The Japanese and Qing Dynasties, who were calculated by Britain and Italy, were still fighting bloody battles for their respective forces in the Far East.
A month after the war in Shandong subsided, new war broke out in Liaodong.
Located in Haicheng near Liaoyang, this is the front line of the Japanese army in Liaodong. It is also where the First Guards Division started its first battle in Liaodong.
The current First Guards Division is different from that in Shandong. It currently has three infantry regiments. (The fourth regiment was asked to guard the task force at Weihai Guard, and Lieutenant General Alvaro was worried about the capabilities of the Qing army.)
The difference from Shandong is that the artillery scale of the 1st Guards Division continues to increase. At present, in addition to the 72 small and medium-caliber artillery pieces in the division, there are also 55 large-caliber artillery pieces, ranging from 120 mm to 240 mm (two 240 mm attack guns).
Cannons, cannons, howitzers and other artillery can be seen.
It feels like the 1st Guards Division is about to become the 1st Guards Artillery Division, filled with all kinds of artillery.
In fact, this is understandable. Under the premise that the Qing people are paying the bill, the Army's existing and various artillery guns that are being developed need to be tested. There is no more real scene than the battlefield, so this also led to the Guards
There are more and more artillery in the division.
Of course, having more artillery would make the subsequent battles more manageable. Those well-designed defenses by the Japanese army were reduced to ashes under the shadow of these artillery pieces.
In front of the inhumane 1st Guards Artillery Division, the Japanese army's own artillery was simply not enough. Not to mention that the Japanese army mostly had bronze cannons that lagged behind the times. This was an imitation of the Italian 70mm caliber mountain field gun, with only three
Maximum range of one thousand and five thousand meters.
In the final analysis, the Japanese army stubbornly chose to make their own guns. Because they could not make their own gun steel, they had to make do with bronze guns first.
The Qing army was defeated by the Japanese army whose weapons were inferior to its own, and he became the captain of the transportation brigade.
However, when encountering the Italian army, the little possessions of the Japanese army were not enough. Although the Japanese army also had a small number of long-range artillery, they were just a younger brother compared to the huge long-range firepower of Italy.
After several battles, the long-range artillery of the Japanese army ceased its activity, and even the Japanese defenders knelt down in the face of such luxurious and seemingly free bombardment.
The dense artillery shells loaded with TNT explosives destroyed the Japanese positions to a great extent. Then, under the cover of the Italian army, the Qing soldiers roared and rushed towards the enemy positions where there were not many enemies left.
Not to mention, after fighting several such battles in a row, the morale of the Qing army also improved. From the beginning, they could only defeat the remaining enemies, but now they can launch attacks on the enemy's positions.
Of course, this was carried out with the support of hundreds of artillery pieces of various types from the 1st Guards Division.
Once away from these accurate artillery, the Qing officers and soldiers remained the same, feeling as if they were suffering from artillery dependence.
However, regardless of whether the Qing army suffered from artillery dependence, the battle in Liaodong was proceeding in an orderly manner. The Italian-Qing coalition forces were driving the Japanese army out of Liaodong step by step. Although it may take a long time, the situation is not tolerated.
doubt.
Didn’t I see ammunition transport ships arriving from Italy every week to Tianjin? This is a guarantee of victory. Although the Italian ammunition increased the price by 20% due to the urgent need and time constraints, the ammunition arrived on time.
It is indeed the guarantee for this war.
Well, I need to say one more thing here, half of the ammunition transport ships every week transport naval ammunition.
The now recovered task force consumes a lot of ammunition every week. They need to patrol the Tsushima Strait on a routine basis. Ships passing through the Tsushima Strait are often seen shelling the ports on both sides of the strait. Basically every time they return,
The ammunition on the ship was greatly consumed.
To this end, the Navy also asked the transport ship to bring spare gun barrels, ready to replace the 356 mm main gun barrel that is approaching the limit of use.
Thanks to Italy's efforts, the fifty million taels of silver borrowed by Li Zhongtang were consumed at a far faster rate than before.
"Dong Weng, the war can't be fought like this anymore."
Zhou Fu, who rushed back to Tianjin from Liaodong, couldn't help but complain as soon as he entered the governor's office.
"The army consumes thousands of artillery shells every day, and even tens of thousands in the event of a major war. Just transporting these artillery shells requires more than 10,000 civilians. Not to mention other supplies, the civilian power outside the customs has been exhausted.
, if this continues, the money won’t be enough.”
Well, Mr. Zhou's last sentence is the key. Think about how many grievances Li Zhongtang suffered and how many people secretly accused him in order to borrow these 50 million taels of foreign debt.
That's why the money was spent too quickly, which made Mr. Zhou so anxious.
However, compared to Zhou Fu's impatience, Li Zhongtang, the person involved, was much more leisurely.
"How much money do you consume every month now?"
"The monthly consumption of personnel, food, ammunition, etc. in Liaodong requires nearly four million taels of silver."
Li Zhongtang nodded when he heard this, "Including the nearly three million taels of silver needed by Shandong, this month will be almost seven million taels. The money on hand can be used for more than half a year, that's good!"
Seeing that the benefactor was not anxious at all, this did not make Mr. Zhou anxious.
"Sir, this kind of extravagance and waste must be stopped."
"So what do you think we should do?"
"The text requires the Italians to save ammunition. We can no longer afford the supply."
"What should I do if the person I want to ignore ignores me?"
"If you ignore it, well..."
Only then did Zhou Fu realize that they could not survive without Yiren's help.
"You know why I didn't ask, right? Now I, Li Eryin, have invited Yiren to help me, so that the court can take a high look. If I fall out with Yiren because of this, I will be in trouble in an instant."
Hearing this, Zhou Fu couldn't help but said, "Such a major national event has been taken advantage of by the Italians, making us unable to stop and cannot do without them. It's really a good plan!"
"It's true to say that it's a calculation. This is just a process of calculating each other. I'm not good enough and there's nothing to say if I can't calculate the other side. Now I can only hope that this battle won't be too ugly."
It was obvious that Li Zhongtang had a clearer mind and knew that there was no way he could solve this problem. Everything depended on the expressions of the Italian people, but at that time the only people who could save him were the Italian people, and he had to drink even if it was poison.
But besides that, he also saw hope. Li Zhongtang took out a booklet and spread it out. "Yuan Weiting is not bad. He has a sharp mind and knows how to read and listen. Why don't you write to me and want to train troops in the Western style?"
Method, the idea of training a new type of army."
Master Zhou certainly knows about Yuan Xiangcheng. As a person whom the Lord is optimistic about, how can he forget about it? Besides, the two of them also worked together in Shandong.
"What do you think Weiting is doing?"
"I don't know either. I heard that he has won over a general of the Italian army in Weihaiwei and is willing to teach him all the training methods of the Italian Forbidden Army."
"This is not bad, there is such an opportunity!"
"So I thought, let's train a group of troops according to the Western-style army organization first, and let me wait and see the results."
