Volume 2: Famous all over the world Chapter 2 Northward
When he returned to Hanyang with the guard company, the battle report also arrived. He learned that it was because Yue Peng was anxious to capture Xiangyang and temporarily changed the plan and divided the troops, allowing Ke Shao and Yu Dehai to forcibly disarm Jingshan, which led to the accidental injuries. He was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
But it's too late to say anything now. Perhaps it won't be long before he will be accused of killing revolutionary heroes again. So he decided to leave this vortex temporarily. After all, soldiers have to rely on cannons to speak.
His decision caused everyone to worry. Xiao Anguo advised solemnly: "Brother, the front line is not as good as Hanyang. Since Governor Li is unwilling to send more troops to Wusheng Pass, He Xi and Wu Zhaolin alone will not be able to stop them. Once the pass is breached, it will be a total defeat. Dahongshan is close to the Beijing-Hankou Line and will definitely be the first to be hit."
Zhang Wenjing thought more, he could understand Yang Qiu's intention of promoting Sun Wu to the position of Yangxia Branch Office. As long as the right-wing army did not cooperate, this military government branch office would not be able to operate at all. If there was a problem on the front line, it would be very troublesome, so he advised: "Sun Wu has been coveting power for a long time. Although his orders cannot be issued from the two towns if we do not cooperate, once you go forward, I am afraid some people will have bad intentions."
Yang Qiu took a deep breath. He knew that what the two said were true. But if he continued to stay here, Sun Wu and others would definitely not let him go. Instead of getting entangled in these things, it would be better to go out and fight. After motioning everyone to sit down, he said: "It is precisely because Wusheng Pass cannot be defended that I need to go forward and personally command to block the first wave of Beiyang's attack. Otherwise, it will definitely be a defeat. As for the others, you don't have to worry. Dahongshan is only a day and a night away from Hankou by fast horse. If they take action, I will be able to rush back in time. If they force me... Humph! We will go to Xiangyang and let them withstand the attack of Beiyang alone!"
Seeing that he was determined, Ma Kui had no choice but to suggest: "In that case, bring more people."
"The new recruits haven't been trained yet. Letting them follow me is like sending them to their deaths." Yang Qiu rejected the offer and said, " I will take the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 2nd Regiment, the 1st and 3rd Artillery Battalions, and the Guard Company with me. In addition, He Xi has four battalions and Yue Peng has five battalions. After Xiangyang is captured, we can add two or three more battalions. If we take all the 2,000 grenades made in Hanyang during this period, it will be enough to fight a blocking battle."
"After I leave, this place will be temporarily handed over to you. Wen Jing! Immediately set up a branch military control group in the name of military control during the war, and you will take the lead to give me Hu Ruilin and others. Brother Ma, you will be responsible for logistics, Su Xiaohu and Fan Liangshan will stay to be responsible for the defense of the two towns, and Bingwen will also stay to lead the Chuyu ship to cooperate with Guishan to lock the river surface. The training of new recruits must be steady and solid. The more sweat we sweat now, the less blood we will shed in the war, so we must not be anxious. This war will not end so soon! We can't hold on by ourselves, they are the key! After I leave, immediately let the Chuyu ship send a telegram to contact Wang Guangxiong, and once things are done, let Ziqing come back to take charge immediately."
As the order to march was issued, several battalions concentrated in Hankou began to prepare for departure, especially the 1st Artillery Battalion and the newly built 3rd Artillery Battalion, which immediately pushed the heavy mountain artillery onto the train and headed for Xiaogan first amid the gloating eyes of some people.
By the evening, when the remaining troops were ready, two river ships flying the Italian flag took advantage of the cover of darkness and pretended to continue heading north to Hunan. After circling Parrot Island, they quietly sailed into the blockaded Hanyang Steel Production Terminal. Their arrival made Yang Qiu completely forget the unhappiness of the day.
The meeting was arranged directly in a guard room at the dock. In addition to Traun and the last few people, Yang Qiu also met an officer in his thirties wearing a German navy uniform. Traun introduced him directly: "This is Colonel Hakan, the captain of the Emden of our Far East Fleet. From today on, he will be with you until the entire transaction is completed."
Yang Qiu, who had just had a sip of tea, almost spit out the words when he heard the name of the Emden. He was slightly relieved when he heard the name. It was said that the famous Mueller would not take over as captain until 1913. He narrowed his eyes at the handsome Captain Hakan and said, "Your Excellency, does this mean that I have been imprisoned?"
"No, this is to ensure the smooth completion of the transaction." Traun took out an envelope from his bag: "Commander, after communicating with the country, we are sure that the information you have is exactly what our country needs, but considering that there is a war here, in order to ensure that the interests of the empire are not infringed, from today on, Colonel Hakan will lead a small team of naval soldiers to temporarily retire and serve as your personal bodyguard. Of course, he will never disturb your private life, nor will he participate in any combat planning meetings. He is only responsible for protecting your personal safety!"
I am really not used to having a few Germans standing around me. This also proves that Germany has been impressed by the information and is even afraid of accidents so it has sent a team of "bodyguards". The famous Emden must be somewhere in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, waiting to be put on a warship and taken to Europe in case anything goes wrong.
