Back to the Republic of China as a commander

Cao Kun immediately looked back and said to Yang Yongtai: "Brother Changqing, don't you think that my life is easy when you see that my old Cao is the Henan Governor. In Henan, what is the Red Spear Club? A big bandit Dui, except for Kaifeng, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Anyang, and Baoding Prefecture, which I control now, I can't even collect taxes in other areas. That Duan Qirui is indeed not a good thing, not only there Thinking about you, he is also thinking about me and Ziyu's team. No, since I became the warlord in May until now, he has not allocated me an ocean, and the ammunition is not even a bullet. I haven't seen it. If Lao Yuan hadn't left an arsenal in Gong County before, I can save even live ammunition training now. So although we are also very dissatisfied with Duan Qirui's traitorous behavior, but now we even The military salary can't be paid out, and now these bastards are arguing about salary every day, there is really nothing they can do!"

Yang Yongtai applauded secretly in his heart, these two are really exemplary representatives of sworn brothers, and their cooperation is flawless!Naturally, he came to give money this time, but he can't be underestimated.

Yang Yongtai shook his head pretending to be distressed and said: "I never thought that Cao Shuai's place is so difficult. Now that I think about it, what I mentioned just now is a bit difficult. Then I will go back and report Cao Shuai's difficulties to the chairman of my family. I think he will be considerate, so it won't take much time, so I will leave now."

Cao Kun and Wu Peifu were immediately dumbfounded. What kind of route is this Yang, and he left as he said.

It was Wu Peifu's secretary, Yang Chaoqing, who was well-informed and knew that it was time to make his own appearance at this time.This Secretary Yang is from Changshu, Jiangsu Province. (The plot requires that this grandson-in-law of Li Hongzhang got mixed up with Xiao Wu a few years in advance.) Yang Yunshi is obviously more reliable than Cao Kun and Wu Peifu in this kind of negotiation.

"Brother Changqing, don't worry, my Cao Shuai is not evasive. Don't misunderstand, it's just because Duan Qirui and the others are stuck, so life is very difficult now. If we can get the help of friends from all sides, we can put this If the difficulties are successfully overcome, it is naturally our duty to honor our family Cao Shuai and General Ziyu."

Look, what you said is worthy of being an intellectual, who is so reserved when asking for money.

Yang Yongtai naturally knew Yang Yunshi's name, otherwise the group of secret agents from the Military Intelligence Bureau would have been dragged out to shoot targets.He stopped very politely and cupped his hands and said: "I think this is Yang Yunshi, a famous scholar in the south of the Yangtze River, brother Yang. Hearing what you said, it is true that Changqing was too anxious. He was so busy reporting back to the chairman of my family that he forgot the solution. You know, ashamed, ashamed."

I believe you will be a ghost if you forget, Wu Peifu cursed secretly.However, he still hurriedly said: "The two are from the same family, it's rare to see each other, sit, sit, sit and talk."

After Yang Yongtai sat down, Yang Yunshi, who was full of elegance, smiled and said, "Why are famous scholars in the south of the Yangtze River not famous? Yunshi has many things that he still can't figure out. He is going to ask Brother Changqing for advice?"

Yang Yongtai is also a member of the Appearance Association, and generally has a good impression of the children of a family like Yang Yunshi, so he naturally answers every question.

"Brother Changqing, we Ming people don't speak secret words. Right now your Marshal Wang dominates the nine southern provinces, with hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, and it is said that he will expand another 40 expeditionary army. Looking at the state, who can have your family's power? Wang Shuai is so strong, sending troops to the Northern Expedition to unify China is a matter of raising one's hands, right?" Yang Yunshi spoke quickly, asking Cao and Wu the most worried question in one sentence.

