The Empire will continue to win

Chapter 87 Why did the Imperial Path Faction fail?

The East Sang army rushed to the foot of the fortress wall and began to set up ladders.

One by one, lumps of iron were thrown down from the city wall.

Amidst the continuous explosions, flashes of fire, collapsed ladders, and falling people, the attack had a significant hindering effect, interrupting the most ferocious first wave of siege.

But the livestock were fearless and kept coming forward one after another.

The second offensive was even more aggressive.

Dong Sang had a numerical advantage and quickly suppressed the rifle fire inside the city.

"Commander, the brothers can't hold on any longer!" a blood-covered officer stumbled and shouted.

"You coward~"

Enraged, Dong Fuxiang drew his revolver and shot the man dead with a single blow. He then grabbed a large, dagger from the side and raised it high above his head.

"Those with eggs, come with me."

"Kill!"

The commander personally engaged in hand-to-hand combat, which slightly stabilized morale.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

But as more and more Dongsang soldiers climbed the fortress walls, the gunfire gradually subsided, and the two sides entered into a bloody hand-to-hand battle.

The soldiers of Dongsang were diligent in bayonet fighting training. Although they were short in stature, they dared to fight with bayonets and often traded one for two, or even one for three, in hand-to-hand combat.

The First Town was not skilled in close combat, and moreover, the enemy outnumbered them, forcing them to retreat step by step.

Several miles outside the city, under the rising sun flag.

Looking through his binoculars at the soldiers fighting amongst themselves, Nogi Maresuke suddenly gave a verbal order: "Order the artillery to bombard the city walls."

Chief of Staff Kodama Gentaro's pupils dilated in shock: "Commander, please reconsider. Indiscriminate shelling could also injure our soldiers."

Atsushi Nogi said coldly, "Kodama, for the sake of the Empire, any sacrifice is worthwhile. Although the First Division is the Emperor's personal guard, they are also sons of the Empire and should not be given special treatment."

Without the precise long-range artillery suppression from their counterparts at Xipingbao, the poorly skilled artillerymen of Dongsang finally managed to move several large-caliber howitzers into position.

-

Five minutes later~

咻咻 咻 ~

In the expensive Zeiss lens, the fortress walls are engulfed in violent explosions and flames, and the dragon flag erected at the highest point of the city is blown in two. Indiscriminately, everyone is running around in panic, covering their heads.

Nogi put down his binoculars and let out a long sigh of relief: "Yoshi, our army has won another great victory."

Thus, the West Pingol came to an end.

The city's more than 1000 defenders were almost entirely wiped out, with fewer than 50 surviving.

The casualties of the attacking 1st and 5th Divisions of East Sangha reached a staggering 7000. In reality, the casualties could have been slightly lower if it weren't for the final, indiscriminate artillery barrage.

To some extent, Nogi can be considered a prime example of passive resistance against Japan.

Post-war ~

The staff officers of the Imperial Guard Division discovered that the enemy's 1st Division, from officers to soldiers, collectively neglected hand-to-hand combat but emphasized artillery skills and infantry marksmanship.

They were overjoyed.

In modern warfare, the organization of firepower has not reached the point where close combat can be ignored; a brute-force charge can still be very effective.

The cold wind howled outside.

Inside the warm military tent.

Nogi Maresuke sat in a chair with a glass of wine in his hand. The wine was scarlet and looked like human blood, but it was sweet on the palate and had a long aftertaste.

"Commander, urgent telegram from headquarters." A staff officer lifted the tent flap and entered.

"Give it to me."

Just as I turned to the first page of the telegram, a commotion arose outside the tent.

"We want to see His Excellency the Commander."

"I don't understand why the Imperial Guard Division, which has already stormed the enemy castle, is being shelled by its own troops?"

"Who exactly ordered the shelling of our Imperial Guards?!"

"Get out of here."

Who is making such a racket in the central command tent?

-

Nogi Maresuke frowned, put on his military cap, and strode out of the tent. Instantly, the outside fell silent.

"Let them come over."

"Ha-yi."

The guards quickly holstered their weapons and moved to the sides.

Nearly fifty years old, Nogi Maresuke had regular features, a ruddy complexion, and a neat mustache. He wore a black military uniform with a sash, white riding breeches, and a cylindrical cap with a gold trim.

Standing opposite him was a group of junior officers from the Imperial Guard Division, many of whom had blood on their faces and uniforms, perhaps from enemies, perhaps from comrades.

"What's wrong?"

