The Empire will continue to win

Chapter 86 A Pig's Charge Meets a Howitzer

Wow, this room is full of big shots!

"This humble servant greets Your Majesty, Your Highness, and all the ministers." Shen Moqing quickly removed his military cap, stood at attention, and saluted everyone.

I was eighteen that year, standing there like a nobody.

Emperor Xuanwu, full of vigor, waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. Minister Shen, from this day forward until the end of the war, you will serve as the Operations Advisor in the Command Headquarters with the rank of Second-Class Advisor of the Forbidden City, assisting me and all my beloved ministers in coordinating and commanding the Liaodong Campaign."

"As you command."

I took the opportunity to look around for a week.

The frontline command included the two empress dowagers, the emperor, Prince Gong, Minister of Revenue Shen Zhaolin, Grand Secretary Wenxiang, Minister of the Imperial Household Department Guiliang, and Vice Minister of Rites Weng Tonghe.

There are also some minor roles, such as oneself, telegraph operator, actuary, data clerk, and draftsman.

Army Minister Sheng Bao went to Liaodong, and Navy Minister Yan Fu went to Lushun.

Surprisingly, in a corner of the command post, there was a bearded foreigner in a suit and tie, engrossed in writing and calculating on a stack of papers.

The United Empire truly embraces all rivers!

"Mo Qing, this is your desk." Imperial Tutor Weng Tonghe took the initiative to come over and chat, his attitude amiable and approachable.

"Thank you, Lord."

"Don't be shy. Here are some of the latest telegrams and official documents; take a look yourself. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to writing better strategic documents. Work hard; with your talent, your future achievements may not be inferior to mine."

"Yes."

Weng Tonghe was in a good mood because he was able to establish a new school of thought and create the Yi Ying School of Confucianism. Therefore, he was particularly fond of Shen Moqing, the provider of his inspiration, and decided to mentor this junior.

Weng was a typical traditional Confucian scholar, with only two things on his mind: first, to practice the Way of the King; and second, to study the classics.

Coincidentally, Shen Moqing is involved in both of these matters.

What pleased him even more was that Shen Moqing had once been an uneducated and dissolute son of a noble family, but he had turned over a new leaf. If Shen had been a learned and promising young man, he wouldn't have been worth promoting.

However, Shen Moqing was not interested in Weng. They had different values ​​and could not work together. It was just a matter of feigning friendship and using each other.

-

Calm yourself down and sit at your new workstation.

An old elmwood desk, a simple round stool, and several writing implements on the desk. Sitting facing the wall, the conditions were quite simple.

In contrast, the tables and chairs of the bigwigs were made of rosewood, which were both grand and comfortable.

Indeed, there was a proper order of rank and status.

As the humble Professor Shen turned his head, his eyes met those of the female telegraph operator who was also sitting facing the wall.

acquaintance!

Corporal Der Ling, wearing headphones, nodded to herself, then buried her head in her work and continued sending messages. She didn't smile; she was as cold as ice, but sat upright with graceful curves and a straight back.

Moving the gaze downwards, one still sees a pair of iconic tall riding boots, polished to a gleaming shine and spotless.

Damn it~

Pretending not to know me, huh?

As expected~

To pick up girls, you have to seize the opportunity.

A detailed explanation is as follows:

Women are more likely to be taken advantage of when they are lonely, confused, or helpless (for example, when they are freshmen in college, seniors graduating from college, or when they are experiencing setbacks such as heartbreak, unemployment, loss of virginity, or failure).

It works every time.

Empress Dowager Cixi is a typical example.

Professor Shen thought to himself, "I must hurry and strike at the heart of the enemy. Otherwise, with frequent victories at the front and the capital secure, the Empress Dowager will feel she's invincible again."

If there's a shortcut, you should still take the shortcut.

Life is too short to waste time taking detours.

Shaking his head to dispel those chaotic thoughts, he took a sip of strong green tea and glanced at the calendar on the table—November 1st.

Browsing through official documents~

"On the first day of the eleventh month, at dawn, Senggelinqin personally led the vanguard of the Second Garrison of Baoding, numbering 3000, to depart from Zunhua Station. They were expected to arrive in Guangning fifteen days later. Apart from the 900-plus guards and support personnel, the remaining troops of the Second Garrison would depart successively within two days, traveling by—"

I'm taking the train north.

"The Third Army Division stationed in Baoding is scheduled to depart at noon on the second day of the eleventh month and head north along the Beijing-Fengtian Railway."

"Thirty-one reserve infantry battalions will be conscripted from the four provinces of Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan. They are expected to complete their assembly and board the vehicles on the spot within half a month. The first batch of five infantry battalions will board the vehicles no later than noon on the fifth day of the eleventh lunar month."