In fact, before Yang Yongtai came to find Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, these two had already planned to contact the Southern Communist Party against Anhui.But they have not done so for a long time. In the final analysis, a very important reason is that the national government is a bit too powerful.As a result of uniting with them, will the final end be annexed?Now that Yang Yunshi had asked this worry out for them, they all turned their eyes to Yang Yongtai, wanting to see what the old boy had to say.

Who is Yang Yongtai, how could he not know what Cao Kun and Wu Peifu are planning.He replied solemnly: "Since some things have been brought up, I should tell the truth. Our China will be divided for a long time, and the country will be united for a long time. It is similar to the plan of the Northern Expedition, and the 40 expeditionary force will inevitably go to Europe to play a national prestige for our China, and the current national conditions are surrounded by great powers, our pressure is not insignificant. It will lead to the intervention of foreign powers, which is not in line with our current strategic plan for development. Simply put, before the successful construction of large-scale industries in the south, our youth army has no idea of ​​going north. So I ask Cao Shuai and General Ziyu to keep their hearts Put it back in your stomach, don't worry too much about the future. As for the success of industrial construction, we are not necessarily the Northern Expedition. Military struggle is just a continuation of political means. Many things do not necessarily have to be decided on the battlefield. It can also be resolved at the negotiating table. Now I think we both still have common enemies and cooperation goals, and this is the basis for us to start mutual assistance."

"I understand." Cao Kun nodded and said, "You mean that you want to develop industry and economy in the south with peace of mind, but for the north, your idea is not to war."

Yang Yongtai nodded and said: "Cao Shuai is wise, but not only do not want war, we hope that the economy of the North and the South can develop. Presumably everyone knows that the nine southern provinces are already independent customs areas, and the tariffs have also been raised to 20%. We Now you don’t have to worry too much about the impact of foreign goods when developing industry and commerce. But what about the north? It’s still being plundered by the big powers, which is not good, so my chairman hopes to set up a trading company to be responsible for the trade between the north and the south, everyone. Shuai can also take a stake in it. More importantly, resources from the north can bypass tariffs and enter the south, and goods from the south can also bypass tariffs and enter the north. This is equivalent to allowing the whole country to enjoy the benefits of tariff independence in disguise. Foreign goods are a blow. Currency can also circulate freely, which is a blow to the big powers. To be honest, the nine southern provinces have begun to plan to establish foreign exchange administrations under the leadership of the National Government to withdraw foreign exchange from the circulation market, thereby ensuring Huayuan became the only currency in circulation.”

Although Wu Peifu didn't understand it very well, it sounded like the south side was really booming. He frowned and said, "Then how should we develop our cooperation? You should know that our current difficulties are really difficult to overcome by ourselves."

Yang Yongtai thought for a while and said: "I am here on behalf of the chairman of the committee. The cooperation is sincere, so I will not hide it. We will pay a lot of the 2000 million Chinese yuan per month for military expenses. Call Cao Shuai and General Ziyu, in addition, we will support a batch of arms, the specific quantity is roughly 200 rifles, [-] million rounds of bullets, other weapons can also be discussed."

This condition is already very generous. Wu Peifu and Cao Kun looked at each other and nodded together. . .

Speaking of arms, Wang Zhenyu is indeed the richest man in China now. He has four major arms factories in Anjiang, Hanyang, Jinling, and Jiangnan under his command.After defeating Feng Guozhang, the Ministry of Armaments began to receive and transform the four major factories.

Negotiations with the Americans were not in vain. Although the Americans still failed to send large sums of naval aid in the end, the cooperation with the Springfield Armory achieved a major breakthrough.That is about rifles, Springfield Armory agreed to authorize the China Military Industry Corporation (a military factory under the Ministry of Armaments, established in May 1916) to produce m5 rifles.

The M1903 Springfield Rifle (M1903 Springfield Rifle) is a rotary rear-pull action rifle produced by the Springfield Armory. It was the standard rifle of the US military in World War I and World War II.

