Chapter 419: Get all the benefits you deserve
Chapter 419: Take all the benefits you deserve
At Hailing Port, fifty steam transport ships quietly set out at dawn the next day, and the departure of the Haiqi did not alarm anyone.
Shao Quanzhong declared war on the Ottoman Empire two months ago. Now he is just sending troops as promised. There is no need to make a fuss, right?
The transport ship carried the heavy artillery divisions of the Anhui New Army and the Jiangsu New Army, plus Shao Quanzhong's Guards Brigade, a total of 35,000 people.
The two divisions had been ready for battle three months in advance, so they boarded the ships overnight and set off at dawn without wasting any time.
The transport ship was much more spacious because the heavy artillery division's 150mm siege guns were converted into recoil guns, and each gun lacked the steam tractor that towed it back to its original position after firing a shot.
At the port, Liangjiang Governor Shao Hengzhong arrived to see Shao Quanzhong off to the battle, and Shao Quanzhong patted Shao Hengzhong on the shoulder.
"Brother, I am going to participate in the European war, and I may not be able to contact the country in time. I have informed our brothers in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Liangjiang. You, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Huai Army, will make the decision. I leave everything to you."
Shao Hengzhong stepped on his heels and said, "Hengzhong doesn't have any ideas of his own. Hengzhong will do his best to implement all the strategies set by his elder brother, and will do whatever his elder brother says. Everything is decided by the eldest brother, and Hengzhong is only responsible for controlling the brothers at home."
Shao Quanzhong nodded, turned around and boarded the Haiqi.
The transport fleet anchored at Gaogang, the outer port of Hailing Port, for two days. Two days later, 20 transport ships arrived from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, carrying a mechanized infantry division of the Jiangxi New Army.
When Shao Hengzhong took office as Governor-General of Liangjiang, he replaced Zeng Guofan, who was already old and seriously ill.
Liu Kunyi, the governor of Jiangxi, was a fierce general of the Hunan Army. Before Zeng Guofan's death, Liu Kunyi swore allegiance to Zeng Jize, who was serving as an ambassador in the United States, in front of Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Jize followed his father's orders and pledged allegiance to Shao Quanzhong. As a result, Liu Kunyi represented the former members of the Hunan Army and joined the Huai Army.
The Jiangxi New Army immediately enjoyed the same treatment as the Huai Army, with all its personnel mechanized.
Zeng Xiaoyi, the Chinese general secretary of the Fenian Society, personally led the red-haired Irish military supervisor to build the Fenian Brotherhood to the company level to prevent the infiltration of the Literary Society. The Jiangxi New Army was thus firmly controlled by Shao Quanzhong.
Previously, Liu Jintang had led the main force of the Hunan Army to pledge allegiance to Shao Quanzhong. Now they were stationed in Sinai Province, and the Hunan and Huai River forces had completely merged.
Liu Kunyi personally led a town of new troops in Jiangxi from Jiujiang via Zhenjiang to Gaogang to join the new troops from Jiangsu and Anhui. He also brought five thousand-ton ironclad frigates of the Huaiyang Navy to join the escort.
Eight days later, on May 17, the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign, the new armies and the Guards Brigade from Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Anhui arrived in Guangzhou, and the new armies from Guangdong and Guangxi joined.
Hong Kong Governor Liao Rong personally led the British Far East Fleet to escort 120 transport ships carrying a tank division, three mechanized infantry divisions, a heavy artillery division, a Guards Brigade, five divisions and one brigade, plus the general staff, to the Ottoman Empire.
Neither the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lin Bozai, nor the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Shao Hengzhong, took part in this expedition.
In the five provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi and Jiangsu, due to special circumstances, two new army regiments were already established in southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu. The remaining four provinces immediately recruited reserve forces, and five new mechanized infantry divisions suddenly appeared in the five provinces as Shao Quanzhong's main force.
Shao Quanzhong personally led the army to participate in the European war, and the Huai Army actually expanded to 143,000 people.
Lin Bozai and Shao Hengzhong will not participate in the battle. Shao Quanzhong's participation sequence is as follows.
Commander-in-chief: Shao Quanzhong. Song Le, the major general and brigade commander of the Guards Brigade, led 6,000 Guards as escort.