"On the evening of October 31, at 10 p.m., Minister of the Army Katsuya boarded a train at Xizhimen Railway Station to go to Jinzhou to assume the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Liaodong Army Corps and to control all the army outside Shanhaiguan."

"On the evening of October 31, at 10 p.m., Navy Minister Yan Fu boarded a train at Xizhimen Railway Station to go to Weihaiwei. After inspecting the Weihai base, he transferred to a warship to cross the sea to Lushun."

"On October 22, Dong Fuxiang led more than 1000 elite infantrymen and 5 howitzers to Xipingbao, which was more than 100 miles away from Guangping Prefecture. He fought three battles and killed more than 230 cavalrymen of the Qiushan Cavalry Brigade, while suffering more than 40 casualties himself."

"On October 21, the telegraph office successfully repaired the equipment and restored communication between Guangning and Beijing."

"Xizhimen Railway Station will cease all commercial operations and be temporarily handed over to the Ministry of the Army. Fifty surrounding warehouses will be requisitioned as transit warehouses for military supplies, and the surrounding area will be designated as a military restricted zone."

"The Northern Railway Company will increase the daily transport capacity of the Beijing-Fengtian Railway to 120 wagons."

"Gui Liang, Assistant Minister of the Imperial Assets Management Group of the Forbidden City, issued a telegram to the Southern Railway Company, ordering the immediate dispatch of 300 skilled drivers and repairmen to Xizhimen Railway Station within 15 days."

"A special war fund shall be established, to be uniformly allocated by the Forbidden City Front Command. The Ministry of Revenue shall inject an initial amount of 4.2 million silver dollars, and the Royal Asset Management Group shall add an additional 2 million silver dollars, with a three-day deadline."

"More than 3000 civilian laborers were mobilized from Zunhua, Chengde, Ningyuan and Jinzhou to support the front. All expenses were paid from special military funds. If there were any casualties, they would be compensated in the same way as privates."

"The Ministry of Revenue estimates that the front lines will consume 50 tons of military rations per day, of which 30 tons will be transported by rail from the rear, and the remainder will be purchased locally in the surrounding areas. The Northern Railway Company suggests switching to sea transport to conserve valuable railway capacity."

"~"

The thick stack of official documents contained an extremely dense amount of information.

It took Shen Moqing a full 45 minutes just to browse through it from beginning to end. After reading it, he felt a headache coming on. Controlling the Empress Dowager to command a large army in battle was indeed very tiring.

Get up.

Drink another cup of strong tea to refresh yourself.

As Shen Moqing walked past the bearded foreigner in the corner, she couldn't help but stop, drawn to the dense symbols and formulas on the white paper.

"Hello, what is this?"

"A mathematical model." The bearded foreigner cautiously covered the paper with his palm, clearly unaware of its significance.

"What model?"

"Based on wargaming simulations, I have painstakingly designed a mathematical model that can accurately calculate the reserves of logistical materials."

"Could you tell me about it?"

The bearded foreigner hesitated, then turned to look at Shen Zhaolin, the Minister of Revenue, who was not far away.

Shen Zhaolin pretended not to see it and lowered his head to do the accounting.

Weng Tonghe saw this, stood up, and shouted, "Tell him!"

Dunliao, the foreigner remained silent.

At this point, Weng Tonghe, the Vice Minister of Rites, became anxious and got up to whisper a few words to Emperor Xuanwu.

Emperor Xuanwu nodded: "Granted."

Now that the emperor had spoken, Minister of Revenue Shen Zhaolin dared not pretend to be dead any longer and nodded to the bearded man.

The bearded foreigner, as if granted a pardon, released his hand that had been covering his face: "Hello, my name is Hart, from Britain. I was fifth in the 12 Guangzhou Special Examination for Western Europeans, and in the 19 Xianning meeting—"

He ranked third in the European examinations, and through the trust of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, he is currently the Chief Accountant of the Ministry of Revenue, holding the rank of fourth grade.

The fact that he rattled off such a long list of titles suggests that he has been deeply influenced by Confucianism.

"Hello, my name is Shen Moqing."

It was concise and to the point, without any titles.

Sit down!

"Shen, I'm not sure if you have the relevant advanced mathematics knowledge."

"I am good at advanced mathematics and have done extensive research on calculus and linear algebra." Shen Moqing was very unhappy. What a pretentious foreigner.

"Yeah?"

Heard laughed, instantly abandoning his plan for a simple and easy-to-understand explanation, and instead opting for a serious academic approach.

Blah blah blah.