The m1903 rifle was developed by the Springfield Armory under the license of the Mauser Arsenal. The rotary rear-pull bolt is imitated from the German kar98, which can be regarded as a variant gun based on the Mauser rifle. Because the barrel of the m1903 is shortened, the length is shorter than that of the Mauser rifle, and the charging handle is changed to bend downward for easy carrying.It is fed from a magazine with a capacity of 5 rounds and loaded with a 5-round split magazine. The m1903 rifle bullet (.1906-30 rifle bullet) used in the m06 rifle was improved on the basis of the Mauser-style bottomless bullet. The early m1903 rifle was also equipped with a rod-type bayonet, which was later changed to a dagger type. bayonet.

The quality of this rifle is obviously much better than that made by Hanyang. Wang Zhenyu thought over and over again, and finally decided with Wang Zhenkun, the general manager of China Military Industry Corporation, to introduce a standard production line on the basis of this gun and improve this gun, and finally formed An enhanced version of the "Wenzheng" rifle (named after Wang Zhenyu).

军工集团也将在20亿华元的巨额拨款后，在卢森堡人和美国人的帮助下，建设安江（071厂）汉阳（072厂）南京（073厂）上海（074厂）福州（075厂）广州（076厂）海口（077厂）桂林（078厂）八个军工总厂。

Among them, Haikou and Shanghai are owned by the Navy and are only responsible for the manufacture of naval warships. However, Haikou is still on the blueprint, and Shanghai can only build some small boats.

While the other six factories (with sub-factories of firearms, ammunition, clothing, artillery, food, medicine, etc.) are mainly responsible for the production of army equipment. According to requirements, their production capacity will reach an astonishing monthly output after the introduction of equipment and technical personnel. 60 sets of military uniforms, 50 grenades, 120 to 360 cannons (depending on the caliber, current technology can produce 75mm and 105mm), 20 to 30 shells, 400 mortars, 40 shells There were 1000 grenade grenades, 480 heavy machine guns, 800 light machine guns, 4000 million rounds of various machine gun bullets, [-] rifles, and [-] million rifle bullets.

This was proposed by Wang Zhenyu according to Fengtian Armory, the largest arsenal in the history of the Republic of China. Wang Zhenyu allocated 20 billion Chinese yuan for this purpose. At the latest in January 1918, all these factories will be put into production. By then, Wang Zhenyu will have There are six Fengtian arsenals, and he guesses that even Little Japan would not dare to touch himself.

Chapter 312 Reorganizing the Army ([-])

The reasons for the extreme backwardness of the military industry in the Republic of China are as follows. First, it is true that China's industrial foundation was weak at that time, and the heavy industry was basically zero.Second, those in power do not pay much attention to heavy industry, and have a strong comprador mindset. For example, before the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Xishan voluntarily requested that the Taiyuan Arsenal, the country's largest armory at that time, be handed over to the central government, and demolished and rebuilt to a safe place in the rear, but demanded a certain amount of compensation (approx. 500 million French currency), the central government looked down on the local factory, felt that it was a disadvantage, and was unwilling to take it.It is equivalent to one and a half divisions of the Central Army for one year.This arsenal produced more than 500 36mm mountain guns in only 37-75 years, and the central arsenal simply did not have this capability. It would take 200 million French currency to buy the same number of foreign cannons (of course the quality is better), not to mention that the factory also produced them in the same period. 1200 rifles, nearly 2 million rounds of ammunition, 10,000+ rounds of artillery shells, hundreds of mortars, and more than a thousand machine guns.Third, those in power are greedy for perfection and blindly worship foreign countries. The national government only focuses on Germany, the United States and other countries with excellent weapons. Contracts were signed with foreign companies, factory design, main machinery and equipment, and even auxiliary equipment were all newly imported, and even some domestic civil engineering also hired foreign engineers to supervise and guide, which lengthened the construction period and cost more money.Fourth, discussing without making a decision, making a decision but not implementing it, and casually changing plans are also common problems.For example, the powerful fleet planned for 28 years was still on paper until the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War. The gun factory planned to be completed by the end of 36 years had not yet been shipped to China in early 38 years. etc.In the end, the strife in personnel was very severe. At that time, it was popular to have one emperor and one courtier. Therefore, a large number of local ordnance experts lost their jobs after the factory was taken over by the central government (even after the factory manager was changed). For example, the most important ordnance expert in the Republic of China For example, Han Linchun, Yang Wenkai, Deng Yancun, etc., except for Han Linchun who died early, all lost their jobs after being taken over by the arsenal.The limited talents could not be used, which also greatly restricted the development of the military industry of the Republic of China.