Chief of General Staff: General Grant. Deputy Chief of General Staff: General Emery. Commanding a general staff of 2,000 people.
The tank division commander General Tian Xing led the Guangdong New Army, the acting division commander of the Guangxi New Army was the commander of the First Brigade Shao Quanyi, the acting division commander of the Anhui New Army was the commander of the First Brigade Sun San (a former subordinate of Hu Liuniang), Liu Kunyi held the rank of lieutenant general, and was equipped with a mechanized division of the Jiangxi New Army.
The Jiangsu New Army was a heavy artillery division, with Zhou Shengchuan as its commander.
The entire army, totaling 75,500 people, swore an oath in Guangzhou. A telegram was then sent to Buckingham Palace, "Your Majesty, the Qing Dynasty is intervening in the civil war in Japan and has sent seven regiments of new troops. The rest of the provinces are ready to support at any time."
"In this difficult time, in order to live up to the Queen's trust, I resolutely mobilized all five divisions and one brigade of the Huai Army to march to Europe to serve as the vanguard of the British Empire and repay Her Majesty's kindness."
"——Your Majesty, Shao Quanzhong, Marquis of Bauhinia."
"PS: Please tell the Prime Minister that we will send troops as promised, and advanced spring steel technology is still needed."
Then came the telegram to his father-in-law, Alexander II.
"Your Majesty, the Tsar: I am favored by Your Majesty and have been entrusted with the important task of protecting the southern border of Russia. I will serve my father-in-law with all my heart and soul."
"Now my father-in-law is leading a million Russian troops to the west, and the south is being attacked by Ottoman clowns. This is my fault."
"At the critical moment when the war with Japan was raging, I resolutely led the Huai Army to attack the Ottoman Empire so that Your Majesty could focus on advancing westward. This was a selfless act to preserve the relationship between us as father-in-law and son-in-law."
"However, the Caucasus region is not under my jurisdiction. I request to exercise my power to control the Russian theater of war with the Ottoman Empire to facilitate the mobilization of the army and the logistics of the expedition."
"—— Your son-in-law, Grand Duke of Crimea and Duke of Almaty, Shao Quanzhong, bows a hundred times."
"Well, Maria, come here and serve your husband well. Yes, this is right..."
He takes all the benefits he deserves, that's Mr. Shao's style, right?
The whistle blew long, the Western Expedition Army weighed anchor and set off, and Shao Quanzhong officially joined the European war.
…………
Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture.
This place was formerly called "Kofu", the home base of the Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen.
General Nogi Maresuke led an army of 100,000 young royalists to pursue Yang Fuqing's troops here.
"Report! The fleeing enemy troops have set up positions near Koshu City and received artillery support from the Edo direction. The enemy's artillery fire is fierce, the forward force is blocked, and the losses are heavy."
Nogi Maresuke waved his hand and said, "The vanguard retreats, and the main force builds a position on the spot and waits for the arrival of the heavy artillery unit of Qingguo Taijun in the rear."
"Report! News has come from the rear that a large number of guerrillas have appeared in the areas of Kiso, Iida, and Minowa Castle. The leader is a rebellious leader named Ishi Laosan. The reinforcements of Qingguo Taijun have been delayed and will not arrive in the short term."
"Report! Zhang Hanchen, the enemy's commander-in-chief on the western front, led his troops from Naoetsu Castle and took the old route that Sugi Kenshin used to conquer Takeda Shingen. After three days and three nights, he marched 400 miles and suddenly appeared in Nirasaki City, cutting off our retreat."
"Report! A large army is coming from the southern East Sea Kingdom along the Fuji River, and the banner they are flying is 'South American Bau Heavenly Kingdom Chen'..."
Nogi Maresuke's 100,000-strong army was surrounded in the Kofu Basin, and large numbers of shogunate troops arrived on the three main roads leading outside the mountains.
The royalist army in the south received TNT shells, and so did the shogunate army. In addition, along with the arrival of the King of England and the King of Wings, there came a thousand recoil-type field guns with smokeless gunpowder primers.
The Kofu Basin was filled with the roar of artillery fire, with 500,000 shells fired at it in three days.
Three days later, the 100,000-strong army of young men was completely wiped out, and Nogi Maresuke committed suicide by seppuku, facing south.
(End of this chapter)