After a few seconds of silence, a young lieutenant stepped forward and declared passionately, "Commander, we want to know, who ordered the indiscriminate artillery fire during the bayonet charge?"

"right!"

"Baka! This is utterly blatant disregard for human life."

Facing the surging crowd, Nogi calmly replied, "It's me!"

moment.

The air had cooled down by ten degrees.

"Why?" The young lieutenant's eyes were red-rimmed, and his right hand involuntarily reached for the hilt of his sword. Heaven punishes traitors, so what difference does it make if you, old man, are among them?

"What are you doing?" the captain of the guard shouted, raising his gun. "Hands up, or I'll shoot."

Unexpectedly~

Nogi Maresuke gestured to stop the captain of the guard, and asked softly, "What's your name?"

"Warrant Officer, Kita Kazuki, 3rd Platoon Leader, 5th Company, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, Imperial Guard Division."

"So it was you."

Before Kita Ikki could even figure out what those words meant, he heard Nogi Maresuke say in an unusually calm tone: "Warrant Lieutenant, regardless of which division, what rank, or what background they come from, they should all be aware of the need to sacrifice themselves for the cause of the Empire at any time."

That's incredibly rude.

Why the hell don't you sacrifice yourself?

Before the officers could even refute,

Chief of Staff Gentaro Kodama returned after inspecting the wounded soldiers' camp. Seeing the crowd surrounding the commander, he quickly stepped into the middle of the crowd.

"Gentlemen, quiet down. Please look at this military cap." He held up a tattered military cap. "Just now, Commander Nogi's eldest son, Lieutenant Nogi Katsunori, was killed in action at Nishihei Fortress."

After saying that, he turned to look at Nogi Maresuke and said, "Commander, please accept my condolences."

Everyone was stunned, but they saw that the commander's eyes showed no shock or sadness. He just looked up blankly, feeling the coolness of the snowflakes falling on his face.

After a long pause, he finally spoke: "The commander's son is no exception."

Like a resounding bell.

Everyone stood frozen in place, and the scene became eerily quiet; you could even hear the snowflakes falling from the sky.

In the crowd, a forty-something infantry lieutenant gave Nogi Maresuke a standard military salute, then pushed through the crowd and turned to leave.

When I turned around, tears were already streaming down my face.

-

After him, many officers saluted silently and then left.

Yes~

If everyone were treated equally, many things wouldn't be unacceptable. What's there to be angry about when the farmer's son and the commander's son died together?

Kita Ikki, who was leading the disturbance, also stood at attention, saluted, and then prepared to leave.

"stop!"

The voice behind me was very authoritative.

Inside the warm wool felt tent.

Young Warrant Officer Kita Ikki held the telegram from headquarters, trembling all over, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Soldiers are duty-bound to obey. Even with a thousand excuses and endless reasons, they cannot act against my name."

Twenty-one officers, including Kita Ikki, incited their colleagues, coerced their superiors, and instigated soldiers in the name of loving the Emperor, thus creating the situation of attacking Fengtian. Their blatant disobedience to the imperial edict is a heinous crime deserving of death.

-

However, considering their inherent courage and their merit in leading their troops to capture Fengtian, I will grant them leniency for now. The officers involved will be stripped of their ranks, expelled from the army, and never to be re-employed.

To his utter surprise, the crimes of a country boy from Niigata Prefecture had caught the emperor's attention.

I'm so ashamed~

"Warrant Lieutenant~"

Nogi Maresuke personally poured a glass of red wine and handed it to him. "Frankly speaking, as a man, I admire your courage, but as a commander, I despise subordinates like you. Without this pardon telegram, I was prepared to order your execution after the Liaoxi campaign stabilized."

"Commander?"

"Go back and say goodbye to your comrades. You will leave the barracks tomorrow morning."

"Commander, if I leave the army, where else can I go? I am willing to be a private, to charge into battle for the Empire, and to shed my blood at Shanhaiguan." Kita Ikki spoke earnestly and knelt down with a thud.

Nogi Maresuke remained silent and finished his glass of red wine.

"guard!"

The next second, four guards entered the tent, took the weeping and wailing Imperial Way Faction Little Devil out, confiscated his sidearm, and tore off his collar insignia.

last month.

Commander Yamagata Aritomo, who disobeyed the orders of the General Headquarters and insisted on launching a winter offensive, was dismissed and recalled to Japan.

After that, the obedient Nogi Maresuke took over.

Upon assuming office, Nogi immediately suspended the winter offensive and withdrew from Fengtian City to the winter encampment located at Motianling.