Wang Zhenyu is determined to change this situation. To be honest, Wang Zhenkun is actually an idiot. The real manager of the eight major military enterprises in the future for Wang Zhenyu is Han Linchun, the designer of the "Han Linchun-style" rifle dug from Beiyang. He graduated from Baoding No. [-] artillery department Deng Yancun, who is good at machinery manufacturing and blasting, Jia Xiaohou (he played bombs during the [-] Revolution), and four senior engineers Hou Debang. With these four people in charge, Wang Zhenkun, a layman, is not afraid of being fooled.

Han Linchun's position is the leader of the bullet research team and senior engineer, under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Armaments, and was awarded the rank of colonel of the army.

Deng Yancun's position is the leader of the artillery research team and senior engineer, under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Armaments, and was awarded the rank of colonel.

Jia Xiaohou's position is the leader of the equipment and gunpowder research group and senior engineer, under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Armaments, and he was awarded the rank of colonel in the army.

Hou Debang's position is the leader of the chemical research group and senior engineer. This person has little relationship with the Ministry of Armaments and is not awarded a military rank.

There are two main sources of technicians in the eight major factories: the first is to combine all 17 large and small arsenals in the nine southern provinces (the requirement for bureaucrat Wang Zhenyu who does not understand technology is to eliminate them all and promote them from among the technicians) Management cadres, factory directors are appointed by the head office).The second is students studying abroad. Since the second year of the Republic of China, Wang Zhenyu has sent people to study abroad one after another. By the end of the fifth year of the Republic of China, the number of students studying abroad has reached more than 7000, of which 4000 are military students. In July next year, it is expected that 2000 people will return to China and then work in military factories or research institutes.

According to the current military industry construction plan, by 1918, the navy and air force would not care about it. At least for the army, the monthly output of the military industry department would be enough to meet the needs of an entire Class A division.

However, Wang Zhenyu still has more ideas about the military industry, but there is no need to take them all out at once, and meals always have to be eaten bite by bite.

As for the army's future submachine guns, tanks and other weapons, it must be produced, as well as various aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery of the Air Force.The Navy’s money-burning project still needs to be worked hard, but the focus may be on aircraft carriers and submarines. As for battleships, Wang Zhenyu’s idea is that no big guy will spend on this. There is something about battleships. Let the Japanese Navy create the world record.If the people in the Ministry of the Navy knew that Wang Zhenyu's calculation was not to build a single battleship, then they would probably defect to Beiyang immediately.

Wang Zhenyu had a very clear goal for the construction of national defense, that is, the army surpassed Japan before 1921; at the same time, he took the step of participating in the world hegemony around 1929.

The idea is very full, but the reality is very skinny.

The biggest problem Wang Zhenyu is facing now is the problem of execution. In one sentence, it is not enough to have weapons, but also to have an army capable of fighting.

Take the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-]. If you look at national strength alone, Japan is not enough. If you look at equipment alone, Japan is not an opponent of the Qing army.

Wang Zhenyu still clearly remembers the summary of the Sino-Japanese War by military scientists of later generations:

[-]. National mourning hurts the political system, and a backward system will inevitably be beaten.

