Republic of China: My great warlord, many children, many blessings.

Moreover, they also obtained the latest melon-shaped hand grenade.

This is a hand grenade from World War II; it was absolutely ahead of its time in World War I.

Becker believes that this thing would be more valuable if it were developed by the military.

If the military were to develop it themselves, the cost would be at least 500,000 silver dollars, which is roughly 600,000 marks.

···Requesting flowers·····

It's not even certain that they can develop it.

(1 US dollar equals 4.2 marks, 2.4 silver dollars can be exchanged for 1 US dollar)

As long as you hand over the melon grenade, you'll not only get a bonus but also a promotion.

Both of them were laughing happily, feeling like they had gotten a good deal.

"Shen, my dear friend, I enjoy working with you and hope you can go further." Becker was quite familiar with the situation in China.

Shen Hao said, "As long as Becker supports me, we'll have more deals in the future."

Becker's eyes lit up. "Great! I hope we can work together again next time."

Becker then boarded the warship, waved goodbye, and left.

This time, Shen Hao brought back three field guns, and Li Yunlong couldn't stop smiling.

With the right equipment, he dares to fight anyone.

Moreover, Shen Hao also had his own artillery, with one platoon divided into two.

Although the FK.96n/A field gun has a range of only five kilometers.

. ... .......

However, its high mobility made it virtually invincible in battles between warlords.

In those days, warlords had no idea what trenches were.

Having obtained the weapons and equipment, Shen Hao ordered Li Yunlong to immediately provide support to Zhang Yi.

Li Yunlong said, "Why don't we encircle them?"

When Cao Ying attacked Zhang Yi, we surrounded them from behind. After a round of artillery fire, their morale collapsed.

Shen Hao asked, "Can Zhang Yi handle it?"

Li Yunlong said, "Give him ten heavy machine guns, twenty Maxim mortars, and teach him how to dig trenches. He can hold out for a month without any problem."

Shen Hao said, "Alright, you're good at this, so you can do it."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problem. Even if Cao Ying mobilizes the army, it will take him several days."

Shen Hao found himself broke again, with only 100,000 silver dollars left, which wasn't enough to live on.

Just as Li Yunlong had predicted.

Cao Ying mobilized troops stationed in various places, which took him seven days.

He personally led a large force of 8000 men to Pucheng.

Mortars, heavy machine guns

It's fair to say that he brought all his savings.

Cao Ying did this so that everyone would see the consequences of betraying him.

This is to make an example of someone.

If we don't kill Zhang Yi, then his subordinates will all betray us in the future. How will we survive in the warlord world after that?

When warlords fight, it's always the ordinary people who suffer.

Pucheng had been ravaged by Cao Shaolin, making ordinary people hate Cao Ying to the core.

At the same time, it also emboldened them, giving them a sense of shared hatred for the enemy.

With guidance from the people sent by Li Yunlong, Zhang Yi learned about trenches and positional warfare for the first time.

As a result, the people of Pucheng also joined the effort to dig trenches.

97. Cao Ying's soldiers are all recruits.

The trenches stretched for several kilometers and were segmented.

It has observation posts, rifle and machine gun cover, and bulletproof craters; it's very professional.

Zhang Yi was deeply impressed by the bustling scene of work.

This was the first time he had ever seen war played out this way.

It certainly opened the door to a new world for him.

This gave him even more confidence in Shen Hao's future.

The fact that he could take such measures shows that Shen Hao is either a military genius or he has a powerful backer.

Regardless of which one it is, it only proves how capable Shen Hao is.

With these trenches, Zhang Yi wouldn't feel any pressure even if Cao Ying's brigade or a division came.

Not only that, Shen Hao also deployed ten Maxim heavy machine guns and twenty mortars.

These are all powerful weapons for defending the city.

This equipment is about the same as that of Cao Ying's entire brigade.

Not only that, but they also had artillery support.

If we can hold out for two days, "2, 4, 7," and draw all of Cao Ying's troops into the battle line, then we will have artillery support.

Six cannons—that's a formidable barrage of firepower.

Zhang Yi might have been a little worried before, but now he's actually looking forward to Cao Ying's attack.

He used Cao Ying as a stepping stone for himself.

Following Zhang Yi, who had transformed into Yang Kenan, who was inexperienced in warfare, he couldn't help but feel some worry:

"Commander Zhang, is everything alright this time?"

"Absolutely no problem. This time we can eliminate Cao Ying directly and let him know how powerful I am."

I used to be his subordinate, so I'm quite familiar with the combat capabilities of his troops.

There was only one elite regiment; the rest were conscripted soldiers, mostly civilians, with virtually no experience.

Of course, this applies to soldiers nowadays as well.

Although there was a cannon, it was just something Cao Ying bought to make a show of things; there wasn't even a single artilleryman.

His most formidable unit was probably his cavalry battalion, where each soldier was equipped with a machete and a pistol—their equipment was top-notch.

"Once this cavalry battalion is destroyed, his mobile forces will be gone."

The Maxim machine gun, used for defending cities, was a deadly weapon against cavalry.

Seeing Zhang Yi speak with such confidence, Yang Kenan felt slightly comforted.

Yang Kenan was mainly afraid that Cao Ying's army would come and destroy Pucheng.

He didn't have any grand ambitions; he just wanted to protect this city of Pu.

A major battle is imminent, and all parts of Guangdong Province are watching and waiting.

Although Guangdong Province was supposedly the territory of the revolutionary army, the armed forces in various places obeyed orders but not commands.

Many of them were bribed behind the scenes with Yuan Shikai silver dollars.

Another point is that although the Beiyang warlords were nominally led by Yuan Shikai, they each acted independently and maintained their own armies at their own expense.

No one would waste their own money to go to war for someone else.

Besides, Cao Ying's brother, Cao Kun, was a confidant of Yuan Shikai.

Cao Ying also belonged to Yuan Shikai's faction.

The Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance) would love for Cao Ying to die, as this would weaken Yuan Shikai's power.

Unaware of the inside story, all the factions favored Cao Ying in this battle.

It's quite easy for a brigade to wipe out an entire regiment.

Not everyone is Shen Hao.

With this major battle brewing, the bandits around Pucheng were terrified and fled in all directions. They were genuinely afraid that if the city gates caught fire, the innocent bystanders would be affected.

Cao Ying led his troops to the inn where Shen Hao had first gone.

I sat inside and started looking at the map.

How long until Pucheng?

"General, there are still ten kilometers to go."

"Alright, take a half-hour break, then go all out and take Pucheng today."