I never expected this!

Kita Ikki set up a Sky Sword Society, whose members included dozens of lieutenants and sergeants. This inconspicuous organization actually incited more than a thousand soldiers to leave their winter encampment without permission and launch a surprise attack on Fengtian.

Because the military governor of Fengtian, Ronglu, died from his injuries, the troops were in a state of panic, and the remaining garrison was caught off guard by Bei Yihui and his men.

Fengtian has fallen.

The deer were excited.

Kita Ikki, who disobeyed orders, became a hero. Nogi Maresuke dared not suppress the soldiers' surging desire to attack, and could only ask for permission from headquarters while reluctantly being swept up in the attack.

The next morning.

It snowed heavily.

Hundreds of junior officers, dressed in crisp overcoats, gathered at the entrance of the military camp, their shoulders covered in heavy snow. From a distance, their peaked caps looked as if they were tied with white silk.

Silence.

The pure white snowflakes, the red collar insignia, the black tall military boots—the atmosphere was inexplicably tragic.

They were all lieutenant officers.

They all came from poor families.

They were all passionate young men who were loyal to the emperor and loved their country.

They all got into military academy through their own efforts and became junior officers after graduation.

they!

They are all very dissatisfied with the current situation in China.

After an unknown amount of time, a group of people without collar insignia or weapons slowly walked out of the military camp. The leader was none other than Kita Ikki, a young officer from the Imperial Way Faction.

Snowflakes fell silently.

The comrade's eyes were red.

"salute!"

Suddenly, someone shouted.

"Swipe" ~

Hundreds of officers moved in perfect unison, as if they were one person. They turned their faces to the side, their eyes wide with anger, drew their sabers, the blades gleaming, and pointed them at a 45-degree angle to the sky.

At this moment~

Kita Ikki wept bitterly, his blood boiling with righteous indignation.

The emperor is not alone!

We are not alone!

Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of sympathizers, the ambitious Kita Ikki walked into the vast white wasteland, temporarily disappearing from everyone's sight.

Ah ~

Imperial Sect.

The next day.

The Akiyama Cavalry Brigade, under the orders of Commander Nogi Maresuke, marched northwest.

A desolate, icy wasteland, where iron hooves thunder.

The superior military horses bred in Hokkaido are adapted to the harsh weather, with long legs and long hair, and they exhale puffs of hot air when they run. The cavalrymen wear bearskin hats and cotton gloves, leaving only their eyes and noses exposed.

Their mission was to avoid a decisive battle with the main force of the First Town; their job was simply to monitor them.

At the same time, they took advantage of their cavalry's mobility to launch attacks in all directions, cutting power lines, attacking stations, blowing up railway tracks, and severing the connection between Guangning and Jinzhou.

The Qiushan Brigade capitalized on a timing advantage; at this point, Senggelinqin's Second Army Division had not yet arrived on the battlefield. Ten days of battlefield initiative was enough to turn the tide of the war.

-

The infantry of the First Garrison, with their two legs, certainly couldn't catch up with the four-legged cavalry.

The Akiyama Brigade will hold the initiative on the battlefield for a full period of time.

Interweave!

Interweave!

Constantly interspersed!

We are probably the most familiar with infiltration tactics in the world.

Infiltrating behind enemy lines is a high-risk operation, typically undertaken by disciplined and highly motivated troops. High risk, high reward; if the enemy is caught off guard, they can easily panic and collapse.

In a parallel universe's Russo-Japanese War, the Akiyama Brigade's infiltration operations achieved significant results.

It's just the same old trick.

Guangning.

First Town Command Post.

-

Li Shaoquan stared at the telegram, utterly shocked.

"How could enemy cavalry appear at Malingyi and Dayushupu?"

Before the words were even finished...

A guard outside reported: "Commander, Dong Fuxiang has escaped back from Xipingbao."

Li Shaoquan glanced at Liu Mingchuan and realized, "Oh no, it turns out that the forward outpost, Xipingbao, has been lost."

The fierce general Dong Fuxiang had a blood-red face covered in ice crystals, wore tattered clothes, and had his toes sticking out of his boots. He looked more like a beggar than a beggar. As soon as he entered the door, he knelt down with a thud.

"Commander, Xiping Fort has fallen, and all the brothers are dead."

"How many enemies did you kill?"

"I swear on my life that it will not be less than 5000."

The actual amount was 7000. Dong Fuxiang was an honest man.