On March 1887, 3, just as the Empress Dowager Cixi was about to embezzle the special funds for the purchase of naval ships to overhaul the Summer Palace, the Emperor of Japan issued an order to withdraw one-tenth of the royal family funds as a subsidy for the purchase and construction of naval ships.

[-]. The defeat of the war is due to corruption, corruption is not eradicated, and defeat before the battle.

From the 17th year of Guangxu to the 10th year of 4600, the special appropriation for the navy should be 3680 million taels of silver, even after deducting related factors, it is about 9 million taels.In the past ten years, the Beiyang Navy purchased 1100 warships, with a total cost of 2600 million taels at most, and nearly [-] million taels of silver were pocketed.

[-]. A strong country must have a strong army. If the army is not strong, at most it will be a rich country, and it will never become a strong country.

Before the war, China's economic and military strength was not inferior to that of Japan, but the Qing government neglected national defense construction, and the country had no defense, and the army was not strong.Even if warships are purchased from Western countries, some ships have ships but no guns, and some ships have guns but no bombs.Three months before the start of the war, Li Hongzhang planned to replace 21 new-style guns for the Beiyang Navy, but it was difficult to raise the funds, so he had to purchase 12 fast guns for the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ships first.At this time, almost all ships in Japan had been equipped with rapid-fire guns, which laid a hidden danger for the Sino-Japanese War.

Fourth, a strong army must be innovative in concept. If the concept is backward, everything will be lost.

In the 19s, the "big ship and heavy artillery" had been replaced by the concept of "fast ship and fast gun".In the Yellow Sea naval battle, the Japanese fleet was equipped with 90 large rapid-fire guns and 71 small rapid-fire guns, while the Beiyang fleet had only 154 large rapid-fire guns and 2 small rapid-fire guns. Launch ammunition within 130 minutes, the ratio of China and Japan is 10:33.It can be seen that although the Beiyang Fleet is not bad in terms of the total tonnage of warships, its combat concept is backward, which leads to the conversion of advantages and disadvantages.

[-]. A strong army focuses on shaping the spirit of the army. An army without a brave spirit will be in a mess.

Sixth, a strong army must have suitable, effective, and sufficient weapons and equipment.

In the Yellow Sea naval battle, the number of ships of China and Japan was almost equal, but China was at a disadvantage in terms of the quality of its army.The 4 main guns of the bow turrets of the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships can only shoot straight forward due to design defects; the 8 12-inch caliber guns only have 3 combat bullets, and the rest are solid practice bullets; The ship is said to have only 15 ammunition per gun.In naval battles, the follow-up supplementary ammunition either does not match the caliber of the artillery, or the quality is too poor, and some of them are duds when fired... and so on.

[-]. A strong army must be constantly prepared, and only by being prepared can there be no danger.

Some far-sighted people in China have a clear understanding, but the imperial court and most political leaders still have a "small country" in their understanding of Japan.At a critical juncture when Japan devoted all its efforts to expanding its armaments and the danger of war was approaching, the Qing government instead relaxed its national defense construction. It stopped purchasing warships in 1888, and stopped appropriating equipment and ammunition for the navy in 1891.It is in such a state of unsuspecting that China ushered in a war of fate.

Eight, a strong army must have efficient command, intelligence, communication systems and a reliable logistics support system.

Therefore, Wang Zhenyu put forward several important opinions on the aspect of running the army:

First, the army’s anti-government work is given top priority, including the establishment of a troika team of military directors, staff directors, and political directors; including the establishment of the Gendarmerie Command and the Military Disciplinary Department to conduct strict audits of the internal accounts of the army; Including the collection of the military's personnel and financial rights, allowing soldiers to set up their own committees, to a large extent stifled the privileges of officers, etc. Second, field troops are required to conduct live-fire combat training twice a year in summer and winter. The cycle is between ten days and 20 days.Instead of field troops, security forces, and reserve troops also conduct live-fire training for ten to fifteen days after the autumn harvest every year.