.

After Emperor Richard roughly understood the attitude of these letters, he didn't ask too much, these were all foreign affairs that were in charge of the Qingyuntai cabinet, and he could deal with them with a Tai Chi massage.

The case is submitted, but it is only reported in advance.

If His Majesty the Emperor has no objection and approves the word "may", then it will be smoothly handed over to the cabinet for a positive response.

Only the British Empire looks like it is pointing fingers, which is really a bit of a mouthful.

Emperor Richard waved his hand, and Director Zheng Yuan gave a silent salute and quietly retreated.

He sat down behind the royal case, picked out the letter from British Prime Minister William Hassel among several letters, and looked at it intently.

A moment later

Emperor Richard put down the letter, mentioned the pen and wrote the word "may" at the end of his heart, indicating that he recognized the cabinet's handling of this matter, and sent it down to put it into practice.

With the profound cultural heritage of China, it is really not too simple to deal with errands with some ambiguous language.

What hopes...... To...... Resolutely uphold ...... Strive to achieve ...... Relentless advancement......

It can make people see the clouds and fog, full of words, and finally think about it, it seems that nothing has been said, nothing has been promised, and this is probably what Qi means.

The big one dragged in advance, I don't care about anything else, just eat the fat and then talk about it. (End of chapter)