"Take him down to get treatment for his injuries."

Li Shaoquan didn't get angry; holding onto a besieged city for so long with only two battalions was already an extraordinary feat. Dong Fuxiang was not only innocent, ————

It may even have been meritorious.

"Commander," Dong Fuxiang said, breaking free from the medic's support and walking to Li Shaoquan, "There were too many of them, and they charged too fast. But lever rifles are good stuff. If we had 500 lever rifles back then, I might have been able to hold off the enemy's bayonet charge."

"Understood." Li Shaoquan knew what to do, and turned to instruct Liu Mingchuan, "Send a telegram urging Shen Moqing to speed up production. If I don't receive 2000 lever rifles by the end of this month, I will first execute his elder brother, and then go to his door to execute him after I return to Beijing."

"Isn't that too explicit?"

"Show your mother's head!"

Li Shaoquan grabbed a belt and swung it, scaring Liu Mingchuan so much that he covered his head and ran away. As he went out, he bumped into the door frame, and dust fell from the roof.

He had sufficient reason to threaten Shen Moqing: first, that since he had taken his money, he had to abide by the contract; and second, that he had instigated the Empress Dowager to send the First Garrison.

"Where has Senggelinqin's second town been reached?"

"We expect to arrive at Shanhaiguan by tomorrow evening," a operations staff officer immediately replied from the command post.

"Too slow."

Li Shaoquan dusted off the map and stared blankly at the area between Jinzhou and Guangning. The railway and telegraph lines were the lifelines of the army.

10 days!

If the Akiyama cavalry is allowed to wreak havoc for these 10 days, the consequences will be unbearable.

"Send a telegram to Jinzhou: In view of the frequent harassment by enemy cavalry, which seriously threatens our railway transport lines, I plan to send five infantry battalions south to defend the stations and passes."

"Yes."

Before he could finish speaking...

The telegraph operator removed his headset, his expression solemn: "The line is broken."

That night.

Zhang Zongcang, an honest man who was already on the execution list, actually came to our door himself, looking very simple and honest.

What do you want?

"I want to share the burden for the commander-in-chief."

"What worries are you sharing?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"I have a plan that can hold the railway line and allow us to launch an offensive."

"Did Shen Moqing teach you that?"

"The commander-in-chief is indeed a commander-in-chief. He used the same method my brother taught me before we set off. He said that since we have ironclad warships, we can also have ironclad trains. He told me to find a locomotive and drive it back and forth along the railway line day and night."

At first, Li Shaoquan thought it was absurd, but after thinking about it again, his eyes lit up.

Yeah~

The surrounding railway network is extensive, so the steam locomotives won't get tired; bullets simply can't penetrate them. Just imagining those whirring locomotives braving a hail of bullets, clanging and banging, sparks flying everywhere...

"Why the hell didn't you say so sooner?"

"My brother wouldn't let me say so earlier."

Li Shaoquan, enraged, cursed, "Your brother is a complete bastard! Staff officer, quickly divide the nearby railway line into sections, each 10 li long, and assign one locomotive to each section."

"Yes."

Zhang Zongcang glanced at the staff officers scurrying around the room and whispered, "Commander, it's my brother~"

"Can't you just say everything at once, you fucking bastard?"

"My brother said that professional matters should be handled by professionals. We should put two railway company employees in each armored car, and then put a few sleepers and rails in it."

Li Shaoquan suppressed her anger and put on a smiling face: "Sit down, please sit down. What else did Shen Moqing say? Tell me everything."

"That's all."

"Really gone?"

"They're really gone. They just told me to work hard with the commander."

Thousands of miles away.

Forbidden City.

Frontline command post.

Emperor Xuanwu rode in a sedan chair to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to have lunch with his mother, while the other ministers ate some food and wine in the headquarters.

On the table were mutton hot pot, braised sea cucumber with scallions, braised lion's head meatballs, Sanbuzhan (a type of glutinous rice dish), gourd duck, deep-fried meatballs, emerald and white jade soup, and crystal-clear rice.

-

"Master Weng, what can a mere Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites do at the front-line command post?" During the meal, Gui Liang, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department and Assistant Minister of the Royal Assets Management Group, suddenly launched an attack.

"Gui Liang, what do you mean by this?"

"I've been thinking about this for two days and I still can't figure it out. What does fighting have to do with your Ministry of Rites? Is it to reform the enemy chieftain?"

7

"How can it not be a problem? Let me tell you, it's a huge problem!" Weng Tonghe retorted angrily.