To be honest, the content wasn't that difficult, but Shen Moqing only understood half of it.

He thought to himself that he was lucky to have used the advanced mathematics textbook compiled by his own university when he was an undergraduate. If he had used the advanced mathematics textbook compiled by Tongji University, he would have understood at most a quarter of it today.

"Lord Shen, you don't actually need to know too much about it. Just substitute the relevant formulas and calculate the result," Hed said sincerely, feeling slightly ashamed.

Shen Moqing nodded. Indeed, he was quite concerned about the ammunition situation.

Production volume.

consumption.

Transportation volume.

What exactly is war?

For senior generals sitting in command posts, war is an undulating sand table, cold numbers, and red and blue arrows drawn on a map.

For soldiers on the front lines, war means death.

Thousands of miles away.

Xipingbao, on the east side of the Liao River.

This fort is a hundred miles away from Guangning City, but its location is very important and has always been a strategic point of contention for military strategists.

Late Ming Dynasty.

A horrific battle once took place at Xipingbao, where 6 Later Jin troops launched a fierce attack on a small fortress defended by 3000 Liao soldiers. The brutality of the battle was indescribable, and in the end, the Liao army was completely annihilated.

Lead-gray clouds pressed down on the wilderness, the north wind howled, the outdoor temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius, and the snow continued to fall slowly.

The Liaohe River has begun to freeze over.

On the west bank of the river, amidst the vast expanse of ice, two thin, black railway tracks stand out conspicuously, stretching into the distant horizon.

With the continuous fighting and exhaustion of these two treacherous railway tracks, Xipingbao had long since run out of ammunition and food.

In modern warfare, artillery shells are consumed too quickly.

Five days ago.

Nogi Maresuke organized a fourth attack, which also ended in failure, with over a thousand soldiers killed or wounded in the attack.

Art and sports, bloodshed, all are now covered! Snow covers everything, a white rain blankets the land, nature may lessen the cruelty of war, but it brings even greater cruelty.

sixth day.

-

The silence of the desolate place was broken once again.

A large number of shirtless Dongsang soldiers with white cloths tied around their heads, chanting work songs, pushed and pulled four heavy 75mm field guns and two 75mm howitzers forward.

Under the umbrella of Sunrise Group.

Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Army, Nogi Maresuke, and Chief of Staff, Kodama Gentaro, were dressed in black.

"The First Division truly lives up to its reputation as the enemy's personal guard; their artillery is superb, and their artillerymanship is highly skilled. They possess no fewer than ten howitzers, making them the greatest threat to our siege." The more cautious Kodama Gentaro said in a low voice, "Commander, perhaps we should postpone the attack and wait for the Osaka cannons to arrive?"

Osaka Giant Gun: A heavy coastal defense howitzer with a caliber of 280mm. There is only one in the entire East Asia region, and it has never been fired to date.

Because their sieges had repeatedly failed, they turned to their headquarters to try and get the giant cannon to be transported to the front lines.

If a giant cannon could breach the fortress, many fewer soldiers would die.

But ~

"Army soldiers can only rely on rifles and willpower. Our country is resource-poor, started too late, and has fallen far behind the great powers—"

"Far away. If we want to quickly join the ranks of world powers, we must catch up rapidly in spirit. Therefore, Song Yao's emphasis on willpower is not an exaggeration. 'Kodama, today, I will break through Xiping Fort with my willpower.'"

Nogi Maresuke spoke calmly, not arguing illogically.

Kodama Gentaro didn't say anything more, he just nodded silently.

In the expensive Zeiss lens, the bare spines of the soldiers are particularly jarring. How many will die on the thorn-covered roads of the imperial kingdom?

Suddenly~

Smoke rose from Xipingbao. A few seconds later, a 75mm grenade whistled and landed behind the convoy of transport artillery, causing snow to fly everywhere.

I'll cross you!

You've already crossed over from the very first test!

Anyone with a basic understanding of military affairs knows what this means: the next second, enemy shells will land precisely on our side.

Kodama Gentaro was horrified.

The enemy's artillery skills have reached a level of perfection.

"Set up artillery on the spot and launch a swift counterattack."

Among the scaffold transporting artillery, an artillery captain, a graduate of the Berlin Military Academy with round, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, glanced at the blast site, his blood ran cold, and he cried out loudly.

Everyone was in a flurry of activity, busy setting up the cannons.

Just 20 seconds later.

The first volley of shells rained down from the sky with a whistle, followed by explosions, flames, and a hail of bullets.

Two field guns were blown up, and more than 20 gunners fell in pools of blood, but the rest of the men continued to desperately try to keep the guns in place.

"Hayaku, hayaku~"

The ammunition detachment, carrying shells and braving shrapnel, came up.