"Fifteen thousand Mauser 98s, three million pointed bullets, five tons of TNT, its formula and manufacturing information, and the first batch of five radios are all on the ship. The total price is 1.7 million, and payment must be made in cash. The ship must leave before dawn!" As soon as Traun finished speaking, Yang Qiu nodded in agreement. After all, Germany was still restricted by the principle of concerted action among countries stationed in China promoted by Britain. It could not be too presumptuous when the diplomatic corps was threatening the Qing government to let Yuan Shikai come out of retirement. This could be seen from the fact that he used the Italian flag and had to go around upstream under the pretext of adding coal.
As for the price, they were also quite satisfied. Excluding bullets and other things, a Mauser 98 was only 80 yuan per piece, compared to 50 yuan for a Hanyang rifle. Moreover, they were able to gather so many weapons in a short period of time without asking for an exorbitant price, which showed that they were really impressed by what they had in their hands.
Traun continued, "The rest of the deal has been agreed to by our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and government, but for some reason, all deals must wait until the war is over and then be conducted in the form of commercial trade! Our country will pay you 2 million pounds, all in U.S. dollars, and the machines and equipment you need will arrive in the next two months."
Cutting down the price by 1 million pounds at once showed Germany's arrogance, which made Yang Qiu, who had just had a good impression of the Germans, very unhappy. But before he could bargain, Traun narrowed his eyes and said first: "There are also... 20 engineers to help you install the equipment and... teach your workers how to use it!"
This sentence hit Yang Qiu's soft spot. A large number of new equipment really need special human training. He originally planned to find people through private channels after getting the equipment, but he didn't expect Traun to deliver it directly to his door. It was just that he felt distressed to lose so much at once, so he said: "2.5 million pounds! In addition, you know I lack raw materials, so add 100,000 tons of scrap steel... preferably abandoned warships or rails, and help me recruit 200 skilled workers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They must work for me for three years. Give me 24 Maxims immediately, and help me buy 300 Madsen machine guns, but this time I need a model that can use Russian 7.62×54R rimmed bullets."
"Workers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire?" Traun glanced at Yang Qiu with a strange expression.
Scrap steel is not a problem. In Shanghai, 10,000 tons of new steel is only 30,000 pounds. The price of scrap steel has at least been halved. Moreover, there are warships waiting to be dismantled all over Europe and the world, including many battleships. Just a few ships will suffice. It’s just the workers… Everyone knows that the best workers in the world are in Germany, so he was quite surprised by this condition. But he didn’t think much about it. Hundreds of Hungarian skilled workers are not a problem for Germany. There are too many political prisoners in the neighboring homes, many of whom are excellent skilled workers. Perhaps Austria-Hungary will thank His Majesty William for helping them solve the problem, so he agreed: "Workers and scrap steel are not a problem. Machine guns can be ordered as required, but we don’t have Maxim in stock…"
Traun didn't lie, Germany really had no stock. This time the rifles and bullets had already cost him his life, because Yang Qiu specifically asked for Mauser 98, but the Germans sold the M1888 in the Far East, which was a scam. In the end, Chief of the General Staff Moltke the Younger personally ordered the use of the reserves of the Qingdao garrison. If the country hadn't promised to immediately ship new replacements, I'm afraid no one would dare to touch these equipment reserved for unexpected situations. Yang Qiu also felt that the other party didn't need to lie. After all, only half of the 144 Maxims publicly ordered by Beiyang had been delivered, so he thought about it and said, "Your Excellency, as far as I know, your country's warships should be equipped with machine guns. Now there are three... maybe four." After glancing at Hakan, Yang Qiu continued, "The warships are on the Yangtze River. If there are three guns on each ship, you should be able to get some first, right?"
Traun didn't expect Yang Qiu to actually covet the equipment of the German Far East Fleet. He quickly looked at Hakan, who had the urge to go berserk, but for the sake of the information that was said to help Germany completely suppress Britain, he suppressed his anger and nodded: "All 12 Maxims will be delivered here tomorrow morning."
"make a deal!"
After receiving the check for 1.7 million, Traun left quickly. Hakan also rushed back to the concession to make preparations when he learned that Yang Qiu was about to leave. As the baggage battalion and the two secretly transferred recruit battalions all went out to move the equipment into the warehouse of the gun factory, Zhang Wenjing, who had been trying hard to restrain his excitement, finally couldn't help but waved his arms vigorously.
Fifteen thousand of the best Mauser 98 rifles! Three million pointed bullets, 12 Maxim machine guns, enough to equip a town! Five tons of more powerful TNT can be used immediately to load grenades and shells, not to mention all the formulas and manufacturing technologies! The first batch of raw materials purchased by Shen Shukai has arrived one after another, and the steel medicine factory has also recovered due to the capital injection. It won’t be long before the whole army can use more powerful self-produced explosives! Not to mention that there will be a full 2.5 million pounds in two months, which is more than 20 million taels of silver!
Zhang Wenjing calmed down and turned to look at Yang Qiu who was standing in the night. He realized that this young man had unknowingly laid a solid foundation for the future. What he had to do now... was to win this battle!
"Set off."
After the guard company and the two main battalions that went on the expedition were the first to change into the brand new Mauser 98s, Yang Qiu glanced at the city of Wuchang in the night and slowly put on his military cap.
Tomorrow, after Hunan is liberated, the dominoes will fall one after another, and southern China will completely become the world of the party! By that time, will I, who just wiped out the Liu brothers , become a public enemy again? And the one in the north who has not taken action yet, will he take Wushengguan first to put pressure on or continue to wait?
After a casual smile, he walked quietly into the night in the north.