Finally, one cannon was in position. "Distance 4200, azimuth 2, elevation 4, ready, fire!" The captain shouted hoarsely. He knew the situation was extremely dangerous, and his side had to retaliate before the next volley of shells landed.

With the firing parameters adjusted, the gunner gave a sharp tug on the gun tether.

boom.

Flames spewed from the cannon muzzle.

At the same time, grenades also fell inside Xipingbao.

A violent explosion erupted, bullets flew everywhere, and the captain collapsed heavily onto the cold snow. Crimson blood slowly flowed from the corner of his mouth as he died with his eyes wide open.

The glasses shattered and fell onto the snow.

20 seconds later~

More shells rained down from the sky, and the East Sang gunners scattered in panic.

Xipingbao.

Behind the crenellations of the city wall.

Dong Fuxiang put down his binoculars and burst into laughter.

"The artillery did a good job. Pass on my order: each soldier will be rewarded with five silver dollars, and officers will receive double. Keep fighting, and the court will not treat us unfairly."

-

at this time.

Only then did everyone understand that the cannon had exploded during testing at the Nanyuan drill ground, killing several gunners on the spot. Li Shaoquan was furious and wanted nothing more than to execute Woren.

It's precious.

The most valuable asset in the first town is its gunners.

Infantrymen only need to charge forward, but artillerymen must be educated.

Starting in the second year of Xuanwu, Li Shaoquan spent a lot of money to train a group of excellent gunners, all of whom were scholars, starting from the level of Xiucai (a lower-level degree in the imperial examination system). Among them, there were one or two impoverished Juren (a higher-level degree in the imperial examination system).

How could an artillery officer trained from the seeds of scholars and officials be wrong?

The fortress contained only four 75mm howitzers and one 125mm howitzer, which roared and howled.

Looking at his own artillery positions ablaze with fire, Nogi Maresuke put down his binoculars, sighed, and slashed downwards with his right hand.

"start!"

Flag signalman: "Charge forward, begin!"

-

Outside Xiping Fort.

In the crisscrossing trenches, soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the East Sang Army crouched low and moved quickly through the trenches.

In the dead of winter, digging trenches was extremely difficult.

But if they didn't dig, the soldiers would have to face the shrapnel head-on, suffering heavy casualties that even a tough guy like Nogi Maresuke couldn't bear.

So, they dug trenches.

Send the soldiers to approach and attack the city.

Five thousand deer took turns digging, and it took them six days and nights to dig out an I-shaped trench that reached 100 meters down to the fortress wall.

Looking at the cluster of bayonets flashing in the moat outside the city, the defenders of Xipingbao felt uneasy, but without seeing the enemy, they had no way to attack.

Even the artillery couldn't do anything about it.

Although shells were falling one after another, most of them landed on the snow outside the trench, causing the snow to fly everywhere, making all the effort futile.

Sudden.

An extremely lucky shell happened to land in the trench, boom, and it exploded, sending blood flying everywhere!

Holy crap~

The defending soldiers were terrified. Oh no, this is a huge problem!

at last.

A scathing bugle call echoed across the desolate, icy ground.

An infantry captain was the first to climb out of the horizontal trench, drew his gleaming command sword, pointed it at Xiping Fort, and roared with all his might, "Kill them all!"

"Onboard!"

In an instant, countless soldiers roared as they poured out of the trenches.

"Boro-tsuru-kata-bō" in Japanese means to charge forward recklessly like a wild boar, representing a combination of will and speed, and the most brutal manifestation of the art of war.

-

"beat!"

Instantly, gunfire erupted.

The captain at the front was shot and killed, but it wouldn't affect anything. Behind him, more than 7,000 Dong Sang soldiers ran wildly with their heads down.

The enemy launched their attack from 100 meters away from the city wall.

The distance was too short, and the long-barreled howitzers inside the fortress could not fire. The helpless artillerymen could only carry the only mountain gun up the city wall and fire directly at it.

The shells exploded among the enemy troops, like a head thrown into the ocean, changing nothing.

"Strike quickly!" Dong Fuxiang jumped up and down in a panic.

The garrison at Xiping Fort numbered only a little over a thousand, but they were all veterans with excellent combat skills.

Behind the fortress walls, soldiers held Type 30 single-shot rifles, while the foreman held a guillotine rifle, bullets raining down.

The enemy soldiers on the front line kept falling, hit by bullets.

But the crazed deer, oblivious to their fallen comrades wounded by bullets, continued to howl and charged towards the city with their bayonets raised—

堡。

100 meters!!

It's so short that even a dwarf could run it in under 25 seconds.

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